I Want the Fire Back
Summary: Hermione is obsolete – the War is over, Harry and Ron are busy, and she the mere Charms teacher at Hogwarts. When a presumably dead man comes back better than ever, she suddenly means everything... to him. SiHr
Rating: R for language, themes, sex, and whatever else may come out of my twisted little mind.
Disclaimer: It's not me who owns these characters or any plots associated with the Harry Potter books.
Nutters, the whole lot of them! Hermione thought angrily as she left the Headmaster's office sometime around three in the morning. Dumbledore had greeted Sirius and Hermione in the patronizing all knowing voice with an, "Ah, Sirius. Just on time." NUTTER.
He wouldn't, however, be bothered to explain just how he had known to expect the quite unexpected guest, but whatever. That was certainly not a new occurrence. He did, however, say that Harry would be alerted first thing in the morning and would take the day off to visit, along with Ron. It was also mentioned that Remus was in the school at the moment for he had become the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher again, and he would be told in the morning as well.
Sirius had refused stubbornly to see the Nurse, saying he was fine and all he needed was sleep.
Now all Hermione really cared about was sleep, considering she had classes to teach in a few hours. But alas, it would not happen. She was still wondering why in the lord's name the Room of Requirement had given her Sirius Black. Surely, she did not require him? Nutter.
"'Mione, are you alright?"
Aaargh. Of course, being more than a little tired and confused, she had to forget the cause of her confusion was following her so that she could show him his own quarters. Which, coincidentally, would be right near hers.
"You keep muttering 'nutters' or something under your breath."
Damn that good hearing of his.
"Sirius… why must you confuse me so?" she laughed lightly, deciding to cheer up a bit. She had, after all, rescued (albeit an accident) her best friend's godfather.
"Just my nature, love. Besides, you're all cute and such when you get flustered." There I go again, might as well introduce myself as 'Sirius Black, ex-convict, formerly dead, and now a pedophile.'
Although Hermione was certainly of legal age.
Is he flirting with me? Choosing to casually ignore his last comment, not wanting to look too eager for his praise, Hermione motioned to the door they had stopped at.
"Here's your room, I'm right down the hall," she pointed to her door, which was, remarkably, right down the hall.
This was followed by an awkward silence in which Hermione thought Sirius would thank her, and bid her good night. But Sirius was not entertaining that idea.
"Do you wanna… come in for a bit?" God I sound like I want to fuck her. Not that I don't, but… I… dammit, that's not what I meant.
"Um… I'm not sure that's a good idea, Sirius." Hermione bit her lip in a fashion that Sirius had immediately donned cute. "I have classes in the morning, and it's rather late…"
"Bloody hell Granger, you sound like you're my age! Where's all the excitement, late night escapades?" Black eyes twinkled mischievously. At this point he was desperate to have her in his room.
Hermione realized that she had just been complaining about her boring lifestyle, and decided that she would indeed join Sirius in his room for a bit. Definitely something the old Hermione wouldn't do. But still, she did not want to appear fervent about his proposal.
"I don't know…" she continued biting her full bottom lip, making Sirius cringe.
"Hermione, please," his eyes were desperate, and although she had just been winding him up with her uncertainty, she instantly felt guilty. This man had been through so much – it was evident in his eyes. After the place he had just returned from, she really could not blame him for not wanting to be alone. "I just want a little company… Been a bit lonely, lately." He gave a small nervous chuckle, which his partner returned.
"Of course, Sirius. I don't mind, it'll be nice to catch up on old times." She offered him a smile that made his heart skip, and she spoke the password.
Into the Lion's Den…
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Sirius threw off the new black robe Dumbledore had transfigured for him, leaving him in his black turtle neck and jeans. Hermione, taking his cue, removed her outer blue robe, realizing they would be here for a while and it was quite warm inside as well.
She blushed when she noticed Sirius' eyes raking over her body that was now only clothed in a white tank top and grey sweat pants. He moved closer to her, aware of her nervousness but only caring about his hunger. His hunger for human touch, hunger for her touch. Just as he was about to lift his hand up to her uneasy face, something caught his eye on the wall nearest them. It was his reflection.
How could he have even thought about touching her when he looked like that?
"Christ." He jerked his hand back as if she was about to burn him. Dragging himself away from her, he looked into the mirror now in full view of his body. His hair was greasy and black, rivaling Snape's amount of grease, and laid midway down his back. His skin on his face seemed as if it had been sucked from the inside on to his bones, and he had a wild looking beard. The only thing that remained young and attractive were his dark eyes.
Forgetting that Hermione was even there, Sirius ripped off his turtleneck and threw it onto the bed, stepping closer to the mirror. His ribs stuck out grotesquely, and his hipbones looked fatal to anyone that came near.
