It was a week before Hermione saw Lily again.

She came into Unicorn Dreams just as Hermione was finishing up with her last scheduled appointment of the day. Narcissa Malfoy truly was one of her favourite customers. She came into the shop at least once a week, always in search of a gown more perfect than the one before. The wealthy socialite had been married (and divorced) three times in the past decade, each time to her current fiancé, Lucius. Theirs was a tumultuous relationship that never failed to make the front page headlines of The Prophet, and Hermione had been practically in shock the first time she'd seen her walk through the door. The two had developed a friendly repartee over the weeks that Hermione had helped her in and out of dresses, and spending half of her shift with Narcissa never failed to put a smile on her face.

That smile was firmly in place as Narcissa air kissed both of Hermione's cheeks with the promise of seeing her again next Thursday.

The older woman left the shop, and Hermione turned her gaze towards Lily and the short, wavy haired blonde that accompanied her. The two women were browsing the bridal accessories, giggling over the metres of lace on a few of the more extravagant veils.

As though she felt eyes on her, Lily looked up from the veil she was inspecting and caught Hermione's gaze before smiling brightly. Hermione thought about walking over to say hello—being polite to customers was actually a part of her job description—but kept her greeting to an awkward little wave when she saw Lavender hovering just behind the two women.

Though all of the associates at Unicorn Dreams were expected to greet and help customers in whatever capacity they could, they each had a specific section of the store that they were assigned. Hermione, as the bottom-of-the-rung, lowest-seniority sales clerk, was relegated to the unglamorous job of hauling dresses off and on the racks and the bodies of the clientele. Lavender on the other hand was Sybill's protegé, and she took full control over design and styling. She viewed each new bride-to-be as an art project, something to dress up and perfect until her final vision was accomplished. She not only chose the dresses Hermione would lug to the changing rooms; once the perfect, needle-in-the-haystack, unicorn dress was discovered, she finalised the ensemble, pushing ever more expensive designer shoes, garter belts, hair clips, broaches, and veils into the hands of the clients.

Lavender was amazing at her job. And very territorial.

Seeing Lavender glare at her now, Hermione mentally shrugged and turned on her heel to properly care for the multitude of gowns Narcissa had modeled earlier that day. It wasn't as though she and Lily were friends—she was, after all, just the mad shop girl who went around accusing men of cheating on their fiancées—so it was probably for the best that she keep their relationship professional and only give just a small show of acknowledgement.

Besides, whatever awkward conversation Hermione might have had with Lily was not worth Lavender's wrath, which would completely ruin her good mood.

Hermione hummed softly to herself as she made her way through the racks of dresses, Lavender, Lily, and the rest of the shop shut out from her view within the sea of bridal gowns. She stretched on her tiptoes to place the last dress in its proper location when an unexpected clearing of a throat startled her into dropping it on the floor instead.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" the throat-clearer said. "I was trying to not startle you, and then I did just the opposite. Here, let me help."

Hermione bent down to pick up the dropped gown just as Lily did, the two women narrowly missing knocking foreheads.

Lily laughed and backed off, hands raised to her shoulders. "All right, that's it. I'm just a menace today."

Hermione didn't know what to say to that, so she simply hung the dress back up and turned to face Lily. Her brain was whirring with all the possibilities of why Lily had chosen to follow her here into the far racks. Was she angry about last week? Did she plan to confront her and get her in trouble with Sybill? Was she going to invite her to another party?

Frozen with indecision and unable to read the situation, Hermione fell back on her polite customer service face.

"Hello. May I help you with something?"

Lily's smile dimmed slightly, but she seemed to catch herself and press on. She reached into her shoulder bag and pulled out a well-used paperback, holding it out to Hermione.

"I wanted to give this back to you. None of us realised you hadn't taken it with you until after you'd left. Sirius didn't want you to think he'd purposefully stolen it. He really only grabbed it to be funny."

Hermione reached for her dog-eared copy of Bridget Jones's Diary. She had been so embarrassed that night when leaving Oasis, she hadn't even realised the book was missing until the next day. She had been slightly vexed, but the book was nothing special. She could pick up a used copy from any little hole-in-the-wall bookstore she came across. She held it now between her hands, her right thumb absentmindedly running against the pages' edges.

