A/N - Warning in this chapter for discussion of infertility issues. Thanks for reading and reviewing!

Chapter 21

25 July 2003

Sirius continued to kiss her neck as Hermione tried to process this. Sirius was not only alive but she, Hermione Granger, was dating him. Living with him. Her other self. Whatever. She couldn't think clearly.

Her eyes fluttered shut as Sirius reached a particularly sensitive spot on her neck. His lips traced the line of her jaw, nose burying itself in her hair as he reached her ear. Hermione was starting to feel a bit dazed, and it took her a moment to realize that he had stopped. His nose was still in her hair, and he took a large sniff, then pulled back from her.

"Did you change your shampoo?" he asked, brow furrowed.

"Hmm, what?" she asked, trying to clear her rather fuzzy mind.

"You smell different."

Hermione froze. Shite. "What do you mean?"

"I mean you smell different, but I can't figure out how, exactly." He studied her. "It's different but not."

Hermione willed herself to stay calm. She could easily jump again but she would have to get back to the other Hermione's bedroom. She'd hidden the Universe Hopper in one of the desk drawers when she'd been investigating the house.

"Different but not? What does that mean?" She laughed.

"I don't know. You smell like you but there's something else." He stared at her for a moment, clearly trying to puzzle it out. Then his eyes widened slightly. "You're not, I mean, no, of course not, that's not possible." He looked almost apologetic that he'd even thought of whatever it was that he'd thought of.

It took her a few moments, but she finally realized. He thought she might be pregnant? Gods, was she going to have to go through that again in another universe? If she was, she was jumping immediately. She still wasn't convinced that it wasn't her presence that had caused the issues in the last universe.

But wait, why wouldn't that be possible? Clearly, they were sleeping together if he'd even had the thought. She assumed they were using magical contraceptives; Hermione had been on the potion in her own universe plus most of the others she'd been in. The potion was nearly one hundred percent effective, but the rare pregnancy still happened. Usually because of an interaction with another potion but still, it wasn't out of the realm of possibility.

But the look he had after he asked led her to believe there was something else. He looked sorry that he'd even thought of it. Had they tried but couldn't for some reason?

"I'm sorry I brought it up, I," he sighed, scrubbing a hand down his face. He met her eyes again. "I don't want to upset you. I know that the Healer told you it was virtually impossible. But we should know for certain, yeah?"

Hermione felt the breath leave her lungs. After the war, she had visited a Healer in her world. She had been concerned about some lingering effects from her torture at Malfoy Manor. She was still having muscle spasms at times and the fingers on her left hand would twitch for no reason. Before she examined Hermione, the Healer had warned her that multiple bouts of the Cruciatus could affect a wide range of systems in the body, outside of just the nervous system. And that a regular diagnostic might not be able to determine any problems she might have with fertility or the ability to carry a child to term. That would require more extensive testing.

At the time, children were the last thing on Hermione's mind, but she knew that she needed to know if they were even a possibility at all. For Ron's sake as well as hers. She knew he wanted children, and it wouldn't be fair not to tell him that it might not be a possibility for her from the outset.

So, Hermione had agreed to the additional tests and scans. She'd even had to see a non-magical gynecologist at one point. The woman was a Squib actually, who consulted with St. Mungo's in cases like hers.

In the end, she had been told that she shouldn't have any problems. She hadn't realized how relieved she would feel. Children were such a vague 'someday' concept to her at eighteen that she hadn't really thought much about them. Here, it seemed, her other self hadn't gotten the same news.

She took a deep breath. "Yes, we should know for sure."

"Do you want me to?" Sirius asked.

She nodded. Sirius cast the charm but there was no glow from her abdomen like there would be if she were pregnant. He immediately gathered her into his arms, hugging her tightly.

"I'm sorry," he said. "It's all right. You know that it doesn't matter to me. I love you."

She nodded against his shoulder, feeling strangely sad. She realized that it was probably her other self and felt horrible that she'd put the other Hermione in this situation. If she hadn't come here, this entire scenario wouldn't have happened. Fuck, she couldn't keep messing with people's lives like this.

She tried to pull away from Sirius, intent on getting to the Universe Hopper and jumping immediately, but he held her fast, misinterpreting her reasons.

"Don't pull away from me, love. Not again, not now. I, we, we're going to need each other, especially now."

