Remus was not at all surprised when Sirius swagger back up to the boys' dormitory, smiling with his shirt untucked and disheveled. The smell of arousal that radiated off of his friend was a bit overwhelming to his lupine senses. Sirius didn't even need to say a single word to Remus - it was more than obvious what had likely gone on between Sirius and Hermione.
Peter was...not as adept at reading the situation. "What has you so happy this late after curfew?" he asked, oblivious as usual.
Sirius smirked. "Prongs gave me a detention," he said.
"So, why would you be happy about that?" Peter asked, still a bit slow on the uptake.
"Because, my naive and inexperienced friend, I just snogged a witch within an inch of her life and now she is certain to go to Hogsmeade with me next weekend, when I ask her," he said, clearly feeling like he was on the top of the world.
Just then, James burst into the room. "Pads, mate, thank you so much! Lily finally seemed to be warming up to me. She smiled and looked impressed and even laughed at one of my jokes," he said, before flopping onto his bed, breathing out a sigh of joy.
"Well, Prongs, it was no trouble at all to kiss Hermione and settle myself between her warm and welcoming thighs," Sirius answered, sitting down on his own bed.
"Ugh, Sirius! Was the description really necessary? I can still smell you from over here," Remus said, annoyed at the imagery that his friend was only too happy to conjure up.
James sat up. "Sirius, you really shouldn't talk about Hermione like that. I don't approve of you taking advantage of her either," he said, sounding surprisingly protective. "I don't want you to just...chase her and then once you catch her, dump her and let her go."
"And what makes you think I would do that?" Sirius asked, almost a bit hurt at the accusation.
"Oh, I don't know? Your track record with every other girl you've been with since third year," James said, deadpan. "Your reputation precedes you. Besides, she's Dumbledore's niece, not to mention brilliant and very nice. I won't have you hurting her feelings."
"Well, don't worry, I won't hurt her intentionally," Sirius said, darkly. Now he was upset that his friends couldn't even trust him well enough to give him the benefit of the doubt. "She is great - classy, brunette, smart, funny, knows enough about Quidditch. I don't really know why, but...I really like her. And I want to get to know her better."
Remus laughed. "Hermione really, really doesn't like Quidditch," he said.
"Well, then, she made an effort to contribute to something I like!" Sirius snapped back at him. "Which, just makes me like her even more than I already did."
"Alright, alright," Remus conceded, a smiled on his face. He had to admit, this was unusual for Sirius. He never seemed to be interested in learning more about a witch, especially one he'd only known for such a short amount of time. Plus, while Hermione was rather pretty, she wasn't the same type of witch that Sirius usually went for. "Well, then, I wish you good luck, Padfoot."
"Thanks," Sirius replied, still sounding uncharacteristically unsure. He settled into his bed to dream about curly haired witches in Hogwarts school uniforms in detention.
The next morning, Hermione sat next to Remus at breakfast. By the bright red blush on his cheeks and the way that he avoided nearly all eye contact with her, she knew that he must know what had gone on between her and Sirius.
"Good morning, Hermione. Did you have a good evening?" he asked, sounding a bit mischievous.
"Are you asking that because of what she did with Sirius?" Peter asked, his watery eyes staring at her from across the table.
"Peter...that's not exactly appropriate breakfast conversation," Remus gently corrected his friend.
Hermione frowned. Of course Sirius would brag to his friends about what they had done - possibly even embellished it a little bit. Plus, James had caught them in the act, so he probably talked to his friends about what happened. She shouldn't feel upset about it. It was to be expected.
Just then, Sirius slid into the seat next to her, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her closer to him. He pressed a kiss to her cheek. "Good morning, kitten," he said with a knowing grin.
Hermione blushed and willed herself not to make eye contact with Peter. Luckily, James chose the seat next to Peter, seemingly unaware of the tension at the table.
"So, Hermione, I was wondering..." Sirius said, sounding completely unphased. "Would you like to go to Hogsmeade with me this weekend?"
Hermione felt a bit stunned and her mind wandered back to the night before, when she'd returned to her own dorm.
It had only taken Mary one second to begin squealing over her appearance. With her wild hair and kiss bruised lips, Hermione's dazed expression could only mean one thing: she'd just been snogging. But with who?
She had been unable to do anything but smile, before telling Alice, Mary and Marlene that she was very tired and was going to go to bed. She had charmed her red bed curtains shut and laid back. Without a silencing spell, she had been free to listen to what her roommates had to say about it.
Marlene was certain that Hermione had been kissing Remus, as they had been spending a lot of time together in the library. She was convinced that Hermione was the luckiest girl in the world and that nothing exciting was ever going to happen for Marlene.
Alice thought maybe Hermione had been snogging with a Ravenclaw boy who had (apparently?) been flirting with her all week in potions. This was news to Hermione.
Mary was certain that Hermione must have been kissing James. She thought she had noticed how sweetly he'd been treating her all week. But her musings were quickly cut short. "Oh, Lily! Sorry, didn't hear you coming up," Mary had squeaked, embarrassed to be discussing Hermione and James being together.
"It was...Sirius," Lily said, sounding a bit dazed. "Hermione and Sirius were snogging in the halls after curfew and...well...James gave them a detention."
