Chapter 7

 

Disclaimer: I own nothing copyrighted by Warner Brothers, J.K. Rowling, Pirates of the Caribbean, Saturday Night Live, or any of those big wig people who really could care less about a teenage girl using some of their characters to write things that may bring pleasure to the lives of others like me. But that's just a big maybe.

A/N: I'm trying to pop out chapters as fast as I can. I can't guarantee tons of chapters but I'll try. This chapter, as some of the ones before it (I think), is fully dedicated to one of my best friends, Emily (otherwise known as Meg Erskine Frere Albatou), without whom I would ever get a damn thing posted. Read her stuff, its drool worthy (some people would use the word amazing, but I try to get creative.)

 Another A/N: (written much later.) Sorry about the amount of one-liners much later on in the chapter. I found a list of quotes from an old D/G challenge, and I really wanted to use them in one of my fics. I know this genre really isn't supposed to be that humourous, and this chapter really is the most dramatic (so far), so forgive the supposed hilarity later on, it's really for my own amusement.

 Sorry about the long dream sequence. When things start flowing, they just… well, flow.

 

                                                                                                            ***~~~***

 Sirius walked down the hall away from Hermione's room, wondering just what she was telling the youngest Weasley. Was she talking about their relationship? Did they even have one? Beside the kissing and the one real conversation about them that they'd had, there was really nothing to suggest that they were together.

 Groaning, he hit himself with one hand. Here he was, obsessing over a girl, while he should be thinking of ways to help stop an evil force that was trying to warp society's very existence.

Lost in his own thoughts, Sirius didn't notice the tall, blond man step into his line of vision.

'Sirius! Sirius! Black!' To get this attention, Draco put out a hand to physically stop him.

'Sorry about that… guess I didn't see you there,' he said, still in a reverie.

'No, I guess you didn't,' the younger man replied, laughing. 'But have you seen Virginia? Beautiful redhead, about yea big.'

 'She's talking with Hermione up in the Head Girl's room. They were getting into that cozy, girl-chat thing they do the last time I saw, so you might not want to interrupt them.'

 Draco nodded in understanding, but then looked at Sirius with a sneaking suspicion, grinning slyly. 'And how exactly do you know that?'

 In his still distracted state, Sirius started getting flustered. 'I was just… we were just… catching up on the past few years. You know, births, deaths, jobs, arrests, and what not.'

Wearing his signature smirk, Draco continued his humiliation of the older man. 'So, that's what you call it, mate? See, I thought it was called-'

 Sirius clapped a hand across his mouth. 'Don't even think about finishing that sentence, on I'll make the last battle we were in seem like a walk in the park.'

 'Aye aye, captain!'

 The people, in the portraits followed the two men with great interest as they walked down the hall, amiably trading insults. It was not often that they saw this Black even slightly cordial with those that were once his family. The women ran from portrait to portrait, devouring the two men with their eyes. The dim firelight from the brackets on the walls cast shadows on the men's faces, throwing their features into sharp relief. A sudden breeze from an open window picked at their hair, mussing the heads of platinum and ebony into disarray. The women sighed, feeling that if they had a physical heart, it would be beating madly at that moment.

 Whispering quietly, Sirius looked at them over his shoulder. 'What's with the dames?'

 'Don't worry. They're just marvelling over our dashing good looks and cutting edge style,' Draco replied with a grin.

 Shaking his head, Sirius caught a glimpse of a middle-aged portly woman waggling her fingers at him and fluttering her eyelashes, trying to act coy. Behind him, the blond burst into laugher, catching a disapproving look from many of the older portraits.

 'Looks like you've earned yourself an admirer, Black,' Draco said, still snickering.

 'Moving on, quickly now, quickly.' Almost at a light jog, Sirius made his way down the hall, causing Draco to speed up his pace to catch up.

 When they got to a slightly less portrait-populated area, Draco stopped Sirius. 'So what is going on between you and Granger? I know a lot about wanting things you're not supposed to have if you want to bounce some thoughts off me.'

 Sirius looked confused, but then clicked in. 'Right, the whole you and Virginia thing. I could use someone to talk to about this, otherwise I'm going to explode.' Looking around, he pulled the younger man into an empty classroom. 'But whatever I tell you, please don't talk about it with other people, all right? Hermione and I have to keep whatever this is a secret for now.'

 Draco nodded, taking a seat on one of the desks.

 Sirius took a breath and paced around the room. 'When I saw Hermione last night, I just felt this connection, and apparently she felt it too. These feelings have just been coming on in waves, and sometimes I actually have no idea what I'm feeling.'

 'Have you talked to Granger about this?'

 'We had a little bit of a talk today at the end of our training session after we… kissed. But there wasn't that much substance to it. We just acknowledged our deep feelings, and there has been some private affection, but no outright declarations of a relationship. There's an unspoken bond of sorts but nothing else.'

 Draco relaxed, leaning back. 'So what are you worried about?'

'What do you mean? Who says I was worried about anything'

 'You're shifting around like something is bothering you. But you have nothing to be worried about. From what you're telling me, it's clear that you and Hermione have very strong feelings for each other. And you really only knew about the other today, so not having a public or even private real relationship is perfectly normal. There will come a time when the relationship will come into existence, and you'll be perfectly happy. But do you love her?'

