AN: the last chapter was a brutal one lol.

I feel like I need to explain why exactly I wrote Remus that way in the past chapter. Even in the books Remus spoke bitterly about how Sirius always got the girl. THAT and he refused a relationship with Tonks and left her when she was pregnant so I felt it wasn't that out of character for remus (for lack of better word lol) to tap out of the situation his relationship with Hermione had put him in.

Karo190204: The Marauders friendship will not be ruined I promise! There will be amends!

DISCLAIMER: Don't own anything!

Chapter Twenty-Six: Tattoos

Lily, Remus, and Peter all packed up and left in the next couple of days, but even after they had left, Hermione refused to leave her room. Tilly brought her meals to her room, but the elf wasn't too happy about it. Even the hits from her various kitchen utensils didn't get Hermione out of bed. It surprised everyone when Charlus was the one to break her new habit about three weeks after the 'great coup de grace' as Sirius and James had taken to referring to it.

The four occupants of the house had started taking turns attempting to break the depression Hermione had spiralled into, and afterwards every time they would meet and discuss what they tried and how it didn't work at all.

Remus had sent Hermione an owl everyday (sometimes more than one) with varying versions of apologies. He was begging her for forgiveness, and all of which had gone unanswered. The pile next to her bedside was starting to grow exponentially with nearly forty letters of apologies spilling over the edges. Every time they came in, Hermione would be laying on her side staring at the offending pile like it was the very offender in question.

That's why Charlus coming down from one of his attempts with a huge grin, shocked everyone.

He sat down on what was known as his arm chair in the main living room, and smirked.

"Turns out our Hermione is weak in the face of bribery."

James actually laughed and said, "What exactly did you bribe her with?"

Charlus picked up the Daily Prophet and said loftily, "All it took was throwing a pouch of galleons at her and telling her that Flourish and Blott's got a new shipment of books today."

James slapped a hand to his forehead and said, "Why didn't I think of that!"

Hermione came down the stairs then in another one of the simple sundresses that kept appearing in her closet and a nervous expression.

"Lavender is a fetching color on you, dear."

Hermione blushed and shifted nervously on her feet.

"Thanks, mum."

James and Sirius were giving her a proud look, so Hermione tucked one of the shorter curls behind her ear and turned towards the floo.

"I shouldn't be too long I think," she said with her back to them as she stepped up on her toes to reach for some floo powder.

"You want company?" James asked excitedly.

"No thanks!" Hermione shouted right before calling out her destination and stepping through.

Hermione stepped through the floo in the leaky and immediately made her way towards Flourish and Blott's.

Hermione hated to admit it, but as soon as she stepped onto the cobbled streets of Diagon Alley, she felt like the fresh air was blowing away a lot of her pain. She took a deep breath and started walking towards the book shop. Walking in brought her an even lighter feeling than being outside had.

She lost herself in the books for nearly three hours and ended up walking out with nearly twelve of them shrunken in her bag.

As soon as she stepped out, she came to a grinding halt when Pandora was standing right in front of her.

Before Hermione could even greet her, the slightly batty witch had wrapped her hand around her elbow and was pulling her in the direction of the leaky again.

"I imagine you're hungry?"

Hermione let out a light laugh and said, "Yes, I suppose."

Hermione let Pandora lead her all the way to a booth in the back of the pub where they both ordered a serving of fish and chips.

"So, Hermione Granger, I have met the most inspired man."

Hermione's eyebrows shot up. "Is that so?"

"Yes. He is the editor of the Quibbler, and he has the most wonderful ideas regarding creatures and wizarding law."

Slowly the smirk on Hermione's face grew.

"He has promised to take me on an expedition across Northern Europe as soon as I finish my seventh year to explore my theories on Crumple-Horned Snorkacks."

Hermione actually giggled at this.

"He sounds perfect," she said through her laughs.

Pandora gave her a knowing look. "Yes, I imagine he is."

Hermione actually found Pandora's continued ramblings on the opinions of Xenophilius distracting in the best possible way. Hermione couldn't stop laughing, and she was remembering the positives to being in this time. Pandora talking about her interactions with Xenophilius brought her insight on Luna. It was an odd connection that she hadn't quite braced herself for yet.

At the end of their meal, Pandora pulled a pair of crazyberry earrings from her bag and said quietly, "They'll help heal your broken heart." She placed a gentle hand on Hermione's cheek and added, "Remus will be a wonderful friend to you, if you let him."

After Pandora left, Hermione decided she wasn't taking any chances and quickly put the earrings in. When she caught her reflection in the mirror of the loo, she saw that it was a bundle of berries similar to grapes hanging from her ears in varying reds and purples.

She laughed to herself as she left the leaky in favor of wandering the streets again.

