"Get out your guns, battle's begun/ Are you a sin or a sinner?/ If love's a fight/ Then I shall die with my heart on a trigger/ They say before you start a war/ You better know what you're fighting for/ Well baby you are all that I adore/ If love is what you need/ Then a soldier I will be/ I'm an angel with a shotgun, fight until the war's won/ I don't care if heaven won't take me back/ I'll throw away my faith, babe/ Just to keep you safe/ Don't you know you're everything I have?/ And I want to live not just survive…" – the Cab, "Angel With a Shotgun" (Honestly I probably would've posted all of the lyrics to this song if this story hadn't interrupted it I love this song too much)
"Hey, Kitten…wake up. Come on," he cooed, running his finger down her nose, grinning when she wrinkled her nose and shook her head. Her eyes flicked open before she groaned, grabbing a pillow and holding it over her face.
"Go away," she murmured.
"Aww, you act like you aren't happy to see me," he teased, leaning against the edge of her bed with his chin settled in his hand.
"When you wake me up at early hours, nothing good comes from it," she stated.
He hummed and thought about it, "Good point. But no, really, you have to get up."
She pulled the pillow off of her head and frowned at him, "Why?"
"Just get up," he sighed, rolling his eyes and waiting for her to slip out of bed, still in jeans and his sweater, walking slowly with her down the steps until they walked into the dining room, purged of any bad things from the night before, holding James and Lily and Remus and various mugs.
"Hey, how do you feel?" Lily asked, smiling at her as she and Sirius took the two remaining seats, James propping his legs up on the one to his left and leaning into Lily, although she didn't seem to mind.
"Just a little sore," Hermione answered before glancing around at everyone, "So what's going on?"
"Well, it seems that there's a lot of work to do to bring down You-Know-Who," Remus pointed out.
"We were just wondering if there's anything we can do to help," Lily stated.
Hermione shrugged and leaned into the table, "There's only so much we can do without the Death Eaters being tipped off, and there's a lot I plan to do later on, but what can be done now is supposed to be taken care of by the Order, so I wouldn't – "
"You're in the Order?" Lily asked before turning to glare at James, "She's in the Order?"
James's eyes widened and he sat straight up, dropping his legs and grimacing at the redhead. "Uhm…Possibly. I mean, there's a high chance that she – " James jumped up from his seat and dashed through the living room to the staircase, Lily running after him as Sirius and Remus chuckled and Hermione blinked in surprise.
"See, this is normal for them," Remus instructed before shaking his head, "So what are you going to do next?"
She gave a lengthy sigh and ran her fingers through her hair, Sirius tugging away the tangles as she winced, "Something stupid."
Remus grimaced, "Is it safe?"
"Oh, hell no," Hermione gave a small laugh. "I could probably get killed."
Remus and Sirius glanced at each other and Sirius shifted to frown at her. "Hey, look," Sirius began, "You never said anything about a mortality rate."
"Look at you, using large words," she cooed, patting his cheek with a cheeky grin while he continued to frown, "It's a war, of course people might die, I'm just making sure that you lot don't."
"That's all very nice and everything, but…what about you?" Remus asked, "Surely you want much more than just being a sacrifice."
"Of course," she sighed, staring down at the tabletop and rubbing her shoulder, "I'm no martyr. But I'll do anything to protect the people I care about."
"You must really love these guys, I hope they know that," Sirius said, in somewhat of a grumble.
"Well, they should, considering they're in this house," she smirked, "Just because I came for one group of people, doesn't mean I'm going to fight for just them."
"You shouldn't have to fight at all," Remus frowned, "Nobody should."
"Why didn't you just go back in time and stop You-Know-Who from becoming…well, You-Know-Who?" Sirius questioned.
"I knew more about here already, and would be able to find some allies – there, I'd basically be on my own," she shrugged. "Besides – this generation is decidedly strange."
"Oy, don't be knockin' my hippies, babe," Sirius glared, Hermione bursting into laughs as Remus chuckled. "I love those weirdoes!"
"Just wait until disco catches," she smiled as Sirius grimaced and dragged his hands through his hair in distress.
"No, tell me that shit isn't going to be popular, please, Kitten, tell me that there is a Music God," he begged, clasping his hands and pleading with her. "If there is, that means ACDC, Aerosmith and Ozzy will become immortal."
She grinned and patted his hair as he pouted, "I'm terribly sorry, Sirius."
"No!" he cried, plummeting his face into the table and making high pitched whimpers as Remus clutched his sides and laughed loudly, Hermione trying to suppress her laughter as she rubbed Sirius's back comfortingly.
