BITTERSWEET

Chapter 9: What More Could You Want

September 1976

Lucius and his cronies watched the Gryffindor table from across the room. While the others were looking at the Gryffindors as a whole, Lucius had eyes only for Hermione. "Feisty," he said softly. "I like that."

"What was that?" Severus asked, focusing his attention on the girl Lucius was staring at.

"She will be mine," Lucius responded. "That idiot Black doesn't know what he's doing. She turned me down once, but never again. I will have her," he vowed.

His eyes narrowed as he watched the interaction between the Gryffindors. "Anyone would be a fool to ignore her. Look at her--she is better looking than any other girl here. No girl yet has been able to resist me. I don't choose my girls lightly. I want her, and I will have her."

The Great Hall began emptying somewhat as the students filed out to their various classes. Hermione had calmed down from her outburst at Sirius enough to finish eating and talk quietly with Lily, and he had gotten over his initial shock and was now impressed that someone would be that outspoken with him.

"I like this girl, Prongs," he muttered to James. "Not only is she one of the most gorgeous females I have ever laid eyes on, but she's got spirit."

"Spirit?" Remus interjected. "I'll say she has spirit. I think you'll need to be a little different around her, Sirius. She's smart, and after that display, I would definitely say she's not one to underestimate. She's not going to just want to jump into bed with you. You'll need to respect her, and win her affections."

Sirius looked at Remus. "Since when have you become the leading expert on women?" he asked. "She's a beautiful girl, I'm the most wanted guy at Hogwarts. Why wouldn't she want to go out with me?"

"Moony may have a point," James said. "Hermione's kind of like Lily, in that respect. Actually, judging from the way they're gossiping over there, I'd say Hermione is a lot like Lily. But you've seen how Lily keeps turning me down. Maybe you should try some other tactics with Hermione. But hey, if she doesn't work out, there are lots of girls eying you."

Sirius glanced around the hall, winking at a blonde in Ravenclaw who blew a kiss back. He turned back to his friends with a grin. "You're right. I can have my choice of partners any time I want to shag, so I don't need to waste too much time on Hermione. She's probably just playing hard to get, so I'll play her game, and I'll have her in bed in no time. If not, well, there are many more fish in the sea."

James clapped him on the back. "That's the idea!"

Remus still looked a little concerned. "Still, Padfoot, you may want to treat her with respect. She seems like a special girl, and I think she'll be happy to go out with you as long as you treat her right."

Sirius grinned. "I like her. I want to spend more time with her than just one night. She's different from most of the girls here."

He leaned across the table and got Hermione's attention. "Yes?" she asked coolly.

"Mind if I walk you to class?" he said.

Hermione looked a little startled. "Um," she replied intelligently.

"Don't worry, I promise I won't try to protect you from any big, bad Slytherins on the way," he joked. Sirius flashed her an irresistible smile and her heart melted.

A faint smile played on her lips. "That would be fine," she responded.

Sirius winked at James and Remus and walked around to Hermione's side of the table to wait for her to stand up. She looked pleased, and a little nervous to be around Sirius this way.

James looked at Lily. "Don't even think about it, Potter," she said sharply, getting up to leave the table.

Sirius gallantly took Hermione's book bag, and James and Remus looked at each other, impressed. "Look's like he's taking our advice to heart," Remus said.

"He's going to get the girl in no time. I think she's starting to warm up to him again," James said.

"Yeah, she sure was pretty cozy with him yesterday," Remus responded. "If he doesn't screw things up, she may be the one to finally get Sirius to settle down."

James looked at him in surprise. "You think?" he asked. "Sirius? Settle down? I've never known him to even consider staying with one girl when there were so many others who wanted him as well."

"You never know," Remus said. "All I'm saying is that she may be the one for him.

They looked up in time to see the two walking out of the Great Hall. Sirius was carrying Hermione's books in one hand, and he had the other settled protectively around her waist. It was hardly a suggestive gesture, but it left no doubt to the males in the Great Hall that Hermione had been claimed, whether she knew it or not, and that they would do well to stay away from Sirius' current choice.

A lot of the girls eyed Hermione jealously, and the majority of the male population of Hogwarts envied Sirius in that moment. No one was confident enough to try to take away the girls Sirius had his eye on, but they all knew he wouldn't stay with them for more than a night or two; they planned to pick up the girls on the rebound.

Many had their eyes caught by this mysterious girl no one knew anything about, and hoped that Sirius would soon tire of her, so they could have a chance. All except Lucius. He would wait for no one. What Lucius wanted, Lucius took.

Sirius and Hermione walked in a companionable silence for a while, his arm comfortably around her. They stayed like that for almost the whole way to the classroom before Hermione finally broke it to speak.

"So, do you enjoy Transfiguration? What's Professor McGonagall like?" she asked.

Sirius shrugged. "Transfiguration is fun enough, but McGonagall seems to have it out for James and me," he said.

Hermione looked at him in surprise. "Really?" she said.

"Well, it might be because of the number of pranks we've pulled in her class," he replied, winking mischievously.

"You didn't…" Hermione began.

"Do you know how boring that class can get at times?" Sirius responded. "We had to do something to spice it up. Remus usually participates also, but somehow he's always managed to keep from getting in trouble." He shook his head. "McGonagall has this idea that he's an angel, just because he always turns in his homework on time."

Hermione looked aghast. "You mean you don't?" she asked, incredulous. "But how will you learn if you don't do your homework?"

"Relax," Sirius said. "I never said I didn't do it, just that I don't always do it on time. Live a little. There are more important things in life than school."

Hermione still didn't agree, but she kept her mouth shut because she didn't want to get into another argument with Sirius. She wanted to spend as much time as possible with the people here, so when she got back to her time she could have the stories to tell to Harry.

