A/N: I'm kinda out of idea for this chapter. So, it's kinda bullshit. Though I still need this chapter for the upcoming ones.
Revised: 27 August 2004
The Future Awaits
Chapter 7: Not a good actress is she?
"Argh!! My neck hurts! I'm telling you, it's going to break anytime soon. I'll be a downright great company to Sir Nicholas when I become 'Nearly Headless Ron Weasley'."
Hermione went up to her boyfriend and started massaging his neck and shoulders.
"Aww… Ron… my poor ishy-bishy-boyfriend… I've been trying to tell you always to sleep properly on your pillow. No wonder your neck pains you."
Harry came out from the bathroom, drying his messy wet hair with a towel.
"You know, Mione. Ron and I've been sharing the same dorm for 7 years. I can tell you that his body is never intact when asleep. Once I caught him snoring with one leg up the headboard and the other on the end table. I wonder what kind of dreams made him turn his position…" Harry said thoughtfully.
"Tell me about it. Just this morning, I woke up with his big foot greeting me to the new day!"
Ron flushed and muttered, "I'm sorry."
Hermione giggled and lowered herself to kiss his cheek. Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Who might that be? None of them were told that they would have any visitors today. Harry grabbed his wand and cautiously peeked into the peephole.
"Ah!" Harry breathed out gleefully.
"Hey Harry! Thought it is Sunday and we wanted to make a morning visit."
He let both Remus and Sirius in.
"But Sirius was just here yesterday?" Harry said in mocked innocence.
Sirius shot him a playful glare making Harry grinned in return. He stopped when he caught sight of Hermione kneading Ron affectionately. Remus must have seen his contorted face since he gave him a warning nudge.
"What's wrong, Ron?" Remus asked.
"He's just scared that he'll end up accompanying Nearly Headless Nick," pointed Hermione.
Sirius snorted. Hermione looked at him oddly and then grinned.
The five of them chatted for what seemed like hours when Hermione received an owl from the Ministry.
"Oh dear!"
"What?!" the four men cried in unison.
"8 DeathEaters broke out from Azkaban."
"How come you got the news first?" asked Sirius.
"Maybe perhaps she's a member of the Ministry, Sirius. Or also perhaps she's a Vice-President in her Department," Harry answered sarcastically.
"No need to be so satirical, my dear godson," Sirius sneered, but at the same time impressed with Hermione's position. She had never told him about that. 'Though yeah,' he thought, 'what's so surprising about that?'
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Three in the afternoon, Sirius and Remus were back at their house. Remus was busy searching something from his cupboard when he came upon a photo album of his school days.
"Hey! Take a look at this!" he said, throwing the album at Sirius and then continued searching his cupboard.
"What? Oh."
The album contained lots of moving pictures. There was one where James was giving Sirius a piggy-back ride, one with James playing with a snitch, and another one with Remus and Peter laughing at something. His heart boiled at the memory of Peter.
His breath got caught when he finally saw a picture of the Marauders, including Lily and… Hermione. Sirius had his arms wrapped around her, with her back on his chest. The picture-Sirius was occasionally pecking her on her cheeks, neck and lips, making her giggle and squirm in his grab. The same goes with Lily and James; he was tickling Lily every now and then, while the rest of the Marauders just stood there chuckling. He then remembered how hard it was to convince Hermione to take the group photo.
"No, Sirius. I hate taking photos."
"It's just a snap. What must I do to make you reconsider?"
"Nothing."
Sirius couldn't help but feel irritated with his girlfriend. She's so pretty. Of all the girls Sirius had gone out with, they had always loved to pose for pictures, especially with him. So what's different with her?
He sighed. Yeah… that's what I like about her. She's different.
"Fine! You know what? I'm carrying you there! Whether you like it or not!" With that, Sirius pulled Hermione up and carried her as if she was a potato sack.
"SIRIUS!! You put me down this instant!!"
"No."
"Sirius! I need to finish my homework!"
"You can complete it later."
She was kicking and trashing her legs and hands. Even when they joined the group, she was looking as if she was unsure whether being there was the right place to be.
::: End of Flashback :::
"Found it!!" exclaimed Remus, putting Sirius out from his reverie. Sirius sighed. He remembered the photos at her apartment. She seemed so photogenic. He sat there looking at nothing, with the album on his lap.
"You know, Hermione was not a very good actress, if you asked me," Remus said.
"What do you mean?"
"I remember her looking nervous when taking this picture. I think she knew that taking it was not a good idea because she's from the future. It's just that we were fool enough not to figure it out."
Sirius stared at his friend who continued, "Even now, I can still remember moments when she'd fidget about something she said."
"Why Remus, I didn't know you were ogling at my girlfriend all along."
Remus rolled his eyes, "Well, I can't help it if she's so pretty, can't I?"
"Why you!!" Sirius smacked his friend's head with the album. They continued whacking each other not noticing a 'CRACK' sound in the room.
"I didn't know you guys are still that immature!"
Sirius and Remus stopped abruptly.
"Harry!" They cried in unison, looking flustered, making Harry chuckled.
"Why are you here?" asked Remus.
"Well, I'm bored at home. Ron and Hermione went out for their date."
Sirius frowned.
"Have a seat, while I make you some grape juice. Got that from the supper-market you recommended me to," Remus said while making way into the kitchen.
"Super-market, Remus," Harry corrected, shaking his head.
"I can't believe Remus got those muggle terms wrong. Considering he scored high for 'Muggle Studies' at school," Sirius wondered.
"I can assure you, Sirius, that they never cover everything about muggles. Sometimes I'm just glad I'm from both the Muggle and Wizarding worlds. Not like some Pureblood fools."
Sirius scowled. "That's just mean, Harry!"
"Oh! Sorry. I forgot that you're one of them," Harry grinned, earning him a whack on the head.
"Oh! That reminds me! I've got something to show you."
"Great! Whacking my head makes an old man regain his memory! How interesting!"
"Hey! I'm not that old!"
"Sure, Sirius."
"Wait here," Sirius said, rolling his eyes.
Harry chuckled to himself when Sirius went into his room. His eyes finally landed on an opened album on the coffee table in front of him.
A/N: Yeah… 'Uh Oh!' You can say that!