That being said, now let's hop onto the story : )
The next day saw the residents of Grimmauld Place getting ready for there undoubtedly tiring day ahead. Hermione as usual was the first person to wake up, although by the time she got ready and finished making the breakfast it was already ten in the morning and all three men were still sleeping in their rooms.
She waited for ten more minutes before sighing and marching straight to the upper ground floor.
" I swear to Merlin, if you three don't get your arse down here in the next ten minutes, I'll be dragging each of you by your ear out of your bedroom. "
She was about to go upstairs herself when all three of them practically stumbled on the stairs and dashed to the dining area.
' Merlin Hermione your yell would awake a sleeping dragon who's safely tucked away in Romania. ' Charlie grumbled as he stumbled the last few steps.
They were a sight to behold, their hair still sticking in all directions and sleep still clouding their senses, on any other day she would have had a nice laugh at their expense, but today wasn't the day.
She stood there, waiting as they quickly ate up their breakfast and did a charm to freshen up and change their night robes into something more appropriate. As they turned around to look at her she merely raised an eye brow and looked at them with her nose slightly wrinkled.
' Well we are ready, let's go Hermione' Harry said, rushing towards the floo.
'No you are not. ' At her response, he turned around to look at her confusedly, Sirius and Charlie mirroring his expression.
'What do you mean kitten? ' Sirius enquired cautiously, raising one of his brows.
' Go upstairs and get a shower and change into fresh set of clothes. ' Was all Hermione said.
' What? ' Charlie's face held a comical expression. ' Granger, we just performed a cleaning charm, and already have transfigured our night robes into appropriate clothes. Why in the name of Merlin do you want us to have a bath and dress up into a fresh set of clothes? '
' I know that you charmed yourself clean and transfigured your clothes but that's still not equivalent to having a bath-' Hermione's rant was halfway cut through by Sirius.
' Hermione, love it doesn't matter we are still cleaned up and ready to go and you said yourself that if we don't get moving then we'll be late, we don't want that now do we- ' This time it was Hermione who interrupted Sirius.
' I don't care about what I said earlier. You three are heading upstairs, have a bath, get dressed properly and meet me here in twenty minutes. ' When they didn't move she yelled 'NOW'That definitely had all three wizards running up to their respective bathrooms to get ready. When she was sure that they were out of her sight, she allowed her lips to be pulled into a smile and then laughed, remembering the comical expressions on their faces.
When they came downstairs this time all three dressed to the nine and smelling great she gave her nod of approval and went to the floor.
'Hermione, don't you think that we're too late-' Harry started, picking the pie that she had made for the Weasleys from the counter, to take along with them.
' George called up this morning-' She started, but was interrupted by Sirius.
' He did? '
' Oh yes. '
' Whatever for? ' This time Charlie was the one to ask the question.
' To inform us that Ron and Arthur are off to see some work and would return by eleven in the morning,- '
' Wait! how did he know that we were going to visit them today? ' This time Harry cut in between her explanation.
' Well if you guys would let me speak, maybe then you would be able to understand what happened. So before any of you try to butt in again let me complete it. George called up to inform me because he had some announcements of his own to make and wanted us to be there. I just happened to ask him -discretely of course- if everyone was home and he then told me about Ron and Arthur's absence. ' She finally let out a long breathe.
' So you knew all along that we were not going to get late? ' Harry asked.
' Yes. '
' And you sent us all to have a bath and get properly dressed because-'
' Oh that, I was just bored and it was fun to watch your expressions. Also it's a big day, you should be thoroughly fresh and active to fully enjoy it. ' She replied grinning.
Sirius was about to retort, but one look from Harry made him drop the idea. They just shook their heads and decided to step into the floo. But Harry hesitated a bit, which Hermione noticed and immediately understood his hesitancy. She just walked upto him and gave him one of her bear hugs. Rubbing soothing circles on his back.
' Harry whatever happens there today, know that I'll always be there by your side. Always. No matter what. ' She looked him in the eye as she said that and saw him tearing up a bit.
' But what if they don't accept it, accept me? Wha... What would I do Hermione? I can't loose Charlie.' His voice came out in a choked whisper.
She brushed his tears away and hugged him once more. ' You know that's not the truth Harry, they love you like their own and they would never shun you. As far as loving Charlie goes, one has to be blind to not see how much you both love each other and compliment each other.'
' Mum and dad would support us Harry, because they just want our happiness. If there's one thing that differs our family from other pure blood families-aside from financial status of course- it's our ability to adapt. We live for each other, family is our top priority. If anything I am willing to bet that mum would be shedding happy tears on hearing about our marriage. Trust me. ' Charlie said as he held one of Harry's hand in his own.
