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Summary: Hermione is obsolete – the War is over, Harry and Ron are busy, and she the mere Charms teacher at Hogwarts.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 18: Secretive much?
"Engaged? But… you're so young…" Ann Granger bit her lip as she looked from her daughter to her fiancé, adding, "Both of you. Are you sure you're ready?"
The guests had left soon after the clock had chimed midnight, announcing that it was indeed a new year, and they said their goodbyes, most of them forcing smiles as they parted with the dubious couple. Hermione was happy that she could have some alone time with her parents and boyfriend to discuss the matter at hand.
Sirius gave a small chuckle and placed his hand on the small of Hermione's back, causing her to instinctively step closer to him in a way of defending their relationship.
"Actually, Mrs. Granger-"
"Call me Ann, please," the older woman smiled warmly, despite her protests of their actions.
"Alright – Ann, I'm not as young as you believe." The young man raked a hand through his dark locks, revealing his earring. The flame was dancing vibrantly, showing that his nerves were on edge a bit.
"Well you couldn't possibly be too much older than our daughter, could you?" Robert Granger asked as he surveyed Sirius with a good-natured fatherly sizing up expression.
"It's quite surprising, actually…" Sirius laughed nervously, unsure as to how to continue. These people were muggles after all – he didn't exactly know how to explain it to them that he had gone to prison wrongly convicted and his government had tried to make up for taking twenty years of his life away from him.
Thankfully, his future wife noticed his discomfort and came to the rescue. "Mum, you recognized his name, didn't you? Sirius is… well, I told you about him after third year… and after fifth. He was Harry's godfather."
Mrs. Granger raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Harry's godfather?" she looked incredulously at the man in question before shaking her head.
"I know that wizards may be a little different than us," Robert spoke up, "But I don't see how you can still look so young. Especially after everything Hermione told us you went through. I mean, she told us earlier this term that you came back from the dead, but…" The man gave up trying to solve this perplexing puzzle and settled for rubbing his hand over his eyes from exhaustion, his thick rimmed glasses in hand.
"It's quite simple, really," Hermione assured her parents, and Sirius noted with amusement that she spoke to them with the same fervor she did everyone else when it came to explaining complications. "The Ministry of Magic – and more so Mr. Weasley, the minister – have tried to recompense Sirius for locking him in prison for half of his life, falsely convicted and without trial. So they used a spell to reverse the past twenty years of aging on him… and, well… he didn't turn out so bad, did he?" Hermione finished with a smirk at him and he gave her a playful glare as her parents struggled to comprehend the information. They still had trouble understanding the entire wizarding world concept– but who could blame them? They had been brought up without any knowledge of that world and had considered everything alike to it a fairytale or myth.
"You're dating an ex-convict," Ann mumbled, her eyes slightly wide.
"Engaged to, actually," Sirius provided helpfully, causing Hermione to smack him. "But I was completely proven innocent and cleared of all charges."
"Don't they believe in 'innocent until proven guilty'?" Hermione's father asked, confounded.
"Most of the time… but in my case, the crime I committed was so horrible and there was no possible way that it wasn't me who had done it…" He sighed, shaking his head.
"But you didn't do it!" Ann protested, her wariness making her more emotional about her future son-in law. Although still weary about the marraige proposal, she did like Sirius. She had been vividly aware that his earlier act was to annoy and disturb Hermione's snobbish relatives, and she did not blame him for his actions.
"We know, mum, we know…" Hermione reached for Sirius' hand. "We've known for a long time…"
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"A new year… and we get to spend it together," Hermione whispered thickly in her sleep-coated voice. They had returned to Hogwarts a few hours prior, but hadn't really gotten around to actual sleep for quite a while. That was mainly because of the countless times Hermione had to convince Sirius that her parents didn't hate him, not because of the intense love-making.
"Sounds good," Sirius mumbled as he rolled over, thoroughly pinning Hermione to the bed with his arm tossed around her waist.
Unable to resist, the sleepy-eyed woman smiled and began lightly stroking the equally tired man's tattoo, her eyes traveling over it with fascination in the dull moonlight.
"Hmm… tickles," Sirius made a small throttled noise that sudden like a giggle.
He looks adorable… And content, Hermione mused as she observed his long lashes and dimples as he smiled sleepily, his eyes blinking for increasingly long amounts of time.
