September 29th, 2005.
Sirius had to take a second look at Hermione once he reached the doorway. When she turned around, a small smile was playing on her face, despite the bags under her eyes - still a reminder of what had happened yesterday.
He had expected a totally different sight of her—moping around with a brooding energy all around her.
Instead, Sirius found that not only was he completely wrong, she'd also gone out of the way to make him breakfast.
Hermione hated cooking.
Keeping a neutral expression on his face, he slipped into his usual seat and gathered a couple of pancakes on his plate.
"So, did you finally manage to free Kreacher or what?" he finally asked, a wry grin turned at his lips.
She pursed her lips at the reminder of her failed attempts. "You always have to mention that at least once a week, don't you?" she muttered, a defensive note bleeding into her voice as she sat down and filled her mug with coffee.
A question as to why she wasn't drinking tea was on the tip of his tongue, but the relaxed look on her face made him stop. Instead, he let his grin grow wider. "Always."
"Anyways," he continued, after swallowing down a bite; a gesture he knew, Hermione would appreciate. "Do you have to go to work today?"
She looked at him rather distastefully before drawing the mug to her lips, taking a sip. "Sirius, not all of us can stay home and swim in pools of money."
The corners of his lips tugged into a smirk as he leaned forward, scooting against the edge of the table. "Well, I would love to tell you about the way this money could become yours, too."
As if to act oblivious to his hidden message, she cocked her head and eyed him up and down.
"I don't think I care enough to learn about that," she told him, pleasing him with a playful smile of her own.
"Must you be so cruel?!" he cried out dramatically, his lips pursed into a childish pout. He promised himself he would get her back for that.
Though, at the moment, Sirius was just glad that her mood had somehow brightened over the previous evening.
He couldn't believe he'd forgotten the fact that she was a war hardened witch now — no longer the know-it-all girl that reprimanded her friends over the smallest things.
Sirius had spent the night chastising himself, but also feeling a growing respect for her. She'd kept her burdens hidden for so long, when he'd never even stopped brooding once he'd escaped Azkaban.
He drew himself away from these thoughts before she could catch a change in his expression. The witch was too brilliant for her own good.
He wouldn't be surprised if she'd already managed to find out about his attraction for her — not that he really hid it. It was just an attraction, after all. It will die down soon.
Hermione briskly made her way to her office, greeting a few colleagues on the way. Despite still being a bit overly excited, everyone had finally gotten used to her and Harry working in the same department.
She couldn't exactly blame them — not after the disaster that was her fawning over Gilderoy Lockhart. She'd even seen him briefly after the war, when she'd visited Neville's parents with the DA.
Shaking herself out of her thoughts, she closed the door behind her and found her best friend already sitting at his desk. Lifting his head from the desk, he cracked open a single eye to peer at her.
Flashing him a quick smile, she walked to her chair and plopped down with a loud sigh.
"Nightmares?" he asked, like it was a usual inside joke between them.
She hummed in reply as her eyes roamed over the papers in front of her. She didn't exactly want to remember how she'd woken up sore, crusty eyes as a product of crying in her sleep.
"What do we know about the case so far?" she asked as she rose from her seat and approached the white board she'd insisted they should get.
Her fingers wrapped around the black marker nearby and she started by scribbling down Diggory's name.
"We know that Diggory has been talking to former Death Eaters, most definitely discussing the possibility of bringing back the dead. He was also Imperiused by one of them," she heard Harry answer and she nodded thoughtfully.
Diggory: contact with Death Eaters (about the Veil), Imperius.
"Alright. Which Death Eaters do we know that are still on the run?" she questioned and as he recalled the names, she wrote each one of them with a growing tight grip on the marker.
Death Eaters: Amycus Carrow, Dolohov, Rookwood, Rowle.
Harry moved to stand by her side, looking at the board in defeat. "Well," he then began in feigned cheer, "if we didn't have enough motivation to catch them before, we do now."
Hermione rolled her eyes but nodded because truthfully, he was right. While the Aurors did catch a lot of the ones that had gone into hiding, there were still too many left that should not be roaming around free.
Four may not seem like too big of a number, but it was. Especially, when it posed a danger to the public.
"Alright. Let's go over the sightings of the last few attacks and we'll go from there - to see which ones are currently active," she said, eyeing the stack of papers in determination.
"Considering the Death Eater's use of the Imperius, I would say he's not too keen on staying hidden," Harry said and moved to join her.
They better get to work, she thought as they walked to the larger table at the center of the room.
—
It'd been a few hours since they'd started looking over the reports from the past months, and Hermione had yet to find a distinctive pattern — not until her partner informed her about how some particular pictures were only about the room's aftermath and not the bodies'.
