Chapter 25: Under The Mistletoe

"Bye! Have a good Christmas Hermione!" Lily said as she hugged her friend tightly.

"Merry Christmas Lily, I hope your journey home will be safe." Hermione answered with a small smile.

It was the first day of the holiday and most of the students were on their way home for Christmas. This included Lily and she was now busying herself with telling Hermione what an incredibly wonderful Christmas she wanted her friend to have even if she was staying at Hogwarts. Hermione felt glad that Lily cared but at the same time a bit sad because she had no family to go home to.

Well to be honest she was REALLY sad but she couldn't do anything about it. Also, Hermione was sure she'd changed the future for the better already so her stay here must be worth it.

As Lily walked over to the Hogwarts express and got on, Hermione felt how lonely this Christmas would be without her. They had become best friends during these short months that Hermione had spent in this time and, well it really felt bad that she wouldn't meet her in a while now.

As she got back to the Gryffindor common room she saw to her surprise that Sirius and Peter were still there. They hadn't gone home? But weren't Sirius going with James? And Peter had said that he was going to go home.

"Hello you two, why are you still here?" Hermione walked over to them.

Sirius looked up at her and smiled while Peter mumbled something.

"Oh you see I'm staying in school this year. And Peter here simply missed the train." He said and nudged Peter.

Hermione sighed a bit and sat down next to Peter. "You know Peter. Go talk to Dumbledore and he'll let you floo from his office instead." Peter looked up at her with a baffled expression.

"Wow, really? Thank you Hermione!" He said and got up quickly.

Sirius and Hermione laughed as they saw him hurrying away from them.

"So, why are you staying?" Hermione asked Sirius suspiciously. Sirius pretended to ignore her but his smile gave him away.

"EY?" She threw a pillow at him and started laughing.

"Aah, FINE it's because James is probably going to meet up with Lily during this holiday so I don't want to disturb them… and then I don't want to go to my parents and well I do remember the Hogwarts Christmas feast to be quite delicious."

Something in Sirius' expression as he said this seemed odd. Hermione wasn't very good at reading him but she was pretty sure there was something he didn't tell her. As Sirius kept talking about all the pranks he and James had pulled during passed Christmases Hermione crept closer and stared at him until he turned around. Unfortunally she had crept a tiny bit too close because now their noses almost touched and they could feel each others breaths against their faces. Hermione ignored it and kept staring into his eyes with a "know it all" gleam in them.

"I don't think you're being completely honest." She said calmly.

Sirius' face was pretty much red at this moment and he quickly moved away from her in the sofa. Hermione started blushing too as she realised what she had done must've been weird. She just wanted to be a bit intimidating. But oh my god, why had she done something like that? It was as if someone else had controlled her body. Sirius seemed troubled where he sat.

"I-I'm not lying if that's what you think!" He said as his voice cracked a bit.

Hermione laughed at him and crossed her arms. "Okaay, whatever you say. I'm sorry for startling you."

They sat quietly for a little while before Sirius spoke again.

"So… you're not going home either. Why?" He avoided looking at her.

"Because my parents are off to Sweden and I don't feel like going there." Hermione lied. Of course she couldn't tell him the truth. "Do you know if anyone else is staying?"

Sirius seemed to relax a tiny bit. "Yeah, no one else in 7th year Gryffindor but one 6th year and two 5th years are staying. The younger students all went home. However I have no idea about the other houses."

"I see… I guess we'll find out eventually" Hermione laughed. Sirius smiled a bit but still avoided her glance.

After a while Hermione decided she'd go up to her dorm and read a bit. She had quite a lot of homework to do despite it being holidays. She left Sirius sitting in the sofa, staring into the fire intensely.

x-x-x

Sirius

Sirius Black was sitting in the sofa next to the fireplace by himself. His heart was beating rather quickly still. She had been so close! For a second he'd thought she was going to kiss him. Not that she'd ever do that but still, it had been really uncomfortable.

The thoughts in Sirius' head started to spin out of control. He remembered that time in the shower and in the closet. How could he have ever thought he hated her? HOW? Sure, he could still hate the way she made him act, but that wasn't the same thing. He couldn't deny it at all, Sirius Black wanted Hermione.

