*Rated M chapter. Read at your own discretion.

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33 | IRREVOCABLY BOUND

Hermione apparated Sirius directly to her room, immediately summoning her old stash of supplies from when she'd been on the run. Unstoppering her little vial of dittany with trembling hands, she drizzled the serum over his ribs.

But the bleeding wouldn't stop.

"Don't close your eyes," Hermione commanded in a panicked voice. "Don't you dare leave me now, Sirius Black!"

Hermione barely heard as footsteps echoed along the hall before the remaining occupants surged into the room, led none other than Remus.

"Sirius," Lily gasped, flying to the other side of Hermione's bed. "What happened?"

"We don't know what spell was used," Remus recounted quickly. "But his flat was ambushed, probably as retaliation for our attack on Nott Estate."

"I already tried dittany, and it didn't do anything," Hermione said shakily.

Lily summoned her potions chest, which crashed through the slightly ajar door, nearly bulldozing over James on it's path to the frenzied witch. She retrieved a handful of medicines, tipping them one after another straight down Sirius's throat.

The wizard was conscious enough to swallow weakly, but his breathing became more and more haggard, and the potions didn't appear to have any effect on him.

"Why can't I save him?" Hermione muttered to herself. "It's like Harry and Ron all over again."

"Hermione, this is not your fault," Remus told her, his hand resting on her shoulder reassuringly.

"Wait-" Hermione's eyes widened in hope. "Harry."

"What?" Lily asked blankly.

Without waiting to explain, Hermione pulled out her wand, digging deep to find the swirling remnants of Harry's magic. Like an old friend coming to say hello, the dynamic presence flared under her attention. She was aware that with every passing second, her awareness of Sirius's emotions faded even as she summoned Harry's magic to the surface. She'd never consciously tried using the extra magic that seemed to exist within her, and the only time she could remember Harry's magic rising to the surface was when she helped rescue the Prewetts and had to break through the anti-apparition wards. But even then- it had been a survival instinct, not a conscious decision.

Slowly, she began murmuring a healing incantation she'd learned from Madam Pomfrey, urging Harry's magic as well as her own into the spellwork. For a brief moment, it seemed to work; a soft golden light emanated from Sirius's wound, the excess of spilled blood siphoning back into his body. But very quickly, Hermione could feel a wall come against her magic, or more specifically hers and Harry's. Their combined magic was raw and powerful, gushing within her like an uncontrollable waterfall. But her wand was only able to handle so much power.

Sirius was slightly more alert now, no longer teetering on the brink of unconsciousness. But his complexion was still pale from the blood loss, and his pulse was still weak. It wasn't enough.

"Hermione," she could hear a concerned voice call warningly. Was it Remus? Or maybe James? Honestly, it sounded a whole lot like her Harry.

Forcing the magic forward desperately, she tried to continue healing Sirius. She felt the second she'd pushed too far. Her breath caught in her throat for one horrifying moment before a loud crack filled the room. In her hand, her wand splintered, the vinewood cracking and bending until the rift gave off fiery embers of resistance.

Hermione's efforts stuttered to a halt as she looked down at her wand, now barely in one piece.

"Hermione," Lily spoke sadly. "You're pushing yourself too hard."

"It's still not enough," she whispered brokenly. "What about Sirius?"

"We'll do the best we can," Lily promised. "Hopefully, he'll make it through the night. He's been through worse, remember?"

"But we can't even get the wound to stop bleeding, Lily!" Hermione burst out. "He survived last time because he was healed, but we don't know how to fix this!

"I'm stronger than you think," he rasped hoarsely from the bed, drawing all their concerned gazes. "I'll make it through."

"It's not the same," Hermione insisted. "Your injuries last time were a portion of the intended curse, and you only had it because you absorbed it from me-" She froze, her eyes widening in realization.

"What?" Lily asked urgently.

"We need to complete the bond to heal him," Hermione told them. "Now."

"What? I thought it was dangerous to complete?" Lily asked hesitantly, looking to James.

