A/N: okay. *glances down at papers on desk* the ppl I forgot before are
Lucy (yay! Thank you! *waves hands in the air*) The Sweetest Things (wee!
Just like Nicolina! Well, sorta... thankies! :D) and heather (oy, that's
good. I can't figure out what's up with my account.... it's all screwed
up... *sweatdrop* thank ya very, very much for bein' so patient and stuff.
^_^() yeah, I'm pathetic). Peeps that made it for chappie seventeen...
clare (yup, Filch is a butthead!) limegreenlion (lol, I wouldn't recommend
using your fists on Filch... maybe a nice beaters' club, or even pelting
him with stink pellets, but unless you want to wrap your knuckles sharply
on that Fat Head of his... erm, yea *cough, shifty eyes* um, yeah... thank
you for reviewing?) Jae (then we're all agreed! Filch is a stupid butthead!
No worries, btw! I've got 'romance' in my genre, eh? Though it's funny you
mention that, b/c the hard action I originally had planned [i.e., the Dream
Sequence plot bunny I have hopping around may have to raise my rating]
however, this story is FAR from finished [almost halfway done! Wee!] and im
still debating whether I want to risk losing reviewers by [mortifying] you
all....... erm, ah, in other words: plenty of kissing coming up! ^_^) The
Sweetest Things (YEAH!!! Heehee) anyhooties, thank you guys!!!! TO ANYBODY
I MISSED, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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.
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And spend the weekend there she did.
Around late evening, Lily came in with Carrie and Carrie's brother, whom Hermione recognized as Susan Bones's father: they looked pretty much the same.
"Oy, Herms, what have you been doing here? I've been really worried, you know?"
Hermione forgot to nod.
"Yeah, I'm fine Lily."
"I hear you tried to use an unforgivable curse on Filch and managed to possess him to populate the kitchen with kittens until he snapped out of it and whipped you to shreds," Father-Of-Susan-Bones said.
Hermione snorted.
"No. I tried to cast on Peeves, Filch caught me, and I got the whip. Who fed you all of that cock and bull?"
"Oh, it's all over the school," Mr. Bones-the-boy explained. "Peeves, started it, I believe, but since you're the mysterious trade student, everybody accepted the rumor easily enough." Lily elbowed him and Carrie giggled.
"How many lashes did ya get?" Carrie asked eagerly, leaning forward.
"I don't know. I think he said a hundred, with a magical whip or something. I'm not going to be able to sit for a week." Hermione was quite unnerved by the look that Carrie was giving her. She definitely did /not/ like this girl.
"What are you doing here?" Pomfrey demanded, appearing out of nowhere. "She needs rest and relaxation! Out!"
"She's resting on everything, you know? And, you know, we're helping her relax," Lily explained self-sufficiently.
That didn't Madame Pomfrey from kicking them out anyway and making Hermione take her potions.
A while into the night, Hermione was beginning to wonder if she might be able to get up and grab a sleeping draught. Or some sort of sleeping drug.
Groaning softly, she magically got to her feet and after a few ginger moments of testing her ankle, she managed to walk (somewhat awkwardly) across the room, messing around with things here and there until she came across a cabinet of different vials and bottles.
She squinted, unable to see the labels in the dark, and wished she'd brought along her wand for a source of light.
Suddenly, there was the sound of quiet footsteps, making Hermione jump, and stiffen, turning around. She watched the door open and close without anybody there to do so, and heard the footsteps proceed a small ways, then stop. There was a while of silence.
"Erm," she called softly. "Erm, hello?"
She glanced around, then shook her head, frowning. Slowly, she looked around the large room, squinting through the dark.
She closed her eyes briefly, messed with the vials and bottles, the only sounds the soft clinking of glass. A moment later, she decided on a small vial, and held it up to a window to see if she could perchance read the label.
There was a murmured spell, and a light made her see spots momentarily. But blinking, she managed to make out that the vial was so /not/ a sleeping draught. She put it back and turned around. Sirius grinned at her, waving his wand.
"Need a light?"
"What are you doing here?" Hermione paused briefly. "Thank you." Another pause. "What are you doing here?"
