Chapter 10: Infatuation

Saturday, 10 September 1977

Hermione had agreed to visit Aberforth in Hogsmeade on Saturday, to have lunch with him and then work in the pub through the lunch hour. Even though it wasn't a Hogsmeade weekend, she had the permission to go to the village every weekend, as she had agreed with Ab and Dumbledore that she could work in the pub every now and then if she so wished.

Hermione waved her goodbyes to the rest of the seventh year Gryffindors, who were lounging in the common room after breakfast. The weather was quite cold and windy, which meant that the tower was packed, as most of the students had decided to stay inside the castle on their day off.

Just as she was about to walk through the front doors of the castle, someone grabbed her from behind and spun her in the air. Hermione squeaked and kicked until a laughing Sirius put her down.

"Merlin, don't scare me like that, Black!" Hermione shrieked and punched him in the arm when she managed to catch her breath.

"Ouch!" Sirius winced between his laughter. "Has Evans taught you some muggle duelling? You're almost as hostile as she is…" He said breathlessly.

Hermione narrowed her eyes at him. "Very funny."

"Yes, dearest, it is. Should've seen the surprise on your face," Sirius playfully answered, but schooled his features when Hermione gave him a mild scowl. "Okay, back to being serious," he continued and lifted his brows knowingly, as if pointing out his pun.

Hermione huffed. "See you around, Sirius…" She muttered and turned away from him.

Sirius walked quickly in front of her and offered his arm. "May I accompany the young Miss to the village?" He asked courteously.

Hermione gave him a quizzical look. "Are you tagging along with me just to get to the village? …Because I have a permission to go there and you don't? What are you planning at?" She asked suspiciously.

Sirius grinned at her. "What is this, the Spanish Inquisition? Ask me no questions and I tell you no lies, darling," he said, winking at her.

Hermione rolled her eyes inwardly. "Fine. Only if you stop calling me that," she grumbled and accepted his hand.

Sirius smirked at her. "I'll make no such promise," he said mischievously and pulled her towards the grounds.

"Gonna go meet your old man, huh? Couldn't wait for next weekend?" Sirius asked and threw her a teasing smile as they walked the path to the village.

Hermione cleared her throat and gave him a pointed look. "I'm going to work there as well. You'd know that, if you actually listened what I say," she said dryly.

Sirius smiled sheepishly. "What can say…I get distracted very easily…" He murmured, his eyes flickering over her face.

Hermione tried to suppress a grin but failed.

"And she smiles. My day is made," Sirius said cheerfully, squeezing her hand which, Hermione noticed, he was still holding.

They walked in silence for a while.

"When do you get off?" Sirius asked suddenly, eyeing her closely.

Hermione blinked. "What?"

Sirius smirked. "From work."

"Oh! Yes. Um…Around three, I guess…I mean, the pub won't open until lunch time, so I'm really working only for a couple of hours." Hermione said and shrugged. "Ab – I mean, my dad wants to spend some time with me before that…" She continued, not really worried by her slip, as she assumed her friends probably guessed she wasn't that close with her 'father'.

Sirius nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, I understand that. I mean, I'd like more of that with my dad…" He said absently.

"Oh?" Hermione asked in surprise. She had had the impression that Sirius didn't get along with his parents.

Sirius let out a short laugh after seeing her expression. "I mean, James's dad."

"Ooh." She said with recognition. But then she remembered that she wasn't supposed to know anything about Sirius, so she continued, "Um. Why?"

He gave her a strange look before he replied. "I…don't exactly get along with my family." He muttered, frowning at the path they were walking along. "I ran away from home a couple of years ago, and James's parents took me in. They're like, I dunno…They feel like parents to me. Something my mother and father never did…" He said with a pensive look.

Hermione eyed him carefully. "They sound amazing. James's parents. For helping you out like that," she said quietly and gave him a soft nudge.

"Yeah, they are," Sirius muttered, a flicker of a smile playing on his lips. He then studied her silently. "Hermione…You know you can talk to me, right?" He said, stopping in place and moving to stand in front of her, eyeing her solemnly. He pushed a tendril of hair behind her ear and brushed his thumb against her cheekbone.

Hermione opened her mouth but didn't really know what to say, so she closed it and nodded to him instead. They continued their walk and as they reached the quiet main street, Sirius escorted her in front of the Hog's Head, gave her a kiss on her cheek and promised to meet her there around three in the afternoon. Then he went on his way, and Hermione briefly wondered what exactly he was going to do in the village. She shook her head and opened the door to the pub.

