A/N: Well. Some of you might have read my other ff with Sirimione (yes, it was pure smut). I decided to use the idea and write an AU fic with this pairing, hoping that it would turn out... well, quite good. Let me know what you think of this introduction!
#0. The wrong tree
Hermione couldn't decide if she was more terrified, or… weirdly fascinated. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Sirius Black was attractive, even after spending twelve years in Azkaban. At first she couldn't see it; in his ragged clothes and with skin covered in multiple tattoos, he looked wild and a bit terrifying. His ribs were too prominent, and his hair too tangled for her to be able to actually see those aristocratic features that had always made women swoon, when he was younger.
The change in him became obvious pretty quickly. He gained enough weight to fill all those fancy clothes he wore, and his hair regained its previous shine, falling down to his shoulders in smooth waves. His bone structure suddenly started to look like a fine piece of art, rather than the outcome of famine and the harsh environment of the wizarding prison. And there was also his laughter… Rich, raspy and so, so rare that one could not simply ignore the sound.
She acknowledged these things, sure– she was a woman, after all. Young and inexperienced one, but a woman nonetheless. His attractiveness didn't change the fact that he was still Harry's Godfather, significantly older than her. The age difference wasn't such a big problem on its own though, and in the time of war no one would really care if they ever decided to get together – not even Harry.
Such thoughts had to disappear though, mostly because of a very important factor – Sirius Black would never take interest in such a chit like Hermione Granger. Not that she was particularly ugly, despite her wild hair, little to no make-up and the purple circles underneath her eyes. No… She just wasn't the kind of girl that would ever allow herself to have a meaningless fling, based solely on physical attraction. And Sirius Black, despite his own age, didn't care for relationships.
Hermione simply moved on, focusing more on finishing school and keeping her friends alive. She even developed feelings for Ron, or – at least – she thought she had. After a few, very awkward encounters, they both decided that all the stress and constant fear for their lives had messed with their heads. Weasley quickly found consolation in Hannah Abbot, while Granger decided that being in love was not something that could be forced. So she buried herself in books and helping the Order to her best ability.
To her surprise, during her sixth year at Hogwarts, she became a fairly important part of Dumbledore's plan. He could see her intelligence and the ability to act quickly on her feet; despite the general policy to keep students as far away from the secret meetings as possible, Hermione found herself travelling back to Grimmuald Place quite often, which was the reason for Harry and Ron's constant whining.
Boys didn't like the feeling of being left out, but they knew that arguing was pointless; Mrs Weasley wouldn't allow Ron to be present at the meetings, and Harry… Well, his abilities were quite limited. Voldemort only waited for a perfect chance to capture him, which would undoubtedly strip them of any hopes to actually defeat him one day. There was also the fact that things… did not look great and Potter would probably start killing himself with guilt, taking the blame for all the suffering. The Order decided that keeping him in the dark about most of those dreadful things was the best route, although Hermione still managed to slip him some information – just to keep him calm.
When Dumbledore sent her a letter, requesting her presence at the meeting, she excused herself from the boys and went down to the Headmaster's office. The older man allowed her to use the Floo Network that was linked to Grimmuald Place and nowhere else. She didn't really understand how it was possible to keep Death Eaters out of that connection, but Albus was a brilliant wizard, so she stopped questioning most of his choices.
Dumbledore wasn't present in the office, but Hermione ignored it; situations like these happened quite often, and he assured her that there would be no consequences if she simply used the Floo without his supervision. She entered the flames and stated her destination loud and clear.
In a swirl of colours and whispers, she landed in familiar fireplace, smiling warmly at the sight of Sirius. That is, until she'd realised that he wasn't wearing… much.
Hermione blushed, when her gaze landed on his bare chest, covered in tattoos and muscles she didn't think he'd have. Apparently, he didn't have much to do, besides exercising and reading. Right now he was occupied with the latter, but the definition of his abs told her a lot about his usual activities. Maybe it was just a matter of the dim lighting, but she couldn't help but to absentmindedly trace the shadows of each curve of his skin, like it was the most mesmerising show in the whole world.
"Hello, Hermione. Nice to see you too."
"Sirius… Sorry, I just…" she stuttered, blushing furiously to his amusement. "Dumbledore told me about the meeting and I decided to come earlier, to avoid questions."
"Sure thing," he answered and waved his hand dismissively, but she could still see his mischievous, knowing grin, even after he returned to his book.
Hermione stayed still for a moment, trying to force herself to move, and Black clearly sensed her hesitation. He offered her a glance and it sent shivers down her spine.
"Make yourself at home. Others won't be arriving for quite a while," he stated and followed her movement for a short while.
The girl sat down in the armchair right next to the couch, and took out her own book. Something about being in the same room with a half-naked Sirius Black made her uncomfortable and weirdly… wary. His gaze stayed glued to her silhouette for another minute or so, until he finally decided to leave her be. When he returned to his occupation, Hermione exhaled, realising that she was holding her breath up to this point.
Ignoring her ridiculous thoughts, she started to read and – just like every other time – she became engrossed by her lecture. Black's presence became forgotten for a while, but when she heard his chuckle, she realised that he was still there.
"I thought that Lily, Harry's mom, was a bookworm," he said, when Hermione met his gaze. "Yet, here you are… Muttering weird definitions, searching for information with fire in your eyes and blush on your cheeks," Sirius continued with amusement. "Most girls look like this, when they're thinking about boys."
Just like that, the tension was back in the room. It would have swept her off her feet, hadn't she been sitting. Hermione couldn't tell if it was just her imagination's fault, or if Sirius had consciously laced his voice with a flirtatious tone.
