Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
A/N: Wow! Response to this was way more than what I expected! Over 100 follows and nearly 50 favorites! Huge thanks to my reviewers as well: Guest, Pwrmom2, Guest, Anja . quickert . 9, twztdwildcat, QueenOThieves, siriusbarks, sdrlana21, pianomouse, Elle Ryder, everlastingtrueromance, HMRoberts, ashash52009, Guest and Lcky! Thank you all so much!
I would love love love to hear what you thought about some of the characters I've introduced in this chapter. Please let me know what you thought of chapter two and be on the lookout for chapter three next week!
I will never ever be the first to say it, but still I - you know I, I, I...
Hermione woke up slowly, hearing a pair of voices whisper. What had happened to her? Had the book been cursed too? Had Sirius been hurt at all? Struggling to open her eyes, she heard one of the voices say, "Look! They are starting to wake up."
Hermione opened her eyes only to be greeted by the blurry outline of two children. Frowning, she blinked a few times. "Where am I?"
The little boy smiled at her. "You're at Grimmauld Place!" He gave her a toothy grin.
Hermione's confusion only grew. "Is Sirius here? Is he okay?" She asked, concerned for the man of her affections. Had he been hurt by the blast as well?
"Sirius?" The little girl asked. "I better go get mum and dad." The scampered out, leaving Hermione with the little boy.
Slowly, she tried to sit up, and saw Sirius lying on the ground next to her, his eyes still fluttering open. The book that they'd been holding was nowhere to be found. Hermione sighed in relief seeing Sirius's gray eyes finally open and slowly focus on her.
Turning back to the little boy she asked him. "Who are you?"
He didn't hesitate in telling her. "My name's Cygnus! I'm nine." He had blond hair and gray eyes, but he shared Sirius's nose and general facial structure. "Who are you?"
"My name is Hermione. I'm nineteen." She told him, still wary of the situation. "Is your name Cygnus Black?"
"How did you know?" The little boy asked with absolute wonder.
Before Hermione could answer, a woman with hair so red it was nearly brown swept into the room with a tall man following behind her. Hermione's heart sank when she realized who it was. It was none other than Phineas Nigellus Black, and the woman, must be Ursula, Hermione thought.
Luckily, Sirius was finally well enough to sit up and look around. "Well, he's obviously a Black." Phineas told her, with a scowl. "But who are you?"
Hermione frowned, trying to remember the depth of Phineas's hatred of muggleborns in the forefront of her mind. She wanted to get out of this place alive. "I'm Hermione Granger. And this is Sirius Black."
"Oh." Ursula said quietly. "When Belvina told me that you were asking for Sirius I thought you meant my son." The little girl from before peaked out from behind her mother's back, giving Hermione a small smile.
Sirius, finally ready to join the conversation, calmly asked the pair. "What year is it?"
"1898 of course." Phineas responded, still trying to make an assessment about the young woman in his library.
"Oh, fuck it all." Sirius said, which earned him a scolding from Ursula. "We are from 1998." Sirius said, patting Hermione on the arm, comfortingly.
That seemed to draw Ursula's attention to the ring on Hermione's finger. "Oh, Phineas! Look at her finger! It's my ring!" She was absolutely gushing with happiness. "Come, let's go to the dining room. I will have Titania bring us a tea service."
Phineas still scowled, but let Ursula lead the confused pair, and her two children into the dining room of Grimmauld Place. Hermione was surprised by how warm and inviting it seemed. She realized that it must still be fairly new. "How long have you been living here?" Hermione asked.
"Well, Phineas and I moved here a bit after he started work at Hogwarts. The manor house was too much for me to take care of all by myself, with him being gone most of the year." Ursula prattled on. "Is it still in the family?" She asked Sirius.
"Yes, I grew up here." Sirius said with a gruff voice, leading Hermione to elbow him in the side. It didn't do them any good to offend their new hosts.
"Wonderful!" Ursula delighted. Hermione mused that she didn't look at all like the only Flint she knew, who was rather troll like and mean. "Titania!" She called, and a little house elf appeared. Hermione felt Sirius grab her hand and squeeze, knowing that she was rather outspoken about her feelings on house elves.
