Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I write for entertainment only and not for pay.

Author's Note: I'm jumping the gun and posting this sooner because there is only one chapter left before the big reveal when Sirius and Harry come face to face! What will he think? What will he say? It's exciting! This is, of course, the last big build-up to their meet-up with Harry, and we'll get to see in the next chapter exactly how Harry (and the others) will react. Let me know in the comments if you have any fun suspicions about who will have what kind of reaction! Thanks for reading, and enjoy!

The Second Sixth Year of Sirius Black: Chapter Five

By: Rae

-A "Harry Potter" Fic-

Being Sirius Black's roommate, it turned out, was more taxing than Hermione anticipated. First there was the problem of his lost wand. When he fell into the Veil, the wand went with him, and unfortunately there was no way to retrieve his wand. Earlier in the year, Olivander had closed up shop or been forced to close up shop—no one was quite sure which—and left Diagon Alley with no wandmaker. There were others, of course, but that brought up the problem of finding a wandmaker who was comfortable with the idea of providing wands to known criminals.

Dumbledore conveniently solved this problem by providing Sirius with a wand he'd been able to procure. It was rather a mystery how he managed this, though.

"I believe I've found the answer to the question of your wand," the headmaster said as he walked into the room Hermione and Sirius shared. He held up a dark wand of black wood that was twisted with the shape of what appeared to be waves around the end of it. "I understand you might not want the association with this wand, but as it appears we have no other alternative, I hoped it might suffice for the moment?"

Sirius walked unsteadily towards Dumbledore, causing Hermione to stand from where she'd been seated, brushing her hair, and the two came close enough to examine the wand.

"No, I won't take it," he said as soon as he'd come close enough. "Where did you even find it?"

"In the Black family trust, actually," Dumbledore said while stroking his beard, a motion Hermione was coming to associate with secrecy. "I believe there are no other wands being held in the trust as your brother's disappeared along with him and your father's was destroyed when he died in the last war."

"So that's your…?" Hermione started to ask.

"Yes, it belonged to my mother," Sirius growled. "My Muggle-hating mother who had my name blasted from the Black family tree. I doubt it would even respond for me, so why bother?"

Dumbledore sighed and then looked at Sirius sternly. "Try it because there are no other options. Would you rather be wandless and at the mercy of Death Eaters or have a wand and be able to defend yourself? Sirius, be reasonable."

Hermione held her breath but touched Sirius's arm softly, knowing it would calm him down. He glared at her, aware of her intention, but she ignored the glare and just looked at him calmly.

It was Sirius's turn to sigh. "Fine," he grumbled. "I'll try it, but if it zaps a Muggle, don't blame me."

And that was how he obtained his mother's old wand. It worked for him despite his obvious distaste for the piece of wood. The wand seemed to recognize him as a Black, and so there was no problem in coaxing it to perform for him.

However, there were other problems with living with Sirius Black that Hermione was coming to recognize. Staying in such close proximity had proved more difficult now that they weren't confined to hospital beds.

Thankfully the little professor's quarters they'd been given had been well set-up to handle their situation. They had two small beds placed side by side for them with a bedside table between them. Their dressers, too, had been set side by side, and the house elves were employed to relocate Hermione's trunk to the room and unpacked for her. She'd been displeased but hadn't argued the point.

As for their shared bathroom, here Dumbledore had done some real magic. They had shared stalls and wash basins for their use. The stalls had soundproof curtains as opposed to actual doors, and even though they did have to coordinate their bathroom breaks (much to Sirius's grumbling and Hermione's chagrin), the stalls worked rather well to keep them in close proximity while not being too revealing.

Their bath, on the other hand, turned out to be one large tub that they could take turns using. Again Dumbledore had affixed a curtain to give them some semblance of privacy, but due to their need for extremely close proximity, they both found it difficult to shimmy behind the curtain and remove their clothes without falling straight into the tub. Thankfully the bathroom was large enough that they were able to move a chair into the room next to the bath curtain so they could both be comfortable while one bathed.

