ceredwensirius | Breath: Chapter 6

Title: Breath
Chapter: Turnabout (6)
Chapter Rating: PG 13
Warnings: Mention of sex
Pairings: Sirius/Hermione
Summary: Sirius is propelled forward through time by a magical accident. He has to adjust to all the changes and maybe find love in the process. A romance between Hermione/Sirius.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters.
Author’s Note: Sorry for the slow update.

Turnabout

Staring out across the Thames, Hermione sat in her office muttering to herself softly but venomously. Losing control in front of him like that had not been smart, she was furious with herself, even more so than with him. The situation had gotten away from her which rarely happened in her well ordered world.

It wasn’t even as though she had let her guard down, he seemed capable of slipping past her defenses like a master thief, it was completely infuriating. Somehow she had to turn the tables on him, put him on the defense, but how?

Part of the problem was that she had sympathy for a dead man. That was going to have to end. Every encounter she started out with a willingness to be friendly, to not be adversaries and every time he caught her unaware.

And then she admitted she found him attractive…

"Brilliant, Hermione, just fantastic," she muttered to herself sarcastically.

No doubt he would exploit that beyond the bounds of reason, living with him would be nearly impossible. He was certain to be insufferable.

Drumming her fingers agitatedly across her desk, she touched an envelope which caught her attention. Tearing her eyes away from the river, she turned her head to take a look at it, eyes widening in recognition. Stiffening with deadly anticipation of what the contents of this envelope contained and trying to ignore the chilly fingers that played with her spine, she allowed herself to comprehend the significance of the envelope; official correspondence from the Shecklemeyer family.

She had seen an envelope like this once before. It was delivered to the man that used to be her boss, just before he was offered a severance package in return for never darkening their door again. He was brilliant at what he did, under normal circumstances Shecklemeyer and Sons forgave a wide variety of faults so long as you produced what the company wanted. However the complaints of sexual harassment had been stacking up for years and when Hermione added hers to the top of the heap, promising to quit if they didn’t take action, the company made the logical choice. Hermione was the future and he was not.

Anger hit her suddenly because of how unfairly the punishments were being meted out. Hornbeam, a wizard, she noted to herself, got a slap on the wrist but the big mouthed, trouble making witch got the axe.

With a viciousness fueled by her frustration she tore the envelope open to see what they had to say for themselves.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Sirius was in an excellent mood. All melancholy thoughts had been effectively dispelled by one uptight, prudish and yet utterly entrancing brown haired witch. There was something about her temper he found beguiling. It so rarely happened to him that a woman gave chase, stirring something primitive within his male psyche.

His suggestion of lunch gave the others an opportunity to collect their thoughts after Hermione's display, although since she'd stormed off Sirius had noticed the stiffness across Ron's shoulders. Not understanding the dynamic between the three friends or much about Ron in general made it easy to pass it off as a more of a reaction to her than to him. However he did notice Harry's increased wariness and the one or two nervous glances he had thrown at Ron.

During the walk to the Apparation point Sirius offered up light conversation concerning the pros and cons of attending the press conference in person. The others joined in animatedly with Tonks enthusiastically encouraging Sirius to go. They paused the discussion to Apparate to the alley behind the Leakey Cauldron.

"Couldn't hurt my social life," he said to her as they rounded the corner, pulling the sides of his cloak together against the cold. "Witches rather like the famous and interesting and I'd be a bit of both."

"I thought you fancied Hermione," said Ron, giving a voice to some of his tension.

Sirius' step faltered as they approached the next corner, his face slightly twisted in puzzlement. "Where'd you get that idea?"

"That whole...scene...back at the Ministry," replied Ron his face turning slightly red. "That whole challenge business!"

Harry cleared his throat and tried to catch Sirius' eye.

"Oh, well," began Sirius, chuckling as he took a breath to continue when Harry bumped him slightly.

"Careful," muttered Harry quietly.

"I didn't mean that I took it that way," lied Sirius, completely changing what he had been about to say. "Just that it could be interpreted that way."

Harry exhaled quietly as he held open the door to the Leaky Cauldron and nodded ever so slightly to Sirius.

"Yeah, she can get a bit carried away," replied Ron, relaxing into the welcoming warmth of the pub.

"We'll meet you at WWW," said Harry, pausing Sirius with a hand on his arm. "I just need a quick word with Sirius."

Manuevering around the pub's patrons as it was full with the lunch crowd, Harry pulled Sirius to a quiet, shaded corner.

