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Summary: Hermione is obsolete – the War is over, Harry and Ron are busy, and she the mere Charms teacher at Hogwarts.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.
It was the morning of Christmas, and Hermione was asleep in her bed, anything but peaceful. Memories were assaulting her, and she found herself too weak to pull herself from the dream. Just too weak…
Yelling… Laughing… Curses flying… Bellatrix's voice. Sirius taunting her… His laughter…
Then he fell. He fell into the darkness, into hell, out of her life.
For what she thought was forever.
Say your prayers, just as he hit the ground...
Mark these words on his grave…
Remus Lupin was the Last Marauder.
Hermione jerked awake, her eyes flying to the empty space next to her. No wonder she had dreamt… Sirius wasn't there. She could hear the distinct sound of the shower running, and she realized that the poor chap couldn't even leave her to take a shower without some horrible recollection assaulting her viscously.
Deciding to cheer up, sheerly for the fact that it was Christmas, and happiness was to be absolutely bountiful today, Hermione slid out of bed with a small smile, and made to join Sirius in the shower.
Remus Lupin is not the Last Marauder.
------------------
"Alright – 'Mione, do you have everything ready to go to Molly and Arthur's?" Sirius asked for what seemed to be the thirteenth time, as he glanced at all the gifts she was carrying. He was looking endearing in a pair of black pants and a red t-shirt, a pair of black robes thrown over top and a green stocking cap on his head. Very sprit of Christmas.
She noticed this with a small smile, and knew at once what his searching gaze meant. Sirius had already snooped through those exact bags that Hermione was holding, only to discover that not one of them was his. He was too curious for his own good, and could scarcely handle not being aware of what he was to receive that night.
"Yes, Sirius, for the last bloody time."
"Alright, alright. To Dumbledore's, then?"
The young brunette nodded, and after having a brief struggle carrying all of the presents, followed her beau out the door to the Headmaster's office.
Dumbledore was, adorably, dressed in all red robes with a fuzzy red and white hat adorning his white hair, giving him the absolute rendition of Santa.
Stifling a giggle, Hermione spoke, "Merry Christmas, Professor."
"Same to you, Hermione. And please – it's Albus now – I'm your colleague," the old man responded, blue eyes twinkling more than she'd ever thought possible. Maybe it was because Voldemort was dead and it was Christmas. And also the fact that the two cleverest students he'd ever had happened to be back in the world of the living, joyous and content even after all they had been through.
"Coming to the Weasleys, Albus?" Sirius asked as he finally took a few bags from Hermione's load and moved towards the fireplace. Lazy-ass boy…
"I'm afraid not, dear boy. Must stay here and tend to the students," Dumbledore smiled before waving goodbye and leaving his two former scholars alone.
"All ready, then?" Sirius asked again.
"Yes."
------------------
"Hermione!" was the first thing that the young beauty heard as she stepped from the Burrow's fireplace.
She was pulled into a hug after setting her bags down, and turned to see (of course) a bright red head.
"Ginny?"
The vixen pulled back, grinning, and Hermione was surprised to see that her very slim friend was now showing a little in the stomach. She was grinning passionately, causing Hermione to laugh.
"How have you been?"
Ginny shrugged. "Oh, you know – barfing a ton, weird food cravings – the whole lot."
Hermione winced in slight disgust and nodded sympathetically. "Sorry to hear that."
Ron came out of the kitchen, his arm slung casually around Harry's shoulders, and she smiled as they approached her, grinning like fools.
"Hullo, 'Mione! Get me anything good?" Ron spoke, trying to peer into the bags near her feet.
"Uh-uh, Ronald Weasley – you stay well away from my things until it's time to open gifts," Hermione poked him in the chest for emphasis, causing Harry to laugh.
"You never change, Hermione," Harry enveloped the much smaller woman in a hug. Oh, dear Harry… so little do you know… she thought with a slight smile.
Fred and George had practically popped up from the woodwork and had now cornered Sirius into giving them advice on some new product, causing all three of them to laugh companionably at the horrid test results they had received.
Harry was laughing at Draco for every time Ginny seemed to go anywhere near him, he winced or flinched in fear. It was very anomalous seeing Draco afraid of the youngest Weasley just because she was pregnant. But, Harry reasoned, I would be too if I were her boyfriend. Ginny's crazy enough without all the extra hormones.
Mrs. Weasley, after greeting Hermione and Sirius, stood back watching her only daughter go through the process of something she had done many times. Ginny looked absolutely radiant, especially among all the attention she was receiving over her little bump of a child.
