It's About Time

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Chapter Thirteen.

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"Let me see if I can put my clever Ravenclaw skills to good use here," Nadine mused to Remus with a laugh. "Lily likes James…"

"Correct," Remus nodded distractedly, reaching over to take her hand.

She squeezed his hand back and, with a smile, she continued.

"And James likes Hermione?"

"Right."

"And Hermione likes… James?" She asked with a quirked eyebrow. Remus was an impenetrable force when it came to secrets involving his friends so she eagerly awaited his response to see if it was possible to lure any information out of him.

Remus glanced at her, mirroring her quirked eyebrow.

"It would appear so," He answered with a smirk.

Nadine couldn't help but smile. He was good, she had to admit.

"So it would," She answered flirtatiously. "Moving on then, here's an easy one… Callie likes Sirius?"

Remus chuckled, "I'm positive there is not a single student or faculty member in the school who has not witnessed her… like… for him, first hand."

They both laughed aloud. Callie was certainly not shy about publicly displaying her affections for Sirius Black at every available opportunity.

"Well put," Nadine complimented him.

Remus grinned and leaned back against the tree under which he and Nadine were sitting. It was a chilly afternoon but the grounds were still busy with students keen to enjoy the weather before winter was upon them.

Sitting a short distance away were James and Hermione. James tossed a golden snitch from hand to hand, enthusiastically looking to Hermione after each catch to see if she had taken notice of his Quidditch skills. She put on a fairly convincing pretense of interest for the first few maneuvers but then became engrossed in a book and had ceased to pay attention to James' skillful show, much to the chagrin of the raven-haired boy.

Not far from them sat Sirius and Callie. Sirius was stretched out on his back upon the ground, his arms folded beneath his head as Callie marveled aloud her excitement about the forthcoming Hogsmeade trip in hopes that the gorgeous boy beside her was planning something special for the two of them.

Nadine leaned back against the broad trunk of the Beech Tree beside Remus. She could have easily wiled away every day like this one, spending time with the attractive Gryffindor was the most fun she'd had in recent memory. If she were the type to voice this revelation, which she wasn't, she would have found that Remus couldn't have agreed more.

As shy as he was, he relished in the comfort level they had established so quickly. They were so unlike one another, Nadine was feisty and dynamic whereas Remus was subtle and bookish, but they were both extremely intelligent and challenged one another with playful back and forth witty banter.

Nadine scooted closer to him and he ran his thumb back and forth across the back of her hand softly as he watched his friends.

Turning to face her, Remus asked, "I have a question for you now."

"Let's hear it," Nadine smiled, always one to rise to the challenge.

"Why all the questions about my friends?" He posed.

She glanced over at the two couples nearby and thought inwardly for a moment.

"I would have thought that was obvious, Remus," She teased.

"Humor me," He said simply.

Nadine narrowed her eyes at him mischievously.

"Alright," She spoke slowly. "I was curious because if Hermione likes James and Sirius likes Callie… then why can't those two take their eyes off one another?" She pointed discreetly from Hermione to Sirius and back.

Remus looked over at Hermione; she was holding a book so that it hid all of her face except her eyes… and she was clearly not reading at all. She was, instead, taking fervent looks at Sirius lying nearby and though dark his hair fell into his eyes, his head was plainly turned to the perfect angle that he might sneak glances over at the brown-haired witch.

It was… remarkably obvious.

He knew Nadine was waiting expectantly for a response and Remus contemplated how to answer her question. Sirius had confided in him and he would never betray his friends' trust, just as they had safeguarded his own secret all these years. But if he knew anything about Nadine, it was that she was as persuasive as she was beautiful… and that was truly saying something.

Attempting to deny his knowledge of Sirius' affections was his only hope.

"I'm not sure what you mean," He stated, avoiding eye contact. A hot flush was easing its way up his neck and across his face, a tell-tale sign that he was lying.

It was surprising then when Nadine did not do as he expected. Rather than pushing him to provide further information, she, instead, emitted a throaty laugh and leaned into him as she succumbed to the hilarity.

Remus watched her as though she were mad.

"I've missed something," He said cynically.

"No," Nadine was fighting her laughter. "Its just… Remus…" She was unable to catch her breath just yet and fell back against the tree laughing harder still.

"Whenever you're through…" Remus smirked.

Taking a few deep, sobering breaths Nadine finally regained her capacity for speech.

"Remus," She began again. "It's just that if I had a vague inclination that something was going on between those two before… well, your reaction just confirmed it."

Remus' eyes widened. "What…?"

"Merlin, Remus! You're a terrible liar," She joked.

He chuckled in response and nodded.

"I suppose it isn't my strong suit," He paused as Nadine nodded emphatically at his confession.

"Don't worry, Remus," She whispered to him, sending shivers down his spine. "I won't tell a soul."

