A/n: This is just a spark of inspiration. My first ever SiriusxHermione ficcie!
Disclaimer: No, I do not own Harry Potter, or Sirius Black, for that matter. '(--
Fighting the Feeling
Chapter One..
Hermione, Ron, and Harry stepped out of the bright yellow muggle cab, clutching their trunks. Hermione smiled as she drew in a breath of the sweet air. She watched silently as Harry turned around to hand several crumpled bills to the driver, before shutting the door behind them and watching the cab speed off.
Ever since the trio had found out about the Order, they had come to number 12 Grimauld Place during the holidays to keep up with the Order's plans on defeating Voldermort and restoring peace to the magical world. They were always sure to be greeted by the chaotic – yet undoubtedly loving – scenes in the kitchen, when Snape, their former professor, would probably be smirking with a fresh insult slapping Sirius across the face, with Molly, Tonks, and Remus trying desperately to calm down the two grown men.
"You two act like such babies at times!" Molly once cried, wringing her hands in the air in frustration. "Much more childish than Fred and George!" With that said, she'd earn herself an indignant 'huff' from one of the Weasley twins.
"It's good to be back here, isn't it?" Ron said with a goofy grin, taking a step towards the small slot of space inbetween number 11 and number 13 Grimauld Place. For several moments, the trio stood there in silence, before Ron fidgeted with his bright red locks.
"Well.. any ideas on how to conjour up the place?" he asked casually. Hermione and Harry shook their heads in dismay.
"Err.. well, I remember seeing old Dumbledore mutter something and flick his wand..," Harry offered. "Or we could try walk around until the house gets the point and decides to materialise. Or we could hope to bump into an invisible wall."
"Let's try calling Sirius," Hermione said quickly, wincing at the mere idea of them walking around like the three blind mice, hoping to bump into a wall. Her idea seemed the most sensible, anyway.
"Good idea," Ron nodded. "On the count of three, then. One.. two.. three!"
"SIRIUS BLACK!" all three of them shouted, draining the air from their lungs in a split second. Hermione panted slightly as she regained her breath, and swore she saw the flowery curtains in the next house rustle slightly.
As if on cue, number 12 Grimauld Place suddenly materialised infront fo them, pushing the neighboring houses aside. Hermione was surprised that none of the occupants of the next-door houses ran outside screaming, "MY HOUSE IS SHRINKING!"
The dark oak front door with it's serpent's head banger opened, and revealed a beaming Sirius.
"Hello, guys!" he called. He gestured for them to enter the house. "Come on in, everyone's waiting for you in the kitchen."
Harry, Hermione, and Ron picked up their luggage and walked into the antique house. Harry and Ron greeted Sirius with a 'mature' handshake, but Hermione just looked around at her surroundings. Although she had been in the house countless times before, Hermione still felt the same whoosh of admiration at the beautifully dark and bold tapestries and paintings that hung from the dark walls of the Black Mansion halls. The Black family crest was hung at the far end of the hall, and Hermione could roughly see the tapestry that held the Black family tree next to the family crest.
"Hey, Sirius," Hermione finally said, turning to face her best friend's godfather. He smiled gently at her, the dark pools of his eyes twinkling. "Hello, Hermione. Good to have you back."
"Well, we'll levitate our stuff up to our usual rooms, eh?" Ron suggested cheerfully. "Then, we'll head down to the kitchens. I hope there's something delicious cooking on the stove..," he added, smacking his lips. Hermione, Harry, and Sirius laughed.
"Really, Ron, is food all you think about?" Harry said.
"Aah, don't worry, Ronald," Sirius said. "Molly's been here a couple of days, and she's probably preparing something now. She mentioned something about lamb stew with potatoes, I believe.."
Ron's eyes widened as he grinned. "Lamb stew? Merlin! That ought to be super good. C'mon, guys, let's go put out bags upstairs. The faster we do, the faster I get my lamb stew."
Hermione shook her head, smiling. She got her wand out from her jeans pocket and muttered an incantation. With a swift flick of her wand, all the luggage was levitated into the air. Hermione watched with a satisfied smirk as they zoomed off to the bedrooms.
"Well, come on, then!" urged Ron. "Let's go!"
--
Later that night….
Hermione sat at the polished kitchen table, her hands clasped around a mug of steaming tea. Everyone else had left for bed hours ago, leaving her by herself to think about the days events.
A small smile crept up her lips as she recalled the memory of Snape discreetly hexing Sirius's chair legs, causing poor Sirius to fall backwards onto the ground with a loud crash. The antique chair had gone down with him, smashing into a billion pieces, scattered all over the floor. Sirius had stood up immediately and dusted off his pants, letting a stream of bad words come trailing out of his mouth. He had immediately grabbed his wand and muttered the first hex that flitted into his mind – the jelly-jinx curse!
Snape had yelped in horror as his legs started to wobble madly. He grasped the table to try and steady himself. He quickly muttered the counter-curse and fell back onto his chair.
Just then, the door to the kitchen opened, bringing Hermione out of her reverie. She turned around to see who it was, and smiled when she saw it was only Sirius, coming down for a quick midnight snack.
