Hello stranger,

I want to send out a MASSIVE apology. I didn't want to be one of those authors that post infrequently if at all.But I did. .Sadly, like most authors, Life happened. things happened and here we are.Recently a few people have sent me some encouraging reviews to please finish it.I have been working to do so.So this is an update and hopefully there will be more to come.

Please note that unfortunately it is not beta read - I have endeavored to edit and correct this myself - but there may be some things I did miss.

Thank you!

XOXO

Natstar

SHATTER ME

Chapter 26

Harry and Hermione were stretched out at opposite ends of the sofa with books hovering around their heads like rustling birds. There were piles of parchment and spread out floating between them, the Maruaders map. Sirius stopped as he entered as the scene of them working on something clearly not schoolwork as both stopped immediately what they were doing, with slightly guilty looks on their faces.

"Evening" He grinned at them moving forwards to kiss Hermione on the cheek. She pulled away, wrinkling her nose. "You smell as bad as the Hogs Head."

"Well business went very well. And we had a lot to celebrate." Sirius shrugged as he sank into his armchair, stretching out with a sigh.

"You mean you got Remus drunk enough to sign his promotion?" she asked as they began packing away their notes and books. Sirius watched through heavy lidded eyes. "You don't have to go on my part Harry."

"Oh, it is already really late and I need to get back to Gryffindor tower without getting caught" Harry hedged as he shouldered his backpack, the map still in his hand.

"Library, lunch time tomorrow Hermione?"

Hermione nodded as she shoved the final books back into her own bag, bidding them goodnight, Harry left with a wave. "I thought you are up to date on your homework and assignments?" Sirius asked as a particularly long roll of parchment rolled itself up and zoomed into her backpack.

"I have. Harry needed help with his." Hermione answered. She stood up and stretched as she moved towards him, "You need a shower, before you even get into bed." She said, offering her hand to pull him up.

"Only if you join me Princess" He smirked, as he took her hand letting her pull him up. Hermione's nose wrinkled again, "I'm not the one permeating pungent odours that borderlines on nauseating."

She turned and walked slowly to her bedroom. Sirius followed grinning, "Oh Princess, you wound me with your words," Following, in her wake.

VVWVV

Hermione raced to class, her footsteps echoing down the empty corridor. She was late. She hated being late. It wasn't exactly her fault, and she felt ill from spending the morning heaving up the contents of her breakfast when Sirius came out. The first whiff of his cologne and she had barely made it to the bathroom in time. Sirius in his concern had followed but she had locked the door on him. It had taken an hour and a bubble head charm to explain the problem and grab her things leaving Sirius behind as he went back and showered off the cologne and remove all traces from their rooms.

"Miss Granger, so kind of you to finally join us" Professor Snape drawled, as Hermione moved quickly to her seat. "Unfortunately, even frivolous female hormones are not an excuse for lateness. Fifty points from Gryffindor" The Slytherin boys sniggered loudly.

Hermione stopped in her tracks and glared at the teacher before her. Harry and the class watched on in silence. "Perhaps Professor, if you had a vagina you may know what it is like to be a female to better acquaint yourself in understanding how female anatomy works"

The class gasped as the two stood before each other. The class looked between the teacher and the student. No one had ever seen her talk back to a teacher like this since Professor Trelawny. "Miss Granger, I am fully aware of the female system and how it works."

To everyone's surprise and horror, Hermione laughed. Even the Slytherins in the class stared at her as if she had gone mad. Professor Snape narrowed his eyes, a clear sign that he was ready to hand out as much punishment as he was able to legally do so. "Perhaps Miss Granger, you can enlighten us all on what you find so humorous as to interrupting my class about the female system."

