School has sucked all of the life out of me like a damn dementor. But not like it used to. Yet. I dunno. We'll see how this year goes.
"Shield your eyes from the truth at hand/ Tell me why it'll be good again/ All those demons are closing in/ And I don't want you to burn/ Never mind what I said before/ I don't want any less anymore/ You are carbon and I am flame/ I will rise and you will/ Remain…" – Sara Bareilles, "Bright Lights and Cityscapes"
Hermione bit forcibly down on her lower lip, well aware that she was gripping onto her elbows tight enough to make her knuckles go white, but she couldn't seem to care. Sirius was leaning against the wall near her, staring down at the white tiled floor with a vacant expression. Everything in this damn building was white, she realized with a small scoff. White walls, white tiled floor, white doors with white statuettes and receptionist counters. Even the roses in the porcelain vases were white. The employees had light grey smocks and slacks, so she and Sirius stuck out like sore thumbs in the hallway, with dark blues and blacks and her brown hair.
Henry had gripped onto her like a lifeline, and for the first time wouldn't allow himself to be handed over to Sirius for anything. When it was time to let him down and into the room, he'd hugged her tightly and tried not to cry as he walked in with James. She worried over what would happen to Henry, presently and in the long run, and hoped that she'd be able to find and check up on him once she returned to the future.
"Is it wrong to say I hope he doesn't do well?" Sirius asked, interrupting her thoughts as she lifted her head and blinked over at him as he continued to stare down at the tile, "I know it wouldn't be good if he doesn't, but…I'll miss him."
She gave a soft smile and released her lower lip, "It's not as if he'll be gone forever, Sirius."
"It means I won't be able to see him for a while," he said, and she could've sworn she saw a pout before he sighed and slid down the wall to sit in the floor, "Happens a lot, surprisingly, with people I like."
"Oy, it's not my fault we're friends – I told you right off the bat where I came from and that I was going back," she insisted with mock-indignation, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth, as he began to grin wearily up at her, "You just had to go and like me."
"Believe me, Kitten," he gave a sarcastic chuckle as he propped his elbow on a knee, looking at her tiredly, "It's not like I had any control over it."
She gave another small smile and moved to sit down next to him, sighing and settling her head on his shoulder, feeling his head lean against hers a moment later. They were silent for a while, either trying to listen in on the conversation behind the door or listening to the life going on in the halls and rooms beyond them. She noticed Sirius beginning to tap absentmindedly against her knee, and let him continue for a moment or two before she noticed the pattern.
"Is that Guns N' Roses or AC/DC?" she asked with a small grin as he stopped before he gave a small laugh.
"Didn't even notice I was doing it," he admitted, "AC/DC."
"Back in Black?" she asked with a chuckle as he snorted and lightly bumped her head with his. "How very ironic, Mister Black."
"I'll have you know that Lily would hum it every time we worked together in Potions, so it's not my fault," he insisted with a small sniff. "In fact, you can blame half of my music taste on Remus and Lily, and the other half on my cousin's husband. I'm fairly certain he has no idea I've stolen a good majority of his records."
She hummed, but smiled and settled into his side, listening to him breathe in and out. They sat in the floor for what felt like hours like that, watching the snootily important women click by in their heels and the snobby men rush along with their noses up in the air. At some point, she'd begun to play with the zipper on Sirius's leather jacket, which led to her running her fingers over the material and feel where it'd begun to get rough in some areas and remain smooth in most. She gave a small jump when he reached over and wrapped one of his fingers around one of hers, startling her as he gave a small laugh before he reached to her hip and tugged on a belt loop, making her snort and prod at a rib in retaliation.
"No!" Henry suddenly yelled frantically behind the door, Hermione and Sirius standing at once with worry etched into their faces, "No, no, no! Leave me alone!"
"That's enough!" James yelled as well, "He's just a kid, leave him alone!"
"Mister Potter," a posh sounding voice stated, "This is part of the test, we need to do this to see how he handles pressure."
"You take him away from the people he needs most in the world and make him think of his family and let him think everything that happened to him is his fault, or giving him a strong case of survivor's guilt, and you think that's helping him?" James asked incredulously, and Sirius had to forcibly hold Hermione back to keep her from barging in and snatching Henry back up and into her arms.
