Disclaimer: All canon characters, places, plots and situations from the Harry Potter Universe belongs to J.K. Rowling. I make no profit from this.

Warnings: Rated M for language, violence and scenes of a sexual nature in later chapters.

A/N: I hope you all enjoyed the last chapter, I felt like it was my best one so far. I had heaps of fun working on this one too. It's a bit different as it's mostly set in one place with a lot going on. Would love to hear your feedback. Thanks for all your fantastic reviews so far, even those pointing out discrepancies of any kind. This is my first story and I am loving how much I'm learning. At some point I may go through all my chapters and try to improve the formatting, spelling etc. but right now I don't have the time to do anything really except work on my chapters and I'd like to update more often than not. So enjoy!

Chapter Eight: Beer Beer Cheer

oOoOoOo

On Friday, the twenty-seventh of June, Sirius Black graduated from the British Aurorship Programme with flying colours. Since he was graduating before the usual time, it was a small, private ceremony in the main hall of the Auror Department. Almost all the Weasleys had turned up, and of course, the Potters and Lupins, Hermione, Luna – who was back from living abroad – and to Sirius' surprise, Minerva McGonagall. Earlier at home, he'd asked Hermione to help him suit up, saying that the graduation robes were a bit fiddly. He hadn't actually needed the help, but the feel of her smaller hands adjusting the lapels and her body so close to his own he could drink in her scent calmed his nerves.

There was a short speech from Minister Shacklebolt and then Harry presented Sirius his Auror badge with a wide, proud grin. Everyone had cheered, looking so genuinely happy for him that he felt close to bursting with a sense of belonging. Afterwards, some of them trooped off in a fit of nostalgia to the Three Broomsticks for a celebratory drink or five.

Friday night at Broomsticks was buzzing and Hermione thought they were lucky enough to find a booth big enough for all of them to squeeze into, let alone get served. "Let me get the drinks," Sirius insisted while everyone else squashed in around the table. Hermione watched as he went over to the bar where a still beautiful older witch was laughing raucously with another customer. Madam Rosmerta was still the proud owner and barkeep of the pub, which she had returned to use under her careful restoration following the war. It was quite a clever choice, Hermione though, for her to restore it looking exactly as it had been for years and years before, since most of its patrons seemed to be previous Hogwarts students. The nostalgia paid off.

Their table was long, with chairs around in a 'U' shape. Hermione was at one end, then Eva, Ron, Ginny, Harry, Luna, George, Charlie, Remus and Tonks and finally, Molly and Arthur who'd caved to the cajoling to come along for 'just one drink'. It was rowdy in a pleasant way. At that moment Ginny and Luna were both regaling the others with their various experiences as reporters, for Quidditch Magazine and The Quibbler respectively. Everyone was glad to welcome Luna back to London. The witch had been traveling through Europe over the last couple of years but had kept in correspondence with her school friends through Owl Post. She still had an airy way of talking and a multitude of strange ideas, but in the post-war world she was a breath of fresh air.

Hermione half-listened as she looked over her shoulder, watching the dark-haired Marauder capture the bar lady's attention. Rosmerta was exclaiming and reaching over the bar to heartily place a kiss on each of his stubbled cheeks. Sirius said something to her and she roared with laughter, smacking him playfully with the tea towel in her hand. He turned towards them to indicate their group, and his eyes caught hers. She whipped her face back to the table, her cheeks burning, but nobody else had noticed. That was, until she looked up and saw Mr. Weasley looking at her, a benevolent expression on his face. It was so fatherly that she suddenly, terribly missed her own father and had to force down the lump in her throat, turning to join the rest of them in laughter at a joke she'd hadn't even heard.

"Shift up, love," came Sirius' voice beside her as he squeezed in. Rosmerta was in train with pints upon pints of mulled mead, Butterbeer, a strawberry syrup soda for Ginny and a bottle of Ogden's Finest. "Thanks love," he said as the drinks were passed around until everyone had a drink in their hand.

"To Pads," toasted Remus. "Living proof the value of experience over youth. Congrats old friend."

"Cheers, chin chin," said everyone tapping as many glasses within reach as possible before taking their first sip.

Almost immediately there was a shriek, and Hermione turned to see Ron, squeezed between his sister and his wife, his lips quadrupled in size. Was that… lipstick? The source of the shriek was Mrs. Weasley, and Ginny, Harry and Luna were doing a terrible job of looking innocent. George was outright laughing his head off. Looking extremely put out – difficult to do when you've got pink painted Mick Jagger lips, giggled Hermion – Ron turned to his brother. "Oi!" he said, sounding like he had a mouth full of mashed potato. "Gedditoffme," he yelled, incensed when Eva burts into a fit of giggles realising it was just a Whizz. He swiveled towards her, the expression of betrayal so comical that she only laughed harder and pushed the beer he'd been drinking away from him.

