A/N: YAY! A new update!

So yes, I'm in France finally, and I asked to use my dad's computer because I was absolutely ECSATIC at all the positive feedback I got from this story! I actually showed him the stats and he agreed with me :') so ya, I'm happy :')

On an aside note, I have a little sister, called Meiline, and she is sooo cute :') she was born on the 8 June 2013 I love her so much :')

I'm really happy with how this chapter ended up. The plot is really starting to build up in my head, I have all the different twists up there somewhere just waiting to be put down on paper. I had this dream like three nights ago that's helped me place down THE major plot (I'll most likely explain when I get to it in an author note).

So, hope you enjoy the third chapter. I would like to dedicate this chapter to reader and reviewer Divergent-Slytherin-Victor, who's really helped me pile up enthusiasm for this chapter, which I wrote in like two days thanks to him! x) thank you!

Enjoy!

~Tenshi

Chapter 3

"I'm nervous."

Remus looked at her curiously, ash blond bangs falling over his eyes as he cocked his head to look at the girl sitting beside him.

"About what?"

"Meeting the Headmaster."

He chuckled. "No need to be, Hermione. Professor Dumbledore is one of the wisest men I've ever met. If there's one person you can trust, it's him."

"Yes, but... I don't know. I just... This place... There's something about it..."

Hermione shivered, wrapping her arms around herself and leaning back against the wall. Remus shifted closer to her on the couch, extending a hand to put it on her knee.

"Hermione," he said quietly, leaning forward to look at her under her eye lashes, "you're safe. I don't know why you don't like the castle, but I can assure you that no attack has been successful on it for a long, long time - not since 1066, actually."

She looked up at him hesitantly, her big hazel eyes curious. "The Battle of Hastings, right?"

"Correct," he confirmed. "Did you just remember that?"

She shrugged and looked away, pulling her legs into her chest to wrap her arms around them and rest her chin on her knees. "I don't want to talk about it."

Remus stared at her silently for a few seconds before taking a deep breath. "Hermione," he began cautiously, "I know what it feels like not to remember anything. I was a werewolf before you and I - I was lost for so long... I wasn't as lucky as you are. I didn't come around to remembering my name for over three months, much less anything else. Greyback held me captive for those three months, and when I recovered my memories and he had still not broken me, he let me go. But for those three months, I was helpless. I remembered nothing. Virtually nothing. I had to learn how to walk, talk, breathe, learn about being not only a normal person, but a wizard and a werewolf. The fact that none of those things applied to you, that you were able to talk and act normally, that the only part of your mind that was taken was your un-tamed section, your most recent memories of events and the like, says a lot. You remember your name," he murmured with emphasize on each word. "You remember places, names, you have feelings, impressions, long term memories, things you learnt at school - whatever school that was. You remember magic. You have some kind of memory. You have something to hold on to."

He leaned into her again, tipping her chin up with his fingers and looking straight into her wide, doe-like eyes. She looked so weak, so frail... At that moment, Remus felt the overwhelming need to protect her. To be by her side, to stay with her, no matter what happened to pull them apart. "Hermione, you're strong. Even if your memories aren't pleasant, you can choose to ignore them, or to go on with them and remember bits of a past that doesn't belong to you - at least for now. You can wait another two or three months for all of your memories to come back. You can live with us for now, choose to remain oblivious to the flashes of awareness that will pop into your head every so often - and when the time comes you will remember - but only if you have to. If you want to. This is your choice. You can be who you want to be. And when the memories do come back - then you will be able to choose whether to go on ignoring them, or to take them into account and do what ever you want with them. But until that day, the tiny bits of memories you get occasionally will be your choice to remember or not. You can control it. You may not realize as much, and you may not be even able to control them for now, but you will - very soon. And we're here to help you get through this. The boys and I - we will do anything to help you through this." A corner of his lips twitched a little as he fought back a grin. "Or at the least I will. There's no telling what the guys will think. But from now on," he finished, his expression serious once more as he looked into her eyes, "you are part of my family. I'll look after you. I'll be beside you anytime you need me. I won't let you down," he whispered, his eyes shining with a new determination that had her believing in him, blindly, absolutely, limitlessly.

