For Her Safety

A/N- Well, I'm relatively happy with this chapter, though there are a few things that need to get smoothed out, but all in all, it's not bad. Oh...

Good news!!! Very shortly (next chapter, maybe two) we'll get to the Sirius smut! Huzzah!

Enjoy and please review, (i'm getting addicted)
much love,
zairaphel
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Hermione surveyed the large pile of gifts in front of her. Ron and Harry were grinning like cheshire cats. Ron handed her a smallish box to unwrap first as Harry slipped out of the room behind her. She carefully took off the paper, reveling a little box of owl treats.

"Owl treats?" She frowned for a second before someone tapped her shoulder. Hermione turned around to see Harry, holding a cage containing a large tawny owl. "Harry?..." she asked softly, just staring at the owl, who hooted merrily at her.

Harry smiled brightly, "He's from Ron and me. Hope you like him." Before he could say much else Hermione had jumped up and pulled both Harry and Ron into a tight hug.

"I love him, he's beautiful!... I think I'll call him... Archimedes" Hermione said as she released them from her hug. She sat back down and began to unwrap her gifts. When she had gotten to the end of the gifts, her book collection had grown thanks to Ginny, Remus, and Tonks. She got a Weasley sweater in a green that rivaled Harry's eyes, and a matching pair of socks from Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. She also recieved a few fun joke items from Fred and George's shop.

Hermione smiled, looking at her new treasures. It did turn out to be a suprisingly pleasant evening after all. "Thank you, everybody. I love absolutely everything," she beamed brightly as she spoke.

"Erm, that's not quite everything," Sirius said quietly as he sat down beside her. Hermione swallowed hard, perhaps nervously. He slid a flat box in front of her. The rest of the room had gone quiet, watching in anticipation. Hermione looked up at him as she took the box in her hands. He smiled very slightly and ran his hand through his hair. He's nervous?! Hmm... maybe Molly did have something...

Hermione carefully took the paper off the box. She gasped as she slid the lid off. Inside, in a bed of green velvet lay a delicate diamond necklace and a matching pair of earrings. She carefully picked the necklace up, holding it in the palm of her hand. Looking at it, it had to be an heirloom. Never had Hermione held something so old or expensive. The stone itself was nearly an inch square delicately set in silver, perhaps even platinum... For a moment all she could do was blink and stare at the necklace. "Oh, Sirius..." she said in quiet awe.

"Does that mean you don't like it?" he asked softly, trying to hide the evident hurt in his voice.

"Oh no, I like it. It's just I've never had something so pretty... or expensive. No one has ever given me something like this before." She looked up at him, a small smile gracing her lips, letting him know she was sincere.

Sirius couldn't help but smile in return. Hermione coughed and blushed heatedly when it occured to her that they weren't the only people in the room. They were being stared at with open interest.

Sirius leaned over and whispered to Hermione, "I've got something else for you, but perhaps we should excersize a little bit of caution after this. Care to come to the sitting room with me?"

Hermione heard the note of nervousness in his voice. She bit her lip and then nodded. "If you'll all excuse us. We'll be back in just a moment," she told them as she stood up from her chair and took Sirius' hand as he led her away from the dinning room.

As soon as they were in the sitting room, Sirius shut the door behind them. "I'm sorry that made such a scene. I know you probably didn't want to be "on display" this evening, so I'm sorry."

She chose her words carefully. This was the first time they had actually talked in a very long time, and she didn't really want to foul anything up, especially since this time tomorrow she would be his wife. She swallowed hard and tried to shake the thought from her head.

"It's alright Sirius... Besides, I really loved your gift, though I don't exactly think that I deserve it. It's far too expensive," she told him quietly.

"No, I want you to have it," he said in a way that left no room for argument. Sirius stopped for a moment as if trying to collect himself. He took a deep breath, pulled a small box out of his pocket, and handed it to her.

Hermione had a very good idea of what was inside the box. Her hands shook slightly as she opened the box. Again, "Oh Sirius," was all she could manage to say.

"I wanted to do this properly, but the circumstances make this kind of hard," he said by way of an explaination. "So, do you like it?" he asked shyly.

Hermione stared at the ring inside the box and whispered softly, "Of course I like it. It's amazing." What a night... and what a man.

Sirius took the box from her and pulled the ring out. Gently taking her hand he slipped the ring onto her finger. Hermione blushed slightly at his gentlemanly behavior. She giggled just a bit. Sirius Black, a gentleman... never thought that I'd be thinking that....

Hermione stared at the large stone on her finger. She found it slightly ironic that a gem like this was normally given out of love, not just obligation. Did he really want to give me this, or was it just obligation? He was nervous about it and about what I thought. Gods this is just confusing. I'll figure things out sooner or later, and I'm in no mood to wait long.

"I suppose we should head back," she said quietly, a bit of a blush creeping up high on her cheeks. Hermione opened the door and turned, but before leaving she placed a soft kiss on Sirius' cheek. She slipped out the door before either one could say anything else.

Sirius couldn't help but grin. Perhaps this won't be so difficult for her after all...