 Sirius looked at his hands and then back at Draco. 'I don't know. I don't really know what to describe what I'm feeling. It's more than like, way more than lust, but… here's where the confusion comes in. I know that whenever I'm not with her, I'm thinking about her, and I want to be with her.'

 Draco just smiled. 'If you don't love her now, you will soon. It's only a matter of time. That's how love works. But Ginny knows way more about this stuff than I do. She says that love works in all different types of ways. For some, feelings creep up on them over the years, and it takes them a while to figure out how they feel. But for others, feelings just appear as if out of nowhere. You know, the whole love at first sight theory. Or at least, that's what Ginny says. You just have to find out which category you fit into. But even if you don't realize it, you may be in love right now, but just haven't fully figured it out yet.'

 'You sound like a Hallmark card.'

 'Hey, don't shoot the messenger. I just call it like I see it.'

 'Or how your girlfriend tells you.'

 'That as well. Have I given you any enlightenment?' Draco hopped off the desk, and walked towards his cousin.

 'A bit. I still have to figure out a few more things, but I'm pretty much on way to sweeping her off her feet.'

 Clapping Sirius on the back, Draco walked him towards the door. 'Good man. I take that to mean that you are going to talk to this particular brunette right now?'

 Sirius shook his head. 'No, I think that the best thing to do is to give her a bit of space, as much as I don't want to. I think everything will be better if we can just sleep on everything tonight and then get back together tomorrow before breakfast to talk about everything.'

 'Sounds like a plan. But if you'll excuse me, I am absolutely exhausted and am going to head up to my room. Hopefully Hermione and Virginia won't do the girl-talk thing for long, I don't sleep well when Gin's not there.'

 The two men left each other and went their separate ways, each in search of a good night's sleep.

 

                                                ***~~~***

 Hermione and Ginny didn't talk much longer, and when Ginny left to go to her room, the brunette headed straight to bed. She had a feeling that Sirius would be giving her some space tonight in order to think things over, but she knew they would be together in the morning.

 

                                                ***~~~***

 Remus was already asleep when Sirius got there and so he climbed quietly into bed, not bothering to change from his workout clothes. But something from his past lurked in his mind, and so Sirius slipped into a sleep filled with unsettling dreams he'd had many times before.

 

                                                ***~~~***

 A strong wind pulled at Hermione's hair and clothes, making her fight to stay standing. In front of her stretched miles of field and forest, but a manor dominated the landscape to her back. The air smelled of death and sulphur, and for some reason a scent of licorice flitted around on the wind; for the rest of her life, she would never be able to bear that smell again. Hermione seemed rooted to her spot, not able to move, but she could see everything for miles around. The sound of screaming filled the air, and bursts of light illuminated the land. Wizards duelled everywhere around her, some masked, some not. But they were fighting to kill, not to injure, and every minute another person fell and lay motionless. Finally, as if moving through sand, Hermione was able to wrench herself forward, heading for the man who just appeared on the crest of the hill. Sirius was staggering towards her, bleeding freely from a head wound, clutching his stomach as well. She tried to call out to him, but her voice had left her long ago. Sirius appeared to be calling out to her as well, but no sound could reach her, and Hermione felt utterly alone.

 Sirius stumbled down onto one knee and appeared to be unable to get up. Hermione hurried toward him as quickly as she could but didn't seem to get anywhere. A masked wizard appeared behind him, and before she could scream out, the wizard yelled a curse, his wand emitting a blast of light that hit Sirius, sending him forward. His form lay crumpled on the ground, and Hermione knew at once that he was never getting up; Sirius was dead. But Hermione could not cry; a sob stuck in her throat but she clenched her teeth and, bracing herself, pushed the tears back. . It was only then that she looked around, and was struck at what she saw. Bodies littered the ground as far as the eye could see, limbs twisted at odd angles, faces frozen in terrified expressions. Everywhere lay people she knew: Ginny, Ron, Bill Weasley, Professor Snape, and Harry. The wizard who had struck Sirius down was now headed her way, running fast, gaining ground. Hermione started moving backwards, hitting bodies as she went, but the masked wizard still got closer. He just got closer and closer, until Hermione had nowhere else to go. She frantically searched for her wand but couldn't find it anywhere. The masked wizard stopped right in front of her, silver eyes glinting from beneath the hood.

 'Hello Hermione. Long time no see,' he drawled. 'Welcome to my party.'

 She remained silent, too scared to utter a word.

 'Aww, cat got your tongue. That's too bad.' He reached up and pulled off his mask, revealing pale skin and white-blond hair.

 'Malfoy…' Hermione gasped. 'I should have known.'

 He smirked, a sight all too familiar. 'Yes, you should have. Remember Mudblood, I will be around for much longer than you and your dirty-blooded kind. I am a pureblood, the only kind worthy of living here. I took great pleasure in killing the rest of your friends, and family, and lovers. And I will take great pleasure in killing you.'

Hermione knew she had to stall him, to get more time. ' What about your son? What did you do to him?'

 The man studied her, eyes cold and hard. 'Ah, Draco. He died trying to save his muggle-loving girlfriend, that Weasley.' He spat the name with distaste. ' But he died in vain. I killed her anyway.'

 'You're despicable, Lucius,' she said, trying to look anywhere but at his eyes.

