She woke up, feeling incredibly rested. It was such a pleasant sensation that it made her reluctant to open her eyes. A small smile appeared on her lips as she sighed contently and forced herself to face the world once again.

As on clue, memories flooded her brain and she blushed a crimson red. Oh, Merlin... Sirius Black had spent the night with her. What should she make of it? Of course, Hermione wasn't supposed to know that the dog had been an Animagus, but still... Sirius had come to the Ravenclaw Tower especially for her, she was sure of that. Considering that she had finally managed to sleep through the entire night, his presence must have made her feel safe. The fact that he would do something like that for her... It was so sweet and unlike the boy she knew, that she wanted to grin like a lunatic.

Of course, she stopped herself from doing that, as it would undoubtedly be considered very weird.

"Where's the dog?!", Amy yelled out of a sudden, waking Leslie up.

The blonde's scream has been so loud, that Grace run back to the dormitory from the bathroom, wearing nothing but her hair. 'Thank Merlin he's not here', Hermione thought to herself as she realized that he would probably take advantage of this situation and ogle Gracie like crazy.

"The dog is gone?! But how?! Why?!", the naked girl yelled and dropped down to her knees, trying to look underneath the bed.

"For fucks sake, Grace. No one wants to see your pale, skinny ass. Go away!", Amy covered her eyes dramatically and sighed. "Besides, the dog was clearly a stray. He probably got out"

Grace looked like she was going to cry, but decided that it would probably be best if she did that in the bathroom. Hermione smiled and shook her head with disbelief. Those girls were impossible sometimes.

"What time is it?", she asked and sat up on the bed, stretching and yawning.

"Early. Probably something around six"

"Why are you up so early?", surprise in her voice made Amy chuckle.

"We have Potions with Slytherin first thing in the morning", she reminded and Hermione sighed.

Another day with Slughorn praising her skills and trying to set her up with Snape, who looked at her with anger and contempt. Apparently, his views on the blood purity had been very defined. Calling Lily a Mudblood wasn't exactly a fluke. Hermione knew though that Snape hadn't been an entirely lost cause. He never truly believed in all this crap, as the power had always been the thing that he craved the most. Power and respect. Hermione knew that she could give him at least the latter and it was her goal to make him acknowledge her sympathy towards him. Preventing Snape from repeating the prophecy to Voldemort could turn out to be crucial in her mission... She had to at least try to fight for him.

"Awesome", she stated, snapping out of her thoughts and tried to locate her clothes.

"Yeah, tell me about it. You're at least good at Potions. And me? I am kind of surprised that Slughorn hasn't kicked me out yet"

"I've seen worse, actually. There was this student at Beauxbatons that was terrible at brewing. I've tried to help him all the time, but somehow, he still managed to blow up cauldrons or make a potions so toxic that it literally melted them", Hermione laughed, thinking about Neville.

Amy joined her instantly, making Leslie grunt out with anger.

"Why the fuck can't you let me sleep?!"

Leslie was the only one that didn't have Potions as she claimed not to be a masochist.

"Because we hate you for having a free period first thing in the morning!", Amy explained, probably louder than it was necessary.

"Fuck you", Les answered her and covered her head with a pillow.

At this exact moment, Grace has left the bathroom, this time fully dressed and smiled widely.

"Oh, today is such a beautiful day, don't be a bitch!"

"It would be even better if you would shut up"

Amy clicked her tongue and chuckled.

"You're not very nice, Leslie. I wonder if your mum would be proud of that dirty mouth"

"My mum would tell you to go fuck yourself and let me sleep"

"The dirty mouth must run in the family, then!", Hermione giggled and then started to walk towards the bathroom.

"Yes, along with laziness", Amy answered with a serious expression, making everyone even more amused.

"Morning, kitten!", Sirius greeted her with a huge grin, that was unexpected even of him.

She looked at him carefully, trying not to blush. He was extremely cheerful and that didn't happen all that often, especially not with double Potions ahead of them.

"Why are you smiling?", she asked suspiciously and he raised his brows.