"Boys are overrated," she answered slowly and shrugged.
"Ah, so you prefer men, huh?"
The girl looked at him with such confusion, that he laughed shortly, making her skin tickle with the richness of the sound.
"Don't get flustered, sweetheart. I'm not serious." He winked at her and got back to his book once more.
Conversations like this one were the main reason as to why she'd never found him attractive. Hermione Granger couldn't be described as an open, daring person, and Sirius… He was the epitome of those things. A subject that could make him uneasy simply didn't exist. He also refused to treat her like a child; in his eyes, she was always a grown-up - a woman at that. Hermione would lie if she said that it didn't make her body tingle all over. Actually, she found it exhilarating to know that someone could look past her age, to see that she was hardly a teenager. Cause a teenager wouldn't have the guts to respond to his playful banter in a similar manner.
"But you're quite right. I do prefer men," she said, smiling at his surprised expression. He looked at her, clearly stunned, and she raised her eyebrows. "I like conversations that don't necessarily revolve around Quidditch, you know? Most boys my age don't really care for those."
"But they're much prettier, huh?" he asked with amusement, but Hermione only snickered.
"Are they, really?"
Her question was laced with irony, as she eyed him up and down, before turning her gaze away. No… No, not many boys could make her lightheaded with just a single comment and a hazy glance.
Satisfaction washed over her body, when she'd heard no reply, not right away. Sirius continued staring at her intently, trying to decipher if she'd truly meant her words. He probably considered all the pros and cons of continuing their conversation; he clearly wanted to continue, judging by his closed book and the way he leaned towards her armchair.
"You always seemed more mature than the others," he finally said, sounding a bit absent to her surprise.
"I don't know if it's a matter of maturity." Hermione shrugged. "My parents said that I was born with an old soul. I definitely didn't see any… changes, when I became an official adult. I fell into my new role pretty easily."
"That was the first thing I noticed about you," he admitted and smiled. "Back in your third year, you were already smart enough to use the Time-Turner. To save my life…"
Suddenly the silence became heavy; Sirius voice was filled with melancholy and she knew that his thoughts went back to that day, three years ago. They both knew that it wasn't the first time she'd saved him; last year had officially put him in her debt, although she had no intentions of ever mentioning it to him. After all, Bellatrix needed to be stopped, no matter who happened to be on the end of her wand. Hermione didn't think much of her heroism, not until she looked into Sirius' eyes, later that day, to find gratitude so great, that she blushed a furious red.
"I'm glad that you stayed by Harry's side. He probably doesn't like your involvement with the Order, but… you're far more capable of understating certain things than he is," Sirius sighed and averted his gaze. "The Ministry trip opened my eyes to that."
Hermione bit her lip, trying to find the right words to answer him. Finally, she looked up and said:
"Harry wanted to save you. It was stupid, irresponsible and wrong, as it was the result of plain naivety. But you're the only family he has," she added gently and closed her own book. "He wouldn't be able to live, knowing that he did nothing to help, and… I kind of get that. I bet you do to. Besides I really think he needed such a lesson, to finally understand that we're at war and… and sacrifices are required."
"Somehow I feel like it took a lot of effort on your part to convince him." Sirius looked at her again, so she just nodded.
"Of course it did. It's my main job. To keep him safe. You know that."
Just like that, his mischievous smile was back and Hermione realised that she was about to her something that would leave her blushing, or stuttering like an idiot.
"Yet here you are… flirting with his Godfather," he said, raising his eyebrows and silently daring her to take the bait.
As expected, she blushed, but returned his gaze with bravery she didn't think she had.
"I wouldn't call it flirting," Hermione mused and shrugged.
"What would you call it then?"
"Responding to your obvious provocations with equal playfulness?"
Sirius laughed and another shiver ran up her spine; she'd learned to differentiate his happy laughter from the darker, richer one that usually meant troubles. It was almost as if he wanted to rouse her and make her acknowledge this masculine, sexy side of him. Or maybe he simply liked to make her blush.
"Sorry, Hermione," he said a second later. "I just don't get much entertainment, sitting in this old house by myself."
"I never said I minded," she retorted with a smile.
"Oh, I forgot… You like talking to men." He rolled his eyes, making her chuckle. "But it does sound a lot like flirting, just so you know. Not that I mind either. It's quite cute."
Cute?, she thought and felt a pang of irritation. She wasn't trying to be cute – on the contraire.
"Funny… That's exactly what I thought about those provocations of your," she said sweetly and watched the corners of his mouth twitch. "Cause you're still trying to act like a gentleman, even though you'd just love to embarrass me completely. I think it's so, so sweet."
Sirius snorted and sat up, forcing Hermione to follow the movement of his muscles with her gaze. He noticed that, obviously, and smirked with satisfaction, but the girl was too engrossed in the conversation to care. She stared at him calmly, waiting for the comment that would undoubtedly turn their little "talk" to something sinfully dirty.
"I'm not trying to be sweet, love. I just don't think you could handle me, actually trying to flirt with you."
Hermione raised her eyebrows, knowing that he was just trying to manipulate her into taking the challenge. She knew it would be better to just agree with him – because she truly wasn't sure if she could handle him, without losing herself in the process. Still, a part of her felt excitement just at the mere thought of all those conversation they could share. All those forbidden, inappropriate talks that would leave her hot and bothered… And so she leaned forward and did something that could prove to be the death of her.
"You want to know what I think?" she asked calmly, although her heart raced against her ribcage. "I think you're barking up the wrong tree."