Author's
note: Ok, Chapter 2 is posted (at the
same time as chapter 1), but I still have a note or two.
Thank
you to Professor Melissa Ivory, for reading chapter one, and for incessantly
saying "I can't criticize if there's no criticizing needed!" about my
work. Thank you for lying, Melissa!
Disclaimer: As usual, everything HP related (aka
EVERYTHING) belongs to JK Rowling…but I own Sirius' soul…that's mine…along with
his green silk boxers…and his black vinyl pants…
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
As
soon as the two were shut securely in Professor Lupin's office, Sirius regained
his human form. Hermione was shocked,
to say the least. She had, for some
reason, figured he'd look roughly the same as he did at the end of her fourth
year—she had only seen him twice that year, and once before that, in the
Shrieking Shack.
He had changed drastically for the better. Instead of thin, sallow cheeks, his face had
a fuller, healthier look, and he had a nice tan. His hair was still long, though it had been trimmed to his
shoulders. Recently washed, it gleamed
ebony.
Across from her, Sirius was having the same
realization. He hadn't seen Hermione at
all her fifth year; Harry and Ron had visited him twice, but Hermione never
joined them. She had changed, too. Her hair, now past the bushy stage, fell
down her back in soft, lazy chestnut curls. She was taller, too, now standing at 5'9". Having gotten rid of her buck teeth in her fourth year, she was
quite attractive.
Simultaneously, they realized they were staring at
each other, and quickly averted their eyes.
"Well, getting back to business," Sirius began. "Do you have a copy of the letter?"
She took a folded piece of parchment
from the pocket of her robe and handed it to him.
"I
copied it after I wrote to you, before I gave Harry the original."
"Good…"
he mumbled, looking over the paper. Abruptly, he looked back up at her.
"Hermione,
I remembered where I've heard these names."
"Really? You did? Where?" she was squirming anxiously in her seat, frantically wondering
if her concern was authentic.
"Michael
Blake and Natalie Hutch are two of the less common aliases used by the Death
Eaters."
Hermione
gasped, and he continued.
"These
names, among others, 'belong' to the Death Eaters. They have birth records, all of the things they'd need to make a
bank account, get jobs, do anything you or I could do. In Azkaban," he said, "I'd hear them saying
these names occasionally. Mind you, it
was only a few times, but I still heard them. And before I was sentenced, I was an Auror—I stumbled across these names
once or twice before. In this case, I'd
say that these are probably young, foreign followers, probably pretty new to
the clan. I couldn't say for sure."
Hermione
was speechless for a moment, but quickly regained herself.
"But…but,
Sirius, why would they be after Harry again? Can't they just leave him alone for once? Our third year was the only Dark-Lord-free year, but we were
stressed out cause we thought you were hunting Harry down…And last year…poor
Harry…"
Sirius
stood up and walked over to where she was sitting. Landing next to her, he put a reassuring arm around her shoulder.
"Hermione,
I don't know why he's trying this angle. But I do know that he's not a quitter. If he wants something, he's going to keep trying for it until he gets
it, or he dies. We have to tell
Harry, but not quite yet. We need to
find out what we're up against before moving any further." He grinned weakly at her, and she turned to
him and threw her arms around his waist. He was startled, to say the least.
"What
was that for?"
"Thanks,
Sirius." She was still holding him.
"You're
welcome, Mione. I want you to know—if
you ever need anything, feel free to ask. I remember how Lily was, being Muggle-born…she'd always write to her
parents, asking them questions about our world, then remember that she knew
more about it than they did." He looked
away quickly, hiding his face from her. She unhooked her arms from around his waist, and put her arm around his shoulder.
"Sirius,
you need to stop blaming yourself for their deaths. As I understand, they agreed to use him—it's Pettigrew's fault,
not yours!"
But
he just shook his head and transformed, refusing to return. Sighing, she rose to her feet and moved to
the door. When she got there, she
turned around and said, "Goodbye, Sirius. I'll meet you here next Friday, okay?"
