Disclaimer: only the plot belongs to me…sadly.
"Hermione...Hermione…HERMIONE!" It was the last screeching sound that woke her up. Lily had been badgering Hermione to get up for nearly an hour.
"Will you get up?! It's nearly lunch. You've already slept through breakfast." Lily was moving around the room, gathering things here and there, wrapping herself in warm clothes. Hermione stirred and shifted in bed, finally sitting up to watch her friend act frantic.
"And why must I get up on a Sunday? It's my last day to sleep in."
"Because, silly, we're going flying today. Well, you and I are. The boys are playing Quidditch." Hermione tensed.
"To be honest Lily, I don't fly." Lily stopped dead in her tracks, looked at Hermione as though she had grown a third arm.
"Please tell me you're lying. Flying is like…it's like walking. It's just so natural!" Hermione got out of bed and began to dress.
"Maybe for you, but me and brooms just never…got along. It was the only class during my first year that I didn't get perfect marks in." Lily made a fake pity face causing Hermione to throw a pillow at her.
"Well, you can go at least and stand safely on the nice soft ground while we all have fun." Hermione laughed at Lily's attempt to make her feel like a baby. "So, tell me Hermione, did you talk to Sirius last night?" Hermione's smile faded.
"Well, he talked to me at least. That's something right?"
"Better than nothing. You know it's hard for him to not talk to you. I mean, as hard as he worked to get you, he has to work even harder to stay mad at you."
"Has he talked to Remus any?"
"Well, they had a heated conversation yesterday before you came back to the common room. Sirius said he didn't think they could ever be close again, and Remus said that he didn't care about that, mainly because he knew nothing could stop them from being friends, and that he only cared that Sirius forgave you." Hermione sighed.
"And what did Sirius say?"
"He said he'd talk to you but didn't promise anything." Another sigh.
"Well, we should go and meet them then I guess." Lily put a comforting arm around Hermione and the two walked out the door, got a quick bite to eat at the Great Hall and went to the Quidditch pitch to meet the boys.
"Lily, wait," Hermione protested as Lily began to run toward the field, "I'm just going to sit here for a while. Don't worry; I'll be there in a minute." Lily fought with her but gave in nonetheless and left her friend alone. Hermione watched Lily run off and join the boys in the air. Hermione could see both Remus and Sirius looking out towards her, but she turned her back to them and sat under the nearest tree. Being ever studious, Hermione opened her full book bag and proceeded to take out the journal that belonged to her distant friend Evelyn Coxwell.
February 21, 1938
Dear Diary,
My grandparent are well on their way to falling in love. It's so splendid to see them like this. Honestly, had you asked me three years ago if they would ever even be civil to each other I would have told you no, but now, things are much better. I can only hope I go home soon, I do miss my family so very much. I've aged so much since I've first arrived, and now I wonder will my age reverse once I've gone back or will I just suddenly be six years older to everyone? All these questions are killing me.
I met a boy today names William Baxley. He's very nice and very handsome. I know I shouldn't like him, but he's just so wonderful, and I've gone six years without doing anything for myself. Professor Dumbledore says it's okay to be selfish sometimes, and since I doubt I'm leaving anytime soon, I might as well have some fun…
"Dumbledore…" Had Dumbledore known about Evelyn Coxwell and simply decided not to tell her? Hermione closed the journal. Instead of helping her solve her problems, it only introduced her to more. She looked out to nowhere, her mind wandering through her thoughts, when suddenly she felt a harsh breeze above her head and saw the blurred outline of a boy on a broom. The boy made another swoop then landed on the ground in front of Hermione, causing her to gasp.
"Reading again?" Sirius didn't look at her, but rather over her head, but she didn't care. He was talking to her.
"Aren't I always?"
"Either that or writing." They stayed silent for a few moments before he surprised them both and looked at her with no harshness or hatred in his eyes. Instead she saw a tenderness she hadn't seen in a while.
"Are you going to join us or not?" His question startled her. Did he want her to join them?
"I'm not much of a flyer." He gave a little laugh as though everyone could fly from the womb, and she was just making excuses.
"I think you'd surprise yourself." That was all he said but it was enough to make her light up though she wouldn't show him. "How about…how about I help you. Make sure you don't fall off or anything."
"You'd do that?" He shrugged.
"I suppose. Besides, Lily would kill me if something happened to you. I have to watch my own back in this too." She smiled at him, and he had to force one away.
"Well, if the fear of Lily is in you, I guess it would be alright." She left her books behind as she followed Sirius to the field, and the sun nearly blinded her as she looked up to see her other friends all flying high. Remus and Peter were throwing the quaffle back and forth while James was doing random tricks to impress a giggling Lily. They all shared a smile as they saw Hermione walk onto the field.
"Hey! Get up here you!" James called out, attempting a handstand on his broom.
"Well, you heard him. Get up there." Sirius held his broom out to her. She looked at it nervously.
"I've never ridden one alone. I can't." He loved how innocent she was at times, but he shook the thought from his mind.
"Fine then." He mounted the broom and thinking he would ride off to join the others, she turned to walk back to her spot under the tree.
"Well, are you coming?" She stopped and turned around. He was unnecessarily close to the front of the broom and he looked behind him to the empty spot, implying that the spot was for her. She smiled and walked briskly back to him and swiftly mounted the broom behind him, leaving plenty of space between the two of them. She was still unsure of how far she could go with him.
"You'll fall off if you don't hang on." She understood and scooted towards him until their bodies were perfectly formed to each other, and she wrapped her arms securely around him, and again she took in his scent like she had the night before.
