The morning light crippled Remus as he barely opened his eyes and glanced around slowly. He was laying on top of his bed and curled in a misshapen mass of flesh and blankets. Sirius had opened the curtains before he went to sleep because he knew that Remus enjoyed the sunlight in the morning.
"Pads," Remus croaked, and the man laying behind him shot up.
"Are you ready for your potions? Anything else?" Sirius asked as he reached for the potions in the drawer.
"Water," Remus rumbled and tried to coat his throat with his saliva.
Sirius went and retrieved a glass of water after handing Remus a few different vials of potions for him to drink. When the animagus got back he handed the werewolf the glass and Remus downed it in three swift swigs.
"Thank you, that's so much better. I think I howled all night." Remus muttered and lounged back on the bed.
Sirius nodded and sat on the bed next to his friend. "You did and all I could really do was try and comfort you."
Remus spent the effort to pat Sirius on the leg and smiled. "It was a lot easier with you here, Pads. I wasn't so alone."
They smiled at each other and Sirius nodded, "Are you feeling up for breakfast?" Sirius questioned the wounded werewolf.
Remus grimaced and shook his head. "I just think I want to sleep. Can you send an owl out and ask how my son and Mione are doing?"
Sirius frowned slightly and nodded, "I am sure they're just fine, but I will do it."
The animagus stood up, and Remus murmured, "I know you miss her."
Sirius smiled over and him, "I do, but she will be here soon." Sirius slid on his boxers and turned back to the door.
He left Remus and heard him adjusting to sleep before he went down the stairs. Sirius was surprised when he saw Hermione already down the stairs making breakfast for Teddy. The boy was sitting at the table and reading the paper much like he was the day before. Hermione saw Sirius and stopped what she was doing.
"Good morning," she greeted and walked up to him.
The witch offered her lips willingly to him and that pleasantly surprised Sirius. He missed her and gently ran a hand over her cheek. She was staring at him differently this morning and it thrilled him. She kissed his palm as she pulled away from him to continue cooking.
"Would you like some breakfast?" Hermione questioned him.
Sirius nodded and sat next to Teddy before he spoke, "Your dad is fine, just tired." He told the boy before Teddy had a chance to speak.
Teddy nodded and handed Sirius the paper. "Thank you for taking care of him, Uncle Sirius."
The animagus smiled and leaned over to kiss the boy's cheek. "Never a problem, Teddy."
Teddy was smiling over at Hermione cooking and Sirius watched over the rim of his pages a moment. The boy loved her much as he loved any of his family, but he had a special place for the witch. Sirius knew why; she really brought light and happiness where she went, who couldn't have a special place for her.
"Sirius, do you think Remus will want to eat?" Hermione asked gingerly.
The animagus grunted and shrugged. "I think he just wants to sleep awhile. Last night took a lot out of him, and I wouldn't be surprised if we don't see him until supper."
Hermione finished cooking an omelet for Teddy and Sirius before sitting down with some fruit and oatmeal. Sirius frowned at the difference in her food compared to theirs, but said nothing about it.
"Thank you," he told her, and she smiled at him.
"Thank you, Mione," Teddy echoed his uncle.
She spoke with mirth in her voice, "You both are very welcome."
The clock chimed once, and it read eight thirty which made Teddy groan. "I don't want to go to lessons today, Mione. Can you teach me?"
Hermione giggled at the thought of her teaching Teddy like Molly did her children. "Not today, but I will make sure you have some biscuits to go with your lunch if you pass your exam."
The witch had been very involved in Teddy's lessons as of late and knew he was smarter than his father and mother. She only wanted to do her best to represent Remus and his coaching abilities while he was finding his footing again. Teddy understandably missed his parents, but Hermione could only hope she was helping.
"Alright you have a deal," Teddy replied, and Sirius chuckled.
"I would have asked her to make sure they were your favorite first," Sirius whispered to the boy, and Teddy's hair turned purple.
"Yes, my favorite please?" Teddy asked, and Hermione nodded once.
"Definitely, you strike a hard bargain Mr. Lupin." She told the boy who laughed.
Teddy finished his plate and went over and kissed Hermione on the cheek, "Thanks, Mione," he said and went over to hug Sirius. "I will come say goodbye before I leave," He told the animagus who was smiling.
"You better! Knock on your dad's bedroom door and tell him you love him before you leave, alright?" Sirius asked with a soft smile.
The boy nodded and disappeared up the stairs leaving the two of them alone. Hermione felt anxious from being alone after being so bold earlier. It gave her tummy flips and made her pay attention to the contents of her bowl. Sirius wanted to say something, but somehow anything he thought of didn't sound right.
"How was the Burrow," he finally settled on, and she smiled over at him.
"It was nice; I got to spend time with Ginny who decided to stay over and spend all night with me," Hermione told him, and Sirius frowned.