The
large black dog nodded his head and went to the couch in Professor Lupin's
private study, leaving Hermione alone.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The weekend passed quite slowly for Hermione,
considering she was thoroughly bored the entire time. She only saw Harry and Ron at meals, and even then they ignored
her. They always had their heads bent
together, and those stupid grins were constantly present. She had given up on them, so became better
friends with Ginny Weasley. But Ginny
had that same stupid grin as well…hers was more of a lovesick expression
though.
Sunday at breakfast, Ginny and Hermione were deep in
conversation, and it appeared that Harry and Ron had slept in, something they
did frequently on weekends.
"So,
Ginny, who's the man in your life? I
pray you've gotten over Harry."
"Hermione! Why do you pray that?"
"I
don't know, it seems like a crush like yours has been focused too long on
him. And you seem…worse, almost. Like you were your first year."
"Oh,
please! I got over him last year."
"So,
who's the new guy in your life?"
But
Ginny just pretended to be immersed in eating her corn flakes. Hermione tried again.
"Ok,
ok, it's not Harry. But there is
someone…can I guess?"
"Oh,
I suppose, but you're not going to get it. Let's play twenty questions. But
if you lose, I'm not going to tell you, deal?"
"Deal. Ok, is he your age?"
"No."
"Older?"
"Yes."
"My
age?"
"Yes."
"Gryffindor?"
"No."
"REALLY?
Hmm…Ravenclaw?"
"No."
"Hufflepuff?"
"No."
"Oh. My. God. Not Slytherin?"
"Not
Slytherin, I was messing with you. It
is Gryffindor."
"Oh,
okay then…you had me scared!"
"My
pleasure, Hermione."
"Um,
let's see…sixth year Gryffindor?"
"Correct."
"Not
Harry?"
"Right
again."
"I'm
trusting you that it's not Ron…"
"Eww! That's just wrong. No, I'm not seeing my brother."
"Hmmm…Seamus?"
"Damn
it!"
"I'm
right? It's Seamus?"
"Yep, we started seeing each other over the
summer."
"Wow,
Ginny, that's so cool! I'm happy for
you."
Ginny
grinned, "Thanks, Hermione…I hope you find someone soon! You'll be the only one not hooked up!"
Hermione either ignored Ginny's last comment, or didn't
hear, but either way, she made no signs that she had heard.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The Next Friday
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
In the early hours of the morning, Hermione woke up from
an interesting dream. Straining to
remember it, she reached for the diary she kept almost religiously. Turning on her light, she flipped to the
first blank page.
September
16, 1996
Dear Diary,
I had the most interesting dream
last night. In it, I was a wolf, maybe
a dog, I'm not sure. But I was running
with a pack under a clear sky with a nearly-full moon, when all of a sudden, a
large black dog (A Newfoundland? Snuffles?) came running towards me. I completely abandoned my pack, and went running with him instead. Oh, Diary, it was beautiful. There was snow covering the ground, and the
two of us were running side by side, playing in the cool night air. Was it…no, I hope I wasn't dreaming about
Harry's Godfather…I mean, he is a very nice man, very attractive too, but
dreaming about him? The only men I
dream about are the ones I'm close to, or the ones I wish to be close to. Harry, Ron, Draco, they fill my dreams. Not Sirius. Oh, god. I think I love Sirius.
Sincerely,
Hermione
She read and reread her
diary entry, each time the truth became painfully clear. She loved Sirius Black.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Friday Night
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
That
evening, Hermione shuffled through the hallways on the way to Professor Lupin's
office. When she arrived, Sirius wasn't
there yet, so she sat, waiting, on the couch. Realizing she was a bit tired, she curled up on her side, and fell asleep.
//Sirius' POV//
I rushed down the hall as Padfoot, since I had been late
arriving at the school. I figured that
Mione would be there already, considering the fact I was almost a half hour
late. I reached Moony's office in
record time, only to find her asleep. I
transformed, and walked over to her silent figure.
