Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own any of the Harry Potter characters. Everything belongs to JK Rowling, and I'm merely allowed to play around with them. No copyright infringement is intended.

As promised, here is the next chapter. :) We reached 12 000 views today! High five! Love you all! Enjoy!

Chapter 12

-o-O-o-

As he pressed his lips to hers, Hermione's eyes fluttered shut. Her hands, stiff before, snaked up his chest and went entwine themselves behind his neck. He took this as a sign that she wanted more and kissed her deeply. The hand on her cheek slipped and grabbed a fistful of her hair. His other hand moved to her back and he pulled her close to him, so that she was flush against his chest. He licked her lower lip and she opened her mouth.

As he slipped his tongue inside her mouth and probed at her teasingly, she moaned. This felt so incredible, so new, so fresh, so fiery… She had goose bumps and yet she'd never felt so hot in her whole life. He was holding her so close to him, it was as if she knew he would always be there. He was her friend, first and foremost. But in this kiss, he promised to be her protector.

She kissed him back, their tongues dancing away this moment of fiery passion. He tasted like fire. He burnt her to her core, she was sure she would never recover. He left behind blisters and she embraced them, embraced him, his very presence, his heart, his soul, or at least everything he was will to give to her.

A little voice in her head nagged her that this was wrong, this wasn't supposed to be, but she didn't care. She knew she was kissing Sirius Black, greatest playboy in the history of Hogwarts. She knew when he pulled away there would probably be nothing more between them apart from awkwardness on her part. But, right now, she threw her rationality out of the window. So she deepened the kiss, threaded her hands in his hair and pulled him closer to her.

Sirius couldn't believe it. She had accepted him, after all he had confessed in front of his brother. She was kissing his fiercely, she had moaned, and Sirius couldn't get enough. His brain swam in his head, his thoughts were unclear, but he kissed her hard.

She tasted like salvation. She tasted like forgiveness. She tasted like repentance.

He just couldn't get enough.

He pushed her to the wall of the train, still kissing her hard. He felt so drunk, so high, all because of her. He was miserable. He hated his very existence, yet she made him feel like he was worth something. She made him feel noble, almost. He'd never felt that ever before. He pulled away and tugged at the fistful of hair in his right hand, exposing her bare throat. She gasped, but as he latched his lips onto her neck, sending shivers down her spine, she moaned again. He placed a long, open mouthed kiss there, before dragging his tongue, almost lazily, to the side of her neck, where he kissed her again.

Hermione's breathing was ragged. He placed long kisses up her neck, leaving a wet trail behind. He stopped a few centimetres below her ear and kissing her here long and deep, before sucking her skin in her mouth and relishing the taste of her. She moaned softly and, as he bit down on her soft skin, she whispered him name.

"Sirius…" As he heard that simple word fall from her lips, he lost control. It had spurred him on so much that he let go of her hair, letting his hand fall to her back with his other one, starting to place soft kisses on her jaw. It wasn't enough. He needed so much more from her. He needed her fully. He pulled at the hem of her shirt and pulled it out of her skirt, before slipping his hands underneath and splaying them over her soft stomach.

Her breath hitched. They were in a train corridor! Being caught kissing would have been bad enough, but being caught fondling each other was surely much less understandable and they would surely be punished if anyone walked in on them. She was actually surprised no one had done so yet.

"Sirius, stop." she whispered at him urgently.

Instantly, he froze, seemingly realising too that they were in a slightly precarious situation. He brusquely interrupted his ministrations and pulled away, leaving behind coldness on Hermione's skin. He backed away to the other side of the corridor, leaning against the wall and looking at her as if he was frightened she would do something. "I'm sorry." he apologised.

She sighed and smiled. "Don't worry about it. I understand. I'm not your type of girl."

He frowned. "What are you talking about?" he asked her, seemingly puzzled.

He shrugged. "I guess you're just going to turn around and walk away now, aren't you?" she asked, a sad undertone in her voice.

He raised his eyebrows, surprised. There was a slight pause and, when he spoke, his voice trembled slightly. "Do you really think so poorly of me?" he asked. Seeing her guilty look, he sighed. "I guess I haven't really given you an opportunity to think anything different, have I?"

