Hermione stood still as her father punched her. She could feel the blood trickle from her nose and she still didn't back down. She glared at him.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" She screamed, her voice cracking.

"What the hell is wrong with you? We don't want you here." He said, getting ready to punch her again. "Leave, never come back. From this moment on, you have no parents." Her father said to her and grabbed a back of things that he had previously packed. He threw it at her and then grabbed her by the back of the neck.

She had never expected this, she had always thought that her parents loved her. But, apparently, she was wrong. He threw her out the front door and then locked it. She was on the streets of London by herself. Nothing but a sixteen year old girl now on her own. The little floo powder she had in her pocket was her only chance. She couldn't go to the Weasleys. There was too much sympathy awaiting her there, not to mention what Ron would say. It turned out that Sirius Black hadn't died like everyone had thought had happened but only she, Ron, and Harry knew. They had each received an owl post from him a little after term had ended. Harry was at Ron's for the summer… she couldn't deal with seeing him either. Sirius was the only person for her to turn too. And that was where she decided she would go. She lived near the Leaky Cauldron anyway, so it would be easy to get to Sirius's house.

Walking into the Leaky Cauldron was a dream come true for Hermione. Here, she was a witch, and one of the smartest witches that were there in the wizarding world. Definitely the smartest at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The man, Tom, at the counter looked over at her and made her sit down.

"What happened?"

"I don't want to talk about." She answered him, trying to ignore the sound of sympathy in the man's voice. "Where is your fireplace?" She added. He pointed to an area of the bar and she went over to it after thanking the man and put the floo powder into the flames. It turned green and she stepped into the flames.

"12 Grimmauld Place." She bellowed and the flames took her up. She closed her eyes because the feel of going from fireplace to fireplace made her feel a little nauseous.

When she finally got to the House of the Blacks, she felt herself calm down a little. To be honest, she believed that she could totally trust Sirius, she had felt something trustworthy about him ever since she had met him in her third year. She walked up the front steps of the building and did all the steps to get in.

"Who is there?" A voice came and she looked around until she saw Sirius's head looking at the entry way from the kitchen.

"Sirius, it's Hermione." She said, setting her back pack down on the floor. He walked out of the kitchen and over to where she stood. The look on his face was one of pure terror slash concern.

"What happened to you?"
"It was my father. He doesn't want me going home." Hermione said to him and he gave her a hug. It was a hug that made her less afraid. "Can I stay here?"

"Of course… does Molly know?" He said.

"No, nobody knows but you and me." Hermione told him, afraid that he would turn his back on her in her time of need.

"You don't want Harry and Ron to know, do you?" He asked her. He gave her another hug when she nodded. "Well, I was in the middle of making dinner when you arrived but I think that I should clean you up first." He took out his wand and looked at her. There was something in his eyes as he healed her up as best he could.

"I think that you should take a shower before dinner." He said when he was finished. "If you are too tired, you can just head off to bed and I'll bring you up a plate later?" Hermione shook her head.

"Don't worry about me." She said, looking at the man who she didn't know how she could thank him. "I can help you make dinner. I feel fine. Just a little rejected and hurt, that's all. I'm fine." Sirius took her up on her offer.

"Can you set the table? Remus is coming over for dinner tonight so you can set three places and is there anything you would prefer to eat?"

"No." Hermione answered as she set the table. "You've given me everything that I need. Thank you for giving me a place to stay when I needed it.

"I would never turn my back on even an enemy if they needed my help." Sirius said, looking her right in the eye. "That's not who I am. I help those who need it when they need it and I think it's because I understand that people go through hard times, being in prison for so long taught me that." Hermione nodded. The only person that Sirius talked about being in prison with was Harry so it meant a lot to her that he trusted her so much. When Sirius was done cooking, he set everything up on the table and soon Lupin was there.

"So, what's Hermione doing here?" He said out loud to no one in particular as he ate a spoonful of his soup.

"I've been kicked out of my house and Sirius has offered to give me a place to stay." Hermione answered. Lupin looked a little taken back as he ate more of his soup and she could see the sympathy in his eyes.

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that." He said. "If there is anything I can do to assist you, don't hesitate to ask. Sirius is still believed to be guilty of the murders, so there isn't much he can do besides shelter you." Hermione nodded, taking Lupin's words to heart.

After she finished eating, Hermione went up to the room that Sirius had prepared for her to go to sleep and to give time to the two friends to talk. She was almost asleep when she suddenly remembered that her bag was downstairs in the kitchen. She had stuff in there that she didn't want Sirius and Lupin to see. Most important of which was her diary that Hermione was sure her father had put in there before he kicked her out. Because she didn't want to disturb the two men that were in the kitchen, she decided to go down quietly and to knock on the door before she entered, just in case they were talking about something that she wasn't supposed to hear. When she got to the bottom of the stairs though, she decided that she would eavesdrop because she heard her name in their conversation.

"So, Hermione's going to stay with you for a little while." Lupin said.

"Yeah, she has no where else to go, Remus. I wouldn't let her outside in the cold. I needed to help her."

"Listen, Padfoot, you and I both know what you think of the girl and I don't anything to happen to her. I don't want anything to happen that you and her will end up regretting."

"What are you talking about?" She heard Sirius say.

"I mean, that you like Hermione." Lupin said, even though he had an air of impatience in his voice from what Hermione could hear.

"What makes you think that, Lupin… I don't like her like that… I'm old enough to be her FATHER!"

"Hmm, let's see, the look's that you gave her during dinner, your willingness to help… you didn't even make her contact anyone else to let them know that she is here. Sirius, we've been friends ever since our first trains ride to Hogwarts. I consider you my best friend. I should think that I know what my best friend thinks!"

Hermione took this as her cue to go back upstairs and try to sleep even though she didn't know if she could after hearing their conversation. Could Sirius Black like her? No, it wasn't possible. Could she, Hermione Granger like him back??? Even less likely. Or was it?