Then loud steps echoed again, just as they had earlier that day, and both of them jerked apart and whirled around to watch a tall, gangly teenager bounding down the stairs, his black, shoulder long locks glistening in the morning light.

"Prongs is awake," he said casually. "I can't believe he'd fallen asleep! I was up there less than an hour ago to tell him I was out to meet you and he was out like a lamp before his head hit the pillow!" Sirius shook his head dramatically. "Head Boy my ass," he huffed, "wasn't even able to nick Filch's keys yesterday. How the hell are we supposed to pull that prank on the snakes without the keys to Slughorn's office?" He turned to them then, a glint in his eyes as he saw them both looking at him, sitting awkwardly on the couch, certainly not looking like two people who'd had ten minutes to make themselves comfortable. "What are you two at?" Sirius raised an eyebrow inquiringly. "Were you making out again?"

Hermione blushed and looked away quickly, while Remus just laughed outright at his friend, all traces of the gravity that had previously tainted his voice gone.

"Making out?" he repeated sarcastically. "You really expect us to be making out in the middle of the Head chambers, with a person we've only met hours before?"

Sirius shrugged. "I do it all the time."

Remus rolled his eyes. "Yes, Padfoot, you do it all the time. Except I'm not a flea covered, desperate, barking mess."

"I don't have that much fleas," he huffed indignantly. "I have tender skin is all."

Remus raised a sarcastic eyebrow at his friend. When Sirius silently dared him to disagree, both eyebrows raised at him and arms crossed over his chest, Remus chuckled under his breath. He looked about to say something when James came running down the steps, half colliding into Sirius at the bottom of the flight of stairs. Rubbing his nose and cursing under his breath as he readjusted his glasses, the black-haired boy looked around, finally noticing his friend and the girl he'd seen transforming the night before. Looking at her now, the only thing that would have made him suspect her condition, had he not been there to see her as a werewolf for himself, was the scar running along her cheek and neck. He wasn't sure what she had looked like without the scar - he'd only gotten to the Shack after her and Remus' transformation - but even with it, she was beautiful. Her eyes were a deep hazel, and though she was hunched over herself in exhaustion, something in her face and the way her hand was gripped over her pocket where he knew her wand to be told him that there was more to her than met the eye.

"Stellar, right? I'm James," he said, walking up to her and sticking his hand out, something only his father usually did.

The girl looked up and took his hand, standing up somewhat shakily to meet his gaze. Her eyes flickered up to meet his, and James was surprised when they met his head on, boring into them with a silent, unspoken challenge. He raised his eyebrows slightly at her, silently questioning her motives. She knew more than she was letting on. When she nodded a fraction in answer, James immediately felt like he could trust her. He could see she'd already struck up a bond with Remus; the boy had stood with her and was now standing close to her, though his head was turned and he seemed to be silently communicating with Sirius across from them, both their arms crossed over their chests as James and the girl shook hands.

"Stellar is right," the girl said, her voice surprisingly soft though it had an edge of steel to it.

"It's Hermione actually." Remus had interrupted his silent conversation with Padfoot, and was now staring right at James. "Stellar isn't her name. Hermione is."

Looking pointedly into his friend's eyes, Remus winced a little in surprise when the girl pinched his cheek, rolling her eyes.

"Remus, it's fine. Let's just say I have two names, 'kay?" She planted a smacking kiss on his cheek, and he blushed, fighting a smile. She flashed a knowing grin at Sirius, knowing exactly why James had thought her name to be Stellar, and turned back to Remus. "So, why were we here again?"

Raising an eyebrow, James turned to his black haired friend. "You didn't tell her?"

The boy shrugged, indicating clearly that he didn't see that as his job.

"Those two all but dragged me here," was Hermione's playful accusation.

"Why am I not surprised," James drawled. "Come on. If you're going to meet the Headmaster, you better be going in clean and presentable. Follow me. There are advantages to being Head Boy after all!"

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "You guys are in seventh year?"

Remus and James froze at that, staring at her dumbfounded, while Sirius just grinned like a madman.

"Prongs, Moony, it's fine." When Remus turned to him with an accusing glare, Sirius put his hands up in front of him. "Hey, it's cool mate. All I'm saying is that we've already figured out that she is or was a Hogwarts student."