' I do trust you. ' Harry answered without hesitation, smiling lovingly at Charlie, making Hermione and Sirius to smile too.
' I think we should get going. ' Hermione hadn't noticed when Sirius had sneaked to stand behind her, but now that he was standing so close to her she could practically feel his body heat and his magical power rolling off him in waves. He smelled nice too.
Harry and Charlie nodded and stepped into the floo, shouting The Burrow while throwing the floo powder.
' Let's go kitten' Sirius leaned down to whisper in Hermione's ear, making her shiver slightly, which in turn caused him to chuckle smugly, earning a glare from Hermione, though that only lessened his chuckle to a smug smirk.
As Hermione and Sirius stepped into The Burrow they immediately scanned for Harry and Charlie spotting them by the back door. They followed them outside where a big table was set up and George, Fred, Bill and surprisingly even Percy were up in the air playing catch the quaffle. As soon as they spotted Charlie they all landed on the ground, jogging to meet him halfway through and hugged him.
' My, my look who has graced us with their presence. Charles Weasley along with Wonder Boy, Padfoot and who do we have here, Hermione Granger. To what do we owe the pleasure-'
' Sod off Fred. ' Hermione scoffed, though she had a small smile playing on her lips.
' Harry, oh dear right on time- Charlie? When did you arrive?' Molly asked, hugging Charlie and then looking him over, ' Oh poor boy those employers of yours aren't feeding you well are they, look how thin you look. ' Molly looked him over once again.
' Mum I'm fine, although now that I'm home I certainly wouldn't mind eating the food that you made. ' Charlie replied smiling slightly.
Molly then proceeded to hug Harry, Sirius and then finally Hermione. ' You didn't tell that you were coming today Hermione. ' Molly said as they all went to sit by table.
' Oh yes I'm sorry about that, the plan was out of impulsiveness, I hope that you don't mind. ' Hermione looked at Molly, wondering how she would explain the reason for them dropping by unexpectedly.
' Oh it's alright dear, I've made plenty of food and it's been so long since you visited us. Think none of it dear, it's fine. ' Molly answered with an honest and friendly smile.
' Oh and I bought us some apple pie too. ' Hermione said, handing Molly the pie that she had made.
' Oh apple pie! that's so nice of you dear. '
Soon after Hermione joined Molly in preparing for the lunch, confessing that she had called up Remus and he would be arriving soon too. To which Molly just laughed. Meanwhile the boys, Sirius included all started to restart their game. Once Remus arrived he too joined the game and Hermione started to play with baby Teddy.
As they were placing the cutlery on the table Hermione asked the whereabouts of Ron and Arthur and as if on queue, heard the distinct sound of apparition. Turning around she spotted Ron jogging towards them, waving his hand and couldn't help but smile when he tripped and fell down, causing the rest of the people to burst into fits of laughter. She could see Arthur standing behind Ron, shaking his head although with a smile on his face.
Ron unperturbed by his fall, jogged the remaining way and hugged Charlie, followed by hugging Harry and finally her.
' Merlin 'mione where have you been?' Ron asked.
' I could ask the same Ronald. ' She retorted, although her smile gave her away, making both of them chuckle.
' Mum where's Gin anyway? I haven't seen her in ages. ' Charlie questioned.
' I'm right here big brother. ' At her voice everyone turned around to see Ginny standing near the back door.
' Ginnyyyyyyy!!!!! ' Charlie shouted rather enthusiastically and as she came closer, gave her a big hug, lifting her up and at Molly's protests let her go causing Ginny to fall flat on her arse.
' You son of a bit-'
' Ginny' Molly admonished Ginny before she could complete her sentence, causing Charlie to laugh and Ginny to glare. ' Now kids gather around the table, sit down all of you, the food is ready. '
At the mention of food, everyone almost ran down towards the table, Sirius, Remus and even Arthur included. Molly followed laughing fondly at them all.
As they all settled around the table, Hermione noticed that on her left was Sirius while on her right was Harry and on his right was sitting Charlie. By the time desserts rolled around, Hermione was a nervous mess. She was constantly tapping her foot in a clear sign of nervousness and had Sirius not put his right hand on her leg, she might have been in a worse condition.
She just was thankful for his silent support and when George stood up for making his announcement, she grabbed Sirius' hand that was resting on her thigh and as he squeezed her hand in a silent action of companionship, she squeezed back his hand in a show of gratitude.