Hermione couldn't even begin to figure out that cryptic statement, so she just leaned back into him, resting her cheek on his chest. He kissed the top of her head and led her into the drawing room, settling on the couch. He lay down and pulled her with him, tucking her into his side and holding her to him. Nothing else was said about the change in her scent.

They laid on the couch in silence for a while. Hermione's brain was flying a million miles a minute trying to process this situation. Firstly, how had Sirius survived? The same questions from the previous universe went through her mind. Had he never gone after Peter in the first place and raised Harry? Or had he gotten out of prison somehow like he had in the universe with Draco? Or had he just survived the battle in the Department of Mysteries their fifth year? Maybe he'd never gone to the Ministry at all?

Second, how on earth had her other self ended up dating him? Ignoring the age difference for the moment, he was Harry's godfather. She wondered what her best friend thought about it. He must be okay with it or else she couldn't see either Sirius or herself wanting to continue the relationship. Harry was too important to both of them.

But really, Sirius could have any woman he wanted, in her opinion. Why her? She wasn't trying to put herself down or anything like that, it just seemed an unlikely match as far as she was concerned. She really hoped she would get some time to herself to try and figure some of this out.

She wondered what he was thinking. If he was still pondering why her scent was different. She hadn't even thought about that, had forgotten, that his Animagus form gave him a heightened sense of smell. She wondered if that had been part of what had made him suspicious in the previous universe. She wondered if Remus had been as well. Maybe that's why Sirius had confronted her. The two of them had talked about it and decided something was wrong.

This Sirius had something else in common with his counterpart in the last universe. He was also an Auror and had been gone on a case for a few days. He had been investigating a group that was smuggling Dark artifacts and had been on a stakeout for the last three days, finally catching the culprits in the act.

"I expect that your department will be getting a few of these things that we've confiscated. We've no idea what they are," he said, finishing telling her what had happened.

Hermione hoped that meant what she thought it did. She hadn't been an Unspeakable since she'd started jumping into her other self's body. Although, given what Severus had said about her magical signature in the last universe, she was a bit concerned.

After the destruction and damage to the DOM in Hermione's fifth year, they had put new security protocols in place, to keep something similar from happening again. If anyone that wasn't keyed into the wards tried to get through the doors in the entrance chamber, only one door would appear to them. It led to the Department's receptionist, another new addition after the debacle in her fifth year.

As far as Hermione was aware, Unspeakables were keyed to the wards through their wands, so if she the other Hermione's wand it should still be fine. But she wasn't positive. She knew that just because it had happened in her world, didn't mean it had happened here, but she still wanted to be prepared for the possibility.

At least it was Friday. She had the weekend to do some investigating around the house to try and figure out if Padma was an Unspeakable as well. If she were, Hermione would have to contact her before Monday to try and figure out what she was going to do. She supposed she could pretend to be sick or something to avoid going into work if she had to.

"Maybe that's why you smell different," he said after a few moments silence. "Working on something dodgy down there?"

"If I were, you know I couldn't tell you," Hermione replied, thinking that he didn't know how accurate his guess was. Still, it was as good an excuse as any. Dark magic left traces, all magic left traces, but Dark magic especially. Potions did too. It wouldn't be beyond the realm of possibility that something she was working with or experimenting on might interfere with her natural scent.

"Right," Sirius said. He sat up and pulled her with him. "Drink?"

"All right."

He stood and went to the sideboard, pouring her a glass of wine and himself a healthy measure of Firewhiskey. He downed his drink and then poured another before bringing her wine to her. She frowned when he finished his second drink in short order, then poured himself a third. Was this because of what had happened earlier? Did he really want a baby but just didn't want Hermione to feel guilty about it?

The Sirius of her world had drunk a lot too, but he had also been stuck in that horrible version of Grimmauld Place with a House Elf that clearly hated him and his mother's screaming portrait. He'd hated not being able to help with the war or be close to Harry. Even though she still hadn't approved, it had been understandable.

She wasn't sure why this Sirius was drinking like this. Was it just to wind down from what sounded like a long, time-consuming case? Was it their earlier conversation about children? Or did it have something to do with whatever he was talking about when he told her they were going need each other? She got the impression that he hadn't been talking about her fertility problems but something else.

