This story was written in response to an anonymous prompt in the 2017 HP Canon Fix Fest:

Hermione saves Sirius before being cursed in the Department of Mysteries. He takes her on in a big brother type way when her parents make her choose between magic or them.

All the Difference

Hermione could only think about Harry. He had been so frantic at the thought of losing Sirius that he couldn't even bear to wait for confirmation that his godfather was actually in danger – nor could he wait for the assistance of some of the older Order members. Therefore, she was afraid that he would do something rash and dangerous. That was why she had agreed to go with him on this ill-advised rescue mission. It was why they had ended up in the Department of Mysteries, fighting for their lives.

Hermione couldn't see Harry through the chaos, but she did see Sirius. He was off to the side and dueling with both Bellatrix and Dolohov. Even though he seemed to be almost enjoying himself, as his occasional shouts of laughter could attest, she could see that he couldn't hold out against both of them forever. Therefore, as soon as she saw Dolohov getting ready to throw a curse at Sirius while he was distracted by his evil cousin, she made a snap decision. She just couldn't let Harry lose Sirius when he had already lost everything else. He deserved to keep the one connection to his parents that he still had – his godfather. Sirius had lost so much, too, his best friends, his adopted family, and the twelve years of his life that had been stolen from him while he had been falsely imprisoned in Azkaban. He deserved better than that, too. She suddenly realized that she had much less to lose than either of them – especially now! Therefore, with the fleeting hope that they would both understand why she was doing this, she jumped between Sirius and Dolohov - just as the latter started to verbalize his curse. She was then hit with the purple slashing curse from Dolohov's wand at the very same moment that the red stunning spell from Bellatrix's wand slammed into her, as well. Her body then crashed into Sirius's, knocking them both onto the floor – right in front of the mysterious Veil.

"Hermione!" Sirius's anguished howl, sounding very similar to that of Padfoot's, alerted the other Order members. Remus arrived immediately on the spot after hearing the distressed voice of his best friend and saw Sirius frantically trying to hold Hermione's torn flesh together while red slowly pooled underneath her stunned body. He also saw both Dolohov and Bellatrix approaching the pair on the floor with their wands drawn. Therefore, Remus frantically fired a blasting spell at Dolohov. The force of the spell knocked the Death Eater into Bellatrix and, in the blink of an eye, both of them tumbled past Sirius and Hermione and slipped through the Veil together. Remus checked to make sure that they were really gone and then turned his attention back to both his best friend and his former pupil. By this time, they were both covered in blood, so he acted instantly by taking them to the one medical professional that he knew he could trust to keep Sirius's secret – Madame Pomfrey.

Hermione was very surprised to wake up in the hospital wing of Hogwarts the next morning. However, she was even more surprised to see an unkempt and sleep deprived Sirius sitting at her bedside – holding her hand.

Good! was her first thought. It must have worked, then! "But what happened?" She didn't realize that she had said that last part aloud until Sirius's eyes widened and he whipped his head around in order to look directly into her eyes.

"What happened?" he repeated unbelievingly. "Oh, my brave little lioness. You saved this cur's unworthy hide – again! That's what happened!"

"Harry?" she asked, a bit desperately.

"He's fine, Little One, and so is everyone else. There were only minor injuries on our side – except for your impressive ones, of course. You certainly don't do things by halves, do you?" His grip on her hand tightened as he tried to reassure her with a joking manner, but his voice cracked at the end and gave him away.

"I couldn't let you and Harry lose each other – not again," she croaked out in explanation, her voice rough with both emotion and discomfort.

"And I will never ever be able to repay you for that, Kitten," he replied in an equally emotional voice, "but rest assured that I will never stop trying! Let's get you sorted out first, though." He then reached for the carafe of water next to her bed and poured her a glass. He then helped her to drink it while calling for Madame Pomfrey to let her know that her patient was awake and in pain.

