AN: Thank you for all the support! It is very deeply appreciated!
Hermione's mind was too scientific to indulge in the fantasy of walking on clouds in the air. All she had to base her fantasies on was reality. Fog was a cloud on the ground, but it was unpleasant to walk through. It always made her hair messier than it needed to be, and the vapor stuck to her skin until even a towel had difficulty wiping it off. No, walking through a cloud was not pleasant in the least.
This afternoon, her mind was anything but scientific. She felt as if the ground was nothing but a cushion. Her body was weightless, as if she could float as high as one of the angels she had so envied. His love still echoed in her soul, and the burn of his lips against hers were still a tingling. If this is what heaven felt like, then there was no reason to fear death in the slightest!
She sipped her chamomile tea at her de-cluttered kitchen table, a newspaper in hand. Nothing held her interest for longer than a few seconds. Her mind could only focus on Severus and their fusion.
"Hermione?"
Hermione jolted up, almost spilling her drink onto her black t-shirt and sweatpants. Unfazed, she glided over to the fireplace and peered inside. "Hello, Harry."
"Hey, I just uh, wanted to see how you were," he replied.
"No," She drawled. "You want to hear everything about last night."
"Well, if you're willing to share with me…" He leaned closer to the fireplace.
"I suppose I could spare a few minutes." She hummed.
"Great," he motioned for her to step back.
She did so, leaving room for him to stumble through the threshold. As he wiped himself, he took note of her attire. "You're wearing black."
"Yes." She raised an eyebrow. "Is there a problem with that?"
His stomach sank. He'd seen that expression before. It was forever etched into his memory as one of the rare expressions of joy displayed by his former potions master.
"Are you okay?" The playfulness vanished from her expression.
"Yes." He swallowed. "I just, uh…"
She parted her lips.
"Never mind." He grinned. "I was surprised to see you in sweatpants."
"Did you expect me to wear a cocktail dress all day?" Her eyes twinkled.
"No, I suppose not." He looked around. "Speaking of dresses, where is your paramour?"
"He's at his place, picking up some things."
"He just loved you and ran?"
"Hardly," she replied. "He was here all morning."
"Did he make you breakfast in bed?"
"No, because I wanted us to make pancakes together."
"That's a little cutesier than you usually prefer."
"What's so cutesy about making breakfast together? Just because we were intimate doesn't mean my cooking lessons ended. Cooking together was just as romantic as breakfast in bed, in some ways more so."
"I never thought I'd see the day where you thought cooking was romantic."
"A lot has changed these past few months."
"True, but still," He sat upon her couch. "He could have spoiled you a little, been your servant for the morning."
"I don't want that." She sat beside him. "I want a strong man who will enable me to take care of myself. He is that and much much more."
"I just wish he was a strong man who would allow me to see him."
"He might have stayed longer, but it wouldn't have been right for him to spend all day in a tuxedo."
"He wore a tuxedo?"
She nodded as Crookshanks entered the room.
"You wore a fancy dress, he wore a tuxedo, yet neither of you left the house?"
"Yes."
Harry looked at her as if she'd asked him to play Quidditch without a broom.
"We didn't want the media coverage which would have hounded us had we gone out." Hermione petted her familiar as he rubbed her leg. "We just wanted a nice night with just the two of us."
"I know you value your privacy but," the humor left his expression. "It is becoming concerning that he doesn't want to see your friends."
"Why?" She scratched Crookshanks' back.
"Don't you think this whole not meeting friends thing is odd?"
"It's unconventional, but it doesn't bother me."
Harry sighed.
"I honestly don't see what your problem is. He fully supports me having a social life. He would never keep me from you, so why are you taking him not wanting to see you personally?"
"I know he wouldn't keep you from us, and I appreciate that, but it seems as if there's a distance between you two." He folded his hands. "He doesn't seem to want to be a part of your life."
"He wants nothing more than to be a part of my life."
