Warnings: mentions of child abuse, sexual abuse, attempted non-con, mentions of underage sex, and lots and lots of sex. This story is Sirius/Hermione and begins with a (barely) 17 year old Hermione and fully aged Sirius Black. If that isn't your cup of tea, you should really stop now. If you're willing to grit your teeth and get past it, the story jumps to a younger Sirius within about three chapters. Time travel and slight marriage law.

For those of you familiar with my other story As it Should Be, you'll find some similar elements of the marriage law aspect and a young child involved. Honestly, completely coincidental. I have loads of stories, these two just happen to be the furthest along. I promise you that it is not the same as my other story in any way. The plotlines are completely different and of course, so is the ship!

Chapter One

- August 1996 -

"There must be some sort of mistake," Hermione whispered, on the verge of tears. Her hands were balled into tight little fists in her lap. The nails that were digging into her skin and nearly drawing blood were the only thing keeping her from fainting.

"I'm afraid not, Miss. Granger," Dumbledore replied regretfully. His twinkling blue eyes stared down at her sadly from the head of the table in the dining room of Grimmauld Place. The candlelight made the twinkle look mocking and sinister, or perhaps she was projecting. "I do apologize, none of us even thought to consider your being of age for the law because of your use of a time turner in third year." Hermione had never hated herself or her studiousness before that moment. If at all possible, the burning inferno in her chest could have sent her hurtling back in time to stop an overeager third year Hermione Granger from taking so many classes. "If Professor Snape had not thought on it at the last moment, we might have missed it which — I am most certain — is what Voldemort had intended."

Hermione's whiskey coloured eyes flickered over to the Potions Master. His beady black eyes were fixated on her, as she had noticed them to almost always be since she was in fourth year. His eyes darted across her face — her body — and Hermione shuddered. She had no doubt in her mind that it had not been Voldemort's intention for her to end up in this position — forced to find an acceptable husband before the due date of the Marriage Law, lest she end up with whomever the Ministry deemed appropriate.

"But, as we have explained the plan, you can rest assured that you will be well taken care of, Miss. Granger." At Dumbledore's words, Snape's pales lips curled into a smile that made Hermione's skin crawl. She almost wanted to take her chances with the Ministry's match.

The young witch quickly turned back to the headmaster. "Please, sir. There must be someone… closer in age, perhaps? I mean… this is…" Her words caught in her throat and she had to force them the rest of the way out, her eyes burning. "…this is the rest of my life."

"I understand, Miss. Granger." Dumbledore replied in his patented concerned tone, one she suddenly felt sounded extremely and utterly fake. "But we do believe part of this plan was for Voldemort to get his hands on you. Having you married to Snape will provide the illusion you're within his clutches. Instead, you will be safe." Safe. Hermione did not think she'd be safe anywhere near Severus Snape.

Hermione shuddered visibly as she breathed out, trying desperately to contain her tears. She gave up. The just barely of age witch jumped to her feet and raced from the dining room. She pushed past Ginny, Ron, and Harry all trying to eavesdrop from the other side.

"Oi!"

"Hermione, come back!"

She didn't stop. Hermione raced up the old steps of Grimmauld Place two at a time. Her tears streamed freely down her cheeks. She wouldn't — she couldn't — marry that man. She'd quite honestly rather die. She'll give up her magic. Leave the Wizarding World. She had her OWLS now, she didn't need to continue on at Hogwarts. Her parents would be ecstatic. Maybe they could take an extended trip to France?

But as her feet forced her up the next staircase to the third floor, Hermione knew that wasn't an option. She could never leave Harry or the Weasleys. They were just as much her family as her parents were. She couldn't leave them in this mess of a war, not when they needed her.

So, she would have to do what she did best. Figure out another solution.

Hermione threw open the door to the third floor parlour room and raced inside. "Marry me!" she exclaimed, her cheeks blotchy and tears streaming down her face.

Sirius and Remus' heads both whipped around to Hermione. Sirius opened his mouth, a smile touching his lips, but the words died the second he realized Hermione was crying. "Hermione? Bloody hell, Hermione what's wrong?"

"The law," she sobbed, "it's the law. And there isn't anyone left and I—"

"Hermione," Remus cut in gently, "you're not seventeen yet. You're exempt from the law."

