Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, Bon Jovi (Sigh) or Queen.

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Chapter 50: Naked

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Hermione sat reading a large book on building charms while her guest took a break from his own research to watch Sirius and Harry dueling on the grounds below. He was a couple of inches taller than Sirius, his black hair was long and tied at the nape of his neck, his black robes were of the highest quality Chinese silk giving a slight hint to his long line of ancestry that far surpassed both the likes of Malfoy or Black.

Hermione's eyes flickered to the large desk which had been cleared for the Zhou scrolls they now had in their possession. She could still barely believe their luck when Dumbledore had made contact with the protector of the scrolls, Hu Shang who's family had been the keepers of the scrolls for thousands of generations.

"He moves like his father."

Hu's voice brought Hermione out of her thoughts.

"I didn't realize you'd met James," Hermione queried.

Hu nodded. "James and Lily. I kept in touch with Lily through letters after Dumbledore had introduced us. Both Lily and James visited me one time just before Lily found out she was pregnant with Harry."

"I'm guessing you didn't get any owls from James," Hermione said with a smile. "He didn't seem the letter writing type."

Hu chuckled. "Lily made comments like 'James says hi' or 'James was wondering…' but I think I got one letter from James the entire time I knew him."

Hermione laughed quietly. "That doesn't surprise me."

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"Faster," Sirius called out as he ducked a blue stream of light, he and Harry had taken advantage of the early spring morning and were having an impromptu duel session. Remus and Ginny stood off to the side along with a small crowd that had gathered to watch eagerly.

"You need to anticipate what I'm going to do next," Sirius instructed. "Watch my movements; aim more at where I'm moving to rather that just at me."

Harry gave a slight nod of indication that he had heard what Sirius said. He slowed down his offensive as he observed Sirius' movements ducking and weaving at the same time as Sirius sent his own onslaught of disarming charms at his godson.

"Expelliarmus," Harry shouted.

This time the bright blue light hit Sirius square in the chest; unexpectedly he felt his feet leave the ground.

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From his position at the window Hu's eyes widened as he watched the scene below before laughter escaped his lips.

"What?" Hermione asked standing up and moving over to join him at the window.

"Sirius is paying your Giant Squid a visit."

Hermione looked out across the lake and saw Sirius swimming back to shore and a very pleased looking Harry standing at the waters edge.

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Dripping wet and shivering with the cold Sirius stepped into his chambers

"Oh Bugs," Hermione laughed as she stepped over to him. "Why didn't you just use a drying charm?"

"T-to c-cold," Sirius replied through chattering teeth. "I h-hav-ve wet-t socks."

Hermione laughed as Hu chuckled in the background. "Come on," Hermione said leading him over to the bathroom. "Lets get you out of these wet clothes."

Despite his chattering teeth and slightly blue lips Sirius was still able to send a grin and a wink in Hu's direction as he followed Hermione into the bathroom.

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Sirius frowned in disappointment as Hermione closed the bathroom door behind her as she left the room. Hermione had helped him peel off his outer robes before leaving him to finish as she exited with a smile while muttering about his behaviour while they had a guest.

Sirius finished removing his sopping clothes and stepped under the luke warm water not making it too hot as his body temperature slowly rose again. He ducked his ebony head under the steady stream of water and closed his grey eyes as the water created pathways down his toned neck, torso and legs; some lines following the pale scars of Azkaban that refused to fade.

As his body warmed up slightly he reached out and adjusted the water temperature so he was standing under borderline hot water, the resulting steam filling the room and fogging up every available inch of glass. Feeling a hell of a lot better than he had thirty minutes ago Sirius reached for his shampoo before pausing and grabbing Hermione's vanilla scented shampoo with a cheeky grin.

"Servers her right for not participating in my recuperation after my harrowing experience," Sirius muttered grinning as he poured a liberal amount into his palm before lathering up his black locks in vanilla scented bubbles.

Grinning Sirius decided it would be amusing to disturb their peaceful research time too.

"IS THIS THE REAL LIFE!" he started singing at the top of his lungs. "IS THIS JUST FANTASY….CAUGHT IN A LANDSLIDE. NO ESCAPE FROM REALITY…OPEN YOUR EYES…LOOK UP TO THE SKIES AND SEEEEEE..." Sirius voice reached the highest possible note as he ducked back under the water to rinse out his hair, the bubbles slowly making their way down his lightly tanned chest.

"I'M JUST A POOR BOY…I NEED NO SYMPATHY…BECAUSE I'M EASY COME, EASY GO, A LITTLE HIGH, LITTLE LOW…ANYWAY THE WIND BLOWS DOESN'T REALLY MATTER, TO ME."

Sirius paused as he squeezed the excess water out of his hair before grabbing Hermione's vanilla conditioner, after all he couldn't ruin the lovely scent the shampoo had given him…right?

Sirius closed his eyes as he got lost in his song, hoping that he was annoying Hermione, he liked it when she was angry, very sexy in his humble opinion.

