Its Always Been You
Chapter 7: Sirius
"Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none" William Shakespeare
The week went by really slowly and I couldn't wait for the upcoming free period. It was Friday, and the autumn air was fresh in the school halls. Peter aggressively scarfed down his food, while Remus and James planned out the upcoming Hogsmeade weekend. I looked down the table and noticed Hermione in an animated conversation with her dorm-mates. I wasn't going to admit out loud that I, Sirius Black, was extremely excited and anxious for the date I had planned with Hermione for that afternoon. Well, actually that was going to be my first real date. It felt strange; it wasn't something I was used to doing. I'd usually just sweet talk girls and get a good snog out of it, but Hermione didn't seem the type to play along with those kinds of games, the kind that I was the master of. She had me trying out something new, something I didn't know I was going to be terrible at. I finished eating the rest of the meal on my plate and finished whatever I had put into my golden goblet. James and Remus were already done and getting up. Peter seemed to be more interested in the conversation he was having with Frank Longbottom than on coming along with us, so we just left him there.
We walked up to Gryffindor tower and into the common room. The common room was empty, since it was still early into our lunch break. We trudged up the stairs to the dormitory. Remus dramatically stomped on each step while James dove into his bed, then rolled over to look for something in his trunk.
"Ay, Padfoot, isn't today the day you take sweet, innocent little Hermione on a date?" Remus interrupted the silence. I quickly grabbed my pillow and chucked it at him.
"Oi, Paddy! Today's the big day!" James added happily, hiding from the other pillow in my hand. I lay down on my bed and put my arms back to support my head. I placed a wide visible smirk on my face to get their attention.
"You're just jealous, mates," I chuckled at them. Remus walked over to my four-poster bed and flung my pillow down.
"Well, I know I sure am." Remus laughed at the realisation. "But I don't think Prongs over there will be looks at anyone but Lily." He continued laughing in his funny way. James had lain down on his back and had our Marauders' Map out. I got up and walked over to his bed.
"What you looking at, Prongs?" I asked.
"Just seeing who's coming. You taking the cloak to get to Hogmeade, Sirius?" James asked, looking like he just wanted to make conversation. I nodded at him, waiting for him to hand over the invisibility cloak that his father had passed down to him. James pulled the cloak out of his trunk and handed it over.
"Thanks mate." I walked over to my bed and got out some casual clothes, then ditched the Gryffindor uniform I had on. I walked down to the common room and searched it for Hermione. She was seated in the far corner with her face in a book. I smiled at the thought of her. I walked over to her and sat down next to her; she put down her book when she noticed the weight of someone next to her.
"Are you ready?" I asked her. She smiled and dropped her book down on the table next to her. She dusted her self off with her hands and stood up.
"I'm ready," she giggled. I looked at the outfit she wore. It was a thin white blouse and I could easily see her red bra through it. I pulled my eyes away and tried to look at something else. Her jeans were tightly pressed to her body, and all I wanted to do at the moment was touch her. I looked back to her face and tried not to drool.
"Okay, let's go then." I walked over to the portrait hole and we walked together down the hall to the third floor corridor, Hermione's hand in mine. I felt the palm of my hand get clammy and hoped that she didn't mind. We walked over to the one-eyed witch and I revealed the password: "Dissendium". I looked over to Hermione to see if she looked impressed. She looked like she had seen it all before. She was hard to excite, seeing as my usual charm didn't really affect her. We started to walk down to Honeydukes. The walk felt shorter than the usual hour it normally took. Hermione's hand was still locked in mine and she never tried to pull away; I felt accomplished at this fact. I put the cloak over us. She stopped me from walking by pulling my hand back. The cloak was only large enough for one person now, since it was our seventh year and the other Marauders and I had grown a heap.
"Sirius, You can see our feet from underneath. If someone sees stray feet roaming around, they might have a heart attack," she pointed out.
"Hermione," I smirked at her. "There are much more frightening things than that."
"Still, it would give us away. And you don't want us put in detention before we can actually go out." She smiled knowingly.
"Then I guess we have to get closer." I didn't know what my face was telling her, but I don't think she thought it was funny when she hit my arm. "Sorry, what did I do?"
"Don't push it." she spat. Merlin! She was already mad at me and we weren't even at Honeydukes yet.
"Well do you have a better idea?" I crossed my arms. She didn't answer me. "Well then, I think my idea would work very well."
"Fine, but I'm in the front," she called and giggled again; she was back to her regular self.