"Oh, hey, Sirius!" she said, beaming. "Coming down for a snack?"
"Hi, Hermione," Sirius said with a tired smile. "Yeah, I got rather hungry, and woke up realising I was dreaming about cream cakes and coffee." Hermione let out a small laugh at his small talk.
It was then that she realised that her best friend's godfather was half naked – sporting only a pair of cotton pajama pants. She blushed at the sight of his topless form. She was sure if her relationship with him had been different, she would have probably drooled at the sight of his toned, chiseled chest.
Someone's been working out…. And he's looking H-O-T, Hermione thought with a smirk. She mentally kicked herself. Noo! Don't think of Sirius like that! Goodness me, it must be this tea…. I'm sure the Weasley twins jinxed all the tea bags!
Sirius walked towards the muggle refrigerator that he was so fond of, and took out some chocolate biscuits and a glass of milk. Then, he shut the door and sat down at the table across from Hermione.
They sat in a companionable silence, each minding their own business. Hermione continued to stare into space, occasionally sipping her hot tea. Sirius would chomp on his chocolate biscuits and gulp down his milk at intervals.
Hermione stole a quick glance at the handsome, rugged-looking man before her. She smiled lightly, remembering her schoolgirl crush on Sirius Black five years ago when she was 14. She had dated many men since then – namely Ronald Weasley, Seamus Finnigan, and her Quidditch-star sweetheart, Viktor Krum. She had since learned that she could never be with Sirius Black as he was almost twenty years her senior! She could never date a man old enough to be her father.
Thankfully, my schoolgirl crush on my best friend's godfather has subsided since then, she thought, a smirk playing up her lips. Sirius, who happened to look up at her that very moment, caught that smirk before it got wiped off her face. He grinned.
"What a lovely smirk you've got, 'Mione," he commented. "Enough to make you a true Marauderette".
Hermione's cheeks got tinted a light pink. "Don't call me that," she said, "You know I don't like that."
"And I wonder why," Sirius drawled, popping another biscuit into his mouth. Hermione rolled her eyes discreetly. She knew exactly what he was talking about.
Several years ago, when she was still dating Viktor Krum, he had used that very nickname when he had decided to end their relation because she 'did not give him the pleasure of knowing that he was her one and only'.
"I am sorry, 'Mione," she recalled him saying in his thick Bulgarian accent as he grasped her delicate hand. "But I cannot continue living this lie. You vill not please me vith the knowledge that I am your one and only. I've always had the suspicion that you vere secretly seeing someone else, 'Mione, and it hurts me." With that, he had left her there, sitting alone in the Gryffindor Common Room. From that moment on, she hated it when anyone called her by that nickname. It reminded her of all her happy moments with Victor Krum.
Hermione immediately felt her eyes sting with tears, and she turned away from Sirius's smirking face. Sirius's smirk immediately dropped into a concerned frown. "Is everything alright, love? I'm sorry, I said something that hurt you." He got up and walked towards her, watching her try to hide the tears that streamed down her pale cheeks. He kneeled down beside her and automatically patted her shoulder.
"There, there, Hermione. I'm sorry," he said again. Hermione straightened her back and sniffed one last time before reaching for a paper towel in the middle of the table. She dabbed lightly at her eyes with it before offering Sirius a small smile.
"Don't worry about it, Sirius. I'm just.. feeling emotional at the moment, that's all," she said. She crumpled up the paper towel and levitated it to the rubbish bin at the other end of the room.
Sirius smiled, relieved. "Good, then." He got up and walked towards his seat again and took a big gulp of milk.
"Well, I'm off to bed now," Hermione said with a weak smile as she finished the remains of her tea. She placed her mug in the sink and with a flick of her wand, made the mug wash itself. Sirius stood up.
"Would you like me to accompany you up to your room, Hermione?" he asked as he extended his arm towards her, playing the perfect gentleman.. 'perfectly'. Hermione smiled slightly as she shook her head.
"No, thanks, Sirius. I'm sure I can get up to my room just fine," she said with a laugh. Sirius let his arm drop back to his side as he let out a small chuckle.
"Very well, then, Hermione. Good night, and don't let the boys bite," he said with a wink. Hermione smiled and blushed at that. "Good night, Sirius," she said before dissapearing behind the hall door.
Sirius finished the remains of his milk and biscuits before leaving the dirty dishes in the sink next to Hermione's spotless mug. He murmered an incantation, and watched with amusement as the sponges and washing-up rags started to clean his dishes.
After several moments, he apparated up to his room, feeling too tired to walk up the many flights of stairs. He climbed into his large four-posted bed and snuggled under the covers. He let out a contented sigh as he closed his eyes and fell asleep within seconds.
--
A/n: Heyoo, people! As a comeback, I'm going to start shipping a new pairing! SB/HG. I never really gave it much thought, until I read a few of the stories when I was on one of my random-pairings reading. And I think most of the 'Sermione' fics are really sweet and cute. ) So, I've decided to give this pairing a try. Plz review! It doesn't matter, really – whether you think it sucked, rocked, hate it, love it – just review and tell me what you think. Constructive critisism is welcomed, as always, but flamers are for the friggin' arsonists.
Luv,
-su. xx
6