"So, you and Black, huh?", Ewan asked with a huge grin, making her roll her eyes.

Of course they were a thing now. The whole school talked about it, even though Hermione really couldn't figure out what was so interesting about her love life. Sure, no one expected that Sirius Black will actually fall for a girl that wasn't nowhere near as beautiful as he was and one that was also a bookworm, to make the situation even weirder. Sure, it was peculiar, but still... Her roommates always claimed that there was something in the air and they were right all along, even with Hermione's constant lies. It seemed almost impossible that no one else saw that coming, not with all those gossips running around the castle.

"Yeah, me and Black", she admitted finally with a sigh and earned herself a stern look from Ewan.

"Don't you think that I should have learned about it from you, rather than everyone else?", he asked with his arms crossed at his chest and Hermione sighed once again.

He was right, after all. She should have told him, but somehow it seemed almost impossible to talk to him lately. Ewan was spending most of his time with Leslie, trying to rebuild their lost friendship and Hermione couldn't bring herself to ruin it. She was okay with waiting for Ewan, as she knew more than well that he loved her roommate with all he had. He was in his seventh year, so they didn't have unlimited time to fix their relations. Still, she felt guilty for not sharing something so important with him, as he was her genuine friend, despite his confession that he tried to get close to her only because of Leslie. Those times were long gone.

"I do. But, in my defence, both of us were busy lately", she smiled gently and Ewan reciprocated her gesture with ease.

He looks so happy, she thought to herself, after giving him a scrutinizing look. It was almost shocking what being in love could do to a person and it really made her wonder if the same thing has happened to herself.

"Yeah... I am sorry about that, honestly. It's not fair that I just ditched you, since you were the one that talked Leslie into renewing our friendship in the first place", the boy said with a guilty look, but Hermione just shrugged, dismissing his apologies.

"No need to be sorry. It's not like I was trying all that hard to talk to you"

"I figured Black doesn't give you much time to yourself, huh?"

Hermione rolled her eyes and sighed. Why did everyone just assume that being in a relationship with Sirius would suddenly turn her into someone else? She had no intentions of letting him control her life before and right now wasn't the time to change her views on that matter either.

"He gives me as much as I need. I'm not his pet, you know? I'm his girlfriend", Hermione explained with a stern look, making Ewan chuckle.

"Does he even know the difference?"

"Of course he does!", she hissed and struck the boy's arm playfully, making him laugh.

"Sorry, sorry, no need to get your knickers in a twist! I'm just having a hard time believing that he actually decided to settle down", Ewan said and Hermione furrowed her brows, looking at him intently.

"Is that your way of expressing your concerns or maybe trying to talk me out of it?"

"Neither, to be honest. I know how hard it is to stay away from someone you like so much and I wouldn't want it for you. But we both know that things are a bit more complicated where you are concerned"

Of course they were. Her life was a synonym of the word 'complicated' and it was bloody frustrating how much time was she spending trying to change the state of things.

"I am aware of that, thank you", she retorted grimly, forcing Ewan to scratch his head in embarrassment.

"Hermione, you know what I meant. I just really want to make sure that you consider Black to be trustworthy – not only when it comes to loving and taking care of you"

She bit her lip, trying to decide whether Ewan really thought she could jump into a relationship with someone who wouldn't be able to understand things standing at the very core of her being – she had a fight to win, they all had. Even if he wasn't aware of how bloody and horrifying it could all get, he still wasn't stupid.

"Ewan... Why do you dislike him so much? I know the feeling's mutual, but I really have a hard time understanding the two of you"

Ewan raised his eyebrows and looked at her with surprise.

"What makes you think that there's some kind of a greater story behind our relations?"

"Because the two of you have really much in common", she explained and chuckled, seeing Ewan's baffled expression. "It's true, though. You both are one of the most caring and sweet people I've ever met. I know that Sirius doesn't really seem like the type, but he truly is. He's also incredibly smart and as it happens, so are you. You also share a passion for Quiddtich. It really puzzles my why are you constantly making faces at each other"

Ewan looked slightly uncomfortable throughout her speech, as a faint blush slowly crept up his cheeks. He scratched his head once again and finally met her gaze, with guilt painted all over his face.

"I've always been jealous of him. I know it sounds stupid, but it's true, unfortuantely"

Hermione opened her mouth and looked at her friend with complete amazement.

"What?", she asked, trying not to sound amused, but it turned out to be really difficult.

Ewan's words sounded almost ridiculous. Why on Earth would he be jealous? Didn't she just point out all of those things that made them quite alike? Surely it had to mean that neither of them could consider the other one worse.

"Why is it so surprising to you? Me and Black, we might be very much similar, but he's the one that the entire school fawns over and he's the one that everyone talks about, constantly. Not me"

Hermione's brow furrowed, as she realised that words coming out of Ewan's mouth sounded incredibly petty and shallow, and she knew for a fact that the boy standing in front of her couldn't be described as such. So why was he saying things like that?

