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.

Chapter 13

-o-O-o-

During her double lunch, Hermione took a trip to the library, to find out anything helpful about the Black family… and its traditional wards, for that matter. She was deep inside 'Oldest Household Protective Spells', when a chair pulled back on her left.

She turned and saw Sirius sitting there. She smiled. "Hey Sirius." she greeted him. "Aren't you supposed to be in Herbology?" she asked, slightly suspicious.

He shook his head. "Peter has it covered." he explained, his eyes serious. "We need to talk." he stated.

She sighed and put her book away. They really did. They hadn't thought any of this out and this was new for the both of them. "Alright." she agreed. "What do we start with?"

He leaned back in his chair and suddenly looked unsure of himself. "Well…" he tried. "I might have omitted to tell Marlene that we were over…"

She stared at him incredulously. "What are you saying?" she asked, knowing the answer but dreading it so much that she wanted to hear his verbal confirmation.

"I uh…" He cleared his throat. "I might just about… You know… Currently be dating two different girls… Sort of."

She sighed. "Why am I not surprised?" she asked rhetorically, before turning back towards him. "Alright, what's next?"

He looked at her, disbelief shining in his silver eyes. "You're not mad at me?" he asked her. "I mean, I did say I was technically in another relationship right now, you did understand?"

"I understood fine Sirius." she answered calmly. "It's just that I understand we started this," she pointed to the both of them. "Rather precipitately, and you might not have had the time to break off every other… Engagement you might have been involved in beforehand. You did choose me, right?" she asked him seriously, but he could see insecurity shining through her features.

"Of course, of course!" he exclaimed rapidly, throwing himself at her and grabbing her hands to hold them into his. "Hermione, right now, there is nothing that I want more than to be with you. I feel like… Like we have something special, and I really, really, don't want to miss out on whatever it is. It's something totally different from anything I've ever felt, I just… I just want to take my time with you and enjoy what we have… I… I…" He sighed. "I won't ever let you change your mind about us. And to do this, I'll do anything. Anything at all."

His hands were warm and comforting, his silver eyes emanated sincerity and, soon, she found herself whispering: "Kiss me."

He looked surprised by her demand but, nevertheless, he slipped one hand away from hers and caressed her cheek, pulling her face towards his before pressing his lips to hers. It was short, but sweet, and each almost shed a tear during this shared moment of intimacy, though neither would ever admit it. When he pulled away, he had a half smile on his face, and she couldn't help but smile too.

"So," she said, moving on. "What's next?"

He thought about it for a while before asking: "Do we tell anyone?"

He saw her eyes glint and she started frowning. She hadn't thought about it. "I don't know." she admitted truthfully. "Don't take it badly, but… I don't want to be seen as just another one of your conquests."

"You're not." he said quickly, panicking slightly.

She smiled sadly. "I know that." she told him, though the fact that she wouldn't look at him directly implied that she was still unsure. He was going to have to work on that. "I just don't want everyone to believe I am."

There was a heavy silence then, before Sirius heaved a huge sigh. "It's alright." he assured her. "I understand."

His voice was thick with sadness and guilt grabbed Hermione's heart and squeezed hard, so much that she almost took back what she said. She stopped the words before they could leave her mouth, however, and so only gulped down hard and forced a smile on her features. "I'll cheer for you during the next Quidditch match." she said encouragingly.

The corners of his mouth twitched upwards. "That would be nice." he acknowledged. "Do I get to make you cheer for me specifically or just for Gryffindor?"

She thought about it for a while. "Both." she ended up saying. She would just make sure nobody noticed she had a crush on Sirius. Besides, she would surely make less noise than the rest of his fan girls anyway. He seemed content with the idea, as it was better than nothing.

"Do we get to go to Hogsmeade together?" he asked.

"I guess we can be sneaky." she told him and shot him a playful wink. "But in public, no, we won't. At least not yet. We need to prove that we're in a serious relationship." She shot him a sideways glance to check whether or not he was going to make a pun, but he just seemed to agree with her. "We can still have couple time," she compromised. "But just the two of us, okay?"

He nodded. "I can see why you would want this." he told her. "Just together in the shadows of discretion. Where no one can take you for the idiot who throws herself at any man."

"I'm sorry." she apologised again. "It's just for a couple months." Sirius nodded.

"We can't tell the others, I'm guessing." he stated. It wasn't a question. He knew he would not be able to tell his best friends about his relationship.

"I hope it's okay." she said softly.

He gave a sad smile. "I just want you for you." he told her. "I don't need to show you off, or gloat about my relationship with you. Sure, I wish I could trust my friends with this little secret, but I perfectly understand why I can't just yet. It's just for a few months anyway, and I definitely think you are worth the wait."