"He couldn't bring it back to me himself?" She looked up at Lily, eyebrows raised.

Lily shrugged. "He wasn't certain you'd want him to. And truthfully, I think he was a bit embarrassed he took it to begin with and disappointed that you rejected him."

"I—" Hermione started before Lily cut her off.

"I know the two of you got off on the wrong foot, but you really should give him a chance. He's a little rough around the edges, but he's gold; really he is."

"I'm really not interested in him," Hermione stated, lying even to herself. Certainly he had really gotten under her skin and practically stolen her book, but before she'd misunderstood his relationship with Lily, she'd had a fun time bickering with him. Over the week her anger had lessened towards him, and she couldn't stop replaying their conversations in her mind. But she just… wasn't sure. She was headed to another year at uni before long, and he wasn't like the type of guy she usually went for, reserved and studious. Sirius Black was a presence. He dominated the room with his deep laugh and broad shoulders. He was outspoken and massively fit and exceedingly out of her league.

"Are you sure?" Lily raised one perfectly sculpted eyebrow as though mocking her. "The two of you were fairly sparking with chemistry. Besides, I know he's interested. He asked you out!"

Hermione scoffed. "I'm sure he asks everyone out. That doesn't make me special in the least."

"Actually, it does make you special. He hardly ever asks women out. He flirts a lot, of course, and usually accepts when a woman asks him out, but his dates never progress much past that. He's outgoing but can be rather reserved with his personal life, and a lot of women can't see past his good looks to see him." Lily shrugged. "I think he's just tired of the whole thing, honestly. He's been bored with all the women he's met lately… until you."

Hermione shifted her weight from one foot to the other, completely uncertain of what to say. She'd only had the shortest of conversations with Sirius and even less with Lily so she didn't know why this was all turning into a thing. Most normal people would just move on, wouldn't they? You run into someone slightly interesting, and things don't work out so you just…forget about it, right? But maybe the fact that Lily was here again meant that Sirius really did fancy her? Otherwise why would they keep dragging this out? Maybe—

A rustling of plastic garment bags interrupted Hermione's thoughts, and her attention turned to the woman who unceremoniously popped out from between two racks.

"Jesus. It's difficult to get back here! I've been looking all over for you. What are you doing?"

Lily smiled at her friend and gestured toward Hermione. "Marlene, Hermione. Hermione, Marlene. My chief bridesmaid."

Hermione mumbled a greeting and managed a small smile, the corners of her mouth hardly lifting. She was too distracted by her previous conversation with Lily to do much more.

"So, what are you two doing back here?"

"Oh, we were just talking about her moment with Sirius last week." Lily shot Hermione a wink.

"Sirius Black?!" Marlene crossed her arms over her chest and turned to fully face Hermione. "A word of advice. Forget him. Sirius Black is trash."

"Marlene!"

"Well he is!"

Lily put her hands on her hips and faced Marlene. "Just because he turned you down doesn't make him trash!"

Marlene ignored Lily and placed her hand on Hermione's arm. "Really, hon, don't bother. He's a tease. He's a terrible flirt, and his bedroom eyes promise the worldbut the rest of him refuses to follow through when a woman who actually knows what she wants takes him up on his offer." She sniffed.

Hermione remained quiet as she watched Marlene and Lily bicker. She was definitely more confused about Sirius than ever. Lily was his friend so she would obviously have a high opinion of him, but Marlene might have a more realistic one. She sighed.

Lily and Marlene's argument had dissolved into giggles, and they whispered to each other with linked elbows. Hermione's chest tightened as she took in their happy faces. Forget men. This was what she really needed. A real bloody friend. She'd been so singularly focused on school and getting through to the next thing that she'd let all of her friendships fall to the wayside. Not that she'd had very many to begin with.

Lily nudged Marlene in the abdomen with her elbow and shushed her before she turned her attention back to Hermione. "Listen, forget about Sirius. I know you're still unsure about him. But come out with me and Marley tonight. We're just going to grab some food and catch a film. A real girls' night. No talk of Sirius. Just food, drinks, and gossip. Pinky promise."