"You're so pretty Ron," wheezed Harry, to which Ron responded by giving him the finger, adding to Mrs. Weasley's growing disapproval of the whole matter. Hermione could feel the reverberations of Sirius' barking laughter where their shoulders and thighs touched.

"Now now little brother, remember that there's only one way to get rid of that," said George loftily, Ron looking as though he'd like nothing more than to throw himself across the table and strangle his brother with his bare hands. It was difficult to feel too sorry for Ron, since the brothers had been working together for years and it still never failed to amaze how often George tested their products on his brother, nor how often Ron managed to get fooled by him.

Ron turned to his wife, grabbed her face and planted a wet kiss to her cheek, leaving behind a sticky, gigantic mouth-shaped lipstick stain on her face. His own lips began shrinking back to normal size, conversation already moving onto potential victims for this latest trick and she heard Severus Snape's name come up as a candidate who would be hard pressed to find someone he could kiss. She rolled her eyes. The man had been declared a war hero, but he was still the sour man they'd grown up with and she'd tired of telling the boys to show him respect.

Soon Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were bidding the rest of them goodnight, Flooing home. "We'd better get back too, we've still got to fetch the kids from Bill's anyway," said Ginny as Harry helped her up. Since Teddy was spending the night with his grandmother, Remus and Tonks were free to stay. Charlie said his own goodbyes; he had a Portkey to catch and had just been fortunate enough to fit in Sirius' graduation and a drink or two.

As the alcohol and good spirits flowed so did the stories. Ron relayed the trio's escape from Gringotts. "In retrospect, that wasn't the brightest idea was it," commented Hermione. Tonks shared a few amusing tales from Auror missions gone wrong and Remus was happy to share stories from their youth, especially ones about Sirius' shenanigans. Everyone was in fits of laughter.

"Well Sirius here asks her, if the name 'The Three Broomsticks' referred to the fact that the pub has always been owned and run by a father and two-son team, why she hadn't renamed it after it came into her ownership," said Remus, laughing. "So she says, 'Oh really, and what would you suggest' – I don't think she was being serious, the pubs as old as Hogsmead itself and I don't think it's ever been called anything but The Three Broomsticks regardless of ownership – but Pads here says, 'Considering there are no longer three broomsticks involved, perhaps 'The One Quaffle'?"

"Oh Sirius, you didn't," Hermione giggled, her eyes watering from all the laughing.

"Really Black, even I know a gentleman doesn't refer to a lady's quaffle, at least not in public," said George, mocking a scandalised expression.

Sirius feigned indignancy. "I was young, I hadn't honed my charm quite yet," he said. "It's all in the delivery, you see," he said, turning to Hermione.

"Rosmerta's always been fairly risqué herself but back then she was still using the iron rule with us youngsters, being so young herself, you see. She needed to establish her authority," said Remus. "So thanks to Pads here we all got kicked out."

"And then?" asked Eva, her eyes wide.

"Well the next time we come around, Sirius refuses to stay after she's given him the evil eye, so he drags the rest of us off to a pub in Knockturn Alley – by the way, how did you even know there was a pub there?" he asked Sirius.

"I could hardly drag you Moony, let alone James and-" His voice faltered here suddenly, and Hermione squeezed his knee under the table sympathetically. "Anyway, any pureblood wizard from a dark family has a general idea of what's around those parts," he finished, but the mood had dropped a little. "I'm going out for a smoke," he said suddenly, getting up and going outside. Hermione looked at Remus, who nodded, before she got up and followed him outside.

He was standing a few feet from the pub, against the wall, lit cigarette in his hand, his body language screaming defensiveness and anger. She went to him. "And that?" she asked, looking up into stormy grey eyes. He looked away, blowing out smoke and ashing his cigarette. The street was busy even this late at night, with witches and wizards out for their evening entertainment.

"I should have killed that bastard when I had the chance. Years. Years he sat and slept and ate beside us and look what's happened because of it. Think of all the trouble I could have prevented if I'd just-"

"-Just what?" snapped Hermione, her eyes boring into his. He looked down at her, standing planted there with her arms crossed and her eyes blazing. "No, please do explain to me how you were supposed to know what Wormtail was doing, and even better, please explain to me how by getting rid of him you single-handedly could've stopped Voldemort. Please do, I'm simply enthralled."

"Don't you preach at me love, you know exactly what guilt feels like," said Sirius, with a snide laugh.

"How is that relevant, let alone a good reason for you standing out here, in the dark, berating yourself for something you didn't know and can't change? While your friends sit in there, here to celebrate you and your future. Or is this whole Auror thing just about redemption?" she said, knowing she'd hit the nail on the head when he turned his body towards hers.