She smirked and adjusted herself beside him as he shyly wrapped his arm around her shoulder. Remus was confident that she would stay true to her word, Nadine wasn't the type to gossip. They enjoyed the remainder of their afternoon, in silent observation as they watched the occasionally awkward interactions of the two unlikely couples.

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Ginny awoke in her bed at Hogwarts, slightly chilly. She rolled over to cuddle closer to Harry who was now spending most nights in with her in her room, a fact that Ron had thankfully chosen to ignore of late.

But as she reached out to pull herself closer to Harry, all she grasped was a vacant space beside her. The covers had not even been pulled back... he'd never come to bed.

She got out of bed hastily, her worry fighting off her slumber. Harry's weak spells had not subsided in the least and horrible thoughts were running through her head of what may have happened to him.

Following a faint glow coming from the sitting room and the distinct scrawling sound of quill on parchment, there she found Harry, by the light of a lone candle, scribbling furiously upon a scroll of parchment nearly the length of the room. His forehead rested in his hand as he wrote, he was clearly exhausted.

"Harry," Ginny soothed as she knelt beside him. "You really ought to get some sleep."

She combed her fingers through his hair and he relaxed into her touch, closing his eyes.

"I'm just trying to sort out the connection between each of the flashbacks and Hermione to see if it provides any leads to - "

"Bring her home. I know, Harry," Ginny finished for him softly. "But draining yourself isn't going help."

"I don't want to lose my train of thought here, Gin. I'm almost done, I swear."

Ginny eyed the lengthy scroll and smiled wryly.

"I vaguely remember you swearing the very same thing to me every night since we met with Remus."

Harry set laid down his quill with a sigh. He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes tiredly.

"I know... I'm just so... I just can't rest knowing that she could be undoing... everything."

Taking a seat beside him, Ginny pulled Harry back to lean against the sofa cushions. He groaned as he stretched his aching back, he had been hunched over the table writing for hours. Ginny pushed his hair off his forehead; he couldn't express in words how much her touch could relax him but he simply wasn't able to clear his mind of his many concerns.

"Ginny?" He asked, eyes still closed.

"Mmmhmm?"

"If she changes the time line, then this," He gestured between them, "may never be... and when she returns, it could be over, it could never have happened... I could not have been born."

"Don't think things like that, Harry."

"How can I avoid thinking it?" He was beginning to get angry again. "She's my best friend and she is knowingly destroying my past."

"If that were the case, Harry, I'm sure Remus would have been much more concerned. Remember, he did say there was someone else..."

"That doesn't mean anything. Maybe he doesn't know what the outcome will be but he was worried, I could tell."

"But what can we do about it? What's done is done, Harry," Ginny urged, attempting to calm her handsome boyfriend.

"What's done is done?" Harry repeated aghast. "Ginny! How can you say that?"

"I don't mean it like that, Harry," She insisted. "But try to look at it from Hermione's perspective. She loved you, Harry. She was sent back in time and was met by your dad who looked just like you, she was surely lonely and confused and... well, she wouldn't do it on purpose, Harry."

"The Hermione I know wouldn't have done it at all," He answered grimly.

Ginny watched him for a moment and carefully considered their options. She knew Harry was right, in a sense. The logical Hermione they all knew would never endanger the future knowingly. But Ginny could also attempt to comprehend the emotional distress Hermione would have been under. And Lupin had seemed concerned, though unwilling to elaborate, which only lent itself to the belief that the reality could be far worse than they knew.

Her future with Harry was potentially hanging by a thread... his persistent illness and the unknown effects of the changing past could endanger everything they had fought for. She need only ask herself if it was worth it to know that she would go to the ends of the Earth to remedy the situation.

Or, a thought occurred to her… to London.

"I think we need to go to Grimmauld Place," Ginny said suddenly.

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Hermione's head was pounding as she paced from one side of the Gryffindor common room to the other. She had to do the right thing… she knew to do the right thing… these thoughts were repeated over and over again in her mind and she traced an identical path along the carpet.

Dumbledore's instructions had been perfectly clear and Hermione would never intentionally let him down, especially after all he had done for her and would… in the future… do for Harry. She simply had to get her hands on that book.

Asking Sirius outright to take her to his childhood home was a joke. Not only would he likely flat out refuse to return to the hell hole in which he'd been raised but he would have far too many questions. Questions that she wouldn't be able to answer without revealing where she had actually come from.

The best course of action, she'd decided, would be to have Dumbledore ask him for the favor. Sirius held a great respect for the Headmaster and she knew that a request from him personally was the only chance he would consider participating.

This was where Sirius was at that very moment, meeting the Headmaster in his office and no doubt baffled at the odd request. This was also the reasoning behind Hermione's apprehensive pacing.

