Disclaimer: Everything belongs to JK Rowling. I own nothing.

AN: Again, sorry for the delay, hopefully the next set will be out sooner. Please Read & Review!

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Hermione's legs were folded underneath her. Her hand was tight on her own wrist as she forced the bracelet there to stay in her mind. Sirius knelt with her, his arms tight around her, his eyes searching her face. Draco stood just a step in the foyer, his eyes watchful of Mulciber. The only sound in the entire flat was the dull thump-thump of the dead Auror's wand as it rolled away from his limp fingers.

Absently, Hermione noticed that she appeared to have lost one of her shoes.

Draco took a cautious step into the living room. "Hermione?" He asked his eyes never leaving the body on the floor.

Sirius began to puff like an angry animal, his hackles rising. "What the hell," He snarled over Hermione's head, "did you think you were doing?"

"I do believe," Draco replied while watching the dead man as if daring him to move, "that I was saving your lives."

Sirius stood up with Hermione cradled bonelessly in his arms as if she weighed nothing at all. "You could have killed her." His voice was low and seething. Dangerous.

Draco ignored him. Instead he nudged the body with the black tip of his shoe. The body moved only slightly and then lay still. Satisfied he looked at them. "Hermione," He asked, "are you all right?" He took a step towards them with one handed raised as if to touch her.

Hermione just couldn't find her voice.

Sirius made a sound like a growl that reverberated through him. He pulled her closer to him, his fingers cutting unknowingly into her arms. "You could have killed her." He repeated angrily.

Draco's eyes were cold. The deep gray contained an iciness that Hermione hadn't seen in years. "I have very good aim." He replied mildly, his tone belying the chill in his gaze.

"That's all you-" Sirius began furiously but Hermione stirred.

She murmured, "Put me down, Sirius." The pain from his grip had finally brought her out of her stupor.

"Hermione-" He began worriedly as he released the younger girl, obviously against his better judgment.

"Are you all right?" Draco asked her yet again. He would not have faith in her physical well being until she confirmed it.

Was she all right?

Hermione wasn't sure. She was alive. Everyone that was important to her was alive, and that was what mattered, wasn't it? She tiredly pushed back her messy hair. Her muscles were still quaking from the after-effects of the Cruciatus. She felt dizzy and her face was smarting from the blows that she had received. The adrenalin running rampant through her body had yet to ease and a fine thread of panicked terror was still coiled in her belly. Maybe she wasn't all right after all.

So she lied.

"I'm fine."

And they all knew.

The three of them stood there, not looking at each other. Blood was oozing from a nasty gash above Sirius' right eye. Hermione wasn't sure when he had gotten it, maybe he had knocked his head into the couch while suffering convulsions from the Cruciatus? The blood dripped from his eyebrow to the curve of his cheek. It would need tending to but Hermione couldn't quite remember where she had left her wand. Mulicer had taken it from her. He had disarmed her in the exact same way that she would have disarmed him. They were both trained Aurors after all.

Hermione gasped as realization sunk in. "Oh, but Draco," Hermione felt decidedly sick, "You've killed an Auror."

There was no coming back from that crime. There was no absolution.

Draco, however, was unconcerned. "It's no loss, I assure you."

Sirius didn't argue with him.

But Hermione knew better, he was an Auror, he had been their teacher. Because of her he was dead. "You shouldn't have killed him, Draco."

Draco began to smooth out a wrinkle that had developed in the sleeve of his robe. Distractedly he asked her, "What was he looking for?"

Hermione frowned at him; didn't it bother him at all that he had just killed a man? "He was looking for-" She paused, remembering how strange she had thought it, "you. He was looking for you."

"You?" Sirius was surprised.

Draco nodded as if he had expected that answer. "Don't you find that odd?"

Hermione tugged compulsively at the almost fraying hem of her sweater. "What are you trying to say?"

Draco sighed and kneeled next to the body. "I had to kill this man because he would have killed you." He grasped Mulciber's arm and roughly pushed up the sleeve revealing an angry, dark mark on his upper forearm. "I had to kill this man because his true allegiance is not with the Ministry of Magic."

Sirius cursed loudly.

Hermione felt suddenly weak and she sat on the edge of the old, rose sofa that Mrs. Weasley had given them. She bowed her head, brown hair shrouded her face as she took deep, calming breaths. Hermione clasped her shaking hands together between her knees in the hopes of stilling their tremors before Sirius or Draco noticed.

Sirius seemed more than willing to chastise Draco since Hermione was not. "That was very convient for you, wasn't? Lucky for you that the man you just killed just happened to be a Death Eater, wouldn't you say?"

