Hermione POV

Hermione was ready. No alarm clock needed to get out of bed for this meeting. She had waited until her parents would have a full appointment schedule to tell them she was coming home. That gave her ten hours a day she didn't have to account for. She felt those ten hours a day were much needed. There were too many things in her mind and it was affecting her in many ways. Her sleep patterns were broken and she was jumpy.

The last task was usually some kind of scavenger hunt and that could mean anything so still tons of research. Trying to do her own exam prep and then ignore Adrian Pucey. It was all to much. Something was changing though, with the one magic. Changing quickly and she was becoming more alarmed by the day. None of her books had offered her an answer and she had even looked in the restricted sections a few times.

Today she would get some answers hopefully, and if not those then at least some opinions on any one of the numerous things on her mental talk to Sirius about list. She packed a backpack full of food and making sure she had what she needed, headed to a deserted lot two blocks from her house. Standing there with her wand sticking out she felt like an idiot for a minute as nothing happened. Cynthia had told her what to do and expect, so it should be happening. Bang!

The witch had written it was quick but it was as if it had jumped in front of her. Ignoring the practiced speech she paid for a basic one way trip and went to sit down. In a bolted down chair, like she had suggested. She was definitely shaky when, three stops and what must have been very few minutes later, she stepped thankfully off the bus. Bendbridge was the name of the little Wizarding section south of Dartmouth. It was basically a street with one side that only magicals could see. Hermione strolled casually down the muggle side, trying not to appear as if she was looking for a bakery and not at the view the rest could see. Suddenly she heard a bark.

Turning she saw the black dogs tail head down a street away from Bendbridge and towards what looked like a walking path. She followed calmly and kept walking into a forest and towards the beginning of the moors. Snuffles walked beside her now and they shared happy smiles occasionally. She followed him up a path she hadn't seen and further up to a cave. Suddenly Sirius Black was standing next to her. In muggle jeans and dark flannel coat. Hermione felt like her smile would hurt if it got any bigger. Maybe she could tell Harry she had seen him, if she could explain why he wouldn't be able to.

"Kitten. What is going on. You can tell me while you feed me whatever is that bag. It smells amazing." Sirius was sitting in a muggle camping chair and looked comfortable enough here. Far better setup than in the mountains with buck beak. Looking around she noticed footprints heading out of the cave that could be the hippogriff's.

Unable to hold it in anymore she decided to give a preface. Then just dive in.

"Sirius, thanks for meeting me. I know I am young and maybe I am crazy or don't know enough to see clearly. I am just going to tell you what has been on my mind and hope that somehow I can get some clarity. I can't go on like this without a plan, or at least understanding." The man was eating a chicken sandwich and drinking from a thermos but his eyes were on her. He nodded. He didn't look like he thought her crazy, not yet anyways.

"I will start with Harry. I know it will upset you most but if I don't talk to you then I just have to talk to him. And I will but I want to do it right and maybe have some answers. I want to know why Harry isn't with you, and if not with you then why isn't contact facilitated. I know your rights as his magical godparent, so do you. Why aren't we trying to get you a trial. There is just no way we couldn't get someone to hear us out and dose you with veritaserum. Even a pensieve, I've read about them. You aren't guilty. I know Remus memories of that night can't be used but Harry, me and you have no magical block on our minds." Hermione forced herself to stop. This was no help if she didn't let Sirius respond. He looked upset and his jaw was tight, though he kept on chewing. He gestured with what was left of his sandwich so she moved on, a little bit.

"This brings me to why this is as important to me as it is. I mean don't get me wrong, of course I want Harry to be happy and that would be enough for me to wonder why he isn't with you. There are two things, connected. After we saved you Harry was devastated he couldn't be with you. We talked about it. The next morning both of us felt understanding of the situation. Still sad and upset but willing to go along. It wasn't until the beginning of this year that I realised that wasn't actually how I felt. I'll explain how that happened later. But my feelings about the issue of not fighting for Harry to be with you were different than how I felt after waking up that day. They are different and I can remember how I feel. Harry had the same thing happen but as far as I know doesn't have a way to know that those feelings aren't genuine. I only recently learned I could speak about it at all and right now I can't make the word come out. But it's the one you are thinking. One of them anyways." Hermione stopped and took a breath. She held up her hand when Sirius swallowed the bite of apple and made to speak. She couldn't see much emotion on his face but needed to get this next part out. It was truly what scared her most about this whole situation.

