This chapter took it's time evolving and none of it would have happened without my wonderful beta. Thanks Dave.
Silver
Sight
She was the first to pull away.
Eyes downcast, a blush staining her cheeks and pink lips parted, Granger's grip loosened as her arms fell away.
He didn't move. Couldn't move. Confusion settling over him as he struggled to understand what had just happened.
Granger had hugged him. And he'd let her - returned it actually. Silver eyes moved over her smiling face as she continued to watch the floor between them. Sirius could taste her awkwardness, it was coming off her in waves as she realised what she'd done.
Before he could stop himself, the inevitable question escaped. 'Why?'
Granger stiffened before shuffling her feet. Brown eyes moved upwards, watching him from beneath her fringe. His heart pounded against his chest as his throat locked.
'Because it looked like you needed a friend,' she said quietly.
She smiled again. That same awkward side smile at the floor before she moved away, across the room and back to her space.
Sirius was rooted to the spot. Unable to look away as the witch fiddled with a letter. Her cheeks were still rosy as she stared at the post.
He looked away.
The room was heavy with strained silence and neither made a move to leave. It wasn't time yet but the need to flee was potent because acknowledging what had just happened seemed dangerous somehow. Ignoring it seemed the best option.
He cleared his throat and looked at everything but her, completely ignoring her side of the room.
It looked like you needed a friend.
Was that what they were? Had they become friends despite everything?
It felt like it. Weirdly, he was okay with that.
The Marauder blinked, a jolt of surprise shot through him and a flash of heat raced down his spine as he caught himself. He'd been staring at her. Was still staring in fact. Oddly enough, he couldn't force himself to look away.
She's lovely.
Sirius tore his eyes away from her, frowning, ignoring his reaction.
His heartbeat pounded in his ears. The paced drumming muting everything but his thoughts.
He'd called her lovely. And he was semi-hard.
Sirius swallowed thickly as Granger looked up, meeting his eyes. He'd been staring at her again.
Flushed cheeks, bright eyes and an awkward smile pulled at her lips. Mad curls framed her face and he felt his own respond in kind.
Granger cleared her throat as she began straightening the letters. Someone had to say something. The silence was getting to him. Still, he kept staring.
'Think we're done for the day,' she said to the post.
Sirius nodded, grey eyes focused on her.
'Tony will be back soon,' she said, her cheeks stained pink. 'Technically, he was going to be back by the end of August but he couldn't leave Rosa and the baby. They named her Isabella Margaret after their mums but he'll be back sometime in the next few weeks.'
She was rambling and he fought down a smile as her face flushed.
'We should leave.'
He nodded.
A flick of his wrist and his tools straightened. Her letters shuffled into neat piles as his potion ingredients flew across the room.
'Damn,' he muttered as two vials crashed into the wall and broke.
'How do you do that? Concentrate your magic like that?'
Sirius turned frustrated eyes onto the petite witch. 'I don't know.' He waved his hand and the vial shards vanished. 'I've always been able to do it. For as long as I can remember, I could just do it.'
Silence creeped up on them again, enhancing the discomfort and making that which they were trying to avoid, more obvious.
They'd hugged.
It wasn't a big deal. Not enough to warrant this level of awkward definitely but the tension between them said otherwise.
He had an erection.
Because of Granger.
It was a bit odd and uncomfortable to admit but that was easily explained away: he hadn't had sex in some time.
So that... it didn't mean anything except that he needed to get laid.
Besides, an erection didn't exactly mean anything. He'd gotten hard once while riding the Knight Bus and it'd hit a bump. It'd been weird as fuck but it happened.
This? With the hug and his dick a bit hard? Same shit.
It didn't mean anything.
Sirius blinked and caught himself staring. Again.
Granger wasn't the usual standard of beauty but she was definitely something. It was impossible to ignore once you realised it.
Eyes the colour of whisky, a bright smile, soft curves and creamy skin. As well as a glorious mane of hair.
There was no denying it. She was stunning.
It wasn't wrong of him to notice either. He was a straight bloke with a working pair and she was beautiful. Appreciating that wasn't a bad thing.
So why did he feel guilty?
'Ready to go?'
He'd been staring again. Fuck. He cleared his throat, eyes darting away from her and searching the room. He ran a sweaty hand through his hair, pushing back his fringe.