"Make up your mind," he said. "I came here to see how you were. I take it you can't sleep?"
Hermione shook her head blankly. "No, not really. I was looking for a sleeping draught."
"That's what I thought. I knew you were!"
"How terribly clever of you."
"Thanks!"
She sighed, almost resonatedly, and looked up at him. "So, that's it? You only came to see how I'm doing? Well, I'm sore and currently suffering from insomnia, but otherwise I'm fine."
He blinked slowly. "That's what I thought."
"You're clever the first time and annoying the second."
"And what am I the third?"
"Nothing. Well, if you can call a pile of ashes something."
He snorted at her. "Have we got a temper?"
"Why am I thinking 'Peeves' right about now?"
"I dunno, why /are/ you?"
She would have hit or kicked him, but soreness in /certain/ places kept her arms at her sides and feet firmly on the ground.
"That's not the only reason you came," she said softly. "Want to try and figure out who, what, when, where, and why I am yet again?"
"Well, yeah, actually. I'm willing to put that off for another month, though, if you give me a hint!" he smirked. She glowered.
"Right. Fine. Well, I think I'd rather keep myself a secret, you know..."
"What? Evans knows! Why can't I?"
"Evans? Oh, you mean Lily? No, she doesn't know anything, not about me."
Sirius sighed in a heavy manner, and took Hermione's right wrist loosely.
"I'd like to solve this now, if at all possible."
"You mean, you'd like to leave me alone, too?" she asked hopefully. He quirked an eyebrow at her, shaking his head lightly to the side.
"Come off it. Here, lay down. Now, there are some things that are definitely curious about you. From the moment you flew down the stairs and tried to strangle me right out of the blue until now I knew you were different." He grabbed a chair and sat next to her.
"Is this conversation going anywhere?" Hermione asked vaguely.
"Calm down. Fine, if I can't know about you, then I want to know what you know."
"Oh?"
"First of all, one night you opened the portrait hole right out of the blue. Why?"
"I somehow manage to open the portrait hole 'right out of the blue' about three hundred times a day."
"More like three times a week," he corrected. And this was past eleven. Everybody was asleep."
"Including you?" she asked.
"Then you don't deny it."
"Do you stalk me?"
"What? Stalk you? Me? Nah, too much work."
"Right." She gave a heavy sigh as Sirius uncorked a bottle from where he had taken it out of the cabinet.
"This," he said, swishing the contents of the bottle around, "is what you were looking for, right?"
"She watched him for a moment, then let her eyes follow the contents in the bottle. He grinned at her. "Tell me something about yourself, anything, and I'll give it to you."
"That's dirty, rotten, and cheap!" Hermione informed him, letting her gaze drift back to his eyes, which were dark and shining in the dim light his wand cast.
"Dirty, rotten, and cheap?" he imitated, and laughed a little. "Yeah, I guess it is. C'mon! Just one thing and I'll leave you alone for a whole month!"
"I have brown hair," she said bluntly, choosing her words carefully.
"Something that I don't already know," he corrected, leaning back so that only two of the chair legs were on the floor.
"I'm Muggle-born."
"Already knew that."
"In my third year I had to use a time-turner to get to all of my classes."
"The same year you had a werewolf teaching your defense class?"
"Yeah, actually. Ron (he's one of my friends) told me once that we'd make a lovely couple, always looking so tired all of the time and being so mysterious. And you can't say you already knew that, so give me the bottle!"
"Fair enough." Sirius stopped swishing the draught around and gave it to Hermione, who sat up rather awkwardly and downed half of it. Sirius took it back after she had swallowed and corked it again.
"I'll put this back, shall I?" he asked, a small smile forming around his lips. Hermione tensed.
"That /was/ a sleeping draught, wasn't it?" she asked softly.
"Oh, yes. I'm certain it was."
"Did you put anything in it?"
"Me? Now what makes you think that?" he slipped the half empty bottle in his robes and pulled out the all-too-familiar invisibility cloak.
Hermione was beginning get groggy. "You /did/ didn't you?"
"It was only a little something that'll give you dreams." He sniffed. "It won't hurt you. I'm doing this as a favor."
