AN: just to let you know that this is the final chapter - I haven't updated this earlier because I have had no internet connection for so long :( anyway, I hope it was worth the wait :) please review ^^


Hermione smoothed down her black trousers and gave a quick tug on her pale yellow blouse to make sure it was sitting right. She heaved a sigh and ignored the adoring looks she was receiving from the other people in the lift.

Almost three years had past since that day when her entire world had fallen on its head. After spending two months moping around, she had conceived a plan and was determined to follow it through. However, the reason she was so late getting it started was because of spending her seventh year traipsing around the English countryside, finding Horcruxes so Voldemort could be destroyed.

Of course, he had been. The Battle of Hogwarts, it was being called, and that was the source of the never ending looks she was getting.

"Hermione," A man with blond hair, a first class suit and a winning smile greeted her. "Would you like to have dinner sometime?"

"No, thanks," Hermione replied without looking at him.

"Er..I don't think you know who I am," The man scoffed. "I'm Alastor Platt."

"Platt? Are you related to the famous Yadley Platt?" Hermione asked him.

"Yes," the man seemed relieved. "So I'll pick you up at eight?"

"I'm sorry, but Yadley Platt is famous for killing goblins, and you should know how set I am on equal rights for all species," Hermione said.

At that moment the lift door pinged open and she stepped out, the doors closing on Alastor Platt's shocked face. She walked along the corridor until she came to a door with no sign on it, and she knocked on it, three short, two long and two short. The door swung open and she entered, paying no attention to the fact that the door slammed shut behind her.

"Miss Granger, I presume," A man gestured to the seat and folded his hands.

"Indeed," Hermione took the seat.

"I understand you passed our first two tests," he said.

"First two tests?"

"The old woman who wanted help over the road," he explained. "She was a young pickpocket in disguise, but you saw that and booked her. And then the man in the elevator? We wanted to make sure you would stick by your values."

Hermione allowed herself a brief smile before he continued.

"Why do you want this job?"

"I want to be able to see all the secrets about this world. Ever since I received my Hogwarts letter when I was eleven I..."

"Okay, obviously rehearsed," he dismissed it. "Let me ask you another question. Why did you go on the trip with Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley?"

"Oh, er," Hermione hesitated. "I have a maternal instinct for them and I knew that they wouldn't be safe by themselves. If I had stayed behind like I was asked I would have torn my hair out from worry. I love them, you know? They're my family. I couldn't stand if I were to lose another loved one."

"Okay, you've got the job."

"I'm sorry?" Hermione was startled.

"I said, you have the job," the man resumed looking through the papers ordered neatly on his desk. "Be here tomorrow at 0800 hours promptly. I will assign someone to take you. Goodbye, Miss Granger."

Hermione stood, startled.

"Wear a navy skirt and a white shirt, that's the uniform for the new Unspeakables."

Hermione nodded and left.

The next day Alastor Platt, dressed in his blue robes, greeted Hermione outside the office of the head Unspeakable, and handed her the blue robes, which she pulled on over the skirt and shirt she had been instructed to wear. He then took her in the lift, going all the way down to the black door that Hermione frequently saw in her nightmares. She tried not to visibly flinch as he held it open for her.

"Are you okay?" He asked her.

"Of course, I'm fine, Mr Platt."

"Please, call me Alastor," he grinned his dazzling smile. "You are my subordinate, after all."

"Certainly, Alastor," Hermione smiled back.

Hermione followed him around whilst he explained what she'd be doing, listening intently, determined to do a good job. He left her in the room that recognised from the last time, the one that contained little babies in a tank of water.

Although she was itching to go and examine the veil, to try to hear her love's voice again, she restrained herself and picked up the manual to the room (Alastor had informed her that each room had a manual, but only Unspeakables could see them). It didn't take her long to read the one hundred pages, and soon she was up to her elbows in gunk from the tank as she tried to fish out the right baby to clean and deposit in the tube that led to the magical testing department. As she laid the baby on the tube and let it disappear into the blackness, she tried not to imagine what the baby was going to be used for.

Every so often she would receive orders with her device which was much like a muggle pager, but the instructions issued from it in a terrifying, rough voice that she didn't want to disobey.

