Yay, I have my longest chapter yet for you guys. Hopefully it makes you happy! Thanks to my reviewers. Please drop me a review for this chapter and be sure to check out my other story "Love is Just a Game", it's Draco/ Hermione.
Gracias!
To Love a Marauder
"Mum! We haven't been able to sleep in at all since we got here!" an annoyed Ginny Weasley exclaimed to her mother early the next morning.
"Ginerva Weasley, you will not use that tone with me young lady. We are guests in the house and we will do our part of the chores around here whether you like it or not," a red face Molly scolded her daughter. Ginny scowled and lowered her voice so it would not travel out of the room's thin walls.
"It's not like Sirius did anything to help clean the house before we got here. I don't think he cares if it's clean or not!" the smallest Weasley said, glancing uneasily at the door expecting Sirius to walk in at any moment. Molly's face softened as she whispered back.
"Look honey, I know he probably doesn't care if we clean or not, but it's something nice we can do for him and he seems glad he can help. You know he's had a hard and lonely couple of years. Just being around people might give him a better outlook on things, and if we can do something productive at the same time, then I think we should," Mrs. Weasley said with a sad face, thinking about the poor man's past solitude.
"I guess your right. Sirius hasn't been doing much since he's went into hiding and you can tell he misses Harry an awful lot," Ginny, who felt ashamed, agreed. Molly pulled her daughter into a warm hug and patted her back.
"Thank you for understanding, Ginny. Now, please wake up Hermione and tell her to get ready as well," she directed, pulling away from the hug. Ginny nodded and her mother exited the room content.
"Don't bother waking me. I'm already up," Hermione's sleepy voice mumbled from behind Ginny. The red head turned around, surprised the see the girl sitting up in bed, stretching her arms.
"Did me and mum wake you?" she asked her, sitting at the edge of her best friend's bed. Hermione yawned and shook her head.
"I woke up right before your mum came in but I pretended to be asleep so she could talk to you. I figured she didn't want me listening in," Hermione explained, wrapping her arms around her chest shivering.
"Why is it so cold in here!" she asked Ginny, feeling a gust of cold air go through her. The girl shrugged in response, and looked at her friend.
"Maybe it feels colder because you're barely wearing anything," Ginny laughed, seeing her friend's thin tank top over the blankets. Hermione frowned and examined her attire. A flimsy camisole and silky shorts.
'I figured Ginny changed my clothes last night…I remember falling asleep in the library and then…'
"Ginny….didn't you change me into these clothes last night?" Hermione asked hesitantly, fearing what the answer may be. Ginny looked confused and shook her head back.
"No, I went to bed pretty early; I didn't even hear you come in the room. Why, you didn't change them yourself?" she questioned. Hermione's face paled realizing who her undresser must have been.
'Sirius! Oh gods this is a disaster! I didn't mean to fall asleep last night, I was just so tired! He must have carried me to bed and put on my pajamas so I'd be more comfortable…that's so sweet. But Merlin! He saw me in my underwear! I can't face him now, that's going to be so embarrassing.
Drat, I forgot...I just remembered he also came into my room last night when I woke up after that terrible dream. Sirius was in his Animagus…but why?
Good lord, this is going to be such a bloody awkward day.'
"Hermione?" Ginny poked her friend, who seemed to be in a daze.
"Oh sorry," Hermione apologized. Ginny raised an eyebrow at her curiously.
"If you didn't change yourself…and I didn't…who did?" she said slowly, trying to figure out the raised puzzle. Hermione blushed deeply, keeping her eyes off of Ginny's. The red head continued to persist at her reaction.
"Hermione! You know,don't you?!" she accused. The brown haired girl bashfully mumbled something under her breath, hoping Ginny heard so she wouldn't have to repeat herself.
"What was that? I didn't catch it," the Weasley said. Hermione's eyes met her friends, her face flushed terribly.
"Promise you won't say anything?" Hermione pleaded. Ginny stuck out her pinky to her friend.
"Pinky promise!" she proclaimed as Hermione latched her pinky onto hers creating the gesture. Ginny sat expectedly, waiting for the answer. Hermione took a deep breath and said quietly, "Sirius."
