She had absolutely no clue where she was. It had taken her the length of half a corridor before she even realised she was lost. Hermione would admit she was slightly distracted of course and she hadn't really been paying attention to which way the stairs were moving and now she was in a deserted part of the castle, wandering aimlessly.
Nearly half her morning had been spent with Barty but now that she thought about it, she still did not have the answers to half of her original questions. Her parents had been killed, Voldemort's followers were behind it, no one had any idea exactly who it was though and there was nothing to do about it and Sirius had no connection whatsoever with her life before Hogwarts.
So here she was, wondering exactly what she had actually learnt today and try as she may, it was nothing. Nothing helpful anyway. A part of her desperately wanted to seek out Dumbledore and confront him about it, about why she had been turned away from Hogwarts. But the risk of being sent away from the castle was not one she was willing to take.
And where did that leave her? She hadn't even wanted to stay at Hogwarts to begin with. Not until she had made that deal with Sirius and even then she had been skeptical, but now she had more here. She had friends she was just beginning to know. Friends who were currently avoiding her. Or she was avoiding them. She didn't know which way it went really.
She wished Evanna were there, maybe the blonde would have something to say. Or - or who? Who else did she have? Why did she have to feel so impossibly alone? Subconsciously, her arms came up to wrap around herself, the castle seeming colder somehow and she felt like she didn't belong in it anymore.
A sudden rush of wind came from nowhere, making her hold herself tighter. Glancing around the deserted corridor, she heard the sound of a door swinging open and couldn't help walk towards it.
"Hello?" She called out, swearing that she could feel another presence.
When she received no response, she was about to turn back around when she saw the door farthest away swing open almost invitingly. She remembered all the times Remus had told her it wasn't exactly safe to wander alone and reached for her wand as she made her way to the door.
She wasn't sure what she had expected, but it wasn't the nicely lit but completely empty room. Which was strange because she could swear someone opened it from the inside. Gripping her wand tighter, she stepped in further, only to freeze with shock.
"Ah! Miss. Granger, I thought I heard you come in" A cheery voice greeted, making her take a step backwards.
"Headmaster" She replied doubtfully "I - I was lost and just-"
The tall silver haired wizard merely waved away her explanation before smiling widely, his blue eyes twinkling at her.
"I doubt anyone is ever lost within this castle Miss. Granger. It has a curious way of giving you direction" He answered.
"Curious ways headmaster? Much like you then I suppose?" She snapped, remembering that she really did not truth the man standing in front of her.
"Ah! I would hardly compare my eccentricities to the beauty with which Hogwarts works Miss. Granger. But I do share one trait with the castle" Dumbledore replied, still sounding pleasant.
"You both led me here now" Hermione answered, making the wizard chuckle.
"Aside from that my dear" He informed lightly and when she simply waited, he continued "Help is always offered to those who ask for it"
She could almost feel the piercing blue eyes look into her very soul and for some reason it irked her further. This man had still lied to her once and she was hardly feeling generous right then.
"It is offered on your terms though, something I am not overly fond of at the moment. But thank you headmaster, i'll know where to find you when I do decide to ask" she retorted, far more coldly than was appropriate. The all knowing wizard however retained his good humor and continued to smile at her.
"In which case, I only ask you to remember cotton candy" He told her happily.
If her time with Evanna had taught her anything, it was that some things were not meant to be understood, not right then anyway. And so all she could do was nod and turn around, already walking away.
"You are forgetting something " Dumbledore called out.
"I'm sorry?" She questioned turning back around to look at the wizard again.
"You were right to assume that both the castle and I led you here tonight, but I do believe that while our conversation is over, you cannot yet leave"
She watched bewildered as Dumbledore pointed to the furthest corner of the empty room, which as it turned out was not so empty after all. She raised an eyebrow at how the mirror had appeared there, but made no move towards it.
"That was waiting for you" He added, motioning for her to go closer.
"Waiting for me?" She questioned curiously.
"Its been many years since I myself found it waiting for me in a classroom not much unlike this. Good luck " He said before moving right past her and walking out of the room.
Confused, curious and not really seeing another choice, Hermione walked towards the long piece of glass, sitting in the corner with it ornate frame. It looked ancient, like it somehow belonged to the castle itself and she found herself hurrying towards it.
When she reached it though, her startled yelp echoed through the room. She spun around once, quickly scanning the place for signs before looking back into it, only to see that the image had not changed. Tentatively, she reached out and let her fingers brush against the cool glass.
Her reflection however did not reach back for her. If anything, the girl inside the mirror remained content, her hands still placed on top of Sirius's as he held her securely against himself. She focused further on the details to notice the glint of two rings on her finger, both of them somehow very familiar.
There was something more to it though, the image. It was in the way they were smiling, in the way he was holding her, there wasn't just happiness to it. There was peace. There was belonging.
"Tell me you show my future" Hermione whispered to it, her palm pressing flat against the mirror now.
She had no idea how long she stood there simply staring at it, but the longer she looked, the surer she became. Dumbledore had outright lied to her but Crouch, whatever he had told her couldn't be more than one percent of the truth. He was hiding something, she was certain of it. Because standing here, she could see where her trust lay and it was with Sirius.
That was all the answer she needed. Now all she had to do was make him see that.
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"She knew Black from before" Crouch informed casually as he sat sipping at his tea.
"From where?" Lucius demanded, already interested.
"Sure, ask that to a girl with no memory and see what she tells you" He answered, rolling his eyes at the other man's stupidity.
