At sixteen minutes past four in the morning, Sirius had accepted that sleep would not come for him. He lay under the comfort of his silk bedcovers, looking up at the ceiling. He had been thinking the same thing over and over: that girl was a slave for his family. A slave. She was under their command, which meant that she was bound to the Black family for the rest of her life. Did she have any idea what that meant?

His mother was the definition of bitch and had his tosser of a brother wrapped around her little finger. What with their pure-blood mania, together they were going to make her life more of a living hell than they had made his. His dad wasn't like them. He was reasonable, and at times they did get along, but unlike him his dad wouldn't object to his mum's demonic opinions for the sake of an argument.

Well, screw the argument. Sirius thought. This is wrong. It was never in his nature for him to sit back and watch something terrible unfold, so he wasn't going to do it now either.

As soon as the sun rose, he showered, dressed and headed downstairs in search for the girl he had spoken to yesterday. He didn't even get her name, but there was something about her that intrigued him. Maybe it was the mystery of not knowing who she was, or the fact that she was one of the few women that could make him laugh, or because she was possibly the only woman who could match him in an argument… whatever it was, he wanted to know more.

After finding the drawing room, living room and library empty, he entered the kitchen in the hope that she was there doing some sort of cleaning, but was otherwise met with his family eating breakfast in silence. He didn't eat with them if he could help it, though this time it seemed he would have to. Their argument the night before had clearly not been forgotten; His mother had paused eating to fix her eldest with a glare that could kill and she slowly drew her wand.

"Sit," she hissed.

Until that moment he didn't realise a one syllable word could be spoken with such venom. He coughed loudly to hide his snigger. However much he wanted to duel with his dear mother, now was not the time.

He sighed dramatically and fell into his seat, arrogantly tipping his chair back on its hind legs like he always did. He saw Regulas eyeing up the last slice of buttered toast on the table, debating in his mind whether to eat it or not. Sirius had the solution. He quickly snatched it up and ripped into it, smirking smugly when his brother's outstretched hand clenched into a shaking fist.

Kreacher turned the plate of crumbs to a pile of toast again with a click of his bony fingers.

"You have prepared a vast amount of food Kreacher," Walburga noted. "Are you planning on giving the slave our leftovers?"

"No Mistress," the elf piped up, shaking his head vigorously. "She not working hard enough… she not up to the standards that I would like for you mistress…"

"Is that so? I thought as much," she sniffed. "Very well. You are not to feed her until she is meeting those standards Kreacher. Monitor her closely. I do not want her eating when she is so undeserving."

Kreacher nodded and bowed. "Yes of course mistress… anything for you…"

Sirius scowled and dropped his chair back on all four legs.

"What do you want?" his mother snapped.

Orion lowered his newspaper and shook his head at him, as if already predicting what was to come. Sirius ignored him.

"Isn't it bad enough that you've made the girl be your slave and forced to live here against her will?" he fired up, "and now you're not going to feed her? You have to! She isn't going to last one week-!"

"GOOD!" Walburga screamed, "Then that will teach her to not trespass in our territory! Knockturn Alley is not a place for filthy mud bloods, nor is the world at all for that matter!"

"What's she ever done to you?"

Walburga laughed darkly as if he had told a particularly good joke. To his disgust, Kreacher and Regulas joined in. When she sobered up, she arched her eyebrow. "She is living," she said.

Sirius kicked his chair back and stood up.

"THIS IS WRONG! You have no right to do this to her! She has done nothing to you, and yet you feel as though you have the power to punish her and control what she does-?"

That was it. She had switched.

"YOU KNOW NOTHING!" she roared, "NOTHING! HOW DARE YOU EVEN QUESTION MY MOTIVES BOY! YOU DO AS I SAY, MY WORD IS THE FINAL WORD YOU HEAR ME? ORION – LET GO – I NEED TO TEACH HIM A LESSON – ORION!" she struggled breathlessly, her husband was grabbing her arm to stop her hexing him... or worse. "I DO NOT WANT TO SEE YOUR DISGRACEFUL FACE, GO TO YOUR ROOM NOW!" She was screaming so hysterically the veins in her head were throbbing. Sirius shot her a teasing wink and swaggered out of the room happily, slamming the door shut behind him for good measure.

He chuckled through his anger as his mother shrieked a "AND STAY THERE!"

Working her up was one of his favourite forms of entertainment. He took pleasure in seeing her face red and puffing and considered it a job well done if she was shaking in fury. His father had told him on more than one occasion that there would come a day where he pushed her that little too far, and she would crack. Sirius would shrug and reply that he would greet the day with open arms.

Instead of going up to his room, he searched the floor for the pretty girl. He wanted so desperately to call for her, but what could he say? He didn't know her name, and he refused to call her 'slave'.

Rounding the foot of the stairs having searched all the rooms again, he cleared his throat.

"Excuse me?" he hesitantly called. "It's – it's Sirius. I was speaking to you last night. If you can hear me now, I'm trying to talk to you – there are some things I'd like you to know…"

He was wary of how loudly he was speaking. He didn't want his family to hear, for he knew they would undoubtedly punish her for even speaking to him and that was the last thing he wanted. He spoke loud enough for her to hear, but quiet enough so they wouldn't.

"Just tell me where you are, if you can," he continued. "I'm on your side. I want to help you."

There was a few minutes of waiting in silence before a hollow knock sounded, like a fist on wood. Sirius stilled to listen harder, his keen sense of dog-hearing told him that it was coming from the hallway, just outside the kitchen door.