"It's hard not to smile at you, sweetheart"

She rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"Stop teasing me all the time. I was serious"

"Me too", he laughed and winked at her. "I guess I just woke up in a great mood. Without a particular reason"

"Speaking of waking up... Have you seen a dog in here? Black, quite big, very adorable and smart?", she asked innocently and furrowed her brows with theatrical worry.

"A dog? In Hogwarts?", Sirius asked with disbelief that looked so sincere that Hermione wanted to praise his acting skills.

"Yes. Amy brought him to our dormitory yesterday, but he has been already gone when we woke up. Pity, really", she sighed and Sirius looked at her with curiosity.

"Why is that?"

"Well, the dog seemed to like me. And I finally managed to sleep through the entire night, so I wanted to thank him", she stated quietly and smiled, avoiding Sirius' gaze.

The boy looked at her suspiciously for a moment and she was afraid that he's going to realise that she knows his secret, but eventually he smiled with satisfaction.

"Guess we all have to thank him. You look much better, love. Now everyone can see how pretty you are", he murmured and tugged a strand of hair behind her ear.

She blushed but didn't look away, even if the intensity of his gaze was very unnerving.

"You should stop complimenting me like that. I've heard you're dating now", she said and raised her brows with amusement.

Sirius sighed and looked up to the ceiling.

"Let me guess. James has told you that?", he asked and when Hermione nodded he clicked his tongue. "That's not exactly true. I've been sneaking out to meet up with this girl, but we definitely aren't dating. She's tutoring me... She's a Ravenclaw from the seventh year and is terribly good at Charms", he explained making Hermione gape with surprise.

"You're having troubles with Charms? Why didn't you ask me for help? Or James, he's quite good at this too", she scolded him, but regretted it almost instantly.

"James is not a teacher material and asking you would be completely pointless. There is no way in hell I'd be able to focus. You're way too hot when you talk about academic stuff"

Hermione looked at him with her mouth open, as heat rose to her face. She was completely flabbergasted and Sirius started to laugh loudly at her expression.

"You can also be incredibly adorable", he admitted softly, looking at her with sympathy in his grey eyes, making her heart race.

Before she could answer, Slughorn appeared in front of the classroom and urged the students to go inside. Sirius winked at her and walked away, while she was trying to get herself together. What was wrong with her? Since when has it been so easy to leave her speechless?

She shook her head and went inside the classroom, avoiding Sirius' gaze, even though she was positive that his eyes have been trailing her every step.

"What was that with Black? I saw him touching your hair", Amy whispered excitedly, making Hermione sigh.

Of course that bloody girl has seen it. She was like a radar sometimes. Nothing could escape her brilliant eyes, which made Hermione wonder why Amy has never tried out for Qudditch team. No snitch would ever be able to get past her.

"Yeah, he does that a lot. It doesn't mean a thing, we were just talking"

"Then why are you resembling a particularly ripe tomato?"

"Shut up", Hermione murmured, making Amy giggle.

She couldn't stop herself from glancing towards Sirius, who was currently laughing with James and shifting impatiently. Oh, boy... They were up to something, she just knew it. Hermione squinted and looked around in order to find anything unusual, but failed to do so. It made her even more anxious, especially when she remembered Sirius' good mood.

"This is going to be fun", she mumbled and turned her gaze towards professor Slughorn who was about to begin the lesson.

"Welcome everyone! Today is a very special day, indeed! I have an assignment for you and the prize is more than valuable", the professor stated and Hermione immediately recognized the potions standing in front of him.

Felix Felicis simmered lightly in the cauldron, making everyone shift with excitement. Of course, not many of the students knew what kind of potion was that, but it looked like pure gold and it was enough to capture their attention. Hermione knew that besides herself there were two more people able to identify it - Severus Snape and Lily Evans.

"Alright. Who can tell me what's in that cauldron?"

Hermione's hand immediately flew into the air, but Slughorn had his eyes fixed on Severus. When the man let him speak, a burst of giggles reached her ears from the table that was occupied by the Marauders. She stopped herself from sighing and looked at Snape, who was as cool as always.

