Chapter 7-
Hermione slept in the next morning, and she woke up to the smell of bacon and pancakes coming from downstairs. So she quietly got dressed and made her way to the kitchen, where she saw Harry standing over a pan of bacon and looking quite happy with himself. Since he had not seen her standing behind him yet, she decided to surprise him. He did not jump when she slid her hands around his waist, but said that he had heard her come into the room. She pouted a little, until she saw that Harry had made her favorite, strawberry pancakes. Harry smiled at her and kissed her gently when she moved to devour the whole stack. Hermione was almost done with breakfast when the phone rang. "Hello?," she said into the receiver.
"Honey, hi," she heard her father on the other end.
"Dad, what's wrong?," she asked, slightly worried since her parents never usually called her while they were at work.
"Nothing's wrong sweetie, I just called to tell you we're going to take off work early. We got a rather interesting phone call this morning, from Mr. Lupin in fact. He says he has something very important he needs to discuss with us, so we'll be home in a little bit."
"Oh, um, okay," she replied, feeling very worried. Why would Lupin call her parents at work, what was wrong? She hung up the phone, feeling horribly confused and turned to Harry. She told him what her father had said, hoping he would have some clue as to what this was all about. Much to her disappointment, he had no idea why Remus would have seen fit to call her parents.
They both remained on edge until her parents came home, at which time they put on cheery smiles, trying to assure her parents that they were both sure nothing was wrong. Hermione was sure that her mother remained unconvinced however, and was sure she saw right through their act. Lunch was a tense affair, there was very little conversation. Hermione barely tasted the turkey sandwich she had made for herself, she noticed Harry looked like he had the same problem. After lunch, they sat down in the living room to await the arrival of Remus.
When he finally did arrive, Hermione was surprised at the difference in his demeanor. He was smiling, which relaxed Hermione right to begin with, though it did not seem to calm Harry nearly as much as it did her. Her parents welcomed Remus into the house and they all took seat in the sitting room. Harry sat down quickly next to Hermione, quietly sliding his hand to rest inconspicuously on top of hers. He was turning paler by the second, and she shifted her hand slightly to get his attention, giving him and encouraging look when his eyes fell on her.
"First off," Remus began, "I'd like to thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Granger for allowing to come here so quickly, and that this is not a bad visit, as I can see you think it is, Harry." Harry blushed slightly and shrugged. "In fact, this is a good thing, for the most part. I have good news and bad news, but the good news first. Now I know this will come as a shock, believe me, I didn't think it was possible at first...but it is." He was babbling slightly, and looking to one side of him, as though there was something there, but there was not. At least, that's what Hermione had thought, until she noticed a tiny ripple in the air, almost like an invisibility cloak was there.
There was.
Hermione gasped as it was pulled aside to reveal a smiling face, one she would recognize anywhere...Sirius. Harry was not trying to hide the fact that he had now grabbed her hand, hard. She winced slightly in pain and he loosened his death-grip. Harry was looking between the two men now, shaking his head. Hermione knew he didn't believe it, but she also knew that it had to be true, nobody would play such a cruel joke. He looked back at her, so she smiled and nodded, gesturing to Sirius with a smile on her face, he had tears in his eyes. Harry slowly let go of her hand, then launched himself at Sirius, who gladly wrapped his arms around Harry, holding him tightly. Both men sat almost completely still, content to just hold each other, and Hermione smiled, knowing that Harry had had a dismal lack of physical contact before Hogwarts. She remembered hugging him when they were younger, and being confused that he never seemed to be quite sure how to hug her back. Harry and Sirius slowly let go of each other, and Hermione was flattered when Harry moved aside to let Hermione see Sirius, who held his arms open for a hug, just as he had with Harry. She hugged him briefly and he placed a kiss on her cheek, in a very un-Sirius-like gesture.
Harry and Hermione moved to sit back down on the couch, when Hermione noticed the odd expression Harry had on his face. He looked very overwhelmed and slightly frazzled. Remus had already moved on to introduce Sirius to her parents, so Hermione stepped in saying "while you get settled in here, Harry and I will get everyone some drinks." Harry seemed to really like this idea, as he quite nearly pushed her into the kitchen, where she began to make a pot of tea.. He stood behind her breathing rather deeply and Hermione, sensing that he was attempting to gather his thoughts, gave him some privacy.