She smiled. "I think that's it." she told him. She looked at her watch. "We still have a lot of time before the next period starts. What do you want to do?"

He shrugged. "How about we study for a bit?" he asked.

She frowned at him. "I didn't know you studied." she told him bluntly, and he chuckled.

"I've made it this far, haven't I?" he said. "I've had to study at one point."

She thought about it for a while. "I guess." she told him. "I actually have this History of Magic essay that I need to finish." She pulled her bag onto the table and started ruffling through it, pulling out huge volumes and a stack of parchment from its depths.

Sirius eyes her, a frown on her face. "You carry all of this around all day?" he asked her.

She didn't look back at him as she answered: "It's just a little light background reading." She pulled out a rather large roll of parchment and smiled. "Here it is." she announced cheerfully.

But Sirius was looking through her books. "'Ancient Magical Families'" he read out loud. "'History of Purebloods', 'Eldest Wizarding Homes'… What's all this for?" he asked, suspicion glinting in his silver eyes.

Hermione bit her lip. "I want to know more about this world that I wasn't born in." she lied. "I want to know more about Pureblood customs and the likes."

He didn't seem to believe her, but he let it slide. "Alright." he said in a voice that implied that this was the only time he let it slide. "What's this about an essay?"

She sighed in relief and quickly took the bait, showing him what she had done and explaining what she thought might be missing. As he started to tell her about what Binns wanted in that essay, she smiled and thanked God he hadn't seen her copy of 'Most Frequent Blood Wards', otherwise he would never had let her off the hook and her whole cover would be blown. So, as he droned on and she listened to his every word, she gently pushed her bag away, from which a corner of said book emerged.

-o-O-o-

That evening, supper was awkward. Sirius arrived ten minutes before Hermione did, as she desperately wanted to finish her essay, despite the fact that it was due at the end of the next week and they were Wednesday. When she wasn't there, everything was alright, he just joked about Peter's lame excuse for his skipping Herbology ("What? What's wrong with getting splashed with Bubotubber puss?"), refusing to tell them what he had actually done. Well, not really; he had told them he had gone to the library and they just hadn't believed him.

"You went off with Marlene, didn't you Sirius?" Remus asked him, poking at his salad. He detested salad but forced himself to eat some at least once a week, having promised his mother he would be careful to not have a diet composed exclusively of chocolate.

Sirius shook his head. "No, I didn't meet up with Marlene." he told them. "I really went to the library."

James chewed a large piece of steak, not having promised his mother anything about vegetables, before swallowing and casting a disbelieving stare at Sirius. "I thought you were banished from the library." he told his friend.

Sirius grinned, a sly lopsided grin that indicated he was about to boast. "I gave Madam Pince the puppy eyes and promised her to never cause a mess again and she allowed me in again." he told them.

Peter snorted. "How long is it going to take for you to break that promise?" he piped in evilly.

"As strange as it may seem," Sirius told him, his face joking but his words dead serious. "I intend to keep all my promises from now on."

Just then, Hermione walked in, but he couldn't see her as his back was to the door. Peter saw this and took advantage of it. "Really?" he asked loudly so that she would be able to hear. "You intend to keep aaaaall your promises?"

"Yes pal." Sirius confirmed, leaning back into his seat.

"Tell me Sirius," Peter continued, his dull blue eyes glinting maliciously. "Does that include your bets?" Hermione had spotted them and was walking towards their space on Gryffindor table.

Sirius shrugged. "I guess."

"Well Hermione," Peter said, looking to her just as she pulled up and say down next to Sirius. "That's good news for you, isn't it?"

Hermione looked at him, confused, before she told him. "I don't see why that would be true." Her voice trembled and she shot Sirius a panicked glance. He knew what she was thinking. She thought Peter knew because he couldn't hold his tongue. Underneath the table, Sirius caressed her thigh until he found her hand and he laced his fingers through her. Then, ever so slightly, he shook her head at her.

She looked reassured before she turned back to Peter, her confused look still in place, and Sirius let go of her hands. "Doesn't Sirius owe you five Galleons?" Peter asked, not having noticed their little slip up. "For not being able to stand alcohol?"

Both of them recognised the incident immediately. It was when Sirius almost let it slip that Remus was a werewolf. He turned to her. "I'll pay you back." he asserted.

She smiled kindly at him. "I don't think it's necessary." she told him softly. "Maybe we should just forget about the whole incident and move on."

He shook his head fiercely. "No, I want to keep my promises now, no matter how much it costs." he stated firmly, in a voice that left no room for discussion. "All of them."

