DISCLAIMER: I, Meia, do not own one speckle of the Harry Potter series. If I did, I would not live in the backwoods of nowhereville.

Chapter 3

Hermione's breath caught in her throat as she stared at the figure standing in front of her, staring at her in wonderment. For a moment, she honestly thought she was gazing at a ghost meant to torment her and plague her with memories. But no, it was really him and he was really there.

"Sirius?"

He smiled softly at her. He knew he looked way different than the last time he saw her, as an old man that is. The veil had someone backed his aging up and he was now what appeared to be a twenty-five year old. But to anyone that would get a closer look, they would see a knowledge in his eyes that no twenty-five year old could possess.

"Hello Hermione," he whispered softly. "I thought it was you. I would notice your hair anywhere," he added with a doggy grin.

She finally allowed herself to smile as she gazed at his smiling face. Then her smile fell as she remembered that he was supposed to be dead. "Sirius….what….why…..how are you alive?"

He chuckled as he realized that she must wonder how he was standing in front of her when he was supposedly dead. After all, she was the only one that wasn't there when he got back and the only one he was really watching for. "They saved me from behind the veil…the ministry that is."

Hermione looked at him like she still wasn't comprehending it all and he understood that she must be overwhelmed by it all. He decided to change the subject. "So….are you moving back?"

"I already have. I just got everything unpacked and…."

Sirina suddenly cried, breaking off Hermione's response. Sirius looked curiously at the car and then at Hermione. Great, she thought to herself, now I'm going to have to explain to a dead man that he has a kid.

"Uh…I have to go," she said quickly and darted to the driver's door. She jumped in the car and started it up, leaving the parking lot and leaving a baffled, but still sexy, Sirius staring after her.

"I don't believe you."

"I don't care if you believe me or not, I'm telling you the truth."

"She wouldn't keep something like that from us."

"Well obviously she did."

"Why would she?"

"How am I supposed to know? I've been dead and gone for a while remember?"

"I'm sorry, I just can't believe you."

"I'm telling you the truth Harry. Hermione had a kid with her and I'm pretty sure that it was hers."

Sirius and Harry were sitting in the library of the Black House, discussing the events of the day. Sirius had just arrived home and immediately beckoned his godson, who was now close to his age, to the library to talk. He had just finished telling Harry about the baby's cry and Hermione's panicked face when Harry protested.

"Okay," Harry said slowly, "let's pretend that what you say is the truth…."

"I already told you," Sirius said impatiently, "it's the truth."

"Whatever," Harry dismissed, "why would Hermione keep a child from us all? Why would she….wait a minute…."

Sirius glanced up quickly. Harry had the look of a man that just realized some sort of vital information as he gazed at his godfather in understanding. "What?"

Harry smiled secretly. It was obvious that Sirius had yet to realize the truth. "Don't you see? It explains it all: why she left without a word, why she kept the baby hidden, and why she hardly ever contacted us and always refused our invitations before."

"What explains it all?" Sirius asked again. He honestly had no idea what Harry was talking about. For a guy with such good looks, he could be pretty dense sometimes.

"Come on Sirius, think about it. She left as soon as she returned from the past. Why? Because she missed you and knew that you were dead…"

"But I wasn't, not really."

"She didn't know that; none of us knew that. She only told me that she fell in love with you while she was away. Hermione never was one to have people look at her with pity which probably explains why she left. She didn't want anyone to feel sorry for her. She wanted a fresh start where no one knew about her past and you."

Sirius stared at his godson, wondering how in the world he concluded all of that from such little information. But he realized that Harry had a valid and excellent point. Hermione never did like for people to feel sorry for her, especially her friends, so she probably did leave for that reason. But still…. "But she's returned. She even told me that."

"Maybe she decided it was time to come home," Harry said simply.

"May be…" Sirius said slowly, his words drifting off with his thoughts.

The doors opened, revealing a smiling Ginny. "Hey you two, what are you guys in here whispering about?"

"Hermione," Harry answered, pulling her into his embrace.

"What about Hermione?" Ginny asked concerned. She had been worried about Hermione for a long time now.

"Sirius saw her today."

Ginny pulled out of Harry's arms and spun around to look at Sirius. "Where? Was she okay? Is she coming back for good."

"At the mall. She looked fine. And she told me she was back," Sirius answered dutifully.

"So," Ginny started slowly, looking from Harry's face to Sirius', "what's the problem?"

"Well….for starters, I don't really think that she realized it was really me talking to her today. She looked as if she thought she was dreaming and would wake up at any given moment."

"That's understandable. Remember Sirius, you are supposed to be a dead man at the moment," Ginny reminded him.

"I am also supposed to be older, but I only look a few years older than you guys," Sirius told her.

"But she didn't have any warning that you were alive. All Harry told her in the note was that she had a 'surprise,' not what the surprise was."

"Okay, okay…."

"What else?"

"What do you mean what else?" Sirius asked. He didn't really want to tell her incase the baby wasn't really hers and she was only babysitting.

"Quit stalling, what else?" Ginny had a way of seeing through their facades just like her mother actually. Sirius threw Harry a sympathetic look, meaning that neither Harry or any future kids would be able to get away with anything.

"Well, we were talking and she was telling me how she just got a new place when we were interrupted."

"Interrupted?" Ginny slowly repeated.

"Yeah."

"Care to explain?" She asked impatiently.

"A baby cried," Harry supplied, looking warily at Sirius.

Ginny spun around to look at Harry imploringly, realizing that Sirius probably wasn't going to supply any more information. "Who's baby?"

"Well, that's the problem. We don't know. We need to ask Hermione before we go making assumptions."

The doorbell rang at that time, stopping any further comment from Ginny on the subject. She walked over to the window and peered out of it, moving the curtains a little to the side. She had a smile on her face as she turned back towards them.

"Well, here's your chance boys."

"What?" They both exclaimed.

"Hermione is out there, with a baby I might add. Now's your chance to go and ask her."

With that, Ginny turned and left the room, leaving Harry and Sirius staring at the closed door with apprehension. They slowly turned to face each other, neither wanting to be the one to go out and ask. Realizing what must be down, godson and godfather made their way out of the room and towards the living room, where a great silence was echoing off the walls.

A/N: WOW! That was a long one…for me anyways. I just got in the mood. I'm sorry if I rushed things a little bit, I just wanted to get that done with. I can probably promise you that this story will probably not be as long as All My Yesterdays. This is just more like a "tie up the loose ends" kind of deal.

Anyways…I was at the mall today, minding my own business, when this guys walks up to me. He wasn't that much older than me. Anyways, he shoved this baby in my face and was like "I have a fetus" My mom and her friend was laughing hysterically behind me and all I could say was "that's nice…um…excuse me." At first I thought he said "I have a penis" but then I saw the doll. If I had thought of it at the time, I should have put my hand on my stomach and said, "Really? I do too." That's my funny story for the day.

I'll try TRY to update tomorrow. I can't promise anything though.

THANK YOU TO ALL OF MY REVIEWERS! PLEASE REVIEW!