"I'll be fine, I swear!" Hermione cried. "I don't know how to explain it, but I have a lot of powerful magic right now- from both me and Harry. But my wand isn't strong enough to be a conduit for it. That's why it cracked. If we were bonded, my magic could heal him directly from the nature of the blood bond- I know it."

"I don't even know how the spellwork for the bond works," Lily admitted helplessly.

"But I do," James spoke quietly. He sighed, running his hands through his hair. "Most pureblood families still pass down that information even though there are few written records of it left."

"Bind us," Hermione said firmly.

"Don't you dare," Sirius gasped from the bed, looking to his best mate in a stern demand.

"Do it."

Hermione held James's eyes unflinchingly. The wizard who so resembled her best friend looked between her and Sirius uncertainly. But regardless of what they each wanted, the truth was very clearly laid before him. Sirius would not make it through the night- not like this. Hermione knew that. She was also convinced she could heal him with the bond.

He'd doubted her once, and he ended up regretting that decision more than he could ever articulate. James knew losing Sirius was not something he could ever recover from. Nor did he want Harry to lose his godfather.

"James," Hermione instructed calmly. "Do it. Now."

James Potter raised his wand between the two of them. "You know the vows?" He asked Hermione. She nodded briefly.

"You tosser, don't do it," Sirius struggled to sit, only wheezing from the exertion instead. "It'll kill us both- is that what you want?"

Hermione swiftly used one of the shards of wood from her wand to scrape a thin cut into her palm, and she placed her hand directly onto Sirius's ribs.

"Hermione, don't," Sirius begged, trying to dislodge her hand.

James waved his wand, murmuring under his breath. Lily stepped off the bed as she saw a thin golden loop wind around Sirius and Hermione. She watched in awe as the loop glowed and burned around the pair.

"Sanguis sanguinem..." Hermione began the incantation without hesitation. The golden loop cinched around them, tightening as she spoke her vows. With every additional word, she could feel the weight of her vows grounding her like a physical anchor. Sirius's protests stopped as he felt Hermione's very being reach out to him with open arms, pulling him into the warmth of her magic. He could feel the healing magic wash over him like a flood over a fire, watching in awe as the remaining blood pooled around him siphoned back into him as if it'd never happened.

"Oh my," Lily whispered in awe, reaching for her husband. Never in all her years in the magical world had she seen magic so raw and pure. It seemed ironic that this was supposedly a dark spell because everything about this seemed to be light.

James pulled Lily into his protective embrace, and the couple and Remus watched in reverence as a bright golden light radiated from their friends. It was different from the brief flash of blue light when Sirius had completed the first half of the bonding.

"Est vita tua..." Hermione finished with a hushed whisper.

There was a moment of bated silence in the room before a blinding wave of pure energy expelled from the pair, the force blowing through Remus, Lily, and James like a strong wind. The accompanying flash of brilliant golden light obscured all their vision before fading slowly.

"Woah..." Lily clutched onto her husband, trembling as she felt the wave of energy move through them, raw, and powerful.

Sirius and Hermione remained in their exact spots on the bed, Hermione's hand still on Sirius's ribs. Their breaths came out in labored huffs, both staring at the other in astonishment. Hermione finally pulled her hand back from Sirius, moving her fingers experimentally.

"Sirius, are you all right?" Remus finally broke the silence.

His eyes did not leave Hermione's. "Give us a minute, Remus," Sirius said quietly but intensely.

Lily looked between the pair torn. Hermione was now fidgeting with her hands, unable to glance away from Sirius's snaring gaze that held her captive.

"NOW." His uncharacteristically stern tone left no room for argument.

James quickly escorted them out of Hermione's room. Before closing the door, he glanced back at the pair one last time. "Try not to kill each other after all that effort, yeah?" He tried to tease, his voice falling on deaf ears.

"Are you sure you feel alright?" Hermione asked carefully. "Is it fully healed?"

Sirius merely stared at her wordlessly, his eyes intense and unforgiving.

Swinging his legs off the bed in one fluid movement that left no doubt in her mind that he was fully healed, he rose to his feet. Hermione immediately stood, putting space between them cautiously. Sirius's eyes narrowed at the movement.