"What are you trying to say Sirius?" she asked, confused. He looked at her, her messy hair where he had pulled at it, her soft pink lips slightly swollen from all their passionate kissing, her smooth pale skin reddening where he had sucked at it… And he realised he wanted nothing more than to be with her.

"I…" he tried. It was the first time he was going to say this and actually mean it. "I want to be with you Hermione. I want this to be serious." He tested the words out and, although they felt heavy, they also felt like a relief.

She looked surprised, to say the least. "Really?" she whispered, as if she had misheard.

He nodded. "I… I want us to really be an item." he explained. "I really like you and… I feel like there is more to... to us than just a kiss in a train."

She beamed at him. "You want me to be your girlfriend?" she asked cheerfully.

"I… Yeah." he answered, scratching the back of his head. "Would you like to?" he asked nervously.

She shrugged. "I think after the last ten minutes we know we're somehow compatible, right?" she asked smiling, but he could sense that she was unsettled.

"I guess." he answered. "I really don't want to screw this up with you, I promise." he told her.

"I trust you." she acknowledged. "But I'm warning you. You are not to go gallivanting around with other girls and make me look like a fool. One foot out of line and I'm out the door forever." she said, staring at him intently.

He nodded. "I understand." he told her. "I'll do whatever you like. After all," he waggled his eyebrows at her. "I'm your man now."

She blushed. "About that…" she said, biting her lip. "I've never… Well, you know… So I really want to take things slow." she explained.

He frowned at her at first, before he got what she meant. "Of course!" he assured her. How could he have forgotten? "No problem! I mean, I'm not some sort of randy brainless mutt you know? I do have feelings."

"I…" she tried, obviously embarrassed. "I've just heard a whole lot of things about you that aren't too pretty…"

He sighed. "I guess my reputation precedes me." he told her sadly. He looked up at her and smiled. "I promise I won't push you for anything. I really don't want to screw this up. I promise I care, Hermione."

"Okay." she said hesitantly.

He could feel she was still insecure about this decision, so he leaned in a placed a small peck on her lips. "I promise." he whispered against her lips, and she believed him.

-o-O-o-

James groaned. "Aw, brilliant. Double Transfiguration with Ravenclaw, then Potions with Slytherin and Herbology with Hufflepuff. Great morning. This afternoon, Defence Against the Dark Arts with Slytherin and Double Charms with Hufflepuff. This," he announced, throwing his timetable across the table so Hermione caught it, "is why I hate N.E.W.T. level."

"Stop grumbling, James." Hermione scolded him, adding a spoonful of sugar to her coffee. "It's only Monday morning and you're already complaining. What will it be when you get to start Head Boy duty?" she asked teasingly.

"'Mione," he whimpered, holding his head in his hands. "You're not helping."

"It wasn't my intention." she declared, taking a sip of her beverage. "By the way, I can only think of how proud Lily will be when she sees you've been working hard."

His head shot up. "You think she will?" And with that, not awaiting her answer, he grabbed Peter by the collar and pulled him up. "Come on, Wormtail!" he said. "We don't want to be late for class!" and he ran away.

Just then, Sirius entered the Great Hall. She scanned her timetable and groaned too at the amount of classes she was taking. "Good morning you." her boyfriend greeted her, kissing the top of her head softly as he plopped down next to her. "What are doing?" he asked, trying to read over her shoulder.

"Checking out my timetable." she answered. "I have double Defence Against the Dark Arts with Slytherin, then Arithmancy with Ravenclaw, double lunch," she grinned. "History of Magic with Ravenclaw and Double Potions with Slytherin."

"Double lunch?" Sirius asked incredulously. "What are you going to do with double lunch?"

She smiled. "Homework." she answered as if it was the most fun thing she could ever do.

He cleared his throat. "Do you mind if we… talk for a bit during that time?" he asked timidly.

She winced interiorly. She knew what he wanted to talk about. Since they had officially started dating the day before, they hadn't talked about their 'us' situation. It was an awkward moment but they needed to get it out of the way. "Okay." she agreed. It had to be done. "Just meet me in front of the library when you're done with Herbology and we'll figure out a place to talk privately."

He nodded. "We need to clear out a few details." he stated.

"I know." she answered, not snappily, just slightly insecure. She turned to him and he looked worried. "This is new to me." she admitted.