Later that day, as Hermione stepped into the quiet street of Hogsmeade, she saw Sirius waiting for her, sitting on a bench next to the pub, his back facing her. Seeing him so relaxed; eyeing the street in front of him and enjoying the sun that was now peeking through the clouds, she decided that a retribution was in order. So, she sneaked up behind him, with every intention to startle him. What she forgot to take into account were his canine senses. As she was right behind him, Sirius suddenly swirled around, snatched her hand and pulled her towards him. Hermione didn't have time to utter a single sound as she fell down to sit on his lap.

He gave her a triumphant look while Hermione scowled at him.

"Something you wanted to do, Dumbledore?" He asked with a sly grin.

Hermione grumbled under her breath and stood up. Sirius sniggered and he too stood up, and together they started to head back to the school.

"Did you grab lunch as well?" Hermione asked subtly, somewhat interested to learn what he had been up to.

He apparently knew what she was thinking, as he smirked at her before he spoke. "Well, aren't you a curious witch?"

When Hermione pursed her lips, he barked a laugh. "Okay. I had lunch, but that's all I'm telling you."

"But why? What is so secretive you cannot talk about, huh?" Hermione asked and eyed him in bewilderment.

Sirius merely winked at her and took her hand. They were on the school grounds already. "Come here," He said and led them towards the lake.

"Where are you - " Hermione started, but when Sirius gave her a sharp look, she sighed and followed him, "Okay, fine, I'll come."

He led them to the large beech tree near the edge of the lake, conjuring a rug under the tree where they sat down. Sirius took a small box from the insides of his leather jacket - a jacket that was evidently charmed with an undetectable extension charm, since there was no way the box would've fit in there without it.

"Go on. Open it." He said with a small smile playing on his lips.

Hermione arched a brow, intrigued, and went to open the box.

"Oh! Is this…?"

"Yeah, it is. Old Florean makes the best kind, don't you think? Or, well, I suppose you just have to take my word for it, if you don't know Florean's ice creams…" He said while taking a pack of ice cream from the box. "Chocolate or Strawberry?" He asked casually while taking another pack and placing them on the rug.

Hermione was stunned. Who in the name of Merlin decided to get some ice cream in the middle of a cold September day and eat it outside nevertheless? Even though the sun was occasionally poking out from the clouds, it was still cloudy and chilly. It definitely wasn't warm enough for a picnic. And it wasn't just ice cream. It was the kind that could be bought only from Diagon Alley. Which was in London. Which meant that Sirius had apparated to London and back.

Hermione stared at him in astonishment. "You're just full of surprises, aren't you…" She said incredulously. "And yes, I've had Florean's ice cream before, when I've visited Britain. But – " She said but was interrupted by him.

"Give a bloke some credit. For the record, I really thought the weather would improve for the afternoon." He shrugged and took a spoon from his jacket pocket.

"So, which one is it?" He asked while opening the packs.

Hermione laughed. "Are you mental? Why aren't we inside? And don't the house elves have ice cream in the kitchens?" she asked while shaking her head.

"They don't have Fortescue's ice cream. And I don't want to share with James. He's a guzzler when it comes to sweets and anything with sugar in it." He said with a wry smile and Hermione grinned. "Besides, I can warm you up, Dumbledore." He continued, lifting his brows knowingly.

Hermione rolled her eyes and ignored his last remark. "Okay then. Chocolate."

They were silent for a while as they dug into the ice cream. It was still as good as she remembered, although Hermione reckoned, it would've been even better if it had been a bit warmer outside.

"How was Slug Club? You made some famous new friends?" Sirius asked as he fished a large lump of strawberry ice cream from the box.

Hermione pursed her lips in exasperation as she recalled the Slug Club meeting the night before. It had been the first get-together Professor Slughorn had held at his office that year. Hermione had walked to the dungeons with Lily, who had babbled away about the previous dinner parties he'd held the previous years. Once they had reached Slughorn's office and sat down at the round table, it had been just as Hermione had suspected. Most of Slughorn's guests were there only because of their influential parents, or because Slughorn believed they would be important someday.

Hermione had recognised a few of them as she had taken a look around the table; Barnabas Cuffe, the future editor-in-chief of the Daily Prophet; a girl who resembled a lot like Pansy Parkinson and was later introduced as Priscilla Parkinson; Nathan Fawley, whose father Hector Fawley was Minister for Magic a couple of decades ago. She was least excited to meet Rabastan Lestrange and Barty Crouch Junior, who were both fifth year Slytherins and of course, the future loyal servants of Voldemort.

Snape and Regulus had been there as well. They had been sitting opposite to Hermione and Lily and it had been rather…uncomfortable. Regulus had been staring at her the whole night in a way that made her skin crawl unpleasantly. She had tried to avoid his eyes and instead focus on Slughorn, who had droned on about his famous contacts he had 'collected' over the years.

