(no subject)
Returned Ch. 1
Ah..new fanfic! I haven't let the others go, mind you.
All my stuff is archived at http://www.fanfiction.net/~ladyseradereturns (with the smut parts noted of where they'll be...)
Title: RETURNED
Author: serade_black
Rating: PG, now...NC-17 as the story develops
Pairing: Hermione/Sirius
Other Pairings noted: Remus/Tonks, Hermione/Snape, Harry/Ginny
Warnings: None, yet. Book 5 spoilers.
Disclaimer: As if JKR would right THIS ship.
Summary: Sirius has RETURNED, 6 years after falling through the Veil. He comes back to number 12 Grimmauld with old friends as new housemates, while he comes back to the world of the "living". And older, wiser, Hermione is there by his side, along with Remus, she helps him cope with the adjustments. By accident, the two develop much more...
AN: Betas are mizzadamz and sharkdiver
Chapter 1
Some things cannot always be foretold. Generations after generation have sought higher education in distant countries to find answers to ancient questions. The time now, is not something that was written in a book, nor planned nor seen as clearly as a moving picture. The question in our minds now may ask if we have the ability to turn back time, believe in the power of divination or to follow a prophecy.
On Halloween night, number twelve Grimmauld Place was settling in. The occupants had long since retired to bed, the portraits had been wished a good evening, the left-overs from dinner had been packaged and now were freezing away and the magical self-propelled knitting set had put itself away. The house creaked here and there; showing its age and weather, and the grandfather clock in the parlor chimed its two o’clock dong. As consistent lighting illuminated the curtains of the house, a quiet rumbling was heard in the distance that a storm was coming. Down the set of stairs leading to the kitchen, a kettle steamed from the stove, indicating that the water was now ready to brew tea.
Hermione Granger quickly tapped the kettle with her wand to put a silencing charm over it, so as to be a little bit considerate of the upstairs dreamer. Hermione quietly padded across the cold tile floor to pour the hot water into her readied cup. She replaced the kettle to the stove, so it would be there ready for the morning brew. Bobbing her tea bag up and down in her cup, she listened as the quiet threatening storm began to tap raindrops on the window.
The house, even after living in it for two years, still gave Hermione an unsettling chill. Harry and Remus had done their best at giving the house a thorough clean; disposing of anything dark or evil that may have created a special vibe that offset the entire house. The old tapestries had been taken down and had been replaced with fine art and quidditch trophies.
The house had fallen into Harry’s possession, having been left the house by his late godfather, Sirius Black. Sirius was the eldest remaining of the Black family and therefore, left it to the hands of good, rather into the hands of bad, his cousin Bellatrix Lestrange. The house had already been put to good use, aside from hiding Sirius, a then convicted killer, as a meeting place for the Order of the Phoenix.
Over the summer of Harry’s seventh year, the summer he turned a legal adult, he moved into number twelve Grimmauld Place and inviting Remus Lupin to join him. Remus was elated with the invitation and was able to keep an eye on Harry at the same time by doing so.
The house remained a meeting place for the Order and after school when Hermione, Harry and Ron graduated, things changed again. Both Hermione and Ron had been offered jobs with the ministry as Aurors, thanks to Arthur Weasley’s word. He based it on his excellent judge of character, and not because they joined the secret society of the Order. Harry, on the other hand, had been offered a job of a lifetime with the Chudley Cannon’s as their new seeker. Quiddich was something Harry was always good at, but after seeing him win the house cup his seventh year at school, the team’s scout couldn’t resist taking on such an established and popular player. One year later, all of Harry’s closest friends, including the Order members, came to see him at the World Cup.
Harry was usually away during a quidditch season and, after talking it over with Remus, invited Hermione to move into Grimmauld Place, as well. Being muggle born, it was better for Hermione to keep her new wizarding job separate from her muggle home life. It also served as brilliant company to their former Dark Arts professor.
Hermione emerged from the downstairs kitchen and was about to turn and go up the stairs, when she noticed a lantern in the window had not been extinguished. She glanced back up the stairs giving a slumbering Remus a quiet scolding that he had overlooked it when he was the last to go to bed. Hermione set down her tea on a nearby table and tiptoed to alleviate as much floor creaking as possible as she made her way to the lantern in the window. As she leaned over to blow out the candle, she happened to look outside the window to the sidewalk. Across the street, she noticed a jacket hooded figure stumbling across the road, taking a moment to lean on a parked car. The figure looked as if it was either incredibly drunk or incredibly crippled, for it seemed to be quite a task just to walk. Hermione moved a few curls out of her sightline as she watched out the window to the intriguing scene.
The figure turned out to definitely be a man wearing a beaten up old jacket and he walked now, without the support of a parked car, and he appeared to be clutching his throat as he walked, or staggered closer to the walk. Hermione was not yet alarmed, not thinking that the man was coming to the house, because if he were a muggle, he wouldn’t be able to see the house. She walked over to get her tea from the table and then returned to the window to watch the man and see which direction he was going in. If he had been a vagrant, at least in the morning when she went to work, she’d keep an eye out for him, in case he passed out in the nearby bushes.