 'Thank-you. Coming from you, I'll take that as a compliment. But now it's your turn to join your friends. Any last requests?'

 'Let me go.' Hermione squeezed her eyes tight, trying to block out the dead eyes.

 'Nice try, but I'm disinclined to acquiesce to your request.'

 The wind picked up; blowing leaves and buffeting robes around them. Lucius calmly raised his wand and pressed the tip firmly under Hermione's chin.

 'Say goodnight. Avada Kedavra!'

 Hermione woke up screaming in a cold sweat. These nightmares got worse and worse, but never had they had subject matter that was so relevant to what was occurring in her everyday life. Grabbing a robe and sliding her feet into the slippers she kept by her bed, she headed out of her room to clear her head.

 

                                                                                                            ***~~~***

 

She walked around the castle, not really heeding where she was going until she came to the Astronomy Tower, and decided to go in. But as soon as she entered, she realized that she was not alone. Sirius stood alone at the other end of the tower, staring out the window, holding a shadowy object. 

From a distance, Hermione could see that he held a black flower. Moving closer, she could see it clearly; he held a lily, and Hermione finally fully realized some of the problems that Sirius dealt with every day.

Suddenly, his hands started to shake and he dropped the flower. 'I'm sorry!' he muttered. 'I am so sorry! I didn't know! I would give anything to take it all back. I didn't know ! I would've died to save you both.'

 Hermione quietly walked up behind Sirius and wrapped her arms around his waist. She turned him to face her, putting his head on her shoulder, and felt him break down into tears.

 'I'm sorry!' he kept saying.

 'Shh, I know…' Hermione repeated, as a counter-mantra, repeatedly smoothing down his hair in the same soothing gesture.

After awhile, Sirius stopped crying and pulled himself out of Hermione's firm grasp. 'I'm sorry. Just once in awhile, it all gets to me, and overwhelms me. All of this guilt, and sadness, and anger. I never really got to deal with James and Lily's deaths while in Azkaban. I was just trying to hold onto my sanity.'

 Hermione peered up at him, searching his eyes with her own. 'Why do you feel guilty? You have nothing to feel guilty about. There was nothing you could have done. Nobody knew about Peter, and there was no way you could have changed him.'

 Sirius nodded, but still looked doubtful. 'I know but… I should have known! Something should have clued me in. But I wasn't watching, and two of my best friends died!'

 Hermione just gave him a look.

 'I know, I know. You're right, but sometimes everything just gets to me. And sometimes I think that there was something I could've done. You won't tell anyone about this, will you?' Sirius looked quite anxious.

 Hermione held up three fingers. 'Scouts honour.'

 'Hunh?'

 'I promise.' Both stood holding each other, luxuriating in the lack of awkward silences. After a few minutes, Hermione pulled back to look at Sirius. 'You know, this overt display of sensitivity can be thought of as a turn-on. Are you sure you don't want people to know?'

 'I think I can manage. But why were you up here anyway?'

 Hermione sighed, and crossed over to the window. Sirius never talked about his feelings, and the one time he appears to be open about things, he quickly clams up again. 'I haven't been able to sleep lately.'

 Sirius looked puzzled. ' Why don't you just get Snape to make you a potion?'

 Hermione turned away to stare out the window. 'Because it won't take away the dreams, and they're the worst part.'

 'Dreams?'

 'I've been having nightmares for a while now, and they get worse and worse every night.'

 Sirius came up behind her, and mimicking her position from moments earlier, slipped his arms around her waist. 'What was tonight's nightmare about? Maybe I can help, or at least distract you enough.'

 Hermione sighed. 'It was a battle scene, at Malfoy Manor I think. Everyone was dead, and I watched as Lucius Malfoy killed you. I couldn't get away from him, and he kept coming after me. I woke up just as he was putting the killing curse on me.'

 'How awful,' he whispered. 'Are you okay?'

 She turned to look at him. 'It was unsettling, but I'm better now that I'm with you. You make me feel safe.'

 Sirius couldn't stop himself from grinning. 'I do?'

'Yes, you do.'

 'I wanted to wait until later to talk to you about this, but since we're both up and together, I wonder if you wanted to talk about us, about this thing we have.'

 'This thing we have?' Hermione repeated sceptically, pulling back slightly.

 Sirius groaned. 'You know what I mean. I'm not exactly great with my words, so forgive me if I bung this up and make it all sound stupid. But what I want to know is: what are we to you? Are we friends, friends with benefits, or a couple? What? Be honest.'

Hermione looked up at him from under long lashes. 'You want me to be honest? Okay, I know that we're together, but we have to keep it secret. And to me, that signifies a relationship, and us being a couple.'

 The smile returned, and Sirius picked her up, twirling her around. 'That's what I thought! Now I have nothing to worry about.'

 A small grin tugged at the corners of Hermione's mouth. 'You were worried?'

 'Well, I didn't exactly know what you felt about me. I mean, I know we kissed, but I didn't know what it meant to you. I knew what it meant to me, but you were a mystery.'

 Her voice was suddenly husky, and she lightly played with Sirius' T-shirt with one hand. 'What did it mean to you?'

 'It meant a lot, let's just put it that way. It meant a lot.'

 'Me too.' And so they kissed again, illuminated in the window by the rising sun.