"Ah, Severus!"

The Slytherin smiled with superiority and stated:

"A giggling turnip"

Hermione looked at him with surprise and then chuckled, just as the rest of the class. Slughorn blinked a couple of times and then asked:

"Pardon me, m'boy?"

"A giggling turnip", Snape stated once again, completely oblivious to the fact that the words coming out of his mouth were ridiculous.

"I'm afraid that there's no potion that would be called 'a giggling turnip', my dear boy. Are you feeling well, Severus?"

"My name's Tinkerbell"

At this statement, no one was able to stop themselves from laughing. Hermione felt horrible, seeing as Snape looked around with disorientation and annoyance, but the amusement was too great to hold it in. It wasn't hard to figure out that the Marauders have somehow managed to charm him, so that his words would stop making any sense to everyone but himself. It was a really advanced spell and Hermione couldn't help but feeling appreciative, even if making fun of Snape wasn't sitting with her all that well.

She had to give it to them though, this prank was actually funny, not because Snape was its target. If it had been anyone else, she would be equally as amused, although Miss Granger had to admit that his rage made things even better. He stood up rapidly, pointed his finger at the laughing Marauders and exclaimed furiously:

"They stole my honker!"

The students erupted with laughter, while James and Sirius turned around and snorted simultaneously.

"Professor, that's actually not true!", James stated seriously and Padfoot nodded.

"His honker is still there, obviously!"

Hermione stopped laughing, noticing Lily's furious stare and Severus' red face. This might have been a good prank, but the Marauder's comments could easily turn it into an unnecessary show.

She decided that it might be a good idea to interfere, so she stood up and said:

"Professor, I think that Severus has been struck with a spell that twists his words without him knowing about it. Maybe we should take him to Madam Pomfrey or Professor Flitwick?", she offered and Slughorn nodded, looking at Snape with worry.

"Yes, I believe it would be the right thing to do, Miss Granger. Could you please escort Severus to the Hospital Wing? It might have been something he ate, it'd be best to check it"

Severus didn't seem to be keen on that particular idea as he pointed his finger at Hermione and stated:

"That llama is not dancing!"

Which was obviously very insulting. Hermione bit her bottom lip, trying not to laugh and muttered:

"Come on, Tinkerbell"

She knew she should have stopped herself, but it was just too tempting. Severus glared at her, but moved towards the exit, storming through the door like the Potion's Master she had remembered. Considering his height, it was very hard to keep up with his incredibly long steps, which caused her almost to run.

When they've arrived at the Hospital Wing, Madam Pomfrey run out of her office and looked at them expectantly.

"What is it?"

"Sorry to bother you, but Severus here had been struck with a spell that made him talk... funny. His words make perfect sense to him, but no sense at all to everyone else", she explained and smiled gently.

"Are you sure it had been a spell?", the nurse asked Severus and he nodded. "Alright, first of all I have to check what kind of nonsense leaves you mouth. Can you tell me who did that to you?"

"A hippogriff"

"Are you sure?"

"Merry Christmas", an annoyed answer followed the nurse's question, making it really hard for her not to laugh.

Hermione though couldn't stop herself from giggling. Never in her entire life has she expected to hear Severus Snape wish her a 'Merry Chistmas', but she was positive that it would sound exactly like this - more like an insult, rather than best wishes.

"Merry Christmas to you too, dear boy", the nurse finally answered and then started to wave her wand. "Miss Granger, if you wish, you can go back to your class. I'm sure Mr Snape here is going to be alright"

Hermione nodded and then shot a final glance towards Severus.

"I'll tell professor Slughorn that you're going to be fine", she promised and then left the Hospital Wing.

Hermione couldn't believe that the end of October came so quickly. She could have sworn that the year has started only a couple of days ago, but when Ewan approached her in the corridor and asked her if she wanted to go to Hogsmeade with him, she realised that the time had definitely tricked her.

"You want to go to Hogsmeade with me?", she asked surprised, causing him to frown.

"Why wouldn't I? I mean, you don't have to agree or anything, I just thought that..."