This clearly did nothing to lighten the werewolf's mood. "And when exactly did you 'figure that out'?" he snarled, immediately realizing that he had no right to be mad at his friend for knowing something that he didn't about the girl, but maintaining his glare nonetheless not to lose his face in front of her.

Returning the glare and having come to the same realization as had Remus, Sirius snapped, "After you ran off into the woods like a dog with it's tail between it's legs! Quite literally, too!"

"You're one to make dog imageries aren't you, Padfoot?!" Remus half yelled right back, guilt fading into anger at his friend's taunt.

"Remus! Sirius! Quit it, now!"

Both of them turning to James, they gave matching yelps of horror when the scene reached them. In front of them, Hermione had fainted , half slumped into James' arms who had stepped in on time to catch her from behind as she twisted on herself and collapsed. Now she was convulsing, her body arching up and her eyes revulsing back into her head, her fingers clasped tight on James' hands around her waist, to the point where she was digging her nails into his palms and making him curse lightly under his breath. Her legs were trashing about, slipping on the floor in every direction as James' held her just above the floor and pressed her back against his chest. She wasn't making a sound, and that was what frightened Remus the most. In his heart, he had the gut feeling that she had learned to go through pain silently. He remembered the scars on her body, and swore to himself that he'd find the bastard that had done that to his witch, and, for once, would let Moony have his way with the fucking son of a bitch.

He stepped forward and quickly stilled her legs, reaching out with his mind to her through their bond, only to be met by a barrier that could only have been that of a skilled Legilimens. Thrown back on his feet a little, completely taken aback by the force of her shield, he crouched down in front of her, holding her legs still under one arm. He reached out with his free hand, and touched his fingers to her forehead. Instantly, the girl stopped convulsing. Then she arched her back and head, sliding his fingers along her face as she threw her face back, and startled the four boys out of their minds by catching his fingers in her mouth. Drawing in a sharp breath and holding it, Remus watched, completely stunned, as she licked and bit at his fingers lightly, her eyes still closed, sucking his middle finger in fully. And then his eyes widened in horror when his body reacted to the feel of her tongue swirling around his finger and the sounds she was making. He jerked back, jumping to a standing position and holding his hand against his chest like he'd just burned himself, and the girl's eyes fluttered open as he stood there staring down at her with his eyes wide.

James was looking down at her face, still holding her against him, looking absolutely transfixed, and his was the first gaze she met. She frowned a little in confusion as she saw the look on his face, and then her eyes widened.

"James," she whispered uneasily, squirming uncomfortably against him, "you're-"

He jerked back quickly, and she fell back, startled, just about stopping her head from hitting the ground by bracing her hands on the ground. Straightening to a sitting position, she avoided the dark haired boy's eyes carefully as a blush crept up her cheeks. Just as she was about to push herself up, her hand came into contact with Remus' shoes, and she looked up at him, confused again when she saw him just standing there with his hand cradled against his chest and staring straight down into her eyes.

Her eyes flickering over the hand and back to his face, she said, "Remus, what happened to your hand?" When he didn't answer and both other boys also remained silent, her brow furrowed. "Okay, what the hell did I do now?!"

Finally kicking into action, Sirius pushed himself off the wall he'd been leaning against and strode towards her quickly, nudging Remus' shoulder with his own before bending over to help her up. "Nothing Stell. Bad time of the month is all."

She raised her eyebrow as she caught his hand and pulled herself upwards. "For all three of you?"

"I do believe we should be the ones asking you what just happened, love," Sirius answered with a smirk he hoped looked casual. He was desperately trying to hide the effect she had had on him. Though he could see his lame joke hadn't satisfied her in the least for an answer, he couldn't very well explain that they'd just gotten hard watching her give Remus' middle finger a fantastic blow job while making very sexy moans. Okay, don't think about that. Bad idea. Yep. McGonagall in a bra. Dumbledore in briefs. Slughorn stripping on our table in the Great Hall. In the middle of dinner. Covered in chicken sauce. In a tub of ice cream. Oh Merlin. This is so not working. Suppressing a frustrated groan at the massive erection he was now sporting, and realizing that their proximity was certainly not helping, Sirius forcefully took her hand in his despite the desperate warning signals his body was sending his brain, and dragged her out of the Prefects' common room, ignoring her protests and cutting off the answer she'd been just about to give them. The fact that she was now unconsciously sending out wave after wave of magical energy was not doing anything in his favour either.