She managed to get back to the window in time to see the man cross over the threshold and approach the door to Grimmauld Place. The man outside had apparently thrown all his weight onto the door, trying push his way through, and the sound of the hard thud caused Hermione to jump and drop her tea, cup, contents and all. The cup made a horrible echoing sound through the house and she wondered if Remus had heard it. Her attention fell back to the door and she immediately grabbed her wand from her pocket and took retreating steps back, wand aimed at the door to the stranger that was forcing his way inside. She could hear his growling voice from the opposite side and his fingers scraped along the door, begging to be let in. She yelled for Remus to come, but her voice didn’t seem to escape her. Instead, she watched as the door eventually gave, swinging open and causing a brisk breeze to rush inside the house. The rain had begun to fall harder and the man was now drenched.
The man passed over the doorway, took enough steps to be all the way inside, allowing the door to shut behind him. With a few more pants and growls, the man collapsed on the floor at Hermione’s feet. The house was still dark from all the lights being out for the evening and after screaming for Remus again, this time finding her voice, she illuminated the house.
At the sight of the man, Hermione dropped her wand out of shock and then raced to his side. Tears erupted from deep within her and she couldn’t believe whose face she was finally looking at after six years. His dark hair was still as ebony as before, his face a bit gaunt, but not as much as expected and his jaw was still that of his esteemed Black blood.
Tears stained Hermione’s face as her entire body sobbed over Sirius Black body, barely alive, but alive, nonetheless. She quickly placed both arms around him, cradling him in her arms, and placed a hand on the side of his cheek so that he might feel a person.
“Sirius! Sirius wake up! Please! Remus, come down here!” she cried, first to the heavy body in her arms, next to the heavens or second floor above her.
Hermione rocked his soaking wet body back and forth in her arms and leaned over him to feel anything.
He’s still breathing!
She quickly tried with all she could to peel his heavy cold jacket from his body. She was careful not to hurt him, but distressed at the same time that the coat was being so difficult. Finally, she managed to get half of it off and then ripped the rest of it off with a good fierce tug. His body was then free of the coat and laid there in her arms, wearing the same clothes that Sirius had fallen through the Veil in.
Hermione yelled her roommate’s name again, screaming it this time, looking around franticly for her wand and cast a spell that would walk his bed down the stairs itself if she had to.
Thankfully, she didn’t have to, Remus was already stirring from the floor above her and shortly there after descended down the stairs, only to stop and then run down them with the sound of a hundred galloping elephants, Hermione thought he fell down them.
“Merlin! Hermione what happened? How did he…when…we have to…” he had a million things to say, but he was just as shocked as she was when he first saw him. His first instinct was to check and see if he’s breathing.
“I did that already, he’s breathing. Barely, but he’s breathing!” Hermione sobbed, she clung to his body as tight as she could, hoping the human contact would some how bring him to. “We have to take him to a hospital!”
“No, we can’t! He’s dead, Hermione! We can’t check him in, he doesn’t have any I.D. and if we take him to a wizard’s hospital, they’ll quarantine him immediately and we’ll never know. We have to…we have to take care of him on our own. for now.” Remus said with a shaky tone. As cool and composed as he normally is, even in the toughest situations, he always knew what to do. Though he wanted nothing else but, but to find out where his friend had been, he needed to control on just getting him up the stairs to a bed.
Remus looked all around him and realized that he had forgotten his wand on his night stand, “Hermione, where’s your wand?”
“Over there,” she gestured, still holding and watching Sirius’s chest lift and fall at a light pace.
Remus grabbed her wand and then instructed her to stand back. With a flick of the wrist, Sirius rose from Hermione’s lap and ascended up the stairs by control of the wand, as if he was a marionette. Hermione recalled seeing Sirius do the very same thing to Snape when he guided him through the pathways under the womping willow her third year. She stayed right behind Remus, clutching his free hand for support, as she watched a motionless Sirius float before them.
Right into his old room, Sirius was placed upon his old bed, stripped of his clothes, cleaned and dressed with nightclothes. This whole process was so quick; Hermione didn’t even have time to turn her back to give Sirius any decency. Remus immediately conjured up some food, water and a bowl with a cloth at its side. Both witch and wizard pulled up a chair to be next to Sirius and they watched and waited to see if the refreshing feel of clean clothes and a soft bed would help him come to, at least for a few minutes to let him know he was home.
Hermione jumped at the chance to start nursing Sirius and watched closely as Remus checked all his vital signs with the basics that he knew. Already feeling she wasn’t doing anything, she wedged herself closer to Sirius and began preparing the cloth with water to dab on his forehead.
When Hermione finally felt like she was being productive with the situation, she watched as Sirius’s chest began to rise and fall in more of a rhythmic pattern. He, for the first time in ten minutes, looked peaceful, out of pain and in the land of the living. She gently pulled the cloth over his forehead, tenderly dabbing around his temples. She allowed herself a small little smile to pass over her lips as she admired how sweet and innocent he appeared. There he lay before them, full of secrets and answers, and nothing to say, for the first time in a long time. Hermione had hoped that Sirius would come too soon, for there were a lot of people that didn’t get to say good-bye that will sure be happy he’s back - in whatever form.
Remus and Hermione quietly discussed how they were going to get in contact with Harry, about arranging an Order meeting, and then finally the Ministry. They both agreed that a few days at home, before exposing him to the Ministry couldn’t hurt, as long as he remained well enough. After all, when Sirius woke up he might have all the answers and the ordeal might not be so much of a procedure as Hermione and Remus speculated.