"Good thing too," Sirius cut in, "because You-Know-Who would love nothing more than to get his hands on the witch that outdid his OWL scores."

Hermione shook her head, her curls flying about her face. "No! Don't you remember?" Her eyes were nearly wild as she looked at Sirius. "I used a time turner — in third year!" Sirius' eyes slowly widened. "I'm nearly eight months older than I was before and the Ministry catalogues that sort of time usage and…" She sobbed again, her hand covering her mouth. "Please?"

Sirius set his glass of pumpkin juice down on the coffee table as he moved to the edge of his seat. "Hey now, it's going to be alright, kitten. Look, Dumbledore is going to take care of you. He'll set you up with one of the twins or—"

"Taken," Hermione insisted. "They're all taken. The law passes in two days. I have…" Hermione's face crumpled and her tears began to fall anew. "I have to get married tomorrow. What if I'm given to a Death Eater?"

"You won't be," Remus insisted calmly. "Hermione, you're far too important to Harry, to all of us, and to the Order. You aren't going to be left to the… wolves."

Remus might as well have been talking to a brick wall for all the good his words served Hermione. She immediately turned back to Sirius. "Sirius, please, I don't want to end up with someone terrible."

"And you think I'd be a good substitute? Remus would be a better bet, if he were eligible." He shook his head. "Hermione, love, it's going to be okay. Dumbledore always has a plan. You don't need to go and lower yourself to marrying an old dog like me."

Hermione opened her mouth, but no words came out. She knew — she knew — that if she told Sirius she was set to marry Snape, he'd marry her. Sirius would marry her in a heartbeat. But she couldn't do it. Looking into his eyes, she saw how broken he still was from Azkaban. She couldn't ask him to take on protecting her from Voldemort when he was only just learning on how to cope without alcohol to soothe his pain.

Hermione hugged herself and tried not to sigh in resignation. Another way, there must be another way. She nodded sadly at Sirius and before either he or Remus could say anything more, she dashed out of the room as quickly as she'd come.

Sirius and Remus both stared at the closed door long after the young witch had gone. "That poor girl," Remus whispered.

Sirius swallowed thickly. "She'll be alright. Dumbledore won't let her down." The sentiment sounded false even to his own ears. Sirius had many grievances with the old headmaster, but that didn't stop him from believing that the old wizard would find someone for Hermione. It did, however, make him question who the wizard might choose.

Sirius pondered over the question all day and well into the night. He stayed up with his glasses of pumpkin juice and stared off into the middle distance. His mind went through all the names and faces of wizards Dumbledore was possibly considering for Hermione. Slowly, each of the names and faces were matched with another witch. Sirius couldn't, for the life of him, figure out who Hermione would marry.

When Sirius finally descended the two flights of stairs, it was morning. Coffee was brewing and what smelled like a full english was being cooked. Sirius' stomach suddenly felt inexplicably empty and he wondered if he'd had anything that wasn't pumpkin juice in the past day. He couldn't quite remember.

"Where is everyone?"

Molly Weasley paused in her fierce whisking of a bowl of what looked to be pancake batter. She glanced over her shoulder at the old Marauder and raised an eyebrow imperiously. "Still in their beds, I'd imagine. It's not even noon yet and you know how children can be."

Sirius glanced around at the empty chairs. "Usually one or two is up. Where's Hermione?" She'd probably been up all night as well, sick with worry. The library, Sirius thought. She was probably camped out in the library.

He turned to go check there when Molly responded, "At the school."

Sirius spun back around. "Hogwarts? Why?"

"Haven't you heard? She's eighteen, poor thing. None of us knew. She's signing the papers now and then the bonding ceremony will take place after." Molly sighed heavily. "I only wish my Ron was of age, or Harry. They'd both have married her in a heartbeat."

"Do you know who she's matched with?"

Molly, who'd gone back to bustling about the kitchen, hummed. She blinked and looked up, as if only just registering his question. "Hm? Oh! Yes, I think it's to be Severus." Sirius' heart constricted painfully. "Such a good thing too. They'll be at school together so he'll always be by her." Sirius couldn't hide his scowl at that.

He was absolutely positive Snape would love that fact. Merlin's balls, he cursed to himself, that greasy git. Why hadn't Hermione said anything? He'd warned her back in fifth year to stay away from Snape. Sirius and Remus both had not been oblivious to the looks Snape had sent the young witch. He could remember how scared and uncomfortable she had looked when she'd gone to him about it. And she'd gone to him again for help with this.

