Title: Breath
Chapter: Publicity (8)
Chapter Rating: PG 13
Warnings: Cursing
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: I haven't abandoned it! I promise!




 

 

A large panel of windows served as a wall in the conference room letting in a whitish, cloud filtered light. A long table took up most of the space with a compliment of comfortable, but unremarkable chairs.

Hermione had neglected to mention, or perhaps she didn’t know, that the V.P. of Media Relations wasn’t the only person waiting to meet the company’s current source of discomfort.

Two wizards, introduced as being from the legal department, and a high ranking member of the Wizengamot, were also present. Sirius had already forgotten their names.

Actually, he was having trouble remembering his own. The figure which represented the settlement Shecklemeyer and Sons was willing to pay, finally impressed upon him the company’s predicament. Perhaps there was some truth to the idea that he had been dealt a lucky hand, but what if his other future had been filled with utter bliss? It would be equally impossible to send him back.

All eyes were on him, tense and anxious to learn what his reaction would be.

“That’s a fair bit of gold,” he remarked casually, letting the parchment drop to the table. “But what if there are difficulties with my… adjustment, which this gold won’t compensate.”

“What sort of difficulties?” The question was posed by the elder of the two wizards from legal, his salt and pepper handlebar moustache quivering like an unfortunate squirrel.

Sirius shrugged. “What about health… problems, that might result my, uh, participation in the experiment?” asked Sirius.

“Keep reading,” replied the other, younger, wizard from legal.

Sirius looked back down at the parchment. Additional words had appeared, outlining more details to the settlement. Irritated, Sirius pulled out his wand and tapped the document which resisted his attempt for full disclosure. A bright spark of light leapt up from the parchment and a sharp pain in his wrist made him pull his hand back.

“What is the meaning of this?” Hermione took the words right out of his mouth. “This is not a negotiation. The only portion of this settlement that wasn’t final was the sum of galleons.” Hermione stood up and pointed to Sirius. “His welfare is this company’s moral obligation!”

“Standard practice,” defend the younger wizard from legal, a clean shaven blond with curly hair and dull eyes.

“Mr. Spinner,” said Hermione crisply, turning to the representative from Media Relations. “Will you please explain the situation to these gentlemen?” Sirius repeated the name a few times in his head to remember it.

“I apologize,” said Spinner, with a tight smile for Sirius. “The situation was explained.” He turned his gaze on the barristers from legal, a hard glint in his blue eyes. “Mr. Underbarrel , Mr. Overspeak, if you don’t mind, please release all details in the settlement.”

Hermione wasted no time flicking her wand at the parchment, sending it shooting across the table from in front of Sirius to the two wizards who were currently under such hard scrutiny. The wizards sat back in surprise over the abruptness of the maneuver.

“Highly irregular,” muttered the older wizard as he tapped the parchment lightly with his wand. The parchment was sent across to Sirius once again. A smug grin tugged at the corner’s of his mouth as he read.

It was easy to see why the legal department was so reluctant to offer such a rich settlement. Glancing up to look at Hermione who was flanked on one side Miss Hardfoot, the other by Mr. Hornbeam, he wondered how he would be treated if he didn’t have such strong ties to her.

As soon as he had signed the document and copies were made, the legal representation took their leave, only too happy to get away from all of the disapproving stares.

“Sorry for that bit of unpleasantness,” said Spinner to Sirius who merely shrugged. It had all turned out okay in the end. “Let us focus on the real reason we are all here.” The wizard inclined his head to Hermione.

“Right,” she said, standing. “Well, we are joined by Warlock Ogden to discuss which details should be released and which should not.”

Ogden cleared his throat. “As much as we would like for there to be transparency in all dealings between the Ministry and the companies it contracts, we also see a potential security nightmare inherent in this accident. It is one matter to create a device to view past events with the clarity of a Pensieve and another to create a device that can bring forth wizards and witches whose natural life has ended.”

“Voldemort,” said Sirius, nodding with understanding. He frowned with impatience at the shudder that ran through everyone else at the table, even Hermione. “I hear from my godson that there are still Death Eaters at large.”

“Exactly,” said Ogden, giving Sirius a look like he had said a filthy word. His hand ran over the sparse white hair on his head. “The Wizengamot would like for the specific details regarding how this… accident came to be, destroyed.”

“Is that necessary?” asked Hermione. “Our vaults have never been breached and this has been given the highest security that the company has to offer.”

“And if the company ever fell into the wrong hands?” asked Sirius quietly. He could see by her expression that the thought itself was repugnant, however it had been a few years since the war had ended for her. He had just come off of the front lines and with Voldemort defeated, the idea of leaving a blatant trail that could be followed was ludicrous. It was asking for trouble.

“You said yourself that Shecklemeyer and Sons had been around forever and had a good reputation,” said Hermione, focusing on remaining calm and logical.

“Any organization,” said Sirius, giving her a severe look, his grey eyes pale like ice and just as hard, “that believes itself immune to infiltration or even a change in priorities, is being naïve.”

“Are you suggesting-“ began Hermione, anger creeping into her tone, but was interrupted by Sirius.

