Disclaimer: Should be obvious by this point in the story that I am not JKR.

Chapter 10: Nocturne

The author would love to report that Hermione woke wrapped in Sirius's arms as he peacefully slept. She would love to report that Sirius woke only a few moments after Hermione and the two realized they were, indeed, completely in love and meant to be together for all eternity. The author would love to share that they became engaged immediately and in no more time than it took to change, rush to the Ministry, and find the appropriate office that they were married.

Alas, the author would be delusional if she reported that. For she would negligently forget that Sirius would never be that much at one with his feelings and Hermione would never behave so irrationally. So, intrepid reader, we must continue on our journey and hope that somehow these two realize what we all by now must have come to terms with…

Several hours later, nearly noon, Sirius awoke. He found himself spread out on a very comfortable bed with exceptionally soft linens. They were most assuredly not his sheets, as he could not fathom ever being inclined to purchase a piece of fabric with a floral print on it. Broomsticks or perhaps motorcycle prints, yes, but rosebud and some leafy things, no. His puzzlement and slow recovery of the past eighteen hours of memory coupled with his injuries to leave him jerkily moving and disrupting the coverlet.

Hermione, unfortunately, had slept quite peculiarly; she ended up becoming terribly entangled in the linens. Thus, when Sirius jerked the coverlet, she was unceremoniously deposited on the flour with a resounding thud. Never one to enjoy being woken and most definitely not one to enjoy tumbling onto the floor, Hermione let out a yelp.

"Crookshanks?" Sirius questioned.

A low groan emitted from the other side of the bed, well, actually the floor on the other side of the bed. "No you fool, that was me!" Hermione whined. She, as previously stated, was not pleased.

"Hermione?" Sirius asked. "Are you alright? What is going on?"

Hermione was slowly picking herself up at this point. Being more in charge of her faculties, she walked to Sirius's side and began examining him as she reminded him of the past night's adventures with Remus. By the time she was checking the bandage on his left arm, Sirius had come out of his stupor.

As Hermione rewrapped the arm, carefully knotting the batting, he gently touched her hand. "Thank you."

Hermione looked up at his soft words. She had never heard him speak in such a tone. Her wide eyed surprise, wild hair, rumpled jersey, and warm touch arrested Sirius. He suddenly was launched back in time.

After caring for Remus, the most damaged of the lot, Lily tended to Sirius. Her care was mixed with the playful banter that they two developed after the school child feud had faded. Then Lily turned to James.

Sirius had sat, minding his knees, as they were horribly torn by that night all those years ago. A particularly nasty batch of barbed brambles and a particularly devoted farmer had chased the three into the state they were in at the moment. Remus, having fallen backwards into the thorns had devastating scratches on his back and arms. Sirius, rather Padfoot, had landed on his hindquarters and launched out of the bush. Thus his wounds were mostly on his legs. James escaped much damage, but had managed to be swiped by several determined branches as they were fleeing. He had gashes on his face and side.

Sirius glanced from his own concerns to see Lily hovering over James. Though the two were only dating for a short time, even Sirius could see how intense their love was. Lily's gentle ministrations and low, soft voice visibly soothed James. Now that his mates were safe and mended, his concern could finally look to himself. The deep gash on his cheek was throbbing terribly; Sirius could see the unwanted tears forming in James's eye. Lily gently ran her fingers on James's cheek and Sirius watched as James leaned into Lily's touch.

Sirius knew the strength and depth of James's devotion to those he cared for and loved. Seeing this gentler side of Lily was new, but not terribly unexpected. For the young animagus, it was a revelation to see Lily's eyes convey such love, concern, and acceptance. Never had Sirius ever seen a woman look at him that way. No maternal figure, no sibling or cousin, no one had ever looked at Sirius as Lily looked at James.

As Sirius remembered the rest of that night, he fought that feeling that no woman had as yet looked to him as Lily looked to James. For the first time in however many years he has existed, Sirius found himself wishing that he could find what his best friend had. For the first time he was forced to a standstill due to his emotions.

Thankfully, Hermione misinterpreted the sudden rush of emotions crossing his face as a mixture of discomfort and pain from his wounds. She quickly finished her work.

"There, I think you should be fine now. Just watch that arm for the rest of the weekend. Try not to do anything too foolish to it and by Monday you'll be back to normal," Hermione concluded. "Well, as normal as you ever are."

Gathering his wits, Sirius thanked Hermione again.

"Yes, yes. Honestly, did you think I would turn you away?" Hermione asked. "Well, I am hungry and in no condition to venture to the Great Hall. I am going to go bathe and put on some respectable clothes. When I'm done it will be your turn. I'll have one of the house elves bring you some fresh clothes. Those are quite done for I am afraid."

With that proclamation, Hermione went to the wardrobe, gathered a few items, and went to find her shower. Sirius laid back on his pillow and thought of the last twenty four hours of his life.

He had not thought of that night when Lily nursed the three Marauders in years. Sirius mused on all Hermione had done for him. She really was a sweet young woman when she wasn't trying to prove herself or keep Ron in line. What amazed Sirius is that she kept that amazing sweetness despite all she had witnessed in the war and the subsequent tragedies of her life. Her strength, intelligence, wisdom, and fundamental magical ability were not disputed by anyone in the Wizarding world. Few got to see this side of Hermione.