“I can stay up for a few hours and look after him. I’m too jumpy to go to sleep now besides, you’ll have day duty tomorrow since I have to go in to work for a bit.” Hermione suggested, already letting sweet cynicism into the situation.
Remus smiled first to her and then to his best friend, “All right, if you’re sure.” He waited for her approving nod and then glanced back to Sirius, “Don’t scare her too much with your stories when you do wake up, old friend.”
Remus stood from his seat and leaned over Hermione, placing a light kiss on her head to say goodnight. When he left, Hermione leaned over to wring out the cloth a bit more before reapplying it. She gently dabbed it over his head, reaching for her wand that was at Sirius’s side where Remus had left it. She looked about the room for a form of music player and when she saw the turntable in the corner, she charmed it so it would play softly in the background.
After a few more pats around Sirius’s forehead, Hermione leaned back in her chair to take a few minutes to rest and just watch him. She tilted her head a little in thought as she relished the feeling that Sirius Black was back.
He was home. There he was, flesh and blood, lying before her in a state of mind she had no idea about. When he awoke, would he be the same man before he fell through the Veil, or had he been through a life altering state that he would no longer identify with that person? Would the charming and charismatic Sirius that bounced around the house, causing rows with Severus Snape when he felt fit, return?
Hermione sighed to herself, thinking that she wished he would awaken to answer those questions. Not to mention the unsaid things she had lingering in her mind for him. She remembered that the two of them never really saw eye to eye on things, mainly because some of the things he’d say to Harry were that of something he might have said to James, had he been alive, and poor Harry was nothing more than a stand-in. But, deep down, she knew that Harry’s best interests were always on Sirius’s mind and she had no place to interfere. After all, Sirius was to play the role of “father” in Harry’s eyes, something he’d never had, and for Sirius, it was a chance to redeem himself for being so irresponsible all those years growing up.
Sirius had had a very hard life, Hermione thought to herself, never finding the love and the satisfaction he needed. It was probably the reasoning behind his marauding ways, no pun intended, as well as “cating” around, making women his conquests.
Sirius had one hell of a reputation of being a ladies man, breaking hearts along the way that he never settled down with one long enough to make a difference. At least, that’s what Remus had told her. Being deprived of love from a young age would do that to a person and no matter how hard you searched to fill that void in your life, you’d never be satisfied. It was a battle that he’d never won.
Now, Sirius was about to embark on a new chapter of his life. He was finally cleared of all charges, though Voldemort was still out and about, and enough witnesses testified on Sirius’s behalf that what happened twenty ago, what not Sirius’s doing. Peter Pettigrew, aka Wormtail, now had the bounty on his head, as well as adding on another twelve years to his life sentence to make up for the time served by Sirius Black, before his escape. Sirius’s name had been cleared, his finances passed on in the name of Harry Potter, and a letter of pardoning from the Ministry themselves. Being that Sirius was not amongst the living to accept this letter, Harry and Remus made sure that the letter was accepted, framed and mounted in the House of Black as a tribute to his legend. There it remained in full sight of everyone that entered the house, hanging in the parlor in the place of the old Black tapestry that Sirius’s own mother had burned his name from.
The memory of Sirius, his escape, his death and now his return started a few tears to stain Hermione’s cheek.
“Please wake up, Sirius.” She sighed, looking fondly at him as he slept. His breathing took on a normal rythmn, and she watched him silently as he chest rose and fell, “We can’t wait to tell you all that’s happened since you’ve been gone. We’ve made so much progress in the war, and so far, not many deaths. You’d be so proud of Harry, Sirius. You and Lily and James wouldn’t believe what he’s doing now.” She couldn’t help but raise her own spirits as she thought warmly of her friend, but how quickly they fell again, once she relieved her eyes back on Sirius. “I guess, a lot was left unsaid, especially with me. I want to apologize for being….for being a fifteen year old girl. There were things I might have said to you I had no right to.” Her eyes fell to the floor again, not wanting to say what she was thinking deeper about, “But, I guess, looking back, it makes sense, now. It was me. I mean, some of it was you, but for the most part,” she smiled to herself, “it was me. Everyone doted on Harry, you doted on Harry. I guess, I was jealous with all the attention that Harry was getting from you…that I couldn’t help act the way I did. I know it all sounds so childish now, it does, but it’s funny how a person can change when they see now that it was just a puppy dog crush.”
His story was legendary and it was known he lived the life of a rebel. As Hermione wrote him off as nothing but that, she realized it was more than just a puppy dog crush. She secretly yearned to have a bit of that rebellious streak run through her and to lay eyes on a convicted, innocent, killer, she wanted to believe there was more to him. She believed his heart to be good, she saw how passionate he was about the war, about Harry and about protecting those that stood by him, what was there not to admire?
Sirius laid there having no idea how much information he was going to have thrown at him when he did come around, how much he was going to have to take in when he would be able to comprehend it.
Hermione leaned over, beginning to rinse out the cloth again, and apply it to his forehead. She gently caressed his face, admiring the way his ebony hair complimented his pale skin. His perfect jawbone accented his face so well, that there was no wonder that the women would throw themselves down in front of him. He was so handsome, particularly as he got older when he was more into his skin, that it seemed such a waste for him to have not been given the chance to be loved.
