A/N: Sorry this took a while. I had written it before, but I didn't like how Sirius sounded, so I re-wrote it. Hope you like it, either way please review. Thanks to everyone who has left a few words, it means a lot to me to hear your ideas or just that you like the story.

I threw in two House quotes and one of my 100 Quotes challenge quotes. Enjoy!

"Hermione?" Sirius said as he opened the door to the suite. All that answered was the lingering darkness. He could see lights flashing under her door. He walked up to the door and repeated his call. Either she couldn't hear him or she was ignoring him. He tried knocking on the door, but his hand couldn't make contact with the door. Clever witch, she knows how to be left alone.

He decided that the best way to get her attention was to camp out in the common room and wait for her to emerge in the morning. Staying up all night was nothing new to him. He made himself comfortable on the couch and waited for the sun to come up.


She slept in the next morning, exhausted from everything going on, and she finally emerged around eleven. She found Sirius sleeping on the couch, his head on his chest, arms crossed, still sitting mostly up. She smiled slightly, but wondered why he would choose the couch over his bed. She left her small beaded bag in her room after extracting a more reasonable looking purse, and quietly left.

Leaving the hotel she had no idea where to go, so she took a left and started walking. It was weird, not having to keep looking over her shoulder. People passed her without a second glance, if they glanced at all. Complete freedom, and she wasn't sure what to do with it.

The first clothing store she passed was an expensive boutique. While the outfit in the window was cute it probably doubled her clothing budget.

Just the type of place Sirius would love to take me, she thought. She rolled her eyes. She was sure there were a few hundred, maybe thousand women who would love nothing more than to be Sirius Black's pet, but she wasn't one of them. She had plans for later, and none of them included doing absolutely nothing, as Sirius seemed inclined to be doing recently. She wanted to study, she wanted a job, she wanted to go out there and do things, and Sirius seemed happy to just follow the wind. None of her hopes and dreams involved him.

Well, they did include Sirius Black. As a good friend and her best friend's Godfather.

And why don't they involve Sirius? her brain piped up. Why would life be so bad if you were with Sirius?

"Quiet brain," she ordered herself in a low mutter. "If you don't think that again I'll reward you with coffee."

The offering of caffeine seemed to placate her mind for a while. She wandered until she found a department store and started towards the women's clothes. She started poking around and found a knee-length pencil skirt and a button up blouse. She went to the dressing room and tried them on.

"Cute," she muttered, examining herself in the mirror.

Yeah, if you're looking for a professional job, her brain replied. She shook her head, she could see two tiny eyes on her brain rolling.

"It's not bad," she muttered aloud, trying to convince herself.

Not bad at all. Maybe Sirius has a fetish for schoolmarms, her brain rebuffed.

Sighing and swearing off coffee for the day she changed back into her clothes and went out in search of something a little younger looking.

Two hours later she left the store with bags full of new clothes and a considerably lighter wallet. She found a small cafe on her wanderings and sat down for some lunch, deliberately ordering tea. She sat by the window, looking out at the passing people. Inevitably her mind started wandering to the previous night.

There was something comforting about being in Sirius' arms. For the first time in months she forgot all about Voldemort, Bellatrix, and their sadistic group of 'friends'. All the bad thoughts had been pushed from her mind, and she was living in the moment. She could smile freely, she could laugh, she didn't have to worry about what would happen in the next five weeks, five days, or five minutes because he was safe. But there was always the question to why he had done it. Men don't just pick up women and hold them on their laps, did they? At Hogwarts Seamus and Dean had never done it. Harry, well, her relationship with Harry was much more complicated than merely best friends, but he had never held her on his lap and flirted with her. Even Ron had never done such a thing. The only one who had ever held her anything like what Sirius had done the night before was Viktor, and there were definite differences between the two. Sirius touched her lightly, she felt almost like property in Viktor's arms.

She sighed in frustration. Why did relationships have to be so complicated? In so many movies she had watched as a little girl it was two people looking at each other and knowing almost instantaneously that they were meant for each other. Happily ever after, right? Even if there was a conflict it was quickly resolved and the two lovers were together at the end.

So which movie was she in? Were she and Ron destined to be together and this break was only going to make them realize that they were soul mates or whatever it was called? And if so, where did that leave Sirius? And why did sitting on his lap feel so right?

