So, I know it's never said what breed of dog Sirius is. I even did a little research to see if JK ever said anything and no. I suppose he's supposed to be a mutt, but I also found out that in the movie they used a German Shepard pup. So, Sirius is going to be a fully black German Shepard per this story.
Also, super sorry for the delay, but I was in New York on vacation and I just got back!
Christmas
Hermione awoke to a nuzzling on the back of her neck. The past week had flown by pretty quickly with having all of the boys there. They were constantly doing something. Swimming, playing Quidditch - although, Hermione just watched. She still did not like brooms and refused to get on one - Wizard's Chess, Exploding Snap, they even got drunk one night. James had snuck a few bottles of Firewhiskey from his father's stash.
The most interesting day, by far, was the night of the full moon. Remus had woken up grumpy, demanded to be pleased - Hermione didn't condone. She would not be pushed around by any boys - ate enough to feed a whole militia, and sulked under a tree with a headache all day.
The boys, deciding it was finally time, showed her their animagus forms. Hermione did reciprocate that. Hermione's own Animagus was also a dog. Which, now that she knew she was Remus's mate made more sense to her. She was a pretty Australian Shepherd, her coat was thick and held fluffy spots of black, white, brown, and a dark creme color. Her eyes, though, stuck to the same warm cinnamon color.
"Well, I'm already Padfoot. We could just call you Bitch." Sirius had commented after she came out of her form. Hermione had punched him quite hard.
They had spent the night running around the Potter grounds with Moony, who was quite ready to mount his female mate at any given moment, also giving the boys more to laugh about when they came back into the house the next morning.
It was quite exhilarating to be running with...well, with a pack. Remus had always said they were his pack. And Hermione, she felt it.
The graze of stubble against the back of her neck knocked Hermione from her thoughts. Last night, Sirius had slept in the middle, and his arms had been around her all night. Usually, Hermione slept in the middle for easier access when she was having a nightmare, but Sirius had received a letter from his mother the day before that quite upset him even if he wouldn't admit it to the two. So, Hermione and Remus spent all night loving on him and making sure he knew he was cared about and positively cherished.
"Morning," Hermione mumbled sleepily, turning over to brush her hands across his stubbly face.
"Morning, love," Sirius grinned at her softly.
"Morning." Remus popped up from the other side of Sirius, his lips pressing a quick kiss to Sirius's cheek.
Hermione grinned at the boys. In all honesty, they were her safe haven. With them, things seemed like they would go absolutely splendid. It all felt right for her to just be here, with them.
Hermione poked them both in the nose before sliding out of bed and into the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face, the boys following suit quickly. Hermione, herself, was stark naked, while the boys seemed to be a bit modest and put on boxers. She rolled her eyes. Of all the times to be modest. Of course, they hadn't had intercourse as a trio since the first time. Hermione knew the two of them snuck off occasionally to grab a shag, and the three of them had tons of experience in pleasing each other with mouths and hands, but they hadn't pushed her into any crazy trio positions since the first time. Not that Hermione would have minded, but it just never seemed to be the thing to do in the moment. She was still getting used to the thought of the three of them shagging together.
"Mines! It's Christmas! Grab your boys and-oh…"
Hermione was suddenly shielded by Remus's body.
"James Potter I'm giving you five seconds to take Peter and obliviate yourselves," Sirius growled at the two boys who stood in the doorway. Peter looked very embarrassed and James looked smug.
"You know, I've seen her naked before." James taunted, his grin turning into one of a tease.
"James, just go downstairs and we'll be there in a bit." Hermione groaned, pressing her face into Remus's back.
"Well, now we've all seen you." James commented, grabbing the stunned Peter and leading him away.
"Cocky fuck." Sirius growled.
"Aren't I the one that's supposed to act irrationally when something like this happens?" Remus joked, grabbing his wand to freshen himself up.
"Probably." Hermione mused.
The three got cleaned up and dressed in comfy clothes, then headed down the stairs. The two boys were more excited then Hermione. Christmas was usually at the Burrow with the Weasley's. Hermione only wished she could spend another Christmas with them, and hope that in the future she would.
They sat on the floor, and Dorea began handing out presents, instructing them to not open anything until they were all passed out.
Each of them had quite the pile in front of them, which made Hermione feel bad. It was obvious Dorea and Charlus had gotten her presents as well. She wished she would have given them something.
James and Sirius began tearing into their presents, while Remus opened his at a slower pace. Hermione could tell he was trying to keep his excitement down. She figured that he didn't get many things from his parents. Peter seemed embarrassed to open his presents in front of so many people, and glanced around nervously as he opened his.
Hermione kept a pace between the boys, not opening them too fast or too slowly.
From the Potter's, she got a nice set of ruby colored dress robes. As in nice. As in something she would wear to a ball.
From Peter, she got a tome on greek mythology, and what was accurate, what was fake.
From James, she got a necklace. An oval locket the size of the tip of her thumb to the first knuckle, a picture of her on his back, her head resting on his shoulder. The two of them were grinning widely, then suddenly laughing.
From Sirius, Hermione got a silver bracelet with a red heart charm on it.
From Remus, she got two charms to go on her bracelet. It was very much evident that one was a wolf, and the other was a German Shepherd. He clipped the two charms onto her bracelet, both canines facing the heart. And then, they started running in place, panting, even just sitting as if they had something to sit on.
Hermione graciously thanked everyone. And they were all quite excited for the things she got them. Especially Sirius. He wasn't allowed to go buy muggle things. His parents never said anything about someone else buying them for him. Besides, Hermione knew Sirius stayed with the Potters over the summer. The only time he was required home was at Christmas because his father wished to see him. His mother, Hermione knew, was absolutely atrocious.