After he finished his fourth drink, he gave her a lazy, sexy smile that did something to her insides. She remembered giggling with Ginny that summer at Grimmauld Place about Sirius. They'd both a crush on him and Ginny had called that look his 'knickers dropping smile'. It had never been aimed at either of them, of course, they'd been far too young, but they'd found photographs from his Hogwarts days, and he'd been wearing that look in more than one of them. Hermione had been appalled at Ginny at first, the younger girl had been barely fourteen, but seeing it now, aimed at her, she couldn't disagree.

"Need another?" he asked, indicating her glass of wine. He had gotten up to get himself another Firewhiskey. She shook her head, and he chuckled. "You're awfully slow tonight, love. Something wrong?"

"Just tired," Hermione said not able to think of another excuse quickly enough. Her other self was obviously more of a drinker than she was.

He took a sip of his drink, then set down his glass and stalked toward her, giving her that same smile again. Leaning forward, he put his hands on either side of her where she sat on the couch, caging her in. He stared at her intently. "I missed you." Then he kissed her.

All the men she had kissed in the previous universes had been skilled. But Sirius was something else entirely. He didn't just kiss her, he devoured her. In a good way, a very, very, good way. When he finally released her, she was completely out of breath. He smirked at her, then stood and took her hands, pulling her to her feet.

"Let's go to bed."

By the look on his face, she knew he didn't mean to sleep. Her mouth went dry. What was she going to do? He'd been gone for several days, and she knew that her other self would have welcomed him back rather enthusiastically. But Hermione still hadn't wrapped her mind around the fact that he was even alive here, let alone that they were together. As good as she had gotten at quickly adapting to the universe she was in, she certainly wasn't ready to have sex with him.

"What's the matter?" he asked with a frown.

"Nothing, I," she trailed off having no idea what to say. She looked up at him, biting her lip.

"Hermione, what's going on?"

"I, I," she shook her head again. To her horror, tears began forming in her eyes. She couldn't cry now; how on earth would she explain it?

But she was so tired of this, so tired of trying to pretend to be someone she wasn't, so tired of trying and failing to get home. She just wanted to get back to her flat, her job, her life. She even missed Ron. Not in the way that she should, surely, but she missed him all the same. But what she really wanted was to talk to Harry. She needed him. No longer able to contain it, she burst into tears.

Sirius stared at her in surprise for a moment before he gathered her into his arms. He moved them back to the couch, sitting down and pulling her into his lap. He rubbed her back and kissed her temple.

"I know, love. I know."

She had no idea what he knew. Maybe he thought she was upset because of their discussion about children before. That would make sense given his reaction and what he said earlier.

He held her while she cried, whispering soothing words to her, until she was spent. Then they continued to sit there as Hermione slowly calmed. It was nice, actually. She felt safe, cared for, loved. When she looked up at Sirius, his eyes were suspiciously bright. She wondered if he had just been affected by her outburst or cared more about having kids than he'd said. Her heart ached for both him and her other self.

When she'd gone through all the testing in her own universe, she felt as if she were at peace with whatever the results might be. She knew there were other ways to have children, and, at that time, she wasn't even sure she wanted any at all. Of course, things had turned out positively for her so maybe if they hadn't, she would have felt differently.

He smiled at her, or attempted to, then leaned down and kissed her softly. "I love you. Let's get some sleep."

She nodded and let him take her hand and guide her up the stairs towards the master bedroom, which they clearly shared. She wondered why so many of her things were still in the other bedroom she'd found first. It didn't seem to her as if their relationship were new.

Shrugging off those thoughts to think about tomorrow, Hermione went into the loo when Sirius started shedding his robes in the bedroom. She washed her face, cleaned her teeth, and used the toilet. The robe was the only thing in the bathroom, as far as clothing went, so Hermione took off her clothes and slipped it on, hoping to find something she could wear to bed in the wardrobe.

When she walked back into the bedroom, Sirius stood in just his boxers. She tried not to stare, firstly because she doubted her other self would have and secondly, because she didn't want to make him think she wanted anything other than sleep. But Merlin he was fit. Maybe it was the tattoos. She wanted to trace them. With her tongue.

Hermione shook her head. What the, where had that come from? It had to have been from her other self. It had been a very strong thought, however. Stronger than any of the others she'd had previously. A bit disconcerted, Hermione dropped her gaze as Sirius walked past her towards the loo. He brushed her hand with his as he passed by. Hermione tried not to shudder. Fuck, she might be in trouble.

