Hello everyone! I was really excited about this chapter, so I rushed right ahead and wrote it. The POV switches in the middle – should be pretty obvious. Hope everyone enjoys it!

Chapter 8

"Whatever man, I don't know, maybe she's just a slut."

"You don't really think that she's a slut, Sirius, you're just mad and you want an excuse."

I sighed, running my hands through my hair. James was right. I had gone to him after the disastrous ending to the ball and told him everything. In return, instead of joining my pity party, he had proceeded to tell me all about how "everything was perfect" with Lily, succeeding only in deepening my bad mood. In addition to that, his ridiculous smile would not leave his face.

"James, I'm going to be happy for you tomorrow, mate, I just can't right now. I had a really great feeling about Hermione. You know I don't get great feelings about girls other than about sleeping with them. I'm just really bummed out that it's not going to work."

"You don't know that," James reasoned, the smile finally dropping off of his face. "I had a really good feeling about Hermione too, Sirius, I really thought she was going to be something for you…maybe she still will be, you never know."

"No, I'm pretty sure she hates me," I said bitterly, standing up off my bed.

"Where are you going?" James questioned, standing up as well. I shrugged.

"To take a walk, I guess." I mumbled, brushing past him to the stairs. I took the stairs slowly, letting out a gust of breath with each step. It was all water under the bridge, right? Sure, maybe I liked Hermione now but who knew, really? Maybe if she had been willing, we would have started dating and that could have led to the horrible realization that she was a closet freak or something. Maybe it was better to not like her anymore…it was like an omen from the Gods.

"Well you're up late,"

At the sound of a voice, I jumped nearly three feet into the air, falling against the wall with a painful crack. My heart was hammering, and my gaze drifted to the armchair next to the fireplace. The voice had been Hermione's.

"Do you get some kind of joy in turning a guy down and then scaring him half to death?" I asked sarcastically, clutching my chest. She laughed. She actually laughed. Like I was kidding.

"Don't be so dramatic, Sirius." She said, a trace of giggling still in her tone. I stood up straight, clearing my throat.

"Right," I started, moving towards the door. "Well I'm just going to go…"

"Where are you off to?" She questioned, standing up and moving towards me. I instinctively moved backwards. "It's awfully late, you know."

"I know that, Hermione." I said. "What are you doing up? Looking for ways to get back to the future to your precious boyfriend?" It was mean, I knew. But I was still wounded from the rejection.

"Geez, Sirius, you're not too pleasant after not getting your way, are you?" She deadpanned, and I was taken aback. Was she actually not mad about my comment?

"No, not really," I said bluntly, and a smile broke across her face. "What on earth are you smiling about?"

"Well it's just funny that you're down here," she said casually, leaning against the back of the armchair. I copied her, leaning against the wall.

"And why would that be funny?" I asked, crossing my arms across my chest.

"Because, I was just about to come up to your room to talk to you."

I blinked. That was not the answer I had been expecting. "Why?" I managed to croak out. Hermione shrugged.

"I was planning on kissing you."

Definitely not what I was expecting.

"To then what? Just leave again after debating the validity of your relationship with me?" I asked harshly. Yes, definitely still very wounded.

"No, I was going to ask you if maybe you'd like to go out with me sometime."

"Doesn't that 100% trump what you were saying before? Why on earth would you want to go out with me when you have a boyfriend already?"

"I was thinking upstairs," Hermione started. I rolled my eyes skyward. What a shock that Hermione had been thinking. "And I talked to Lily. Maybe you two have a point about Ron and me. We went through a lot together. We had always had each other. And in the back of my mind, when everything was said and done, he was there, and I was there for him. It just fit. It just worked. And it never crossed my mind that there was any other option. And then I end up here, and you're here, and you're really frustrating and you're kissing me with this passion that I don't even know if I've ever felt with Ron and I can't help but think that maybe…maybe I was supposed to come here all along. Maybe it was never for any higher purpose. Maybe it was just because I needed to find you."