"Oh, but Professor it was you that brought up the topic in the first instance. And as to why I find it so amusing, no man alive or dead has EVER, fully understood the female anatomy." Hermione's face a mask of indifference yet her eyes seemed to radiate fury. Professor Snape stared down his student, which would normally cow even the toughest Slytherin; but Hermione did not back down. She just waited coolly for his next move. The entire class seemed to hold their breath to find out what would happen next. Especially as the class realised both now had their wands trained on the other.

"When did they draw their wands?" Neville whispered. The whole class heard the whisper, no one answered.

"Another fifty points from Gryffindor, Miss Granger." Snape spat. Hermione to the amazement of everyone in class, laughed again. It seemed that it was the final straw for Snape as a curse shot directly at Hermione. Hermione's laugh stopped as she blocked the spell with such force it blew the parchment from the desks. Snape's feet slid backwards a foot from the wind.

"I believe, Sir, you seemed to have mistaken me for a student that still cares about house points." Hermione said softly. The air in the room had become static. On the initial blast students scrambled from their desks moving against the wall of the class with their own wands out, some had already cast shield charms just in case.

"Well we both know exactly what you care about, Miss Granger." Snape retorted, his anger and disgust now clear on his face, sparks shooting from his wand. Harry made to move to help Hermione, but hands grabbed and stopped him. "It's not your fight, mate." Ron's voice whispered, to Harry's shock.

The air crackled and snapped between student and teacher. The class watched on. Snape moved first, but Hermione blocked him again, this time also shielding the class from the rebound from the spell.

"Get out of my head." She snarled at him. She stamped her foot and Snape staggered back. "That is your last warning, Snivellus."

"Your pathetic attempts at retalliation Miss Granger, are not worth a grade." Snape spat back at her. Yet something in his voice seemed to think that she had unnerved him.

"I doubt that, Professor. Perhaps it may simply be that your technique at teaching is, less than it was?" Hermione replied quietly.

"Miss Granger you are on thin ice." Snape warned again.

"Oh, you think so?" She asked and to everyone's surprise she put her wand away and picked up her bag, and walked gracefully past him to the door.

"GET BACK HERE! NOW!" Snape turned his wand pointed at Hermione's back. Hermione stopped when she had her hand on the door handle and pulled the door open before she turned back to him.

"I do believe, sir, I am no longer finding your class fit for my education. Don't let the frivolous female hormones get the better of you." She curtseyed before him and was gone before anyone could breathe.

VVWVV

The door slammed and Sirius looked up in Surprise as Hermione stormed into their rooms. He'd spent the better part of two hours with a pair of house elves to help eliminate the scent of the cologne from their rooms and had only just sat down to review the correspondence from his uncle's business when she returned. He had expected her gone till the afternoon.

"I thought you had class?" Sirius asked as he watched her point her wand at a vase of honking daffodils she received from Luna, exploding the vase and its contents.

"Sweetheart that was a thoughtful gift, given to you from a friend." Sirius said calmly as he vanished the paperwork and watched as she stalked the room, snarling at him as she prowled. In the distance the bell to indicate that lunch was beginning sounded. Sirius stood and stretched.

"Why don't we go and eat in the Great Hall. I'm famished."

"Not hungry." She snapped as she continued pacing. Pivoting gracefully and striding back past the fireplace. She flicked her wand and the vase rebuilt itself and refilled with water. She couldn't repair the honking daffodils, so replaced them with normal ones.

"Princess, we are going to the Great Hall to have lunch. It was not a choice." Sirius stood by the door waiting. She snarled and pivoted back towards her room. Sirius flicked his wand and the door slammed and locked.

"On your own two feet or over my shoulder?" Sirius opened the door to the corridor and waited. Hermione snarled again and stalked past him down the corridor, not waiting for him to follow.

Sirius stepped out and closed the door, following behind at a slower pace. He had caught up with her when she reached the first floor as she had been stopped on the grand staircase by a gaggle of girls. As he approached he heard one of them say, "Whatever you did Hermione, you need to see."

