Chapter 38

"We do not remember days; we remember moments." Cesare Pavese, The Burning Brand

It was midnight, Hermione was still awake, the events of the previous night running through her mind. They didn't seem real, it couldn't be real, it was an odd feeling, looking back on an event that one knew couldn't possible have happened, like a dizzy state of half consciousness.

It couldn't have happened. No, it must have been some obscure hallucination. It could not have possibly happened, it was inconceivable that Sirius would…that she would…no, it couldn't have happened. And yet that little nagging part of her mind (the part from which her logic originated) knew that it had happened.

She had kissed him….well…he had kissed her….they kissed. Hermione Granger, sixteen year old know it all bod, had kissed Sirius bad ass Black, (wrongly) convicted criminal, not to mention the fact that he was more then old enough to be her father! It was vile, it was repulsive. How could she have let that happen?

She had gone down to have her first self defence lesson, it was to be held in an old, and long sealed corridor, very secluded corridor so as not student would stumble across them late at night and assume the worst (which as it turned out, they would have been correct to assume) still, it was imperative that the crashing of furniture and bodies could not be heard. Hermione had gone down at eight thirty; Sirius had been waiting for her.

They had started with a few basic moves, after discussing the kind of thing Hermione wanted to learn. She wanted to be able to defend herself, without a wand, and under surprise attack, Sirius had discussed the things he could teach her, and she was eager to learn. They began, first, he would let her try and grab him, and then he would show her step by step how to escape and immobilise the attacker. Then they would swap roles, and Hermione would go through the manoeuvre until she got it right, and was confident at it. Then, right at the very end of the session, Sirius had asked her if she wanted to put her new found skills to the test, she eagerly agreed. The started in one position that Hermione easily wriggled out of, then another, slightly harder to escape from, then another and another, each getting progressively harder, and Sirius' grip getting harder and harder, more and more realistic. Until eventually he won, she was pinned against the wall, their faces where inches from each others, she was staring into his unfathomable onyx eyes, she couldn't read them, and became aware that he was trying equally hard to read hers.

She became very aware of her heart beat, or was it his, they were pressed against each other so hard. She was sure now that it was his heart beat she was feeling, and she noted it was racing, as she was sure hers was. They remained like that for no more then ten seconds, yet to both of them it seemed like an eternity. She realised she was blushing, and so attempted to continue with the manoeuvre as if nothing was peculiar, she moved a little to the right, Sirius followed her, she moved her face down, his face followed, all the while becoming closer and closer to hers, they were now breathing each others breath, his and hers intertwining, joining, forming one gentle breath.

And then, it happened, neither of them were sure who initiated it, but it happened. Their lips met, they held each other a little harder, and well…they kissed. It lasted for around a minute before Sirius realised what a sick bastard he was, how perverted and paedophilic he was and pulled away.

"Forgive me Hermione" he said before hurrying out the door.

"Sirius" she whispered. He heard, but pretended he did not as he made his way down the corridor. Before he knew it he was outside, under the stars, running wildly in his Animagus form, emotions were simpler like that, he didn't have to think about the wrong he had just done, or more importantly, he didn't have to acknowledge the fact that it hadn't felt wrong, that it had felt like the most natural thing he had done since being released form Azkaban.

Meanwhile, Hermione was doing some serious thinking of her own, typical really, Sirius ran from his emotions, whilst Hermione analysed hers' scientifically. She couldn't believe it, had it actually happened? She made her way back to the Gryffindor tower, so consumed by her thoughts that she failed to realise she was doing something very dangerous, more dangerous then falling in love with Sirius Black, she was walking alone at night through seemingly deserted corridors…

The corridor was not deserted, in fact, Hermione was being followed. Her stalker made no sound so as not to startle her, in fact, he had taken the precaution of becoming invisible. He made no attempt to harm her as he followed her stealthily back to the tower, ensuring she was safely through the portrait hole before he made himself visible. If anyone else had been in the deserted corridor, they would have been surprised to see the daunting figure of Severus Snape shaking with suppressed rage.

He had witnessed all that had gone on in that room, compelled by the Parentae Vitae spell to follow her, he had watched as that slimy pervert Black make his moves on her, getting braver and braver until he had eventually kissed her, had Snape not been in a state of immobilising shock when it happened, he would have punched black immediately, Black had however stopped before Snape had chance. Snape had composed himself, followed Hermione back to the tower to ensure she got there safely, and was now debating whether to find Black and confront him or to inform Dumbledore. Without realising, his feet had taken him to Dumbledore's office, he had given the password, ascended the circular staircase, it was the sound of his hand against the wooden door that had jolted him back to reality. He stood outside the office and waited for Dumbledore's response.

"Come in".

A/N: ok, erm, time for major apologies. I am extremely sorry. I know there's not really any excuse but I shall attempt to give one anyway. I've had a series of nastily exhausting wicked tests (AS levels), I'm attempting to learn to drive, I've been completely obsessed with reading and re-reading the half blood prince (any opinions welcomed in extremely welcomed reviews! Lol) and also I've found love (well…the version of it for seventeen year olds) and he's taking lots of my time at the moment and will most likely continue to do so.

However, I broke up from school last week, so I have lots of time (ish) so am going to attempt to get back on track with this story, despite the fact I've lost the original transcript.

I am truly sorry. Thank you to the reviewers who were more loyal then me! (especially Rane- seriously, when the hell did you break up from school? Some over here don't finish until the 28th of July! (I finished on the 15th by the way)).

Sorry again,

xXx Fiona xXx