"Don't let go," he whispered as he pushed roughly off the ground and the two began to soar in the air. They flew among the clouds and darted in between their friends, Hermione laughing and Sirius smiling at his affect on her. They played a lazy game of Quidditch and after a few more minutes of play they all landed on the ground.
"We better go back in if we want any dinner," Peter informed his friends and they all agreed.
"Oh, you guys go ahead. I have to get my things." She watched them walk off and watched Sirius stall before she made her way back to the tree. She returned the journal to its place in her backpack and moved to put it on when a hand on her shoulder startled her and caused her to drop her bag.
"Now you didn't honestly think I wouldn't follow you did you?" She felt her face go red. Was this his attempt at forgiving her without the actual words? She couldn't find words to answer him, so he continued.
"I talked to Remus, before I talked to you last night, and I've had time to think about everything." He paused, taking his time and killing Hermione. "I suppose you're right in that it is human nature to make mistakes. No one's perfect, but…I just thought you…oh I don't know what I thought." She wanted to touch him and comfort him, but her arms and legs refused to move.
"Just tell me what it is Sirius." She needed him to keep talking. He had moved from where he was to stand on the edge of the lake. He would have begun to skip rocks had there been any, but instead he settled for putting his hands in his pockets. Hermione looked at him, perfectly silhouetted against the beautiful scenery. As he would age, she knew he would never lose the regality she saw in him now.
"I want to hate you Hermione. I want to loath the ground you walk on. You broke my heart and made me out to be an idiot." His words were stinging her. "But despite all that, when I see you, I know there's something there worth all the pain." He quickly abandoned his place on the water's edge and, like some other force was pulling him, he practically ran to Hermione and swept her in his arms.
"You could break my heart everyday from now until I die and I would forgive you at the end of each day." He took her now tear stained face in his hands and wiped them away. He didn't need the romantic stall that usually precedes that one grand kiss, no, instead he let go of anything that was ever holding him back and took her lips with his own. She whimpered a little at the force behind his kiss, but she accepted it nonetheless. That one kiss would last them the rest of their lives, and no other kiss could top it and they both knew it. He released her lips, but kept her close. He would never let her fully go again.
They walked back to the castle in a dreamlike state, each smiling broadly at the events that had just occurred. They made their way back into the Gryffindor common room, ignoring the jeers and hoots they received from their friends, and planting themselves away from the others and in front of the blazing hot fire.
They stayed there, hold hands and kissing until the common room was deserted and the fire was simply brightly burning ash. As Hermione sat there, the only thought running through her mind was on her feelings about Sirius. She cared for him greatly, but was it really love as she so quickly thought once? Surly not, just a very, very strong like. She loved the way he held her on the couch, she loved the way he had fallen asleep, his face nestled in her hair, and she loved the way that even though he were sleeping, his grip on her waist was firm enough to know he needed her, but did all that count as a love for the man? Her mind wandered as she joined Sirius in his sleep.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
Sirius' childlike snoring woke Hermione up, and she could only smile at him. She couldn't believe that a week ago, he wanted to be done with her and now he didn't want to let her go. It was beautiful how life worked out sometimes. She carefully escaped his embrace and made her way to her room. She found a still sleeping Lily and her journal. She pulled it out and began to write.
October 3, 1977-8:23a.m.
Dear Journal,
So, after a week of grueling punishment and the silent treatment, Sirius and I are once again together. When he kissed me last night, it was as though I knew that kiss would be that last kiss I'd ever feel. Honestly, I wouldn't mind kissing Sirius Black for the next few whiles. It's so funny to think that a few years ago, had I said the same thing, it would have been from a wishful child, but now…it's from a girl who knows!
I've been thinking more about when my final mission gets completed (or when I figure out what it is), whether or not I'd truly want to go home. Yes, I miss Harry and Ron and everyone so much, but here is so much more…home. All the people I loved in my time are gone, but here they live. And knowing them all as my peers is more amazing than I could have ever hoped for. It's not fair really that I get to be so fortunate. On top of everything, who would have ever guessed that little Hermione "Bookworm" Granger would have fallen in lov-- head over heels for Sirius and have the feelings reciprocated?? Journal if you could only see the smile on my face you could better understand. Well, classes will start soon enough so I should go wake up the crowd.
Wonderfully yours,
Hermione
She put her pen down and moved off her bed and ran to jump on Lily who made a loud grunting noise upon impact.
"UGNH!! What are you DOING?!" Hermione could only smile and beam at her barely conscious friend.
"The day will not wait for you Lily Evans! Get up, get up, get up!" Hermione jumped off Lily's bed and ran to take a shower and when she got back, Lily was just getting her clothes on.
"I do wish you wouldn't be so hyper in the morning."
"Now Lily. You have to admit that this is the first morning I've been hyper in a while."
"Okay. Fine then. Be happy and hyper!" Lily mumbled to herself something about "love-sick" and "it's only Sirius".
The two girls made their way down to the common room, Hermione searching the room for the one she wanted to see so desperately, though she had only left him about an hour ago. She saw him laughing with James and Remus and walked over to him leaving Lily to pick up the rear. He saw her coming and stopped his chatting and grinned at her. She walked directly into his embrace. She knew their relationship would be different than before. They had overcome a trauma and they were all the stronger.
Her eyes wandered to Remus who only smiled and gave a knowing nod. They were okay, he and Sirius were okay, everything was okay. Everything was perfect.
Okay so now it seems everything is right in the world and nothing else can go wrong and the story should be finished…HAHAHAHAHHA! Don't you wish? This is Hermione we're talking about. Her life is one GIANT problem after another!
Let the journey continue!!!! (and don't forget reviews)!