"Didn't you meet with Sirius as well?" Lucius questioned testily.
"Sure, but he isn't talking. Wherever she remembers him from, he's keeping it even from her" he replied as he thought back to that conversation.
They had told him that she had woken up asking for him, but they hadn't told him everything. He could tell there was a secret there , one he would have to wait out to find.
"But the girl trusts you?" Lucius asked, still curious.
"Not completely, no. But that was never the point was it?" He questioned, smirking slightly.
"No. All we need is for Sirius to believe it" Lucius agreed.
"And he does" Crouch answered, placing his cup of tea down and striding out of the room haughtily.
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"You were the one with the twenty questions!" Hermione cried out frustrated.
Lily couldn't help but wince at the pitch and she wasn't even the only one. Beside her she felt Marlene recoil slightly and across the room, a still exhausted Remus sank further into his seat. They all had impressive tempers themselves, but Hermione could definitely be mad scary.
And if Hermione was scary, Sirius was downright dangerous. How was it that none of them really remembered him angry? James rubbed his neck tiredly. This was exactly why he let his best mate lock himself up for hours on an end when he was angry; it was just better for anyone.
To be honest, he had tried to let it be that way again but Cassie had insisted they talk this out and Sirius had surprisingly obliged. What was more surprising was that the conversation had been quite neutral, mostly them filling Remus and Peter in with no help from either Sirius or Hermione.
He had just started worrying about their silence when it started. The argument itself began over nothing but escalated within the first few minutes. Two more and not even Remus or Alice could pacify them. If anything, it looked like as far as they were concerned, no one else was even in the room.
"Yes and you are the one thats not even trying to get the answers!" Sirius snapped.
"What do you think I should have done Sirius?!" Hermione demanded.
"Be less skeptical for starters" Sirius answered, glaring at the brunette.
"I was not-" She began defensively when he rolled his eyes, completely unamused.
"Don't even try to deny it Mione" He dead panned.
"Fine. Fine. I don't believe him. Sue me" She said defiantly.
"Because the possibility of you having had a childhood is so repelling" Sirius questioned sarcastically.
"An incomplete one. Yes. You know he wasn't telling us everything!" Hermione accused.
"You weren't even trying to listen to what he was telling us so forgive me if-" Sirius began when she had had enough.
"No. I wasn't listening. And you know what? I don't get why you bothered to! Seriously, why are you accepting this so easily?" she asked, genuinely ticked off that he didn't see anything wrong with Crouch's story.
"Because - Just because!" he growled in frustration. When she looked at him disbelieving, he fisted his hands "Its better than the alternative, alright?"
Hermione was definitely taken aback at that. He was choosing to believe she had a family, a family that cared enough to die for her rather than believe that she was raised as an auror.
"We already agreed that the alternative isn't true" She answered doubtfully.
"Maybe it isn't, but this is better" he shrugged
"You mean its not a blatant lie?" she challenged
"A half truth is more than you had last week" he informed bluntly.
Cassie looked questioningly at James and Remus, both of whom looked equally lost. They had no idea what the couple were talking about anymore and it didn't look like it mattered at the moment anyway.
"So you agree he wasn't-" She started, but he cut across before she could even complete the thought.
"No, I don't." And that was Sirius's absolute final tone. There was simply no more arguing it and she recognised that as well as the others.
"Damn it Sirius! Why are you-" Her voice was sounding alarmingly shrill now, only Sirius holding steady against the whiplash.
"Maybe we looked too far, maybe you never saw them die and-" he began far too calmly but she wasn't interested in hearing him out.
"Sure, and maybe I wasn't erased from-" Her sarcasm was marred by her voice splintering from the simple strain of volume.
"There are other reasons that could have-" He contradicted, annoyance now leaking into his flat tones.
"You know what? I give up! Be stubborn-" She snarled, literally throwing up her hands in frustration.
"Because we both know i'm the stubborn one" He quipped and everyone in the room would have laughed if they weren't all painfully aware of how quickly the situation was deteriorating.
Hermione had stepped right up to Sirius, the distance making the arms she had crossed in front of her brush against Sirius's chest as well.
"What the hell do you want fr-" She began in low cold tones but they rolled right off him.
"Why don't you just accept-" He cut across, really not needing to hear her finish the question.
"Because I'm trying to be careful damnit! So believe what you want but I am not going to make the same mistake twice" Hermione cried, finally admitting why she was not so willing to trust Crouch.
Having taken someone at their word the first time hadn't ended all that well and she wasn't going to buy anything this time until she could find herself some solid proof. She had thought Sirius at least would understand but it didn't matter. She was getting out of there right now.
He snapped his mouth shut, whatever retort he had been coming up with halting abruptly. The only thing his mind registered was her whirling around, away from him. Without sparing a thought to what he was doing, he reached out.
"Hermione!"
There was more raw emotion in his voice than he would ever allow himself normally. His fingers wrapped around her elbow, impulsively tugging her back to him. There was no conscious thought to the movement as his other hand shot out, steadying her as she lost balance from the sudden pull.
The hand steadying her hooked properly around her waist and in one smooth motion, he had her slotted against his chest. The hold on her elbow shifted to her cheek as he raised her face to meet his. She willingly met his lips halfway, her arms instinctively snaking around his neck.
The only thing surprising about the kiss was its gentleness, which was questionable given the situation, but it seemed right and neither of them were really thinking at the moment anyway.
A/N : Crouch will be back of course, but my conscience wouldn't allow it if he was Hermione's only kiss... its bad enough that he was the first...