"I know what it sounds like, but it's true, nonetheless. When I came to this school, I thought that I would be the king of it, I swear", he laughed a bit, but his expression hardened almost instantly. "My parents are working at the Ministry, doing some important work, I'm also a Pureblood. It doesn't matter to me all that much, at least not now, but to the society... Well, you know how things are", he shot her an apologetic glance and looked down, clearly frustrated at his own confession.

Hermione bit her bottom lip, knowing fully that the boy had no intentions of hurting her, since he really didn't care much for her heritage, that she was sure of. Hell, Leslie wasn't even a Pureblood and yet, he loved her like crazy. Still, his words hurt – not because she felt offended by them, but because they really were true. The society was cruel and discriminating, and it made her sick to her stomach. It also made her dream of the day, when she would finally be able to walk the Ministry halls with her head held up high, while everyone looked at her with much earned respect.

"I don't care about it right now, but when I was 11 year old, it seemed very important to me to uphold the reputation of my family. I wanted to be acknowledged, I wanted to be great and I certainly wanted everyone's attention. For a year, it seemed like my plan can actually succeed, but then...", his voice broke off and Hermione nodded her head with a sudden realisation.

"Then the Marauders came", she said for him, making a bitter smile appear on his face.

"Yes. Potter, Black, Lupin and Pettigrew... Even the sight of them, laughing and planning another mischiefs made my gut wrench with anger. But Sirius made me furious the most. He was the heir to the Black's family, with his aristocratic features and upbringing. He was also as smart as you're portraying him to be, which struck another nerve in me. The thing about him that pissed me off the most, though, was the fact that he got sorted into Gryffindor. He was a Black, part of that respected, ancient and powerful family and yet, he despised it. All those values that I held close to my heart – he just simply dismissed them and made fun of them. I don't mean that I was a blood purist, fucks no. But I believed that we, Purebloods, had to act accordingly to our heritage – with dignity, eloquence and savoir-vivre. Well, as you probably know, Sirius Orion Black is kind of the opposite of those things", he rolled his eyes and Hermione giggled.

He could be dignified, eloquent and well-mannered if he wanted to be. The thing was, Sirius absolutely bloody hated it.

"He made me angry. Furious even! So one day, I confronted him about it, gave him a speech about our responsibilities and everything, and he just laughed straight to my face. He laughed and then he said something that I will never forget. He said that he'd gladly disgrace his family, if that meant that in the end he would be able to look Death in the eyes and call himself a good man", Ewan's voice was so quiet, that Hermione had troubles hearing him. "He was thirteen years old, you know? Black was younger than me and still was able to be so much smarter. That knowledge felt almost humiliating to me..."

Hermione couldn't help, but to look at Ewan with compassion in her eyes. Sure, his words made her feel incredibly uncomfortable, since it wasn't every day that one learned that their friend was being a prick couple of years prior. She almost wanted to smack his head, when he told her about his convictions, but the girl knew that the person standing in front of her was different – she could have never befriended him otherwise.

Ewan seemed so disturbed and haunted by the fact, that his youth wasn't as perfect as one could think, that it really made her almost sad. Even if his views weren't that radical, it was a very thin line from becoming such and that was worrisome. If her friend was unfortunate enough to fall into wrong company, he might have become one of Voldemort's supporters. After all, if someone had already been thinking that the Purebloods held some kind of superiority to everyone else, it wouldn't be that difficult to convince them to expand their horizons.

She could understand the shame visible on his face, but the thing that was still as mysterious to her as before, was the reason for the sudden change of heart Ewan's experienced and also for his continued animosity towards her boyfriend.

"What happened next?", she asked gently, not wanting to let him in on all those thoughts running through her head.

He clearly felt bad as it was, there was no need to make him even worse, although she certainly could do so.

"If you're counting for a dramatic change, I have to disappoint you. I strongly believed that he was wrong and I was right. Actually, I doubt that things would change at all, if it wasn't for Leslie", he smiled dreamily, making Hermione roll her eyes.

Of course it had to be her. After all, being friends with a pompous prick probably wasn't all that great, especially since the girl wasn't a Pureblood herself. Knowing Les, she must have grilled him so hard about his ridiculous views, that he has finally realised how stupid he had been. Nonetheless, Hermione had no intentions of voicing her suspicions, as she wanted to hear the story from Ewan himself.

"I was really surprised that she kept quiet for so long, since it had always bugged her to no end. We were basically joined at the hip back then and she never could understand how was it possible if I claimed to be better than people like her. I was too stupid to see the contradictions in all of it and I simply claimed that I'm no superior, that I am just supposed to act like it", he laughed and shook his head with disbelief.

"What's the difference?", Hermione snorted, not being able to stop herself and Ewan looked at her with amusement.