Yes, Sirius was contemplating quite a few things. Despite the twenty or so minutes of uninterrupted thoughts, no resolution came.

Hermione came out a bit more a wake and with completely wet hair. Drying charms made her hair frizz too much in her opinion. She went to check on Sirius. She found him wide awake, but apparently lost in his own mind. She chuckled.

"What's so funny?" he asked.

"You seem lost in your own mind. I then thought that has to be a dangerous place to wander around alone in," she replied with a smirk.

"Minx," Sirius replied.

"How are you feeling?" Hermione asked.

"A bit the worse for the wear, but not too bad all told. Still a bit tired," he honestly replied. Neither noticed that he made no attempt at bravado or keeping his image of impermeable bad boy in place at this point.

"Well, you stay there and rest. I will just take care of a few things and then get us something to eat after you've slept some more," she said in the manner Sirius knew brooked no opposition. Accordingly he nodded and promptly fell asleep.

Hermione was amazed at the man's ability to instantly nod off like that. She often took quite a while to fall asleep; her mind would never calm enough to allow her to easily rest. She frowned when she realized it could be from those years on the run, when he would have to sleep whenever and wherever he found a bit of sanctuary. She continued to look at him sleeping comfortably on her bed.

The lines of his tattoos told such a story. The ones whose symbols she could not identify were simply reminders of how much of a mystery this man really was for her. At times she just wanted to strangle him. He pushed her to her limits time and time again. He was so incredibly, absolutely her opposite in nearly every regard that she was amazed they could even maintain their friendship. And yet, there were moments of tenderness. She had been the only one to see the tear that slipped down his cheek at Harry's wedding. She was aware of the haunting anniversaries he observed in his own manner, usually involving firewhiskey, as he honored loved ones lost. She had seen his fierce loyalty and utter devotion to his friends countless times, even more than once, displayed on her behalf.

She thought back to one particular moment. It was not long after her parents died that Harry had convinced her that she needed to take some time away. Accordingly he gathered a few friends together and they found a cottage by the sea to rent. Sirius, Harry, Tonks, Ron, and Luna came. Hermione could not remember why Remus and Ginny didn't join them. One night she had taken a walk after supper. She wandered quite far from the house and was nearing the small Muggle village. A group of teen boys were out around a bonfire with some beer. Not drunk, but not at their sharpest mental capacities; they saw Hermione from a distance.

Two thought, as hormonal teen males are wont to do, that this could make their evening better. After all, she looked like a lonely, attractive young woman who would likely love to spend an evening with such spectacular specimens of the male gender. No malice was intended and no harm was done. However their jovial manner and persistence was enough to push Hermione to the edge of her coping skills. Just as she was about to lash out with either a stunning spell or an equally stunning punch, the boys were picked up by their collars and tossed away.

"You'll do better to learn how to treat a lady. On your way now," her rescuer said. "Hermione, did they hurt you?" he turned to her with a gruff voice.

A sad sniffle came out, "No, I'm quite alright. Thank you, Sirius."

Sirius pulled Hermione to him and simply held her as her sniffle expanded to a sob and sunk into heaving gasps for air after she ran out of tears. After a very long time she slowly quieted.

"I know you know what it is to grieve. We've all lost so many over the years. But when you lose those closest to you and there's nothing you can do either in revenge or to bring them back, it seems like your heart has been taken from you and you will never get it back," Sirius quietly said, the gruffness melting into more of a haunted quality. "But somewhere, at some point in time, you'll realize that you will survive, you will heal, and you will find joy again. I promise you."

Hermione never found out why it was that Sirius followed her that day instead of one of the boys. She never really thought it had much meaning beyond the obvious of a friend comforting a grieving friend. As her mind returned to the present and the object of her reverie sighed in his sleep, she was jolted.

While love at first sight is simple and romantic to write. Love at the length of a long friendship peppered with the occasional furious spat is much more complicated. Dear reader, I assure you, this is neither case. At present.

"You care for him. You always love to argue, you secretly enjoy your spats. You love that he does genuinely care for so many wonderful things, just as much as you love how he strives to hide behind his well-groomed bad boy image. And you love that he trusts you. You, my dear girl are in danger, finally, of becoming irrevocably smitten."

Hermione literally backed away from this thought and into the next room. Somehow she thought if she separated herself from the sight of Sirius, she would be safe from that dangerous voice in her head. She flopped onto the nearest chair and continued to dumbly stare ahead of her. Was she smitten? Did she have more than platonic feelings towards her best friend's godfather?

Hermione was in a right state yet again. She was never much of an expert in the romance department. Her exceptionally brief and entirely bizarre relationship with Viktor lasted the duration of the Tournament. They never more than held hands and their conversation was less than sparkling. Then there was Ron. They had a love hate sort of dating relationship. The loved each other fiercely, but when dating discovered it turned more to hate. They needed space between them to maintain their close bond. Thankfully Luna had no issues with their close friendship. There really had not been much else in her romantic record other than a series of dismal first dates. So how was she to know if this was just the ramblings of an exhausted mind or something more serious?

She tossed some powder into the fireplace.

"Ginny, what are you doing this afternoon?"