"I am not going to pretend that I aprrove of the way you've spoken to or treated Hermione but she is an adult and is quite capable of handling herself. Ron is never going to see it that way and has a tendency to over react, so just...be careful there." Harry gave Sirius a good natured clap on the shoulder and started to walk off. Sirius was a little stunned because it was exactly the sort of thing James would have said to him. 'Here's how I feel, no hard feelings, let's have fun.' It was James Potter to a T.

Harry paused and looked back at Sirius when he had gotten about ten feet away. "Aren't you coming?"

"Yeah, yeah," said Sirius, running a hand through his hair as he moved out and caught up with Harry. "So, what's a WWW?"

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Hermione glanced out of her office window as she packed the picture of Harry and Ginny on their wedding day into a box. She was going to miss the activity on the river, there was something peaceful about watching the various craft moving across the green brown surface of the water. With only a few personal items it didn't take long for her to pack things up and for the first time she wished for a whole office full of clutter to give her a little more time in this space. The letter, the only thing of hers that wasn't packed, seemed to stare at her, standing out stark and white against the deep mahogany of the desk. Hearing a noise at the doorway she looked up to see Mr. Shecklemeyer standing just inside her office.

"I know you are going to miss it here," he said soberly. "But we really feel like this is the best thing for the company."

"I know," she replied. "It's just...this was my first job after Hogwarts, I learned a lot here in R and D."

"You are going to be fine, you know," said Shecklemeyer. "I think you should make this afternoon all about you, take yourself clothes shopping and get prepared for the next adventure."

"Yes, sir," she replied, smiling weakly because she wasn't sure if she was ready to face what leaving this office meant.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Once they had collected Remus from WWW and returned to the Leakey Cauldron, they found a table and ordered their lunch. Sirius excused himself to go use the loo during which time Remus was filled in on the details of Hermione's explosion.

"Emmeline Pierce," said Remus quietly under his breath.

"Excuse me, who?" asked Tonks with a playfully raised eyebrow.

Remus smiled at her tease and said, "Well, you know her as Emmeline Vance and well, she gave Sirius a rather successful run for his money."

"What did I miss?" asked Sirius falling into his chair heavily but with a grace that should have been illegal.

"I was just being recounted about your morning’s exploits and was reminded of Emma," replied Remus, the corners of his eyes crinkled with amusement.

"What about Pierce?" asked Sirius lightly but something defensive hovered over his last word.

"It’s Vance now," corrected Remus, noting the slight shift in Sirius’ posture. "I was just remembering that she couldn’t be won over with your usual charm."

"What’s your point?" inquired Sirius bluntly, still smarting from Harry's comment and not really enjoying the track that his friend was following.

Remus shrugged. "She had no problem telling you off either." He grinned widely at the faint flush that was creeping up Sirius’ neck and then decided to drop it. "So, did you make it to Godric’s Hollow?"

"Just a moment," interjected Tonks, placing a hand on Remus' arm before turning to Sirius with a grin. "So, what was your reaction to her…resistance?"

"Never bothered me," replied Sirius coolly, narrowing his eyes when Remus snorted, giving the werewolf a sharp glare.

Harry’s eyebrows lifted in surprise, pulling his head back slightly he scrutinized the two Marauders; one amused, the other annoyed. "What’s so funny?"

"Well…" Remus drew the word out slowly, thoughtfully, not wishing to twist the knife too deeply. "Sirius was unaccustomed to…" He trailed off as he considered the best word to use to say this nicely.

"Rejection?" supplied Tonks, earning a soft chuckle from her husband.

"Something like that," he confirmed for her.

Sirius took a deep breath, raising a hand with his index finger extended but before he could retort their waitress showed up with food. His indignation got lost in the distraction and by the time everyone was served they were already on to other topics. While he ate, he quietly brooded over Harry's words. He knew Harry wasn't really reproaching him, that he just wanted to help Sirius avoid a potential confrontation with Ron. None of what Sirius had said to Hermione was meant all that seriously, it was a bit of a lark to him. Apparently it wasn't as amusing to Harry as he thought and pranks and teasing were only fun with an appreciative audience.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

It was late into the evening when Hermione opened the door to number twelve, Grimmauld Place completely exhausted. The warmth of the house, the smell of food and the sound of laughter and happy chatter coming up from the kitchen was a welcome comfort. She took wobbly steps down the stairs toward the sounds and smells where she would be able to relay her news. Stepping across the threshold to the kitchen caught the attention of its inhabitants bringing the conversation to a full stop. Hermione had exchanged her comfortable and rather boring clothes for a smart, knee length grey dress and black heels. The slim dress hugged her body, showing off curves that had been hidden under her usual attire.

