Disclaimer: I do not own anything other than the story line . All rights belong to J.K. Rowling

Author's Note: Things will go further this chapter.

Chapter Six: The Road Back

The two wizards stood in the tower, gazing from one of the large windows down towards the grass below. They watched the two witches as one of them appeared to be attempting a simple spell. The other, the one with the bushy hair looked to be giving her companion a measure of encouragement.

The tip of the black-haired girl's wand flared with light, bright enough to be seen, even in the full daylight. Remus thought that she seemed to be inordinately pleased with herself to have accomplished a lumos spell at her age. He placed her at approximately fifteen years of age.

"What do you think, Paddy," he asked his compatriot. "Could she really be Lily's girl? She'd be just about the same age as Harry." He looked at them carefully. "She certainly looks like she could have come from Lilly and James…"

"And she smells just like a female version of Harry," Sirius pitched in.

"Yes, there is that," the werewolf consented. "But where was she? I mean, we were there when Lily gave birth to Harry. She would have to be his twin, or born just before or just after him. She wasn't pregnant long enough before Harry was born to have had her, nor was she pregnant after Harry was born. I just don't understand it?"

"But she is using Lil's wand," Sirius pointed out.

"Yes, but if she was theirs, why didn't they tell us? How could either Lily or James not keep her in their care? How could they never slip up and mention her, even once? Nobody is that vigilant, not even Moody." He ran his finger down the scar on the right side of his chin, a gesture that told Sirius that he was deep in thought. "How could they possibly not miss her… never show it? How Paddy? It just doesn't make sense."

"I don't know, Remus," Sirius responded. "Although…"

"What? Spill it Paddy, I know that look." Remus faced his best friend and placed his hands on the shorter man's shoulders.

"What if they didn't remember her?" Sirius whispered. They both looked out the window and down to the pair. They had been joined by Hermione's parents. Her mother was sitting cross-legged on the ground and alternating between watching Jamie's attempts at casting another spell, and enjoying the sight of her husband, who was dressed in some white get-up. He was a short distance away from the girls, moving in an intricate pattern, a long wooden stick in his hands. He was twirling it in conjunction with his movements.

"What are you talking about?" Remus asked in a voice that would brook with no hesitation from his friend.

"Just what I said, Moony. What if James and Lily didn't remember her? What if someone took her, and oblivated them? It's the only explanation that fits what we're seeing here." He looked vaguely sick at the thought of such a thing happening to his best friends.

"But who would do such a thing?" Remus asked.

"Maybe we should be asking who could do such a thing?" Sirius countered. "I can only think of a couple of wizards who would have the required strength with an obliviate: Voldemort or Dumbledore."

"No," Remus returned. "There was one other, but you probably wouldn't have known this one: Lockhart." He practically spat out the name. "He was only really proficient in the one spell, but he could wipe out people's entire memories. He was very good at it. That's how he made all of his money. He would obliviate the real heroes and then take credit for their accomplishments."

"He wouldn't," Sirius hissed. "Really?" Remus nodded his confirmation.

"Yes, but I can't really see any reason for him to do that to Lily and James. They hadn't done anything for him to have gone near them. There was no reason for him to steal a child. I guess that counts him out, and we're back to your two."

"As much as it pains me, I can't see Mouldyshorts stealing a child, and if he did, she wouldn't have turned out the way she obviously has." Sirius admitted. "That returns us to Albus," he said in a very low tone.

"Yes it does, doesn't it?" Remus agreed. "I think we need to ask the girl a few questions." He sighed and looked down at them again. Apparently Jamie had succeeded in her quest to cast another spell as Hermione had just wrapped her in a tight hug. She pulled back and kissed the darker-haired girl.

Beside Remus Sirius considered what he saw very carefully. How was it that Hermione could fall for this girl so quickly. It had been only just over a week since Harry had died, and he would have bet a very substantial sum of galleons that she would have married him someday. And now, here she was sharing a passionate kiss with Harry's half-sister? How did this happen? She didn't show any of the classic signs of being under the influence of a love potion nor an imperious curse.

*0*0*

Hermione sat on the grass, Jamie snuggled up in front of her. She wrapped her arms around the girl and gave her an affectionate squeeze. She couldn't believe how happy she had become once she admitted how she felt. It was as if the weight of the world had been lifted from her shoulders. And now, it seemed that her girlfriend had started to regenerate her magical core. She was beginning to regain her ability to use magic. It was only a matter of time now. She was casting first year spells. Admittedly she was having some manner of difficulty, but she was using magic, which was much, much more than she had been able to do since the incident in the graveyard.

She frowned momentarily at the memory. She still felt a large rasher of guilt over the whole situation, but Jamie had assured her over and over that she was not upset over what had happened. On the contrary, she felt that she owed her life to Hermione.

The whisper of a voice caught her attention and she gazed in the direction she had heard it from. Remus and Sirius were walking down from the castle entrance towards them. She used her fingertips to squeeze Jamie's waist, and once she had caught her attention she nodded in the direction of the two wizards who were approaching.

She waited while Jamie got up, and then accepted her hand for her own rise. With that done they made their way towards the pair. Her mother was watching them closely, her eyes narrowed as she watched Jamie pull her wand slowly and carefully out of the back of her clothing. She must have had it tucked under her bra given how she pulled it down out of her blouse, and not up out of her skirt. It was obvious that she didn't want the wizards to see what she was up to.

Hermione let go of Jamie and practically pounced the last few feet to Sirius. The older wizard caught her as she gave him a very tight hug. She let go and then repeated the process with Remus. She pulled back and wiped a single tear from her eye. The two wizards shared a knowing look.

"Hello to you too, Hermione," Sirius said with a grin. He nodded to Jamie. "And to you as well, Miss Evans."

"Hello, Mr. Black," she replied neutrally. She nodded to Remus. "Mr. Lupin," she said with a little more warmth. He had, after all, rescued them at the funeral.

"Jamie," Remus began, "would you mind if we asked you a few question? We knew your mother, and we're trying to figure out why you were never mentioned to us."

"I'll – I'll try, Mr. Lupin," she answered. "I really don't know much about my parents. I've never really been with them, and Hermione tells me that they were murdered over a decade ago." Her chin quivered at the thought. The two could empathize, both of them still got choked up thinking about what had happened to Lily and James.

"We'll try to be gentle," Sirius assured her. "If you don't mind, where did you grow up?" he asked.

"I was in an orphanage in Dorchester," she answered. Up until just a short time ago, I didn't even know anything about the magical world." She gave a sad smile. "Then, as I was just getting back from school when I noticed that there was this strange old duffer in the office. When I passed by, he gave me a queer look. I thought he was bloody creepy, if you must know. Turned out it was this Dumbledore chap. The boarding mistress brought him to me as I was just finishing up prepping for dinner.

"So to make a long story short, he took me out of the orphanage, and brought me to the Grangers. He said that he wanted me with a family that would help me to adjust, while keeping a foot in the world that was familiar to me." She sighed. "Does that make sense to you?" She shook her head slowly, a look of disbelief on her features. "I'm still trying to make sense of everything that's happened to me…"

"So you've only known Hermione for…" Sirius prodded.

"Just over two weeks," Jamie answered.

"You bloody well don't act like you've known each other for a fortnight," Sirius snorted. He couldn't help it, he had to know.

"Excuse me?" Hermione asked in an indignant tone.

"You heard me," Sirius fired back. "I think it's bloody strange that you two should get on so closely after only a couple of weeks." He eyed Hermione critically. "You were the closest friend Harry ever had. You two were inseparable, and here is just a week after he's gone and you're acting like he was never even in your life."

Hermione shrank back as if she'd been slapped. How dare he? She was hurting over everything that had happened, more so than most people!

"If I were to lay odds, Hermione, I'd say that you aren't in your right mind. In fact, I would probably go so far as to say that you're acting as if you're under the influence of a potion or a spell." He looked at Jamie and his upper lip curled slightly.

Hermione was shaking by now. She didn't know what to do. This was Sirius and Remus, but she had sworn an oath to protect Harry's secret. She looked at Jamie, and then back at Sirius.

"Is this how you honor Harry's memory?" Sirius pressed on. "I would have bet anything that you and Harry would have gone on to be married. I know that he loved you more than anything else, but now that he's gone, you're cavorting on like a cheap whore…"

Hermione couldn't take it anymore. She broke and ran, barely seeing where she was going. She didn't think about where she was going, she just knew she had to get out of there.

Consequently she didn't see what was to happen next. Jamie whipped her wand around and leveled it at Sirius. Sirius, ex-auror that he was, even after more than a decade in Azkaban, matched her draw.

CRACK! With a speed that took everyone by surprise, the bo staff in Robert Granger's hands that he was performing kata with came down on Sirius' hand, shattering it and the wand in it. This brought him naturally into a spin and the other end of the staff whipped around clipping Sirius across the top of the head. He dropped as if hit with a killing curse. Remus moved towards the enraged father only to meet the end of the staff, stomach first. His breath exploded out of him, and he crumpled around the weapon. The next thing he knew he was laying on the ground, his arm held out from his torso while Robert's legs twined around the arm and his feet scissored around his neck.

He tried to pull away, given his werewolf physiology it shouldn't be too difficult. Pain ripped though his wrist, his elbow and his shoulder.

"Unless you want me to separate your arm from your shoulder, I would suggest you stop struggling," Robert Granger snarled. "The next time someone pulls a wand on one of my girls, they'll have more happen to them than a broken hand or dislocated shoulder. Now, are you ready to calm the fuck down? Or shall I just go ahead and remove that for you?" When he didn't get a response he tightened up a little and continued. "If calming down is acceptable to you then tap my leg. If not, well, I always wanted to see just what this hold could accomplish."

Remus, being generally a man of thought before action, tapped the leg. As the thoroughly irked dentist released him he relaxed and looked up into the vivid green eyes of one extremely mad teenaged girl.

"You just don't get it, do you," she said in an icy cold tone. "She's the only person that's ever understood me. She's the only one who has ever shown me the least bit of love and affection. I'm only here because of her. She's the one that saved me." She was crying now. "I'd be dead by now!" She was almost hysterical.

She ran to Robert and threw herself into his arms. "Thank you for coming to the rescue," she sobbed. She released him and looked at Lupin. "I suggest you take care of your friend! When you're ready to try this again, without the insults and stupid posturing, then maybe we'll all sit down and I'll let you two in on a few things." She looked back at Robert, then over to Jane, who looked like she was beside herself, but she knew better to interfere when Robert was this upset. "I'm already tired of the old goat's twisted machinations. My God, it's worse than Machiavelli." She ran her hand through the back of her hair.

"I've got to find Hermione. If I can get her calmed down then maybe we'll be back later. Robert, Jane, thank you, and I love you both." With that she ran after the girl that had stolen her heart.

*0*0*

Hermione finally collapsed at the entrance to the restricted section in the library. She couldn't believe that Sirius could have been that mean. She was sure that it was the grief talking, but he hit a nerve. She sniffed and struggled to keep from losing control. It wasn't really working, but it was all she had.

What if he was right? Was she acting like a whore? Was she dishonoring the memory of what Harry was by jumping into the relationship with Jamie? But Jamie was really Harry after all. It was all so confusing. She wished that she hadn't run away, but she couldn't take it there any longer.

Lost in her thoughts as she was, she almost missed the person that was quietly approaching her. She scrambled to her feet, her wand in hand when her girlfriend materialized from the darkness. She launched herself into Jamie's arms and hugged her for all she was worth.

"I'm so sorry!" she sobbed.

"Shh…" Jamie shushed her. "It's alright, Hermione," she whispered. "I don't rightly give a shite what Sirius says," she kissed her ear. "He can go fuck himself for all I care. He doesn't know the situation, so don't let him get to you." She hugged Hermione as tightly as she could.

"I love you, and that's all that really matters. Well, that and the fact that you love me too." She separated herself from her girlfriend and started pulling her out of the library.

"Where are we going?" Hermione asked. She didn't really put up a fight. She had been following where ever Harry led for so long that she just went with it. She was surprised though, when Jamie led her into the nearest broom closet.

"Harry," she whispered, "what are you…" she was cut off as soft lips were pressed to hers. It didn't take her long to start kissing back. When she felt Jamie's tongue requesting entrance to her mouth she quickly deepened the kiss. When Jamie's hands cupped her bottom she growled into her mouth and pressed her thigh into the girl's crotch. She was rewarded with a low moan from her girlfriend.

"Merlin, that's so good," Jamie moaned. Her legs almost gave out as Hermione increased the pressure and dragged her leg upwards.

"You like that?" she asked. She shuddered as the girl's only response was when Jamie scraped her fingernails softly up Hermione's back. This served to inflame Hermione even more. She wondered oh so briefly if she should slow things down, but when Jamie's fingers threaded through her hair and her fingertips teased her scalp, she lost all conscious thought.

"I'm going to show you how good it is to be a woman," she hissed. She brought her hands around and started unbuttoning the blouse Jamie was wearing. She kissed every inch of skin as it was revealed. By this point it appeared that her girlfriend was being reduced to a quivering mass of jello. She looked down at the twin mounds of Jamie's breasts as they heaved up and down with her labored breathing. She deftly unclasped the front of the bra and released the two small boobs. She loved the way her areolas were puffed up and the nipples resembled two pencil erasers. She leaned in and took one in her mouth.

"Yesssss…" Jamie hissed. She arched her back to bring more of her into contact with Hermione's mouth. Her hands came around to the front of Hermione and wormed their way up her shirt to massage Hermione's breasts in return. Hermione knew her nipples were sensitive from her own explorations, but Merlin this was better than anything she had done to herself! She renewed her attack on her girlfriend's breasts!

She snaked a hand down her Jamie's taught stomach and slipped it under her skirt and inside her panties. She felt the wetness that had built up, and couldn't believe the rush of pure pleasure it gave her to know that she had caused this. She slipped a finger inside Jamie's lips, marveling at how slick she was. It only took her a minute before she found her button. She switched breasts and then flicked with her finger. Jamie's body jumped in time with each flick.

It only took a few moments for Jamie to scream out and clutch at Hermione with a strength she didn't know she possessed. She clenched up as her first ever orgasm as a girl overwhelmed her. Everything went white, and then she went boneless as she went into sensory overload. Hermione caught her, momentarily panicking as her girlfriend screamed out her name and collapsed.

Reassuring herself that Jamie was indeed still breathing and was quickly recovering she lowered the girl to the floor. She sat down next to her, only to find herself being pulled down as Jamie grabbed her.

"Your turn," she whispered before finding Hermione's pulse point with her lips.

Hermione only vaguely noticed her panties being ripped down her legs…

Author's Note: This is probably going to be the only sex scene shown in the story, though others may be intimated... I see it as partially the two of them being swept up in the moment and their emotions, partially a rebellious moment against the situation they've found themselves in, and partially Hermione's thinking that if she's going to be branded with the name, she's going to have the game...

Once she got the reaction out of Harry, well I remember when I was a teen and had the person I loved react like that. There was NO WAY I was going to be able to stop...