Hermione bit her lip. She was tempted. It would be so nice to get out of her parents' house and be around people her own age. She didn't want to encroach in on their night though.

"I…don't know. I wouldn't want to intrude…"

"You won't!" Lily exclaimed, pulling her arm through Marlene's and clapping her hands together.

"... And I'm not off until six…"

"That's fine! We'll wait for you! We can meet you at the chippy shop down the street. Say, half past?"

Hermione just nodded, unsure of what she was getting herself into but becoming unexpectedly excited.

It was a beautiful wedding. Lily was beautiful, the dress was beautiful, the centrepieces were beautiful. Everything was bloody beautiful. And Hermione could appreciate none of it, because it all paled in comparison to the man sitting across from her at the round table.

She'd tried to forget about him, really she had, but it had become more and more difficult the closer she grew to Lily. After a successful girls' night out in which they drank far too much wine and stayed up far too late, Hermione had become a de facto part of their group. She'd spent the rest of her summer having movie nights and shopping days, and visiting new coffee shops and Lily and James's flat for dinner. She also watched Sirius Black pretend as though she didn't exist.

He was always polite—nodding in greeting and passing the dinner rolls when asked—but it was in that distractedly disinterested way you'd treat a stranger.

Hermione was certain she didn't want to be a stranger to him anymore.

The only thing was, in the four months since their run-in at Oasis, she hadn't been able to have a moment alone with him to apologise for the way she'd blown him off when they first met, though it wasn't for a lack of trying. It was disheartening. Apparently he hadn't been as interested as he'd claimed to be. He hadn't even attempted to chat her up since.

She watched him now out of the corner of her eye as she took a deep sip from her champagne flute. Where most men looked polished and distinguished when dressed up, Sirius looked dangerous. Like someone took a dragon and shoved it in a suit and hoped to pass it off as tame. His tattoos peeked out from under the cuffs and collar of his shirt, and the charcoal fabric made his grey eyes stormy. The tailored cut highlighted his narrow waist and broad shoulders, and she had to remind herself that he wasn't interested in her and that she needed to stop her excessive drooling. He was practically edible but not for her.

As she was chastising herself for pining over missed chances, Sirius turned his head toward her and caught her gaze. She shivered when his eyes met hers. He tipped his glass to her before turning his attention back to the woman next to him.

James and Lily had opted to forgo the large wedding party head table and had gone instead for a small sweetheart table in the midst of their guests. Lily had told Hermione that this way all of the guests could feel more connected to the festivities with the wedding party scattered amongst their tables, but Hermione was certain they really just wanted a modicum of privacy in the chaos of celebration. James would feed Lily small bites of dinner off of his fork, and she would gently wipe away a bit of sauce from his chin. They'd kiss every two nanoseconds. It was disgustingly adorable.

Hermione and Sirius were seated at what could only be called the singles table. There were four others in addition to themselves. Sirius's brother, Reg, and old school mate, Severus, had disappeared almost immediately to go smoke out back. Luna was completely twisted around in her seat, leaning over the aisle to speak to an acquaintance at the table behind her, and their final table-mate, Cho, was practically salivating over Sirius.

Hermione's hand tightened around her glass as she watched the raven-haired woman laugh and reach her hand under the table, presumably to rest on Sirius's thigh. He just raised his eyebrows at the bold move but didn't pull away, his arm still draped across the back of Cho's chair as they spoke.

Hermione tore her eyes away, and she looked around the room. She adored Lily and James, but this reception was quickly becoming unbearable. She had no desire to sit and watch Sirius flirt with another woman all night, not when he wouldn't even look in her direction. She'd told herself that this was the night. She'd either talk to Sirius and find out if there was any potential left for them to even be a them, or she'd just have to let the idea of him go.

She truly wasn't even sure when she'd made the transition from thinking he was just a fit bloke she was unsure about to a man she saw potential with. It had to have been gradual, beginning with Lily telling her stories about Sirius as an orphaned teen or about how he'd once dropped everything to help Remus through a severe illness, resulting in the loss of his job.

