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Author note: Hah! Finally! New chapter! Sorry for the long wait.
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Author note: Thanks to Aln-Mai:)
Chapter 13
Ron eyed Hermione suspiciously for the remaining part of the afternoon. Was it only his impression, or did she really look rather—happy? And what was all this with Sirius about? After all, they (Hermione, Harry, Lily, and himself) and the Marauders didn't get along, so why would Sirius suddenly talk to Hermione? Was she hiding something from them?
Ron felt that he couldn't simply go and ask Hermione straight away what was going on with her and Sirius. What if she thought that he was asking because he was—well, interested in her or something? Which, of course wasn't true (or at least, that's what Ron kept telling himself), but it would be simply horrible if Hermione thought something like that...
Well, of course, if he was to talk with her about it, he certainly needed an explanation why was he even bothered that Sirius had—well, noticed Hermione.
It was, Ron reasoned to himself, only because of Harry. Yes. Harry would be really hurt if Sirius started to like Hermione all of sudden and kept ignoring Harry. Yes, it would definitely hurt his feelings. And so, as a good and condescending friend, he had to demand that Hermione stop flirting with that brat...
Ron shook his head in surprise. Had he just thought that?
Somehow the mere idea of Hermione flirting with the handsome Marauder got him annoyed. It just didn't feel right: Sirius and Hermione. Apart from the age difference, it was totally, absolutely wrong. After he had it all more or less worked out in his head, he decided to go and talk with her.
Not the way he did last time, though—that wouldn't do. He had been so furious to discover that she had gone to the Yule Ball with Victor Krum—he yelled at her and let his temper get the better of him. Oh, no. This time he would be calm and reasonable, and he would convince her that she shouldn't start anything with Sirius. For Harry's sake.
He stood up and walked over to her. She was currently sitting with Lily, and they chatted quietly. They didn't giggle like most of the girls did, but despite that Ron was almost sure that they were gossiping anyhow. Was it about him? Or about Sirius? Ron shook his head in defiance when that last thought ran through his head.
"Um, Hermione, would you mind—I—um, could we talk privately for a minute?" he asked bluntly.
Hermione raised her head and looked at her best friend, surprised. It was very unlike Ron to stutter like that when he simply wanted to talk with her. Normally, he would drag her somewhere and talk, not even bothering to see whether she had time or not. He didn't have very good manners, but Hermione preferred their relationship the way it was—spontaneous and natural.
Of course, she agreed and they headed to Room of Requirement. Their trio had a small quarrel a few days before about it—Harry had wanted to tell Lily about their hiding place, while Hermione thought it would be good for them to have a place only for themselves if they ever needed to talk about things which they couldn't share with anyone.
In the end, Hermione managed to convince Harry, and so now they had a perfect spot for an occasion like now.
While they walked, Hermione immersed herself in thought, and Ron had the impression that she didn't really want to talk with him. Now, when he was about to start the conversation, he felt nervous. Calm down! he ordered himself. You have good points and she is going to listen to them. Nothing wrong with that!
Finally they got to the Room of Requirement. They sat down on comfortable cushions which the Room produced for them. Hermione looked at her friend expectantly. Ron was fidgeting and avoided looking back until he had found the courage to begin.
"You see, Hermione—it's just—I noticed..." Ron, get a grip on yourself! "Well, I wanted to talk about you and Sirius."
Hermione blinked in surprise, her mind racing. Had he noticed his presents? Or their conversation in DADA today? She felt a treacherous blush on her cheeks, but despite that she responded calmly.
"What about me and Sirius?"
"It's just—I noticed you, uh, get along and I just thought it's not very good, because—you know, for Harry..." He had a feeling it was going lamely. Where were those perfect arguments he was supposed to tell her now?
"What do you mean by 'not very good'? I think it's very good! Haven't you noticed how badly Harry wants to win his father's and Sirius' acceptance? I think it's perfect that at least one of us starts getting along with them!"