Still, Hermione said nothing while Ursula ordered tea service and the little elf brought back a tray moment later. Phineas muttered about needing to do some work in the study and meeting them later for dinner, so he took his tea to go. The rest of them, Belvina, Cygnus, Ursula, Hermione and Sirius sat down at the table.
"So, have you been engaged long?" Ursula asked them with a serene smile. Cygnus and Belvina looked bored with the wedding discussion, but were too curious about Sirius to leave.
Hermione smiled. "Just today, actually. We were just looking into some more information in the library about the ring, when he were brought back here." She patted her hand on Sirius's arm, and hoped that he didn't mind enough to play along. After all, he got her into this mess.
"Well, hasn't it been passed down generation to generation?" Ursula said, perplexed.
Sirius filled in the gaps. "Actually, I just recently found the ring. It's been lost long since before I was born. But I took one look at it and knew that it was meant for Hermione." He gave her a sweet smile that made Hermione's heart stutter. Oh, how she longed for him to tell it to her true.
Ursula frowned. "Well, I'm glad that it's been located." The five of them finished their tea in relative silence, but before long the children squirming with anxiousness. "My, I must say that fashions have changed considerably in the next century." She said staring at Hermione's green sweater dress and Sirius's muggle blue jeans and gray sweater. "Belvina, why don't you take Hermione to your room. She can stay with you while we figure out how to send them back. I will bring something down for you to wear to dinner. Sirius, I can show you to the guest room."
Ursula stood, ushering them from the parlor. "Dinner will be in about an hour. My other two sons, Arcturus and Sirius -" Ursula broke off to give Sirius a huge grin, "will be joining us."
Cygnus smiled at them before piping up. "I have another brother called Phineas!" Sirius gave Hermione a poignant look. "But he fell in love with a Muggle, so now he's not allowed to live with us."
Ursula practically hissed. "Hush, Cyg. If you're father hears you spouting that nonsense again, you will be in a big trouble, mister."
Belvina grinned at Hermione and linked her arm in Hermione's before taking them to her bedroom. Hermione was surprised to be lead to the room that she had Ginny shared at one point. "Well, I suppose I'll split the bed then?" Hermione asked Belvina. "I doubt you'd want to share with a stranger."
Waving her wand, Belvina watched in awe at the transfiguration Hermione performed to split the large bed into two equally sized bed with the same number of pillows and blankets. "Wow! Did you learn how to do that at Hogwarts?"
Hermione smiled at Belvina. "Yes, but not until sixth year." Hermione confessed. "Though, I don't know how much the curriculum has changed in the last 100 years. I suppose we could ask your father." Hermione mussed, before sitting down on her bed.
Belvina came and sat down next to her. "You must be a really powerful witch. That must be why Sirius's family accepted your betrothal so late."
Hermione understood that the little girl was somehow calling her old, but Hermione knew that she wasn't even a teenager yet, and decided to give her a pass. "Hmm, I haven't the faintest idea."
"It's very unusual, see." Belvina continued, tucking her auburn hair behind her ear. "Blacks always have betrothals. You and Sirius must love each other very much." Her dark eyes were staring at Hermione with mischievousness.
"Oh, I very much respect Sirius and he's a good friend." Hermione settled on, unable to reveal her heart's deepest feelings to a curious little girl. "So, are you already betrothed?" Hermione asked Belvina, desperate to get the attention off of her.
"Yes, I am set to marry Herbert Burke when I come of age." Belvina told her, with a proud look on her face.
"Really? But you can't be very old?" Hermione asked, surprised.
"I am twelve, but I will be thirteen in April. I was born on Walpurgis Night, a most auspicious day, so I have had many offers of marriage, but father knows Herbert's father, and so they decided that we should be married." Belvina told her matter-of-factly.
Hermione barely hid her grimace at the idea that this might be the mother or grandmother of the owner of Borgin and Burke's. Before Hermione could ask her another question, Belvina gave her a small, questioning look. "Hermione, may I ask you a question?"
Hermione looked at the girl with confusion before nodding in the affirmative.
"What's it like? To kiss a boy on the lips?" She asked with such curiosity, she could have been an anthropologist.
