OOTP & HBP SPOILERS IN THE FULL SUMMARY

Summary: Set in the summer after Hermione's sixth year. Hermione is 17. AU, Sirius is alive and so is Dumbledore. Basically ignores everything in HBP. Sirius and Hermione have been fighting since the Trio arrived at Grimmauld Place a week earlier. Finally, in an attempt to make the two get along, Dumbledore curses them to live like Muggles for the remainder of the summer in the middle of nowhere. In the month that follows, the two set aside their differences as they try to survive in the wilderness. Chaos ensues, of course. :D

Edit: Forgot the disclaimer. It's not really needed, but I like to be safe.

Disclaimer- I don't own the Harry Potter series. I am not making money off of this. I only own the plot of this story. Hooray!


Into the Woods

Chapter 1

"Why must you ruin everything, you childish little--"

"It was just an accident. It's not a big deal, Hermione!"

"Not a big deal? Not a big deal? You ruined my potion!"

"I just wanted to see what it was! You're in my house, I think I should know what kinds of potions are being brewed in my own--"

"If you wanted to know what it was, you should have asked me! But instead, you had to touch it! Did you even stop to think about the consequences? Oh, of course not, you're Sirius Black!"

"You're overreacting! You can just make it again--"

"MAKE IT AGAIN? I spent months working on that potion, I can't just make it again!"

"Months? That's a brilliant waste of time--"

SLAM

Hermione slammed the door in the man's face in a huff, then turned back to her botched work. Three months. She sighed and willed the tears that were collecting in her eyes not to fall. Why did Sirius have to be so... so stupid? Living with him was like babysitting a child, for Merlin's sake. Did he even consider that the potion might be dangerous? Of course not, he never thought, just acted.

For a year, Hermione had been working with Professor Snape to find a potion that would make the drinker insusceptible to Unforgivables for a short length of time. And three months earlier, she had found what she believed would end their search, and began to brew the complicated potion. But she hadn't found the potion in a book. It was one of her own making, and she was proud of it. And now, her hard work was completely ruined. She would have to start from the very beginning.

This thought made the tears finally fall. She bent down to pick up the cauldron that Sirius had accidentally knocked onto the floor, her tears mixed with the deep red substance that was splashed across the wooden floor. If she only had the money, she would buy her own home, just to get away from all the chaos Grimmauld Place held. In fact, today's fight was the fourth between herself and Sirius since she arrived earlier in the week. "At this rate, by the end of the summer, I'll have gone crazy," she thought, "If I haven't already."

She had gotten onto her hands and knees to wipe up the mess when there was a knock on the door. "If that's you, Sirius..." she thought angrily.

"Come in," she called without turning from the monstrosity on the floor.

The door creaked open and Harry Potter cautiously walked in. He knew Hermione was in a bad mood and wasn't sure what she'd say or do to him if he brought up Sirius. He had heard the fight. Almost everyone had. Harry, the twins, Ginny, Ron, and Mrs. Weasley were all relaxing in the sitting room when Hermione's shrill voice cut through the silence like a knife. Not long after, Sirius Black had stomped down the stairs as quietly as possible, so not to wake his mother's portrait, and entered the kitchen without a word to any of his guests. Harry had been volunteered by the Weasley family to check on Hermione, mainly because everyone -- even Mrs. Weasley -- was terrified of Hermione's wrath.

"Hey 'Mione." he said softly.

"Oh, hi Harry." she replied, clearly relieved that it was him.

Harry inhaled deeply and slowly, then said, "I heard you and Sirius yelling from the sitting room."

"Oh," Hermione replied. If Harry had heard, then the whole house must have heard. "Great." she thought morosely.

Seeing that she wasn't going to scream at him for bringing it up, he continued, "Yeah, it's a miracle that Mrs. Black's portrait didn't fly open again."

His comment was met with silence, save the continuous sloshing sound Hermione made with her rag as she cleaned.

"Hermione," he plowed on, "I know Sirius can be a little... aggravating sometimes, but cut him some slack, he's been through a lot."

The sloshing stopped and Hermione froze.

"Uh oh," Harry thought, and he slowly began to back his way toward the door. "I shouldn't have said that, I shouldn't have said that," he thought. However, Hermione spoke before he could exit the room.

"Cut him some slack?" Hermione said, her voice unnervingly soft.

"Er...I didn't...I meant--"

"You're right."

Harry's eyes must have doubled in size.

"W-what?" he asked, clearly shocked at her change in demeanor.

"You're right," she repeated, "If this constant fighting is to ever stop, one of us will have to give in. And seeing as Sirius is much too immature to back down, it will have to be me."

"Oh," Harry said, now pleasantly surprised, "Good. I don't want your summer to be filled with fights. I'm glad you're willing to step down."

