PART 2
Things didn't develop much further than that kiss. In fact, it was the only kiss the two had exchanged so far. The teasing, however, was more intense on Sirius' part. Hermione came to the conclusion that not silencing the room on purpose when she touched herself was a shot that, in the end, backfired. Sirius didn't miss a single opportunity to imply that he was the object of desire in the witch's erotic dreams, and she started closing the door and silencing the room every night before going to sleep. Which, obviously, was a reason for discussion between the two of them. Sirius said that Hermione had silenced the room to punish him for his teasing. Hermione said she was just seeking some privacy. Sirius then promised to stop talking about it, Hermione replied that she never said she wanted him to stop. The man asked why she wanted privacy then, and she implied that she might not be having fun alone. Sirius' face turned purple and he tried to forbid her from bringing any men home. She, in turn, teased by saying that he had no problem bringing anyone, so she could bring people too if she wanted so. The man finally shouted that the witch wanted to drive him crazy and slammed the kitchen door.
But, as usual, it didn't take an apology for them to make up. Sirius joined Hermione on the couch, but unlike what he always did, he didn't pull her legs into his lap. He pulled her whole body onto his. She was startled, but then relaxed against his chest as he stroked her arm and rested his chin on her curly hair.
"It's been months since I've brought anyone here, you know that", Sirius said, looking like a sulky child. Hermione laughed.
"And I've never brought anyone here, you know that too", she replied.
"I know, I just forget to think straight when I get angry".
"We have to stop fighting so much, don't you think?" she asked, and he stared at her incredulously.
"Never".
"Do you want to fight all the time?", she asked, pulling away from his embrace so that she could face him.
"Of course I do", he answered, as if it made perfect sense, "if we don't fight, how are we going to keep up this routine of you sulking and me petting you like a stray dog to make up?"
Hermione burst out laughing. He was right about one thing. They had this thing going on, and the witch liked it when he petted her, liked it when the two of them were together like that, and also liked to argue with him. It was like a competition, and both Hermione and Sirius were extremely competitive. Hermione didn't know what that was, what they actually had. They were more than friends, that was evident. But they were not boyfriend and girlfriend. They never got past the teasing. She wanted more than that and, she didn't know it, but so did he. Both of them, however, didn't know how to get out of that cycle and relate to each other in a serious way as adults. So they argued, fought, and then made up, because they didn't know how to do it differently.
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Harry's visits, once so welcome, were now a martyrdom for Sirius. Every minute with Harry was a minute less with her. His godson was trying to convince him to have Christmas that year there at Grimmauld Place, and he was ready to retort that he didn't want to have a full house, contemplating vomiting at once that he didn't want to share her attention, when she entered the room.
"That's a great idea, Harry!" she exclaimed, "don't you think so, Sirius?"
His godson stared at him expectantly, while Hermione stared with interest, that damn smile on her lips.
"That's a great idea indeed" he replied, defeated.
However, Christmas had been better than Sirius had expected. Ted, taught by George, had scattered bewitching mistletoe all over the house, which kept people trapped until they kissed. This led to several hilarious situations like Neville having to kiss Charlie, who had just returned from Romania, and Charlie having to kiss Luna. When Hermione and Ron got stuck under the mistletoe, Sirius' smile died. They gave them nothing more than a brushing of lips, but it stirred a fury within him. In those few moments when Sirius' mask fell away, Harry always seemed to be close. His godson approached him.
"Jealous?" Harry asked, jokingly.
"You bet I am" Sirius replied, turning his back and grabbing a bottle of booze that was on the table, popping the cork and drinking straight from the spout. He left a stunned Harry behind.
Sirius sat down by the fireplace and listened to Ted taking advice from George about explosive devices and how to hide them from Filch once the toddler attent to Hogwarts. The subject reminded him of his naughty youth and soon he was already invested in the subject, leaving even Fred surprised at the amount of banter he did within the castle walls back in his days. Hermione, dodging yet another mistletoe, approached the three of them.
"Ted, don't listen to them, especially not him" she said, pointing at Sirius, "he's not a good influence for you".