 

                                                            ***~~~***

 

The couple stood there for the next hour, watching the sunrise in brilliance of colours. They didn't say much, getting much more out of the silence than any conversation. But Sirius checked his watch and noticed that it was almost time for breakfast, one they could not miss.

 Taking his hand, Hermione pulled Sirius out of the Tower. 'Do you mind if we still keep this relationship a secret? I mean, I know Ginny knows, which really means that Ginny and Draco know, and we know-'

 Sirius interrupted her. 'I'm pretty sure that Remus knows too. And don't forget Dumbledore.'

 'Okay, so they know too, but Harry and Ron don't and I want to keep it that way for a while. This is kind of delicate and I want to wait for the right time for us to tell them.'

 'I see what you mean.' He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. 'We can stay a secret for awhile, but I eventually want everyone to know.'

'That's sweet. But this has to be timed perfectly. I don't know if you've ever witnessed Ron's temper but when he's riled, it's something to be terrified of. He's not my boyfriend anymore, and hasn't been for a long time, but he's still wickedly protective of me, as is Harry. It's just this bond we have, and without reason, Ron thinks that everything is a threat to it. So our relationship has to be presented to Harry and Ron with the utmost care, or everything will blow up in our faces.'

 Something beside the cold draft in the hallway sent a shiver up Sirius' spine. 'I'll take that into consideration. But I guess it's a good thing that we won't be spending that much time together over the next couple days, or we'd slip up and give it all away.'

 Something dangerous flashed in Hermione's eyes as she turned around to face him, walking backwards to stay on top of the conversation. 'And why will we not be spending time together in the next few days? Trying to get rid of me already, are you?'

 Shaking his head, Sirius sighed. 'No! Did we not just spend the last hour kissing? Why would I want to get rid of you? I just found you. You have got to be the least trust-worthy person I know. Why would you even think that?'

 Hermione groaned, and smacked herself. 'I'm doing it again! I'm doing my usual 'close myself off so I don't get hurt and so appear to be a huge bitch to those who want to get close to me' thing. I told Ginny that I wasn't any good at this relationship stuff.'

 Laughing, he tugged herself close to him. 'Personally, I think that you're doing great. And beside glitches that are bound to happen, I believe that we can pull this off. So what do you say? Do you trust me?'

 She looked down at her shoes, suddenly demure, her voice husky. 'I trust you.'

 'That's what I like to hear.'

 By then, the couple had reached the staff room and so separated as according to plan. As they entered the room, they noticed a crowd around a piece of paper posted on a wall.

 'Your list,' Hermione whispered to him.

 'Indeed.'

 With a loud crack, tables appeared in the room, heavily laden with all foods imaginable. An audible grumble was heard from Hermione's stomach, causing Sirius to burst into laughter and Hermione's face to erupt in a blush worthy of a Weasley. She quickly scurried to one of the tables, and buttered herself a bagel, anything to get away from Sirius and the insults that were sure to come.

 Breakfast got underway, with people sauntering from wall to wall, checking on their training sessions with Sirius or finding out what specialty team they were on. To her delight, Hermione found out that she was on the Research team, though it wasn't much of a surprise. Research was what she did best, and everyone knew it. When Harry and Ron found out what team she was on, they just laughed, as it was no surprise to them either.

 After breakfast, everyone separated to go to his or her specific activities. Draco and Ginny followed Sirius down to the training room, throwing death threats at each other as they went. Sirius just smiled indulgently at them.

 Hermione followed her group up to the library. It felt really good to finally be doing something, to be doing something that would get them ready for what was to come. Grabbing books off the shelves, each person went to do their own thing, each having receiving a piece of parchment stating their tasks. Taking a look around at the people surrounding her, Hermione just had to grin. She was the only one from her generation around the table, but wasn't chagrined as she liked working with older people. Bill Weasley stretched in his seat, throwing her a smile as she caught his gaze. Remus lay half on the table, nose an inch away from the book he was poring over. To her surprise, Severus Snape was also part of their group, but early on he stated that he was only there because they were short a few people. Hermione had to laugh at this, as she knew he didn't like being there with them.

 They sat there taking notes on curse and protective hexes until lunchtime, when Professor McGonagall called them back to the staff room. This routine happened for the rest of the day: group work, big meetings, group work, and big meetings. After the last meeting at 9:30, everyone disbanded to retire for the evening. At breakfast in the morning they would give the entire group an update on where their work had taken them, before some small groups went with Draco to do reconnaissance at the Manor later in the day.

 In the mad rush for the door, Hermione willingly got separated from Sirius and quickly ran up to her room. She really wanted to focus on the information she had gotten throughout the day, and she was anything but focussed when she was anywhere near him.

 Wisely enough, Sirius kept his distance from her for the night. His mind was also somewhere else, as he was thinking of new things to teach those he was training with. Many of the people he would be working with were far beyond more complicated shield charms, as some of them had been the ones to teach him what he knew.

 More exhausted than they knew, both Hermione and Sirius fell asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillow.

 

                                                                                                            ***~~~***

 At breakfast the next morning, Sirius took a seat next to Hermione, inconspicuously touching her hand as he lowered himself down. She smiled at him, suddenly quite relaxed with his presence. Each team presented their findings, with the rest of the room taking notes as they went. The tactics/planning team went last, with Draco and Harry headlining the time. Their information wasn't of real substance yet, as they needed the information from the research and reconnaissance before they could really move on anything.

