Author's note:

Hello lovelies!

Yes, that's right, I'm alive!

First of all, I'd like to apologize once again for the huge delay and to let you know I appreciate every single one of you that stuck with me throughout this time. It means a lot that people are still reading this story.

Second, as you can see I removed the 'update'-chapter, in order to keep everything in order. This is mostly because it would annoy me to no end.

Third, I want to thank all of you that have commented up until this point. I know I haven't responded to a lot of these comments, but that doesn't mean I haven't read them nor that I don't appreciate it. Please do keep commenting and I'll try my best to start replying to them again.

Lastly: for those that read the entire author's note.. who's ready for a new chapter? As mentioned before, I had part of a draft ready (which turned out to be much less than I initially thought), and I finally had the energy to read through it again, edit some stuff and to finish the chapter.

That being said, I did all this on my phone so there's bound to be mistakes, either in the chapter itself or in the formatting, so if anything is unclear or seems weird, please don't hesitate to reach out and I'll try to fix it as soon as possible.

Now, without further ado, enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 46: More Questions Than Answers

"You're staring, y'know."

Kakashi blinked as Hermione spoke softly, glancing at his side. Ah, yes. Somehow, pretending to be someone else when being near Hermione wasn't as easy as he had previously thought. He'd have to remind himself to continue to speak in their language and to not act like he normally would. It was the safest option anyway, seeing as not a lot of people actually spoke English. All in all, it was best to treat this entire trip as a mission, which it partially was. It's just that being so close to Hermione made it difficult to pretend to be someone else.

Looking at the dog in front of him, he changed his posture a little, adopting a more carefree slouch, just like Sirius normally had, as he pocketed his hands and let out a soft hum in thanks. In front of them, the real Sirius easily navigated the forest, perfectly at ease on his four legs. While Kakashi hadn't had the chance to ask him about this ability, he was observant enough to know he must've spent a lot of time as a dog to be able to be so content in this form. There hadn't been any signs, not a single indication that he wasn't an actual dog.

"Mama, me Padda!" The boy called out excitedly as he pointed at Sirius. He'd been talking more and more. It's crazy how fast he was picking things up.

"Again, bud? You rode him only a little while ago."

"Let him ride the mutt, 'Mione." Kakashi drawled, making sure his voice was a perfect copy of the man he was impersonating. "Besides, he must be getting heavy, no? It'll make traveling easier for you if he rides the dog."

"Yes, well. It wouldn't be such an issue if you actually helped me. You're his family too, y'know." Hermione huffed and if he hadn't known any better, he'd think she was being serious instead of acting.

But he did know better. She just turned out to be amazing at playing her role in this, pretending he was actually Sirius. That thought made him swallow. A second later he squashed any feelings regarding this down. They had talked about this, briefly, last night. It was the most vulnerable he had been in a very long time. But he felt like he needed to, because she was too. While they both had fallen asleep fairly quickly, they had also woken up way too soon. The moment she moved to sit up, he'd already gotten out of bed and grabbed a kunai, readying himself for the attack. And there had been an attack, he just hadn't expected it to be a psychological one.

Flashback:

He watched carefully as Hermione was breathing hard and grabbing her chest, eyes screwed shut. Broadening his senses, Kakashi relaxed slightly as he was satisfied there wasn't anyone else in the house except the people that needed to be. Outside, however, he could sense two members of his team. Damn it, talk about shit timing. With a short burst of chakra, he let his team know he'd be right there. They would just have to wait until he had calmed Hermione down. Focusing on her, he saw her lips move in the dark, but he couldn't right away discern what she was saying. He put the kunai back in its place before slowly walking up to her.

"Hermione?"

No response. She kept her eyes shut, still saying the same words. Being this close to her, he could finally understand it as it wasn't more than a mere whisper. She was speaking so softly, even his enhanced hearing could barely pick it up. "It's not real. They're not real. They're dead. They can't hurt you. We won."

As he looked at her, he knew he couldn't leave her in this state. They'd only just reconciled and he knew that if she knew he left her like this, he would lose her trust in him. He knew that if he left her now, even if she didn't notice right away, it would undo any progress they'd made. She'd feel abandoned and that was something he wanted her to know wasn't the case. While being from different worlds, their traumas were similar. War did something to you that only people that have witnessed war would understand.

