Thanks again for the reviews. I know that their physical attraction is occuring somewhat fast but usually thats how it works in real life, unless you are blind or incredibly dimwitted haha. No offense to anyone that might offend.
And here is Chapter Tres!
To Love a Marauder
"Ron! Don't wake her, she's sleeping!" Ginny Weasley yelped as she scolded her older brother. He looked at the angelic sleeping figure of Hermione and put a pout onto his slightly freckled face.
"C'mon Gin, I need someone to talk to all day besides you!" Ron whined. Ginny glared at him, folding her arms.
"Fine Ron, you wake the poor girl up and see what she does to you," Ginny said simply with a wicked grin plastered onto her pretty face. Ron's pout turned into a scowl when he realized what Hermione's reaction to his early morning wakeup might be.
"Blimey, didn't think of that. I reckon she'd probably hex me into next week if I woke her," Ron said with a disappointed frown. It was a shame that Hermione had not woken up since the Weasely clan forced themselves to wake up extra early to greet her. Even Ron, who loved sleeping more than life itself had woken up at the crack of dawn to pummel his best friend.
"Damn right I would, Ronald Weasely," a groggy and annoyed voice said, muffled slightly by a pillow. Hermione was shifting in her bed now, opening her eyes slowly to the bright sun that flooded the room.
"Hermione! I thought you were sleeping," Ron admitted with an embarrassed tinge of pink on his face. Hermione started to sit up, wrapping the warm blankets around her tighter as she surveyed her two friends. She looked at Ginny first, who was standing at the foot of her bed with her hands on her hips glaring disdainfully at her brother. Her fiery and glossy red hair hung down her back as it swayed with each movement. An inward scowl erupted inside the Muggle Born. Hermione had always been envious of Ginny's perfect hair in comparison to Hermione's bushy, brown mess. However, it wasn't only Ginny's hair she was envious of, it was her in general. Ginny was naturally gorgeous, small and slim with a pretty face and the personality of a rambunctious and vivacious young girl. It was no wonder all the boys flocked to her, specifically a Mr. Harry Potter. Hermione smiled inwardly thinking of the mutual crush Ginny and Harry shared for each other that neither acted upon.
"You're bloody loud voice woke her up, you little boggart," Ginny snapped to her brother. She quickly switched personas as she now looked at Hermione with a big smile.
"Well, now that you're awake, you can come downstairs to breakfast," Ginny said, while fixing the bottom of Hermione's blanket.Hermione nodded and stretched her arms out above her head. She tried suppressing her yawn but failed miserably. Ron smiled at her failure and patted her back lightly.
"Or you can go back to sleep, you look like you haven't slept for ages," he said with a laugh. Hermione narrowed her eyes and glared at him.
"Oh thanks for the compliment, Ron," Hermione said sarcastically. Her glaring must have affected Ron because he hurried to the door to leave, pushing Ginny with him.
"We'll be downstairs if you need us," Ginny called out over her shoulder as Ron finally succeeded in shoving her out the door. Hermione chuckled to herself as she saw Ron dash out the door in panic. Ron, she thought, had improved in the looks department over the years. Unsurprisingly,Quidditch assisted him in helping him obtain strong and muscular arms to go with his tall body frame. His medium length red hair fell slightly above his eyes, giving him a boyish charm to contrast the body he had of a young man.
'Yeah Ron's not that bad looking, but gods his personality is bloody horrendous. I can't even have a simple intelligent conversation with him, nonetheless one where it doesn't end in a screaming fest.'
"Never gonna happen," Hermione said out loud in the empty room as she started to climb out of bed.
"What's never going to happen?" an older male voice coming from her door asked. Hermione turned her head to see Sirius now standing in her doorway with a confused expression. Hermione laughed and rolled her eyes, deciding it wouldn't do any harm to tell Sirius what she had been referring to.