He gave a short laugh. "It's new to me too." he told her, shooting her a crooked half smile. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "I guess we'll just talk then, alright?" he asked her.

She nodded and agreed. "For now, let's just go to class." she said, and he nodded in agreement. She stood up and left the Great Hall, casting him a small smile and he followed her, his silver eyes staring into the distance long before she had disappeared behind the heavy wooden doors.

-o-O-o-

After gathering up all her textbooks and quills in her bag, Hermione set off to the Defence Against the Dark Arts tower. She was eager to see how it looked in this timeline, and how it was decorated. Did the teachers only stay one year here too?

As she pondered on her question, she opened the door of the tower, only to find that she was not alone, as she usually was. Most of the time, nobody had arrived yet when she arrived, yet here, on the second row, next to a window, sat Regulus Black.

Why do I feel as if he follows me? she asked herself, when she knew full well it wasn't the case.

He was reading a book and didn't even look up as she approached him. He did, however, greet her as she came near. "Good morning, Granger." he said, still staring at the black writing.

Instead of asking how he'd known she was there, because she knew he would just answer something stupid whilst sneering at her, she merely asked: "Are we back on last name basis now?"

He looked away from his book, shutting it and slipping it back into his school bag. When he looked up, he was smiling, but not a true smile, more like a half smile that showed his amusement. "Fine." he conceded, his light grey eyes glinting. "Good morning Hermione, I trust you slept well?" he asked her, putting on an exceptionally polite show to destabilise her.

She saw right through him and decided to play along, deciding mind games were a good way to wake her brain up before class. "I did, thank you Regulus." she answered haughtily. "How about you?" she returned.

His smile didn't waver but something in his eyes shifted. They stopped glinting with their usual amusement and looked afraid for a while. He quickly regained his composure, however, and, in an instant, his perfectly blank mask was once again plastered on his face. "Troublesome dreams, I'm afraid." he answered vaguely. "Please," he added, gesturing towards the chair on his right. "Have a seat."

Hermione mulled over her options for a couple seconds, then decided to let it go for now. "Don't mind if I do." she answered, wincing as she put her overweight bag down next to the chair. Sitting down, she pulled out her parchment, quill and ink bottle and placed them on the table in front of her, before straightening up.

"So," he said when she was finished, his own quill and parchment already placed, perfectly straight of course, in front of him. "What brings you here so early?" He seemed to be genuinely curious as he stared at her.

She shrugged and looked away. "I like it." she answered simply, even though it wasn't the truth. He probably didn't really care what she thought anyway.

He scrutinised her for a second, before declaring. "You're lying."

She turned to him, her face the perfect picture of surprise. "Excuse me, what?"

"You're lying." he repeated, as if it was the most normal thing on earth. "I know you're lying. You're avoiding eye contact, you're blushing, you breath is hitching… You're lying." She turned around so that she faced away from him. "Now, Hermione," he pushed her. "tell me the truth: what brings you here so early?"

"Why do you care?" she snapped at him defensively, turning around to see he was leaning into his hand, his grey eyes glinting mischievously.

He sighed. "And now you're on defensive mode." he added, shaking his head. "I'm not trying to hurt you, Hermione. I am merely asking a simple question. I don't even care whether you answer or not."

He just stared at her for a couple of minutes before she answered. "I'm scared." she admitted, deciding to be honest with him. "I'm constantly scared of being late. It's horrible. It's a compulsive behaviour. An obsession, if you prefer. Like getting good grades. It kills me, but I can't do anything about it." she explained, looking down.

She turned to face him. He was smiling gently and his eyes sparkled. "See?" he asked. "It wasn't that difficult." She blushed, smiling slightly. He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, still leaning into his hand.

The door opened then, and all the rest of the students rushed in, although not followed by the teacher yet. Everyone stayed standing up, chatting actively about their holidays. The noise was getting on Hermione's nerves. Finally, a good ten minutes late, the teacher arrived.

She was a very thin elderly woman with silver hair tied in a tight bun at the back of her head. She wore midnight blue robes peppered with little stars that glittered everywhere. "I will ignore that some of you were late," she said, setting books down on her desk and staring at her students with a small smile on her face, her blue eyes sparkling mischievously. "If you will ignore that I was the latest."

This made Hermione smile and Regulus snigger.