"Hermione, you can go now," Alastor said, after Hermione had been working for seven hours.

"Thank you," Hermione stood up, offering her hand for Alastor to shake, but when she realised the slime on it she held it back, letting out a nervous giggle.

"Maybe another time," Alastor laughed along with her.

Hermione offered a small smile as she left. She apparated to Grimmauld Place, where Harry had allowed her to stay (her pretence was that it was close to the Ministry of Magic and she didn't have enough money to buy her own house just yet). She hurried upstairs, stripping off her clothes as she did so and stepped under the warm spray of water, allowing it to wash away all the mess from the day.

When she was clean she dried her hair, getting dressed into a pair of shorts and a white tank top, her bedclothes, and went back downstairs to get something to eat. She picked up her clothes along the way and went into the kitchen.

"Oh shit!" She gasped and dropped her clothes.

"Hey, Hermione," Harry greeted her.

"How long have you been here?" Hermione asked.

"Since about ten minutes before you got in," Harry said. Hermione went bright red. "Don't worry, I looked away when you started stripping."

"Why are you here?" Hermione picked up her clothes and piled them into the washing machine that she had installed.

"Do you mind if I stay here a few days?" Harry asked.

"It's your house."

"But it's polite to ask."

"Only if you tell me why."

"Ginny's pregnant."

"Why is that bad?" Hermione stopped putting pasta into the pot and turned to look at him.

"Because she's not sure if it's mine," Harry looked down at the ground.

When he looked back up there were tears in his eyes.

"Oh, Harry," Hermione reached over to him and hugged him closely, trying to comfort him with her grasp. His body shook within her arms.

"Michael Corner is who she cheated with," Harry wiped away his tears.

"Her ex from Hogwarts?" Hermione pulled back.

"Yeah, she met him at work," Harry said.

"You can stay here for as long as you want," Hermione said. "Do you want something to eat?"

"No, thanks."

Hermione turned back to her pasta and set it to boil whilst she poured in mince and sauce into another pot and started cooking. When she finished she put the pasta onto two plates and poured the sauce onto it.

"Spaghetti Bolognese," Hermione said, putting one of the plates down in front of Harry with a flourish.

Harry looked at it and then up at Hermione.

"My cooking's got better, I promise," Hermione assured.

He lifted up a fork and put a small amount on it, before tasting it. His face lit up and he began to shovel the food into his mouth. Hermione dug into her own dinner, watching as Harry devoured the meal.

"You're an amazing cook," Harry said astonished.

"Well, after all that disastrous food when we were searching for Horcruxes I decided to learn how to cook properly," Hermione said.

She reached up into one of the cupboards and found a selection of bottles and two glasses. She sat down next to Harry and poured him a glassful of whiskey.

"Drink it," she said, to Harry's doubtful face.

He picked it up and took a sip, his face grimacing at the taste. Hermione poured herself a shot and downed it straight.

Two hours later Harry was slaughtered. Once he had discovered he quite enjoyed the taste of whiskey, he had proceeded to drink the entire bottle, leaving Hermione on vodka. Needless-to-say, they were both drunk, but Harry was far worse.

"You are sssshooo beautiful...amashing," Harry said to Hermione, who laughed at him.

"God, Harry, I think you've have a bit too much," Hermione helped him to stand up. "Time for bed."

She struggled with him up the stairs. Luckily, the bedroom that Harry always used was only on the first floor, so Hermione had managed to put him on his bed and remove his shoes without being too worn out. Harry stared up at her with glazed eyes.

"Ssshhe cheated on me, you ssssee," Harry slurred.

"I know, Harry," Hermione soothed, leaning over him to sort out his pillow.

All of a sudden Harry grabbed the back of her head with surprising strength and tried to kiss her. Hermione twisted her head to the side so he only got her cheek.

"Harry, you don't want to do this," Hermione said gently, breaking his grasp.

"No, I really do," Harry said.

Hermione stood up and left the room, slamming the door behind her. She slumped against the wall outside and threw her head back with a thump. Tears formed, but she forced them back.

For the first time since she had lost Sirius, she found herself in his room, curling up on the bed they had shared many beautiful times and hugged his pillow close, breathing in deep the smell of him that still lingered there.