"Me and Ron Weasely," she said, walking over to her trunk to gather her things she neededto get ready for the day. Sirius entered the room completely now and grabbed the chair closest to him to sit.
"It's a shame you know. You two seem like you were meant for each other," Sirius said to her with a mock tone in his voice. Hermione couldn't help but giggle at the man as she gathered all of her clothing into her arms.
"Oh yes, me and Ron go together like Filch and Snape," she said, shifting her clothes to one arm in order to tuck a piece of brown stray hair behind her ears. Sirius let out a hearty, baritone laugh as he rose from his chair.
"Careful what you say about Snape, 'Mione. He actually comes here quite a bit and you never know what he might overhear. You do want to pass Potions this year don't you?" Sirius said with a twinkle in his eyes. Hermione's mouth flew open at the thought of Snape coming here during the summer. It was supposed to be a break from school, well mostly Snape, for Merlin's sake!
"What, Snape comes here?!" she said in horror, dropping the bundle of clothing she had been carrying. Sirius nodded his head and sighed loudly.
"Unfortunately Snape's a part of the Operation we've got going on and being tthat his is Headquarters, he's got to come here for some of the meetings, " Sirius said with a tone of annoyance. It was clear as day that he and Severus Snape did not get along, but current conditions forced him to tolerate the man in spans of a few hours.
"Operation? What do you mean?" Hermione questioned, looking at Sirius, before bending down to pick up her clothing. She saw Sirius meeting her at eyelevel on the ground as he helped pick up her things. He seemed to be contemplating something as he chewed his bottom lip.
'Oh great goblins, he looks so cute when he does that. Wait..Cute?! What am I thinking! This is Sirius Black here, the notorious (and innocent) Azkaban Escapee and Godfather to someone who's practically my brother. Which makes him like my uncle...my very fit looking Uncle. '
"Dumbledore told us that we are allowed to tell you and the other Weasely children a few things about what's going on here, but he also added you cannot under any circumstances tell Harry," Sirius said to her in a hushed voice as they rose from the dirty floor. Hermione pursed her lips, racking her brain for possible explanations to what was going on here.
"Why can't we tell Harry?" she asked him. Sirius sighed once more and put his hands in the air as if declaring innocence.
"No idea, 'Mione. I want to tell him everything, I really do, but Dumbledore said now is not the time and I've learned over the years that Dumbledore always has a good reason for his decisions.Fortunately,we will be able to fill him in on everything once he arrives here in a week," Sirius told her with a hint of sadness in his voice. Hermione knew Sirius adored Harry, he was like the son he never had and a facsimile of his old best friend all in one. She was sure that he probably wanted to tell Harry everything he ever wanted to know but circumstances prevented that. It was most certainly driving him mad.
"That's bollocks. At least he should find out that he's coming to see us soon. He's stuck in that blasted house with those infuriating Durselys, wondering why he hasn't heard a word about what's going on in the Wizard World. Harry's the one who saw Voldemort return, he has full rights to know what that damned Prophets been saying," Hermione said quietly, thinking about the terrible situation her friend was in. Sirius' captivating grey eyes looked into her honey brown ones, expressing sadness and sympathy within them. He reached out his hand to pat her lightly on the shoulder.
"I know, Hermione. I know. I just wish he'd be able to come here sooner so I can stop all this bloody secrecy that's going on here," Sirius said, in an equally quiet voice. Hermione looked maticulously at the man in front of her, slowly taking in all of his features. His dark locks, dancing eyes, hard build, and inked body were captizating. The man she studied in front of her wasn't just a wizard who'd faced the worst luck in the world, but was a boy at heart .But at this moment, the person in front of her right now was a broken, sad soul wishing the best for his only godson. Hermione gave him a small smile and shrugged her shoulders.
