Author's note: It's taken me over a year to update this and I am so so sorry. This chapter just had me stumped to be honest and the route I was going down originally with it just wasn't working.

Thank you so much to the people that messaged me and still commented in that year, you have no idea how much your words encouraged me to carry on writing. You lot truly do mean the world to me! I hope this chapter has been worth the wait!

"The first few sessions are going to be the hardest as I have to go back quite far," Snape spoke, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his thighs as he looked at her. Hermione merely nodded in response before meeting his eyes. It felt uncomfortable at first and Hermione thought back to the many times Harry had complained that it had felt like Snape was reading his mind - if only he had realised.

"Clear your mind," his words brought her back and she immediately prickled, annoyed at the fact that she had already been distracted so easily. Blinking, she straightened up, determined as Snape stared into her eyes. It took a couple of minutes of silence before Hermione found that she was falling into her memories.

She felt an odd rush as Snape went through several memories at once before he settled on the moment the DADA was caught by Umbridge. Hermione felt the familiar feeling of anger and betrayal surge through her before he moved on, going from memory to memory until he found Hermione and Harry leading Dolores Umbridge deep into the Forbidden Forest.

She remembered it exactly as it happened; a feeling of guilt, panic and adrenaline all churning inside of her whilst one name rang out at the back of her mind, 'Sirius'. She struggled to keep her mind on track then, struggled to not let her current emotions pull her away. Snape was present for every thought that went through her head, her suspicions of Sirius' kidnap being a trap at the forefront of her mind. She wasn't going to let Harry go alone though, she would be with him on every step along the way.

A blur of memories flew by Hermione as Snape searched for more before finally the battle of the department of mysteries was before her. It was like a bad dream, she saw the fighting, she saw her trying to warn Harry once again that it was foul play. She remembered more clearly than ever the death eaters and then something she had forgotten attacked her; pain, unbelievable pain that she had managed to forget about over the years flooded her body before darkness took the memory away0.

She felt groggy all over again as she awoke in a hospital ward, the pain having faded to a dull ache. Tonks was beside her, telling her what had happened, who they had lost.

"I think we're done for today." Hermione had been staring numbly into Snape's eyes before realising she was back in the present. She hastily wiped at her tears, a numbness settling in her chest.

"Okay," Her voice cracked as she looked away, her hands trembling.

"I'll be back tomorrow at 7pm," He said, standing, "I'll show myself out." Hermione felt drained, nodding weakly before placing her head in her hands. Snape glanced back at her once more before leaving.

Hermione wasn't sure how long she sat there, numbly staring into space, tears running down her cheeks. She felt emotionally exhausted and was thankful that at least Snape hadn't treated her in the same manner that he had when she was his student, she wasn't sure she could have handled that.

"Kitten?" Hermione started and looked to the doorway, Sirius standing there, alive and well, his brow furrowed in concern, "What did he do?"

"Nothing, nothing, I'm fine," She forced a smile for him as she roughly wiped at her tears, sniffling. Sirius moved behind her chair and wrapped his arms around her. Burrowing her face into his arm, his familiar scent surrounded her and she had to squeeze her eyes shut tightly to stop herself from cracking. A lump rose in her throat as she tried her hardest to hold back a fresh wave of tears.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you," She whispered, her voice cracking and Sirius wrapped his arms around her tighter.

"It's okay, you couldn't, I know that, it's okay." Hermione couldn't hold them back any longer, letting out a strangled sob, Sirius moving into the seat beside her and pulling her into his chest.

"Hey, it's okay," his voice was soft though she knew he must have been just as shaken up as her, "You never know, they might be able to stop it from happening. And if not… if not then that's just how it's meant to be," he swallowed thickly.

"Where's Remus?" She asked at the sudden realisation that there wasn't a stressed wolf pacing around her.

"I sent him out on some errands, he was driving me insane," Hermione let out a small laugh, "I had to threaten to lock him upstairs several times," He smiled as she did, wiping away her tears, "When's Snape coming back?"

