"So
who wrote it then? -The diary." Ginny asked
desperately.
Hermione shrugged,
"I had no idea, but after
calming down I knew it was vital to continue translating. I got to
another part which made me run to my calendar,
'After witnessing
all I had in that dastardly place, seeing her collapse was the worst.
She seemed to think she had lost everything; she fell down and just
sobbed to herself. She would not let me hold or console her. When
asked upon the subject, she tried to explain between sobs that she
had just realized we had no means of calculating time, which meant it
was more than likely we could never escape. She stated that if after
a year of being engulfed by the veil the person had not returned.
They never could.'
"I desperately jumped up to my calendar to
work out how long Sirius had been there for. It had only been a
couple of months, but I knew everything I had to do would take an
age. I quickly sent an owl to Dumbledore explaining everything-"
Mrs.
Weasley's voice suddenly interrupted Hermione,
"What are you
two talking to rapturously about? Come, join in! I haven't seen you
in so long Hermione!"
Hermione smiled and looked to Ginny's
concentrated face.
"This probably isn't the time." She
laughed, "I'll fill you in soon I promise." And with that
Hermione reached over and kissed Ginny on the cheek whilst embracing
her. Ginny got up to her feet and offered her hands to pull Hermione
up as everyone else got seated at the table. Ginny went to grab a
seat before they all went and Hermione seized her chance to turn
away. She brought her hand up t her face and gently touched her cut;
she flinched as her finger lightly brushed her skin and felt the deep
incision she seemed to have won as her war-trophy. She swallowed and
tried in vain to pull her hair over her face, knowing that it would
just fall back again.
Shaking the scar out of mind she turned to
the table with a smile. The table was crammed full to the brim.
Ginny, Harry and Fred all seemed to be crammed onto just two chairs,
there was a spare one but it was obviously reserved for the cook,
(Molly). Hermione's eyes automatically found Sirius and without
hesitation she walked over to him. He pulled her onto his lap almost
subconsciously as she helped herself to a mini-cocktail sausage that
Molly had previously lay down.
"Let's here it for our
returned loved-ones then!" Remus Lupin shouted, and everyone
roared in agreement, lifting their glasses high in the air. Happiness
drifted in and out of everyone there, the warm blanket of joy wrapped
around them all, keeping them warm after such a long time of
cold.
Hermione raised her glass of wine to Sirius before drinking,
he raised it back with a smile and they chinked the edge together.
After
a long and celebration-crammed night Hermione sauntered back up to
her room. Sirius was still downstairs drinking with Lupin and Mr.
Weasley. Ginny had wanted to come upstairs with her and hear the rest
of her tale, however Hermione had politely told her she was very
tired and wished to sleep. Ginny was disappointed, but Hermione
didn't really feel like re-living through what she done after such a
perfect night of celebrations.
After closing the door behind her
she searched her suitcase for the pajamas Molly had informed her she
had put in there. Hermione spotted some baggy, cotton, light blue
ones; she promptly changed into them and went to the bathroom to
clean her teeth and face.
As she was drying her face she heard the
bedroom door open. Poking her head round the bathroom door she
breathed a sigh of relief as she saw Sirius close the door behind
him.
"I thought you would be down there longer that that."
Hermione said as she wondered over to the laundry basket to place her
towel there.
Sirius turned at the sound of her voice and took in
her blue pajamas.
Smiling, he spoke,
"I saw you leave.
Didn't know if you wanted to be alone or not. So I thought I'd come
up, and if you chucked me out then I would gather you wanted to be
alone."
"Well. I might, you know, just chuck you out
anyway." Hermione joked.
"Oh yeah?"
"yeah"
"Oh
yeah?"
"Yeeah.
"Oh yeah?"
"OK
Sirius, jokes over." Hermione said with her eyebrows
raised.
"Right that's it." Sirius said shaking his head
and walking toward Hermione, "there's nothing else for it. I'm
afraid-" He took more steps toward her, Hermione started to
smile and back away, "I'm going to have to-" Sirius
suddenly darted forward and hooked his arms underneath her legs, he
picked a laughing and screaming Hermione up over his shoulder and
strode over to her bed.
"Put me down you big bully!" She
laughed.
"Whatever you say Miss." Sirius swung her over
his shoulder and she landed with a 'plunk' on her back on her bed.
He
lay down beside her on his side, leaning on his elbow. She stopped
laughing and smiled at him.
"That taught you a lesson
anyway." He said manner-of-factly.
"You're just a big
kid aren't you?" Hermione said, whilst brushing a piece of his
hair from his eyes and hooking it behind his ears.
"Only when
I'm around you. You are a bad influence."
"Me? 'Little
Miss know it all' is a bad influence to one of the infamous
marauders?!" Hermione asked disbelievingly. She lay her head
down on her pillow so she was still facing him and closed her
eyes.
"Night Hermione." Sirius whispered after a moment
and began to sit up, however he felt a hand on his arm and looked
back to see Hermione, eyes open, looking him in the eyes.
"Lie
with me, please."
Sirius nodded and smiled slightly, he lay
himself down on his side once more, this time with him head beside
Hermione's on the pillow. He reached over with his uncovered arm and
laid it across Hermione's waist.
"Night." He whispered
once more, and closed his eyes with his head beside her's.