The Perfects

Harry got off the hook despite Fudge's scheme to get him expelled. It was a relief to them all, but it clearly had upset Sirius. Though, he did his best to hide his disappointment.

"I know I'm being unreasonable and selfish," He confessed to Hermione. "But I was hoping he would stay."

He looked so depressed. Hermione gave him a tight-lipped smile. She and Harry had noticed his dissatisfaction, and had said nothing about it. They understood his situation. He was going to be alone in a place he hated the most.

"It's really hard for you to stay here. That's actually the hardest thing to do. I don't think anyone could do it if they were you." said Hermione softly.

"Ah, you're quite the flatterer. My uncle Alphard would tell me something like that and he was a flatterer, too. I had no idea you, the Gryffindor princess, would try to manipulate me into playing it safe. Dumbledore would be proud." He smirked at her.

"Don't do it for Dumbledore. Do it for Harry! He needs you, and you're the only one left to him."

It was not that simple, of course. Sirius had so many feelings about this place that he could hardly think of staying let alone living there.

He smiled at her, "You're very brave little bird, strong too. You'll make a great witch one day."

Of course, Hermione knew this house was bad for Sirius. It was full of foulness and evil. It brought nothing but unpleasant memories back to his mind. He was free from Azkaban. However, he had to pay the price by being trapped here.

"Sometimes, I think I prefer Azkaban to this place. This place reminds me of so many things that I'm not proud of. It brings back very bad memories."

He looked at tapestry on the wall and pressed his fist on it.

"I could fix it, you know, I could put my name back. I could put Andy back there, but I doubt any of us would want that." he murmured bitterly, "My family was not something that I will ever be proud of."

"You should make your own family then." said Hermione.

"So what? So that another innocent could be trained by Black blood?" he asked as a single drop of tear fell from his cheek on the ground, "No. It will end with me. Harry will get everything I have. I don't want to keep this curse in the world much longer. This name, Black, is really a course."

Hermione was truly troubled by this image. Sirius was extremely depressed. So much so that he did not want to have a family anymore.

"So I should be like this when I figure out who my real parents are? What if they're Blacks? That would mean I'm cursed too."

She didn't know why, but she was so sad that she could burst into tears.

"No, no, no, no. That's not what I meant." He hugged her and kissed her head, "I would be so proud to have you as a cousin," He looked up, "or even as a daughter."

She was thunderstruck. In what universe could he be her dad? Not that it was bad. Sirius was a good man, and most certainly preferred too many other options. Hermione would love it if that was the case.

"You know it's actually possible. I fooled around quite a lot. Once I did it with Lucius Malfoy's sister just to make him angry." He continued as Hermione stared at her angrily, "Well, in my defense we had to same goal and that was to piss him off so bad that he would do something stupid, which he did. It was the best fiasco ever." he laughed wholeheartedly. Hermione smiled, too.

"I wouldn't mind her as your mom. We were good friends. Actually, I don't think she ever married. She was a rebel just like me. She could have been my wife… if I hadn't been such a stupid prick." he sighed.

"Where is she now?" Hermione asked.

"Lucinda went abroad. She must be somewhere in Africa exploring a secret tomb or something." He guessed.

"Will you be OK here?" Hermione asked hopefully.

"Yeah, I will." He responded. "Just make sure Harry calls me from time to time. I've given him a mirror to do that."

Aside from all the bad news and recent horrors, Hermione and Ron were made Perfects, and she couldn't stop wondering why on earth would they choose Ron over Harry. It made little sense, but she didn't want to hurt Ron's feelings by expressing her opinion. Perhaps Dumbledore wanted to motivate Ron. Whatever his reason was she couldn't be bothered with it as change was slowly moving towards her face. Her face was becoming longer and her cheekbones were becoming more pronounced. Her skin was smoother now. Although she hadn't changed to a great degree, some minor changes were visible if you paid enough attention. She was less like herself and that was bothering her.

Sirius for some reason seemed happier now. Maybe he believed her to be his daughter. She wished that were the case yet some pessimist part of her said that it couldn't be that easy.

The day they received their badges a small party was held in their honor. And the first individual who noted her change was none other than Alastor Moody

"You look different, Granger." said Moody, "I don't mean the hair, I don't know what you did with it. No, I mean your face." He looked at Lupin questioningly.

"I can assure you Alastor that this is Hermione Granger indeed." Lupin smiled at her warmly.

"Can't be too careful huh? An imposter could always sneak around. Constant vigilance!"

His sudden outburst startled Molly Weasley who in return looked at him disapprovingly and went back to her conversation with Tonks.

"Stop this nonsense, Alastor. There are no imposters here." Lupin responded, "The only danger here is you giving Molly a heart attack."

Fortunately, Hermione's change of appearance was ignored by others for the rest of the night. Some had already seen that and others didn't say much. Hermione wasn't sure but it seemed that facial change was not that surprising to magical people because it was more common. She tried to stick with Lupin for that night. Naturally their talks lead to the Prefects.

"Dumbledore may have chosen Ronald to give you a bit of help in keeping Harry in line this year." said Lupin to her at some point, "This year is going to be difficult."

