7th Symptom :

Obligated

She hated him. She really, really hated him.

"Let me go ! Black, let me go right away !"

She heard him chuckle close to her hear, his warm breath caressing her skin. "What did you say, girl ? Higher ?"

Her screams rang again in the air as he rose the broom, making them fly much higher than before. She only knew that because she could feel it, her eyes subbornly closed and her hands holding the wood of the broom hard enough for her knuckles to have gone white.

"Hey girl, open your eyes, you're missing the view."

"I am not missing anything, Mr. Black ! And I certainly won't open my eyes ! "

"You won't ?"

"Oh no."

"You're sure about that ?"

"Absolutely."

"Interesting..." he continued, and she could feel him smile against her ear. "So...I could do anything, and you wouldn't see me ?"

"What are you- ?"

Her voice broke as she felt lips kissing her just behind her ear, slowly. She felt like her heart, breath and even her blood stopped in her veins. His lips were warm against her sensitive skin, almost stinging from the night's wind harsh touch. Under the shock her eyes sprang open and she felt herself slip from the broom as arms tightened around her and an all too charming chuckle rang in her ears.

"Was it that bad ?"

She couldn't have answered even she had wanted to as she gazed upon what looked like a sea of shining lights in the dark sky. It was breathtaking. Never had she felt that close to the sky, it was surrounding her like a blanket, engulfing her and drowning her with its beauty.

"I still hate you" she whispersed as she found her voice back, not believing in a single word she said, and from the snort behind her, neither was he.

"Right...And you will never, never marry me. Because you hate me and we clearly do not know each other, also I am insufferable and of course because it would not be the rational thing to do."

"Yes, absolutely-"

"Just like flying is absolutely irrational and certainly not something a level-headed witch like you would ever do. And yet...I seemed to have made you do it."

An incredulous sound was building in her chest as she writhed against him to be able to see part of his face. "I am stopping you, right there, Black. Right there."

He arched one of his perfect brow, a smile playing on his lips. He seemed to be perfectly at ease, his face illuminated by the soft light of the stars, seeming to shine in their company. Every bit of his expression was defiant, as if daring her to actually stop him. And then again the atmosphere seemed to change, as the light in theses grey eyes intensified. How did he do that ? How in one look he seemed to transform the entire mood ? And why was her mouth so dry ?

"Why did you came to me, Hermione ?" he finally asked, his tone void of any leftover teasing.

Why did...? She tensed as her brows furrowed. What could she answer ? What should she answer ?

"When we first met...you had this strange way of looking at me. It...was not the first time you saw me, right ?

She swallowed with difficulty. And lowered her eyes to his neck where black hair flirted with the color of his dark jacket. She had to thread carefully, very carefully. If there was something Sirius wasn't, it was stupid, and there was nothing he hated more than lies. She opened and closed her mouth a few times before daring to meet his eyes. "I just...wanted to protect this light in you."

She was going face forward again, avoiding his eyes, as she felt his big hands slowly sliding from her waist to her stomach. "And why did you heal me ?"

"Because...Because... I wished that...I mean I didn't wanted you to...I had to. I just had to."

A strange light had appeared in his eyes, almost hungry, in an avid way, still pressed his hands against her, adding "And ?"

"And ? Well, I suppose...I did...like your eyes." she finished while making sure not to meet the amused silver gaze.

She almost squeaked as she was more firmly pressed against him, the young wizard bending toward her face, forcing her to look at him.

"You're wounding me, doll...Just my eyes ?"

She felt a furious rush of blood passing through her body and settling in her cheeks. And the man seemed to be tremoundusly pleased by her embarassement. She cleared her throat before speaking, trying to disctract him and herself from her red face.

"Why did you give me your name ?" she finished by asking him.

There was still this malicious light shining in his eyes, he approached his face from her's even more, until his breath teased her mouth in warm puffs of air.

"Well...I just had to."

§§§

"Why are we running ?" she asked, completely out of breath, as she tried to tug her hand out Sirius's one's embrace. His long legs made a quick business of crossing the corridors making the entire parade of walls, tapestries, and portraits a blurry sight. Lord, she didn't know that she was that out of shape.

She almost crashed into him as he abruptly stop before a door that, being the best friend of Harry Potter, she knew far too well. The infirmary ? Just as she was going to voice her thoughts, he turned around, putting his other hand against her mouth to be sure that she kept quiet.