He wanted her in so many ways it made him dizzy just thinking about it. His plan was, therefore, to make her want him. Sure, he'd been set on that for quite a while now. But since Remus kind of got in the way, Sirius' plan had been taking a break before it even begun.

Now however, the two of them would have the entire holiday for themselves. Sirius had decided on staying ever since he got to know Hermione would. Of course he couldn't tell her that the biggest reason for him to say was her though. Sirius blushed to himself. She hadn't believed him when he gave her his OTHER reasons. What if she suspected him of liking her? She couldn't right?

He got up from where he sat and walked up to his room. He'd get to have it all by himself this entire holiday. He smiled to himself. That would be great if he were to get closer to Hermione…

Wait… what?

NO! No, no, no! What the fuck?

Sirius ruffled his hair and sat down on his bed quickly. What had just crossed his mind? This was not normal, he was sure of it. He forced himself not to think of it anymore. Those kinds of things surely would not happen, but maybe… NO!

Sirius growled and gave himself a slap in the face before heading towards the showers. This male needed to cool down…

x-x-x

Hermione

Hermione had been up in her room for several hours now, studying. She felt really unsocial and boring. After all, it was holiday and Sirius might want some company. They could study together, maybe. She giggled. Not that Sirius was the most social person except for with his friends, but he sure needed some help getting started on his homework sometimes.

With this, Hermione decided to actually go down and see if he were anywhere to be found. It was soon dinner too so it was about time to stop studying, for now. When she got down however, she couldn't see him. He might have gone to the library or something.

"Hey! Davies, you're smart, could you come here?" The 6th year Gryffindor who had also decided to stay yelled from a table across the room. Hermione had never talked to him but she knew his name was Vincent. Girls liked him because of his looks and his quidditch skills and he gladly abused this fact, at least according to Lily.

"I… Yes of course but why? Need help?" She asked curiously.

"Oh, yeah, I need help with my potions essay. I'm quite lucky Gryffindor's smartest witch is still at school to help me." He said and flashed his white smile. Any girl would surely fall for that. Hermione rolled her eyes at him but decided to take a look. If he needed help he should get it.

"Sure, I can help you. What are you writing about?" She asked when she reached him.

He grinned at her. "I'm supposed to write an essay about love potions." He said this in a very deep and intimidating tone.

"If you open… what's that book?" Hermione took a quick look at the book her had next to him. "Oh, that one, it's a very good book. You find everything you need to know about love potions on page 120-160." She said and looked at him expectantly.

He looked back at her with his grin still wide like he didn't quite understand what she said. Then he answered.

"I could do that, but reading isn't very fun. How about I try some love potion on you?" He said wiggling his eyebrow.

Hermione crossed her arms and glared at him. "Oh really, do you want help or not?"

"Oh, of course I want help. I could study the effects of the potion on you." He said and laughed a bit.

Hermione rolled her eyes at him and was just about to tell him she didn't have time for silly games when a familiar voice sounded from behind her.

"Vincent, shut up and read your book instead of annoying Davies…AND Hermione, do I have to babysit you all holiday to keep you away from people like him?"

Hermione turned around and saw Sirius coming down from his dorm. He looked tired and his clothes were wrinkly. And his HAIR, oh my god! Hermione hadn't seen it that messy since her 3rd year. By then he'd been 33, emaciated and creepy. This time however he was 17, amazing and… very handsome. Hermione couldn't help but laugh.

Vincent didn't laugh. "Yeah, great… Davies' bodyguard… Nice hair…" He said and glared at Sirius.

Sirius looked baffled and looked at his reflection in the window. The look on his face was priceless. It was of complete surprise and disapproval. Hermione giggled a bit harder.

She waved her wand and his hair flattened out immediately. It was the spell she'd learned form Lily in the beginning of their school year.

"Thank you. How did you-?" He asked but Hermione interrupted him.

"Let's go get some dinner shall we?" She said and turned around.

x-x-x

"I fell asleep with wet hair, that's all… I usually don't slip up like that." Sirius exclaimed about a minute later while on their way down towards the great hall.

"Ah, come on. It didn't look THAT bad. It was actually rather cute seeing you with something other than perfect hair." Hermione teased.