He didn't need to elaborate more and Hermione knew it was most likely the case. She wondered if Dumbledore chose Ron just to keep Harry in check? Had they appointed her to keep him under control?

"Then it's just another perk of being friends with The-Boy-Who-Lived." Hermione thought as disappointment filled her mind.

"What's the gloomy face for?" asked someone. She looked at him and it was Harry, "Trouble in Paradise?"

"Come on, Harry, being a prefect is not being in Paradise." Hermione moaned.

"Trouble in hell then?" an amused Harry asked. Hermione laughed. Harry was so perceptive when it came to human emotions.

"I believe that fails to describe it as badly. I've been thinking; what if Dumbledore made us prefects to keep you out of trouble?" Hermione asked as she stared into his eyes.

"What if? Well, if he really did that for that very purpose, he's going to be really disappointed. Ron is no lesser of trouble maker, and I happen to be a trouble magnet. Seriously, Hermione, I don't want trouble. Trouble wants me! You guys do remember what happened last year, don't you?" Harry said. His frustrated eyes clearly displayed his annoyance. Hermione patted him on the back.

"I know Harry." she said sympathetically, "Well, don't get me wrong. I don't know exactly how it feels, because I haven't been through what you've been, but I see that you're upset and sometimes angry."

"Don't forget guilty. Did you know that I suggested that Cedric and I pick the goblet together at the same time? Everyone around me gets hurt." Harry was calm outside but a storm of emotions was going through his brain.

"How sentimental of you, Potter." said a man behind them. From his voice and its sarcastic tone, they knew it was Snape without looking back. "Perhaps if you had been more selfish…"

"Oh, cut the crap, Snape!" said Sirius defensively. "Of course it wasn't his fault." He grabbed Harry's shoulders and looked into his tearful eyes. "It wasn't your fault. There's no way you could have known. Now, go be happy, because this a party full of people my beloved mother hated all her life. Excluding you Snape, my parents would love you self serving jerk. My father would adore you."

Snape looked at him impassively and walked away. He soon found Lupin to bother.

"Well, Snape is enjoying himself," said Harry. The other two giggled.

Lupin came to them soon, "Hermione, Sirius, a moment please."

"We'll talk later, OK?" said Sirius and when Harry responded with a nod, they moved to the kitchen. Snape was sitting on a chair as the kitchen was in his own house.

"Did you have to be so nasty, professor?" asked Hermione. He in return looked at her and said, "I don't have time mollycoddling students."

"Yet you have time to torment them."

Snape ignored her words and faced Lupin, "Well, Wolf?"

"We must figure out who her parents are before she goes back to Hogwarts."

"While I agree with you, Lupin, I must remind you how impossible that is. The potion will take at least 6 months that would be no sooner than late February. You might want to reconsider." said the Potion master calmly.

"There must be other ways." Lupin insisted, " Couldn't we get the potion from somewhere else?"

"No, I for one know that its production is strictly regulated for obvious reasons. You can brew it for personal or educational reasons, but selling it is prohibited and I doubt you want to go through the Ministry to get it." said Sirius to everyone's surprise, "My father brewed a batch when I was 6. You know, just in case."

Everyone was staring at him. He seemed really uncomfortable.

"It runs in your family then." Snape did not specify what, but apparently the other men knew what he was talking about.

"Can't we find a spell in Black library?" Remus asked hopefully.

"Other than Patrimoine? I have been searching to no avail. Heritage is primarily inspected by potions. There are simpler potions that could confirm if two people are blood relatives or not. Although they're easy to make they all require blood from parents as well." Sirius said.

"You might be her father mut. She is supposed to be blonde. That could be a Malfoy trait. Could she be Lucinda's child?" Snape asked. His distaste was mixed with some sick pleasure he was getting from Sirius's pain.

"I have been communicating with her." Lupin gave him an incredulous look as he said it, "Discreetly, of course. She knows it's me, but the way we do it, is safe. We've never been caught before." Snape sneered at that.

"It was quite a delicate situation. She was happy that I'm out of Azkaban, and she would love to meet me, but she said and I quote 'I think I would have remembered it clearly if a three pound baby had come out of my uterus.' I really doubt that possibility." He looked at her sadly, "Sorry little bird that would have been so great."

"Maybe she's not related to Malfoy's at all. They're not the only people with fair hair." Remus hoped that it was true, "I really hope that's the case; It could be a danger to her if her parents turn out to be unsavory people."

"Her parentage won't change by wishing, Lupin. If they are Dark Lord sympathisers or worse, Death Eaters, all we could do is to limit the damages and risks." said Snape, "In that case, Miss Granger, you'll be hated by everyone but your true friends. The Slytherins will see you as a blood traitor. The Gryffindors will consider you to be a secret Death Eater who befriended The-Boy-Who-Lived to stab him in the back in his worst moments, and the other two houses won't trust you."

Hermione gulped. Tears gathered in her eyes. Why was this man so damn cruel.

"I don't intend to be unkind. However, I think you deserve to know what could happen to you if that is the case, so you can prepare for the worst."

That somehow made him less of an arse.