"MAMA, JUST KILLED A MAN…PUT A GUN AGAINST HIS HEAD, PULLED MY TRIGGER NOW HE'S DEAD."

Sirius heard a knock on the door before Hermione's voice came muffled through the wood. "There'll be a dead man here soon Sirius if you don't stop singing."

"You love my singing."

"Not while I'm trying to concentrate," came the reply.

"I'm hurt," Sirius said grinning. "But I'm not going to stop singing."

"Sirius," Hermione warned from the other side of the door.

"You'll just have to come in and stop me," Sirius said waiting for a response when he got none he continued to sing ."MAMA, LIFE HAD JUST BEGUN, BUT NOW I'VE GONE AND THROWN IT ALL AWAY…MAMA OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, DIDN'T MEAN TO MAKE YOU CRY, IF I'M NOT BACK AGAIN THIS TIME TOMORROW…CARRY ON, CARRY ON, AS IF NOTHING REALLY MATTERS."

Sirius stopped singing when the door opened and Hermione strode in glaring at the grinning wizard.

"Do you mind!"

"I love it when you're angry," Sirius said with a goofy grin ignoring Hermione's statement. "So sexy."

Hermione's glare didn't falter, if anything it grew in intensity as Sirius stood under the water grinning at her.

"Silencio," Hermione muttered, waving her wand at Sirius who opened and closed his mouth as he tried to speak. The tables turned now as Hermione smiled sweetly at Sirius who sent her a glare, giving the wet wizard a wave Hermione walked back out of the room closing the door behind her.

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The air was cold and damp as the cloaked figure approached the throne in the centre of the room. "My Lord, what do you want us to do with…"

"Send him back," The snake-eyed wizard answered.

"But My Lord, he still lives."

"He is no use to us, send him back, he will not last long there."

The cloaked figure nodded and scurried out of the room to follow his Masters orders.

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A week after the shower incident Sirius sat with Hermione as they worked on building a spell, Sirius helped when he could while Remus and Hermione concentrated on the numerous mathematical calculations needed to complete it. Hu was working on finding any significance in the Zhou scrolls, he was the only one capable of reading the scrolls as no translation spells any of the group knew could brake the language barrier. Harry was preparing for his NEWTs after Hermione pointed out there were less than three months till the exams, Sirius himself didn't think Harry was studying, namely for the fact that he'd seen his godson by the lake with Ginny as he glanced out of the window.

Hu stood suddenly and walked towards Hermione carrying one of the scrolls in his hands, holding it out to her he pointed to the picture on the page.

"Is this what you saw?" he asked.

"That's it!" Hermione exclaimed. "Does it say what it means?"

"Here," Hu pointed to a scroll of Chinese characters that meant nothing to Sirius, Hermione or Remus. "It talks about a champion of green eyes born from a flower and the noble one."

"Harry," Hermione said quietly. "He had a prophecy before Trelawney's."

Remus and Sirius were staring wide eyed at Hu. "So did Lily and James," Sirius said softly. "What else does it say?"

Hu pointed to the star starting at the topmost point. "This here means kinship," he said indicating to the first symbol. "It's represented here by a sacrifice."

"Ron," Hermione whispered.

"Who?" Hu asked.

"Ron was mine and Harrys best friend, he died last year saving his sister."

Hu nodded before moving back to the diagram his gaze moving to the next point on the star. "This here is Love, represented by fire."

"Ginny," Remus said. "This is unbelievable."

"That's the understatement of the year," Sirius murmured. "What about the others?"

Hu moved on. "Friendship, represented by Time."

"That's me," Hermione said in shock.

Hu looked rather confused. "Why would you be represented by time?" he asked curiously.

"Long story mate," Sirius answered. "We'll tell you later, what about the other two?"

"This here is 'the instructor' or 'mentor'," He glanced over at Remus. "This character is represented by the moon."

Remus nodded as Hu continued to the last point on the star, Hermione and Remus glanced at Sirius as Hu explained the meaning. "This here is Father or Guardian, it's represented by the bright star."

Sirius nodded his expression serious before he got to his feet. "I'm going to get Harry," he stated as he walked out of the room leaving the others to ponder what they had just discovered.

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An hour later the group had been joined by Harry, Ginny and Dumbledore. Harry and Ginny stared at Hu in shock while Dumbledore sat back with the familiar sparkle in his blue eyes.

When Harry found his voice he began asking his questions. "What does it all mean though? What is it that we need to do?"

"The scrolls talk about a new magic, one the wizarding world has never seen before," Hu explained. "One that involves those represented in the scrolls."

"We need to build a new spell," Hermione stated. "One based on that," she said pointing at the star.

"And you can do this?" Harry asked wide eyed.

"I hope so," Hermione answered. "It's all we have to work on."

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After an exhausting week Hermione was on her way back to her chambers from the library when she was stopped by hurrying footsteps. She looked up to see Dumbledore and Kingsley coming towards her down the corridor, a still figure floating between them.

Hermione's eyes widened at the sight in front of her, the wounded Order member taking small painful breaths as he was taken quickly to the Hospital wing.

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