Draco was receiving a little of his own attention, too, despite his protests, as Ginny drug him into her conversation with Tonks and Remus.
The chatter of the makeshift family was interrupted at that moment as a loud explosion was heard from the second floor of the Burrow.
"Oi!" Draco yelled, pulling Ginny towards him in an act of protection.
Sirius did the same with Hermione, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her near him as she yelped in surprise.
"Calm down, folks – s'alright," Fred crooned, making what he thought were 'soothing' motions with his hands.
"What in the world was that?!" Mrs. Weasley suddenly returned from the kitchen, a shaken look on her face, as she glared at the twins who wore equally guilty expressions on their features.
George, staring at the ground, spoke up, "Just an experiment, mum. Wasn't supposed to go off like that, it wasn't."
Positively livid, Molly Weasley marched towards her sons, and pulling them both by the ear, began leading them up the stairs as they apologized profusely. Molly paused half way up the stairs, and with a small yank, let go of each Fred and George's ears.
"You go up there and fix anything that got ruined! And if another thing like that happens tonight, you'll be in so much pain the other will feel it!" The twins winced in unison, knowing their mother was not joking. "And," she added, "I'm ashamed that you two would pull such foolishness around your sister when she's like this!"
Ginny, never one penchant to being called 'weak' or 'incapable' growled at her mother. "Mum, I'm fine! I can handle a little excitement!"
"Why yes, you very much can," Draco said slyly under his breath, only to his horror discovering that Bill had overheard him.
"What's that, Malfoy?" the imposing older Weasley whispered threateningly.
Draco sighed, realizing it is not wise at all to talk dirty about a girl who has six older brothers, especially when four of the six could kick his ass (Ron and him may be fairly equal, but let's face it – Percy's a total wuss) and all were standing nearby.
"Nothing at all, chap."
Bill grunted in response, turning back to watching Ginny scream at his mother, and swallowed a small smile. Draco must really love that woman to put up with all of the death threats he gets from her family.
Mrs. Weasley, after finally calming down Ginny, walked down the stairs to continue cooking the Christmas dinner, mumbling something that sounded quite like, "…be in St. Mungo's by 55, for sure…"
Hermione, finally realizing that poor Mrs. Weasley must be swamped, cried, "Oh! I can help in the kitchen, if you'd like."
Sirius couldn't help himself – he burst out laughing at the very idea of Hermione anywhere in a kitchen in which she was performing cooking tasks, and was rewarded with her glare of death.
"Do you think you can do any better, Black?" she snapped, hands on her curvy hips and eyes challenging.
Sirius played with his options for a moment before responding with a shrug. "First time for everything," he smiled and followed her into the kitchen.
On the way, Sirius raised his gaze to Tonks and smirked. "Why isn't Nymphadora helping?"
"Oh, because she's horribly clumsy," Ginny answered smartly, causing Sirius to gape at her and Tonks to look hurt.
Draco slipped his arm around Ginny's shoulders, and turned to the rest of the room, speaking one word. "Hormones."
A chorus of "Ah"s were heard throughout them.
"So, what's your most difficult task in here, Molly?" Sirius asked, leaning against the counter cockily after entering the cooking area.
"Hmmm… well the stuffing still needs to be made," the plump woman answered, biting her lip slightly, unsure as to whether she should trust the young Black with that task.
"Ah, splendid! I'll get right on that!" Sirius spoke, but looked at Hermione, who was looking anything but impressed. She wanted to see if he could actually cook, or whether he was just being as cocky as always.
Her answer came a few minutes later when Sirius began mixing ingredients and seasoning so quickly and expertly that Hermione became dizzy from watching him.
"Is there anything you can't do?" she asked with a small sigh.
Sirius, his hands covered in vegetables and a gooey looking substance, pulled them form the bowl to place his arm in one hand in his chin in the other, looking thoughtful. It ended up with him covered in bits of food and slime.
"Something I can't do… Well, I believe childbirth would be a tad difficult for me… I just don't have the hips..."
Hermione laughed despite herself, and moved forward to help Sirius out a little – not that he needed it nor would she actually do more good than damage.
------------------
"Dinner time!" yelled an exhausted Molly Weasley as she poked her head out from the kitchen and brought out a large platter with a turkey placed on it.
The food was wonderful, and there were very few disturbances during the meal, and those that did happen were minor. For example, when Sirius shot a pea at Hermione and she threw a baby carrot back, which landed in his soup and splashed George, it resulted in an almost food fight. Other than that, there were no explosions, no shocking revelations – oh, wait, yes there was.
