A/N: Fluffy-ness up ahead. Warning, Will Robinson!
Snuffles' Stay
Chapter Five
Snuffles' head was still flung out of the window, and he was still chiming WEEEEEEEEE!'s from the backseat of the car. Hermione kept chuckling, yet Mr. Granger couldn't tell why - he couldn't hear Sirius' talking.
They pulled into their driveway. Hermione opened the door for Snuffles to get out, and the two of them walked into the house, as Mr. Granger pulled the car into the garage. "You want to go for a walk, or something?" she asked Snuffles quietly.
Snuffles shook his shaggy head. He turned his tail to Hermione and darted up the stairs. Laughing, Hermione ran after him. "Where are you going!?! Get back here!" She walked into her bedroom, finding Snuffles on her bed, barking at her and wagging his tail playfully.
"And why are you on my bed, you nutter?" she asked, amused.
Because it's comfortable, he retorted. And I like it here. he layed down to emphasize his meaning, curling into a tight ball. Hermione came up to her bed and sat down, too, stroking Snuffles' fur.
"Hmm…" she hummed to herself. "I really should begin reading An Advanced Placement of Spells, Grade 6. I've already done my homework for the Summer…" she stopped, because Sirius was staring at her.
"You're too uptight, Hermione. If you were at Hogwarts with James, Remus, Peter and I… I don't even know why you study! You're well beyond your class average! I know you're going to be Head Girl; it was obvious that Lily was going to, too."
"As you can see, I'm no Lily Potter," she snapped. "I am not uptight. I just like to have things done and out of the way, and if that makes me a bookworm, so be it!"
"Hermione, I didn't mean it like that…" he murmured. "It's just that… you need to loosen up… have some fun…"
"I am loosened up!"
Sirius stood up, which caused Hermione to stare up at him. "No… you're not."
"Yes, I am!" she growled.
Sirius pulled her into his arms. Hermione wiggled around for a few seconds, before realizing what had happened. "See? I am, too!"
Sirius gave a soft laugh. "Yeah… after I pull you against my chest, you are."
Hermione's cheeks burnt a deep crimson. "…No…" she managed.
His fingers traced along her jaw line. When his index finger resided on her chin, he tipped it upward, forcing his eyes to meet hers. "Then why are you blushing?" He laughed softly.
"They.. they're not!" She took a small gulp of air. "I'm just… a little warm, that's all!" What am I doing?
"You're warm? Well, I guess being close to someone might have that affect on you. Sorry." He released his grasp on the bushy-haired girl and sat down on her bed.
"Hmph!" she inquired, threw herself into her trunk, and pulled out a thick book. Hermione walked to her bed, threw herself onto it, and leaned against the headboard, burring herself into An Advanced Placement in Spells, Grade 6.
"You read too much," he noted, looking on the bookshelf at the multiple rows of books. "You've read all of those?"
Hermione lifted her nose out of her book and directed her gaze at Sirius. "Yes, I have."
"Wow. I'm surprised. I would have never have figured you to read a Romance Novel," he added, grinning maliciously.
"A Romance Novel? Rubbish!" Her ears tinted pink like Ron's always did when he was nervous or embarrassed. "I would never read something like that!"
Sirius stood up and walked to the bookshelf, pulling something out of it. He walked back over to the bed and held it out. "Rubbish, huh? You'd never read anything like that, huh? Then what's this?" He laughed, pulling the book back out of Hermione's reach when she tried to grab at it.
"Okay, FINE! I did read a Romance Novel… only one, mind you! And it's that one you're holding." She snapped the book she was reading close, stood up, and stared at Sirius with a hard glare. "And? What now? Are you going to laugh at me about that? Are you going to say, 'Well, Hermione, you have no life. All you do is read, read, read. Why don't you get a life, Hermione?' Well, Snuffles I'm not going to take that rubbish from you! I have enough on my plate already!"
Sirius was aghast. Hermione with fuming anger was bewilderment in itself. "Hermione… It's not like that!"