 Once his team was done reporting, Draco headed to a wall, and with a swish of his wand, an overhead map of Malfoy Manor appeared. "Today we finally get to do some recon. We have learned from sources that the entire Inner circle has relocated to the Manor to get ready for the big hit that is to come later. And so it will be quite dangerous when we apparate there. Many of us will have to go in disguises as we are instantly recognizable, which is clearly a very bad thing. I will apparate in first, in order to disable the wards surrounding the manor, and the rest of the team will then apparate in after I send them a signal. We will then sneak into the Manor and take note of where they are meeting, where weapons are being stored, and if there are any prisoners or anything else being kept down in the dungeons. We will be doing this in 2 small groups, but even then, not everyone will be able to come.' Draco smiled as George Weasley let out a fake sob. 'My team for this evening will be: Potter, Virginia, Professor Snape, Hermione, Sirius, Fred, and Charlie. I'll announce the next team tomorrow morning. I need tonight's team to quickly meet with me after everyone leaves, but other then that, I'm done here.'

'As are we all. The rest of today is for resting, so I want all of you (except those Draco wants) to get out of here and enjoy the rest of the day.' Dumbledore waved his hand at them in a gesture of farewell and left the room, robes billowing behind him.

Hermione and Sirius got up to join the little circle around Draco, where he jumped right in.

 'Meet Virginia and me at the Hogwart's property line this evening at 6:00. We'll apparate from there, and if all goes well, we'll be back here in time for an early midnight snack.' As always when he was a little worked up, Draco fidgeted. 'If you have an invisibility cloak or pendant or anything, bring it as anything will help. When I was last at the Manor I managed to change all surveillance operations to not show those under the cover of invisibility charms, and if we're lucky, that change hasn't been detected yet. If you wear dark clothing, you'll fit right into the decoration scheme at the Manor. If you can think of anything else to help us, you're welcome to bring it. Any questions?' As a joke, Draco looked pointedly at Hermione. She just rolled her eyes, and gave him the finger.

 'None? Good. Just meet me at 6:00 tonight. Everyone's dismissed.'

 Sirius pulled Hermione aside as the rest of the group left. "So what do you want to do with the rest of the day?' he whispered in her ear, resting his chin on her shoulder.

 'I just want to be with you, doesn't really matter where,' she whispered back.

 "What I would love to do is just lie out in the sunshine with you. Just us alone, basking in the sun, maybe eating a little picnic.'

 Hermione sighed, conjuring up the little pictures in her mind.

 'You feeding me grapes, you know, a little Roman/Greek thing.'

 She laughed, and started to pull Sirius towards her for a kiss, but stopped. 'But whatever we want to do, it can't be in a public place. If we're not going to tell Harry and Ron, then we definitely can flounce around together outside. And Remus might be in your room, so I think our best bet is to hang in my room. Plus,' she winked slyly at him, 'I have a better lock on my door.'

 Sirius could only shake his head at her, and her innocent seducing. "So I'll just meet you in your room in about 15 minutes?'

 "Sure." With that, Hermione left the room, wiggling her hips a little to tease him.

 He just had to groan. What was with her and making him need a cold shower whenever they were together? Taking out his wand, he created a cool mist and with another flick of his wand, sent it down his pants. Sirius just stood there for a few more minutes, trying to cool down. He stood by a window, shoulders tense, trying to distract himself from his situation. He was having a harder and harder time controlling himself around Hermione. Shaking himself vigorously, Sirius quickly jogged out the door and up to Hermione's room. Gasping the password, he was let inside.

 Looking up from her book where she was sitting on the couch, Hermione exclaimed, 'Took you long enough. I thought you'd gotten lost or had changed your mind.' Noticing his tenseness, Hermione became concerned. "Are you okay?"

 'Actually, no,' Sirius replied, still catching his breath.

 Moving quickly, Hermione was at his side, looking deeply into his eyes. "What's wrong?"

 Tearing himself away from her, Sirius walked into the kitchen, and positioned himself on the opposite side of the table. "I can't control myself around you. I mean, I get turned on even when I hear your name, which is not a good thing because someone's always talking about you, and I think Draco and Ginny do it on purpose. Every time we're together, I just want to take you to a deserted area and have my way with you.'

Hermione had followed slowly. 'That's not necessarily a bad thing.'

'It is at a time like this. I'm supposed to be focussed on teaching things that may save someone's life, but all I can think about is you. Your face has been burned onto my brain.'

Hermione circled the table slowly, causing Sirius to edge backwards as he tried to keep his distance. Very soon, he noticed that he had no more room, and that Hermione was successfully backing him up against the wall.

"You don't have to teach anybody now, do you?' she asked, looking up demurely from under her eyelashes.

Sirius suddenly found that his voice was not working properly. 'No,' he squeaked out, swallowing the lump that had just appeared in his throat.

'Then it's perfectly acceptable for me to distract you.' Hermione snaked her small hands up under Sirius ' T-shirt, gliding gently over the smooth warm skin.

'Hermione,' he warned, but felt her hands drift down and quickly grab his backside. 'Fuck it,' he said, and leaned down to capture her lips in a very heated kiss.