Towards the time when the meal began to wind down, Ron made a small strangled noise in his throat. To which, coincidentally, Charlie took as a choking noise and jumped up to save his little brother, giving him the Heimlich maneuver. Ron finally managed to yell that he was just trying to get everyone's attention, and a very embarrassed Charlie sat down, cheeks matching his hair.
"So, Ron, what is it that you wanted to tell us?" Hermione asked sweetly as she licked a bit of pudding off of her spoon, knowing full well that Ron was scared to death of whatever he was about to expose.
"Erm…" the lanky redhead shifted nervously in his seat next to his green-eyed companion.
"What Ron is trying to say…" Harry began, startling most of the table as the Boy-Who-Lived grabbed his best friends hand on the surface of the table. "…is that we're together. Together together," Harry finished with a blush as Ron gripped his hand tighter, both of them flushing and averting their eyes to the food in front of them.
Ginny, the first to react, burst out laughing. "My brother is snogging my old crush!"
Malfoy, who had been desperately holding down the corners of his mouth in its attempt to laugh, erupted in a fit of mirth. "All those years of taunting," he gasped out, "And I was bloody right!"
"We always knew you had it in you, Ronniekins," George and Fred said with smirks.
Harry, ignoring Ron's family's quirky statements of acceptance, had his eyes trained right on his father figure. Sirius Black – the only person whose opinion meant a terrible lot to him at the moment.
Noticing the vibrant green gaze, Sirius looked at his godson for a moment before speaking. He took in the emotion in his eyes - the love - and answered his unspoken question, but he did so directed towards Ron.
"If I can date your best friend, you can date my godson," Sirius smiled empathetically, cheerful at the prospect of Harry and Ron being happy.
Ron laughed nervously, and nodded his head, pleased with the reactions he had received that night.
Hermione, though, had one question to ask, and did so, quite blatantly. "Did I turn you gay, Ron?"
Ron, who had calmed down enough to take a drink of his pumpkin juice, ended up spluttering it all over his father and himself at Hermione's intrepid question.
He turned to her, trying to appear incredulous, but looked quite ridiculous what with the pumpkin juice dripping down his face, causing him to look mentally impaired combined with his bulging eyes.
"Well… I mean…" she started, flustered at all the attention people were giving her. "Did I?"
Ron laughed and shook his head. "Nah, 'Mione… I just realized… you know, feelings and stuff," he ended lamely, causing Harry to laugh at him.
------------------
"Another eventful dinner, that was," George muttered to his twin as they ventured into the living room, where people were already taking up residence for the present opening.
Harry sat down in a recliner, nearest to the extravagantly decorated Christmas tree, and Ron seated himself next to his feet. Fred and George fought for a bit over other recliner, and George won, resulting in Fred sitting down on the couch next to his mum and dad. Remus, Tonks, Sirius, and Hermione managed to squeeze on the remaining couch with Hermione on Sirius' lap, carefully making sure to avoid crushing his other present for her. Charlie, Bill, Percy and Penelope sat in kitchen chairs that had been moved into the living room, and Ginny and Draco had the loveseat to themselves with the excuse that Ginny had to put her feet up.
"Alright!" Arthur clapped his hands together, excited to begin passing out the gifts. Being Minister of Magic had pretty much resulted in the infamous Weasley sweaters becoming extinct. "Harry, since you're closest to the tree, why don't you pass out the gifts?"
Harry nodded and picked up a dark green one with silver bows. He raised an eyebrow (taking after his dad!) and said, "Wonder who this one's for."
The occupants of the joyous living room grinned and watched eagerly as Draco took it from Harry.
Realizing that it was from Fred and George, Draco opened it hesitantly, peeling back the messy wrapping paper. When fully opened, the box poofed and in its place was a small note with the Weasley Wizards Wheezes trademark on it, saying,
Draco cocked a pale eyebrow in response, and at that moment everyone burst into peals of laughter.
Penelope grabbed a mirror from her always-handy purse and tossed it to the confused man. He opened the compact and nearly cried out in disbelief as he noticed that his beautiful silvery blond hair had been transformed into a gaudy fire engine red. It was obviously a parody of their own trademark red hair as Weasleys.
"Definitely now a part of the clan, Draco," Charlie clapped him on the back as Percy continued for him.
"Once you've been pranked in such an… affectionate way, you're truly family. Trust me."