"Cute? Bed head isn't cute, unless you're like five years old, and also, I'm certainly not what one usually calls 'cute'" Sirius grumbled and waved his hands.

"Bed heads are cute, especially when the victim has no idea about them. And what do you mean you're 'not what one usually calls cute'?" Hermione snickered.

"Awe, come on! Look at me for goodness sake. I'm a MAN, not a child. If you need to call me anything then at least say 'handsome'" Sirius smiled jokingly when he said this.

Hermione laughed heartedly and rolled her eyes. "You wish!" she said and stuck her tongue out.

Sirius gave a loud bark of a laugh and pushed her gently, pretending to look hurt. "Do you think I'm that hideously babyfaced?"

Hermione pretended to examine his face carefully before stroking her chin thoughtfully. "Hmm…" She said but started to smile, spoiling her act.

"Bully!" He said and crossed his arms with a grin.

Hermione laughed and entered the great hall before Sirius. It looked really empty. Only one table stood in the middle of the room and around it only ten people sat at the moment. This was not everyone but Hermione figured it wouldn't be very many more staying over the holidays.

The two of them took a seat next to the two 5th year Gryffindors. They talked a bit and had a pretty good time together. Hermione wasn't all that hungry but she ate some salad anyway. After dinner Hermione convinced Sirius to go to the library to borrow a couple of books. She told him he should to finish his homework as fast as possible to have them out of the way.

Sirius never did like the idea of having to study but Hermione said they could do it together and help each other. After all, they had gotten the same assignments.

"So, 'Mr handsome', what books do you think we need for our DADA essay?" Hermione asked Sirius while on their way, emphasising the word "handsome" just to mock him.

Sirius slid his hand through his silky black hair and smiled amusedly at her. "See, you DID call me handsome after all." He said, ignoring her question.

Hermione rolled her eyes at him but didn't answer.

"So what do you figure I should call you? Maybe 'adorable' would make you feel like a mature young woman. Or…?" Sirius teased with a huge grin.

"That's what you call a small child Sirius!" Hermione said and looked at him with amused disbelief.

"You call children cute too." He said and winked.

"You can call me Hermione if you want, that works fine, 'Mr handsome'" Hermione said jokingly.

"I think I'll go for 'Adorable' if you're going to keep calling me 'Mr handsome'" He laughed.

The two of them laughed at their silliness but were interrupted by a voice from behind them.

"How about Babe and the Beast?" Hermioe had learned to recognise this husky voice as Regulus Black and she spun around on the spot with sending a heated death glare his way. Sirius groaned loudly and crossed his arms.

"Why the FUCK are you still here Regulus?" He barked.

"Because I need to look after my dearest brother so that he doesn't hurt our little girl here." Regulus said and pointed at Hermione with a wink. He then waved his hands like a girl towards Sirius who seemed just about ready to explode.

"Siriuuus! Don't be such a grumpy-face! I'm joking, silly." He then said and rolled his eyes. "I'm staying because… no, wait… I'm not joking… But I guess I also want to annoy you." He gave his brother a big smile and laughed a bit.

Hermione quickly grabbed Sirius' arm before the enraged marauder did something head regret. "Don't Sirius. Just ignore him and keep walking…" She said and pushed him forward. Sirius decided to listen to her and started walking a bit before Regulus spoke again.

"You know Davies. I did try to warn you this Friday but you seemed so eager to let it happen I didn't have the heart to stop it." He said and smirked when his words had the effect he'd looked for. The two of them stopped, Hermione blushing furiously.

"What?" Sirius growled viciously. "You were THERE? I should've FIGURED!" Hermione was slightly frightened by his anger.

Regulus just shrugged. "As I said, she seemed to know and accept her faith and I'm just a boy." He grinned.

"I'm going to kill you." Sirius said calmly with a wicked smile playing on his lips before raising his fists.

"NOO!" Hermione yelled and grabbed Sirius. "Don't go punching each other's faces in just because of someone's bad attitude."

"You're such an intelligent girl Davies." Regulus said and smirked. "And you're beautiful too, if Sirius haven't already told you." And with this he quickly leaned in and kissed her on the mouth before running away as quickly as he could with a huge grin.