"What! How do you know?" Ginny gasped with shock, almost jumping off the bed. Hermione hushed her.
"I was with him in the library last night and I must have fallen asleep there. I think he carried me up here and then put these pajamas on me," she deduced, seeing Ginny's wide eyed expression.
"I can't believe it! Sirius…carried you to sleep, and then put you in your nightclothes! That's…adorable!" Ginny squealed, receiving Hermione's hand smothered over her mouth.
"Shh! Not so loud, I don't want everyone to hear!" Hermione said frantically, looking over to the door, waiting for it to swing open. When she saw that it remained close, she took her hand off Ginny's mouth. The younger girl was grinning furiously.
"Oh my gods, Hermione! This is so exciting, you and Sirius…" she said dreamily. It was Hermione's turn to now gasp with shock as she shook her head rapidly.
"There is no me and Sirius! Are you crazy, Ginny!" Hermione rushed. She couldn't help but linger on how nice 'me and Sirius' sounded.
"You're crazy for not realizing he fancies you!" the girl exclaimed. Hermione felt her heart beat race at the thought.
'He fancies me? No bloody way. Why would Sirius Black even give me the time of day? Ginny must have eaten something Fred and George cooked up to make her delusional.'
"He doesn't fancy me Ginny. We're just friends, the same way you are with him," Hermione said calmly.
"He does too fancy you! I see the way he looks at you all the time. And I have a feeling you feel something toward him too!" Ginny guessed, staring at Hermione closely with chance that she'd react to her last statement. To the Weaslette's satisfaction, Hermione blushed again and stammered.
"N-n-no! I don't fancy Sirius, that's madness. He's twice my age, and Harry's godfather!" she defended. Ginny waved her words off and smiled.
"Age doesn't really matter in the wizarding world if you haven't noticed by now. I also don't think Harry would mind too much…you would be making his godfather happy for once, not to mention the fact that Sirius is dreadfully handsome," she told her. Hermione quirked an eyebrow, feeling the blush faint.
"You think Sirius is handsome?" she inquired.
"Please don't tell me you haven't noticed, 'Mione. Sirius is downright fit. He doesn't look his age at all; he beats the pants out of all the blokes at Hogwarts," her voice bore a tone that made Hermione's question appear to be obviously ridiculous.
"Well, I mean I know he's good looking but…it just wouldn't work," Hermione said with a hint of sadness she couldn't place.
"Of course it could! You have to take this chance, 'Mione. It could turn out to be the best thing in your life!" Ginny urged her.
"If you think he's so wonderful, why don't you go for him?" Hermione asked her friend, getting up from the bed.
"If you haven't noticed, I have a load of brothers that would castrate him if I even so much as expressed the tiniest bit of interest in him. I've also got a mad crush on Harry, if you haven't forgotten…besides, Sirius would never be interested in me. You're more of his type," Ginny divulged. Hermione stopped rummaging in her trunks, intrigued at Ginny's words.
"Why is that?" she questioned, wondering what Hermione had that Ginny didn't. Her best friend was a million times pretty then Hermione could ever be; she was also funny, charismatic, and carefree. Hermione was dull, boring, and wound up tightly.
"First off, you're a hell of a lot more mature than me. It's not the fact that you're literally older; it's that you've faced so many things at such a young age, it makes you wiser, more experienced. Secondly, you're a genius, and Sirius is probably fascinated by your knowledge because we all know he's very smart, even if he never studied during school," Ginny explained to her. Hermione wasn't satisfied with her reasons.
"So he likes me because I'm mature and smart? Those are hardly good reasons to be interested in someone like me," Hermione said sarcastically. Ginny sighed, clearly knowing Hermione just wouldn't understand.
"Don't you see how good you are, Hermione? You've got everything going for you. You're smart, pretty (Hermione laughed), caring, and you've just got something about you that I can tell he likes. Why can't you accept the fact that he likes you for who you are?" Ginny said quietly. Hermione felt guilty for the attutidue she had given Ginny and swooped down to give her friend a tight hug.