Everyone sat in their chairs and the chatter slowly died down. Once it had completely vanished, the woman spoke up. "Good morning, class." she addressed them in a voice that reminded her strongly of Professor McGonagall, although not so stern. "My name is Professor Greenmail, and I will be teaching you Defence this year. Unfortunately, my retirement age is going to be attained near July and I therefore will not be teaching you next year." Chatter had started again.

Professor Greenmail raised her wand, waved it in a simple circular pattern and a loud bang echoed around the room, making everyone jump. She huffed.

"As I was saying," she continued, her soft voice tainted with authority. "I will be teaching you Defence. We will now start with a simple oral interrogation on Dark spells and creatures." The whole class groaned but she ignored them completely. "Who can tell me about the lightening curses?" she asked, and Hermione immediately raised her hand high up in the air. "You, there," Professor Greenmail said, pointing to her. "What's you name?"

"Hermione Granger, Miss" Hermione replied politely after standing up.

The older woman nodded. "Very well, Miss Granger, what is it that you know about the lightening curses?" she asked.

"There are three, Miss." Hermione replied in a confident voice. "Three for three different intensities, although all have the same wand movement."

"Miss Granger," the professor said. "Can you display said wand movement please?"

Hermione nodded and pulled her wand out of her robes. She first slashed her wand in the air in a lightening shape downwards, like that of Harry's scar, before she drew a half circle going upwards and flicked her wand down. Nothing happened, but that was because she had willed it so.

Professor Greenmail nodded again, her eyes glinting with improvement. "Very good. You may continue." she told Hermione.

"First, there is the one with the incantation Fulgur Minima," she explained. "Which gives the victim a mild shock, similar to what Muggles like to call a 'static electricity' shock." she stopped, unsure or not whether to continue.

Professor Greenmail didn't make a move to indicate anything. "Go on." she said, with a slight wave of her hand, as if dismissing a fly in front of her.

Hermione took in a deep breath. "The second's incantation is simply Fulgur. " she continued. "The victim now has been shocked throughout their whole body, and may possibly lose consciousness for an hour, at the most. The last one," she gulped. "The last one is pronounced Fulgur Maxima. This curse is the most dangerous one, and the only one actually registered by the Ministry as a curse. It causes heart failure, brain damage, most of the time burns and, almost always, certain death." she finished glumly.

"Very good, Miss Granger. Take ten points to Gryffindor." Professor Greenmail said, turning back to the board and writing down the incantations as well as a diagram for the wand movements, which Hermione took as an indication she could sit back down.

As she asked someone else about some random Dark creature, Regulus poked her side. "Hermione," he whispered when she didn't turn. "Are you alright?"

She nodded. "Yeah, it's just…" she didn't know whether she should finish her sentence. "There was a rather detailed description of how the experiments to come up with these curses were in the book… And a list of all the victims, with the dates and stuff."

He half-smiled in sympathy. "You should see the library at my place." he added after a while. "All these entrails expelling themselves and brains boiling inside their skulls… It's gross." He was trying to cheer her up by joking a little, but she could tell it made him feel sick more than amused.

Hermione stared at him, before remembering the Time Travel books she needed from that library. "You know what, Regulus?" He looked at her questioningly. "I would love to go there." she tried. Way to go with that subtlety of yours! she told herself.

He gave a short laugh which indicated neither amusement nor irony, just that he was uncomfortable. "What?" he whispered so that Professor Greenmail didn't hear them. "Are you a masochist or something?"

She shook her head. "No," she said. "I only enjoy stuffing my face with information." This was technically true, although it didn't apply to her in this case.

He shook his head. "You're lying again." he scolded, his light grey eyes still boring into hers. "But whatever the reason, my parents would peel the skin off my back if I ever let anyone like you inside our house." He said it not as a personal insult, but more like a statement.

Hermione nodded. She remembered the painting of Sirius' mother when she went to Grimmauld Place and could only agree with him: she was a shrieking madwoman with a penchant for insults on blood.

"In any case," Regulus whispered, his eyes glinting naughtily again. "We'd better listen. I want to see the look on Lupin's face when you also beat his N.E.W.T. results."

And as he chuckled silently to himself, Hermione wondered how the hell he'd found out about her O.W.L.'s.

-o-O-o-

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