"I'd love to", she interrupted him and smiled gently. "Although I have to remind you that I am interested in being only your friend"

"I am well aware of that, Hermione. It's one of the reasons that made me ask you in the first place. There's something I'd like to talk to you about and I feel like Hogsmeade would be perfect to do that"

The boy looked so unsure of himself, that Hermione frowned and eyed him suspiciously.

"What have you done?", she asked gravely and Ewan chuckled nervously.

"I didn't do anything, I promise. I just want to talk somewhere more private"

"And you think Hogsmeade will be better?"

"In Hogsmeade no one will pay special attention to us. And here? You know that everyone's talking about our friendship", he explained and rolled his eyes, making Hermione chuckle.

Oh, yeah, she knew. It was completely ridiculous, as they have never implicated that there might be something more going on between them. They had been spending a lot of time together, sure, but not even remotely as much as Hermione had been spending with the Marauders and no one seemed to accuse her of dating them. Well, maybe apart from her roommates who thought of her and Sirius as of a couple-in-making.

"You might be right on that one", she admitted and shrugged. "Fine, Hogsmeade it is. Should I wear something nice?"

Irony in her voice was clear as the sunshine and made Ewan laugh.

"Of course, I won't have it any other way"

Hermione chuckled and then said her goodbyes, departing for the library. She has already been late for her studying session with Lily and it didn't make her exactly happy. Miss Granger hated being late and couldn't stand people who had clearly no respect for her time. She hoped that Lily wasn't as insanely oversensitive and would forgive her late arrival.

She sped up her steps, muttering few uncensored words. The library was just a corridor away, but unfortunately, fate decided to piss her off as much as possible. Someone's hard body bumped into her own, sending her flying towards the floor with a yelp. She squeezed her eyes shut and awaited painful fall, but when two large hands wrapped themselves around her waist, Hermione blinked a couple of times, trying to focus.

A pair of fairly familiar grey eyes started back at her, making her very uneasy. If she hadn't known any better, she would think it was Sirius, only a bit younger and much leaner. It took only a second though, to figure out that Regulus Black was nothing like his brother. As soon as he has realised who she was, his hands were gone from her waist and he started to rub them against his robes.

'Of course. He's a future Death Eater, even if he ends up reformed in the end', she thought and sighed.

"Thank you. That would have been a very unpleasant fall", she said, despite her grim thoughts and smiled.

"A deserved one. You should watch where you're going, Mudblood. It would save us, Purebloods, from having to touch you or even look at you", he snarled and lifted his chin.

He shot her a final glance, full of contempt, and then swept past her, reminding her of Snape.

"Nice to meet you too, you prick", she murmured and shook her head.

No wonder Sirius has never mentioned his family. If that was his brother, his mother must have been exactly as pleasant as her portrait that was hanging at the Grimmuald Place. She actually felt sorry for him, as that place probably reminded him of hell and nothing else. Maybe no one abused him the same way the Dursleys abused Harry, but being raised to become a Death Eater didn't seem much better.

Hermione walked in to the library with a scowl on her face, making Lily look at her closely as soon as she sat down at their usual table.

"I'm sorry for being late. First Ewan wanted to ask me out to Hogsmeade and then I bumped into Regulus Black, out of all the people", she sighed and closed her eyes for a brief moment.

"Did he hurt you?", Lily asked, clearly disturbed and Hermione shook her head.

"No. Being called a 'Mudblood' stopped hurting a long time ago. They can't exactly make me feel bad for something I feel so proud of. Anyways, I get why Sirius doesn't talk about his family"

"Yeah, it completely sucks. It probably would be a good idea not to mention your meeting with Regulus to Sirius, though", Lily advised and Hermione couldn't agree more.

The Gryffindor had a really tough relationship with his brother even without adding Hermione and her heritage to the equation. No, it would be for the best if he didn't know about any of it.

"Okay, so before we start studying. You've said that Ewan asked you out?", Lily smiled, her emerald eyes gleaming excitedly.

