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Summary: Hermione is obsolete – the War is over, Harry and Ron are busy, and she the mere Charms teacher at Hogwarts.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.
Chapter 5: Fitting in With Finesse
Two weeks had passed before the begging of everyone who had ever been a little close to Sirius had overwhelmed everybody to the point of planning a party in his return so that they could all visit with him. Now, a festive Saturday afternoon at the Weasley's had been scheduled, and, surprisingly, it was Molly Weasley's idea. She still felt horribly guilty about the way she had treated the younger man years before, and she wanted to make it up to him as much as possible. Seemed like a lot of people had been trying to do that of late… After you die, suddenly everyone loves you. Except for Snape – Sirius and he still avoided one another uneasily at Hogwarts.
It had also been two weeks that Hermione and Sirius spent smuggling themselves into each others beds at night, sometimes to sleep, sometimes to explore one another with a burning passion neither wanted to end. No one knew of their relationship. Save perhaps Dumbledore and Lupin, who each had their own ways of being all knowing. Dumbledore had that crazy inane way of being vastly astute when it came to the lives of people under the roof of Hogwarts, and Lupin had always been clever and add that to his werewolf senses… well, he could definitely smell their scents on each other. And had so informed them after an extremely raunchy visit during Hermione's lunch break, in an amused tone that, "Shagging during lunch? A but juvenile, don't you think?" Sirius had replied calmly (knowing full well that he had never been any good at hiding much from his old friend and had been prepared), "It's a bit juvenile to be shagging someone thirteen years younger than you, isn't it?" His only reply was a miffed, "Bloody git…" Sirius had loved taking advantage of the fact that he was twenty again… He really had missed it, spending the prime of his life in a cell or on the run.
Sirius had finally convinced Hermione to tell people about their relationship at the Weasley's on Saturday. She had at first protested, insisting that he wasn't ready for the controversy it was sure to arouse. Meaning, Harry Potter's best friend dating his ex-convict-returned-from-the-dead godfather-who-was-twenty-again would make many headlines. She had caved when he gave her the puppy-dog face, though. And with that, they head off to the Burrow.
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"Ronald Weasley! Been flooing since you were a lad and you still can't land without damaging something!" Molly yelled as her youngest son picked himself up from the floor and glared at a nearby coffee table he had practically attacked. "Sorry mum," he muttered shame-facedly as his older brothers and friends snickered.
"Tis fine, ickle Ronnie!" George grinned as he made a move with his wand to repair the table. He grinned dramatically, "Big brother George to help the mentally impaired child."
Ron smacked his brother, which was the start of a bitch-slapping war, only to be ended by a swift kick from Charlie to both. "Haven't you learned anything? Never fight inside the house, mum'll be on a rampage quicker than you can say 'Weasley Wizards Wheezes'."
But Mrs. Weasley paid her boys no attention as she fussed over protectively around Sirius. "I'm glad you're back, dear." She wiped a tear as she became over-emotional and threw herself at him in a bear hug. Sirius struggled in shock for a moment before hugging the older woman back and awkwardly patting her on the back.
"Thanks, Molly. I appreciate everything, really."
Hermione smirked as she zoned out of Ron and Bill's not so engaging conversation about the Ministry and thought, He's such a good little boy when he's around all these people. If only they knew what kind of animal he was in bed…
"'Mione? Space-out much? Bloody hell, woman, we were talking to you!" the Charms teacher snapped out of her reverie to fine her old classmate glaring at her slightly but not really angry. "Oh Ron, shut it. There were countless times you didn't pay attention to a damn thing I had to say." She glared back, her brown eyes standing out of her pale face threateningly. Before an actual argument could commence, Sirius snuck from Mrs. Weasley's smothering of him and whisked Hermione away by wrapping an arm casually around her waist and leading her to the dining room. Ron's blue eyes narrowed slightly at this, not favoring the simple act of comfort one bit. Sirius wouldn't be good for Hermione – she was fragile after what happened to her in the War, and Sirius was young again and as attractive as ever. Girls would be fawning over him, and he would not have his best friend in the sack just because of some asinine de-aging spell. She deserved better than that.
Harry followed Ron's eyes and saw what he was staring so avidly at. In a moment of instinct, he turned to Remus who was whispering covertly to Tonks and smirking in the direction of the recently departed couple. It clicked in an instant that something was going on between the two, and it was more perplexing than any other thing either of the two had done before. Sirius Black – his godfather – and Hermione Granger – his companion and school mate – in love?
And that, my friends, proves how very different Miss Granger's two best friends were. The first let his quick temper take over in thoughts of over-protectiveness, while the raven-haired one would depict and try to understand.