"Not exactly. It was quite dull, actually." She said with a shrug, deciding not to mention Regulus's staring. Hermione assumed Sirius would only get upset and since nothing had really happened, there was no use to mention his brother.

He nodded. "Okay. You've visited here often? Britain?" He asked easily as they devoured the ice cream.

"Yeah, every year or so. When I was little, before school, I came camping to Scotland with my mum every summer. I really miss the tradition…" She said, her voice trailing off as she reminisced the camping trips with her actual parents during the summers.

Hermione shook the thoughts away and cleared the sudden tightness away from her throat. "But after school started, it was winter in here when we had our summer holidays," She muttered, feeling weary for lying to him.

Sirius gave her a fond smile. "What was the school like?" He took another scoop of strawberry ice cream and watched her intently.

Hermione hummed thoughtfully. "It was quite nice. We were taught everything from basic Literacy to Defence, I mean, the curriculum is much wider than in Hogwarts. But I guess that's because there are students from New Zealand and Asia as well." She explained and Sirius nodded at her, listening attentively.

They stayed out late, despite the coldness, talked about school and their childhood years. Hermione cast a couple of warming charms on them and suddenly it wasn't that bad. When the ice cream was gone, they merely leaned on each other and watched the sunset in a comfortable silence.

"Time to go, Dumbledore." Sirius murmured to her ear some time later. She had almost drifted into sleep against his firm side. Hermione yawned and gave him a small smile before she stood up. They walked to the Gryffindor tower and before they parted their ways to their respective dorms, Sirius kissed her softly on her cheek and murmured his good nights.

As she was preparing for bed that night, she was determined to try to solve the puzzle of Sirius Black. She wondered what did he want with her and what had that day meant to him. She wondered, if he only trying to get into her knickers.

She scoffed aloud. Hermione wasn't going to be one of the notches on his bedpost, that was for sure. But somehow, she felt like that wasn't his goal and instead it seemed like he was actually interested in getting to know her.

Sunday, 11 September 1977

On Sunday morning, Hermione had an early breakfast, being the only seventh year Gryffindor at the table as the others were still sleeping in their beds. Even Lily slept late on Sunday mornings.

After breakfast, Hermione made her way to the library again. It too seemed to be quite empty at that time. She briefly wondered if the people in this era studied at all, as most of Hermione's classmates seemed to be more excited about a party than studying. After making her way through the empty aisles between the bookshelves, she took a seat in the same secluded corner she had previously vacated, spreading her books and notes on the table. She opened her transfiguration notes from Friday's lesson and started to go through them.

Hermione became quite absorbed in her text, not really paying attention what was going on around her. When she reached for her transfiguration book from the pile at the table, she faltered as she saw someone sitting opposite to her. When she realised who the other person was, the book from her fingers slipped and tumbled to the floor.

Regulus Black was sitting there and watching her steadily. He then calmly leaned down and picked up her book from the floor, handing it back to her while his eyes moved over her face, assessing her. Hermione's mouth was still slightly open from the surprise of the unexpected company. She snapped her mouth shut and took the book from him, murmuring her thanks, trying not to let her cheeks colour under his stare. She especially tried not to look at the small, smirk that was tugging at his lips.

Hermione cleared her throat and continued her homework, deciding to pretend that he wasn't there. She wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of being a flustered, quivering little witch when facing a Black confidence and charm. Eventually he too turned his eyes back at the table where he had placed some of his own books and notes, and began doing his own homework.

A half an hour or so later Hermione glanced at him, but it seemed like he was so engaged in his own studies that he wasn't even aware of her sitting at the same table. Still, when she didn't look at him, she could feel his eyes on her. Eventually, she decided to leave it be and instead focused on her homework until it was lunch time. She then took her belongings and left the table, murmuring her goodbyes to him.

She was just about to leave towards the library entrance when she heard him speak softly, "See you around."

Sirius was staring at Hermione with a strange expression when she came down to the Great Hall, greeted her housemates, sat down at the table next to him and started to load stew on her plate. He poured her some water and watched her for a moment, until she looked back at him with question in her eyes.

"What is it?" She asked quietly and gave him a hesitant smile, taking note of the unease in his eyes.

Sirius frowned at her. "What were you doing with my brother?" He asked quietly, watching her reaction carefully.

Hermione was startled by his words and very much confused until she realised that Sirius had probably seen it from the Map – and if he had, well, that was still a bit questionable if he was following her movements. He must have had seen her and Regulus in it, their dots next to each other in the library for quite some time.

Hermione arched a brow at him. "Stalking me much?" She asked wryly, knowing that she couldn't actually say she knew about the Map.

Sirius's eyes darkened.

Hermione sighed. "Well, I was at the library, doing some homework and he just, you know, came to sit at my table. He didn't say anything to me the whole time. He just studied there, next to me." She said, shaking her head in puzzlement.

