The Return

Chapter Two


Hermione woke slowly. She blinked as her vision cleared. Where was she? What was wrong with her eyes, she thought as she tried to touch her face. When she couldn’t lift her arm, she tried to see what was keeping her arm from doing so. But she couldn’t see or move, which got her feeling all the more frustrated and scared. Why couldn’t she see, why was she tied down, and where was she kept going through her mind.


“Hermione?” Harry asked, tentatively.


“What is going on?” she asked, clearly starting to get panicked. “Why am I tied down? What’s wrong with my eyes?”


Harry quickly released her from the binding spell. He watched as she rubbed her eyes and soon she seemed to be relaxing.


“It was only sleep mucus in my eyes,” she whispered, as Harry handed her some tissues. “How long have I been asleep?”


“Two weeks,” he said quietly. “So much has happened that I don’t even know where to begin.”


“The beginning,” she murmured. “Start there. What happened?”


Harry didn’t know just how much she did know and even asked her what she could recall.


“Being knocked back into the veil,” she said quietly. “Floating and screaming…Strong arms closing around me…Feeling safe…Then I felt like I was freezing…Then I felt nothing.” She looked over to him. “What happened?”


“I don’t know how you did it,” Harry said hoarsely. “But you brought Sirius back.”


“Where is he?” she asked him. “Why isn’t he here?”


“They’ve cleared his name,” Harry told her. “He’s at 12 Grimmauld Place. The healers thought it would be a good idea for the two of you to get some distance away from each other.”


Frowning she asked, “Why is that?”


“You don’t remember?”


“No, should I?” she inquired, as she was trying to think of what could have had them wanting them getting them apart.


He thought over what to say to her. Harry didn’t want to alarm her but at the same time she did deserve the truth. “Sirius was very protective of you and you wouldn’t let go of him. They had to tranquilize the two of you be able to examine you both to make certain you were healthy. Once Sirius woke, he wouldn’t let anyone other than Remus and myself into the room. He punched Ron when he tried to sneak into the room and kiss your cheek.”


“Oh,” she whispered with a sigh. “I thought for a moment there that I might have done something.”


“You did.”


She turned slowly to him and whispered hoarsely, “What exactly did I do?”


He swallowed thickly. “You…uh, you sort of…” Harry was now blushing like mad as well as stammering.


“What!” she exclaimed. “Out with it!”


Taking a deep breath he rushed out with, “You kept trying to mount him like his bike.”


A flash of a memory hit her. She was looking down at Sirius. Her hand was resting on his chest, as she was straddled over his hips. He sat up, yanking her head back just so as he kissed her neck.


“What I wouldn’t give to have you alone,” he growled. “Purr for me, angel…”


Hermione snapped out of the memory, clearing her throat as she murmured, “I want to go home.”


***


It took Harry all of fifteen minutes to convince the healers to let Hermione go into his care. Remus came over to help out. In the end, it was he that had to carry her once they got out the door. Between the two of them, they were able to get her over to the car that Mr. Weasley was driving. The older man rushed to open the door for them.


“How is she?” he asked them. “Better?”


“She tried to walk,” Harry said as he watched Remus sliding into the car with her in his arms. “She lasted five steps before her legs gave out.” He shut the door and went around to the other side of the car. “How is Sirius doing?”


“He’s been quiet in his room,” he said. “But he was all but tearing through the door this morning. It was as if he knew she was awake and he wasn’t there for it.”


The drive to the house was a quiet one. Hermione woke once they had arrived at the house. She looked up to the windows, seeing Sirius waiting at the window. He pressed his hand to the pane of glass. If at all possible, she could have sworn she could feel the heat of it on the car window she was leaning against. She shut her eyes and pressed her face to it for a brief moment.


“Do you think you can walk?” Remus asked her.


“He’ll be upset to see me carried, won’t he?” she asked quietly.


“Most definitely,” he replied. “Better carried than falling on your face though, don’t you think?”


“I’ll walk,” she told him.


She managed to get out of the car, but warbled once she did so. From somewhere within her she pulled the energy to get over to the house. Hermione was about to open the door when it was flung open and Mrs. Weasley was grinning at her.


“You’re all well!” she crowed. “I cannot tell you just how worried we all were, especially Ron!”


“Some how I doubt that,” she whispered. “Pardon me, but I need to get upstairs to Sirius before I fall on my face.”


Molly began to sputter, but it was husband Arthur that had the older woman backing down. The only thing Hermione said on the way up the stairs was to Remus.


“Unward the doors, please?” she murmured.


Remus did just that, but even so Remus, Harry, and Kingsley stood behind her just in case of trouble. The door was unwarded before she finished climbing the stairs. The door opened with a crash and Sirius rushed over to where she was still struggling to finish climbing the stairs.


“Angel!” he scooped her up, peppering kisses over her face and ultimately resting his head against hers. “I’ve missed you.”


“Hermione!” Ron exclaimed as he watched his ex-girlfriend caressing Sirius’s face with more affection than she had ever shown him in the span of their relationship. “He’s old enough to be your father!”


Hermione rolled her eyes as she muttered, “He’s such an ass.” She caressed Sirius’s face with her knuckles. “Can you please hold me up while I chew him out?”


“But of course,” he murmured, slipping his arm around her waist as she turned to look at Ron who had raced up the steps to be with Hermione.


“Ron, we broke up,” she said. “You do recall that don’t you? That was a month ago when I found out that you where not only sleeping with Lavender Brown, but the Patill twins and had managed, though I can’t imagine just how you did so considering that contraceptive charms and potions are easy and readily available, to impregnate all three women.” Ron had lost every bit of color as she went on with her speech. “It’s clear to me that you want to get out of your responsibility to those women. If you want to be thought of as lowest of wizards, fine, find a way out of it.” But she grabbed him by his ear and snarled in it, “But you shan’t be using me and your so called warm feelings that did nothing to stop you from tossing those three girls’ skirts, will you, Ronald?”


“No!” he exclaimed.


She let go of his ear. “Very well then, in that case I would very much like to find a lovely bed to pass out in before enjoying that pot roast I smell right now.” Hermione leaned her head back, muttering, “Get us away, Sirius. I don’t want to be around when Molly explodes.”


“Very wise,” he said as he set her down in order to orient her properly to scoop up and take over to his bedroom.


The very second the door was shut and warded all hell broke loose. Molly raged at Ron only being held back by Arthur who was glaring at him as well. Remus and Kinsley rushed over to the bedroom door in the vain hope that they wouldn’t be locked out, and Harry wanting none of the hassle went straight over to the fire whiskey.


Twenty minutes later Ron was cowed, Remus was worried, and Harry was drunk. All in all, it was proving to be a very interesting afternoon.