"Alright, I don't have a problem with that." I winked at her. I wrapped my arms around her and we walked into Honeydukes quietly. I grabbed a pack of Bertie Botts Every Flavoured Beans and we walked out the door. I then pulled the cloak off and tucked the ends of it into my pocket. "Where do you want to go first, 'Mione?" I put an arm round her shoulder. She walked a little off, leaving my arm hanging.
"I don't know, I haven't been here before." She looked around at all the shops. I had completely forgotten that Hermione was new to Hogwarts and hadn't been to Hogsmeade yet.
"Okay, then let's go to the Three Broomsticks." I pulled Hermione over to the pub and we took a seat at the front counter. Madame Rosmerta stepped in and took a quick glance before turning back. I smiled at her, knowing that she'd be back to ask questions.
Madame Rosmerta walked back with her hands on her hips. I looked over at Hermione and she grinned blissfully at the situation that was about to pop up.
"Sirius Black! What are you doing here?" Madame Rosmerta thundered.
"I'm on a date, 'Merta," I answered audaciously. She frowned at me.
I'll let this one slide, since you've brought someone with you." She smiled at Hermione, and the latter returned the gesture.
"Oh, this is Hermione Donnelle." I introduced her. "She's transferred here from Beauxbatons," I added.
"Nice to meet you!" Rosmerta shook hands with Hermione.
"Well, what will it be then, Mr. Black?"
I kind of enjoyed being called Mr. Black: it made me feel like the boss of everyone.
"Two butterbeers." I handed her some sickles and Hermione and I waited for our drinks. Madame Rosmerta placed the two butterbeers in front of us and went back to whatever she was doing before, away from the front of the pub.
"So..." Hermione said awkwardly. "Are you going to tell me about yourself?" she asked.
"Uh, okay." I answered, taken aback at the question she'd put out in the air so boldly. "Well, I'm Sirius Black. That's the only thing important that you should know." I laughed nervously. Maybe this was why I never wanted to have an actual girlfriend or ever go on a date. I was scared of this question, and I, Sirius Black never get scared. The only thing that came to my head was the noble, racist house of Black. I never talked to anyone about that.
She laughed at me and shook my arm with her small hands. "C'mon Sirius, You've obviously have much to talk about." She smiled her most fine smile. I felt like I couldn't say no to her. So I started talking about my own blood relatives that I deeply despised.
"Well, I don't live with my parents. I left them when I turned sixteen," I said. Hermione reached for my hand and squeezed it reassuringly. "My parents believed in pure-blood supremacy and I didn't agree with it. This year I would probably be having an arranged marriage seeing as I'm the heir of the house of Black, but I didn't want that either." Hermione's eyes were filled with complete sympathy. I squeezed her hand lightly in exchange and took a sip of my butterbeer. "So, last year James' parents took me in. I haven't seen my parents since then but I don't plan on seeing them ever again. But my brother, Regulus the Slytherin, I see him every year. We don't talk much but we still make cheap conversation in the halls." She tried to smile but it didn't work. Her face showed sympathy for my lack of a family. "Don't worry, 'Mione, I don't need them. I'm better off without them; my mother was a complete bitch to me. Anyway, my uncle Alphard (one of my only sane Black relatives), he left me his inheritance, so I can basically live freely and not have a problem. I'll manage, I'll be fine." Hermione moved to give me a tight hug. I happily accepted it and wrapped my arms around her.
"At least you're looking at the glass half-full," She responded. I smiled at her; she was so accepting. Hermione's personality got better and better by the minute. I didn't regret taking her on a date.
"Well then, enough of me, are you going to tell me about you?"
"Uh, well..." she hesitated. She seemed to not like the topic of our conversation but she continued. "…well I don't know where my parents are and-" she stopped and looked away from me. "Well, and my friends... they're not alive." I couldn't read her expression, it was packed with many different emotions. I didn't know what to say to her. She had lost everything and I was sitting there haughtily telling her that I had chosen to leave my parents, when she didn't even know their whereabouts.
"I'm really sorry," I said, feeling sort of out of words. I pulled her in for a hug, her intoxicating fresh vanilla scent wrapping all over me.
"It's fine, Sirius," she smiled. Hermione was a strong girl, she didn't even cry. Knowing all the other girls in our year, if they were in this situation they would probably be crying all the time. I drank down the rest of my butterbeer and waited for Hermione to finish hers.
We stepped outside, crossed the small street, kicked the fallen leaves in our way. "Where do you wanna go now?" I asked courteously. I held out my arm for her to hold on to.
