Author's Note: Ok, here is chapter 3 (yay! It's
done!). Thank you to all of you that
have actually read up to this part (and hopefully farther on). I had a really bad case of writer's block
(for me anyway), so I hope this is good enough for you. It has a lot more interactions, you see
Harry and Ron again (they talk! Sorry if they seem OOC, I just don't like
Harry, so he doesn't cooperate with me. I have to improvise). Also, this
one's a bit of a cliffhanger. I hope
you don't mind too much. Oh well, on
with the story!
Differences Aside ch. 3
Hermione ran straight to the
common room after her "encounter" with Sirius. She paused once to catch her breath, and smacked herself on the
forehead.
"Why, Hermione Granger, why
did you just do that?" she asked herself. Unfortunately for her, she didn't know the answer. She continued running to Gryffindor tower,
and finally reached it, only to meet Harry and Ron in the hallway, headed away
from the tower.
"Hey, Hermione, where've you
been?" Harry asked her, cocking his head slightly at her state of disarray.
"Oh, I was just…outside,"
she said vaguely. "Where are you two
going? You guys always ignore me
now! If I didn't know better, I'd say you
guys had girlfriends, but I think I'd notice that much!"
Harry and Ron exchanged
glances, and burst out laughing.
"What? What is it?"
"Hermione, it's
nothing. Nothing at all," Harry and Ron
chimed together, causing another burst of laughter. Shaking her head, yet grinning from ear to ear, she entered the
common room and collapsed on a couch. Harry and Ron stuck their heads in the room to bid adieu, but she had
already fallen asleep.
{{The Next Morning}}
Hermione woke from her
slumber with an aching back from sleeping on the overstuffed sofa in the common
room. For a moment, she wondered why
she had slept there. Then the total
recap of the past night's…erm…activities came back to her.
"I kissed Sirius…why,
Hermione Lynn Granger, did you do that? Are you stupid?" She thought for
awhile after asking herself this, and came to the conclusion that, yes, she was
stupid. She hopped off the couch and
ran up to her dormitory, taking the stairs two at a time.
She opened the door to the
sixth-year girls' dorm gingerly, so as not to wake any of her roommates. Tiptoeing over to her bed, she lifted the mattress gently and removed a book from
underneath it.
It was a beautiful
diary. Purple and turquoise tie-dyed
fabric covered it, and there was a moving appliqué of a dragon on the
front. She had bought it while obsessing
over Draco in her fifth year, so the first half was full of her rambling on and
on about his "gorgeous platinum locks and his eyes that reminded her of the fog
on the ocean at dawn on spring days." She flipped past these entries, rolling her eyes, and moved to the one
she had just written the day before. Reading over it, she decided to add another entry.
Dear Diary,
I just re-read yesterday's entry, and I don't think I was
clear on many (if any) things. I don't love Sirius Black, but I do really like him. Last night was wonderful. His charm was so strong I babbled and
stuttered; I made a complete fool of myself. I kissed him, and he seemed genuinely interested in continuing it, but I
cut it short, betraying my Gryffindor background. Brave, my ass. If I was
brave, I would've let him do whatever he wanted to me. He could have taken me to the Shrieking Shack
to tell me he was guilty of those murders and I would've been more than happy
to continue snogging him. I don't know. Maybe I do love him.
I remember back in third year, when Harry, Ron and I were
all at the Three Broomsticks and the teachers and Fudge came in, talking about
Sirius. When I heard that he had owned
a flying motorcycle, I fell. I had
never met the man, and he was a supposed serial killer coming after my best
friend. I didn't care. I crushed on him hard. Then when I learned that he was innocent,
that it was all Pettigrew, it became stronger, but I pushed it aside. I had almost forgotten about it…the next
time I saw him, I had a huge crush on Viktor, then followed by that
almost-frightening love of Draco Malfoy. But when I wrote to Sirius a few weeks ago and we got together—just him
and me—I fell all over again. I have
wanted him longer than any other man ever. I'm doomed.
Love from,
Hermione
She sighed as she looked at
her work. Shaking her head, she blew on
the pages to dry them and tucked the book back under her mattress. Sighing again, she turned on her heel and
made her way down to the great hall for breakfast.
[] In the Shrieking Shack[]
Sirius stirred peacefully in
the warm coverings of the four-poster bed that had sat in the bedroom for the
last twenty-five years or so.
//Sirius' Dreamland//
"Mione! Mione, where are you?" He yelled at the top of his lungs, but to no
avail. He had been looking for her all
night, but had only found her school cloak. He clutched it in his fist, and transformed. Sniffing the cloak, he quickly found her trail, and followed
it. But then, like all the other times
he'd tried that, it ended with no trace of her, as if she had flown off. He
transformed back and sat down, wrapping his arms around his legs, bunching them
up to his chest.