Hermione had learned just how unbearably long Sirius spent primping and preening in front of the mirror. She'd always suspected him to be vain, but now she was treated to a full arsenal of hair brushing and smile checking each morning and night. Sirius assured her once he had access to his vault at Gringotts again, he would be purchasing products they could both use to help with his silky tresses and taming her wild locks. Hermione was unimpressed.

"I never knew anyone could be as obsessed with teeth as my parents," she commented the second morning as he stood smiling into the mirror, examining his teeth carefully.

"Oh? Why are they so obsessed with teeth?" He asked, picking a fingernail at his gums.

"They're dentists," she replied, brushing her hair as well as she could. She gathered it into a fist and grabbed a hair tie to pull it back before realizing he was looking at her blankly in the mirror. "Dentists are professional tooth cleaners," she said simply.

"Muggles pay people to clean their teeth?" Sirius asked, rather horrified.

"Mmhm," she replied, finishing her ponytail and rummaging in the drawer for her face wash. "And to straighten them and pull teeth when they have cavities."

"Muggles pull teeth when they have cavities?!" His horror intensified.

"Well, not always," she said, testing the temperature of the water and finding it perfect. "Sometimes they simply drill the teeth and fill them up with a cap of some kind to prevent cavities."

She splashed water on her face, missing Sirius's look as his mouth gaped. She spritzed a bit of the face cleanser in her hands and began scrubbing her face, oblivious to his concerns.

"The only reason I care so much about my teeth is because Regulus knocked two of them loose one year when we were kids," he admitted. "My mother always hated me and said it made me look as deranged as our distant cousins, the Lestranges. She almost refused to magic my teeth back, but my father convinced her to do it. Ever since I've always been concerned that something will happen to my teeth."

Hermione finished washing her face and grabbed a towel to dry her face. She looked at him curiously and said, "That's awful. I know how much I hated my teeth…" She trailed off, remembering many of Malfoy's comments on her "buckteeth."

Sirius was looking at her now with a puzzled expression. "That's a good point," he said. "What did happen to your teeth? I knew something had changed, but I never put my finger on it."

Hermione grinned and told him about having the mixed blessing of the misfired curse that caused her teeth to grow out to enormous proportions. "Madam Pomfrey asked me to stop her when my teeth were back to normal," she said. "So I made this my new normal." She smiled hugely, and Sirius chuckled, amused at her scheming.

As they were settling into this new routine of being together all the time, Sirius was learning how long it took for Hermione to wash her thick mane of hair and how much quiet she liked. It threw him for a loop that she could remain silent for hours at a time with a book in her hands, but he kept reminding himself that Remus, too, could disappear behind a good book and surface hours later.

As for her hair, though, there was nothing that could prepare him for how long she took in the bath. Hermione preferred bathing at night because she could relax and take as long as she needed. The other girls in her dorm would fight for the baths and rush around like chickens with their heads cut off in the mornings, trying to get ready for class. But Hermione preferred a nice bath to get her ready for bed.

In any event, since her hair was so thick, it always took her a long time to get it fully washed and rinsed, and she'd long since become accustomed to taking her time. If she didn't get it fully washed, she could guarantee more tangles and some amount of soap scum building up and making it next to impossible to comb out.

Sirius found himself sitting in the chair for an hour waiting for her to finish her bath their first night. He grumbled about women and their hygiene habits for a while before she finally asked if would like to be jinxed in his sleep with blonde hair. That shut him up—for a while.

Now it was New Year's Eve, and both Hermione and Sirius were getting ready to go surprise the Weasleys and Harry. Remus dropped by earlier to talk to them and said he would be going with them as well as Tonks, Dumbledore, and Hagrid, who was not in on the secret. Professor McGonagal wanted to go as this would also serve as an informal meeting of the Order, but she had business elsewhere.

The two had given up trying to get ready separately after they'd split apart too far one time and both of them rebounded with near panic attacks. Besides, Sirius still needed the support Hermione offered him when he was moving around. Dumbledore had produced the requested crutches, and the two had practiced in their room together, but that left very little space for Sirius to master his new crutches.

Hermione was thrilled about being able to get out again. They'd been cooped up so long she thought she was going to go crazy. Of course, she understood that they couldn't simply go for a walk around the castle. They might be seen by professors or ghosts who shouldn't see Sirius Black. Not to mention the portraits.