Why the hell did he feel guilty?
They closed the shop and walked in silence.
A cold chill had settled over the village, random leaves had begun to change. Shades of orange and red just beginning to peek through the clouds.
Their feet dragged. A slow shuffle ensued and though it wasn't uncomfortable, it was definitely strained.
It felt like something needed to be said.
An acknowledgement of what had just happened maybe. He couldn't bring himself to start the conversation though.
It was too difficult a subject to bring up, especially considering that Granger was being weird about it. Really, not bringing it up was best. It was for her sole benefit that he wouldn't.
On the plus side, he wasn't hard anymore.
Eyes focused on his feet, he felt the familiar prickle that came with being watched.
Granger was staring again and this time, he didn't mind it.
His hand prickled and tingled. The memory of his blood and sudden panic muted by the memory of her arms.
He still felt her touch.
It lingered. Burning his skin and marking his wrist with her warmth.
The Animagus pushed that thought away. His gut aching as warning bells fired off in his head.
Sirius didn't understand what the hell was going on. Nothing made sense.
He was confused and judging by her reaction, Granger was too. Talking about it though ... didn't feel right. The thought of her apologising and saying she regretted it made him uncomfortable.
He didn't know what that meant.
Sirius looked up and caught her eyes.
She didn't look away this time. Nor did she try to play it off like she hadn't been staring.
The corner of his lip curled and a laugh threatened to escape when hers did the same.
He stopped walking and the witch did too, stopping two steps ahead of him and turning. The wind caught her hair, making it dance.
Dark eyes sparkled in the setting sun and her smile grew. His own followed in reply.
They were fucking ridiculous.
Stupid.
'You're fucking weird Granger.'
That did it.
Their laughter mingled. Lighting up their faces and lifting the tension. It wasn't funny. The situation was anything but. Still, it helped.
The smiling witch turned and continued walking. He kept her pace.
Side by side, the pair made their way through the village. Unrushed and unhurried, they may as well have been visitors.
For the first time in a long time, he took in his surroundings without suspicion.
He should've been more cautious and he shouldn't have let his guard down, but he couldn't help it. It'd just happened. His mind was on overload, crowded with thoughts of Granger. Rather than trying to make sense of anything, he took in the village.
Narrowed streets, framed by tall trees and overhanging leaves. A creaky, old bridge and a bubbling brook. An old church and an even older cemetery. Village cottages and the laughter of children as they chased a ball.
All seen through the haze that was her scent and an autumn breeze.
He didn't realise when they'd reached Batty's door but suddenly they had and Granger was there. Stood before the red door, the bright colour a stark contrast to her earthy tones. She smiled and his gut did a very weird thing that while not unpleasant, was very confusing.
Grey eyes roamed her face and he frowned.
Granger's brow furrowed. Her forehead crinkling as her smile dimmed and faded. He didn't like seeing that.
'What's wrong?' she asked. Her voice anxious as her eyes darted to one end of the street to another.
Sirius shook his head, not looking away from her. 'Nothing.'
'Then why are you looking at me weird?'
He blinked and smiled as he gave her a pointed look. That was all it took for her face to flush with colour.
Defiant as fuck all, she didn't run inside though. No. Cos whatever and whoever the hell Hermione Granger was, she sure as shit wasn't a coward.
The witch stared him down and that weird fluttering stirred in him again. Pride burst and bloomed in his chest, filling his every breath.
She was embarrassed. Her cheeks were burning red hot and she looked like she wanted to bolt... but she held firm. Brown eyes lit from within by the threat of a challenge.
'Go on Granger,' he said, taking a taunting step forward. 'Run inside and hide... you know you want to.'
Her fists clenched. He saw them pull at the hem of her long and flowing shirt. Agitation pouring out of her in waves and all directed at him.
It was exciting. Thrilling. Dangerous.
And he fucking loved it.
She didn't look away. Dark eyes boring into his, trying to glare him into submission. A dainty brow arched as she took a step forward and his gut did that thing again.
She stood on the step to Batty's house. They were only a foot apart, eye to eye.
'You don't scare me,' she said. Her voice quiet and firm.
Everything else faded away as his smirk morphed into a smile.
