What Could Have Been
By: Sailoranime
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Disclaimer: Sailoranime - doesn't own Harry Potter. JK- owns Harry Potter. Happy?
AN: Kept my promise. Almost.
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It wasn't until Madam Pomfrey went into a rant about Ron's condition that Hermione risked slipping into the area that was curtained off and where Sirius was supposed to be.
"Mr. Black?" she called out softly before making her way through the curtain. She received no answer.
The curtains were heavy, and Hermione had a hard time getting through them. She almost let out a shriek as she noticed the bed was empty, though it definitely looked like it had been slept in. She was about to go warn Harry that Sirius was gone, when a dark-haired figure practically jumped up from the space between the bed and the wall, a spoon in hand a triumphant expression on his face.
Hermione held in the bubble of laughter that was threatening to escape, but a small giggle left her, and Sirius's eyes flew to her. He looked at her blankly for a second, before mutting, "You kids have to stop coming in on me like this," with so much conviction that Hermione did want to risk asking him who had stumbled onto him in a similar fashion.
Sirius stuck the spoon in an empty bowl and sat down, facing Hermione. Taking the hint, Hermione strode forward and shook Sirius's hand. "I'm Hermione, Harry's friend. I was with him the night..."
Sirius nodded. "I recognize you. Are you kids better?"
"Well, Harry's a little better than when you saw him last night, I'd say. I wasn't hurt, and Ron still here in the hospital wing with you." Hermione answered awkwardly.
"The redhead? How can I forget he's here? He snored all night."
Hermione gave a soft laugh, and the awkwardness was suddenly gone, or, at the very least, tolerable.
"So, how can I help you? Madam Pomfrey didn't let you in, did she?"
Hermione had the decency to blush slightly. "Well, Professor McGonagall told us we could come in to see Ron, and she implied Harry could see you too, but I don't think Madam Pomfrey knows we have permission. Harry's-"
"He's here?" Sirius jumped up and peeked through a small opening in the curtains.
"Yes, he distracted Madam Pomfrey so I could come in here. That's why I'm keeping my voice down, and you should too, unless you want her to think you're talking to yourself. Anyway, I came because I wanted to talk to you about Harry and Professor Lupin." Sirius nodded, so Hermione continued, "What happened last night? He still seems to be mad at Professor Lupin, but I can't imagine why. I already told him this morning that the Dementor's kiss is supposed to be worse than death, and that that was what Wormtail would most likely have gotten."
"Remus did him a favor, I think. Maybe it's his influence, but I can't bring myself to say that I wished that fate on anyone, probably not even Wormtail."
"Do you think Harry's still angry, then?"
"He seemed to be, last night. I'll have to talk to him again, but I think he may be coming around, finally."
"You don't think he's just afraid to admit he's wrong?" Hermione asked.
Sirius looked at her thoughtfully. "I don't know, you tell me. The more I think about it, the more I realize Harry's not exactly like James. Maybe it was the time in Azkaban that's messed with my head, but somehow I can't see James getting as upset as Harry did."
"Well, do you think Harry has a good reason to be angry?"
"I do, but I'll be damned if I'd admitted it before. I see his point, but I can't forgive-" Sirius stopped, suddenly realizing who he was talking to. He would have gone on, but he'd noticed her awkward expression in time to realize that she probably wasn't comfortable listening to him talk about such personal things, and it wasn't like he was dying to confide in a complete stranger, no matter how much Harry trusted her.
She seemed nice enough, but why did Harry trust her so much? And he definitely trusted her, that night was proof enough.
"Are you his girlfriend?" Sirius hadn't meant to ask the question. Or, at the very least, not so bluntly. It just came out, so he waited for an answer. God, had Harry grown up that fast?
"Whose?"
"Harry."
"Oh," Hermione began, and then she realized exactly what Sirius had asked, "Oh! No, no, Harry, Ron, and I are all just friends."
Well, so much for that theory.
"How'd you get to be such good friends?"
Hermione smiled, "I don't know, just happened, I guess. Has Harry told you everything he's done? I guess that's part of the reason we're good friends, because we've been through a lot together."
Sirius had realized somethings Dumbledore had said that Harry was exceptional, if not an exceptional student. Dumbledore seemed very proud of him, and considering Harry's willingness to follow his friend into the Whomping Willow without any help, he came to the conclusion that Harry was very brave, and probably no stranger to trouble.
"Harry hasn't mentioned anything." Sirius admitted. Hermione's eyes lit up.