For the next four months Hermione repeated the same routine. She would wake up early and get ready for work, only to return home to Harry. They would drink together and he would get so drunk he either couldn't walk and required her assistance to get to bed, or he would pass out at the kitchen table and she would levitate him to bed.

"Normally we don't do this but because you've been working so hard we've decided to promote you," Alastor interrupted her flow of work one day to say.

"You're kidding!" Hermione gasped.

"Nope, definitely not," he said. "It's now blue skirt and a yellow shirt."

"But isn't that your level?"

"Yep, you've been promoted all the way up," Alastor grinned. "You work hard, Hermione, and you've never afraid to put in overtime so I talked to the head Unspeakable and he promoted you sky high. You're second in ranks under the head himself."

A huge smile spread across Hermione's face and she hugged Alastor, much to his shock, and did a little jig in celebration.

"Nice style, Hermione," Alastor said. "How would you like to go for dinner sometime?"

Hermione stopped dead and looked at him. Alastor had become a good friend indeed over the last few months, dispersing the first image she had gained from him in the lift that first day (it was just an act, he had gleefully informed her). But she couldn't help but feel it would mean something different to him then it would mean to her. She had seen him staring at her several times with a wistful look in his eye, but she couldn't bring herself to date any one else. Her heart belonged to Sirius.

"I'm sorry, but I have plans tonight," Hermione lied.

"Oh," Alastor was disheartened.

"Yeah, I have to patch up my friend's marriage," Hermione sighed. "It's a nightmare but they love each other really. They just need someone to tell them that."

"Maybe some other day then?" Alastor said, hope in his voice.

"Yes," Hermione agreed, then bit her lip. She didn't want to seem like she was agreeing to date him. "Does this now mean I can go in any room?"

"Was there one you were interested in?"

"Well, when I was here about three years ago I was in stone room with this veil thing in the middle. I was really fascinated by it and would love to study it," Hermione said.

"Oh, I know that room," Alastor smiled again. "That veil is fascinating. I'll take you there tomorrow."

The next day Hermione woke up a full hour before her alarm was set to go off, and she was ready to go way before she should have been. Harry walked into the kitchen with a stagger, bleary eyed after the previous night's drinking, and groaned at the sun light that filtered through the window. He reached blindly for the coffee machine and poured himself some before bringing the mug to his lips with trembling hands and had a huge gulp from it.

"Come here," Hermione said to him, watching him wince at the sound of her voice.

He shuffled over to her and she poured some Hangover Potion into his coffee.

"That's better," Harry said, perked up after drinking the magical cure.

"You need to stop this," Hermione said.

"Stop what? The drinking? Easy."

"No, you fucking idiot!" Hermione shouted, standing up to face him. "You're moping around here because Ginny fucking cheated on you. Whop-de-whop! As least she's still there and at least she still loves you. You should go and make up with her rather than wallowing in self-pity, because that never did anyone any good, did it?"

Harry stared at her stunned. She groaned in frustration and apparated to the Ministry with a loud crack. It was when she was all the way down in the bowels of the Ministry, walking along the corridor that the tears began to take over, big sobbing tears that racked her body. She leaned against the wall and slid down the curve.

"Granger?"

She blinked through her tears and looked up, only to see platinum blond hair bobbing above her.

"Oh, fucking fantastic," She sighed. "Just the person I wanted to see."

"Do I detect a hint of sarcasm there?" Draco Malfoy held out a hand. "Look, I'm not going to bite. I'm just offering to help you up."

Hermione hesitantly took the hand and allowed him to heave her up. She adjusted her clothes and dabbed her eyes before taking on a hardy expression.

"Why are you down here?" He asked.

"I work here," Hermione snapped.

"Look, I'm sorry about everything that's happened between us, okay? I'm trying to be nice and find out why you're in a corridor crying as if your entire family have died. I'm not about to curse you."

"Fine, I'm crying because I had an argument with Harry and it looks like I won't have a place to stay any more," Hermione said. "Happy?"

"Not particularly," He said. "Why won't you have a place to stay?"

"Because I'm staying at Harry's house," Hermione explained.

"Why don't you buy your own place?"