"Well, well, Miss Granger" George sneered, "you sound like you used to be pretty straight, don't you? Have you forgotten, by any chance, when you punched Malfoy in the face?"
"You what?" Sirius asked, surprised, with a huge grin on his face, "my kitten punched a Malfoy?"
Hermione blushed when Sirius called her his kitten, and was relieved when she realized that George didn't seem to notice anything different.
"It was a one-time thing! And he deserved it" she explained.
"You are the dirt talking about the garbage!"* Sirius accused, grinning from ear to ear, "I'm sharing a roof with a trespasser and I didn't know it!"
"Please, Sirius, I would have to be much dirtier to be compared to you".
"I think you've proven yourself dirty enough, don't you?", he teased.
"And here we go again!" Molly cut them both off, "don't you ever get tired of arguing? By Merlin, every meeting is the same thing. It's Christmas, stop fighting!"
"We're not fighting" the two replied in unison, and burst out laughing. Ted, although he didn't understand anything, laughed along with them. George looked at them interested.
Ginny called Hermione over to meet Luna's fiancé, who was apparently a Scamander heir, and the chestnut seemed very excited. Sirius watched carefully as the witch left with the redhead exclaiming something about asking for a signature in her book.
"How long has it been?" George asked, propping himself up beside Sirius and taking a sip of his beer.
"And you're talking about...?" Sirius questioned, still keeping his eyes on Hermione.
"You and her" George explained with a mocking smile on his face, "it's obvious to everyone in here that you two are enjoying your stay together quite a bit, if you know what I mean. Are the separate rooms just for show?
"We've never slept together" Sirius replied, glaring at the red-haired man, who was only a few inches shorter than he was.
"Well, that's a surprise. You should, my dear friend. Preferably before everyone here is crushed to death by the weight of this enormous sexual tension between you two".
Sirius clicked his tongue in his teeth and turned back to face Hermione laughing as he chatted with this Scamander guy and Luna. She had a bottle of beer in her hand and was gesticulating frantically as she told him something apparently very funny, since it got laughs from the other two.
"Is it that obvious?" Sirius asked. He saw Hermione pointing to the already empty bottle and probably explaining that she would get more.
"It's obvious enough" George said, "if you're waiting for a moment, it's given to you. The kitchen is empty and ripe for a kiss or something else".
When Sirius faced the red-haired man, he gave him a wink and left to find Bill. Sirius made his way to the kitchen and, indeed, it was almost empty. Only Hermione was in it, leaning into the liquor cabinet, which was nothing more than an old broom closet that George had cast a cooling spell on to keep the drinks slightly chilled. The skirt of the red dress she wore rode up and revealed the curve of the back of her knee. Her hair, straightened, fell softly down her back, not far below shoulder height. He stared at the scene for a few seconds, then noticed a small mistletoe above the closet door. He approached it and stopped just behind her.
"Do you need help?" he asked in a deep voice, causing her to jump.
"By Merlin, Sirius! You scared me" she replied, putting her hand on her chest, "I just came to get another beer, it's the last one".
She held the bottle closed, showing it to him, and turned to leave, but she couldn't. She looked up to see the mistletoe.
"Oh, no! Again?" she complained, more to herself than to him.
"Is it so bad that you have to kiss me, kitten?" Sirius asked, staring at her. Her lips, always so inviting, were criminally more inviting tinged with that red lipstick. Sirius cornered her against the closet door, putting an arm on either side of her body, but she didn't seem to mind. On the contrary, she brought her hands up to his chest and played with the buttons of his shirt.
"You know exactly how I feel about kissing you, Sirius" she replied, and he took her mouth in his.
Sirius demanded passage with his tongue, sucking and licking her lips that tasted of beer and whiskey, holding her tightly against him as he felt her fingers sink into his hair, pulling the black strands tight. The wizard felt like a hungry animal feeding for the first time in years. He pushed her into the closet/storage room and closed the door, locking them both in there, pulled her up and squeezed her arse through her dress as she wrapped her legs around his torso. When she moaned against his mouth, Sirius' body reacted, and he slid his mouth to her ear.