"Harry, you're right! Now, if we jot down the names of the families, we could find a way to visit them and ask if . . ." she paused abruptly with a wince.
That was not going to be an easy visit for either of them.
Harry raked his hands through his hair, messing it. "Maybe, we should have lunch break first."
She agreed to the offer quicker than ever.
Removing the wrapper off her sandwich, Hermione took a bite and almost sighed in joy. While she loved the mystery around solving cases, she was easily lost in it.
She never really knew when to stop and take a break until Harry pointed it out.
Stifling a smile, she watched her best friend look at his left hand in a daze. "What's on your mind, Harry?"
Before the war, he would've evaded the question and said something along the lines of a mere 'nothing'. But ever since they were forced to stay in the tent together for several months, he'd grown out of it just to make sure she would talk about what was making her cry.
It'd filled her gut with warmth, despite the cold brewing outside and the Horcrux around her neck. Not only because it was such a thoughtful surprise from him, but also because he'd finally managed to open up to her.
Hermione could happily call that one of her proudest achievements.
Breaking through her thoughts, he answered, "It's Ginny . . ."
"What about her?" she asked carefully.
"This stuff with the Death Eaters and well, I was thinking about the engagement, that maybe—"
"Harry!" she interrupted, narrowing her eyes at him. "You better not be thinking of doing the same thing you did in sixth year."
He shot her a glare as he continued, "We decided we're going to get married sooner than we'd planned."
"Oh," she muttered and sent him a sheepish glance for not letting him finish. When his lips quirked up, her shoulders relaxed and she found herself growing even more curious. "How much sooner?"
His cheeks tinged pink and he mumbled something she couldn't quite catch. When Harry was asked to repeat, his voice grew louder. "Next week."
"Next week?" Hermione gasped, her eyes widening at the image of Molly that her mind provided her with. The matriarch was lamenting about not being able to choose the food, the venue, the tables, the chairs—
Hermione loved the woman but it was in moments like this, that she found herself glad that Ron and her were no longer dating. She knew her best friend was glad too, considering how happy he was with his current girlfriend.
Sarah was a sweetheart. Hermione only hoped Molly would be nice to her as time came for them to tie the knot.
As if reading her thoughts, Harry grimaced and said, "Yeah. Molly isn't too happy about that, but Ginny wouldn't budge."
She nodded in understanding. "What about your parents?"
A smile spread on his lips at the mention of the couple and he shrugged. "They didn't really care. Actually, they even told me how they'd done the same thing."
"What's with you Potters, marrying redheads and doing it quickly, too?" she asked wryly.
She had to duck her head to avoid the piece of bread that he hurled at her. Oh, the Boy-Who-Lived will have to pay.
Wand steady in her hand, Hermione watched as Harry knocked on a worn out wood for the umpteenth time that day.
So far, they'd visited around a dozen people, and needless to say, not many of them were willing to recall such attacks.
It didn't take long for the door to open, revealing an old lady, greying hair visible atop her head.
"Mrs. Dincley, we would like to ask you a few questions from the behalf of the Auror department," Hermione told her evenly.
The woman stopped staring at Harry to cast her a brief look and nod encouragingly. "Yes, yes. Do come in, dears."
The two of them wandered inside the house, eyes constantly darting around the few entrances put in place. The woman surprisingly led them to the same room of the pictures, motioning for them to join her on the black couch.
Giving a quick smile, Hermione sat down and looked at the notes she'd made on the attack. She let Harry begin the process, using his charm to placate any anxious feelings the woman may have.
"Where were you when the attack took place?"
Eyes downcast, she answered, "I was in the kitchen. I have trouble hearing and didn't hear my poor girl until it was too late."
"I'm so sorry, Mrs. Dincley. I promise you, we will make sure to find who it was. Now, what happened after you found her?" Harry inquired tentatively.
"I hurried to take to her to St. Mungo's but even that wasn't enough. Blood was just pooling everywhere!"
As soon as they lapsed into a tense silence, Hermione proceeded to ask, "Have you noticed any strange occurrences following or during the attack?"
There was a glimmer of recognition in her eyes and she wasted no time in replying, "Those Aurors of yours paid me no mind, but I just know there was something strange with my poor Linda's attack!"
A volatile mix of curiosity and dread swirled in her belly, and she gave her an encouraging nod, waiting patiently for the woman to follow up with the statement.
"She was struck with such a strange colour . . . purple, of all things," she muttered quietly with a shake of her head. "Never seen anything like that curse."
The pen in her hands stilled, a buzzing resonating through her brain as soon as realization dawned on her.
The breath left Hermione in a whoosh, her hesitant hand moving to her shirt just barely, intent on showing a small glimpse of the scar that ran from the middle of her chest and down to her torso.