"THEN WHAT IS IT LIKE!?! I would like to know, really, I would. But it seems to me that you're too busy being immature, like you always have. Being immature forced you into the place you're in now. It's your fault you're there, and don't think that I'm going to help you out of this situation much longer. You're only here because you had no other place to go, and we willfully took you in, when my Mum's expecting a baby, and all the lot. You should be happy and thankful, Sirius. Happy and thankful!"
"I should be happy and thankful when you're yelling at me? When you're accusing me of being unable to capture Peter, the greasy git who killed Harry's parents… my best friends? If that's… if that's what you think, then maybe I should go. I shouldn't be somewhere where I'm not exactly wanted, or cared about."
"Maybe you should leave! Maybe then I could get some reading done! Maybe then I could think properly again!" Hermione turned away from Sirius, tears welling in her eyes.
"Alright, then… Bye, Hermione." Sirius transformed back into Snuffles, and padded out of her room, down the stairs, and out of the open front door. He gave a back glance up to Hermione's bedroom window, gave a small sigh, and padded down the street.
*****
Hermione lay on her bed, face buried into her pillow. It had only been ten minutes since Sirius had walked out, and no matter how she put it, she missed him… a lot. Her chest felt like it was restricting; like her rib cage were being crushed by a thick corset wrapped around her.
"Sirius… I'm sorry… I didn't mean it…" she croaked, her eyes beginning to redden. "Don't leave… Don't leave me alone!"
But Sirius wasn't there, she realized. No matter how much she cried, no matter how much she longed… he wouldn't come back. He wouldn't come back to her with open arms from what she'd said to him. I'm so rude… so worthless as a friend. I don't know why people put up with me…
She sat up, wiping her eyes off on the sleeve of her shirt. I'm going to find him, and bring him back. He's not going to live off rats again, just because I told him to get out. She bolted down the stairwell and ran outside. "SNUFFLES! SNUFFLES, COME BACK!" she hollered, running down the sidewalk.
Snuffles, meanwhile, was walking down the block, seemingly ignoring Hermione's screeching voice. No matter what I do, I always seem to mess everything up. Why can't I do anything right? First James and Lily, then capturing Peter… now messing up with Hermione? Great… just great, Black. Sirius thought.
He stopped, hearing "SNUFFLES! SNUFFLES, COME BACKKK!" Snuffles turned, glancing back toward Hermione's house, and began walking back. "SNUFFLES! PLEASE, COME BACK!"
Hermione was standing outside, hands cupped around her mouth, little tears strolling down her cheeks. Snuffles smiled inwardly… She wants me to come back! Maybe it's just one of those hormonal imbalance things that her Mum has that's making her cranky like that. I guess I'll have to tread lightly.
Snuffles slipped away from Hermione's apparent view. He took a back route that led him to her house. Panting softly, he pounded his way back up the stairwell, and jumped into Hermione's bedroom, waiting until the girl came back home to surprise her.
*****
She had stayed out well past the length of time she was used to on the streets. Of course, she was looking for Snuffles, so that gave her a certain adrenaline. "Mum… Dad… I'm going to bed. G'night." She stopped up to her room after entering the house, her parents giving her bewildered stares.
The trip up the stairs seemed to take a lot more effort than she was accustomed to. Odd, she thought, after climbing all of those stairs at Hogwarts, you would think that I'd be used to it by now!
Her bedroom door was closed. She reached out, grasping the cold, hard knob in her hand and gave it a fruitful twist; it opened up, revealing her slightly messy room. While walking to her bed, she let out a long, soft groan, her eyes shifting too hazily for her to notice the large black dog resting underneath her bed. Without a second yawn, she fell onto her bed, and slipped into a deep slumber.
~*~Dream Sequence~*~
She was running; running and crying, it seemed. There was nothing around her, only the pitch darkness that threatened to swallow her. The girl tried to cry aloud, but she couldn't; her voice was muffled by something invisible.
Her arm twitched slightly… her body felt exhausted and used. Blood soaked her thin robes, her limbs ached, and she was lost. She couldn't find her way.