Or maybe it was the way she finally saw Sirius for who he really was. In the company of the small group of friends, Sirius was able to drop his public persona and just be. He wasn't just an overly aggressive flirt with a rebellious streak. He was thoughtful and attentive, filling Lily's empty teacup and asking James about the specifics of an old project at work. He knew his friends, and he cared about them, more than he seemed to care for himself. Anyone who was able to make it into his inner circle was extremely lucky.

She sighed as she watched a few of the guests begin to stand up and head to the dance floor to join the bride and groom. To her right she heard the low rumble of Sirius's baritone followed by Cho's tinkling, fake laugh. She really wished she were anywhere but here. There was no point in staying to talk to Sirius, not with how close he had leaned his head towards Cho, who now had both of her hands hidden under the table linens. She'd just stay until they cut the cake and then she'd make her excuses about getting back to uni…

A sputtering cough pulled her attention away from the dancers, and she looked towards Sirius who was now sitting slightly hunched over the table with both hands palm down on top of it. Cho—finally!—had both of her hands above the table, standing with one hand clinging to his bicep while the other soothed circles against his back.

"Alright, darling?" she cooed, her breasts practically shoved against the side of his reddened face. "Can I fetch you some water? Waiter!"

Hermione knew she should mind her own business and leave Sirius and Cho to each other, but she just couldn't help but be concerned—his face was really red. Her mouth opened before she could stop herself. "Cho, if he's actually choking, that water isn't going to do him much good. He needs the Heimlich."

Sirius coughed once more but sat up straight as guests from neighbouring tables began to look his way to see what the commotion was.

"I think I know how to take care of my man, thanks ever so."

Sirius cleared his throat and held up his hand in a pacifying gesture. "I'm fine." He looked around at all the people staring and grimaced. "Nothing to see here, ladies and gents. No one's dying today!"

There were a few polite titters as people resumed their previous conversations. Cho threw her arms around Sirius's neck, crushing her breasts against his side.

"I'm so happy you're okay!"

Hermione rolled her eyes. If she wasn't careful she'd end up with eye strain by the end of the night.

"Since it seems as though the two of you have everything under control, I'm going to go say hello to Remus." She scooted her chair away from the table and stood up, placing her napkin over her plate. "Excuse me."

She had hardly walked more than a few steps away from the table before fingers brushed the back of her elbow.

"Hold on. I'll come with you. I should, umm, see Remus too. He can... give me the Heimlich if it looks like I might need it after all."

He looked toward Cho with an apologetic smile. "Sorry, love. Better safe than sorry, you know."

Cho briefly looked crestfallen before she glared pointedly at Sirius's hand against Hermione's skin, as though Sirius ditching her was Hermione's fault. "Sure, Sirius. Later."

Sirius clasped her elbow tighter and practically dragged her away from the table.

"I'm pretty certain Remus is in the other direction, actually."

"Yeah well…"

"I'm also certain you're fine now. No lingering effects from your little choking incident. You should probably stay away from large chunks of food from now on though."

Sirius stopped walking and turned to Hermione. "That and handsy women."

Hermione laughed. She hadn't gotten to experience this side of him lately. He was just so bloody polite with her all the time. She'd missed that teasing wit directed towards her.

"Come dance with me," he said suddenly.

"What?"

"Dance. You and me."

Hermione just looked at him for a moment, staring into his storm-grey eyes, wondering what it was that had made him want to be that close to her now when for months he'd done his best to not even sit directly next to her. She bit down on her lip, too distracted by her thoughts to answer his invitation straight away.

Sirius suddenly jerked his head to the side, and his brow furrowed. His eyes widened and the delicate skin under one eye twitched. She turned and followed his gaze, catching sight of Cho behind her. she was sitting at the table all alone and Hermione felt slightly guilty about abandoning her. Until she saw the hungry way she stared at Sirius. When Cho noticed the both of them looking, she licked her lips and finger waved.

Of course. He just needed her to keep Cho's advances at bay.

Hermione mentally shrugged her shoulders. That was alright with her. She was coming to terms with the fact that nothing else would ever happen between them, but she did want to have a better friendship with him. If saving him from the clutches of thirsty women was what it took, she wouldn't turn down the opportunity. Besides, she had enjoyed the last few minutes of banter.

"Sure."

Sirius tore his gaze from Cho, staring down at Hermione, his expression slightly panicked. "Really?"