Hermione scrunched her brow a bit in thought as she realized that he appeared to not have aged those six years gone. Though he was thirty-six when he fell into the Veil, he still looked as young as he did on that day, not his actual age of forty- two.
Such a mystery to all of them and pretty soon, Sirius would have a lot of explaining to do.
~*~*~*~*~
“Hermione? Hermione, wake up.” She heard the kind male voice whisper. A light hand had been placed on her shoulder and was gently shaking her awake. The dream she was having that Sirius had returned seemed to be just on the tip of her brain and she….
“Remus?” she managed to get out, as she slowly opened her eyes to the sunshine that was now pouring into the bedroom.
“Morning, love. Here, I brought you some tea to wake you up a bit, before work.” He said, offering her the cup and placing on the bedside table.
Hermione smiled into those friendly eyes, prepared to tell him all about the dream she had about the stranger walking into their house, she thought it was, “Sirius! He is here!” she opened her eyes all the way and realized that she had fallen asleep in the chair next to his bedside.
“Shhh!” Remus hushed, “Did he wake up at all? Did he say anything, when you were awake?” He carefully helped her to her feet and was ready to take his shift to watch over Sirius.
She stood up from her chair, placing a good morning kiss on Remus’s cheek, letting her eyes settle back on the slumbering man in the bed, “No, he never woke up when I was awake. I’m sure he would have said something.”
“You’re right. Well, you still have a couple of hours before you need to go to work, why don’t you go and lie down a bit, before you have to get ready.”
“Yes, good idea.” She agreed and turned towards the door as she watched Remus take his seat next to his long time friend, wishing he’d wake up, as well. “Remus?”
“Yes?”
“Would you please tell me if he wakes up today? Send me an owl or something, just keep it a simple code so that I will know. I don’t think the Ministry needs to know about him yet, like you said.” She politely asked, still worried for him.
“I will, Hermione. Now, go take a nap.”
She gave him a nod and made her way to her own soft and comfy bed to get a few minutes of horizontal sleep.
At the Ministry, she immediately tried to find Ron all over the Auror’s floor, but when she asked about him it appeared he was running late. Giving up, she then proceeded to each individual department, seeking out fellow Order members to tell them about the emergency meeting.
First around was Tonks, “Tonks, morning.” Hermione chimed, as she watched Tonks typing away, or rather dictating to the typewriter, her latest report on Draco Malfoy and his mother.
“Morning, Hermione.” She smiled, giving a quick run through her hair to change it to black with red stripes. It was one of those days today that she was completely unsatisfied with her hair, she goes through this every twenty-eight days.
“Tonks, please do try and come ‘round to see that vicious boyfriend of yours. He’s really starting to get on my nerves with all this mushy talk about you. Besides, it’s his turn to cook tonight.” She dropped the code to Tonks, and left it with a wink. “Probably around seven, or so.”
“Fabulous, I’ll wear the purple hair tonight; he always loves it when I add more color to the evening.” She answered with a nod. “Is it alright if I bring a friend along for you to meet?” Tonks prodded if she should help spread the word about the immediate Order meeting, raising an eyebrow.
“Sure, why not.” She threw back, making her way around the department. She rounded to a very militant ordered desk that used to be covered with pictures of Sirius all over it, but now just had one, with a copy of Sirius’s death certificate next to it, “Shaklebot?”
“Not now, Granger. I’m doing just fine without your rookie mind coming around and pointing out punctuation discrepancies!” the large black man barked at her, as he stood from his desk, standing a good two feet over her.
“Shaklebot, stop being such a prat! It pains me to be Remus’s messenger that he’s invited you to dinner. I, on the other hand, wish he’d reconsider but he’s set on you and me making things friendly. So, why don’t you do him a favor and pacify him. I’ll try if you try. Eight o’clock.” She baited him, knowing full well that it was all code and they rather liked each other a lot. Kingsley made it so much fun to argue with him.
“If I’m there at seven, would it piss you off?” he shouted down the walkway as she left him in a huff, but he was confirming the time.
“Bugger off!” she confirmed, walking away, but throwing a quick grin back at him.
She smiled to herself feeling pretty good about that one. The more others thought that she and Kingsley had a sincere hatred for one another; the more it kept the Order a secret society. She walked with confident steps through the department, weaving herself around cubicles and hallways, leaving an aura about her that meant business.
Hermione was highly respected in the Ministry’s eyes, and she tended to be behind many plans and conspiracies behind catching Voldemort. As she walked to her cubical, wearing her khaki capris and red cardigan sweater, her boots clicked on the floor below her. Her long brown curls were pulled off her radiating face, giving no indication that she had been up all night watching and weeping over someone that was presumed dead.
The Order members were going to be beside themselves and for the moment, she couldn’t keep herself bursting with excitement. Hermione made it to her desk by the window that overlooked New York City’s skyline. She loved sitting there, because everyday they’d change the view to different major cities of the world, yesterday it had been the beaches of Key West, Florida.
The first thing she needed to do was to send owls informing of “dinner” being served that evening. This short of notice informed them that the meeting was, indeed, urgent. She sat down and compiled the notes, but the second one took extra time to write as it was addressed to Severus Snape.
