The girl appeared in a bloody heap, collapsing on the Gryffindor table in the middle of lunch in muggle clothing. How did she do it? It made no sense. Did she apparate there? Why didn't the wards stop her? Then again, there was no sound of the signature pop that came with apparition, something he wasn't sure his friends noticed. She was out in a dead faint as well. Maybe a portkey? It could be possible, but why now? Why here?
Whatever it the answers were to the multitude of questions swarming his head, it also led to her collapsing into his arms. She was so small, so fragile. She needed protection. The beast stirred inside him, but he quickly shoved it down. He sat still as a group of professors rushed forwards, several with their wands drawn.
The voices of everyone in the hall fell to a hushed whisper, chattering and questioning.
The girl remained still, unmoving in his arms. Professor Dumbledore ran a few quick diagnostics before disarming, binding, and levitating her into the air, taking her away from the students' curiously prying eyes.
The binding part made the beast growl, but Remus understood, they needed to take precautions.
She was in the Hospital Wing now, and Sirius, curious as ever, had to follow her. James had planned to go as well, but needed to attend a meeting, as he had been appointed Head Boy, something that surprised all of them.
"You're turning into a prissy, Prongs." was Sirius' reaction as he leant on the table with his elbows, and cast a questioning glance towards Remus and Peter, the latter of which was too focused on building a snowman out of mashed potatoes, "I'm good, I've got to finish lunch." Peter said.
Remus gestured towards his clothes the slight dirt residue left on him from the girl's form pressed against him, and replied "I have to change out of this, so I'm going to head back to the dorm."
Sirius looked slightly disheartened for a second before shrugging it off, standing up, and tussling Peter's hair resulting in a disgruntled sound from the victim, and nodded at James, "I'll see you two in Transfiguration then. Let's go, Moony."
Grabbing his satchel, Remus stood up, and followed Sirius out of the doors of the Great Hall. They made small talk all the way to the grand doors that lead to the rest of the castle.
"Hey Sirius," Remus said just as they were about to head their separate ways, "Be careful. We don't quite know who she is."
Giving him a lighthearted and lopsided grin, Sirius assured him. "You know me, I'd never do anything rash."
Nodding and giving him a faint smile, Remus headed off to his dorm, to get the scent of the girl off of him, so his beast could stop wanting to follow Sirius to the hospital wing as Remus headed the opposite way.
There was too much commotion for him to get a proper grasp of everything that happened, but from what he had heard, some girl had appeared out of nowhere, and was now in the hospital wing.
It was unclear as to if she was a threat or not, as she wasn't conscious was she appeared, but the most important question to ask was how. How did she manage to get past all the wards and protections the school had to offer?
She could be a very dangerous tool in the hands of the wrong people. But then again, he didn't have much to worry about, as he was part of the "wrong people".
She'd been in Dumbledore's office for quite a while, but thankfully, patience was one of his virtues.
The gargoyle entrance turned just then, and he pressed himself back deeper into the shadows. She was walking, running almost with a pained look on her face, one that looked like she was about to break down any second now.
He followed her footsteps, always just out of sight. She stopped on the seventh floor and began pacing, pacing until he couldn't hear her steps anymore.
He peered around the corner, only to face an angry blotched face, and a wand pointed towards his own visage.
What Sirius couldn't understand was why his flirting didn't result in any reaction from her. He was a charmer, a self-proclaimed lover of all men and women alike, and has had nearly everyone at the school apart from the Voldemort lackeys and Lily Evans have some sort of lustful feelings for him at some point in time. If his words didn't make them weak at the knees, then his looks would.
She also seemingly knew him, even though he's never seen her around.
None of it made sense. She was like one of those impossible puzzles that Reggie loved so much, ones that were seemingly stuck together with no way to get apart. He didn't like those puzzles, and it never made sense to him why his younger sibling would put himself through those tormenting hours poking and prodding at it.
But why did his heart become so erratic when her gaze first landed on him?
Why did he latch on to every melodious word that came out of her mouth, like he was a man quenched of thirst, and she was his oasis?
None of it made sense, and he was beginning to sound like James on one of his rants about Lily.
He frowned as he got out up out of his cot in the hospital wing, and checked out with Madame Stone and Pomfrey, the latter of which was in her office, filing the Hospital Wing's monthly paperwork.
"Don't visit anytime soon!" Madame Stone chided, her wrinkly face grinning at the young troublemaker.
"I don't make promises I can't keep, Penny." He shot back, matching her expression.
"Oh, you make me feel so young." She sighed and waved her hand. "Now shoo, the next class starts soon, you don't want to be late."
"Of course. Bye Penny, Madame Pomfrey!" He said while exiting the door to the hallway.
See? Even old ladies fell for him. Maybe if he stuck around Hermione for long enough, she would too. Yeah, that sounds about right.
I revised the first chapter a bit, changed some things around, no major changes, just subtle tweaks to make the plot work.