"Here we are," Sirius announced as they reached the door. He pulled it open and held it for Hermione. "After you," he said, gesturing for her to enter. She did, and accepted her books back as Sirius came in.

Lily rushed through the door right then, and looked at the timepiece in the front of the classroom. "Phew," she breathed. "I thought I was going to be late."

Sirius sauntered over to the back of the classroom and took a seat, beckoning Hermione to join him. At the same instant Lily offered to partner up with Hermione for the class. Hermione hesitated, unsure of what to do. Lily seemed to sense this confusion, and said, "It's alright with me, you don't have to if you want to partner with someone else."

The door slammed open and James strolled in, taking his seat next to Sirius. With a look at Lily, he reached up to mess his hair, but she didn't even notice. Sirius looked visibly annoyed that his best mate had taken the empty seat Hermione was about to come over to

Hermione gave Lily a grateful smile, and said, "Thanks, but I'd enjoy partnering with you today."

Lily brightened. "Cool! C'mon, let's sit near the front." They were just sitting down when the door opened again and a whole flood of Gryffindors and Slytherins came in. Remus was one of the first, saw Hermione and Lily talking animatedly in the front and Sirius and James sitting in the back, Sirius glaring mutely at the world, and he grinned.

Remus joined his friends and tried to draw them into a conversation to distract them from their girl troubles.

Hermione noticed that she was getting a lot of stares from the other sixth year students, and she was self-consciously aware of everyone whispering about her. Hermione uncomfortably turned in her seat to look around at everyone, her normal confidence receding somewhat.

What threw her off the most were the looks she was getting from the Slytherins. Most of the Gryffindors she knew, or had at least briefly met at some point. They had all been friendly and welcoming, eager to make her feel at home in their house. The Slytherins, however, seemed determined to make the house rivalry clear. But some of the guys were looking at her with a look in their eyes she couldn't quite classify. It wasn't venomous, but… something else.

Everyone settled into seats, but most of the girls continued to gossip, hiding their mouths behind their hands and throwing glances over to Hermione every now and then. The boys were subtler, but were discussing her nonetheless.

She was trying to figure out what to do when Lily stood up and faced the majority of the class. "Her name's Hermione. You all were there last night. She's in Gryffindor. Any questions?"

There were none. The Marauders were snickering behind their hands, but everyone quieted down after that. A dull red blush crept onto Hermione's cheeks, but she was ultimately grateful that the whispering stopped.

McGonagall came through the door right then, and any further discussion was stopped. The class turned attentively towards the front--even the Slytherins knew well enough not to aggravate her, because she was not one to mess with.

The professor glanced over the class. Her eyes rested on Hermione for a bit longer than anyone else, but other than that she gave no sign that she recognized Hermione was new. Hermione surmised that Dumbledore must have had a talk with her Head of House, and was thankful for that. She didn't want to be singled out any more than she had to--her goal was to blend in and make friends, but not to attract too much attention so she wouldn't have too large of an effect on the course of history.

She knew well enough the consequences of time travel, and hoped that when she finally left she would be able to return to her own time without much disruption.

McGonagall's lecturing voice broke into her thoughts as Hermione heard the instructor ask a question. She recalled the answer from the reading she did over the summer, and her hand shot up into the air, just missing a collision with Lily's hand springing up at the same time. They looked at each other and laughed, ignoring the groaning coming from the back of the room.

James came out of the classroom clutching the side of his arm in mock pain. "I never thought she was going to be done with me!" he said. "She made me try to transfigure that old hat so many times, I think my arm's going to fall off."

Sirius snickered. "Did you see how much she called on those two?" he asked, pointing to Hermione and Lily who were walking up ahead.

"Yea," James agreed. "Normally it's just Lily who's the brain, but Hermione's giving her some competition."

"I don't know whether that's a good or a bad thing," Sirius sighed.

"What, good that she's smart and bad that she's a nerd?" James asked. Sirius nodded. "Lily's the same way," James said. "But hey, she's so fiery and passionate and hot, that outweighs any of the bad stuff in my book."

"Hermione really is a looker, too," Sirius said. "Though I don't think she knows it, and that just makes her all the more fun. She isn't flaunting it like a lot of the other girls trying to get my attention. I'm up for a challenge, and she seems like a good one."

Remus shook his head in exasperation. "You two. Ever stop to think about the fact that Hermione may not want to just hop in bed with you like that?"

Sirius looked at him like he was crazy. "Why wouldn't she? I've got her pegged. All it'll take is a few looks and a nice word or two, and she'll be mine."

"I really think she's too intelligent for that," Remus said.

"It's not a question of intelligence," Sirius replied. "Even the smart girls can be willing if you go about it right."

He gazed at Hermione. "Wow, that is one fine girl," he said. At that moment, she looked back and saw him watching her. Her cheeks flushed slightly and she smiled before turning back to her conversation with Lily.

James and Remus both elbowed Sirius. "Maybe it will be that easy," Remus said thoughtfully. "She certainly does seem to have some interest in you."

"Why wouldn't she?" Sirius asked. "I'm sexy. I'm wanted. Why should she be any different?"

James sighed. "Such modesty. You forget that you're not the only sought after one here."

"Yeah, but you're too taken with Lily to enjoy it," Sirius responded. "Me? I like to have fun with the ladies."

"Hey, Sirius, have you ever been turned down?" Remus asked curiously.

Sirius looked surprised. "Me? Turned down? Of course not. Where would you get an idea like that, Moony?"

"Just wondering," he mumbled.

Sirius grinned. "This is going to be a good year. I can feel it. I mean, how often do you get hot girls appearing in your lap from out of nowhere?"

The other two laughed. "You may have a point there, Padfoot," James said. "What more could you want?"