"Don't you worry there, my honey / We might not have any money / But we've got our love to pay the bills / Maybe I think you're cute and funny / Maybe I wanna do what bunnies do with you if you know what I mean" – "You and I," Ingrid Michaelson
"Shit!"
Sirius cringed, but she quickly stood up and held her head up high, despite having been tossed into a wall. She shot a hex right by his ear, taking out a Death Eater that had been ready to attack. She made his way to his side and bit her lower lip, glancing at the advancing group before he nudged her shoulder with his.
"I'll take the ones on the left, you take the ones on the right?" he asked.
"Works for me," she sighed before dodging a hex and pulling him with her.
"So, tell me, what got a good little girl like you doing bad stuff like this?" Sirius questioned, hexing someone but missing and blinking when they dropped to the ground with their hands over their heads, blubbering.
She sighed again, rolling her eyes at him, "I don't think – "
"No, really, I'm curious, how did you make the transition for innocent little first year to – " he paused as she growled and pounced on a Death Eater, knocking him into the ground " – doing that?"
"It all depends on who you're friends with," she stated as she stood, dusting off her hands with a grin.
"Some friends," he hummed as she looked to make sure no one else was coming after them.
"Hey, kind of all I had," she said, poking his shoulder, giving a small smile. "I wanted to make sure they were all safe."
"You know, you're not some sort of mother bear – they can handle themselves, I'm sure," he said as he followed her to where they thought the exit would be.
"Oh, believe me, if it weren't for me, they'd probably have died in their first year," she said, "If not then, at least their second."
"You have a lot of faith in them," he stated dryly.
"They never listen!" she exclaimed, sounding exasperated, "They never research, they never stop to think 'gee, I could probably get killed for doing this, let's figure out a way for that not to happen!' It's all up to me and I can't take it all the time!"
"Whoa," Sirius blinked, lifting his hands and taking a step away from her, "Down, Kitten." He cursed when she was dragged to the ground, glaring and hexing the Death Eater before they had a chance to do anything to her, helping her up with a chuckle, "I didn't mean literally, but whatever. You alright?"
"I'm fine," she said shakily before letting out a huff of air as she stood, giving him a small smile before releasing his hand. "Thanks."
"Ehh, no problem," he grinned, slinging an arm around her shoulders and pulling her into his side, walking with her like that, "What are fake fiancés for?"
"Holy shit, Kitten, wake up."
Hermione groaned and gripped her pillow tighter, frowning into the fabric as another presence made itself known on her bed. "Sirius. No."
"No, seriously, wake up – you have to go into town with Narcissa," he urged, making her gasp and sit up, eyes wide as he nodded frantically. She waved her wand, brushed her teeth, ran Sleekeazy through her hair and grabbed a dress before locking herself in her adjoining bathroom before coming out and wincing as Sirius's nose immediately wrinkled. "Too much?" she questioned, thinking the fifties-styled dress was rather cute.
"Nah, you just look like someone I would never agree to marry," Sirius stated dully before shaking his head, holding her hand as she hopped into her shoes.
"Why are we going into town?" she questioned, buckling the side of one.
"Shopping for something," he answered, grinning a little when he heard her curse. "Hey now, you're a Pureblooded porcelain doll – porcelain dolls don't cuss."
"I hate shopping," she groaned before sighing and pinning her hair up with her wand, grabbing a cloak and a purse before heading downstairs, Sirius following close behind.
"Hermia!" Narcissa smiled, standing just in front of the front door, giving her a quick, friendly hug before releasing her, "I do hope you don't mind me demanding to see you before even eight o'clock, but Lucius went on a business trip and it's so horribly dull, and I thought I might as well get to know you and find something worth buying along the way."
"No, I don't mind at all," Hermione smiled, shaking her head, feeling Sirius's hand on her back, trying to comfort her as her heart sped and whirled around, "Uhm, where would you like to go?"
"Oh, Diagon Alley is always so horribly crowded, there's a magical district just south of Paris, I thought maybe we could go and you could show me around."
Hermione's heart plummeted, but Sirius – thank Merlin and all deities for Sirius – spoke up, "Err, Narcissa, that might not be the best idea. See, a lot of people from Hermia's school don't like her. Pretend she doesn't even exist, really, it's sad."
"Oh?" Narcissa blinked, "Why ever for?"
"She's too smart, they didn't like being out-done," Sirius tsked, sighing lengthily, settling both of his hands on Hermione's shoulders, "Prats, the lot of them."
"Oh, you poor dear," Narcissa pouted before shaking her head, taking Hermione's hand and patting it, "Well, we'll just go somewhere else. Do you have anywhere in mind?"
"Oh, uhm – I hear Italy is nice," Hermione said, sharing a grateful glance with Sirius over her shoulder, as he gave a smug smirk and settled his hands in his pockets as Narcissa nodded and pulled Hermione away.