"That is all concerning enough, I know, but it was one of my ideas about reasons behind this behavior that really frightens me. Dumbledore knows you are innocent and could give evidence to that point. Could produce you as Chief of the Wizengamot and demand a trial for you. Personally he should have demanded a trial and full accounting when you were arrested. Unless he knew what had happened. This is related to the fact that somehow Dumbledore stops Harry from getting mail. Should he have even one missive from Gringotts? Why don't people tell him about his parents? Professor Lupin was here all year and barely mentioned it. What about his family history? His parents things? Does he have an ancestral estate? More than one book has mentioned a Lord Potter, it's not important whether or not he has a title of course but why isn't any of his heritage available to him? There is so much more. All I can think of as explanation, and I could be wrong. Hope I am, sort of. It's like Dumbledore wants Harry to be alone, without resources. Why would he want Harry never to feel like he has a family. I've tried to send mail to him, by muggle means. He never mentioned any of the dozens of letters I sent, starting after first year." Hermione finally came to a stop in her litany of things relating to this when Sirius held a hand up. Instantly Hermione felt terrible. This was a bad idea. Maybe it was too much for the man, after all he had been through.

"Oh I am so sorry Sirius. I didn't mean.-" her voice was rising in pitch when he shook his head at her.

"Don't be silly Kitten. This is my job. Or relating to a job I should be doing anyways. I will admit to you that I have thought a few of those thoughts myself. When I asked Remus why he hadn't gone and seen the pup he said he thought it wouldn't be good for Harry, that he didn't have anything to offer the boy. It was suspicious to me. James, Lily, and myself would have all wanted Remus to visit Harry. To check on him in any situation, let alone the one we found ourselves in. I didn't know about at school. I will ask again and this time look for signs of some kind of compulsion. It does sound like that's what happened. Merlin. I don't know what to say about that now but if we can get Harry relatively alone we could test for and break it. Yours too so you don't have any side effects. I hadn't thought about it from the angle you are. Harry being alone. Without resources, except maybe the chess master hasn't banked on you kitten. Dumbledore hasn't contacted me or responded to my attempts to contact him. I do see Remus sometimes but Dumbledore's has him all over the forests of Great Britain. We will have to think about this more. Did you bring some parchment and quill? I will write to Harry so you have something to bring him. What else? Maybe something else you have to say will change the angle again." He was smiling gently at her now. Seeming to be taking her words and worries totally seriously.

"How I realised my emotions weren't actually mine. The story goes back to when I first went to Hogwarts." With that she began with everything she could remember and forced herself to give as many details as she could. Even though she was definitely blushing and the older man chuckled a couple times during her stumbling words about feelings.

"Then after our conversation he didn't say anything for days. Suddenly he found me in the stacks in the library and basically begged me to give him leave to tell his mother, he swore he would put her under the same vow before he told her anything about me or what I had said. He did, and after he had told her they found me and she introduced herself. Cynthia Pucey is beautiful and she has been so kind. That day she said she would write and she did. Not only did she write but she sent me Athena, and the Pucey charm for securing letters. Sirius, the magic is getting pushier. I don't know how else to explain. It wants me to tell him everything I know and it wants me with him, romantically. I haven't been able to find anything that explains this and since he clearly knows something I don't and hasn't said I decided to avoid him. It's been hard." Hermione's voice was small and she felt stupid and vulnerable. Her head had been down and she was talking to her hands for most of her retelling of events. When Sirius scoffed Hermione's heart fell further. It was a prank or something worse. Suddenly she was panicking. How could she have been so stupid. What if they used this information against Harry?

