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The Governess

Chapter 4

It had been three weeks already and surprisingly Hermione was rather enjoying herself, which was not something she had thought would have been possible, all things considering. She tried not to think about the fact that she was back in the past, knowing that if she did, she would only panic and over think, going into crazy work mode, which she couldn't risk. So here she was sitting across the table currently going over Potion texts with Sirius.

Life with the Blacks had been surprisingly easy to become accustomed to: she would get up bright and early in the morning, washed and dressed into the robes provided to her. Mrs. Black had insisted that even though she may be a muggleborn, if she was to represent the house of Black then she would be dressed accordingly. They were, of course, nowhere near as fine as the clothes she, Mr. Black and Regulus dressed in, but they were a damn sight dressier than anything Hermione owned. The set of robes she had arrived in looked rather drab and worn, in comparison, when hanging next to them in the wardrobe.

Once dressed she would then quietly make her way down stairs, more often than not the house was beginning to stir but she had seen how angry Mrs. Black was when woken early from her slumber, and it wasn't pleasant. Once safely downstairs she would join Kreacher in the kitchen for her morning tea and a bite to eat, whilst the little elf worked his magic at creating the family's breakfast. She had to say, apart from Mrs. Black, Kreacher was by far one of the biggest surprises. Though he didn't have a fondness for Sirius, he was rather pleasant to her, hardly bothered at all by her blood status and simply eager to please his Mistress more than anyone else.

She would then sit and enjoy her time reading a copy of the Daily Prophet, until one of the boys would pop their head in and inform her that they were ready for their lessons when she was. Regulus was more often the culprit than Sirius, of course. However Sirius was warming up to his lessons and was actually rather bright when he put his mind to his work, but often, he most certainly got distracted.

Whether it was because he just had to tell her about the time James tried to catch the Giant Squid at school with a plate of sardines, or to shamelessly flirt with her, if there was a way to avoid concentrating on the task at hand, he would do it.

But when he did put his mind to his work and focused, he was quite the sight. He would often bring his bottom lip between his teeth and chew at it whilst writing his notes, or trying to work out the answer. There were times he would lean forwards with his hands firmly submerged into his hair as he pushed it back off his face whilst he thoroughly read through the text.

Hermione hated to say it but the boy was managing to charm her more in these moments than any others, and it frustrated her to no end. He looked older than 15 and she would find herself just watching him a little too long, or biting her own lip when he would stretch as he got up from his seat and that small sliver of skin would just peek out from the hem of his shirt, trying to hold back the whimper that wanted to escape. It didn't help that she was forever remembering the man that he would eventually become, how his shoulders would broaden out just slightly more and his arms would thicken so that his t-shirt sleeves would cling around his muscles just so.

"You know, Nonnie," he began, "Has anyone every told you that your eyes are the most captivating shade?" Hermione couldn't help but roll her eyes, the shameless compliments and flirting from the wizard were now, and had truly always been, something she was very used to, but didn't help her inappropriate crush on her student.

"Back to your work, Sirius," she warned, though there was no real threat there.

"Like a mixture of the richest chocolate and brightest amber," he continued.

"Quite the mix," she replied, whilst trying to gain control the smile that threatened to make itself present and pointing back down to the book they had opened before them. "Come on, enough of your shameless flattering, what is Aconite?" Hermione tried not to focus on the way the smile remained on his face for a moment longer, before he returned his attention back down to his work. That god forsaken lip being brought between his teeth as he focused, turning pink and deliciously swollen as he chewed at it and she couldn't help but wonder how even more delicious it would look if she had been the one to make it swollen.

"Aconite is the same as Monkshood isn't it?" asked Sirius looking up briefly from his work just at the right time, Hermione couldn't and shouldn't be having such thoughts, especially about a someone who was a student and also much younger than her.

"Yes it is, wolfsbane is the same, also, and one of the main components in the Wolfsbane potion," she answered brightly, pleased that he seemed to be picking up on some of today's material.

