A/N - this one is Teacher!James x Student!Hermione (like 'Dear Reader' mentioned) and was requested by @-wintxrwidow

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Wish I'd Never Grown Up

(Never Grow Up - Speak Now - 2010)

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James paced around the transfiguration classroom. It was nearing curfew, Hermione had to be here soon. The 20-year-old Gryffindor sighed and sat on his desk, waiting for his 17-year-old companion.

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Hermione ran through the halls; she had to get to James right now. She was late by - she turned her wrist and looked at her watch - 5 minutes. To be fair, she had a close encounter with Mrs.Norris...

But still! She was almost late! And Hermione Granger is never late. Never. Never ever.

She almost cried with joy when she saw the open door of the transfiguration classroom. She walked in and sat next to James.

"I thought you wouldn't come," he started.

"Of course I would! You know me, James!" she protested.

"I know, I know, don't nag me woman! But, I must ask, why were you so late?"

"Mrs Norris."

He nodded, "Thought so."

She quirked an eyebrow.

"Well, there was a possibility that it was Filch, that you were spending to long studying or you were eating in the kitchens because you missed meals whilst studying. But, looking at you now, I think the last two were factors as well. Am I right?"

"I can neither confirm nor deny."

"So yes."

She rested her head on his shoulder and let out a shaky breath. It was going to be OK, it had to be. It would be - for now - as long as James was beside her.

"So, Professor Potter, why did you summon me here today?"

He laughed.

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"James Potter is dead!" Voldemort's voice rang out through the battle field.

"No!" Hermione Jean Potter nee Granger screamed her husband couldn't be dead. He couldn't.

"Hermione, no!" Remus cried, holding her back.

"Let. Me. Go."

"It's not what James would have wanted," he said solemnly.

She nodded. She sat down, when something caught her eye. Silver - no, red. Jewels? Metal? It started to become clearer. A sword

Not a sword though, the sword of Gryffindor. Hope. She grabbed it and charged.

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"And, that, Harry, is how Mummy defeated Voldemort."

"Mummy?!" The child asked, eyes bright with curiosity.

"Yep! Your Mummy defeated the darkest wizard of all time," James smiled at his son.

"Cool! I want to be just like Mummy when I grow up!"

"Not if I have any say in it," Hermione said, sitting down next to her husband and son, with a little bundle of blankets nestled in her arms.

"Why not?"

The mother shook her head.

The father laughed.

The son asked again.

The baby was asleep.

"I had lost so much at that moment."

The son's faced changed from curiosity to understanding.

"And, when I thought your father was 'dead' I was scared - and alone. And lost. And completely and utterly broken. So I thought that I would take down Voldemort right there or die trying."

The father wrapped an arm around his wife.

When Harry was asleep and Lily in her cot, husband and wife sat down. Hermione cried on his shoulder, he cried into her hair. They cried for the lives that were lost, they cried for the childhood they never had, they cried.

Even though when you look at them, you see two teachers, they were really just children in a world that made them grow up to fast.

"Look, Mia love, a shooting star. What do you wish for?"

"Wish I'd never grown up."

And, he agreed.

A/N - omg, this took so long to write. But I'm proud of it. I know it's not really focusing on Teacher x Student, but I'm proud of it.