Chapter 22: White lies

30th of May 1981

The days started running by faster, as Hermione no longer had to worry about Harry's parents and her deadline for Halloween was no longer an issue. Finally, she allowed herself to relax a bit and get some good nights of rest, to have more energy to plan the next steps ahead. Some things they would have to do definitely wouldn't be easy, especially without Dumbledore's help. Should they get the easiest Horcruxes first, or better leave them in their hiding places in case Voldemort got suspicious? As long as they didn't have the means to destroy them, it was probably more dangerous to store them all in one place, instead of leaving them where the Dark Lord could reach them. But Hermione was undecided and so were the twins. They kept planning and planning without really making a plan. But they had time, Hermione told herself and it helped her to stay calm and move on.

Their established routine was interrupted one day when Sirius Black stumbled through the door into their living room. He looked more tired and gaunt then Hermione remembered from the last time they had met and she was almost sure that he wasn't completely sober either. But she didn't comment on it and kept herself in the background as the twins motioned him towards the sofa and served some butterbeer.

"What's up Sirius? Did you find Peter?" Fabian asked nonchalantly and threw himself into the wing chair to his right, where he started drinking a butterbeer on his own. Hermione was unsure what to do at first but finally decided to sit down in the other wing chair and follow the conversation passively.

"No, there's literally no trace of him. It's like he simply disappeared." He took a swig from his bottle and groaned tiredly. "Usually the Death Eaters just kill and torture, so why should they suddenly abduct somebody, especially Peter?"

Hermione frowned. "You know I had my suspicions concerning him. What if he… I don't know… staged the whole thing and joined them secretly?" The lie hurt, but she told herself that it was necessary to keep the suspicions away from them.

Sirius rubbed his forehead with a sigh. "I don't like the idea but it could be possible, I have to admit. Everything else makes even less sense…"

Hermione nodded mutely and even though she had conducted herself to stay as passive as possible, she looked at their guest with curious eyes. And promptly their eyes met.

"But enough of this, how are you, Hermione? The last time I saw you, you were still quite under the weather…" he said and smiled at her with a twinkle in his dark eyes. She couldn't help but blush.

"I'm better, thanks," Hermione mumbled and smiled politely. Sirius answered her smile with a grin that made her want to avoid his gaze, but she forced herself not to because she didn't want to appear to him like she was hiding something.

"Great! What do you say to dinner with me tomorrow evening then?" the black-haired wizard suggested immediately and looked at her with a self-assured smile, that made the heat in her face rise even further. She definitely wasn't prepared for this shameless flirting version of Sirius Black, even though she should have been, judging from what she had heard about Harry's godfather in the past. There were stories about a variety of woman and men the like and Hermione could have sworn that some of the things she had heard were almost too wild to be true. But back in her fifth year, those had been just abstract stories about a malnourished man that was twice her age and Hermione hadn't really considered them relevant. This handsome and predatory young Sirius Black, on the other hand, was a danger she wasn't willing to submit herself to. Who knew what a few glasses of wine and loneliness could make her do and there was no chance she would cheat on Ron. Not as long as there was the slightest chance that she would be able to get back to him somehow.

"I'd love to have dinner, Sirius," she finally said and licked her lips nervously "but I don't want to raise any false hopes within you. I am already taken and so it is only friendship I can offer you."

He looked at her with a tilted head and curious eyes. "Taken, huh? By whom exactly?"

Hermione groaned inwardly. She couldn't very well tell him that she was a time traveller and her boyfriend was waiting in the future for her, could she? But what else was she supposed to say?

"She's ours," Gideon's confident voice suddenly sounded next to her and a moment later she could feel his arm snaking around her waist. "Isn't that right, love?"

For a moment Hermione felt, like a deer in the headlights. But finally, her brain caught on and she plastered a fake smile onto her face. "Absolutely, I'm theirs."

But Sirius just looked at her with raised eyebrows. "Really? Well, that's surprising. You're not really acting like you are…"

Hermione huffed annoyedly while Gideon snorted next to her. "We're just being discreet," she defended herself but before she could say anything more, Gideon had turned her towards him and pulled her into a lingering kiss. For a moment Hermione stiffened in his arms, but then the world around her just stopped and there were only his lips and the thrumming of her heart that was so loud, that she was sure Gideon must have heard it. If he did, he didn't acknowledge it though and kept kissing her in a way, that didn't allow any questions whom she belonged to, at least not for Sirius.