"Thanks Gin," she whispered and pulled away smiling. Ginny grinned back and got up off the edge of Hermione's bed.
"I don't know what I'm going to do about, Sirius though. I'll have to see how things play out. Who knows? Maybe something could happen," Hermione added, mostly to just make Ginny feel like her argument had worked.
'Maybe it could work though. Maybe…..No!
I will never fancy Sirius Black. I won't!'
She told herself over and over, even though the message was reluctant to sink in.
For the first time in Hermione's life, she did not know the answer to a problem.
What do I do about Sirius?
"Nice of you girls to finally join us," Arthur Weasley said behind his newspaper when he saw the flaming red hair of his daughter and the brown hair of Hermione peek over the top.
"Sorry for taking so long Mrs. Weasley," Hermione apologized as she took her normal seat at the table. The Weasley boys were no where to be seen, and neither was Sirius. Arthur was the only occupant of the table while Molly was fetching the girl's plates.
"It's quite alright dear. The others have already started cleaning since they came down early. You two can join once you finish," she smiled at them. Hermione took a piece of toast from the small stack that was left; relieved to know she would not have to face Sirius so soon.
"So how are things going at work, Mr. Weasley?" Hermione asked the man as he put down his paper. He sighed heavily and took a sip of coffee.
"Not so great, Hermione. They're increasing the tracking on Ministry workers instead of worrying about the safety of everyone else out there in the wizarding world," he told her, frowning at his words.
"How is everyone going to attend the meetings then if their all being tracked?" she wondered.
"Don't worry. We have our ways around the system for the most part. The meetings should go on without hitches," he said;however something in his voice didn't sound too convincing. She dropped the subject and continued eating, sharing small bits of conversation with Ginny as the looming feeling of seeing Sirius came closer.
"Are you finished girls?" Molly asked them both once she saw their plates were empty. Ginny nodded and handed her mother the plate as Hermione reluctantly did the same.
"Ginny, you can head into the basement with your brothers to help out there. Hermione, you can go up to the attic to help Sirius clean there since you both did such a good job on the spare room yesterday," she said happily, not noticing Hermione's petrified face.
'I have to be alone with him again? Oh gods, this is not good, not good at all.'
"Okay Mrs. Weasley," she agreed, forcing a smile. She said goodbye to Mr. Weasley and departed from Ginny and made her way upstairs.
Once on the second floor landing, she looked up and down the hallway for the entrance to the attic but saw nothing resembling a door on either end.
"Where the devil is the attic?" Hermione muttered to herself out loud, scanning the walls around her.
Suddenly, she heard a creaking noise above her and tilted her head back to see the smiling face of Sirius staring back at her with his hair hanging down.
'He looks like a damn angel…Shit!'
"Up here, Hermione," he spoke from the opening in the ceiling.
"How do I get up there?" she asked him, not seeing any sort of ladder in sight.
"Oh right, you haven't learned this spell yet," he remembered, pulling out his wand. With a lavish flick, a ladder extending from the ceiling to the floor appeared and he beckoned for her to come up it.
"I hate heights," she grumbled, as she began to climb the ladder, clutching on every bar with her life. Sirius let out a chuckle as he watched her make her way up very, very slowly.
"Almost there, 'Mione," he encouraged her. Once half of her body was poking through the opening, Hermione felt Sirius strong arms wrap around her waist and hoist her up and place her onto the floor beside him.
"Nice way to start the morning isn't it? A little work out always wakes me up," he smiled with his white teeth shining. Hermione put her hands on her head, trying to flatten her hair that had puffed out even more after the climb.
"Blasted hair…it's no use," she gave up, putting her hands down. Sirius laughed and reached his hand out to touch a strand of it.
"I like it," he said softly, still smiling. Hermione felt her pulse race at his touch and smiled back nervously.
"Want to trade then?" Hermione joked, wanting to relieve the tension she had felt. He pulled his hand back and touched his own hair, biting his lip.
"I really would Hermione but….this hairs been through a lot," he told her, and she scoffed.
