(I think I'm getting the chapters quickly enough, right? I'm not absolutely sure about this one but I guess I'll have to wait and see the reviews (should they come). Well, I'm writing the chapters with all my heart! I hope you like it and, if you don't, please tell me what you didn't like... that's really important. Also, tell me what you'd like to see in the story... I'd like to know what you think is cool and what's not... So, please review and let me know!! Thanks, Ju :D)
Hermione's eyes were closed. She was thinking about how good it was to wake up and don't feel her head throbbing. Of course she had a little wine, but nothing compared to the amount she usually had. Maybe it was time to stop the partying and drinking every night. It felt so good to wake up and not have her mouth dried like she just ate a handful of sand. And it felt so good to be in that bed. She wasn't really recognizing the bed. So she opened her eyes and looked around. It was her old room on Grimmauld Place, the room she used to sleep in almost every summer. She wanted to go back to sleep but her jeans were to uncomfortable now and she saw that it was already late in the morning.
As she passed the hallway, she saw Sirius' and Harry's rooms empty. She went to the kitchen and saw Sirius cooking. He was with his back to the door and Hermione just stood there, staring at his sleeveless arms and fitted pants. Suddenly, she realized who was she staring at.
"Good morning", she said, trying to hide her impressed look.
"Hey, good morning. I didn't even see you walking down the stairs. Did you sleep well, love?"
"Yeah, I did. I forgot how comfortable that bed was.", Hermione said, making him smile.
"So, Harry had an emergency in the Ministry but he said he'll be back by dinner. Do you want some toasts?", Sirius said and noticing the look on her face, he added quickly, "It is the best I can do! I'm not a real cook, you know..."
"Yeah, I can see that...", she said, looking at his plate and seeing a burned egg he apparently tried to make, "Toasts would be great." He made her toast and watched her eat. He was thinking about how could a clumsy, bushy haired, geeky girl become a beautiful, attractive and smart-looking woman. He was also thinking about how full she was, how round her hips were and-
"Hello... Sirius... What are you looking at?" she said, trying not to sound as uncomfortable as she was.
"What? What happened? Were you talking to me?", Sirius said, trying not to babble too much.
"You were staring at me...", Hermione said, laughing loudly. It just seemed so foolish now that it was coming out of her mouth. "I've been talking to you for ages and you didn't even noticed it." she said, still laughing hard.
"I was distracted! What are you laughing at? It's not that funny!", he said, starting to laugh as well.
"I know it's not... I just couldn't stop myself! I'm sorry.", she said finally, holding her laugh. "So...", she said, wiping some tears off her face, "What are you planning of doing today?"
"I have no idea... These days I've been having no idea of what to do with myself. I really need to get a job or something!"
"I don't think I can entertain you today...", as she realized what she just said, she blushed, "I guess I got to go home and work a bit...". Sirius, noticing her blushing, said "Come on! We haven't seen each other for twelve years and you can't even take a day - a sunday! - off to hang out with me?" and finished with a pitiable look on his face.
"I'm sorry, Sirius! Technically, I've already took yesterday off and couldn't proba-"
"Yesterday was a saturday! Weekends doesn't count!", Sirius said, cutting her off. "And, besides, when was the last time you took some days off?"
"I... I never had a vacation.", and seeing his disapproving look, she continued, "I never felt like it! I never needed one!"
"Oh Lord, you're really something, aren't you?", he said, not even bothering to disguise his admiring look. "Ok, let's just do this.", he continued, coming to himself, "I'll go with you to your house and I'll hang out there while you work. What do you say?"
"But... But I'll never be able to concentrate with you there!"
"Better! If you really can't concentrate, then we can do something else!", he said, getting excited just with the prospect of doing something different than laying around in the house all day.
Under Hermione's not-so-strong protests, Sirius changed and they went to her apartment. As she was taking a shower, Sirius was looking around. He noticed how messy her living room was. It was full of books, papers and quills laying around, but it had Hermione's taste all over it. He didn't exactly know much about her, but he noticed the soft colors and the discreet furniture that looked just like the Hermione he knew twelve years ago. At least something is the same, he thought. He also noticed a board hanging on the wall with moving pictures pinned on it. As he came closer, he saw a picture of her, Harry and Ron together. They looked so happy and he saw that, by the looks of the picture, it was taken just before he fall into the veil. He felt guilty that, maybe, he took some of that happiness of Harry's face. Sirius decided that, since he was back and all was well, he should move on to the other pictures. And then, he came across a picture of him. It was probably taken when he was in his twenties... he felt a strange hope inside of him, just like, because of that picture and because of who kept it, everything would be fine. Then, he looked at the couch and saw what looked like a tie hanging in the arm of it. It looked like it was just tossed there. He was coming closer when Hermione got out, fully dressed, from her bedroom.
"Snooping around much?", Hermione said, making him jump.
"Huh? No no... Just taking a look. Nice pictures you have here. You kept my picture all this time..."
"Yeah, I just... After I kind of distanced myself from everybody, I promised myself I would keep a picture of every single people, in a place where it would be always visible to me, to keep me focused. And it's been working.", she replied, the knot on her throat starting to close; she was going to cry very soon if then didn't change the subject. Apparently noticing that, he said, "So, what are you planning on working on today? Can I help?", as Hermione replied, "I don't know if you can help... Are you good with math?", she said, reminding herself that she had all that calculation she had to do for a report and had been postponing it for ages. She was slightly better with words than with numbers.