After Draco had overcome his initial shock, presents began flowing like wine, each better than the last.
Finally, it was time for Sirius to give his own endowment to Hermione. He was nervous about it, no doubt, but also anxious. He had waited so long to finally present it to her and see her face when she saw it for the first time.
Hermione nervously tore at the gold wrapping paper of the box he had given her, her fingers shaky.
When she finally managed to open the slender box that the paper had revealed, she smiled. Inside lay a silver necklace with a matching pendant that to Sirius' own earring. The flame turned a bright green as she touched it, causing her to look at Sirius questioningly.
"The flash of color was just showing that the charm works. It shows whatever you're feeling – kind of like a muggle mood ring, only accurate. And it's got a load of safety charms on it," Sirius added with a lopsided grin.
"Its beautiful," Hermione grinned, and had Sirius fasten it around her neck for her.
When he finished, he motioned back to the box, "Go on. There's more."
Returning back to the box, Hermione was surprised to find a number of photographs. They were mostly of Sirius when he was younger, her age and below. Very few contained James (she figured those had been given to Harry), and there were some with Remus, but most were just of the beauty in next to her.
"I gave them to you because you're always complaining about how you don't know that much about my past… And I wanted you to have a part of it," Sirius blushed.
Hermione grinned as she rifled through the pictures, laughing at her lover. In the pictures he was so happy, so carefree, so in love with life… Something she had not seen him like until she had asked him for that fateful kiss on that fateful night.
After observing the last picture – one of Sirius laughing and swaying his hips precariously – she noticed a lighter piece of material, not that of a photograph.
She pulled it out to view it, and gasped at the scratchy script upon it.
Can I claim you as mine?
"Oh, Sirius…" she whispered his name falteringly, and for a moment the black-haired man thought that she would say no.
"You always could," she sobbed her reply as she buried her face into his collar.
He stroked her hair gently and whispered with a small smile, "Is that happy crying?"
"Of course, you prat!" Hermione pulled away, sniffing slightly and laughing.
"Good, because I already marked you," Sirius replied, his black eyes twinkling in the light of the tree.
"Huh?" Hermione frowned.
Sirius grinned, looking down at her hand, and she followed his gaze to find a beautiful diamond set in a band of white gold on her ring finger.
"When did you do that?" she asked in wonder, studying the right more closely, unable to keep the smile off of her face.
Sirius shrugged, "Earlier."
"What a wonderfully sappy moment," Draco drawled, but in place of his smirk was a genuine smile.
"Yes, sap level is through the roof," Fred agreed, nodding.
"So," Sirius began, his boyish eagerness clear on his face, "What did I get?"
Hermione laughed as she stood up and told everyone to put their coats on. Everyone complied relatively quickly because they had been told ahead of time, and Harry could hardly keep the smirk off his face.
Sirius raised an eyebrow, but did as he was told, too curious to slow down the surprise by asking questions.
Everyone was about to exit the Weasley's door into the backyard, when Hermione, realizing she almost forgot something, paused and pulled a small card from her pocket. "Here," she muttered, giving it to Sirius. He slowly opened the card, and she quickly averted her gaze to the floor in front of her. He began to read…
You, Sirius Black, are my fire – the very flame that keeps my life burning, shining, and sparking stunningly. Merry Christmas.
In Complete Owing of Life Itself,
Hermione Ann Granger
P.S. Thank you, my love…
When finished, Sirius found himself unable to speak until he swallowed the lump in his throat, and when he did speak, his voice was hoarse with emotion.
"Thank-you, Hermione."
"Oh, save your thanks for later," she grinned and pulled open the door, but not before telling Sirius he needed to cover his eyes.
The sixteen adults exited the house, careful to keep their giggles of excitement concealed behind their mittens and scarves. Ginny nearly tripped in the snow after seeing how well the starlight was reflecting off of her Draco's flaming red hair, and choked on her laughter harshly.
Hermione was leading Sirius forward to where everyone had as requested, cleared a spot for his present to be placed.
With a deep breath, the clever witch whispered the okay to her boyfriend, and he slowly pulled his hand away from his face.
Black eyes were met with the most beautiful combination of gleaming metal, rubber, and plastic.
There sat, absolutely brand-new, glittering amidst the snow like an out of place black gem, was a motorcycle, fully equipped with the ability to fly.
------------------
A/N: Okay, it's official – the Weasleys can not have a civil meal without some sort of drastic revelation popping up to bitch slap them all. Poor Weasleys…
Read and review, please!