Why are you so afraid to like Sirius? her brain asked.

"I do like him," she muttered, glad no one in the cafe was paying attention to her mutterings.

OK, smartass, why are you afraid to love him?

"Great. Even my brain is sarcastic."

Stop deflecting.

She sighed. She started thinking of all the reasons Sirius was wrong for her. First of all he was twenty years older.

Age is but a number.

He spent so long in Azkaban.

He didn't do it.

He is the quintessential 'bad boy'.

Only on the surface. And what girl doesn't like her beau to be a little rough around the edges?

He's Harry's godfather.

Harry would want to see you both happy.

Ron will kill me.

Ron would want to see you happy.

Ron will kill him.

No, he wouldn't. You overestimate his temper. Would you be mad if he returned with a girlfriend?

I would if it was my Godmother.

No, you wouldn't. You'd wish them good luck and send them on their merry way.

Sirius doesn't want to be tied down to anyone.

I'm your brain, not his. I don't know that.

Why must you be so insistent on this?

Why must you be so against it?

She knew she could never win an argument with her own mind. Deep down she was dead set on having a go with Sirius. She needed to talk to him. Good thing she didn't bring her stuff so she could chicken out and make a break for her parents.


He woke up and the first thing he noticed was that the door to her room was open. He stood and walked over, fully expecting all her stuff to be gone, but her little beaded bag sat in the middle of the bed. She was either planning on ditching all her stuff, or she was planning on coming back. He'd just have to wait for her to return.

But what was he going to say? Hello, Hermione, welcome back. Listen, I think you're fabulous, feel like going on a date?

He must have slept later than he thought, because he heard a key turning in the door. He stood up straight in the middle of the room, hearing his heart pounding in his ears.

"Hey," she muttered, dropping her shopping bags on the floor.

"How was shopping?" he said, eyeing the armload of bags.

"I found some cute new outfits. Want to see?"

"Maybe later," he smiled. "Can we talk?"

A look flashed across her face. Fear? Excitement? He couldn't tell, it left too quickly. "Sure," she said. She put her bags into her room and returned to sit on the couch next to him. They faced each other, keeping an awkward space between them.

They sat in silence for a full minute, each staring at the cushion between them.

"About last night," Sirius started. She looked up at him excitedly. "I knew I was being too forward. I shouldn't have done, well, any of the things I did." Her face fell slightly. "But the truth is that I find you very attractive, Hermione."

She smiled.

"There are so many parts of me that tell me that what I'm thinking is wrong. But I've never really been one to listen to those parts," he smirked.

"Sirius Black, if you're going to ask me on a date you should just get along with it before I'm too old and ugly to hold your interest."

He chucked. "That's the kind of attitude that's going to get you in trouble, young lady."

"Don't you start pulling that 'honor your elders' crap on me," she rolled her eyes. "If we're talking maturity you and I are about on the same page."

He looked wounded. "OK, OK, would you like to go on a date?"

She raised an eyebrow. "That certainly was a change in attitude."

"You know me, hostility makes me shrink up like... I can't think of a non-sexual metaphor."

She giggled, then straightened herself back up. "I'd love to go out with you."

"Great," he smiled cockily, then closed the gap between them, threw an arm around her, and put his feet up on the coffee table.

"Comfortable, are you?"

"Expensive suite, check. Giant television which haven't gotten to properly appreciate before, check. Beautiful woman on my arm, check. Life is good."

"That's all that it takes to make you happy? Standards a little low, aren't they?" she asked, shaking her head.

"No need to hit below the belt, love."

"Hey, I can be a jerk to people I haven't slept with. I'm that good."

"No. That's one of the nice things about being female. You can be mean to a guy and as long as you are willing to have sex with him he'll take the abuse."

"That's a relatively negative way of thinking."

"Would you care to make this an experiment?"

"I'm in no mood for practicals right now."

"Damn. And I had a glimmer of hope there."

"Sirius!" she snapped.

"I'm warning you! I'm well versed in the ancient art of origami!"

"Paper folding?" she rolled her eyes.

"You never know when it'll come in handy," he smiled, waving his wand at a pink flyer sitting by the door. It floated into the air, folded itself into a rose, and presented itself to Hermione, who took it, blushing.