"Wow," said Ginny after a minute of silence. "Hermione, you look amazing!"

"It's not too much?" she asked, looking down at herself.

"What's the occaision?" asked Remus. He slid his glance over to Sirius who had been quiet since she'd walked in to find him staring unguardedly at her.

"Oh, I made junior partner," she replied without much enthusiasm. "The company was really impressed by my work on the calendar, my ideas I suppose. I'll be one of the public faces for the company so..." She looked down at her new clothes again and sighed.

"You're not happy about that?" asked Harry, unsure why she seemed so depressed about such good news.

"I really liked where I was, just nervous I suppose." Looking around the table she found the only available seat which happened to be next to Sirius, who was staring at her a bit strangely. Realizing she was coming over to sit by him, his eyes focused and he sat up a little straighter. She took her seat and looked at him, unnerved by his quiet. "What's wrong with you? I've been here a full five minutes and you haven't been ridiculously inappropriate once."

"Congratulations on your promotion," he replied sincerely. Hermione stared him for a minute.

"Right, whatever," she said and turned away. "So what were you all talking about when I got home, I interupted something and it sounded entertaining."

"We were telling Sirius about meeting him in third year," replied Ginny. She had gotten up to fix Hermione a plate for dinner but suddenly let out a small but high pitched squeal and dashed out of the room.

"She can be very excitable," remarked Sirius with a chuckle. Ginny returned with a rolled up poster which she handed to Sirius before getting Hermione a plate of food.

"I didn’t know you still had one of those," said Harry as his wife sat back down next to Hermione.

"It’s not mine," said Ginny, "its Hermione’s from when she had that cr-" A sharp jab to the ribs silenced Ginny. Hermione cringed as she glanced at Sirius but he was too focused on the poster to pay attention to what Ginny had almost said. He was staring opened mouthed at the shouting, wild eyed, matted wreck of a man he had been. Looking up at each of them for conformation that this wasn't a joke, that this was really him, he was met with one somber smile after another. Sirius took one more look at the poster and then furled it back up, having seen quite enough of that, and handed it to Ginny.

"It’s actually Hermione’s," she said, grinning, determined to have her say.

"Oh?" asked Sirius, trying to read Ginny’s expression.

"She stole it from the wall in the Leakey Cauldron," said Ginny impishly.

"Well, we needed to know what Sirius looked like," defended Hermione. "We thought he was trying to kill Harry."

"Then why was it here, in our old room?" asked Ginny. "We didn’t come to headquarters until a year and a half after Sirius’ escape."

"Just give me the damn thing," growled Hermione.

"We don’t know where you went after you rode away on Buckbeak," said Harry, returning to the conversation they were having before Ginny tried to put Hermione on the spot.

"Central America," offered Remus. "I didn't realize you didn't know."

"This is depressing," said Sirius suddenly. "Does anyone have to be at work tomorrow?"

"I think we're all off tomorrow," replied Remus. "Why?"

"That settles it," said Sirius. "There is a promotion in this house and we are celebrating it by getting completely pissed!"

"Oh, no," said Hermione. She had no desire to be drunk in front of Sirius, danger lay along that path.

"C'mon," he purred softly, his tone inviting and friendly. "You're not afraid to let your guard down a little, are you?"

Where was the prat who had been harassing her for days?

"Yes, actually," she replied, coming to her senses.

"No! No!" exclaimed Ginny. "Sirius is right, you need to celebrate this the way normally social humans do, Hermione."

"Getting drunk equals normally social?" scoffed Hermione.

"One drink won't kill you," said Harry. "Let us toast you."

"If you don't drink with us I'll think it's because you were afraid to be around me when your inhibitions loosened up a bit," Sirius said softly by her ear while the others tried to encourage her to celebrate with them. "And wouldn't that mean I've been right all along?"

"Fine," she said curtly and rather abruptly. "One drink."

"Excellent," he said as he raised his wand and looked around Hermione at Ginny. "Pantry?"

"Uh, yeah," replied Ginny, flicking her wand at the cupboard. The cupboard doors opened with a soft, protested whine from the hinges. Six glasses, all mismatched, flew out of across the kitchen from the cupboard, each landing with a soft 'thunk' on the old oak table.