It wasn't long before two familiar redheads latched onto her elbows and started walking with her.

"Well, look who it is."

"Our very own-"

"Special bird."

Hermione glared up at the Prewett twins and pulled from their clutches so that she was standing in front of them.

"Hullo, boys."

Gideon reached forward and yanked one of her curls down.

"I like this new style, birdy."

"I don't," she said with a scowl.

"Always so angry!" Fabian crossed his arms over his chest and nudged his brother.

"I say we give it to her now."

"See if we can get her to smile, brother!"

Fabian reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out a small cloth bag.

"We been carrying this around, we have."

"Just finished the charms on it."

"Brilliant we are, you'll see!"

Hermione nervously took the pouch from their hands and pulled the string to open it. It was a delicate looking watch with a worn brown leather strap. When she flipped it over to look at the watch face she gasped. It was a version of the clock Molly Weasley kept in her home.

Hermione's eyes darted between the two proud looking twins before turning to the clock face again. Her fingers ran over the glass, and a huge smile spread over her face.

She handed one of them the pouch and started to put the watch on. When she struggled with the buckle, Fabian reached out and clasped it for her.

"We didn't know who you would want to add to it, but we went ahead and added James, Charlus, and Dorea." She watched as Dorea, Charlus, and James's clock hands ticked infinitesimally over the small word 'home.' She hadn't realized until that moment how true it was that Potter Manor was her home.

"It's perfect," she directed her smile at them. It was hard for her to tear her eyes away from the clock face even for a moment.

"Ah! There it is!"

"Perhaps you'll show it to us more often," Gideon smirked at her.

Her smile dropped when she said, "Doubt it. How do I add another person?"

"It's easy enough…"

"Especially with our instructions that we put in that pouch."

Hermione surprised both of them when she wrapped her arms around them and pulled them close for a hug.

"You don't know how much I appreciate this!"

The twins actually looked sheepish when she pulled away.

"We also put a permanent tempus charm on it, so it's not just good for locating your family."

"Yes, it also functions as an actual watch!" Gideon finished.

Hermione gave them both light kisses on the cheek before departing again to run a few small errands. She was worried that as soon as she went back to Potter Manor the small depression she was in would crash over her like an oncoming wave. She checked her watch after a trip to the apothecary and saw that it was nearly time for dinner. That was what made her decide she should probably head back to Potter Manor before James sent out search parties.

All of her anxiety disappeared when she stepped out of the floo to James's and Sirius's raucous laughter echoing from the dining room. She steeled herself and walked purposely to the dining room. Hermione Granger didn't mope. She was done being the sad, broken-hearted girl who didn't leave her room.

And as much as she hated to admit it, Pandora had proven herself scarily accurate as far as cryptic advice about the future went.

Remus will be a wonderful friend to you, if you let him.

Maybe she wasn't ready for that, but she was open to the idea. Three weeks and she already missed him.

Hermione walked into the room and was relieved when for the first time the Potter's and Sirius didn't make a big show about her reentering society after a spiral.

"Hullo," she said as happily as she could manage.

She took her normal seat next to James and across from Sirius and immediately started to fill a dinner plate.

"New earrings?" Sirius asked in amusement.

Hermione touched the crazyberries fondly and said with a withering look, "Pandora."

"New watch?" James asked as he snatched her wrist. "Blimey! This is so cool!"

Hermione actually beamed, "Yes, the Prewett twins are actually quite clever."

"The Prewett twins gave this to you?" James asked with a bit of an awestruck expression.

"Pass it over!" Sirius demanded.

Hermione pulled her wrist out of James's hand and close to her own chest. She was reluctant to part with it. Sirius's eyebrows shot up, and Hermione sighed. "Fine!"

She took it off and handed it to him before passing it to Dorea and Charlus for inspection.

"I think I'm going to add a few more hands to it." Hermione started to cut her chicken as she continued without really thinking, "Sirius and Lily. Oh and Remus of course…" She trailed off with the fork frozen halfway to her mouth. "Actually, maybe I'll wait before I add anyone to it." She sighed and started eating, so she wouldn't have to look at their faces.

Dorea surprised her when she said, "Remus was your friend first, Hermione."

Hermione's eyes widened in shock before narrowing dangerously.

"Oh no," James muttered under his breath.

"Friends don't do what he did," Hermione hissed.

She started angrily stabbing at her food, and the other four at the table watched her with mild trepidation as her hair began to spark.

"What did he do, dear?"

Dorea and Charlus had tried to weasel the information out of Sirius and James, but the most they could get was James angrily saying, "He betrayed her trust."

Hermione stabbed another piece of chicken before saying, "Nothing, it's not important!"

She shoved the chicken in her mouth, and Dorea wrinkled her nose in masked disapproval.