' As you all know our shop WWW has been doing a great business, so Freddie and I have decided to expand our business. We are going to open a new branch of WWW in hogsmeade, New York,Paris, Italy and Russia.' As soon as he was finished everyone started to cheer.
' Also he's assigned to marry Lisa Bell and I have to marry Angelina. ' Fred said casually as if he was just announcing the weather rather than the name of their future spouses. Everyone went silent. And then all of sudden everyone started speaking together.
' Fred congratulations brother-'
' Hey Georgie who's this Lisa?-
'Oh my Merlin, congratulations to both of you-'
' Thank you Hermione-'
' Frederick Weasley, why are you telling me this so late-'
' Which year was she in George-'
' Have you met each other yet-'
' Please tell me she wasn't a Slytherin-'
' Sirius-'' Hey why are you hitting me Hermione-'
'No Ron we haven't-'
' She's three years my senior, Hufflepuff-'
' Three years senior? you lucky bastard-'
' Yeah nice girl she wa-'
' Harry and I are getting married. '
Silence. Dead silence. No body spoke for what seemed like an eternity. Harry who had been sitting till then awkwardly rose up and stood beside Charlie.
' Wh.. wh.. what?' Molly finally stuttered.
' You heard it right mum, Harry and I are going to marry each other. I love him. ' Charlie repeated more firmly.
Harry held Charlie's left hand in his rand hand and said, ' And I love him. '
Hermione was proud of the way Harry stood with so much confidence and the love that he had for Charlie shone so brightly in his green eyes that one had to be blind to not see the sincerity of it. What made her heart swell was the same love being reflected in Charlie's eyes.
' About time. ' Percy was the one to break the silence. At everyone's questioning glances he looked at them and shrugged. ' It took you only four years Charlie, though I thought that you would have told us sooner. '
' What do you mean Perce? ' Charlie asked rather defensively.
' Oh come on, just because I didn't stay here for too long, too often, doesn't mean that I was blind and unobservant to your situation Charles. ' By the time he was done talking, Percy was standing in front of Harry and Charlie and hugged them both tightly.
Charlie hugged him back, but said ' Who are you and what have you done to our Percy. The Percy we knew would have been such an aresehole about this. ' And for his comment he earned two punches, one from Percy and one from Harry.
Next came Molly, who again hugged both of them and placed a loving kiss on their forehead. Hermione could see Harry practically sag in relief in Molly's embrace. She wiped her tears and whispered, ' I'm so happy for you two '
After that everyone took turns to hug both the boys letting them know how happy they were for the both of them and that they supported them fully.
Sirius grabbed Hermione's hand and looked her in the the eye. A silent encouragement. Her nervousness got ten times worse, but she knew she had to do it. They had to do it. She looked at him again and nodded her head slightly.
As everyone began to settle down, Sirius cleared his throat, but when no one noticed he just sighed and called their attention. ' Can we please have a moment of your attention, yes please? '
This drew everyone's attention and Hermione suddenly grew hundred times more nervous.
' Uhm.. so.. yeah.. ' Hermione stuttered. Sirius rubbed the back of the hand he was still holding and that somehow gave her a bit of confidence.
' So as everyone is making announcements, I've got... well we've got an announcement to make. ' As she said this she glanced at Sirius who nodded in encouragement.
So she took a deep, calming breath and blurted out, ' SiriusandIaregettingmarriedtoo. '
Though it was too fast to be understood by anybody.
' Sirius. And. I. Are. To. Marry. Each other. ' She repeated this time much slower and pausing at every word so that it was clear. Though she didn't expect them all to burst out laughing.
' Good one 'Mione, I almost believed you for a second, heh Fred? ' George asked Fred who nodded in affirmative.
' We are not joking. I am indeed set to marry Hermione soon. ' Sirius responded this time, his voice firm and honest. When they all still looked dubious, he said two words. ' Mauraders promise. '
If the family was silent on the Twins' and Charlie and Harry's announcement, then it was nothing compared to the silence that reigned after Sirius' oath.
It was all silent. Nobody seemed to even be breathing, there was no sound of birds. Everything was dead silent.
And then Ron fainted.
A/N- So here people is another chapter of this story.. I know that this didn't had much of Sirius Hermione action but I hope that you liked it nonetheless.Please don't forget to review guys. DO REVIEW REVIEW AND REVIEW. It wouldn't take you too long, but it inspires and motivates us writers a lot.I would gladly hear your thoughts and suggestions.Till the next chapter,Mickeywickey. : )