"Yes. Let's go."

She started walking toward the dance floor, Sirius following on her heels, catching up to grab her hand and lead her the rest of the way.

Once they reached the polished floor, her hand in one of his and his palm warm on her hip, he spoke. "Thank you. I didn't think you'd say yes."

"What? Why wouldn't I have?"

Sirius looked at her as though she were dim. "Because you don't like me."

Hermione stopped dancing and stared at him, mouth agape, oblivious to the other dancing couples quickly having to change course so as not to crash into them.

"Why on earth would you think that?"

Sirius pulled her a little closer and nudged his hips against hers to get her moving once more. He looked down at her face and said without hesitation, "I stole your book."

"And returned it a week later. A capital offence to be sure." She smiled at him, laughter evident in her tone.

"Right, well what about Marlene?" He hand flexed on Hermione's waist as he spun her to get out of the path of Luna and her partner's flailing arms.

Hermione moved her arm up to Sirius's neck to hold him more securely.

"What about Marlene?" she asked, breathless from the quick footwork.

"She hates me." Hermione stared at him and raised her eyebrows, silently entreating him to continue. "You're always with her! If you're not with Lily, you're with Marlene. I assumed you'd joined her Sirius Black is Trash group. I may not be as smart as some of the blokes at uni with you, but I can take a bloody hint."

Hermione literally had no idea what to say. She couldn't believe they'd had their wires crossed for so many months. While she had been certain he hadn't seen her as more than a friendly acquaintance, he'd been thinking that she hated him. Her teeth worked her bottom lip as she stared at Sirius's chest for a moment before she took a deep breath and bravely looked back up at his face. He was gazing down at her, a soft smile quirking his lips. His hands squeezed her around the waist gently while he continued to spin her around the dance floor.

"Look, I didn't—I don't hate you. Marlene is fun, but I don't believe every single thing she says. I have a brain of my own! I can't believe you thought I hated you, when I feel like I've been trying to have a proper conversation with you for months!"

Sirius raised an eyebrow at that.

"I would try to speak to you, and you were just so bloody polite. It was like you had a wall up that you didn't want to let me through." She paused for a moment. "For what it's worth now, I'm sorry I accused you of being an arsehole cheater."

Sirius threw his head back and laughed. "Jamie and Remus took the mickey out of me for weeks about that. Any time we'd be out with Lily and a woman would just walk near us, they'd start spouting off about needing to be careful of my roving eye."

"Well, I'm glad you got some amusement out of it then. I was sure you'd been disgusted with me."

He shook his head, the smile still firmly settled on his lips. "Have coffee with me."

There was no hesitation this time. No needing to think about what the right thing to do was or if she really wanted to get to know him more. The time for uncertainties and vacillating was over. She hadn't seen everything this man was made of or everything he had to offer, but what she had seen had intrigued her.

Hermione knew she wanted this. Wanted him. "Yes."

Sirius let out a whoop and pulled her flush against his chest, one hand at the small of her back and that other tangling in her hair at the name of her neck. He held her for just a moment, squeezing once—slightly too tightly—before settling her away from him and taking a small step back.

"Come on. Let's get out of here."

"What? Now? We can't leave! Lily and James—"

"Will be thrilled. Lily's been trying to talk me into asking you out again for months."

"What? She never said—we didn't talk about…"

"I asked her not to say anything. I didn't want you to feel pressured or awkward."

"But we've wasted so much time!" Hermione practically wailed, drawing the attention of the guests around them. More than one older woman shot her a disapproving glare, disgusted that she'd even dare to take one ounce of attention away from the bride on her special day.

"Well, let's not waste any more. Come with me?"

Sirius held out his hand, and she barely thought before placing her palm in his. He tugged her off the dance floor and out of the reception hall. On their way to coffee. And an infinite number of possibilities.

Author's Notes:

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this little meet-cute!

I forgot to mention in chapter one that Oasis is modeled in part by a smoothie and sandwich shop from my middle school days. The furniture was eclectic, the patterns terrible, and the smoothies mediocre, but damn, a lot of gossip and secrets were spilled on that purple, zebra-print couch in the corner. RIP Oasis.