"Perhaps, you should talk about it. Get it out of your system," Charlus encouraged.

Hermione took a few deep gulps of her water before standing with her chair scraping the ground.

"Not ready," she said matter-of-factly and made her way back out of the dining room out and towards the stairs.

All remaining eyes flew to Charlus when he let out a dry laugh and said, "I wouldn't want to be Remus right now."

"Why?" James was confused. All she did last time was cry.

Dorea smirked and said, "Our dear girl has moved her focus from heartbreak to anger."

James paled and said, "Oh, Merlin… she's going to kill Moony!"

Sirius stood in front of her door for maybe thirty minutes before he finally talked himself out of his anxieties and knocked on her door. Sirius Black didn't get anxious over some girl. He sighed to himself.

Who was he kidding.

Hermione wasn't some girl, and he wasn't exactly the same Sirius Black anymore.

"Come in," her soft voice called. He relaxed when he realized she didn't sound nearly as angry as she had before.

He walked in and saw her sitting cross legged on the floor in the same outfit she'd been wearing before. Set in a neat pile in front of her were all of Remus's letters.

"Hey, kitten," he said quietly. He took a step forward, so that he was standing directly to her left.

She let out a rather pitiful sniffle and whispered, "What would you do, Sirius? If you were in my shoes."

He took a moment to consider what she was asking before saying, "Get pissed." He paused then added, "Then probably get a tattoo."

Hermione's head flew around to face him, and wiped her eyes, "That's a great idea, Sirius!"

Sirius balked. "It is?" He asked doubtfully.

Her head cocked to the side in thought. "The second part at least."

A slow grin started to make its way onto his face. "You're serious?"

She laughed and cocked an eyebrow. "No, you're Sirius."

He was still reeling from the complete 180 in her mood by the time she had thrown her shoes back on and started dragging him through the house to the traveling room.

"Wait are we really doing this?" He asked dumbly.

She paused right in front of the floo. She turned and gave him a nervous look. "Well, I'm going to, but I suppose if you don't want to, you don't have to."

Sirius laughed and grabbed a pinch of floo powder. "If you're in, I'm in."

They flooed to the Leaky before stepping out into Muggle London.

Hermione hadn't thought as far as an actual tattoo shop, but she was saved when Sirius seemed to know exactly where he was going.

He was holding her hand loosely as he pulled her through the bustling nightlife of London.

"You know where you're going, Sirius?" She asked incredulously.

The rational side of her brain was starting to catch up with the impulsive, and she was starting to have doubts.

He looked over his shoulder and smiled mischievously at her. "I've been here before, kitten."

Hermione's eyebrows shot up, and her grip on his hand tightened when a few drunk men stumbled out of a bar laughing loudly. Sirius pulled her closer, so that she was tucked into his side. There were a lot of people out for it being near ten in the evening.

Hermione's nervousness didn't fade at all when Sirius stopped in front of what looked like an abandoned building. It looked like a foreclosed storefront, but the longer she stared at it, the more she noticed the odd shimmering on the signs and paint. Sirius knocked on the front door with his knuckles and waited.

"Sirius, are you sure this is-"

Hermione was cut off when the door swung open and someone that looked remarkably like Sirius stood in the opening. He was a few inches taller, but he had the same remarkable hair and strong jawline. The only difference was his dark brown eyes.

"Why are my eyes deceiving me, or did Sirius Black just show up on my doorstep?" The man's dark and amused eyes turned on a confused Hermione and he let out a laugh, "And he brought a pretty little bird with him. She looks too good for you, mate!"

"Stubby," Sirius grinned and held his hand out for a manly greeting.

Once they had let go Sirius wrapped his arm around Hermione's waist and pulled her close to him. Stubby's eyes landed on Hermione again, and he gave her a once-over that had her wrinkling her nose.

"Hermione this is Stubby Boardman." Hermione held her hand out to him and plastered a smile on her face.

"Hullo," she said pleasantly.

"Hullo, indeed." Stubby drawled before taking her hand and pressing a kiss to her knuckles. She cursed herself when a blush spread across her cheeks, but Stubby just winked at her. He maintained eye-contact when he said, "Definitely too good for you, mate."

Hermione pulled her hand from his and gathered herself enough to say, "I reckon I'm too good for you too then." Sirius guffawed, and Stubby's face dropped into a shocked expression before he broke into a disbelieving smirk.

"Oh, I like her. She's a little minx. I bet she'd-"

Sirius's laughs died out and he interrupted menacingly, "Watch it, Stubby!"

Stubby held his hands up in mock surrender and then stepped back with a bow. "Alright, alright, got it. I'll restrain myself. Now, are you here for a real reason or just showing off?"

