A/N: Thank you so much for reading. This chapter is dark, but I hope you find it enjoyable. I own none of these characters, just my plot : ) Following lyrics are from "one more night"

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"You and I get so damn dysfunctional, we stopped keeping score."

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"How's Padfoot doing?" Remus asked Hermione before taking a long sip of his scalding coffee. It shocked him and he dribbled a bit down his front. He flourished his wand quickly and made the offending spill disappear.

"If I had the heart to ask for a divorce, I would," she replied calmly. Remus was one of the few people, besides George, that she could talk to about the situation with Sirius openly. She kept things glossed over with the rest of the Weasley's and her work friends. Everyone knew it was bad, they just didn't know how bad it really was.

"Don't give up on him," Remus begged her for the thirtieth time that month. She stopped walking and stood with him in the middle of the ground floor of the Ministry of Magic. People pushed past them, giving them dirty looks as they held up the flow of traffic.

"Remus, he doesn't love me anymore. He told me this morning that he has nothing to live for now that Harry is dead!" she said, raising her voice sharply and Remus pulled her out of the flow of people getting into the lifts. He managed to grab an empty one for them and shut the door; jamming his long finger onto the button for their shared floor and the lift shuddered backwards instantly.

"He doesn't mean it," the werewolf sighed. They had been having conversations like this before work every morning for months now. Never did she have good news to report to her husband's best friend.

"You don't know that…" her voice trailed off as the lift chimed and they stepped off onto the 14th floor of the Ministry, taking their time as they walked together.

"I do. I'll talk to him…alright but you need to cut this bullshit out with George. I'm serious," the tone in Remus' voice harkened back to the academic one he used to use teaching classes. Hermione suddenly found she felt very scolded.

"I found some other woman's panties on the library floor two days ago," she hissed. She hadn't intended on bringing it up to anyone, because she knew she shouldn't be the pot calling the kettle black. But she had been so angry, and still was.

Lupin sighed deeply, closing his eyes for a brief second to collect his thoughts, "You know, this kills me inside. Both of you could have been so great. Tonks and I wanted you two to have a little one, someone that Teddy could grow up with. They could've been best friends just like we were…" the man trailed off, lost in dreams that Hermione once had as well.

"I'm in love with a shadow, an empty shell of a man. There's nothing for me there anymore Remus. I don't feel at home," she started to sniffle but sucked it back. She refused to cry at work.

"I'll talk to him. I'll take the day off tomorrow and talk to him. Have a good rest of your day 'Mione. Try to keep your spirits up," Remus patted her on the arm and smiled at her as they parted and walked opposite ways towards their separate departments. Hermione was greeted by a stack of paper work and an agitated boss. Before she dove into the pile before her, she penned a quick owl to George asking to meet for lunch. His reply came quickly and she settled in, counting the minutes until noon.

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She met George out front of the Leaky Cauldron and they walked inside together, taking their usual booth in the back of the rather dreary pub. He ordered them some sandwiches and pumpkin juice and then focused on her. They usually had lunch once a week, but this wasn't their usual day. He knew something was wrong.

"Can you come to my place for dinner tonight?" she asked, hoping he wouldn't freak out. But it was George Weasley, it was bound to happen.

"Dinner? At Grimmauld place? I assume Sirius is going to be out?" George laughed. He clearly thought it was her attempt at planning a romantic date night.

"No, erm, he's the one who invited you," she concluded. She knew she was being bitchy about the whole thing; that Sirius had just been mad and sarcastic, but she was at the end of her rope and she wanted more of a reaction from him. More of a reaction about her, to be precise, and not just the loss of Harry.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me. Hermione, you know damn well I've fallen for you, but talking to your bloody husband about it is not going to go over well."

Hermione nearly choked on her pumpkin juice. As far as she was concerned, what was going on with George was pure sex, ten minute post-coital cuddles, and a once a week lunch where they talked about things to keep their minds off their shitty lives. It had only been a month after all. She hadn't expected him to actually fall for her, seeing as he seemed to be still reeling from his breakup.

But she could see the gears turning in George's head. She saw the light in his eyes. George had completely taken over the joke shop upon his brother's death and was now the wealthiest and seemingly most eligible bachelor in London, being newly single. And he was attractive. And much, much closer to her age. Ginny had been making sly remarks about how she approved. How she had always wanted Hermione as a real sister.

"George, no…it's not like that," she looked down and started picking out the lettuce from her sandwich.

He pulled her hands away from the food and held them, looking at her long enough until she finally caved in and met his eyes.

"Then what is it like? We fuck almost every day of the week, and it's so real with you. Why don't you just leave him? We could be together…" his voice was soft as he said it, but she could tell there was a myriad of emotions behind it.

She didn't love George. She loved Sirius, and she probably would until the day she died. She knew there was never going to be a love like what they used to have. George could give her a happy, nice life. But he just wasn't Sirius.

Or was she just deluded? That Sirius had left six months ago and replaced him with the foul person that lived in her once beloved home. Maybe George could be her escape.

"We talked about this. Just sex…" she reminded him. He frowned.

"Yeah, but things change. You're an amazing witch, and an amazing woman. Who would not want you?" he asked. She scoffed, she could think of one person.

