A/N: Thanks again for the birthday wishes...

Luver-of-Tom: Happy Birthday to you too, then! What a cool date for a birthday, 04-04, and this year especially... My cousin's birthday is 02-02 and my grandfather's is 05-05. I like these dates! So hugs and kisses to you too! Oh, and I just want you to know that I've entered your profile (I always enter the profile of my nicest reviewers) and found some really good stories on your Favorite Stories list, so thanks. ;-)

~*~

"Mrs. Weasley," Hermione panted as she ran down the stairs towards the lady who was standing near the front door, "a little change of plans."

"Oh, Hermione, is that you, sweetheart? Don't worry about being late, we can still make it before lunch time."

"No," Hermione said quickly, "listen – we'll have to tell them something much, much bigger, so I think we should talk about it before we go."

Mrs. Weasley raised an eyebrow. "But Hermione, I have to be back here before lunch time, because I'm the one who prepares it. Can't it wait?"

"I think not," Hermione said seriously. "If it runs late, we may even have to go tomorrow. But I have to tell it to you before we go."

"All right," Mrs. Weasley sighed, and grabbing Hermione's hand, she went to the next room and sat down. Hermione did not sit. She was too nervous. She walked back and forth in front of Mrs. Weasley's eyes, and eventually said: "You're the first one I'm telling this to."

Mrs. Weasley nodded.

"Sirius and I are engaged."

"Huh?"

Hermione flinched at the look of complete amazement on Mrs. Weasley's face. "Yes, we – we've just got engaged," she said, laughing a little.

"But – but – "

"I know it's a shock," Hermione said quickly, "but I was hoping you'd still want to help me. See, now I really REALLY need your help. My parents are not going to like that."

"Hermione, honey," Mrs. Weasley panted, "aren't you being a little rash about this whole Sirius issue? I mean, first you seduce a forty-year-old man, then you and him get engaged – I don't know how well I'll be able to convince your parents that it's okay, because I'm not sure I myself think it's okay! Hermione, please promise me that you're absolutely sure of what you're doing. Please, promise me you're not just being crazy and ruining your life with your own hands!"

"I promise, Mrs. Weasley," Hermione replied hotly. "I know what I'm doing. This may seem rash, but I love him, and he loves me, and we know we want to spend the rest of our lives together. So why not, Mrs. Weasley? Me being eighteen is not a reason not to do this!"

Mrs. Weasley swallowed hard, but nodded. "All right. I understand. I remember when Arthur and I got engaged..." her face lit with the memories, "I was nineteen. My parents were also very, very angry with me, not just because I was so yong, but also because Arthur... well... wasn't very rich, and my parents wanted me to marry a wealthy man who had enough money to support me for the rest of my life. But I was young and in love and I didn't give a damn about money. I told my parents: 'If you married each other for the money, way to go, you. But I could never do that. I love Arthur and I don't care whether he has money or not'."

"And what did they do?" Hermione asked.

"What could they do?" said Mrs. Weasley, shrugging. "They were angry, of course, but I was too stubborn and determined. So eventually they gave up and even came to the wedding."

"Oh!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Yes," Mrs. Weasley nodded. "And I'll tell you something else, honey. Arthur and I have been married for almost thirty years now, and there wasn't one day in our marriage that I regretted my decision to marry him."

Hermione smiled. Mrs. Weasley smiled back.

"So... will you help me?" Hermione asked.

"Of course I'll help you," Mrs. Weasley replied, patting her softly on the shoulder. "Let's go. I'll just ask Tonks to prepare lunch instead of me."

"Everybody will be very mad," Hermione commented.

"So?" said Mrs. Weasley indifferently and grinned.

~*~

Mrs. Granger opened the door to her front house, to find her daughter standing there with Mrs. Weasley. "Hermione!" she cried happily and hugged her. "What are you doing here? You said on your last owl that you would only come home in two weeks!"

"Hi, Mom," Hermione smiled. She entered the house and motioned Mrs. Weasley to enter after her. "You remember Mrs. Weasley."

Mr. Granger, Hermione's father, got off the couch to welcome the guests as well. After a warm hug from his daughter and a handshake from Mrs. Weasley, they all sat down.

"Well, Mom, Dad," Hermione began, "I know I said I wouldn't come home until September, but – "

"Just a minute, dear," her mother interrupted, turning to Mrs. Weasley. "Would you like some tea and cookies? I made some cookies this morning, they're delicious."

"Of course," Mrs. Weasley smiled. "I'm sure Hermione wouldn't mind waiting a little bit before telling you the news."

"News?" Mr. Granger raised his eyebrows. "What news?"

"Well, I have some news, Dad, but I think I'll tell them when Mom comes back from the kitchen."

"The kitchen! Of course!" Mrs. Granger jumped off the couch. "I'll be right back," she called and disappeared behind the kitchen door.

Meanwhile, Mr. Granger turned on the TV set and watched some football. Mrs. Weasley looked completely indifferent (Hermione grinned when she thought what Mr. Weasley's reaction would be in front of a turned-on TV set, especially one that showed a live Muggle sports game). A few minutes later, Mrs. Granger was back with tea and cookies.

"Thank you," Mrs. Weasley said politely.

"So, Hermione, what is it that you wanted to tell us?" Mrs. Granger asked, sipping her tea.

"Well – "

"Nooooo!!!" Mr. Granger yelled as a player on the screen tripped and dropped the ball.

"Matthew, please! Turn the television off!" Mrs. Granger scolded her husband.

"But I'm listening!"

"Turn. It. Off. Now." Said Mrs. Granger in a dangerous voice. The television was turned off immediately, of course.