"Wolfsbane Potion?" Asked Sirius with a confused look, and suddenly reminded Hermione that she had just made a rather large faux pas. This was 1975 after all, the potion itself wasn't perfected until the following year.

"Erm yes," she hesitated, "it's a potion for Lycanthropy -"

"Seriously?" asked Sirius as he interrupted her excitedly.

Hermione was unable to hold back a smile at his excitement, all too aware of why it was this young man seemed so interested. "Seriously. But enough of that, back to your work-"

"What does it do? Does it cure it?" her attempt at changing the topic of conversation failed when he interrupted her once more, that and the large grey hopeful puppy eyes looking at her were rather difficult to ignore.

Smiling sadly at him she shook her head and his own hopeful look fell from his face. "No, it doesn't, but it does help control it. It's not finished yet. It's still being worked on, but hopefully, next year-"

"How, how does it work?" he interrupted eagerly, all focus on his previous work well and truly disrupted.

"It allows the drinker to keep their mind during a transformation, they can simply curl up and just sleep the night through, if they wished," she answered, warmed by his still very excited expression. "But it's not complete yet, there is still a way to go with its development."

Hermione quickly silenced anymore questions on the subject with a firm point back towards the text before them. "No more questions, and no telling anyone about what I just told you. It's not common knowledge yet. Now tell me about the properties of Aniseed," she was unable to hold back a smile when the wizard groaned dramatically and slouched forwards towards the work laid out before him. She wasn't aware that her cheeks had been flushing for some time now, nor that Sirius's smiles had been getting more and more smug the longer she blushed.

The streets of Diagon Alley were, as always, busy with witches and wizards alike. All with their own tasks to complete: bags full, places to visit, and Sirius loved it. He loved the organised chaos that the place provided, the opportunity it gave him to see his friends and embrace the fact that his mother wasn't there to whinge or moan about his presentation and how he should be proud to represent the house of Black, that he should do it in fine robes rather than those ratty muggle things he has gotten his hands on.

He loved his mother. Really, he did, but she got on his nerves just like any other mother/son duo. Or nearly, at any rate, if his friends and their mothers were anything to go by. They had what would have seemed like a strange relationship, never quite seeing eye to eye but still respecting one another for their views. It was like a strange and bizarre friendship at times. He, of course, didn't follow his mother's thoughts when it came to muggles and muggle borns, believing that pureblood and even halfblood were far more superior with regards to their magical ability, but he still respected her opinion. Each to their own, he thought. At least she wasn't on the extreme side of the family's thoughts like his Aunt Druella. And, well... it seemed that in the short 3 weeks Nonnie had been in their lives she was quite clearly the exception to his mother's rule. Of course, his mother was ignoring this completely, but Sirius had noticed how his mother never quite knew what to do about her.

Ah yes, she had taken them all by surprise. Walking into the house and the settling in with such confidence, Sirius was certain that had she gone to Hogwarts, she would have been a proud Gryffindor like himself. Well, he had hope she would have been. If only that it meant he could just watch her walk past him time and time again. Yes, there was no point denying it, the wizard had quite the crush on the pretty witch who had walked into their life.

"And she's the most gorgeous bird ever, you guys, I swear," Sirius explained to his best friends, but trailed off as James failed to suppress his laughter. "What?"

"Nonnie, the Nanny? C'mon, that's just gold. I would pay good money to see your mum say that. I can't figure which would be funnier, her saying something quite so ridiculous, or her managing to do it with a straight face!" James devolved further into his laughter, and even Remus had managed a bit of a smile at that. Sirius huffed.

"You mean to tell me you're going to completely ignore the fact that I'll have a gorgeous woman living down the hall from me for the foreseeable future, all because of the absurdity of her name?"

"Only as long as it takes for your grades to pick up," Remus gently reminded him.

"Yeah, and when you see her, you'll understand why I'm about to start failing even Transfiguration."

