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"So," he said, after he stopped laughing.

"So, what?" she asked, gazing at her assignment.

"Let's talk."

"We are talking."

"Not that, dummy. I mean about your secret knowledge. This time, you can't use your sickness-"

"-Broken wrist-"

"-Whatever, as an excuse. I mean, you're doing your bloody homework!"

Hermione swallowed. She nodded, curtly. "I'll answer three questions. But that's all."

"Three questions?" Sirius complained. "Five questions."

"Three,"

"Five."

"Three."

"Six."

"How does that make it any better? Three."

"Four."

"Keep on arguing and it's two."

"Hey!"

"Three."

"Fine."

There was silence for a moment, until Sirius spoke up with question number one.

"Okay. First, how long have you known about Remus? About him helping us?" he asked slowly. Hermione took a deep breath.

"Sirius, I am going to answer with complete honesty. You just have to trust me when I say this," Hermione pleaded. Sirius nodded.

"Why wouldn't I believe you?" he asked. Hermione ignored his question, for she was answering his first one.

"I've known about Remus ever since I was in the third year," Hermione said, enjoying the confusion on his face.

"Third year?" He asked uncertainly.

"Third year at Hogwarts," she said pleasantly.

"But you weren't here for our third year!" he said loudly. Hermione shushed him.

"My third year. Not yours," she said calmly.

"But-?" Sirius started.

"If you're going to finish that thought, it counts as a question."

"No! No! Fine. Ummmm... Let me think," he said, unsure and scratching the back of his head.

Hermione nodded. She took a sip of water as Sirius thought, stroking a fake beard.

"Okay! Got it! How did you know our names?" Sirius asked.

"I knew you before I came to Hogwarts. I knew Remus as Professor Lupin, and I knew you as some crazy man whom we nick-named Snuffles," Hermione said with delight, snickering.

"That's a lie!" Sirius exclaimed as Hermione laughed.

"And I asked how. That doesn't answer the question," he said, with a tone of accusation in his voice.

"I met you in the shrieking shack, and I was terrified of you. I knew of James because... er... my friend knew about him. As for Peter, that idiot-"

"You didn't know Peter! You introduced yourself to him!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Did I? Well, I lied. I knew about everyone of you before I came here. Even Lily."

"What?" Sirius said, rubbing his eyes.

"And then, I knew about Remus because he taught me Defense Against the Dark Arts in my third year-"

"Don't lie!" Sirius interrupted, but Hermione continued.

"I knew about Peter because he's a dirty, lying, idiotic, weak, selfish, cowardly traitor," Hermione spat. Sirius looked aghast.

"Actually, the first time I heard about you guys at all was by your nicknames. Moony for the full moon. Padfoot for your dog-pad feet. Prongs for his antlers, I'm assuming. Wormtail for his worm-like rat tail," Hermione listed, counting off by her fingers.

"Good god, woman! Are you a death eater?" he asked frantically. Hermione gave a harsh laugh.

"No, Padfoot. But someone unexpected will become one. Someone you knew as a friend," she said harshly, wondering if Sirius would connect the dots. He didn't.

"Okay, last question-"

"That was a question! And I answered it!" Hermione said, throwing her hands in the air.

"But- That didn't count!" he opposed. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Fine. One more question," she huffed.

"How did you come suddenly appear at Hogwarts, and where were you before hand, and what were you doing?" he asked.

"That's three questions."

"Is not!"

Hermione snorted. "Fine. But don't ask questions about my answers.

"I tried a spell that blasted me back. I was at the library. I was reading about time turners," Hermione answered shortly.

"A spell that blasted you back? Back into what? Which library? What are time turners?" Sirius responded immediately.

"Hey, I just told you no more questions!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Ugh! This is so confusing!" Sirius yelled, and Hermione winced.

"Watch it, Siri, my head still hurts!" Hermione said angrily.

"Shut it, Herman."

"I've answered your stupid questions. Now, let me do my homework!" she snapped as she wrote her name on the top of a piece of parchment. Sirius looked over her shoulder.

"You know, I never knew how you spelled your name."

"You never did," Hermione muttered, remembering when Sirius tried to write her name on her Christmas present. Hermione wondered vaguely why he never acted weird around her, except for when he jumped when Hermione called him 'Sirius' in the shrieking shack. She decided to ponder about it tonight.

Sirius furrowed his brow as he watched her spell it.

"Her-mon-ninny? Her-my-oh-nee? I thought it was spelled H-E-R-M-Y-N-I," Sirius mused.