"Dreams? What dreams?"
"If I have my facts correct, then you ought to dream about the one you care about most. Remus gave me the potion."
Hermione gazed up at him dazedly. "If ssssomthin' wen' wron' then I'm jus' guunna have nigh' maressss," she slurred.
"It'll still start out good, and anyway, the point is to make you wake up feeling better then before." He threw the cloak around himself. "You won't remember the dream, not unless you find the correct spell and force yourself to remember it. Anyhow, good night. Sweet dreams."
"Sssssiii," she called, or tried to, but she was only fading off into blackness. It was a sweet thing of him to do, really, but still....
... Either way, Hermione couldn't see anything much about it to frown on. Just as long as she was falling asleep........
.
.
.
And spend the weekend there she did.
Around late evening, Lily came in with Carrie and Carrie's brother, whom Hermione recognized as Susan Bones's father: they looked pretty much the same.
"Oy, Herms, what have you been doing here? I've been really worried, you know?"
Hermione forgot to nod.
"Yeah, I'm fine Lily."
"I hear you tried to use an unforgivable curse on Filch and managed to possess him to populate the kitchen with kittens until he snapped out of it and whipped you to shreds," Father-Of-Susan-Bones said.
Hermione snorted.
"No. I tried to cast on Peeves, Filch caught me, and I got the whip. Who fed you all of that cock and bull?"
"Oh, it's all over the school," Mr. Bones-the-boy explained. "Peeves, started it, I believe, but since you're the mysterious trade student, everybody accepted the rumor easily enough." Lily elbowed him and Carrie giggled.
"How many lashes did ya get?" Carrie asked eagerly, leaning forward.
"I don't know. I think he said a hundred, with a magical whip or something. I'm not going to be able to sit for a week." Hermione was quite unnerved by the look that Carrie was giving her. She definitely did /not/ like this girl.
"What are you doing here?" Pomfrey demanded, appearing out of nowhere. "She needs rest and relaxation! Out!"
"She's resting on everything, you know? And, you know, we're helping her relax," Lily explained self-sufficiently.
That didn't Madame Pomfrey from kicking them out anyway and making Hermione take her potions.
A while into the night, Hermione was beginning to wonder if she might be able to get up and grab a sleeping draught. Or some sort of sleeping drug.
Groaning softly, she magically got to her feet and after a few ginger moments of testing her ankle, she managed to walk (somewhat awkwardly) across the room, messing around with things here and there until she came across a cabinet of different vials and bottles.
She squinted, unable to see the labels in the dark, and wished she'd brought along her wand for a source of light.
Suddenly, there was the sound of quiet footsteps, making Hermione jump, and stiffen, turning around. She watched the door open and close without anybody there to do so, and heard the footsteps proceed a small ways, then stop. There was a while of silence.
"Erm," she called softly. "Erm, hello?"
She glanced around, then shook her head, frowning. Slowly, she looked around the large room, squinting through the dark.
She closed her eyes briefly, messed with the vials and bottles, the only sounds the soft clinking of glass. A moment later, she decided on a small vial, and held it up to a window to see if she could perchance read the label.
There was a murmured spell, and a light made her see spots momentarily. But blinking, she managed to make out that the vial was so /not/ a sleeping draught. She put it back and turned around. Sirius grinned at her, waving his wand.
"Need a light?"
"What are you doing here?" Hermione paused briefly. "Thank you." Another pause. "What are you doing here?"
"Make up your mind," he said. "I came here to see how you were. I take it you can't sleep?"
Hermione shook her head blankly. "No, not really. I was looking for a sleeping draught."
"That's what I thought. I knew you were!"
"How terribly clever of you."
"Thanks!"
She sighed, almost resonatedly, and looked up at him. "So, that's it? You only came to see how I'm doing? Well, I'm sore and currently suffering from insomnia, but otherwise I'm fine."
He blinked slowly. "That's what I thought."
"You're clever the first time and annoying the second."
"And what am I the third?"
"Nothing. Well, if you can call a pile of ashes something."
He snorted at her. "Have we got a temper?"
"Why am I thinking 'Peeves' right about now?"