"Oh, come off it," Peter chimed in finally, "No bird is that good looking that you'd risk McGonagall's wrath, especially when she realises that you're purposefully screwing around."

"And that, dear Pete, is where you prove how remarkably foolish you are. Just wait until you guys meet her, because she's…" He turned to scan the crowd for her, as if them speaking of her would call the witch from the ever-changing crowd.

"What are you gonna do, summon her?" James snorted, and then his jaw dropped, when the crowd suddenly thinned, as if he'd planned it, and the boys saw the woman in question across the street outside of Flourish and Blotts, chatting animatedly with Andromeda Tonks.

"Isn't that your cousin, Andy and her daughter?" Remus asked, as they noticed the little girl on her hip screw up her face and then suddenly her hair matched Nonnie's brown waves.

Sirius couldn't help the wide smile that broke out across his face, "Yeah, it is. C'mon!"

Without waiting Sirius bolted across the Alley, and the others were left to follow in his wake, shooting wary glances back and forth to each other. This had the potential to be completely disastrous, but there wasn't much they could do to stop Sirius now.

"Hey Andy!" Sirius called, as he bounded across the street, and all three turned to see the boy running over, and his friends trailing behind. Hermione had to work to hide the smile at seeing Remus and James (good lord he looked just like Harry, except of course, for the eyes) and then her eyes fell on Peter and she felt her entire face lock down rather than sneer at the boy standing so harmlessly next to his friends.

"Hello, Sirius," Andromeda replied politely, trying to hide her confusion around her younger cousin's sudden arrival when she'd been having a perfectly nice conversation with the witch her daughter had accidentally run into. "What can I help you with?"

"Erm….I just realised you and Nonnie were talking and I wanted to introduce her to the boys," Sirius mentioned, hand scratching the back of his neck lightly. Andromeda's smile twitched imperceptibly, Sirius still hadn't kicked his nervous habit.

"Oh, you don't say? I could've sworn you had something of vital importance to speak with me about, considering you practically ran over here towards us, but if it's nothing too pressing, Nonnie and I will be going for some tea later? Perhaps?"

Here she looked over and met Nonnie's eye, and Sirius saw her eagerly nodding in return, "I'll see you around, Andromeda. And really, it was no problem. She's a sweetheart. See ya, Nymphadora!"

The little girl hid her face into her mother's shoulder at that, and Sirius watched the most mesmerising look of amusement pass across Nonnie's face. "She doesn't like her name," Andromeda explained quickly. "She usually only answers to Dora."

Nonnie smiled lightly, and Sirius could feel himself practically swoon where he stood. "Bye then, Dora!"

Sirius didn't really watch his cousin as she carried her daughter away, because he was turning back to his friends, who had finally joined them on this side of the Alley, and he turned excitedly. "Guys, this is Nonnie. Nonnie, these are my best friends, James, Remus, and Peter."

Nonnie waved at the three and Sirius noted that Pete's eyes had gone wide. Yeah, he thought smugly, that's why it's worth pissing off Minnie.

"Lovely to meet you boys, I must say Sirius has spent a fair amount of time talking about you, when he should be studying," she chastised, shooting the wizard a smile that had him once more near swooning at her feet.

"I resent that, I've been working hard-"

"You've been working," interrupted Nonnie as she corrected him and he couldn't help but roll his eyes at her comment and laugh along with his friends as they began to do so.

"Where's Reg?" asked Sirius when he noticed that his brother, who was becoming a little like a shadow to the woman when she was around, was nowhere to be seen.

"Still in there," she replied gesturing towards the bookshop behind, just as the bell rang and the door swung open. "And now here," she added, when Regulus had stepped out, looking rather proud of his purchases clutched tightly towards his chest.

"Here," said Nonnie, gesturing for him to pass over his newly beloved texts and laughing lightly when he reluctantly did so. "You can't read them here, now, can you?" she continued as she shrunk them down with a quick effortless wave of her wand and slipped them into her bag for him.

