Hermione walked into the house and was irritated beyond measure. The ridiculous amount of crap she had to go through to pass a bloody bill. The witch flexed her shoulders as she strolled up the staircase, still replaying the argument she had with Kingsley.

Sirius was likely out in the garden working on his motorbike. "Hermione," Teddy's voice brought her from her thoughts.

She turned to see the boy hanging his upper half out the library door. "What is it, love?"

Teddy placed his finger to his lips with a grin and waved her over. Hermione walked over to peek into the room and see the werewolf lounging on the couch and nearly snoring. The smile grew on her face as she paced toward Remus.

Her hand touched his shoulder, and her lips went near his ear. "Moony," she breathed.

Remus jerked and pushed the witch from his space as he grumbled incoherently.

Teddy giggled as Hermione was close to flopping on the table. "Dad, it's just Hermione."

Hermione exhaled as the sleepy werewolf glanced over at her. "I'm sorry, Hermione. I haven't been sleeping well."

"Why didn't you let Teddy go with Sirius so you could get some rest?" She questioned as she straightened her clothing.

Remus waved her off and sighed. "No, he wanted to work on the engine and Teddy was working on his French."

Hermione stepped toward him and patted his shoulder. "Don't run yourself too thin, Remus."

"I just needed a snooze, don't concern yourself with it, dear," Remus grumbled as he scrubbed his face.

"I could take him with me for the last part of my day if you like," Hermione offered as she sat down next to Remus.

He leaned against the witch and chuckled. "Much like you used to? I remember those days. Andromeda thought you were quite mental."

"I will let you in on a secret, I am," Hermione giggled as the boy climbed over next to her. "Anything new and exciting happen while I was at work trying to save the world?"

"Dad and Sirius were arguing again," Teddy grumbled as he rolled his eyes.

Hermione glared over at the werewolf who huffed. "We weren't fighting, we were having a discussion," Remus corrected his son.

"A discussion sounds diplomatic," she paused and turned to the boy. "Was it agreeable?"

Teddy bobbed his head. "Mhm."

"Well then, nothing to comment on. We have dinner at the Potters at six, so grab your books, lovely. You can work on your French while I try to salvage some of my proposition," Hermione sighed as she ran her fingers over Teddy's shoulder.

"Hermione, you don't have to take him," Remus insisted as he sat up.

The witch kissed his bearded cheek and spoke. "It will give you time, Remus. Recover and breathe a little. I can take care of Teddy well enough."

"You always do," he said while enjoying her doting.

Hermione was still munching on her salad as she rifled through parchment sheets. She had to have missed a clause, a point of interest, something. Teddy was reading one of his books and scribbling notes on a page across from her. The witch hadn't noticed his intense staring until she reached for her pumpkin juice.

"Hermione," he said when she arched an eyebrow.

"Yes, love?"

He seemed to be attempting to gather thoughts as his brow scrunched in imitation of his father. "What is Uncle Sirius not telling you?"

Now both her eyebrows reached for her hairline. "Is Uncle Sirius hiding something from me?"

"Dad and him were discussing all about it when you left. Dad seemed upset that Uncle Sirius was saying you were in love with him."

Hermione didn't appreciate the boy's sleuth tendencies usually, but this was interesting to have the tables turned. She folded her leg over the other as she lounged in her chair, thinking about the direction the witch should take. "I am in love with Uncle Sirius."

Teddy shook his head, and his normally teal hair turned orange. "No, not Uncle Sirius, my dad."

Quarreling about that? Another rapid turn for the Marauders in their lives together…

"What was your dad saying?"

Teddy scrunched his nose and exhaled loudly. "Dad told Uncle Sirius to get a ring and that he didn't want to talk about you with Uncle Sirius."

Hermione tapped the table in thought as her foot swayed. Would this conversation always come up for them? Would they always be fighting about who loves who? Was this the new normal? All these questions came to mind as she dug through the reaches of memory, trying to piece together a solid answer.

"Hermione, if you love my dad and Uncle Sirius, then that means you could marry Uncle Sirius then instead of not?" He asked her as his hair faded to the standard teal he customarily donned.

She shook her head before speaking. "No, love. It doesn't work like that. I told you, love is like flowers, many different colors, and shades. Just because I love your father doesn't mean I love him like I love Uncle Sirius. Uncle Sirius is a pretty red rose, and your father is a beautiful lilac."

"But then you could have more flowers. Why would you want just one kind of flower?"

Hermione smiled and sighed. "Maybe flowers was the wrong analogy," she remarked with a shrug of her shoulders. "Either way, we love differently."

"What flower am I?" Teddy asked with amusement plain on his face.

"A big, bold and beautiful sunflower," Hermione responded with a grin before turning back to her work.

As if on cue, she groaned with a nod and picked up a stray piece of parchment. "There it is, hiding in plain sight," she hemmed before circling a large paragraph.

"Hermione, what important law are you trying to write?" Teddy questioned.

The young witch gazed over at him. "An important bill that will change the way people treat others," she answered with a nod.

"What will it do?"

She pressed her fingers to the page with a gentle expression. "Hopefully, my little love, it will change your life."