"Tomorrow at seven."

"Wonderful," he said sarcastically with a sigh, " the sooner the moon is out of the way the better, Remus is just so primal at the minute."

"That's not always such a bad thing," She smiled, pulling out of Sirius' hold and wiping at her eyes roughly.

"You won't say that when he's waking you up in the middle of the night," Sirius smiled back at her, cupping her face in his hand. The way he was looking at her made her want to break down all over again. She averted her eyes and leant into his hand with a sigh.

"I don't think I would mind too much," She finally responded.

"No, I suppose you wouldn't," he grinned and Hermione breathed out a small laugh. She hesitated before meeting his eyes, her own red and puffy.

"I'm sorry I've been so distant the past week."

"It's okay, you've been stressed, understandably."

"It doesn't make up for how much of a bitch I've been."

"That was you being a bitch? Well that was pretty tame, you need to up your game Hermione," He teased and she rolled her eyes, "It's fine, we all have our bad days." He tugged her towards him, kissing her gently before resting his forehead against hers.

"Where did you send Remus?"

"It's a surprise," There was a small twinkle in his eyes that made Hermione smile softly, he was adorable at times.

"Oh?"

"Yep. He'll be back later," Sirius pecked her lips before standing up and stretching. "Anyway, I've run you a bath."

"Oh, thank you," Hermione uttered in surprise.

"You should go up, relax and take your mind off of everything for a while."

"What are you up to?" She asked suspiciously.

"Nothing," He breathed out a laugh as he held his hand out to her. She took it cautiously, frowning.

"I don't believe you."

"I'm offended that you think i have ulterior motives," He laughed, pulling her up and leading her from the kitchen.

"It's because you usually do…" She followed behind him, her hand still in his. He didn't say anything and she couldn't help but feel curious as to where he was going with all of this.

Hermione entered the bathroom behind him, staring in surprise at the sight she saw. All around the bathroom candles flickered. The bath was full and brimming with purple shimmering bubbles, a sweet scent filling the air.

"Okay you definitely have ulterior motives," She whispered as she looked around, a small smile spreading across her lips.

"Again, I'm hurt," He smiled gently before kissing her. She wrapped her arms around his neck, feeling all of her worries melting away in his embrace; Sirius was here and alive, in her arms. She could feel his pulse beneath her fingertips, his flesh warm. He was real.

"Moony and I have decided that today is about you," He whispered, his words tickling her ear, making her sigh.

"Why?" She couldn't help but ask.

"We know none of this has been easy and now to have to go through everything again… it's something I wish you didn't have to do."

"It's fine, I'll be fine."

"Fine won't cut it I'm afraid," He said softly into her hair before kissing her temple, "Just relax, let us treat you."

"It feels odd," she argued although the scent of the bath was already lulling her.

"You've done a lot for me Hermione and you don't even realise it, this is just a small token of my appreciation."

"I've done a lot for you?"

"Yes, you have."

"Like what?" She asked in confusion.

"That is a conversation for another day," he kissed her forehead and stepped away towards the door, "now relax woman."

Sinking into the warmth of the bath she immediately let out a moan of pleasure. Every single tension melted away from her and a tingling sensation ran through her fingers and toes eventually spreading through her entire body until she felt like herself again. Lying there she relaxed completely, feeling so much better in herself. The candles flickered around her and she sighed happily.

A light knock sounded on the door and Hermione sank further beneath the water, hiding her scars beneath the bubbles.

"Yes?" She called, eyeing the door as it opened, smiling as Remus poked his head around.

"Can I come in?"

"Sure," She watched as Remus stepped in, still in his robes, and sat on the toilet lid.

"Sorry, I just needed to make sure everything went okay?" She couldn't help but notice how tired he looked with the full moon drawing closer.

"It was okay, draining if anything."

"And Snape?"

"He was fine. In fact he was nicer to me than he ever was as a Professor."

"That makes me trust him even less." She rolled her eyes at the frowning wolf.