Quickly creating a clone, he kept his focus on her as the clone left to deal with his teammates. While he was relieved he hadn't caused this, this time, his brain supplied, he knew he had to tread lightly. Any wrong movement could make an episode like this worse. It was a rule that shinobi weren't supposed to show emotions. They were soldiers. That didn't mean, however, that they didn't actually feel. That they didn't experience episodes like hers. Just because they ignored it or stomped it down, didn't mean they didn't deal with whatever Hermione was dealing with right now. Nightmares. Trauma. Especially since he became an Anbu-captain, he'd seen his fair share of shinobi pretending they were fine, while slowly deteriorating and ended up dying on suicide-missions. Hell, he knew he was one of them, even if he didn't want to admit that. These past couple of months with Hermione have taught him it wasn't necessarily shameful to show emotion, to feel, at least not when in the company of people you cared about. It was all about finding the balance, really.

Kakashi sat down next to her, in his spot, and stayed silent as he kept his eyes on her, looking for anything that would give him something to work with. He waited for her to calm her breathing, as he focused on calming her down through their bond. It was the only thing he could do at the moment, since touching her would probably send her spiraling further into this episode.

He held his breath as he watched Hermione let out a shaky breath, slowly opening her eyes. He looked at her and saw her looking at him from the corner of her eye, face mostly hidden behind her hair. She was studying him, a small frown forming on her face as her eyes shifted to his mask. With an internal sigh, he slowly moved his hand to lower his mask. He'd just pull it up again before going back to sleep. Cocking his eyebrow, a small smirk forming on his lips, he said, "better?"

Hermione gave him a small nod and then lowered her arms to the bed, to move herself closer to him. Neither said a word as she shifted and leaned her head on his shoulder nor when he moved his arm around her shoulder, pulling her closer. She didn't need to speak to be able to communicate what she needed at this moment. Hermione had done so in the past, explaining to him that she just needed to be held, to know she wasn't alone in that moment. And while he still felt somewhat uncomfortable doing so, it was the least he could do.

He knew he had to break this silence, however. And the only way he knew how, was to be blunt. Straight to the point. "Who were they?" As soon as he asked, she froze next to him and for the longest time he wondered if she was just going to keep quiet.

"I- they-," she stammered. Then, after a few seconds, "Death Eaters."

Kakashi frowned. Death Eaters? Like the ones they found when she arrived here? Was this about a recent trauma then?

"It was about when I was captured, during the war." She supplied. "When I-" He felt her move and looked down at her palming her wrist. "When I got these scars."

Right. Not a recent trauma then. She'd mentioned that she was tortured and received those scars. He hummed to let her know he heard her.

A second later his clone popped, pulling him out of his thoughts. It had been Itachi and Tenzou. Tenzou had been informed about the current situation and would make sure that it would seem Kakashi never left the village. Good. That was one less thing to worry about. Glancing down at Hermione, he saw she had fallen asleep again. He lowered himself backwards, Hermione still in his arms. It wouldn't be comfortable like this, but he would deal. She would need the rest more than he would.

He was glad she had fallen asleep because he had no idea what to say to her about any of this. What did you say to someone in a situation like this?

End flashback

It turned out he didn't have to say anything. Just him sitting there, holding him, showing he was listening. That turned out to be enough. As he looked at her now, none of the fear and panic she'd shown was visible. He dared say that she was even better at hiding it at the moment than most shinobi were. Of course, he'd seen his fair share behind that figurative mask of hers, it was by no means perfect. But outside of that she was smiling, walking around without a care. He didn't get it. He didn't think he would ever get it. What was the point of acting like this?

Though, he couldn't help but give a small smile at the sight of young Teddy being placed on Sirius' back, the boy squealing with joy as he grabbed the fur with his small hands. The young boy was so innocent. He supposed that was also the reason she was so good at hiding it. Hermione would do anything for that boy. Kakashi supposed he would too, since he'd do anything for Hermione and by extension that meant Teddy too. At that thought he let out a sigh. How did he get himself in this situation again? How did he go from no attachments to two and counting?

They'd been on the road for a good eight hours, breaks included, when Sirius suddenly stopped and sat down carefully, making sure Teddy didn't fall off. Glancing around, he checked the area he stopped at. It wasn't a bad spot, not really. It gave them enough cover to not be out in the open, but was also open enough to easily spot anyone trying to ambush them. Not bad at all, for a civilian, he conceded.

