Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter nor do I own The Da Vinci Code. Such a shame…
Greetings again. Thought I might update again so here it is.
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'Memory is a way of holding on to the things you love, the things you are, and the things you never want to lose…' – Kevin Arnold
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The fear dropped from Hermione's face. "What do you mean it's blank?" She asked furiously, snatching the paper from his hands only to find that Sirius had been telling the truth.
He hadn't been joking. The paper was completely blank, void of any ink, pencil. Nothing.
"I told you Hermione," Sirius told her as she continued to search the page.
Hermione looked to him; her cheeks pink from anger. "What the hell is going on Sirius?" She asked him fiercely and standing from the seat. "I receive a map of god knows what and you arrive. You arrive and we look at the map together then what do we find?" Her question was sarcastic and gave him no time to reply. "A letter addressed to you appearing out of thin air."
In a move that was not wise, Sirius said, "Most definitely not out of thin air."
Hermione rounded her angry gaze to him. "I don't need this Sirius," she snarled, looking from him to the map. "Why is it that when I want peace and quiet I'm face with a map, a blank piece of paper and a stubborn middle aged wizard?" She clenched her fists tight. "I just want to be left alone so I can think things through with my life. I don't need this."
Sirius calmly picked himself up off his seat and towered above her. He narrowed his eyes at her before asking her calmly, "Do you want my help or not?"
Hermione bit her lip. She wanted to say yes, she wanted to ask him to stay with her and help her through everything that laid itself upon her shoulder. Hermione looked to his broad shoulders and sighed. How lovely it would be if she could lay some of her problems upon his larger shoulders.
But she couldn't. The wall that had built around her heart remained strong, unwilling to let anyone in. If she did, there was the possibility that he too would be taken away, just like her parents. No, Hermione told herself, she would keep her problems to herself. Her heart was broken enough. She didn't want to feel the gut wrenching pain that would be inflicted upon her if another loved one was taken away.
"No," Hermione said strongly but she detected a quiver in her voice.
Sirius' face hardened before a grimace spread across his features. He crossed his arm with stubbornness that even Hermione would not be able to muster. "Too bad," he told her smoothly. "There was a letter addressed to me on your dining room table so obviously, someone out there, wants me to help you."
Hermione threw her arms up in exasperation. "The damn paper was blank!"
"So?" He propped himself up against the table and frowned. "That makes the matter worse."
"How could that make the matter worse?" Hermione asked him, her irritation could be clearly seen. "Why would that," she continued, jerking her head to the blank piece of paper clutched in her hand, "make a difference?"
"Because it's blank-"
"Oh yes like I couldn't have seen that," Hermione muttered and rolled her eyes.
"And because it was addressed to me."
Hermione sighed heavily and glared at him. "Sirius I don't care alright, I just want to throw these damn pieces of paper out and get on with my life!"
"What life?" Sirius gaze was challenging and as Hermione glared at him his gaze remained steady. "It's not a life I would be proud of Hermione."
With all the control she could muster, Hermione refrained herself from slamming her fist into the elegant features of the man standing in front of her. "You don't know anything about my life Sirius," she growled at him. "This is my life and unfortunately I'm the one who has to live it."
"Do you need to lock yourself away from the people that care about you?" He asked her. "Do you feel you need to shut everyone out and build a wall around you? Do you think that just because you let someone in that they will be hurt or killed?"
"Shut up-"
Sirius continued as if she didn't speak. "Just because someone in your life has died, it doesn't mean that you need to cease living…"
"Shut up Sirius!"
He moved from his position in front of her to cross to the fridge. "Look at Harry for instance," he started whilst peering into the fridge. After finding nothing that appealed to him, Sirius shut the door and swung his gaze back to Hermione. "He has lost his parents, Dumbledore and now Ginny. Do you see him locking himself away?"
Hermione's eyes were blazing as she unleashed her anger. "Shut up Sirius! I don't want to hear it!" she shouted. "Can't you understand that you can't help me? Doesn't the word no even mean anything to you?"
Sirius stared coolly back; his eyes narrowed. "Hermione, you've been through a lot. You've seen nearly as much as I've seen and your reacting as anyone would," he told her. "But it doesn't matter what you say because I am going to help you. You can't handle this by yourself, no matter how much you've already handled."
Breathing in deeply, Hermione moved from the middle of the kitchen towards the counter tops. She grasped onto the edge and asked, "Why can't you leave me alone?" Hermione let go of the counter and swung around to face him. "I don't need your help. I don't need anyone's."
"Quiet the contrary," Sirius replied. "I think you do."
Hermione raised a haughty eyebrow. "Why would that be?"
"Because I don't want anything to happen to you," he answered truthfully. "You're taking yourself down a road that will be hard to bounce back from. You're weak Hermione," Sirius told her, "and it would be hell to me to see anything happen to you. I don't want you harmed."
"I can do this by myself," Hermione told him stubbornly, ignoring everything he was telling her. "I want to do it by myself."
Sirius shrugged and approached her slowly. "I don't care what you want to do." He narrowed his eyes at her. "I don't care what you want to do." He stopped in front of her and shook his head. "I've tried to ask you if you want my help but you've given me the wrong answer. You need to see that though you may not want my help, you're going to get it. Please admit it Hermione," he said softly, "whatever happens I'm going to be there to help you through it."
The anger seeped from her veins leaving Hermione to let out a deep sigh. "What if something happens to you Sirius? It will be my fault all over again."
"I doubt that," Sirius answered confidently. He smiled down at her, happy to see the tension and anger leave her.
Sighing once again, Hermione stepped around Sirius and crossed to the kitchen table. She collapsed onto a chair and took her wand from her pocket, flicking it once so two cups of coffee appeared.
Sirius raised an eyebrow at her. "You've already had a cup this morning…"
Hermione sent him a glare and said, "I need to think about this and to do that I need coffee. Do you have a problem with that?"
She watched Sirius shook his head and her lips curved into a smug smiled. Drawing her attention from Sirius, Hermione looked down to the map.
Two seconds later her mug crashed to the ground, sending brown liquid over the wooden floor. Sirius frowned but flicked his wand to clean up the mess. He crossed to the kitchen table to stand beside Hermione's chair.
"Sirius," Hermione gasped. "I know why they gave me the map instead of words."
Sirius tried to peer over her shoulder but her thick curls blocked his view. Giving up his attempts at trying to see the map he asked, "Why?"
She looked up to him and Sirius saw anticipation shining in her hazel eyes. Hermione's mouth opened and closed over and over before she shut it tightly, unable to explain what she was seeing.
Sirius frowned. "What is it?"
Hermione gulped; looking back to the map then to his blank letter that lay neatly next to it before her gaze returned to Sirius. "Sirius," she started, her voice shaking. "It's a map of Hogwarts."
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Okay so it's a short chapter…little one.
Review if you'd like, I love hearing back from the people reading my stories…always nice to hear what you have to say.