Suddenly, he felt a pair of
cold hands on his shoulders. Startled, he
spun around, accidentally knocking the girl he had been looking for to her
feet.
"Mione! Where have you been? I was calling and calling…" but she silenced
him with a finger on his lips.
"Shh, Sirius, they'll hear
you!" she said, with a tone of urgency in her voice.
"Who will, Mione," he asked,
his voice a hushed tone.
"I don't know, Sirius, the
ones who keep taking me…I fade and see their faces, and am instantly sent
somewhere new."
"Oh, Mione, can I do
anything to help?"
"Just don't let them take me
again!" Just then, Sirius noticed that
her hazel eyes were becoming lighter, and her fingertips were almost gone.
"Help me, Sirius, it's
happening!" She screamed in his face, but he couldn't do anything. And even if he could, he didn't know what he would do, he had never once
experienced anything like this.
"Mione, hold on! What can I do?" She was fading rapidly.
"I don't know!" In an act of desperation, she thrust her
hand toward him, and he grabbed it, entwining their fingers together. In seconds, her color was back, and she
collapsed on the cold ground. Sirius
knelt beside her, face wrinkled in concern.
But before he could learn
anything, the scene faded and faltered.
//End Sirius' Dreamland//
Sirius sat straight up in
the bed and got dressed. Walking to the
trap door entrance, he pulled it open easily and slipped through. He transformed and ran the length of the
passageway to the base of the Whomping Willow, running out onto the
grounds.
With the wind billowing
through his shaggy black fur, Padfoot was a sight to be seen. A determined look was plastered on his face,
and he raced around the side of the lake to a secret entrance to the school he
had found in his third year.
Pushing open the entrance
and sliding it over, Padfoot crept through the tiny passageway. It took ages to finally make it to the end
of the tunnel, but finally he did it. Pushing aside the full-length mirror, he left the tunnel and shook out
in a rarely used girls' bathroom. Ducking out into the hallway, he raced through the halls frantically,
looking for Hermione. He slowed to a
lope whenever he passed students, occasionally stopping to be petted, or to eat
some of their leftover breakfast.
Finally, when he was almost
to the great hall, he spotted her. He
needed to grab her attention; he was lucky that she was walking down to
breakfast alone. He barked at her and
sat down on his haunches. She quickly
turned around, blushing furiously, and continued walking to the great
hall. Chasing after her, Padfoot
finally was able to corner her. Grinning and winking at her, he set off at a run down the stairs to the
dungeons. She followed him, all the
while asking herself why she was.
Padfoot led her to an unused
classroom not far from the one where Hermione had Potions with Snape. Once inside, he transformed back, and locked
the door.
Turning back to her, he
noticed she was acting somewhat submissive.
"Hermione, we need to talk,"
he stated bluntly, striving for eye contact but she was looking firmly at the
ground.
"Mione…" he tried
again. This time she looked up.
"What, Sirius?"
"Like I said, we need to
talk."
"About what?"
"Mione, you know damn well
what about. I told you last night, I'm
fine with anything that might happen with us. You're not the only one having dreams about us."
"REALLY? I mean, you had one too?" She was genuinely
shocked by this news.
"Yes. I believe mine meant that I have to get a
hold on you now, or it will be too late for anything."
"You can't be serious!"
He laughed, "Of course I'm
Sirius!" This spurred her to smack him
on the arm.
"Sirius?"
"Yes, Mione?"
"Um…I don't know how to
phrase this really…"
"What is it, Mione?"
"Why did you try to,
um…prolong that kiss last night?" She tried to hide her face as wave upon wave
of crimson collected in her cheeks.
"Mione, I told you I'd be
more than willing to take it farther than the 'friend' level, if it was fine by
you. You're intelligent, a very caring,
sweet girl, wonderful to talk to, and damn, girl! You're hot!"
Hermione looked up at him in
horror. He couldn't have just said
that. The one man I've crushed harder
on than any other just said I'm hot? Wow! While her thoughts were
swimming through her head she didn't notice Sirius walk over and sit beside
her. His radiant blue eyes penetrated
her soul as they looked at her, and she put her hand on his. Grinning, Sirius bent over and kissed her on
the cheek.
"Are you sure you just want
a 'really good friend', Miss Granger?" he asked in a low voice.
"No…" she whispered, bending
her face towards him, kissing him. Grinning around the kiss, Sirius put his hands on her waist and pulled
her into his lap, where she immediately made herself comfortable. He was a wonderful kisser, just as she had
always imagined him to be. His soft
lips (much softer than she'd imagine) brushed and pressed against hers,
occasionally pulling her bottom lip inside his mouth for a taste. He didn't push anything, but she did. He felt her tracing the outline of his upper
lip with her tongue, and opened to allow her entry. Oh! Hermione, what are
you doing? She heard her conscience ask. Having a snogging session with the man of my dreams, what does it
look like? She answered, deciding to ignore the voice in her head and focus
on Sirius.