"Where have you been anyway? Sirius said he sent you on some errands."

"It's a surprise," Remus was smiling now, leaning forward against his knees as he looked at her. He ran a hand through his mess of sandy hair before sitting up again - he was fidgeting, trying to distract himself.

"That's what Sirius said," She said unhappily and Remus chuckled.

"You'll find out soon enough."

"Well I think it's time I got out of the bath then-"

"No, not yet," Remus gave her a knowing look before standing and finally taking his robe off, revealing the striped blue shirt he was wearing beneath it. He sat back down, "I've been instructed to thoroughly distract you until Sirius is ready for us."

"Thoroughly distract me?" She repeated, intrigued, looking to his arms as he slowly and precisely rolled the sleeves of his shirt up.

"Yes."

"And what will that involve?"

"Oh I'm sure you can use your imagination Hermione," The smile he gave her made her stomach tighten. She shifted slightly in the bath.

"What's Sirius doing?" She asked as he moved, dropping to his knees beside the tub, leaning against its side.

"You'll find out."

"And what if I find out before I'm meant to?"

"Well then you'd have to be punished," He was absentmindedly playing with the purple bubbles, trailing his long fingers through them.

"That doesn't particularly make me want to behave," She breathed, watching as his fingers dipped beneath the surface of the water.

"Then I'll just have to make sure I do a damn fine job of distracting you then." She felt his fingers graze her breast, trailing lightly through the water, tickling her skin before gently squeezing her nipple. She took a sharp intake of breath before meeting his eyes, his gaze was hard, almost predatory. He was still waiting for permission to proceed though, which at this point Hermione couldn't help but find ridiculous. Making a split decision she pushed herself up, the water splashing loudly against the bath as she met his lips in a desperate kiss, running a soaking wet hand through his hair.

"I don't know what it is about you two - you just bring something out of me," She uttered with a small moan, parting her legs for him as his hands inched down. Hermione felt like she was a different person with these two, never having felt like this before. Everything was different, Hermione was different.

Remus distracted Hermione successfully and it wasn't too long until Sirius finally popped his head through the door to tell them they could come down in ten minutes and no soon. Hermione had felt a bubble of excitement in her chest at that, getting out of the bath and changing into her pyjamas at Remus' request. He too changed into something more comfortable, all the while grinning as Hermione tried to get out of him what they had planned. Remus didn't give in though, telling her repeatedly that she would find out in due course and she wasn't going to get anything else out of him no matter how hard she tried.

Following behind Remus Hermione paused in the hallway, eyebrows raised in surprise as the smell of beef filled the air.

"Is he cooking?" She wasn't going to lie, this was not what she had been expecting at all.

"Yep," Remus smiled, glancing back at her before pushing the kitchen door open. Hermione entered in behind him, stopping as soon as she caught sight of Sirius, his back to them, scantily clad in a maids outfit.

"Oh Merlin," She couldn't help but laugh loudly.

"What? What's funny?" Sirius spun around to look at her, "does my butt look big in this or something?" He asked, peering around at his backside whilst Remus just smiled and shook his head at the sight.

"No, definitely not," She managed to get out through her giggles, "it's just… I've never seen you look so beautiful." Remus had moved to lean back against the counter, watching as Sirius charmed the ladle to stir the pot without him before going over to her.

"As do you, my lady," he smiled, kissing her chastely, "now please, do take a seat." He gestured to the table that was set and then turned back to the stove.

"You look real sexy Sirius," Remus said in appreciation, slapping his ass on the way to the table, making Sirius gasp and turn around before winking at him.

"You fiend, you."

"So this is what you've been doing all evening?" Hermione asked as the steak dinner was placed in front of her. She had to admit it, it smelt incredible.

"Yep," Sirius pulled up his own chair, opposite Remus who was beside Hermione. "It's been a rough day, we thought you deserved it."

"You two are so sweet."