I was stunned into silence, so Hermione kept talking. "And you know, maybe I wasn't meant to be with you at all, but dammit, I might be gone tomorrow or I could never leave. I just don't know. And not knowing things is not something I enjoy – " My silence broke at this and I let out a laugh, knowing full well that Hermione liked to know every single fact and detail. "…but it might be something that I have to live with. And if I'm stuck here, I want to be happy, and Sirius…you make me happy." She stopped, biting her lip. "So…would you? I mean, want to go out with me sometime?"

I smiled easily, pushing myself off of the wall. I walked to her, pushing her further into the back of the armchair with my body. "I would want to go anywhere with you." I said, a small smirk taking over my lips. "But what I would love to do now is kiss you."

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "So do it," she challenged.

And so I did.

"Are they…together?"

"Please, have you ever known Sirius Black to settle down to just one girl?"

"Who the hell is she? I don't think I've ever seen her before."

"She's that new girl, the one that transferred this year…really strange if you ask me."

I bit my lip, rolling my eyes slightly, my grip tight on Sirius's hand. This was our "coming out party"…or at least that's what I had been calling it in my head. After last night – the night where I had metaphorically said "what the hell" and gone for it – Sirius and I had decided that though we weren't officially boyfriend and girlfriend, we could act like it.

Which was why everyone was whispering and staring, and even going as far as to point at us. Yes, I Hermione Granger was walking into the great hall for breakfast, holding Sirius Black's hand.

It really wasn't that big of a deal, this I knew, but to everyone else at Hogwarts, it seemed that the school's biggest playboy had finally been swooped off the market.

This meant a lot of things for the students. For the boys, it was a sigh of relief – they not longer had to worry about their girlfriends leaving them to sleep with Sirius. For the girls, it was horrible – they could no longer sleep with Sirius, or leave their boyfriends to do so.

For me, it was amazing.

I felt a giddy sense of excitement that I had never felt before, not even with Ron. With him, everyone – from professors to the Weasleys – had assumed that we were going to get together, so the first time we walked into a room holding hands, no one really noticed. With Sirius, the reaction was exactly the opposite.

When we got to the Gryffindor table, everyone had a different expression. Lily was beaming – she was obviously happy for me, and secretly congratulating herself for giving the sound advice. James looked very confused – Sirius had told me that the last time he had talked to James he had been ranting about how much he hated me. Remus looked vaguely happy and not that surprised, and Peter, well…Peter looked uninterested.

"Well, hello!" Lily said, stilling smiling ear to ear. She and James were holding hands under the table.

"Well, hello to you, too." I said, raising and eyebrow and indicating their intertwined fingers with my free hand. Lily blushed, and James raised his other hand in triumph.

"It only took six years!" he said happily, running a hand through his already messy hair. Lily's face flushed and she stuttered for an answer.

"All good things come to those who wait, Potter," She said smartly, and I gave her a thumbs up.

"So how about you two?" James asked, eyeing our hands. Now it was my turn to blush.

"Ah, yes, well, good things also come to those spontaneously." I said quickly, glancing at Sirius, who was smiling down at me. We finally took a seat, helping ourselves to breakfast. Once we had our food, we copied James and Lily, holding each other's hands under the table.

"Well, Peter, the time has come for us to find girlfriends," Remus said, squinting around the great hall. "Slim pickings." Peter laughed, stuffing more food into his mouth.

"Hermione," a voice next to me said, and I twisted in my seat, dropping Sirius's hand when I noticed Professor McGonagall standing behind me.

"Yes, Professor?" I questioned warily, noticing her stern expression.

"Professor Dumbledore would like to see you in his office after breakfast."

Dun dun dun… I don't think Dumbledore is going to be very happy about Hermione starting to date Sirius and altering the course of history, do you? Leave me a review, and I'll start working on that confrontation!

-Brittany