So fucking fearless.
A soft chuckle escaped him and an answering giggle met it. He took a step back, nodding at the door behind her.
'Night Granger.'
She gave him a small wave and turned. Her hand gripping the door handle before pushing it open.
Before she went inside she turned, looking at him over her shoulder. Her eyes were bright, a smile gracing her lips and rosy cheeks. His eyes moved down her figure when she looked away. His eyes lingered a bit longer than they should've but he caught himself quickly.
The witch went inside and he moved to his tree. His mind was a confusing ball of mixed thoughts and emotions that he couldn't begin to separate or describe.
They were fine though. Her parting smile said so and though it made no sense, it relieved him. It was weird that he cared when he hadn't before but if they were friends it made sense... right?
Sirius huffed a laugh as he took his seat and pulled out his fags and lighter. He was a fucking moron.
He was over thinking again and he'd long decided that thinking shit through was for idiots.
Nah.
He preferred the old 'act first and think later' approach. It guaranteed that his initial instincts kicked in and, as had long been established, his instincts were usually right.
The setting sun cast its burning golden light on it. The memory of her smile lingering.
He shouldn't have teased her. It had been a bad idea.
She wasn't a friend. Not really. No matter what he'd thought beforehand, she was first and foremost - a mission.
Sirius was meant to protect Granger, not tease her. It was a job, one he intended to do well. At this point, he knew he wouldn't find out why he was here and though it still bothered him, he'd accepted the fact. Yes, he had to spend time with her on a regular basis. Yes, talking with her wasn't a necessity but all things considered, it'd been inevitable.
You couldn't spend so much time with someone and maintain strict silence. It was unnatural. Damn near impossible.
All that aside, he needed to keep and maintain a professional distance.
The memory of her body pressed against his own flashed through his mind. Of her softness against his own as he responded - what happened today couldn't happen again.
This wasn't a normal mission by any means.
From the moment they'd met, he and Granger had set the tone for an unconventional mission-turned-friendship.
Sirius clenched his jaw. There was that fucking word again. Friends. They were friends.
He frowned.
He couldn't deny it any more. But it was a delicate thing, filled with secrets and suspicion but it didn't change the fact.
Granger was broken. She was a mystery. Her name could be fake for fuck's sake.
She was dangerous. A secret hidden in plain sight.
One's whose life depended on him.
She couldn't be a friend and he shouldn't be thinking of her as such, much less teasing her like he had.
That road led to her being a distraction and they couldn't afford that. Not if she knew things- whatever that meant.
He would have to watch himself around her.
To add to his sudden hyperawareness, he clenched his hand. The very one she'd held- healed- and remembered her eyes as she looked up at him.
Dark orbs burning from within. Life and fire piercing him with their own challenge. Daring him to fuel her embarrassment.
Sirius lit a fag and inhaled deeply, his eyes moving upwards, searching for her window through the fading light and canopy of leaves.
His wrist still tingling with the ghost of her touch.
Hermione rubbed her hands against her cheeks, damming them.
She hated blushing with all her being. Hated it even more than her overly productive tear ducts.
She cried for everything, it was annoying.
Blushing on the other hand … She rarely ever did but when it did happen, it infuriated her.
Behind the closed door she heard Sirius shuffling away. His boots scraping across the cobbled stone on his merry way to his tree.
Damn him. Damn him hard.
He was an arse. One she refused to back down from because doing so would go against everything she stood for.
She'd never backed down from him. Not in her former life, when he'd been 'older' and she sure as hell wasn't about to start now. And though his teasing was done in good fun and with no harm intended, she wasn't about to let him think he'd had the upper hand.
Challenging him may not have been wise but it was done.
Hermione pushed away from the door and made her way towards the sitting room. Intent on finding Batty and Hooky, they would no doubt be shocked at her coming home earlier than expected and would ask her questions. Most likely they'd be riddled with... heavy innuendos...
The brunette stopped mid step and turned around. Finding Batty was not a priority she realised and had decided to go up to her room when she heard the quiet sob.
Hermione blinked. Frowning as she reached the kitchen. Blinking again when a quiet sniff reached her ears.
She shook her head, positive she'd heard wrong and her chest ached when another sob reached her drumming ears.