Sirius seemed to relax against her as he pulled her into the shop at Stubby's urging.

Hermione quietly observed her surroundings as Stubby and Sirius reunited. They were in a room similar to a muggle tattoo shop, but the wallpaper was dark blue and fluttering across the entire room were various silvery designs. Hermione made her way around the wall and studied all of them in awe. After a few minutes, she paused in front of one in particular.

"You want that one?" Hermione turned and looked at a smiling Sirius. Stubby was somewhere behind them talking to a young witch covered in tattoos. Hermione turned back to the one she was looking at and smiled sadly. She reached out, and her fingertips ghosted over it lightly.

It was a lightning bolt.

She supposed it was kind of morbid, but she smiled at the idea that she would have something of Harry's with her forever. She had no keepsakes. Nothing to remember him by besides her memory, and even that could be taken away from her.

"Yeah this is the one."

Sirius wrapped his arms around her shoulders from behind and rested his chin on top of her curls.

"I like it."

She was thankful he didn't ask any questions about why she wanted that one in particular.

Stubby said something about being right back, and Hermione asked, "How do you know him?"

"Met him at Hogwarts. He was a couple years ahead of us, but dropped out before his Seventh Year. You know the Hobgoblins?"

Hermione nodded against his head.

"He's the lead singer."

Hermione turned around to face him, and Sirius's arms dropped to his side. "What's he doing running a tattoo shop in the middle of Muggle London?"

Sirius smirked, leaned forward, and whispered like it was some kind of great secret, "Him and the tattoo artist are somewhat… intertwined you could say."

Hermione blushed and nodded in understanding.

"Ah. Gotcha."

Sirius poked her blushing cheek affectionately right as Stubby reappeared with the witch from before.

"Alright, what can I do you for, Sirius?" The witch was rather pretty, with short blonde hair and delicate features. She had big green eyes that Hermione would have perceived as innocent if it weren't for her arms being completely covered in tattoos and her explicit muggle t-shirt.

"Actually, Doris, it's Hermione here that wants the tattoo."

The witch turned and grinned at Hermione.

Once she'd shown her which one she wanted, Hermione was sat on one of the tall chairs close to where her design had been.

Sirius was sitting down next to her talking to Doris when Hermione started to unbutton the top of her dress.

Sirius paused and stared at her with wide eyes.

"What are you doing, kitten?"

Hermione tried to give him a nonchalant shrug when she said, "I want it on my ribs."

Once Hermione had her dress unbuttoned down to the seam at her waist she pulled the skinny straps down and let it fall. She was in a simple black bra, and her dress was pooled at the bottom of her ribs. After Sirius got over the initial shock of seeing Hermione in her bra, he realized that she had scars running all over torso. He made eye contact with Doris and silently urged her not to say anything about them. When Hermione wasn't looking at her the witch's lips turned down into a confused frown before nodding in acceptance. Sirius looked up into Hermione's resigned eyes before looking back at the scars he could see.

Sirius reached forward and ran his thumb along one of her white scars, and Hermione shivered.

Doris pressed the tip of her wand into Hermione's ribs and Sirius's hand left her waist and found her fingers. She watched as he silently studied her scars with thinning lips, and when his eyes met hers, she could see the anger building in his grey irises.

"It's okay," she whispered to him. She could feel his misdirected guilt flying off of him in waves. "It was a long time ago."

Sirius shook his head and pulled her hand up to press a kiss to the inside of her wrist. It really wasn't that long ago, but so much had happened since then that it felt like ages.

The tattoo didn't hurt, like she supposed muggle ones did. It rather just felt tingly like when your foot falls asleep. Once it was done, Doris held up a hand held mirror and Hermione smiled at the reflection.

It was a simple three inch outline, and she'd asked Doris for it to be stationary like a regular one. Hermione's free hand lightly touched it, and she hadn't realized she was crying until Sirius brushed the single tear away.

"You alright, kitten?"

She beamed up at him, and said, "It's perfect."

After Hermione had buttoned her dress back up and tried to pay Doris to no avail (she insisted it was on the house), Sirius led her back out of the shop.

As they were making their way down their way back to the floo at the Leaky, Hermione poked Sirius in the side.

"Why didn't you get one?"

He smiled down at her and said, "I saw you yawning in there. We'll come back another time."

"It didn't take very long though?" Hermione asked in confusion.

Sirius wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her so that her head was against his shoulder, "It's alright, kitten. I have all the time in the world to get more tattoos."

Hermione's fingers went to her dragon pendant. She squeezed her eyes shut and let him blindly lead her through the streets.

She hoped he had all the time in the world.

AN: Thanks as always, for the follows, favorites, and reviews!

A short, bit of a filler chapter. It picks up again from here!