Wedlocked
Chapter 25: Anniversary

Thoroughly annoyed by her husband's puerile behaviour and flagrant disregard for school rules regarding members of the opposite gender in the girls' dorms, Hermione stomped her way out into the snow-covered village. It was beautiful, especially with the winter sun low on the horizon throwing long, slanting shadows. She wished they had managed to wake up a bit sooner so she could take the long way back and enjoy the view.

Head on sideways, admiring the icicles glinting off the roof of Zonko's, Hermione did not see the man in front of her until she had walked into him.

"Careful there," said the man, his hands on her arms to keep her from falling.

"I'm sorry," she apologised.

He was an odd sort of man, slightly asymmetrical, as if he had not been put together quite right and had come out lumpy. His smile was even lop-sided, though not in the sexy way Sirius smiled when he had devilish thoughts in his head. This off-centre smile was more akin to a leer.

"What's a little thing like you doing out all alone?" he asked, fingers digging in to her arms as she tried to step away. "Surely, you aren't scared, are you? After I just saved you falling in the snow…"

"No," she said. "Of course not. Thank you, but I have to get back to school." Her reply should have sounded confident and assured, but his tongue was peeking out from his mouth, licking his lips eagerly as his eyes bore into her. He did frighten her.

"Come now. I can walk you there. Used to attend Hogwarts myself." His offer sounded in no way kind.

"No, thank you," she insisted as forcefully as she could. "My husband is coming along in a moment."

"Husband? Is that what you call Sirius Black?" he sneered. "Useless coward, I call him. What would he do to stop me stealing a reward for my services?"

"Reward?" she repeated in disgust as the man's fingers brushed the side of her face. It felt in no way affectionate, especially as the rough tips of his fingers began to slide down her skin painfully, grating like sandpaper and burning with friction. His fingers reached her chin and gripped her hard. There, too, his fingers burned her skin. It pained her to feel it, but it must have scalded the horrid man. He tore himself away with a scream and shoved his bare hand into a snowdrift. She could see steam rising as the snow melted and boiled from his wounds.

It was the blood magic at work protecting her and punishing him.

"CARROW!" Sirius bellowed and exploded from the Three Broomsticks. He shot out hexes silently and with painful accuracy despite how angry he looked, and he did look angry. Hermione had never seen him look so frightening, not even when they first met in the Shrieking Shack. She dove for cover around the corner of the nearest building and pulled out her wand, a defensive spell on the tip of her tongue, but her magic was redundant in this fight. Sirius was driving Carrow through the village with hexes Hermione had never seen before; anything she might have thrown would be pointless, especially as Carrow, burned, bruised, broken and bleeding, managed enough wherewithal to Disapparate with a deafening 'crack'.

"Stay!" Sirius ordered, pointing for her to remain hidden. She glared, but kept close to the building.

He stood on the hard-packed snow, turning slowly, listening and watching every corner for signs of another attack. He stood so long searching for a new enemy that his breathing calmed; instead of the near-continuous cloud of condensation leaving his mouth, the puffs of hot air were separated by a few seconds. His flushed skin paled as the adrenaline left him. Hermione was certain he could feel the cold against his bare face and chest, but he showed no signs of it as he turned his anger at her.

"What the hell were you thinking?" he shouted at her. "You should have waited in the pub!"

"Don't you yell at me!" she yelled. "I was just attacked!"

"I know; I felt it," he glared hard around the quiet village again, as if Carrow was still there, just out of sight. "Bastard touched my wife. Should have ripped his fingers off for that."

"Let's go," she said, grabbing his arm and pulling him back into the warm pub. It wouldn't do for him to go around getting a reputation as a crazy man stalking the streets of Hogsmeade or to catch pneumonia and die because he was too angry to be bothered putting a shirt on.

Dressed and slightly subdued, Sirius walked Hermione through the secret passage beneath Honeyduke's to the castle. It took all his powers of persuasion and charm and quite a lot of money spent on cauldron cakes and sugar quills to gain access to the basement when the shop was open. She tried talking Sirius into using the Shrieking Shack passage, which would not arouse the suspicions of the villagers, but he flatly refused to consider it, insisting on using a passage that would take her directly into the castle.

Sitting in the Great Hall for breakfast, free from Sirius's influence, she was able to think once again. The thoughts that came to her only made her angry.