After a brief conference with Dumbledore the previous day, he and Hermione had devised a plausible reason for Sirius to return home to retrieve the ancient tome. Dumbledore would tell Sirius that he was aware of an extremely powerful Dark Arts book that he would very much like to keep out of the hands of those who may use it to conduct Dark Magic. The need to visit Grimmauld Place specifically would be rationalized by explaining that the private libraries of all pure-blood wizarding families with known connections to the Dark Arts would be searched for the book in time. As they both knew Sirius was a resolute adversary of Dark Magic, they felt he would be willing to consider making the trip.

Hermione's knowledge of Ancient Runes would sufficiently clarify her involvement as Sirius would need her assistance in locating the correct volume amongst the many in his family's collection. How he would react to hearing that she would be accompanying him, was another thing entirely and the primary cause of her current woes.

She tread back and forth through the room awaiting Sirius' return.

They had spared few words for one another recently, though Hermione wasn't sure why. But lately it always seemed to end up rather awkwardly when they did speak, so they merely avoided prolonged contact if possible. Spending an entire day in his company could be potentially disastrous, she thought, for a great number of reasons.

First of all, the lack of ability to communicate properly was likely problematic, especially since Hermione found it difficult to articulate herself properly when Sirius was around. Secondly, she wasn't entirely sure that she could resist his charms should he decide to engage in playful flirtation with her. If given the chance she just might throw caution to the wind and do what every instinct in her body had been urging her to do for ages and heave herself at him shamelessly.

Merlin, why didn't she ask Dumbledore if James, or even Remus, could join them in the trip to London?! At least then, she could rest peacefully knowing that they were under the watchful eyes of a fellow Marauder.

And what of James? She did care deeply for James. Certainly her ridiculous attraction to Sirius would fade before long and she would, thankfully, be left alone to think only of the bespectacled young man who so resembled her best friend.

The sound of the portrait hole opening brought her out of her thoughts and stopped her pacing mid step. She turned around and caught Sirius' eye immediately.

"Sirius!" She exclaimed, a bit louder than she had intended, but her frayed nerves couldn't be contained any longer and she needed to know what had transpired in Dumbledore's office.

The tall young man walked towards her. He was weary and appeared to be bearing the weight of the world upon his shoulders.

"I suppose Dumbledore spoke to you as well?" He asked without any discernible tone in his voice.

"Yes, he did."

Sirius nodded. Taking a seat on a sofa near the fireplace, he leaned back and covered his eyes with his hand exhaustedly.

"I never thought I would have to go back to that house," He mumbled under his breath.

A wave of sympathy washed over Hermione and she strode over to sit beside him. She tentatively reached out and placed her small hand on his arm in an attempt to comfort him.

"You- We don't have to. You could say no," She suggested, part of her wishing he would agree to call off the search if it meant she could ease his pain.

Too many years though had been spent in his wretched childhood home and Hermione sensed that he might find some joy in taking something away from the house, knowing it would never have a chance to be used for evil.

Sirius must have, indeed, felt that way because he shook his head negating her suggestion.

"If Dumbledore believes the matter so important, than I must oblige him," He answered solemnly, though he still appeared reluctant.

"I know it's awful, Sirius, but with the two of us working together we can probably find the book and be back here within just a few hours," She consoled. "Perhaps, we can even enlist Kreacher to aid us."

Sirius drew his hand away from his face and stared at her critically.

"How do you know his name?"

It wasn't so much his words that sent panic flooding through Hermione as it was his glare. He really hated that house and everything about it and guilt now engulfed her along with the myriad of emotions she was already battling.

"I… umm… I heard you mention it to James once," She lied, removing her hand from where it still lay on his arm.

"Did you?" Sirius asked.

"Yes," She hoped that he wouldn't push the topic.

Luckily for her, he didn't.

Rather, he leaned forward on the couch and watched the fire as he spoke again.

"We leave Saturday morning by portkey. It will be my mother's birthday and she and my father will go out of town to celebrate as they always do," Sirius explained, emphasizing his bitterness when he spoke of his mother.

He stood and shoved his hands into his pockets, attempting to appear casual, and though Hermione was not fooled in the least, she figured he would need some time alone to come to terms with having to, once again, set foot in Grimmauld Place.

"If you'll excuse me," He said with a nod as he turned his back on her and walked up the stairs to his dormitory then disappeared.

Hermione sat on the couch long after he had gone, feeling wretched for being the purpose behind Sirius having to face the demons of his childhood and lying to him about it to boot.

There weren't currently any other options though, she thought sadly. She would simply have to accept it and do all she could to grant Dumbledore's request.

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There was a knock at the door and Ginny raced to answer it, leaving a still exhausted Harry in her wake.

She pulled the door open to reveal her brother Ron yawning loudly, his hair untidy and disheveled like one who had just been rudely awoken from a deep slumber.

This was, in fact the case.