"I'm sure when the time is right, he will know. Harry will no doubt be infuriating but he'll get over it eventually.He loves you more than anything Sirius, and he is going to forgive you for keeping this from him, I know it and you do as well," she told him, lightly touching his arm. Sirius turned his gaze from the floor to the young witch in front of him who was a flaming beacon of comfort. He nodded at her, taking in the sweet words she spoke. Finally, after was seemed like hours just standing there basking in silence, he made a motion to the door.
"I am only guessing that with those clothes in your hand you'd want to know where the bathroom is?" Sirius asked Hermione in a lighter, more cheerful voice. She raised her eyebrow and then looked down at the clothes piled in her hands.
"Oh, I completely forgot I was about to get ready before you came," Hermione said, following Sirius to the door. Once they had emerged from the room, he pointed a finger down the hall to his right.
"Bathrooms that third door on the left, just make sure you knock because with all of the people in this wretched house, someone is bound to be in there," Sirius divulged and turned to walk down the opposite hall. Hermione started to walk to the bathroom when she felt a warm hand on her shoulder. She turned around in response to the touch and saw Sirius' puppy dog eyes staring into hers.
"Thanks for everything 'Mione," he said softly, squeezing her shoulder. Hermione nodded her head, her breathing a bit faster than it was a few seconds ago.
"I'll see you downstairs," she said once she had located her voice from within. For some reason, Sirius' low, growling voice was becoming hypnotizing to her and she had no idea why. Sirius smiled a toothy grin at her and began his descent downstairs.
"I look forward to it," Sirius whispered to himself once he was far out of Hermione's hearing range. He smirked openly as he clamored down the last of the stairs and made his way to the kitchen where he could hear a noisy buzz of talking from the hall. He found the door and opened it, taking in the sight in front of him.
Molly was hustling and bustling about at the stove, apparently cooking about ten different things at once. Pancakes were flying into the air, as well as toast was zooming across the room onto various plates placed at the long table On one side of the table, Ginny, Ron, Tonks and Lupin sat, chatting animatedly with each other and stuffing bits of food down their throat during the pauses. Across from them, Moody, Fred & George, Shacklebolt, and Arthur sat. Fred and George was talking in hushed whispers, most definitely discussing a new joke item they would be creating. Moody was sitting at the table in silence, staring at the kitchen around him, his magically eye going haywire. The final two, Arthur and Shacklebolt, seemed to be in deep conversation, presumably talking about the Ministry. Sirius smiled at the happy scene in front of him, glad to finally be around people since he'd be living in solitude for almost two years now.
"Take a seat and have some breakfast, dear!" Molly motioned to Sirius, who had spotted him walk in. Sirius smiled warmly and walked over to his usual chair at the head of the table.
"Good morning Sirius!" a chorus of voices chanted to him once he had slumped into his chair.
"Morning to you all as well, it's a fine day," Sirius said to them with a smile quirking his lips. He nodded a thanks to Molly as she placed a steaming cup of tea in front of him. He lifted it to his lips and took a sip, basking in the pure heaven that is Molly's tea.
"Ahh, gods Molly. Where did you learn to make such damn good tea?" Sirius asked her when she came back to him, dropping a plate of pancakes in front of him. She blushed furiously and waved her hand.
"Don't flatter me, Sirius! It's just plain ol' tea," she laughed, not able to hide the pink that rose to her cheeks. Sirius flashed her a million galleon smile and shrugged.
"Well I for one love your plain 'ol tea," he said, raising his mug to her in toast. After sipping some more of it, he focused his attention on the warm plate of food in front of him and began to eat, only pausing to comment in bits of conversation he heard around him. Just as he started listening to Ron's play by play of the Chudley Cannon game, he was interrupted by a pitter patter of feet that came from the hallway.