"How many times have people spelled your name, S-E-R-I-O-U-S?" Hermione retorted. Sirius snorted.

"Too many to count," he muttered as Hermione laughed.

Sirius decided to change the conversation. "What's your favorite candy?"

"Well, it's a muggle candy."

"You know muggle candy?"

"Yeah, I'm mu- I mean, my dad was a muggle-born," Hermione said, not sure whether it was okay to reveal that she was a muggle born to Sirius.

"Mine's chocolate frogs," he said. Hermione nodded.

"Mine's Red Vines."

"Red Vines?"

"Red Vines."

"That's a weird name. What is it?"

"Red licorice candy."

"You should try licorice wands."

"I did. They're nothing compared to Red Vines."

"That's a lie!"

"Muggles can make good things, too! Ever heard of the Beatles?"

"That doesn't count!"

Hermione almost laughed; she just remembered something.

"What about motorcycles?" she said in an amused tone.

Sirius blinked. "Fine. You win this round, Alden."

Hermione puffed out her chest in mock pride.

"I really should get some muggle movies for you to watch."

"Really? Like what?" he asked eagerly.

"Well, there's James Bond. And then there's Star Wars- Oops," Hermione said, remembering that Star Wars didn't come out in films until May 25th, 1977. Then Hermione realized that Sirius could hardly look it up on a computer or ask a muggle.

"Yeah. James Bond and Star Wars. They're both so, so amazing! We should have a movie night, and James and Remus could join, and then maybe Lily could, too- She's muggleborn, though, so she might have already seen them-"

"I think we should have it by ourselves," Sirius said.

"Why?" Hermione asked, cocking her head.

"Because... er, James and Remus are noisy. And if James Bond is awesome, James will probably get a bit full of himself and start quoting his lines and stuff. I know from experience. He's really loud."

Hermione snorted. "And you're a sleeping baby."

"Totally!" Sirius said, grinning. Hermione rolled her eyes, smiling herself.

Hermione sat up, dazed. She looked around, and she was tied to a large weight by her wrists. She appeared to be in a roomy broom closet; it could fit a king bed, but that's pretty much it. She seemed to be just lying on a concrete floor. She looked up, and the walls were chipped of paint. Hermione looked down, and she gasped. She was naked except for her undergarments. Hermione flushed red. She heard a non-existent door open.

"Hermione," a voice that sounded like Stephan growled. Hermione started to scream.

"Hermione, what's wrong?" a voice yelled, grabbing her wrist. To defend herself, Hermione kicked the intruder with her foot in the stomach. She heard a satisfying thud that indicated the suspect was on the ground.

"God dammit, Herman! What was that for?" a half angry, half impressed voice said. Hermione let out a sigh of relief. It was not Stephan, but Sirius. Hermione eyes slowly opened as she sat up, rubbing her head.

"Sorry," she whispered, as she sat up and put her head in her knees. Sirius seemed to realize that there was something wrong, and he put an arm around her shoulders. It wasn't the flirty, hunter one he always tried to attempt. It was comforting.

"What's wrong, 'Mione? Why were you screaming?" he asked quietly, using her 'proper' nick-name.

"Had a nightmare. Just a nightmare," she muttered.

"'Bout what?"

"Stephan," she said in a low whisper. "What happened to that monster, anyways?"

"We don't know. I was about to have some-" Sirius' jaw clenched,"-'words' with him in Herbology, but he wasn't there. But this one girl looked really happy at the fact that a kid from his own house went missing," Sirius furrowed his brow.

"Who was is?" Hermione asked, having an idea of who it was.

"I don't know," he admitted. "She had long brown hair. Green eyes. Lots of freckles," he added. Hermione was right: it was that girl who kept on looking at her and even gave her a warning.

"Can you go find her? Bring her to me," Hermione pleaded.

"Ah, come one, I'm all tired-" Sirius complained, until Hermione gave him puppy dog eyes.

"Hey- that's not fair! No. No. N- Fine!" Sirius threw his hands up in defeat, starting at her eyes. Hermione beamed.

"Thanks, Sirius," she chirped, and swooped down to kiss him on the cheek. Sirius looked aghast as he rubbed his cheek, then even flushed a little.

"Oh, stop being such a drama queen, Siri! Just go and get her," she said, laughing.

"Fine, Herman," Sirius said, sticking his tongue as he walked out.