The older woman moved with shaky hands, tracing the scar briefly with silent tears rolling down her cheeks. "That's what my little girl was hurt with," she whispered mournfully.
Hermione will make him pay for it all. For almost killing Remus and Tonks. For all the deaths he did end up causing in both wars and after. She would rather die than let that sick monster run free from his sins.
Still, Hermione felt gobsmacked. Surely, Dolohov couldn't be making it so easy for them, could he?
Why would he use his own spell—knowing well that she was an Auror and knew what it looked like—when he could've just casted the Killing Curse?
There was a hidden message, and she was intent on finding out what it might be.
By the time Hermione got home, all the lights were out in the living room. Kreacher was most definitely sleeping in his tiny room, if his loud snores were anything to go by.
She felt a twinge of disappointment at not being able to spend more time with Sirius, but she shoved it down. No, she could not be clingy. Friends didn't act like that—unless they were a drunk Ron or Harry.
Hermione admitted her drunk behaviour wasn't far too well, but whatever. It wasn't going to happen again. Well - maybe, at the wedding . . .
Mentally chastising herself, she dragged her feet to her room, muscles strained in exhaustion. Once she slipped into an old t-shirt and a comfortable pair of shorts, she heaved a sigh and plopped down her bed.
Her hands moved to tie her hair in a braid, and she wondered briefly if she would be getting any sleep tonight. She surely didn't want a repeat of last night.
Forcing her teeth away from her bottom lip, she decided she'll just attempt to sleep after a cup of tea. With a nod to herself, she made her way to the kitchen and as she moved to cast some light in the room, she found herself colliding into something very firm—something naked.
She let out a groan and her hands moved to grip the counter behind her, ready to steady her swaying body before it could stumble on anything else.
With her wand shoved close to the shadow's face, she cast a Lumos and found Sirius staring at her unabashedly.
"Oh, it's just you," she finally muttered, moving her wand away from him. She swivelled on her feet when the idea of a hot cup of tea called for her attention once again.
As she continued to make her small dream come true, Sirius leaned against the fridge by her side and scratched at the dark stubble along his jawline.
"You're telling me you saw all this," he said, motioning his half-naked body down with his hands, "and said 'it's just me'."
"Yes," she said steadily, her eyes trained on his chest. She found herself unable to look away — Merlin, have chests always looked so edible to her?
"Right." Sirius scoffed, looking bewildered. Hermione didn't dignify with an acknowledgement, instead wordlessly pouring another cup of tea for him.
Suddenly, he moved to stand closer, his chest pressed against her back. She felt his breath on her ear as he leaned down to hold the cup, and the sensation made her shiver pleasantly.
"Thanks," he told her, his voice deeper than usual.
She jerked a nod and he moved away, leaving a trail of heat that had spread around her back. Oh, this wasn't going well. She hurried to shuffle to the edge of the large window, taking a seat next to him.
A short but comfortable silence descended upon them, both looking out at the silver stars, dispersed in the sky. There was something about his presence that eased her exhaustion just by sitting by him.
"I thought you went to sleep," she said conversationally.
Sirius blew over the rim of his steaming cup and grinned. "Not at all—just took a shower as you can clearly see."
The tip of her tongue darted out and slipped along her bottom lip. Oh, Hermione could clearly see the drops of water that remained, rolling down his forearms and his Adam's apple.
Despicable, how men didn't know how to dry their body after a shower.
She grunted a reply and suddenly, his expression grew curious. Head tilted like a curious puppy, he asked, "Why aren't you asleep?"
His tone held a strange edge, as if he somehow knew exactly the reason why but wanted her to say it out loud.
But of course, he would know. He'd had to deal with dementors for twelve years, just as soon the First Wizarding War ended. She wouldn't be surprised if he still didn't experience the same troubles.
"There's some times where I can't sleep," she admitted unashamedly. "For a few years, they've only occurred during certain days or months, but lately . . ."
Sirius held his gaze locked with her even as she trailed off; his silver, molten eyes smouldering with a soft fire. He considered her for an uncomfortable, silent length of time.
"Well, Moony will deny it but he let me cuddle him when I had my own nightmares," he gave her a wicked smile, while Hermione rolled her eyes at him.
"Oh, yes. Now, do tell me I'm welcome to join you in bed anytime," she said with a snort, eyeing him appraisingly.
Sirius looked shocked, recovering just in time to laugh softly. "And just how did you know I was going to say that?"
A/N: Thank you for all the reviews, favourites, and follows this story has been getting so far! I hope you continue to enjoy the story. Feel free to give any critique or even just tell me what you think about the chapter!