"I knew you didn't like my hair that much," she said back sarcastically.
"Well, are you ready to tackle the biggest mess in the house?" he asked her, changing the topic. Hermione finally took this moment to look around the room she was sitting in. Around her, cobwebs and dust coated every surface of wood. Boxes were scattered all over the place, with random objects and nick nacks lying on the floor every few feet.
"This is going to take a while, isn't it?" she breathed, her head spinning with the amount of things they had to clean.
"We can do it. Just incinerate everything you find that's useless," he instructed, walking over to the nearest pile of boxes.
"Okay."
Hermione started going through the stack of boxes closest to her, a few feet from Sirius. The silence grew between them as Hermione felt nervous, remembering last nights events.
'Is he going to say anything about undressing me...Of course not, why would he? He's not that cruel as to embarrass me that much. But I would think he'd mention coming into my room. I can't take not knowing why he did it. Maybe I should just bring it up….'
"Hermione?" Sirius said. She looked up from the box she was going through and saw him playing with a racket-looking object nervously.
"Something bothering you?" she questioned, seeing him rocking sideways uncomfortably.
"I don't mean to make this awkward or anything…even though I can tell it already is…I just want to know what you were dreaming about last night," he said hesitantly. Hermione felt a wave of relief when he hadn't mentioned the pajama ordeal, but soon felt anxious knwoing he mentioned the dream. She couldn't tell him what she was dreaming about… could she?
'I promised Sirius…well the dream Sirius, that I would help him with this. But maybe he won't want to be helped. I don't want to make him mad or upset.'
"It was just a silly dream, no big deal. Thank you for checking on me though," she added, trying to make the issue of his night time visit out in the open. He nodded and scratched his head, still obviously distraught.
"It was no problem. The dream though…you seemed really upset about something and a little scared. I understand if you can't tell me what it was about. I just wanted to make sure you were alright," Sirius voiced his concern. Hermione made a quick decision and decided it wouldn't hurt to tell him.What she saw might not have been true, even though she had a sickening feeling it most defintiley was. This could be her chance to learn more about him and to let him know she was here for him either way.
"It was about you," Hermione stated, looking carefully at the old relic in her hand, avoiding Sirius stare.
"What happened?" he questioned, putting down the stack of dishes in front of him. Hermione took a deep breath and mentally prepared herself for this.
"I was at Hogwarts back in your time. You and James were having a conversation and I kind of listened in on it. He was telling you that you needed to leave this house, and then…you showed him your chest," Hermione said quietly, her voice wavering as she continued.
"He…he said this couldn't go on and that you should live with him. You a-a-argued with him saying you didn't want to be a burden to his parents but he insisted and said if you stayed at this house you'd be…k-k-killed," Hermione stammered, feeling tears run down her face. Sirius stood in his place, shocked with disbelief.
'How…what…she knows! Oh gods…this is bad. This is really bad. No one was supposed to find out about that…especially her. It's too much for a young girl like her to deal with. Too terrible…too much pain.'
"I'm s-s-sorry. In the dream I promised…I promised you I'd help you deal with your past…I wanted to be there for y-you," she said through a curtain of tears. Sirius stepped towards her and placed a hand on her face, pushing away some stray tears.
"No, Hermione. I'm the one that's sorry. You should have never seen that. It's something you shouldn't have known," he told her softly. She shook her head and pushed his hand down away from her face, realizing what she had seen was true, every last bit.
"I needed to see it, Sirius. It's a message…a message that I should be there to help you through this. You can talk to me about it," she urged him quietly. He shook his head and ran a hand through his hair.
"Hermione, I know you want to help but you can't….no one can. It's something I have to cope with on my own," he turned down her offer politely, but she insisted.
"Why can't I help you, Sirius?" she pressed on.
"You're young…you've been through a lot. You don't need to hear about these awful things," he responded with a pained expression. This answer was certainly inadequate for Hermione.
"Yes, I have been through a lot, which is why I can deal with this. I'm able to face horrendous things, you know that. This won't be any different…Sirius, please. You don't have to do this alone," Hermione begged gently, touching his shoulder. He breathed in and fought with himself, trying to figure out what he should do about his dilemma.
