"Crookshanks," Hermione whispered anxiously as she tiptoed down the stairs of 12 Grimmauld Place, being careful not to awaken Mrs Black. It was past midnight, and Hermione knew that she had to get a good nights sleep; how else would she be able to sit and revise the next day? Crookshanks had gotten into a dreadful habit of sneaking out of Hermione's room as she went to do her teeth before bed. For over an hour, Hermione had been looking for her scruffy ginger cat, to no avail. She was almost at the last step, when she caught sight of a shadow heading in the opposite direction to her. Certain that everyone else was asleep, Hermione assumed that the shadow belonged to Crookshanks.
"There you are you silly ca..." Hermione stopped as she rounded the corner, for in the distance she could make out two shapes, over by the back door, one of the figures laughed, as the other cupped his mouth to prevent him from awakening everyone else. He must have licked his hand, for the other jerked his hand away with a look of disgust, that was soon replaced with longing, "Come on Moony," the first whispered, "Let's go upstairs," he finished, grabbing his friend's arm. Remus spun around at an immense speed, and brought his lips to Sirius', pulling his friend back over to him. Hermione watched on in confusion, after all; Remus had never been the kind to express his emotions in public. 'He isn't in public, silly,' Hermione's conscience reminded her.
Frozen, in the shadows, Hermione watched as Sirius released his grip on Remus' arm, and allowed his hands to travel across Remus' clothed body. Remus grinned slightly, and began to unfasten the buttons on Sirius' shirt. "Here?" Sirius asked, the light shone across his face slightly, illuminating a smirk. Remus shrugged, very out of character for him, in Hermione's opinion. "Why not?" Remus went on to ask, with a teasing tone. Hermione watched, moderately fascinated as Sirius chuckled, "Have it your way then," Sirius growled, pushing Remus back against the door, as he unfastened Remus' tie. Remus blushed, trapped against the door as he opened out Sirius' shirt, running his hands across his friend, erm, partner's skin. Hermione had to remind herself that they were surely more than friends, after seeing this.
Sirius shivered at Remus' cold touch, as their mouths joined once more. When Remus brought his hands down to Sirius' trousers, and Sirius began to push his friend down onto his knees, it was like a wake-up call to Hermione; feeling as though she was intruding on something extremely private, Hermione managed to tear her gaze away from the two men. Just as she reached the stairs, her hand covering her mouth to keep her silent, she heard a brief, "Meow," coming from the kitchen. 'Oh no,' she thought, 'I forgot to look for Crookshanks.' Realising she couldn't really go back into the kitchen, Hermione decided to leave the cat where it was, after all, Crookshanks new Sirius anyway, as a human and a dog, so no harm would come to her with him around.
Hermione went back to bed, closing the door silently, unable to conceal from her mind, the things she had just seen. Thinking of how the calm, collected Remus usually was, as opposed to the fierce, loving creature she had seen downstairs, that was what made it seem all the more unreal. Then when the realisation that the two of them were g...gay, (she could hardly bring herself to think the word) more questions popped into her head; how long had it gone on for, did Harry's father know? Had he been gay too? She immediately ignored that thought, 'no,' she told herself, 'he married Lily, he had always wanted Lily.' She tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep at all.