In the dining room, Hermione and Sirius were continuously glancing at each other flirtatiously, finding it hard to be outside of school and remain under such vast control. Hermione was taking small sensuous bites from a strawberry in her fingers as Sirius watched with a hungry gaze. He couldn't get enough of that woman… she had changed so much; he found it hard to remember the bushy-haired know it all that rescued him in her third year of schooling. The night that he had met her he never would have pictured her to be the beautiful brunette she was now, teasing him as her tongue did naughty things to the immensely lucky fruit.
Replying in his own teasing manner, Sirius yawned to show that he was not completely in a trance of her mouth and stretched his arms above his head, knowing that his tight dark grey t-shirt would rise up alluringly. He knew she couldn't resist the 'v' his pelvic bones would create beneath his toned stomach.
Mouth still slightly open and strawberry now forgotten upon her lips, Hermione stared blatantly until someone entered the room. The two secret lovers recovered as Hermione quickly shoved the rest of the red food into her mouth as Sirius jerked his arms down and scratched his leg very… um, inconspicuously.
Vibrant green eyes bright with well-hidden laughter watched the two of them curiously. "What are you guys doing in here, huh? This party is for you, after all, Sirius. No need to hide in here, you're a free man now." The young Auror, now the spitting image of his father at the time he was born, smirked, reminding Sirius vividly of James. The pain came right along with the memories, and Sirius pushed it away to let the happiness of the times settle over him. It was what Prongs would have wanted…
"Quite right, Harry… I guess I'll be getting right out there, now…" Sirius looked longingly at Hermione for a moment out of habit (at school she was always so busy with classes, it was hours before they would see each other again and longing looks were very habitual), and turned towards the door.
"Oh, by the way, I'm happy you're together," Harry smiled again, causing two of his closest friends to stutter incoherently.
"We're-"
"How did-"
Harry laughed, "Oh calm yourselves. It was a hunch. I'm an Auror now, I'm getting better at picking up these things."
Not to mention you killed the greatest Dark Lord of our time, meaning you must be a little more intelligent than the average bear… Sirius thought, bitter at the idea of his godson growing up too fast. Faster, even than he had himself.
Hermione smiled at Harry, and rushed to give him a hug, chestnut waves flowing behind her catchingly. "You always understand, Harry. I love you so much," she hugged him again, and Harry chuckled. "What did you expect me to do? You both mean so much to me, and if you find happiness together, then so be it."
"Good man, Harry," Sirius clapped him on the back and added in an undertone with a smirk, "Just keep it quiet for a few more hours. Me and 'Mione here are gonna try and shock ol' Molly to the point of despising me again."
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Dinnertime rolled around and Sirius became a little bit anxious. Pretty soon he and Hermione would be exposing their relationship to the Weasley clan. And, Molly Weasley's extremely overprotective feelings towards Hermione, a sort of daughter to her. Oh joy.
They conveniently chose seats next to each other (it wouldn't be any good exposing a secret relationship when you're sitting nowhere near each other at the climax) and gripped hands under the table for a moment for strength. Hermione knew Ron would overreact – he was so Goddam protective of her. Molly would be very displeased, and she knew the rest of the Weasley's (which included newly arrived Ginny and Draco) would be in a righteous stage of shock.
Molly sat at one end of the long table that was placed in the dining room of the Weasley's home, despite the fact that the sky was blue and it was a surprisingly warm day, to the joy of everyone present. Arthur sat at the other end, Ginny sat next to her mother, with Draco on her other side. Harry sat next to him (the two had become… oh, lets say, 'tolerant friends' of the sort, to the point where they could converse and even -gasp- joke) and then Percy, his girlfriend (Penelope Clearwater), and Bill. On the other side, Sirius was in between Molly and Hermione, then Charlie, Fred, George, and Ron sat. Sirius was just pleased to be out of range of the very hot-tempered red headed friend in the best physical form of his life, but very frightened to be near also hot-tempered Molly.
After the anarchy that Fred and George caused with the enchanted cooked turkey (which did a select couple trademark moves of Michael Jackson, with very dirty crotch grabbing involved, much to Mrs. Weasley's horror and Sirius' delight) the meal went relatively smoothly. Until, Sirius cleared his throat and received the blindingly red headed attention he requested.
"Um… first of all, I'd like to tell all of you that I'm really happy that you did this for me. It means a lot, and I didn't expect it."
"Well, damn, Black, you make it sound like we threw you into the bloody veil ourselves. We missed you, you old bloke, and we're damn pleased that you're back," George smiled brazenly and raised his glass in respect. Sirius had the courtesy to blush, but continued. "Thanks George. But… that's not all I wanted to tell you. I… well, me and… someone…"
Hermione interrupted him, getting bored of his incessant stuttering. "We," she supplied, and left the rest up to him. "Yes, we – Hermione and I – we're a… couple. Together, you see…" Remus could hardly contain his laughter at seeing badass Padfoot wring his hands nervously and stare at the checkered tablecloth because he was dating some girl. Things really can change, Remus mused.