"If you don't ask me to stop, I'm going to fuck you right here" he said against her ear, and she sighed.
"I won't ask you to stop" she whispered, and clamped her mouth back onto his.
Sirius pressed her against the wall and gripped her arse so tightly that Hermione was sure that the next day his handprints would be on her buttocks, and that only turned her on even more. He kissed her intensely, and she responded. It had been weeks of that urge, weeks of teasing, and Sirius was ecstatic that he was finally going to fuck her until she said "enough".
However, when Sirius' hand began tugging at her panties with the intention of ripping them from her body, Hermione pushed the wizard back and straightened her dress, wiped her smudged lipstick with her wand, grabbed her beer, and left the closet. When she reached the door, she turned back around and, still panting, said, "Thank you for helping me with the mistletoe" and left. Sirius stood inside that dark closet in complete disbelief. He couldn't believe that once again she had left him with a hard-on and was leaving. Enough of these damn games! he thought and, frustrated, punched the wall lightly and left the kitchen, going straight to the bathroom to relieve himself before returning to the party.
When he returned, chilled and with wet hair from washing his face in the sink, all the guests who had children were already saying goodbye, including Harry and Ginny. The godson ran up to his godfather and said goodbye with a hug.
"I love you, Sirius, but if you play with her, you're dead. Again" Harry tried to sound threatening before breaking the hug, and Sirius laughed.
"She's the player, I'm just the pawn" he replied, and Harry gave him a complicit smile and turned away.
Sirius watched his godson pick up a sleeping Albus from Ginny's lap, wave to everyone, and disappear with his family. When he arrived in the living room, he saw that there were only Neville, Luna and Scamander left, who were saying goodbye to a lying Hermione on the couch. The three of them passed Sirius and thanked him for his hospitality, headed for the door and also disappareted.
The man then walked over to the sofa and, as usual, sat down with Hermione's legs in his lap. This time he dared more than he normally did, and slid his fingers along the length of her legs, until he reached her thigh under her dress.
"That was really mean what you did back there" he said with an amused smile playing on his lips. Hermione had her eyes closed, one hand on her head while the other was resting on her stomach. She smiled.
"You're always mean to me, I just got revenge" she replied in a sleepy voice.
"That's a good answer" he commented, getting up from the sofa.
"Where are you going?" she complained in a sly voice taking his hand, and he crouched down beside the sofa, putting his face very close to hers.
"I'm going to take you to bed".
"You really are a naughty dog, you know that?" she replied, her eyes still closed, and he laughed.
"I am, but I meant that I'm going to take you to your bed, so that you don't sleep all bent over on this couch".
"Oh, can you pretend I didn't think of something else?" she asked, yawning.
"Yes I can" he replied, putting her arms around his neck and taking her upstairs on his lap.
He could certainly use his wand and levitate Hermione to the second floor, but he would never miss any opportunity to have her body next to his. He carefully led her up the stairs and laid her on the bed, took off her shoes and laid her on the pillow. She was drowsy and had visibly had more to drink than she was used to, which made her look funny. He sat down next to her on the bed and leaned over.
"Thanks for getting me out of the Veil" he whispered in her ear before placing a gentle kiss on her cheek.
"I wouldn't rest until I brought you back" she replied sleepily.
"Oh, yeah?" he asked, stroking her hair.
"I wanted you back" she said completely sincerely. The sleep and the drink had unintentionally spoiled their little game, and she spoke what she felt, "it was horrible to stay in this house without you, but sensing your smell and feeling your presence in every corner".
"My smell?" he asked interested. Sirius knew it wasn't fair to get information out of her like that, but he couldn't help it.
"You smell good, it's a familiar smell that I felt before somewhere" she answered, pulling up the sheet and snuggling into him, who was still sitting next to her, leaning forward, his face pressed against hers. He felt when her nose touched his chin "you taste good too".
He smiled and kissed the top of her nose. She definitely fell asleep, and he reluctantly got up and walked to his own room. He slept wishing he could be sleeping with her. Just sleeping. Nothing more needed to happen, he just wished he could sleep with her, feeling her body against his, smelling the coconut smell of the shampoo she was using. I'm completely fucked, Sirius concluded before falling asleep as well.