As she thought of portraits, she looked around the room, realizing there were no portraits inside it. She wondered about that. She hadn't even seen Phineas Nigellus since his race into the portraits in the medical ward where he learned of her success. She wondered vaguely if Dumbledore was punishing him by not putting a portrait nearby for him to visit.

"Can you help me to the bathroom?" Sirius asked, breaking into her thoughts.

Hermione shook herself and saw him looking askance. He was wearing a pair of black pants with a black-and-white pinstriped shirt that buttoned down. He had a watch on his wrist, something she'd never noticed before, but somehow Dumbledore and Remus had managed to procure a great deal of his wardrobe for him. He'd put on some black boots with pointed toes and was now barely standing, holding himself up with his crutches.

Hermione nodded at him and moved forward from her position on his bed. He handed her the crutches, which she set against the bed, and then she ducked under her arm. He sighed in relief as he let his weight shift to her, and Hermione braced herself to help him. The two half-walked, half-shuffled to the bathroom, and when they were close enough, Sirius let go of her to shuffle past his toilet curtain. Hermione decided to take the opportunity to use the bathroom herself.

After they both finished, Hermione watched as Sirius pushed himself too hard and nearly fell over trying to get to the sink. She grabbed him and pulled him upright before he lost his balance. Then she got him to the sink.

They worked on getting ready in front of the mirror, not speaking. Hermione was lost in thought about what would happen when they saw the Weasleys and Harry tonight. She knew he'd be beyond thrilled to see his godfather, and she couldn't wait to see his face.

She was thinking through all this as she applied just the slightest amount of makeup, a little blush, a bit of mascara, and a gloss on her lips. She didn't notice Sirius had stopped to watch her.

"I'm afraid he's going to hate me," he finally whispered, and she looked up in surprise.

Sirius was just staring at her in the mirror, his eyes filled with an emotion she couldn't quite name. He had gone pale and was nervously tapping the edge of the sink.

"You think Harry's going to hate you?" She asked, trying to make sense of it. "Why on earth would he hate you?"

"For leaving him," Sirius whispered. "For leaving him like his parents did. Just when we were finally getting to a good place, I left. And he was all alone again."

Hermione realized now what Sirius was thinking and knew she couldn't let it go on. "No, Sirius," she said, turning to him. She took his arm and helped to turn him to face her. "Don't think like that. Harry doesn't blame you for leaving him, and he hasn't been all alone since his first year at Hogwarts."

Sirius blinked but said nothing.

"Don't you think Ron and I count for something?" She asked now. "We're his best friends. The Weasleys are practically his second family! He may have felt an immediate loss when you died, but he's never truly been alone."

Sirius nodded slightly but stayed quiet.

Hermione put her hands on his shoulders, standing on her tip-toes to do so. "Listen to me, Sirius Black," she said sternly. "Harry loves you. When you walk through that door, he will be so thrilled to see you he won't even remember feeling all alone without you. He'll only be focused on you and having you back in his life. Okay?"

"Okay," Sirius replied, a hopefulness lighting his eyes. "Say, you'd best get dressed and ready to go so we can get out of here! It's almost time to leave, isn't it?"

Hermione cursed, causing Sirius to chuckled, and ducked under his arm to help him back to the bedroom. Once there, she looked at the dress she'd laid out. Turning to her roommate, she spoke sternly once more. "Sirius Black, you turn around and do not peek at me while I'm changing."

She waited till he sat on the bed facing away from her before taking her top off. When she finished dressing, she grabbed a small gold bracelet her mother had given her for Christmas two years ago and slipped it on her wrist before running her hands through her hair once more.

"Okay," she said, nervous now, "how do I look?"

Sirius turned around and gave her a very slow once-over. Hermione felt herself turning beet red as his gaze traveled from her red pumps to the black dress with three-quarter length sleeves and a v-neck that revealed a lacy red tank top beneath. His gaze moved all the way up to her hair, piled high in a bun on top of her head. She held her breath.

"You look lovely, Hermione," he said, and she let out the breath in a bit of disappointment.