I had always been intrigued by this girl, facing
adversaries, being the top in every class. Though he was my godson, I always thought Harry was rather boring. She, however, was amazing. She knew things at thirteen, when I met her,
that I hadn't learned until I was twenty or more.
When I reached her side, I knelt at her side, just
watching. She really was quite
beautiful. I smiled and tucked a lock
of her hair behind her ear. Feeling my
fingers on her cheek, her eyelids fluttered and she woke up.
"Sirius? Is that you?"
"Yes, Mione, it's me,
sorry I'm late." She yawned, and sat
up.
"It's no problem,
really. I didn't sleep well last
night…I had a dream…"
"Tell me about it."
//End Sirius' POV//
She
smiled at him and told him about her dream. She didn't mention how she had never dreamt of someone she didn't love
before. When she had finished, they sat
there, side by side in Lupin's office, neither saying a word. Finally, Sirius broke the silence.
"You dreamt about me?" he
asked her.
"I think so…I don't know
any other big, black dogs!" They
laughed together, and she decided to tell him her findings.
"Sirius, can I tell you
something?"
"Sure, go for it. What is it, Mione?"
"Um, I'm not really sure
how to say this. I guess what I'm
aiming for is, well, whenever I dream of someone or something specific, they're
always big parts of my life. I frequently
dream of Harry and Ron, last year almost every night I dreamt of Draco Malfoy. My parents are always quite significant, as
is Crookshanks. But, I guess what I'm
trying to say, is I only dream about those I care for."
"Are you saying you like
me?" She was surprised to hear him say
that, as he was twenty years her senior.
"Um, well, hmm, I, um,
well…yeah."
Sirius laughed, with a big grin on his face.
"Man, I thought I had lost
that touch back in school."
"What touch?"
"I haven't heard someone
talk that incoherently in years. This
must be serious." She blushed deep pink
and hid her face in her hands, crying.
"Oh, Mione, don't take it
badly! I'm quite flattered,
actually. I've always preferred your
company to that of Harry and Ron, but don't let them know that."
She looked at him, her
eyes bloodshot and tears were running down her cheeks. He wiped them away with his thumb, and
wrapped her in a warm embrace.
"I don't think you're in
any condition to work today. You wanna
go for a walk? I'm leash-trained." She giggled and agreed. He transformed, and together they went out
into the grounds.
When they were well out of sight of the school, he
transformed back. Feeling bold, she
walked closer to him, and he wrapped one arm around her. She immediately rested her head in the crook
of his shoulder, and he grinned. Here
was someone who didn't care about his past, who was actually interested in
him. He didn't care about the age
thing. She was old enough that anything
that might arise was perfectly legal, except for the fact that she'd be doing
it with a fugitive of the law.
"Sirius?"
"Yes, Mione?"
"How are you with
this? Do you mind?"
"Oh, Mione, not at
all! I'm already more than ecstatic to
be working alongside you to help Harry. This'll just make it more fun."
"Sirius!"
"Yes, madam?" He put on that "I'm-immensely-guilty-and-I-know-it"
voice.
"I'm nowhere near ready
for anything more than a good friend…a really good friend." She added. He stopped, and grabbed her gently by the
shoulders. Looking her in the eye, he
said, "Mione, I'll be more than happy to be friends with you. But if you ever want more than that, I'm
here for you. No need to ask before
hand, I'm not shockable."
"Really? You're not?"
"Nope."
"Good," she said, and
wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him gently on the lips. His eyes widened in surprise, but after a
moment, he shut them and instinctively tried to deepen it. She broke off just then, but had a small
smile playing across her mouth.
"Thank you, Sirius," she
said, and ran off towards the castle.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A/N~ Oh, those little
sluts! Just kidding, I love 'em! Lalalala…I now own Hermione's diary as well…
Please, Please, Please
REVIEW!! I live for reviews, they keep
me going. Flame if you must, but only
if it's necessary. Thank ye much!
*skips off, singing "We're
off to see the wizard, the wonderful wizard of Hog (warts)!"*