Sirius gave her a concerned look. "I don't like it, Hermione. Who knows what his intentions are, given what you heard him say before," he muttered with a contemplative look.

Hermione reached up to stroke his hair away from his face to distract him from his deep thoughts and he surprised her by turning his head slightly and pressing his lips against the inside of her wrist. Her stomach fluttered from the intimate gesture. It was getting difficult for Hermione not to swoon when he beguiled her with his charm.

"Oi, you two! You are ruining the perfect meal here, do you mind?" James complained from the other side of the table, looking at them with mock annoyance. Lily, Mary and Alice on the other hand were all looking at them with astonished expressions, as if they hadn't expected neither of them to make such public gestures.

Sirius smirked at his friend. "No, Prongs, actually I don't mind," He said lightly and leaned forward to kiss Hermione on her cheek, leaving a warm, tingling spot behind.

James rolled his eyes but resumed his meal. Lunch went on and soon the boys were talking about Quidditch, while the girls made plans for a girls' night in for the evening. Earlier that week Lily had mentioned to her friends that there was something she wanted to talk to them about, and they had agreed to devote their Sunday evening to girl talk, eating sweets and doing face masks. Even though Hermione was happily occupied planning the night with her roommates, her thoughts still drifted to the boy sitting next to her. She knew they had to have a chat soon, to figure out what was going on between them. But first, she had to sort it out in her own head.

After lunch Alice and Mary left towards the kitchens to grab the necessary foods and drinks while Lily, Hermione and Marlene went to the Gryffindor Tower to set everything else ready in their dormitory. They transfigured three of their beds into one huge one with several pillows, so that they could all fit in comfortably. They also lit several candles around the room to reach the proper mood and put everything else ready for their night. When Alice and Mary arrived, they put on their masks and soon enough, each of them was sitting on the bed with their faces full of blue paste while they devoured chocolate cauldrons, pumpkin pasties, sugar quills and liquorice wands.

"So, Dumbledore. What's the deal with you and Black?" Marlene asked airily as her eyes moved over the selection of sweets, as if trying to figure out which one to eat next.

Hermione didn't miss her roommate's the calculative voice. She knew the girls would ask her about Sirius, but instead of answering, all she could think was to wonder what was Marlene's deal with him…The way the blonde-haired girl had asked her about it, made her question if Marlene wasn't overly delighted about whatever the hell it was that was going on between Hermione and Sirius. Was there some shared history between Marlene and Sirius? Was she not over him?

Alice sniggered. "I swear Marley, when you call her Dumbledore, it sounds like you are talking about the Headmaster. Why won't you call her by her first name?" Alice asked as she twirled a liquorice wand between her fingers.

Marlene smirked at Alice. "Dunno, maybe I just don't want to follow everyone else's example." She turned back to Hermione, "Well?"

Hermione frowned at the others. "I haven't the foggiest, truth to be told. We spent some time together yesterday after I got off from work. We just walked through the grounds a bit and chatted of nothing important. There wasn't anything more than that I'm afraid," she said and shrugged. She didn't mention the girls that Sirius had in fact been in the village as well. It wasn't a Hogsmeade-weekend, so he didn't actually have a permission to be there. Hermione cringed inwardly when she realised that she had been there for less than two weeks and she was already breaking the rules. Or at least, ignoring it when someone else did.

She didn't really want to talk about Sirius with the girls since she didn't know what was going on between them and what she actually wanted from him. Marlene raised her eyebrows in disbelief. Hermione eyed the blonde-haired girl for a moment before she spoke. "You have a history with him, don't you?"

Lily, Mary and Alice exchanged uncomfortable looks while Marlene stared at Hermione with slightly narrowed eyes. "Aren't you perceptive?" She merely said and sucked on her sugar quill.

Hermione didn't know how to respond to Marlene, so she just stared at her expectantly. Lily's, Mary's and Alice's expressions had turned into somewhat alarmed.

Eventually Marlene spoke. "I like it. You're okay, Dumbledore." Marlene said and smirked at Hermione. "And yes, we have a history. A history of an on-off relationship he ended last year." She continued with a hint of bitterness. "But you didn't know that and really, I hope things go better for you than they did for me." She concluded with a mild shrug. Hermione smiled and murmured her thanks to Marlene.

"Okay. Enough with Hermione's boy drama. Lily, didn't you have something you wanted to tell us?" Mary changed the topic quickly, making Hermione wonder if the break-up between Sirius and her roommate hadn't been particularly easy. The others probably knew more details since they had shared a living space with Marlene for the past six years, but Hermione wasn't going to pry more information.

