It had been two days since Harry left and Ginny and Sirius still hadn't heard from him. This wasn't altogether unusual, especially considering the sort of mission he was on, but they were worried all the same. Harry was working with a select group of Aurors, including Ron, canvassing the East European country side for remaining Death Eaters. No one, least of all the Aurors themselves, had any idea where they would be at any given time, let alone have access to a Floo grate or an owl. The sporadic nature of the mission kept not only the Aurors on their toes, but their families as well.
..........
Hermione, who was married, had temporarily moved back into Grimmauld Place, saying she couldn't bear to be in the flat she shared with Ron alone. She just didn't have the energy to keep house and worry about him constantly.
Even though she had only been there a few days, Hermione knew something had changed. She felt it when she walked through the front door. The mood of the house had, at the same time, lightened and intensified. The animosity that had hung in the air dissipated some and was replaced with something that Hermione couldn't quite put her finger on. It was like the house was holding it breath in anticipation.
..........
Ginny, Hermione, and Sirius were in the kitchen sharing what was for them, a gourmet dinner. As the cardboard take-out containers were passed around, the trio chatted and joked, Ginny and Sirius poking fun (lovingly, of course) at Hermione. Hermione was watching the other two with amusement as they chucked assorted bits of Chinese takeout at each other when it hit her. The flirting, the longer-than-necessary egg roll passes, the bickering. "Omigosh!"
Sirius and Ginny looked up from their mini-food fight at her outburst, bewildered. "What?" they asked together.
"There's something going on with you two," Hermione exclaimed, gesturing wildly at them.
"Us? No!"
Hermione crossed her arms and smirked, an eyebrow raised.
"You're delusional," Sirius accused.
"You've gone 'round the twist, Hermione," Ginny said, her face flushed a brilliant scarlet.
There was an awkward silence before Hermione shook her head in mock seriousness and sighed. "You've both given better performances. I'm disappointed."
Ginny dropped her head on the table, emitting a muffled, "Oww," while Sirius ran a had over his face nervously.
"So, uh..." he trailed off, not knowing quite what to say.
"How obvious is it?" Hermione offered, smirking at Sirius' nod. "On a scale of 1 to 10, about a 4." She loaded her fork with MooGooChickenStuff, giggling.
"Brilliant. Bloody. Fucking. Brilliant." Ginny emphasized each word with a bang of her head on the table. Sirius stuck his hand under her head after the second word, softening the blows a little. When she was done, he pushed away from the table, getting ready to escape. "I'm, ah, gonna let you two chat?" he offered lamely, before hurrying out of the room.