A/N: Hey guys! So here's another one-shot of HxJ. It's from the same 'verse as Somebody to Love but just another little screen shot of their time together. The book Hermione reads is "Romancing Mr. Bridgerton" by Julia Quinn, one of my all-time favourites and I highly recommend it to anyone who likes historical romance. Without further ado, here's my story!
Hermione huffed and rushed to pack her bag. Potions had just finished, and as if she wasn't irritated enough at her current situation, her hair grew about 4 times puffier than usual. Slipping her bag onto her right shoulder, she hurried out of the class. Her quick steps echoed through the staircase as larger, heavier ones bounded after her.
"Hermione wait!" A male voice trailed behind her. Hermione lifted her hair in a silent prayer and turned to face a young Sirius Black. Her nails glittered in the reflecting sunlight of the now open hallways. He looked down at the offending light and grimaced.
"Oh. Still have it then, have you?" His look quickly turned sour and crossed his arms over his chest. Hermione refused to look ashamed.
"Honestly Sirius, I don't see what the problem is. You're both making such a big deal out of nothing."
At that, Hermione kept walking towards the Gryffindor common room. While she appreciated Sirius' loyalty (both during her time, as an adult and now in the past, as a teenager), it was a bit excessive. James was his own individual and if James wanted to be upset with her then it's not up to Sirius to tag along. This was an argument between a couple, not the entire Gryffindor graduating class. Best friends or not, Sirius should not be involved in this.
It was stupid, ridiculous and borderline moronic. James Potter, her boyfriend had taken upon himself to get upset over the most insignificant thing humanly possible.
Nail polish.
Yes, he picked a fight with her because he didn't like her nail polish. The holidays were nearing, and Hermione felt like indulging-she'd more than earned it with the last few months she's had. She didn't realize that her colour choice would cause such problems. She glared at the portrait of the Fat Lady and grumbled the password.
Honestly though, a little pigment on her nails and he went off. He had a temper that was almost as bad as Ron. What had started as a nice morning had ended with arm-waving, pointing, frustration and just a little bit of screeching on her part.
ooOoo
Hermione sat down by the fire in her favourite armchair. She had completed her homework for the night and decided to wait up for James to finish Quidditch practice. Exams were done, and she finally had a moment to herself.
Pulling a novel halfway out of her jumper, she strained her neck forward as she peered to the left and the right of the common room to make sure she was well and truly alone. She had been trying to finish this book for the last week but with the stress of school, she hadn't had a chance. Historical romance was her guilty pleasure. This book in particular was a favourite of hers. The main character was a wall-flower in love with her best friends' older brother, a popular, handsome man. They eventually end up happily married and in love.
She loved reading this book because it felt like she'd never have that in her own life but she was wrong. There was a sudden outpour of romance in her life that had never before been possible. All thanks to her best friends father. Grimacing, she shook her head to banish the thought. It wouldn't do to think of him as Harry's father, better to think of him as James. He was James.
James Potter, one quarter of the Marauders of Hogwarts. A self-proclaimed "prankster-extraordinaire". He was everything she'd ever dreamed of in a man. He was brilliant, attentive, loving, thoughtful, and kind. He finally stopped picking on the Slytherins for pranks, and truly grew into the man she'd heard so much about. He would carry her bag to class (and almost never complained about all the extra tombs she carried around with her - a feat in itself!), would bring her meals when she'd spend too many hours in the library and would even sometimes send her notes in the morning before her day started-just to say good morning. She'd never dreamed that she'd find a man quite like him, and yet … his temper.
The only downfall of this beautiful human being, was his temperament. He didn't throw fits or get mad per se, but his extremely emotional personality tended to overcome rational thought when he was upset. They didn't fight much, not at all actually. They complimented each other perfectly. He helped her live her life beyond the walls of the library, helped her become more than the bookworm she had always considered herself. On the other hand, she helped him mature and become the man she currently was with.
"Mione? You're still reading? Soon you'll need glasses like me". James stood by her arm chair, scratching the back of his head as he laughed at the site of his girlfriend curled up with a book. He held his wand in his right hand and was levitating two cups of tea, no doubt nicked from the kitchens. Putting them onto the table in front of his girlfriend, James sat down on the love seat in front of the fire.
Hermione stuck her tongue out at him and climbed out of her chair to sit closer to him. As much as he teased her about her habits, there was nothing James loved more than these moments alone together. After dinner they'd usually cuddle on the couch and read, study or do homework together. It was one of the few moments in the day where they could be together peacefully, talk about their days or just enjoy each others company. Hermione sat next to James and accio'd the giant knit blanket from her dorm. Curling up under his arm, they both relaxed and sipped at the tea James brought.
"How was quidditch practice?" Hermione asked absent-mindedly. While she cared about James and his hobbies, she would much rather focus on Penelope and Colin. Glancing back down, she searched for the paragraph that she stopped at.
"Hermione?" James called her name, hoping to catch her attention. His voice had a slightly higher pitch to it than usual.
Hermione ignored him, instead continuing to read about Colin kissing Penelope intensely in the horse-drawn carriage.
