It was the feeling that someone was staring at her that had her waking up with a start, wand in her hand. Her eyes met Harry's, and she instantly lowered her arm.

"Sorry."

"It's fine. I still sleep with my wand on me as well. I only wish that we didn't feel the need to anymore."

"I know. You haven't been here this whole time, have you? How long have I been sleeping?"

"You slept the rest of the day and all night. And no, I haven't been here the whole time. I had some things to do, people to see."

"Oh? How is Daphne doing? I hope you haven't been neglecting her because of me."

"What? Of course not. She understands, anyway."

The fact that he couldn't seem to meet her eyes told her that he was hiding something from her.

"Harry?"

"Hmm?"

"What did you do?"

Harry sighed.

"I never could keep anything from you. I went to visit my father," he said, bitterness evident in his tone.

"Oh, Harry."

"I just… I'm so disappointed in him, Hermione. And he looked so happy to see me. He recognized me instantly, even though I'm just about his own age. I just… always thought I would feel overjoyed to have my family back, but my father is nothing but a giant prat."

"He can't be all that bad, Harry."

"How can you say that? How can you say that after what he called you?"

"How did you… never mind. Sirius never could keep his mouth shut. But Harry, I honestly don't believe that he is as bad as he is acting. If he was, Sirius and Remus wouldn't have been like brothers to him, and he wouldn't be my soulmate."

"I hope you are right."

"I hope I am too. It will be okay."

A pounding on her door startled them both, and Harry's face turned slightly red at the noise.

"Harry?"

"Um, right. You might have a visitor, or something."

"A visitor? Who would –"

Before she could finish, her door flew open to reveal a brassed off Draco Malfoy.

"Damn it, Potter, I told you not to leave me alone in this house for long. Granger, thank Merlin you are awake. Potter, get out."

"Look, Malfoy, I don't know why you are here, but you can't just come in here and start ordering people around. This isn't your house."

"Harry, it is fine. I need to talk to Malfoy."

Harry eyed them, suspicion clear in his eyes. He left, however, and as soon as he shut the door behind him, Draco nearly knocked her over.

"Thank Merlin you are not dead. I can't believe you actually went through with it," he murmured into her hair. Hermione, taken completely by surprise by his uncharacteristic physical behavior, patted his back and then gently pushed him away.

"I didn't know you cared so much, cousin."

"Please. I'll have you know that your father showed up at the Manor and threatened my very existence if you died. I was merely concerned for my own well-being."

"Uh huh. That's why you risked his wrath to come visit me?"

"I have no idea what you are talking about. Clearly I am here to visit Potter."

She giggled. "Clearly."

"Are you going to be okay? Potter said you were out for a while."

Before she could answer, there was another knock on her door. Calling for whoever it was to come in, she was greatly surprised to see that it was Regulus who walked through the door.

"Hermione, Harry said that you were awake. I wanted to see if we could –" Regulus cut himself off as soon as he noticed Draco sitting on the bed in close proximity to her. He narrowed his eyes at Draco in a move that looked so much like Sirius that she could feel Draco physically stiffen his body.

"Who are you?" Regulus demanded.

"Good gods, Hermione, he looks just like his brother. Isn't that going to be weird for you?"

"Draco!" she hissed.

"Well, Mother is waiting for me so I have to be off now. Glad to see you made it through, love," he said, laying it on thick before kissing her on the cheek and quickly leaving her room. She stared after him in disbelief that he would bait Regulus so overtly.

"Apparently you do not scare him as much as Sirius does. Draco can't even be in his presence without the threat of pissing himself. What are you doing here, Regulus? I didn't know you were out of St. Mungo's."

"Pott – Harry was supposed to tell you."

"Ah. We were interrupted."

"Yes, I saw."

She tilted her head to look at him as his tone suggested he was not happy. In fact, he sounded almost… jealous. She wasn't normally the type of woman that got giddy over jealousy and possessiveness but, for some reason, her heart leapt a little in her chest at his tone. She patted the space next to her, indicating that he should sit down. He looked a little uneasy at the thought of joining her on her bed, but he did so anyway.

"I wanted to apologize. You risked your life to bring me back, and I'm afraid I acted quite poorly. I am very grateful for the second chance you have provided to me."

"It's fine. I'm sure it was a massive surprise and you were probably very shocked. Most people would have reacted… not well. Besides, you weren't nearly as bad as…" she trailed off, finding herself unable to talk about James.

"Speaking of that, I should also apologize for my words said in reaction to his. I can assure you that blood does not matter to me. I… I made some mistakes in my life, yes, but –"

"Regulus, stop, it's okay. I understand. All is forgiven."

She was rewarded with a genuine smile from him, a smile that took her breath away. Merlin, this man was gorgeous on a bad day but when he smiled, his whole face just lit up.

"You're gorgeous!" she blurted out and immediately clapped a hand over her mouth. He smirked at her.

"Is that so?"

"I… I mean… I didn't… ugh!" she said as she buried her face in her hands, her cheeks red with embarrassment. His hands gently pried hers away from her face and placed them in her lap. He brought his hand back up to her face and traced her cheek gently with a fingertip.

"You are the gorgeous one. I never thought that this would happen… that I would be able to be with my soulmates. James… well. And I didn't know who you were and then I died. But you, you wonderful witch, brought me back. I have no idea how I will ever be able to repay you."

"Repayment is not necessary. My reasons for bringing you back were slightly selfish, after all."