Hermione smiled through the kiss, thinking, 'and I won.'

As Sirius' tongue moved softly over her lips, begging permission to enter, which she readily gave, her hands took on a life of their own, and grasping the edge of the t-shirt, started to move it up his torso.

Going with the flow, Sirius broke the kiss just long enough to pull the shirt over his head, and tossing it somewhere around him, returned his attention to Hermione's lips. Moving quickly, he pushed himself off the wall, and started to walk her in the direction of the living room. Too wrapped up in the feel of Sirius' lips on her own, Hermione didn't notice where they were until the back of her knees hit the plush fabric of the couch. Breaking the kiss, she leaned back and quirked an eyebrow. Shrugging his shoulders, Sirius grinned sheepishly, but kissed her again. His hands were also starting to roam, and had started to make their way up her back. Getting far enough up, his fingers encountered the fortress of snaps, and after a few fruitless attempts, gave up for the time being.

Realizing what he was doing, Hermione laughed, and then pulled back. She watched Sirius' face as she pulled her shirt off; she had never seen such a naked desire, such a wanting, and it made her shiver, as she knew that she had made him feel that way.

'You are beautiful,' he breathed.

'And you haven't even seen everything,' she finished.

'Don't tempt me Hermione.'

'Oh, but tempting is fun,' she replied, and pulling away from him, wriggled out of her pants, and lay before him on the couch clad only in lacy scraps of fabric.

Sirius just froze in one spot, his eyes totally focussed on her. Not as experienced as she tried to come across, Hermione quickly grew unsure of herself, and tried as hard as possible not to blush. "Just make a move already,' she silently pleaded with the man in front of her.

Sirius quickly pulled his wand from his pocket and turned around. Muttering under his breath, he sent a few flashes towards the door and around the room. Turning back around, he saw Hermione's sceptical expression. "There is no way that I am letting anything interrupt this. I wouldn't be able to handle it."

'You still have to lose more clothes than that, Mr. Black. It doesn't seem fair that you're wearing more than me. I mean, I do have a reputation to uphold."

He just shook his head slightly, but decided to shock her. Sliding off his belt, Sirius unzipped his pants, and pulled them and his boxers off in one fell swoop. He had indeed startled her, as her eyes widened and an audible gasp escaped her mouth.

Whatever she had been expecting, it was not to suddenly have Sirius completely disrobe. Hermione had only ever been with one man, not giving her much experience with the men and their nakedness situation. To see Sirius stand before her, wearing nothing but a smile, was intimidating, and as he moved closer to her, the feeling did not disappear.

Noticing her stiffen as he reached the couch, Sirius pulled back. 'I guess it's my turn to ask you if anything's wrong.'

Shaking herself, she thought, 'you know this is what you want. Don't be scared. Sirius would never hurt you.' Having reassured herself, Hermione answered in the negative. 'I'm just being stupid, and you surprised me. I'm not saying that it's a bad surprise, but I wasn't really expecting the sudden removal of all the clothing. I'll just have to level the playing field.' Going with the flow, she reached up her back and with a flick, undid her bra, throwing it down beside her. Not looking for his reaction, Hermione pulled off her underwear.

Again Sirius froze, not really expecting that either. He just drank her in, not caring how long he needed to stay there, just wanting to memorize that moment forever.

'Stop staring at me, and come here already!' She reached up, and grabbing him by the shoulders, pulled him down on top of her. The first contact of skin on skin sent a chill through Hermione's body, and she shivered.

'Cold?' Sirius wondered. 'I'll just have to do something about that.' He started to kiss her neck, creating little love bites, which he immediately soothed with his tongue. Hermione made a noise low in her throat, just pushing him on. But he stopped, and pulled back to look at her. She hissed slightly, not relishing his cease of activity.

Laughing, he raised himself up and off of her. 'Not here. Let's go somewhere more comfortable.'

Smiling back, she got up too. 'I love how your mind works.' But as she started walking towards the bedroom, Sirius swung her up in his arms, and carried her there instead. Finding the door closed, he kicked it open, and gently laid Hermione down on the bed. Propping herself up against the pillows, she beckoned him over.

'How can I turn down such an invitation?' he said, and quickly crawled to her. When Sirius kissed her, Hermione was hardly able to think, but noticed how well their bodies fit together.

Deepening the kiss, Sirius stroked his way down her body, one hand finally resting on her hip, the other gently grasping her right breast. That single gentle touch brought Hermione right to where Sirius wanted and shifting slightly put her arms around his neck to get him as close as possible. Tracing her lips with his tongue, Sirius slipped past to taste her mouth while his fingers worked their magic on Hermione's nipple, causing it to perk up. Moaning quietly, she arched her back, feeling his hardness at the place she most wanted him most.

'I want you Sirius,' she whispered, her breath tickling his ear, causing another shiver to go down his spine.

'Not yet,' he answered. 'I'm not done here.' Sliding down her body, he came to rest with his head between her breasts. Capturing the nipple he had just been teasing in his lips, he traced the shape with his tongue. Hermione instinctively wound her fingers through his hair, bringing him closer while emitting low sounds of pleasure. Sirius' other hand glided down from its resting place on her hip to seek entrance at the apex of her thighs. Slipping one finger inside her folds, he delved deeper, encouraged by the shudder that had shaken the brunette's body. After a few minutes, Sirius switched sides to lavish attention on the unattended breast, while teasing Hermione with two long fingers. Finding the erect nub, he squeezed it gently, grinning to himself when she jerked upwards, a guttural growl escaping her lips.