The pain was becoming too much; her vision unfocused and her body began to sag. The darkness began to get darker…
A large something came from the shadows, appearing at her side. It gave a long breathless howl, forced the girl onto his back, and led her out of the darkness that threatened to engulf the both of them. The dog laid her on a soft bed and snuggled up to her, whispering softly, "I'm only here to help you…"
The girl slowly croaked out a mere "Sirius…"
~*~End Dream Sequence~*~
Sirius shook Hermione awake; she was thrashing around, muttering, "No, Sirius! No!" which scared him quite a bit. "Hermione? Hermione, wake up… Come on…" He shook her lithe form softly.
Hermione stirred, finally opening her eyes and viewing the room in a deranged hue. Sirius hung over her like some protective guard-dog, which, she had to remind herself, he seemingly is. It took her a few moments…
"SIRIUS!" She sat up so quickly that she bumped heads with him. "You're back! I thought… weren't you… Why're you back here?"
He stifled a short laugh, rubbing his head where they bumped. "It's nice to see you, too, Hermione… And it's also nice to know that I'm on your mind!"
"What are you talking about?" she asked, her eyebrow arching.
"You were rolling around in your sleep, muttering 'No, Sirius! No!' and, well, I got kind of worried. It's not everyday that a beautiful woman has me on her mind…" He gave a sarcastic grin, reached out, and pulled Hermione next to his chest. "It's alright. I'm back, so… You don't have to worry anymore."
Hermione pulled away almost reluctantly. "What do you mean, I don't have to worry anymore? What makes you think I was thinking about you? You really don't know what I was thinking, so don't assume so!" she snapped.
"Yes, well, one can only assume that you have your mind on them when you're muttering one's name in your sleep!" He tightened his embrace, resting his chin on the top of her bushy mane. "Just shut up for once and let us have a quiet moment together."
"Bu-" she started.
"Shut it! Quiet moment!"
Hermione growled instinctively. She wasn't used to having someone being forceful with her… unless, of course, you counted Snape, but he's a teacher she reminded herself, so that doesn't matter. Sirius kissed the top of her head at the part in her hair.
"Sirius… I was having a weird dream."
"There you go, ruining the quiet moment…" he joked. He kissed the top of her head again. "I only slightly figured that you were having some sort of weird dream… otherwise you wouldn't have been tossing and turning like that. See… I can be helpful sometimes."
"There's a keyword there, Sirius… Sometimes!"
"Why you…" he reached down, putting his hands underneath her armpits and began to tickle ferociously. He only stopped, however, when Hermione's bedroom door was opened.
Mrs. Granger stepped inside, holding a handful of freshly washed laundry. Her hair was done up in curlers, her robe was tied tightly around her waist, and her slippers consisted of fluffy pink bunnies on the end. She didn't look up while walking inside, only, she just stared down at her bunny slippers.
Sirius froze, staring at Mrs. Granger incredulously. He dared not to say a thing; he didn't trust the words that would come out of his mouth at that moment.
The fluffy bunny-slippered woman set Hermione's clothing on her dresser, patted them fondly, and walked back to the door, humming 'Twinkle twinkle little star' all the while.
"Oh, Hermione, dear… I've done you some clean laundry, so you'll have something nice to wear. Don't let me forget… we need to go shopping and buy you some new panties and a few bras… I've noticed that you've begun to develop boobies lately!" Sirius withheld a snort. "Just be ready and come down stairs in half an hour… I'll make breakfast."
Without looking at her daughter, she turned and walked out of Hermione's bedroom, picking up on the humming of the lullaby.
When Sirius pulled back from Hermione, he looked down, noticing the increasingly red flush of her face. He laughed softly, placing a soft kiss on her nose. "You'd better hurry up, Pumpkin… you've got to go under-garment shopping!"
Hermione groaned, throwing a rueful glare at Sirius. "And I suspect that you'd be the first person to want to see them when I get home, wouldn't you?"
Sirius' eyes widened in shock. What did she just say? What did she mean by it?
Hermione laughed at the astonished look on Sirius' face. "Yes, well…" she cleared her throat. "I guess I had better go with my Mum now." She slipped off the side of the bed and stood, stretching her arms over her head. "Good thing Mum didn't -"
Before she could finish, Hermione's Mum's head popped in from the opened door. Her eyebrow arched, she glanced at her daughter, asking, "Good thing Mum didn't what?"
