Chapter Nine

Disclaimer- I do not own any of the characters or places mentioned in this fanfiction. Except Adela Kirsopp, I did make her up.

The witch sitting across from Hermione was a short, elderly woman. She was from the Improper Use of Magic office. She wore purple robes that were so bright, it hurt your eyes. The witch's skin seemed to have the consistency of tissue paper and she wore her hair in huge snow white curls. Adela Kirsopp; she had introduced herself when she had shook hands with Hermione in greeting. She spoke with a high almost squeaky voice that could've just as easily belonged to a house elf.

It was her final meeting today. After her session with Adela, Hermione would be a registered animagus. She hadn't visited Sirius since the visit before he challenged Peter. She missed him dreadfully.

Her animagus animal was a dog very similar to Sirius's except she was slightly smaller and her fur was chocolate brown instead of black. That had been the form she had been hoping for. She hoped all her efforts wouldn't be for nothing.

"Can you perform the patronus charm, my dear?" Adela had a clipboard in her hand and Hermione had been answering the final questions so the paperwork would be complete and ready. Hermione nodded.

"Can I see?" Adela squeaked. Hermione nodded again. It had always been the one spell that she had struggled with. The memory she thought of was just one Christmas spent with the Weasleys. She had felt loved and happy and like she belonged. But the spell wasn't working. She tried again and again.

"Are you sure you can perform this spell, dear?" Adela squeaked doubtfully.

"I can! Or at least I could" Hermione replied in anguish. Why wasn't it working?

"Maybe you should think of another memory?" Adela suggested. Hermione nodded and tried several more times. She used her favourite DA meetings and her favourite holiday memories. She tried countless memories of her, Harry and Ron. A couple of times she got wispy smoke but Hermione knew Adela wanted to see the animal part.

"It is a very complex spell my dear. It won't make me think less of you if you cannot perform it" Adela patted her gently on the shoulder. This made Hermione even more annoyed.

These memories had worked before. Why was now different? What had changed? Well what hadn't changed? In her head she made a list. She was no longer at Hogwarts. She had a job. She... she visited the younger Sirius Black!

"No let me try one more time" Hermione said determinedly. Hermione let the memory consume her.

It had been summertime. The summer Hermione and Sirius had been the same age finally. They had spent the day lying in a field full of daisies. They had kissed, talked, laughed and so much more. She could still hear his laughter ringing through the summer breeze, causing a smile to bloom onto her own face. She could see in her mind's eye, Sirius's muscular form laid stretched out on the grass. One arm behind his head and the other around her shoulders.

"Well done, Miss Granger!" Adela squeaked bringing Hermione back to the real world. She must have cast the spell without realising. Hermione looked around the room searching for her familiar otter. But it wasn't there. Where her usual patronus should have been, stood a shaggy, glowing dog looking up at her with big eyes. Hermione froze.

"B-b-but that's not my patronus!" Hermione protested and the dog disappeared back into her wand, back to where it came. Her patronus is an otter!

"Your patronus is the same as your animagus form. Remember my dear, they can change sometimes" Adela tried to reassure Hermione. But Hermione was already panicking. She had only ever heard of one other person's animagus changing. And that had been Tonks's, when she had fallen in love with Remus Lupin. But she wasn't in love with Sirius. She fancied and was attracted to him, (she had stopped bothering to deny it), but she knew she didn't love him! That's why she had never said I love you to him. He had said it too many times but she never once said it back. She couldn't love him; their relationship was too chaotic and strange already. And anyway, he was never going to forgive her.

Finally, Hermione managed to calm herself down. Maybe it was a good thing. She had never really felt connected to her otter patronus anyway. It had never really seemed to fit her. Not the way everyone else's did. When she had calmed herself down, she answered the rest of Adela questions and finished the meeting.

