Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Thanks for all the reviews, favorites, and follows. I'm sorry I haven't personally responded to reviews for the last chapter, but I appreciate them all the same. I'll make it up this chapter! Also thanks to clumsydolphin for checking this over for me.

Darkness. She was surrounded by an all-encompassing darkness and even stranger was the feeling of weightlessness that accompanied it. It was almost as if she was naught but a feather caught in a gust of wind. That feeling continued on for some time before it ended very suddenly as she fell to the ground with a great thud. Oddly enough, she felt no pain from being dropped onto the hard ground. Actually, if she was being honest, she felt rather wonderful. Realizing she still had her eyes tightly shut, she debated on whether to open them or not. Her Gryffindor bravery seemed to be failing her as she was scared of what she might see upon opening them.

She slowly opened her eyes, lifting herself from the ground as she did. She appeared to be standing in a meadow quite unlike any she had seen before. Oh, it had the usual suspects for a meadow; flowers, grass, a few sparse trees, even a brook running through it. What was odd was that everything seemed to be just a bit more. The grass beneath her feet was so soft it felt as though she was standing on beds of cotton. The deep green of the grass, the reds, purples, and pinks of the flowers were almost overwhelming, as if she had been looking at everything in her life through fog covered glasses. Even the brook was magnificent with its trickling water that shone as if thousands of diamonds flowed through the current.

What was this place? And better yet, why was she here?

Just then, a prickling sensation started making its way up her back. It was the sensation that one usually got when they felt someone watching them. Wonderful. She leaves one duel and potentially drops right into another one. She patted her thigh where she normally kept her wand holster when she wore dresses or skirts. Her eyes widened and her heartbeat quickened as she realized her wand was missing. Shit! She stood still as she could sense the other person moving toward her. They stopped their approach about six feet away from her and at that moment she heard a voice she never thought she would hear again.

"Hello, poppet."

She whirled around, not believing what she just heard. She could do nothing but stare at the astonishing sight that stood in front of her. In fact, she stood there so long that the man in front of her arched his perfectly shaped eyebrow and smirked at her.

"I know I'm unbelievably sexy, love, but you are my cousin. That might be okay for some purebloods, but it's always grossed me out."

His comment roused her from her shock.

"Sirius!"

With a shout, she flung herself at the man with such force that she almost knocked him over. Luckily, he was able to right himself and caught her up in an impressive hug. He pulled back slightly to get a good look at her.

"Godric, you grew up to be beautiful, Hermione. You look just like your mother," he said softly.

"Thanks, Sirius, but don't forget you are my cousin."

"Cheeky girl! It's so lovely to see you, but I must admit, I had hoped I wouldn't be seeing you or Harry so soon."

She gasped. The surprise of seeing Sirius again had almost made her forget about what happened. How could she possibly have forgotten? How could she have forgotten, even for a second, the party, seeing Lucius with Dolohov, and then the subsequent duel?

"Oh gods! Oh gods, Sirius! Am I dead? Oh dear Merlin, I am dead! Harry's going to kill me! Is this heaven? Where's Remus? Tonks? Are Harry's parents here? I can't believe this!"

"Hermione, calm down. You aren't exactly dead."

"I'm not exactly dead? What does that even mean? Stop playing around with me, Sirius Black!"

"It means just that. I'm not going to lie to you, Hermione. You are gravely hurt and I'm not so certain if you are going to make it through or not. This is a waiting place, an in-between if you will."

"And they sent you to help me pass the time? Harry is going to be so jealous. When he died, all he got was Dumbledore."

At her mention of Dumbledore, Sirius's face grew dark. In that moment, she saw a hint of why people so readily believed him capable of the atrocities he was accused of.

"Sirius? What is it?"

"Dumbledore has been trying to talk to me since he got here. You have to understand, Hermione, while Dumbledore was ultimately a good man, he also liked to play with people's lives. All for the Greater Good, of course. He did what he thought was best for the cause, even if it wasn't necessarily what was good for the person."

"What did he do?"

"Besides leaving me to rot in Azkaban for twelve years without a trial? He took you away from me. I had my suspicions who you really were when I first met you. But it wasn't until you were a bit older, when you started to look a bit more like your mother that my suspicions grew stronger. I went to Dumbledore, who confirmed that you were Narcissa's daughter. I was ecstatic; first I got Harry back, then you. I wanted to get custody of you both, after I got my name cleared, raise you together as siblings. Dumbledore let me ramble on, knowing how much I wanted this, needed it even. Then he looked me straight in the eye and obliviated me."

"He what? Why? How do you know this if he obliviated you?"

"When one dies and travels on, all enchantments you might have had on you get lifted. I remembered as soon as I died. Needless to say, I was not happy. I must have ranted to James and Lily about it for months. It took me years to get over, even though I understand you weren't to know who you were for your safety. I still think it could have been done without letting out any secrets though. Of course, it's all a moot point since I ended up here instead."

She took a good look at the man in front of her then. Sadness was shining in his eyes, his mouth in a slight downturn. Tears threatened to slip from her eyes for this man. Betrayed by a friend, his best friends killed by a mad man, spending twelve years in Azkaban as an innocent man. He finally breaks out, only to find himself confined to a house he hates, to have his knowledge of his family ripped away from him.

"Oh Sirius. You deserved so much better," she said sadly, those tears that were previously just threatening, overflowed and streamed down her face. "I would have greatly enjoyed living with you, I'm sure. I know for a fact Harry would have."

He smiled at her and reached over to wipe the tears from her cheeks. Taking her hand, he pulled them both down to sit on the ground.

"Now, we don't know how long we are going to be here. Tell me everything."