A pale hand reached out and she pushed. The kitchen door swung open, revealing a tear stained Batty sat on the kitchen table.
Eyes downcast, she fiddled with her mug as she wiped at her nose. Yet another quiet sob, escaping her lips. She didn't appear to have heard her and her gut clenched.
Batty was crying.
The sight before her made her chest burn and her tummy hurt. Her heartbeat pounded in temple, her ears rushed with sound and dark eyes focused on the utter misery the tiny witch was displaying.
'Batty?'
She'd been startled and Hermione found herself at the end of the historian's wand. The younger witch didn't move. She didn't blink.
Her sole focus, the red rimmed and teary eyes of the powerful witch.
Something akin to dread and pain filled her chest. Quickly followed by paralyzing fear.
'What's wrong?'
Batty blinked several times before lowering her wand and looking away. A hasty hand wiping at her eyes and cheeks as she turned her back.
Hermione had already seen her crying but that didn't seem to matter. Batty was proud. Strong. Any form of weakness on her part wasn't going to be shared. She'd been caught, found in a compromising situation but Hermione knew that it'd been a fluke.
A mistake the older witch wouldn't allow to be repeated and so she wiped away the evidence of her tears.
Hermione swallowed the painful lump that'd formed in her throat. She blinked away the sudden tears that'd inexplicably formed. Her shaking hands curled into fists.
'Batty?'
'It's nothing,' she answered, her voice thick and wavering.
Another painful twist pulled at her belly.
The tiny witch blurred around the edges. Her eyes darted over the room, her mouth opening... something needed to be said. What though?
Demanding answers wasn't an option and truthfully, she had no right. Batty had taken her in, no questions asked. To date, the older witch still hadn't questioned her. Suspicious glances and contemplative silences aside, she'd yet to ask Hermione a single thing.
How could she intrude on the woman's personal business when Batty had gone out of her way to give her space?
She couldn't and she wouldn't dare insult her that way.
So she sat.
It was then that she noticed the three mugs sat on the kitchen table.
Batty's favourite, Hooky's and another.
She'd had a visitor.
Dumbledore?
Was she leaving?
Had Batty had enough?
Her breathing came in rapid gasps. The thought of leaving Godric's Hollow, Batty and Hooky and this place where she knew it was safe ... she couldn't leave. Not now, not when it'd become home. Dumbledore couldn't do this to her.
'-rmione!'
Tear filled eyes shot to the tiny woman who had turned to look at her. Hermione's heart violently pounding against her ribcage, her breathing ragged and loud in her ears.
The curtains were fluttering around her and utensils rattled in the cupboards. Hermione willed her magic down but it was useless. The noises around her dimmed but they didn't stop.
What she saw in the older witch's eyes burned through her and a sob was ripped from her throat. Her shoulders caved in on her and she gasped for breath.
'Are you sending me away?'
Her voice was small and pitiful even to her own ears. She'd heard it but it didn't matter.
Batty shut her eyes and clasped her hands. Head bowed, she turned around and again she saw the older woman wipe at her face.
Batty braced her outstretched arms on the kitchen top and didn't speak for what felt like hours. Days. An eternity.
'Calm down love,' she finally said. Her voice soft and soothing. 'You're not going anywhere. This is your home now. You belong here. If Albus even tried to take you away, he'd have to go through Hooky and me first.'
'Then wh-' she bit down on her tongue, cursing her stupidity.
The words had left her mouth lips before she'd had time to process them and now they lingered in the air between them. Loud and potent, they lay heavy in the air.
Batty moved and took her usual seat. Though her swollen eyes were red rimmed and her face splotchy, her voice was calm. Reassuring and firm.
'This,' she said, waving a flippant hand at her face, 'is from something else entirely and has nothing to do with you.'
The powerful witch flicked two fingers and the mugs moved to the sink.
'A friend's son has gone missing. He works for the Order and disappeared after a mission not long ago. I hadn't known, Phemmy just let me know today... private woman that she is, she'd kept it quiet. She dropped in for a chat. Needed to get things off her chest.'
Her racing heart settled as her breathing eased. The tension coiling inside her twisted and squirmed but didn't leave.
Someone Batty cared for had gone missing. Hermione wasn't foolish enough to think she could make a difference in every aspect of the war but she felt guilty nonetheless.