Hermione knew that it was probably unavoidable subject so she answered:

"Yes. Only as friends, though. I mean, we've talked a while ago, when the rumours about us had started. He's not interested in me that way and I'm certainly not interested in him. We're good as friends"

Lily giggled and looked at her knowingly.

"Well, I definitely know that you are not interested in Ewan"

"Why is that?", Hermione furrowed her brows, making Lily giggle again.

"Come on. If I had to choose between Ewan and Black... I'd probably choose the latter, even though I can't stand him sometimes"

"Why would I choose between them? They're both my friends"

"Yeah. And I'm Queen Elizabeth", the redhead rolled her eyes and smiled gently. "Don't give me that crap. I mean, I know that you are friends, but I've never seen Sirius befriend a girl before. You must be special. Besides, he is kind of hard to resist"

Hermione bit her bottom lip and looked down in thoughtfulness. Well, of course Sirius was hard to resist. She had known that would be the case the moment she had laid her eyes on him. Whenever he opened his mouth, she had to fight with the blush threatened to appear on her face, while her heart continued to thump against her chest like a hammer. It didn't take a genius to figure out that she was falling for his charm and boy, was she falling hard.

It still didn't mean that she had any intentions of acting on it. Sirius was a free spirit, a man that had to be tamed first, before he could become this loyal, faithful guy. And she definitely didn't feel like she was the best person to do it. She had a lot on her mind, even without thinking about Sirius Black most of the time.

"Lily... I know what it looks like. Do I like him? Yes. Do I find him attractive? Merlin, yes. Do I think it would be a good idea to let myself fall for him? A big no", she sighed rubbed her forehead.

"Why not? I mean, I've already told you, if someone could get him to settle down, it would probably be the girl that he finds interesting enough to actually become friends with her and I know for a fact that his feelings for you aren't exactly platonic. He doesn't compliment girls he doesn't truly like"

"Let me ask you this. Why don't you give James a shot?"

Lily looked at her, clearly surprised and then anger appeared in her eyes, making Hermione smile.

"Are you kidding me? He's a complete moron! I mean, they are both childish and really irresponsible, but at least Sirius manages to have a normal conversation with you from time to time. And James? I feel like I would never be able to talk to him. I don't need a fling, I need someone who would actually be there for me and Potter is kind of the opposite of that", she explained and it was Hermione's turn to giggle.

"You've thought about it an awful lot for someone who claims to be uninterested"

Lily blushed furiously, her face starting to match her hair. She looked absolutely adorable and Hermione grinned at her.

"Okay, I'll admit. It's not like I would be entirely opposed to the idea of dating him if he grew up a bit. I don't mean for him to get all serious and boring, but... You know", she finished lamely and Miss Granger nodded.

"Yeah, I do", she murmured in response and Lily nodded. "For the record, I think that James will come around much sooner than Sirius. He really loves you, you know. He talks about you with that stupid, dreamy smile that could only mean one thing"

Lily smiled gently and then looked at Hermione seriously.

"You haven't answered my question though. What are your excuses?"

"Similar to yours, in some ways. Except I don't mind his behaviour most of the time. He makes me flustered and incredibly uneasy, but in a good way. But it's not so easy. Even if he suddenly decided that he wanted to settle down, I'm way to complicated. My situation is complicated", she whispered and closed her eyes. "There are people looking for me. The second I'm out of this school, I'm going to join the fight. It doesn't actually favour relationships", Hermione explained quietly, deciding that it was safe to tell the truth.

After all, her beliefs were known amongst the students and it wouldn't be much of a surprise for them to know that she was determined to join the resistance. Especially not with the power she possessed. And even though that it wasn't all that unexpected, Lily paled slightly and looked at her with worry.

"You're going to join the Order?", she whispered and reached out to grab her hand.

"Yes. There is no other way"

Lily seemed to accept her answer without as much as a word of protest, which Hermione really appreciated. Despite her silence, she didn't stop looking at her intently.

"You're so brave, Hermione. I'm pretty sure that it is one of the main reasons why Sirius finds you so alluring. We still have this year and our seventh left. Maybe you should at least try to make it work. After all, he's a fighter too. He has always been one"