Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. I don't make money from this fic.
March 13, 1980 London, England - Sirius and Hermione's Flat
Sirius did not take the conversation well at all. He paced the floor of the living room, throwing glares up at his supposed best friend who stood nearly in the kitchen.
"What do you mean, I'm obsessive? I'm just trying to protect Hermione!" He spat.
"By leaving her home alone while you're out chasing Death Eaters?" James asked, staring him down.
"I haven't-" Sirius started angrily, before he stopped himself. He had been working over quite a bit, but he didn't think about Hermione being home alone for an hour or so. She had the sneakoscope and she knew her way around a wand. "She can take care of herself."
"Yes, that's why you've been obsessively hunting down the arses responsible for ransacking your flat, right?" James asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Who told you about that?" Sirius said, his eyes widening. He hadn't talked to James in over a month, and he couldn't work out how he knew what had happened, and how he'd reacted.
"Hermione told us." James said. "She thought her friends ought to know that there were Death Eaters in the flat, funnily enough." he spat. "The rest, I figured out myself. Didn't take much to figure out why you've been working late, really. It's what I'd do if it were Lily." he said, his voice softening. "I know why you're doing this, Sirius. But instead of leaving her and tracking down people that you're not even sure are a threat, you should be making sure she's safe."
"And how, pray tell, do I do that?" he asked, turning away to pace the floors again.
"Leave London." James said. That made Sirius stop in his tracks.
"What?" He said, without turning around.
"Get out of the city. There are a ton of little cottages for sale in the south, East Sussex has several little towns were you and Hermione can disappear. Hermione'd love it there. And haven't you been wanting to see the sea since we were kids?" James asked.
"No." Sirius said.
"You haven't? I distinctly remember you saying something about the sea in second year." James frowned.
"No, James. I mean, I'm not leaving London." he said firmly.
"And why not?" James asked, setting his jaw in the way Sirius knew meant he was determined to make Sirius see his side.
"There's too much Death Eather activity here. And I want to be close to the Ministry in case shit goes sideways." Sirius said.
"Are you a wizard or aren't you?" James asked. "You can apparate to the Ministry in a second. You don't need to live close. Hell, the McKinnons live in Cornwall and Marlene's never missed an Order meeting."
"Yeah, but-"
"And your excuse about too much Death Eater activity? Isn't that more than enough reason to get the fuck out of town?" he asked. It was his turn to start pacing.
"Of course not. Chasing Death Eaters around town is a lot easier than chasing them around the country." He said.
"And it's a lot easier for you to be tailed in town. It's a lot easier to lead them back to your flat. Back to the place where your fiancee stays alone, waiting for you to come home." he said, but before Sirius could retort they heard the metal stairs that led up to the flat creaking, and a muffled scream.
"Hermione!" They said together, jumping into action. James got to the door first and flung it wide, Sirius shortly behind, both men pulling their wands out as he saw two Death Eater thugs handling her roughly. She had a black cotton bag over her head, which must have been spelled to silence its wearer, as Sirius couldn't hear her.
"Petrificus Totalus!" Sirius shouted, aiming for the two men.
"Expelliarmus!" James shouted next to him, advancing down the stairs after the thugs. Sirius's spell hit the Death Eater holding Hermione and she fell to the ground, suddenly unbalanced. James caught the other man's wand and when he turned to run, Sirius sent a stunner at his back, sending him crashing face first into the street. Sirius rushed to Hermione, his fingers working to untie the black sack as quickly as he could. He felt her struggling beneath him and knew that she probably thought he was a Death Eater. He made quick work of the sack and Hermione gasped fresh air as she looked up at her rescuer with wide, scared eyes, before she saw that it was Sirius.
"I'm so sorry, love." he said, pulling her to his chest. James joined them and untied Hermione's hands, something that Sirius wasn't able to think about. He was an emotional wreck. He kept murmuring apologies and kissing her face and head, trying to convince himself that she was actually there and safe.
"Pads," James said. "There may be more of them, we need to move." Sirius looked up at him at that, nodding. He squared his jaw and looked down at Hermione.
"Are you okay, love?" He asked softly. She was shaking, but nodded.
"I'm… I'm f-fine." She said, looking far away. Sirius's eyes snapped up to James's.
"Can you take her back to the house? Get her warmed up and some food in her. I think she's going into shock." He said softly.
"What are you going to do?" James asked, his eyes hard.
"I'm gonna contact Moody. He can handle these assholes. Then I'm going to grab some clothes and the essentials we need, talk to Arkie about the rent, and meet you over at the house. I don't want her to step foot in this flat again." he said.
"So then you're moving?" James asked, helping Hermione up gently. Sirius nodded, turning to the Death Eaters and pointing his wand at them.
"Incarcerous." He looked over to his best friend supporting his fiancee and felt a rush of guilt. James had been right, all along. The longer he stayed in London, the more danger Hermione would be in.
