A/N: Thank you to all those who have reviewed so far. Like it or hate it please leave a review.
BTW: the reference is to the book The Innocent Manby John Grisham. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend it.
She awoke the next morning feeling excited and refreshed. She took her time getting out of the bed, stretching several times, and eventually made her way out into the common room. She looked around, but Sirius was either not there or still sleeping. She moved to open a few windows to catch a breeze when she noticed a large bouquet of flowers sitting on the table. Nestled in the blooms was a note. She quickly reached for it and tore it open.
Morning, love. I'm off for the morning, I'll probably be back to catch a late lunch. Enjoy yourself. See you soon. Sirius
She felt her heart flutter a little as she looked at his scrawled name. She had never really been on a 'date' before. She went to parties and dances with Viktor and Cormac, but nothing that was just one on one, unless you count sitting by the lake trying to decipher what Krum was saying as a 'date'. She had loved the arcade (the kissing wasn't bad either), and was looking forward to finding something new to do with Sirius.
Knowing that she had a lot of time by herself and figuring that she had nothing better to do she started the hot tub up so it would be warm and went to her room to find a swimsuit. When she had been shopping the other day she picked up a cute two-piece, and figuring she had nothing better to do, she slipped into it. She could be dressed in normal clothes long before Sirius returned. She grabbed her book and headed onto the patio. The water was warm when she slid in, and she took a moment to relax in the swirling jets.
After a few minutes of enjoying the relaxing sensation she opened the book. She had deliberately stayed away form anything that mentioned magic, the novel she was reading had come recommended by her mother. Jane Granger had adopted a 'the less I know, the better' attitude when it came to reading about the magical world after coming across a book called 'Great Wizarding Battles of the Last Two Centuries'.
As was often the case when she got into her reading, she lost track of time. She thought she had only been engrossed in the book only a few minutes when someone touched her shoulder.
"I thought I'd come back to you reading, I never thought it would involve a sexy two piece and a hot tub," Sirius smirked at her.
"Give a girl some warning!" she responded, splashing him playfully.
"I'm never giving you some warning if this is what I get to see. In fact, I'll probably lie and tell you I'll be back later than I intend."
"I'll know to expect it, then," she smiled as she rolled her eyes and marked her place in her book. She placed it on a small table by the side of the hot tub.
"The Innocent Man," Sirius read the title, holding up the book.
"It's pretty intense," Hermione said. "It's about two men who were sent to prison for something they didn't do. One of them almost got executed. People were so concerned about getting them convicted they didn't care how unfair their trials were."
"At least they got trials," Sirius murmured bitterly.
"Would you have testified had there been a trial for you?"
"What was there to gain from testifying? The only person who truly knew what happened was declared dead. If they hadn't thought I was nutters they might have thought the Kiss was in order."
Hermione placed her hand in his. "What happened to you was awful."
"What was awful was that I put you and Harry into so much danger. I could have gotten you guys hurt or killed."
"It was our choice."
"You were kids."
"Is that how you see me?"
"Not anymore," he muttered, leaning forward to kiss her. "I see you as a beautiful, intelligent seductress in what has quickly become my favorite bathing suit."
She laughed. "Want to join me?"
He took her hand an examined it. "Your mind says 'yes', but your body says 'get me out of here before I become more wrinkled than Dumbledore'."
She splashed him playfully again as she climbed out of the hot tub. He stood and grabbed her towel.
"Give it here," she swiped for it. "It's not as warm as you think it is."
"All the better," he muttered, glancing at her chest.
She grabbed her wand and muttered "Accio." The towel flew from Sirius' grip and into hers. She wrapped it around herself and walked back into the room. "I must have been really engrossed in my book," she muttered as she noticed that not only had Sirius brought lunch, he had it spread out on the table.
"I dropped a glass and swore pretty loudly, I thought you would come in soon after."
She disappeared into her room long enough to change into jeans and a t-shirt. "So, where were you all morning?"
"Out."
"Thank you King of the Obvious."
"I was doing something that has something to do with you, but that you can't know about just yet."
"Do you enjoy driving me mad with your riddles?"
"No, because that wasn't a riddle. I'm not talking until I'm good and ready."
"Ugh," she said sliding into a chair at the table. "Why can't you be normal for once?"
"The question would be, where to next?"
"Any ideas?"
"Are we playing the questions game?"
She smiled at him. "Would you like to play the questions game?"
"Not really. But you seemed to be having fun."
She rolled her eyes, but couldn't help but smile at the Marauder. "I'll repeat, any ideas?"
"There is something I always wanted to try."
"We'll do that, then."
"You don't know what it is."
"I don't need to know. I didn't know about the arcade and I had loads of fun there, so I figure that anything you want to do is good by me."
"Who are you and what have you done with Hermione?"
