Hi everybody!

Or shoud I say "Moika!" because this is what the Finns say when they mean "Hi". The Finns and Finnland, where I've been living since January, are the main reason why I haven't been updating. I am really sorry for this! I will be back in Germany in June, so there will be regular updates again and in the meantime, I will see what I can do. I can say as much as this. Apart from that chapter below, I have another one ready, but it still needs some fine-tuning.

Enjoy! Marie

Chapter eleven – A walk in the sun

Sirius felt good to see Harry so cheerful. The visit to the theatre had been a big success, everyone was still in conversation about the previous night. Sirius watched his godson as he told his version of the night, a version that talked about everything except Ginny and the regret of having missed yet another chance to ask her out. When Harry got up to get some more tea, Sirius heared a voice whisper in his ear: "How on earth did you do that?" He looked around. Tonks had scooged over to sit next to him and was looking at him now, eyebrows raised.

"Do what?" he asked.

"Hermione, of course, or do you think no one has noticed after the entrance you two made yesterday?" Sirius felt his insides freeze. What did she know about Hermione and him, could she possibly have guessed what Hermione was doing, let alone what had been going on between them lately?

"I don't know what you mean, dear cousin." He tried to sound casual, but failed.

"Well, I kind of saw your fashion sense peek through that stunning look of hers. Did you give her some advice?" She had not lowered those eyebrows yet.

"Er, I think so, she sort of, er you know." He stuttered

"No." Those eyebrows.

"She, er, …" get a grip an yourself, Sirius thought furiously. "She asked me what I thought about the dress and I told her I thought it was, well, pretty."

"Pretty. Where do you have your eyes, Sirius? This does not fit your reputation at all! She looked completely stunning, radiant and so sexy. And what's with that hair, she is so conventional usually. I guess it was not her idea to wear it like that."

Sirius still siltently agreed to the "sexy" part of Tonks' little speech when he sighed: "I confess, yeah the hair, that was me. I just think it fits her character so much better. She's so strong and wild at heart, she would never give in to anything she thinks is wrong." Good, he so needed to talk about Hermine to someone. But there were Tonks eyebrows, now endangered to disappear into her pink hair.

"I see…" She said.

"What, you see what?" Sirius fired up.

"Someone finally recognised our Hermione for who she trully is. And I don't mean her hair, Sirius, I mean the part about her character, you are right." She smiled as though she knew something he didn't, which made him very nervous.

"I just meant, that she is, well, special. Hermione has so much inside her apart from that supreme mind and her kindness. I just get to know her better now that everyone is living so close together." Sirius had to restrain himself not to break into a passionate speech about Hermione's personality.

"Special, I see. Remus told me."

"Told you wha-" he broke off. "So Remus is behind this little chit-chat, ha? I should have thought so! So he sent you to tell me off about Hermione? I told him I didn't have any intentions or whatsoever!" Sirius felt anger boil inside him. Anger about Remus always thinking he knew best about what to do or feel. And anger about Remus having a very good idea that there actually were intentions involved whenever Sirius' conscience was not looking.

"No, quite the contrary, dear cousin." Tonks shook her head. "I think there is nothing wrong with you appreciating Hemione."

"Really?" Sirius was stunned. Then the obvious question burst into his mind. "Why?"

"Because I think Remus is overreacting about people liking other people they are 'not supposed to like'. He is so stubborn about these conventions, you would not believe it."

Something dawned on Sirius. "And now you have come to encourage me to do something really stupid and inconvenient, so that Remus will finally come to his senses and admit he wants to marry you and have loads of kids with you?"

"No! Yes, well, I mean, what would be wrong with you and Hermione? Those few years, who cares?" Sirius thought she looked really desperate.

"Tonks, there is no me and Hermione." He admitted, more gravely than he had intended. "And I think twenty years are a lot. We just get along very well, that's all." Sirius did not look at his cousin, who shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

"Sorry, I did not mean to annoy you even more than Remus already did." She breathed out very loudly and shook her head. "I get carried away with those things sometimes…"

Sirius smiled: "I will talk to Remus sometime and tell him to get a move on, shall I?"

"Who is to get a move on with what?" Harry had returned.

"Oh, nothing Harry, Tonks and I just discussed… Oh, never mind. I think I will get a move on myself and take a walk outside."

Sirius had hesitantly adopted the habit of taking strolls around the neighbourhood of Grimmauld Place, something which had taken him inexplicably long. The others had encouraged him greatly and said something about him really needing fresh air after all this time. He did not really understand what they meant by this, but it didn't matter anyway as his walks were his favourite time of the day, except of course the times Hermione visited him at night.

The warm wind blew through his hair, the summer was slowly dying away, they were already approachng the end of August. Sirius thought that it was only two weks until the Hogwarts year would start again. Harry, Ron and Hermione would be leaving Grimmauld Place and would not come back until Christmas. He felt a sudden cold sweep his insides at the thought of not having Hermione near him all the time.

The conversation with Tonks had left him in thought. Was she right, was everyone too obsessed with age and conventions when it came to relationships? On the other hand, he imagined himself as the father of a sixteen year old daughter, would he want a man like himself to become her – to become her what, exactly? Sirius knew very well what he really wanted to be, but was too afraid to admit it to himself. To be playful around her, alright, but what about those intent moments when she told him about his life? What about his urge not to let her go when he said goodbye before the theatre? Sirius knew that his was more than just a flirt, more than just desire.

As the wind swept his hair, he stared into the sun and knew that he was lost, his heart pounding, he turned to go back to Grimmauld Place. There was only one thing Sirius knew for certain: He would not allow Hermione to be hurt in any way, even if this meant that he would never be able to be with her as he wanted to.

Hermione sat on the windowsill of her bedroom window and watched Sirius slowly walk back to the house. The images of the previous night kept returning to her mind and seeing the tall, dark haired man, the way he moved and the way the wind blew his shirt to his body did not help at all. Little did Sirius know that the young woman who was watching him was thinking along the same lines as him at the moment. She too dreaded the end of the holidays and wondered how she could be without Sirius close to her. She too fought in vain against images and wishes in her mind and she too promised to herself that nothing should happen to bother him.