“Someone better be dead,” He grumbled as he dragged himself past Ginny into the room.

Harry was leaning against the arm of the sofa, propped up on an elbow and greeted Ron with a tired nod. Taking a seat beside his best friend, Ron sank back into the cushions and almost instantly began falling asleep.

“Ron, you have to wake up, this is important!” Ginny urged.

Ron’s head snapped up.

“Hmm? I’m up. I’m up!”

Ginny rolled her eyes.

“We are going to go to Grimmauld Place,” She stated, watching the boys for their reactions.

Harry was struggling to stay awake and still unsure as to why Ginny had decided that they must return to London on such short notice because she had refused to explain until Ron had been woken up.

Ron was clearly waiting for her to say something to warrant his sleep having been interrupted.

“Why?” Ron mumbled.

Ginny paced around the coffee table a bit as she considered how best to explain herself.

“We came to Hogwarts because Harry thought that it would provide answers for us regarding Hermione’s disappearance… and it did. The flashbacks happened and we learned from McGonagall and Remus the truth about what happened to Hermione. But I don’t know that there is really anything left for us to find here…”

“And since she disappeared from Grimmauld Place, there could be clues there that we missed,” Harry continued, sitting up a little straighter, momentarily forgetting how tired he was.

“Exactly,” Concluded the red head. Taking a seat upon the coffee table in front of the boys, she explained further.

“After reading ‘Hogwarts: A History’, we’ve figured out that the flashbacks were a result of the imprints in the school’s own memory. I’m sure they were triggered by the school’s awareness of Hermione’s memories and our own and our mutual presence here.”

“I was just going to say that,” Ron chimed in cheekily.

He and Harry started laughing raucously, no doubt delirious from lack of sleep.

Ginny rolled her eyes and chuckled along with them.

“Nice, Ronald,” She laughed sarcastically.

Ron smiled impertinently back at his sister.

“When shall we plan on departing, Ginevra?” He asked, drawing out her full name just as she had used his.

After smacking his arm, Ginny replied, “I’ll speak to Professor McGonagall tomorrow to see when she can arrange a portkey. I’m not sure that Harry would be up to travelling all the way to London by broom.”

“Right then. Great thinking, Sis. I’m off to bed,” Ron said with finality as he walked towards the door.

“’Night Ron,” Ginny and Harry answered in unison.

Ron pulled the door open and paused. He turned back around.

“Oh, and Harry?” He called innocently.

Harry looked up at his best friend in response.

Ron smiled mischievously, “You might have better luck getting your energy back if you slept in your own bed once in a while.”

Blushing tomato red, Harry sputtered for a moment but not a single lucid word escaped his lips.

Ginny jumped to her feet.

“Ronald!” She cried but it was for nothing.

Laughing to himself wryly, Ron was already pulling the door shut behind him. He was a few paces from the door when he heard a loud thump behind him. A lifetime with Ginny had taught him that it was the indisputable sound of a book having been hurled at the opposite side of the door.

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Saturday arrived in a heartbeat. Before Hermione even had time to blink, she found herself waiting in the common room for Sirius so they could meet the Headmaster for their scheduled portkey.

She yawned and stretched out her legs, it was beyond early. The sun had yet to stream through the tower windows... it was not yet sunrise. Tilting her head back against the couch cushions, Hermione allowed her eyes to fall shut and soon her breathing evened out as she began to doze off.

Footsteps on the boys stairway jolted her awake. That would be Sirius, she thought, coming to reluctantly return home to London. She unsuccessfully smoothed her hair and straightened her sweater. Dumbledore had suggested they wear muggle clothing since the portkey would be taking them to an alley near Grimmauld Place, it would draw less attention to them than if they were to don wizard's robes. Hermione had chosen jeans and a deep red sweater, to fight off the burgeoning winter chill.

The footsteps drew near the bottom of the staircase and Hermione was taken aback when James, not Sirius, entered the room. He was still wearing his pajamas; the plaid cotton drawstring pants hung low on his waist and he was pulling a white undershirt over his head, giving Hermione an extended view of his toned abdomen.

James grinned when he saw Hermione's eyes taking in the sight.

"My shirt is on now so you have to pretend to be interested in more than my looks, Hermione," James laughed sarcastically.

Hermione blushed furiously.

"I wasn't...umm... I - I wasn't," Was her pitiful argument.

Crossing the room and enveloping her in his arms, James just laughed.

"I'm teasing you," He soothed. "I wish I could go with you today... though I still don't understand why you have to go with Sirius to fetch some old book anyways."

Hermione sighed. "Because I'm familiar with ancient runes and Sirius isn't," She repeated for the hundredth time. This was starting to weigh on her conscience, it wasn't exactly a lie but blatantly avoiding the actual reason for the visit was just as bad.

"Why can't Dumbledore go himself?" James asked.