Ah..new fanfic! I haven't let the others go, mind you.
All my stuff is archived at http://www.fanfiction.net/~ladyseradereturns (with the smut parts noted of where they'll be...)
Title: RETURNED
Author: serade_black
Rating: PG, now...NC-17 as the story develops
Pairing: Hermione/Sirius
Other Pairings noted: Remus/Tonks, Hermione/Snape, Harry/Ginny
Warnings: None, yet. Book 5 spoilers.
Disclaimer: As if JKR would right THIS ship.
Summary: Sirius has RETURNED, 6 years after falling through the Veil. He comes back to number 12 Grimmauld with old friends as new housemates, while he comes back to the world of the "living". And older, wiser, Hermione is there by his side, along with Remus, she helps him cope with the adjustments. By accident, the two develop much more...
AN: Betas are mizzadamz and sharkdiver
Chapter 1
Some things cannot always be foretold. Generations after generation have sought higher education in distant countries to find answers to ancient questions. The time now, is not something that was written in a book, nor planned nor seen as clearly as a moving picture. The question in our minds now may ask if we have the ability to turn back time, believe in the power of divination or to follow a prophecy.
On Halloween night, number twelve Grimmauld Place was settling in. The occupants had long since retired to bed, the portraits had been wished a good evening, the left-overs from dinner had been packaged and now were freezing away and the magical self-propelled knitting set had put itself away. The house creaked here and there; showing its age and weather, and the grandfather clock in the parlor chimed its two o’clock dong. As consistent lighting illuminated the curtains of the house, a quiet rumbling was heard in the distance that a storm was coming. Down the set of stairs leading to the kitchen, a kettle steamed from the stove, indicating that the water was now ready to brew tea.
Hermione Granger quickly tapped the kettle with her wand to put a silencing charm over it, so as to be a little bit considerate of the upstairs dreamer. Hermione quietly padded across the cold tile floor to pour the hot water into her readied cup. She replaced the kettle to the stove, so it would be there ready for the morning brew. Bobbing her tea bag up and down in her cup, she listened as the quiet threatening storm began to tap raindrops on the window.
The house, even after living in it for two years, still gave Hermione an unsettling chill. Harry and Remus had done their best at giving the house a thorough clean; disposing of anything dark or evil that may have created a special vibe that offset the entire house. The old tapestries had been taken down and had been replaced with fine art and quidditch trophies.
The house had fallen into Harry’s possession, having been left the house by his late godfather, Sirius Black. Sirius was the eldest remaining of the Black family and therefore, left it to the hands of good, rather into the hands of bad, his cousin Bellatrix Lestrange. The house had already been put to good use, aside from hiding Sirius, a then convicted killer, as a meeting place for the Order of the Phoenix.
Over the summer of Harry’s seventh year, the summer he turned a legal adult, he moved into number twelve Grimmauld Place and inviting Remus Lupin to join him. Remus was elated with the invitation and was able to keep an eye on Harry at the same time by doing so.
The house remained a meeting place for the Order and after school when Hermione, Harry and Ron graduated, things changed again. Both Hermione and Ron had been offered jobs with the ministry as Aurors, thanks to Arthur Weasley’s word. He based it on his excellent judge of character, and not because they joined the secret society of the Order. Harry, on the other hand, had been offered a job of a lifetime with the Chudley Cannon’s as their new seeker. Quiddich was something Harry was always good at, but after seeing him win the house cup his seventh year at school, the team’s scout couldn’t resist taking on such an established and popular player. One year later, all of Harry’s closest friends, including the Order members, came to see him at the World Cup.
Harry was usually away during a quidditch season and, after talking it over with Remus, invited Hermione to move into Grimmauld Place, as well. Being muggle born, it was better for Hermione to keep her new wizarding job separate from her muggle home life. It also served as brilliant company to their former Dark Arts professor.
Hermione emerged from the downstairs kitchen and was about to turn and go up the stairs, when she noticed a lantern in the window had not been extinguished. She glanced back up the stairs giving a slumbering Remus a quiet scolding that he had overlooked it when he was the last to go to bed. Hermione set down her tea on a nearby table and tiptoed to alleviate as much floor creaking as possible as she made her way to the lantern in the window. As she leaned over to blow out the candle, she happened to look outside the window to the sidewalk. Across the street, she noticed a jacket hooded figure stumbling across the road, taking a moment to lean on a parked car. The figure looked as if it was either incredibly drunk or incredibly crippled, for it seemed to be quite a task just to walk. Hermione moved a few curls out of her sightline as she watched out the window to the intriguing scene.
The figure turned out to definitely be a man wearing a beaten up old jacket and he walked now, without the support of a parked car, and he appeared to be clutching his throat as he walked, or staggered closer to the walk. Hermione was not yet alarmed, not thinking that the man was coming to the house, because if he were a muggle, he wouldn’t be able to see the house. She walked over to get her tea from the table and then returned to the window to watch the man and see which direction he was going in. If he had been a vagrant, at least in the morning when she went to work, she’d keep an eye out for him, in case he passed out in the nearby bushes.