Crookshanks strolled away.
"Then why didn't he stay and at least shake hands with Luna?"
"He was running late and James was fussing." She furrowed her eyebrows.
"I know, but I'm noticing a concerning pattern. He is absolutely opposed to any kind of social life."
"He's shy." She lowered her voice. "There's nothing more to it than that."
"I would still love to meet him."
"So you can barrage him with questions?"
"I won't barrage him with questions. I only want to make sure he's worthy of your affections." Harry argued.
"You sound like my father."
"I'm not trying to be stifling, only protective."
"I can make my own decisions."
"Yes, but if you're going to spend any significant time with this guy I'd like to be a part of his life, if only so I can stay connected to you."
"I know you want to be a good friend, but you need to trust me when I say things are better this way," her voice was growing uncomfortably loud.
"Okay," he whispered. "I respect that."
"Good." She relaxed.
"It's just," the spark in Harry's eyes returned. "I've never seen you this happy."
"I don't think I've ever been this happy." Her smile returned.
"If he doesn't treat you right, you know who to call."
"You'll be the first person I floo."
"All that being said," Harry smirked. "Tell me all about it."
"Harry!" She blushed.
"I mean it, tell me what you did."
"I can't do that!" She laughed.
"You can leave out the more intimate parts, but I want some details. You in a cocktail dress and him in a tuxedo staying at home is too interesting of a story to keep to yourself. Wouldn't you agree?"
Hermione caught her breath, too joyful to consider the implications of not telling Harry the whole truth about her paramour.
"What did you do to piss Metatron off?" Severus snapped as he pointed upwards.
"I didn't do anything!" Sirius argued. "At least, not this time!"
"Not this time?"
"My Purgatory trial went horribly, but other than that I haven't so much as looked at Metatron!"
"You must have left one horrible impression on him for him to come down here on his own volition and threaten us." Severus lowered his hand.
"Well, excuse me!" Sirius snarled. "I wasn't the one fusing with mortals."
Severus turned white.
"He seems just as pissed about you fusing with Hermione as he is about anything else."
"How do you know I successfully fused with her?"
"Other than Metatron telling me about it, I felt the change in cosmic energy." Sirius turned yellow and gave him a small grin. "It was quite a peaceful feeling actually."
"It was like nothing I'd ever felt." Severus turned pink. "I did not know I was capable of such love until I gazed into her eyes."
"I take it you had a wonderful night?"
Severus' glow intensified.
"Well, I hope it was worth it because now Metatron is after us!"
"Metatron is after us, but not the Trinity." Severus' glow returned to its regular hue.
"How much longer before they say something?"
"If they are all knowing, then they are fully aware of what happened. So far they have said and done nothing." Severus scratched his chin.
"Perhaps they are waiting to strike."
"Why would an all-powerful being need to wait to make their intentions known?"
"I don't know. Why does an all-powerful Being do anything?"
"Because they can." Severus dug his foot into the ground.
"Yes, and if Meatron gets a hold of them before we do it's going to be a disaster."
"They already know what's happened." Severus spoke to Sirius as if he was three. "By Metatron's own admission, they didn't send him. That means there's time to persuade Dismas and St. Peter to take our side and intercede before the Trinity."
"Do you really think two mortal saints could go up against an archangel?"
"Considering that one was present at the harrowing of hell and the other was Jesus' favorite disciple, yes."
"The harrowing of hell?" Sirius cocked his head.
"Dismas helped free the souls from Limbo after Jesus died."
"I had no idea," Sirius' glow brightened. "What did he do?"
"From what I understand, he struck some demons with a cross and," Severus shook his head. "Never mind. We just need to call him and tell him about Metatron's threats."
"What if they take Metatron's side?"
"Then they'd be escorting us to Purgatory at the moment."
"You have a point there."
"Yes, I do. Now," Severus' waved his hand. "Turn around, I need to put on my robe."