Dragging her down the corridors and moving stairs, Sirius found himself resisting the urge to turn around, shove her against a wall and crash his mouth down onto hers. Shaking his head, he continued ignoring her protests as well as his own, until the moment where she jerked to a stop and whirled him around to face her. She was fuming. Her lips were pressed together into a thin line, eyes ablaze with fury at being dragged by the hand like a child. Just as he was taking in her angered state, she ripped her hand from his grip and marched off down the stairs, leaving him planted in his spot behind her. After a surprised second, Sirius rushed after her, catching up just as she was changing staircases.

"Hermione!"

When she ignored him, he grabbed her arm, and she turned around and promptly slapped him across the face before marching off again. Stunned, he lost another second contemplating the fact that she had just slapped him before starting after her again. When he grabbed her arm once more, he shoved her against a wall before she could free herself and possibly slap him again, blocking her wrists in his hands above her head and pressing his body into hers to stop her from moving. She stilled instantly, glaring at him but knowing that there was no way she would escape him if he really meant to keep her there.

"Right. Let's talk now, okay Stell?"

"Oh, now you wanna talk do you?" she snarled at him, not in the least conciliatory. "You couldn't possibly explain what the fuck happened up there, you know, what normal people would do? Instead of dragging me down the stairs like a bloody cave man?!"

If she keeps moving against me like that, this is not going to end well, was Sirius' only coherent thought as she ranted away and struggled in his grip.

"Stop moving!" he ended up shouting in her face, interrupting her passionate tirade. Sighing in relief when she did what he had asked, he continued, "Thank you. Now I'm going to be the one asking you what caused you to have a fit and start thrashing about in the middle of the Heads' common room?"

She sneered at him. "I asked first."

"I don't give a goblin's fuck who asked first. I'm asking you now, 'Mione, and you're gonna answer whether you like it or not. You were remembering something, weren't you? You looked like someone was hurting you! Like you were seeing something - or someone - that you were trying to escape from! We were bloody scared, 'Mione. So now I'm asking you a question, and the only reason I'm asking you it is to make sure that you're okay, that we were worried for nothing. So please, please answer it."

Her eyes wide, the girl was staring at him with wide eyes, a little breathless. Her lips were parted slightly, her eyes straight into his. She relaxed against him and lowered her head, looking away from him.

"Yes. I was remembering something. But I'd rather not talk about it." When she sensed he was about to say something, she shook her head, and her voice shook when she said, "Please Sirius. I...I'm not ready." She looked back up at him, eyes searching his. "Please."

Wordlessly, Sirius nodded at her. He could see that something wasn't right, that she had seen something that had changed her view of them. He wasn't going to press the issue just now. He'd give her a while to get her mind around it. But he was going to get his answer, sooner or later. So he let it slip. For now.

Giving him a tiny smile, she suddenly froze in place, her eyes a little wide and tainted with a slightly crazed look. Her smile became strained, and she squirmed against him.

"Sirius," she breathed, "can you, please, move off me?" When he just stared at her, she closed her eyes tight shut. Then she rolled her hips into his, highlighting the fact that he was still pressed against her...and was still sporting an erection. Groaning when her hips ground into his hardened length, Sirius found himself leaning his lower body more into hers, pressing the bulge in his pants against her centre. Her eyes flew open and locked with his, her lips parting as his weight against her pressed the breath out of her lungs. "Sirius," she gasped, "what are you doing?"

He leaned down on her, edging his mouth to her right ear where he took her ear lobe between his teeth, sucking on it lightly as she struggled against his grip on her wrists. "Sirius," she gasped again, "don't." Hands slipping down her arms and along her sides, he ignored her, only more turned on when her now freed hands started pushing on his shoulders and torso. Drawing in breath when he grabbed her ass and massaged the cheeks, she moaned despite herself, his erection still pressed against her throbbing centre. "Fuck," she breathed, arching into him.