"Kitten. Hermione! Calm down. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have scoffed. It's just so much more than you know and that boy has done well. Been very respectful and circumspect, from what you have said. Everything points to there being the potential for a natural bond between you and Pucey. It does sound like you sharing your problems and beginning to let yourself consider him has kicked the bond up a notch. Jumpstarted it. Now, right now there is nothing about the potential bond that will force anything, it just leads you to each other and helps you to know what the other needs. That's probably why he made the vow, his magic told him he needed you to trust him. Just like it was telling you that it was important for you to share your problems with him, and that it was safe. I know a bit about these, my brother, Regulus, he had one. Or the potential for there to be one. She was killed with her family before his seventh year and it was heartbreaking to see. Reggie was to much of a mommy's boy to have pursued Samantha. She was a halfblood Ravenclaw, in my year, so a year ahead of him. They were perfect for each other and there were many times I broke my promise not to speak to him. No matter what I said he wouldn't budge, once he told me that she was better off without him. That is almost never true for those with the potential for a natural bond. You are always better off taking things on together, letting the bond help you get your best shot at happily ever after. That's what it wants, the chance to grow and thrive." Hermione had listened, riveted, to Sirius explanation. She was stunned.

"So this potential bond is the one magic. It's always been there, always been him? why didn't he say so? just let me fumble around and not even know what he knew." She was getting angry, emotions flipping from the happiness and relief she had felt, knowing that she wasn't misreading the situation.

"More than that Kitten, he had most likely made sure that you were aware of him and let the bond tell him when to interfere. I'm sure the fear in your second year was his fear for you. Everyone knew something was petrifying muggleborns and you are Harry's best friend. The guy was probably in a right state, his fear for you travelling the bond between you. It sent him to you the night of the ball and probably drove him half mad when you used the time turner. He wasn't surprised when you mentioned me because he doubtless already knew. No one knows as much about you as he does, whether you like it or not. Another thing, his mother. Cynthia is a Slytherin herself and was raised a Yaxley. She is as cunning and ruthless in her own way. You are what is best for her son, she is pushing to make sure you decide he is what is best for you. Mentioning leaving Britain will have given him a shock. You can't trust them, if that is your concern. The bond basically makes it so he cannot risk you, won't be willing to for money or power. As a pureblood he was raised with the same knowledge of bonds as we were. Be careful of your bondmate, don't push them too fast or impose your wants on them. There is tons of verbal lore about it, passed down. Bonded marriages produce healthy and powerful children, have rejuvenated dying Houses, and are almost a guarantee for the best, most fulfilled life with another person." Sirius sounded wistful and with a start Hermione wondered if Regulus and this Samantha could have saved the House of Black. That was tragic.

"Well I am very angry that he knew all of this and didn't tell me. Maybe not when I was younger, but this year he could have. Or in the past month when I was so upset about not understanding. The bond wants a chance at life, does that mean it is taking our choice? No, your brother didn't let it grow, is that how you phrased it? A potential that grows into a bond. I didn't read very many marriage bond books at all, obviously I'm not married and so I didn't think it could be something like that. So you think it's safe then? To tell them things, about Harry or even you? He wants to marry me? Merlin!" She had been thinking until the marriage thought popped into her head.

"Whoa, slow down. He doesn't want to marry you right now, it wouldn't be good for you. He is planning on it though, it's why his mother met you and then initiated a correspondence. Then a gift, a useful one, one of his House, was presented to you by him, and you accepted. This is all traditional pureblood etiquette. Not limited to purebloods but it is only in the older families that these rituals to begin a courtship or show a families interest in a witch are used much anymore. If I had to guess, and I don't know for sure, I would guess that he isn't pursuing you romantically because you don't know about the bond. Pucey's instincts will be telling him that would be taking advantage of you, and it would be, wouldn't it? You would have been upset to have him kiss you and then find out that something other then the usual interest was in play. It's okay for you to be mad, or hurt, or both. Just consider it from his perspective too. You didn't want to ask him about the magics, even when you realised it had something to do with him. It would have been intimidating to talk to you about it. What if it went badly and you ran from him or Britain? There goes what he knows, and believes, is his miraculous shot at happiness. The potential for the best life magic could give him. That's big stuff Kitten. Just think on it."

He was smiling at her now and looked a bit wistful. She nodded and decided to think about how to approach Adrian later.

