A/N: This picks up exactly where the last chapter picked off.

Chapter 6: A Doggish Welcome

The meeting dragged on at a painfully slow pace and Sirius wondered why he was even there. It's not as if he could be of real use on either a domestic or continental front, except as a dog undercover and even that had its limits. Now Rita Skeeter, he learned from Harry and Hermione last year, could transform into a small insect. As much as he liked being a dog, Sirius had to admit that it would have been infinitely more useful for spying if his animagus were a flying insect. As Kingsley droned on about the European political climate and potential for radicalization, Sirius no longer pretended to listen. He had other ideas.

When the meeting finally ended, Sirius transformed into his dog form and went bounding up the stairs. His wet, sniffing nose quickly located Hermione in the attic on the third floor. He didn't understand why she was there but wasted no time in jumping up to greet her. He had missed her in the past few days she'd been gone and would wait no longer.

"Oh no! Sirius don't!" she yelped as Snuffles jumped up and licked her face with a slobbering tongue.

"Ugh! You have dog's breath you know, or maybe that's just you."

If it were possible for a dog to grin, the dog, otherwise known as Sirius Black or Snuffles, grinned. He barked as an added salute to his victory.

As she wiped her face with the back of her sleeve, Sirius turned back into a human and stood laughing at her. She had her hair down and his dusty pawprints covered her black pants. He liked the combination for some reason.

"Merlin, what are you doing up here Hermione? There's nothing except loads of dust." He sneezed as he surveyed the dusty room around him. The Black family's attic was a large series of connecting rooms filled with boxes upon boxes of forgotten stuff and furniture, all covered in dust.

Hermione pointed her wand at him as she muttered a spell that sounded somewhat like allergias.

Sirius immediately stopped sneezing and the tickling sensation in his nose disappeared at once.

"It's an allergy spell," she explained, "I tried clearing up the dust but for some reason scourgify doesn't seem to pick up dust very well..."

"Of course not, you have to use a clarifying spell for dust," Sirius said. He displayed the spell for her with a graceful flick of his wand.

"I don't see why that should be. Why should there be a spell specifically for dust when scourgify seems to work for clearing up everything else?"

"Magic doesn't always make sense, luv," Sirius shrugged, "So what were you doing here in my dear family's attic? Not snooping I hope?"

A part of him wished to be flattered that she was snooping for information about him but he knew Hermione better than to waste time.

"Sorry, I should have asked you beforehand, Sirius but...um I only just had the oddest idea and...well I'm not sure you would understand..."

She looked intently at him for a moment and he wondered why she was not talking.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Well," she said nervously, "it occurred to me while I was staying at the Burrow and talking to some retired Hogwarts professors that...that you had a brother."

Sirius' face immediately darkened.

He had not expected this at all. His brother Regulus was something he never talked about, family not being a particularly favourite subject of his to begin with. Though in the case of Regulus, rather than just hating him as he did most of the Blacks, he had mixed feelings, including a guilt he could not quite understand. But Regulus was long gone, so he didn't see why Hermione was bringing up his dead brother.

"I know you don't like to talk about your brother, Sirius, and I would not have brought it up if I could, but I think there were more things to your brother's story than you are aware of!"

"Is there? And what would you know of these things?" he said more sharply than he intended to. This was Hermione he was speaking to, after all, he could not truly loose his temper with her.

Yet she had touched a nerve just now. He had wanted to laugh and spend time with her but here she was bringing up the past. The damn past, he thought, kept coming back to haunt him like a skeleton in a closet.

"Sirius, I don't know all the details yet, let alone any proof, but there is reason to believe that your brother defected from Voldemort towards the end of his life!"

Sirius laughed emptily. "Regulus defect from Voldemort? I find that hardly believable, Hermione. He was a coward the entire time I knew him. Always doing exactly what my family told him to do, no questions asked."

"No, you're wrong Sirius, it may be why he died."

"So what now, are you going to go through his things in search of some obscure clue that redeems my dead brother?"

"There's more to the story than I've told you Sirius but you don't seem interested in hearing it, do you?" Hermione snapped.

"Don't I? I love to hear fairytales. By all means, please tell me this story, Hermione."

She felt like slapping him. Hermione knew he only acted immature when trying to cover up his emotions but enough was enough.

"I can't believe you, Sirius!" she suddenly shouted, "You are such a hypocrite! You've always lamented that no one believed you were innocent because they judged your story without investigation but here you are judging your own brother, someone you knew very well, without even trying to piece together any of the story! You are doing exactly to Regulus what everyone did to you: condemnation without a trial! You don't even want to give me a chance to explain do you?!"

For once Sirius looked utterly defeated and Hermione immediately regretted that she had lost her temper with him.

"I see..." Sirius said quietly with his eyes on the floor, "Well please go ahead with your inquiries. If you should have the need, I will give you the keys to all Black family vaults and properties, or anything else you ask for, anything."

"Sirius I..." she pleaded.

"No, it's alright. You're right. I'm a big hypocrite. We'll talk about this later okay? It's getting late. Goodnight Hermione."

"Goodnight Sirius," she whispered reluctantly.

She looked at his retreating form. Feeling guilty. Why did Sirius have to be so damnably polite to her after she just screamed at him? He was right to be upset. She'd snooped around in his house and intruded on his family's past. It was really none of her business. Of course she never wanted to upset him. She hadn't even wanted him to know about the whole Regulus story until she was sure there was something to substantiate it. She knew it was a sensitive topic for him...but then she hadn't expected him to find her snooping around in the attic. Damn his canine nose.

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A/N: So this chapter is a bit darker than the other but don't worry there is still much comedy coming up as usual. Like Sirius himself, this story is a mix of happy and sad :) :( We're just going to have to deal with Sirius' past if we are going to move forward...though Hermione may have to drag Sirius kicking and screaming to face it! Reviews appreciated!