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So thankful for the Followers and Favortiers from last chapter. And of course my lovely reviewers; Guest, guest, calimocho, xXMizz Alec VolturiXx and Kaleigh Windelynn. Thank you all so much for continuing to follow the story.


Regulus could see the sunlight that streamed in from the nearby window even while his eyes were still closed. It set off a warm orange glow around the edges of his vision as he blinked to regain his normal sight.

He sat up on the sofa of the little sitting room and shook his head gently as he momentarily forgot where he was or how he had gotten there. Regulus glance around the apartment and began to remember everything.


Marlene had been upset, to say the least, when she had discovered that Rodolphus Lestrange was her brother's murderer. The witch was usually such an independent person, that it had actually worried Regulus when she asked him to stay last night.

The witch had trembled a little as she had told him a bit more of the details of her brother's memory. But after a few glasses of Fire Whiskey, they had moved on to swapping ridiculous stories of the trouble their older siblings had gotten themselves or others into. It might have been the liquor that she had offered but Regulus, despite how much he wanted to avoid a long winded lecture from Walburga Black, had stayed the entire night with Marlene.

They had talked into the very early hours of the next morning, each having a few servings of the burning liquid. And somewhere between comparing older brothers and reminiscing about the tortures of being the younger sibling of the equation, Marlene had fallen asleep on his shoulder. Regulus, being ever the proper gentleman, had put away the empty glasses and gently scooped her up into his arms to carry her into the bedroom. He was a bit surprised by how light the witch was and how small she looked as he laid her down on the colorful duvet. Marlene was almost nine months older than himself, but as he tucked a spare blanket over her body, she looked far too young to have graduated Hogwarts already.

As Regulus was pulling away from her sleeping form, Marlene whispered, "Don't go." She had reached out a hand blindly towards him. He allowed the witch to capture his fingers, and sat down on the bed right beside her. Marlene's eyes remained closed as she held onto his hand and continued to mourn for the brother she had lost too soon, "Stay with me." Marlene had motioned to the extra pillow on her bed and pulled gently on their twined fingers.

Regulus chuckled lightly and shook his head, "I can't do that." He lifted his free hand, which hesitated slightly, and tucked a strand of her straight blonde hair behind her ear. Her tired blue eyes tracking his every movement.

A smile crept across the witch's lips, "And why not? Are you scared of me?"

"Honestly… a little, yes," He grinned as Marlene's shoulders slightly shook with laughter.

"Are you frightened of all girls in general?"

Regulus shook his head again, "No, just the ones I respect and like."

The witch's brow furrowed in a comical fashion, "You respect and like me?"

"Of course. Why wouldn't I?"

Marlene still wore a confused expression, "Is it that you like boys then?"

Regulus snorted, as he finally realized what the witch's line of questioning had been about, "No, I enjoy the company of females. Nothing wrong with those who chose otherwise, mind you. That just isn't my… cup of tea."

Marlene didn't laugh, but she did not seem as bewildered as before. Her eyes were still a little glassy from the drinks as she looked up at Regulus and offered him a small smile, "Then... stay with me."

He tried not to laugh at the prospect; this was all Fire Whiskey induced after all, "I'll stay on the sofa and make sure you're alright before I take my leave tomorrow." Before Marlene could protest, Regulus said his good-nights. He had closed her bedroom door securely behind him and settled onto the comfortable couch.

… But sleep was difficult to find.

Thoughts of Marlene had kept Regulus awake for a good portion of the night. But his resolve to not step foot back into her bedroom had remained strong.


Regulus rubbed the sleep from his eyes and stood up from the sofa. He stretched his arms out and then waved his wand over his shirt to make it wrinkle free before carefully folding the sleeves up.

"You stayed."

Regulus looked up to find Marlene perfectly framed in the doorway of her bedroom. She had exchanged her long white gown for muggle blue jeans and an over-sized Ravenclaw jumper. The witch had an uneasy expression as she held his gaze.

Marlene took a few steps forward as she spoke, "I want to apologize for last night..."

Regulus held a hand up to halt her words but she shook her head and gently pushed his hand away.

"No, I mean it. I'm so sorry for last night," he saw Marlene swallow with some difficulty before she continued, "I shouldn't have allowed myself to get... like that. The only other time I've ever actually been sloshed was my brother's funeral; which is actually the reason I don't drink at all anymore."

He was surprised by the confession, "I'm not sure that I would have done any differently if I was in your position. But you don't have to explain further, I believe low tolerance of liquor should cover everything from last night."

"I know, but I want to," the witch took another shaky breath and forged on, "When I recognized that voice, I felt so small... inferior, completely powerless… I can't thank you enough for getting me out of there. You're such a good person, a good friend… I'm a bit ashamed to say that I didn't think very highly of you when I knew you back at Hogwarts."

"That does seem to happen," Regulus shrugged his shoulders a bit dejectedly. He knew all the colorful words that he had been called throughout the years, unfortunately many of them from his own brother.

