In the Past
Hermione's POV
In her world, if a Gryffindor, especially Hermione Granger, kissed Draco Malfoy, she would've been burned at stake.
Murdered for being a traitor.
Shunned for being so inconsiderate of house prejudice.
But. But.
This wasn't her world.
That's why Hermione was allowed to not regret the kiss one bit. She was allowed to say yes to Draco who blushed and asked if they could date for real. None of them mentioned that this would all be thrown out of the window when they went back. This wasn't their world, but right now, it was the only world that existed.
That's why Hermione walked into the library happily, inhaling the scent of old books. She was about to head for her customary table in the back whee usually no one disturbed her, when she saw red hair. Her first thought was Ginny, then she remembered with a horrible pang of sadness that she wasn't here.
What were they doing? They should do their mission, they should go back home, they should do something!
How could have she forgotten about home so quickly?
What was wrong with her - to move on to a new place so quickly?
She was on the verge of having a mental breakdown when the answer came to her.
Draco. He was still here. He was keeping her in place. He reminded her everyday there wasn't much they could do to help anyone, except make as little as an impact, and work with the Order and Dumbledore. The Order! They had to miss most of the meetings because of school, but surely they could make the one a few days from now?
She was about to run off and tell Draco, when she realized the red haired girl was sobbing.
Violently.
And that girl Lily Evans.
Hermione sat down awkwardly next to her. Lily wasn't a bad person. And Hermione had to do everything she could to ensure that Harry was born.
Besides, she missed her.
"Lily? Are you okay? Do you want to talk?" Hermione asked as gently as she could, smiling a bit as Lily raised her head.
Her eyes were bloodshot from all the crying, but she managed to keep a steady tone.
"Are you really one to ask me if I'm okay? You were the cause of this! Remus and I, the only relationship we had was spy partners, because we knew you were suspicious. Now, because of you, you evil, foul, roach, we've broken up!" Lily practically screamed this part; thankfully the librarian wasn't here or she would've given them detention. The few students that were there glared at them.
Hermione was too shocked to speak. A strange urge to laugh bubbled up, as she remembered punching Draco in third year, calling him some similar names.
Lily breathed heavily, and for a moment something flashed in her eyes; guilt.
"Go Hermione. Bad things only happened when I met you. Being friends with you?" Lily paused for a second, looking like she was going to regret the words. But she forged on, an ice cold look in her eyes. "That was the worst decision I have ever made."
She left Hemione sitting on the table, too full of emotions to know what to say. Draco came in, ready for his study session with Hermione ("Just because we aren't in the right world, doesn't mean we can't get good grades!") only to see her glassy eyed expression, and a furious Lily storming past.
But Lily wasn't mad at Hermione.
She was mad at herself, for letting yet another friend slip through her grasp that easily.
oOo
In a time of almost war, to say everything was going great would be unusual.
But with Draco and Hermione's lives, it was almost great. They no longer had to worry about anyone thinking they were suspicious, and they played the part of a couple perfectly; because they were a couple.
For a week, and still going strong.
Then there were the bad things.
There were brief stirrings of war, like the attacks on Muggleborns and Muggles getting more frequent. Hermione had learned to throw away the Daily Prophet most of the time. She wondered why she ever bothered to read it.
Lily and James and Remus and Sirius were still not talking. The entire school was whispering about it, mostly because the Marauders hadn't played any pranks for ages. Even the teachers sensed something was wrong.
But the 7th years just focused on the tiny problems that they thought were huge.
Mostly everyone had realized by now that ignoring the war would probably blow up in their faces, but they tried to give themselves a few more weeks of peace. The problems they now focused on were insignificant, but distracting. And that's what everyone needed.
Remus wasn't found anywhere. They only saw him during mealtimes, hurrying away with his eyes on the floor.
But a new full moon was coming up soon, and the Marauders didn't know what he would do without them.
They were still best friends. Nothing about that had changed. James would never intentionally lose one of his friends. Everyone knew Sirius would always love Remus, even if it was just as a friend. But the entire dynamic had changed, and Remus was sick with guilt while Sirius was trying to pretend like everything was okay.
