Chapter 2:

Molly Weasley had treated Hermione like a daughter ever since the girl was twelve years old. Ten years later to the date, she was officially going to gain her as a daughter as she took her youngest son's hand in marriage. It was, therefore, only proper for her to hold down the fort at Grimmauld Place as the girls prepared for the ceremony. Through all the hustling and bustling of the almost absurd number of females in the place, Mrs. Weasley took her usual post in the kitchen, her wand tending to about ten things at once. She was making a light lunch on the countertop and stove, mending rips in dresses, Accioing pins and needles from all over the house to alter dresses temporarily, barking orders quickly to the ladies. After all, it was a busy day!

She eyed the bride-to-be with slight apprehension. Hermione was very quiet and unusually subdued. Molly noticed that she would often pace around the kitchen, the locket she usually wore about her neck curled into her fist, and then leave the room quickly. Moments later, she would hear someone pounding about upstairs a few floors.

She was even more subdued when Molly confronted her about it. She used great avoidance tactics and assured her that she was just a little nervous about the ceremony and was worried if her parents would be able to make the flight into London in time, as they hadn't called as of yet. It was a 'minor thing'. Molly knew that the girl was quite upset over something, and that something was far from minor...

--

"Tell me more about him," said Sirius, picking the dead bugs out of Buckbeak's feathers. "What did he act like when you two first met? Did he know then that his parents would make him into a Death Eater then, and he still went with you, knowing that you were friends with Harry?"

"No, he liked me before he knew I was a friend of Harry's," she said with a sigh shifting her weight from one side to the other, rather nervously. "But I don't know if I should go into the rest of it," she said. Hermione felt her cheeks turning a deep shade of pink as she brushed the hippogriff's feathers so they were smooth. "You're just going to think it's silly and so typical of a girl my age."

The dust in the air clouded Sirius' face slightly, but Hermione could still see his characteristic smile break out through it. "Oh, Hermione, really?" he laughed. "I remember what it was like to be young like it was yesterday!" He chuckled a bit longer and finished, gazing over at her with a boyish grin plastered on his face, "I miss it."

"Yes," she said, returning his glance for a moment, and then turning her face towards the ground. "Well, it must have been easier without You-Know-Who tearing people apart," she said bitterly. "It was hard enough having every girl after him at Hogwarts, and then Ron absolutely hounding me every moment of the day, and--"

"Perhaps Ron doesn't approve because he has feelings for you that are more than friendly?" he said matter-of-factly. "Boys tend to be idiots when they are jealous, for future reference."

Hermione pretended to vomit and then chuckled. "Ron noticed that I was of the female sex for the first time this past year," she said with a hard laugh. "He doesn't see anything in me, he goes for girls like Fleur and... well.. girls that are more..." She trailed off, turning redder. When did the conversation suddenly take a turn down this path? "That are prettier."

Sirius rolled his eyes, saying, "Girls like Fleur would never make a person like Ron happy." He gave another laugh and said, "He goes after girls like Fleur because he knows it will never work." Hermione shot him a quizzical look.

"But how does that make sense, Sirius," she said. "She is gorgeous, talented, and well... relatively intelligent, not that Ronald holds much esteem when it comes to brains. Why would he want it to fail when it seems like he so desperately wants her." She sighed deeply. "Wasn't I going to tell you about Viktor?"

Sirius looked down and busied himself with Buckbeak, cleaning his feathers with a soft brush. The silence was unusually awkward. Hermione went over to the feed tray and emptied the last of the bag into it to preoccupy herself. Then she walked over to the window and stared across the decomposed grounds that were the gardens of the Black Mansion. She was not entirely surprised when she felt Sirius join her at her side, leaning on his elbows. His presence was soothing but strangely disconcerting at the same time. She glanced over at him and found that he, too, was giving her a sidelong glance. Their eyes met briefly.

Hermione nodded and said, slowly, "Viktor and I met in the library. He would follow me there and take out books at random and pretend to read them."

"Ah, the Hogwarts library," said Sirius reminiscently. "The haven of all young and brainy lovers. Not that brainy is a bad thing," he said as he noticed Hermione's face screwed up in a frown.

"Anyway," she continued, "He finally got the guts up to talk to me. He told me that I was the most clever girl he had ever encountered, and just the fact that he really valued that in a person just... it said so much... about..." Hermione trailed off, biting back tears pricking at her eyes.

Sirius sighed and put a caring arm around her. Even though his touch made her tense, it also seemed to strengthen her resolve. Coming around, she said, "It really did seem like every girl at Hogwarts was after him. I had to keep it a secret from Harry and Ron because they'd never believe it and just take it out of me. The more I hid it from them, the more I really started to like him, Sirius! I liked him a lot, and it didn't matter that he was older and far more experienced with girls than any boys I know, and things moved so fast that we--" Hermione stopped abruptly as Sirius made an involuntary movement, his grip on her shoulder tightening slightly. Silence, even more uncomfortable as the last, once again descended between the two. They stared at the grounds, unspeaking and unmoving.

"Hermione," said Sirius, after what felt like forever, "I just want you to know that your secrets are safe with me. " He turned to face her and look her into the eyes, adding, "And free from judgement. You can tell me anything if you need to..."

The girl looked at him as he trailed off, not being able to believe her eyes or ears. Suddenly, there was an immense lump in her throat, and she was unable to utter a word without sounding incompetent. Small tears began forming in her eyes.