He just stared at her, looking as if he did not believe that she was real. She couldn't help but stare back, taking some time to take in his eyes. They were similar to Sirius', yes, but bordered more on blue than grey. And they were looking at her with such love that she almost lost the ability to breathe.

"I know that we haven't known each other long. But I'd really like to kiss you, if you would allow it," Regulus said, his hand now cupping her cheek. She could find no words in which to reply, only nodding. He tilted his head and suddenly his lips were on hers. It was a short, chaste kiss, over before it really started, but it felt… wonderful. This is what it felt like to share a kiss with someone you were meant to be with. They pulled apart and barely five seconds passed before they both lunged at each other. Before she knew it, she was flat on her back with Regulus pressed against her. She moaned as his lips kissed their way from her mouth to her neck.

She felt like she was in heaven.

Then, suddenly, his whole body stiffened and he lifted his head up. She opened her eyes to see what was wrong and saw the absolute last person she wanted to see at that moment.

Sirius.

And he had his wand jabbed into Regulus' side.

"You get your filthy hands off my daughter."

"Go away, Sirius. I'm busy."

She could barely hold in her snort at the look on Sirius' face as he started sputtering, clearly not expecting that response. Her eyes flew to meet Regulus' and he winked at her. Then Sirius did something completely unexpected: he started yelling for Remus. Unsure of just what he had planned, Hermione gently pushed against Regulus, who sat up and pulled her with him. Remus came running into the room, wand at the ready, clearly believing something was wrong. He lowered it right away as it became quite clear what was going on.

Sirius smirked at the pair of them, smug, before leaving the room saying, "You know what to do, Remus."

Hermione was confused, Regulus groaned, and Remus looked like he wanted to be anywhere else.

"Right. I don't know why Sirius thinks I'm the best person for this job, but here it goes," Remus began. She had no idea what the heck he was talking about, but judging by Regulus' shaking of his head, he obviously did. Remus continued, "This is much faster than I expected, but I understand the pull of the bond that happens after the ritual. Since you are both adults, we cannot stop you from having… intercourse. There will have to be a few rules, however. First, always use locking and silencing charms. No need to give Sirius a heart attack, yeah?"

Hermione was sure her face had never been redder than it was at this moment. A sex talk? If only lightening would come strike her down and save her from this embarrassment.

"Is this really necessary?" she asked.

"Apparently Sirius thinks so. Secondly, always, always, remember to cast the contraceptive charm. I don't think Sirius would hesitate to curse any of you should a baby come any time soon. Right then, I'm going to go drown my memory of this conversation in some firewhiskey and curse Sirius for always making me do this."

With that, Remus left the room, leaving her alone once more with Regulus.

"I… don't even know what to say about that. I'm sorry?"

He chuckled at her uncertain tone.

"It's fine. I had a feeling that was going to happen once Sirius called for Remus. Sirius once made a joke about having Remus give me a sex talk after they got married. I found it quite amusing to see Remus so uncomfortable actually," he said, a smirk on his face. He then took his wand and put a locking and silencing charm on her room.

"Um, Regulus? I don't think… I'm not really… ready for that."

He chuckled slightly before saying, "I know. I just did it because I know Sirius is out there right now, and it's going to drive him crazy."

"So, it seems Sirius wasn't the only one in the family that liked to make trouble."

"Of course not," he scoffed, "I played my own share of pranks when I was in Hogwarts, mostly on Sirius. Anyway, there was another reason I wanted to speak with you. I would really like us to get to know each other. Would you do me the pleasure of going out on a date with me?"

"Of course I will!" she blurted out, and then immediately chastised herself for appearing too eager.

"Great!"

Okay, maybe she wasn't the only one that was eager.

"I was thinking that maybe we could go somewhere in Muggle London. I'm certain that Sirius made sure you had plenty of exposure to the Muggle world. Knowing him, he probably took much joy in our mother rolling over in her grave that her granddaughter was mingling amongst Muggles."

She was confused at this words for a moment before she realized that no one had bothered to tell him that Sirius and Remus adopted her.

"That sounds wonderful, but Regulus, there's something you should know. Sirius and Remus adopted me only a few years ago when my parents were killed. I'm a Muggle-born."

She looked at him, somewhat nervous of his reaction. Sure, he had said earlier that he didn't follow blood supremacy, but she was still wary. It didn't help that he was currently just staring at her with an unreadable expression on his face.

"Regulus?"

That seemed to shake him from his stupor, and she suddenly found two arms wrapped around her.

"Oh, thank Merlin! You have no idea how happy I am to hear you say that. I can't say the thought that my own niece was my soulmate did not mess with my head. It was just a little too much incest, even though I was willing to overlook it. I am so relieved."

"So you don't care that I'm not a Half-Blood or Pureblood?"

"Of course not. Any wizard would be stupid to overlook a witch like you just because of your blood status. I never really cared. I just… I wasn't brave like Sirius. Standing up to my parents was almost impossible for me."

"I understand. But I know what you did, Regulus, how you died. It was a very brave thing you did. Don't ever say that you weren't brave."

He held her tighter and she felt his lips brush against her forehead. They sat, entwined in each other's arms, for hours and talked about more general topics like their favorite Hogwarts classes. Hermione could admit that she had never felt so complete in her whole life. But yet, there was still something missing. Someone missing.

James.


Thanks to Raybe for betaing!

Thank you so much for all the reviews, follows, and favorites. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and the positive turn to Hermione and Regulus' relationship. In case you are wondering where James is, he's still in Mungo's and we'll probably see him in the next chapter.

Please read and review!