Hermione did everything so could to not burst out laughing. "Well, sometimes it can be a bit awkward, especially if you've never kissed anyone before. You might not know where to put your hands or you might find it a bit wet...but when you find the right person to kiss, everything settles into place and the rest of the world just fades away, until it's just you and that other person..." Hermione trailed off wistfully, thinking of how nice it would be to kiss Sirius Black.
Belvina noted the look on her face and sighed. "And that's how you knew you loved Sirius?"
Before Hermione could correct her, Ursula waltzed into the room, carrying a dress. "Oh good! You've got the beds sorted. Now, Hermione, dear, let's get this dress on so we can tailor it to fit you."
The dress was a deep green color, with huge poofy sleeves, but with a collar that rested off the shoulder, revealing Hermione's decolletage. She pulled the dress up in the front a little, trying to hide her modest cleavage. The skirts were full, but after it was tailored, Hermione found it very comfortable, to her surprise.
Just as the girls were about to head down for dinner, Sirius knocked on the door, wearing a three piece suit with a wide tie. "Excuse me, but may I have a word with Hermione in the hall before dinner?"
Ursula gave a nod before leading Belvina down the stairs. Hermione grinned at Sirius, shutting the door to the bedroom behind her. "You look smashing, Sirius. I don't think I've ever seen you this dressed up." She told him sincerely.
Sirius gave her a weak smile, clearly uncomfortable. He was doing his best to keep his eyes on Hermione's face, and not let his gaze wander to the milky white tops of her breasts, so nicely on display in the green dress. "Likewise. Listen, this is Phineas Nigellus's family. He was really serious about the whole blood purity thing, so we will have to act like a good pureblood couple, okay?"
Hermione bit her lip. "Okay, I'll try."
"Just follow my lead." Sirius told her, offering her his arm. Hermione gladly took it, feeling like a queen on Sirius's arm. She just wished it wasn't acting.
When they reached the dining room, all of the other Blacks had already assembled around the table. Cygnus was patting the chair next to him with eagerness, wanting Sirius and Hermione to sit next to him. Once everyone was seated, Hermione was surprised to see herself seated across the table from a young Sirius. He had the same devastating gray eyes that her Sirius had, while the rest of the Blacks had dark eyes. The only difference between the two - besides their age - was that young Sirius looked really arrogant, while her Sirius was quite casually elegant.
Phineas Nigellus sat at the head of the table, scowling at his own family. "We have guests from the future here; they will be staying here until we can send them back. This is Hermione Granger and Sirius Black. Hermione, Sirius, allow me to introduce you to my other sons, Sirius and Arcturus."
Younger Sirius grinned at the pair. "So, how exactly are we related then?"
Her Sirius looked somewhat pained before counting on his fingers. "Well, you are my great grandfather." Sirius looked at younger Sirius's pained face at the prospect. Then, he turned to the bright blond hair of Cygnus. "Actually, you're my great grandfather as well!" Cygnus was much more enthused.
"Really? How does that happen?" Phineas Nigellus asked. "The Black family has always secured the most fortuitous unions."
Sirius gave a false smile to his paterfamilias. "Well, as you see...I can't really go into the details on why...but there were so few good pureblooded families when my parents were young. They figured second cousins marrying was better than marrying a muggle." He patted Hermione on the knee in comfort.
"Yes, I suppose that is wise." He said, giving a hard look at Hermione. "Granger, was it? That's an unusual surname...it's not one that I recognize."
Sirius was about to answer for her, before Hermione cut in. "Well surely you've heard of my ancestor, Hector Dagworth-Granger?"
Young Sirius's eyebrows raised. "Of potioneering fame?"
"The very same." Hermione said primly. "Well, many generations ago, there were two brothers and they wanted to split their inheritance equitably, and so they split the name as well. Now there are two families, the Dagworths and the Grangers."
Sirius grabbed Hermione's hand in his own. He was proud of her for thinking so quickly on her feet. "Yes, I am so lucky to have found a witch with such excellent bloodlines, and one as powerful and academic."
Phineas seemed satisfied, finally, and let the conversation about Hermione's bloodlines drop.