"Not all of us have money, Malfoy," Hermione bit.

"Sorry, I assumed..."

"That's right, you assumed," Hermione half-laughed in her anger. "You assumed that because I was crying I would be willing to talk to you. You assumed that I would be willing to put all the crap I suffered from you behind me? You assumed wrong!"

"Is everything okay here?" Alastor appeared.

"Yeah, it's fine, thanks," Hermione said. "Malfoy's just leaving."

Malfoy looked at her with stormy grey eyes before nodding curtly to Alastor and walking back to the lift. Alastor stood by Hermione's side, not taking his eyes off the man until the lift doors had pinged shut.

"What did he want?" Alastor asked, putting a comforting arm around her.

"To see how I was," Hermione replied. "It's just too much history between us makes it awkward."

"You dated him?"

"No, I hated him," Hermione laughed. "That's Draco Malfoy, Slytherin Prince. He's the one that started calling me mudblood and made my life a living hell when I was at school."

"That's Draco Malfoy?" Alastor gaped. "He's so young!"

"He's the same age I am," Hermione retorted, stung slightly by his comment.

"Yeah, but you seem..." he appeared to struggle for the right word.

"Mature?" Hermione filled in.

Alastor nodded, clearly pleased that she had said it. Hermione smiled and Alastor finally remembered why he had gone to see her. He took her through the door to the Department of Mysteries and went straight through the door in front of him. When he was through that door he took the first door on the left and Hermione found herself in a room that she remembered clearly. The arch was filled with a purple haze, much like cytoplasm, and she was drawn to it.

"What is that?" She asked in wonder.

"What? It's just an arch," Alastor shrugged.

Hermione stared at him, wondering just how he couldn't see the purple stuff that swam in the arch and hear the whisper of voices that filled the room.

"Look, I'm going to leave you to it," Alastor said. "This room gives me the creeps."

"Yeah, sure," Hermione said distracted.

She was barely aware of Alastor leaving as she moved slowly, trancelike, towards the arch. The whispers seemed to invade her minds and coax her near. It was impossible for her to break away from it as she got closer and closer, the arms straining to grasp her.

Stop

A single word made her hesitate, but the voices kept her moving.

Hermione, stop, please.

His voice invaded her mind, making her heart stutter and tears suddenly fill her eyes. She sank to her knees, his voice echoing around her mind so much so that she couldn't breathe - he was there, still, and he was talking to her.

Every day for a year she went back to that room, putting in more than twelve hours a day studying the manual, desperate to discover something that would give her a clue. During her compulsory two week holiday she dedicated every waking moment to researching obscure texts. She spent so much time dedicated to her work that she didn't even realised that Ginny had given birth to a little boy who looked identical to Harry. It wasn't until she was out on for her cousin's birthday that she had a break-through.

"Hermione, it's so nice to see you again," Her cousin, Annie, greeted her.

"And you. I can't believe you've got kids!" Hermione gasped, looking at the twins who were toddling playfully around. "They're so gorgeous."

"I know, they're just amazing," Annie looked at them, her eyes shining. "So when are you going to settle down? You're twenty now and you've never had a boyfriend. Don't you think you should try to date?"

"I have had a boyfriend," Hermione whispered, her voice dropping low.

"Oh, what's his name?" Annie asked, her interest spiked.

"Sirius," Hermione forced the name out. "I loved him, you know. We were supposed to be married and everything."

"What happened? Cold feet?" Annie asked.

"No, he, er..., he died," Hermione choked.

"Oh, I am so sorry," Annie brought her hands to her face, her expression horrified. "I didn't mean to push."

"It's fine," Hermione swallowed hard. "It's just difficult to move on."

"I have something for you," Annie took her upstairs into her husband's study. "Do you remember when we were little and you would pretend you were a witch?"

Hermione nodded, concern flitting across her mind. Even when she was little she dreamt of being a witch, not knowing that she really was. Only her parents knew the truth about her, the rest of her family believed Hermione had been across the country attending a prestigious school.

"Well, I found something," Annie scanned the shelves and pulled out a book, giving it to Hermione.

Hermione looked down at the golden letters on the jet black background. Wicca: the window to another world. She ran her fingers over the raised lettering and looked questioningly at Annie.