Remus' amused thoughts were interrupted seconds later as Molly and Ron screeched in shock, hurting his heightened senses drastically.
"SIRIUS LEE BLACK!" Harry snickered at Molly's use of his godfather's full name, as did Malfoy.
"YOU RANDY OLD PERVERT!" Ron bellowed as he stood up, knocking his chair over backwards. Talk about rage much.
Sirius winced, and prepared for more yelling, and maybe, a few whacks up his shiny haired head. Charlie and Bill were staring open mouthed at Hermione, as if she were incapable of anything as absurd at having a relationship with Sirius. They did, after all, know her the least of all the Weasleys. Ginny was laughing hysterically, mostly because she was the one Hermione always spoke with on her jumbled feelings towards Sirius…. The way he aggravated her so, made her laugh heartily and cheered her up with his compassion towards his friends, but also disappointed her with his immaturity. Obviously things had changed, or Hermione was just head over heels in love and not giving a damn… Should have seen it coming… Draco was so unaffected by the sudden revelation that he and Harry had started a polite conversation about Quidditch, which made Ron only yell more.
"BLOODY HELL, HARRY! DON'T YOU CARE? CAN'T YOU CONTROL HIM?" Harry ignored him and continued his chitchat.
Remus and Tonks politely chuckled at the varied responses of their closest friends.
"-SEX, THAT'S WHAT THEY'RE HAVING-"
Fred and George were saying things like, "Good catch, Sirius. Points for looks, brains, and age, I'd say…" and, "Never thought Hermione went for the older men, but I suppose we can't blame her for wanting someone a tad more experienced after her horrid encounter with clumsy Ronald here…"
"-HALF YOUR AGE! SCANDOLOUS, ABSOLUTELY SCANDOL-"
"Now now, Molly, calm down, I'm sure the kids have their reasons, and it is their choice, isn't it?"
"Oh let Granger alone! I have to agree with Fred – after her - I'm sure – revolting experience with the Reject Weasley, here, how could she not want someone of Sirius' stature and skill?"
"Um, thanks, Draco…" Sirius gave a small chuckle and Draco nodded briefly in acknowledgement.
Hermione, very disgusted at everyone's behavior, placed her head in her hands briefly, before she stood up abruptly, her chair joining Ron's on the floor. Sirius followed her, and neither were seen leaving since everyone else was having their own separate arguments and yells of disbelief.
They retreated to the solitude of the kitchen, and Hermione wrapped her arms around herself. She was very obviously upset, and Sirius didn't like to see her like that. He quickly put his arms around her waist, pulling her close so that her head rested on his chest. "What's wrong, love?"
She pulled back slightly, staring at him in shock. "What's wrong? Did you not see how they were behaving? It was appalling! They didn't even think about the fact that we could be happy together! That this isn't some bloody fuck-and-leave relationship! Didn't think about how I need you, how you keep me going… That we're in love." Sirius 'shh'ed her gently, whispering comforting things and kissing her on the top of the head before saying, "If they hadn't thought it before, I'm pretty sure they do now. "
She looked up at him again, confusion shown in her clever brown eyes. "Listen," was all he said as he motioned to the dining room door. Complete silence was heard from the other side of the door, causing the brunette to gasp. "They heard me?"
"I'm guessing so."
"Oh, shit."
On the other side of the door, Fred and George could practically taste the need for a distraction. Poor Sirius and Hermione, everyone had overheard their conversation and were probably rightfully embarrassed right now. Nothing like a little mischief to take all the spotlight off of them. George grinned wickedly as he turned towards Percy, an evil glint in his hazel eyes. Percy always was the most fun to pick on… A quick curse transfigured the former Head Boy's entire left arm into that of a chicken's wing, feathers and all.
He stopped staring placidly at the dining room door like the rest of the room's occupants, and instead uttered a frightened shriek and fell from his chair. Everyone jumped and turned to catch the red hair fall out of their sight beneath the table.
"Loved the yelp, Perce. Very manly and Gryffindor-ish." Fred stuck his head underneath the table and grinned as Penelope Clearwater struggled to hold in her giggles at her boyfriend's bad luck.
"Do you think if we transfigure his other arm, he'd manage to fly?' George smirked at his twin, making them look truly identical.
"It's worth a shot."
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A/N: Sorry it's short, but next chapter I promise to finally tell just what exactly Hermione experienced in the War, and there will be drama from Sirius' reaction. Oh, and there will be no more songs anymore, guys! Lol, sorry, I just had to add them in, but I'm done now, I promise. Please review, as always!