When he'd closed the door to the bathroom, she took a deep breath and blew it out. Pajamas, right.

There wasn't much in the wardrobe that looked like it might belong to the other Hermione. She guessed that her other self must sleep here but keep her clothes in the other bedroom. It made sense; the wardrobe wasn't overly large and there was just the one. And with a house this big, there was no real reason for the other Hermione to cram her things in with Sirius'.

There wasn't much there as far as sleeping attire and Hermione was starting to wonder if her other self just slept in her knickers or even naked. She wasn't about to do that, so she fished out a worn looking Weird Sisters t-shirt and pulled it on after taking off her robe. Sirius came out of the bathroom as she was climbing into bed.

If he thought the shirt was odd, he didn't say anything, just got in on the other side. He reached out an arm and she snuggled into his side, cheek resting on his chest. It was still a bit early, but she was exhausted from the last twenty-four hours. She slowly drifted off, listening to the steady beat of Sirius' heart.

26 July 2003

Hermione woke first and laid quietly listening to Sirius' steady breathing. He'd had a dream in the night, one that had him clutching at her, his brow furrowed in pain, small noises of distress coming from him. She held him tightly, running her fingertips over his brow until it relaxed, humming quietly until he stilled, relaxing back into even breathing, his grip on her loosening a bit. It wasn't until it was over that she realized it was how she used to comfort Harry after a nightmare in the tent when it had just been the two of them.

Sliding silently from the bed, Hermione grabbed her robe from the chair beside the bed and quietly left the room. She made her way down the stairs to her other self's bedroom, deciding to do a little investigating while Sirius was still asleep.

She opened the wardrobe and dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, then searched the rest of it. She found her sets of Unspeakable robes and sighed in relief. Although, she was still concerned about how, or even if, she could get into the DOM. A problem to think about later, she had the weekend to figure that out. And hopefully, she would be able to talk to Padma about it.

She pulled out a pile of jumpers on the upper shelf of the wardrobe and saw a small wooden box. Pulling it out, Hermione sat down in the desk chair and waved her wand over the box. No wards or enchantments. She opened the lid and saw that it was filled with letters and postcards.

That wasn't unusual. Hermione kept letters that meant something to her in her own world as well. She flipped through them quickly and realized they were all from Harry. She would recognize his messy scrawl anywhere. Some had come through Muggle post, but others had clearly come by owl. Odd.

She opened the first, which wasn't a letter but a short note.

I'm sorry. I have to leave for a while. I'll write to let you know I'm all right.

Love, Harry

Hermione's brow furrowed in confusion. The note wasn't dated so she had no idea when he'd written it or what he meant by it. Setting the note aside, she picked up the next letter in the stack and opened it. This one was dated September of 1998.

Hermione,

I'm sorry I left like I did. But I felt like I couldn't breathe. I just, I needed some time alone to think about things, to try to process everything. And I couldn't do that at Grimmauld.

Please don't think that I'm blaming you or Sirius. I know that you were both worried about me and trying to help. I just felt so trapped. Not by either of you but by my name, my fame. You know I couldn't leave the house without getting accosted by reporters. Sirius threatening to hex them all only worked for so long. And he really couldn't do anything if they stayed on public property, which, of course, they always made sure to do. I couldn't let the Muggles that lived around us keep getting Obliviated every time one of the reporters screwed up either.

Ron told me I could stay at the Burrow, but word would have eventually gotten out and I didn't want to put the Weasleys through that either. Not while they were still dealing with Fred's death. Not to mention all the issues it would have created with Ginny. I can't get back together with her, no matter how much she and Mrs. Weasley want it.

I hope that being back at Hogwarts isn't too difficult. You know you could have just sat your N.E.W.T.S and gotten all O's, right? You're brilliant, Hermione. More than you give yourself credit for. But maybe having a normal year at Hogwarts is what you need. If so, I hope you get it.

I decided I'm going to travel for a while. I've never really been anywhere, and I think I'd like to see a bit of the world. I'm in France right now, mostly staying in Muggle areas where no one knows who I am. I'm not as famous over here but the magical world in France still knows about Voldemort and the Boy-Who-Lived. Maybe if I get far enough from England, I'll be completely anonymous.

I've written Sirius too, so don't worry. I miss both of you, but this is something I have to do. If you don't mind, though, could you do me a favor and keep an eye on him? Losing Remus and Tonks was harder on him than he lets on. I waited to leave as long as I did because of that but I couldn't wait any longer. I felt like I was going to explode.