Letting out a watery laugh, she did just that. All about what happened during the war and after. How things went downhill with the Weasleys. He cursed under his breath when she told him what a prat Ron turned out to be.

"I never really liked him," he muttered.

She smiled at him and continued on, telling him of her surprise at waking up with blonde hair and everything that had happened between her, Narcissa, Draco, and Lucius since then. Well, almost everything. She purposely left any mention of her relationship with Blaise and Theo out of the conversation. Unfortunately, Sirius wasn't going to let that slide so easily as his next question to her was, "And what about your love life, poppet? Harry's? Anyone special in your lives?"

"Well, Harry is currently dating Pansy Parkinson."

Sirius lifted an eyebrow at that revelation but did not explode like she imagined he would.

"Is he happy?" he asked quietly.

"Yes, he is. They make a very nice couple. I'll admit it surprised me, but Pansy is very good for him."

"And you? What boy would I have to threaten if I was still around to do so?"

At his question, her face turned bright red.

"Ummmm, well..."

"Come on, Hermione. It can't be that bad. It's not like you are dating Snape...wait, you aren't dating Snape, are you? Please say no!"

"Severus is my godfather and no, I am not dating him. I'm seeing Theo Nott and Blaise Zabini. We'll probably be married soon."

Sirius said nothing. He just looked at her expectantly. She just sat there, looking back at him in silence.

"Merlin, you're serious?!"

"No, silly, that's you."

"Oi! Don't go stealing my jokes, witch. You're really going to marry them both? And Lucius Malfoy allowed this?"

"Yes. They assured me it wasn't unusual."

"It's actually fairly common in the Zabini line. You don't see it as often in Britain, but it's not unusual at all throughout the rest of Europe. I'm just surprised old Lucy agreed to it. Do you love them?"

"I do, Sirius, so much. I'm not sure what I would do if anything ever happened to either one of them."

"I'm glad. It makes me happy to know that you and Harry are happy, even if I can't be there to see it."

She smiled sadly at him, wishing he could be there to see it. Seeing him, having him here in front of her, only reinforced how much he was missed. Instead of dwelling on the feeling of sadness that was threatening to overcome her again, she instead asked about Remus, Tonks, and the Potters. His face lit up as he described some of the antics they got up to. It warmed her heart to know that Sirius was among friends, people who were like family to him.

"Remus told me to give you a big hug from him."

"Speaking of him, why didn't he come with you? I miss him."

"He wanted to, but there's some bizarre rule that only one is allowed. You caused a bit of a fight, you know. Remus thought he should get to be here, being that you knew him longer and were closer to him. Lily tried to hex both of us, saying she really wanted to meet the woman who kept her son safe all these years. But I won out in the end. Being that I'm your cousin and all; plus, I'm Sirius Black. I always get what I want."

"You are an obnoxious prat," she said as she swatted his arm. "Mrs. Potter really wanted to meet me?"

"If she was here, she'd hug you and tell you to call her Lily. But yes, she did. She's heard a lot about you."

"That's so sweet. If I make it back, you can assure her that I'll keep looking out for Harry."

"I never had any doubt."

Hermione was about to ask Sirius to tell her some more stories about the Potters so she could relay them back to Harry if she ever saw him again when she gasped loudly.

"What's wrong, Hermione?"

"I don't...I don't know. I felt great a second ago and now it feels as if something is ripping me apart from the inside. Sirius, it hurts! Help me!" she yelled as she doubled over in obvious pain. Sirius drew her into a hug and attempted to keep the tears that appeared at the sound of her distress at bay.

"I'm sorry. There isn't anything I can do. It seems as if we're to be parted. You are going back, Hermione, if you can feel your pain."

She moved back so she could look at his face. Seeing his unshed tears, she started crying.

"I'm going to miss you so much, Sirius."

"I'll miss you too, poppet. Give Harry my love. And Hermione..." he said, as she began to fade away. "Be happy."

Then she was gone.

The pain was unreal and all-consuming. It was worse than being under Bellatrix's wand. She tried to open her eyes but found herself unable to do so. She was mumbling incoherently when she heard voices.

"Is she waking up? What is she saying?"

"Serious? Hermione, can you hear me? What's serious?"

"Someone go get Potter..."

She had no idea who was saying what, she just wanted everyone to be quiet. Unable to get any words out, she did the only thing she could as the pain overtook her.

She screamed.

The next time she came to, the first thing she noticed was that the pain, while still there, had somewhat lessened. She attempted once more to open her eyes and was pleased to see that they complied. It was obviously late, as darkness overtook most of the corners of the room. Luckily, there was enough light coming from somewhere that she was able to determine that she was in a private room, most likely in St. Mungo's. She tried to sit up so she could see better but found herself unable to do so. She was, however, able to turn her head to the side. In doing so, she noticed that there was someone slumped in a chair next to her bed. She was surprised to note that it was Lucius and he looked, quite frankly, terrible. She tried to call to him, hoping to get his attention, but found only a strangled sound came from her mouth. She attempted again with no luck. She got lucky on her third try, producing a sound loud enough to wake Lucius from his slumber. He jolted from his seat, wand out, as he looked around for the source of the sound. His eyes widened in surprise when they landed on hers. He immediately moved to her side, taking her hand in his.

"Hermione. Are you in pain? I'm so sorry, sweetheart, this is all my fault..."

She couldn't hear what else he had to say as her feeble attempts at speaking drained what little energy she had and she fell back into unconsciousness.

AN: Boy, that was a tough chapter for me to write. I had no idea Sirius was going to be such a hard character for me (he's one of my favs). Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed it and please review! Next chapter has a Lucius POV and a possible understanding between father and daughter.