"I can't believe he hasn't told you, but he probably didn't want to worry you."
Sirius frowned, "What has Harry been doing?"
Hermione's shrugged and changed the subject, since it obviously wasn't her story to tell. "I think it's about time I leave. I'll go see Ron so Harry can come see you."
As soon as the words left her mouth, Harry came in through the curtain. "Madam Pomfrey figured out you were in here."
An expression of horror replaced the smile that had been there, until Harry reassured her, "It's okay, she said we can see Sirius."
Hermione was visibly relieved, "How's Ron?"
"Okay, a little sore that we left him, but fine." Harry noticed Hermione was already occupying the chair, so he pointed to the foot of the bed, "Er... may I?"
Sirius nodded, and Harry took a seat.
"Sirius, that is to say, Mr. Black," she corrected herself with a little blush, but Sirius shook his head, "Er... well, Sirius wanted to know about the Philosopher's Stone in our first year, and the Diary from last year. I told him to wait until you came in to ask him."
Harry gave Hermione an accusatory glance and had the grace to look embarassed.
"Well, he wanted to know how we became friends, and I told him it was probably because of everything we've been through."
"Oh, that's easy," Harry answered with a mental sigh of relief, "we defeated a mountain together. Ron said something that upset Hermione, so she locked herself in a restroom," he looked at Hermione as he said that. Hermione rolled her eyes, realizing that he had left that part in the story just to teach her a lesson. "Well, someone had let a troll into the castle, and Ron and I saw it go into a bathroom while we sere looking for Hermione, so we locked it in. Then we realized Hermione was in there, so we rushed in and ried to distract it and get it out. We stuck a wand up its nose and knocked it out with its own club."
Judging by Sirius's reaction, it was a good thing Harry had come up with that story rather than tell him the story of the philosopher's stone.
"A mountain troll? A full grown mountain troll?" Sirius was obviously impressed, and he looked Harry up and down, wondering how such a scrawny kid had done it. "How old were you?"
"Eleven," Harry admitted.
"Your father didn't managed to take one until his 4th year."
That statement was met with shocked silence.
"Well, it was both me and Ron." Harry answered, once his voice had returned.
"But you faced You-Know-Who on your own at the end of the year." Hermione countered smugly.
"That was Quirell, not Voldemort."
"Of course it was, he was sticking out the back of Quirell's head, wasn't he?" Harry scowled at her, and Hermione hid her grin, "Harry defeated You-Know-Who in our first year and saved the Philosopher's Stone."
Sirius was looking at Harry with a bewildered expression on his face, so Harry began telling the story, reluctantly at first, but more confident as he picked up speed. Hermione added useful comments, and Sirius kept looking between Harry, Hermione, and towards where Ron was on the other side of the curtain.
"Dumbledore didn't tell me that." Sirius finally answered once they'd finished their story, and Harry shrugged. Hermione looked out the window and realized how late it was, and decided to point it out to Harry before he started telling Sirius about what had happened in their second year. At first, Harry hadn't wanted to tell Sirius, but he had steadily grown more excited as the story continued. He was still sitting at the foot of Sirius's bed, but he was relaxed, and he was clearly enjoying himself.
Reluctant to break the scene up, she announced she had to do homework. Harry looked at her, "D'you want to leave now, then?"
Hermione shook her head, "Stay with Sirius, I'll just go see if Ron's awake enough for a quick goodbye, and go back on my own."
"Er... I'll go with you, since you're gonna with me tomorrow to play Quidditch."
Hermione scoffed, "I always go to the library by myself, I can make it to the common room."
"Are you sure?"
Hermione, realizing Harry was still contemplating leaving Sirius just so she wouldn't be alone, smiled a little slyly and decided to trap him, "I'll be fine, I'm sure Sirius wants to hear about you saving Ginny's life."
Hermione heard Harry's groan as she battled her way through the curtain.
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Okay, I know I didn't post before the end of the month as I promised, but I have a good reason, and that reason is in my Livejournal. Go visit if you want to read my apologies. Also, keep an eye out for a future LiveJournal Entry where I'll be thanking the people who review this story, since I've been a tad negligent in that.
I do have to mention here that his story isn't H/Hr, as it was recently accused of being. It's true that I ship H/Hr, but I have no intention of making this a romance. Even this chapter doesn't have shippyness. And, Katie, if you happened to note more H/Hr in this chapter, I assure you I certainly didn't put it there to tick you off. wink wink, hint hint