Disclaimer: Just three words: Joanne Kathleen Rowling

LOVE ALWAYS FINDS A WAY
Chapter 26: Midnight

Hermione had never been drunk in her life, and never in her wildest dreams would she have thought her first time would be in 1978. As soon as they'd finished the last drop, Sirius carelessly pitched the empty bottle into the fountain, grabbed Hermione's hand, and pulled her back into the Great Hall, disregarding Remus' objections entirely.

Hermione could do nothing but stumble after him, laughing. If Remus was a decent dancer, Sirius was an excellent one. He basked in the attention, and it was all Hermione could do to keep up with him and not trip over her own feet.

The next song was thankfully a much slower one. Sirius did not relinquish his claim on her, twirling her out of the way when Remus tried to cut in. He was holding her closer than probably was appropriate, but Hermione was hanging on his neck rather lazily, and he suspected he was the only thing keeping her upright.

"You dance divinely," he teased as they swayed in time to the music and he had to keep her from tipping over.

"You're not so bad yourself," she said brightly.

"Oh, I could be bad if you wanted me too," Sirius said, with a wicked grin.

He expected her to roll her eyes, come back with some witty put-down, or slap him, but she did none of these things. In fact, she giggled.

"You're drunk, my dear," Sirius informed her amusedly.

" 'S your fault," she mumbled into his shoulder. The slow music was beginning to make her sad, and she hugged him tighter, surprising him. She would have given anything to have known this Sirius, before Azkaban had robbed him of his good looks and carefree attitude.

"We would have gotten along famously together, don't you think, Rosemary?" he asked, voice soft.

She frowned. There was none of the usual teasing in his tone, which meant he was uncharacteristically being serious.

"Don't we?" she asked.

"I mean ... you and I..." He looked at her, a strange expression on his face. His voice dropped an octave lower. "Together..."

His hand had dropped lower with his voice. She caught sight of Remus standing by the refreshment table, glaring daggers at his friend's back.

"You're drunk, my dear," she informed him, repositioning his hand at a more appropriate level.

"Every other girl here would give anything to have my hand there," he told her matter-of-factly.

"I'm not like every other girl here," she reminded him, as the song ended.

He smirked as he released her and bowed, raising her hand to his lips. "And that's why we would have gotten along famously together," he said wistfully.

He led her back to Remus. "Here you go, mate," he said. "Take care of her, all right?" There seemed to be an 'or else' silently attached to his words.

"What was that all about?" Remus asked, handing Hermione some punch.

"I have no idea," she said honestly, watching Sirius' retreating back as he searched for Wendy.

When she looked at Remus, she was surprised to see an odd, intense expression on his face that made her heart beat a little faster. They drank deeply from their cups without looking away from one another.

"Come with me," he said suddenly, taking her cup from her and setting it aside.

He led her into the garden again, but they did not stop there. He lifted her over a low-lying hedge so that they were in the castle once more. His hand found hers in the dark, and they half-ran through the halls to an unknown destination. He seemed to know where he was going, so she followed his lead. They were going up, up, up a twisting staircase until she was horribly dizzy.

They burst out into the open air, and it was only stars and night sky above them. They were at the top of the Astronomy Tower, she realized. The brisk February air cleared her mind a little.

"It's beautiful here," she breathed, leaning over the edge to look at the moonlight-drenched grounds.

"Is certainly is," he agreed, his voice much closer than she expected.

She turned to look at him, but he was already looking at her, that same intense gaze in his eyes. He leaned down, and the instant their lips touched, it was electric. Nothing mattered except for the feel of their lips, their bodies against each other's.

Remus tore himself from her and took a few steps away. From the movement of his shoulders, Hermione could tell he was breathing as heavily as she was. He turned to face her, still keeping a safe distance between them. He smiled, that somewhat wry, oh-so familiar smile of his.

"If you want me to stop, all you have to do is tell me."

He said it simply, but they both knew what he was asking. Hermione could feel her heart pounding hard in her chest, in her ears, like a watch that kept erratic time.

"Don't stop," she whispered.

He surged forward and recaptured her lips. She kissed him and clung to him as tightly as he did her. Hermione's mind was made up. She would never go back. She would stay here with him and forget her old life, the consequences be damned.

Then it happened again: The castle dissolved around them as they kissed. They were together, they were deliriously happy. They were fixing up a little house in Hogsmeade, the Shrieking Shack, with a guest bedroom for Sirius. Lily and James were coming over for dinner. They were sitting on their little porch, watching the sun go down. She was happy, but she was tired. She was dying, she was dead. Remus was standing at the top of the Tower, standing on the very edge—

She pulled away with a gasp and staggered away from him. He immediately reached out for her, but something in her expression stopped him.

"Rose? Rosemary, what's wrong?"

Her mind was still reeling, this time to a memory of something that had already happened for her.

Flashback

She had just been discharged from the hospital wing after the Battle at the Department of Mysteries. She had been putting up a brave front for Harry's sake, but she needed some time alone to think, to wrap her head around the fact that Sirius was dead.

She first headed to the library but soon changed course for the Astronomy Tower. She stopped short at the sight that greeted her at the top.

Remus was standing at the top of the Tower, standing on the very edge.

He turned at her arrival and stepped back slightly.

"Hello, Hermione," he said easily.

"Professor?" she said uncertainly. He looked calm, but she would have sworn he had been about to jump.