Once everyone got their things put away in their rooms, they sat down for a nice brunch.
"Have you boys informed Hermione of this evening's plans?" Dorea asked, taking a sip of elvish wine.
The boys all shared a look, then looked to Hermione. Hermione raised an eyebrow. Peter suddenly looked very apologetic, while Sirius and James looked sheepish, and Remus looked a tad bit angry.
"You said you were going to take care of it." Remus shot at Sirius, who bit his lip.
"You came early, though so I thought you were going to do it. Or James. Because she was with James for a whole bloody week." Sirius explained, his own eyes shooting to James, who just shrugged.
"Not my problem. You guys said you were going to tell her." He said, his eyebrows shooting up to his hairline.
"Just tell me what's going on!" Hermione demanded, not liking being out of the loop.
"We have a yearly Yule Ball, dear. It's a pureblood tradition. Some of your classmates will be there as well." Dorea finally told her.
Hermione's brow furrowed, she'd never heard of the Yule Ball before they had one her time. But it seemed like they had one every Christmas here.
"Alright, so what was the big ruckus about it, then?" She asked, the question more for the boys.
"Sirius was going to ask you to accompany us to the ball." Remus told her.
"All of you?" She asked, an eyebrow coming up.
"Well, the two of us...At first it was going to be all of us, but then Lily told James that she would come with him. And Peter got some guts and asked out Emma Vanity and she said yes." Sirius explained.
Hermione felt warning signs in her brain. "Emma Vanity...the Slytherin Seeker?" She asked, trying to keep her face calm.
"Please don't be mad, Hermione. The guys reacted badly at first too, but she's really a sweet girl." Peter tried to reason.
Hermione didn't care, really.
This, she figured out, must have been how Peter got so caught up with the Dark Lord. A damn girl.
But where was she her time? Hermione racked her brain, trying to think. Vanity died in the war, Hermione remembered. Her name was among those that had come from the Death Eaters. Things were beginning to make sense.
Hermione clenched her teeth together. She didn't know how to go about this, nor did she want to throw a fit in front of James' parents.
So, Hermione quietly excused herself and went up to her room. She was seething. She had spent so much time including the boy and making him feel like they were all really the best of friends and he was still going down that path. She didn't know if she should give up now and tell the other three to not trust him, or if she should keep trying. She supposed that she would keep trying. She would convince him that Emma was bad news. But she would let him have tonight with her before she would make sure he never saw Emma again. But at what cost?
Hermione sat down on her bed and lightly played with her necklace while she thought. Maybe Dumbledore would know how to help. Hermione hopped up from her bed once more and trailed down the stairs once more and into the dining area where it seemed a hushed conversation was going on.
"Is there any way I can make a floo call? I'd like to talk to my Uncle...privately." She added at the end, when Sirius began to stand.
"You can use the fireplace in the tea room, dear." Charlus told her.
Hermione nodded her thanks, and made her way to the tea room. She shut the large doors behind her and set up silencing wards to make sure no one could hear her, even if they pressed their ears to the door.
Hermione prayed to Circe that Dumbledore would be in his office. She threw in the powder, and stuck her head in.
"Professor?" She called, looking around.
"I wasn't expecting a Floo call from you, dear." He said, as he came closer.
"I know, sir. But I wanted to talk to you about something." She told him.
Dumbledore nodded, and went around his room. She assumed he was placing silencing charms around his place too.
"Peter's started going to the dark side." She told him after he returned.
"What makes you say that?" He asked.
"He's going on a date with a Death Eater. I can almost guarantee that this is how he got there in the first place." She explained.
Dumbledore paused for a moment, nodding his head slowly.
"We'll have to keep an eye on him then, won't we?" He asked.
Hermione nodded solemnly.
"We can't let him be the Potter's secret keeper. We can't."
"I know, dear. We'll deal with that when we get to it. Just relax and have a Happy Christmas, alright?" He demanded.
"Yes, sir. Happy Christmas." She told him, then pulled her head from the flames.
"...Mines?"
"James?" Hermione let out a shuddery breath, turning to him. He had a strange look on his face, and was holding a tray with food on it.
"Are my parent's in trouble?" He asked, setting the tray down onto the tea table.
Hermione shook her head, rubbing her face softly.
"But you said 'the Potter's'" He pointed out, looking a bit breathless himself.
Hermione cursed under her breath. Why hadn't she cast the bloody silencing charm on the floo and not the whole room? Why hadn't she locked the doors?
"I think we...we need to have a talk. For real. It's going to all sound crazy, but you have to trust me." Hermione started, moving towards James and leading him to sit next to her on one of the couches.
She explained everything. She didn't hold back. Not for James. She couldn't lie about anything. She couldn't bring herself too. By the end of it, they were both crying, and James held her close to him, his face pressed into her hair.
"I love you so much, Hermione. Thank you for protecting my boy." James whispered to her, making Hermione sob.
"You'll do well to let him know I love him too, okay?" He asked her, making her sob a bit louder. All of the pain was tumbling out of her. Finally having someone who knew everything was making her feel so much lighter.
"He wanted me to tell you the same thing." She told him, after she calmed down a bit. She wiped at her tears, and cleared her throat a bit.
James smiled at her, his eyes still shining.
"You can't act any differently now, okay? I'm still doing what I can to make sure Peter doesn't go bad...and now you know not to make him your secret keeper if the time comes." She told him, placing her hands on his chest.
"Yeah, I know...Okay, let's go get ready for the ball, alright? I can't wait to see you in the dress mum and dad got you." James grinned.
Hermione shook her head with a smile, and smacked his bicep.