"Mmm…" she said into the
kiss, and Sirius broke it off.
"Well, Mione, it seems like
last night wasn't a mistake after all!"
"Oh, Sirius!" she cried,
wrapping her arms around his neck. "Where did you learn to kiss like that?"
"Funny, I was going to ask
you the same thing."
"You know, this was my first
real kiss."
"Meaning first experience
with someone else's tongue?"
She blushed again, and said,
"You make it sound so dirty." Not
believing what she just said, she clapped her hands to her mouth, her eyes wide
with surprise.
He just laughed.
"Now, Miss Granger, I do
believe you have class this morning. As
it is," he checked his watch, "you have exactly fifteen minutes to get to
Defense Against the Dark Arts. We wouldn't
want Moony to get suspicious of anything, would we?"
She slapped him again.
"Oh, but you are right, I
suppose…" she trailed off, pulling him into another kiss.
"Mmm, Mione, you are
wonderful, you know that?"
"Sure, Sirius, whatever you
say. But you were right, I have to go
now. Walk me to the class?" He nodded and transformed, brushing his wet,
black nose up against the palm of her hand, causing her to shiver. Together they left the room and walked up
towards Professor Lupin's classroom.
As they turned the corner
into the DATDA corridor, the pair of them saw Harry and Ron up ahead.
"Harry! Ron!" Mione shouted to them. Turning around, they saw Hermione and
Padfoot walking together toward the classroom. Harry and Ron ran up and greeted them, Harry adding, "Are you going to
see Remus?" Padfoot nodded, and they
all patted him on the shoulders.
"Snuffles and I ran into
each other in the Entrance hall as I was leaving breakfast. We had a nice talk, and decided to walk to
class together."
"Um, Hermione?" Ron brought
up.
"Yes, Ron?"
"Hermione, it's Saturday, we
don't have class."
Mione looked down at Padfoot
with a look that could kill. How
dare he! He tricked me! We were having plenty of fun snogging and he
has to go and tell me I'm late for a class I don't even have! That bastard!
Seeing the look on Mione's
face, Padfoot broke into a run for Moony's office with his tail low.
"What was that all about?"
Harry wondered aloud.
"Oh, it was nothing. While we were talking this morning he
tricked me, convinced me somehow that it was Monday and I was late for
class. That dickhead."
"Hermione! How can you say that about Sirius? You barely know him!" Harry was very upset.
"Can it, Harry. I may as well become friends with him; you
guys never talk to me anymore. What's
up with that? Oh, and how did your first
self-defense class go?"
"It was a lot of fun,
Hermione! Harry and I were in the same
group, and we learned this really cool curse, and the counter curse too!" With that, Ron took out his wand and aimed
it at Harry.
"Haentias!" he cried, and instantly, Harry was knocked to the
ground and couldn't move, as if the gravity had just been quadrupled.
"Wow, Ron, what's the
counter curse?" Hermione wondered.
"Well, it only works for the
person who set the curse. No one else
can break it, that's one thing that makes it so cool!" He once again pointed his wand at Harry, who
was struggling to even breathe.
"Bractoin Soentae!" Ron said, and Harry took a deep breath, his face
gaining more color. Ron grasped his
hand and pulled him to his feet, grinning at his success.
"Great job, Ron! You're really getting good at charms and
curses, you know that? Who is this
class taught by?"
"Well, there was a guy and a
girl," Harry began. "The girl's name
was Natalie Hutch. She was ok looking,
tall with dark brown hair, almost black, but it had a bright pink stripe near
the back. She was really pale and
dressed like a slut, but that's ok. She
looked maybe twenty, twenty-five."
"Yeah, and that guy, Michael
Blake, I think his name is, he's cool. He can be a little Snape-ish, but only if someone really pisses him
off," added Ron. "He's a short black
guy with dreadlocks and black eyes. They're both real characters. He
seems like he's probably about Sirius' age, maybe a little bit younger."
Hermione smiled. She was getting dirt on these people without
even Harry and Ron realizing it! Boy,
would Sirius be glad to hear that! She
was just about to leave her comrades to tell him when she heard a deep,
resounding bark and a low growl coming from Lupin's office. The three sixth-year Gryffindors ran toward
the noise and flung open the door. There, they found Sirius in human form bent over a bloody Remus
Lupin. The window had been broken open.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A/N~ Ok, please review! I don't even have the next part written, so
suggestions would be great. What would you
like to see here? Please, let me
know! I really need to know this
schtuff! I haven't even decided on who
the "big bad wolf" hurter is yet, so any input is very, very welcome.
Thanks again to Zarya
(strange charm), Melissa Ivory, Siria Snape, and everyone else who helped me
with this one. You guys are great!