A tear sprang to his eye. Where had he gone? That young man the women swooned over, with the dashing smirk and the beautiful hair. He had been ripped out and replaced with this… this, animal. So much had been taken from him, and he knew this was the most vain, but it was still another thing stolen.
"Sirius."
Hermione's voice seemed to come from far away, and he flinched at it. Sirius? No, he could not be Sirius. He was simply too… revolting. He couldn't be…
She moved towards him, knowing what he was thinking, but not knowing how horrible he felt. How could she? She had not spent nearly twenty years in some sort of captivity away from food and water and… life.
But she knew what he needed at the moment.
"Sirius," she spoke again, this time, firmer. Reaching up and touching his angular jaw to turn him to her, she smiled reassuringly.
How can she be so calm, so placid? Can she not see how disgusting I am? He was in awe of her.
She gripped his hand now, and led him to the bed. No no no no, he thought although he followed her obediently. He would not, no matter how much he wanted her to, let her give her body to him to make him feel better. Knowing what he was thinking, Hermione shook her head and smiled again. She made him sit down, and then pulled her wand out.
Without telling him what was going on, she began casting spells on him. He could feel his hair become lighter and cleaner with one wave of her wand, his beard disappear with another, and his body cleanse with yet another.
She turned him back towards the mirror again, and he saw a vast improvement, but still it was nothing compared to the fine specimen he was before Azkaban. His hair was jaw length, with shorter pieces in the front coyly falling into his matching eyes. His face was clean-shaven except for a bit of hair on his chin, which nicely accented his jaw. But she couldn't do anything for his weight – she didn't trust herself with a weight enhancement charm. They couldn't have an obese Sirius, now, could they?
He was more appeased now, but pouted about the weight factor. Hermione laughed at this, loving how he could appear so much younger with certain expressions. Her laughter was interrupted by a huge ass yawn, though, which she unsuccessfully tried to hide.
"Well, I better, you know… head off to bed." She stood still, not moving towards the door or any closer to Sirius. He knew she was unsure, and he quickly stood up and grabbed her hand. "Please… Stay with me."
Not sure by what he meant, she stuttered. "All… all night?"
Ducking his head so that his eyes completely fell from sight, he nodded. Hearing her light footsteps, he knew that she had left his room out of total disgust for his actions. That is, until he heard the bed groan slightly as her weight was added to the mattress. He looked up in surprise as she grabbed his arm and pulled him next to her. She pulled the covers over both of their bodies, and turned off the lights with her wand.
The only other time she had been in bed with a man like this was when she and Ron had been together years ago, and it was after their first (and only) time having sex. He had wrapped his strong arms around her, making her feel safe, yes, but not content. Not happy. She knew that she was not the one in this current situation that needed comfort, so she wrapped her lean arms around Sirius' extremely thin waist. He stiffened at first, so unused to the touch, but shortly after basked in it. She was warm, so warm… her hair smelled of cherries, and she snuggled perfectly against his chest.
He knew this was wrong, but cliché-ly he also knew it felt so Goddam right.
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Hermione smiled lightly as she rolled over in her snug bed. It was so warm; she didn't want to get up at all. That was, until she felt a pair of arms around her waist. Sirius.
"Oh!" she cried, shooting straight up in her bed as last night came back to her in a rush. Nothing happened.
"Hmm?" Sirius mumbled into his pillow as he turned his head to view her. She noticed a tiny bit of drool on the fluffy instrument of sleep, and stifled a laugh. Looking down at Sirius' now opened eyes, she saw him looking past her. Not the mirror again… But it wasn't the mirror he was looking at. It was a magicked alarm clock. And it read 7:57.
"What are you laughing at? You're late for classes, my dear, and on the first day at that," Sirius replaced his groggy face with his smirk, kissed Hermione soundly on the lips (he was finally realizing that he was rescued, his name was cleared, and he was free) in his giddiness, and slipped out of the bed to shower.
I'm not a morning person at all, but that was so worth it, Sirius grinned as he heard Hermione's fluent curses drift into the bathroom he was undressing in. The door to his lodgings was slammed shut in her frenzy to get to her class.
He entered the shower, humming an old song under his breath as he recalled her reaction to their kiss earlier. Reaction? Hardly, she seemed much too caught up in the fact that she was late. Was that good or bad?
Scrubbing himself down unknowingly with very girly raspberry scented body wash he thought, Didn't even say goodbye, did she? Oh well, I'll get her back for that later…
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Professor Hermione Ann Granger flew into her Charms classroom like a Blast-Ended Skrewt was chasing her, only to realize she was hardly clothed to Hogwarts standards in her tank top and sweats.
Oh bloody sodding hell, she grimaced inwardly as she transfigured her clothes, How will the kids expect me to be a sound teacher when I can't even handle getting myself up in the morning?