Lily seemed to tense a bit. "Yes. Well, James and I..." The others lifted their brows as soon as she very untypically called him by his first name. Lily sighed. "We kissed." Mary and Alice started whooping and cheering, while Marlene and Hermione sniggered. "No, no. It didn't end well, actually." Lily said quickly, looking rather insecure.

Hermione gave her friend a worried look. "Lily, what happened?"

"It was after the party last weekend, you know, when Mary and I went to see James run around the greenhouses starkers."

Marlene and Alice burst in laughter. "What?!" They both yelled incredulously, grinning at Lily.

"Well, if you let me finish, you won't be laughing anymore, I assure you." Lily said irritated. The girls went quiet.

"As I was saying, we were on our way to the greenhouses, after you two," Lily said pointing at Marlene and Alice, "were passed out on the couch and Hermione had gone to sleep. Outside we heard some voices and what do you know, there she was, James's girlfriend with another guy, having a battle with their tongues like their lives depended on it." She explained while Hermione, Marlene and Alice let out shocked sounds.

Marlene turned to Mary. "The fuck, Mary? You just said they broke off after the party?" She said and Mary grimaced.

"Well…I saw James the next day and he asked me to keep it down. He didn't want people to know that he'd been cheated on and asked me to ask Lily to keep her mouth shut too," Mary explained, turning to assess Lily. "And now I know why he didn't come to you himself and why he's been making excuses not to be in your company." She continued with a knowing look.

Lily ducked her head. "You noticed? Yes, um...After the incident, I walked with him back to the Gryffindor Tower and I…kissed him…unexpectedly..." She cringed with, looking embarrassed. "I mean, I didn't plan it or anything... He responded but then suddenly he broke the kiss off and said that he couldn't and he just left me there," Lily explained, glancing at the others with a dejected look.

Alice and Marlene gave Lily troubled looks while Mary was frowning as if trying to remember the night's events. Hermione shuffled closer to Lily and patted her on her back. "Just give him time…he'll come around eventually." Hermione said quietly. Lily nodded glumly and gave her friends a forced smile.

The rest of the evening was spent with more cheerful topics. They had a vote on the best arse of Hogwarts and pondered, who had the most kissable lips and who always seemed like not knowing which end was up. The girls ended up giggling happily through the rest of the night.

Peter emerged into the boys' dormitory, out of breath and a deep frown between his brows. Sirius, James and Remus watched him expectantly.

"Well?" Sirius finally asked, frustrated as Peter was merely panting after his run and had to even his breath before speaking.

"The girls…were talking about last weekend. When Lily kissed you, Prongs..." Peter stared at James with lifted brows, as did the rest of the boys. James groaned and pressed the heels of his palms against his eyes.

"Well I'll be a monkey's uncle! What do we have here? Forgot to mention something, Prongsie?" Sirius said gleefully, a mischievous grin plastered on his face as he approached James's bed, where his friend was sitting.

James sighed in resignation. "I didn't tell you guys because it didn't mean anything. She was just trying to comfort me and even if she wasn't, I'm not ready to start anything with her. Not now." He grumbled and gave his friends an impatient look.

"Yeah, sure Prongs," Remus said easily and returned back to his bed where his journal lay open.

Sirius frowned. He felt bad for James; while he almost had the girl he was chasing after, his friend got cheated on and was alone. He gave an understanding nod and changed the subject, turning back to Peter.

"So, Pete, did they talk about me?" He asked, a playful smirk lifting his mouth. "They must have talked about how gorgeous I am, right?" He continued smugly.

James and Remus snorted loudly. Peter on the other hand eyed Sirius carefully. "Actually, now that you mentioned it, they did have a vote on which guy has the best arse in Hogwarts—"

"What?!" Sirius and James bellowed in unison. "Those skanky little minxes!" Sirius stated with a wide grin. "Well?" He demanded.

"Well what?" Peter asked, looking confused.

"Who has the best arse, of course," Sirius said with his brows lifted, as if the answer was obvious.

Remus and James rolled their eyes at him.

Peter's eyes widened. "Oh, well...none of you. It was actually Mark from Ravenclaw." He mumbled with a small cringe.

"What the hell?!" Sirius exclaimed in disbelief, throwing an annoyed glance at his sniggering friends. He scowled at Peter before letting out a huff and stomping into the bathroom.

Monday, 12 September 1977

The next morning Hermione and Lily woke up early and were the first ones at breakfast, as usual. They had decided to make a quick visit to the library before their DADA class, so they left the table before the rest of the seventh year Gryffindors arrived.

As Hermione and Lily arrived in front of their Defence class about a half an hour later, a few minutes before the class started, Sirius threw his bag to James and marched right up to Hermione. He pulled her close to him and when Hermione let out a surprised squeak, he grabbed her hands and pressed them against his own behind.