"Don't you wish you could go back and save your parents?" he said.

She hissed with frustration and hurt. "That's not the point Sirius, of course I would if I could, but I can't, and more than that, I wouldn't be able to because I didn't know. I didn't know it was going to happen, and neither did you! You didn't know and there – Is – no - reason – you – should –have!" she said, poking a finger into his chest to punctuate her last words. His hand came up fast and grabbed her around the wrist, his lips pressed together tightly. Hermione's heart was thumping erratically against her chest, and she could see he was also struggling to control himself by the way his chest rose and fell, the harsh breaths he took. His eyes dropped to her lips and she trembled, with excitement or anger, she couldn't tell.

"Oi looky here who it is," came a familiar voice behind her, and Sirius let go of her wrist as she turned to see the speaker. It was Kris, and by the looks of it, a group of his friends. It looked as though they had all just stepped out of the Three Broomsticks as well. He was slurring slightly and looked wobbly on his feet. "Look lads, here's the slut who wouldn't put out, too good for us regular blokes," he grinned, his mates all laughing stupidly, clearly pissed out of their minds as well.

She felt Sirius move behind her and held out a palm to him, pleading him to stay back. He ground his teeth but did as she asked. The witch looked back at her co-worker. "Kris I wouldn't touch you with a bargepole you creep, and it has nothing to do with your popularity."

"S'fine, I wouldn't want to fuck you anyway, God knows you must've been round the block by now, if the papers are to believed. I mean look at you, standing on the street with a bloke in the dark-" Hermione whipped out her wand and was pointing it at the man's face before she even realised it, her arm trembling, a curse on the tip of her tongue. He's drunk, she told herself. Hermione, he's drunk and pathetic, just let it go.

Giving him a scornful look, she tucked away her wand, moving away but reached out and grabbed at her, fisting her cloak and dragging her towards him. "Where the fuck you think you're going when I'm talking to you, you frigid bitch-" but whatever else he was about to say he didn't get the chance as Sirius lunged forward out of the shadows, and punched him squarely in the mouth. It was a horrid wet and snapping sound and he fell to the ground, spitting out blood and what looked like part of a tooth. He clutched his face in pain, and when his friends saw just who it was that'd decked him, they backed off quickly.

"You arsehole," Kris slurred, staggering to his feet, "You fucking bastard, who do you think you are, you think I'm afraid of you? I'll have you arrested, I'll have you-"

Sirius felt a rush of satisfaction as he whipped out his Auror badge and shoved it in the shorter man's face. The man's eyes widened. "You so much as breathe in her direction again, Godric help you, you so much as whisper her name in the dark and I will make sure you find out just how bad Sirius Black can be," he growled.
By this time all the commotion had attracted a small crowd of people and Madam Rosmerta appeared in the doorway.

Kris turned to her. "This brute hit me! He's threatened me!" he said, wiping the blood away from his mouth. "He should be thrown out!"

"I can't throw them out even if I wanted to, since this happened outside of my premises, on the street," said Rosmerta evenly. "But what I can do, is refuse entry to my establishment-" The drunk wizard smiled smugly at this, looking around at his friends. "- and so consider this your notice of refusal. You and your friends may not re-enter my pub," finished the barkeep looking directly at him, wiping the smile right off his face.

Ron, Remus, Charlie and George had squeezed out of the pub and were now standing close to Hermione and Sirius, grim looks on their faces.
Kris was looking around for support, but nothing was forthcoming. "I'll – I'll – this isn't the last of it, you hear me?" he limply threatened, backing away towards his friends, and they left as the small crowd dissipated. Hermione and everyone else was ushered back into the pub by Rosmerta. As she stepped in Hermione was pulled into a hug by Tonks, who walked her back to their table.

"Sorry babe," said Tonks. "I would've come out there and given him a black eye to match his mouth, but I might've been obligated as an Auror to take you all in."

"But what if he lodges a complaint against Sirius," asked Hermione worriedly. "Will he lose his badge?"

"Hell no love, and anyway, he's not going to lay a charge. He assaulted you and Sirius acted in defense. That's all there is to it."

Behind the bar Rosmerta was healing Sirius' bloody knuckles with her wand. "What you did out there, he deserved," she said, carefully tracing her wand over his skin. "Normally I don't condone brawling in or outside my pub, as you well know, but what you did there was what a wizard does for his witch. The bloody idiot deserved it."

"Oh! Oh no, we're not together," he said. "Just friends."

"Oh?" Rosmerta said, arching an eyebrow. "That's not what I saw."

