Chapter Text
The first time James and Hermione met was during both of their third years.
Hermione was running toward Charms class. James was running away from Filch.
He was thirteen years old. She was fourteen.
For her, it was 1993. For him, it was 1973.
They collided.
For James Potter, it was the beginning of something. For Hermione Granger, it was nothing at all.
Brown hair billowing in the breeze, a girl with bright whiskey-colored eyes and a soft, tan complexion. She was pretty in an ordinary way, but that wasn't what caught James's attention, no. He noticed something else, something different, something so honest, sweet, and sincere that he hadn't seen in anyone before, not even Lily: it was her smile. A smile that filled the room with joy and seemed to light up the entire hallway. It was full of affection, sweetness, brimming with beautiful feelings. It was as if she were smiling at someone very precious and beloved, someone very important and valuable. Someone you truly loved. As if she loved him. A pure and honest love. Unique.
It was the first special smile a girl had ever given James Potter in his short thirteen years of life.
It was like magic. Pure, simple magic.
For James, it meant so much; it meant many different things, a change in his heart that he wasn't even able to perceive.
For Hermione, it meant nothing. She didn’t even notice that the bespectacled boy who looked like Harry was not, in fact, her Harry. She jumped to her feet at once, shouting a brief apology and promising she would see him later.
James stayed behind for a moment, shouting that he would be waiting, but not really thinking about it at all. Just responding out of inertia. His hand stretched out, his eyes filled with something as he watched her leave.
It was different.
It was unusual.
The hand that had been outstretched moved to his hair, combing through it and ruffling it without thinking, making him look as though he had just climbed off a broom. The same nervous gesture he used to make in front of Lily, except Lily wasn’t there. Only an unfamiliar girl running away, not even paying attention to him.
James watched the girl disappear as she turned down a corridor. He frowned, blinking in confusion and indignation as the daydream faded and he realized something: his name wasn’t Harry.
With time, James pretended to forget the girl ever existed.
(Her smile, however, would remain untouched in his memory, sometimes returning in beautiful dreams, even after he was married to Lily and they had a small son.)