Hermione was fussing with her curls while she was struggling to get out the door. The weather was odd again as the mist was thick. She was flustered and didn't get a spot of tea, so she went to pop by the café on the way to the zoo. Climbing out of her car, she strode to the café door and nearly got knocked on her bum when it swung open.

The woman glared at the dashing man that had grabbed her arm, preventing her fall. "Well, hello, sweetheart," Sirius purred with a grin.

Hermione shoved his hand off her and bristled. "Goodbye, Sirius," She grumbled and reached for the door.

Sirius bounced to the door and opened it for her. "Love, you aren't still mad at me, are you?"

Hermione tossed her hair behind her as she walked up to the counter. "Good morning," She said to the barista.

The young man smiled. "Good morning, Miss. What can we get ya?" He questioned.

"She's gonna have a dark roast with a dash of cream and a shake of cinnamon," Sirius announced as a hand went on her shoulder.

"I don't drink coffee, Sirius," Hermione huffed. "One large breakfast tea, please?" She asked the barista.

"That isn't for you, that's for Remus. I know you are on the way to the zoo," Sirius grumbled and waved a finger at the barista. "Charge it to mine, yeah?"

The barista nodded and took the card from Sirius. Hermione stood there and seethed as they walked over to the handoff station. Sirius brought his cup to his lips and tilted his head as she made full effort to ignore him. He found the curly-haired girl quite interesting. Underneath the light foundation and odd scowl. Hermione held this flicker of flame in her eyes, and he quite liked that about her; it reminded him so much of Lily.

"Thank you," Hermione murmured as the cups slid in front of her. "Thank you, Sirius," she repeated and glanced up at him through her eyelashes.

His lips curved softly, and he nodded. "Of course, sweetheart. You gonna come to have dinner with Remus and me tonight? It would be nice to have you. Friday nights should be for play not work," Sirius snickered with a waggle to his eyebrows.

Hermione sighed and tilted her head as she turned to him. "Well, you both could come over and have dinner with me. I have a few friends coming over if you both don't mind the youthful experience that is young children they have," She offered, and his head tilted.

"Meeting friends on a first date? I like you, but it may not get me out of my knickers any faster," He suggested with a grin.

Hermione swayed her head and sighed. "Sirius, for Remus's sake, I'm going to ignore you."

"Have a great day, love. Give a big kiss to my favorite professor?" Sirius teased as she stepped away.

"In your dreams, you poof!" Hermione shouted and pivoted to smile back at him.

It had been a week of working with Remus, and she had gotten to know Sirius through the professor's eyes. Remus had described his friend as oddly relentless but floppy and cute. A dog. Unlucky for him, she was a cat person; however, she could understand the crazy barking he has subjected her to in their meetings.

Hermione left through the doors knowing good and well that he was behind her. Hermione moved to her car door, and Sirius smirked as she placed her cups inside. "Goodbye Sirius see you tonight," She told him and climbed in her car.

It was easy to like Sirius's small moments. Well, despite the drinking and the nudity and even the sass that Remus has described. Would she say that she and the professor had plenty of idle chatter? No, not really. They spent most of their days reviewing the exhibits and animal behavior. Hermione took vast notes as Remus went over the different animals and their particular behavior. He was so incredibly intelligent. It's a complete shock that one so smart would surround himself with such a prat.

Hermione shook her head as she tapped the wheel. "I need to stop calling him names," She sighed to herself as she drove.

Their lunches together were vastly unique in comparison to the prattle she was used to having. Remus would engage her in conversations about work. Topics of books. Her tastes in music and even a bit about her home life. They stayed as far away as they could from topics such as romance, partners, and history. It seems they both had the same outlook; more work, more books, less drama.

Sirius, however, was a topic Remus enjoyed speaking about. They had been friends since school. Remus was mercilessly teased in the boarding school he went to previously because of his scars and humble attitude. When his parents sought out relief for him at a new start; he ended up at Hogwarts. There was when he met Sirius and his friends; Prongs and Wormtail. They all had goofy nicknames after the animals they drew in an old gypsy deck Sirius swiped from a store.

It was all fanciful and full of life. Hermione could relate, and it became an easy conversation to go back to often for the two awkward people. Yes, Hermione knew she was awkward. However, Remus was even more so, and it leveled off nicely as they worked together. All in all, Hermione enjoyed the professor's company… purely academic and professionally of course.

Parking the car with ease, she climbed out with the cups and made her way to the back entrance to the zoo. Her heels clicked on the pavement and gave her that mindset of work ahead; clearing the motions of the morning and her private life away. It wasn't until she got into the office that she noted Luna was sitting there in her bright pink dress and flipping through a magazine.

"Hermione, did you know that you can hear a tiger's roar from up to two miles away?" Luna questioned, not glancing up at the woman.

"No, I did not," Hermione said with a smile.

"When Rolf and I went to go document wild Sumatran Tigers, it was quite a lovely thing to hear," Luna responded and gazed up at her. "Professor Lupin is with them if you want to go watch. He went to go check on the new cubs."

Hermione set the beverages down with a nod. "I think I will."

Remus rarely let her watch him interact with any of the animals. Maybe he was shy or a bit self-conscious. Either way, she never had the opportunity to see it and was dying to understand why such a smart man was so interested in preserving zoo life for these animals that needed to be in the wild.

The woman made her way around the building and toward the back of the exhibits. When she entered the room, she was shocked to see the pristine hall attached to the different parts of the tiger exhibit. Rounding the corner, she saw the older man sitting on the floor and chuckling to himself. He had not seen her because his back was toward her, but she saw he was watching the small cubs in an isolation pen.