She managed to get back to the window in time to see the man cross over the threshold and approach the door to Grimmauld Place. The man outside had apparently thrown all his weight onto the door, trying push his way through, and the sound of the hard thud caused Hermione to jump and drop her tea, cup, contents and all. The cup made a horrible echoing sound through the house and she wondered if Remus had heard it. Her attention fell back to the door and she immediately grabbed her wand from her pocket and took retreating steps back, wand aimed at the door to the stranger that was forcing his way inside. She could hear his growling voice from the opposite side and his fingers scraped along the door, begging to be let in. She yelled for Remus to come, but her voice didn’t seem to escape her. Instead, she watched as the door eventually gave, swinging open and causing a brisk breeze to rush inside the house. The rain had begun to fall harder and the man was now drenched.
The man passed over the doorway, took enough steps to be all the way inside, allowing the door to shut behind him. With a few more pants and growls, the man collapsed on the floor at Hermione’s feet. The house was still dark from all the lights being out for the evening and after screaming for Remus again, this time finding her voice, she illuminated the house.
At the sight of the man, Hermione dropped her wand out of shock and then raced to his side. Tears erupted from deep within her and she couldn’t believe whose face she was finally looking at after six years. His dark hair was still as ebony as before, his face a bit gaunt, but not as much as expected and his jaw was still that of his esteemed Black blood.
Tears stained Hermione’s face as her entire body sobbed over Sirius Black body, barely alive, but alive, nonetheless. She quickly placed both arms around him, cradling him in her arms, and placed a hand on the side of his cheek so that he might feel a person.
“Sirius! Sirius wake up! Please! Remus, come down here!” she cried, first to the heavy body in her arms, next to the heavens or second floor above her.
Hermione rocked his soaking wet body back and forth in her arms and leaned over him to feel anything.
He’s still breathing!
She quickly tried with all she could to peel his heavy cold jacket from his body. She was careful not to hurt him, but distressed at the same time that the coat was being so difficult. Finally, she managed to get half of it off and then ripped the rest of it off with a good fierce tug. His body was then free of the coat and laid there in her arms, wearing the same clothes that Sirius had fallen through the Veil in.
Hermione yelled her roommate’s name again, screaming it this time, looking around franticly for her wand and cast a spell that would walk his bed down the stairs itself if she had to.
Thankfully, she didn’t have to, Remus was already stirring from the floor above her and shortly there after descended down the stairs, only to stop and then run down them with the sound of a hundred galloping elephants, Hermione thought he fell down them.
“Merlin! Hermione what happened? How did he…when…we have to…” he had a million things to say, but he was just as shocked as she was when he first saw him. His first instinct was to check and see if he’s breathing.
“I did that already, he’s breathing. Barely, but he’s breathing!” Hermione sobbed, she clung to his body as tight as she could, hoping the human contact would some how bring him to. “We have to take him to a hospital!”
“No, we can’t! He’s dead, Hermione! We can’t check him in, he doesn’t have any I.D. and if we take him to a wizard’s hospital, they’ll quarantine him immediately and we’ll never know. We have to…we have to take care of him on our own. for now.” Remus said with a shaky tone. As cool and composed as he normally is, even in the toughest situations, he always knew what to do. Though he wanted nothing else but, but to find out where his friend had been, he needed to control on just getting him up the stairs to a bed.
Remus looked all around him and realized that he had forgotten his wand on his night stand, “Hermione, where’s your wand?”
“Over there,” she gestured, still holding and watching Sirius’s chest lift and fall at a light pace.
Remus grabbed her wand and then instructed her to stand back. With a flick of the wrist, Sirius rose from Hermione’s lap and ascended up the stairs by control of the wand, as if he was a marionette. Hermione recalled seeing Sirius do the very same thing to Snape when he guided him through the pathways under the womping willow her third year. She stayed right behind Remus, clutching his free hand for support, as she watched a motionless Sirius float before them.
Right into his old room, Sirius was placed upon his old bed, stripped of his clothes, cleaned and dressed with nightclothes. This whole process was so quick; Hermione didn’t even have time to turn her back to give Sirius any decency. Remus immediately conjured up some food, water and a bowl with a cloth at its side. Both witch and wizard pulled up a chair to be next to Sirius and they watched and waited to see if the refreshing feel of clean clothes and a soft bed would help him come to, at least for a few minutes to let him know he was home.
Hermione jumped at the chance to start nursing Sirius and watched closely as Remus checked all his vital signs with the basics that he knew. Already feeling she wasn’t doing anything, she wedged herself closer to Sirius and began preparing the cloth with water to dab on his forehead.
When Hermione finally felt like she was being productive with the situation, she watched as Sirius’s chest began to rise and fall in more of a rhythmic pattern. He, for the first time in ten minutes, looked peaceful, out of pain and in the land of the living. She gently pulled the cloth over his forehead, tenderly dabbing around his temples. She allowed herself a small little smile to pass over her lips as she admired how sweet and innocent he appeared. There he lay before them, full of secrets and answers, and nothing to say, for the first time in a long time. Hermione had hoped that Sirius would come too soon, for there were a lot of people that didn’t get to say good-bye that will sure be happy he’s back - in whatever form.
Remus and Hermione quietly discussed how they were going to get in contact with Harry, about arranging an Order meeting, and then finally the Ministry. They both agreed that a few days at home, before exposing him to the Ministry couldn’t hurt, as long as he remained well enough. After all, when Sirius woke up he might have all the answers and the ordeal might not be so much of a procedure as Hermione and Remus speculated.