Suddenly, he spoke, "you know, I thought I was just about ready to deal with him being gone," he said in a mummer, conscious that the person he spoke of was only a room over. "Is it bad I don't know what to think about all this?"
"No, no of course not. It'll take time, just like it took time to get used to having him around the first time. What you're feeling isn't wrong, it's okay to be confused Harry," she tried to assure him. Though in the end, she felt that the kiss on the cheek she gave him before they headed back into the sitting room did more good than her words had.
When they got back into the sitting room, everyone was waiting for them to join the group. Amy stood up right away, attempting to help pour the tea, but Harry brushed her off with the assurance that there was no need. She noticed Sirius and Remus smile at each other over Mrs. Granger's attempts to fuss over the tea, which Harry was handling quite nicely. Hermione knew her mother was nervous, since she never fussed this badly unless she was nervous.
When everyone was settled, Lupin began again, "now for the bad news..." Harry and Hermione exchanged glances. "We received word of suspicious activity on your block last night. There's enough evidence to suggest that it's a possibility that Voldemort has learned of your location here at the Granger's."
The room was silent for a moment, until David Granger spoke up, "then how do we protect Harry and Hermione? Against any of these people, we're defenseless."
"Well...we could move them, but since we're not sure that Voldemort is even aware of your current location, we decided to try something else. If you're willing to cooperate, mind," Lupin said slowly. Hermione wondered what they were planning, she had the feeling that they thought her parents wouldn't like it.
"We want Sirius to stay here with you, for protection," Remus said quickly. Harry's head shot up, his gaze shifting from Sirius to Hermione in a flash. She in turn, looked at her parents, who looked at each other.
"I don't see why that should be a problem," Hermione's father began slowly, "but he'd have to stay in the room with Harry."
"Oh that won't be a problem," Sirius said, "I can sleep in my animagus form. I hear better then anyway." Hermione's parents were looking very confused, so Hermione cut into explain that Sirius was an illegal animagus, which meant he could change into an animal at will. They looked very intrigued, and agreed with out persuasion. She felt that they were relieved to have someone there who could protect them in the event of an emergency. While Remus and her parents began working out the specifics of the arrangement Hermione spaced out, but came back to her senses when she noticed that both Harry and Sirius were beginning tho get bored. She also noticed that (unsurprisingly) Sirius got antsy when he got bored.
So, in order to keep both men entertained, she offered to give Sirius a tour of the house. The three of them left Hermione's parents and Remus to sort out the rest of the details, while they began to tour the house. Hermione suspected Sirius' experience with muggles was limited, since he seemed fascinated with the microwave in the kitchen. He also loved the refrigerator, his eyes lighting up with excitement when she explained the concept to him. It was only then that Hermione began to remember how Sirius' appetite matched Ron's, which was an amazing feat, considering Ron ate more than any human being Hermione had ever come across. Harry stayed close to Sirius all throughout the duration of their tour, which was fine by Hermione since she felt that they might want to wait to tell Sirius about their new relationship until later, when they could discuss the issue in private. Sirius and Harry were also somewhat reluctant to let each other out of their sight, which Hermione thought was to be expected even if it was inconvenient. When they had finished their walk through the house they entered the kitchen, since her parents still were not done. Once there, Sirius apologized to Hermione, apparently he was sure he was placing too much of a burden on Hermione and her family. She assured him that he was not, and that she felt much safer knowing there was someone in the house who could perform magic. He seemed relieved at this, and they went out to see if Remus and her parents were done talking. They were, so everyone bid Remus goodbye. Hermione hugged him, and both Harry and Sirius repeated the gesture, much to her surprise. He left with a wave, and the group settled down for a night in.
Okay, this is a bit longer than I would normally do, but I think it turned out alright, It's one chapter I think has turned out better than the others so far. I would appreciate your reviews, because I would really love to know if you guys are liking this story. I'm begging you, please review!