He edged his way towards the door under the stairs, believing she must have been on the other side. He was right.

"Sirius? Is that you?" came a muffled, female voice.

He placed his hands either side of the doorframe and leant in to whisper back.

"Yeah it's me. Are you okay?"

"Fine," she muttered, taking up the same position. Had there not been the wood separating them, they would have been touching.

Sirius knew better than to think she was fine. His bitch of a mother had dragged her out of his sight the night before, and he couldn't forget the look of fear etched on her sweet face.

"What did she do to you?" he murmured in a tone of urgency.

"Nothing – nothing," she said back. "I heard you fighting. You don't have to defend me Sirius, I don't want to cause any more tension between you and your family-"

"You stop right there!" he was quiet but firm. "I hated them before you came. There has always been tensions, ever since I was sorted into Gryffindor when I was eleven. What they've done to you - it only makes me see clearer what I already knew before. I'm not talking about my dad, I'm talking about the others. I wouldn't be able to live with myself knowing I could have been able to stop them doing this to you. You're not a slave. Not to me."

Hermione could practically imagine him saying those words to her, as if she wasn't standing on the top of the spiral staircase of her 'sleeping chamber' blinking in blackness. He spoke with such sweet sincerity, she almost believed it was the old Sirius speaking to her, not the one she had known for twenty four hours.

"You don't even know me. You don't know who I am," she mumbled.

"Then tell me," he said simply. "Y'know what would be a wonderful start? Your name. I want to know your name."

She stifled a laugh, which he probably heard.

"Is that an order?"

"I believe it is, yes."

Being bossy obviously ran in the Black blood, as well as her own. She rolled her eyes amusedly and then remembered that he couldn't see.

"My name is Hermione."

"Hermione?" he whispered.

"Yep."

"Well, it's quite a mouthful, but I like it," Sirius informed her.

She could tell he was grinning. Cheeky barstard.

"Thank you," she murmured, trying to think of way to say this politely. "But Sirius… you should go. I'm not allowed to speak you unless the subject is cleaning," she gripped her hand as she spoke. "I don't want an excuse for her to break my other wrist."

There was a long silence, and it was only when she replayed what she said did she realise her mistake.

"She broke your wrist?"

'She' being his god-awful mother. His voice was rough and hoarse, and through the wood she could see him now, tense, stiff, his jaw clenched… he was angry. Why couldn't she keep her mouth shut? She couldn't help but feel that in trying not to create more tension between him and his family, she had made it twice as bad.

She was hesitant to say yes, but she did anyway. She heard him curse over and over, followed by a soft thump on the door, as if he had pushed himself flat against it. He spoke again, and his voice made her shiver. He sounded so close, like he was whispering right into her ear.

"Why didn't you tell me before? I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry. She is an evil, evil woman with no heart. I won't let this happen. They aren't going to hurt you anymore, I'm not going to let them 'Mione!" Through his strong words she couldn't help but pick up that he called her 'Mione. Even his young self was stubborn enough to overlook her full name. "You're going to be safe, I'm going to get you food, and I'm going to get you out of here. I promise."

He spoke with a fierce desperation which reminded her of their first encounter when she was thirteen and he roared 'I WOULD HAVE DIED - I WOULD HAVE DIED THAN BETRAY MY FRIENDS!' It had the same effect on her.

She completely and utterly believed him.

"How exactly are you going to get me out?" she asked him, for she had no idea how she had even got here. The pocket watch must have performed some kind of rare form of magic, for no book she had ever read said that pocket watches could turn into time-turners on their own accord.

"I don't know, I'll think of a way. I can sneak into the kitchen and get you food though," he said it like it was easy. He was a Marauder after all. "I'll get some when they've all fucked off okay? Don't be scared 'Mione."

She shut her eyes in irritation.

"It's Hermione," she stubbornly reminded him, "and I'm not scared Sirius." She knew that young Sirius probably didn't believe her, for he wasn't to know that she was the brains of the Golden Trio who defeated Voldemort. "I've been through worse, I assure you…" much worse. I was tortured by your cousin. Before he could reply, she cut him off. "You should go now, I start cleaning after they finish breakfast."

"Alright love," he sighed, "I'll see you later."

When did he start calling her love? Did older Sirius do that? Him saying it to her felt oddly familiar, so maybe he did, she couldn't remember. She heard him knock a goodbye at the door. She smiled slightly and thanked merlin that she was trapped out of view, for she was surely blushing like a schoolgirl. Did older Sirius make her blush as well? Maybe he did that too. She shook her head and giggled uncharacteristically into her palm. What was that man like? She listened to the clonk of his boots on the marble as he walked away, wondering if the older Sirius made her heart beat faster too.

She pushed the thought from her mind, but somewhere deep inside her, she knew that he did.

Thirty seconds later, she remembered that she was engaged.

To Ron.

Apologies for the shortness of the chapter, they will be much longer from here on.

In case you were wondering, my Hermione is Emma Watson, because she is flawlessly beautiful, and my Sirius is Gary Oldman. I'm not gonna go on about how perfect he is, because I could write twenty bloody essays on the topic. Just trust me, go on my profile and check the pictures of him - of both of them. Bring tissues in case you drool. You have been warned!

I have been quite astounded by the positive response this story is getting, so thanks a bunch and keep 'em coming! :)

Soph/Hollister9