Hermione didn't have a chance to protest as the girls, he noted now were mostly Slytherins from her year, drag her towards the Great Hall. Frowning at what Hermione could have done Sirius followed, hoping that he might learn why Hermione had come back from class early in a state of rage.

There seemed to be a shift in mood as he entered, but was unable to pin it as he looked to find Hermione, instead spotting Harry at the Gryffindor table with a group of boys in his year. Making his way towards the Gryffindor table he passed the Slytherin table and glanced at a group of boys huddled around another who was crying as much as he was eating a large piece of chocolate cake. He thought nothing of it until he heard the boy exclaim "I am so fat!" and the other boys around him immediately reassuring that he was not.

He continued on, still trying to find Hermione in the crowd, taking a place next to Harry.

"Hi Sirius" Harry said gloomily, shifting to give Sirius some more room.

"Any ideas what is going on?" Sirius asked Harry, selecting a dish and filling his plate, noting that Harry was picking at his own dish without eating any.

"Ask Hermione" Harry answered sulkily, finally putting a mouthful into his mouth, chewing without any enthusiasm.

"I tried. Now I am asking you." Sirius said looking up and around the room again. Opposite them Seamus was looking at himself through the reflection of his soup spoon trying to fix his hair and huffing. Harry sighed heavily beside him.

"Snape pissed her off. She hexed him. But I think she may have hexed most of the boys in the school too. We thought it was just our class, but when we went to Herbology after, Ernie and another Hufflepuff said they felt weird." Harry explained in a monotone voice.

"Hermione hexed Snape? With what?" Sirius asked looking back at the older boys in the school. They certainly seemed more agitated than usual. He also noted that she seemed to have skipped more than Defence against the Dark Arts before she had even considered returning back to their rooms.

"Feelings! And stomach cramps." Dean answered, next to Seamus. Seamus finally put the spoon down but was untying his school tie, muttering about how he can never get it perfect.

"Not just cramps though," Neville said, sitting on Harry's other side, picking out all the mushrooms and onions from his meal.

"I have no idea how it's happening but some went to the hospital wing saying that they were bleeding, but I couldn't see where." Neville blushed. Sirius let the information process in his mind and what Hermione had done before and after she left this morning to class.

"What did Snape say to piss her off?" Sirius asked as he noted Professor McGonagall hurry towards him. With a sigh he took one more bite, knowing that this was about what Hermione did.

It had taken Sirius some time to locate Hermione again. He didn't ask about an explanation from her, he knew he would hear it soon enough. But it still took some convincing to take her to Professor McGonagall's office. She nearly bolted again when she saw that not only were Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore there, so was Professor Snape. Sirius shut the door and wondered what was so bad as to have three of them in attendance. He didn't have to wait long as Professor McGonagall.

"Miss Granger, you cannot curse the entire student body!" Professor McGonagall exclaimed.

Hermione stood before them, glaring at Professor Snape. "It was only the boys." She answered softly.

"And Snape" She added. Sirius noted that he was not alone in the surprise that she neglected the title of Professor, when she was usually a stickler to correct everyone to use the teacher's full title.

"Miss Granger, perhaps you should share your version of events today." Professor Dumbledore suggested calmly.

Hermione finally turned away from her glares at Snape and looked at Professor Dumbledore. Sighing, she recited what occurred that morning.

"I didn't intend to hex all the boys in the school," Hermione finished quietly.

"You are aware you are not meant to curse or hex anyone in school?" Professor McGonagall demanded. Hermione nodded, but showed no sign of being sorry for what she did. Professor McGonagall noted it as well.

"How long will this wears off?" She asked in a tone that demanded answers.

Hermione shrugged, "As long as a period lasts. Some girls get them for a week, some less, some more. I would hazard the same effects would be for the boys."

She turned her gaze back to Snape, and the room seemed to drop several degrees. "I can't say the same for him."