As she heard the determination in his voice, the conviction with which he spoke his words, Hermione's heart melted. He really seemed to care about her. Truly, she didn't believe it would last, as she knew the Sirius Black from her timeline was a childish personage, who never married or made any attempt to settle down. No, Sirius Black was a fairly versatile man, but she was willing to take what he was willing to give, even though she knew it wouldn't last. One day he would simply get bored with her or find a better occupation and he would leave her.

Somehow, this didn't pain her. No. It even reassured her, to an extent. That way, when she went back to her timeline, Sirius would forget her quickly and she wouldn't damage him permanently. She would make sure everybody forgot her, and she knew that, no matter how long she stayed with him, Sirius would one day throw her away. But it was okay. She knew she didn't love him, and that meant that she would be ready when he let her go.

It was as if there were no strings attached.

As if.

Little did she know that, not only were there strings attached, but that these strings were unbreakable. But she just ate her dinner, oblivious to the meaning of her trip back in time.

The rest of the meal passed rather uneventfully, except for the occasional brushing of hands when reaching for the salt, the quick side glances they shot at each other or their legs bumping into each other 'accidentally'. The rest of their friends didn't seem to notice their little intimate moments and just ate, and talked, on.

Once they were done, the desserts arrived. Hermione and Remus helped themselves to some cherry flavoured jelly, whilst James opted for a slice of chocolate cake and Peter helped himself to plain yoghurt. Sirius seemed pensive and didn't put anything down on his plate. "What's up mate?" James asked between two mouthfuls of his cake. "Are you feeling ill?"

Sirius stared into space as he answered. "No, no, I'm fine. I'm just not feeling hungry enough for desert."

James looked like her was about to worry some more, but he was cut by a girly voice. "Sirius!" Marlene shrieked happily.

Sirius blinked rapidly as he was snapped out of his reverie. He turned to stare at her for a few seconds, before saying. "Marlene." as if he had only just now remembered her existence.

She ignored that fact and gave him a small, playful pout. "You didn't come to see me in the train yesterday." she whined softly. "And you didn't search for me today either. Have you forgotten about me?"

Sirius sighed. "No, I haven't. I've just been slightly… Busy." He looked at her. "Are you done eating?" he asked her.

She seemed surprised by his question. "Well… Yes, yes, I am." she told him, a puzzled expression on her face.

"Can I talk to you?" he asked her. "Like, now?" He caught the curious gazes of his housemates, who quickly looked back down when he noticed them. "Alone." he added as an afterthought.

A smile formed on her soft features. "Why, of course." she purred at him. That was when Sirius realised that his words probably insinuated something sexual, but it was too late to change that now. He stood up and grabbed her wrist, looking away from the table where he knew he would find looks that he could no longer stand. Some would be disgusted, some encouraging and others, or rather one other, would be hurt.

It was her gaze he didn't want to see, even though he knew it was unjustified. "Let's go." he told the blond, and stalked out the Great Hall, dragging Marlene, who had a hungry look on her face, with him. After they left, he took a turn right, into a long corridor that lead to Dumbledore's office, but he took another right turn before he would reach said room. The corridor was dim and obviously not used very often, but that didn't seem to bother either of them.

When they were a couple metres away from the busier corridor, Sirius stopped. He let go of Marlene's hand and turned around, but just as he did so, she threw herself at him and he lost his balance, slamming into the wall. She threaded her fingers through his hair and pulled his face to hers, planting a passionate kiss on his lips, before pulling away. "So close to where people could see... You're so naughty Sirius." she told his softly, before licking his lip playfully. "I like it. It's… exciting."

Just then, Sirius, who was too shocked to respond anything, regained his senses and pushed her away. "I'm not here to have sex with you." he told her bluntly.

She looked surprised that he had pushed her away. "What…" she said, before understanding dawned on her face. "You're… you're not going to break up with me, are you?" she asked with a small voice. Sirius ran a hand through his hair and stared at the ground, but, when he looked back up, the guilty look on his face confirmed her suspicion. Marlene gasped and raised her hand to her mouth in shock.

Sirius sighed and shot her an apologetic look. "Marlene, I…" he started, but she burst into tears, cutting him off. He gulped down and walked towards her, a hand raised, which he laid down on her shoulder. "I'm sorry." he told her earnestly. There was a long moment when she just sobbed uncontrollably, which was extremely awkward for Sirius, who could do nothing but stay until she had calmed down.

After a while, she caught her breath long enough to speak. "I don't understand." she blubbered, her voice tearful, her face in her hands so that he could barely make up what she was saying. "I gave you everything."