.
The next morning Hermione came downstairs and walked into the kitchen with wet hair and a blue long sweater that barely covered her legs. It was impossible to know if she wore shorts under her sweater. She had her eyes half-closed and a hand against her temple.
"Good morning, kitten" Sirius greeted mockingly, "Looks like someone's had too much to drink".
"Shhhh! Why are you shouting?" she answered in a whisper, sitting down at the table, and he let out a loud laugh. The man walked over to a cabinet and took out a potion, offering it to the witch.
"Drink this, you'll feel like new in a few minutes".
"Thank you" she replied and took a sip of the potion. Sirius pulled up a chair to sit beside her, and brushed off the wet strands of hair that were stuck to her face.
"Merry Christmas" he whispered. She widened her eyes and stared at him.
"I didn't get you your present!" she exclaimed, looking guilty.
"You're my present, love" he replied, and her cheeks flushed.
"I'm serious".
"No, you're Hermione. I'm Sirius" he said, and she rolled her eyes, "sorry, but that joke never gets old".
"I made you a present" she explained, "but it's upstairs in my room, and if I go up there I don't know if I'll have the strength to get down again".
"I didn't know you were so dramatic".
"Sirius, please, for once in your life respect a person on their deathbed" she whispered, and he laughed again. She let her head fall onto his shoulder and he wrapped his arm around her body, kissing the top of her head.
"I got a letter from McGonagall" he commented.
"Did she wish you a Merry Christmas?" she asked, "She didn't send me any letters wishing me Merry Christmas".
"Are you jealous?" he joked.
"Of course I am, I know very well you have a thing for women in top hats" Hermione replied, unable to hold back her laughter. He didn't joined her.
"She asked me to teach at Hogwarts next school year" he said, and the witch lifted her head from his shoulder and stepped away, facing him. Sirius suddenly missed her warmth.
"That's good, isn't it?" she asked, uncertain.
"I believe so" he replied, not looking very happy, "it's a good opportunity. It's for the Transfiguration position".
Hermione stared at him for a few seconds, and in those seconds Sirius knew that billions of thoughts were brewing inside that head, and he wanted to know every one of them. She finally gave him a shy smile.
"I'm very happy for you, Sirius".
"You don't look very happy" he commented.
"I'm hungover, by Merlin!" she replied, holding up her hands and dropping them on the table, "but I'm very happy for you, and very proud".
"I'm going to be gone all year, you know?" he asked, intimately wanting to hear her say that she wouldn't let him go.
"I know".
"And I'm going to miss you" he confessed, but kept his voice steady.
"I'll miss you, too. Very much" she whispered back.
"I want to kiss you" he said, his gray eyes burning into her brown ones.
Hermione rose from her chair and Sirius feared that she was going to leave the kitchen, but she simply pulled his chair away from the table, put one leg on either side of him, and sat down on his lap. He stared at her, breathing heavily as she dipped her fingers between the strands of hair at the nape of his neck, until she pressed her mouth to his. Unlike the day before, or even the first kiss they had exchanged, this kiss was quiet. Sirius explored every corner of her mouth calmly, savoring her taste, feeling her fingers against the back of his neck, squeezing gently her thighs and her arse, and pulling her closer so that she glued her whole body to his. His lips were soft against hers and Hermione felt her whole body shiver with his every touch.
Despite all the teasing and the intense kisses exchanged so far, it was only there, sitting on his lap and being touched so tenderly that Hermione felt complete. Being there with Sirius was what she had always wanted, even without knowing it. That simple kiss, slow, deep, full of feelings, was better than any dream she had ever had with him. In that moment, Hermione was sure that she was completely Sirius Black's. She was his. Somehow, she had always been his. Gasping, the two of them broke the kiss, but didn't dare to separate more than a few inches. They stayed in that position for a time they couldn't specify, just breathing the same air, his gray eyes on her brown ones, their noses pressed together.