"I have the best arse you can find in Hogwarts, just so you know!" He growled and stared at her with a burning gaze.

Hermione was so taken aback and speechless by the situation that she merely blinked at Sirius. When she realised their classmates were laughing and whooping near them, Hermione felt embarrassed and pulled back.

"Okay. Black, Dumbledore. Enough with the endearments. There are minors walking in these halls, if you don't mind. Let's begin the class." Professor Prewett announced, suppressing a smile as he walked down the hall and opened the door to the classroom. The red colour in Hermione's face deepened and Sirius smiled at her triumphantly.

"Prat." She beat him on the shoulder, narrowing her eyes at him.

"You loved it." He replied easily and turned to walk towards the class room.

Hermione seethed as she followed him. She decided not to talk to him for the rest of their class and didn't regret her decision as the boy kept smirking at her during it.

After lunch, Hermione and her friends were having a double Herbology class in the greenhouse three. Hermione was paired with Remus, like she had been during the previous lesson. They continued to work on their assignment from last week, which had them working with the more dangerous plants. This time they studied the Venomous Tentacula. Each pair of students was supposed to harvest a handful of leaves from the plant assigned to them. It was a difficult task, since the plant had many large vines which acted like arms that tried to grab a living prey. While one student harvested the leaves, the other made sure the plant didn't try to strangle anyone.

"How are you?" Hermione asked while she stunned the plant momentarily so that Remus could work on the leaves.

"I'm fine," he murmured while cutting a couple of leaves, then glanced at her. "Was going to ask you that though. So um…what's…going on with you and a certain black-haired friend of mine? Or was? I can't keep up anymore," he inquired and gave her a lopsided grin.

Hermione pursed her lips. "Well, Sirius is being a prat, that's all," she huffed.

Remus laughed before he spoke to her. "He sure knows how to be that, trust me."

Hermione smiled at him. She glanced around them, taking a look at their classmates. Lily was paired with Alice and Mary with Peter, while Marlene, Sirius and James were absent. The three of them were having a free period as they didn't take Herbology. "I… Don't exactly know what is going on between us. I mean…we sort of…kissed…" Hermione said slowly, eyeing Remus with an unsure look.

"I know. He told me. And you went to Hogsmeade together?" Remus asked carefully, while Hermione stunned the plant again so that he could cut another set of leaves.

"Yes. I mean, he tagged along, if that's what you mean," she said and they both chuckled. "But it was quite nice, just to spend some time with him," she mused and thought back to the events on last Saturday.

Remus hummed in agreement. "Yeah, I know what you mean. When he wants, he can be an awesome friend and hold a good conversation," he said sensibly. "So…what did you guys talk about?"

Hermione thought back to their conversation. "Well, the usual, I guess. Our pasts. He told me about the Potters and him running away from home. And I told him about my previous school…" She said with a shrug.

"I'd like to hear of it too sometime…" Remus said, eyeing her hesitantly.

Hermione smiled at him. "Well, how about you come to Hogsmeade with me next weekend and I'll tell you all about it, huh?" She asked and noticed that he looked a bit surprised by her question.

"Really? I thought you'd go with Sirius?" Remus asked uncertainly.

Hermione scoffed. "Well, since I'm not dating him and he's being a big prat at the moment, I think there's a slim to none chance for that happening. Besides…I can go with him on another time. And weren't you the one who said that I shouldn't be afraid to form new friendships?" She asked and gave him a pointed look.

Remus nodded in agreement and relaxed somewhat. "Yeah, I guess. Well, I'd be happy to go with you, Hermione," he finally said with a delighted grin.

Thursday, 15 September 1977

Hermione walked to their Defence class with Sirius after having breakfast together with the rest of the Gryffindors. He had sat beside her like he did almost every day and asked if she would walk with him to their first lesson of the day.

"So, are you going to tell me how you knew about the voting I had with the girls? We didn't exactly tell about it to anyone…" Hermione asked and watched him suspiciously. She had given him the silent treatment the whole day on Monday and Tuesday, until he had loudly begged for her forgiveness in their common room with a good audience, much to her annoyance.

Sirius looked abashed and winced. "Oh…well...I can't exactly tell you how, but, um...Pete spied on you," he murmured and gave her a sheepish smile. Hermione's eyes hardened and she stopped walking. Sirius quickly continued, "But don't go screaming at him because, Prongs and I kind of, you know, made him do it..." He continued quickly, his face scrunching up in apology.

Hermione huffed, folding her hands over her chest. "That better be the last time, otherwise we'll start making counteractions towards sneaky little rats," she ranted.