Arcturus had been pushing around the food on his plate during the course of dinner, not eating anything, leading Ursula to finally chastise him. "Oh, Arcturus, I wish that you would just accept it and eat your dinner. Everything will work out marvelously."
Belvina looked at Hermione's confusion and concern and filled the whole table in on the situation. "Arcturus just got his betrothal finalized and he is very unhappy about it."
Arcturus, all black curl and black eye, scowled at the whole table. "I don't want to marry Lysandra Yaxley!" He shouted, shoving his fork down.
"What's wrong with her?" Sirius asked, forgetting himself momentarily.
"Nothing is wrong with her." Phineas Nigellus groused.
"Just that she's only three years old!" Arcturus spat back at his father. "And I'm fourteen years old. It's unnatural."
Phineas Nigellus frowned at his son. "This is the way that the Black family has always done things. There are ten years in age difference between your mother and I and we get along just fine." Settling his eyes on the newly engaged couple, Phineas Nigellus pointed at them. "And see, it is the way that things will continue to be done for another century. Sirius, how old are you?"
Sirius cleared his throat. His age was so sketchy because of his years spent in the veil, but he decided to go with this true age, just to be safe. "39, this November." He told the table politely, unwilling to look at Hermione because he didn't want to see the disgust in her eyes at having to pretend to be engaged to someone as old as him.
"And Hermione, how old are you?" Phineas Nigellus asked her.
"I turned nineteen in September." She told the table.
"See! Twenty years of age difference, but you don't see Hermione and Sirius complaining about their marriage, do you?" Phineas Nigellus asked his son.
Both Hermione and Sirius blushed at the idea that their relationship was somehow unacceptable due to their age difference. Neither one wanted to look at the other.
Arcturus looked at the pair of them, before his eyes settled on his mother's engagement ring on Hermione's finger. "Yeah, but they are at least in love with each other!"
Sirius and Hermione looked at one another, with shock in their eyes. How could it be that Arcturus, a boy of fourteen, was able to see through them so easily?
Still, neither one said anything to the other, and the conversation at the table moved to other topics. Sirius and Hermione sat quietly for the rest of the conversation, before Phineas Nigellus decided that dinner was over and that the men folk, minus Cygnus, who needed to go to bed, would be retiring to the library for a cigar.
Sirius readily agreed, but asked if he might accompany Hermione to her bedroom, to say goodnight, before returning to the library. Phineas Nigellus nodded, and Sirius offered her his arm again.
Just as they walked beneath the threshold of the doorway, though, they found themselves trapped, unable to leave the room. Cygnus and Belvina were giggling quietly, and when they looked back at the dining room at saw younger Sirius pointing at the top of the doorway. Sirius looked up and saw that a sprig of mistletoe was hanging there, and they wouldn't be able to leave until they engaged in a kiss.
Sirius shrugged at Hermione, whose eyes were suddenly full of passion and heavily lidded. Seeing that she agreed to some extent, Sirius took a deep breath to steel himself and dipped his head down and pressed his lips against hers. Her lips were softer than he could have imagined, and they fit together so perfectly, that the giggling of his family members disappeared, until it was just him and Hermione.
He felt her sigh into the kiss and wrap her arms around his neck, her finger tips coming up to play with the short hair at the back of his neck, causing pleasant shivers to run up and down his spine. Her lips were pliable and moved against his, giving him the courage to run his tongue along the seam of her lips, her own sweet tongue darting out to meet his.
What was this? Sirius wondered his head dizzy with lust and love for this woman in his arms. He had never dreamt that a kiss could affect him like this. He had never dreamt that Hermione Granger would reciprocate a kiss with him.
Hearing Phineas Nigellus clear his throat reminded Sirius that they had an audience, and with an embarrassed look, he broke away from Hermione, before leading her up the stairs wordlessly. When they reached her door, Sirius couldn't even meet her brown eyes and instead stared down at his feet. "I will look for the book in the library tonight if I can."
"Alright." Hermione said quietly, desperately wishing that Sirius would look at her, so that his eyes might give her some sense of how he was feeling. That kiss that affected her in ways that no other kiss had. She was tingling from her head to her toes.