Hermione and James were walking together to their next class, when someone called James name.
James turned around. The carefree, happy boy that made up James Potter wasn't there anymore. Everyone said that he would get over the breakup and be normal again, but his smile was still fake, and he rarely talked. How could he get over it? He had been chasing Lily Evans for years.
"Lily." he responded curtly, but kindly then turned around again.
"Wait, James. Please, talk to me?" Lily tried in vain to make him turn around again.
But when he did, his eyes were blank, glazed. "Yeah?"
Lily stumbled over her words, obviously scared of this new James.
"Lily, tell him." Hermione said gently, stopping next to them. "You can do it."
Lily glared at Hermione then cleared her throat.
"I swear, Remus and I? We're just friends. We were only meeting because, well, we were suspicious of Draco and Hermione, but... we were wrong to be. And it's my fault, please don't blame Remus. I hugged him, and he was just being nice. James, I don't know how else to explain it." Lily said, close to tears.
Something flickered in James eyes, then went out. "Remus will always be one of my best mates. He hurt Sirius, but we can forgive him."
"James?" Lily asked, hesitantly.
"I - I forgive you, of course. But it would be better if we remained friends." James said, his eyes clearing of pain.
Lily seemed like she was about to protest, then gave up.
She trudged away, and everyone pretended not to see the fresh tears splash on the ground.
In the Future
Harry ran into the hospital wing. He was carrying the injured body of Luna Lovegood. Her arm was completely mangled, but she still blinked, alert.
"It's alright Harry. The Nargles just infested in me for a while, I'm sure its nothing actually wrong," said Luna dreamily. Harry just set on her on a bed, and ran off to help more people.
"Luna, please don't talk." Madam Pomfrey commanded, looking frazzled and tired, but she set to work on Luna.
Luna smiled and sat up, looking like an angel despite the cuts and bruises on her face. "Madam Pomfrey, I can heal myself," she said airily.
"Could you, dear? I have so many other things to attend to!" Madam Pomfrey ran off once Luna nodded her consent.
"Luna!" a voice happily said. Everyone looked up; it was uncommon to hear such a happy voice in the middle of the war.
"Neville? Don't worry," she said when Neville gave a gasp at her injuries. "I'll heal fast."
And suddenly, true to her word, she was bathed in a strange white light. As soon as it came, it went, leaving Luna good as new.
"What- what was that?" Ginny asked, terrified of what seemed to be something terribly wrong with Luna. She set down a terrified 3rd year who everyone immediately shepherded to a safe house in a dormitory.
"That's what I've been trying to tell you all these years. I study different types of magic. Not the physical type. It has to do with my mind. It doesn't make me stronger. But it does make me different." Luna said, her voice infused with power and confidence.
Neville stared open-mouthed before hugging Luna tenderly. Everyone knew he fancied Luna, but never had the guts to tell her.
The moment was so sincere and touching that everyone seemed to grow a bit happier.
And it was all ruined, by a high-pitched scream, of a 5th year who wasn't even supposed to be there. She wasn't touched by the war at all, but right in front of her was a huge snake, with fangs that glistened evilly.
"Nagini," Harry whispered, clutching his forehead in pain. He slowly helped an injured Dean Thomas sit down.
But it wasn't Harry who approached the snake.
Neville didn't look like the shy, clumsy little boy he used to be. He looked like a warrior, ready to pulverize anything that stood in his way. And though it should've never worked alone... well, it wasn't alone.
Luna and Neville yelled the Killing Curse together.
The snake crumpled before their eyes, somehow dying.
The invincible animal, dead even though it was protected through blood magic.
Everybody realized what had happened at the same time. Something that was rare, so very rare, there was only one record of it. Love magic always trumps everything else - that's why love was so powerful.
How could love magic ever be pulled off with Draco and Hermione if it had been right now? It was a once in a million centuries chance; no way it could happen.
But no one thought of that know; they were celebrating their two unlikely heroes and their small victory.
The small victories that make up the big one.
Their lips were tainted forever, but their hearts were, and would always be pure.
Awwwwwwww.
Hope you enjoyed!
- Eliza 🐍