"Was something the matter?"
Hermione took a moment before answering, "I was worried about you and Remus."
He felt moved that she was concerned for them, even if it was in vain. "We were fine, but thank you for being worried, it means you care." He said with a grin.
The witch looked away and sighed, "Sirius, I am not sure how to handle you. I haven't felt feelings for anyone for a long while. The last relationship I had I knew was doomed from the very instant it started so I wasn't invested in it. I was trying to save you and when he found out what I was working on we had to end it. He knew that I must love and care for the person I was tethering to me an awful lot."
Sirius was yet again speechless by her and her declaration. She wasn't saving him out of desperation or even out of need; she saved him because she loved him and the people around him. He knew she had to have known that Harry and Remus would benefit more from this, but wasn't prepared for him to love her deeply for her sacrifice?
"You did this for Remus and Harry, but you never thought you did this for yourself?" He asked cautiously, and she shrugged her shoulders.
A small smile was on her lips as she replied, "I never thought you would be more to me than what you were; a man who I knew I cared about. You are Harry's godfather, I just placed you in that category and knew you were someone we all loved."
Sirius barked rumbling laughter that filled the room and shook his head. "Sometimes you are the silly girl I remember. So logical and calculated that you forgot one thing, Hermione. We never choose who we love, we only get to decide if we act on our feelings. I knew the moment I saw you after being in darkness that I would love you. You saved me from death and did not ask for anything in return."
They were silent a moment, and Teddy reappeared, "Goodbye and I love you both," the boy said in the doorway.
"I love you too, Teddy my boy." Sirius declared, and the boy smiled.
"I love you, Teddy. Good luck!" Hermione said, and Teddy laughed with a nod.
When the boy disappeared, and the fireplace went off, Sirius stood up. He walked over to Hermione who was gazing up at him and he smiled at her. She blushed lightly and beamed back at him.
"This is the first time in my life that I can say that I am happy to be home," Sirius told her, and she stood up and hugged him.
"We are so happy you are home. I am so happy you are," Hermione murmured against his chest, and he kissed her hair.
Hermione pulled away to Sirius' displeasure, but she grabbed a small box on the counter. "I made some potions for Remus. Do you want to give them to him?" She asked timidly, and Sirius scowled.
"Why wouldn't you give them to him?" He asked pointedly. The witch didn't answer, but shook her head and handed him the box. "Hermione, why wouldn't you want to give them to him?"
She bit her lip and furrowed her brow before she spoke, "Because I don't want to set him off, Sirius."
Sirius knew something happened yesterday, he could sense it when she came back down from giving him breakfast. She seemed shook up but not like he hurt her or bit her. It was an underlying feeling he felt her trying to scoop up and away from their shared line of emotions.
"Did he hurt you?" He inquired calmly.
She shook her head, "It was nothing like that. He just was lonely and kissed me, Sirius." She told him, and Sirius closed his eyes.
Anyone else and he would have gone and beaten the bloody sod to a pulp. Remus, however, was an exception and for many reasons. Mainly being that he knew his friend wouldn't have done that in a sane moment in the month, at least not without telling him. The werewolf had moments of immunity in Sirius's mind and especially now with his wife running off.
"Alright, I will take them up." He smiled at her and she tilted her head. Sirius cupped her cheek and smiled, "how could I be angry with a lonely werewolf when there is such a lovely woman in front of him."
Hermione leaned into his hand, visibly relieved that Sirius took the high road. "You are absolutely amazing, Sirius."
He grabbed her chin with his thumb and grinned, "I almost miss you insulting me. It makes me feel like I can be a git and you don't care and still love me." He told her, and she rolled her eyes.
"You are a git, but you are our bloody git." She told him, and he released her and took the box.
"Alright, I will return. Hopefully Moony will be in the mood to take a few of these." He told her and left her in the kitchen.
Hermione was cleaning up the kitchen when an owl was knocking at the window. Hermione let the owl in and the bird dropped a package on the table before resting on the chair. The witch fetched a few owl treats and let the bird pick them out of her hand before flying off again. She gazed at the package and saw that it was addressed to Remus.
She left it on the table and finished cleaning up the kitchen before heading off to the library. Hermione hadn't had much time to really focus on the bulk of her notes the last few days and wanted to take a look at them. Sitting down on the sofa, she started to read through them and noticed someone else's writing on them. Frowning deeply, she read the notes along the margins;
Notice that the incantation holds a curvature instead of a flick? This might be the point of origin for connection. I am quite sure that this binding spell was meant to only handle someone who's mind is lost. Incomprehensible yet if handled in the manner she did.