"James, Dumbledore has more important things to see to than running miscellaneous errands when it can easily be done by someone else," She answered tiredly.

"You're right," James sighed, still not letting go of her. "I'll miss you though."

"Merlin, Prongs... She'll be back in few hours," Grumbled a sleepy voice near the staircase.

Hermione unconsciously pushed James away from her when she heard Sirius' voice. He was leaning against the banister unenthusiastically and though he was dressed in casual muggle clothes, the slacks and navy blue sweater were a dead give away to his aristocratic upbringing.

More simply put, he looked amazing.

He covered his mouth as he yawned heavily. As her eyes trailed from his fresh-out-of-bed mussed hair to his toned arms noticeable even through the fitted sweater and... Oh Gods, those pants... Hermione was speechless. This had to be some sort of cruel joke. She was seriously expected to spend an entire day with Sirius Black while he looked like that?

"What time does your portkey leave?" James asked and Hermione pulled her eyes away from Sirius.

"Umm... seven o'clock," She replied, trying to shake the image of those pants out of her head. James was giving her the familiar strange look that he did whenever she realized she'd been caught staring at Sirius.

Compensating for making the mistake, yet again, she smiled widely at him.

"I'll see you later today," She said sweetly.

James opened his mouth to respond when Sirius cut him off impatiently.

"If you two are going to have an hour long goodbye session here, then I'm going back to bed."

Hermione nodded and bent over to pick up her school bag. She had packed a few extra things as she wasn’t sure how many hours they would be gone.

"Right. We can't be late," She agreed.

James looked between the two with a curious expression... and the vaguest hint of a glare.

"Alright, I'll see you two later then," He bid them goodbye with a slight edge to his voice.

"Later, mate," Sirius mumbled and headed towards the door.

Hermione gave James a strained smile and after a brief hesitation, reached up and kissed his cheek. He didn't smile in return, he just nodded and watched as Hermione turned and followed Sirius out of the portrait hole.

Corridor after corridor they trudged along in silence. There was not a soul in sight thanks to the extremely early hour, in fact, the soft snores emanating from the walls revealed that even the portraits were still sound asleep. Hermione examined Sirius out of the corner of her eye and observed that he looked tired... he didn't appear to have slept much if at all.

He walked along beside her, staring at the floor pensively all the while.

She wanted him to know that she understood his pain, that she knew exactly what he had gone through, though as she was not able to tell him the truth about her "past" she could not express this to him. But she would try.

The stone gargoyles appeared before them as they arrived at the entrance to the Headmaster's office but before speaking the password, Hermione turned to Sirius and took a deep breath before saying, "For what it's worth, Sirius, I think you are extraordinary. Your family is the poorer for not seeing in you what your friends… and I… know you to be."

Hermione's face was heated as she blushed but she was numb to the sensation when Sirius looked up from the floor and directly into her eyes. Written in his own eyes, she saw his fear and vulnerability entirely exposed.

He was afraid to go home.

He searched her face as though desperate to find evidence that she had meant what she'd said. He began to speak and then stopped himself by clearing his throat. Once more he tried to say something in response but found that a lump in his throat was growing more and more difficult to swallow and decided against another attempt at speech.

He settled for nodding at her and turned away, his eyes burning with emotion that he forced into submission.

Hermione looked away and spoke the password to the gargoyles. The spiral staircase was revealed and she turned to Sirius who was still looking away.

"Sirius, we ought to go…" She said softly.

He raised his head and watched her for a moment before taking a single long step to reach her. As much as he hated the idea of appearing weak, there was something about Hermione that made him want to trust her. He furrowed his brow with uncertainty and tried to find the right words to express what her words had meant to him.

But there was no need. For the first time, Hermione could read Sirius like an open book and she could all but hear the thoughts running through his head.

She smiled at him and grasped her book bag a bit tighter to restrain herself from embracing him, conveying her comprehension and acknowledgement of his silent question. Drawing away he gestured to the passageway indicating that she should climb the staircase first. Following behind her, he swelled with a renewed assurance that he could face whatever demons remained at Grimmauld Place.

Dumbledore stood in front of his desk and greeted them when they entered his office.

"I trust you both have traveled by portkey before?"

The two students nodded. "Yes, Sir," They answered.

"Excellent. You have one minute until this portkey is activated." He pointed to a chipped teacup set upon his desk. "You shall return by floo, however. The fireplace here in my office will be accessible for you two whenever you have completed your task."

"Yes, Sir," They repeated once more.

"Very well. I shall see you both upon your return," He affirmed with a confident wink.

Hermione and Sirius each placed a finger upon the charmed teacup and as the numerous clocks in Dumbledore's office began to chime the hour, they both felt the familiar tug behind their navel and spun through the air as the office dropped out of sight.