"Not me, this is all Sirius," Remus spoke, "all I did was go and buy the ingredients and outfit and then distract you for a while." Sirius paused, glancing up just in time to see Hermione's cheeks turn pink. He smiled to himself before carrying on eating, she really was something else.

"I just like to picture Moony in the shop trying to find the perfect outfit for me," Sirius said and Remus rolled his eyes before glancing between them.

"I've done worse for you Pads. Summer after seventh year you and James somehow talked me into meeting you at that seedy bar near Peter's house, you remember?"

"Of course I do, that woman tried to make you her bitch," Sirius grinned and Hermione laughed, looking to Remus for a bit more an explanation. He smiled to himself before meeting her eyes.

"She told me she thought I'd make a good submissive," He shook his head slightly with a laugh, "If only she knew, aye?"

"Even better though was the fact that we all walked in right as she was trying to talk him around to the idea," Sirius grinned before shrugging, "We told him to go for it but would he listen? No, of course not, he's a stubborn arse."

"We both know being submissive isn't in my nature, Sirius."

"Well you're not wrong."

Hermione contently watched the two of them talk, chipping in only when she felt necessary and just enjoying being in their company. She never expected that she would ever get to speak to Remus and Sirius again let alone get to know them better than she ever had in her own time. She hoped that if she ever got home that she would never forget this, not that she would ever be able to tell Ron and Harry about it. Hermione paused, well, she supposed she could if she just missed out the bits which would turn Harry ghostly white and Ron a whole new shade of red.

It was early evening when they finished, everyone helping clear up, Sirius still in his maids outfit.

"So," Sirius said as he stacked their dirty plates next to the sink, turning to face Hermione who was collecting the glasses, "next on the agenda is a very special movie night."

"Movie night?" Hermione asked in surprise, silently wondering how on earth they would be watching a film when she had never once come across a television in Grimmauld Place, "Are you serious?"

"Don't you dare," Remus said as Sirius' eyes lit up, whacking him hard with a dishcloth in warning which in turn just made Sirius laugh happily.

"I'm always serious, Hermione," His eyes were twinkling as he said it, "So if you would please go through into the living room and make yourself comfortable, we'll be through soon." Hermione hesitated for a second as she looked at the two of them, Remus with his back to her as he put the now clean plates away, Sirius looking at her with a small smile which spoke volumes.

"Thank you," She said softly, kissing his cheek.

"You're welcome, kitten."

Entering the living room Hermione stopped in surprise. The living room which had always been so anally laid out from Walburga's days had now been transformed with blankets and twinkling lights. The sofa had been transfigured into a squishy futon which looked far more comfortable than the sofa had ever been and what surprised her even more was the television set that sat at the end of it. Tiny twinkling bulbs hovered above her head as she made her way over to the blankets, settling down and wrapping herself up contently. She couldn't help but let of out a breath of amazement.

She didn't have to wait long before Sirius came through, having changed out of maids outfit and into lounge pants and a t-shirt, carrying a bowl of chocolate. Remus followed close behind with a bottle of wine and three glasses.

"Everything is so perfect," Hermione breathed, her stomach tightening as Sirius beamed at her in response. The little bulbs floated around the room, twinkling softly, looking like tiny fireflies in the darkness, it was truly calming, "Where did you get a TV from?"

"My place," Remus answered before settling down on the futon beside her.

"It was a challenge getting it through the floo, I can tell you that."

"As for the film choice, that was all Sirius so I am not to blame for that."

"Oh come on, Star Wars is a classic!" Sirius scoffed as he crouched before the television, putting the video in before going to Hermione's other side.

"Did you even consider Hermione might not like Star Wars, Sirius?" Sirius turned to look at them both in horror.

"Blasphemy!"

"It's okay, I'm happy with Star Wars," Hermione laughed but Remus shook his head sadly.

"You say that now but what you don't realise is that he will be talking through the entirety of it."

"Oh shut up, you misery," Sirius uttered, "I'm a joy to be around."

"Whatever you say Pads," Remus quipped before passing him a glass of wine.