"Good morning class, I'm Professor Granger, and I'm as new to teaching here as you first years are to being here…"
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Sirius pissed and moaned as he fiddled with his wet hair, trying to arrange it to cover as much of his face still being able to see. Finally giving up, he threw himself backwards onto his four-poster bed and sighed.
Abruptly Sirius' ears were met with a strange array of musical sounding knocking on his door. Must be Dumbledore, only that man would prefer to walk all the way down here to perform a cute little knock to using the fireplace.
He threw open the door and attempted to smile at his old Headmaster, hoping it would make him less hideous. "Ah, Mr. Black, I presume you'll let an old man such as myself come in?"
"Don't be so formal, Pro – Albus. We're both fairly acquainted adults here, and I'll soon be joining you on the old man list," Sirius chuckled as he moved aside and let him in.
Quite wrong, my boy, quite wrong indeed, he thought knowingly. "You slept well, I see?" Dumbledore noticed Sirius looked quite refreshed and the bags under his eyes were lessened, and his eyes twinkled enough to rival his own.
His protégé observed him for a moment, and smiled. He knew that he knew that Hermione had spent the night. Blushing, he nodded.
Dumbledore nodded in that knowing manner he had developed over the past 100 years, and spoke, "If you'd like, we can go to a private breakfast in my office where we'll be accompanied by someone I'm sure you'll be glad to see."
"Harry? Is it Harry?" Sirius practically danced from foot to foot, resembling the hyper dog he could willingly become.
"No, no, not Harry. You'll meet him in a little bit, but first, there is a mistake that must be corrected."
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Mistake? What mistake? Am I not supposed to be here? Is he going to send me back? Don't be stupid, Sirius. Dumbledore wouldn't do that… Of course not. But a new fear was pounded into his heart as he entered the office, for, sitting next to the perched Fawkes, sat an Auror, a man who was clearly Minister of Magic (his robes were a give away) and a St. Mungo's doctor. They're sending me back to Azkaban. The rational part of Sirius' mind had flown off on a broomstick, or else who would have realized that that occurrence was impossible. He was a free man, clear of charges.
Seeing his former student's panicked look as his eyes darted unceremoniously around the room looking for an escape, Albus chuckled. He motioned to the three people, and introduced them. "Sirius, this is Ren Ascoy –" he motioned to the Auror –"This is Zachariah Stoewrun –" he pointed to the doctor –"And you know Arthur Weasley, our new Minister of Magic."
Sirius jumped in shock when he saw the friendly balding redheaded man smile, and was surprised he had not seen him. He had been too preoccupied watching the rather bulky Auror for any sudden movements he should flee from.
"Arthur!" Sirius relaxed slightly, realizing that none of these people seemed horribly threatening, and moved to shake the Order Member's hand.
"Sirius, good to see you chap, up and running again," Arthur smiled and ran a hand over his now practically bare head. "You're probably wondering about the Auror and Doctor, eh? Well the Ministry would have had a fit if I hadn't brought ol' Ren here, in case you were dangerous or something of the sort. Wherever you were in the past five years could have broken your mind, it was just a reassurance. Now, Zachariah is here for an entirely different reason." Mr. Weasley paused and looked to Dumbledore, who took it up from there.
"The Ministry has never looked quite as foolish as it did four years ago, Sirius, when it came to the public's attention that you were innocent. They had locked a young, innocent man in the most vile place on earth, and they're apologies did very little to qualm the outrage of the people. Harry, Hermione, Ron and others were very keen on getting it out to everyone on how you were framed and the such, and that you never had a fair trial. At any rate, the Ministry, now aware that you are back, wants to make it up to you in the best way possible. Not only for your forgiveness, but for the people's too."
Sirius snorted, "They could never make me forgive them for what they did to me," he shook his head, but curiosity made him ask. "But what are they proposing?"
Albus smiled, knowing Sirius would never have his life back, nor would he ever forgive the Ministry, but also knowing he would be thrilled at this offer.
"You're aware of a De-Aging Spell, I'm sure? The Ministry has offered to activate the spells use on you. You're going to be given back the last twenty years, physically anyways."
Sirius gaped, opening and closing his mouth. He had never heard of the spell being done, considering it was highly illegal and could be traced easily, unless registered with the Ministry.
Arthur couldn't help but grin. "Sirius, you're going to be twenty again."
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A/N:Sorry if that sounded lame, lol. Please review, and the next chapter has great detail of Sirius' twenty-year-old body. To clarify, the spell reverses any aging, scarring, and the likes back until the age you wish. So everything that has happened to Sirius in the last twenty years will disappear, and he will have the same body he did when he was twenty. Ok, that's all, love yas, Syl.