Within seconds they fell into an alleyway, half-lit with the early morning sun, Sirius landing firmly upon his feet while Hermione dizzily lost her balance and fell to the ground with a thud.

Sirius fought an impulse to laugh and immediately offered his hand to assist her, which she gladly accepted, however, embarrassed though she somehow managed to disregard the tingle his touch sent through her body.

"Thank you," She muttered with growing humiliation as she brushed dirt from her jeans and sweater. Fully expecting a joke from him about having women fall at his feet, she bit her lip anticipating the retort.

Rather, he smiled and began walking out of the alley and into the small square that would lead to Grimmauld Place.

When they reached the front door labeled number twelve, Sirius tapped the doorknob with his wand and the door swung open. He stepped in first and waved Hermione in beckoning her to follow him.

It was an incredibly odd feeling for Hermione to enter the house in which she had spent so much time, as it turned out, she wouldn't have to put on any airs of surprise as though she hadn't been there before because the house was nearly unrecognizable. There was not a dusty surface to be found in the entire building, in fact, the entire house gleamed as though brand new and reeked of upper class. Obviously, the Blacks took great pride in their home which was very grandiose, in this time.

It couldn't have been more different from the Grimmauld Place she had known in her own time. The only thing that was familiar to Hermione was Sirius himself. Though he, thankfully, lacked the despondency in his eyes that he would gain during his years in Azkaban. She remembered how much Sirius hated being trapped within these walls during her fifth year and therefore was not stunned that the younger Sirius, who was with her now, exuded the same abhorrence of the house and all the memories within.

He walked through the entrance hall briskly, mumbling a greeting to a startled house elf that scurried past them, clearly horror-struck that the disowned son of his Masters had returned.

Spending any more time in his childhood home than necessary was not an appealing prospect for Sirius and he decided to get straight to the task at hand.

"The library is up here," He told her as he began climbing the stairs.

She allowed him to lead the way, despite the fact that she certainly knew where the library was located. The climbed the steep stairs in silence. In fact, the entire house was eerily quiet, their footsteps on the stairway echoed throughout the pristine dwelling.

Entering the library, the reality of the daunting task hit them both at once. There were hundreds of books… more like thousands… reaching from floor to ceiling on shelves lining all four walls.

"Bloody hell," Sirius cursed aloud. He hadn’t remembered there being so many shelves. "This will take all day."

"If we only knew the title of the book we could try a summoning charm but-"

"We don't," He concluded with a sigh.

"Right," She confirmed uncomfortably, setting her school bag on a desk and surveying their surroundings. "Well, I'll start over here and you start on that side and… umm… well, let's just get started."

Sirius grumbled something indecipherable under his breath and crossed the room where he knelt down in front of the first row of bookshelves and began running his finger over the binding of each book.

They worked in silence for about twenty minutes before Sirius found a book written in some very indecipherable symbols. He turned around to call over to her but was silenced when he saw her standing on her toes reaching for a book on a high shelf. Of course, the gentlemanly thing to do would be to offer to help her but he wasn’t thinking of anything remotely gentlemanly when he saw the hem of her sweater begin to creep up as she stretched her arms over her head to grasp the book. A sliver of smooth bare skin was revealed as well as a hint of pink lace from beneath her jeans.

Sirius felt his mouth go dry… probably because his jaw was hanging open. He was no stranger to seeing women’s underwear but the notion of pink lace on Hermione made his body react in ways that would be difficult to explain should she notice.

He cleared his throat and tried to focus on the task at hand… instead of what he would like to do to Hermione with his hands.

"Uh… Here is one written in runes."

Hermione, having finally reached the tome she had been clambering for, crossed the room and took the book from him. Their hands touched for a brief moment, resulting in her heartbeat rapidly increasing, and she forced herself to turn away from him. If every time she was within five feet of Sirius, she would respond like this, then today was going to be an excruciatingly long day, she thought maddeningly.

Centering her attention on the book in her hands, Hermione could tell that their search was far from over. She remembered explicitly what the book had looked like and, much to Sirius' dismay, this wasn't it.

"No, these aren't the proper runes. Sorry," She informed him. "Dumbledore… um… told me what sort of symbols to look for."

Sirius nodded vaguely and went back to his search.

The first hour passed slowly and though they each found three books written in runes, none of them were the particular volume they needed. Hermione had happily recalled on which shelf she had discovered the book in her own time, though she did not share this with Sirius, of course. But her excitement was dashed when the book was not found anywhere near its future location.

As the morning wore on, hunger was beginning to hamper their concentration as neither Hermione nor Sirius had eaten breakfast that morning.

Hermione's stomach growled loudly as the ten o'clock hour approached. Sirius turned away from his current shelf search and chuckled.

"Hungry?" He laughed.

She nodded, praying to any deity that would listen to allow her to refrain from humiliating herself any more that day.

