Are We There Yet?

Part the Third

Hermione had woken up feeling better than she had in a long time. But that blissful contentment quickly faded when she saw her bed-mate's eyes flutter open. Her stomach tightened and her heart sank when she remembered what had gone on the previous night. She had gotten out of bed, not talking to him, not touching him, not looking at him, because, now, he was off limits.

She was thankful, however, when everyone had gone down for the hotel breakfast. She had stayed behind, wanting to be alone to catch up on her reading.

Forty-five minutes of pure, isolated heaven. She growled in frustration, though, when Ginny burst in the room, rudely popping her bubble of peace.

"'Mione, they have a pool!" Ginny squealed excitedly, bursting into the room the next morning. Hermione glanced up from her book. Ginny plopped onto the bed beside her.

"What are you reading?" Ginny asked, pausing her excitement, tilting her head and peering over at the book. Hermione couldn't help but crack a smile at her friend's fleeting attention span.

"A Muggle book. It's called Jane Eyre." Hermione explained. Ginny shrugged, and flipped her red hair aside with a posh air.

"I'm not much for Muggle literature." she said. Hermione smiled.

"So you said there's a pool?" she asked, closing the book, and setting it aside.

"Yeah! And the best part is, mum and dad went with Moody to some Order thing, so I can pull out the string bikini!" Ginny said with a grin. Hermione laughed. Harry shot Ginny a smirk from the other side of the room. Ginny hopped up and grabbed Hermione by the arm.

"Please go swimming with me!" she begged. "It's so nice outside, and the pool is all empty!"

"Fine, go get changed, and I'll meet you down there." Hermione said, pulling her swimsuit from her bag. Ginny nodded, and ran to her room to go get changed. Harry looked up at Hermione.

"'Mione, we need to talk." he said, grabbing her hands and leading her to the bed. Hermione sighed.

"Alright."

"You're my best friend, you and I are way closer than me and Ron. But you're sleeping around with my godfather? He's so much older than you. Why would you do that?" Harry asked, running a hand through his hair. Hermione stared at the triangle pattern on the carpet. Harry let out a deep breath, and put a comforting hand on her knee.

"I honestly don't care who you sleep with. Your love life is none of my business. But why Sirius? Why take that chance? You've seen the types of cheap slabs that he brings around."

"Harry, it was just spur of the moment sex, it didn't mean anything." she said. Harry raised an eyebrow at her. She took a deep breath. "And, I never take chances. I'm just always the person who colors inside the lines. Everyone always relies on me to do the right thing all the time. Honestly, I'm sick of it. Im tired of living up to everyone elses expectations. I'm ready to live a little, you know? Take a few risks."

"That makes sense, and, I mean, I fully support you. All I'm saying is that, I love you, 'Mione, you're the closest thing to a sister that I have, and I don't want to see you get hurt. I want you to be happy." Harry said, pulling her close. Hermione felt safe in the comfort of her best friend's arms, and closed her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Harry." she whispered.

"Yeah? Just be careful with him, 'Mione. He doesn't like to be tied down." he said, stopping when Sirius and Remus walked in the room. Harry released he, after giving her one last squeeze. Hermione cleared her throat.

"Ginny and I were going to go for a swim." she said, standing up, and heading for the bathroom. Remus smiled.

"Mind if I tag along? A swim sounds nice." Remus said, eyeing Harry curiously. Hermione nodded. Sirius looked at her, his eyes dark. She quickly looked away, and shut the bathroom door. She pulled on her bikini, the skimpy red one, with small bows. She sat on the closed toilet seat, her head in her hands. How was she going to face him? She wrapped a towel around herself and walked out, annoyed to find only herself and Sirius in the room. To add to her frustration, he was shirtless. She avoided all eye contact.

"So. Last night." he said awkwardly. She glanced up at him.

"Last night never should have happened." she said quietly. Sirius looked at her.

"I'm sorry that it did happen. I let my desire get the best of me." he said, apologetically. She shifted her weight from her left foot to her right.

"I'm not looking for anything serious." she said simply.

"I'm not either."

"And no offense, Black, but you have a reputation." she said, wringing her hands. Sirius cleared his throat.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"That I'm not ready to be tied down to a bed hopping playboy, any more than you want to be tied down to a teenage bookworm." she said forcefully. Sirius sighed. He couldn't help the niggling feeling in his stomach at the thought of the fact that she was pushing him away.

