Disclaimer: Sadly, still not my sandbox; this is just my sand castle in J. K. Rowling's sandbox.

Chapter Eight: Damage Control

January

Hermione

Ginny is worryingly quiet as she and Hermione make their way up the stairs to the girls' dorms. The way she tosses her things carelessly into her room before hustling Hermione up to the fourth year dorm has her worry escalating even further. But Hermione doesn't push her best female friend; instead she watches the redhead stiffly unpack Hermione's rucksack and wait for the younger girl to burst.

Her boiling point hits its high when her hand brush the oversized Weasley sweater near the middle of Hermione's rucksack.

"Why the fuck didn't you say anything to Harry? Why would you let ANYONE treat you that way let alone my toe rag of a brother?"

Hermione sighs almost helplessly and runs her fingers through her unruly curls, "He was drunk, Gin."

"That doesn't make it right, Mione. He got up in your space when I saw you backing away and he GRABBED you. That is in no way ok. How can you even think about forgiving that?"

"He's mine and Harry's best friend," Hermione's words are barely a whisper but the redhead hears them.

Ginny sighs and sets down Hermione's rucksack before settling down on the beside next to the older witch, "I understand that he was both your and Harry's first friend but…you he is the polar opposite of you and Harry. He's frivolous while you're studious. He's loud and vindictive while you're kind and quiet. You two have ALWAYS stood by him when it counted, hell Harry even stood with him against you when it could have cost him his life; but the first time he really needs to stand by you two, he turns his back. You and Harry both have this sort of unfailing kindness that honestly astounds me, though you show it in different way, and to be quite frank: Ron can be extremely mean. If Harry hadn't been hell-bent on finding you in your first year, I have no doubt he would have just left you in that bathroom to die. It was the same thing at the World Cup this summer. You and Harry watched each other's backs but he was only interested in saving himself, that's the reason you three got separated as easily as you did. And look at how he acted on the train ride here. He tried to pretend like everything was fine then refused to speak to any of us when we asked him to apologize."

Hermione doesn't know what to say to that. Everything Ginny has said is correct…but Ron is her and Harry's best friend. He'd been one of their few constants since first year…She couldn't just let go of the.

Ginny's hand grasps hers, pulling the curly-haired witch's attention back to her, "I'm not saying you have to make any big decisions right now…I just want you to think about what I said."

Hermione stares at Ginny for a long moment before nodding slowly.

Sirius

Sirius Black loved his animagus form. If it weren't for the fleas, he would have seriously (no pun intended) thought about making the change permanent. The ability to run at speeds faster than any normal human could ever achieve had to be his favorite part. That's what he had been doing tonight. And that's what he was coming back from when he heard his pup talking to his lover from outside their bedroom door. He most definitely hadn't intended on eavesdropping. But that's what happened. (He really hoped his accidental eavesdropping wasn't becoming a thing.)

"How are you feeling?" her voice was soft, like she was afraid speaking louder would break the older man.

"Better than I have in a long time, little cub. It helps having my pack around me during the full moon. Even if you and Harry are upstairs while Sirius and I are locked in the basement," Remus's voice was raspy from the strain his transformation always put on him.

"It'll get better once I can finish my animagus training with McGonagall and can help Harry with his." It's silent for a few moments before Hermione continues, "Can I ask you something?"

"Anything, little cub," Remus whispers and Sirius can just picture his lover pulling their daughter into his arms to comfort her, to reassure her that nothing she will ever say could change his mind about her.

"What do you think I should do?" Sirius can barely hear her, even with the heightened hearing of his animagus form.

"About what?" Sirius would bet his life that Remus knew exactly what she was talking about, it was hard not to.

"What should I do when I see him again?"

"What do you want to do?"

"I want to kill him. To look at him in the eyes as I Crucio him until he begs for death. I want him to tell me why he has done what he has to me, why he felt the need to hurt me. I want him to know the pain I have, to suffer like I have. And then I want to end him."

"If that's what you want then I will support your decision. But before you take that step, you should think about what stooping down to that level will do to you. Are you ready to give into that darkness?"

Remus's question echoes in Sirius's mind for the next few days. It was the same question he had asked Sirius himself when he was almost the same age as Hermione…in a much less serious situation at the time but Sirius had chosen the darker path. And the way he acted, especially the things he had done to Severus and Regulus, had been what people like Dumbledore and those idiots in the ministry had used to keep him locked away…He didn't want his pup to risk that. But it was her choice…

Remus's question was still rattling in his head when he and Hermione were sitting in the DADA quarters while Remus had Harry running through an obstacle course of activities in the actual classroom.

"Where's your head, pup?" Sirius asks, cradling a glass of firewhiskey in his hands while he watches the fire burn.

Hermione was reading another one of the many large tomes from the Black family library. At least that was what she would appear to be doing to anyone else. It hadn't escaped the notice of Sirius that his pup hadn't turned a page in her book for the past half an hour.

"Hmm?" She questions after a moment's pause.

"Where's your head, pup?" Sirius repeats, setting down his glass and turning to face his pup as his eyebrows draw together in concern.

"I'm just thinking about Hogsmeade week…Do you think we're doing this too soon? Shouldn't we do more research? There are so many things that could go wrong." Hermione closes the tome and clutches it to her chest, like it's some sort of shield.

Sirius scoots closer to the young girl, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and pulling her into his side. "I think you've been in that place long enough already. There's no way in hell I would ever let you go back there or Moony or Harry for that matter. Screw the consequences. Screw planning. When has anything ever gone according to plan for us?"

Hermione

A pack of strawberry-rose sugar quills crinkles the edge of Hermione's essay, drawing her attention to the increasingly familiar mercury gaze sitting across from her. They were her favorite flavor of her favorite candy but she had no idea how he knew that.

There's a slight pressure in her mind before the words I'm sorry float into her mind paired with the image of the confrontation Ron and his Slytherin friends had forced him, Harry, and Hermione into earlier that day.

Hermione doesn't know Legilimency, which is what she thinks this magic is, but she assumes he is still reading her mind because both of them knew they needed to draw as little attention to this interaction as possible even if they were in the least visited area of the Hogwarts library at the moment, You have nothing to be sorry for, we knew we'd have to keep up our usual levels of antagonism until we got you out of that house.

I shouldn't have called you that word.

Hermione bites back a sigh because she's starting to realize exactly how hard Draco is on himself, how he won't let this go until he feels like he's made everything ok. Suddenly, an idea tugs at Hermione's mind and a mischievous smile pulls up her lips.

I know a way you can make it up to me.

How?

Teach me Legilimency.