"Alright, alright, point taken," Sirius relented with a dramatic sigh and immediately Gideon stopped his attentions and pulled away with glowing eyes. For a moment Hermione wasn't quite sure if her feet would even support her weight right now, but instead of letting go of her, Gideon just put an arm around her waist and pulled her close to his side. And considering her shaking legs Hermione was really thankful for the gesture.

"You can't blame us for snatching her away first," Fabian said from his place next to Sirius and smiled at her with twinkling eyes. The other wizard snorted.

"Absolutely. I should have known from our very first meeting that Hermione really is a naughty little witch." He winked at her and after a moment he emptied his bottle of butterbeer with a last big swig. Then he finally got up from the sofa. "Well Hermione, if those two ever let your little naughty heart wish for something else, you know where to find me."

He stalked past her with a suggestive look and Hermine couldn't help but step even closer to her friend next to her. "I'm pretty sure that won't happen," she said with security that she didn't feel at all and smiled. But luckily this seemed to be enough for her unwanted suitor as he excused himself a moment later and said his goodbyes. Fabian accompanied him towards the front door, while Hermione stared at the closing door with wide eyes and a nervously thumping heart.

"That was…" Hermione started, but Gideon said something just at the same time and so they broke off and stared at each other awkwardly.

"You first," she finally said and started chewing on her bottom lip.

Gideon nodded. "Sorry for taking you by surprise like that. It wasn't fair, but at the moment I just wanted to give you an easy way out."

She nodded understandingly. "It's alright. Thank you for stepping in. I'm not really used to driving away unwanted suitors and it was fairly obvious that I needed some help." Hermione looked at him with a shy smile. Gideon pulled her against him with a grin, before he finally let go of her and stepped away.

"I'm glad you see it that way because I don't want things to get awkward between us." He searched for her eyes with a sheepish grin.

She sighed. "Don't worry Gideon, because I won't let that happen. You're my friend and it's not like the kiss meant something, right?"

There was a short flicker of something in his eyes, but it was gone just a moment later. "Right," Gideon said and grinned. "Now what? Dinner? There's a lovely Thai around the corner that makes brilliant noodles for Take-away. Fancy some?"

"Absolutely," she confirmed with a smile, even though she didn't feel like eating at all, because her stomach was still in flutters. But those would go away, right?

25th of September 1999

The memory came back to her right at dinner and when Hermione regained her senses again she found herself down at the floor with Severus next to her. She must have fallen off her chair again, which unfortunately happened quite often, but luckily her friend was really quick and experienced with cushioning charms by now.

"Good or bad memory?" he asked her and tried to study her expression and immediately Hermione could feel the colour rising into her cheeks.

"Not sure," she admitted silently and pulled herself up with a groan. "I think it's more in the lines of awkward memory, to be honest." She climbed onto her chair again and her friend sat down across from her at the table, before sliding a headache potion towards her without comment. She gulped it down with a thankful smile. "You once said the twins might be hiding a torrid affair between the three of us from the past," she finally started and glanced at her friend awkwardly. "Is it possible that you heard something like that in the past?"

Severus looked at her with gleaming eyes. "I might have," he said and shrugged with a grin. "Is it true then?"

Hermione closed her eyes in embarrassment. "I don't think so, no. But there was a situation that made it necessary to… fake that sort of thing, a situation that might have called for a kiss."

There was no reply from him at first and when Hermione opened her eyes again to see his reaction, she found him focussing her with an analysing gaze. "Was it a good kiss?" he finally asked with a knowing smile tugging on his lips. "Because you look like it might have been."

She groaned in embarrassment. "Does it matter? It was fake Severus and it was years ago."

Her friend shrugged with a grin. "Just asking." Then he took his spoon back into his hand and started eating again. They sat in silence for a while and slowly Hermione's nerves seemed to settle, even though she could still feel her friend's gaze on her now and then. But she did her best to ignore it.

"Charity will come home tonight," Severus said almost casually after a while and kept on eating.

Hermione hummed in acknowledgement. "You haven't seen her for a while, haven't you?"

He swallowed the bite in his mouth and nodded. "Yeah, the school's keeping her busy. That's the price of falling for a teacher I guess." His lips morphed into a loving smile that almost made Hermione's heart melt.

"You miss her, don't you?"

"Every day," Severus confirmed, before looking at her with a firm gaze. "Would you mind leaving the house for the evening? Things might get… intense and I really don't want any awkwardness between us," he tried and Hermione looked at him with wide eyes and rosy cheeks. Merlin, that was more than she ever wanted to know.

