"Go! Get Hermione!" Lupin demanded.
Draco nodded, and Disapparated.
Lupin began dragging himself up to the dais.
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Hermione had been up since she had left Sirius on the couch, sitting in her room and tossing in her bed. There were a great many things to think about, she soon found, and her mind would make tiring rounds of them all. She knew herself well enough to be aware of that.
Why did you "kiss" him? She berated herself.
He's been so kind and understanding….
Don't be ridiculous. You like him.
Remembering what it felt like, her hand lost in his, or her finding herself, locked steadily in his arms… it was too much for the denying part of Hermione's brain to continue.
Well, maybe like, but I could only ever love Ron. We both know that.
Hermione could have sworn her slightly more sadistic self gave a derisive snort. I'm not so sure we do. You know, when you'd stop studying that damn arch and get to pining, it was for Sirius just as often as if was for Ron.
It wasn't!
It was!
Wasn't!
Was!
I'm not going to argue about this anymore.
Ha! I win!
No. I meant that the notion of me possibly ever falling in love… with him… when I was so irreversibly in love with Ron… it's just really… really… ridiculous.
There was a long silence between both parts of her mind, tense enough that, if they had been human, both would be red in the face and staring each other down.
The uninvolved, back part of her mind now began churning somewhere completely apart from these two. Sensations returned to Hermione, floating unbidden to the area of the chasm that was Hermione's head right before her eyes. How it was like to be held and kissed senseless by Sirius… how she still burned with curiosity to know how Sirius tasted, to feel his lips at her mouth again… how sickening and wrenching it was to be reminded of their difference in age….
Then why did you "kiss" him? Her sadistic self asked again, and she had no choice but to begin the inner argument all over again.
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When Hermione had worn out her bed, as well as the notion of ever possibly going to sleep, she decided to do the one thing she could always resort to in times like these… and take a shower.
As it turned out, the shower turned into a very, very long shower, this in turn became a very, very long bath. The sadistic part of Hermione's mind faded away to its own version of sleep, so her conscience, for lack of anything better to do, argued with itself.
I can't love him.
…
I don't know… maybe I can.
But I. Love. Ron. Period.
Whoever said I can't love them both?
B-but… it would be an insult to Ron's memory, to go to Sirius like that.
Would it?
Yes! You know how jealous Ron used to get.
She shuddered, remembering the Krum incident. The water quivered around her.
Well, he certainly wouldn't want me moping about anymore!
Hermione's mental argument stopped then and there, and she stopped on her way to pulling the plug. A thought to freeing, so liberating had come to her all at once, causing all sections of her brain to sing it at once, in perfect harmony; it was less an idea, but the kind of thing ideas are born of; that they readily sprang from, demanding use. It rooted Hermione to the spot, and ran her heart through the strangest sensation, almost like it had sped to the speed of a motorbike, and stopped altogether all at once. Parts of her were icy and shocked, others warm and flustered. She had no piece of mind left for thought, but had she had one, it would be saying, Now this is a realization.
"I love him." She thought it so loud that it pried itself from her lips.
The sadistic part of her mind woke up just in time to say, Ha! I win!
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Hermione rocketed, all of a sudden, from the bathtub, not even bothering to pull the plug on the water. She towel-dried at the speed of light, pulled on her bedclothes once more, and ran into the den, not really all that sure what she was actually going to do once there.
When she got there, however, Sirius was conspicuously absent.
Somehow, Draco Malfoy was there, pacing fretfully. He turned to Hermione and almost smiled.
"Hey Granger. It's been a while."
Hermione fainted.
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She woke up to someone slapping her repeatedly in the face. Before she was capable of actual thought, she sat up and slapped back.
Malfoy fell backwards, using words to describe Hermione and all her family that she was too dazed to take in.
"What the hell are you doing here?" She demanded, somehow blaming Malfoy for stopped her millions of ideas' progress (most of which… okay, all of which resulted in quenching that gnawing curiosity to lean how Sirius tasted).
"It's bloody enough that they give me assignments to chase after face-slapping witches, but she has to go all barmy and fainty first? Thanks a whole bloody lot!" Draco muttered, seemingly to nobody. He then turned to Hermione, annoyance written in his every superior feature. "We haven't much time. I need your help."
Hermione's eyebrow lifted a few centimeters "Oh?"
"Don't be so damn condescending, Granger!" Draco yelled, eyes narrowing.
Hermione's eyebrow stayed aloft. She said nothing.
Draco rolled his eyes. "The trouble I go through… it's exhausting, it really is… I should definitely get a raise…."
"What do you need, Malfoy?" Hermione asked irately. "And what have you done to Sirius?"
"I bloody well saved your lovebird's life." Draco shot back immediately. "But I'm really not sure how long that will last. I need you to come to the Department of Mysteries with me to take loverboy and Pro—Lupin to the hospital."
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A/N: Oh, I am so sorry I'm so late! The trip was longer than expected, and I couldn't get to a computer with internet for a long while. Everybody thank my friend Bekah for letting me use her computer to update this!