"Are you finished, Sirius?" she asked looking back towards him as she closed up her bag, smiling when she noticed his disappointed look at the thought of going home. "Look, Regulus and I are heading back now. This strange boy wishes to have a look at Ancient Ruins on a Saturday."

"Starting a bit early aren't you? Term isn't for a while, yet," asked James, looking a Regulus as though he had just grown an extra head.

"Some of us wish to be prepared for classes, there is nothing wrong with being prepared for a new subject," replied Regulus defensively.

"You could do with taking a page out of his book," added Nonnie with that smile that seemed to make his own skip every time, rolling her eyes when he gave her a look of disgust and shock back. "Look, just make sure you are back before your mother is, or she'll have my head."

"And what a pretty little head it is. Would make a lovely change from those elves, just there, mounted decoratively on the wall. Would you like a Mahogany mount, or Oak? No? Maybe, something a little different? Willow, maybe or -"

"Lovely to meet you boys," interrupted Hermione as she tried to hold back her smile. "Just don't be late," she said again, this time with a look so pleading, Sirius knew he would do as she asked.

He watched her for a little longer than was appropriate, his eyes following the gentle movement of her hips from side to side, only to have his attention pulled back when someone cleared their throat.

"You don't stand a chance mate, so stop pining," Sirius flipped his finger in a gesture his mother certainly would have scolded him for, had she seen him, ignoring the way both James and Remus laughed.

"Don't crush my dreams," he said, a pout firmly in place.

"Pad's, let's face it, the only dreams that are going to become a reality, when it comes to her, are wet ones," James roared with laughter at Remus' comment, clapping him approvingly on the back.

"You're meant to be the nice one, you git!" said Sirius feigning hurt, before he joined in with the laughter.

Despite all things that had occurred leading up to this point, this was by far the most surreal. She had met Mrs. Black and survived, she had bonded with Regulus over books and work, she had enjoyed a debate or two with Mr. Black and she had developed a highly inappropriate crush on Sirius. But this? This was the winner. Here she was sat in a little muggle pub in the heart of London, in muggle jeans and a very very muggle dressed Andromeda.

The woman herself had floo'd Hermione just after 7, startling Mr. Black in the process as she pleaded with him to fetch Nonnie for her, and then insisting that she ventured out for a drink with her that was much stronger than tea. To be fair the woman looked like she needed it and when he mentioned that there had been a rather traumatic bath time with her young daughter, Hermione asked no more and followed Andromeda without hesitation.

So, here she was. Sat down at a little table for two, a bottle of wine between them and a much happier looking Andromeda.

"She was such a lovely baby," reminisced Andromeda whilst taking a savouring sip of white.

"She's a lovely little girl too," said Hermione with a smile, thinking back to earlier in the day when the little whirlwind wandered into her.

"Oh I don't deny she is, but my goodness, she is clumsy. Whilst she was immobile, just a sweet little bundle, it was so much easier," Hermione couldn't help the laugh from leaving her mouth, it was lovely to know that the Tonks she knew and love had always been this way.

Hermione raised her glass and enjoyed a mouthful of wine. "Does she not like bath time then?" she asked placing her drink back onto the table.

Andromeda laughed. "Oh goodness, no that's not the problem, it's that she loves them. It's like trying to remove a Limpet off a rock getting her out," once more Hermione couldn't hold back the snort of laughter at the woman's exasperated face.

"Anyway, enough of me waffling on, how are you finding things with regards to life with the Blacks?"

"To be honest, actually quite good."

"I must say, when I heard about you, I was quite surprised. My Aunt is not particularly open minded about certain -" Andromeda faltered for a moment whilst she tried to find the right words, looking a little panicked when words still seemed to escape her.

"It's ok, I know what you mean. It was your Uncle, really. Apparently, it was his turn to choose," Hermione smiled when Andromeda let out a snort of laughter so unlike a Black.