Realistically, there was no saving everyone. People would die with or without her interference. Death and war went hand in hand. She couldn't save everyone. That she would have been able to stop this- the chances were infinitesimal and yet... her tummy clenched and her chest burned.
'Dumbledore provided them with a name at long last. Kielder. It's not much to go on but it's thereabouts he disappeared. Her husband left days ago in search of Jimmy and Phemmy couldn't take it anymore. She needed to talk.'
Hermione frowned at the table. An odd niggling at the back if her head.
Kielder... She'd heard that name before... years ago...
'How long has he been missing?'
Batty pierced her with a look and she felt properly chastised. 'Sorry.'
The witch shook her head, white hair glinting as it caught the light. 'I shouldn't be telling you this you know. Albus gave me very strict instructions to keep you in the dark. About the war and especially the Order.'
Hermione bowed her head. 'Sorry.'
'Stop apologising.'
She had to stop herself from saying it again.
'He's been missing for about a month I think she said? He'd gone on a stake out or whatever they're called. A Death Eater safe house was suspected to be in the area so he was sent to investigate. He never returned.'
'I'm sorry,' she said. Her words heavy with double meaning. Batty took them at face value.
The powerful witch nodded. 'I am too. He's their only child. They'd wanted a kid for so long ... it never seemed to happen though.' Batty was looking out the window at the fading light. Pale, green eyes distant. Her voice quiet. Hermione doubted the tiny woman even remembered she was there. 'Then it did and they were overjoyed... and now this. It was too much for them to handle and when Albus finally gave them a location, Flea left to find Jimmy and Phemmy was left behind, worrying about them both... that selfish bastard.'
She wasn't sure who Batty was talking about and almost asked. She'd raised her eyes and opened her mouth before catching herself. Batty, of course noticed this.
She raised an eyebrow. 'Go on, ask.'
Hermione licked her lips, changing course. 'Why are you telling me this? Dumbledore said not to.'
Batty huffed a laugh. 'If I'd spent half my life doing what other people told me to do, I'd be a very different person today. I guarantee it.' Batty sat up straighter and once again moved an airy hand, signalling at her face. 'You caught me...'
Crying. The word wasn't said but the heavy implication was there. Her hand made a flippant gesture again. 'If you hadn't I wouldn't have said a fucking thing. Trust me on that.'
She did. Hermione believed her fully.
'If you hadn't reacted as you had,' Batty said, waving at the room. 'I especially wouldn't have said shit. But you did and I can't afford to have you stumble. Not when you've come so far. Your magical outbursts are few and far between. Damn near rare nowadays. I couldn't keep you in the dark and scared so yeah...'
'Do you think they'll find him?'
Batty shook her head, a lift of her shoulder.
'I don't know,' she said as she stood, rubbing at her neck. 'Normally, I'd say they had a chance but now... I don't know.'
It'd been too long. The possibilities had grown less and less as time had gone by. Batty didn't need to say it.
His poor parents.
She felt a certain kinship with whoever this Jimmy was.
Hermione had known that her parents would have searched the world over for her too. That they were Muggle didn't matter. If she'd gone missing, they would have done the impossible to find her. It'd been one of the reasons she'd been forced to Obliviate them.
'I do know one thing though, Fleamont will not stop until he finds Jimmy.' Batty said, moving towards the door. She chuckled darkly. 'Merlin help any man or woman intent on stopping a determined Potter. I wouldn't use the word dangerous b-'
Her eyes snapped up. Wide eyes stared at the retreating woman, her breathing ragged as her blood rushed to pound in her ears.
'Potter?' She asked, her voice eerily calm, hiding the storm brewing inside of her. 'That's his surname?'
Batty was half way out the door now. She didn't turn around but she stopped. 'Yeah,' she nodded and when she spoke again, her voice was thick. 'Come to think of it, you may know him. He's good mates with Sirius... James Potter?'
Hermione doesn't know when Batty walked away. She didn't hear anything else that was or may have been said.
She sat for what felt like a lifetime, staring at the table. The stillness and silence surrounding her a lie.
Inside she was screaming.
James Potter was missing.
Hermione felt the table shake beneath her spread palms. She felt her hair stirring. Above her, the lights flickered as an eerie hum settled over the room.