"You could have killed us," he said quietly, advancing on her with targeted surety.

"I knew I wouldn't," she stepped back further. She didn't know why she was trying to put distance between them. Perhaps it was the bizarre tempest of emotions swirling underneath her own that she knew was directed from a furious Sirius Black.

"But what if you did?" Sirius continued forward, cornering her back up to the wall.

"You were dying anyway," she whispered helplessly.

Sirius's eyes darkened in frustration, and then he was on her before she even had the chance to react. He pushed her back firmly, her shoulders meeting the wall behind her with a dull thud. She tried to push herself off, but Sirius held her hips tightly as he stepped close, crowding her.

"Exactly," he ground out in frustration. "I was dying anyway, so what good would it do either of us for you to die too?"

"I failed the people I loved once," Hermione choked out. "You were dying right in front of me, exactly like last time. I couldn't do it again- not when I actually had the power to fix it."

Sirius rested his forehead against hers, feeling the depth of her aching fear as surely as if it were his own.

"This wasn't supposed to be how we bonded," Sirius said regretfully. "You were supposed to be able to choose when you wanted this. Sometime after the war, when you're not constantly afraid for your own life or mine. You were supposed to have a choice."

Hermione's palm crept along his jaw, forcing him to meet her eyes. "I did choose," she insisted firmly. "This was my choice. Even if you weren't dying, I'd make the same choice every time."

Sirius cinched his arm around her waist, pulling her up against his torso. "Be very sure this is what you want, little witch," he whispered heatedly. "I wanted you to have the chance to live your life without the impending threat of war before you decided what you truly wanted. Even now," Sirius choked out. "I know you completed the bond to save me, so even now, I would step back if you wanted it."

Hermione felt a swell of affection, admiration, and dare she think- love? The man before her was a soothing balm to her neurotic ways, just the right combination of teasing rouge and selfless man. She'd considered numerous times that she might just be throwing herself headfirst into Sirius in an attempt to belong- but that seemed to be a gross underrepresentation of what he was to her. She thought she loved Ron, but that childhood crush was never quite the deep love she'd thought it was. Their friendship was deep- definitely. But Sirius challenged her without insulting her, he tempted her to relax and have fun and enjoy life, and he'd been selflessly protective nearly every step of the way.

She couldn't help the small, disbelieving laugh that escaped her. She tugged Sirius down, catching his lips in a pleading kiss. She knew he wanted to give her space and time to make her choices, but she didn't want any more space or time.

She just wanted him.

"Does that answer your question?" She spoke against his lips, a small smile playing on her lips.

A low growl left Sirius's throat before he sealed his lips over hers firmly, his hands finding her legs as he lifted her easily against him. Hermione wrapped her legs around his narrow waist as he pushed her into the wall, both of them groaning when his iron-hard erection ground into her heated pelvis.

He took her mouth selfishly with a clash of teeth nipping at her lips. "Promise me you won't risk your life like that again- not for me." He breathed against her mouth.

"You know I won't," she insisted stubbornly.

His mouth was back on hers, hard and punishing. "Bloody, stubborn witch," he growled, emphasizing each word with a hard peck.

"You're stuck with her, I'm afraid," she warned him.

"Thank Merlin," Sirius groaned, pulling her off the wall before walking them to the bed, depositing her over the soft blankets.

Their hands moved in a flurry, divesting each other of their clothes before Sirius was pressing into her.

"Sirius," she stopped him lightly. He paused, looking down at her curiously. "I love you. You don't have to let go again."

He groaned, his head dropping to her neck as he sank into her. "You terrify me," he breathed against her skin.

"W-why?" She stuttered, overwhelmed from the sensation of accommodating to him.

"Because you've come to mean everything to me in such a short amount of time," he admitted. His eyes met hers as he began to move, her breath stolen from her by the vulnerability she saw in those pewter orbs. "Don't ever make me lose you. I don't think I could live with it."

"I won't," she swore, gathering him close.

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A/N

If you love the marauders, and the Prewett twins, and a healthy dose of Death Eater redemption...
Please please please go check out my other story 'Hiraeth'!
I promise you won't be disappointed!