"I haven't had the opportunity to do anything spontaneously fun in a long while. I have the right to run off with a handsome man and trust his judgment more than I should."
"Merlin bless you, Hermione Granger," Sirius said proudly, hand on his heart. "Spoken like the true girlfriend of a Marauder."
Later that day they walked about a mile from the hotel, where they came across a quaint little shop nestled between a bookstore and a coffee shop.
"You always wanted to go get a psychic reading?" Hermione laughed, looking at the signs.
"Why not? They can't be any worse than Trelawney."
"I'd be willing to bet on that. At least she's made a few real prophecies in her day."
"And I'm sure this lady has gotten it right a few times."
"Good enough for me. Let's go."
They entered, and a girl no older than Hermione smiled at them. "Would you be Mr. Black?"
"Yes. Yes I would," Sirius smiled at her. She smiled back and made a show of bending over to reach for a phone. She dialed a number, eyes still glued to Sirius, and muttered to whoever was on the other end.
"Madame Ramsey is expecting you..." she smiled at Sirius.
Hermione bit her lip to keep from laughing.
"Right back here." They were led to a small back room. A round table was set up with three chairs, two together and one across the way. The table was draped with a dark cloth adorned with small silver stars, a large crystal ball sitting in the middle. The walls had star charts and photos of Madame Ramsey with what must have been rich and famous clientele. A small bookshelf held an assortment of books about psychics and a variety of cards.
Sirius held Hermione's chair out for her before taking his own seat. Madame Ramsey appeared moments later, and Hermione had to bite her lip again. Save for the fact that her hair was deep brown the woman who emerged could have passed for Trelawney.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Black, Miss Grander..."
"Granger," Hermione corrected.
"Excuse me, Miss Granger. The inner eye gets cloudy about details of the now when it becomes focused on the future."
Hermione snorted. Sirius playfully nudged her in the ribs with his elbow.
"You come here looking for advice in the matter of your new-found romance?"
Sirius smiled. "Why not?"
She sat and started moving her hands over the crystal ball, which did nothing discernible to either of them. She muttered to herself, eyes closed, face turned skyward, for several minutes. She then asked for Sirius' palm.
"Your hands are rough, you have had hard work and trying times."
"They've been a dog," Sirius winked at Hermione.
"Many trials, many against you. Your life line is cut off short, but it returns strong. A very trying time, I'd say. You've never had love in the past, though you have had many opportunities. You're looking for the woman who would strengthen you from within."
She motioned for Hermione's palm, and she reluctantly gave it forward. "You, my dear," Madame Ramsey said after studying her hand. "You've seen much more than most at your young age. Your fate has been closely tied to those you are closest to for some time, but now you are in control of your own destiny. You want to find love, but you are reluctant to give up your freedom for anyone."
She consulted the crystal ball again as Hermione looked at the table. She had always thought that anything that dealt with Divination was bollocks, but either the woman knew more about her than what her hand told, or her palm was giving up more than she wanted.
"I see turbulent times in your relationship, especially revealing it to your loved ones. There is something you want to finish, my dear," she nodded towards Hermione, "that may be a sticking point. You need to understand why he'll want you around. You," she nodded to Sirius, "will have to be more open-minded in her hopes and desires. If you can work through these problematic times you will be able to stay together for a long time."
Sirius nodded, and they stood to leave. The receptionist gave him a card as they were walking out. He turned it over once they had gotten on the sidewalk, she had written her number on the back.
"I should go back there and curse her," Hermione took the card, ripped it up and threw it into the nearest garbage can.
"It's not worth it. She hangs around with that quack."
"What makes you think she's a quack?"
"Oh, I think she could read us pretty well. She knew we'd have a hard time breaking the news to our friends because of our age difference."
"That was just one of many things..."
"Alright, I'll break it down. She said your fate was tied with those closest to you. That might mean that you're close to your friends or parents, and you haven't been able to make the big decisions for yourself for all that long."
She looked at him skeptically.
"I mean that's typical for a woman your age. Yeah, you can decide where you go eat and all that, but your parents make the big decisions, and young people tend to make decisions based on what their friends and family think. She said you're reluctant to give up your new found freedom, but who is at your age? Then she said you'd make a decision about doing something that I wouldn't like, that you should understand me and that I should be open-minded about it. You're young, you're going to want to do new things with your life, I'm older and that usually means I'm more set in my ways and won't want to have to change my routine to do what you want to do. She knows how to read people and what to say to make you think that she is the real deal. As for me she saw the tattoos I got in Azkaban and immediately knew that I had been in a spot of trouble, and that I probably wasn't well liked."
Hermione nodded, and pointed to a cute outfit she wanted to try on in a shop window. As Sirius held the door for her she couldn't help but thinking that the psychic might have gotten something right.