She sits in the chair wrapped in her favorite blanket watching them sleep. It is as if all of the weariness and years melt off their faces when they are in repose. The soft dawn light filters in from the window above them; the dust motes whirl in and out of the beams of light that play over their faces. This is her favorite time, her time to watch them, to study and memorize the two men who have become her world. She rarely gets the chance to watch them this closely when they are awake; so different from each other, and yet in some ways the same. One ever watchful and gentle doesn't like to be the center of anyone's attention, while the other almost always loving to be the center of attention is rarely still long enough to command it. But here and now Remus cannot complain and try to direct her attention elsewhere, and Sirius is blessedly still in sleep. It seems as though it was only yesterday that they came into her life, even though it has been almost 15 years. Her book lies open in her lap but completely forgotten after she read the last line. 'Sometimes the past and the future are so closely linked that it seems as if Tomorrow is something we remember." She her eyes fall closed as her mind wanders into the past. She remembers the first time her eyes ever lit on Remus, although she knew him first as Professor Lupin.
It was on the train to Hogwarts her 3rd year; when he saved Ron, Harry and herself from the Dementor, later that same year was also the first time she met Sirius Black, ex-convict and Harry's godfather. It had become quickly apparent to her over the course of the next year, although the boys appeared to be oblivious as usual, that there was more than just a friendship between the two men. Apparently, out of the three of them, only she, was able to understand the immense amount of pain Remus had gone through when Sirius fell through the Veil in the Department of Mysteries only two years after their reunion. It had taken another two years after that for Harry to finally destroy all of the Horcruxes and face Voldydork in the Final Battle of the war. Remus' short lived quasi-relationship with Tonks ended with her unfortunate death at the hands of her aunt Bellatrix, who seemed determined to eradicate all the "Blood Traitors" from the Black line. Remus' decent into depression was swift and almost total. She thought it was only Harry who kept him from complete madness, although he tells her now that it was her love that saved him. Her love for him albeit kept hidden in friendship, and love him she did, Sirius's fall into the veil had broken both their hearts. It was her love for him born of years of watching him in silence from the sidelines as he took even tougher assignments for the Order. It had been her love for him that made her choose to become an Unspeakable. It had been her love for them both that caused her to concentrate her rather formidable will on solving the riddle of the veil and releasing Sirius from the vast cold emptiness that had imprisoned him as surely as Azkaban ever had..
Sirius had changed in the five long years he had been trapped within the icy space. He was still her Sirius, still brash and impulsive and just a touch arrogant at times but the years had tempered and honed from him all the qualities that used to annoy her. It had taken another two years after his return before she had finally admitted to them how she felt. Even now she could recall the moment with crystal clarity.
The stars outside sparkled above them like pin pricks of light in the shrouded sky that was the night. She was drunk, very drunk. The party that raged around her in the Great Hall of Hogwarts was the Annual "We kicked Moldydork's Ass" Ball or to be more politically correct the Annual Fall of Voldemort Ball. As per usual her friends were celebrating the way they had for the past five years, re-confirming their continued existence with their significant others. She watched from her corner of the room as Harry and Blaise were hampered in their leaving only because they couldn't stop snogging long enough to reach the door, besides she didn't think that it would be that easy for Harry to walk with Blaise's hand down his pants. She blushed and turned away as they finally cast a disillusion spell around the table they were sitting at. She sighed and shook her head- 'That's an image that's going to linger'. She thought to herself, almost as bad as the suggestion Luna had made in her dreamy ethereal voice the one that had been the catalyst to her and Ron's desertion of the Ball earlier. Her cheeks were still burning from that one. She was spending the time the way she always did, drinking to the memories of all those who didn't make it through the war. She drank for Colin and Denis Creevy, for Shamus, Dean and Pavarti, for Dumbledore, for Bill and Fleur, and poor Nymphadora. If she was to be completely honest with herself she drank a lot for herself and her heavy heart. Over the course of the last two years her love for the two men had not eased in the slightest in fact it had just deepened. As odd as the arrangement she dreamed of would have seemed in the Muggle World, in Wizarding Society it was not uncommon in Wizarding Society. In fact Shamus, Pavarti and Dean had been bonded together only weeks before the Final Battle. She quickly downed the firewhiskey in front of her as the tears threatened to flow again. At least they went together. The thought flitted its way through her head before she could stop it. Unfortunately it only took a moment for her melancholy heart to return to its contemplation of the objects of her affection. The old muggle phrase 'Speak of the Devil and He shall appear." Once again proved it's self to be true, even without her giving voice to the thoughts in her head, as the two very men her mind was dwelling on suddenly materialized in front of her.