Sirius closed his eyes and mentally cursed a long string of insults to the Ministry, Dumbledore, Snape, and the Minister too while he was at it. When he opened his eyes again, Molly was watching him with that single brow raised yet again. "When did she leave?"

Molly pursed her lips. "Not too long ago."

Sirius rubbed a hand down his face. He was not considering this. He couldn't actually be — ah fuck. Sirius turned and raced towards the floo. He disappeared through the green flames and left behind a smirking Molly Weasley. Molly wiped her hands on her apron. She popped a blueberry in her mouth to stop herself from smiling smugly. Sirius Black would take care of everything. Hermione was not marrying Severus Snape, not on her watch.

\/

"I have the papers here. You will sign with this quill and then head to the Ministry to have the bonding ceremony performed. Understand?" Snape nodded from where he stood by Hermione's chair, hands clasped tightly behind his back. Hermione swallowed and attempted a nod that she wasn't quite sure came across. No one seemed to notice.

Dumbledore extended the quill across the desk to Hermione. Her hand shook. She tentatively raised it, absently noting how pale her skin looked and wondered where her blood was rushing to.

The floo flared.

"Am I late?"

Hermione's head whipped around. "Sirius!" The wizard in question smiled at her charmingly and winked. Hermione couldn't help but smile. He was here. He was actually here.

"What're you doing here, Black?" Snape hissed over Hermione's head.

"A very good question, Severus," Dumbledore commented calmly. "Sirius?"

"Well, I heard about Hermione's little dilemma and was confused — no — offended that I wasn't asked. I mean, after all, I am a pureblooded wizard of the Ancient and Noble House of Black," Hermione grinned at his ability to sound both sarcastic and snobbish all at once, "and more than capable of taking care of our little witch." He smiled at her warmly.

Severus' fingers curled around the head of Hermione's armchair. "She already has a match." He sneered and added, "And you're nothing more than a criminal."

Sirius narrowed his eyes. "I was proven to be innocent after the battle at the Department of Mysteries. And all the compensation the Ministry gave me over that little issue could easily be used to ensure Hermione's safety and comfort." He turned to Dumbledore and tapped the man's desk. "I'll put it in writing, if you like."

Dumbledore tried not to sigh heavily and failed miserably. "That's not necessary, Sirius."

"I insist."

Snape leaned forward as he sneered, "You're not impressing her into marrying you, Black. This is out of your hands."

"I'm not trying to impress the witch, I want her taken care of. That's the point of this, isn't it? To protect Hermione?" Snape's lip curled but he said nothing. Hermione looked back and forth between the two, her heart was racing.

Dumbledore leaned back in his seat and clasped his hands over his stomach. He eyed the two men over the rims of his half moon spectacles. "Well, I do suppose both of you have your own advantages — as it were — in aiding Miss. Granger." His blue eyes focused on the young witch in question. "Therefore, I leave the decision to you Miss.—"

"Sirius," Hermione answered quickly before Dumbledore could finish his question. "I choose Sirius." The wizard in question smirked arrogantly and ran a hand through his curly black hair. Snape's beady black eyes looked like they were trying to Avada Sirius then and there.

Sirius turned his arrogant smile on the headmaster. "Where do I sign?" Dumbledore raised the quill and gestured to the dotted line at the bottom of the parchment. Sirius took the quill and signed his name with a flourish. He handed the quill to Hermione and his smile turned from arrogant to warm again. She signed the parchment.

"F?"

"Nope." Hermione wrote the letter down and added a leg to the stickman. "And 42."

Sirius blinked quickly and looked around. "42? I thought we were playing Hangman?"

Hermione grinned as she looked sidelong at him. "We are. I've also been counting the amount of times that girl walks by so she can stare at you."

Sirius looked around around the office of the Department of Matrimonial Bondings. "Which one? The one with the…" He coughed and looked away. "…nice blouse?"

Hermione rolled her eyes but she couldn't hold back her smile. "The one with the legs."

Sirius made a mildly impressed face and nodded once. He leaned back casually and spread his arm along the back of Hermione's chair. "Well, she better use them to keep on walking." He rested his ankle on his opposite knee and slouched in all his elegant pureblood glory. His smile when he turned his face back to her was smirking and charismatic. "I've got my hands full already."