'That's it,' she said. 'No more getting ready. I'm plenty ready. If I don't have you now, I'll explode.'

Not one to turn down this particular lady's invitations, Sirius slithered his way back up her body until his arousal lay hard against her thighs and he once again was able to gaze deep into her eyes. Raising his eyebrows, he asked a silent question.

'Don't worry about it,' Hermione said. 'I cast the spell earlier; you don't have anything to worry about.'

The last worry off of his chest, Sirius guided himself to her entrance, pausing when his tip was pressed against her warmth.

Guessing the cause of his hesitation, Hermione had to smile. 'Sirius, I've done this before. You shouldn't be hesitant at all; you're not going to hurt me. Though I must say that you're a bit bigger than any of the other guys I've been with. But it's always good to try new things.'

Shaking his head, Sirius started to push in slowly until he rested fully between her legs, his length sunk in her heat. He and Hermione didn't move, staring into each other's eyes, savouring the moment. But it was not long before Hermione started to flex her inner walls, causing Sirius to start his movements. Pulling out and then burying himself in her, he started to establish a rhythm, Hermione rolling her hips when he came down to meet her. They both struggled to get closer to each other, and Hermione could feel his pounding deep within her. His movements were causing a wave of sensation to wash over her, sending her to a peak that would answer the question his body asked of her.

'Hermione.' All the emotions Sirius was feeling at that moment came out in a whisper that consumed her whole body in flames, erupting in a climax that took her to the moon and back. Hermione screamed his name, but then bit his neck to silence herself.

Feeling her walls contract around him, Sirius buried himself as far as he could go, and with three long thrusts spent himself inside her, Hermione's name dying on his lips.

The two lovers could only lie there, completely sated, wrapped in each other's arms, and drift off to sleep, finally feeling that every piece of the puzzle had come together.

                                                                                                            ***~~~***

Sirius slowly entered the land of living, blinking groggily, not quite sure of where he was. Bur he quickly noticed that his arms were tightly wrapped around something warm and curvy that was currently trying to burrow it's way into his chest.

'Hi,' he whispered, glancing down to meet the pair of delicious brown eyes that had lifted to meet his.

'Hi yourself,' Hermione whispered back, not able to contain the grin that erupted onto her face.

'What time is it?'

'No idea,' she answered. 'But I'm pretty sure we have plenty of time before we have to meet everyone.'

'Plenty of time, huh? Whatever shall we do? I am completely stumped for activities,' the older man deadpanned, while his never-ending arousal rubbed against her leg.

Raising herself up on one arm, Hermione looked down at Sirius. 'What would you do if I refused to do this with you anymore?

He just grinned, pulling the warm sheets up further around them. 'I'd cry but then try and arouse enough to change your mind.'

'Being aroused, eh? Sounds intriguing, so we'll try this out. Sirius, I refuse to have sex with you,' she said with one eyebrow raised.

Taking this cue, Sirius jumped on the brunette, and kissing her neck among her squeals of amusement, commenced in taking his merry way with her.

                                                                                                            ***~~~***

'As much as I love the sight of you eating cereal at my table totally naked, it's about time to get dressed,' Hermione said, leaning against the doorjamb, not so clothed herself.

Drinking the last bit of milk out of his bowl, Sirius got up and stretched, causing Hermione to seriously want to take back her words and stare at his muscles for the next twenty years. 'Why, what time is it?' he said, yawning widely.

'5:30,' Hermione replied, and Sirius whirled to fully face her.

'Bloody hell, are you joking? I guess we lost track of time.'

Smiling, Hermione walked over and wrapped her arms around him. 'Well, I was trying to keep on top of things, but I guess I stopped paying attention when I was on top of you. Hmmm, funny how that works,' she said cheekily.

Kissing her thoroughly, Sirius pulled back and headed toward the bathroom.

'Where are you going?' she called after him.

'To take a shower,' came his voice.

'But we've already had two today!'

His head appeared around the door, grinning at her. "Yes, but I was quite distracted those last times, and had no time to properly wash myself. If you'll excuse me…' he disappeared, but popped back a second later. 'You might want to jump on that clothing bandwagon sometime soon yourself…is it me or is it chilly in here?' Casting a significant look at her chest, Sirius disappeared and it was not longer before running water and strains of his rich baritone could be heard.

                                                                                                            ***~~~***

At the appointed time, Sirius and Hermione traipsed down to meet the others at the property line, managing to escape detection as they both exited Hermione's room, causing her portrait guardian to giggle obnoxiously. Sirius had a backpack slung over his shoulder that he had picked up on his way down full of weapons and assorted paraphernalia he thought might come in handy.

As they neared, Draco spotted them and his eyes lit up. 'You seem to be excellently equipped, Sirius,' eyeing the bag of weapons.

Noticing the silvery cloak he held and the dangerous knives harnessed at Draco's belt, Sirius replied, 'as do you.'

Taking the bait, Draco cheekily said, 'thank-you! I didn't think you tell through these trousers,' exciting giggles from some of the group.