She read down more and found another comment:
The actual spell itself is exactly what she did. Brought him back from the darkness, but there is another portion of the spell I seemed to have overlooked. If performed in the manner written, this would draw not only the person of interest out from darkness, but connect them to a physical anchor. The caster would be the anchor, but it is entirely possible that it could be a feeling and not just the caster themselves. I wouldn't be surprised if the emotion was the anchor and not the caster. Presumably that would mean that the spell was intended to bring forth emotion as well as a person.
Hermione was now enthralled by Remus' notes and continued to read them from a new perspective. Here is an intelligent man who knew nothing of this spell and has no emotional investment in it. He has the chance to give it a new view from a fresh set of eyes and Hermione was again thankful for her friend.
Right here! This is an important point of reference! She decided to change the original spell and deny the bond to the caster and subject of the spell. What she ended up doing was creating a line of communication. The original spell lacked the presence of the tie; just the knowing and unnatural desire to be by one's side. This clears that, but creates a distinct line between feeling.
Hermione gulped down some air and shook her head. In turn what she ended up doing is creating the tethering of something much deeper than it was. She didn't see that the original tethering wasn't emotionally linked, she must have just assumed. How could she not have read it so clearly like he had in her notes? She flipped to her last page and saw his final entry around her notes.
A minor note: If in fact this was the bulk of the spell, it does not explain how the ties to the physical plane are made. I will have to look into possible incantations of tethering to get a full understanding of it.
It is clear to me that without the knowledge of any spell of its likeness I cannot clearly say if there is a reversal to the bond. However, the tethering is no more important than two people who share a common focus. No reflective or forced emotions can really be placed on the caster nor the target of the spell. This is just a spell connecting thought and feeling to two people, one of which was grounded by the caster's feelings and thoughts.
Remus was quite the study with this and she reread the last paragraph he wrote a few times before she realized something; if Remus was correct, Sirius wasn't under any constraint to love her. That made Hermione feel almost uneasy at the restrictions being lifted. Now, she knew he had a choice to adore her or despise her without much of a thought.
"This shouldn't matter," she told the empty room and set down the notes.
If Remus was writing in her notes and concluded which the bound just being an emotional connection, then why tell her she thinks she should marry Sirius? Was he just doing the animagus a favor? She couldn't decide, and it made her dizzy with so many thoughts bombarding her.
"Oh, kitten," Sirius playfully called out to her as he rounded the corner.
Her jaw dropped when he was half naked and standing with a smolder that would do about any woman in. Hermione's abdomen was in knots as she looked at him and he knew it because his smirk became livelier. "Come shower with me?" He asked her and she wasn't sure if she found her tongue. "Please, I would love to see how you look completely... wet." He finished in a raspy whisper as he approached her.
"Sirius," she breathed, and he kissed her softly.
She was expecting a heated kiss from everything he was doing to make her want, but it was gentle and explorative. He pulled away leaving her lips wet and yearning for more, which she realized was as potent as the heated rough kisses. Gazing up at him, she saw his smile and his stormy eyes glinting with desire. No wonder so many women wanted to take their clothes off for him; he was divine sin.
"I won't ask for more than what you are willing to give," he whispered in her ear as his hands traced her collarbone.
The witch found her voice, "Sirius, yes please," she responded as he was kissing her neck.
He pulled away to grin at her before he said anything, "Yes, you would like to come with me?"
"Yes," she voiced as he took her hand.
He led her up the stairs and she felt completely enthralled with him. She thought she was going to wake up from an exotic dream if this got any more delightful. Once he opened the bathroom door she realized she wasn't in a dream, but this was a manifestation of one of her fantasies becoming known. Sirius shut the door behind her and was still smirking, but his eyes were focused.
The man in front of her stripped his pants and let them fall to the floor unceremoniously before he turned to the facet. She ogled him like a teenager seeing a man for the first time. Maybe indeed this was the first time she really saw anyone in this light? What a handsome torso with strong natural curves and indents. She felt like she was standing there like an idiot, so she started to fiddle with her clothing.
"Please, let me," he murmured, and she nodded still not able to find her voice.
He finished with the water and turned to her making her blush and squirm within herself. Sirius, walked over and gently started tracing his fingers down her neck and torso. She closed her eyes to enjoy such feeling and she could taste his anticipation. She could feel his pure delight at experiencing her and that only made her more passionate.
"I won't shag you, kitten. I won't even make an advance, I just want to be close to you." He whispered throwing her shirt to the floor.
When she was finally naked in front of him his eyes grew and betrayed his sense of confidence. "Bloody hell am I kicking myself for saying I won't shag you." He exclaimed helping her into the shower.
"I am taking you at your word, Sirius." She told him with a grin. "Come in," she welcomed him, and he complied.
The water was running cold long before they wanted to get out and welcome back the complexities of life. Hermione know that it was only a matter of time before she did end up shagging Sirius Black, but he just definitely lessened her trepidation. On a different note entirely, she would never think of showers the same again.