"He'll be separated from them eventually," the woman insisted coldly.
"No!" Henry yelled again, "They'll always be with me!"
"Henry," the woman said in a sickly sweet tone, "You're going to an orphanage, and they're not going with you."
"Shut up!" James barked as Hermione continued to quietly struggle against Sirius's hold.
"They'll be with me because they helped me!" Henry said as his voice shook, "They're the only other people that love me besides my family."
"They're only doing it because they feel sorry for you," the woman insisted with a scoff.
Henry sniffed loudly, before calmly stating, "Maybe that's what your friends and family do for you, but not for me."
Hermione stopped struggling and gaped at the door as Sirius began to laugh quietly behind her, tugging her further into his chest by her waist while he still had the chance.
"Well said, Kid," James said smugly, lifting him up and opening the door before grinning brightly to the two of them, Henry rubbing at his eyes and continuing to sniff. "I see you two have gotten cozy."
Sirius dropped his arms and Hermione reached for Henry, gripping him tightly as he did the same to her.
"You are so wicked," Hermione murmured with a grin, "Way to give her hell, Henry."
"She was rude," Henry sighed as he pouted, leaning back and looking at her face before smiling, "I love you, Kitten."
"Oh, I love you too," she said, squeezing him tightly until he gave a small sound to tell her to stop, the two of them chuckling once she loosened her grip. "Henry, whatever she said to you was dead wrong. None of this is your fault whatsoever, okay?" She felt him nod and she sighed, running her hand up and down his spine and remembering the time when she could feel every bump of vertebrae clearly.
"Uhm," the young Auror said as he trailed along into the hall behind them, looking sheepish and frightened, "She's a huge bitch and just signed Henry over to the orphanage."
Hermione paled as Henry slumped back into her, Sirius sighing and running his hands through the little boy's hair over her shoulder. James cursed and settled his hands on his hips, glaring towards the door as he thought about rushing back in there and giving the bitch a piece of his mind.
"When?" Sirius asked as he focused on wiping a few of Henry's tears away.
"An hour and a half," he answered before clearing his throat and looking away, "I'll go call Moody and tell him, he wanted updates."
James nodded and the young man looked relieved to walk away as Henry began to cry, Hermione holding him tightly and hoping that she wouldn't do the same until after they'd gotten out of public. James reached forward to put a hand on Henry's back before deciding against it, instead settling it on Sirius's shoulder and sighing along with him.
The four of them stood outside in the rain, Hermione still holding Henry as the orphanage's head caretaker and a few of its guards got the Ministry car ready, checking everything over and talking about which route they would take. Sirius leaned heavily against Hermione and settled his head on Henry, having tried to make him smile previously and failing miserably. James stood by, hands in his pockets with a downcast look, thinking it better not to say anything just yet.
"Alright," the head caretaker, an aging woman with a motherly demeanor, said with a sad smile, "We're ready whenever you are."
Henry gripped Hermione tighter, hot tears dripping into her shoulder as she gritted her teeth and held him close. She looked up to the storm clouds over head and blinked back her own tears, hoping that she could fix everything soon before Sirius reached over and took Henry from her, hugging him tightly and softly telling him something as she tried to compose herself. However, as soon as Henry was presented back to her, she found her resolve wavering.
"I don't want to go," he admitted, and Hermione kneeled down to the ground and buried her face into his hair, much like he was doing with hers. "Please don't make me go, Kitten."
She sniffed and pulled back, giving him a watery smile, whispering quietly to him, "Tell you what. Whenever you get to Hogwarts, come and find me and be my friend, and then I'll be with you whenever you need me."
"But I don't know your name," he said worriedly, as if it were somehow his fault that he did.
She smiled and lowered herself further to speak into his ear, "My name is Hermione Granger." When she pulled back, he blinked back at her before beginning to softly smile.
"You have a pretty name, Kitten," he said as Sirius straightened up.
"Wait, you told him your name?" he asked rather loudly as James scoffed and rolled his eyes, frowning dully at his friend, "You know her name?"
Henry and Hermione laughed and she pecked him on the cheek before looking to the caretaker and the guards and giving a solemn nod. The woman turned to the guards, who nodded and moved to wherever they needed to be before she walked towards the two and bent down on her aging knees.