"Hermione dear! How did you sleep last night?" Molly's motherly voice rung through the kitchen causing Sirius' face to snap up from his plate of food. He looked to the doorway to see Hermione standing there nervously, glancing at the full house in front of her. Sirius used the awkward situation to his advantage by observing the girl closely; noticing her physical features once again even though he had very well took notice of them last night. Obviously age wise,Hermione was a young girl, but her appearance proved otherwise. True, she still had the same bushy brown locks, but now they seemed perfect , complementing her heart shaped face and skin tone. It was a milky crème color, but not too white as to seem pale, it was just right. Her honey brown eyes stood out too, as well as her slightly pointed noise and small pink mouth. Sirius moved his eyes downward to take a quick glance at her frame. She was tiny in both ways, that being height and weight. She couldn't have been an inch over 5'2 and she looked as light as a feather. However, even though she was slim,she did have the proper curves in well…the correct areas. Sirius smirked a bit at this thought, shoving another bite of pancakes into his mouth. He looked up as he saw Hermione sit directly across from him, beginning to sip her pumpkin juice slowly.
'Blimey she's got perfect lips. They are so pink and soft looking. Oh gods I wonder how they would feel on my own or better yet on my neck. Merlin! I've got to get a hold of my self. This is disgusting, she's young enough to be my daughter, not to mention she's my god son's best friend.'
"So how was your one week home?" the young female Weasely asked her. Sirius chewed thoughtfully as he looked at Hermione awating her response.
"I didn't really do much to be quite honest. I read a few books, you know, to catch up for next year," Hermione answered her, picking at her eggs now. Sirius couldn't help but smile at the little bookworm in front of him. She differed quite drastically from Sirius in matters involving priorities. Hermione was always reading, hoping to get ahead in class, and would stop at nothing to do that, which made her extremely bright. Sirius on the other hand, never studied in school or even picked up a book. He was naturally talented and be damned if anyone thought he was cocky because of it. Usually though, he would tease someone for being this school conscientious, but not Hermione. She made him proud in so many ways. Her wit is what helped her, Ron, and Harry get out of many tight situations, and he was in debt to her because of it. To put it plainly, he could give a Galleon less if she was a know-it-all. He in fact found it quite alluring.
"You are out of your mind, Hermione. We've barely left school and you're already probably halfway down with next year!" Ron said with an exasperated sigh. Hermione rolled her eyes and stabbed sharply at her eggs.
"Just because you chose to keep your books a good mile away from you at all times doesn't mean I can't better myself. If I recall correctly, if it wasn't for me, you probably would have been skewered by Snape already," she bluntly spoke, a twinkle in the corner of her eye shown.
"Hey! That's not fair!" Ron protested, grabbing another piece of toast off the place.
"Life's not fair, you should certainly know that by now," Sirius spoke to him with a chuckle. Ron huffed and decided to leave this subject to press a different issue.
"Well I'll tell you whats not fair. Being dragged to some secret house in the middle of London and not knowing what the hell is going on.Is someone going to tell us why we are here?" Ron asked, this time, causing everyone to cease their conversations. The adults looked at each other and seemed to exchange silent thoughts with one another. The children stared at them intently, eyes hopeful for answers. Sirius sighed and took it from the way the others were looking at him, that he would have to be the one to tell them.
"Alright you buggers, I guess it is only fair for you to know why you've been dragged to this dung hole," Sirius began, taking a swig from his tea. The young wizards and witches leaned forward to hear better, particularly Hermione, who was practically hovering over Sirius' tea cup.
"This house is a Headquarters, as you've heard. But what you didn't learn was what it was headquarters for," he paused, making sure their attention was solely focused on him and it was.
"We, referring to myself, Arthur. Molly. Tonks, Lupin, Moody, Shacklebolt, Snape, Bill, Charlie, a bunch of other Aurors and magic folk as well asDumbledore, are in an organization known as the Order of the Phoenix," Sirius said, seeing the eyes of the young adults widen.
"The Order, as we call it in short, is secret organization that was founded during the first war that works to fight Lord Voldemort," he said while watching the flinches of those around him at the mention of Voldemort's name. He thought carefully about what he was going to tell underage wizards and witches, trying not to give away too much information.