"My friend likes it," Annie seemed to struggle for the right words. "She recommended it to me, said that it's magic. Apparently you can perform spells that work."

"Imagine that," Hermione said softly, her mind distracted.


"Hermione!" Harry's voice called up the stairs.

Hermione lifted her heavy head from the scattering of papers on the desk and blinked open her eyes as Harry burst into the room. He took in the state of her and sighed, walking over to give her a helping hand to the kitchen, where he deposited her on a chair and busied himself brewing coffee.

"You need to sort yourself out," Harry said as he placed the cup in front of her.

Hermione took a sip of the vile tasting drink and grimaced.

"I'm fine, Harry," She went to get up.

"No, you're clearly not," he pushed her gently back down. "Look at you, you don't eat any more and you're definitely not sleeping. You work too hard."

"You can never work too hard," Hermione snapped.

"Oh really?" Harry sighed. "Hermione, you've lost weight. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, you look great actually, but it's getting a little too much. You look like you're dead on your feet."

Hermione sniffed and downed her coffee, her face moulding into a look of displeasure as the caffeine worked itself into her system.

"What's this?" Harry asked, picking up her copy of the Wiccan book. He opened to the pages marked by scraps of paper and read the annotations Hermione had put on them. "Muggle's magic?"

"A side project."

"What's with the notes?" Harry asked.

"Nothing," Hermione made to snatch the book from his hands but he held it just out of her reach.

"Hermione, are you trying to bring Sirius back?"

Hermione looked at him, her eyes steely, until suddenly the life filtered out of them and her shoulders slumped. She nodded.

"How close are you? Do you want help?" Harry asked, excitement barely contained.

"If you give me another week, I'll be able to do it," Hermione croaked.

In the week that followed Harry popped in every day to make sure Hermione was eating properly, but his main priority was to see just how near she was. When the week was up he slammed the door opened and bore down on her with a huge grin on his face.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

"Yes," Hermione stood up and stretched, her spell memorised. "We need to go into his bedroom, it's the place where most of his stuff is so his spirit is drawn there."

Harry bounded into Sirius's bedroom, and Hermione was pleased that he didn't notice the crumple bedding that she had forgot to make that morning when she climbed out of bed. Harry followed her directions, sitting on the chaise in the corner whilst Hermione stood in the middle, her wand held in her hand.

"What was done was done

Be it now undone

As I enter now this sacred space

Return his spirit to its grace"

She lifted her wand and drew a pentacle in the air, the white from the end of her wand weaving itself into the shape and lingering in the air.

"Through lessons learnt and lessons passed

May his spirit continue to last

Within this realm we shall see

As he should be

His spirit now with us

His body is a must

Let him come back

Let him come back

Let him come back"

Hermione chanted, her voice getting louder and louder until she pointed her wand into the centre of the pentacle and proclaimed at the top of her voice:

"As I say it, so mote it be!"

There was a bang, and a white light blinding the two occupants. As suddenly as the light had appeared it had gone, leaving a man standing in its place.

"Sirius," Harry gasped, moving towards him.

Sirius lifted his head and his bright blue eyes twinkled, looking at Harry first, before noticing the suddenly alert witch behind him. Hermione smiled softly at him and he smiled back.

"Hermione," he breathed, stepping around a bemused Harry and standing in front of her.

"I missed you so much," she half-sobbed.

"I'm not leaving again without you," Sirius promised, and to prove it he pulled her close and kissed her lovingly.

When they broke the kiss Hermione began to cry, her sobs racking her entire body. Sirius held her in his arms, his hand stroking her hair soothingly until she gained hold of herself.

"I should've realised," Harry spoke up for the first time, having watched this exchange.

"Harry, I couldn't tell you," Hermione pleaded. "I didn't know how you would take it."

Sirius glared at Harry, as if daring him to say something, but he remained silent.

"I can't believe I have you in my arms again," he whispered to Hermione. "I've wanted this for an eternity. I love you, Hermione."

"I love you, too," she said, her eyes puffy from crying as she looked up at him.

"Where's your ring?" Sirius asked.

Hermione reached inside her shirt with trembling hands and pulled out a long golden chain with the ring dangling from it. Sirius undid the chain and pulled the ring off, before sliding it onto her wedding ring.