"Uhm, alright," she said quickly and took a spoon full of soup into her mouth to avoid having to say anything further.

"Thank you. I'm sure the twins don't mind another visit from you," Severus suggested with a neutral expression that immediately spiked Hermione's suspicions.

"Severus Snape, you are not playing matchmaker here, are you?" she asked and looked at him with a stern gaze. But her friend didn't seem bothered by it in the least.

"Actually I am just looking for a way to shag my wife in peace on the kitchen table," he said dryly and Hermione almost choked on her food. She hastily swallowed it down before she replied with bright red cheeks:

"Alright, point taken. Tell me when it's safe to come back again."

Hermione sent her Patronus over to the Prewett house right after dinner and not half an hour later she was standing at their front door with an overnight bag in her hands. How in Merlin's name had she ended up here right after having this particular memory back? Any other day would have been fine, but right now? Right now she really didn't want to meet Gideon. She knew she was being childish, the man was her friend for god's sake and in the past, they had surely been able to overcome any awkwardness between them pretty quickly. But back then she had been Ron's girl and this kiss meant nothing to her. Now? She wasn't so sure. Because kissing Gideon had felt good, she admitted to herself, and a little voice in her heart whispered that she wanted to do it again.

The door opened before she found the courage to use the doorbell. The wards must have notified the twins upon her arrival, because Fabian who came to let her in, looked at her with bright eyes and a smile on his lips.

"Came back for another lesson, did you?" he said and winked at her.

"Would you grant me one if I say yes?" she said and laughed. "Because actually Severus kind of threw me out for the night. Charity is visiting from Hogwarts and they…"

Fabian interrupted her with a laugh. "They're probably shagging like rabbits, yeah. Come in then and we'll see about the lesson. We could also just go to the cinema if you want a lazy evening instead. And you look like you haven't been out and had fun for ages."

Hermione blinked in surprise. "Well, I haven't."

"Then it's set. We're going out. Come on, let's take your stuff into your room first and then I'll give you the chance to get cleaned up. In the meantime, I'll drag Gideon away from his enchantments. He's been over them for the whole day, muttering to himself in the study. He really needs a break too even though he'll never admit it."

With that, he stepped aside and waved her into the house. Hermione followed him with a much lighter heart. A movie night was a great idea. She hadn't had one in years, because Ron never saw the appeal of it. Maybe there was still a way for her to enjoy the evening after all. Because the darkness of the cinema didn't leave much room for awkwardness, right?

Stepping into her old room in the Prewett's house felt like coming home in a way. She had missed her bed with the enchanted curtains that made her feel like she was sleeping under the stars, but there was also the beautiful library with the reading areas at the window sills and the knowledge that there were probably hidden rooms everywhere in the house that just waited for being explored by her, that made her want to never leave again. And she'd probably never have to if she could just bring herself to ask the twins to let her move back in.

It only took her about ten minutes to get changed into jeans and a comfortable, light jumper that was waiting for her in the closet. When she pulled the soft fabric on, she felt immediately comfortable in it and smiled.

"Found your old favourite jumper have you?" a voice sounded from the door and she didn't have to turn around to know that it was Gideon's. By now she would have recognised it anywhere.

"Ahh, that's why it feels so comfortable to me," she replied and finally turned around. He was leaning in the doorframe and looked at her with twinkling eyes and a wide smile. Seeing him like this had made her heart stutter a little.

"Absolutely. I heard we're going to the cinema?" he said and stepped into the room. The stuttering of her heart got worse. She stared at him with wide eyes and her mind went totally blank for a second leaving her completely unable to answer.

Gideon looked at her with furrowed brows and inclined his head. "Hermione? Is everything alright? You look kind of…"

She shook her head and closed her head in embarrassment. "I remembered the kiss," she blurted out before she had the chance to lose her courage again and as she opened her eyes she could see, that Gideon was looking at her with a curious expression.

"And that is a good or a bad thing?" he finally asked and looked at her with raised brows.

She blinked. "Not a bad thing," she finally mumbled and shrugged helplessly, but Gideon just smiled at her kindly.

"Good, because I really don't like any awkwardness between us." With that, he made the last steps towards her and before Hermione knew what was happening, he pulled her into his arms. She stiffened just for a short moment before she realized that he was pulling her into a hug then she hugged him back with a relieved sigh.

"Me neither," she finally admitted und buried her nose into his shoulder. And she couldn't help but notice that his scent was still the same as it was 18 years ago.