The next time Hermione awoke, both Sirius and Harry were at her bedside. As soon as Harry saw her open her eyes with a painful grimace, he jumped up and grabbed both of her hands to hold them tightly in his. "Oh, Hermione!" he practically wailed. He then continued, obviously distraught. "I am so so so sorry! This is all my fault. You tried to tell me…I shouldn't have believed them…I shouldn't have listened…You saved Sirius…and now you are…He told me you did it for us….I just don't deserve a friend like you, Mione." His worried babbling tapered off brokenly as she shook her head at him.

"That's just not true, Harry." She spoke quietly since she was in pain, but firmly since she didn't want him to know. However, she never took her eyes off of him. "You're my best friend and I love you." Sirius picked up his head at these words and looked at the two young people intently. Hermione didn't notice and continued to speak, "Of course, I would do anything I could for you."

"I love you, too, Hermione." Harry said sincerely, almost completely overcome with the affection and gratitude that he felt for his amazing friend – as well as the guilt that ate away at him as he looked at her pale form on the bed. "You have always been there for me and I promise that I will be a better friend to you from now on…" his voice then broke again and he found that he couldn't speak anymore, so he bent down to kiss her cheek instead. "I promise that I will make this up to you," he whispered. "I need to go now, though. Madame Pomfrey threatened to throw me out on my ear if I bothered you for more than just a minute." He then looked over at his godfather who had been watching them both with interest because of the new and pleasing ideas that were just starting to form in his head. "Sirius, will you stay with her, please?" he asked and would only consent to leave after he was granted the word of the animagus.

"I'll watch out for her as long as I can, Pup! I promise!" Sirius declared and then with one more backwards look at his dear friend on the bed, Harry was gone.

Hermione let out the jagged breath that she had been holding and Sirius was up like a flash!

"Why didn't you tell me that you were hurting, Little Lioness?" he asked gently, while getting her some water and calling for Madame Pomfrey.

"I didn't want to worry Harry," she said honestly. "He has enough on his mind right now. I am just so glad that nobody else got seriously hurt. He doesn't need that on his conscious."

Sirius looked at her gratefully. "You're such a good person, Hermione. I'm so glad that he has someone who cares about him that much. You remind me so much of Lily, you know."

"Harry's mom?" she asked, as Madame Pomfrey slipped in through the privacy curtain, carrying a tray loaded with potions, and shooed Sirius away.

He paused on his way out and nodded. "She was a Muggleborn, too, you know – but was the smartest of our group. She took care of all of us, as well, even though we drove her crazy! She never gave up on us, though…any of us. She was always there when we needed her – until the very end….and she certainly would have liked you!" With those words, he slipped on out through the curtain.

Madame Pomfrey then bustled around Hermione handing her potion after potion to take. "He's right, you know. You do remind me quite a bit of Miss Evans. Just like you with Misters Potter and Weasley, she would be here every time one of the scamps in that lot was being treated after getting into some kind of trouble - which was quite often, as you can imagine – even if you ignore Mr. Lupin's monthly visits." She then checked the wound covering Hermione's abdomen before reapplying a potent smelling salve on it. "Hmmm…the potions and salves seem to be working and the flesh and muscle are knitting back together nicely. Even though it seems hard to believe, you should be thankful that you were also hit with a stunner. It slowed down the slashing curse and blood loss and gave you a chance to make it back here in time." She stood up and pulled Hermione's gown back down. "However, you will probably be quite sore for a few more days and will have to take it very easy. You are also going to have quite the scar, Miss Granger. Unfortunately, you won't be able to magically remove it or even glamour it since it was caused by a curse. You should be proud of it, though. Mr. Black told me what you did…and why. You were willing to sacrifice everything for a friend. Just don't do it again! Do you understand me, child?" This was said firmly, but with a fond smile that Hermione just had to return.

"Yes, Madame Pomfrey, and thank you for everything! I know that we have all been in here quite a bit over the years, but you've always been so very good to us." The matron just made a noncommittal noise on her way out, but Hermione saw a small pleased smile on her face, as well, and was comforted by it.