Snuffles' head was still flung out of the window, and he was still chiming WEEEEEEEEE!'s from the backseat of the car. Hermione kept chuckling, yet Mr. Granger couldn't tell why - he couldn't hear Sirius' talking.
They pulled into their driveway. Hermione opened the door for Snuffles to get out, and the two of them walked into the house, as Mr. Granger pulled the car into the garage. "You want to go for a walk, or something?" she asked Snuffles quietly.
Snuffles shook his shaggy head. He turned his tail to Hermione and darted up the stairs. Laughing, Hermione ran after him. "Where are you going!?! Get back here!" She walked into her bedroom, finding Snuffles on her bed, barking at her and wagging his tail playfully.
"And why are you on my bed, you nutter?" she asked, amused.
Because it's comfortable, he retorted. And I like it here. he layed down to emphasize his meaning, curling into a tight ball. Hermione came up to her bed and sat down, too, stroking Snuffles' fur.
"Hmm…" she hummed to herself. "I really should begin reading An Advanced Placement of Spells, Grade 6. I've already done my homework for the Summer…" she stopped, because Sirius was staring at her.
"You're too uptight, Hermione. If you were at Hogwarts with James, Remus, Peter and I… I don't even know why you study! You're well beyond your class average! I know you're going to be Head Girl; it was obvious that Lily was going to, too."
"As you can see, I'm no Lily Potter," she snapped. "I am not uptight. I just like to have things done and out of the way, and if that makes me a bookworm, so be it!"
"Hermione, I didn't mean it like that…" he murmured. "It's just that… you need to loosen up… have some fun…"
"I am loosened up!"
Sirius stood up, which caused Hermione to stare up at him. "No… you're not."
"Yes, I am!" she growled.
Sirius pulled her into his arms. Hermione wiggled around for a few seconds, before realizing what had happened. "See? I am, too!"
Sirius gave a soft laugh. "Yeah… after I pull you against my chest, you are."
Hermione's cheeks burnt a deep crimson. "…No…" she managed.
His fingers traced along her jaw line. When his index finger resided on her chin, he tipped it upward, forcing his eyes to meet hers. "Then why are you blushing?" He laughed softly.
"They.. they're not!" She took a small gulp of air. "I'm just… a little warm, that's all!" What am I doing?
"You're warm? Well, I guess being close to someone might have that affect on you. Sorry." He released his grasp on the bushy-haired girl and sat down on her bed.
"Hmph!" she inquired, threw herself into her trunk, and pulled out a thick book. Hermione walked to her bed, threw herself onto it, and leaned against the headboard, burring herself into An Advanced Placement in Spells, Grade 6.
"You read too much," he noted, looking on the bookshelf at the multiple rows of books. "You've read all of those?"
Hermione lifted her nose out of her book and directed her gaze at Sirius. "Yes, I have."
"Wow. I'm surprised. I would have never have figured you to read a Romance Novel," he added, grinning maliciously.
"A Romance Novel? Rubbish!" Her ears tinted pink like Ron's always did when he was nervous or embarrassed. "I would never read something like that!"
Sirius stood up and walked to the bookshelf, pulling something out of it. He walked back over to the bed and held it out. "Rubbish, huh? You'd never read anything like that, huh? Then what's this?" He laughed, pulling the book back out of Hermione's reach when she tried to grab at it.
"Okay, FINE! I did read a Romance Novel… only one, mind you! And it's that one you're holding." She snapped the book she was reading close, stood up, and stared at Sirius with a hard glare. "And? What now? Are you going to laugh at me about that? Are you going to say, 'Well, Hermione, you have no life. All you do is read, read, read. Why don't you get a life, Hermione?' Well, Snuffles I'm not going to take that rubbish from you! I have enough on my plate already!"
Sirius was aghast. Hermione with fuming anger was bewilderment in itself. "Hermione… It's not like that!"