"You both need to stop fighting, or we're never going to be able to get you settled," He chided the cubs jumping around and pawing at each other. "Come on now, find it," he ordered.

It was interesting to watch the man press his hand to the glass and jiggle the trigger. It caused the hanging treat to dangle closer to the ground, and the two cubs were in an upheaval about getting to their reward. It was a hunk of meat, and one of the cubs soon jumped from the tree and pounced on it, bringing it down for them to devour.

"That's quite smart," Hermione finally spoke.

Remus chuckled and waved her over without turning to her. "I suppose you would find your way here eventually."

Hermione strolled over and observed the small wild cats fighting over their prize. It was just bickering but natural behavior. Soon they would be too strong to keep in isolation and would need to be introduced to the other tiger to see if they all were compatible.

"That little fellow with the white tuff, I call him Niko. The other is Sheila. Their mother was killed, and instead of them being placed out there, they sent them to us," Remus told her as he stood up.

"They are lovely," Hermione responded and smiled at him. "Can I ask you a question?" Her face turned serious as she asked.

Remus straightened his jumper and shrugged his shoulders. "You were going to regardless. Fire away," He said with a small curve to his lips.

"Why did you leave the Canis branch?"

The man sighed, and his lips shifted to one side. "Shall we make our way back to the office? I will tell you on the way, so I have something to distract me."

She motioned agreement, and they soon departed the small creatures. "Did you have a bit of an accident?" Hermione asked further.

Remus waved his hand noncommittally and huffed. "No, not really. It was just," he paused, shifting his head to one side and his unruly hair fell over his brow. "More of just a reminder of what happened to me as a child. I thought I was strong enough to get over it, but when fighting broke out in one of the wolf packs, it was too real. I had to make a decision on whether I could take care of them or make proper calls for them. I was not objective enough, and one of my favorite wolves got injured from it. I decided solitary creatures was more my speed."

"You manage the lions," Hermione retorted with a calm tone.

"Yes, I do, but lions are not like wolves, Hermione. Lions are fierce and follow an order. Wolves have an instinct to lead in their blood. The weak are seen as a hindrance and killed for it. Lions are family-oriented animals. Not to say wolves are heartless. Just far more expressive than a male lion with an attitude."

"Why the zoo? You could work anywhere in the world. Conservations. Wildlife sanctuaries. You chose the zoo for what?"

Remus chuckled and stopped her as they reached the office building. "Because my wonderful friend, instead of running off to join the circus when his wealthy parents died, decided to buy a zoo so I would always have work. If I was interested in running the place, I could, but I'm not. He has his dog sanctuary, and I have my zoo."

Hermione shifted on her feet and pursed her lips. "That kind of makes me like him a bit more now, if I'm, to be honest," She confessed, and Remus grinned at her with a boyish charm she hadn't seen from him before.

"Me too. He knew I would never be able to travel or go very far. I don't have the same options that you have in your pocket, Miss Granger," Remus said while rubbing the back of his neck.

Hermione arched an eyebrow with thinned lips. "Why is that?" She persisted in her interrogation.

"A story for another time. How about we get inside and do some work. I would like to explain to you a bit more about the other species on your list. Luna will have more information on them than I ever could so we'll start there."

Hermione just nodded and let the curiosities go for the day. Work first.


Sirius had just finished up showering when he heard the bathroom door squeak. He glanced out to see the orange feline sitting on the mat with a look of distaste. The amount of company the creature seemed to supply was unreal. Sirius hated to admit it, but Remus made a right call in keeping the cat. Toby was intelligent and sharp as a tack, but he also was adorable. Unusual for a cat.

"Whatcha doin?" he asked the animal before popping back into the curtains.

The cat meowed loudly, and Sirius frowned. That wasn't an unamused sound or even his frustrated call; that was an announcement. Soon the sound of feet thumped up the stairs, and Sirius heard the door slam open.

"Pads are you mental!" Remus shouted, yanking open the curtain.

Remus was furious. His nostrils were flaring, his eyes were narrow, and if Sirius was candid, he had only seen his friend this angry a handful of times. It nearly scared the shite out of him.

"What's wrong?" Sirius questioned as he turned off the water.

"You invited us to go to her flat? Why on Earth would you do that?" Remus spat with his index finger pointed at the naked man.

Sirius rose an eyebrow as he reached for his towel. "I thought you liked her company. I was just making nice is all."

"I do, at work," Remus paused and scowled further. "She's near thirty years old. We don't need to be playing with a young lady who's that young. Not you. Not I nor would James approve if he were here!"

"Playing? Moony, were you thinking about that bird naked?" Sirius snickered as he was drying himself off.

"No, get your head out of your arse," The ruffled man spat and pulled away from Sirius.

"Then it isn't a big deal. She invited us over, and she has her friends coming over as well. I thought it would be a great outing for you," Sirius declared as he stepped from the tub. "It isn't like you have many friends aside from me."

Toby meowed loudly and glared up at the flustered man. "Oh, Toby, what are we going to do with this mutt," Remus sighed as he picked up the cat. "Did you have a pleasant day?" He asked the creature who purred and closed its eyes.

"You have more of an emotional attachment to that cat than you do people, Moony," Sirius huffed as he wrapped the towel around his waist. "We are leaving in an hour. You best get ready to go," The dark-haired man said while patting his friend's shoulder.

Sirius left, and Remus glanced down at the feline. "Well, I suppose dinner won't be all that bad."

Neither one had not even one clue what they were walking into…