They nestled in together comfortably, all three of them content. Hermione's mind was focused on the now, her session with Snape far from her mind, she felt happy.

Sirius was just thankful to have both Hermione and Remus with him.

Hermione lay with her head on Remus' chest. She wasn't even sure how any of this had even started anymore but what she was sure of was how right it felt. She felt at peace with Remus' hand in her hair and Sirius constantly chattering away beside her, his hand on her hip, tracing shapes over the material of her pyjama bottoms. The glass of wine had warmed her through and she was struggling to keep her eyes open as the film came to an end.

"Now you tell me that wasn't the best film ever," Sirius demanded as he looked over at the two of them. Remus smiled to himself and shook his hair out of his eyes as Hermione shifted, turning so that she was facing Sirius, Remus spooning her. She didn't say anything, too sleepy to make sense so instead she focused on Sirius and the way his eyes were alight, the floating lights reflected in the grey.

"I didn't say it wasn't… it just lost some of it's appeal when you and Prongs watched it over and over and over again-"

"You were the only one of us that had a tv, how else were we supposed to watch it?" Sirius smiled however it didn't quite reach his eyes this time.

"Peter had one too," Remus counteracted.

"Yeah but his mum didn't like us going around all day everyday so it was a no go," Sirius said, "Just face it Moony, you're our enabler but at least we love you for that." He smile dropped, "sorry, 'you were'," he corrected. Hermione noticed the change in his tone immediately, the tightening of Remus' hand in her hair showing that he had picked up on it too.

"Do you remember how you'd grumble about it but then still make popcorn and everything for the occasion?" Sirius turned onto his back, looking up at the ceiling, her tone humourless as he thought of James.

"Yeah, I remember," Remus said softly, "We couldn't really watch a film without snacks, that would've just been wrong."

"Yeah definitely," Sirius uttered, clearly distracted.

"You alright mate?" Remus asked after a second, Hermione unsure of whether she should speak up or not.

"Yeah, fine," Sirius replied before distracting himself by sitting up slightly and knocking back the last of his wine , "should we get another bottle?"

"Probably not a good idea."

"Yeah," Sirius hesitated, "yeah, I guess you're right."

"Come here Sirius," Hermione's voice was soft but he did as she said, silently moving closer to her until their foreheads rested against one anothers, eyes closed. The three of them lay like that in silence, each lost in their own thoughts until finally Remus spoke out.

"We should probably go to bed," He spoke softly but Hermione made a noise of discontent at the idea, far too comfortable and sleepy to want to move now. "You'll thank me in the morning when you don't have a bad back and crick in your neck," He sat up and kissed Hermione's cheek, squeezing her side gently.

"Come on," He smiled sleepily, looking down at Hermione and Sirius, the latter of which was reluctantly moving away as well. Remus' smile dropped though as he looked at Sirius, something was off but through the darkness he couldn't work out what it was exactly.

"Pads, you alright?"

"Yeah I'm fine," He murmured in response.

"You sure?"

"I'm good," He shrugged before placing a chaste kiss on Hermione's head, "Let's go up." His words were tired and Remus felt concern creeping up his neck. It had been so long since Sirius' last episode that Remus had failed to see the signs.

Nightmares plagued Sirius that night. Terrors which had mostly stayed at bay when he had been safe in bed with Hermione and Remus invaded his mind again, hitting him worse than ever.

Hermione had been entirely unaware of Sirius' tossing and turning, managing to sleep through the majority of it until the sound of raised voices awoke her in a panic. She forgot where she was for a second, blearily looking around, pushing her hair out of her face, her eyes quickly getting used to the darkness as she made out Sirius and Remus at the end of the bed. It took her far too long to realise what was going on and when it finally clicked she moved quickly, wand in her hand as a precaution. Initially she had assumed it was the wolf that was causing problems but then she heard Remus' words and realised that it was he who was trying to calm the situation down.