"THEN WHAT IS IT LIKE!?! I would like to know, really, I would. But it seems to me that you're too busy being immature, like you always have. Being immature forced you into the place you're in now. It's your fault you're there, and don't think that I'm going to help you out of this situation much longer. You're only here because you had no other place to go, and we willfully took you in, when my Mum's expecting a baby, and all the lot. You should be happy and thankful, Sirius. Happy and thankful!"
"I should be happy and thankful when you're yelling at me? When you're accusing me of being unable to capture Peter, the greasy git who killed Harry's parents… my best friends? If that's… if that's what you think, then maybe I should go. I shouldn't be somewhere where I'm not exactly wanted, or cared about."
"Maybe you should leave! Maybe then I could get some reading done! Maybe then I could think properly again!" Hermione turned away from Sirius, tears welling in her eyes.
"Alright, then… Bye, Hermione." Sirius transformed back into Snuffles, and padded out of her room, down the stairs, and out of the open front door. He gave a back glance up to Hermione's bedroom window, gave a small sigh, and padded down the street.
Hermione lay on her bed, face buried into her pillow. It had only been ten minutes since Sirius had walked out, and no matter how she put it, she missed him… a lot. Her chest felt like it was restricting; like her rib cage were being crushed by a thick corset wrapped around her.
"Sirius… I'm sorry… I didn't mean it…" she croaked, her eyes beginning to redden. "Don't leave… Don't leave me alone!"
But Sirius wasn't there, she realized. No matter how much she cried, no matter how much she longed… he wouldn't come back. He wouldn't come back to her with open arms from what she'd said to him. I'm so rude… so worthless as a friend. I don't know why people put up with me…
She sat up, wiping her eyes off on the sleeve of her shirt. I'm going to find him, and bring him back. He's not going to live off rats again, just because I told him to get out. She bolted down the stairwell and ran outside. "SNUFFLES! SNUFFLES, COME BACK!" she hollered, running down the sidewalk.
Snuffles, meanwhile, was walking down the block, seemingly ignoring Hermione's screeching voice. No matter what I do, I always seem to mess everything up. Why can't I do anything right? First James and Lily, then capturing Peter… now messing up with Hermione? Great… just great, Black. Sirius thought.
He stopped, hearing "SNUFFLES! SNUFFLES, COME BACKKK!" Snuffles turned, glancing back toward Hermione's house, and began walking back. "SNUFFLES! PLEASE, COME BACK!"
Hermione was standing outside, hands cupped around her mouth, little tears strolling down her cheeks. Snuffles smiled inwardly… She wants me to come back! Maybe it's just one of those hormonal imbalance things that her Mum has that's making her cranky like that. I guess I'll have to tread lightly.
Snuffles slipped away from Hermione's apparent view. He took a back route that led him to her house. Panting softly, he pounded his way back up the stairwell, and jumped into Hermione's bedroom, waiting until the girl came back home to surprise her.
She had stayed out well past the length of time she was used to on the streets. Of course, she was looking for Snuffles, so that gave her a certain adrenaline. "Mum… Dad… I'm going to bed. G'night." She stopped up to her room after entering the house, her parents giving her bewildered stares.
The trip up the stairs seemed to take a lot more effort than she was accustomed to. Odd, she thought, after climbing all of those stairs at Hogwarts, you would think that I'd be used to it by now!
Her bedroom door was closed. She reached out, grasping the cold, hard knob in her hand and gave it a fruitful twist; it opened up, revealing her slightly messy room. While walking to her bed, she let out a long, soft groan, her eyes shifting too hazily for her to notice the large black dog resting underneath her bed. Without a second yawn, she fell onto her bed, and slipped into a deep slumber.
She was running; running and crying, it seemed. There was nothing around her, only the pitch darkness that threatened to swallow her. The girl tried to cry aloud, but she couldn't; her voice was muffled by something invisible.
Her arm twitched slightly… her body felt exhausted and used. Blood soaked her thin robes, her limbs ached, and she was lost. She couldn't find her way.
