Just A Little Warm Milk
Summary: It's been hard for Sirius after coming out of the Veil. Good thing he has Hermione.
/ one-shot /
"No! No! I need to get to HARRY! James! I never betrayed them! Please, the rat!"
Hermione pulled off her heavy quilt and slid out of bed. She had been expecting this tonight, though of course she hoped it wouldn't happen again. She'd been expecting it every night, since it happened often enough.
She quietly left her room and opened the door across from hers. (It'd been locked, but he'd started leaving it unlocked for her since then.)
He was thrashing violently in his bed, arms flying and legs kicking frantically, like a drowning man swimming for his life. Hermione walked over to him slowly. (He was actually semi-awake, and didn't appreciate quick, sudden movements.)
"Sirius," she had to be sure to keep her voice soft, unthreatening. "Sirius Black. You are innocent. The Ministry's cleared you. Harry's right downstairs, Sirius Black." (Sirius had woken up so confused and disoriented that he didn't remember his own name.)
The pile of sheet and blanket and pillows on his chest rose as the man breathed in heavily.
"Hermione." (It was like her name washed away all the others.)
She turned to his bedside table and took the two mugs of warm milk left there. (She had been so panicked that she, promoter of S.P.E.W., had actually called a house elf, but Sirius screamed and so she didn't do that anymore.)
She gave him one, and he took it with two shaking hands. A little milk spilled onto the bed, but neither of them paid it any mind.
They drank together, her and Sirius, except this was totally without any of the usual connotations that phrase would mean. This was comfort, and innocence, and a distorted image of a mother-and-son relationship between a man who needed someone to take care of him and someone who needed someone to take care of.
The nights had been hard on Sirius, ever since his return from Beyond the Veil. But this was alright, because he had Hermione – and if Sirius had a nightmare every night or so, well, she'd be there for him. It was as simple as that.
AN: Just trying something a little different here. Drop a review and let me know what you think? Even a smiley face would be nice.