“Yes,” said Sirius. “I am suggesting that Shecklemeyer and Sons, while a good company with a good reputation could fall victim to the same sort of evil that overran the Ministry, that crept into an organization bent on doing good and still saw the death of two of its finest members.” His tone outstripped hers for anger, rising emphatically to press his point home.

“Seeing as it was the Ministry that commissioned the calendar,” said Spinner in a calm, diplomatic tone. “I suggest we follow their lead in this matter. The only documentation regarding this accident are the reports you three made, correct?”

“Yes, sir,” said Hermione, looking away from Sirius with a sigh. Hardfoot and Hornbeam nodded their agreement.

“And who all know the specifics?” asked Ogden, looking relieved that the moment of tension was passing. “Who in company know how this happened?”

“Who doesn’t?” asked Hornbeam, with a nervous glance at Sirius. “It spread like wildfire.”

“Well,” said Hermione, shaking her head. “Not exactly. The details of which projects were involved were classified immediately. What is known is that there were three projects involved but not which projects, how those individual projects worked or how they interacted to cause the accident.”

“My project isn’t that well known,” added Miss Hardfoot. “I’m still very new and haven’t made a name for myself and Potions are fairly underappreciated in the company.” She gave Mr. Hornbeam a small smile.

“My potion wasn’t named yet,” added Hornbeam, fidgeting a little. “Potions don’t get named until they’re ready for mass production and then the name is nearly always decided in Marketing. None of that had happened yet.”

“Hm,” mused Spinner thoughtfully as he pulled some documents out of a brief. “Do any of you three have copies of this report at your desk?” Only Hermione nodded in the affirmative.

“Executive privilege,” she said with a shrug. “My office is two floors up. We can collect the documents on the way to the press conference.”

“Actually,” said Spinner with a glance at his watch. “I’ll need you to do that immediately after the press conference. Here is what I suggest; we won’t include Hardfoot and Hornbeam in the press conference. We’ll keep their name totally out of it and we’ll just say that we can’t explain why the calendar experiment produced the, uh, results, that it did.”

This seemed to satisfy both Sirius and Ogden.

“Alright,” said Spinner, smiling at Hardfoot and Hornbeam. “You two are dismissed. Remember that this matter is classified with the highest priority and can be discussed with no one.”

Ogden got to his feet. “I think I’ll leave you to it then.” He walked around the table, his eyes on Sirius, who stood realizing the man wanted to shake his hand. “I didn’t agree with your incarceration without a trial,” he said, claiming Sirius’ hand in a firm shake. “I don’t want to meddle in your business, but this is a rare second chance most people don’t get. Use it wisely, son.” Sirius nodded and returned the handshake with an equal grip.

Spinner walked Ogden to the door, conversing quietly with the aged wizard.

“So…” said Sirius, with an eye on Spinner and Ogden. “No mention of the fact that a certain household is full of folks with details about the accident.”

“They’re all Order members and therefore trustworthy,” replied Hermione mildly but he swore he could see a faint blush rise in her cheeks. “Can you think of any people less likely to bring You-Know-Who  back from the dead?”

“I suppose not,” he conceded and smiled slyly. “Still an interesting move for the goody-goody ‘company girl’.

“So what are you going to say about the accident?” asked Spinner, interrupting the heated retort to Sirius’ jibe.

“Not much,” replied Hermione, throwing a dark look at Sirius. “I plan to keep the focus on Sirius.”

“Are you ready, then?” asked Spinner, with an encouraging smile.

Hermione nodded and began to gather her things.

“What about you, Sirius?” asked Spinner.

“Can’t wait,” replied Sirius wryly as he got to his feet.

“Excellent!” Spinner walked to the conference room door and held it open for Sirius and Hermione before leading them to an office with a Floo connection with the Ministry.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

With the press conference over, Hermione gave herself a moment to collect her thoughts as Spinner acted as Sirius’ handler. As they made their way back to the Atrium so they could return to Shecklemeyer and Sons, their progress was continuously slowed by curious witches and wizards.

A lot of witches, noted Hermione darkly.

However this was not what was most surprising about their trek back the way they had come. What was involved the amount of attention she was receiving from wizards she barely knew and the affect it had on Sirius. He seemed caught between being amused and annoyed by the development.

They were stopped at the moment by a couple of Aurors she knew by sight but not by name. She feigned interest in the conversation, apparently something about Sirius setting himself up in some sort of freelance work that had something to do with Death Eater capture or getting evidence through non Ministry channels. She wasn’t trying to follow too closely, especially since she wasn’t sure it sounded entirely legal.

“Hermione Granger?” A voice she distantly recalled tugged the rest of the attention away from whatever it was Sirius was currently scheming.  She turned to face the owner of the voice and broke into a huge smile.

“Oliver Wood!” She wasn’t sure what the appropriate polite thing to do was so bounced up on the balls of her feet and gave him a little friendly peck on the cheek. His responding smile was wondrous.

“I haven’t seen you since… you know.” He sounded delighted despite the fact he was referencing the Battle of Hogwarts. “You look…” he trailed off losing his connection with her eyes, “…absolutely fantastic!”