I'll keep in touch, I promise. Happy Birthday, Hermione.

Love, Harry

Hermione stared at the letter in her hands. Her heart ached for the Harry of this world. She could literally feel the pain in his words. She knew that her own Harry had gone through something similar but instead of leaving, he'd thrown himself into Auror training and his relationship with Ginny. Hermione wondered if he'd taken some time for himself instead if things would have gone differently.

She went through the rest of the letters, following his travels all over the world. He'd been gone for over a year. The letters became more upbeat as they went on. The last thing he'd sent was a postcard from Brazil in November of 1999. He said he was planning on coming home for Christmas. There wasn't anything after that so she guessed he must have returned to England.

She wondered what he was doing now. Had he still become an Auror or had he chosen a different path, as he had in the previous universe? If he hadn't played professional Quidditch she could see him teaching. He would make an excellent professor.

It was obvious that he no longer lived at Grimmauld Place. She wondered if he was seeing anyone and where he lived. Through the letters, Hermione had figured out that the other her had moved into Grimmauld along with Harry after the war. The other Hermione hadn't been able to return her parents' memories and so had stayed here, spending the Christmas holidays during her eighth year with Sirius, Andromeda, and Teddy. Sirius was Teddy's godfather in this world instead of Harry which made sense. He had been one of Remus' best friends and he was Tonks' cousin.

After she finished Hogwarts, her other self continued to live at Grimmauld with Sirius. But either they weren't dating while Harry was gone, or he hadn't known about it. He never mentioned it in his letters and Hermione knew he would have had he known. So, she still didn't know when the other Hermione and Sirius had gotten together. Or how. Or why.

It still surprised her, really. Of course, given that the Sirius of her world had died when she was only sixteen, there was no way of knowing if the two of them might have dated or even been interested in one another later on. She didn't think so but clearly, this world had proved her wrong.

Hermione put the letters back in the box and returned it to the wardrobe. She did think it was a bit strange that the letters were essentially hidden. She couldn't be hiding them from Sirius, surely. It was clear that Harry and the other her were nothing more than friends. Although, she supposed since there were no wards on them, they weren't hidden, per se, just stored in an odd place.

Shaking off that thought, Hermione looked back at the desk. She should probably go through it to see what else she could discover, but she was hungry. She heard the creak of a floorboard from upstairs. Sirius must finally be awake.

She decided to head down to the kitchen and see what she could find for breakfast. She was sure Sirius would find his way down when he didn't find her in either their bedroom or this one.

Hermione heard him come down the stairs into the kitchen but didn't turn around. A few moments later, his arms snaked around her waist, nose nuzzling behind her ear.

"Good morning," she said as she continued cooking the eggs.

"Morning," he replied, kissing her neck. "How long have you been up?"

"A while," she replied. "Hungry?"

"Mm, famished actually."

"Did you even eat anything before you got home last night?" She glanced over her shoulder at him.

"Might've had a sandwich?" he looked unsure. "Can't remember really. I was just trying to get my paperwork done as quickly as possible so I could get home."

She smiled and he took the opportunity to lean further forward and kiss her. Before things could get too heated, she pulled away and returned to the eggs.

"Breakfast is going to burn."

"Mm," he said returning to her neck. "Don't much care."

"Well, I do. I'm hungry."

He groaned, releasing her. "Fine."

She laughed and spooned the eggs onto the plates. Sirius levitated the tea and juice to the table while Hermione followed with their plates. She'd already set out the fruit and toast. She waved her wand at the cooker and the pan of bacon she'd been keeping warm in the oven floated to the table as well.

They both tucked in, Sirius eating as if he hadn't for a while. Which, she supposed was true. From Harry's time as an Auror, she knew eating was sporadic when on a stake-out. Not to mention usually unhealthy. Sirius had polished off all his eggs, three pieces of toast, and four rashers of bacon before she'd even eaten half of her food.

He sat back in his chair, sipping his tea while she continued to eat. "Thanks, love. Didn't realize how hungry I actually was."

She simply smiled and shook her head, glad that she had made as much as she had. There was a tap at the window and Sirius stood to let in the owl that hovered outside. Hermione fed it a bit of bacon as Sirius took the note off its leg. He frowned as he read it.

"Something wrong?"

