Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
Thanks to erbkaiser for looking this over for me.
Written for Round 2 of the Quidditch League FanFiction Competition. Go Wanderers!
The very first time she laid eyes on Sirius Black she was scared out of her mind. They were all standing in the Shrieking Shack and he looked... wild. And dirty. Very, very dirty. She thought for sure that that moment was going to be the end for Harry, Ron, and herself. But then the truth had come out and she learned a very important lesson.
Not everything was always exactly as it seemed.
That lesson seem to be the very definition of Sirius. There was much more to him than met the eye. She helped save him that night, she and Harry, and she would forever be grateful for having that time turner. That night was the first time she had saved his life, but it wouldn't be the last. They had been fighting in a war, after all. He had saved her a fair amount of times as well. It became almost a running joke between the two, who could save the other the most. Remus could often be found shaking his head at the two of them as they playfully argued over who was ahead in the count.
This continued even after the war was won, when Hermione shocked everyone by deciding to become an Auror instead of taking up a position in the Creatures Department. Sirius, having been freed of all charges, also took up his old position and they were assigned as partners. They fought well together, always having the other's back, and they quickly took the top spots in the Auror Department. Of course, this pleased Hermione greatly, liking nothing more than being on top. Sirius, on the other hand, would just scoff at her and say it didn't matter, not really.
Their friendship might have seemed odd to an outsider, the know-it-all, bossy, swot and the seemingly completely careful Animagus, but it worked, even if not everyone understood it. But that was just the surface to them both. Sure, Sirius could seem like he cared about nothing but boozing and bringing home multiple women, but that was just the facade he played to the public. He was, in truth, extremely caring and loyal to those he deemed worth enough to let in his life. She was just lucky enough to be one of those people. On the flip side, he was often able to bring out her fun side. Harry loved it that his best friend and godfather got on so well, and Remus would regularly laugh at their antics. Others found it strange and Molly Weasley was convinced that Sirius was taking advantage of her (he wasn't, of course).
The years went on, but their friendship stayed solid. They would cheer the other's successes and console the defeats. In fact, she often found herself seeking Sirius out instead of Harry whenever she had a nightmare. Harry liked to blame himself for what happened to her at Malfoy Manor, and it killed her to see that self-blame in his eyes. But Sirius, he understood. One did not make it twelve years in Azkaban without some kind of damage on the psyche and he, unfortunately, identified with nightmares all too well.
She would try to give him advice on witches, but he was entirely uninterested in any of the ones she would try to throw his way, saying he was absolutely happy on his own. She often thought there was a deeper reason behind that, but, with everything they were able to talk about, that was the one thing she was never able to get out of him. Remus hinted to her once that Sirius had lost someone he deeply loved and never dated again. This saddened her to hear as he had had too many losses in his life. He, in turn, tried to help her when she was unsuccessful in getting the attentions of the man she was desperately in love with. Of course, his 'help' consisted of telling her to just throw herself at the man of her desires since he would never make the first move. She ignored his so called advice for a few weeks, getting increasingly annoyed as Sirius laughed at her attempts to be subtle. Finally, fed up with the stubbornness that was Sirius' best friend, she decided to take Sirius' advice and stopped being subtle. Wouldn't you know it, his advice actually worked. And when she and Remus got married after a year-long courtship, Sirius was the one who walked her down the aisle. He liked to deny that there were tears in his eyes as he gave her away, but she knew better.
When she found out that she was pregnant, Sirius was the first person she told (well, after Remus of course). She wasn't sure she had ever seen him so excited before as he picked her up in a huge hug and twirled her around the room. Surely he ended up regretting that since she promptly lost her lunch on his shoes. It was his own fault, really. Nine months later, as she watched him hold her daughter for the first time, she marveled at the fact that Sirius Black was her best friend.
Time passed, quickly, as it often does when one reaches a certain age. Hermione continued on as Sirius' partner in the Auror department, much to the worriment of Remus who was concerned she would get hurt. His apprehension was valid, however, because when her daughter was about two years old, little pockets of fighting began. It wasn't anything big, nothing like how it was back during the war, and no one was overly worried (well, except Remus, worry-wart that he was). She would often think back and wonder, if they hadn't been so blasé about it, if they had taken it more seriously, maybe one of the worst days in her life wouldn't have happened.
It happened in Diagon Alley. They were off duty, and Sirius had accompanied her to help shop for Remus' birthday present. As they stepped out of their last stop, they were ambushed by six wizards. She didn't recognize any of them, but they certainly knew who she was. Obscenities were yelled as well as terms such as 'blood traitor' and, her favorite, 'filthy mudblood'. Luckily, Hermione and Sirius were well-trained and extremely experienced at this point, and they were quickly able to even the odds by incapacitating three of the wizards. That was when it happened, when one of the wizards turned his wand on her, and shouted the Killing Curse. There was no time to react before she felt someone plow into her, knocking to her the ground. She heard multiple pops, signaling that back-up had arrived. It was too late, however, as she stared into Sirius' unseeing eyes, screaming hitting her ears from all around her, not noticing it was coming from herself.
He had saved her once again, for the final time.
Keeper: Write about a cross-generational friendship. I choose Hermione and Sirius.