"Can we just pretend it never happened?" she asked. Sirius sighed and nodded in agreement, not looking at her.

"Go." he said, nodding towards the door, his voice strained. Hermione walked briskly down to the pool, not wanting to be stuck alone with Sirius anymore. Ginny saw her walking and waved.

"Hurry up! The water is fabulous!" the redhead called. Hermione laughed, and ran the rest of the way. Tossing off her towel, she cannon-balled into the water. Ginny clapped.

"Nice! Where's Sirius?" she asked. Hermione groaned.

"I don't know and I don't care either." she said. Ginny raised her eyebrows, amused.

"Oh?" she asked, putting on her gossip face. Hermione came closer to her, and began to whisper in her ear.

"Ginny, I had sex with him last night, and Harry caught us. Ever since this bloody trip began, I've only been embarrassed! He's mad at me because I explained to him that I didn't want sex to ruin things between us." Hermione hissed angrily, having already told her friend about the events of the car ride. Ginny looked impressed.

"Well that's quite a notch on your bedpost." she teased, making Hermione smirk. Ginny frowned.

"You know what? I say you just don't think about it. Enjoy the sunny day! Have fun in the water!" Ginny said good-naturedly, slinging her arm over Hermione's shoulders. Hermione shrugged.

"You're right. I wont let it bother me." she said, nodding her head, smiling. The two friends began to show off their tricks in the water, laughing and chattering, when a huge splash made them turn around. Sirius was having a violent splash war with his godson, laughing up a storm, his head thrown back in pure mirth. Ginny rolled her eyes while Hermione looked on fondly as Remus decided to join in. Ginny squealed as she accidentally got splashed in the face. Nodding over to the indoor hot tub, she got out of the pool. Hermione followed, excited about the jacuzzi. Ginny slipped into the warmth of the water as Hermione turned on the water jets from the control panel on the wall. They had the room to themselves, and they had a relaxing time. They looked up as the glass door opened. Sirius Black stepped in, shaking out his wet hair in a dog-like manner.

"I couldn't let you lovely ladies hog the hot tub, now could I?" he teased, dipping into the tub beside Hermione. Ginny winked at her friend, receiving a scowl in reply.

"Nature calls!" the red-head announced, jumping out of the pool, and making a mad dash out of the small stand alone building. Hermione scowled, and tilted her chin up in the air. Sirius clicked his tongue at her.

"So this is what I get? After giving you a night of complete pleasure?" he teased. Hermione didn't look at him. "So you're just not going to talk to me?"

"What is there to possibly talk about, Black?"

"Us." he stated matter-of-factly. She shook her head.

"There is no us." she said, making him smile.

"You'll come around, darling. They always do." he said, placing a hand in her knee. She swallowed hard.

"Stop." she said firmly, or, as firmly as she could with his hand traveling slowly up her leg. He scooted closer, and Hermione turned to face him, looking at him sternly.

"You don't really want me to stop. Just close your eyes, and give in, just like in those little books you so enjoy." he said, as if he was reading her mind. She shivered, his talented digits, creeping up her inner thigh, fingering the fabric of her bikini bottom. Hermione's eyes popped open.

"I'm serious!" she scolded. Sirius pulled back, grinning at her. She huffed.

"If you are going to be like this, then I'm leaving." she muttered. He put on a pouty face. She nodded, using the handrail to guide herself up the hot-tub steps. She heard Sirius gasp from behind her, and turned around sharply. His eyes were wide, and a blush was creeping up his neck. She looked down, horrified, as she realized that her bikini bottom had come untied, and was now floating in the bubbling water. She shrieked, and grabbed a towel, wrapping it around her waist, and running out the door.

Thank you for all of the feedback on the previous chapters!

This chapter was kind of spontaneous. I had finished writing something else that I was going to use as Part Three, but then I went swimming, and my friend's bikini bottom came off, and it gave me an idea.

In other words, I already have the next part completely written and ready to be published.

Unfortunately for you, I am the type of writer who likes to space out updates, so 'Part the Fourth should be up sometime next week.

Sorry for the long A/N.

I hope you love!

KAY(: