DISCLAIMER: NONE OF THE HARRY POTTER CHARACTERS BELONG TO ME.
Chapter 5: Something Happened to My Heart
While Sirius was searching for Hermione, the witch was slowly being cornered by a pack of large ebony colored wolves. As Hermione edged towards the cliff, she tried to grasp her wand but her trembling fingers fumbled and caused for her wand to drop on the ground.
"Oh bugger," Hermione muttered while eyeing the wolves carefully.
She cautiously knelt down to reach for her wand but abruptly stopped when what Hermione presumed to be the alpha of the wolf pack ferociously growled at her.
Hermione immediately raised her hands and shuffled away from them but found that the edge of the cliff was literally an inch away from her.
As the witch was still in a helpless position, Sirius grew anxious when he no longer heard Hermione's pleas for help.
"Hermione, where are you?" Sirius thought as he ran through the woods.
However, he soon heard Hermione cry out his name, he bounded off into a direction where he thought she was at. Luckily, he was correct.
Stealthily, Sirius surveyed the scene in order to figure out the best means of attack. However, this period of thinking only lasted for merely five seconds. The only thing he needed to know was that he was up against wolves. Without hesitation and a plan, Sirius collided into the pack.
When Hermione noticed a blur of black run across her, she immediately wondered if that might be Sirius. Her assumption proved to be correct when Sirius gave her a quick look.
The fight between Sirius and the pack of wolves didn't last long; it was over as soon as Sirius took down the grey alpha wolf. Immediately after the wolves left with their tails between their legs, Sirius couldn't help but leap towards Hermione and lick her face.
Even though Hermione was fully aware that this was Sirius, she couldn't help but feel slightly uncomfortably afraid since she was near falling off the cliff. So, Hermione shuffled to the side with Sirius following close to her legs.
Although the immediate danger passed by, the one thing that still concerned Sirius was that he couldn't allow Hermione to find out that he was an Animaigus.
"Sirius, you're an idiot," he scolded himself, "You should have turned back and fought those damn wolves as a human."
Hermione wasn't sure what to do next. From the looks of it, Sirius obviously couldn't change back into himself in front of her. So instead of her just waiting around, Hermione stepped towards Sirius and knelt down. Hermione placed a hand out and beckoned towards the dog.
Sirius cocked his head to the side and blankly stared at Hermione.
"I won't hurt you," Hermione laughed.
Sirius stepped forward, cautiously licked Hermione's palm, and rubbed his head against her hand.
"Thank you," Hermione whispered.
Just as quickly as the dog had arrived, it got up and walked off into the woods. At first, Hermione thought that Sirius was leaving her to change back, however when the dog looked back at her and wouldn't budge until Hermione started to walk towards it, the witch realized that Sirius was leading her somewhere.
As Sirius led Hermione out of the forest and into Hogsmeade, he was figuring out ways to get out of this situation quickly. Fortunately, they stumbled upon his friends.
"Hermione! Where have you been?" Lily exclaimed while running up to her friend, however, she immediately stopped in her tracks when she saw the large dog.
"Shit..." James whispered and quickly looked at Remus and Peter.
"Uh... Hermione," Remus started to say, "why don't you move to the side? James, Peter and I will get that dog out of your way."
"Oh?" the witch looked down at Sirius. "Um... sure."
"James, be careful!" Lily said with a concerned expression.
"It'll be all right Lils," James gave his girlfriend a wink.
Remus walked up to the dog, bent over and muttered, "Stupid mutt."
Sirius growled slightly and bared his teeth.
"Remus don't provoke it!" Lily cried out.
"It's completely fine Lily, honestly," James attempted to calm down Lily and then looked at Sirius.
"Come on you dog," James said while grabbing Sirius' neck.
As James, Remus and Peter dragged Sirius the dog towards the forest, Hermione and Lily, puzzled, stood behind and watched them.
"So where were you?" Lily asked suddenly.
"Well, Sirius had to tell me something," Hermione muttered.
Lily poked her friend, "And...?"
Hermione blushed, "It was nothing."
"Doesn't seem like nothing to me," Lily huffed.
"Seriously Lily, he just asked for one date with him, that's all."
"What about Remus?"
"I –um..."
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Meanwhile in the forest, Sirius immediately transformed back into his human self behind a tree.
"You know, calling me a mutt was not appreciated," Sirius glared at Remus.
His friend shrugged, "Not my fault that you showed up as one."
"At least I don't look like some overgrown chinchilla every month," Sirius fired back.
Before either Remus or Sirius could argue any further, James stepped in and said, "So what exactly where you doing in the forest with Hermione? Quite sketchy if you ask me."
Sirius quickly threw a glance at Remus before answering, "Er... well I just wanted to talk to her for a bit."
Although Remus yearned to ask Sirius what really happened, he refrained from doing so and acted as if he was indifferent about the situation.
"Don't be like that," James slapped Sirius' arm.
"Hey man," Sirius said while still eyeing Remus, "it's just none of your concern, all right?"
"We should get back," Peter suddenly said. "Lily and Hermione are probably wondering where we are."
"Yea, they might be worried that some ridiculously strong canine mauled you three," Sirius teased.
"More like a mangy mutt," James muttered.
Without saying a word, Remus left the guys and started to head out. Right when he came out of the forest, Hermione was in mid-sentence.
"I-er..." Hermione stopped then looked at Remus. "Is everything okay?"
Remus smiled slightly and nodded.
"Where are the others?" Lily asked while peering over Remus' shoulder.
"Fear not, maiden, you're knight is here," James jumped out and gave a flamboyant bow.
"James you're an idiot," Lily quickly replied but her smile gave away her feelings.
Sirius cautiously came out of the forest behind Peter and shyly looked at Hermione.
"When did you get here?" Lily asked.
"I just got back from walking," Sirius mumbled.
"Sirius Black, did you know that when you made me leave I was cornered by a pack of wolves?" Hermione said.
"I swear I didn't mean for that to happen. I thought you could find your way out fine," Sirius apologetically said.
Hermione acted miffed, "Fortunately, some strange dog helped me instead of you. So thanks a lot."
James, Remus and Peter couldn't help but stifling in laughters.
"Strange dog?!" Sirius' voice grew alarmingly pitchy.
The witch nodded, "The dog came out of nowhere and was being quite idiotic if you ask me. It just ran into the wolves without hesitation. I mean, there were five wolves."
"Well," Sirius huffed, "if it wasn't for that 'strange dog', you could have been hurt. Maybe you should change the description of 'strange' to 'brave'."
"Regardless, where were you when I needed you?" Hermione asked.
Before Sirius could answer, Remus immediately cut in.
"Wait, you left her?" Remus asked incredulously.
"I found her, didn't I?" Sirius crossed his arms.
"Yea as a-"
James cut off his friend and smiled at Hermione, "I hear you and Lily are planning on going shopping?"
Hermione nodded but then glanced at Sirius, "I think so."
Lily, quick to notice the look Hermione was giving Sirius, asked, "Unless you planned on going with Sirius?"
"No," Sirius quickly replied with a smile, "she's not. However, come three thirty this afternoon, she will be most definitely preoccupied with me."
James, Remus, Lily, and Peter looked at Sirius with shocked expressions.
"What?" Sirius retorted, "It's just a date. Calm down."
The four incredibly surprised friends expected Hermione to say something, but the only thing that Hermione could do was feel an extraordinary amount of guilt. It didn't help that Remus looked at her as if she betrayed him, so rather than facing him, she looked down at the ground.
Remus clearly noticed Hermione's reaction and breathed out, "Right, a date."
Worried, James looked at his friend and then at Hermione.
"Let's go to Honeydukes," Peter randomly suggested.
Hermione immediately thanked the pudgy boy in her thoughts.
"How can you think of sweets at a time like this?" James asked.
"I heard they've got something new," Peter shrugged and then looked over at Hermione, "You coming?"
Hermione slightly smiled, "Of course."
As Peter left the group to head over to Honeydukes, Hermione couldn't help but feel a sense of enormous gratitude towards the boy. She too left Sirius, Remus, Lily and James to walk with Peter. Who would think that someone who despised the very man who destroyed Harry's life could actually feel grateful towards the same man?
"Thank you," Hermione muttered.
"It's nothing," Peter replied, "I just didn't want to hear anymore arguing."
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When the six teenagers arrived at the candy store, Lily grabbed Hermione aside and told James that they were leaving.
"Without getting any candy?" James frowned.
"Honestly James, there is more to life than getting candy."
"Like what?" her boyfriend asked dumbfounded.
Before Lily could answer, Sirius cut in, "Like Quidditch."
Appalled Lily said, "You are such... such a boy!"
"Congratulations James, you're girlfriend can finally differentiate between females and males," Sirius sarcastically replied.
"Oh no, she's always had that ability. It's just you that she was confused with because of your girlish features," James countered back.
"Are you sure she just wasn't stunned by my amazing looks?"
"Sirius, you are the most self-centered, dim-witted idiot I've ever encountered," Lily huffed. She then grabbed Hermione by the arm and proceeded to lead her towards the shops around the corner.
"I guess she can't take a joke?" James looked at Sirius.
Sirius shrugged, "Guess not."
Remus merely rolled his eyes.
As Lily incoherently muttered curses at a certain wizard named Sirius Black while taking Hermione inside a random clothing store, Hermione nudged her friend.
"Lily, I think they were kidding," Hermione said.
"I don't mind that, it's just Sirius—Hermione, promise me you won't do anything rash while you're out with him later?"
Hermione laughed nervously, "What are you talking about?"
Lily scrunched her eyebrows together and looked at Hermione with concern, "Hermione, although he might appear to be ... somewhat charming, you've got to know that Sirius has a notorious reputation for being a womanizer."
"... I know," Hermione murmured.
"So what are you doing with Sirius? Forgive me for being so straight-forward, but I can't stand you considering someone who is a complete polar opposite of you. Besides, Remus and you get along so well."
Hermione didn't say anything for a bit; she merely fingered a wool skirt.
"You know Lily..." Hermione stopped and looked at her friend, "it's funny that you said that because aren't you and James far from being the same?"
Lily was unable to come back with a reply because what Hermione was saying was the truth.
"Hermione, I just don't want to see you hurt. You have no idea how many girls Sirius left with broken hearts."
"Can we just not talk about this?" Hermione said.
"Sorry Hermione, you must think I'm awful," Lily quickly apologized.
"How could I think that way when you've been the only true friend I have here?"
"Thanks," Lily brightly smiled and hugged her friend. "Well, get ready Hermione, we're going to tear down the next few stores."
For the next few hours, Lily had made Hermione try on ridiculous amounts of clothing, but fortunately, Hogsmeade did not have a wide selection of stores so the shopping trip ended earlier than expected.
"Lily, I don't think I'm going to be able to walk," Hermione laughed.
"Oh, don't be a baby," Lily scolded.
"Says the girl who didn't try on one thing," Hermione replied.
Lily sniffed, "I'm not the one in need of clothes."
"Very true..."
"So, it's two thirty," Lily suddenly grew quiet, "What do you want to do before going off on that date with Sirius?"
"Relax."
"Hermione—"
"And by relaxing, I mean talking about something other than Sirius and Remus," Hermione quickly added.
Lily smiled, "Fine."
While Hermione and Lily were shopping, Sirius, Remus, James and Peter were perusing the other stores around Hogsmeade.
"So what are you planning on doing with Hermione?" James cautiously asked while eyeing Remus.
"I don't know... take her flying? Eat food?"
Remus scoffed to himself; if he had a date with Hermione, he would do everything he could to make that date special.
"Oh..." James nodded while noticing a peculiar instrument inside a store.
"From the way you're describing it, it would seem that this date would last only an hour," Remus teased.
"It probably could, but I'll do everything I can to keep her with me," Sirius said.
The double meaning couldn't be anymore obvious.
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For the past hour, Hermione couldn't help but fidgeting around and looking around for clocks. It wasn't that she was anticipating the date with Sirius, well... she actually wasn't even sure how she felt. Excited? Terrified? Embarrassed? Several questions such as these raced through her mind while Lily merely pestered her about how Sirius was a bad choice for a male companion even though she had promised Hermione earlier that they wouldn't talk about this.
"Lily, what on earth has Sirius done to you to deserve such reprimand?" Hermione finally asked.
"Well, just the fact that he has no respect for basically anyone and also... because Remus definitely has fallen for you," Lily replied. "Although many girls have desired to call Remus their boyfriend, it was quite impossible seeing as how Remus refused every single one of them. But this time, when he finally meets someone he truly likes, she's off messing around with one of his best friends."
"I am not messing around with Sirius Black," Hermione firmly said.
Lily shrugged, "It could happen."
"Do you honestly think that I would do something reckless as that?"
"I wouldn't know, I mean, you've already snogged him. Besides, didn't you say that you had a crush on him when you were young?"
"Lily Evans!"
"I only speak the truth," Lily smiled.
Letting out a frustrated groan, Hermione rolled her eyes and started to head towards The Three Broomsticks.
"Where are you going?" Lily asked while trailing behind her friend.
"To go meet the very man you detest."
"I don't detest him, his actions are just unforgivable," the witch sniffed.
"And what if I do like him," Hermione suddenly asked, "What then? Would you not talk to me?"
"Well, the entire female student population at Hogwarts would refuse to speak to you," Lily smartly replied. "However, I probably would still talk to you... for pity's sake."
"Oh, you are so incredibly generous."
"I know," Lily laughed, then added on serious note, "But if it did come down to you liking Sirius Black and if he treated you properly, I might be able to forgive his peculiar personality."
When Sirius identified both Hermione and Lily, he strode up to them and said, "And so the lady of the hour finally decides to show twenty minutes late past the appointed time."
"Black, what on earth are you talking about? Clearly, its three fifteen," Lily smartly said while pointing at her watch hanging from her wrist.
"Oh?" Sirius said while peering over at her watch, "then it must also be September 21st, but I recall that was two weeks ago."
Lily immediately flushed red from embarrassment.
Before anyone else could say anything else, Sirius quickly wrapped his arm around Hermione's waist and said, "Well, I believe Hermione and I will see all of you much later."
Sirius then proceeded to quickly lead Hermione away from their friends but noticed the shocked expression on the witch's face.
"I was only kidding," Sirius grinned. "You'll be safely sleeping in your dorm by midnight, I promise."
"But its three thirty right now."
"False. It is actually near four o'clock, but what of it?"
"I'll be with you for the next 8-9 hours?" Hermione asked.
"What's wrong with that?" Sirius laughed.
When Hermione didn't say anything, Sirius replied jokingly, "I'm offended. You look as though you are about to face death."
"Might as well," Hermione teased.
"Cheeky," he smiled.
"So what exactly are we doing?" the witch asked as shifted her body away from Sirius.
Sirius raised an eyebrow when he noticed Hermione leaving his side. "I don't plan on biting you, you know."
Hermione blushed but didn't say anything.
The boy sighed at the lack of response, "Well, you're just going to have to find out."
The two continued to walk in silence, when Hermione noticed that they were walking back to Hogwarts.
"Are you taking me back to Hogwarts?" she asked.
"Well...yes. Is that an issue?"
"Er-no, I was just wondering..."
Sirius sighed yet again, "Is something the matter?"
"What are you talking about?" Hermione quickly asked.
"Did Lily say something."
Hermione looked down.
"Ah, so she did. I'm not surprised."
"It's not that I think you're a horrible person, Sirius, it's just—"
"Hermione," Sirius cut in, "I would never intentionally hurt you or any other girl. Although what Lily told you might have been true in some aspects, most of the stories have been fabricated in some way. As for my reputation as a so-called womanizer, well, have you seen me constantly wooing women from the few months that you've known me?"
"... no."
"So before you decide to quickly judge my character, give me a chance to show you who I really am."
Hermione stifled in laughters.
"What?" Sirius asked bewildered.
"It's just what you just said was incredibly cliché," Hermione laughed.
Sirius didn't know how to respond.
"Please don't take offense to that, though," Hermione immediately stopped laughing when Sirius wouldn't say anything. "Sirius, I hadn't planned on judging you outright, I'm just nervous because, well... just because."
"I knew it was because of my looks, not what Lily said," Sirius joked.
Hermione rolled her eyes and playfully hit Sirius on the arm. However, before Hermione let her hand down, Sirius swiftly caught it and held onto her hand tightly so that she couldn't slip away from him again.
"Sirius..."
"Just this once," Sirius smiled, "besides, this is a legitimate date. I would think that holding hands is absolutely required."
The witch attempted to pull her hand away but stopped when Sirius swiftly raised her hand to his lips. Gently kissing her hand, he gave her a smile.
Hermione blushed and turned to look away.
"Come on," Sirius laughed, "I've got a surprise for you."
Once the two were on Hogwart's grounds, Sirius took out his wand and called for his broom. When his broomstick whizzed out of a window towards Sirius, he asked, "You've flown on a broomstick, right?"
Hermione bit her lower lip, "Well..."
"Don't tell me that you've never done it before," Sirius asked flabbergasted while he quickly grabbed his broom.
"No, it's not that... I've ridden once but I was awful," Hermione said while walking away from the broom.
"Oh no you don't," Sirius said while quickly getting on his broom and flying over to Hermione.
As Sirius floated in front of Hermione, he pleaded for her to get on.
"Sirius, I wasn't kidding," the witch firmly said.
"Just once."
"Will you be saying that all day?" Hermione couldn't help but grin.
Sirius vigorously shook his head in agreement, "Yes. And now, I'm afraid you don't have any choice but to get on."
Before getting her consent, Sirius pulled Hermione onto the broom. Looking over his shoulder, he promptly said, "You might want to hold on."
With that, Sirius swiftly flew up into the skies with a screaming Hermione.
"SIRIUS! PUT ME DOWN THIS INSTANT!" Hermione yelled with eyes clenched shut while the arms wrapped around Sirius' torso grew tighter.
"Hermione, if you would stop worrying about falling off from an outrageously high distance and dying, you might actually enjoy this," he teased.
"YOU ARE NOT HELPING AT ALL!"
"Really though Hermione, could you loosen up on your grip there, it's getting a little hard to breathe," Sirius said.
"Sorry!" Hermione cried out while relaxing her arms a little, although, her face was still burrowed into Sirius' back.
Laughing, Sirius replied, "You know, I think I'm just going to have to take you flying all the time if this is the only way that you'll feel comfortable this close to me."
"Like I'm going to get on this broom again," Hermione scoffed.
"Well Hermione, if you could just calm down and actually realize how beautiful it is up her, you would enjoy flying so much more," Sirius replied.
Hermione sighed and unclenched her eyes. At first, she looked around to her side and thought that flying wasn't so bad, but then when she glanced down and realized how far up they were, Hermione quickly grasped harder onto Sirius' torso.
"I think it's time for us to go back down, huh?" Sirius looked over at his shoulder to glance at her.
The witch merely nodded in response.
As Sirius slowly made the broom descend when he spotted a location clear of students: the lake. Hermione's breath slowly began to even out and as soon as Sirius noticed, he couldn't help but chuckle.
When they finally made it on the ground, Hermione swiftly jumped off and laid down on the grass; she didn't even bother looking around to find out where she was.
"Did you hate it that much?" Sirius knelt down next to her and pouted.
"...Not so much the flying part, just the height," Hermione said.
"Maybe we'll go lower next time, hm?"
Hermione didn't reply, but merely thought that she should probably avoid a next time with Sirius Black. If this continued in the similar manner, Hermione felt that she would be in deep trouble with her feelings of wanting to go back home.
Sirius softly laughed and looked out into the distance, but mostly at the lake. The witch soon noticed the silence coming from a normally gregarious character so Hermione sat up and cautiously asked, "Sirius?"
The wizard in question turned his head slightly towards her and grinned, which produced a sudden hitch of breath from Hermione. This mistake was caused by noticing the playful interaction with the wind and Sirius' dark locks and just... his smile.
"Yes?"
Hermione bashfully looked to the side to cover her embarrassment and replied, "It's nothing."
"I see..." he stalled.
Sirius then suddenly grasped Hermione's left arm and turned her to face him.
"Could I ask you a question?"
The witch immediately felt a blush creep up her face as soon as she locked eyes with Sirius.
"Um, sure?"
"Can we skip the awkward first date?"
The unashamed and blatant manner of Sirius completely threw Hermione off causing her to temporarily lose her ability to form sentences.
Sirius continued, "It's painstakingly obvious that you aren't comfortable around me, so let's cut to the chase. I'm Sirius Black, age 17 with a devilishly handsome face. I don't exactly have a favorite color and my favorite animal is... well, I suppose a dog or a wolf. I enjoy playing Quidditch and as you just witnessed, flying on my broom. However, on certain occasions when I'm feeling fancy, I like reading. Did I cover everything?"
"You forgot your favorite food," Hermione smiled as she played along.
The teen slapped his hand on his forehead, "The most important thing of all and I forgot!"
"As with colors, I'm assuming you have no favorite?"
"On the contrary, love. Every type of food and color are my favorites, well... everything except that awful Slytherin green."
Hermione laughed and realized how similar Sirius was to some of her friends back at present-day Hogwarts. However, as soon as she did so, she regretted thinking about them.
"Did I say something wrong?" Sirius asked when he detected Hermione's sudden solemn face.
The witch smiled slightly and murmured, "No, I'm just thinking."
"If I may ask, of what?"
"None of your concern," Hermione teased.
"Well in that case, I think I'd rather share the food I brought with the Giant Squid," Sirius huffed and turned his back towards Hermione.
"You brought food?"
Sirius nodded, but then reached into his pocket and grabbed something incredibly miniscule. Hermione only noticed when he pulled out his wand and muttered and engorgement charm. However, rather than food, a basket appeared. Before Hermione could even ask what was in it, Sirius headed off towards the lake humming an unknown tune.
When Hermione realized that Sirius had no intentions of stopping, she raced towards him to catch up with him.
"Feeding the squid?"
"Indeed," Sirius exhaled while swinging the basket back and forth.
The two stopped walking when they reached the banks of the lake. Hermione did actually expect Sirius to pull out food from the basket and throw some in the water, but rather than that happening, he plopped down on the grass. Hermione looked down at him peculiarly while Sirius looked up grinning.
"I don't think you'd be able to throw the food that far sitting down," Hermione said.
Sirius laughed, "Did I mention that we're feeding it after we eat?"
"For some unexplainable reason, you think you're funny."
"Hm... no, I don't think, I just know," Sirius confidently replied.
"Do you realize what you just said," Hermione laughed.
Sirius thought for a moment and played back his sentence in his head and when he realized what Hermione meant, Sirius narrowed his eyes.
"Well all I know is that you are not funny," Sirius proclaimed.
Hermione innocently smiled and replied, "Did I ever say I was?" She then pointed at the basket placed next to Sirius. "So what's in there?"
"Heavenly things from Hogsmeade," Sirius replied while taking some of the items out of the basket.
As Sirius began taking out things to eat, Hermione looked out at the lake. In the midst of merely gazing, thoughts began to race about the situation between her, Remus and Sirius.
"This is just... one date," Hermione told herself, "It's not as if this means that I'm choosing Sirius over Remus. However, Remus doesn't know that. Wait, what am I thinking about? Why should I care about how Remus feels about me going on a single date with Sirius?"
The longer Hermione sat there thinking, the more confused and frustrated she became. The fact that she cared about what either Sirius or Remus would think if she chose the other person bothered her. Neither of them should be interested in her nor should she be interested in them. The only thing that should be of top priority is getting back home.
When Sirius gently prodded Hermione's arm, she was relieved of having to think about the situation for a few seconds.
Hermione, puzzled, wondered what Sirius had to say. She soon found out that it wasn't what he had to say, but rather, what he had to show her. Laid out in front of her was a fully set meal that seemed to have come from various dining places from Hogsmeade. This act was generous; far from what Hermione would have thought any guy would ever do. And yet, she couldn't accept this.
The witch got up without a word which caused for Sirius to stand as well.
"Is everything okay?" Sirius cautiously asked.
Hermione wasn't quite sure what to say. "I...—we can't do this, Sirius."
Sirius cocked his head to the side as if he didn't hear her, "Pardon?"
"This," Hermione gestured towards her and the other teenager.
"Is it because of Remus?" Sirius asked while biting back his anger. "How could she let me believe that I actually had a chance with her when she was already set with Remus..."
"No," she replied while looking away.
Sirius walked closer to the girl and forced Hermione to look back at him, "Don't look away when you're talking to me, you're making it impossible for me to stay calm when you do that. Now, tell me honestly, can you not do this because of Remus?"
The fact that Sirius wouldn't leave her alone bothered Hermione. Why couldn't he just accept that this wouldn't work out for her?
Hermione broke away from Sirius' arms and scowled, "Sirius that is none of your concern, but for the sake of you not tackling Remus when you see him, no it is not because of him."
"Then why won't you give it a chance?"
"Maybe because I don't want it to?!" Hermione suddenly yelled. "Maybe I just don't want to be committed right now. I'm entirely new to this environment and am stressed as is since I can't get back home. But to add on to that, I have to deal with you and Remus and making sure I don't hurt either one of you!"
Silence.
"I'm sorry," the witch said in a quieter tone and ran back inside of Hogwarts leaving a very angry yet confused Sirius Black.
In the midst of being thoroughly perplexed and flustered, the one thing that stood out in Sirius' mind was when Hermione stated that she couldn't go home.
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Hermione slowed down to a walk when she got inside of Hogwarts. As she headed back upstairs, she couldn't help but feeling remorseful at how she left Sirius back at the lake and debated on whether or not she should go back to him and apologize. However, this option seemed to be impossible when Hermione accidentally ran into someone.
"Sorry," she quickly said and tried to move past the student, but was held back.
The witch stared at the hand that had firmly clasped onto her arm but then slowly looked up to see the owner of the hand.
Hermione was taken aback when she saw who the person was. The shock did not originate from the suddenness but rather the overwhelming physical similarities of the stranger and Sirius Black.
"Staring is a rude gesture, you know," the person said while smirking. "But I suppose I'll forgive you."
"You..."
"I see that not only have I stunned you by my good looks but also caused you to lose the ability to create comprehendible sentences."
"Are you—"
"Actually," the student interrupted, "now that I think about it, I think I have seen you somewhere."
He placed his index finger across his lips, supported his chin with his thumb and furrowed his eyebrows.
"Siri—"
"Ah," the stranger interrupted Hermione for the second time. "I've got it. You hang around Sirius. Don't tell me you're one of those girls."
"What?"
"You know, those incredibly thick-headed girls that squeal at his every move," he off-handedly replied.
"Excuse me?" Hermione scowled. "I do not 'hang around' him. It's more appropriate to say that he's the one who follows me around only because we're friends with the same people."
As if the teenager didn't hear the statement that Hermione had made about her and Sirius being mutually friends with the same people, he incredulously asked while eyeing the witch up and down, "Sirius? Follow you?"
Hermione pulled her arm away from her new 'acquaintance'.
"Don't take offense... I'm just shocked that my brother would be the one following a girl."
"What?"
"Are you deaf? You seem to be having problems hearing me."
"No, it's just, brother? What do you mean?"
The wizard raised his eyebrow, "You don't know?"
"Obviously not," Hermione rolled her eyes impatiently.
"Well aren't you hot-tempered. But if you must know, unfortunately, Sirius happens to be my older brother. A disgrace is what I should actually call him, but no matter."
"Brother?" Hermione thought.
"And who are you?"
"Hermione Granger," she said with much difficulty. "And yours?"
"Regulus Black."
And there classicmovielover, Regulus Black has finally appeared! But I'm not exactly sure how to portray his personality... so, forgive my portrayal of Regulus.
Anyway, I'm truly sorry that this chapter sucked beyond anything. If anything didn't connect or whatever, I apologize. I've been having writer's block but it's a weird kind of writer's block. I'll spare y'all the details, but just know that much.
Lastly, I'm really shocked at how last week turned out. Four entertainers died [RIP: Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, Ed McMahon, and Billy Mays (yes, Billy Mays was very entertaining in his obnoxious commercials)] but other than that, USA soccer team went to the finals for the FIFA Confederations Cup? WTF?! Admittedly, I really wasn't rooting for my home country, I just wanted to watch a good game.... and I did! The match was freakishly amazing.
So uh.. yea. That's all. Oh, wait, just kidding, I lied.
One last thing: Don't be shy, please review after you read. As annoying as this may sound [I'm assuming you've heard it from every single author on this site], writers love to get reviews! It keeps us going and puts us in a happy mood. To those who have done so, thank you so much.
Until next time-
Susie