"What, tired already?" Kakashi commented. Not that he could blame them. While he could easily run for a day straight, neither Hermione nor Sirius would be able to do the same. As he looked at the sky, it had begun darkening as well. It wouldn't be a bad idea to stop for the night.

"I do think it's about time for a break, Sirius. We've been walking for quite some time and I'm getting pretty tired." Hermione commented as she stopped next to the dog. "Not to mention that Teddy will become incredibly hard to deal with if he doesn't get enough sleep. I'll put up the tent, mind watching him while I do that?"

She didn't wait for an answer as she put her arm in her beaded bag - he didn't think he'd ever get used to seeing that - and pulled out a bundle from said bag. He knew Teddy was in good hands - or paws- so he kept his eyes on her as she worked. With a flick of her hand, the bundle unfolded into a tent and as she raised her wand, so did the tent. He'd heard about this tent from his team, but he hadn't actually seen it himself. According to Itachi, the tent was a lot bigger on the inside than it would seem and he couldn't wait to take a peek for himself. With a nod she gestured for Sirius to go inside, Teddy in tow.

"I should ward the area," she said softly as she looked at Kakashi. "Can you check the area without anyone noticing while I do that? I have a feeling in my gut that whoever is following us, is rather close."

He nodded, "Not at all. I'll check the perimeter," he replied just as softly. Raising his voice a little, he added, "I'm gonna check and see if I can find us some food." He walked away, carefully scanning the area without looking like he was doing that. He wasn't supposed to be a shinobi. Pocketing his hands, he wandered from their little makeshift camp to look for some 'food'. Kakashi was well aware he didn't need to look for food, Hermione had told him there was a cabinet in the tent that kept the food fresh that was well stocked. It was beyond him how any furniture was able to be inside a folded tent, but he learned quite some time ago not to question their magical abilities, not when it came to this.

Kakashi kept a close eye on the camp while he checked the area. If he lost track of it, he knew it'd be a while before he found it. Those barriers she would put up would be tricky. Which was very good in their case, it would keep them from getting any unwanted visitors, humans and animals alike. After a few minutes, he was fairly satisfied with his findings. There was someone nearby, but they expected that. Hell, they had hoped for that because this way they could find out who Danzo had under his control outside of Root. He couldn't tell who it was, however. The chakra signature wasn't familiar to him. They were lucky, however, that the spy was far enough to not be able to notice the barrier they had put up. Well, unless it turned out to be a Hyuuga, but he sure as hell hoped that wouldn't be the case.

Turning around, he made his way back to the camp, slowly but surely, all the while pretending to look around for anything edible. There were some rabbits nearby, but he wouldn't be able to get them without giving himself away. He wondered how they would handle the magical barrier Hermione put up. Kakashi felt the weird tingling sensation of the barrier as he reached it. With another quick scan, he walked through when he was absolutely certain they couldn't see him. To anyone outside of the barrier, it was like he vanished from the face of the earth.

"And?" Hermione asked as soon as Kakashi came through the barrier she just put up. These barriers still amazed him, but it was good to know that they were out of sight because of it.

"We were definitely followed, as we expected. I can't discern who it is, however. Which is worrying, but I'll have plenty of opportunities during our trip, no doubt." Kakashi said as he stopped slouching, standing up straight like he normally would. Whoever was following them shouldn't be able to see through the barrier, so no use to keep up with the bad posture. Yet, it was safety first. He wouldn't stop the transformation unless he was certain it was safe.

As he looked at Hermione, he could tell she was feeling a bit uneasy, with him transformed into Sirius. Not that he could blame her, it was a bit weird. It was also a sign he was perfectly mimicking Sirius, which was good. Not that he worried about that, he knew how to pretend to be someone else. Picking up the way Sirius said things and his mannerisms, certainly helped sell this act.

"Right, that's good, I suppose." Hermione sighed. Kakashi had to admit, she was being a good sport, considering that she could've been in Tanzaku Gai within a few seconds. He knew she didn't like this one bit. Looking at Kakashi, she smiled. He kept glancing at the tent, the thing bugged him. He had been itching to use his Sharingan on it, the second she set it up. He had heard stories of his team, but he wanted to see it for himself.

"You hungry?" Hermione asked, pulling him from his thoughts.

"I could eat." He shrugged.

"Well, let's go in so we can eat something." Opening the flap, she walked inside, holding it open for Kakashi to follow.

As soon as he did, she walked in.

"What the-'' A second later he canceled his transformation in order to look at the inside of the tent with his Sharingan uncovered. This shouldn't be possible. Again, Itachi did tell him this, but hearing about it and seeing it were two very different things. Seriously, how in the world-

"Okay, so this is the main room," she said as she turned back around, seemingly oblivious to Kakashi's thoughts and the fact he had his Sharingan uncovered, pointing at the different chairs in the middle of the area. "Over there are bunk beds, right there is a table where we can eat. And um, oh! The kitchen is there, it's not much, but it all works. And, yeah, that's about it, I think. The important stuff, at least."

"It's not much," he repeated. "Are you kidding me? I swear, one of these days, you're going to have to explain this to me." He said, "because this shouldn't be possible."

"It's magic, brat." Sirius said from one of the chairs, having changed back as well, seeing as they were out of sight of any prying eyes. "Magic is impossible, well, for muggles anyways. Which makes it so fun." He rolled her eyes at the smirk on his face. Kakashi knew, were it up to him, he'd be using his magic all the time. He probably had when he was still in his own world, so it only made sense that he would want to do the same here.

"Stop calling him that, Sirius. I don't want any of that language around Teddy, you know this." Hermione scolded, causing Kakashi to smirk. He couldn't deny that he loved seeing her get angry at Sirius.

"Now, let's see what we have. It's been a while since it's been stocked up, so it won't be a lot," Hermione said apologetically.

Kakashi didn't mind. He was used to eating the bare minimum when on missions. And if needed, he could always eat a soldier pill. Looking around the tent once more, his gaze landing on the cocky, older man, he swallowed. Sometimes he felt like he was going to drown with all the magic-stuff. Damn. This would be a long-ass mission, wouldn't it? His gaze shifted to Hermione. While he was glad to be able to spend more time with her, he still had lots of questions he needed answers to, besides the ones that just popped up in his head with every new thing he saw. Really, he couldn't wait for this mission to be over.

Ginny stifled a yawn, as she turned another page of the Daily Prophet. Apparently someone had finally gotten wind of Hermione's disappearance. This would only make things worse for Harry, she knew.

"'Morning." Her boyfriend greeted her, as he sat next to her at the kitchen table.

"Good morning, sleep well?" She asked as she folded the paper and placed it next to her cup of tea.

Harry shook his head, his hair nearly getting in his eyes. He desperately needed a haircut, she concluded. He looked terrible like this. "Not really. I- I feel like I'm losing my mind, Gin."

"Still no luck?" Ginny sighed in response. "I mean, I understand they can't just dump someone through the veil to see what happens. Especially when no one knows whether or not they will survive, and if they do, how they'll get back." Merlin, he looked miserable. Not that she could blame him. To him, it's like he's lost yet another person he loved, even though she's still alive.

"Yeah, I know."

"Did Malfoy find any information? He'd said he would try, right?"

"No, nothing. He did say not to get my hopes up. He hasn't had contact with any Death Eaters, save for his father. And even that contact was the bare minimum, he told me. He pretty much cut all ties to anyone he dealt with in his past."

Ginny hummed in response. There was nothing they could do at this moment, then. Her mind led her back to that last call they had with Hermione. While the mysterious person had said to try again in a few days - which they had - they hadn't been able to reach Hermione. It frustrated her to no end, but she also knew something more was going on. The fact that Hermione looked so flushed, and from what Ginny could see, she was inside a home. It looked.. foreign though. She couldn't help but wonder for the umpteenth time where Hermione was, not to mention Lupin and Teddy, since they both had disappeared as well. They had too many questions and literally no answers.

Standing up, she looked at Harry. "I'll go contact Mr. Dumbledore. To see if he's had any other contact." That bothered her too. While Aberforth was on their side, obviously, he didn't let them take the mirror piece with them. And they knew he knew more than he had told them, but every time they asked, he simply said to wait for Hermione to tell them. That it wasn't up to him to tell them. It was downright infuriating. Yet, she told herself, she couldn't blame him. If Hermione has expressed that she wanted to tell them herself, he was simply following her request.

"Eat something, Harry. I'll be back in a little bit." She placed a hand on his shoulder and softly squeezed it, to comfort him, before leaving the room and readying herself to visit Aberforth. Hoping that she could get some information, at least a sign that Hermione was still alive.

Kakashi quietly sighed as he closed the door of his locker. While he'd technically been on leave these past two weeks, and he did actually feel refreshed physically, it had been the longest two weeks he'd had in a long time. The time spent traveling had been the most relaxing, simply because Sirius wasn't able to make godawful quips every five seconds. Instead the man had been a dog, quietly walking in front of both him and Hermione.

Due to the possibility of them being followed, Sirius had been unable to stay in his human form when they were outside. Once inside, away from prying eyes, Kakashi was able to drop his henge while Sirius could change back into a man. To this day he had no clue as to how this worked and it frustrated him to no end. The man wasn't using chakra. And while he knew both Hermione and Sirius didn't use chakra to do their magic, he still wished he knew how it was done. It had seemed the older man had taken a lot of pleasure in seeing Kakashi so frustrated, because he used every moment he could to use some form of magic.

Luckily Hermione had been on his side, chastising him any time he did something completely unnecessary. One time it had gotten so bad that Hermione had lost her cool and had apparently fired some spell at him. He didn't even see her move. Had she done that non-verbally? Was that possible? And didn't she need her wand to use spells? More and more questions popped up in his head, frustrating him even more. And while he wasn't sure exactly what it was, it was clear that Hermione was incredibly annoyed with him, since Sirius ended up with bats flying out of his nose. And damn, that looked painful as hell. He'd rather not experience that. Like ever.

Kakashi couldn't describe how happy it had made him, though, when Sirius had been unable to speak. How happy he had been that Sirius had been a dog instead of a person during their travels. Because the times when he was in his human form, he had to hold himself back not to kill the man so many times, he lost count. That man had a gift to annoy the hell out of everyone to the point it almost drove Kakashi to murder. Thankfully, Kakashi was quite gifted in keeping these murderous urges to himself. It would have been rather hard to explain exactly why he had murdered someone that could be seen as an asset. He assumed 'the man was annoying' was not something the Hokage would accept as an explanation. Such a shame, really.

"If looks could kill, that locker would've been dead ten times over." A voice quipped from behind him.

"And after seeing that, you thought it was a good idea to annoy me?" Kakashi shot back, turning around. Was it too much to ask to get a little bit of peace and quiet?

"In all fairness, Boss, I've seen worse looks on you." Genma said as he leaned against the lockers. Well, he wasn't wrong. "Long day?"

"That's one way of putting it." It really had been. Right after coming back from their trip, Kakashi got summoned for a mission. While he was glad to get away from Sirius, he regretted having to leave Hermione behind. During their travels they had learned a lot more about this bond they shared and there was much they needed to talk about in private, sooner rather than later. It wasn't over exaggerating when he said that their sanity depended on it.

"So, uh.."

"I'm aware of the situation, Shiranui. Both our skill sets are needed for this mission. And frankly, this might not be a bad thing. We'd have to take a mission together at some point." Kakashi had to admit he wasn't exactly thrilled when he heard he was going on a mission with Genma. Then again, he wouldn't be able to avoid this forever. It wouldn't be fair and looking at it from a professional standpoint, Team Ro did need his skillset.

"Right. I'll follow your lead, Boss." Genma stated, placing his mask over his face. Kakashi followed his example and with a nod disappeared from the locker room. To say it was weird to go on a mission with just Genma was an understatement. Usually there'd be some banter back and forth as they made their way to the set destination. Now there was only an awkward silence. One he didn't know how to fill. He wasn't the social one of the two and while he usually wished Genma would shut up, now he wished for at least some normalcy.

After three hours of awkward silence, Kakashi stopped. He landed on a branch, high in a tree "Boss?" Genma called from his left as he too landed on the same branch.

"Look," he started. This really couldn't keep going like this. It would definitely affect the mission if he didn't speak up. And technically.. The ball was still in his court, which was probably why Genma hadn't spoken up. "I know we haven't been on good terms lately and that there are things that have been said that we both really can't forget." He wondered if they'd ever be alright again, to be able to carry on like nothing had happened.

"Right."

"But we're both adults. So let's just move on from this, okay? I've had enough awkwardness these last couple of days and I reached the limit of what I can deal with without going on a killing spree." Kakashi made an effort to make it sound like a joke, but he wasn't lying. This was driving him insane. How he longed for the normal days without all this weird shit.

"Right. Okay." With a nod, Genma held out his hand to him. Shaking his hand briefly, he could see the tension disappearing from Genma's face and posture, his shoulders relaxing. "So, you really did have a hard few days, eh? Wanna talk about it?"

"No."

"Oh, right. I mean-"

"Not like that. I can't talk about it right now." Kakashi quickly explained, because of course Genma would get the wrong idea. "But thanks for the offer."

"That's what I'm here for, Boss."

"Really? And here I thought you'd actually be useful on this mission." Kakashi joked as he jumped from the branch to continue their travels.

"Hey!" Kakashi didn't even bother to fight back the smirk that appeared on his lips. Yeah, they'd be alright, with time.

Hermione watched Teddy as he wobbled across Kakashi's living room. They only just got back from their trip to Tanzaku Gai and barely set foot in Kakashi's house when he got called away. She wondered if he had to leave again, or what the reason was he got called away immediately.

These past two weeks had flown by. She was happy to be away from the village, but quickly realized she couldn't get away from the shinobi. Of course, with Kakashi there, she hadn't actually gotten away from the shinobi, but he was different. He hadn't made her feel like her every move was being monitored and every word she uttered was being second guessed.

Obviously, he had lots of questions and most questions she wasn't able to answer at all. Not because she didn't trust him with that information, that wasn't it at all. She and Sirius had agreed beforehand to limit the information they would give away about their abilities. Hermione knew that probably wasn't the smartest choice she could make, especially after what had occurred which was the sole reason they were on this trip in the first place, yet.. she just wanted to have something for herself. She needed an ace up her sleeve. If that meant she'd have to omit any information, then so be it. She'd done it before, she can do it again, consequences be damned. It was time she stood up for herself.

Keeping her eyes on Teddy, she couldn't help but feel amazed by how fast he was growing up. It was utterly ridiculous and now she finally understood all the times her mother said she just wanted to stop time to enjoy it more. Time didn't work like that though. Hermione was all too aware of this. In moments like these she wished she still had that time turner, but she knew that would be ridiculous. Turning back time, just to watch Teddy wobble around again? Get real, Hermione, she told herself.

Looking around the house, it was clear Kakashi barely spent any time here. She wondered where he was staying outside of his missions then. If she remembered correctly, he did live somewhere else before she moved in here. Not to mention the bad memories this place caused him. She couldn't really blame him for not wanting to stay here if he didn't need to.

"I'm back!" Sirius called out when he entered the house. As soon as he entered the living room, she watched him look around. "Still no brat?"

"No, he hasn't been back yet." Hermione replied.

"Ah well, more food for us then, eh?" He said. Glancing at the bags in Sirius' hand, she raised an eyebrow. Merlin, how much food did he buy? "Don't give me that look, love. I always get too much food when I go shopping while hungry."

"Right. So, what's for dinner?" She said with a grin. She was not cooking, that's for sure. If it was up to her, she wouldn't move from her spot on the couch because her feet were killing her after all that walking. Of course, she'd have to go home at some point, but Hermione figured it couldn't hurt postponing it a little while longer. Besides, she wouldn't have to walk anyway. To be honest, she dreaded going back there after what had occured, even after speaking to Kakashi about it. He did say that Inoichi had felt terrible, but Hermione still couldn't forgive him for what he did. Kakashi had advised her to just talk to him, to hear him out. It was ironic that he was the one telling her this while she had told him the same thing not too long ago.

"'Mione?"

"Hm?"

"Where'd you go?" Huh? Where'd she go?

"What do you mean?"

"You got lost in thought there. Where'd you go?"

Studying his face, Hermione realized that Sirius looked genuinely worried. "It's nothing, I just-" Shaking her head, she tried to find the right words to explain, but for some reason the words just didn't come to her. So instead of voicing her worries, she just shrugged.

"Okay. Rest for a little bit while I fix something for dinner, alright?" Sirius suggested, making Hermione sag in her seat. She was tired. Who wouldn't be. And frankly, Sirius offering to cook was not something she'd say no to, so instead she nodded and turned to lie down. "After that, I'll walk you home. I need to have a word with the Yamanaka's anyway."

"Wha-"

"I don't want to hear it. I will talk to them, whether you like it or not." He disappeared into the kitchen, carrying Teddy - when did he even pick him up? - before she could even respond, leaving her in a daze. Honestly, what was happening to her? She hadn't felt this tired in ages. Did the traveling really tire her out that much?

She heard Sirius get to work in the kitchen and it was strangely soothing. This combined with her already feeling tired, had her closing her eyes and relaxing. It couldn't hurt to just lay there for a bit. Just for a few minutes she told herself. And who knows, maybe she'd feel a bit more rested after that. She shifted a few times to find a comfortable spot on the couch, placing her hands under her cheek as she laid on her side. Within seconds she was out, the sounds in the background lulling her to sleep. The last thought going through her mind was, I hope I won't dream.

A gentle push against her shoulder woke Hermione up. She drowsily looked up. "Wake up, love. Dinner is ready." Sirius softly told her.

"How long was I out for?"

"Not that long, half an hour maybe?" He shrugged as he ushered her into the kitchen. "Come, come. Sit and eat. I think it's best if you go back home after that. You clearly need your sleep."

"Yea-" a yawn cut her off. How was she still so incredibly tired? Looking down at the table, she felt her jaw drop. Sirius made this? It looked downright delicious. As if on cue, her stomach growled, reminding her she was famished. "Oh my, Sirius, this looks amazing!"

"I know, right?" He grinned at her. "I mean, if I wanted to serve some food in my bar, I could at least learn how to properly cook. So I practiced a lot," he let out a laugh. And well, that practice paid off, that's for sure. "Anyway, dig in. I hope you like it."

That was an understatement, it really was delicious. So much so that Hermione was already plotting how to get him to cook for her more often. She doubted that threatening would work, it hardly did anything. Hermione learned as much after she'd gotten so angry at him, during their trip, that she had fired a Bat-Bogey Hex at him. He didn't like that, obviously, but it hadn't stopped him from teasing both her and Kakashi whenever they were within the wards they had put up.

Hermione chuckled when she thought back to the look on Kakashi's face, it was priceless. "Wanna share with the class?" Sirius asked, "what're you thinking about? Wait, don't tell me, it's the brat, isn't it?"

"It's none of your business," she said while glaring at him. He smirked at her in return as he pushed his chair back a bit, so he could put his feet on the table.

"Well.." He started.

"Sirius Black, put your bloody feet back on the ground." She scolded. He acted like he owned the place.

He looked at her for a moment and with a sigh he placed his feet back on the floor, "you sound like Molly bloody Weasley."

"Stop, I do not." Hermione huffed.

"Yes, you do, love. And it's starting to scare me. That woman was terrifying when she was angry."

"What were you going to say?" Hermione asked, changing the subject. She didn't really feel like talking about Molly Weasley, or that she apparently reminded Sirius of her.

"Hm? Oh! Yes, I was going to say that while I jest and tease, at least the brat is a bit more your speed."

A frown formed on her face as she stood up and gathered the plates and put them in the sink. With a tired wave of her wand, the dishes began to clean themselves. "What do you mean?" She asked, her back still turned to Sirius. She had an idea of what he meant, but still.

"I always thought Molly's boy wasn't right for you." He started, making Hermione flinch. Either Sirius didn't see, or didn't care because he continued, "maybe one of her other sons might have been a better match. Ron could never match your intellect and it would have forever bothered him. And at some point that would be the downfall of your relationship with him. This brat, on the other hand, keeps you on your toes and from what I can see, he actually seems to be enjoying your discussions."

"How did you- You said that you always thought Ronald wasn't right for me. we weren't even dating when you were still there, so how-"

"Please don't insult my intellect, 'Mione. You two may have been dancing around each other and ignoring all the signs, but that doesn't mean the rest didn't see."

A blush appeared on her cheeks and she bit her lip in order to stop herself from responding. Of course everyone knew they liked each other back then. Burying her face in her hands, she groaned in embarrassment.

"Don't feel bad. It happens to almost everyone, so you're definitely not alone.

Before long, it was time to go back to the Yamanaka's. Gathering all her belongings that she had taken with her, she made her way to her home, Sirius at her side and Teddy sleeping softly in her arms. Her feet were still killing her but dreading having to go back was enough of an incentive to walk instead of Apparating. How would the Yamanaka family act when she got back? Had Inoichi told his wife what had happened? Were they angry at her for leaving without a word? So many questions popped up in her head. And she didn't have an answer for any of them.