He sighed. "I have to go back to the Ministry for a bit. One of the men we brought in says he has information about illegal potions ingredients coming into Britian. Wants to trade it for leniency in his sentencing. Robards wants me to sit in on the questioning."

Hermione tried to look disappointed as she was sure her other self would have been. He'd been gone for several days after all.

"I'm sorry, love."

"It's not your fault. It's your job."

"Still."

"I have some work to do anyway."

He chuckled at that. "Of course, you do."

Her other self must be a bit of a workaholic as well, she thought to herself.

He leaned over her chair and kissed her deeply. Hermione was a bit out of breath when he pulled away.

"Later," he said, eyes burning with desire as he looked at her.

Her breath hitched in her throat. She could only nod.

"I'd better get dressed." He kissed the top of her head and left the kitchen.

Hermione blew out a breath once he'd gone, shifting in her chair. Merlin, she was definitely in trouble.

After Sirius left, Hermione decided to keep searching her other self's bedroom. In addition to finding anything related to her relationship with Sirius, she hoped she might find something to indicate if Padma was also an Unspeakable and, if not, if the two of them were friends in this world anyway.

She started with the photographs displayed in the room. She'd only given them a cursory look the day before and hadn't noticed them at all this morning after she'd found the letters. There were two on the desk, one of the other Hermione, Harry, and Ron from first year and the other a photo of the other Hermoine and her parents from what looked like fifth year.

On one of the bedside tables, there was a photograph of the other Hermione and Sirius. It looked fairly recent and while they looked happy, there was something in their eyes, something else that she really couldn't put a finger on. On the other table was another photo of her other self and Harry but they were older. In fact, she wondered if it was taken after the war. They were in the drawing room here at Grimmauld, she recognized the couch they were sitting on. Harry put an arm around her shoulders, and she smiled.

Opening the drawer of the bedside table, Hermione found a small photo album. It was full of pictures from Hogwarts. Flicking through it, Hermione realized that many of the photographs were similar to ones she had in her world. It appeared that her other self's early years at Hogwarts were the same as what Hermione experienced in her life.

She paused on the photo of the D.A. Padma was in it, of course, but that really didn't mean anything. Padma had been in the D.A. in Hermione's world as well and they hadn't become friends until Hermione started working in the DOM. She turned the page and stared.

The next photo was of her, Harry, Ron, and Ginny. Except that it was clear from the photo that Hermione and Ron were a couple. Harry and Ginny appeared to be as well, although that was less surprising since they had dated in Harry's sixth year. Hermione pulled the photo off the page and flipped it over. November 1996 was written neatly on the back.

In her world, Ron had started dating Lavender in November. And Harry hadn't started dating Ginny until May. She wondered what had happened differently here. Maybe Lavender had never kissed Ron and Ginny hadn't dated Dean. It didn't really matter except she wondered how that had affected the Horcrux hunt. Had she and Ron still been together? And if they had been, how had her other self reacted when Ron left them? Or had he? Had Harry still broken things off with Ginny after Dumbledore died? Had Dumbledore died? He hadn't in the last universe but there were reasons for that.

She rubbed her forehead with her fingertips. All this speculating was giving her a headache. And really, none of it mattered all that much. None of it had anything to do with whether her other self and Padma were friends, which was really the most important thing to Hermione right now. She reattached the photo to the page.

She flipped through the rest of the album, but there weren't very many more photos. As far as she could tell, it looked like her other self and Ron had still been together at the end of sixth year. The last photo was from Bill and Fleur's wedding and was of the other Hermione and Ron dancing. She looked at it for a moment, then caught something in the background.

Hermione pulled the album closer to her face, squinting at the people in the background. She was fairly sure that was Harry, Polyjuiced to look like a Weasley cousin. And he was standing next to Sirius.

Obviously, Sirius hadn't died in the Department of Mysteries, as he was alive and well now. But Hermione had no idea when or if he'd escaped Azkaban, or if he'd even gone at all. But he'd been at the wedding. If he had gone to Azkaban, he had escaped at some point. If things had happened the same way they did in her world, she wondered if he hadn't gone to the Ministry at all that night in their fifth year or if he had and just hadn't fallen into the Veil. Again, it didn't matter really, except that it would be easier to play the other Hermione if she knew.