"I dunno, why /are/ you?"
She would have hit or kicked him, but soreness in /certain/ places kept her arms at her sides and feet firmly on the ground.
"That's not the only reason you came," she said softly. "Want to try and figure out who, what, when, where, and why I am yet again?"
"Well, yeah, actually. I'm willing to put that off for another month, though, if you give me a hint!" he smirked. She glowered.
"Right. Fine. Well, I think I'd rather keep myself a secret, you know..."
"What? Evans knows! Why can't I?"
"Evans? Oh, you mean Lily? No, she doesn't know anything, not about me."
Sirius sighed in a heavy manner, and took Hermione's right wrist loosely.
"I'd like to solve this now, if at all possible."
"You mean, you'd like to leave me alone, too?" she asked hopefully. He quirked an eyebrow at her, shaking his head lightly to the side.
"Come off it. Here, lay down. Now, there are some things that are definitely curious about you. From the moment you flew down the stairs and tried to strangle me right out of the blue until now I knew you were different." He grabbed a chair and sat next to her.
"Is this conversation going anywhere?" Hermione asked vaguely.
"Calm down. Fine, if I can't know about you, then I want to know what you know."
"Oh?"
"First of all, one night you opened the portrait hole right out of the blue. Why?"
"I somehow manage to open the portrait hole 'right out of the blue' about three hundred times a day."
"More like three times a week," he corrected. And this was past eleven. Everybody was asleep."
"Including you?" she asked.
"Then you don't deny it."
"Do you stalk me?"
"What? Stalk you? Me? Nah, too much work."
"Right." She gave a heavy sigh as Sirius uncorked a bottle from where he had taken it out of the cabinet.
"This," he said, swishing the contents of the bottle around, "is what you were looking for, right?"
"She watched him for a moment, then let her eyes follow the contents in the bottle. He grinned at her. "Tell me something about yourself, anything, and I'll give it to you."
"That's dirty, rotten, and cheap!" Hermione informed him, letting her gaze drift back to his eyes, which were dark and shining in the dim light his wand cast.
"Dirty, rotten, and cheap?" he imitated, and laughed a little. "Yeah, I guess it is. C'mon! Just one thing and I'll leave you alone for a whole month!"
"I have brown hair," she said bluntly, choosing her words carefully.
"Something that I don't already know," he corrected, leaning back so that only two of the chair legs were on the floor.
"I'm Muggle-born."
"Already knew that."
"In my third year I had to use a time-turner to get to all of my classes."
"The same year you had a werewolf teaching your defense class?"
"Yeah, actually. Ron (he's one of my friends) told me once that we'd make a lovely couple, always looking so tired all of the time and being so mysterious. And you can't say you already knew that, so give me the bottle!"
"Fair enough." Sirius stopped swishing the draught around and gave it to Hermione, who sat up rather awkwardly and downed half of it. Sirius took it back after she had swallowed and corked it again.
"I'll put this back, shall I?" he asked, a small smile forming around his lips. Hermione tensed.
"That /was/ a sleeping draught, wasn't it?" she asked softly.
"Oh, yes. I'm certain it was."
"Did you put anything in it?"
"Me? Now what makes you think that?" he slipped the half empty bottle in his robes and pulled out the all-too-familiar invisibility cloak.
Hermione was beginning get groggy. "You /did/ didn't you?"
"It was only a little something that'll give you dreams." He sniffed. "It won't hurt you. I'm doing this as a favor."
"Dreams? What dreams?"
"If I have my facts correct, then you ought to dream about the one you care about most. Remus gave me the potion."
Hermione gazed up at him dazedly. "If ssssomthin' wen' wron' then I'm jus' guunna have nigh' maressss," she slurred.
"It'll still start out good, and anyway, the point is to make you wake up feeling better then before." He threw the cloak around himself. "You won't remember the dream, not unless you find the correct spell and force yourself to remember it. Anyhow, good night. Sweet dreams."
"Sssssiii," she called, or tried to, but she was only fading off into blackness. It was a sweet thing of him to do, really, but still....
... Either way, Hermione couldn't see anything much about it to frown on. Just as long as she was falling asleep........