Disclaimer: I'm not even British, so I don't own it, 'kay?
A/N: thoughts and "speaking". Just thought I'd clarify
Chapter 1 Second Chance
Hermione Granger, one third of The Golden Trio, has had a wonderful life since the downfall of Lord Voldemort. She got a job working as a Healer for St. Mungo's in the Maternity ward, she gets to see Harry and Ron all the time, and she is happily dating a fantastic man, the best alive, in fact.
Best alive, maybe, but the best ever? I think not.
"I've got things to do other than think stupidly about something that is never going to happen!" She berates herself. He's coming back. You know it, you can feel it. She rolls her eyes, but, in spite of herself, feels her heart beat just a bit faster. She knows that she's being ridiculous, that for all her wishing and hoping, nothing is going to change. Death is too final for it to change.
She slips into a silk tube-top dress of the deepest charcoal grey and turns to face herself in the mirror. "Not bad, Granger, not bad." She is quite pleased with the way she looks tonight and glad that she did break down and buy the dress. She slides into a pair of sexy black stilettos, grabs her clutch, and Apparates to the restaurant to meet everyone.
"Hermione! It's been too long!" She rolls her eyes at Ginny, who she saw just hours before at work. "Good to see you too, Gin. You look lovely." Ginny blushes and runs her hands over her emerald dress. "Thanks, 'Mione. I told you that grey would look amazing on you!" Hermione shakes her head at her long-time friend and co-worker. They walk over to the table and are greeted by a happy sight. Harry and his fiancé, Amy, are laughing at something Neville said, Luna and Ron are making eyes at each other, and Draco and his girl of the week, Melissa, are chatting nicely with Henry. As soon as he sees Hermione, however, Henry excuses himself and greets Hermione.
Dinner starts out calmly, but soon enough Ron and Harry are getting rowdy and Hermione is admonishing them for acting like children. As soon as the incident is over, however, they all laugh because it is such a routine for them. As dessert comes, Hermione invites everyone over to her house to have some drinks, and everyone agrees, more than happy to spend more time all together. They pay for the meal and then Apparate to the more-than-familiar house.
After far too much alcohol consumption and walking down memory lane, everybody leaves except Henry. He stays to help Hermione clean up, which neither of them ends up doing because they're both too smashed to do anything but sit in the armchairs until they fall asleep.
"Hermione…. Hermione, please. I need you…" She is woken up by a strangely familiar voice calling for her. "You're having a dream, Hermione. You know that voice can't be talking to you," She mutters angrily. "Hermione… My little bookworm, you aren't dreaming." Hermione's eyes fly open. "Sirius?!" She sees the man sprawled on her floor looking quite disheveled and not a day older than when she last saw him alive. She gasps and falls to her knees before crawling over to him. "Oh, Sirius!" She pulls him into her arms and he wraps his own around her waist. "I came back to you, my sweet little bookworm. I came back…." With that being said, Sirius blacks out in her arms.
"Hermione, what's going on?" Henry rubs the sleep out of his eyes as he pulls himself up. "Henry, I'm sorry, but I'm afraid you're going to have to go home. I have some very pressing business to be taken care of and I can't have you twittering about, so please leave." The shocked look on his face is enough to tell her that he is not taking this request very well at all. "Hermione, if I Apparate out of this house right now, I am not coming back. I will not leave you here with some strange man that I don't even know! It's absurd! Explain who he is and what you are going to do about him right now." The tone of his voice sounds a lot less brave than his posture would suggest. "Henry, I am a grown woman. I will not take orders from anyone. As to whom this is, he is a man more important to me than anyone else. Leave now. I have things to attend to." He splutters for words, but she has already turned her attention to Sirius. After he Apparates, she mutters, "Good riddance," and, much to her surprise, Sirius chuckles. "Wasn't good enough for you, 'Mione." She rolls her eyes at him. "Padfoot, according to you, nobody is ever good enough." She looks into his eyes. "You're right, but I think one day you'll find somebody that comes closer."
She immediately goes to work making him more comfortable by moving him onto her bed and giving him something to eat and drink. She then checks him for any physical damage and is pleased to find that, outside of being famished, Sirius is in perfect health.
"Sirius, I don't understand… they said that you wouldn't ever make it out of that veil and that it meant certain death. How did you get out and, more importantly, how did you end up at my place? You haven't ever been here before!" She doesn't like situations that she doesn't understand and she most certainly does not understand what is going on and how this man is in front of her now, after nine years.
"Hermione, I didn't die when I went behind that curtain. I went to my trial." Seeing her about to interrupt, he covers her mouth with his hand. "Don't butt in. I'll tell you everything, and then you can ask questions." When she succumbs, he removes his hand. "So, my trial. It lasted nine days behind the veil. Basically, they were trying to decide if I needed to be returned. They defined needing to be returned as having someone on the other side being capable of loving me completely and, without me, never finding true happiness. I suppose they thought that there was somebody out there for me because here I am. I have no idea who they were or how they decided this, but here I am. I am alive and plan on staying so for quite some time now. I've got to find this woman that loves me so." She laughs and shakes her head. "I'm glad you're back, Sirius. Is there anything else I can get you?" She yawns in the middle of her sentence. "Yes, please get some sleep. Come on, I don't take up the whole bed." He pulls her into the bed and wraps his arms around her waist, making sure she doesn't try to leave. "Sleep, love. We'll do everything that needs doing in the morning." With that whispered in her ear, she drifts off to sleep, thinking of warm fur next to her.