Closing the album, she returned it to the drawer and searched the other beside table. She found nothing of consequence and moved to the desk. Most of the drawers held supplies she would expect, parchment, quills, ink, along with notebooks and pens. There were a few things that might have been work-related, although she tended to think they weren't anything official, perhaps just ideas or musings from her other self.

But in one of the top drawers, she found a planner. Hermione opened it and flipped through until she reached today's date. Nothing listed for Saturday but on Sunday, she was supposed to have lunch with Padma at a café in Diagon Alley. Hermione sighed in relief. Thank Merlin. Hopefully, Padma could explain about the other Hermione's relationship with Sirius. That still left Hermione a day where she'd have to muddle along but maybe Sirius would end up at the Ministry for longer than he thought.

Hermione flipped through the next few days but there was nothing listed until the thirty-first. Harry's birthday, of course. The entry simply said 'Harry-1:00'. Hermione wondered if that meant they were going to have lunch or something. There was no restaurant written down, however, like there was for her lunch with Padma. Maybe Sirius would know.

At any rate, she had a few days to figure it out, as well as find his birthday present. She was sure that her other self had already gotten something, Hermione always planned ahead. She would just have to find it and make sure it was wrapped. Maybe Sirius knew about that too, they'd probably bought Harry something from the both of them.

Hermione put the planner back in the drawer. She would look through the earlier entries later and see if they told her anything interesting. For now, she decided she'd search the drawing room and maybe the library too. She wasn't sure if she would find anything about her and Sirius but it was worth a try. At least she knew she'd get some answers tomorrow when she saw Padma. Hopefully, anyway. Padma had accepted Hermione in every other universe but there was always a chance she wouldn't.

Hermione was in the library, reclined against the arm of one of the sofas, when Sirius finally returned. She glanced at the clock on the mantel and saw it was nearly five. She'd started reading a book that she didn't remember being at Grimmauld in her world and completely lost track of time.

Her search of the drawing room and the library hadn't really given her any more information. There was one photograph of her and Sirius in the drawing room but it hadn't had a date on it so that hadn't helped anything. There were a couple of Sirius and Harry as well. One was from Christmas of their fifth year, her Harry had the same photo. The other was more recent, Harry looked older like he had after the war, but again there was no date, so she had no idea when it had been taken.

The library had been no help whatsoever. Hermione had intended to search Sirius' study, but she'd started looking through the books first and well, here she still was.

"Hermione?" Sirius called.

"I'm in the library."

He stepped through the doorway a few moments later, looking annoyed. He plopped down on the sofa near her feet, picking them up and pulling them into his lap. He leaned his head back, looking up at the ceiling.

"Rough day?"

"You could say that," he said with a sigh. "I'm sorry it took so long."

"It's not your fault. What happened?"

"This arsehole thought he could weasel out of any charges against him, that's what. Refused to give up any information until he had a signed guarantee we weren't going to prosecute him."

"Why would you do that before you knew what the information was?"

"Exactly," Sirius said, scrubbing a hand down his face. "He couldn't seem to understand that."

"So, what happened?"

"Finally, Robards lost his patience and told him that if he didn't want to talk that was fine. That there was a boat leaving for Azkaban in thirty minutes and we'd just put him on it with the rest of his mates. Idiot finally started talking."

"Did he have anything to offer?" Hermione asked.

"Plenty," Sirius said. "We're probably going to have to do another stake-out, maybe even send someone in undercover." He tilted his head to look at her. "I told Robards it wasn't going to be me though. Not now."

The look he gave her made her think she should know what he meant by that. She was sure the other Hermione would. She guessed it was because he'd just been gone, so she just nodded.

"I need a drink." He stood abruptly and put her feet back on the sofa, then crossed to the desk in the corner and opened one of the drawers. Hermione frowned when he pulled out a bottle of Firewhiskey and drank straight from the bottle.

He glanced at her and chuckled, but there was no humor in it. "Care to join me?" He waved the bottle in her direction.

She shouldn't, she should keep her wits about her, and she didn't really even like Firewhiskey. But Sirius was looking at her expectantly, which meant that her other self likely did indulge. Given the comment he'd made the night before about her drinking slowly, along with the whole thing about her scent, she felt like she'd better take at least one drink. He was going to get too suspicious otherwise and she really wanted to talk to Padma before she jumped again. She was at the end of her rope, she needed to get home this time.

"All right."