'You know, not kneeing you in the groin is a constant struggle,' Ginny whispered to him.

Turning to her, he smiled down fondly at her. 'Aww muffin.' But remembering the seriousness of the situation, Draco quickly got down to business.

'Once the timing is right and everyone who needs to has gotten into their disguises, I'll apparate in first to disable the wards surrounding the Manor, and once that is done, I'll send a signal to Virginia here and she'll bring the rest of you in. Tonight is simply for recon; we're not there to fight any battles yet, and these weapons are only for protection. If you meet up with any Deatheaters and they recognize you or see that you mean danger to them, you either have to kill them or perform a memory charm so powerful that it can never be broken. And unfortunately, I can only see a very select few of here that can do this, so the killing curse seems to be our only way out of that situation. Right before you apparate here, Virginia will be giving you fake galleons that will be used as your portkey back to this spot. When I feel that we've done all the recon necessary for tonight, I will perform a spell that will cause each portkey to heat up, so that you'll definitely notice it and take it as your cue to meet everyone back here for warm milk and cookies.'

'Does that spell actually work, Draco?' Charlie asked sceptically.

Sneaking a humourous look at Hermione, he replied, 'I heard that it was quite successful to call members to meetings of a banned club at Hogwarts in my fifth year. Something about galleons heating up to signal the announcement of the next meeting, with the numbers on the coin changing to show the date. Hermione, did you hear about that? If you have, maybe you could explain a little more.'

Ignoring the knowing smiles on Harry and Ginny's faces, she carefully crafted a blank face. 'I don't have any recollection of the event in question.'

Smothering a laugh, Draco ended up wearing his signature smirk. 'Moving on, I want to move under the cover of darkness and as it's still light out, we need to wait. But in the meantime, if you need disguises, put them on now, and once you're done, I'm going to need you all to implement the buddy system. For safety reasons only!' he replied as some of the group groaned. 'And because I'm feeling in a devilish mood, I'll make up the partners. I'm with Virginia without question, Charlie and Fred can go together,' he paused, watching as Snape edged silently away from Harry. 'Professor Snape can be with Potter, leaving Hermione and Sirius to pair up.'

Shooting his protégé a look of complete betrayal, Snape shook his head and moved back besides Harry, casting a Disillusionment charm as he went. Hermione watched the three Weasley children apply glamour charms to their head, changing their signature red to darker shades, effectively hiding any evidence that they were Weasleys.

Feeling Sirius shift nervously next to her, Hermione moved closer in the ever-growing darkness. 'Padfoot, where's your sense of adventure?'

'Uh, that's in my other pants.' But he lightened up at her words.

As the group waited a little longer for twilight to fully fall, Ginny remarked casually to her boyfriend, 'you know, if something bad happens, I'm gonna blame you.'

'What?' Draco cried. 'But it won't even be my fault!'

'I didn't say that it was your fault. I said I was gonna blame you.'

Draco slipped his cold hand inside Ginny's cloak, and rested it under her shirt against her warm lower back. She stifled a squeak, and swung to look at him with a murderous glint in her eye.

'Am I going to be punished later?' he asked, keeping his face straight. 'I'm a naughty boy. I think if something happens, I need to be taught a very hard lesson.'

'We'll see what kind of mood I'm in when we get back.'

They just stood together, arms wrapped around each other until Draco noticed that darkness had fully fallen. Turning back to the group, he cleared his throat. "I'm heading out now, and when I'm done disabling the wards, I'll send the signal back here to Virginia, who will then bring you in like we discussed.' With that, he Apparated away, leaving the rest to shiver from the brisk breeze and mounting nervousness.

After a few minutes, Ginny felt a sharp pinch on her backside; the same one Draco would give her when he teased her. 'That bastard!' she whispered.

Catching her voice, Hermione called over, 'what's up Gin?'

'I just got the signal from Draco so it's time to head out.'

'Are you sure that was it? I mean, with all due respect Miss Weasley, the rest of us saw no such signal,' Snape drawled.

'Trust me, it was the signal,' she said, emotion betrayed by the deep blush that spread across her cheeks. 'When we Apparate in, it'll all be to one spot right inside the woods behind the Manor, where we can only stay for a moment. Draco will tell us where the Deatheaters are at that time, and then your next locations will be disclosed to you. Just recon, remember? Don't actively seek out any one of us, or any one of them. Just stick to spying and we'll be fine. Okay?'

As no one had any questions, Ginny motioned them forward to Apparate away. Thinking the words, 'Malfoy Manor,' in her head, Hermione flicked her wand and closed her eyes, opening them at last to stare into the caring eyes of one Sirius Black.

A/N: Holy crap! I hope you all realize that this was 17 pages on my computer. So I hope I've satisfied you all with a great huge long chapter. And if any of my friends laughs at me about the sex scene, grrr. You know I have no idea what I'm talking about. You can call me a virgin, you can call me innocent, you can even call me a virgin, but just remember this:………………

Remember what Lisa?

What?

You were making a point just now?

When? Nevermind, can we go?

Sorry about this. Loved the Justin Timberlake SNL, so leave me alone.

Please review and tell me that my long slaving over the computer and withholding this chapter from you for a while wasn't in vain. Love you all!!!!!!!!!