"Why not?" Professor McGonagall asked her student. Hermione smiled and all the men in the room shivered. "Menopause"

Professor Dumbledore cleared his throat, "I have to say that I am impressed Miss Granger with your skill. However, I do believe that punishing all the boys in the school seems a little excessive. I think they will have learned the lesson on female hormones well enough."

"I doubt it. But I accept your terms Headmaster. I will remove the curse from the male students." She pulled out her wand and did flicked her wand with precision.

"And Professor Snape?" Professor Dumbledore asked.

"No." She said simply.

"Why you insolent fucking bit-" Snape's curses were cut off as he was knocked unconscious by two curses hitting him.

"Perhaps it may be for the best for the rest of the school term, you may wish to spend it removed from Hogwarts." Professor Dumbledore said quietly.

"You are suspending me sir?" Hermione asked in surprise.

"In a sense; I would like to think I am allowing you the time for you both to prepare for returning to the past. I will of course move your Defence against the Dark Arts exams forwards, to minimalize exposure to potentially disastrous experiences with Severus here." Professor Dumbledore answered. Hermione nodded and exited the room quietly.

Albus bent down and revived the unconscious form of Snape. Sirius leaned against the wall his wand still trained on Snape.

"Before you say anything, be warned I will make sure that being cursed with menopause is the least of your troubles if you ever say anything like that to my fiancee again." Sirius warned.

"I do believe that Severus understands that well enough, Sirius. Now please excuse me, I need to announce to the student body that there seemed to have been a slight hiccup with the pumpkin juice this morning, resulting in some interesting reactions." Dumbledore stood and opened the door; "Minerva, if you would be so kind to ensure all students are in the Great hall?" Professor McGonagall walked out of the office, Professor Dumbledore following behind and shutting the door with a snap.

Snape picked himself up and dusted himself off. "You are a brave fool, Black."

"Why is that?" Sirius asked, watching the man he hated since school.

"Because right now, even Dumbledore has concerns over who right now is more dangerous between the Dark Lord and that chit of a girl, you want to marry." Snape answered with distaste.

He pulled out an overstuffed letter, handing it to Sirius. Sirius took it and looked at the neat writing, recognising Hermione's script. The letter was addressed to Snape.

"How long did it take for her to work out how to increase the potency of Wolfsbane Potion?" Snape asked, leaning against the desk nodding for Sirius to open the letter.

Inside was an initial letter to Snape, as well as her Hypothesis and research notes on comparing Polyjuice and Wolfsbane and several other potions Sirius didn't know she'd researched and clear notes for preparing experiments to prove her theory. Through the notes he saw Snape's scrawl between the lines and crossed out some comments with his own added. Sirius looked up from the notes.

"Shortly after the assignment old Sluggo set her before Halloween. And the reason she didn't actually continue to try the experimental stage was because the fumes meant she didn't eat for two days." Sirius said handing back the notes and envelope.

"She tried to test the theories? When she was supposed to be, as I recall, returning to her health." Snape sneered as he folded the parchment and returned it back to its envelope.

"Do not pretend to care about her wellbeing Snivellus" Sirius warned. Snape merely raised a brow for him to continue. After a minute of glaring at each other both, Sirius finally lowered his wand and continued "When it came to her potions lessons we let her learn on her own. At least until Remus found her in the courtyard collapsed vomiting. We made sure to monitor all lessons after that."

"That explains the detail she went on experimenting." Snape mused. He moved to the door and paused, "Be careful Black." He warned. Sirius looked up at the man he had hated since the first day at Hogwarts, studying him in return.

"She is right now, one of the strongest witches since The Dark Lord Himself."

"Since when have you ever warned me to be safe? Are you sure Dumbledore removed her curse on you?" Sirius asked.

"Since, I know for a fact that after today Dumbledore will now be more cautious of her." Snape's face was no longer sneering.

"She is no longer just a book smart girl wanting to prove to the Wizarding world that she belongs there" Snape stated. Sirius laughed, causing the other wizard to raise his brow.