The sound rang in her ears and vibrated against her bones. She clenched her jaw as her teeth gently rattled. It didn't hurt but the sensation was an odd one.
Her mind was in free fall. She was stumbling and spinning into a dark abyss and she struggled against it. For the second time in her life, her world spun violently on its axis.
Around her, items began to levitate. The hum grew louder. Curtains swirled.
James Potter was missing.
Her birth date was in a week - six days in fact. She was yet to be born which meant that Harry had yet to be conceived.
And James Potter was missing.
'Kielder,' she whispered.
Kielder.
She didn't know where that was. But she'd heard the name. Once upon a time, years ago. In her past- a future now in jeopardy.
Because of her.
Because she suddenly remembered and her mouth fell open in shock, a maddening scream stuck in her throat wanting to escape but unable to.
Thick tears streamed down her face, making her cheeks itch.
I'd been captured once. Village called Kielder. I was tracking a pair of new Death Eaters when one found me. I'd transformed into Padfoot and escaped. Barely fit through the bars but I'd managed. It'd been a pain.
How long had you been missing?
Five hours.
Sirius had been captured. Not James.
Sirius had escaped. Not James.
James Potter was missing and she was the cause.
The table shook violently. The lights dimmed and grew bright in rapid succession. Her hair moved in the supernatural breeze.
Sirius had never been meant to guard her. His role was- had been greater than that and now...
That's what had been plaguing him.
His best friend had gone missing and he'd unknowingly guarded the cause of it.
Sirius had escaped after five hours because he'd managed to squeeze through. A dog could do what a stag couldn't. And so James Potter was captured and caught, unable to escape.
He might be dead.
A sound escaped her throat but it wasn't the scream she wanted so badly to release.
Hermione moved. The need to get away sudden and impatient.
She stood on shaky legs and took dazed steps away from the table, her feet moving with no direction in mind. At the door she turned left.
She saw the sitting room, recognised the area but they felt wrong. Unreal. An imitation of reality. Any familiarity she had felt forced. Foreign.
Like she didn't belong.
Because technically, she didn't.
Her knees buckled and she stumbled onto the nearest seat. Batty's she thought but it didn't matter.
The young witch blinked and found herself staring at her mokeskin pouch.
She was a stranger here. An anomaly that shouldn't have been.
Her presence alone was proof.
Cause and effect.
Hermione slammed her eyes shut. Her chest burning. Stomach rolling. A painful knot pounding away at her throat.
A sharp pain caught her attention and she looked down at her hands.
A bead had cut into her fists as she'd clenched her purse.
She saw the trickle of blood pool on her palm and she remembered Sirius.
How lost he'd looked. How scared and innocent.
Wide eyes darted to the mokeskin pouch. The silver within it, jarring her memories and mutating her fears.
The damage was done.
It'd been too long.
She swallowed thickly, taking a steadying breath as resolve stirred inside her. Her mind moving, pushing her forward.
James Potter may be dead and if he was then Harry...
The future could be changed. This alone was proof enough and to remain ignorant of the fact was a danger all on its own.
Dumbledore, her mind whispered as she reached into her bag and pulled out the envelope full of letters.
She ran to the nearest desk and wrote her own message. Short and sloppy, the words flew out of her. Like they'd been lurking there all along just waiting for the right time to escape.
Desperation mingled with a burning sense of dread but she kept writing.
She didn't think about right or wrong all she knew was that she had to help. It wasn't much, just a risk- a chance. But this, her worried mind screamed, was the best thing she could do.
He would understand. All she had to do was make him see.
She just hoped she wasn't too late.
She wrote the letter and sealed it. She placed it in the envelope along with the other post and called for Hooky. With any luck, he wouldn't see the difference and her letter would be sent along with the countless others.
When he appeared, his ears dropped. Wide bulbous eyes took in the room around him and though he didn't question her, he was visibly shaken.
'Take the letters and send them,' she ordered. Her voice thick with tears. 'Please.'
Hooky did as told and with a crack was gone.
Dark eyes flit down to the pouch.
Harry's existence was in the air.
She could disappear.
Smooth silver flashed at the forefront of her mind.
Around her, levitating items continued to shake.