“I can stay up for a few hours and look after him. I’m too jumpy to go to sleep now besides, you’ll have day duty tomorrow since I have to go in to work for a bit.” Hermione suggested, already letting sweet cynicism into the situation.
Remus smiled first to her and then to his best friend, “All right, if you’re sure.” He waited for her approving nod and then glanced back to Sirius, “Don’t scare her too much with your stories when you do wake up, old friend.”
Remus stood from his seat and leaned over Hermione, placing a light kiss on her head to say goodnight. When he left, Hermione leaned over to wring out the cloth a bit more before reapplying it. She gently dabbed it over his head, reaching for her wand that was at Sirius’s side where Remus had left it. She looked about the room for a form of music player and when she saw the turntable in the corner, she charmed it so it would play softly in the background.
After a few more pats around Sirius’s forehead, Hermione leaned back in her chair to take a few minutes to rest and just watch him. She tilted her head a little in thought as she relished the feeling that Sirius Black was back.
He was home. There he was, flesh and blood, lying before her in a state of mind she had no idea about. When he awoke, would he be the same man before he fell through the Veil, or had he been through a life altering state that he would no longer identify with that person? Would the charming and charismatic Sirius that bounced around the house, causing rows with Severus Snape when he felt fit, return?
Hermione sighed to herself, thinking that she wished he would awaken to answer those questions. Not to mention the unsaid things she had lingering in her mind for him. She remembered that the two of them never really saw eye to eye on things, mainly because some of the things he’d say to Harry were that of something he might have said to James, had he been alive, and poor Harry was nothing more than a stand-in. But, deep down, she knew that Harry’s best interests were always on Sirius’s mind and she had no place to interfere. After all, Sirius was to play the role of “father” in Harry’s eyes, something he’d never had, and for Sirius, it was a chance to redeem himself for being so irresponsible all those years growing up.
Sirius had had a very hard life, Hermione thought to herself, never finding the love and the satisfaction he needed. It was probably the reasoning behind his marauding ways, no pun intended, as well as “cating” around, making women his conquests.
Sirius had one hell of a reputation of being a ladies man, breaking hearts along the way that he never settled down with one long enough to make a difference. At least, that’s what Remus had told her. Being deprived of love from a young age would do that to a person and no matter how hard you searched to fill that void in your life, you’d never be satisfied. It was a battle that he’d never won.
Now, Sirius was about to embark on a new chapter of his life. He was finally cleared of all charges, though Voldemort was still out and about, and enough witnesses testified on Sirius’s behalf that what happened twenty ago, what not Sirius’s doing. Peter Pettigrew, aka Wormtail, now had the bounty on his head, as well as adding on another twelve years to his life sentence to make up for the time served by Sirius Black, before his escape. Sirius’s name had been cleared, his finances passed on in the name of Harry Potter, and a letter of pardoning from the Ministry themselves. Being that Sirius was not amongst the living to accept this letter, Harry and Remus made sure that the letter was accepted, framed and mounted in the House of Black as a tribute to his legend. There it remained in full sight of everyone that entered the house, hanging in the parlor in the place of the old Black tapestry that Sirius’s own mother had burned his name from.
The memory of Sirius, his escape, his death and now his return started a few tears to stain Hermione’s cheek.
“Please wake up, Sirius.” She sighed, looking fondly at him as he slept. His breathing took on a normal rythmn, and she watched him silently as he chest rose and fell, “We can’t wait to tell you all that’s happened since you’ve been gone. We’ve made so much progress in the war, and so far, not many deaths. You’d be so proud of Harry, Sirius. You and Lily and James wouldn’t believe what he’s doing now.” She couldn’t help but raise her own spirits as she thought warmly of her friend, but how quickly they fell again, once she relieved her eyes back on Sirius. “I guess, a lot was left unsaid, especially with me. I want to apologize for being….for being a fifteen year old girl. There were things I might have said to you I had no right to.” Her eyes fell to the floor again, not wanting to say what she was thinking deeper about, “But, I guess, looking back, it makes sense, now. It was me. I mean, some of it was you, but for the most part,” she smiled to herself, “it was me. Everyone doted on Harry, you doted on Harry. I guess, I was jealous with all the attention that Harry was getting from you…that I couldn’t help act the way I did. I know it all sounds so childish now, it does, but it’s funny how a person can change when they see now that it was just a puppy dog crush.”
His story was legendary and it was known he lived the life of a rebel. As Hermione wrote him off as nothing but that, she realized it was more than just a puppy dog crush. She secretly yearned to have a bit of that rebellious streak run through her and to lay eyes on a convicted, innocent, killer, she wanted to believe there was more to him. She believed his heart to be good, she saw how passionate he was about the war, about Harry and about protecting those that stood by him, what was there not to admire?
Sirius laid there having no idea how much information he was going to have thrown at him when he did come around, how much he was going to have to take in when he would be able to comprehend it.
Hermione leaned over, beginning to rinse out the cloth again, and apply it to his forehead. She gently caressed his face, admiring the way his ebony hair complimented his pale skin. His perfect jawbone accented his face so well, that there was no wonder that the women would throw themselves down in front of him. He was so handsome, particularly as he got older when he was more into his skin, that it seemed such a waste for him to have not been given the chance to be loved.