"Congratulations Miss Granger, you are now a registered animagus" Adela smiled and handed Hermione her certificate to prove she was registered. Kind of like a driving licence. Hermione smiled too and flooed back to her flat.

Once back in her little piece of home, Hermione took a step towards her desk to write letters to her friends about her news. But she stopped. She could feel herself disappearing.

Where ever Hermione was, was dark. It was scary. It was like sadness and madness radiated from the walls. There were moans and screams coming from all around her. Everything seemed dark and dingy. So this, Hermione thought, was Azkaban. She turned slowly on the spot to get her bearings. There was just a single cell in front of her. Through the bars she could see the skeleton of a man she had once known. Sirius was hunched into a small ball in the corner of his cell. He didn't even look up when she whispered his name.

He had lost a lot of weight, his hair was still dark but it was matted and ragged rather than his usual shaggy. His chin had sprouted a beard that he hadn't had the last time she had seen him. In some ways he looked so much older. But in others he looked like a child. Even from outside his cell, he reeked of despair and sadness. He had dirt on his face and on all visible skin. There were also bruises and cuts among the dirt.

Hermione touched the rusty bars softly and it swung open. They were so sure the prisoners wouldn't be able to get past the Dementors to escape that they didn't even lock the cells. Slowly and cautiously, Hermione walked towards Sirius. It was like he couldn't even see her. She laid a hand on his arm and he flinched.

"Great, I'm hallucinating now too" Sirius whimpered. His voice was hoarse and broken.

"You're not" Hermione whispered.

"That's just what a hallucination would say" Sirius looked up her. "But even if you are real, I don't want to see or talk to you".

"I'm sorry Sirius"

"Yeah, I know. But my best friend is still... dead and no amount of I'm sorrys are going to change that" Sirius sighed. He had chocked over the word dead. He looked like he would cry if he could, but Hermione suspected he had no more tears left.

Hermione didn't know what to say, so she sat down next to him and put her arms around him. For a long time Sirius was stiff in her arms and tried to pull himself out of her grasp. But finally he gave in and snuggled into her, laying his head on her chest. And when he gave in he pulled her closer. He had been on his own for so long, Hermione knew he just needed someone to hold him, like when he was a child.

"You know I can't forgive you Hermione" he whimpered. "But I haven't stopped loving you". Hermione stroked his head comfortingly.

"I know, Sirius" she whispered. "I can't change the past but I can make your time in her a little more bearable". Sirius sat up to look at her with confusion in his eyes. Hermione smiled and showed him what she had learnt for him. One moment she was there as a young woman the next, she was a dog with dark brown, glossy fur. She licked his face playfully and he laughed. You could tell it was his first laugh of happiness in a long, long time. Then he too changed.

Hermione couldn't feel all the despair she had felt before. She knew it was still there but as a dog, she herself couldn't feel it. She could see in Sirius's dark eyes he couldn't either. It was just like the older Sirius had told her. It was easier to deal with as a dog; the Dementors don't affect them in the same way. The two canines snuggled together, simply happy with each other's company. He hadn't completely forgiven her and Hermione knew he never would but maybe their relationship wasn't over yet.

They lay together for a long time. Then like always, Hermione disappeared and Padfoot was alone once more.

Author's note

Sorry this chapter's a bit short, I'm not very happy with it but I have to include it somehow and this is the best I can do. Just a head's up, the next chapter will take place in Hermione's time, Harry and Ginny's wedding to be specific. Hermione will have to make choice! And it's an important one! Stay tuned :)

So Pottermore is finally open! I'm MirrorMist29713, so add me if you wish. I got sorted into Hufflepuff! Which I FIND to be TOTALLY AWESOME! (PS the next chapter will be dedicated to everyone who got the reference in my previous sentence). And I totally love my wand, it's the same as Draco Malfoy's! Except mine's slightly longer :D Also spoiler alert, Draco will star in this fanfiction, just wait and see :)

So thanks for reading all the reviews and story alerts.

:-)