"Actually, yes, I am pretty good at math... What do you want me to do?", so she gave him the papers and started working on something herself. She was really impressed that he really wanted to to all that calculations to help her.
The doorbell rang and Hermione open the door to see Ginny with a bunch of books in her arms.
"Hey, Hermione, can I come in? I wanted to clear some doubts about ancient runes and I know you're pretty good at it.", Ginny said, smiling broadly.
"Hum, yeah, I guess you could come in...", and she looked back at Sirius. She was subconsciously appreciating the fact that she was going to be alone with him. So when Ginny came in and Sirius saw her, he jumped to greet her. "Hey, Ginny, how have you been?", he said, hugging her. "I've only seen you once since I came back, haven't I?"
"Yes, you have. And I wanted to spend more time with you. But, what are you doing here?", she asked, raising an eyebrow to Hermione. They told the dinner story and Hermione begun to explain the ancient runes to her. After Hermione was done, Sirius asked Ginny, trying to seem casual, "So, Ginny, I don't mean to be rude or noisy or anything, but... Harry told me you two dated and he also told me that you broke up. He refused to tell me why was that, but he seemed so deep in thoughts that I just didn't want to push it. Can you, please, tell me why? Since I've come back, I'm trying to gather as much information about Harry as I can." Ginny made a displeased face and seemed to ponder the question for a second. Then, she looked at Sirius, deep in his eyes and said:
"Sirius, I'm really not at all comfortable talking about it. I haven't talked about it since it happened and I didn't planned on talking about it this soon.", she said and a look of desolation came to Sirius face. "But...", and his face cleared again, "Since you've been gone for so many time and I think you have every right to know as much as you can about Harry, I'll tell you.", she stopped, looking at Hermione. Hermione was astonished by what Ginny said. They had been friends for so many time and Ginny didn't even mentioned it... not even once. But she put on a straight face. The most normal she could.
"Well, the reason why Harry and I broke up was because I cheated on him.", she said, almost naturally. Sirius and Hermione looked at her with a disbelief look, but didn't say anything. She continued, "I was the one that told him and, even though he was mad, he was perfectly fine with us moving on, together. He was willing to forgive me. But I just couldn't... I couldn't live with that guilt. I knew I did something really wrong. I knew I did something Harry never deserved. So I just wanted to broke it off." There was a thick silence as Hermione and Sirius were thinking about something to say.
"But, Ginny, you could have talked to me. It must have been terrible for you, and for Harry as well, to not talk about that with anyone. Why didn't you ever mentioned it?", Hermione finally gathered enough breath to talk.
"I wasn't exactly proud of what I did, was I? I don't know about Harry but I didn't exactly want everybody to know.", Ginny finished her point with an exasperated look. "Sirius, you brought it up... Aren't you going to say something? I understand if you are upset with me..."
"No, Ginny, I'm just... That's just the most silly thing I've ever heard! Didn't you love him?", he asked, as she replied, "Of course I did! I just couldn't do-", she was cut off by Sirius, "But, don't you understand? You made him miserable all this time! Not because you cheated on him, but because he wanted you back and you blew him off!"
"It's not that simple! I did something terrible! He never would be able to forgive me completely... He would never forget! I couldn't live with it!", Ginny replied, getting tears in her eyes. Sirius was getting exalted, "Oh, but he could live with the fact that he lost the love of his life? That's so selfish, Ginny! You should have given him the chance to forgive and forget! I can't belie-"
"Shut up! Just shut up! You don't understand! You can't talk like that... You can't!", Ginny yelled and stormed off the door, sobbing loudly. Hermione and Sirius were just staring at it, like it was something they've never seen before. "I think I got to far... I have to go talk to her... I have to.", Sirius said, a bit disoriented as he realized how he must have hurt her. "No, Sirius. Let her be... You were too tough on her, but she'll understand it eventually. You are Harry's godfather... You want to protect him."
"Oh Lord, I'm an asshole, aren't I?", he said, with weak grin on his face. "Yeah, you are. But that's ok, I guess. You got a little out of control, that's all.", Hermione said and looked at him with a caring look. She really thought he was an asshole for what he said to Ginny, but she knew his reasons. "Ok, now, if you're not too distracted, get back to your calculus... Everything will sort itself out eventually. Let Ginny think about all the things that were said today. It might be good for her." and, with that, she got back to her papers, even though she couldn't concentrate at all.
The night was coming and Sirius got up to go home. As he was getting his coat, he asked Hermione if she didn't want to go to Grimmauld Place and have dinner with him and Harry. "Oh, I'd really love to but I'd better stay home and finish my report... I know! I know you think I should relax but now I really can't!". Sirius was still complaining as he reached for the door knob. He turned around and gave a goodbye kiss on Hermione's cheek. After that, they were staring at each other, their noses two inches apart. Sirius, against what he thought was his better judgment, leaned forward and touched his lips on hers. As Hermione felt that soft lips against her, everything came to her as a flood: Ginny, Harry, the fact that Sirius was his godfather... And she pulled away. She was looking at his dark, deep eyes as he was carrying a question look in his face. Finally, he came closer to Hermione and whispered, still holding the door knob:
"Are you afraid, love?", Hermione sunk deep in her thoughts as Sirius was waiting for her to reply.