"I have no idea, Herms. That's also what Leslie pointed out to me. She said that I claimed not to be better than everyone and yet, somehow, no one could stand being in my presence more than five minutes. She yelled at me, that all that crap didn't really matter, nor should it matter. Les claimed that if I keep acting like a first-class prick, that makes everyone miserable just because they weren't lucky enough to be born into a Pureblooded family, I wouldn't be able to look into the mirror at one point"

Hermione smiled genuinely, realising that Leslie must have always been such a fiery gal. Still, it seemed surprising that her words, even so furious and definitely undisputable, were able to simply convince Ewan to change.

"Leslie was completely right", she admitted and furrowed her brows. "But, no offense, it seems like you were pretty dense couple of years before"

Ewan laughed once again and rubbed his forehead tiredly.

"You have no idea. Leslie yelled at me, I yelled back at her and we stopped talking for a couple of weeks. Honestly, those days were pretty terrible for me, because not only my best friends was mad at me, but also it turned out that she was my only friend. No one wanted to talk to me. Literally, no one"

Hermione sighed, knowing exactly what it felt like. If it wasn't for the troll incident during her first year, she highly doubted that she, Harry and Ron would be such great friends. Sure, maybe after some time has passed and everyone has changed slightly, but it wasn't definite. She literally had no one else beside them and it made her feel for Ewan, despite the fact that he probably deserved all he got at the time.

"That must have been awful", she muttered and looked at him with compassion, making him giggle.

"Hermione, I was awful. I swear on Merlin's knickers, only you could feel sorry for someone, who was acting like such a moron"

The girl blushed slightly at his words. Well, it might have been a tad ridiculous, but it was not like he was a bully or a serial killer, was it?

"You were only stupid and young. I'd never feel sorry for you if I didn't know that you turned out to be pretty cool"

"Oh, thank you, that's so sweet", he laughed with a viscous grin, earning himself a glare from Hermione. "Anyway, if it wasn't for that utter loneliness, I'd probably still believe in all that crap, Merlin help me. But things turned out completely different and I realised that Black was quite right to laugh at me. From that point, everything started to work itself out", he smiled and looked up towards the sky.

They were sitting in the courtyard, benefiting from a sunny weather, that wasn't particularly common in January. Sure, there was still a lot of snow around, but at least the sun was shining, making the world much prettier and cheerful. They weren't the only students that decided to spend their day off outside, but definitely the only ones that chose that particular spot. It allowed them to talk in peace, which Hermione was very grateful for. Peace was very uncommon for her as of late.

"Shouldn't you be thanking Sirius, then?", she asked Ewan, getting back to their conversation after a moment of silence, making the boy sighed in response.

"I probably should, but the thing is, Black was still a prat, even if he managed to get that one thing right. He and Potter were pretty insufferable back then and since me and Black weren't exactly on speaking terms, they used to prank me all the time. I never cared for that much, but when they made the entire Ravenclaw Quidditch team develop a rather nasty case of herpes, that appeared all over our faces, just before the game with Slytherin, I was very pissed"

Oh, that sounded like something Sirius and James would do, even if it was completely unfair and not even funny. It was a good thing that they grew up even a tiny bit, because Hermione wouldn't be able to stand yelling at them all the time. She had her hands full with scolding them even now.

"Well, no wonder you were angry"

Ewan nodded and furrowed his brows.

"I can't really say that it's enough of a reason to keep up with our aversion, but I never felt the need to do something about it, you know? After all, he's just one person and not even from my own House, so... We don't have to like each other. Or at least, that was the case before you showed up. Now I can't exactly call him names and stuff, since you decided to fall for that prat"

Hermione elbowed him in his ribs, but Ewan only laughed, not even wincing in pain. His expression became serious only a second later, as he looked at her intently.

"I know that he's probably matured a lot since then, but I still worry, though. There is a lot of things that you keep from me and the same must go for him. Are you sure he's going to just patiently wait for you to tell him? Are you sure he's going to be ready for... Well, you know. For the fight"

Hermione stayed silent for a bit and then nodded her head firmly.

"I am. Honestly, he surprises me with how mature he is sometimes. He might act like a child most of the time, but when it comes to the things that matter, he's a different person"

"If you say so... I guess I don't have other choice but to trust you on that one"

"No, you don't", Hermione answered and then frowned slightly, when a thought popped into her head. "Ewan, how exactly does one go from being a person who believes in the righteousness of Purebloods being the leaders of society, to someone who wants to fight against that kind of prejudice?", she asked, a little unsure of Ewan's reaction, but the boy just smiled bitterly and looked down to his feet.

"I turned out to be alright in the end, but all it took was for someone from Slytherin, like Mulciber to take an interest in me and... I'd probably wouldn't be your friend. It would be just as easy to persuade me to join Voldemort, as it was to set me on the right track once again", he admitted with disgust lacing his voice and Hermione couldn't help the shiver that run along her spine. "There are many kids like me, Herms. Even though they are probably much more secretive about their views than I was, they are still out there. And just the thought of them messing up their lives, just because no one was there for them... How could anyone allow that to happen?"

Hermione smiled with sadness, as the answer to that question seemed more than obvious. No one should... But it has always been easier to do so, rather than to rebel.