Through Her Eyes

Chapter 29: Heart to Heart

It was fairly chill that night. The stars were glimmering, a faint breeze was rustling the long grasses surrounding the Burrow, and Hermione sat by the window sill, leaning out ever so slightly. It was just the simplicity of summer that she was desperately trying to cherish, she supposed. Because if natural instincts were telling the 'Brightest Witch of Her Age' anything, it was that things were about to get very messy, very quickly.
It had only been a few hours since Padfoot and Prongs left on 'stakeout', and since Hermione herself retreated for a good afternoon of sleep. It wasn't as bad as she thought, transforming for the first time, but it was exhausting none the less. Hermione had fallen asleep immediately, but had only just woken from a sort of nightmarish vision. She didn't remember much of what it was about, only that it involved Harry and Ron, pleading with her to come back,

"Knock, knock?"

Hermione sat up slightly and turned, seeing a head of familiar red hair and green eyes lean into the room,

"Lily, what are you doing up?"

Twisting around so the girl had room to sit, the future Potter closed the bedroom door and hauled up beside her best friend. She was in pink flannels with a red v-neck, and had her hair pulled up into a messy bun. But based on the deep purple rings under her eyes, Hermione knew immediately what the problem was,
"Worried about James?"

"Yeah. I'm terrified for him,"

Leaning on her friends shoulder with a sigh, Lily frowned at the opposite wall and knitted her fine brows,
"I know he'll be ok, and that they are just checking out the area. But I know Sirius likes heroics, and that he'll end up dragging James into it,"

Hermione wanted to argue with her counterpart, but failed to find any flaw in the logic. Her cousin did have a flare for the dramatics, and dragged whomever was nearby right into the middle of it.

"Hopefully Sirius has more sense," Hermione thought a loud, "and that James can talk him out of whatever foolish thing he wants to accomplish,"

'I just hope James' will is strong enough,'. Hermione thought, thinking inwardly about all the unneeded risks Harry took in his lifetime. Surely James wasn't that foolish?
Shaking her head, Hermione leaned on the wall by the window and inhaled deeply again, looking out at the glimmering starlight. She just wanted everything to be alright for once. But in the life of Hermione Granger (neé Black), alright was never an option,

"What are you thinking about?"

Hermione glanced up at Lily, smiling at her. She was currently resting her head on her knees, hands wrapped around the bottoms of her feet as she rocked slightly back any forth. It was a childish pose, yet strangely enough, fit Lily Evans perfectly,

"Everything," Hermione admitted, running a hand across her forehead, "my past, my present and future. Aberforth, Voldemort. The guys...I'm just thinking about everything,"

"That is a lot to take in," Lily mumbled, rolling her bottom lip and nodding ever so slightly. But as her eyes darted away from Hermione's, she knew Lily hadn't just come in for a friendly visit,

"You came in to ask me something," Hermione mumbled, stretching out a leg as she groaned slightly, "what is it?"

"I can't hide anything from you," Lily laughed, though it was half hearted and sad as she sighed and shifted so she was sitting cross legged, "well, see. James and I were talking the other night...about, well," Lily seemed to hesitate as she gnawed her lip again, "we were talking about life. And marriage. And...kids,"

Hermione nodded slightly, understanding immediately where this conversation was headed as her heart gave a small tug in her chest. She had wanted to tell Lily and James everything from the start. But then, she was afraid of the consequences. Now, she had nothing to lose,