"Kitten, holy shit, wake up now," Sirius insisted.
"I swear to God, Sirius, the next time you wake me up early, there will be consequences," Hermione groaned, sitting up and looking at him through the haze of her curls.
"No, okay, Regulus and Walburga are currently on their way to my flat, and since I said you moved in with me – "
"Shit," she decided before flinging the covers off and grimacing at her appearance in the mirror.
"I'll try to help out with your hair, do that weird spell thing," he demanded, settling his hands on her shoulders as she shut her eyes, making him blink when the scars, freckles and some of the color left her skin, and her hair minimized in volume. He grabbed a brush and began to scrape at her hair before it got stuck, making her sigh and yank it out before twirling her wand it at, making it sleek and straight. "Why the hell is this the first time you're doing this?"
Hermione grimaced and held her head, "Bad headaches and chest pains later, now get out so I can change."
Sirius nodded and moved to stand out in the hall outside of her room, James and Lily watching in amusement from the top of the staircase, Remus leaning against the bannister on the landing and looking up at him with a grin.
"You look nervous," James teased.
"Stuff it, Prongs," Sirius glared, "If Walburga finds out…."
"I'll keep him quiet, Sirius," Lily promised, patting James's leg as Hermione opened her door and sighed, tying her hair up and pulling a face at the blouse and short, plaid skirt, heels and tights. Seventies fashion was so strange, she decided.
"Okay, great, thank you, now let's go visit my mother," he said, beginning to push her towards the stairs.
"You'll have to change your flat," James called.
Sirius whirled back around and looked at him with wide eyes as Hermione hit her forehead.
"Remember when I moved in?" Lily asked, "I added lots of stuff."
"And threw stuff out," James huffed.
"Damn it," Sirius sighed, grabbing Hermione's had and dragging her down the steps, "We're going to get ourselves killed, I just know it."
"Oh please," Hermione snorted, "You act as if you have no faith in me."
Sirius shoved her through the Floo and stepped in after her, reappearing in his living room as Hermione began to flick her wand and transfiguring different objects, seemingly at random.
"Can you blame me? As far as I know, you're only letting on that you have a plan," he said, grabbing a few articles of clothing and shoving them into a closet.
Hermione pursed her lips, "Well, at least I don't lie down and take things like a dog."
Sirius's eyebrows snapped up before they came down again, glaring at her as she gave a small smirk. "Care to elaborate?"
"You've been bending to your mother's will for how long, exactly?" she asked, "You didn't even put up much of a fight when she said you were getting married to me."
Sirius glared and gritted his teeth but said nothing as the knocking began on the door. "Fine. Want to get the door, Dear?"
Hermione moved to door, twisting the knob and smiling at Walburga and Regulus, the latter grinning brightly at her before shaking her hand.
"Hermia! How're you?" he asked.
"Very good, thank you. Would you both like to come in?" she said, moving to let them enter and feeling dread settle in her stomach as a large, black dog gave a happy little bark and wagged his tail, a sort of glint in his eyes. "Oh no…."
"What on Earth is that…beast?" Walburga shuddered as Hermione scrambled to shut the door.
"Oh, it's…Snuffles," Hermione said, biting a nail as Sirius nudged her leg affectionately.
"Suppose that's Sirius's then," Regulus grinned, patting the dog on top of the head, his large pink tongue lolling out.
"Yes," Hermione frowned in distaste, "I'm thinking about putting him down." Sirius's head snapped to her direction and his eyes got wide. "Or, better yet, fixed." He let out a small yelp and hid behind Regulus's legs, as his younger brother was grimacing and looking down at the dog with a sense of pity.
"I agree," Walburga sniffed, taking her coat off and handing it to Hermione, who settled it on the coat rack. "A wild dog is certainly no good for a budding household."
"Yes," Hermione hummed as Sirius wagged his tail in a smug way. "No good at all."
"Wow, tough room, huh, buddy?" Regulus asked, kneeling down to Sirius and ruffling his face, messing with his ears and grinning when Sirius flopped onto his back and rolled around, ending up facing Hermione and settling his large head on top of his paws, looking up at her with big eyes and whimpering. "Aww, look, he's got the puppy pout! I bet Sirius taught him that one, always did use that with girls at school."
"Yes, but I'm not girls at school," Hermione frowned, glaring at him as he let out a big sigh.
"Hermia, where is my son?" Walburga questioned.
"Oh, he's just…out," she said lamely, folding her hands behind her back and trying not to wince. Snuffles stood and nudged her leg again, sitting down at her side and attempting to comfort her.
"Where? He received my Patronus just this morning," she blinked.