Sirius's eyes widened for a moment. And then Hermione realised what she had said. With mild panic, she wondered if he thought she knew about them. How could she explain that to him? But then, the next moment, Sirius schooled his face and took her hand in his, brushing his thumb softly over her knuckles. She gave him a small smile, her concerns quickly vanishing from the forefront of her mind.

"Come to Hogsmeade with me this Saturday." He said quietly and moved to stand in front of her, his eyes moving over her face.

Hermione chewed the inside of her cheek, feeling slightly bad to disappoint him. "I um… I said I'd go with Remus. He wanted to know about my previous school and I promised to tell him all about it…" She said, giving him an apologetic look.

Sirius seemed taken aback. He looked away, his jaw tightening, evidently digesting her words. Hermione wondered if it was going to be a problem for him. She hoped it wouldn't be. She didn't feel anything but friendship for Remus, if that was something that bothered Sirius. She also wondered if he simply didn't want her close to Remus, because he was protective of his friend due to his lycanthropy.

He turned back to her after a moment, a mild frown on his face. "Oh. Okay then." He said tightly, took her hand again and led them towards the classroom.

When Professor Prewett walked along the hall, Hermione didn't miss the amused twitch on the man's lips as his eyes moved over Sirius and Hermione, stopping for a moment at their joined hands.

After their Defence class, Gideon asked Hermione to stay behind. They had met a couple of times already and he had been mainly briefing her about the Order – at least the matters he was allowed to talk with her. Hermione knew the Headmaster had informed Gideon that she was not attending the actual Order meetings, since her main task was to take care of her education, but he had requested that she was to be kept on the loop about what was going on.

It seemed like at first Gideon had been a bit confused why a student was included in Order business, but after Hermione had shared her vision with him, he had told her that he understood that she might have some valuable information for the Order. Gideon hadn't questioned Hermione further and she assumed he was expecting that everything was going to be explained to him and his brother next week when they were going to meet with the Headmaster.

"Lovers' quarrel already forgotten?" Gideon asked lightly, his mouth curving slightly up as they sat down at his office. Hermione gave him a deep scowl, and Gideon lifted his hands in surrender. "Okay. Not my business. However...you do realise who or what his family is?" He continued, now with more hesitance in his voice.

Hermione's brow furrowed. "What do you mean?" She asked aloofly.

"I mean, that I know he is a good guy, we were housemates after all. I just...I want you to be careful with him. His family is a vicious one and they won't hesitate to deal with you by any means necessary if you get on their wrong side," he explained and studied her with a slight worry in his eyes.

Hermione set her jaw before she spoke to him. "I'll be fine, trust me. Can we talk about something else?"

"Sure. Um…My brother is excited to meet you next week. He's been on a mission for a few weeks now," Gideon said with a grin.

"Oh. Well, I'm looking forward to meeting him too." Hermione smiled at him.

They continued to talk about Order matters, going through the recent missions, including Fabian's, and some of the upcoming ones.

Meanwhile in the Great Hall, the Marauders were having lunch.

"What the hell, Moony?" Sirius grumbled as he sat next to Remus, looking at him with blazing grey eyes.

Remus merely arched a brow at him and took a sip of water from his goblet. "Yes?" He asked calmly.

Sirius didn't miss the look of amusement on James's face on Remus's other side. Naturally, during their Defence class, Sirius had complained to James at great length about the bit of news Hermione had told him - about going into Hogsmeade with Remus and not him. James had been very... James about it, assuring that every bloody one in the school knew that Sirius was courting Hermione and that Remus would never betray his trust. James's reasoning had managed to calm him down quite a lot. Still, he wanted to hear it from Remus himself.

But Remus, the twit, sat there with an innocent expression, evidently aware what Sirius was on about and waiting for him to say it aloud.

"You know what I mean. Did you do it on purpose? So that I couldn't win the bet, huh?" Sirius demanded with a mix of smugness and annoyance in his voice.

Remus scoffed. "Are you even going on with that bet anymore, Pads? Or is it something more you're seeking?" He whispered harshly, giving him a knowing look.

Sirius was speechless for a moment. "I…I dunno." He muttered and with a frown, he turned his gaze towards the table.

Truthfully, he didn't know. Even though he didn't really care about the bet anymore, he wasn't sure what he hoped to achieve with Hermione.

"Well, figure it out. And tell her what you want." Remus said reasonably.

Sirius watched his friend for a while, eventually nodding at him. He knew that Remus was right. He had to figure it out and talk to Hermione about what he wanted. And hope that she would see eye to eye on the matter.

As Hermione left Gideon's office to grab lunch, she bumped straight into someone when turning a corner in the hallway. She nearly fell and grabbed the other person from their shoulders for support.

"Oh, Sorry I..." She started but her voice faded as she noticed who it was, "Regulus." She said and gave him a small smile when she figured that he was just as surprised to bump into her.