"Let's go into this one: Dominic Maestro's." She pointed at a shop that had large circular windows and a small sign whose name was in curly gold letters. I had never even taken a second glance at the little mousy shop. Hermione pulled me by the hand into it. There was a record player playing classical music in the corner and there were several different racks of records on the opposite side. An idea had formed in my head, but I wasn't going to play it out just yet. She looked around curiously. The shop owner hadn't come out yet. Hermione took a record off the rack, and placed the record onto the record player. She pulled out her wand and waved it. I walked over to her, my hands in my pockets, thinking of how my plan would work so well just about now.
"Liebestraum. Means love dream. My mum use to play this song for me when I was younger." I smiled at her, about to put my notion out. I reached out for her hand, she took mine and I spun her around in time to the music. I placed my hand on her waist and her hand on my shoulder. We moved freely to the music, and kept eye contact during the soothing song. She giggled a couple times, noticing my flashy dance moves. My hand was on the small of her back as I pressed her closer against me. Her small hand had wrapped itself around the back of my neck. She blushed a deep crimson red.
The song ended yet Hermione did not let go. She was still moving at the same tempo of the song that had played. I twirled her around then stopped her. I softly put my hand on her cheek and moved in closer to her. Our two lips were about to touch and I felt a rush of adrenaline course through me. Her palm pushed me back right at the climax.
"Sirius, uh, wait... not now." She said shakily. I put my head down and kissed her forehead softly. It was understandable; she didn't want us to move too fast. "I'm sorry, it's just..."
"You want to take it slow." I smiled at her. She managed a smile; her cheeks had turned pink…the owner of the shop had stumbled in behind us. He was an elderly man. He walked into our small conversation.
"Hello, Sir and Mrs. I'm Dominic Maestro. Can I help with anything?" Dominic asked.
"It's Sirius Black, Mr Maestro," I told him, just in case I decided to come here again.
"Oh, Mr. and Mrs. Black! Wonderful, never thought I'd have a Black in my little shop, ever. I didn't hear anything about the heir of Black's marriage," Dominic answered in a giddy, up-beat tone.
"Um, we're not married, sir," Hermione interrupted. I was kind of enjoying fooling around with this man. It probably would have gotten out that Sirius Black was married when I really wasn't. That sure would really cause some sort of anxiety attack on my prat of a mother.
"Oh, I'm sorry dear, It just looked like- nevermind. Well you know what those Muggles say: music brings people and most definitely love together. It just spoke to me the way- nevermind." Dominic looked down at his hands, not sure if he should continuing speaking. "Um, anyway, can I get you anything? Or, if you have any questions…?" Hermione smiled at the old man.
"Uh, no-"
I cut her off. "Uh, I'd like to have this, and can you wrap it up for me please." I took the record off the record player and slid it back into its thick paper case.
"Ah! Liebestraum, wonderful piece. It's been told that the piece was so enchanting that even wizards could fall in love from listening to it. Of course it is unknown if Franz Lizst the composer was a wizard; I'm sure he was though. The piece is too magical for any Muggle to have come up with it all on his own." Hermione looked at me confusedly. Dominic had gone to the back to have the record wrapped up.
"What are you doing?" She asked, I simply smiled at her and walked over to the front counter.
"Here you go, Mr. Black, thank you for visiting."
"No problem at all, Dominic." I smiled at the man. Why would he seem so delighted to see one of the Black's? It was weird. I held Hermione's hand and walked out the door.
"Sirius, are you going to answer me or not?" Hermione let go of my hand and stopped in her tracks.
"'Mione, it's for you!" I handed her the record. "I wanted you to feel closer to your mother, and feel at home," I said sheepishly, scratching the back of my neck. She hugged me forcefully. Her arms were wrapped around my neck and her head at my chest. She could probably hear my heart beat: it'd been racing since we'd got to Honeydukes.
"Thanks Sirius, I didn't really expect that from you. You know you're very sweet, and thoughtful." My cheeks felt warm: was I blushing? NO! Sirius Black does not blush. Hermione was really getting to me.
"We should get back, don't you think? Are we going to do this again some other time?" I asked her, hoping there would be a continuation to this. I didn't really know what happened after a date. We weren't completely together, as in boyfriend and girlfriend, but I could only hope. She grinned at me.
"Well I did enjoy myself, sol I guess we should do this again?" she stated happily. She turned around and headed for Honeydukes. I did a small fist pump, then followed quickly behind her.
The date didn't go badly at all, it actually exceeded my expectations. And clearly it was the same for Hermione, since she'd agreed to do it again. My heart was soaring and I couldn't even explain it. This was going to be great.