In that time that they stayed together, he planned the whole day in his head. He would stay with her all day, and maybe exchange more than a kiss. But Sirius would always be a big underdog. An underdog who would spend the day alone while Hermione solved a lot of problems at the Ministry, since the son of a bitch Kingsley had traveled. An unlucky one who would see her arriving home accompanied by Ron, and saying goodbye to the red-headed man with a kiss on the cheek. An unlucky one who would scream in frustration and walk briskly to the kitchen to take a deep breath before she entered the house.
"Sirius?" she called, closing the front door behind her.
"I'm here" he answered from the kitchen.
"I brought pizza from that new place" she said, stepping into the kitchen and rummaging through her diminutive bag, looking for the pizza.
"Great" he replied, grabbing a pizza cutter and some napkins.
The two of them ate in an awkward silence, and Hermione felt that something was wrong. Had she done something? Sirius was taking a piece of pizza to his mouth, when the woman intercepted his movement and held his hand.
"Are you all right?"
"I'm fine" he replied dryly.
"You don't look fine, did I do something?"
"Are you back with Weasley? Did you go back to dating him?" Sirius finally asked, feeling a lump forming in his throat.
"Ron?" she asked, looking incredulous. "He just brought me home".
"He must have been disappointed that you didn't invite him in" Sirius pointed out, irritated and dropping the piece of pizza back into the box with unnecessary violence.
"Sure, because all I want is to fuck my best friend who, as the matter of fact, is also my cheating ex-boyfriend".
"You want to fuck him?" Sirius stood up from the table, and raised his voice as well. He was angry, frustrated, and afraid. Afraid that she would leave him.
"Of course I don't!" she shouted – "he accompanied me here to invite us to his wedding, you big idiot!"
Hermione pushed the chair toward the table and left the kitchen, walking up the stairs with a heavy step, as she used to do when she was a teenager and got angry with her parents. She entered her room and slammed the door behind her. Sirius followed her, but stopped in front of her door, thinking about how he would fix things after this big jealous outburst. He knocked three times on the door and she didn't answer. He waited and knocked three more times. Again she didn't answer. Then he took the liberty of opening the door and found her leaning against the head of the bed, with a book shoved in her face.
Her hands, as usual when they fought, held the book tightly, and she used the object as a shield so that she could not see him. Sirius walked slowly to the bed and sat down at her feet. She followed without facing him, then he sighed and leaned over to her and took the book from her hands.
Her eyes were red and her cheeks were wet from her tears. He moved closer to her and took her face in his hands, kissing her lips.
"I'm sorry" he whispered against her lips.
"After almost six months you finally apologized" she remarked, and he laughed softly.
"You know better than anyone that I'm a person who says a lot of things he shouldn't, but has trouble saying the things he should".
She looked up into his eyes, and he planted another kiss on her lips. She slid to the side of the bed, saying, without the need for words, that he could lie there beside her. Sirius crawled over to her side as she settled down on the bed. Hermione lay on the wizard's back, and he pulled her closer into a huddle, kissing her shoulders.
"I... I got jealous" Sirius confessed in a whisper, and Hermione intertwined her fingers in the man's hand that held her tightly around the waist.
"If you were a little more attentive, you'd see that I only have eyes for you, Sirius. Only you" she whispered back, and he pressed her closer to him, kissing her exposed shoulder once more. The two of them slept together for the first time. Not the way they had both hoped and longed for, but exactly the way Sirius wanted.
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* This is a popular brazilian saying which means something like your "pot calling the kettle back". But the original English saying wouldn't make sense in the line of the fic.
Dreamer1701: Thank you so much for the review! I'm trying my best, but I'm still learning how to write big texts in English.
About Shackelbolt, it was my choice to call him that because the first chapter is mostly by Hermione point of view, and I think she has this thing with hierarchy and respect for the elders. A lot of older character are called by last name (Snape, Dumbledore, Moody, for example). But this time, in this very chapter, when he's mentioned he's called Kingsley, because it was from Sirius point of view.
Anyway, thank you for spending some time giving me your thoughts about this fic.
