...

The slate will soon be clean

I'll erase the memories

To start again with somebody new

Was it all wasted,

All that love?

I hang my head and I advertise

A soul for sale or rent

I have no heart I'm cold inside

I have no real intent

Save me, save me, save me

I can't face this life alone

Save me, save me, ooooohhhhh...

I'm naked and I'm far from home

Save Me-Queen

...

The moment Hermione found herself on the doorstep, all of that cheer and courage seemed to leave her. To Sirius, nothing had changed, but to her, everything had.

Sighing, Hermione opened the door and stepped inside.

"Sirius?" she called. Everyone else was at the burrow that night, so she knew they'd be alone. "Sirius, I need to talk to you."

"He's not here."

Hermione froze and almost forgot to close the door. The wind slammed it behind her.

"Wh-whose there?" Though she didn't have to ask. She'd know that voice anywhere.

She heard a small chuckle. "I think you know."

She stepped into the kitchen, seeing the mess he'd made before seeing the actual person.

"Ronald, look what you've done to the floor!" Hermione exclaimed.

He grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck as Hermione knelt down to clean the spilled powdered cocoa from the floor.

"I-uh-wanted to make you some hot chocolate 'cuz I know it's your favourite."

Hermione paused. She stood and looked at him. "Why?"

He shrugged. "I just wanted to."

Hermione shook her head and dumped the spilled cocoa into the trash can. "Where's Sirius?"

"It's a long story."

"Tell it to me."

He attempted to dig a hole in the tile floor with his toe. "Sirius went to the Burrow."

"Why?"

"Because he wanted to leave us alone."

Hermione blinked. This wasn't making any sense. "Why?"

He sighed. "Because he knew you still loved me or something, and he wanted us to...I don't know...talk about it."

Hermione examined his face for a few moments, what felt like a lifetime to Ron, before looking away.

"That's what I was doing while I was out," Hermione replied. "Getting over it. Getting over...you."

"You were?" Hermione couldn't tell how he felt about this knowledge. Relieved?

"That...that'll be good for Sirius to know." He sighed again. "Hey, I have a question."

She tilted her head. "Yeah?"

"Are we completely over? Everything between us, is that all forgotten?"

She shrugged. "I guess. I mean, we could still be friends, I suppose...but you have Lavender now, and I have Si-" She paused, blinked, and turned to begin washing already clean dishes. "And you have Lavender now."

"'Mione..." he said cautiously. "Who do you have?"

"No one, I don't have anyone at the moment, but, you know, maybe I'll have someone for myself in the future; I mean, they're not that hard to come by-just going to buy groceries gets me twelve different phone numbers-"

"Hermione, are you seeing Sirius?"

Hermione paused in her violent scrubbing of a spotless dish. "I-"

"Are you?" He persisted.

Hermione shook her head and dropped the dish. "Don't be ridiculous," she mumbled. "He could be my father."

"Right," Ron nodded. "Well, I'll...I'll send Sirius back here, then. Good night."

Hermione smiled. "Good night, Ron. I'm glad we're okay."

"We are?"

Hermione nodded and held out her arms for a hug. "Yeah. I think we are."

Ron smiled as well. "I don't know how it happened, but I'm glad. Girls are weird."

Hermione laughed into their embrace. "Yes, we are. I rather don't know how it happened either, but we're okay. I've done a lot of thinking, lately, and I decided I'd rather be happy than moping. And I am happy now. I think I can be with Sirius. I mean-"

Ron laughed. "I knew it!"

Hermione pushed away. "Oh, whatever, you know he's amazingly persistent. It was only so long before I couldn't resist anymore!"

Ron laughed and shook his head. "Good luck telling Harry."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Just swear you won't tell anyone else."

He laughed and started up the floo. "Bye, 'Mione!"

"Don't tell anyone!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Tell anyone what?"

Hermione spun around to see Sirius stepping through the front door. Without a second thought, Hermione threw herself at the man. It was finally time. It was time to tell him.

He laughed as he hugged her back. "I knew you missed me, love," he said, pressing his face into her hair.

"Sirius..."

"Hermione, are you crying?"

Hermione took a shuddering breath before she finally spoke.

...

Aaaaand...

Cliffhanger!

Mwah ha ha!

The next chapter will be up in a little bit, don't fret. I'm not that mean. It should be up before my bedtime tonight, which is...never because it's the weekend. So there.