"What have I done?" Ron asked as he looked worriedly across the table at her.

"You haven't done anything," she sighed. "It's me."

"Oh. Well, what have you done?"

She shook her head, uncertain if she could adequately explain to anyone what the problem was. Being married to Sirius did not bother her. He was wonderful, though she admitted she would need more time in his company outside the bedroom to really know for certain how wonderful he was. So far, however, he was attentive and always came to her rescue. It was that she still needed rescuing that truly annoyed her.

"I'm tired of being a target," she said after a lengthy pause. "I got married so that I wouldn't be one anymore, but they still sneak up when we least expect it. Malfoy and now Carrow… It's like I'll never be able to go out on my own ever again."

"We'll beat him," Harry assured her quietly. "I'll beat him."

"I know you will," she smiled, though it seemed the wrong thing to do considering how worried and saddened she was that her friend would have to face the darkest wizard who had ever lived. Dumbledore was training him now, as odd as that training was; knowledge was power, she knew that better than most her age. Perhaps learning about the enemy's past would help Harry gain an edge in the present.

Looking for something else to talk about, she asked, "Ron, where's Lavender?"

The boy groaned and dropped his head to the table. "She's mad at me because I forgot our two week anniversary. Two weeks! I mean, Merlin's beard, what's so bloody special about that?"

Harry patted him on the back consolingly, though his snort diminished his believability.

"Piss off!" Ron cursed and hit his head against the table again.

Sufficiently distracted, they hurried to Herbology. Now that she was no longer consumed with fear about their future deadlines, Hermione easily fell back into her old routine of homework, reading, revising and more reading; she caught up on all her work and all the extra credit assignments that most professors gave without her even asking for them. She was as close to happy as she had been in months.

"Someone looks pleased with themselves," Sirius commented. His voice was low but it was enough to make Hermione scream and draw her wand. The man just smiled, lying comfortably on her bed as if it was his own. "You need to relax, pet. Come have a lie down."

Panic overtook her. She raced to the door and slammed it shut.

"Ooh, I like where this is going," he grinned. "You might want to lock and silence it while you're over there."

"Keep your voice down, you git!" she hissed. "Do you have any idea how much trouble you could get in? Why would you do something so stupid?"

"To prove I could, naturally," replied the man, a smug smile settling firmly on his face. "You didn't seem overly impressed by my plan, so I thought you needed convincing that I can be quite stealthy and discreet when I choose to be. I even have a plan for keeping your roommates out."

"No," she shook her head, dreading what sort of distraction he might have thought up to keep Lavender and Parvati away.

"It's quite a good plan," he insisted. "No dungbombs or anything childish, either."

A smile was fighting to erupt on her face at his eagerness, but she had to be firm. There were lines which she was determined not to cross and having sex with Sirius in her dormitory was one such line. If he wanted to sleep with her, he would have to wait until the weekend like any of the other, proper husbands at Hogwarts. Although, she did suspect that several of the married couples at school were sneaking around in the unused classrooms or more hard-to-reach broom cupboards; she had yet to meet any on her Prefect rounds.

"You're thinking about it," he grinned. "Could you possibly think about it while putting on that bodice of yours?"

Idiot of a man. Any consideration she might have given it flew out the tower window. He could just fly away, too. She frowned as she realised there was no broom. He had not flown up. There was no fireplace in the dorm either, only a small wood-burning heater at the centre of the room. The stairs collapsed under the weight of any male who was not a professor. By all logic, his presence was impossible.

"Sirius, how did you get up here?"

"Animagus," he reminded her. "The stairs don't care what sex a dog is."

"Good, that means you can get out the same way you came," she pointed to the door.

He sighed and stretched out on her bed. "But I only just got here. No 'hello' or kiss? Fine wife you are," he shook his head sadly.

"Fine," she grumbled, marching over to the bed. She kissed him quickly on the cheek. "Hello. Now go away before you're caught."

Clearly dissatisfied with her greeting, he pulled her down onto the bed with him, his long arms wrapping around her tightly. "I meant a proper kiss, Mrs Black," he insisted and took the kiss he wanted, a slow, deep kiss that had her gripping his hair instantly.