"Never leaving you," he repeatedly firmly, before pulling into a more passionate kiss.

Hermione felt her body respond to his heat, her emotions soaring into overdrive as a result of lack of human contact for almost five years. She pressed herself against him, and could feel how much he wanted her as well.

"Look, I know I wanted to see my godfather, but this is way too much for me," Harry flung up his hands before turning on the spot and disappearing.

Hermione barely heard the crack as she throw all she had into the kiss. Her fingers fumbled desperately with his clothes, her skin crying out for contact. He was locked in a struggle with the annoying little buttons on her shirt and eventually he just ripped it open and his hands seemed to dance across her torso as she revealed his toned stomach and then, shortly afterwards, his legs as she rid him of his trousers as well. Hermione went to hike up her skirt but Sirius stopped her.

"What's wrong?" Hermione asked as he stepped back and sat down on the bed.

"Take it off," he said huskily.

"Sorry?"

"I said take it off," Sirius repeated, his eyes dark with want. "I want you to take off all your clothes. I haven't seen you for so long and I want to savour the moment."

Hermione looked at him, her cheeks flushed with arousal, her eyes finally shining with love and admiration. No matter how much she yearned to be with him, she knew he had missed her, and so drew out her stripping, slowly removing her skirt and then running her hands all over her body like she had never done before, the clear desire in Sirius's eyes making her abandon all embarrassment.

She undid her bra and let it fall to the floor, before slipping out of her little panties and standing before him in all her glory.

"Are you going to sit there or make love to me?" She asked so simply.

Sirius stood up and kicked off his boxers before pulling her roughly to him, his lips hard on hers. He picked her up and laid her softly on the bed, his fingers touching her breasts and then her stomach, before she begged him to touch her properly. Whilst his mouth latched onto her breasts he eased apart her nether lips with his fingers and touched the aching bud of nerves. She cried out and her hips arched upwards.

"You never went with any one else," Sirius took his mouth away to marvel. "Why?"

"Because it's you, it's only you I want," Hermione said quietly. "I was trying to bring you back and I wasn't willing to do anything else."

Her train of thought was disrupted when he slipped a finger inside her. Sirius began to suck and nip at her neck, remembering all the sensitive places as he worked first one finger, then two inside her. He kissed a burning trail down to his fingers, where he replaced them with his tongue, finally tasting her after so long. The sensation after so long was enough to have Hermione crying out in satisfaction after only a minute.

Sirius lapped at her juices before he climbed atop her, kissing her so she could taste herself. He positioned himself at her entrance and then pushed in. Her eyes fluttered closed and her lips parted.

"Look at me," Sirius ran a hand down her cheek. "I want to remember this moment forever."

Hermione obeyed him, the lids opening over her chocolate brown eyes. He began to move, knowing full well she was ready for him by the way she cried out and begged for more. He couldn't help but obey - he couldn't hold back for much longer, not after so long.

He reached between them and began to work her clit expertly, applying a teasing amount of pressure before flicking it softly.

"Oh...Sirius..."

She screamed his name as she came, and the sensation of her walls tightening around him was too much as he pushed forward and split his seed, kissing her furiously as he did so. He pulled out and laid down beside her, holding her close.

"Tomorrow we tell everyone," Sirius said. "I'm not hiding us any more. I almost lost you once, I'm not going to do it again."

The very next day, along with the shock of Sirius being back and Ron's announcement that Luna was pregnant out of wedlock with his child, the family that surrounded Hermione and Sirius were stunned at their engagement.

"You know, technically, if we hadn't have put hair dye in Ginny's shampoo..." Fred said.

"You two wouldn't be together." George finished.

"Really?" Hermione asked, looking at them both.

She noticed out of the corner of her eye a very pregnant Ginny creeping up behind the twins. Within a second she had chucked something at them and a loud pop filled the room, along with plumes of smoke. The occupants coughed and ushered the smoke out of the window, only to start laughing as soon as the room cleared.

"What's so funny?" Fred and George exclaimed together.

Well, considering that along with having 'Tweedledum' on Fred's forehead and 'Tweedledee' on George's, they were bright purple.