"It's all my fault." he told her truthfully. And it was. He had promised her feelings that he never actually felt, when all she wanted was him. She had accepted him so fully and eagerly into her life and had trusted him, when he had never given her, or expected to give her, anything in return.

She pulled her hands away from her face and looked at him, hate burning in her eyes. He lifted his hand away from the shoulder at this sudden change of mood, shock written all over his features. "You're right." she told him. "It's all your fault." Suddenly, before he could reply anything, she pulled her wand out and moved it in a cross pattern in his direction, hissing: "Kopsimo."

Sirius barely had the time to take a step back and raise his left arm as a lime green curse left her wand and hit him. He felt his forearm slice open and a warm liquid soak his shirt and school jumper. He ignored it and chose not to look, for he knew it would only increase the pain, then put his arm down, staring at her in shock. "Marlene…" he tried. It had all happened so fast, he couldn't fathom what she had just done. She, who was usually so cheerful and sweet, had turned into an agressive monster. He couldn't explain it.

"Shut up!" she snapped at him. "I hate you, you took everything from me!" There was a mad glint in her eyes, which were burning with wrath and deep loathing, but there was no sadness left. She had cried it all away.

"I'm sorry!" he shouted, panicky. He knew the hex she had thrown at him. It wasn't harmless. And, by the looks of it, she wasn't going to let him go with just a small cut. He pulled his wand out too, just in case.

"I don't care!" she screamed at him, tears starting to stream down her face again. She brandished her wand at him again, drawing a very thin isosceles triangle, before pointing it directly at him and incanting: "Maheri."

Sirius' eyes widened as a deep burgundy curse detached itself from the tip of her wand. He was prepared, though, and he too, waved his wand in an intricate pattern, before muttering: "Oplismos."

A very thin mist left his wand and formed into a translucent rectangular shield in front of him. The curse impacted with the shield and Sirius had to keep his wand up to channel his magic towards his spell to keep it from failing. Where the two spells met, his shield had grown opaque and white, and Sirius was doing his best to move the opaqueness to the edges of the rectangle. It was a strong curse, but soon, it flickered and died, all of it's power dissipated by the shield. Its colour now homogenised, so that instead of being translucent in some places and completely opaque in others, it was now the colour of milk cut with water.

Sirius let his wand arm fall to his side, a bead of sweat running down his forehead. That had been a very powerful Slicing Curse. It was almost Dark Magic. And he knew he couldn't fight against Marlene if she was going to use such spells. "Please calm down." he tried to reason with her. Where had she learned such spells? Why had she learnt them in the first place? It was certainly not in any Hogwarts classrooms, and probably not in library book, that she had found this information.

She gave a high pitch laugh which reminded him immensely of his cousin Bellatrix, something that was unsettling. "Why would I?" she asked rhetorically. "You used me. You told me you had feelings for me, that I was different… That you wanted to keep me forever… You lied. You made me blind with all your sweet words and kisses. Now I will render you blind." She raised her wand menacingly again. "Tiflos!"

She hurled a silver curse at him and it impacted with his shield hard. Sirius raised his wand and sent his magic towards it, but it was not enough. It went from slightly see-through to completely white all over, before it shattered and the silver curse hit Sirius in the chest, hurling him backwards. He landed on the floor a few feet away, his wand shooting out of his hand and clattering to the floor on his right. Ignoring the pain that tensed his muscles, Sirius stood up, leaning on a wall on the left hand side of the corridor, and tried to open his eyes.

He blinked. His eyes were open. They just couldn't see. There was no way he would be able to find his wand like that. "I can't believe that I fell for all your lies. I bet you had fun laughing at me behind my back, haven't you?" Marlene hissed at him.

"No," he croaked, fear seeping into his voice. Maybe going to a deserted corridor to break up with her hadn't been the best of ideas. Then again, he hadn't known that she was so apt at duelling.

"You hurt me Sirius." she said, suddenly sounding very calm. Calm, not in the sense that she wasn't angry at him, more like she was now calculating her shot. "You hurt me very much." She seemed to be musing. "I think it's only fair that I hurt you back."

"Don't do this." he implored, trying to look in her general direction.

She ignored him and he heard her hiss a spell at him. "Ponos."

His blood froze. This was no longer fun and games. It was Dark Magic. A spell made to inflict pain on the person who was hit by it, similar to the Cruciatus Curse, except it was less intense and more localised.

He closed his useless eyes as the crackling sound grew closer to him.

-o-O-o-

I took these spells from Greek: Kopsimo means cut, Maheri means knife, Oplismos means armour, Tiflos means blind and Ponos means pain. As always, please leave a review and I love you all!

Update: I got a review telling me that Marlene is out of character here. It's done on purpose. All this will be explained in the next chapter.