Her mind was whirring but she also felt a bit calmer. This had really been happening, it wasn't in her head. Adrian Pucey wanted to court her. What a mess things could have been, if she hadn't talked to Sirius about this. Already she had been ignoring and avoiding him. Trying her best to figure out how to close out the one. Different methods for shielding and then she tried building a wall around herself. That had been the most effective but she had noticed the sparkling eyes and the smile she had been surprised to realise she was used to were gone. Now she knew that he must be able to feel her disgust, maybe even her frantic efforts to block herself away from him. Well she would talk to him, there wasn't really anything else to do.

"What do you think about trusting them? Or letting them help? I don't know how exactly. Just off the top of my head I am wondering if they have the connections to get you a trial somehow. That said, I don't know if that's what you want or if it's just what I want, for you and for Harry. Did you know Cynthia, Adrian's mother?" Making herself stop talking she nibbled on an oatmeal cookie and sipped a bottle of iced tea. This was the best conversation she had ever had with an adult. Surely this was some kind of magic on its own. Before he could answer, she started speaking again.

"Harry should have this. Be able to talk to you, to an adult. Have conversations where he knows there isn't any other motivations. Just him and someone older, presumably wiser, talking out their problems. It's the worst part of being muggleborn, or just as good as for Harry." She stopped talking and met Sirius gaze. He looked anguished.

"I don't know Hermione. I just don't know. Dumbledore knows so much more about what is going on. I've been in Azkaban twelve years and then living in remote locations. This one is a year round camp spot, the guy who uses it goes to Scotland for the spring fishing. Met him on a wander. Nice guy. Yes I knew Cynthia Yaxley. For trusting her, she will be loyal to you as long as you are loyal to her son. He must have made it clear to her that he wants to pursue you and they have offered help, then waited for you to decide to ask for it. She was a few years ahead of me at school and had Pucey following her about for at least the last couple years. Our families ran in similar circles, it's a small world, but I wasn't around much in the later years of Hogwarts. Got kicked out before sixth year and avoided everything I could for a couple years before that. There was nothing sinister about her, she was a decent witch from what I remember. Dueled against her in a few of the school tournaments." Sirius talked about some memories of Adrian's parents and then some about Harry's.

After he finally ate his fill she gave him the parchment and quill. While he wrote a letter to Harry she thought over all they had talked about. Part of her wanted to speak to her parents about Adrian, but what could she say. Her parents had no magic, no way of understanding the concept of bonds. She had little doubt they would be the ones thinking about leaving the country, with her, if they thought magic had chosen the best life partner it could for their fifteen year old daughter. Tomorrow she would go to Diagon Alley and see if they had books she could read about these types of relationships. Sirius told her there weren't many when she asked, it was part of the family lore. Next time he went back to his family home, which he tried not to do, he would look in their library.

They spent a comfortable hour talking about the third task and spell ideas she and Harry had found. The did speak a bit more about House Potter and he shared a few memories of Potter Manor. She stopped him and told him it would be better, for Sirius and Harry, to share these first. Softly she explained that she didn't want to take any of the twos relationship away from them.

Then she cried, unable to stop the tears as she raggedly got words out, how scared she was for her friend. How she felt as if something was going to happen, unable to properly explain Harry's nervousness of him suddenly speaking of things he wouldn't have. It's not that she thought he didn't appreciate her but he said things occasionally now. Watching Ron and sometimes her with a soft wistful smile. It was heartbreaking, what he was thinking then she didn't know. Three times now she had found him on his broom racing at breakneck speeds around the lake edge. It wasn't Harry having a fly as he liked to either, it was fast and exhausting for him. That part she shared with the animagus when he transformed into the huge black dog and pressed against her.

Eventually she calmed down and looked at her watch. Nearly time to start back, or head to somewhere she could call the Knight Bus.

Carefully placing the letter for Harry in her bag she made sure she had everything and stood. Not sure how to say goodbye or how to thank him for today.

"Thank you Sirius." Three words but she tried to put all of the sincerity she felt in her voice and let him see the affection and gratitude in her eyes.

Still a dog, the man gave a soft whine and then a doggy grin, tongue lolling out. Quickly he jumped ahead of her and ran a ways before running back and crouching playfully. Laughing she headed down the moors and the last thing Padfoot saw from her was a soft smile as she looked back at him before pulling out her wand.