"Mmmhmm." was all she had to say in response and she began to wipe up the potion again. Seeing that the conversation was over, Harry slipped out of the room, the happiness of having escaped one of Hermione's bad moods alive clouded his common sense.

"Of course, everything will work out," he thought, "Hermione always was the mature one."

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Later that night, Hermione, Ron, and Harry sat in the small sitting room waiting to enter the kitchen. An Order meeting was taking place, and it was postponing dinner. The three teens sat impatiently, their stomachs growling. Soon after, Fred and George joined them, looking incredibly voracious as well. None of them spoke though, because they were busy straining their ears to hear even a scrap of what the adults were talking about. But it seemed that they knew the young people would attempt to eavesdrop, and were speaking in hushed tones. As soon as Ginny descended the stairs, the door burst open showing Mrs. Weasley.

"Supper in five," she said to the six teenagers before heading back into the kitchen, looking abnormally tired.

"Did I miss anything?" Ginny asked after her mother had disappeared behind the door.

"Nope," Ron replied, "We couldn't hear a thing. Wish mum hadn't taken all of the Extendable Ears."

"Don't worry, little bro. The new batch should be done in a week," George said, smiling mischievously.

"I wonder if Snape's going to be eating with us." Harry wondered aloud.

"Maybe he is," George stated, "He hasn't come out the door."

"I hope he isn't," Fred said, smirking, "I may lose my appetite."

Fred's comment earned a laugh from everyone except Hermione, who gave him a glare.

"Come on Hermione," Fred said, "You can't deny that he's a greasy old bat just because you've been working with him."

"Oh, shut up," she snapped. She stood abruptly and crossed into the kitchen.

"What's her problem?" asked George, staring at the door Hermione had just walked through.

"She's probably still mad about Sirius," Ron said before following Hermione into the kitchen, in search of food.

Fred and George shrugged simultaneously as the four remaining joined the rest in the bustling kitchen.

When Harry walked in, he saw that Professor Snape wasn't there. He had somehow slipped out under their noses. Not that he was complaining, though.

Harry took a seat next to Hermione, who had seated herself at the end of the table, directly across from Sirius. He noticed that Sirius didn't seem to be paying any attention to Hermione, but was in an animated conversation with Lupin. Hermione, however, was staring intently at Sirius, with an odd glint in her eye. It was actually quite scary. Harry looked around the table to see that only Tonks, Lupin, and Dumbledore were joining the residents at dinner.

Just then, Mrs. Weasley set a large bowl of steaming onion soup in front of him. He picked up his spoon and began to eat as quickly as he could, glancing at Hermione every so often, only to see that she had barely touched her food and was still glaring at Sirius.

"So," he started, trying to pry her negative attention from his godfather, "Are you gonna talk to him after supper?"

"Harry, don't speak with your mouth full," she replied simply, never taking her eyes off of Sirius.

Knowing he wasn't going to get any more out of her, he turned to Ron and was about to speak to him when there was a huge CRASH from the end of the table.

Harry saw it out of the corner of his eyes: Sirius had fallen to the floor, it seemed as though his chair had just collapsed underneath him. As he fell, Sirius had grabbed the table for support, and had knocked his bowl onto himself. He was on the floor covered in scalding hot soup. And almost as soon as he had hit the ground, he jumped back up, swatting madly at himself in a fruitless attempt to rid his skin of the hot liquid.

"SHIT SHIT SHIT!" he yelled, dancing around as though it would soothe his burning skin.

Everyone at the table was silent with shock, everyone except Hermione. She let out a small giggle, causing Harry to turn to her. His eyes were wide as he whispered, "Wh-...You?".

Hermione only smiled in response, then turned back to Sirius, who was now glaring at the people seated around the table. When his eyes rested on Hermione and he saw the smile on her lips, he pointed dumbly at her.

"What in the name of Merlin is wrong with you? Why in the bloody hell would you even do that?" he bellowed. She remained silent at his outburst, but continued to smile, which seemed to anger him further.

"Stop smiling!" he screamed, his eyes bulging in disbelief. At this, she laughed. He looked mental.

His face contorted into an evil sneer, "You little--"

"I'm sorry Sirius," she finally spoke, "But it's no big deal. It was only an accident, of course."

With that, she stood and strolled out of the room, leaving behind eleven astonished diners, one of whom was covered in onion soup.

"COME BACK HERE!" he yelled as he made his way toward the door that Hermione had left through. However, Dumbledore stood before he could make it out of the kitchen.

"Sirius," he said calmly. His voice alone was enough to stop Sirius in his tracks. Sirius sighed deeply and he slowly turned to face the old wizard. There was a short moment of silence as the younger man caught the breath he had lost to his fury.