"So, am I," Sirius confessed. "Short break then?"

"Please!" Hermione agreed ardently.

"Alright, the kitchen is this way," Sirius grinned.

He was smiling properly for the first time since he'd discovered he would have to return to Grimmauld Place and, for that, Hermione couldn't have been more thankful.

After refusing the help of one of the house elves, Sirius and Hermione managed to put together a suitable meal for themselves which they enjoyed in perfect silence at the kitchen table. They had been completely ravenous and ate rather too quickly for polite company but just short of resembling complete barbarians.

When they had finished, Hermione having offered to clear the table, collected the dishes and began washing them in the sink. She reached absently into a drawer for a clean dish towel which she used to dry the dishes and utensils until they sparkled. After she had put everything away to its proper place she turned around only to find Sirius standing directly behind her.

He appeared taller than ever as he loomed over her, with an interested expression.

"You certainly know your way around a kitchen," He mused.

Hermione's face fell in awareness of how thoughtless she'd been… moving about the kitchen as though she'd grown up in the house herself.

"Oh, yes," She stammered. "I'm rather fond of… um… cooking…"

She sounded completely stupid and she knew it, but at least he was smiling and did not appear suspicious.

"Are you?" He asked teasingly. "Well, as much as I would like to take you up on that, Hermione, we have more pressing matters upstairs, I believe?"

The image of Sirius' bedroom door came into focus in Hermione's mind as she stood immovable between him and the kitchen counter.

"Up– Upstairs?" She stuttered, apparently her failure to speak properly around him hadn't subsided.

Sirius raised an eyebrow in puzzlement.

"The library… Remember?"

"Oh!" She gasped in embarrassment. "Right, the book… yes, we should… do that."

As flames rose in her cheeks, Hermione ducked around his lean body and lead the way out of the kitchen, away from that infuriating smirk of his, and up to the library, damning herself with each step. 'This day cannot possibly get any worse,' She thought sourly.

She was wrong, as it turned out.

- - - -

Two more hours passed by at a snail's pace and though Sirius and Hermione were making quite a bit of progress, they had yet to uncover anything useful.

After a while, they began chatting aimlessly, mostly small talk. Hermione told him of her muggle upbringing and receiving her Hogwarts letter while Sirius spoke of the various adventures of him and his school friends and how they came to be known as the Marauders.

Hermione laughed against her better judgment.

"I still can't believe that you put dung bombs in the Slytherin toilets. How did you even get in there?"

"James has an invi-," Sirius started to explain before cutting himself off. He felt himself beginning to place too much trust in this girl whom he barely knew. "Eh, let's just call it a Marauder's secret, shall we?"

Hermione scoffed to herself, Marauder's secret… Right. She knew exactly what he thought he was hiding. Golden Trio secret, as well then.

"Sure," She smiled. "Though, I'm sure some of our male classmates wouldn't mind learning a few Marauders’ secrets themselves, namely, how you've all managed to bewitch every female in the school."

Sirius barked in laughter.

"Bewitched? Hardly," He answered pompously. "It isn't our fault that we're devastatingly handsome and earning top marks in every class."

"Don't forget humble," Hermione added, laughing loudly.

"Right," Sirius agreed. "We're all exceedingly humble. That's what the girls love about me; my modesty."

"Spoken like a true Marauder," Hermione teased. "You may want to be careful, however, many of the girls aren't too pleased that you are no longer single. I have overheard some rather devious planning in the lavatory."

"Nothing too dangerous, I hope," He said rolling his eyes.

"Oh no, simple love potions mostly," She related in jest. "I believe they plan to wait until you are back on the market again to strike."

The smile faded slowly from Sirius' face.

"What does that mean?"

"It doesn't mean anything," Hermione answered honestly.

"You don't think I'll stay with Callie?" He asked forwardly, placing the large book he had been holding on the table beside him and stepping towards her.

"It wasn't me who said it, Sirius," She hurried to explain. "It's just what I've heard."

"So, that's what you girls gossip about? You're waiting for me to break up with Callie?" He said curtly.

Hermione could not comprehend why he was getting upset. One moment they had been joking and laughing together and now he was bearing down on her angrily.

"I'm hardly the type to gossip," Hermione shot back. "I don't care what you do with Callie!"

"You don't?" He dared incredulously.

"No, I don't," She snapped. "And how can you be upset if people gossip about you two when you're constantly snogging in front of the entire school!?"

He narrowed his eyes and took a few more steps closer to her, the bookcases long forgotten.

"Did you ever stop to think that it may be because I like Callie?"

"It’s clear that you like something about her. But how much can you possibly like a girl that you refuse to refer to as your girlfriend?" Hermione yelled scathingly.

"About as much as you can like my best friend whom, by the way, you've never referred to as your boyfriend… nor kissed, come to think of it," He growled.

