A/N: Disclaimer still applies. I hope this one is slightly better and less boring than the last. Thanks to anyone who's reading!
Chapter 2- Truths Revealed
Hermione is awoken the next morning with an arm over her stomach and a stubbly cheek next to her own. At first, in her sleep-induced haze, she doesn't quite remember what is going on. After a few seconds, however, her brain starts to put a few things together. "Sirius," she whispers in an awe-filled voice. "Love, I'm really here." She turns over on her side to face Sirius. "I still can't believe it. I've hope and wished for it for so long and everyone told me it was pointless but I still kept hope." As she speaks, she becomes increasingly distressed and is crying by the end. "Sweetheart, I'm here now, there's nothing to worry about." As he says this, he tightens his arm around her and pulls her close, comforting her. "I know," she repeats over and over again.
After a few minutes, she pulls away and wipes her tears. "I'm sorry. I'm being ridiculous. I'm sure comforting a crying woman is not your idea of a great day. Come, why don't I make us some breakfast?" She tries to slide out of the bed, but a pair of strong arms stops her. "Hermione, laying in bed, being able to talk to and comfort you is my idea of a great day. Breakfast sounds wonderful, though I think I'll take care of that." He reaches over her and grabs her wand. A minute later, a tray full of delicious looking food appears in front of them.
"You are so amazing. You know, you should teach at Hogwarts. You would be excellent at teaching Charms of Transfiguration, you know that?" He laughs at this " I don't think so, 'Mione. I couldn't do that. I'd be too bad of an influence on the students." She shakes her head. "You wouldn't be a bad influence. They would love you, and as long as you actually taught them something, you would be priceless." He looks as if he's thinking about it and then shrugs.
They eat their breakfast and talk, mostly about meaningless stuff until Sirius asks a question about the previous night. "Hermione, who is Henry?" She can't help but blanch at the question. "He was my fiancé of two months." She says this quietly, almost ashamedly. "Then why did you send him away?" Sirius sounds genuinely concerned. "I sent him away because you are much more important. Plus, if he can't just take my word and trust me, it would have been a terrible marriage." The tone of her voice in unsure, almost as if she is trying to convince herself. "Hermione, you shouldn't have given him up for me. I could have waited, honestly." She giggles slightly at this show of chivalry. "You didn't look like you could wait. Plus, even if Henry and I were perfect together, you will always be more important than anyone else that may come in and out of my life." A tear rolls down her cheek. "You're so important, and I almost lost you." Sirius gently wipes the tears away. "I came back, though. I will always come back to you, Hermione." His voice is husky with emotion. "Always." She looks into his eyes and within the smoky depths she sees more emotion in them than she has seen in the eyes of anyone else. She sees longing, confusion, doubt, and something unidentifiable.
"Sirius, what do you want from your life?" She realizes that he can do whatever he wants without running for the Ministry of fighting Voldemort. "I want to get married, have children, and be happy." This answer surprises her. "Don't look so shocked. I've though about it and I've decided that I need a nice, sensible witch to settle down with. I have always loved children since Harry was born and I've wanted children of my own. It's just a matter of convincing a certain witch to live with me." This startles a laugh from her. "Sirius, I don't think more woman will need to be convinced to marry you. Women will fall at your feet once they know you're back." He shakes his head in disbelief. "Not this one. She's smart. She knows that I'm just an old dog." He sounds like he really believes this. "Well, she must not be very intelligent, because if she knew you at all, she would see that you are a wonderful man; brace, smart, and noble. If she has your love, she is a lucky woman." Hermione says this with such conviction that Sirius is taken aback slightly.
"Oh, really? That's interesting!" He looks at her curiously. "It's true. I think very highly of you, Sirius. I hope you know that." She turns away slightly. " I know now. I can only hope that you know that I hold you in very high regard, too." Her eyes go wide at this. "Honestly, I have never met a more intelligent of caring woman in my life. You are an incredible witch and en even greater woman. You are going to make some man very happy. I would consider myself very lucky if I could find a wife half as sweet, half as smart, or half as beautiful as you." A lone tear strays down her cheek and Sirius is looking pretty choked up with emotion.
"Sirius, I have a confession to make. When you left, I felt like I was going to die. I couldn't let you go and I didn't want to. I spent every day you were gone wishing you would come back. I felt like I would never be as happy as I could be if you were here." She is now crying fully.
"I have a confession also. The whole reason I was allowed to come back is because I was in love, truly and completely, and they believed that I would have a chance to reciprocate that love." She looks very down trodden and disappointed. "Hermione, that love was given to you." Her face lights up immediately. "I have been in love with you for quite some time. I knew it was wrong, that you were too young, at least physically, but I couldn't help myself. You are the brightest witch of your age, and you captured my heart when you showed your loyalty to Harry and protected him against everything. I saw that in you and couldn't help myself. It also didn't hurt that you grew more beautiful wit every passing day." She giggles through her tears of happiness. "I hope that I'm not being too straight forward, but being dead for seven years has made me realize that I have to say what I want because there isn't enough time to wait for things to come to me." He reaches out tentatively to touch her cheek with the lightest contact of his fingertips.
"It is straight forward, but I can appreciate that. I think I have been in love with you for a long time, even before you left, but I was too afraid to say anything. I'm sick of being afraid, though. I want to be with you, Sirius, no matter what." They both grin from ear to ear. "There will be people that disapprove, though." Concern is evident in her voice. "Then we won't let anyone else know until we think the time is right. We can just be together." Sirius comes up with this solution quite easily. "Keep our relationship a secret from everyone?" He nods. "I suppose it is the least complicated way. That way, we know what to expect from each other before we tackle them. It sounds like an idea to me." He leans forward and kisses her lightly. "I could definitely get used to that," she whispers after they kiss. "Me too."
After quite some time of laying in bed, touching, holding, and kissing each other, they decide to get ready for the day. It's left undecided what they will do with the rest of the day, but getting dressed seems like a good start. After they dress, it's around lunchtime, so Hermione starts making a meal, the Muggle way, which amuses Sirius to no end. "You are the most talented witch to come about in over fifty years, and yet you refuse to use your magic for the most mundane things like cooking and cleaning. It makes no sense!" She sighs, exasperatedly. "It's because they're mundane things that I like to do them by hand. Of course I can transfigure us a nice meal in seconds, but I am a Muggle born and I don't ever want to become handicapped by my magic. I need to remember that there are people out there that don't have the convenience of just waving a wand and making things happen. It keeps me grounded to do things the good old fashioned way." He sees that he isn't going to get anywhere with her on this particular argument, so he gives up.