Ten minutes later, Sirius and a very confused girl walked in. Hermione grinned at her slightly as she stopped in her tracks. Then she collapsed on the ground and started to sob.

"What's wrong?" Hermione cried as Sirius helped to pick her up.

"It's all my fault!" she wailed. "I could have stopped him, I could have told Dumbledore, I could have-"

"No, no, it's not your fault. Stephan didn't do this to me, a big furry thing did," Hermione tried to calm the sobbing girl.

"Get lost, Siri," Hermione said to Sirius.

"Why?"

"It's a girl thing."

"Fine. See you later, Herman," he waved as he walked out of the hospital wing.

"Sit here," Hermione said gently, indicating towards the chair Sirius often occupied. She did so, shaking.

"What's you name? I'm Hermione Alden," she introduced. The girl nodded.

"I'm Cassandra Heard. I used to be Stephan's girlfriend," she shuddered.

"What did he do to you? I'm sorry," Hermione said quickly, watching her eyes water. "I shouldn't have-"

"No, it's fine. He raped me," she whispered. Hermione hugged her.

"I got away," Hermione soothed her. "But only just. I wish you could have, too. Why didn't you tell Dumbledore?"

"Oh, I did. After I heard that you were in the hospital wing last night. He's gone now. But I didn't. Not for a year. I could have stopped it. He said he would kill me, and just do- do- that again," she muttered, looking at her shaking hands.

"It's okay now, it's okay-"

"Hermione, he did the Cruciatas curse on me," she whimpered. Hermione gasped.

"But- but- the Ministry is supposed to check for that!" Hermione said, shaking her head.

"They are. But you know him, he's smart, I guess that's why he was in Ravenclaw. He must have put a spell over him that allowed him to do whatever he wanted without the Ministry catching him. He's off to Azkaban."

"It's weird- Like the last person you expected," Hermione murmured, thinking of Peter.

"You'd expect it to be a- excuse me for prejudice- a Slytherin," she nodded, agreeing with her. "Well, I guess you don't have a partner in Herbology anymore. Since it's my fault, I guess you can be in my group," she smiled shyly. Hermione grinned.

"I'd love to! Who's the other person?" she asked.

"Ugh. I was in the same situation as you were. I got put with this Slytherin guy- he's head boy, and he's such a prat," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Believe me, I know," Hermione said. "He's a creep, too. He's another girl-hunter."

"Gross! Aren't there any decent guys around here?" Cassandra moaned.

"Well, Remus is pretty nice. James would be if he wasn't obsessed with Lily. Sirius, I guess,-"

"Oh, last year he wasn't. Every since fourth year, really. He tried to get me in a broom closet with him."

"What happened?" Hermione asked, a little bit of rage building up inside. She didn't even know why.

"Oh, I got away," she said mindlessly, as Hermione breathed out. "But he's gone out with literally every girl who he thinks has a nice arse. After about a week, he ditches her. Every girl he comes across, always claims that Black said that 'she's the one', but they're crying in a loo a week later."

Hermione nodded, not sure what to think of Sirius. She always knew it, in the back of her head, but hearing them repeated really got to her.

"You don't know how weird it is to see him like this," she commented.

"Like what?" Hermione asked.

"He hasn't been out with a single girl this year."

"So? It's barely the end of September."

"Yeah, and at this time, he usually has been through more girls than he can count on his hand," Cassandra snorted.

Hermione laughed. "He must like someone, then."

Cassandra gave her a look that said, Girl, you crazy! "He likes you, dummy!"

Hermione shook her head. "I'm just another doll to him.

"I don't think so. I'm not saying go out with him now," she said slowly. "Watch him suffer for a bit. Let him know how it feels."

"I had no idea an innocent little Ravenclaw girl like you could be so evil!" Hermione sniggered.

"He did the same to my best friend, Tilly Turner. She was crying for weeks. Her fault for falling for him in the first place, but still," Cassandra said, looking down at her watch. She gasped.

"Blimey, it's quarter to nine! And I've got a test tomorrow!" Cassandra screamed. Hermione put a hand over her mouth.

"I'm so sorry!" Hermione wailed.

"It was my fault- ugh- I can never keep track of time- See you!" she said, sprinting out of the hospital wing.

"Good luck!" Hermione called after her. If there was one thing Hermione liked in a person, it would be the fact that they cared about their marks just as Hermione did.

"Took her long enough," Hermione heard a voice mutter behind her. Hermione jumped half a foot in the air before she turned, to see Sirius laughing.

"Don't do that!" Hermione said angrily. "I thought you went out ages ago!"