He looked at her and slowly let his hand fall from her mouth, putting a long finger against his mouth as he opened the door and entered the room backwards making her following him by pulling at her hand. Her feet advanced without giving her the chance to even think about it. She felt completely entranced in his figure half drowned in the obscurity, half illuminated by the soft glow of the night coming through the high and large windows. His hair were a little tousled by the run, and several locks were falling before his glowing eyes.

She felt her heart skip a beat before starting thundering in her chest.

Do you...wish for something, child ?

The voice. It had been a while since she had last heard it. Since her last travel. But she would be a fool to have believed that she wouldn't hear it again. No, she didn't wish for anything. She wouldn't. She tried to convince herself that she didn't wish for anything as the thundering of her heart started to deafen her. What about him had put her in this state ? Or the question should rather be : What about him hadn't ?

"Why are we here ?" she finally asked, silently congratulating herself for having been able to form an entire sentence without stuttering.

He raised an eyebrow before saying, a smile playing on the corner of his lips. "You said you wanted to sleep right ?"

"Why would I sleep in the infirmary ? I have a dormity."

"Yes" slowly continued Sirius, as if he was explaining something that was utterly obvious "But they are other girls in your dormity, and they could report me if they found me in your bed. We could always make something up about being in the infirmary before the opening."

Hermione blinked several times, before furrowing her brows and pulling at her curls. She swallowed back the frustrated scream that was building in her throat and passed her hand on her forehead. This wizard was giving her an headache.

"Why" she stopped to take a deep breath "Why would you sleep in my bed ?"

"You came to me in my bed. We fell asleep together in the Common Room yesterday. We started something, girl. We have to continue."

"Black-"

"Separated rooms ? That early in the marriage ? What about the kids, Minnie, think about the kids."

he said with a straight face.

"We do not have kids !" she shrieked.

"Yet." he calmly answered, seeming completely unaffected.

"We are not married !"

"Yet."

"This is madness ! We do not know each other !"

At this Sirius started to laugh, before unexpectedly grabbing her wirst, pulling her close enough for her to crash against his chest.

"I know who you are, Minnie. You are this weird girl who can go through walls and seem to have logic in a very high esteem. You are also the only one..." his tone changed completely, his laugh dying on his lips as his eyes seemed to burn through her mind. "...who has ever wanted to protect me."

There was something in his eyes. She had always asked herself how so much fire could live in theses icy gaze. Her heart started to beat thunder against her chest again. Was she ? Was she really the only one ? She felt her shoulders sagged as she realized that she truly was. James and Sirius protected each other, but Sirius hadn't left his home yet, and she didn't know how much he had talked about his punishments to his friends. Dumbledor and the professors were powerless in front of the old traditions, if they had ever wanted to fight against them.

"You don't have to do all of this...You don't have to do anything, Sirius. No matter what I will be protecting you, this is why I am here."

His hands descended and attached themselves to her hips in a bruising hold. "What about what I want to do ? What about what I need ?"

Yes, what does the boy want ? What does he truly wants ? Don't you want to know ?

No. She didn't want to know, she had to make a diversion. She looked at the wall and try to adopt an indifferent tone as she said "I do not know what you want and I am sure that you do not know what you want either half of the time-"

One of his hands engulfed themselves in her frizzy hair and gently pulled at it. " I know what I want and I'll tell you. I want to keep you. I want to keep you close, so close that you will forget how your skin feels when it's not touching mine. I want you to look at me like this time where there was only the two of us in the dark, when you looked at me as if you knew me and I knew you, and I want you to search my eyes when they are not on you, I want you to hear me when I am not talking, I want you to burn when I touch you and to track my steps when I am far. No one ever loved me enough...I know them, I have seen them, they all think they do but you have seen me in the dark. And you looked ready to cry for me. My own mother can't seem to decide if she loves or hates me, my own mother has never shed just one tear for me in all my life...But you, you who is the first person on this earth to be here just for me. You must have been made to love me, Minnie, you have to."

Interesting...

§§§

She had rarely slept so peacefully. As she woke up she felt excessively warm, and was surrounded by the smell of whisky and leather. Also, something heavy was on her chest.

She lazily opened her eyes and was blinded by the light for a moment. She tried to cover her eyes with her arm and found herself paralyzed. Furrowing her brows, she lowered her gaze and saw a long, heavy and very male-limb obstructing her chest. She sighted and pushed with her legs to raise herself against the headboard.

Sirius was still sleeping, his face burried in the pillows, facing the bed as he tried to merge with it. She looked at him through heavy lids, thinking. The boy was messed up. He seriously was. She always have had doubt while seeing how he just couldn't seem to be able to control himself and just had to touch every single one of his friends, on even Harry, always giving him hugs and kissing his head.