"Sirius?" Hermione spoke, moving down the bed, the duvet pushed aside. Remus looked at her quickly, shaking his head at her ever so slightly. She swallowed thickly, her eyes wide and panicked as she watched them both tensely.

"They're coming Remus! They're… they're… I can hear them, I know it," Sirius cried out, his hands gripping Remus' tshirt, his eyes wild, "They're going to take you away from me too!" He was hysterical, eyes wild.

"Sirius calm down, it's okay, you're safe mate, you're home, we're both here and we're both alive, it was just a nightmare," That was clearly the wrong thing to say.

"It wasn't a nightmare! It wasn't a fucking nightmare!" Sirius let go of Remus' tshirt, his hands going to his hair and pulling at it as he turned away, taking two steps before he turned back. Hermione could see from Remus' stance that he was ready to deal with whatever Sirius threw at him.

"Put your wand down Hermione," Remus said it so softly that Hermione almost missed it. She did as he instructed though, placing it behind her on the bed so that it would still be within reach if she needed it. She watched as Sirius rambled like a madman before pressing his forehead to Remus' chest. He inhaled shakily before letting out another sob.

"I'm going to die," He cried, raising his head before hitting Remus' chest hard with his fists. Still Remus didn't move, "Harry's going to be alone again, I don't want to die!" He hit the floor hard, his knees colliding with the wood with a sickening smack. Hermione was desperately resisting the urge to go to his side, tears in her eyes as she watched the exchange helplessly.

"Sirius," Remus crouched in front of him, his hand on his shoulder, "Sirius it's okay, Harry isn't alone, Harry has never been alone," Remus' words of comfort which were falling on deaf ears and he knew it. He'd had many nights like this with Sirius since he had escaped from Azkaban but never had they been so close to the full moon.

"James should be here, James… Lily…" He trailed off, hitting the floor hard with his fist as he screamed out in frustration all the while Remus tried to stop him from causing any further harm to himself. Hermione roughly wiped her tears away, feeling absolutely useless as she watched him spiral more and more out of control. She had always known Sirius had demons but she had never witnessed them quite like this.

"James, fuck, James. Fuck Remus! I should've stopped it from happening, I failed him, I failed them both," He yelled.

"You couldn't have, Sirius you didn't know, none of us knew," Remus knelt in front of him, trying to get his only remaining friend to see sense but it was of no use. He placed his hands on both of his shoulders whilst Sirius stared at the floor, falling silent, angry tears running down his cheeks.

The room was silent, the only sound being Sirius' heavy breathing. Slowly he raised his head to look at Remus, pure hatred in his eyes. From her seat on the edge of the bed, Hermione realised with a rising panic that he suddenly resembled the man she had met in the shrieking shack all those years ago, the man that had been hellbent on killing Peter Pettigrew.

"You," His voice was low, Hermione's heart lurching, "You!" He brought his own hands up suddenly and shoved Remus hard, taking the wolf by surprise.

"Sirius!" Hermione yelped but he couldn't hear her.

"You, you fucking coward!" Sirius yelled, scrambling at Remus, his fingers trying to get a hold around his neck and when he couldn't he settled for punching every inch of him instead.

"Sirius, stop!" Hermione yelled, trembling, not knowing what to do.

"You should've taken Harry you fucking bastard! You were all he had left and you abandoned him! You betrayed Lily!" Standing, Hermione wasn't entirely thinking straight, her mind clouded with raw emotion.

"Sirius stop, you'll kill him!" She reached out, grabbing Sirius shoulder with the intention of pulling him back and away from Remus but what she hadn't taken into consideration was his strength. At her touch he swung around with an growl, shoving her hard.

It all happened so quickly, one second she was pulling at Sirius, the next she was falling backwards with a yelp, the back of her head smacking against the footboard on the way down. Pain immediately shot through her skull, the breath forced from her, a whimper falling from her lips as her vision flashed white.

Author's Note: Again, thank you for sticking with this story. Thank you for all of the follows, favourites and comments, you honestly brighten my day.