The pain was becoming too much; her vision unfocused and her body began to sag. The darkness began to get darker…
A large something came from the shadows, appearing at her side. It gave a long breathless howl, forced the girl onto his back, and led her out of the darkness that threatened to engulf the both of them. The dog laid her on a soft bed and snuggled up to her, whispering softly, "I'm only here to help you…"
The girl slowly croaked out a mere "Sirius…"
Sirius shook Hermione awake; she was thrashing around, muttering, "No, Sirius! No!" which scared him quite a bit. "Hermione? Hermione, wake up… Come on…" He shook her lithe form softly.
Hermione stirred, finally opening her eyes and viewing the room in a deranged hue. Sirius hung over her like some protective guard-dog, which, she had to remind herself, he seemingly is. It took her a few moments…
"SIRIUS!" She sat up so quickly that she bumped heads with him. "You're back! I thought… weren't you… Why're you back here?"
He stifled a short laugh, rubbing his head where they bumped. "It's nice to see you, too, Hermione… And it's also nice to know that I'm on your mind!"
"What are you talking about?" she asked, her eyebrow arching.
"You were rolling around in your sleep, muttering 'No, Sirius! No!' and, well, I got kind of worried. It's not everyday that a beautiful woman has me on her mind…" He gave a sarcastic grin, reached out, and pulled Hermione next to his chest. "It's alright. I'm back, so… You don't have to worry anymore."
Hermione pulled away almost reluctantly. "What do you mean, I don't have to worry anymore? What makes you think I was thinking about you? You really don't know what I was thinking, so don't assume so!" she snapped.
"Yes, well, one can only assume that you have your mind on them when you're muttering one's name in your sleep!" He tightened his embrace, resting his chin on the top of her bushy mane. "Just shut up for once and let us have a quiet moment together."
"Bu-" she started.
"Shut it! Quiet moment!"
Hermione growled instinctively. She wasn't used to having someone being forceful with her… unless, of course, you counted Snape, but he's a teacher she reminded herself, so that doesn't matter. Sirius kissed the top of her head at the part in her hair.
"Sirius… I was having a weird dream."
"There you go, ruining the quiet moment…" he joked. He kissed the top of her head again. "I only slightly figured that you were having some sort of weird dream… otherwise you wouldn't have been tossing and turning like that. See… I can be helpful sometimes."
"There's a keyword there, Sirius… Sometimes!"
"Why you…" he reached down, putting his hands underneath her armpits and began to tickle ferociously. He only stopped, however, when Hermione's bedroom door was opened.
Mrs. Granger stepped inside, holding a handful of freshly washed laundry. Her hair was done up in curlers, her robe was tied tightly around her waist, and her slippers consisted of fluffy pink bunnies on the end. She didn't look up while walking inside, only, she just stared down at her bunny slippers.
Sirius froze, staring at Mrs. Granger incredulously. He dared not to say a thing; he didn't trust the words that would come out of his mouth at that moment.
The fluffy bunny-slippered woman set Hermione's clothing on her dresser, patted them fondly, and walked back to the door, humming 'Twinkle twinkle little star' all the while.
"Oh, Hermione, dear… I've done you some clean laundry, so you'll have something nice to wear. Don't let me forget… we need to go shopping and buy you some new panties and a few bras… I've noticed that you've begun to develop boobies lately!" Sirius withheld a snort. "Just be ready and come down stairs in half an hour… I'll make breakfast."
Without looking at her daughter, she turned and walked out of Hermione's bedroom, picking up on the humming of the lullaby.
When Sirius pulled back from Hermione, he looked down, noticing the increasingly red flush of her face. He laughed softly, placing a soft kiss on her nose. "You'd better hurry up, Pumpkin… you've got to go under-garment shopping!"
Hermione groaned, throwing a rueful glare at Sirius. "And I suspect that you'd be the first person to want to see them when I get home, wouldn't you?"
Sirius' eyes widened in shock. What did she just say? What did she mean by it?
Hermione laughed at the astonished look on Sirius' face. "Yes, well…" she cleared her throat. "I guess I had better go with my Mum now." She slipped off the side of the bed and stood, stretching her arms over her head. "Good thing Mum didn't -"
Before she could finish, Hermione's Mum's head popped in from the opened door. Her eyebrow arched, she glanced at her daughter, asking, "Good thing Mum didn't what?"