"You don't understand. Hermione never was just a book smart girl. She loves her books and learning, but at the heart she is and always will be more than that. Only she rarely shows anyone, even herself what she is capable of. She is the brightest witch of her age for more than her book smarts." Sirius said and stormed past the open door that Snape left open.

Sirius stalked the halls back towards their rooms. His fiancée was the smartest witch of her age. He heard it said a lot. Even he had told her after she rescued him from the Dementers at the end of her third year, when he knew her and she saw him as a stranger needing help. All of them were wrong. She was the smartest witch of THE age. They were afraid to admit it, even apparently Dumbledore.

Sirius snorted, scaring a first year as he stalked past. He knew. He always had. There had always been something far more magical about her than any witch or wizard he had ever met; the only exception's he drew in his mind were Dumbledore and The Dark Lord. Her doubt in herself was still there even when she had fallen back through the veil. He had seen that when she or someone she cared for was threatened her fierceness to protect what she loved made her deadly. Sirius stopped at the door as realisation hit home. Since she had returned she hadn't held back from that fierceness to protect. Even when she struggled to get her memories back, she was still so protective.

He opened the door and walked through to her bedroom where she was magically packing her things into her trunk. No, she was sitting on the window seat staring out as her room packed itself magically. He entered and moved through the room noting that his presence didn't stop the clothes and books seemingly dance through the air as they folded and sorted themselves neatly into the trunk.

"You cursed Snape with menopause?" he asked mildly as he sat behind her and began massaging her shoulders.

"Hormones are a bitch. He needed the worst to fully prove the point." Hermione said so softly he almost didn't hear her. She groaned as he found a knot and worked it away.

"And the group of Slytherin girls?" He asked.

"They wanted to know what and how I did it. Oh- right there." Hermione sighed as he worked out the knot.

"So where do you want to go?" He asked her, kissing the back of her neck.

"What do you mean?" Hermione frowned in confusion.

"Well, we now have an extra two weeks on our hands, I can spirit you away from this place to anywhere you wish Princess." Sirius said softly against her ear. "We could go back to that Island in the Caribbean."

"I thought the wedding was meant to come before the honeymoon?"

"Maybe. but sweetheart, if you want that too I can arrange that." He grinned at her as she stood up.

"Oh, really?" She asked sceptically, as she inspected her trunk before closing and locking it.

"Darling, I can arrange anything for you. I am Sirius Black." He lay back stretching out, closing his eyes, the grin on his face taking years off him; Hermione was reminded of a different time when the world did seem simpler despite her fleeting moment. She smiled as she looked at him, almost carefree.

"I had thought you would lecture me about what happened today, instead of promising to magic me away to exotic places." She picked up her quill and tickled his cheek with it as he lay there.

Sirius chuckled, more at what she said than the feather tracing his face. "Anytime someone gets the better of Snivellus, deserves to be treated to their hearts desires."

"Their hearts desires?" Hermione's voice whispered against his ear, as the feather danced against his chest that was exposed by the cut of his shirt.

"Oh yes, I am sure we can find something suitable to reward such fine spell work, as the school has seen today." Sirius answered. His voice had grown husky.

"I am sure we will." She whispered against his mouth before kissing him. She pulled away and he reached out. Feeling nothing he opened his eyes. The room was empty. Her trunk was gone, and Hermione was standing at the doorway with the quill in her hand smirking at him.

"I packed your room as well. And it would seem that our carriage awaits" She nodded back to the window. Sirius turned and looked down and sure enough, a thestral drawn carriage was waiting. Sirius turned back to Hermione but she was already gone. Sirius ran a hand through his hair sighing. Both McGonagall and Snape had warned him to be careful of her. Sirius chuckled as he exited their rooms. They forgot that he was a marauder and playing with something dangerous was part of the fun. Especially when he didn't think she was. To him she was still his fairy princess, and she always would be.

XxxxX