"Yes, but I just thought—you know, that he might be jealous that they prefer you over him..."Now, that was good! Ron smiled inwardly, sure that she would listen to his argument.
"Please, Ron! That's stupid. Honestly, Harry won't be jealous. What for?"
"Come on, Hermione! You said it yourself! He wants their acceptance so much, and suddenly he sees that they find no problem with accepting you while they treat him like dirt!"
"But that's exactly the point! If Sirius and I become friends, than I can convince him to accept Harry as well!"
Ron looked at her as if she was daft.
"Come on! Sirius is not trying to become your friend! He wants to..." Ron's voice trailed off, while Hermione spoke coldly with fake smile which Ron had learned to recognize as a sign of approaching fury.
"Yes, Ron? What does he want?"
Ron flinched back under her gaze.
"I—well, you know..."
"No Ron, I don't know. You started, so finish!"
"Um—you know, he doesn't exactly have the reputation of a decent guy..."
Hermione blinked.
"Ron, what are you talking about? That he's a player? That he can't keep a girlfriend for longer than a week? I know it, Ron! I don't need you to tell me what to do, OK? I'm not going to fall for him! I mean, he's twenty years older in our time! And DEAD! So stop treating me like Ginny!"
It was Ron's turn to blink in surprise. He asked before he could stop himself.
"What do you mean 'like Ginny'?"
"You remember your reaction when you heard that she was dating Michael Corner? You were acting as if you were going to kill that guy!"
"And I was right, if you don't remember, he turned out to be a total git!"
"Please, Ron! That's beside the point! What I mean is that it's my decision, OK? If I decide to date Sirius—which I'm not going to do, mind you!—then I date him, and it's my business."
"No, it's not! Because if you date him, then it proves that you don't know what you're doing! Just like it was with Krum! Do you really want a guy so much?" Ron shouted and immediately wished that he had bitten his tongue that time, seeing Hermione's face turn a dark shade of purple from fury.
Without another word, she ran from the Room of Requirement, slamming the door behind her. Ron sat down and just stared at the wall numbly.
Sirius was in a good mood as he headed to Professor Lindberg's office, for his first detention that week. He didn't mind detention, not too much. Lindberg used to favor him and James in the past, so he expected it to be rather pleasant. Maybe he would simply make him read a book or something of that sort. Certainly spending an evening in Hermione Bradley's company and pranking Snape was worth it.
He sat at the window seat opposite the door to Lindberg's classroom and waited for Hermione. He didn't want go in before her, because Lindberg would probably use it as an opportunity to lecture him about being irresponsible or something. Sirius would rather avoid it.
Soon enough he heard footsteps and spotted Hermione. She seemed irritated and was muttering something to herself—as if one part of her were arguing with the other. She apparently didn't see him. She went past him straight to the doors and was about to knock, when Sirius said loudly, "Sickle for your thoughts..."
She turned around abruptly, startled.
"You scared me!" she exclaimed.
"Sorry! I didn't mean to—what happened? You seem angry," he remarked gently and moved to stand very close to her. He was more than a head taller than she was, so she had to look up to see his expression. There was a nervous feeling in her stomach when he was so near, so she took a step back and shrugged her shoulders.
"It's nothing, my brother's just being a prat..."
"Oh? What did he do?" It sounded almost as if he wanted to add "this time" and only stopped himself at the last moment.
It occurred to Hermione that there was a considerable chance that Sirius thought that by "brother" she meant Harry, and it wouldn't work with her plan of making Sirius accept him. So she corrected herself.
"Oh, you know—nothing important really—Ron has a quick temper and he speaks before he thinks sometimes."
"Ron, huh?" Sirius said, which confirmed Hermione's suspicions. "Well, that's the way it goes, you know—at least you're talking to your brother," he added bitterly.
"Well, not now," she replied with a smirk.
"Right. We're late, so we'd better go in," Sirius said and knocked.
"Enter!" was heard from inside, so Sirius opened the door for Hermione and followed her the length of the classroom and into Lindberg's office.
"Very well, I see you're both here," Lindberg said, not even raising his head from the tests and other papers he was marking.
