Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the books' characters! Wish I did though, I'd never have killed Sirius!!! (*bursts into tears*)

Summary: Hermione goes back in time, back to when the Marauders were in their seventh year. And Hermione is faced with grief that she thought she had buried. Will she have the heart to find a way to go back to her own time?

[Just a fic I thought of after reading 'Order of the Phoenix']

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~Someone She Couldn't Forget

- Chapter Six: Remembering Sirius *

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Harry, Ron and Hermione lounged on a ledge beside the lake, gazing out over the moonlit surface as the minutes of the late evening ticked by.

Ron was sleepy and was almost completely out, as he lay sprawled on the ledge, his head lolling against Hermione's shoulder. She was sitting between him and Harry, her knees tucked under her with her chin resting on them, her eyes fixed impassively across the shimmering surface of water. Harry was beside her, fingers tapping gently on his wand, also deep in thought.

"Think you got enough OWLs to make an Auror, Harry?" Ron asked sleepily.

"I know Hermione did," Harry said with a smile. "But I think I did pretty good, especially in Defense Against the Dark Arts."

They expected Hermione to respond with something along the lines of 'ooh I don't think I got question number dash right, oh I wonder where I went wrong', but she said nothing, merely shrugged in response. Ron, through his sleep-induced haze, realized she was still hurting bad and didn't know any way to help her.

"I can't believe you guys got lost in the Room of Requirement," Harry was saying now, shaking his head, somewhat amused. "Hermione, Ron says he had to go in there and rescue you from some maze in the Room after Dumbledore located you."

"Something of the sort," Hermione shot Ron, who had fallen asleep by now, a dirty look for taking the hero-role in the situation.

For a moment, there was silence, and then Harry said softly: "I'd like to talk about him, like he actually did exist."

Hermione felt her entire body stiffen. Harry might have sounded self- centered, but she knew that he still thought he was the only one (other than Lupin who wasn't here) who was really grieving the loss of Sirius Black. He didn't know about her.

"We'll all miss him, Harry," she said in as emotionless a voice as she could. As a result, it came out sounding dead. "He was a great guy, and a - a great godfather. He loved you, Harry, he really did. Probably as much as James himself did."

Harry glanced at her and she saw gratitude reflected in his green eyes. "He'd have been glad to hear you say so. He always liked you, Hermione, maybe as much as he liked me."

"I doubt that." She mumbled softly.

"I don't." Ron's voice spoke up, clear, firm and sleepless. He smiled wryly. "You remember how we spent our entire third year believing he was a murderer wanting to kill Harry? Poor guy, imagine having to live with the knowledge that the whole wizarding world thought he was responsible for betraying his best friend."

Hermione shook her head. "If James had been alive, he would never have believed Sirius would have done such a thing."

"You're talking like you've met my father," Harry said with a slight smile. "But you're right anyway. They were like brothers. And that's how Lupin and Sirius were since Dad died." He glanced across the lake. "Remember how we saved him from those Dementors right over there - you and me, Hermione?"

"I remember."

And she did. Vividly.

"He lived in the cave near Hogsmeade too," Ron chuckled. "Lived off rats just to keep an eye on the Triwizard Tournament. What a guy."

"Reckless," Hermione mustered up a smile. "Loyal." Eyes misted with reminiscence, they thought of all the things Sirius had done with them and without them too.

"Tell me some of the stuff he did in Grimmauld Place before I arrived," Harry requested, leaning back and also using Hermione's other shoulder as a pillow.

Ron glanced at Hermione, who continued to stare at the water, her mind only partly in the present. The other part was still torn, and still hovering in those shreds of the past . . . where Sirius was still alive.

The youngest Weasley boy shrugged. "Well, he used to fight with Kreacher a lot, and he and Mum had their share of rows. Otherwise, he was always laughing, keeping Hermione and me company when we felt lonely, discussing ways to help Lupin get a job with Hermione, giving us sneak inside information about the secret Order meetings. He worried about you too." He added, directing this to Harry.

"Yeah, he did care." Harry sounded a little sad.

Hermione spoke up, not wanting Harry to get sorrowful again, her voice as light as she could manage through her own aching heart. "He showed me his family tree while we were there. He rescued me from his mother once too, because I was standing there paralyzed by her screams about me being a Mudblood."

"And once, he nearly blew Kreacher's head off with a spell because that nasty elf started in on Hermione," Ron added with a grin in his voice. "Hermione was upset with him for it, but he knew she was grateful. Personally, I think Sirius would have welcomed any opportunity to kill that damned thing."

They all laughed, even Hermione cracked a smile and Harry chuckled softly. "Sirius was always like that." He said. "You know, it's strange, but if you split up his character, you'll find different pieces of him in each of us."

Hermione turned away from the water for the first time and she knew Harry could see the grief in her smile as she said, "I know what you mean."

Harry nodded. "Yeah, Ron has his humor, his nonchalant attitude, his disregard for the rules." Ron and Hermione grinned. "I have his recklessness, his sharp yet somewhat blinkered vision - you know, seeing only that someone you care about is hurt and not caring what the consequences of going after them may be - and I have his thing for 'playing the hero'." He added, smiling.

"And what about Hermione?" Ron asked, straightening up.

She looked at Harry, wondering what he was going to say. He smiled, and said: "Well, Hermione has Sirius' humanity, and she has his heart."

"Yeah," Ron murmured quietly, "She always had his heart."

Hermione swallowed the immense lump in her throat, blinking back tears. "We'll all miss him." She repeated quietly. "But we'll never forget him."

They stood up slowly from the ledge, and Harry nodded in agreement. "Sirius is living in each of us, and none of us will let his soul, his spirit die. He's not really gone."

Harry and Ron started to head for the castle, but Hermione stood by the edge of the lake. When Harry turned around to ask her what was wrong, Ron tugged his arm and she heard him say quietly, "Give her a sec."

She stared into the water, and for a moment, she saw the seventeen-year- old, carefree, laughing face of Sirius Black. Harry was right, she thought. Sirius wasn't really gone. He'd always be there, watching over them and keeping them safe, and no matter what - he'd always be there, loving her.

As long as she had her memories, Sirius would live.

With a slight smile, Hermione turned around and walked back to the castle, catching up with her two best friends and the two people who, along with the brave, spirited Animagus, were the most important in her life.

Above her, a glowing new star twinkled with shining white light. None of them heard it when it seemed to speak, its voice low and husky with a laugh like a bark, yet somehow she had known its message.

~ "It'll take more than Bella to rip me away from you." ~

** THE END

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A/n: I can't believe he's dead. I really, really can't get over that. Anyway, the story has come to an end and maybe all Sirius fans will find him again in books 6 or 7. Please review, and thanks for reading!

Luv, ViXeN