"That sounds about right. But... well she's not that bad. Nothing like my mother at least, threw me right out of the house when I told her about Ted," she said with a shrug.

Hermione couldn't help the frown from developing across her brow, she had always been under the impression what it was Mrs. Black that had banished Andromeda from the family. And the inescapable fact: She's not that bad really, nothing like others in the family, nothing like her portrait would become. Hermione had been noticing something similar, because every time she'd expected a reaction from Mrs. Black, the woman had surprised her by letting it pass. And this, too, confused Hermione, because it was so utterly….different, from the experiences she'd come to know from dealing with the Mistress of the House. Hermione once again found herself wondering what could possibly have happened in the intervening years between her presence and understanding of THIS Mrs. Black, with the one that would grace the wall years later.

"I didn't care too much, mind you," Andromeda continued on, misreading the confusion on Hermione's face. "As I was starting to get really tired of all the blood purity tripe they endlessly go on about, but there are days when I miss my sisters…"

Hermione snapped back to attention. "I can't imagine," she remarked. "I've never had any siblings, were you and your sisters close?"

"Thick as thieves," Andromeda responded with a nod and another sip of wine. "We were forever causing trouble for our parents. Cissy, Bella, and I. And when Sirius clocked on, he was all too keen to join in on the fun. Drove them all mad, and we took great pride in it."

Hermione instantly thought of the Weasley Twins, but doubled, and slightly more pompous. It caused her smile to hitch just a little higher on her face. "It sounds brilliant, in a rebellious sort of way."

"You too fond of rules to appreciate a little chaos, Nonnie?" Andromeda chuckled.

"Rather, have had too much chaos in my time and prefer the quiet comfort of some solid rules now." Hermione responded with a fond smile.

"No such thing," Andromeda responded swiftly.

"Oh, I beg to differ," Hermione couldn't help the sardonic tone that coloured her voice as Professor McGonagall's voice echoed through the years, sheer dumb luck!

"Go on, then? What's a bit too much chaos?" Andromeda pushed.

"You don't want to know," Hermione said with an eye-roll, though her cheeks coloured just a touch, and the woman across from her, Slytherin to the core, caught the detail and her eyes lit up with mirth.

"Now you have to tell me. You can't just drop mysterious hints like that and then beg off! Go on, just one."

Hermione cast her mind around for a story from any of their adventures, something that wasn't obviously to do with defeating Voldemort. Should she explain the mountain troll they'd fought in the girl's bathroom? How did it get there? Voldemort via the back of a professor's head. Nope. How about the dragon they'd smuggled to the top of the Astronomy tower? That led to a detention in the forbidden forest where Voldemort had been drinking Unicorn blood. Nope. What about the time she'd brewed Polyjuice Potion in the girl's bathroom? Then she'd have to explain the Chamber of Secrets, which was very obviously a Hogwarts myth. Adventure after adventure flew through her mind, each one more outlandish than the next, and each one even less easily explained than the one prior. Finally she settled on the adventure she could explain the most about with the least amount of details.

"Erm...I once spent a month in the infirmary with a partial cat transformation?"

Andromeda nearly choked as she'd been taking another drink. After spluttering for a moment or so, she managed to get out, "Wh-what? How? Why?"

"Well, I didn't realise the hair I was dropping into my batch of Polyjuice wasn't, in fact, human, rather a cat's hair."

"But….where did you get the Polyjuice? Why did you even need it?"

"I brewed it in an out-of-order loo, because we were trying to spy on a classmate." Hermione hedged.

"You can brew a Polyjuice? That's no easy feat." Andromeda seemed impressed, and it only caused the flush on Hermione's cheeks to darken. "What?"

"Did I mention I was about 13 at the time?"

"You what?! You must be joking!"

"Nope. It's not nearly so bad, as long as you can get the timing right." She remarked off-handedly.