"Mistletoe!" He yelled before rounding the corner.

Hermione and Sirius both gaped and stared at the spot where Regulus had disappeared. Hermione felt her cheeks burn furiously. What had just happened? He'd called her beautiful and… and kissed her! She touched her lips where she could still feel the tingling were his lips had been. She slowly looked up and saw the mistletoe hanging above her, mocking her.

She couldn't utter a word but instead looked at Sirius who'd also been quiet. He was staring at the mistletoe with disbelief. Then, before Hermione could react Sirius also grabbed her shoulders and crashed down on her lips. It happened faster than lighting and it sent a jolt down Hermione's body. Before she had the chance to react he pulled away and stared at her with wide eyes.

"I'm sorry!" He said, turned around and ran away in the other direction.

Hermione gaped once more. Sirius… What was happening to the world? She felt her face burn hotter than ever before. This was confusing… and embarrassing… Hermione glared up at the mistletoe and took three steps to the right to avoid more shit happening. She remained standing there for a while, face burning and thoughts swirling around her head mercilessly.

"Excuse me Hermione, but here's a letter for you." A 4th year Ravenclaw girl with long brown hair and blue eyes came by and said. Hermione nodded and took the letter numbly. The Ravenclaw gave her an odd look and walked away. Poor girl must've been freaked out by Hermione's apathy.

She looked down at the letter and immediately recognised the green handwriting of Dumbledore. She ripped it open, eager to get other things on her mind than what had just happened.

Dear Hermione

I believe it is time to meet again. Feel free to come by any of the days during the holiday and we'll discuss things more closely.

PS: Do you enjoy fudge flies?

Hermione smiled at reading the postscript before folding the letter neatly into and putting it in her pocket. That was surely Dumbledore's own way of telling her the password to his office.

She decided to go to the library and read for a while, needing more distractions after these confusing events.

x-x-x

Sirius

"NOO! Don't go punching each other's faces in just because of someone's bad attitude."

Sirius felt how tiny hands grabbed hold of his arms as to prevent him from killing his brother. Of course he could've easily done it anyway but he didn't want to disappoint Hermione. However, Regulus really deserved it. He had been there to not only witness, but participate in the horrible act Lucius had pulled a few days ago in the Slytherin common room. Sirius would not accept that… even if it'd been Remus and not Hermione…

"You're such an intelligent girl Davies." Regulus said with an annoying smirk on his face. "And you're beautiful too," He added before throwing Sirius a glance. "…if Sirius haven't already told you." Sirius growled a bit.

Regulus leaned in on Hermione right then, and before Sirius had the chance to react Regulus' lips had touched Hermione's. He then pulled away quickly with a grin and ran away from them, probably trying to avoid his death sentence. Sirius body froze, he couldn't move. What the hell just happened?

"Mistletoe!" Regulus yelled out and Sirius looked up with his eyes twitching. Above them hung the mistletoe, like so many other all over the school this time of year. Sirius felt stunned. Hermione was blushing next to him and looked just about as baffled as him. His insides raged. He'd fucking kill Regulus for this!

Sirius didn't know what to do; he looked up at the mistletoe again and felt the panic rise inside him. He didn't even think at this point, he just acted out of sheer panic and rage as he met Hermione's gaze, grabbed her and without hesitation, kissed her. A spark flew from them when their mouths touched. Her soft pink lips felt wonderful and he felt himself become weak in his legs before pulling away and staring into her eyes.

"I'm sorry!" He said and realised his mistake before running off.

God damn it!

He dashed into the Gryffindor common room and rushed up the stairs to his room. What the HELL had he just done? This would ruin everything. He crashed down on his bed and put a pillow over his face.

"Damn, damn, damn, fuck, damn, damn, fuck…" He ranted to himself before falling asleep two hours later after some more ranting and a letter to James.

x-x-x

H'okay! I know it's taken forever to update again but I've been sick and school's been a bitch again. Sirius has gotten himself into some deep shit now. D:

However I think he needed that! –evil smirk-

Regulus might be a problem though.

Please review! I want to know exactly what you thought about this and what you think/hope will happen next!

Love you all! :D