"Now that hes back, Dumbledore has decided to call on the old members once again to join forces to try and fight him once again.The meetings that we have often are used to discuss new information we've discovered about Voldemort's whereabouts, his plans, and just about any information we have on his Death Eaters. It's a top secret organization we have going on and none of you, and I mean NONE of you can say anything to anyone about it, especially Harry," Sirius added, making sure he would glare into each of their eyes to enforce the message. When it came time to glare into Hermione's, Sirius felt he lingered a bit longer than he should have.
"Why can't we tell Harry?" Ron asked, looking suspiciously at Sirius.
"Because, he just cannot know about this yet. It's Dumbledore's request that he doesn't and I suggest we follow it precisely. Anyway, Harry will be here shortly, and then you can tell him all you want," Sirius said. The truth was though, that Sirius wanted to tell Harry all about the Order and what was going on with Voldemort more than anyone, but he knew it could not be done. He'd have to wait it out like the rest of them.
"Can we join?" Fred and George said simultaneously as they bounced in their chairs.
"Heavens no! You have to be of age to join which you two certainly are not!" Molly Weasely interrupted in her high pitched voice, giving venomous glares at the boys. Sirius saw Hermione fidgeting wildly out of the corner of his eye, most likely mustering the courage to say something. Sirius confirmed his inkling when he heard her clear her throat lightly while everyone turned to look at her.
"Not to be rude or anything Mrs. Weasely but I think we should be allowed to join. We've got just as much right as anyone else…..possibly more," she added her last words quietly at the end. Sirius leaned forward in his seat, eager to hear what she had to say.
"Do tell Miss Granger," Sirius coaxed her, receiving a nervous glance from her. She breathed in deeply before continuing.
"Well, we all want to fight; there is no doubt about that. And no offense to you all, but the lot of us have actually fought against Voldemort in the past, especially Harry. I know he is going to want to join more than any of us and I think if we are willing to take the risk, we should be allowed to," Hermione said bravely, sitting up a bit straighter in her chair. Ron nodded furiously in agreement as the twins slapped the table and hooted.
"Hermione's right! If we want to risk our necks on our own accord you shouldn't stop us, "Fred argued. Molly looked abosolutely furious at them; her face turning redder by the second.
"Now Molly lets not get our selves carried away," Lupin said slowly,in an attempt to prevent her from going mad. Arthur shook his head at Lupin to signify that he shouldn't say anything else, and that he would only make things worse.
"Carried away?! Is that what you think I am going to do! Oh, Remus, you have no idea what it's like, having your own children in the Order! Half of my family is in it, and I have to worry everyday one of them is going to get k-k-killed!" she wailed, releasing furious tears.
"It's quite alright Molly; Lupin and the children didn't mean to upset you. And you are right in the fact that none of us know what it's like to have our children in the Order, but for me, Harry is like my son and if I am willing to let him fight, then maybe you should consider letting your children who want to fight do it too," Sirius said in calm voice. Apparently, calm wasn't the effect Molly received as she threw open the door to the kitchen.
"Sirius, Harry is not James! He won't ever be James, and I do not think that James would have wanted you to let his son go chasing after HIM and getting himself killed!" Molly yelled. She pointed a finger at the open door and glared at the children.
"Everyone out, right now! Anyone under the age of seventeen I want out of this kitchen this INSTANT!" Molly shrieked. The noise of chairs being pushed out scratched Sirius' ears as the reluctant younglings began to stand up and sulk to the door. They left one by one, trying to ignore Molly's fuming face. Hermione was the last to leave and grudgingly walked to the door the slowest. She seemed to want to stay and battle it out with Molly but her senses got the better of her as she exited the room. Sirius watched her up until the moment her last lock of brown hair disappeared from the door frame. He put his cup of tea to his lips and drained the last drop, still staring at the empty door frame with a light mist of lust in his eyes.
'That bloody girl is going to send me to the gallows, right she is.'