Hermione blushed but smiled, quite pleased with his admiration even if she wasn’t quite sure what to do with it. “You’re looking good yourself, Oliver.” It was an understatement if there ever was one. Wood had always been muscular and a few years of maturation looked excellent on him.

Wood’s chest puffed out proudly and he gave her a little wink. “I don’t suppose you’d be interested in going to dinner with me tonight.”

“That sounds lovely,” said Hermione before she could stop herself.

“Great!” said Wood beaming. “How does seven thirty sound? I’ll pick you up, tell me where you live.”

“Actually,” said Hermione. “I’m certain to be at the office until then. Could we meet somewhere?” Wood smiled and wrote the name and address of a restaurant on a piece of parchment torn from the Daily Prophet he was holding.

“I’ll see you then,” he said smiling and then bravely returned her earlier gesture with a kiss on the cheek. “You actually looked a little busy but I’m really glad I stopped to talk to you.” Hermione had forgotten all about Sirius in the space of just a few minutes.

“Oh, right,” she said in a bit of daze and looked over at Sirius. For some reason he didn’t look very happy at all. He was still talking to the Aurors but a little muscle in his cheek kept clenching up tightly. “Bye, Oliver.”

“See you tonight, Hermione,” said Wood as he left.

The Aurors concluded their business with Sirius just as Oliver left Hermione. The three of them with Spinner slightly in the lead continued their trek to the Atrium.

“Was that Oliver Wood of Puddlemere United?” asked Spinner, slowing down to break up the silence.

“Oh, yeah,” said Hermione with a little smile.

Sirius grumbled a sound but she couldn’t make the words out.

“I’m sorry, Sirius,” she said. “I didn’t catch that.”

“Nothing,” he replied. “Just clearing my throat.”

“What did Wood want?” asked Spinner as they walked into the vast room lined with Floo connections.

“Um,” said Hermione, with a slight blush. “A date actually.”

“Well, that’s splendid!” said Spinner, oblivious to Sirius’ darkening demeanor.

“You don’t need me anymore from me, right?” asked Sirius brusquely. “I think I’d like to return home.”

“Hermione?” asked Spinner. “Do you need anymore from Sirius today?”

Hermione shook her head as she tried to gauge the reason for Sirius’ sour temperament. “I don’t think so. Are you alright, Sirius?”

“Fine,” he said abruptly. “See you later.” He was gone without another word.

“What was his problem?” asked Hermione as she stepped into the Floo connection.

“Well, if I had to hazard a guess,” said Spinner with a knowing smile. “I’d say jealousy.”

The Floo activated before Hermione could respond.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Hermione was officially irritated by the time she reached her floor. With all of the attention Sirius was receiving from the opposite sex he could hardly begrudge her a dinner out with an old friend. Why was he jealous anyway? They were nothing to each other in any sort of romantic sense. There were a few dozen things she would like to say to him. None of them were over friendly.

The company was predictably empty for a Saturday afternoon. What little work was conducted on the weekends would have concluded before noon and it was well past that now. There was no one to interrupt her dark train of thinking as she walked the hallway to her office, muttering to herself under her breath.

As a result, she was blithely unaware of any disturbances or changes until she was right in front of her office door, which, as it happens, was blown off its hinges and resting almost broken in half across her desk.

“Oh, shit!” she cursed quietly as she swiftly drew her wand.


From: [identity profile] disby.livejournal.com


OMG.......
I had such a horrible day at work and I almost didn't want to check your lj today....but I did and possibly the one thing that could cheer me up before going to sleep......BREATHE UPDATE!!!
I just thought that I might find just drabbles.....

Will comment more after reading.....

From: [identity profile] disby.livejournal.com


Wow...I hope that blast is not what I think it is!

Things are going pretty downhill huh. Just when I thought it was definitely going up!

Anyway, I'm glad you're bringing yourself back to this fic's state of mind.

PS: “Nothing,” he replied. “Just clearing my throat.” -- Classic 'yeah right!!' moment :)

From: [identity profile] ceredwensirius.livejournal.com


Well, there will be some up and down. I've got a lot planned. The blast will be explained next chapter but I'll say this, its not good news but not cliche horrid news either.

Totally a 'yeah, right' moment. Some of his chickens are coming home to roost and he doesn't like it one bit!

From: [identity profile] ie007.livejournal.com

Huzzah


I stumbled across your "Innocence" fic on LJ and I loved it, and now I found this one. I must say I adore your style, how you describe Sirius and Hermione. Poor Hermione, ignorant. She don't see that Sirius is jealous and they belong together.
They are that type of characters, which I find to be explosive together, nearly no matter the author.

From: [identity profile] ceredwensirius.livejournal.com

Re: Huzzah


I'm so pleased you found me then! I'm glad you are enjoying my writing!

Well, lets be fair to her, he's given her a lot of reasons to dislike him. In fact, he's not totally aware just yet of how he feels for her.

But I agree, they are a fun pair to write together. I enjoy writing them and have seen them written a variety of ways and the chemistry just works.
.

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