"I did," Sirius grinned mischievously. "I sneaked in as a dog."

"And I didn't see a giant, long clawed dog come my way?" Hermione raised her eyebrows.

"I can be quiet and unnoticeable. I know, hard to believe. With looks like mine, it's almost impossible to get around," Sirius waved an airy hand as Hermione snorted.

"You know, Harry's always told me that you had long hair. How is it so shiny?" Hermione asked as she leaned over and tugged gently on his long black hair.

"Oi! Not the hair, Herman!" Sirius exclaimed as he slapped her hand away. "Is this 'Harry' the one in that picture?"

"Yep," Hermione said cheerfully.

"He knew me?"

"We all did. All of Hogwarts, in fact."

"What?"

Hermione laughed. "I'll tell you one day. Today is not that day."

Sirius groaned. "Wheeeennnnnnn?"

"Not nooooowwwwwwwwwwww!" Hermione said in a low voice, imitating him.

"I couldn't help notice that you two were talking about me," Sirius said, changing the subject. Hermione flushed slightly.

"Did you really try to get Cassandra in a broom closet?" Hermione accused.

"Well..." Sirius said nervously, scratching the back of his head (A habit Hermione secretly loved!).

"Yes?" Hermione asked lazily.

"Well- yeah-"

"And about you've been with nearly every girl?"

"No! Only half! The other half either hates me or is too ugly."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "You are so like Ron, he didn't care how horrible she was, as long as she was pretty," Hermione sneered.

"I thought you said Ron was your friend," Sirius asked.

"He was. He was also my boyfriend."

"Was? Was it you, er, moving that split you guys up?" Sirius asked, now knowing that she was not from Beauxbatons.

"No," Hermione said softly, and looking at her hands. "He found someone at work."

"He went to work? He was older than you?"

"No. I came back because we missed our seventh year," Hermione said. "They got jobs at the ministry, but I wanted to complete my education to receive my N.E.W.T.S.," Hermione said.

"Why'd you miss your seventh year?" Sirius asked.

"Nothing you should know. Yet," Hermione said. Sirius groaned again.

"I don't like waiting," he moaned.

"I know. I like to torture you," Hermione teased. Hermione turned her head as she heard voices coming from Madam Pomfrey's office.

"Now, now, Remus. The after-effects of your werewolf-" she started, but was cut off by Sirius low muttering.

"Remus has this weird thing after he transforms back into a human. It's like this peculiar hunger thing, but not for human flesh. It's hard to explain. His eyes flash yellow, and he sometimes goes completely werewolf, but like a girl-hunter," Sirius said awkwardly. Hermione looked at him, confused. The paper she did in her third year had nothing to do with this.

"It's like he's really turned on all the time. It's really creepy, because we had to lock him in our dormitory once because a bunch of fourth years in tank tops were downstairs in the common room."

Hermione nodded. "That is creepy."

"And only he has it! I sorta feel bad for him, but I'm sort of jealous. He's snogged plenty of girls in the corridors randomly when he has this, and he has an excuse. If I did that, I'd get slapped."

Hermione giggled a bit as he rubbed his left cheek, where Hermione first slapped him.

"Black! Get out! I've got two patients, now!" she scolded.

"And both of them are my friends!" Sirius protested.

"Out!" she demanded. Sirius got up, grumbling under his breath.

Madam Pomfrey helped Remus into a bed far from Hermione's.

"I'm sorry, Remus, but after that third year girl, we just can't really let you out," Madam Pomfrey said soothingly as Remus looked up at her, eyes flashing between golden-hazel and yellow slits.

Madam Pomfrey bustled away, Remus' yellow eyes following her.

Remus' eyes settled one her, and they immediately changed back to normal. "Hey, Hermione! How's your wrist?"

"It's doing great. It's my head that's keeping me in here. I get out tomorrow, thought. What was that about a third year?"

"What?" Remus said quickly. "Oh, that. Well, I have this weird thing-"

"I know. Sirius told me. Don't tell me you snogged an innocent thirteen year old?"

Remus looked embarrased. "Look, I can't control it-"

"I know, I know," Hermione said, smiling. "Joking. How long does it last for?"

"About three days. Today's day one."

"I see," Hermione mumbled as she turned over to sleep.

"Night, Moony," Hermione muttered.

"Night, Herman," Remus snickered. Hermione groaned.

"Sirius told you?"

"Yep."

"Shut it. I'm tired."

"Shutting up."