"Blimey," Andromeda said, lounging back into her chair. "I've never managed a decent batch."

"I could teach you sometime, if you ever wanted to know. You never know when that sort of thing might come in handy," Hermione supplied. Especially with the war coming on.

"No, I think having Dora is as much 'changing into another person' as I can handle, for the time being." Andromeda responded with a chuckle. "I suppose that makes my muggleborn husband seem really simple now."

"I suppose it does, yes," Hermione joked back, "though your family seems to be getting over the whole muggleborn thing in bits and pieces."

Andromeda smiled warmly at Hermione "They really aren't that bad, well my Uncle's side isn't, my mother had insisted I was struck of the family tapestry, marched right over to Grimmauld Place, I've been told," Hermione listened with rapt attention, her brows creasing as she listened. "She wouldn't, of course. Aunt Walburga, that is. She may not agree with my choice and certainly doesn't do the family visit thing with Ted, and there is no way at all that she would permit either he or my daughter to be on the tapestry, but she wouldn't strike any of us off. Family is very important to that woman. She loves those boys more than anything, and the thought of disowning family, she certainly doesn't approve of that."

Hermione was speechless, there were no words to describe the thoughts and feelings that were coursing through her at that moment in time. Her short time here was most definitely painting a far different picture of the woman she had thought she knew about. Nothing so far adding up or making sense.

Hermione was feeling rather merry after her time spent with Andromeda that evening, as she walked the steps to the front door of Grimmauld Place and was truly grateful when the door opened to her signature, it never was fun trying to find keys in your bag after a drink.

Some things had come to light that evening, things that confused her about the family she was living with, things that she thought were true suddenly becoming far from it, but she tried her hardest not to think about it. Tried her hardest not to worry about her impact here in this time and its effects on the family she had now found herself more or less a part of.

Hermione closed the door softly behind her, hoping that she wouldn't wake anyone in the house. She wasn't sure what time it was but seeing as the lamps had been lowered to their evening burn she didn't wish to risk the wrath of Walburga. That woman did not take kindly to being woken.

She tiptoed through the hallway and towards the stairs, cursing silently at the thought of having to walk to the top and then cursing loudly when she stubbed her toe on the step after misjudging.

"You are not very good at this sneaking about thing are you Nonnie?" said Sirius from the entrance of the drawing room where he leant casually against the door frame.

Hermione scowled at him and brought her finger up to her lips miming to him to be quiet. "How much have you had?" he asked with a soft laugh.

"Not nearly enough to deal with your mother if you wake her," she muttered as she cast a glance towards the stairs when a creak from further up was heard.

Sirius laughed and Hermione glared at him, "Hush you!"

Sirius walked over toward her and pointed to the stairs. "You want to stay to the left hand side," he supplied, and Hermione gave him a questioning look.

"Trace, remember," he said gesturing to himself, "had to figure out how to sneak about without magic," he finished with a careless shrug.

"I could kiss you right now," beamed Hermione. "I'm going to pretend I didn't hear about you sneaking around, but I could kiss you for that bit of information, you handsome man," she praised, sure that if she hadn't had a drink she wouldn't be voicing these things out loud and running a hand of approval through the wizard's hair, trying not to concentrate on the way the man leant into her touch.

"I wouldn't object," said Sirius, his voice a little rough and a pout on his lips and Hermione quickly removed her hand when she realised what she had been doing.

"If only I was younger," she joked, taking a step away and heading towards the stairs, the effects of the alcohol that were once affecting her disappearing in a moment.

"Age is only a number," came the confident sound of Sirius from close behind.

"Your – your mother would kill me. And on that note I'm going to bed," said Hermione quickly, eager to move away from the man who had suddenly made her heart speed up and her breath hitch when he grasped her hand and placed a kiss on the back, as confidently as any courting man.

"Good night then, Nonnie," he whispered against her skin and she withdrew her hand quickly, turning around and making her way up the left hand of the staircase at a rapid pace.