Hermione scrunched her brow a bit in thought as she realized that he appeared to not have aged those six years gone. Though he was thirty-six when he fell into the Veil, he still looked as young as he did on that day, not his actual age of forty- two.
Such a mystery to all of them and pretty soon, Sirius would have a lot of explaining to do.
~*~*~*~*~
“Hermione? Hermione, wake up.” She heard the kind male voice whisper. A light hand had been placed on her shoulder and was gently shaking her awake. The dream she was having that Sirius had returned seemed to be just on the tip of her brain and she….
“Remus?” she managed to get out, as she slowly opened her eyes to the sunshine that was now pouring into the bedroom.
“Morning, love. Here, I brought you some tea to wake you up a bit, before work.” He said, offering her the cup and placing on the bedside table.
Hermione smiled into those friendly eyes, prepared to tell him all about the dream she had about the stranger walking into their house, she thought it was, “Sirius! He is here!” she opened her eyes all the way and realized that she had fallen asleep in the chair next to his bedside.
“Shhh!” Remus hushed, “Did he wake up at all? Did he say anything, when you were awake?” He carefully helped her to her feet and was ready to take his shift to watch over Sirius.
She stood up from her chair, placing a good morning kiss on Remus’s cheek, letting her eyes settle back on the slumbering man in the bed, “No, he never woke up when I was awake. I’m sure he would have said something.”
“You’re right. Well, you still have a couple of hours before you need to go to work, why don’t you go and lie down a bit, before you have to get ready.”
“Yes, good idea.” She agreed and turned towards the door as she watched Remus take his seat next to his long time friend, wishing he’d wake up, as well. “Remus?”
“Yes?”
“Would you please tell me if he wakes up today? Send me an owl or something, just keep it a simple code so that I will know. I don’t think the Ministry needs to know about him yet, like you said.” She politely asked, still worried for him.
“I will, Hermione. Now, go take a nap.”
She gave him a nod and made her way to her own soft and comfy bed to get a few minutes of horizontal sleep.
At the Ministry, she immediately tried to find Ron all over the Auror’s floor, but when she asked about him it appeared he was running late. Giving up, she then proceeded to each individual department, seeking out fellow Order members to tell them about the emergency meeting.
First around was Tonks, “Tonks, morning.” Hermione chimed, as she watched Tonks typing away, or rather dictating to the typewriter, her latest report on Draco Malfoy and his mother.
“Morning, Hermione.” She smiled, giving a quick run through her hair to change it to black with red stripes. It was one of those days today that she was completely unsatisfied with her hair, she goes through this every twenty-eight days.
“Tonks, please do try and come ‘round to see that vicious boyfriend of yours. He’s really starting to get on my nerves with all this mushy talk about you. Besides, it’s his turn to cook tonight.” She dropped the code to Tonks, and left it with a wink. “Probably around seven, or so.”
“Fabulous, I’ll wear the purple hair tonight; he always loves it when I add more color to the evening.” She answered with a nod. “Is it alright if I bring a friend along for you to meet?” Tonks prodded if she should help spread the word about the immediate Order meeting, raising an eyebrow.
“Sure, why not.” She threw back, making her way around the department. She rounded to a very militant ordered desk that used to be covered with pictures of Sirius all over it, but now just had one, with a copy of Sirius’s death certificate next to it, “Shaklebot?”
“Not now, Granger. I’m doing just fine without your rookie mind coming around and pointing out punctuation discrepancies!” the large black man barked at her, as he stood from his desk, standing a good two feet over her.
“Shaklebot, stop being such a prat! It pains me to be Remus’s messenger that he’s invited you to dinner. I, on the other hand, wish he’d reconsider but he’s set on you and me making things friendly. So, why don’t you do him a favor and pacify him. I’ll try if you try. Eight o’clock.” She baited him, knowing full well that it was all code and they rather liked each other a lot. Kingsley made it so much fun to argue with him.
“If I’m there at seven, would it piss you off?” he shouted down the walkway as she left him in a huff, but he was confirming the time.
“Bugger off!” she confirmed, walking away, but throwing a quick grin back at him.
She smiled to herself feeling pretty good about that one. The more others thought that she and Kingsley had a sincere hatred for one another; the more it kept the Order a secret society. She walked with confident steps through the department, weaving herself around cubicles and hallways, leaving an aura about her that meant business.
Hermione was highly respected in the Ministry’s eyes, and she tended to be behind many plans and conspiracies behind catching Voldemort. As she walked to her cubical, wearing her khaki capris and red cardigan sweater, her boots clicked on the floor below her. Her long brown curls were pulled off her radiating face, giving no indication that she had been up all night watching and weeping over someone that was presumed dead.
The Order members were going to be beside themselves and for the moment, she couldn’t keep herself bursting with excitement. Hermione made it to her desk by the window that overlooked New York City’s skyline. She loved sitting there, because everyday they’d change the view to different major cities of the world, yesterday it had been the beaches of Key West, Florida.
The first thing she needed to do was to send owls informing of “dinner” being served that evening. This short of notice informed them that the meeting was, indeed, urgent. She sat down and compiled the notes, but the second one took extra time to write as it was addressed to Severus Snape.