His grey eyes stared at her brown ones with such intensity, that she forgot that her hands were still on his shoulders. His eyes were exactly like his brother's. Sirius's. She jumped away from him, her eyes widening with embarrassment. Hermione muttered a quick apology and retreated towards the Great Hall.

Her mind was whirling as she took a seat at her house table. Most of the seventh year Gryffindors were finishing their meals. She began to eat quickly, knowing that the lunch would be soon over. Her thoughts lingered at the encounter in the hallway, until she glanced over the table where the boys sat and saw that Sirius was watching her with a small smile tugging at his lips, before continuing his discussion with Remus.

After their double Charms lesson, before dinner and the Astronomy class, Hermione found Sirius lounging on their common room couch. Trying to spot her other classmates, her gaze wandered over the comfortable room that was decorated in several shades of red, stopping at the seating area in front of the fire, where several squashy armchairs and a couch where the raven-haired boy lounged was situated. She saw a small group of fourth years in a study nook in one corner and two sixth years playing wizards chess near the portrait hole. Otherwise the room was rather empty.

"Where are all the others?" Hermione asked while sitting on one end of the couch after Sirius moved his feet to give her some space.

"James and Lily are on Heads duty, Moony and Pete are hanging outside by the lake with Alice and Mary and, uh, Marley's probably off snogging some poor Ravenclaw in a broom closet," he said with an amused huff.

Hermione lifted her brows at him. "How would you know if Marley is snogging a Ravenclaw?" She asked blankly.

"Because I know what she's up to when she's vacating a broom closet," he said nonchalantly. Hermione's gaze turned into a scowl.

Sirius sniggered and looked at her with a cheeky grin. "Jealous, darling?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "No. I was just wondering how can you have that specific information about our classmates' whereabouts," she said dryly, looking away from him. She of course knew that their friends' locations would be easily found on the Map, excepting what they were actually doing. His comment about Marley stung Hermione a bit and she tried not to imagine Sirius and her dormmate in action inside a broom closet.

Sirius evidently caught the change in her mood and seemed to guess what she was thinking about.

"You know, it was a long time ago. The thing between Marley and me. I'm not sure if you already knew but…" he licked his lips, "...well, there it is. We dated a while, few times actually and it just didn't work out," he concluded quietly, staring at her intently when she turned to face him again.

"Yeah, I know. She told me," Hermione said uncertainly.

"Hermione, I don't have any sort of feelings for her anymore. In fact, there's only one witch I think about…" he murmured and eyed her with a sincere look in his grey eyes.

Hermione felt her cheeks heating up. "Oh," she merely said, not really knowing how to respond to him.

Sirius's lips curved into a smile and suddenly he hooked his feet around her and tugged her until she was sprawled on her stomach on top of him, between his legs and her face inches away from his.

"That's more like it…" Sirius murmured as his eyes swept over her face with a searching look.

Hermione felt her heart pound in her chest when he slowly closed the distance between their lips and kissed her lightly. She answered to his kiss hesitantly and let out an uneven breath as his hands found the small of her back and pulled her slightly closer to him.

"Sirius…There are others in this room," Hermione warned after breaking their kiss.

"I don't care," he whispered roughly before pressing his lips to hers again, more heatedly this time. She let out a muffled gasp against his lips as she felt his fingers inching down towards her bum. Then his tongue reached out to touch hers tentatively. Very conscious about their possible audience, Hermione eventually broke the kiss and pulled back. Sirius groaned in disappointment and let his head fall back to the cushion.

"Don't go." He said with a soft whine as she backed away more. His eyes were closed and he was breathing a bit heavier than normally. "Just come here, okay? Let me hold you," he continued after opening his eyes and staring at her with an imploring look.

She wanted to. Somehow, he made her feel at ease and excited at the same time. So, she swallowed down the hesitance she had about getting involved with people in this time and simply let herself have that moment. Hermione looked briefly over the room. When no one seemed to so much as glance at their direction, she gave him a small smile and lowered her head against his chest.

Sirius let out a deep breath and wrapped his arms around her, planting a kiss on the top of her head.

"Don't run away from me, Hermione," he murmured, making her feel a bit overwhelmed.

She felt so good in his arms and she wanted nothing more than to be near him, but her head told her not to jump into whatever it was too quickly. Hermione chewed the inside of her cheek. "I won't. But. Can we take it slow?" She asked, lifting her head to watch him with an unsure look.

"Of course we can." He said with a pleased smile. He brought his hand up to brush his fingertips against her jaw.

Hermione gave him a sweet smile and lay her head against his chest again, while one of his hands stroked her back lightly. They stayed like that until it was dinnertime, when they reluctantly got up and headed towards the Great Hall.