"But I shouldn't have lumped you together with men like him. Because of that man, I automatically ran to a bottle of Fire Whiskey. I pulled you along with me and made myself look completely foolish in the process… and I am very sorry for that," Marlene had wrapped her own arms around her stomach. He wasn't sure if the action was a show of defense or simply of low temperature.

Regulus offered her a smile smile, "You weren't completely foolish. Until I had to cart you off to bed, it was actually quite enjoyable just sitting and talking. And it seemed to make you feel better, so I would willingly go through it again if needed."

The edges of Marlene's lips pulled upward, "Thank you."

"I already told you, it was nothing. No need for apologies or gratitude," Regulus stood there in front of her with his arms limp at his sides; he hadn't known what to do with his hands.

"Not that, thank you for… for not taking advantage of the blubbering idiot that took my place last night."

Regulus chuckled at her self deprecating humor, "I would never. And I knew that it was just the Fire Whiskey speaking through you."

"It might not have been solely the liquors fault…"

Marlene hadn't mumbled the words. She had not dropped her gaze and whispered the phrase offhandedly under her breath either. She held eye contact with him, articulated each syllable carefully and had patiently watched his reaction.

The words hung in the air between them.

The silence was absolutely deafening.

What was truly only a few fleeting seconds, felt like hours to Regulus as he stood there. His brain was trying desperately to process the words as he blankly stared at the pretty witch in front of him. This couldn't be real, he must have heard her wrong. She couldn't possibly like the Death Eater spy… that idea was absurd, unthinkable… idiotic and suicidal...

But before he could voice any of his objections, Marlene took the last step to close the gap between them, threw her arms around his neck and placed a searing kiss on his mouth.

Regulus tried to object, but instead found himself kissing Marlene back and holding her as close to his own body as possible.

Her lips were commanding but soft, and caused Regulus to completely lose track of all thought.

He was finally able to force himself away after a few seconds when his lungs ached for air. Regulus placed a hand on either side of Marlene's face, "We… we can't… this, this isn't a good idea. It's not safe..."

The witch's eyes sparkled as she grinned, "I'm in this with you; I know all the dangers. We're already putting our lives on the line... why not take a risk with this too?"

Regulus's only answer was to pull Marlene back into an embrace and quickly find her lips again.


Sirius and Hermione's few days of ignorant bliss was going extremely well.

They had ventured out to Muggle London a few times so that Hermione could show off a bit of the non-magical world to Sirius. But she had been surprised to find that it was a bit like exploring it for the first time herself. 1978 London was a bit different from her own time. She found it interesting though and reveled in the idea of knowing her hometown from two different perspectives.

One day they had gone to the British Museum. It had been fairly crowded because of the holiday season, but it had been simply amazing to see. Hermione was surprised to find that Sirius knew quite a bit about the Egyptian Sculpture section. She already knew about all of the muggle side of things, but it was exciting to hear the magical aspect. Sirius told her in a low voice about how magic had been more openly used then. How the pharaohs of the older kingdoms had been purebloods and they had used their magic to enslave a whole country. He explained the complex curses that the pharaohs had placed on their tombs and how creative he thought muggles could be when they were trying to explain away magic, "... They were initially correct of course, terrible curses they set. But then they decided it was long dead diseases, or mold, or stale air…"

Hermione had slapped his arm and fixed a glare on him as he poked fun at the muggle theories, but she knew that Sirius meant nothing by the comments.

Another day, Hermione had convinced her boyfriend to attend a film. She had always loved watching old movies with her parents, and the original Superman had been a favorite of her father's favorites. When Hermione had seen a photograph of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Andrew in the muggle paper as they attended the European premier of the film, she had decided that it would be fun to see the movie in a theater.

Sirius had been floored by the experience. He had thought the story line a bit silly at first, but the film had grabbed his attention and was undeniably entertaining. The biggest interest Sirius had was how the movie had been made. He had reminded Hermione a bit of Mr. Weasley as he asked her how they had made a man fly through the air, or have him blast through the ceiling of a building completely unharmed, "It's a lot of optical illusions and special effects, Sirius. Like you said, muggles have to be very creative since they don't have magic."

But even with the outings to Muggle London being a huge success, Hermione had found that she enjoyed just being around the Cottage with Sirius the most. They had cooked meals together, played several games, they spent one night magically repainting the sitting room which was actually quite entertaining with a bottle of wine shared between them.

Sirius had even convinced Hermione to give flying a real chance one afternoon. And though it hadn't ended in any bruises or broken bones, it hadn't alleviated the fear the witch had for flying.

Hermione clumsily slipped off the broom and collapsed onto the grass. Sirius had been offering words of encouragement and tips as she had hovered a few feet in the air, and she had taken it all in stride. But now she was exhausted and all she wanted to do was be on the ground, "Don't mind me… I'm just going to be here until I'm no longer lightheaded."

The wizard chuckled as he easily dismounted his broom and stared down at the witch as she clutched the dry grass between her fingers, "You did surprisingly well for being so frightened."

"Does that mean we can forgo any further lessons?" Hermione peeked at him from her tightly shut eyes, "I'm perfectly fine not flying you know. I've done well enough without a broom for seven and a half years now."