He had shown several other signs of affective deprivation disorder, but she had always put it on the fact that he hadn't actually seen people for 12 years and that most of his best friends had died. How stupid she was...She let her head meet the wall in a muffled tone.

What was she going to do ? She hadn't come for that.

Oh haven't you ?

She childlishly attempted to cover her ears with her hands. No, she hadn't. She had came to save him. Save because his life had just been absolutely and illogicaly the most unjust one she had ever encountered. She had come to save him so that Harry would have his godfather, someone to love him.

Yes, of course. And how good it feels to be needed ?

No, she didn't come for herself. She came because Harry...

Harry needed you. And this man needs you. And the charming enslaved race of houselves needs you. How much easier does it feel to disguise what you want, what you truly want in a self-imposed mission ? How Gryffindors love to sacrifice themselves, or should I say how they love to convince themselves that they do. But I see through every heart, and I will bare them all.

Stop ! Just as she felt that she was going to pull her hair out in frustration and denial, the door of the infirmary delicatedly opened, and a slim and elegant figure entered. With her long blond hair, perfect face, and icy eyes, Narcissa Malfoy, or should she say Narcissa Black had never been more beautiful. She didn't have that pinched look that she adopted in her adult life, and her eyes didn't seem as extinct as they were when she had seen her for the first and only time in her life.

But...There was a problem. The problem was plainly written, inscribed in her milky skin. The problem was the black eye, and the split lip she sported, the problem was how skittish she looked when she penetrated the room her eyes not leaving the ground as she said in an almost too low tone to he heard. "Miss Pomfresh, I am so very sorry to bother you again. But I would need another pot of the salve you gave last month, I am afraid I finished the last one and...I can not enter a classrom with-"

Slowly raising her eyes the Slytherin witch immediately stopped, her eyes opening wide as she took a clumsy step back her hand, the hand that came from a bruised wirst knocking several potions, in her tentative of retreat.

The noise woke up Sirius who instantly rose in the bed, looking around for the sign of a threat. His gaze stopped on the Slytherin uniform before passing on the marred face. The wizard opened his mouth, closing it before opening it again, his features contorting more and more to form a terrifying mask of rage.

He tossed the covers on the side and crossed the room in two angry strides, grasping the witch by her shoulders "Who the fuck did this to you, Cissa ? Cissa, answer me ! Answer who did this to you !"

"It is none of your business, Sirius let me go !" trying to hide her face from his glare.

"The fuck it's none of my business, Cissa ! Cissa I swear if you do not answer me I'll hunt the fucker 'till-"

Sirius stopped and his hands fell from her shoulders to her shaking arms. His face had become dangerously calm, his mouth raising in a rictus as he said, his voice trembling under his fury "It's him, right ?"

"I don't know what you're talking about Sirius-"

"It is Malfoy, right ? The tosser your fucking father bethroted you to ! That's him ?! Right ?!"

"Sirius, please, listen to me, Sirius we can't risk it-"

"I won't risk anything, Cissa. I'll kill him."

He let go of her in an almost violent movement before putting his jacket on and leaving the room, slamming the door so hard that the room shook.

Hermione didn't know when she left the bed to face Narcissa, but the witch before her seemed to be in the middle of a panic attack. She was shaking, her hands burrowed in her silver hair and pulling at them, air coming out of her mouth through ragged breaths. Her silvery blue eyes madly passed from one thing to another before settling on Hermione.

She grasped her in a surprisingly bruising hold for such a slim and delicate looking witch. "You...You are her, right ? You are going to marry Sirius, right ? So you are family ? Family protects, we must protect earch other. You have to do something. You have to do something, if no one stops him he'll kill him, he will kill him, I know he will ! You can't let him go to Azkadan !"

Then the blond witch fell on the ground, tears starting to fall on her cheeks as she whispersed to herself "Father has always said that he would go there...He doesn't know, Sirius just, he just can't stop you know ? I tried so hard to protect him..."

Without knowing, Hermione had taken several steps back, blood pumping hard enough to make every noise come to her muted. Azkaban...He just couldn't stop. She remembered his mad gaze as he looked at Peter Pettigrew, his admission that he survived on the idea of killing him, and she never ran as fast in all her life.

To be continued...

So sorry for the wait ! But thank you all for your support, every review, fav and follow just keep me going !

I think this chapter has answered some of your questions and maybe also gave birth to new ones... Well I am already writing the following chapter, so he should come fast, stay tuned !