Sirius was a bad influence. His lips urged her ever closer to crossing the line, somehow making her fingers work the buttons of his shirt and her legs straddle his hips. That uncrossable line, once heavy and dark, was growing lighter and easier to ignore. Did it really matter what bed they were in? It was a bed. The room was empty save the pair of them, her roommates off doing… something; surely, they had time enough for at least one go.

The strangled sob from just outside the door told her something very different.

"Lavender," she groaned and hurried to set her clothes right. She was just throwing herself down on the empty bed with a book as the other girl pushed open the door and collapsed dramatically onto her own mattress.

"He's horrid!" Lavender cried. "Completely ignored our anniversary."

Hermione frowned; that was one of her very good friends Lavender was insulting. She felt absolutely no sympathy for the girl as she pointed out the obvious contradiction in her thinking, "Well, 'anniversary' implies that you ought to have been together a full year, not just two weeks."

The girl glared angrily across the room, her tear-stained cheers flushing red, "How can you be married and know nothing about anniversaries?" she demanded, her voice rising as she continued, "They are the single most important sign of his love and commitment! When he forgets an anniversary, even a two-week anniversary, he's really saying that he doesn't love you!"

"It's just a two-week anniversary, Lavender," Hermione sighed. "Forgetting just means he's a boy and rather stupid about girls' feelings."

Lavender sobbed her reply and threw herself down onto the pillow.

Hermione watched the girl cry for a moment, considering if she might have a point. Not that two weeks together was worthy of some grand gesture of love and commitment, but that anniversaries mattered. Her only previous relationship had not lasted long enough to reach any great milestones, so she was no expert; when it came to most things girly, she was no expert. Perhaps Lavender knew what she was talking about. Should she and Sirius be putting on some kind of act about their anniversary, too? Taking a holiday or throwing a party as her parents sometimes did?

They were nearing two months of marriage. While hardly a massive accomplishment given that she spent most of her time in the castle and he at Grimmauld Place, it was impressive that they had managed it. She thought for sure the Ministry would have declared the marriage void by this point or that they might have tried killing one another.

"Is two months together important?" she wondered aloud.

"So important!" insisted Lavender. "Every month you're together for the first year is an anniversary. You need to show each other how much you care."

"How much I care…" echoed Hermione dully as she considered how one might say 'thank you for saving me from Death Eaters by sleeping with me twice a month'. She likely would not be finding a card for such an occasion at the local stationary shop.

A whine broke into her increasingly confused thoughts. It was quiet and as soft as the fur that now brushed against her hand. Sirius – Snuffles, rather – was petting himself on the hand that she had let fall from the edge of the bed. He nudged at her fingertips insistently, his enormous eyes working on some inner soft-spot that always melted at the sight of something with round, innocent eyes like animals and house-elves. Even knowing he was not a real dog, she wanted to pet him.

"Oh! Hello, puppy," Lavender cooed and raced over to him. Hermione expected him to roll over and let the girl rub his belly, glutton for attention that he was, but as Lavender drew closer his posture shifted and the fur bristled on his back. He snapped at her outstretched hand and growled, low and threatening, making his dislike of the girl plain.

"Bad!" Hermione chided, hopping off the bed to stand between them. She could not help the smile that pulled at her mouth as she looked down at Snuffles, glaring around her leg. Luckily, Lavender had retreated to her bed, climbing onto it as if the mere three feet height difference would keep the dog from attacking.

"How did that vicious thing get in here?" Lavender shrieked.

"A first year must have let it in," she muttered, thinking it a perfectly reasonable suggestion. "I'll make sure it gets out without hurting anyone."

"Be careful!"

"It's just a dog," said Hermione, nudging him out the door and through the common room before anyone could see him. It was a good thing Seamus was causing a scene about Ron cheating at wizard chess otherwise there was no way she would have managed to escape unnoticed, though she did feel bad that Harry was missing the opportunity to spend time with his Godfather, even if he was a dog.

"Just a dog?" Sirius gaped as soon as the portrait was securely shut behind them. "Just a dog? I am so much more than just a dog."

"Yes, you're terribly frightening and a masterful prankster. Now go away before you get in trouble."

"Oh, let him get into trouble!" The Fat Lady cried. "It's no less than he deserves, the scoundrel!"

"Well, I know when I'm unwanted." Sirius turned and left without another word.