'You can't let her, Sirius! She's innocent…but then again she isn't in some ways.
Maybe she is the right person to help me…I really can't do this alone.
But what if…what if I let her in? What if Hermione is the one person that brings down my walls leaves me unguarded?
What if eventually…I don't want to let her go?
"I don't know Hermione; it's a difficult situation…" Sirius sighed, looking at the glassy eyed girl before him.
"Fine Sirius...I didn't mean to upset you. Just forget it," Hermione gave up reluctantly. She didn't want to see him like this, as much as it pained her, she had to let it go. She turned back to her box and picked up another object , pausing when a hand landed on hers. Hermione brought her face up to see Sirius staring at their overlapped hands, breathing heavily.
"Help me…please," he barely whispered, squeezing her hand and laying his grey eyes on hers.. She took her hand out from under his and wrapped her arms around him in a warm embrace, feeling all sorts of sparks and fluttering within it as they touched. Hermione felt his face bury into her shoulder and wetness slowly soak through her shirt.
Sirius was crying on her shoulder.
"I will, Sirius..I will help you….if you answer me one question," she said with a small smile brimming. He pulled away from her and put his hands into his pockets, ignoring the remnants of stained tears on his face.
"What? Anything," he responded, staring curiously at her smiling face.
"Did you really undress me last night?" she asked, feeling a burst of courage. His face paled as he brought his hands to his head.
"Oh no…you don't think I did that ,do you?" he asked her with a worried look. The red tinge of her face answered his question and he took out his wand. She eyed it confused.
"I didn't, I swear, Hermione! I did a switching spell with your clothes while you were under the covers; I promise," he swore, aiming his wand at his own shoes for demonstration.
"Watch," he told her, muttering an incantation. His shoes magically came off of his feet and instead, a pair of old, dusty black boots that were lying on the floor beside them found their way onto Sirius' feet.
"That's amazing," she mused, regarding the spell. Sirius smiled sheepishly and pocketed his wand.
"As little as you may think of me, I'd like you to know I am a gentleman, and I would never do what you thought I did," he assured her. Hermione nodded, feeling oddly light after all of her questions had been resolved.
"I'm happy to know that," Hermione grinned, going back to her box. Seeing nothing important inside, she waved her wand as the box and its contents disappeared in a small puff of smoke.
"One down, one hundred to go," Hermione sighed as she watched the cloud of smoke vanish. She groaned and stared at the mountain of objects in front of them. Sirius rested his arm on her nearest shoulder and pulled his wand out of his pocket and pointed it in front of him.
"Expurgio," he said clearly, and with a bang and a large billow of smoke, everything in front of him vanished. Hermione's mouth gaped opened with shock, pointing at the scene in front of them frantically.
"You didn't sort any of that!" she squeaked, thinking of all the family heirlooms he had destroyed. Sirius shrugged and put his wand away again, taking his arm off her shoulder.
"Ye have little faith," he told her grinning; He turned around and picked up a small box beside him filled to the top. Hermione looked at it curiously.
"What's that?" she asked him. He pulled a Gryffindor flag off of pile of stuff in the box and gave it a wave.
"My stuff," he said simply. Hermione felt a flicker of admiration for the man once she realized what he had done.
"You performed a personal sorting charm before I got here didn't you?" she questioned, shaking her head at his deft.
"You didn't really think I'd have us go through all those boxes today did you? I wanted time to finish telling the story from last night before you konked out on me," he grinned, putting the box back down.
"Sorry about that," she apologized, remembering how she'd fallen asleep halfway throughout the tale.
"Don't worry about it. You're wide awake now, so I'm guessing if we go to the library I can finish the story without you passing out," he laughed heartily. She joined into the laughter as well. When they stopped, Sirius retrieved his wand once more to conjour the ladder.
"I'd normally say ladies first, but since you might plunge to your death, I think I should go down before you to catch you if you fall," he explained, already heading down its rungs. Hermione smiled to herself and thought gleefully..
'He'll catch me if I fall…'