"Why?" Sirius' lips curled upwards. "It isn't like I haven't seen any of it before."
"I know, which is exactly why Metatron is in our faces."
"It's always my fault isn't it?"
"I haven't so much as looked upon Metatron until now. In light of that, yes, this is all your fault."
Sirius rolled his eyes before turning around.
"What exactly did he do to you that has you so intimidated?" Severus asked.
"It isn't anything he said. But," Sirius' glow dimmed. "After I laughed at my Purgatory hearing, he flared up."
"I didn't know angels could change colors." Severus began to strip.
"He didn't change colors or become red," Sirius' eyes grew. "It's hard to explain, but I could feel an energy from him. It wasn't as sinister as a Death Eater, but when he unfurled his wings and glared at me, I knew he was not going to rest until I suffered."
"In other words," Severus kicked off his pants. "He didn't bow to your greatness."
"It was worse than that" Sirius continued. "It was as if I'd personally offended him by existing."
Severus strolled across the room, where his robe lay folded on the floor.
"I saw the prosecutor at my earthly trial, I remember the guards at Azkaban, and the Dementors swarming me, but I could laugh at them. I could psychologically overcome them." His glow pulsated. "I couldn't laugh at Metaron. There was no way to overcome him. He had all the power, and I knew it."
Severus put on his robe.
"He recommended damnation forty times during his speech. He knew every one of my sins, and couldn't have cared less about the good deeds I'd done. It was as if I was the scum of the earth who didn't warrant a hearing." Sirius turned blue. "The Trinity just ate it up. It was clear when I left for them to deliberate I was not going to be a straight shot. I was fairly certain I was going to hell, and I couldn't appeal my case."
Severus blinked.
"I'd never felt that powerless." Sirius' voice was barely audible. "I'd never felt like I was nothing until that moment."
Severus twisted his lower lip.
"When they announced that I had a millennium in Purgatory, I'll admit I was upset. You know that. But my sentence wasn't enough for Metatron. That wasn't good enough for him, and he wanted to make sure I knew it. He unfurled his wings again, turned this bright shade of white, and spoke how that was too good for me in a booming voice."
Severus glanced at the ground.
"There was no reasoning with him. The Trinity watched him, and didn't say a thing. There was no way to hide from it. I couldn't retreat into myself when I was around him. I couldn't appeal to any heroics or throw my name around. Perhaps worst of all," He turned a darker shade of blue. "I knew he was right about me."
"What?"
"You heard me, he was right. I am nothing more than a spoiled rich brat who spent more time bringing pain than doing something productive in life. Most of my life was spent complaining, often about situations I helped create. At the end of the day, I hated you because I needed to channel my anger, yet." He bowed his head. "I still remember the fear he inspired in me, that sense that I was nothing to him. I am terrified of him because he knows me, and there's nothing I can do to convince him that I have anything good in me."
Silence suffocated the room.
"You can turn around now." Severus began.
Sirius did not move.
"Please turn around so I can tell you something."
Sirius did so.
"I cannot believe I'm saying this, but," Severus paused. "I forgive you."
"You forgive me?"
"You heard me correctly, and I refuse to repeat what I've just said."
Sirius' glow brightened.
"You harmed me deeper than I ever could have imagined, but you also helped me win the heart of the most wonderful woman in existence. For that," Severus' expression lightened. "I forgive you."
Sirius turned yellow.
"Also, you are not nothing. There is good in you hidden deep down, very deep down, inside of you."
"I like you too!" Sirius rushed over and embraced Severus.
Severus felt his essence reach for Sirius, but he did not fuse with him as he had with Hermione. Instead there was a different kind of affection for him, one born of people who had reached an understanding. Sirius may never be Severus' favorite person, but the dog wasn't as terrible as he was in life. That had to count for something.
The dark robed man embraced Sirius, knowing if things were falling apart, at least he had the other spirit on his side. Right now, that meant more than Severus would ever care to admit.