"Thank you, but I'm not ready for that. All I'm asking for is you to come to dinner. He knows about you, just like everyone else does. And he invited you over. So please," she asked. He was too nice, almost to a fault, and he agreed.

But it didn't take long before his eyes turned dark; he knew she just wanted to make Sirius jealous. And if he was the man for the job, then so be it. But he hoped, deep inside that Sirius would see how much he cared for Hermione and just let him take care of her. George hated seeing Hermione constantly crying and pining away for a man that was long gone.

"Alright, what time?" George finally acquiesced.

"Seven okay?" she asked. He nodded and the continued the rest of their lunch break in relative silence.

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Hermione had managed to get off a bit early from work in order to go home and make something of a dinner for the three of them. She stopped by the store and picked up the ingredients for a Bolognese sauce which was Sirius' favorite and some pasta.

She had called out for him when she got home but once again got no answer, and this time she didn't bother to go looking. If she and George were the only ones at the dinner table, then she didn't really mind. Remus had urged her to try and hell she was trying the best she could, especially after the worst morning with him.

Between prepping the dinner, she managed to change into a simple red dress that cut low in the front. She had used to wear it out on dinner dates with Sirius, but it had been shoved to the back of her closet since then. No one could ever say she didn't put in a last ditch effort to save her mess of a marriage; even if she was going about it in a completely childish way.

Sirius appeared in the kitchen moments after she dumped the pasta into the steaming hot water. He walked in lazily, eyeing her up but not saying anything. She kept quiet as well but she was thankful he at least looked semi-presentable in some jeans and a black v-neck shirt.

"You haven't cooked in a while," his voice came at last. She turned and saw that his eyes were glassy from liquor.

"I told you I'd be home to make you something, didn't I?" she couldn't help but have a twinge of annoyance to her voice. He made it so damn easy to be mad at him sometimes.

The doorbell rang and they both froze.

"Sirius could you get it?" she asked as politely as she could muster. It was seven o'clock on the nose.

"Why?"

"Because we have a guest for dinner and I have my hands quite full at the moment…" she explained with a sigh. He looked positively murderous but walked to the door languidly, emphasizing the cocky swagger that she hadn't seen since long before they were married. She continued to stir the pasta and the sauce, focusing on what was in front of her.

"Ah, well if it isn't George Weasley himself," she heard Sirius' booming voice exclaim. There was iciness there, however.

"Nice to see you Sirius, it's been ages," George replied, in a nervous voice. They were back in the adjacent dining room in seconds' time as Hermione busied herself with plating the pasta, flicking her wand and sending three plates over to the dinner table before sitting down herself. She gave George a kiss on the cheek.

"So what do I owe the pleasure of your company?" Sirius asked, easing back into the high backed dining room chair as he twirled some of the spaghetti on his fork. He stared pointedly at George who was sitting across from him.

"Your gorgeous wife said you invited me," George said, not missing a beat, and emphasizing the word 'gorgeous'. Sirius looked thoroughly pissed.

"I guess I did," he mumbled, remembering back to that morning. He hadn't expected Hermione to really make good of her word.

Hermione had not expected it to be this hostile. She half thought that Sirius would be in such a drunken stupor that he would've been passed out on the couch hours ago. But it was really happening and she had no plan. And Sirius wasn't drunk, just buzzed enough to be an asshole. Suddenly, George's hand was on her thigh, squeezing her just below the hem of her dress. She gasped a little. It didn't go unnoticed by Sirius.

As they all ate their meals, the tension just built in the room until it was nearly unbearable. Sirius kept shooting Hermione and George dirty looks and George kept massaging her thigh in an unbearably hot way which was distracting considering how confused and angry she was.

"So how was your work day love?" George turned the conversation to Hermione, who blushed. Sirius dropped his fork on his plate with a loud 'clang'.

"Busy, ridiculously busy, my boss was on me about these missing case files that I could have sworn I handed over to Patricia," Hermione ignored Sirius' pouting and ranted about her day. Not like Sirius would know who any of those people were because the two of them hadn't talked about her job in ages.

George leaned over and kissed her on the corner of the mouth, "Tomorrow will be better," he promised, giving her thigh another squeeze, this time closer to her panty line.

Sirius stopped eating entirely, "Could you please bring yourself to refrain from having sex with my wife at my dinner table?"

Hermione bit her lip. Things had escalated too far. She couldn't believe she had been so stupid as to think this was a good idea.

"I don't respect how you've treated Hermione or how you are handling your marriage. As far as I'm concerned it's been over for a while. And we both know I'm fucking her, so what does it really matter Black?" George asked, clearly ready for a fight. Hermione had never seen him be so confrontational.

And for that matter, Hermione had never seen Sirius possess such self-control in the last six months. Considering he was at least a little inebriated and clearly pissed off, she was surprised he wasn't hexing George or throwing things at him. The animagus just nodded and picked up his fork again, eating another mouthful of spaghetti. George looked just as shaken as she felt, and maybe even disappointed that he would not, in fact, be fighting a man he once very much looked up to.

After a few moments, Sirius finally spoke; "Could you please excuse me for a moment?" he asked with all the politeness and manners of the pureblood aristocrat inside of him, pushing away from the table and standing up, "I need to speak with my wife in private."

A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Reviews would be really appreciated, I want to see if you guys like this or dislike this etc, and if you think it has the potential to be longer than just a few chapters.