"Sleep," she kissed his cheek and turned over, pressing her back against his chest so that he instinctively re-wrapped his arm around her waist.
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Finding it extremely difficult to open her eyes for longer than a few seconds, due to the bright sunlight streaming into her bedroom, Hermione settled for long blinks until her eyes adjusted.
Ugh… so damn sunny… When she noticed the alarm clock, she became aware of just why the day was so dazzling.
"Noon? It's noon?" she groaned, rolling over and discovering that Sirius was missing.
"I smell sex and candeee, yeah…"
Ah, follow the sound of off-key singing to the shower and find Sirius. I might have to keep him away from my CDs if he keeps this up, she giggled to herself as she heard his voice rise unbearably high and drift back to a baritone. She knew he was singing so revoltingly just so she would hear him – always was one for being all-annoying.
Her mind soon clouded over with thoughts of the New Year and what was expected of it. Because of this, she missed the shower being turned off and the bathroom door opening.
"Ah, you're up!" Sirius grinned knowingly as she swiveled around to meet his gaze – or rather his naked form.
Her cheeks immediately flushed from the view, but she managed to hide it quite well with the false lack of interest in her expression.
"Have you seen my black boxers, love?" he asked as he bent down, attempting to look under a nearby wardrobe for the aforementioned garment.
"I ate them during the throws of passion."
"Ah, a bit sarcastic this morning? Perhaps I just handle a hangover better than you," Sirius continued looking for his precious underwear – he really hoped he hadn't lost his favorite pair.
"I didn't drink last night," Hermione spoke slowly as she watched her fiancé, a frown flitting across her face.
Sirius stood up straight, changing his expression to one of a more neutral pose. "Well, no, of course… Either did I…" Reaching up he grabbed his boxers from the ceiling fan with a false innocence.
"Erm… didn't you wear those yesterday?" she asked as she scratched her elbow and he slipped them on.
"Yes, well, we're in your bedroom and I don't have any clothes here… and it's not as if they're dirty. But I figured I shouldn't run stark naked through the hall to my room – the students already think I'm lascivious enough as it is." He shot her a pointed look and she donned his own false innocence. Shrugging indifferently, she said, "It's not that bad a sight – I'm sure at least the female population of Hogwarts wouldn't mind so much."
"Well I know that," he began the tedious search for his t-shirt as Hermione dressed, chuckling at his cockiness.
After a few moments, he growled, "Dammit, woman! If you keep throwing my clothing around in your hurry to shag me, I'll have nothing left to wear!"
"Talk about superfluous information," a voice spoke from the kitchen.
The couple retreated from the bedroom to find the owner of the voice, and Sirius was not surprised to find Remus standing near the doorway. Hermione was completely clothed, whereas Sirius was still lacking a shirt, but had succeeded in recovering his pants.
"The way you were talking I was afraid you were naked, so I was fearful to venture any further into the room," Remus smiled.
"It's not like you haven't seen it before, Moony!" Sirius laughed as he walked to the coffee maker, his bare feet padding silently on the floor.
"That was an accident," Remus blushed, his amber eyes narrowed in his friend's direction.
Hermione snickered, shaking her head. "I don't even want to know."
Remus blushed further, but followed her wishes to be left in the dark.
"So what are you doing here so early?"
Remus raised his eyebrow. "It's lunchtime, not early, Padfoot. So I figured we could catch a bite to eat, considering no one got to see you two last night."
"So you're planning on having Harry and everyone come?"
Remus nodded, "They're all waiting in the hall – I was the only one brave enough to hazard my health by gathering you two."
Sirius watched him over his cup of coffee for a moment before grinning. "They made you do it, didn't they?"
The werewolf sighed and nodded, defeated. "I wanted to draw straws."
"We better get going then," Hermione said, straightening her green blouse and heading towards the door.
"But I don't have a shirt!" Sirius whined, hands on his hips.
"Here's your damn shirt," Remus picked the white cloth from a nearby chair before tossing it to his friend.
The trio exited the quarters, meeting up with Harry, Ron, and Tonks.
"Supporting Slytherin today, 'Mione?" Ron teased as he eyed her shirt with mock disgust. It made her grin that Harry had his arm around the taller man's waist, smiling aloofly.
"I never told you guys this, but – the Sorting Hat considered putting me into Slytherin. The only thing that got me into Gryffindor is my muggle heritage," Hermione shook her head, a small smile of relief on her lips. Things would have been so different if I hadn't been a Gryffindor…
Sirius shuddered. "It was the same for me – a decision between Gryffindor and Slytherin."