Draco shrugged, "I didn't make him what he was."

The two men stood only feet from each other.

"What would you have done, if he hadn't been one of Voldemort's dogs?" Sirius spat out cruelly, knowing that the reference stung at Draco's own guilt at being a Death Eater. "Would it have been so easy for you to kill him then?"

"Of course, it would have been just as easy." He ran a hand through his unusally messy hair, slicking it back. "Wouldn't you kill for her?"

"I don't want anyone killing for me." Hermione choked out angrily her head rising back up to glare at both of them. She stood shakily, the urge to yell, to throw things, to break down into tears and collapse on her bed was overwhelming.

The telephone rang.

It was surreal, the faded, off-white plastic receiver shivering in it's cradle.

They stared at it silently, as if not believing that such an ordinary muggle device belonged in the same room as the dead man. And then Hermione understood, then she knew what it meant. Hermione shot across the room before Sirius or Draco could react. How had she forgotten? How had she not realized sooner. Of course they would know that something had happened.

"Everything's fine," was the first thing out of her mouth once the telly was at her ear. It wasn't the most inconspicuous thing to say but Hermione was not quite in her right mind.

"Are you all right? What's happened?"

It was Harry's voice, sharp with worry. Hermione could hear Ron in the distance. He was shouting unintelligible words to Harry. Hermione sagged with the phone in hand.

"I'm fine." She couldn't bring herself to look at Sirius or Draco. "I'm fine."

Sirius took a step towards her, "Hermione, who is that?"

"My mother." Hermione tried to laugh, "funny timing, don't you think?"

Harry was breathing hard in her ear, obviously trying to calm himself. "No, Ron, she says that she's fine." Harry's voice was distant.

"I'm really sorry," Hermione whispered, "I hadn't meant to worry you."

Ron's voice replaced Harry's, surprisingly he sounded calmer than Harry. "Do we need to come?"

Hermione shook her head without meaning to. "No, no, don't come. Now wouldn't be a good time."

"Someone was hurting you." His voice was calm and cold, reminding Hermione of Draco's right after he had cast Avada Kedavra.

It made her wonder briefly what secrets Harry and Ron kept from her.

"It's been taken care of." Hermione bit her lip. "Draco took care of it."

Ron was very quiet. "Well," he said finally, "he is rather adept at solving problems like that."

"So it would seem."

"Are you sure that you're fine? If we need to come back-"

"No," Hermione cut him off sharply not caring what Sirius and Draco thought. "No, there's too much at stake, it would have been for nothing if you come." Hermione closed her eyes, "please, I can't do this again."

"All right, all right." Ron soothed, "But be more careful, Hermione, please, promise you'll be more careful."

Hermione bowed her head. "I promise, and you too."

"Yeah." Then the line went dead.

Hermione sagged, the phone slipping from her hand.

"Who was that?" Sirius asked again.

"I already told you-" Hermione looked at him but couldn't meet his eyes.

"Don't lie to me," His voice was pained, hurt. "I thought we were past that."

Hermione got off the sofa her knees shaking under her weight. The fear was fading in her leaving an empty place that no other emotion seemed to want to fill. She wasn't relieved for there was nothing to be relieved about. There was a dead man on her living room floor. Her two best friends were pretending to be dead while they hunted Voldemort. And the man that she might very well love was looking at her as if he didn't know her at all.

"Hermione," Those dark eyes of his flashed, "Who was on the phone?"

She did something highly undignified then. Something that she liked to think was only appropriate if one was a romance novel heroine.

Hermione fainted.

Sirius was with her when she woke up again. Hermione could tell that several hours had past while she slept. The only light coming through her window was from a sliver of moon that spent more time behind clouds than not. She was tucked snugly under her comforter, her bushy hair spread haphazardly across her pillow in a brown, fuzzy halo. Sirius was sitting in a chair next to her bed, one elbow was propped up on her pillow, his face very close as he watched her.

Hermione went to sit up but one of his hands settled at the base of her neck and across her right collar bone. The hand applied just enough preassure to tell her that he would really prefer her to stay where she was and he wasn't above using force to have his way.

"How are you feeling?" He asked gently then added, "The truth."

Hermione blinked up at him as she analyzed how she was feeling. "To be honest, I feel like hell. Everything hurts, I'm tired, and I did just see a very good friend of mine kill someone not to long ago." She paused for a moment as something occurred to her, "But you know, I don't feel as bad as I think I should."

Sirius frowned, "What do you mean by that?"