"Look, I have a lot of work to do, so you just sit down there and get busy with something. I would suggest that you to do some homework," he said, pointing at a small table near the opposite wall.
Sirius and Hermione sat obediently. There was some spare parchment there, as well as two quills and a bottle of ink. Hermione took a roll of parchment and started to write her Transfiguration essay—or as much of it as she could without any textbooks. Suddenly, Sirius shoved the other piece of parchment in her direction.
Don't tell me you're going to actually do homework! It's Friday evening, time to party! To have fun with friends!
She read the note and smiled.
Well, I don't really see any party going on around here.
You don't? Well, I've got to organize one, then!
No! Don't get yourself into more trouble! Lindberg will be livid!
Sirius grinned when he saw her answer.
Ah, beautiful lady! Don't worry! I'm not afraid of danger, risk and Lindberg's fury, when the reward is your smile!
Hermione blushed a little and shook her head. Was he trying to charm her?
You're flattering me, kind sir.
Well—so, if we agreed on the matter of party, I suppose it's time for me to ask you for a dance then, milady!
Hermione shook her head again. He was crazy!
A dance? Haven't you forgotten about something?
Well, do you mean music?
Yes.
Is it absolutely necessary to have a dance?
Hermione blinked, bewildered.
I suppose so.
My fair lady, what is dancing about?
Hermione was more and more surprised by every new message he wrote. Where was this conversation heading?
Dancing? Well, it's about moving your body to the sounds of music...
How unromantic! Hermione, please don't tell me things like this! Dancing is about holding a person you like close to yourself, it's about a touch, a feeling—music is helpful, but not necessary!
Hermione readthe message twice through, trying to grasp its meaning. What was he implying? That she should throw herself into his arms here, in detention, because of some imaginary party? Exactly what kind of girl did he think she was? Some flirt ready to go and shag him, because he said so?
Contrary to what Ron had said, she was not desperate to get a guy and certainly she was not going to let Sirius 'hold her close, touch and feel.' She'd known him for only two weeks! (At least this version of Sirius, she corrected immediately). She toyed with the parchment for a while, uncertain as to what she should write, and unaware of the fact that Sirius was watching her intently.
Finally she gave him back the parchment with a simple answer.
I don't feel like dancing today, then.
That night, Hermione did not want to talk to Ron, so she decided to read a book in the dormitory rather then risk meeting him in the common room. Harry and Ron were nowhere to be seen. In fact, Ron was still in the Room of Requirement, trying to think of some way to apologize to Hermione without telling her that she had been right. He was not a diplomat, so for him it was a painfully difficult task.
Harry was in the library, reading a book. He hadn't been able to find his friends, so he just read on and on and forgot about the world around him.
It felt as if there were a saddening charm in the air in the Gryffindor tower. Most of the people were still in shock after the Wednesday events.
Usually, it was the Marauders who would try to cheer up everybody in the situation like that, but Sirius returned from the detention with an unexpectedly bad humor and went straight to bed, not in the mood to fool around.
Without Sirius, the other boys didn't feel like having fun, so they just sat near the fireplace and talked quietly—so unlike them.
Lily, who was studying with Alice, looked at them every now and then. She felt a little guilty whenever she looked at James. In the past, he had never ignored her the way he was now. No matter what she did, he would still come and bother her soon afterwards.
But then, why did she care? That was what she had wanted, after all! She had found far more interesting people than James and his friends to keep her company.
Harry—her thoughts wandered to the boy, as was happening a lot now. He was so—ideal!
Not bossy and stuck-up like James, but nice and gentle and caring. He was also brave and handsome—well, in a way, he was. And they had so many topics to talk about.
Harry knew how to listen, no matter what she was talking about—her past in Hogwarts or Petunia—he was equally interested and even asked questions about some details, unlike so many other boys, who would just start bragging about Quidditch and what great players they were.
Yes, she thought, looking one last time at James. Harry was absolutely the most interesting guy she had met so far.