"Hey Mione!" Sirius said enveloping her in a hug.
"Sirius, Remus, How good to see you! Are you having fun?" She replied returning his embrace while trying to keep from clinging to him.
"Mya, It is always good to see you." Remus smiled at her drawing her out of his lovers arms and into his own, his lips brushing her cheek briefly.
"Join me?" she inquired.
They accepted readily and slid into the bench around her table sandwiching her between them, and her very inebriated mind began to conjure up various scenarios in which she could be likewise positioned. She was busy trying to slow down her pulse, and keep her mind in line. Which is why, she admits, she wasn't listening to what Sirius was saying. Her shiver when he leaned close to her ear was more about his breath ghosting over her flushed skin than the words he had spoken. It was Remus who brought her attention to the question at hand.
"Padfoot!" Remus chided reaching behind her to smack his lover. "Mya, please forgive the dog his rudeness. Although I have to admit we have wondered why there is no man in your life."
"Or woman" Sirius interjected
Hermione flinched, faced in her inebriated state with the one question she usually finagled to avoid, she spoke before her rather formidable brain fought its way through the haze of Old Ogden's to stop her.
"Oh that's easy," she said flippantly "There is no one in my life because I've fancied the same two men for 10 years, and although they don't return my affections, I haven't been able to move on yet."
Remus' voice became soft and sympathetic. "Ron and Harry?"
"Oh Merlin No!" She replied "You and Sirius." Her face flamed as red as any Weasley and she fixed her gaze on the table to avoid looking at them. Her words seemed to hang in the lull of conversation that happens at every large gathering of people at least once. To her it seemed as though the entire hall had been shocked by her admission. She quickly murmured an apology into the vicinity of their startled voices and fled from the room. Her feet beat the same tattoo on the stone floor of the castle as her heart beat in her chest. She opened her eyes, as a door appeared in suddenly in front of her, sliding open the door she moved swiftly in to the solace of the library. She reached the worn and slightly shabby couch where she had spent most of her nights at Hogwarts as a student, and threw herself down into it's welcoming embrace to have a good cry.
She jerked up as if someone touched her. She blinked the tears out of her eyes to find them standing in front of her. Remus stared down at her for a long moment before Sirius moving between them, and pulling her into his arms broke their eye contact. Remus circled behind her and embraced them both. Hermione's heart soared as she was completely sandwiched between the two wizards she loved. She looked up into Sirius' face and he smiled as he kissed her for the first time. His kiss was soft and sweet, gentle and lingering. It spoke of love and promises and made her heart beat faster and her head swim. She heard a low growl in her ear and her shiver brought their kiss to an end. Sirius smiled and turned her in his arms to face the man behind her. Remus treaded his hand through her hair and grasped her hair firmly in his hand before claiming her mouth with his own. Where Sirius was gentle, Remus was fiery. Remus's kiss was passionate and fierce, demanding response, branding her.
Hermione pulled away and looked up in askance at the two men. "What? Why?""Mione, we have a lot to talk about, but I suppose the simplest answer is that we love you to." Sirius replied reaching out to hold his witch again.
Hermione's smile lit across her face like the sun breaking through the clouds on a summer's day.
Remus reached out his hand and took hers. "Lets go home, we need to talk."
Sirius laughed, "Oh yes... Talk... Eventually"