"Sirius," Dumbledore continued, "this is the fourth time in a week that I have had to scold you for your actions, I am sure you know how I feel about the fighting between Miss Granger and yourself."

"Sir," Sirius began, squeezing as much poison into the word as possible, "It isn't my fault. You saw what she did--"

"Still," Dumbledore cut him off, "You are the older person, and should be more mature when dealing with such problems, am I correct?"

Sirius said nothing, so Dumbledore went on.

"I would like for you to go and retrieve Miss Granger from her room where she most likely is now, and bring her to the kitchen. I would like a word with both of you."

Sirius gave Dumbledore a phony smile, which was returned with a genuine one, then turned to leave the room. He ascended the stairs as slowly as possible, mumbling to himself about the old, crack pot wizard he had left in the kitchen.

"Shouldn't have to... she's the one... not my fault... loony fool... in front of everyone," he mumbled to himself, sounding much like a petulant child.

When he reached the door to Hermione's room, he stood for a moment, his hands in his pockets, doing as much as he could to delay the inevitable moment.

He slowly raised his fist and poised it to knock when he heard a small sob from inside the door. Sirius froze for a second, then hurriedly put his ear against the door.

She was crying. Why was she crying?

Sirius pressed his ear harder against the door, but couldn't hear her any clearer. "Maybe I could just push the door open a lit--"

THUNK

Sirius flew back from the door and almost tumbled down the stairs. He turned his head wildly in an attempt to locate the source of the noise, but couldn't. It sounded like it came from the next landing up anyway, where the twins were staying.

He turned back to the door and knocked immediately, as though doing so would erase the fact he had tried to eavesdrop on her. Sirius heard her shuffling around before she called, "Who is it?" Her voice was slightly strained.

"Me. Sirius," he said through the door.

Silence. Then, "What do you want?"

Sirius sneered, "Dumbledore wants to talk to you in the kitchen. Just thought I would tell you." He pivoted around and quickly found his way back into the kitchen. Dumbledore was alone, sitting in the chair that Hermione had occupied earlier. Sirius made to sit in his usual chair, only to remember that is was in splinters on the floor.

"Damn girl," Sirius said, not even bothering to speak softly in the presence of the Headmaster.

"Shut up Sirius."

He jerked toward the door frame to see Hermione standing there, looking royally pissed. He noticed that her eyes were red and puffy as she moved to sit on Dumbledore's right. His eyes narrowed and he followed her lead, but sat to the left of Dumbledore, and across from Hermione.

Unlike dinner, now Sirius was staring at her and she was avoiding his gaze. He was sending her looks that seemed to say, "Look at me, I dare you."

Dumbledore silently observed the two and their interaction, seeming to be pondering something. Minutes later, neither of the two combatants had spoken, but had remained still, exactly as they had been when they had first sat down.

"I think I have decided what to do about you," Dumbledore began, but was cut off by Sirius.

"I don't mean to be rude," he said, though his tone suggested that he didn't care if he sounded rude or not, "But Hermione and I are adults, and we don't need you to interfere."

"Even so," Dumbledore replied, "I cannot have the two of you impeding on the Order's work. Do you not realize how hard it will be to join together to defeat Voldemort when two of our own are constantly at each other's throats?"

When neither of them spoke, Dumbledore spoke again.

"I have thought about it, and have come to the conclusion that since the two of you cannot behave like adults on your own, the best thing I can do is make both of you get along."

Sirius and Hermione took a moment to exchange a nervous and confused glance, and Dumbledore took his chance. He waved his wand over Hermione, then Sirius, then in between them, and had it back in his robes before either saw him move. He leaned unusually far back in his chair and observed them.

Though they didn't see him cast the spell, they certainly felt it.

"What was that?" Hermione asked worriedly, speaking for the first time since she sat down, "It feels like... my insides have vanished."

"Ah, only a mere side effect," Dumbledore replied airily, causing Hermione to pale, "The sensation should be gone within the hour."

"What did you do?" Sirius asked, his deadly soft voice was rival to Snape's.

"We'll see you two in a month or so," he replied vaguely.

"What-" Sirius cried as he slammed his hands onto the table as he made to stand. Hermione grabbed onto the table in the surprise of Sirius' sudden movement.

Instantly, Hermione felt a tugging sensation in her stomach and she plunged forward with the table and Sirius.


A/N: So, I know Hermione would've cleaned the mess with her wand, but I needed her to clean it manually. I don't think it's a big deal, honestly.

I'm not sure if anyone is OOC. I mean, I can see them saying these things, but please tell me if you think their dialogue/monologue was inaccurate.

There may have been some grammar mistakes, sorry, I'm not exactly an English professor. :D