"And Bella got so mad! Sirius ran for dear life, screaming the entire way, and I was tugging on Bella's robes, trying to keep her from murdering him, when all of the sudden, Lucius pops out of nowhere and gets bowled over by Sirius – who, mind you, was a first year at the time, so was horribly scrawny, but was going quite fast – and I wasn't very keen to Lucius then so I laughed and laughed, and Bella stopped trying to kill our cousin and she blinked at Lucius – she hated him too – yelling and cursing Sirius to Hell and back and she just stood and whispered 'I'll be damned, the brat's good for something' and well that just sent me into a new fit of hysterics," Narcissa recounted, Hermia laughing, clutching her sides. They were outside a small little café, just over-looking the ocean, underneath a frilly umbrella with cups of tea. Narcissa giggled along, practically giddy at the idea of having a good, interesting female friend that wasn't too far from her in age, and continued, "I ended up sitting in the dirt laughing so hard that I couldn't breathe!"
Hermia breathed deeply, her cheeks aching. She hadn't expected to have so much fun with the older woman, but she was funny, and would be found muttering over an article of clothing about how ugly it was, rather than actually looking for something to buy. "What did Lucius think of this?"
"Oh, he hates when I bring it up," Narcissa grinned wickedly, "So I do. All the time."
"You must have a strange marriage," Hermia smiled, taking a sip of her tea.
Narcissa gave a heavy sigh, pouting just a little, "Yes. Strange."
Hermione arched an eyebrow. Shit. Fucking shit. Fuck fuck fuck. She was going to murder Sirius. She did not want to become a therapist. She cared too much. "Something wrong?" she questioned, hating herself for even asking.
"Well, it's just…" Narcissa bit a fingernail, eyebrows furrowing, "Lucius and I really don't get along well. We had an arranged marriage too, you see, and we both threw fits when we found out we were going to marry each other in sixth year. I wouldn't talk or even look at him the entire year. It's just…he's such a stranger to me – I don't know anything about him. I'm married to a stranger and I can't get him to open up, I don't know how."
Hermione set down her tea and placed her hands in her lap, as Narcissa continued.
"He's quiet and brooding and I don't think I've ever seen him smile," she stated, gesturing wildly, her voice getting a little higher in pitch, "We fight all the time at home and then when we're out in public we just put on this act and I can't live like this, really, I can't – Hermia, I don't think I even love him."
"Well how could you?" Hermia blinked, causing Narcissa to blink as well, "If you don't know anything about him, how could you love him? I hardly think you're that shallow to love someone for looks or money. You had a magically binding ceremony, yes? So a divorce would be rather scarring for both of you, let alone what your mothers would say." She tapped a finger to her lips, thinking, "I believe that with Lucius, a direct approach would be welcome, with a little bit of firmness, just enough to make him spill. However, if not, we could come up with something else – I don't quite know him well enough to make him crack. It will take time for you to love him, though, I can tell you that, it certainly won't be overnight. Plus, you'll have to let him know you too, and that can sometimes be the hardest thing anyone will ever have to do."
Narcissa was quiet for a few moments, taking all of that in, and Hermia bit her lower lip before the blonde woman broke out into a grin. "We really must keep in touch more often. I like you."
Hermia let out a sigh before smiling as well.
"How in the hell did you make my cousin like you?" Sirius asked.
"I'm just that wonderful," Hermione smiled back, sitting on her bed with him, leaning into the pillows with him frowning at her near the foot of her bed, out of her little disguise and into a pair of sweatpants and a baggy t-shirt. "By the way, I liked the whole 'not liking me' thing from this morning. Very nice."
He grinned, moving and sitting next to her, "Why, thank you, Kitten. But that was close. Mother almost went up to wake you." He pursed his lips, "You need to move out."
She nodded, wrapped her arms around her knees, staring up at the tall ceiling with him.
"I can talk to Lily and James, they'll keep you for as long as you want, and we can say you're living with me, my apartment has tons of wards, they won't be able to get in without prior notice, plenty of time to have you pop over," Sirius began, twirling his wand around in his hands before looking over at her, "When do you have to do the dangerous bit?"
She pursed her lips, "Soon."
He hummed, "Then you won't be living alone." She blinked over at him as he dragged his hands over his face, sighed, and sat up, "I better get home and write them before I forget. I'm fucking tired, Kitten. Moody really needs to take a chill pill, my God, we're not hamsters, we can't run on little metal wheels for the rest of time." He shook his head and smiled as she laughed, "Goodnight, I'll talk to you in the morning."
"Night, Sirius," she said, watching him grin before he walked out, feeling rather alone when he shut the door. She shook her head and curled up on her side, pressing the side of her face where Sirius had been, trying to get that warmth before it left with him.
Wow, long time, no see, sorry. Also, I kind of like Narcissa, she did help Harry after all, so she won't be a bad guy.