"Oh! So responsible!" Marlene had gushed. "It must be so hard to discipline your best friend."
"Yeah...really...responsible," Lily had trailed off, as though she still couldn't entirely believe it.
Hermione had just smiled from her bed and took out the picture in her locket. Harry's leg was already beginning to reappear slowly, which gave her a sense of relief. Her plan had worked and Lily and James's relationship was now back on track. She had silently thanked Sirius for his assistance in her plot.
But now...now in the light of the day, he was asking her to go to Hogsmeade. Didn't he know that their mission was complete? She bit her lip. She couldn't risk getting too attached to Sirius, both for her own sake and for the future. Sirius had never shared any stories with the boys about dating a girl called Hermione Granger, who really looked so much like their own Hermione. Maybe if she was just a mediocre kiss in the hallway, she was easily forgettable.
Her heart really already beat a little too fast at the memory of their passionate embrace in the hallway. She couldn't risk getting more attracted to him, when nothing could ever come of it. It would only break her heart. She couldn't stay in this time and she would end up crushed when she met older Sirius again and he was disgusted by her awkward teenage crush on him.
"Erm, I don't know Sirius. I'm really busy right now. I wanted to get a start on the Arithmancy essay," she told him quietly.
Suddenly, it seemed as if all conversation at their table had come to a screeching halt. Peter's mouth was open and his fork held halfway to his face. James seemed to finally be awake. And Remus had turned to stare at her. All three couldn't believe that she'd really just turned down Sirius Black. No one turned down Sirius.
"Oh, alright then," he said, trying to make sure that his voice didn't waver. He couldn't let on to how upset he was actually feeling. Sirius decided to switch gears. "So James, how come you're so late today?" he asked, desperate to get the attention off of him.
James blinked once, then twice. "Oh, well, Snivellus sent a tripping jinx at me this morning so I had to give him a taste of his own medicine. His essays have found themselves slightly edited now..." he trailed off, smirking at the ingeniousness of his prank.
"Really? How do you know it was him?" Hermione asked. "Surely he wouldn't openly attack the Head Boy."
"Well, he was one of only two people in the hallway...and I highly doubt a second year Hufflpuff would do it," he answered. "So you see, it had to be Snivellus."
Hermione looked to Lily and noticed her frowning hearing the way that James talked about her ex-friend. She decided that she would worry about that later. Right now she had bigger concerns...like detention with a newly amorous Sirius.
Hermione found that Sirius wasn't waiting in the trophy room when she arrived for her detention with Filch. The old caretaker told her that she would be cleaning trophies. Really, she would have expected that he could have come up with a more creative detention over the years, but no luck. Sighing, Hermione removed her jumper, knowing that it would be strenuous to get through them all without magic.
Sirius strolled in just as detention was set to begin, whistling. His carefree attitude was kind of annoying to Hermione because he clearly didn't care at all about having another detention on his record, while it was killing her (even though it wasn't her real record). Still, it was a sacrifice she was willing to make for her new friends.
Filch gave Sirius a cruel smirk before telling him about the task he'd set for them. "The usual Black. You know what to do," he said with a sneer, before shuffling out of the room, his nasty cat following behind with her tail held high in the air.
Hermione tried and failed not to think about the last time that they were alone together and the way that he'd made her feel. She realized now that she would have let him go as far as he'd wanted just out in the open corridor. She blushed furiously. How was it possible that he could make her so wanton? Sighing, she picked up a rag and began polishing the closest trophy.
Sirius, meanwhile, was annoyed with Hermione. How was it possible this witch was so hot for him the night before and now she didn't even seem to want to speak to him? No girl had ever turned him down for a date before. Hell, he was sure he could even ask certain Slytherin girls and they would look past his blood traitor status just for a taste of what Hermione had gotten. And then they'd be after him...he was basically a professional at this point.
Clearing his throat, he couldn't bear the silence any longer. He'd get her to come around to him. "So, tell me about your Arithmancy paper," he suggested.
"Err-" Hermione started, surprised. She turned to look into his mercurial grey eyes and noticed that they were heated and passionate. Looking back down at her bucket, she tried to focus her thoughts. "Oh, well, it's actually quite interesting. To me at least, but I'm sure others find it quite dull. It's just about the intricacies of free will on the future. How many possible outcomes can be achieved by one choice," she rambled, before biting her lip. "Um...what topic did you choose for the Transfiguration essay?"
"Animagus transformations," he said, casually, scrubbing away at his own trophy.
"Oh? I understand it's quite difficult to become an animagus. I'm sure it's an interesting topic," she said. "Though, it's quite ballsy isn't it? With Professor McGonagall being an animagus. You'll have to make sure you get all of your facts straight." Of course, Hermione knew that Sirius had already become an animagus at this point. She couldn't help but be impressed with that particular achievement.
"Don't worry about it. Minnie has a soft spot for me," he told with with a wink.
Hearing her professor referred to that way had Hermione laughing out loud. And then, the tension between them was lifted and they were talking like old friends. The pair spent the rest of detention talking about school, as Hermione kept the conversation from returning to the passionate snog they shared or his invitation for a date.
Sirius was happy to oblige as his pride was still a bit wounded by her being completely unaffected by his charms.