Hermione felt like she could finally breathe when she got into the shower. As much as she loved being around Sirius, he always managed to cloud her head. She couldn't think around him, he just had that much control over her. It had always been that way, even during the summer of her 5th year that she spent in this house with him. But now that she was older and he was magically younger and unbelievably better looking than before it was even worse.
All she could think about every time he was around her was her just jumping him and getting it over with. She craved him day and night to the point that it was physically painful to not have him and it was always worse when he was close, so she needed to get out of that kitchen and clear her head.
Her showered ended up turning into a rather long bath, because she felt she still needed to relax and there was no rush to return to the men downstairs seeing as they didn't go to sleep until late anyway.
When she did finally get out, Hermione realized that she forgot pajamas and so she wrapped herself in her robe and walked back to her room to change.
Once outside the door she heard crashes coming form the kitchen and cries of pain.
"Hermione!" Sirius screamed throughout the house, as he attempted to run out of the kitchen but ended up losing his balance and knocking over a pile of dishes.
"Hermione!"
Hermione recognized Sirius's voice and ran down to him at once. She found him in the dark hallway of the main floor leaning against the stair railing. He was in dreadful shape.
"Hermione," he breathed. "Your all right."
"Of course I'm alright! What happened to you?"
His face was badly bruised and there was blood and debris all over his clothes. His hand was clenching at a crimson red stain that was growing steadily on his right side.
"Sit down," she commanded as she helped him onto the floor and leaned his back against the wall.
"There was an outbreak, outside of Gringotts," he struggled to say through the biting pain. "We thought we could take care of it ourselves. We assumed it'd be a quick job, but we were outnumbered."
"Why didn't you tell me to come along? Who else was there?" she asked, as she lifted his black t-shirt up to reveal the source of the blood flow.
"It was just Remus, Bill, Ron, Harry and me, he answered. "We thought we could take them, but Hermione this wasn't an ordinary attack," he said as he grabbed her shoulder forcing her to stop what she was doing and look at him. "They planned this one, they used magic we've never seen before." And then he paused and said very seriously, "Hermione, they're organizing."
It would figure that Sirius could still only concentrate on the big picture even when he found himself bleeding to death.
"Where is everyone else? Are they alright?" She asked, her voice quivering a bit at the thought of the others fairing much worse.
"Everyone went to the burrow. Harry had Ginny go back to get the place set up once we saw we were out numbed."
"Why didn't you go there?"
"I had to make sure you were alright."
"Sirius you're bleeding to death! I would have been fine here by myself."
But Sirius just laughed at her, "Hermione, we don't leave anyone by themselves during these times."
There it was again, his unwavering selflessness. It made her heart flutter; she loved him so much.
For the next few moments Sirius grew silent and Hermione knew that wasn't a good sign. She did her best to patch him up but nothing she tried could completely heal the gaping wound in his side. It was like nothing she had ever seen before in the magical world. It was as if someone had run him through with a sword. Working by wand light she tried to pour every different remedy and potion she could think of into him, but nothing would completely stop the bleeding. Then she began to panic. This was only the first of many wounds that she had to fix quickly.
…
Sirius felt lightheaded. He imagined it was because of the amount of blood he was losing. He had already known that the tear in his side wasn't anything normal when he had received it. But he also knew that if anything could save him it would be Hermione's quick thinking. And so he sat there on the floor for what felt like forever while he watched her, in nothing but a bathrobe, trying everything she could think of to fix him. The pain he was in was excruciating, but it all seemed to fade away the second she touched him. He had wanted to feel her touch for so long that once he got it, it was all he was going to allow his body to feel.
He watched the worry in her face turn into panic as more and more of his blood continued to pour onto the floor, and every few seconds she would glance up at him to make sure he was still coherent. He loved the look he saw in her eyes then. So caring, so desperate, and yet never wavering in strength. And he thought happily to himself that if he were to die again, at least these would be his last memories, and Hermione, the last thing he saw. But also, he knew that he could not die. He would not let himself. He could not bare the thought of not being in the same world as her, and it was for that reason that he had to hold on.
He could see his surroundings becoming fuzzy. The darkness was closing in all around and he began to worry. He was dying, he was sure of it, even though it had felt different last time. He used all his strength to reach out and grab her hand, but then he had no more. He struggled, with every ounce he had left to get the words out. Those words he so desperately needed to say before he was gone again, for he didn't think he'd be able to get back.
"Hermione i—" was all he was able to get out before the creeping blackness swallowed him up.
…………
Sirius woke after what felt like no time at all, sweaty, confused, and strangely comfortable. It felt nothing like it had the first time he died. Then, he had no body, only a heartbeat, but this didn't feel like that at all. He tried to move and to his surprise he had fingertips. He opened his eyes and slowly the familiar room came into view. His room, she had saved him after all. His hero.
In one swift movement he threw the blankets off him and sat up but was met with excruciating pain in his side. He looked down and watched as the bandage wrapped around his waist absorbed tiny drops of blood. He wasn't quite ready to rush out of bed just yet. Slowly he lay back down as joy filled his heart, his Hermione had saved him. And he still had a chance.
………..
Hermione laid awake in her bed for hours before she decided there was no point in staying there any longer. She wasn't going to be able to sleep until she knew that Sirius was ok. A little while after he had lost consciousness she finally got his bleeding under control and cleaned the rest of him up. She then carefully levitated his body all the way up the staircase and into his bed. The only thing that would help him now was rest.
She decided that if she weren't going to be able to sleep tonight she would at least go downstairs and make some tea and maybe read a good book. Plus if she stayed awake she could keep checking on Sirius.
………..
Sirius's body felt so weak as he lay in bed, and yet his mind continued to race. He wanted more than anything to rush to Hermione's bed room and thank her for saving him, but he knew that he wouldn't be able to do that with out also confessing his passionate love for her. He wanted to take her tonight, more than ever before. He just needed to calm down and regain his strength. These crazy thoughts were just animalistic Padfoot trying to take control of his human self.