Hermione had dropped off Teddy at Harry's home before going to retrieve the marauders. His questions had perplexed the witch and only created more anxiety for her. What was her boyfriend hiding? Apparently, Remus knew how intense he was about the relationship, because why would marriage and a ring be a part of their disagreement. There was just too much left unsaid for her to trust it would work itself out.

The witch had noted that music was playing up on the top floor and took notice to Sirius's old room being open, the music traveling from its gape. Her feet propelled her to it, and she tucked her face around the barrier to see Sirius and Remus digging through things.

"I can't believe that you kept all this unimportant shite," Remus chuckled as he was holding up a book.

"Hey now, that unimportant shite led to the map and other things," Sirius chuckled as he dug through the wardrobe.

When his body had pulled from the closet, he was shirtless and carrying a pile of old clothes. Remus's eyes skated over the animagus, causing his cheeks to glow as he pouted. "You always were a hoarder of nonsense."

Sirius laughed as he wrapped a multicolored scarf around the werewolf's neck. "Remember that one?" He asked, fondness in his tone.

Hermione was never going to escape this, was she? Part of her felt guilty for ever questioning it. The sound decision to make herself known was upon her, so the witch knocked before entering. "Good evening, marauders," she murmured.

Remus jerked away from the looming form of his friend, and he cleared his throat. "Good evening, Hermione. How was work today?"

"It was productive. Am I interrupting?"

"Not at all, love. Moony was just helping me go through my hidden stashes," Sirius declared as he bounced over to her.

Hermione pulled away from his attempt to kiss her and scowled slightly. "I think I'm going to go shower and get ready to go to Harry's," her voice was conflicted as she eyed Sirius.

"Good, let me come with you," Sirius responded with a slant of his head.

"No, I think I want some alone time. Teddy wore me out," Hermione said as she took an interest in the hardwood floor.

The witch left the room, and Sirius pivoted to the werewolf. "Go! She's upset about something," Remus hissed with a grimace.

"What do I say?" Sirius asked.

"Does it matter? Just go find out why she's upset and fix it," The werewolf insisted with a toss of his hand.

Sirius was out the door before his mind could catch up. He raced off toward the master bathroom and knocked. It took the witch a moment before she cracked it open to see her partner standing there with concern radiating off his expression. "Darlin', what's wrong?" He asked.

Hermione inched the barrier open to reveal she was already wrapped in a towel. "I have to know something, and I want you to be as honest as you can, Padfoot. What are you hiding from me?"

Sirius blinked and cleared his throat loudly. "Hiding? Well, its, nothing really."

"Sirius," she huffed as her posture changed; the male animagus hated that pose, it was that of annoyance.

"Well, I didn't want to spoil it, but I want us to go on a trip for your birthday," He attempted with a guilty smile.

Hermione shook her head as her cheeks turned rosy. "No, I don't think that's what you and Remus were arguing about. The fact that your hiding it means that you knew it was wrong," she said and moved to shut the door.

"Wait, hold on a tick," Sirius grumbled, pressing his hand to the door. "It isn't something I was hiding; I just didn't know how to tell you."

"Did you and Remus sleep together again?" She inquired, her eyes not meeting his.

"No! We didn't sleep together," he exhaled, causing her to snap her vision back to him. "I kissed him after the full moon."

Hermione's expression turned hard, and she maneuvered, shutting the door roughly on the marauder.

Sirius groaned and pressed his forehead to the door. "Hermione, it wasn't the build to something or a fit of passion that accelerated. We had a moment, and I was jumbled."

"I don't want to talk about this, Sirius," she called through the barrier as the sound click of the door locking was heard.

"Love, light in my life, goddess of my bed, please," He resorted to sniveling; boy did he hate it when Remus was right.

"Go away, Pads. Preferably for the rest of the night," She responded and the whistling sound of the water turning on followed.

Sirius slammed his hand against the barrier. "Merlin's beard, Hermione. It was a bloody kiss. It didn't mean shite," he growled.

The door snapped open after the knob jiggled, almost causing the male animagus to fall forward. "Only a kiss?" Hermione retorted as her index finger jabbed his chest. "Only a kiss? You're in love with him and always will be. Just face the facts, Sirius; I'm a time filler. I knew that from the beginning of this, and I know that more so now. Did you or he stop the kiss?"

Her voice was like a knife against him as she glowered up at his face. "That doesn't," he couldn't finish his statement; she rolled her eyes before pulling away.

"It does, and I know why. He did because he knows if it were between him and me, he would win every time. I don't doubt that. It wasn't just a kiss, Sirius Black," Hermione huffed.

Sirius could see she was fighting back the tears threatening. "Hermione, I love you, baby," Sirius said as he tried to reach for her.

She dodged his hand and groaned loudly. "Somehow, that makes this worse, Sirius," she muttered as she swiped a finger under her eye. "I promised Teddy I wouldn't leave him, but I think you should go back to sleeping in your room. It would make everyone happier," she finished and glanced over at the werewolf lingering near the staircase.

"Hermione," Sirius tried again, but she pivoted toward the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

That was how the awful night began...