"'Mione," Sirius moaned, hands skimming up inside her shirt. His mouth slipped along her face, lips parted, breath brushing her skin. He brushed her scar over her other cheek, tongue flicking out gently over the crevice. Then their lips met. They didn't kiss; mouths opened, breathlessly resting against each other, breaths mixing, eyes staring into the other's. When he took his bottom lip between his front teeth and released it with a slight pop, Hermione moaned and threw her head back, rolling her hips into his, sending waves of pleasure up his groin and coiling in his lower stomach. "Fuck it, 'Mione," Sirius cursed under his breath. "You tell me to stop and then you - you're not helping me here, you know that, right? 'Mione..."

"Sirius," she gasped again. "Remus-"

His mouth snapping shut, Sirius drew back his hands, jaw taut and fingers tense on her bare hips. He pulled back his head slightly. "Right."

"No," she said quickly, "I don't mean that. I mean he'll feel it, and we-"

"Never mind," Sirius snapped, interrupting her and pulling back completely, leaving her to lean back against the wall, breathless and a little dishevelled.

Hermione's legs were shaking, and she was half sitting down now, marvelling at the force of the desire that Sirius had initiated in her. Then it hit her. Sirius had told her earlier that Remus would be good for her. He had verbally approved of their relationship, even though there was none. He had been nearly pushing her into his best friend's arms not an hour earlier, and nonetheless had just shoved her against a wall and started snogging her senseless. Anger mounting and erasing the confusion and desire she was feeling for Sirius, she stood, her legs newly stable and her gaze fixed in Sirius' darkened eyes. She walked over to him calmly, stuffing her anger deep inside her in an attempt to understand him. She surprised him by cradling his face in her hands and resting her forehead against his, his hands automatically going around her waist and pulling her in. But Hermione kept a same distance from him though, allowing only their foreheads to touch and his hands to rest in the small of her back.

Squeezing her eyes shut tightly, she suppressed a sob as their breaths mingled again, a new softness crawling it's way into her heart as Sirius' breath shook with a barely hidden sadness. "Hey," she whispered, "hey, Pads, it's fine, all right? It's okay, nothing happened, it's-"

"Nothing happened?!" he hissed at her, pulling her flush against him and digging his fingers into her skin. "Nothing happened?! You must be joking!"

And then, just as she was opening her mouth to say something, he crashed his mouth down on hers, forcing his way through her lips with his tongue, pushing down on her mouth with his and forcing her back against the wall they had just left. When she moaned and answered his kiss despite herself, with just as much strength and desperation as he had, he pulled back, leaning his forehead into hers just as she had done seconds before.

"Nothing happened, still, huh, 'Mione?" he murmured to her, lips pulling back into a half hearted smile.

She shook her head, tears escaping her closed eyelids, not as much answering his question as trying to convince herself. Brushing back the hair from her forehead, Sirius understood the dilemma she was in. He had a feeling that the link between his best friend and the witch was more than he was letting on. The fact that they could feel each other's emotions when at their strongest was seriously hindering, and was also a commonly used tool for lovers in the 17th century to join their pleasure during sex and make it twice as strong, before the spell to artificially create that link was declared illegal by the Ministry for Magic. Till yesterday night, he had been unaware that the only form of that link that now existed naturally was between wolves with the same Alpha or creator; pack members, essentially. But Moony had explained to him how it worked after they had covered up the girl - well, Moony had; he hadn't actually allowed Sirius to come anywhere close to her while she was naked - and apparently, though now she was too young a werewolf to control it fully, their link could transfer not only emotions, but thoughts as well, from one to the other. With a bit of practice, Remus and Hermione would be able to have full blown conversations without actually being anywhere near each other, and without making a sound or opening their mouths. And that pissed him off royally. That they had this sort of connection, as she had just pointed out, stopped them from doing anything more than snogging. Not that he wanted to, Sirius admonished himself. She was hot, but he didn't want to shag her. As he had told her earlier, her and Moony were good together. Their link made it that much more obvious.

Didn't it?

He pulled back, not letting her answer. He caught her hand gently and pulled on it, resuming their way down to the Prefects' bathroom where they had been headed.

It was as if nothing had happened, and would stay that way for a long, long time.