"I've never been under the Cruciatus curse before. But I've studied it. The first time is supposed to be the worst. I should be feeling the aftereffects for a few days but the tremors have already stopped. I should be feeling much worse. It's decidedly odd."

He snorted. "That's just like you, Hermione, upset that something didn't follow what the book said."

She shook her head, "No, it's not that, really-" Hermione meant to continue but Sirius just shook his head at her.

"It's not really that important, is it?"

"I suppose not."

Hermione sighed and closed her eyes. She listened to Sirius breathe. It was a remarkably soothing sound. Absently, Hermione wondered how she had never noticed before. The hand on her chest was still there only now instead of holding her down the touch was light and soothing. His fingertips were near the hollow of her throat, his thumb was tracing her collar bone, and she could feel him shift closer to her. His breath was now brushing against her cheek, her lips; he was going to kiss her.

But Hermione wasn't ready. Not for whatever this was with Sirius. Not ready to answer his silent question. Hermione couldn't even face her own feelings. So Hermione said the one thing that would push him away the fastest.

"Where's Draco?"

Sure enough, Sirius stiffened, his hand stilled, and he pulled back from her. As his hand slipped away from her throat, Hermione sat up. Sirius crossed his arms in front of his chest and slouched back in his chair. For a moment he looked like a sulking child.

"He left to go take care of the body."

"What will he do with it?" Hermione asked.

"I didn't ask. I assume that Death Eaters are skilled at getting rid of evidence." Sirius looked away from her. "He left something for you."

Hermione sat up. She pulled her knees tp her chest and wrapped her arms around them. She was still wearing her old ratty sweater and faded jeans but Sirius had removed her socks and remaining shoe. "What did he leave?"

"Books. Nasty looking ones." Sirius stared at a place just over her shoulder. "I think one is covered in skin, probably human. Most of them are in Latin."

"You noticed-"

"I know Latin." Sirius cut her off. "Despite what Remus might have told you, I was a good student."

Hermione pushed herself to the edge of the bed. Her toes just grazed the hard floor below. "I never said that you weren't-"

"But you'd rather have his help than mine." Sirius said sourly.

Hermione almost rolled her eyes. "Oh, I'm sorry, Sirius. I must have missed your overwhelming show of support somehow." She smoothed her hand along the blanket. "I don't know how it ever could have gotten by me."

"Don't patronize me."

Hermione laughed at him, "Then stop acting like a put-out teenager."

He changed the subject, "Who called you?"

Hermione looked at the floor appropriately apologetic.

"Would it always be like this with you?"

She looked up at him. Sirius' eyes were black stones in the darkness, taking in all light and reflecting none.

"What do you mean?"

Sirius sat forward, elbows on his knees, his face coming so close to hers that Hermione subconsciously leaned backwards. "Will you always lie to me? Is it something that you can't help? Did you lie to Harry and Ron?"

Hermione didn't miss the flicker of pain in his eyes as he said their names. She shook her head, "No, I didn't lie to Harry and Ron. They knew almost all of my secrets."

"Not all of them?"

Hermione allowed a faint smile to grace her face, "Well, a girl has to keep some things all to herself."

He was smiling now too. It was an expression that she loved, a look that Hermione remembered being graced with when she was in her sixth year, a look that had given her butterflies on more than one occasion. It had been so long since she had seen it that Hermione had believed it lost forever. Hermione thought it amazing how quickly the mood could turn when it was just the two of them. Weren't they just fighting? Did their passions run so high?

"Like a crush on her best friend?" Sirius asked her with a smile and a chuckle but there was a seriousness behind it that did not go unnoticed.

Hermione decided then that he deserved as much truth as she could possibly give him. "More like a crush on his God-father."

Sirius stopped laughing. He was momentarilly speachless. "Y-you did?"

With a rueful smile Hermione nodded. She had already said more than she ought to but as her father always said, 'in for a penny in for a pound'. "Oh yes, it was ridiculous, really. Just like that insane infatuation with Lockhart that I had in my second year."

"Gilderoy?"

Hermione ignored Sirius and continued. "But unlike him you were everything that you seemed to be. You were brave, caring, and smart. You listened to me like what I said really mattered. You looked at me as if you saw more there than there was, as if you saw something that no one else could see, and it was something that you liked." Hermione broke off the stream of words. She really had said more than she should have. Her eyes dropped to the ground and a blush colored her cheeks.

Sirius' hands cupped her face. He tilted her head up to meet his eye. He was smiling at her as if she was the only woman in the world, as if he would drink her up like water if he could. Her pulse began to quicken.

"You're wrong." He whispered then kissed her chastily on her forehead. "I never saw something that wasn't there."