Sure enough Hermione had just walked though talking and laughing with- hang on, was that Regulus Black?
Dorcas just caught sight of Sirius's knuckles turning white as he gripped the knife and fork in his hands as he saw his brother before she turned to Lily. Lily's face always conveyed her emotions and she was pretty sure her own sentiment matched the red head's exactly at that moment.
Shit.
Hermione walked over and sat with their group as though she hadn't noticed anything amiss. Maybe she hadn't, but the others certainly had. Everyone within their group of friends had a subtle eye on Sirius as he continued to sit there with his jaw set as he looked at the witch in front of him. Hermione gave no sign of noticing.
It wasn't until she started to serve herself some food did he finally break.
"Who were you talking with?" He asked in a tightly controlled voice.
At this Hermione shot him a strange look.
"Um…your brother?" She said, when she looked up at him she finally seemed to realise that there was something amiss about him. "Are you alright?" She asked.
"No. Don't speak to him again. He's no brother of mine."
~o~o~o~
Hermione knew that there would be a certain level of hostility between the brothers but this surprised even her. Although she knew it shouldn't, it riled her to be told what to do in such a blunt fashion with no reason behind it.
"Excuse me?" She asked with her voice dangerously even, " I don't believe it's any of your business who I speak to."
The girls from her dorm and the rest of the marauders all kept their heads ducked, hoping to stay out of what they were sure was going to be the biggest fight the Great Hall had seen in quite a few years.
Sirius looked up to meet Hermione's eyes, "He's not the sort of person you want to associate with. Stay away from him." He said in a way that bordered on patronising.
If there was one thing that Hermione couldn't stand it was being talked down to; she put down her cutlery and abandoned all attempt at civil conversation, "You do not get to decide who I talk to. I'll have you know he was perfectly lovely and even he weren't I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself."
"What did he say?" Demanded Sirius, when Hermione gave no sign of telling him he carried on blithely, "And you didn't look too capable of taking care of yourself last night!"
Whatever excuses Hermione had been making for him in her mind up until that point vanished. She closed her eyes and tried to reign in her temper. It would not do to shout at him in the middle of the Hall. Without another word Hermione stood from the bench and grabbed her bag. Slinging it over her shoulder she walked out of the Hall and carried on out of sight.
~o~o~o~
The minute Hermione was out of sight having left her untouched food behind Lily rounded on Sirius,
"What did you say that for?" She hissed.
Sirius for his part looked utterly confused as to what he was supposed to have done, "What?" He asked genuinely perplexed. Remus just shook his head and Lily looked to angry to speak so Dorcas stepped in,
"Sirius, she was starting to look happy, she didn't need reminding of last night." Sirius at least had the decency to look abashed at this but still didn't look too regretful.
"Look," he said in a rough approximation of a reasonable tone, "She has to know who to stay away from, I mean she's already friends with Snape, for god's sake!"
At his last sentence hung in the air Lily too stood up from her seat and a moment later so did Dorcas.
"Where are you going?" Said James who up until this point had been silent.
"To find Hermione." Said Lily shortly before storming out of the hall. Dorcas paused only to throw James a sympathetic look and Sirius a scathing one before walking briskly after Lily.
~o~o~o~
Hermione had only reached a little way before she realised she had no idea of where she was heading. The place that immediately came to mind was the library but she immediately dismissed it knowing that she would never get any work done in the state she was in. She hadn't taken two more steps before the answer came to her.
The girls bathroom.
It was nearing the week of the full moon and if she wanted Remus's potion to be ready it was going to need another check. Quickly adjusting her route she set off for the bathrooms.
When she got there she was relieved to find out that Myrtle was absent, she could've sworn that the ghost took pleasure in tormenting her. Shaking herself out of it she set about checking the potion and making sure that all was going according to plan.
It was.
In fact it should have finished by tomorrow or the next day at the latest. There was nothing she could do for it except wait. Feeling exceptionally smug about this newest victory she left the toilets feeling a great deal better about her situation.
The anger from earlier had melted away as it always did and looking out of one of the high and ornate windows she saw that the sky was free of clouds and blemishes. Making a split second and impulsive decision she began to make her way outside to where a walk, she decided, would do her good.
~o~o~o~
When Lily and Dorcas finally caught up with Hermione they were surprised to see her out sitting by the lake. They had checked all of the places they thought her likely to be and only as a last resort looked outside. It was Lily who spotted her looking once again happy and relaxed under a tree looking out over the ripples of the lake. They walked up to her and sat down. She gave them a smile of greeting but said nothing.
"Are you ok?" Asked Lily tentatively.
"Oh, I'm fine." Said Hermione breezily, "I've just never taken well to people telling what to do." Her mind gave a quick flash back of all of her adventures over the years; in every one of them she'd been told to go back a least once. Her heart gave a tug when she remembered who had been at her side throughout all of it but she quickly ignored it.
"He means well." Said Dorcas who was staring out at the lake.
"I know." With that the three girls stood and began to make their way to the rest of the days lessons.
~o~o~o~
The rest of the days passed uneventfully but Hermione still found herself tired at the end of it all. She was looking forward to curling up in a chair in the common room o going up to her dorm. Within minutes of entering the Gryffindor common room she saw that this was unlikely to happen.
What seemed like hoards of people were all crowded around the notice board and Hermione was sure she could hear some shrill shrieking coming from the middle of it.
"What's going on?" She asked Remus who was closest to her.
"The dates for the Hogsmeade weekend have just been put up." He explained, "It's going to be busy this year, but I'm sure you'll like it."
"Hmm," said Hermione, "not sure I'll be going."
Remus looked mildly surprised by this but it was the aghast reply from behind her that drew her attention,
"Hermione, you have to go!" Said Alice, "You've never been before, you'll love it!"
Hermione just gave a strained sort of smile before turning to go and hunt down a little bit of peace before another voice entered the fray,
"But you'll have to get a date." Hermione turned around to see Marlene looking at her amusedly. At Hermione's disbelieving look she held her hands up, "It's true! You have to have a date, it's right before Christmas, so it'll be lovely." She said firmly.
Hermione just smiled and walked away.
~o~o~o~
Eventually when the activity died down Hermione found herself sitting in on the sofa by the fire. She was so absorbed in the book she was reading, she didn't see Sirius walking over to her until he right beside her,
"Hello?" He said waving a hand in front of her face.
"Hello." She replied only a little frostily.
Sirius sighed before running a hand though his hair, "Look, I'm not sorry about what I said and I still mean it," he paused to see her reaction; she sat there looking at him; completely unreadable, "but I'm sorry I made you angry." Hermione still sat there looking none the friendlier and it was then that an idea hit him, "How about to make it up to you, I take you to Hogsmeade? Just you… and me… and the butterbeer." He gave her a suggestive wink and was relieved when she started smiling.
"Thanks," she said with a laugh, "But I'll pass on Hogsmeade." With that she smiled at him once more and left for her dorm.
Sirius sat there confused. It took a moment for him to process that he really had just been rejected; it was a bit of a new experience.
It wasn't like he particularly liked Hermione but it still stung slightly to be shot down like that. Shaking himself out of it he decided that a phenomenon like that did not occur all the time and walked off to find James, after all James had gotten pretty good at handling rejection over the years.
…
A/N- I'm so sorry for both the length and the wait, I'm a bad person but don't worry karma will most definitely get me. However, despite this I hope you enjoyed the chapter and please leave reviews! All the best-VE
Ps. For the reviewer who talked about the whole time/ alternative future angle of the story, don't worry all will be explained! J