"Henry," she said softly as he turned to her fearfully, "We're ready for you."
He took a deep breath and nodded, turning to look at Hermione, Sirius and James one last time before the woman lifted him up into her arms before struggling to stand, Hermione helping her gently.
Henry leaned out and kissed her cheek, and Hermione gave a watery laugh as the tears finally began to flow. "You're a very sweet little boy, Henry. And I'm going to miss you."
"I'll miss you too," Henry said before giving a feeble smile, "See you later."
"Bye, Henry," Hermione waved as her voice shook.
"We'll see you soon, okay?" Sirius asked, standing beside her as the woman loaded Henry into the car and gave the two a sympathetic smile before sliding in as well. The guards sat between the two and the doors as another slid into the driver's seat, and they watched as the car drove away, Henry standing on the seat to turn around and wave at them.
"He's safe, at least," James said after a few moments of silence, all watching the car disappear from sight.
"At least someone is," Hermione stated with a frown, "I'm glad it's him."
Sirius nodded slowly before turning and walking back to the courtyard of the building, running his fingers through his hair and tilting his face up to the sky. Hermione seemed to be the opposite, curling in around herself with her head tilted down. James sighed and wrapped an arm around her, towing her into him and hugging her tightly as she walked with him and followed Sirius.
Lily leaned closer to James, a worried expression on her face as she gripped his arm tightly. "They will be alright, right? Hermia and Sirius?"
James gave a sigh and lowered his head, speaking quietly as the pair hung back in the kitchen, "I dunno, Lily. It's like they've lost their own kid. I don't think anyone could be alright after that."
Lily wrapped an arm around her growing stomach, pursing her lips as James rubbed at his eyes. She then straightened up to the best of her abilities and walked into the living room, Hermione and Sirius looking up at her as she cleared her throat.
"I have just decided upon the future of my unborn child," Lily stated as Sirius glanced to Hermione, who was giving a small smile at the redhead, before relaxing back into his seat.
"And, uhh, what would that be, exactly?" James asked as he followed, quite concerned at this spontaneous decision.
She looked back to her husband and smirked, which only caused James to narrow his eyes at her suspiciously before she turned back to the two, "I have decided, Sirius Black, that I want you to be the godfather of my son or daughter."
Sirius and James blinked at her in surprise, Hermione smiling at the three as Lily turned her attention to the brunette.
"And you, Hermia, I would quite like to be involved as well, should anything arise that you could help out with – as if you haven't done enough already," she ended with a smile, Hermione grinning back at her.
"That's very kind of you, Lily, thank you," she nodded before snorting and rolling her eyes, "Honestly, I've looked after your kid for almost a decade anyway, it makes enough sense."
Lily's eyes widened, "You're friends with my baby?"
"Best," Hermione beamed before scoffing, "Well, he has his moments, but yeah – best friends."
"He?" Lily stressed, a grin growing on her face as Sirius chuckled at the two. "I'm having a son?"
She nodded before laughing as the pregnant redhead moved with surprising speed to sit beside her and hug her tightly, making small squealing noises of excitement as James laughed.
"Oh, we don't have to paint the nursery yellow!" Lily beamed as she pulled away before scoffing, "I hate the color yellow, always has been gross to me, and I read that it's not a good color for children. Oh, thank you, Hermia!"
Hermione continued to laugh as she resumed the hug and as Sirius chuckled, James looking on at the scene fondly from the archway. "Lily, really, it's no big deal."
"Of course it's a big deal!" she insisted, "You're making the world a better place for my son! I can't thank you enough."
"As if she had no selfish ulterior motive," Sirius scoffed before Hermione shot him a small glare, "Hey, play nice, Kitten."
"Oh, be nice to her," Lily huffed as she pulled away, "She puts up with you all the time, give her a break."
"You put up with me too," he pointed out as Hermione began to laugh.
"Only because my marrying James came with you included!" she joked as he snorted, James grinning at them as Hermione laughed a little bit louder, leaning back into the couch cushions as the two bantered over her. James moved to the other armchair, watching them fondly and hoping that this safe little moment could last just a little bit longer.
Welp…I didn't kill anyone this chapter….