"Yes well it's true," grumbled Sirius, wincing as his skin knitted back together. "Thanks love," he said, examining his bruised knuckles. "I think we'll all shove off now eh."

"Absolutely not," said Rosmerta. "I won't have your evening here end on that note, and besides, I've yet to bring you your graduation drink," she smiled at the wizard. "Go on, join your friends and tell them to stick around for just one more drink," she said.

At the table he relayed the message as he slipped in beside Hermione. "You okay love?" he asked in a quiet voice.

"Thank you," said Hermione softly. "You really didn't need to, you know, I could have- should have handled it on my own." He knew how much she wanted to be strong for herself but her words carried no real objection and quite frankly even if they had, he didn't give a flying flobberworm.

"I'm never going to stand by while someone touches you and talks to or about you like that, and you're just going to have to deal with it," Sirius responded calmly.

Before Hermione could say anything, Rosmerta arrived at the table bearing a tray of emerald green shooters. "Cheeky Leprechauns, on the house," she said, passing them out. "In celebration of this rascal finally reaching adulthood." She laughed, smacking Sirius teasingly on the shoulder.

"Ooh, pretty," said Luna, her eyes fixed on the drink before her.

Hermione frowned. "What do they do?" she said. Experience had taught her that imbibing anything in the magical world without forethought was a gamble.

The barkeep just smiled. "Guess you'll have to find out, won't you?"

"C'mon love", said Sirius, jostling her with an elbow. "Live a little. The lovely lady here is unlikely to poison us, am I right my darling?" he said, turning to Rosmerta, gracing her with a wink, which greatly annoyed Hermione for some reason, and she grabbed her little glass rebelliously. "Enjoy," smirked Rosmerta, heading back to the bar.

"To Pads!" toasted Remus again, and then they were all knocking back a shot. The liquid coated Hermione's mouth, a mint, chocolate and vodka flavour that was surprisingly delicious. They all waited, but nothing happened.

"Well rah-rah for that," said Hermione dryly, when suddenly there was mayhem. She just glimpsed George lunge for Luna's lips before she heard a strangled grunt beside her and turned to find her left hand precariously high on the inside of Sirius thigh. She yelped, embarrassed, and tried to pull away but her hand squeezed instead. A brief glance back to the table told her that everyone was stuck in their own crazy moment, but that thought quickly vanished along with any other sane thought in her head when Sirius dipped his face directly to her chest and licked a stripe up from the little cleavage on show, using the point of his tongue to tickle along her collarbone until he reached the lobe of her ear, which he nibbled. She gave an involuntary gasp and moaned, her own hand having travelled up the short distance left between his thigh and crotch, and was now palming the evidence of his arousal.

And then the magic shifted and it was over as quickly as it had started, pairs jumping apart all around the table, even the married couples. Except for George, who, after realising they were all just going to sit there in awkward silence, threw caution to the wind, grabbing Luna in a clinch and resuming what was obviously a mutually enjoyed snogging session.

Hermione knew she was scarlet with embarrassment and, if she was being honest with herself, enjoyment of what had just happened. Even Remus looked abashed, while Tonks looked smugly satisfied and when she snuck a peek at the man beside her, he wouldn't meet her eyes. Ron's face matched his hair, but he was grinning and his wife was smiling shyly back at him. A quick look around the pub revealed that Rosmerta was curiously absent; the door to the pub was locked and the lights had dimmed, but the Floo had obviously been left open in preparation for their hasty departures.

To Sirius' relief, none of them ever mentioned that evening or the Cheeky Leprechauns again. Even Remus and Tonks were silent on the subject, and he wondered briefly what had gone on amongst the others at the table. When they'd stepped out of the floo into Grimmauld, the couple and their two housemates bid all the others a good night, heading off to bed, barely casting a glance to any of the others. Embarrassment wasn't a familiar sensation to the Animagus, and the shock of his behaviour towards the young witch was soon overshadowed by the memory of her hand on his thigh and cock. When they bumped into one another in the kitchen the next morning, she seemed completely at ease and he was tempted to think she'd obliviated herself in mortification of touching and being touched by him in such a fashion.

Hermione had done no such thing, choosing rather to pretend it hadn't happened at all. They were all certainly sozzled enough; memory loss was a symptom of excessive alcohol consumption, wasn't it? She'd fretted, but Sirius seemed completely unaffected when they bumped into one another at breakfast the next day and she supposed it was not the kind of thing that would make him uncomfortable, considering his track record with the opposite sex. The memory of their argument outside the pub, or the moment that Kris' arrival had interrupted was conveniently pushed to the back of each one's mind.

Sneak Peek Chapter Eight.

"Sirius, what is this?" she said softly.

A/N: *whistling nonchalantly*