"Yes, alright," Sirius plopped himself down onto the ground and laid down next to her, "I do appreciate you trying, though."

Hermione sighed, "Don't worry. Harry will be along in a little while and you'll have someone who actually enjoys flying to play with."

"But won't James want to teach the boy?"

"I'm sure he will. But James will be his father, and he will have to discipline Harry occasionally. But you," Hermione offered him a dazzling smile, "... you will be his godfather, his fun uncle who helps him get away with many, many things."

Sirius mirrored her grin, "Am I a good godfather?"

"Yes," Hermione's smile fell slightly and her eyes lost their happy luster, "You are a wonderful godfather. Harry loved you very much… even though he didn't get to know you for very long."

Sirius hated seeing the shadows of the future fall over the witch's face. He rolled over and leaned his body on top of Hermione's, "And what did you think of me, back in your time?"

Hermione snorted.

He leaned down and grazed his lips across hers teasingly, "Was that completely necessary? Was I really that awful?"

She shook her head, "No, of course not. But I was a rule abiding, know-it-all… my opinion shouldn't count."

"Tell me."

Hermione sighed, "Well… the first time I met you, you had broken out of Azkaban and had been on the run for several months. You were blinded by revenge and half starved to death. I thought you were a bit terrifying actually." She looked up into the wizard's eyes. There was a twinkle there still, like he knew that she wasn't quite finished, "I did get to know you a bit afterwards. You got better, helped Harry a lot. But... I thought you were completely immature and a bit crazy."

"So, I really didn't change much?" Sirius openly laughed as the witch rolled her eyes in exasperation. He placed a hand on Hermione's cheek and gently turned her head, "Do you know how much I adore you?"

A brief look of confusion crossed Hermione's face at the abrupt change of subject. She collected her thoughts quickly and smiled, "I think I have a general idea."

Sirius captured Hermione's lips and kissed her. It was gentle at first; a loving caress that explained without words just how much Sirius did love her. She smiled against his mouth and tilted her head, ever so slightly, to deepened the kiss.

The kiss quickly progressed as Hermione laced her fingers through Sirius's hair and his hands began to roam beneath her sweater.

"Bloody… Honestly, you're on the front lawn. Are you two animals?!"

Hermione had immediately pulled away and covered her face as she blushed. She tried to bury herself against Sirius's chest as he threw a handful of dead grass at the intruder and chuckled, "It's our house, Reg, we can act however we like. And what are you doing here anyway? I thought we wouldn't hear from you until the new term began."

Sirius stood up and pulled Hermione along with him. She was still a bit red as she greeted Regulus.

The younger Black nodded to the witch to return her welcome, "I… I need to talk."

"Of course," Sirius became a bit anxious at the seriousness of his brother's tone, "Let's go inside then. You can tell us everything over some tea."

Regulus nodded his head curtly again and followed the couple into the house.

Sirius set the kettle on the stove as Hermione found a few mugs. She laid a hand on Regulus's shoulder as he settled into one of the wooden chairs at the kitchen table, "Is everything alright?"

"No," the younger wizard simply stated.

"What's happened?" Sirius turned from the stove top and glared at his younger brother's vague answer.

Regulus stared at a point right in the middle of the tabletop, "Marlene needs to be replaced as my connection to the Order."

Hermione's eyes grew wide, "Merlin… was she discovered? Are you two in danger?!"

"In danger yes, but not discovered," Regulus didn't move an inch, "It's not safe for her."

"Well, if she wasn't found out to be an Order member, what could possibly be so dangerous?" Sirius sat down beside his brother and tried to analyze the younger man's expression.

"I just… she just… she needs to be protected. From all of it really; The Dark Lord, the other Death Eaters… me," Regulus finally met his brother's eyes.

Hermione quickly grabbed the kettle and muttered a heating charm; she had no patience for the muggle way of boiling water at the moment. She quickly tossed a tea bag into each cup and poured the steaming liquid, "You need to give us more information than that, Regulus. Maybe we can help with whatever has happened."

Sirius continued to hold his brother's gaze. There was a familiar look in his eyes. It was the same look of desperation that Regulus had had when he was ten and their mother had threatened to kill the boy's owl. Regulus had begged Sirius to take the owl to Hogwarts and keep him away from the townhouse, but that hadn't saved the poor creature from Walburga Black's wrath.

When the realization hit him, Sirius scoffed and began to smirk at his little brother. Hermione mistook the action as Sirius being insensitive, and he placed a more controlled expression on his face, "Will you tell Hermione why you want Marlene replaced and protected, or shall I?"

Regulus didn't respond. He looked at his older brother and silently begged for him to fix this somehow.

"Alright then," Sirius sighed deeply and turned to face his girlfriend, "I believe my dear brother may have fallen for his own act…"

Hermione furrowed her eyebrows, "What do you mean?"

"I've fallen for her."


Some luff and some heat... lets see where this goes.

Any theories? =)

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Always,

Misha

Ps. Check out the other stories by me: 'Begin Again' (which is now complete!), 'The Bookworm and The Prankster' and 'Penelope Jackson: The Lightning Thief.'