"It's Remus," he reminded her gently. "I haven't taught you in nearly two years."

She moved forward cautiously, but he was well away from the edge now. Perhaps she had just imagined it.

"Are you all right?" he asked solicitously, frowning at how pale she looked. He led her to the nearest bench. "You shouldn't be running about yet. Here, have some chocolate."

He took out a bar of chocolate from his pocket and handed it to her. She nibbled at the corner, and the slight spinning in her head dissipated.

"Are you all right?" she ventured to ask. He looked at her sharply, but she quickly looked away. "Harry's not," she continued. "He hasn't really talked to anyone about ... about Sirius." Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw him flinch slightly at Sirius' name, but she forged on ahead. "He just sits there, brooding, and I don't know what to say. I'm afraid he's going to do something stupid."

"More stupid than breaking into the Ministry of Magic?" Remus asked. It came out much more bitter than he expected as he felt a wave of anger surge over him, the first emotion he had felt since that night. "You're the brightest witch of your age, Hermione! Surely you knew how utterly foolish that was! Why didn't you stop Harry, make him see sense? None of this would have happened! Sirius would still be—"

Remus cut himself off and stood abruptly, walking a few steps away from her. Hermione, who had never seen him angry, tried to remember how to breathe.

He turned, a stricken look on his face. "I'm so sorry, Hermione. I shouldn't have said that. You mustn't, mustn't think Sirius' death was in any way your fault. It wasn't anyone's fault but Bellatrix Lestrange's." He passed a hand over his face. "He died as he would have wanted, in the heart of battle. Please forgive me."

"You just lost your best friend, Prof ... Remus. I understand. If it were Harry or Ron..." she shook her head, unable to continue, but when she spoke again, there was a steely conviction in her voice. "That's why I followed him there, even though it was incredibly stupid, even though I was sure we were going to die. I'd do it again in a second."

He looked at her, not bothering to conceal his admiration. He had always known she was intelligent, in a book-smart sort of way, but he had never realized the strength of her character before. She almost had died. There had been a moment when they all feared the worst, before Dumbledore himself revived her. They had kept it from Harry and Ron, but something in Hermione's face told him she knew exactly how close she'd come to dying.

The bell began to toll, summoning students to dinner.

"You should have something more substantial than chocolate," he said.

She nodded and stood, but waited expectantly for him at the top of the stairs. "Aren't you coming, too?" she asked.

He was going to make some excuse, but he saw her eyes dart to the edge of the Tower, where he had been standing a few moments ago. He really didn't know what he had been intending to do, and now he realized he never wanted to find out.

"Of course," he said, and he followed her in.

End of Flashback

"Hermione, don't!"

Hermione blinked and found herself standing on the edge of the Tower, Remus reaching out for her with a terrified look on his face.

She scrambled back, and he pulled her into his arms.

"What the hell was that?" he demanded, not loosening his hold on her.

"Wait, what did you call me?" she asked, pushing herself back to hold him at arm's length. "Right now, what name did you say?"

"Rosemary. What else? Why do you keep on asking me that?"

Before she could answer, the bell began to toll. She jumped violently, having just heard the same bell in her memory.

"What is that?" she demanded. "Why is the bell ringing?"

"It's midnight," he explained, looking increasingly worried. "The dance is about to end. Why do you look like that, Rose? You're scaring me."

"We have to go back," she said distractedly, pulling him toward the stairs. "Time's up. We have to go back."

She led the way back to the Great Hall, desperation in her movements. She couldn't explain it, but she knew she had to get back there now. They ran into a rather disheveled Lily and James in the fifth-floor corridor, but she barely paid them any attention.

"Lily's just shown me this awesome room, Moony," James said. "We have to add it to the Map, though it changes size, so—"

"What's the matter?" Lily interrupted, seeing the focused, almost trance-like look on Hermione's face.

"I don't know," Remus said helplessly.

"We have to get back," Hermione insisted. "Time's up."

The tolling bell had continued to ring, but only in her head. It got louder and louder as they neared the Great Hall so that she couldn't even hear the questions James, Lily and Remus were asking her.

She had to find the source so she could stop it. Time didn't matter anymore. She was staying here. She wasn't going back. She wandered into the middle of the dance floor, pushing aside couples who were in her way.

"Hey!" Sirius said angrily, whirling around. He recognized Hermione and grinned. "Well, if you want to cut in..."

The smile slid off his face as she moved past him, not seeing him.

"What's going on?" he asked. "Moony...?"

The tolling bell was so loud now she could feel the reverberations underfoot. As she watched, a hole opened up in the middle of the floor, the ground falling away a little more with each bong until the edge of the hole was inches away from her toes. Then the tolling stopped, everything stopped, and there was a sudden silence. Hermione stared down the hole. It was so dark she couldn't see the bottom of it.

Hermione had stopped in the very center of the Great Hall and was staring intently at the ground. Several of the dancing couples had stopped and were watching her in confusion.

"Rosemary, what's the matter?" Remus asked desperately. "What are you looking at?"

"We have to jump, don't you see?" she said vaguely.

They were late, they were late, for a very important date. July 3, 1998.

No, wait. She wasn't going back. She couldn't.

"No, I don't. Please explain it to me. Rose—"

There was no time for explanations. Hermione gripped his hand tighter and jumped.