Sirius walked towards her, handing her the bottle. Hermione took a small drink, trying not to cough. When she was unsuccessful, Sirius chuckled again, but this time he was smiling as well. "You never did like this stuff. Accio, wine."

The bottle of wine she'd been drinking the night before flew into the room. He uncorked it with his wand and handed it to her. "You'll have to summon the glasses if you want to be civilized."

She just smirked and raised the bottle to her lips, taking a larger drink than she had of the Firewhiskey. Sirius leaned down and kissed her when she'd finished. Then he sat back on the sofa, pulling her feet into his lap once more.

They sat, drinking from their respective bottles, Sirius massaging her feet with his free hand, neither really talking. Hermione knew she should put her bottle down, or at least only pretend she was drinking it, but a pleasant buzz had settled over her. And damn it, after everything she'd gone through these last weeks, she deserved to just forget about it all for a while. She felt what seemed to be agreement from her other self and took another swig from her bottle.

A few minutes later, Sirius took a long drink from his own bottle, then set it down on the floor. He turned towards her, getting up on his knees and crawling over her. Hermione smiled at him, then reached up and brushed a lock of his hair out of his face. He turned his head and kissed her palm, then plucked the nearly empty bottle of wine from her hand, setting it on the floor next to the sofa. Then he leaned down and kissed her.

She could taste the Firewhiskey on his tongue, mingling with the wine on hers. Her arms went around his neck, and he lowered himself until his body covered hers. She sighed in contentment as he continued to kiss her. He really was incredibly good at it.

When his hands moved to her shirt, edging it up to expose her stomach, Hermione thought that maybe she should stop him but an equally strong thought that she shouldn't sort of overwhelmed her and she continued to kiss him instead. He leaned up to pull her shirt over her head, then pulled off his own before he kissed her again.

"Gods, I missed you," he said into her neck, kissing her throat and then moving down her body, his mouth trailing kisses over her chest and stomach. He flicked open the button of her jeans and pulled them down her legs, leaving her in just her bra and knickers.

She wasn't sure exactly what happened after that. Well, she knew what happened, she was there, but it was like she wasn't at the same time. Like she was watching it happen or something. It must have been the alcohol, she felt sort of floaty. But she was still enthusiastically participating in everything she and Sirius were doing. And she'd wanted to, she knew that much. It was odd, really.

Shoving that thought from her head, Hermione seemed to come back to herself. Or her other self. Or whatever. Sirius had finished undressing both of them and was hovering over her. He pulled her leg around his hip and then pushed into her.

Hermione wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down for a kiss as he began to move. She wrapped her legs around his waist, digging her heels into his bum and urging him on.

"I love you," he said as she arched up into him.

"I love you, too," she said breathlessly, knowing it wasn't going to take her much longer. Sirius seemed to realize it too because he reached between them and then she was falling over, crying out and digging her nails into his shoulders.

He grunted and then began to move faster, chasing his own release. Hermione kissed him again and then he stilled, spilling inside her and whispering her name into her hair. He collapsed on top of her and she kept her arms and legs wrapped around him as if he would disappear if she didn't.

A blanket of melancholy settled over her and she had no idea why. It felt like it wasn't even coming from her. But that didn't make sense. She was still her, even if she wasn't in her own body. Wasn't she? She shouldn't have drunk all that wine. It was making her thoughts disjointed and strange.

Sirius tried to push himself off her, but she gripped him tighter. Except she didn't think she was doing it. She hadn't thought to do it anyway; in fact, he was crushing her a bit.

"It's all right," Sirius said. He gathered her into his arms and shifted so they were lying on their sides facing one another, slipping from her in the process. He waved a hand and Hermione felt the cleansing charm. Idly, she thought it was impressive that he could do it wandlessly. She hadn't loosened her grip on him though, even after they'd changed positions.

"It's all right, love," he said again. "I'm not going anywhere, I promise."

"You could," she heard herself say. She had no idea why she'd said that. Again, it felt like it hadn't come from her. It was all very confusing.

"I won't." He kissed her temple and ran a hand up and down her back, whispering that he loved her. Hermione buried her face in his chest, breathing in his scent which calmed her. Their legs were still tangled together but she loosened her grip around his shoulders slightly. Sirius summoned his wand and conjured a blanket to cover them when Hermione shivered. She cuddled into his warmth and closed her eyes. It must have been the wine. She vowed that she wouldn't drink so much again while she was here.