"Well, sweet dreams..." Sirius trailed off in that wistful way that he did sometimes, leaving Hermione feeling utterly confused.
Alone in the room, Hermione quickly undressed and got into bed, hoping to pretend to be asleep by the time Belvina returned to the room as well. She didn't really wanted to talk about her snog with Sirius with the inquisitive young girl, when even she didn't know how she was feeling.
What was it about Sirius that always left her feeling so boneless and warm, she wondered. She could admit to herself that that was easily the best kiss she'd ever had in her life, and even now, remembering how he'd shivered under her fingertips had her pressing her thighs together in desperation for some friction.
She only wished that she wasn't sharing a room so that she might be able to get herself off to ease some of the tension.
Further, Hermione was disappointed that Sirius and her first kiss ever was a forced kiss under that awful weed. It would be different if Sirius had kissed her of his own volition, but that was preposterous, Hermione knew, as Sirius would never want to kiss her like that on his own. So maybe she should start hanging some mistletoe around Grimmauld Place when they returned, so that she might find herself underneath it again.
The door creaked open, and Hermione didn't miss the disappointed sigh Belvina gave at the sight of Hermione being asleep. Deciding that sleep was just the thing she needed, Hermione drifted off in the hopes that she would get some well needed rest.
When Sirius returned to the library, he was still buzzing from the kiss that he and Hermione had shared. It was so sweet to feel her pressed up against him like that, her essence filling his every sense. But, Sirius knew that she was just reacting in the moment, and he didn't let himself dwell on it too long.
He was not prepared to enter the library and have his great-grandfather Sirius smirking at him. "You're welcome." The young man handed him a brandy, and Sirius was barely able to resist a scowl. This was the young man that Hermione deserved. She'd probably been overwhelmed by a younger Black male; after all, he remembered how girls - even the swotty ones - reacted to him at Hogwarts.
"For what?" He asked, petulantly.
"For the mistletoe, obviously." His ancestor told him, before ushering him to the couch. Sirius had hoped to spend some time with pursuing the bookshelves. Instead, he was pulled into conversation with Phineas Nigellus.
"So, Sirius. How does it sound to have the wedding here in the library on Wednesday?" Phineas Nigellus asked, leaving a shocked Sirius.
"What do you mean? A wedding? Here?" Sirius could barely form a proper sentence.
"Well, yes, of course. Wednesday is the winter solstice - a most auspicious day." Phineas Nigellus told him. "You really couldn't have picked a better time to get engaged."
Sirius took a big swig of the brandy. "Well, I don't know...I think that Hermione and I would like to get married in front of all of our friends and family. Would our marriage even register if we get married before either one of us is technically born?"
Phineas frowned, thinking over Sirius's words. "It won't matter. After all, the house must have sent you back for a reason."
"What do you mean, the house sent us back?" Sirius asked, truly confused as to what Phineas Nigellus was suggesting. "Do you mean to tell me that Grimmauld Place is sentient?"
"Well of course, boy." Phineas Nigellus groused at him, before continuing on. "Nimue, didn't your family teach you anything about this house or the blood wards?"
"I didn't hear anything like that!" Sirius told him, truly surprised. That would have definitely come up in the lessons on family history. He would have remembered it...Merlin! Think of all the times that he'd wanked in this house.
"When we built this house, we infused all sorts of blood wards into it. The house looks after the good of the House of Black." Phineas Nigellus told him, feeling like he was speaking to an imbecile.
"That's how the family tapestry works!" Arcturus told him, smiling brightly.
Sirius had never really given much thought to the family tapestry after being burned off of it. "Ah, well, I suppose that makes sense." Sirius told him.
"So you see, if the blood wards recognize the binding, then they will be magically registered when you return to your time. Or rather, when the house returns you to your time." Phineas told Sirius confidently.
Sirius was still skeptical about the house sending them back. It wasn't a coincidence that they had been transported when they both touched the same book. Still, Sirius found himself agreeing to Phineas Nigellus anyway. "Alright, Wednesday sounds good then. Just let me figure out the best course of action with Hermione."
Merlin, Hermione! Sirius thought. She was never going to forgive him if they actually got married in this time.
