Hermione was in the kitchen of Number 12, Grimmauld Place when she heard the noise. Being her normal curious self, she moved out from the kitchen and into the dark, creepy hallway to discover the source of the noise that had so distracted her.

"Sirius!" she exclaimed, "What on earth happened to you?!"

The sight Hermione had come across was frightening – Sirius was covered in blood and bruises, his clothes ripped to shreds and from what Hermione could see of him, he had an incredibly pained expression upon his face.

"Cornered, by those damn Death Eaters," he replied, "there were about twelve of them in all, can you believe it, twelve on one. Cowards. If one of them stepped forward to fight I would've kicked their ass straight away, but no, 12!" Sirius rambled. His legs were just about to give way when Hermione ran towards him, only just managing to hold him up because he was rather heavy.

"Come on, I'll get you up to your room. You need rest. When Remus and Harry get back, I'll tell them what you told me and that they aren't to disturb you until you are ready to get up."

"Thanks Hermione, you're one in a million, I gotta say." Sirius said quietly. Hermione blushed and smiled nervously, forgetting that she was supposed to be helping him up to his room. She squeezed his hand, and he smiled at her, obviously in a lot of pain. Then, she remembered her place and what she was supposed to be doing. She heaved him across the room and to the stairs.

"Could I just side-along apparate you to your room?" Hermione asked, "It'd be much easier."

"Sure."

Hermione smiled, and Sirius grabbed hold of her arm, getting ready for the apparition. Hermione turned in a circle, all the while concentrating on both Sirius and where she needed to get – only upstairs, but still. They experienced a familiar squeezing sensation as if they were being pushed out of a rubber tube through darkness, and that sensation suddenly stopped. They were at the door of his bedroom. Hermione blushed; she'd never been in his room before. Trying not to think what she was thinking, she opened the door and helped Sirius across to his bed. As soon as they reached it, he slumped on top of it, falling into a deep slumber. The female tucked him under the covers and gently kissed his forehead. She'd clean his cuts and bruises tomorrow.

She crept out of his room and decided to go to bed herself, seeing as it was night and she was exhausted from helping Sirius.

She woke up, early in the morning with the bright sun streaming in through her window. She'd been out of Hogwarts for two years now and just recently received a letter from the Headmistress McGonagall asking her whether she'd like to become the new charms teacher, seeing as Professor Flitwick had retired. She decided to move in with Remus, Harry and Sirius because well, they asked her whether she wanted to. Harry was at the moment, training to be an auror and Ron had actually become a professional goalkeeper for the Chudley Cannons! Plus, Remus wasn't around that weekend because it was the full moon.

Hermione got up out of bed, wearing her pyjama shorts and camisole top and went downstairs, wanting a cup of coffee to start up her day. She tiptoed downstairs and past the goddamned portrait of Sirius's mother and went into the kitchen. She thought i should I make some breakfast for the boys? Maybe for Harry...he has a long day seeing as he's taking his final test to become an auror today. /i She pondered on this for a moment, coming to the conclusion that if she made a nice English breakfast, Harry was sure to smell the aroma wafting up the stairs.

Sure enough, as soon as she put the sausages and bacon in, Harry popped his head round the door, and asked, "Is that my favourite girl cooking my favourite food, eh?" with a massive grin on his face.

"Indeed it is!" Hermione replied, "oh...by the way, I have something to tell you..."

"Carry on!" he encouraged.

"Well, Sirius came in last night, all battered and bloody, covered in bruises...I thought that it would've been best if I took him up to bed and we could deal with his cuts this morning, when he feels strong enough. He said that he was cornered by Death Eaters...bad news or what?"

"Ah right...fair enough, you do what you think is best...do you think I shouldn't go to the ministry today and wait to see how Sirius is?" he asked, quite concerned.

"No! You must go in to complete your course! I don't think Sirius would like the fact that you blew your career for him," she answered.

"She's right..." they heard a coarse voice from the doorway.