"Yes, Hermione, sorry," said Mrs. Granger, turning back to her daughter after one look of warning to Mr. Granger.

"Okay, Mom, Dad," Hermione said, taking in a deep breath, "I don't want you to be too shocked, but... well... do you remember Sirius Black?"

"Isn't he that nice gentlemen you are all staying with in the summer, and the one you have been talking about so often in your letters?" Mr. Granger asked.

"Yes, that's him," Hermione confirmed.

"Yes," said Mrs. Granger. "Okay, what about him?"

"Well... several weeks ago, umm, Remus Lupin and I had this – this bet. And he saod he could make Sirius look just as good as he used to look when he was younger, let's say, about my age." Hermione went on and explained the bet and how Remus had won it fair and square. "And so... Sirius looks now much, much better than I've ever thought he could look. So, I sort of had a crush on him. See, he was just so good looking, I couldn't stop thinking about him..."

"He does look good," Mrs. Weasley commented.

"Lately, I realized my feelings for him were beyond friendship, and beyond just a crush," Hermione continued. "I've examined my feelings over and over again. I've tried to overcome them. But every time, I've reached the same conclusion... it was stronger than me. And afterwards – it was about four weeks ago – I found out he's been feeling the same way all along."

Mr. and Mrs. Granger looked too stunned to even speak. They were both staring speechless at Hermione, waiting for her to go on.

"Mom, Dad, I'm happier now than I have ever been before in my life," Hermione said softly. "I love Sirius. I know I love him. You know I'm not the kind of girl who falls for every other guy, and I'm not the kind of girl who makes rushed decisions. I love Sirius very much, and he loves me too. So... and that's what I wanted to tell you... we got engaged."

Mr. Granger breathed in too much air and started to choke. Mrs. Weasley, looking worried and upset, started patting him on the back. He coughed again and again, and a few minutes later started breathing normally again. Yet, he looked horror struck.

"Hermione," he choked, "please tell me I didn't hear you correctly. Have you just said that you and Sirius got engaged?"

"I did," Hermione said quietly.

"Oh, God," Mr. Granger groaned.

"Hermione, sweetheart," Mrs. Granger leaned forward and held her daughter's hand. "What has gotten into you? You have always been such a good girl. You are so young, and he is so much older than you..."

"But he's the one I want, Mom," Hermione replied determinedly. "I don't care how old he is – love has no age. I know you think he seduced me, I know you think it's his fault, but it's not. I'm the one who convinced him – Sirius kept telling me it was wrong, because I'm so young etc., but I didn't give up."

"But Hermione! This is ridiculous!" Her father raised his voice. "You cannot marry a forty-year-old man who could be your father! Think about it – if you're planning to have children with him, he'll be seventy when your kids graduate from Hogwarts. Is that what you want? He should be a grandfather by then!"

"Dad – I don't care about his age! I may be young, but I'm mature enough to make this kind of a decision on my own!"

"I thought so too, Hermione, but you seem to be losing it! If you really plan on marrying Sirius Black, I must say I cannot trust your maturity anymore. The Hermione I knew would never do such a stupid thing. I cannot allow this, Hermione, I'm sorry."

"Can I say something?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

No one answered. Hermione was gazing, offended and hurt, at her father; Mr. Granger looked furious; and Mrs. Granger looked as if she were about to cry. So Mrs. Weasley took advantage of the silent and started talking.

Her speech wasn't long, but every word was meaningful. She told the Grangers her and Arthur's love story. How they had met in Hogwarts and immediately became friends, but never even thought of anything beyond friendship until Arthur's twentieth birthday. On his birthday party, before she had left, nineteen-year-old Molly came close to him and tried to kiss his cheek, just like that, as a friend. But Arthur hadn't seen her coming, so it turned out that she had tried to kiss him exactly when he was about to turn around... and so, their lips met.

Hermione felt a wave of warmth wash over her as Mrs. Weasley described that kiss: "We were both so shocked, we didn't move for a moment. We just stood there, lips touching, and stared like two idiots at each other. Then, we both pulled away quickly. I muttered 'Happy Birthday' before running away as fast as I could, and on the way home, I realized what I hadn't seen before... it was love."

A week later, Arthur met her and asked her out. "It wasn't the first time we went out, but it was the first time we did it as a couple." And it wasn't even a month before they decided to get married.

Her parents didn't approve at all, because Arthur's family was very poor. Molly, however, argued with them like she had never done before, because she knew this was what she wanted, and she knew she would never regret it. She didn't care about the money. She saw the man inside.

"So what I'm trying to say," Mrs. Weasley finished with a kind smile, "why not trust your daughter? Don't judge a man by his money, or his looks, or his age... let your daughter judge him, because she is clever enough to see what is inside."

A long silence spread in the room after this. Hermione smiled hesitantly at Mrs. Weasley, and Mrs. Weasley smiled back.

Mrs. Granger was the first one to speak. She took a long breath and said, nodding her head: "You're right. What can I say? Our Hermione is clever enough... and I trust her."

Hermione beamed with relief. She turned to her father, who still looked serious and stern. But as her eyes met his, Mr. Granger's expression changed into a smile, and he leaned forward and hugged his daughter tightly. "You're right, Mrs. Weasley," he said. "And Hermione... congratulations."

~*~

A/N: I would very much like to go on and on like this, but this seems like a good ending to this chapter. So you'll forgive me if I cut it here, right? I'm starting the next one right away, I promise!!! Let me know what you think about this chapter... and this whole story, because I'm working very hard on it – I love Sirius so much and I want my story about him to be really good!

Love you all

Roni.