"I'm getting the fuck out of London, Prongs." he said, gripping his wand with enough force that he was worried it might snap. James nodded once, before pulling Hermione closer to him and disapparating, leaving Sirius to his job.
May 2, 1980 Rye, England - Black Cottage
Sirius and Hermione had made quick work of finding a new house after the incident in their flat. Lily had recommended the quaint town of Rye, where she'd gone on holiday with her parents growing up. Hermione had fallen in love will a little half-wood cottage with a courtyard garden, and Sirius didn't hesitate to buy it outright. It was a fair chunk of money, but with their combined inheritances and income from Mungo's and the Ministry, they had decided it was an investment worth risking.
They'd also decided to use a Fidelius Charm on the house, as well, at Dumbledore's suggestion. Sirius had been a paranoid wreck for nearly two weeks before Hermione had gone to talk to him about it. He looked over at his wife-to-be, who was busying herself making tea for James, Lily, and Dumbledore, who were gathered in their sparse living room. Sirius had made good on his promise that Hermione would not be going back to the flat. Neither of them had. Some of the furniture and most of their clothes were collected by Dumbledore himself, who had enlisted a few Order members to help out. But Sirius wasn't worried about things; Hermione had been nearly captured and that was what bothered him. He couldn't stand the thought of her in the hands of those Death Eaters, he still had nightmares about it. He refused to leave her side for more than a few minutes. He couldn't lose her.
So Dumbledore had come today to place the charm on the house and, hopefully, ease Sirius's mind. They'd named Lily their secret keeper, as she'd either be with Hermione at the house, or at her own house until she delivered. The whole situation worried Sirius, but there wasn't much more he could do. He resigned himself to sit quietly, watching as Hermione served the tea. The little group talked about the state of the Order, and the progression of the research about Voldemort's horcruxes.
"I've been profiling Tom for some time now, trying to track down people who may have known him before he became Lord Voldemort, to try to see the bigger picture." Dumbledore said, taking his tea from Hermione with a small nod. "From the sources I've gathered, I've determined that it's very likely he has more than one horcrux. I've learned of at least one other, though I'm still searching."
"Is there any way we can help?" Lily asked.
"I'm afraid staying safe is the only assistance I need from you, dear." He said with a smile. "Although…" he looked thoughtful for a moment before turning to Hermione. "Your control of your visions has gotten steadily better, if I'm correct, yes, Hermione?"
"Yeah," She said, a bit uncertain.
"I had a theory that I was wondering about regarding your visions." He said. "We know time flows from past to future, in a single stream. But what if it doesn't?"
"What do you mean, sir?" She asked, frowning.
"I mean, if you were able to come back to the past, back some twenty years, who's to say the same does not apply to your visions?" he said, with a smile.
"You're saying that I may be able to see into the past?" Hermione asked.
"A window to time itself," He said. "Truly an astounding gift your visions have been." He told her.
"I'm not sure." Hermione said finally. "But I'll give it a go."
A dark form stood near a tree, huddled against the chilly evening wind. Black hair whipped at his face, but he didn't take his eyes from the house in front of him. Or rather, the place where the house should be. Severus Snape had arrived in Rye nearly an hour before; he'd placed a tracking spell on his former best friend the last time they'd seen each other in person that alerted him as to when she apparated. He had followed the second he'd gotten wind of it, and had made it to the little cottage in time to see Dumbledore himself cast the Fidelius Charm.
Severus, of course, had used a Disillusionment Charm so that he wasn't seen, and kept his distance, ensuring that he stayed under the radar of sneakoscopes or any other Dark detector. He merely stood beside the tree and watched the spot he'd seen the house disappear, knowing that somewhere within it, his Lily was hidden.
She was still his Lily after all these years. She may have been wed to Potter for nearly two years, but he never forgot about her. He'd kept tabs on her carefully, making sure no Death Eaters got close enough to do her any real harm. He'd been doing the same for Hermione, to a lesser degree. Lily would be upset if her friend were killed. He'd finally wrapped his head around the whole friendship thing. He'd been watching her every chance he got, he made it a point to learn how she acted with her friends, with James. He was slowly starting to see that the way she was around him- the way she used to be- was different than how she was with James. She was the same Lily. But he never saw the spark in her eye that he saw when she was looking at James. He just saw that raw flame that was reserved for her friends. Reserved for Hermione, and once upon a time, for Severus himself.
He sighed, looking away from the spot he'd been watching. What was he doing? Why was he fighting so hard with himself about where he stood? He'd decided long ago, in a field in Cokeworth, where he stood with Muggles.
He heard a door squeak open, and looked up to see Dumbledore, Lily, and James leaving the little house. It was time to go. He watched her disapparate with James, followed quickly by Dumbledore. He took a deep breath. This war was getting bad, and he only hoped he was able to protect her half as well as she deserved. He spun on his heel and disappeared with a soft pop.