"Me too," Harry spoke, his voice quieter than the rest.
"I guess we're not as different from them as we like to think," Remus said with a thoughtful expression.
"Well, look at Draco," Tonks supplied before brushing a piece of blue hair from her eyes.
"He's the only decent one, and he sure didn't start out that way," Ron scoffed, finding it still slightly difficult to be so considerate towards the young Malfoy.
The group began walking down the hall towards the outside entrance, various couples linking arms or holding hands.
"Snape, too – as malicious as he may be, he fought the good fight," Remus spoke in a restrained voice, proving how little he still thought of the greasy man.
"He's still a bastard," Sirius growled, his eyes flashing as he pulled Hermione tighter to him.
The six of them entered the Three Broomsticks fifteen minutes later, ready for food and merriment. They chose a large table near the back of the establishment… the same table Sirius and Remus had sat at twenty-three years prior when they were still at Hogwarts.
Sirius glanced at Harry, the spitting image of James, and saw him with his gaze concentrated on his redheaded lover. Although not of the same sex, the red hair remained the same, alike to Lily's. Sirius would be next to James, who sat in Harry's seat and Ron in Lily's. Then Remus next to him, and Peter where Tonks was. Black eyes narrowed in the direction of the seat where Peter had been, and Tonks frowned in response.
"Did I do something to piss you off, Siri?"
"Huh?" He shook his black mane and focused on his cousin. "No, I'm… I was just thinking…"
"Alright, mate…" she looked concerned for a moment, but was distracted as the waitress made herself present to take orders.
She was pretty, with crimpy light brown hair and dark blue eyes, a beauty mark to the left of her full lips. She offered the occupants of the table a tight smile, something one forces to have solely for work duty, until her eyes rested on Ron. He appeared to her, single, for he was only sitting next to Harry and Hermione, and the latter was glued to other man next to her.
She obviously liked the freckles and hair, because she grinned dazzlingly at him as she scribbled down Remus' order.
Harry stiffened at this, his green orbs watching Ron from the corner of his eye. Ron, ever oblivious, grinned back at the waitress, figuring she was being her normally polite self, causing Harry to glare.
When the tart had finally moved on, Ron continued smiling, "Nice waitress, that one was."
Hermione almost had to physically restrain herself from groaning and slapping a hand to her forehead. Ron could be such a dolt.
"I'm going to go to the bathroom," Harry said sulkily before stomping off in that direction.
Sirius, when he wanted to be, could be just as oblivious as Ron, "Hey, you know what they say – whenever someone goes to the bathroom, it makes the food come!"
Harry can be such a girl sometimes, Hermione smiled fondly, knowing completely that she would have done the same thing had she been in his position. Which she had been, many times before…
The rest of the meal passed uneventfully, and Harry seemed to have forgiven Ron just for the sheer fact that Ron was too cute to be angry with.
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"Happy New Year," Harry had given his godfather a hug outside of the Three Broomsticks. He and Ron were returning to their apartment in London while Tonks went back to her home, and the remaining three returned to the school.
"Want a cookie?" Sirius asked from his perch on the cupboard where he was swinging his legs and munching on baked goodness.
"We just ate!" Hermione laughed as she set her coat on her kitchen table. Remus had decided to retire to his own quarters, saying that the next full moon was coming up and he needed his beauty sleep.
Hermione approached her lover as he finished his first cookie, and she positioned her waist in between his legs, causing them so stop swinging. Her stomach was level to the edge of the cupboard, and she placed her hands on his thighs. Sirius stopped, mid-bite, to watch her, black eyes wide and interested.
A new year… Time to be completely honest – no more secrets…
Hermione's brown eyes seemed unnaturally poignant as she touched his cheek briefly before pulling away and turning her face towards the floor. "Sirius… I have a son."
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A/N: -smirk- I highly suggest you leave many reviews – and if you're utterly confused, don't worry – all will be cleared up in the next chapter. Love you all, and thank you for the previous reviews! It sounds kind of odd that she said it so abruptly, but everything will be explained next chapter! I promise!
Oh, and you may have noticed that Hermione's line about Sirius' boxers ("I ate them in the throws of passion.") is quoted from an episode of Roseanne. It's Darlene, their incredibly cynical daughter – I worship her.