James cleared his throat. Hermione wanted to continue reading but she knew just how relentless her boyfriend was. Looking up at him, she glared a little at his interruption. Catching his eye, she was shocked to notice how serious he looked.
"What on earth is making you so serious?"
"What is that on your nails?" James lifted her hand to inspect it closely. Hermione pulled her hand from his and swatted his hand away.
"Silly man, it's just nail polish. My goodness you had me worried". Giggling she turned to return to her book.
"Why is it green?" The edge in James' voice hadn't left yet.
Sensing trouble, Hermione put a bookmark where she had stopped reading and leaned forward to place the book onto the table. Pulling off her blanket, she twisted to face James completely.
"Really now? It's just some nail polish!"
"Why Slytherin colours though?!" Looking down, Hermione realized just what was bothering her boyfriend so much. She had chosen to paint her nails an emerald green. It was her favourite colour despite being a Gryffindor and she saw no problem with it earlier that evening when she chose it. In fact, the colour matched Harry's eyes perfectly so she kept it as a reminder of the best friend she missed terribly.
"Are you really upset because my nails are green? You're really questioning my House loyalty?"
"Why did it have to be green? Why not red? Blue? Hell even yellow would have been preferable to the colour of our arch-nemesis House!" James was beginning to get worked up. His arms were waving wildly as he kept pointing to her nails.
Hermione stood up, annoyed at the stupidity of the man in front of her.
"Just why exactly do you think you get to have an opinion over what colour I choose to paint my nails? I'm not running off to be with a Slytherin and I think you're being absolutely ridiculous about this James!"
James scrambled off the couch, now putting a few feet of distance between the two of them.
"You need to change it now. That colour just won't do. What will the others think?"
"Excuse me?" Hermione was screeching by this point. "Just who do you think you are? Telling me what to do? I'm not some house elf for you to boss around! And who cares what the others think? It's nail polish for Merlin's sake!" Hermione grabbed her book from the table and stomped back to her dorm room, slamming the door shut on the way out.
James sat down and sipped at his tea glumly.
ooOoo
In a show of solidarity, Hermione refused to remove the nail polish. That fight happened two days ago and she refused to back down. No one cared about what colour she put on her nails and she would never change her appearance because a man told her to-nail polish or not. It was the principle of the matter. James needed to respect her autonomy as a human being and understand that he, under no circumstances, could speak to her as though she belonged to him.
Ever since their fight, James had been in a foul mood and Sirius had joined in on this argument too it seemed. Those two were two peas in a pod, honestly. She doubted that they went to the washroom without each other at this point. They practically finished each other's sentences. 'Maybe I should just tell James to date Sirius if they're so close'.
Hermione huffed and climbed through the portrait. There on the couch was Remus and James was sitting on the floor in front of the table, no doubt working on the DADA assignment due the following afternoon. Walking past James, Hermione waved at Remus and was about to climb up the stairs when she heard a familiar voice mumble something incoherent. Hermione stiffened and turned to face the two men on the couch.
"Excuse me?"
"I said I'm sorry". James sounded miserable. Shoulders hunched, he had turned his neck so that he was looking at Hermione. Letting out a sigh, Hermione dropped her bag by the stairs and walked back towards her boyfriend. Remus made a few awkward hand gestures and left the common room, no doubt eager to get away from the fighting couple.
"I'm sorry for what I said. It's just a nail polish colour and not worth arguing over. I'm sorry". He had perfected the puppy dog look, she was sure. He looked so pitiful but there was something that he said that still didn't sit well with her.
"James, darling. I'm not upset because you don't like my nail colour. I'm upset because you tried to order me around as if I was some object that you owned". Hermione tried to keep her voice even, almost soothing. The last thing she wanted was to fight with him again. Bending down to sit next to him, she put her finger under his chin and forced him to look her in the eye.
"Do you understand what I mean?" James just nodded.
"I didn't mean to, honest. I was just so caught up in you have green nails that I was scared you didn't want to be a Gryffindor anymore! I don't think anyone has ever transferred out of their house before but you were a transfer student so maybe rules don't apply to you and you wanted to leave the house. Or better yet maybe you wanted to leave me and wanted to become a Slytherin instead.." James rambled nervously while running his hand through his hair. Hermione called his name a few times to get him to stop speaking but to no avail.
Hermione did the only thing she could think of. Leaning forward, she grabbed his face on either side with her hands and kissed him square on the mouth. Instantly responding, James pulled Hermione in closer. Finally coming up for air, Hermione leaned her forehead against James'.
"I'm not going anywhere. Green is my favourite colour-that's the only reason to explain my nails. I'm not leaving you or Gryffindor- you insufferable prat. You're stuck with me and my green nails". James let out a big breath and laughed. Wrapping his arms around his girlfriend, James finished his assignment happily.
"By the way, if you could call off your boyfriend, that'd be great" Choking on his own saliva, James sputtered.
"My what?"
Laughing, Hermione reached into her pocket and pulled out the familiar novel. Now that her love life was back in order, it was time to continue reading about Colin and Penelope..
A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed this one-shot! Leave a review and let me know what you think !