A/N: Glad people liked it so far!

Chapter 2: Society for the Protection and Expungement of the Wrongfully-Imprisoned (S.P.E.W.I)

It was now July.

Not only was the weather blazing hot but each day seemed to pass by as slow as molasses. Though the summer was nowhere near over, with two months of vacation left, the inhabitants of Grimmauld Place had hit a midsummer slump. The excitement of being out of school had worn thin. Ron no longer woke up every day to the chant of "School's out for summer, school's out forever!" and then raced out at the crack of dawn in his pants to play Quidditch.

Even Harry felt a bit bored, especially that there were no news of Voldemort. Although Harry utterly hated Voldemort, unconsciously some part of him knew that without his nemesis, there would be no action. Hermione, who never appreciated being out of school, was also getting restless because they all had too much time on their hands and she hated idleness.

Although Harry swore that he'd find a way to assemble his army this summer, even if it meant going behind Dumbledore's back, everyone had high doubts of this. Harry and Ron were now obsessively absorbed in following Quidditch matches and had begun collecting trading cards. There was nothing in either of their behaviour to suggest they were secretly spending each day training an army. After slipping out of the house to god-knows-where, Ron and Harry would dutifully come back for lunch, but neither ever looked tired as if they had just been in battle training. After they spent a little time with Hermione, they would slip out again. Sometimes Hermione accompanied them if they were going somewhere she approved of, such as the bookstore or Dumbledore's office, but most of the time she stayed behind and read.

Sirius was truly surprised to learn how little time the boys spent with Hermione. Since she didn't seem to mind, Sirius figured that it may have always been this way with them. With her studying and them goofing off until they all pulled together when there was some mystery to solve and the boys were incapable of anything without Hermione. Then they hung onto her every word and she became the most important part of the trio. The rest of the time, however, it was like Hermione sat on the sidelines.

Not out of choice, Sirius also was forced to stay behind in the house simply because there are only so many places he could go without being caught by the Ministry and sent back to Azkaban.

Whenever he could, he accompanied the boys when they went to the Burrow, muggle London, or some obscure anonymous place where his dog or human form could go unnoticed. But he hated the rest of the time he had to stay behind and miss out.

At first, though they are often the only two in the house, Hermione and Sirius didn't spend much time together. They each left each other to their own devices and only met up for meals where they chatted politely but briefly. They were acquaintances rather than friends.

Gradually that changed.

Bit by bit, Sirius spent more of his days with Hermione. When they ate breakfast in the morning it was just them because Sirius and Hermione were the only ones to ever wake up before 9am. When he is a dog in his animagus form, she is the only one not too lazy to take "Snuffles" for walks. When Harry and Ron go off to play Quidditch on Sundays, Hermione and him are left behind for the whole day. She because she cares nothing for any type of sport, especially one involving altitude, speed and a broomstick. Sirius is left behind simply because he is still housebound in this makeshift prison. And though he loves quidditch, practically lived to play during his Hogwarts years, somehow he doesn't mind one bit when they are left behind in Grimmauld place.

He has grown accustomed to spending Sundays with the muggleborn bookworm.

Moments after Ron and Harry left with bags of quidditch gear and matching huge grins as they waved goodbye, Hermione and Sirius sat together in the backyard. Remarkably, Sirius felt happy to just be sitting with her, as his thoughts drifted to them taking a walk and how carefree Hermione was when larking about with his dog self...but his trail of thoughts were interrupted by Hermione's sudden outburst.

"What a pair of dunderheads! I can't believe they can be so selfish!"

"Sorry, what are we talking about?"

"Harry and Ron, of course! How can they leave you here, knowing how much you love quidditch?!"

Sirius thought for a moment, "Hey I don't love quidditch that much, in fact, I have plenty of other interests to keep me occupied..."

He was going to suggest they take a trip to the Scottish highlands but she was no longer paying attention. When Hermione got riled up over a perceived injustice, she paid no heed even to the protestations of the supposed victims.

"Yes, but would it kill them to try to relocate their game to somewhere you can participate too? As if playing with the Chudley Cannons was really so important!" Hermione exclaimed, tugging at a piece of grass and frowning her brow.

Sirius was tempted to smile. Although a month ago, he would've agreed with her and joined in complaining about not being able to play quidditch or go out in his human form...right now he just felt amused by her obvious concern for him.

"Now you've got to be kidding me, quidditch isn't quidditch without a proper field and the Chudley Cannons takes it to a whole other level. I could not take that away from them. I had my time for quidditch, let them have theirs."

If possible, her face grew even more concerned.

"I wish you wouldn't say that Sirius! You act like your life is already over, done and lived with, but it's not! You're still here and you should continue to at least have the most basic of considerations. Especially after all you've been through...I can't comprehend how inconsiderate Ron and Harry can be..." she continued to rant.

Sirius didn't want her getting worked up over him and over a slight issue that really did not bother him...even though it was touching how much fire she had in her, the warm compassion she held for the plight of others. Especially victims of what she perceived as social injustices.

He tried his best to put on a stupid smirk, "It's alright Hermione. I don't really mind and my life is not as tragic as it seems-"

"No it's not! Stop pretending like it's alright. You're alive Sirius! You have as much right to happiness as anyone else."

He had hoped to calm her down but Hermione only became more passionately angry instead.

"Aren't you tired of being treated like a second-class citizen?! Honestly, just because you're a fugitive and they haven't been able to prove your innocence yet, doesn't give them the right to let you rot here forever while you wait on the ministry and Dumb-bledore to expunge your record! I mean Merlin's sake, you've waited long enough, its about bloody time you could live a life already!"

Sirius was surprised that she swore but otherwise just listened, quietly amazed. His indifference to his own well-being made Hermione only more determined to defend him and seek justice for him. As if he, Sirius Black, were a cause in itself, a charitable organization like SPEW. Or rather "Society for the Protection and Expungement of the Wrongfully-imprisoned". He could imagine Hermione putting up posters demanding justice for Sirius Black and chuckled at the thought, secretly pleased, because with so much passion she made a formidable ally and fierce enemy to anyone unfortunate enough to cross her line of fire.

The Sirius Black Society, members: one Hermione Granger. Aims of the Sirius Black Society: promotion of equal rights and restoration of justice for Sirius Black, and other such innocent escapee prisoners. Issue of the day: equal quidditch playing time and pursuit of happiness.

How can he tell her he doesn't give a flying fuck about quidditch or being forgotten by the boys because for some odd reason he'd rather spend time with her just now?

He can't. He doesn't even realize it himself, and he could not explain it even if he did.

The introduction of Hermione into his life has happened so gradually that he doesn't even notice the calming effect she has on him or how it feels like almost nothing is wrong when she's around.

Until she leaves for a week.

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A/N: Hee hee I totally could see Hermione getting on Dumbledore's case about clearing up Sirius' name with the Ministry! Dont worry Hermione will make sure there's hell to pay, if Dumbledore/the ministry take any longer to expunge his record!

Next chapter posted tomorrow at around the same time. Thanks to everyone who follow/fav/reviewed, it means a lot!

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