As she helped him get stabilized on his crutches and grabbed her purse, she thought about that word "lovely." It was something older people said or something people said when they wanted to compliment you without being too complimentary.

They walked out the door, and she shook her head. Why would it matter if Sirius thought she was lovely or beautiful anyway? They were just—she paused in her thoughts. She didn't know what they were. Friends, maybe. Certainly roommates. And even more importantly: two people who had gone through a very unique experience together and now shared a blood bond.

They met up with Remus who was going to apparate them to just outside the Burrow. Dumbledore apparently was already there with Hagrid and would not be giving away the surprise. Hermione and Sirius would be the last ones to enter the party, so they would certainly startle everyone in the room when he entered.

This party and unofficial Order meeting had also been called to discuss the nomination of Nicole Stubbins into the Order. Hermione heard Remus talking about it with Dumbledore and was fiercely jealous that Nicole could join the Order when she, Harry, and Ron could not. In fact, she realized, not even the Weasley twins had been inducted, and they were proper adults now. It simply wasn't fair, but there was little she could do about it.

Remus smiled at them both as they arrived outside the Hogwarts gates. "Are you ready?" He asked. He looked closely at Sirius, knowing his friend well.

"Ready as I'll ever be, Moony," Sirius replied with a weak grin.

Hermione wasn't sure she was ready either. Her stomach was swirling with a mess of butterflies, and she was afraid of how her friends would react to her part in this whole thing. She'd been more excited about bringing Sirius back and hadn't considered how her friends would see the dangerous role she'd performed to do it. Now she wasn't so sure their first reaction would be that great.

Sirius and Hermione held hands tightly and Hermione took Remus's outstretched hand. They'd decided it wasn't safe for Sirius to try much magic yet since he wasn't fully back to his old self. Though considering he was made up mostly of dust and Hermione's blood, there was an unspoken question of whether he would ever be back to his old self.

Remus turned on the spot as Sirius and Hermione held on, joining him in joint apparation. Hermione's stomach turned over and over as she flew through the air in what felt like some compressed air vacuum. She struggled not to vomit as she was still moving. They landed in a field outside the Burrow, and she immediately fell to her knees, dry-heaving into the grass from the nausea.

Sirius and Remus both knelt down next to her, and she felt both of them patting her kindly on the back. The difference was striking. With each stroke of Sirius's hand on her back, Hermione felt her stomach calming down and her dizziness receding. Remus's hand caused no such effect.

When she caught her breath enough, they helped her stand up. Though that was mostly Remus. Sirius had his own struggles planting the crutches he'd managed to bring along on the ground so he could lift his weight. They made their way silently through the field and to the entrance to the Burrow.

The little house was packed to the gills. They could hear voices and laughter as people talked. Hagrid's booming laugh rang out as they got closer, and Hermione smiled at the thought of seeing her giant friend for the first time in what felt like ages. Her ears caught Harry's voice, and the butterflies were back in her stomach immediately.

She felt Sirius's hand on her arm and knew he'd heard Harry too. He was as nervous as she was. She leaned into his touch, thankful to have a companion who understood so much of what she was feeling and who could help her with his touch.

Remus stood poised on the doorstep to open the door but turned to look back at them. The werewolf smiled wistfully and said, "You'll be all right, you two. They'll get over anything else and just be thrilled to see that you're okay." He paused and added, "For both of you."

Then he opened the door and stepped inside, closing it behind him. A great clamor of greeting arose from the guests, and Hermione thought she could hear Bill Weasley's voice just over the top of Tonks's. They heard Remus saying something, but Hermione was distracted now by Sirius's movement. His fingers rubbed up and down her arm slowly, getting her attention.

"We're in this together," he said when she looked at him. His eyes were steady now, calmer, and he seemed resolute. "Whatever happens, we'll stick close together." He smirked. "Not like we've got much choice, eh, love?" He winked at her, and Hermione rolled her eyes.

When Sirius said it that way, she was able to really recognize just what they'd accomplished together. He was right. No matter what happened, they were together, and she'd help make sure he stayed alive long enough to build that relationship with Harry they'd both always wanted. Hermione latched onto that thought, turned it over in her mind, and nodded to herself.

Yes, she was ready now. She reached for the door handle.