Sirius caught the bottle of whiskey as it flew across the kitchen, uncorked it and poured a first round. Raising their glasses to her, Hermione was congratulated on her success. The warm, amber liquid was spicy on her tongue but carried with it an immediate feeling of relaxation. There was a defiant glint in her eye as she looked at him with the cool of the glass on her lips. He just smiled in return and tipped his glass back. Looking away from him with a smll huff, irritated by that little smirk, she discussed her promotion in greater detail. Sirius let her be, watching and listening as she sipped her drink until she came to the end of it.

"Have another?" offered Sirius. "You have my word that no matter how you throw yourself at me I will remain a gentleman."

"I would never-" she started to say.

"Terrific," he interupted and poured her another glass. "Bottoms up!"

"So, will you be redoing the calendar still?" asked Harry, enjoying her company like this. Taking time to relax with friends was something she had done less and less of since her break up with Ron.

"Oh, yeah," she replied. "But with a staff of my own."

"You know, I glanced at the design today and I think I know why you can't get a sequence to stop," said Sirius, leaning back on two legs of his chair.

"Really?" She didn't mean to sound quite so surprised.

"Your pattern of runes was continuous, there was no beginning or ending sequence." For a moment he wondered if she were angry with the way she was looking at him so intently.

"Of course," she said with a large smile after a minute of thought. "I can't believe I didn't see it before."

"The pattern you have set up is really quite slick," said Sirius. "I mean that's the really hard part, right? You might think about using Gebo and Fewaz to open, not sure about closing."

"Well, I'm going to have to shift a few things around on the design then," she said before taking another sip. "How do you know this? You weren't exactly the studious type," she said suspiciously, her words hinting at an accusation.

"That hardly means I never studied," replied Sirius coolly. "James and I weren't at the top of our class without putting in some effort. The more we knew, the better our pranks were."

"Sorry. I just never pictured you as someone who would work that hard." It came out a little blunter than she intended.

"You work hard so you can play hard," said Sirius simply, feeling a little smug over having surprised her.

"That's what Ron and I have been trying to tell her for years," muttered Harry, pouring himself another drink.

"When did you two ever work hard?" teased Ginny, keeping silent up til now because it seemed, to her anyway, that Sirius was drawing Hermione into his interest. "If it weren't for Hermione you two would have lost your necks long ago. Thank goodness she didn't mind working as hard as she did. Poor thing never seemed to have any fun."

"I''d do it again you know, just to keep us safe. I didn't mind being scared witless most of the time. I guess with everything being as dire as it was, fun just didn't seem that important." She took an impressive swallow from her glass, finishing it.

"Don't you think it's time you had a little fun, Hermione?" Sirius leaned in as close as he dared while pouring her a third whiskey.

"Don't bother," said Ginny, sighing. "Do you know she has never taken a vacation?"

"That's not true! I have fun! What about our visit to Charlie in Romania?" Her bright eyes and loud voice suggested the alcohol was having an influence.

"Oh, Hermione," said Remus with real tenderness in his voice. "That was three and half years ago, dear."

"Oh," she said quietly, taking another large sip of her drink.

"Not much of a personal life there," commented Sirius dryly.

"Personal lives are over rated," returned Hermione, resenting having him evaluate her.

"That all depends on who you're getting personal with," snarked Sirius cheekily.

"Ever since you broke up with Ron you just sort of disappeared behind that desk," said Tonks, the last to throw in her commentary.

Hermione took a large swallow of her alcohol. "Ron and I just weren't right for each other and honestly there really wasn't anything that Earth shattering about being in a relationship. I'm content on my own."

"What about your need for companionship and love?" asked Ginny, sitting forward a little. As she had her here, she was going to use it.

"Not to mention sex," quipped Tonks.

"Is this not companionship?" she asked. "I am surrounded by people who love and care for me and far as sex goes, honestly," she paused to down the last swallow of her third whiskey. "I don't know what all the fuss is about."

"Ok, I can't let that one go," said Sirius with a soft chuckle. "What do you mean when you say you don't know what all the fuss is about?"

"Well," said Hermione without batting an eyelash. "It's just a lot of groping, grunting and heavy breathing, then just when it starts to feel kinda nice, it's over." Harry choked on the whiskey he was attempting to swallow.

"I am so glad Ron decided not to join us," murmured Remus while trying not to laugh.

"You guys are all I need," said Hermione laying her head on the table and closing her eyes, letting her mind float, a swirl of color, sound and sensation. After a minute she raised her head and announced she was going to bed.

"Tomorrow," said Harry, once he heard her on the stairs. "When she wakes up, she is going to remember every word of this conversation and kill us."

Sirius chuckled merrily.

"I don't know why you're laughing," said Tonks. "She's starting with you."

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Date: 2008-09-23 01:48 am (UTC)

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