Hermione balled her fists in rage and squared her shoulders.

"That isn't any of your business! You can't compare my relationship with James to your… fling with Callie!"

He sneered at her, "You're just jealous."

Hermione's eyes widened with fury.

"Jealous? You think I'm jealous of Callie? That's ludicrous."

Sirius was standing face to face with her now; his breathing was ragged from anger.

"You're jealous that you don't have the same relationship with James that I have with Callie!"

"If I wanted to snog James in a corridor, Sirius, I would!" She shouted. "But to imply that I'm jealous of your superficial relationship is simply –"

"Avoiding the topic," Sirius interrupted in very controlled tone.

"I already told you that it isn't any of your business," She hissed. “And you have no right to criticize me for not kissing James when you’ve messed about with half the girls in school!”

Sirius raised an eyebrow and laughed harshly.

“So what if I have? At least I’m honest about my intentions unlike yourself.”

“Oh! I’m dishonest now too?!” She yelled incredulously.

Sirius slammed his fist into the desk, “Damn it, Hermione! You’re a fucking tease!”

“How dare you!” She screamed. At lighting speed her open palm made contact with his cheek in a resounding slap.

Sirius turned away from her furiously to contain his wrath. He gripped the back of a chair, his knuckles turning white.

“It’s true! You lead James on when you know damn well how he bloody feels about you!” He said, as the volume of his voice rose threateningly.

“I have never led him on. I care about James and I would never do anything to hu –”

“Like kiss his best friend?!” Sirius demanded irately.

Hermione gasped. She couldn’t believe that he would use that against her. It was true though… she had kissed Sirius that night while James had been away.

“That was an accident! I never meant for it to happen… you knew what you were doing!” She countered.

“I was there, Hermione! You wanted it just as much as –”

He cut himself off midsentence before he could make the horrible admission that he had very much wanted that kiss to happen. He composed himself and covering with the fiercest sneer he could manage, he fired again. “I just wanted to see if I could get you to do it. It was easier than I thought.”

Hermione was horrified. She felt lightheaded. The same kiss that had haunted her dreams and inhabited her thoughts had been… a joke. She felt foolish and was overcome with detestation for the man standing before her.

“Once we’re done here, I don’t want you to speak to me… ever again,” She said in a restricted whisper, afraid that if she let go, she would cry.

"Fine,” Sirius answered. “But James -”

"James is ten-times the man you'll ever be!" Hermione interrupted, the calm tone straining to cover the tears that burned in her eyes. She refused to allow Sirius Black to use James as an excuse for his ghastly behavior.

Sirius looked as though she had punched him in the stomach. For a fleeting moment, the despondency that was once familiar in the elder Sirius' eyes was visible.

But only seconds later, an icy glare secured itself upon his face and he glared down at her.

"Let's find this book and get the hell out of here," He said with a dangerous edge to his voice.

He stormed back to the bookshelf and slammed a large tome back onto the shelf furiously.

Hermione stood rooted to the floor, glaring after him. She was shaking with anger, how dare he accuse her of having superficial feelings for James when he was a notorious playboy and… he used her. He had used her.

She couldn't even remember now why the argument had escalated to such an appalling degree but she was livid. Not only with Sirius… she was angry with herself too for believing that he had ever had good intentions… for giving him the benefit of the doubt.

She turned her back to him and braced herself on the desk.

The sounds of him slamming books around the shelves reminded her that, unless she wanted to be trapped in the house with a furious animagus, she had better get back to work.

Hermione had no idea how much time had passed when she finally laid eyes upon the very book she had been seeking. She pulled it from the shelf and turned it over in her hands, this was it. As torn as she had been about returning to her own time, all she could think now was that this book was her escape from being further exposed to Sirius' ridicule.

"I found it," Hermione stated just loud enough to hear over Sirius’ racket. They turned towards one another but refused to make eye contact.

"Are you sure?" Sirius commanded.

Hermione nodded but realized that he was looking away from her just as adamantly as she was not looking at him.

"Yes," She spat.

Without another word to her, Sirius turned to the library fireplace and irritably throwing a handful of floo powder into the flames, he said clearly, "Albus Dumbledore's Office."

Bright green flames erupted around him as his dark wild eyes met Hermione's. He held her gaze until he disappeared from view, his eyes a mingling of pain and fury.

Hermione was fighting back tears as the argument replayed in her mind. Taking a handful of floo powder she looked around the room and shook her head. How had everything gone so wrong so quickly?

She repeated Sirius' words and a moment later she was speeding through the labyrinth of hearths before tumbling out of the fireplace and for the second time that day, fell to the floor at Sirius Black's feet.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

New Review Question!

If you could cast any actor in the world to play Sirius Black in the Harry Potter films, who would it be?

My choice is the gorgeous Christian Bale!