"Yes, well, he stepped out to do something for work," she lied smoothly before sighing, "He's always so busy."
"Well, perhaps we should talk to him about quitting," Walburga said as Regulus stood and looked at Hermione with wide eyes.
"Oh no, he loves it too much, and it gets him out of my hair for a bit," she shrugged before blinking, "Where are my manners? Would you like anything to drink?"
"No, dear, just a small social call," Walburga smiled as Regulus relaxed and smiled over at her.
"Oh? May I ask what this may be about?" she questioned, tugging at a thumb as Sirius set his head down on her foot.
"Your wedding, actually, I was wondering if you'd heard from your family," Walburga said, settling down on the edge of the seat, Regulus standing by her side.
"Oh, my mother wrote me just last week, let me go see if I can find the letter so I don't confuse any dates," she said, moving to Sirius's room, Snuffles following and switching back as they tore apart his room, searching for the enchanted mirror.
"Prongs!" Sirius hissed.
"Padfoot? What's wrong?" James asked, his face swimming into view.
"No time!" Hermione whispered, "Contact Madame Delacour, ask her if there's any date she could give me to pass off as a visit!"
"On it!" Lily whispered back, moving to the Floo and calling out the name and address. She quickly relayed the information to the French woman, who gave her a date to spit out to James.
"In a month," James answered.
"Thank you," Hermione sighed, the mirror growing dark before she glared to Sirius, "I'm not done with you." She stood and threw the mirror under his pillow as he shifted back, following her back into the living room as she smiled at their guests. "She and my brother are coming in a month, I hope that's alright."
"Well, it's not too soon, but I suppose it will do," Walburga sighed before looking closely at her, "Hermia…."
"Yes, ma'am?" she asked, smoothing her palms against her skirt.
"What size are you?" she questioned as Regulus grimaced and looked off to a picture that Sirius had posted on the wall near the kitchen.
"Size…of what?" she asked blankly.
"Oh, no matter," she said, standing and pulling a measuring tape out of her bag, a notepad and a quill floating along behind her. "This is far more accurate."
"Oh, but Missus Black, I couldn't possibly – I mean, we haven't scheduled anything yet, it would be too soon, and I might gain weight or – " Hermione babbled, backing away from the woman as Regulus winced for her, Sirius hopping up onto the couch to watch as Walburga pulled her and had her stand on the ottoman.
"Now, now, Hermia, I insist," she said, pulling the tape tight around her waist, "Thirty inches." She pulled it over her bust and Hermione tilted her head to the ceiling. "Thirty-eight." She moved it down to her hips, "Forty." She then measured the height, moving the tape down her side as Hermione kept her head to the ceiling, the blush covering her face as she listening to the quill scribbling before a loud snap was heard, making Hermione turn to see that Walburga had just put everything away.
"I'll have my dressmaker come up with some designs and we'll see what you like later," she smiled, and for a moment she actually looked pleasant and cordial, before she moved back to the coatrack and snatched her coat up and onto her shoulders. "Come along, Regulus. Good day, Hermia."
"Good day, Ma'am," Hermione answered, Regulus helping her down from the ottoman.
"I'm sorry about Mother," Regulus winced, her hand still in his, "She can be a bit…forceful."
"It's alright, Regulus," she smiled, "I suppose I'll just have to get used to it, won't I?"
"Right," he nodded before kissing her hand, "Welcome to the family, Hermia." He blushed slightly and moved to the door, Hermione blinking at her hand while the door shut, Sirius frowning as he stood from the couch.
"If we were actually engaged, I might just be jealous," he decided with a hum before Hermione gave a very scary growl and shoved him to the couch, a pillow covering his face.
"You bastard!" she hissed, her skin and face back to normal, "I really should have you fixed!"
"Alright, in my defense, you offended me," he muffled.
"I offended you?" she spluttered as she pulled the pillow away.
"Apology accepted," he smiled before his face met the floor, coughing from the impact before she settled onto his back.
"You are dead," she insisted, wand tip pressing in between his shoulder blades.
"Okay, okay, so maybe I should be the one apologizing," he decided. "I am sorry for leaving you with her. That wasn't fair."
She released a deep breath and stood off of him, smoothing down the skirt, "Fine. You're forgiven."
He stood and grinned down at her, "Thirty-eight?"
The yelp that left his mouth once she slapped him was loud enough to have the neighbors blink and look around curiously, poking at the televisions or checking on their children, and that was with several muffling charms.
Sirius is going to make a lot of rude jokes and Hermione is going to hit him a lot in this story. But you might've figured that out already.