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "More than you know." Sirius raised an eyebrow back and his smirk grew. Hermione sighed and looked around. "How long have we been here?"

"Days," Sirius replied dramatically. Hermione gave him a look. "A while," he amended. "We should be up soon." Hermione nodded and took a deep breath. Sirius reached across his lap and took her hand in his own. He squeezed gently. "It's going to be fine, kitten." Hermione nodded. Sirius bent his head forward and whispered, "I'm not going to let anyone hurt you."

She turned and smiled at him warmly. "I know. Thank you." She let out a soft sigh. "I'm just nervous about the bond." Sirius tried to put on a brave face but Hermione could easily see through it.

There was no way to know what sort of bond they would get until they were in the meeting. There were dozens of different kinds of bonds that one could be assigned based on magical power, magical compatibility, and the Ministry official's mood. Sirius remembered when Lily and James had gone for their magical bond. The couple before them had annoyed the official and were stuck with a bond that seared in pain whenever they were too far apart. This was the rest of their lives and unfortunately, the Ministry felt they needed a hand in that as well as everything else — as per usual.

"Whatever it is," Sirius finally said, "we'll figure it out." Hermione nodded. She'd frantically read over every type of bond the night before. It had not helped. Several of them she had been able to cross off her mental list of 'Oh Merlin Please No' when she ended up with Sirius instead of Snape. She could handle sharing emotions with Sirius if she had to, memories as well. Doubly so with Sirius since she was well aware he knew occlumency, a fact he'd disclosed to the Order in a fit of rage when he found out Snape was teaching Harry that skill and not himself.

"Mr. Black?" Sirius turned at the sound of his name. A short and pudgy man was standing at the door with a clipboard in hand. He had a bulbous nose and straw coloured moustache beneath it that was overly dishevelled. This was the man that would determine the future of their marriage — of the rest of their lives. The man eyed Sirius and Hermione sitting together and cleared his throat. "If you will?"

Sirius nodded once. "Of course," he said, attempting to remain respectful. This was not a man he wanted to annoy. He stood and held his hand out for Hermione just like his mother beat into him to do when he was young.

The Ministry official led them down a hall and into a large, dark chamber with five walls. At the centre of the room was painted a silvery pentagram with each point corresponding to a corner of the room. Hermione and Sirius hung back near the door, their hands clasped tightly.

"My name is Freemon Markell," the pudgy man introduced as he walked through the room, around the pentagram, and to the other side, "and I will be surveying and assigning your magical bond today. Please leave your wands at the door and enter the pentagram."

Hermione and Sirius each turned to one of the side tables that bookended the door. There was a small pillow of fabric with an indentation made for a wand. Hermione placed hers in the fabric and Sirius did the same with his own. He walked forward and paused only when he realized Hermione had not followed. Sirius turned and smiled kindly at her nervous expression. Wordlessly, he held out his hand for her again. Hermione smiled gratefully and took it. Together, they entered the pentagram.

Freemon watched them with an impassive expression upon his face. His eyes, however, flickered across their forms rapidly. He took in every interaction and expression that passed between the two of them and rapidly catalogued them. He'd already fully surveyed their magical culpabilities and compatibility. They were… quite the couple.

A magical bond, if catalogued incorrectly, could be a horrible thing. Many couples past had questioned Freemon's choice of marital bonds. He had been known to choose ones that, at first, seemed highly irregular. But Freemon prided himself on being able to read the strengths and weaknesses of a relationship and this couple… well, it would be a toss up how this couple felt about the decision he was going to make.

"Join both your hands," Freemon instructed. The couple did as told. "Stare into one another's eyes." The room filled with the tension of magic. The pentagram around them glowed a bright red colour. "Now, this next part is very important. Do not stop breathing."

Sirius and Hermione both gasped as the magic from the pentagram suddenly surged into their bodies. Their backs shot up ramrod straight and their hands tightened their holds on one another. Hermione forced her eyes to stay open as the magic rushed through her veins and thrummed beneath her skin. She felt the fierce hotness of the magic in every part of her body. Her legs throbbed, her heart clenched, her nails ached.

Her mouth opened. A gasp escaped where she was sure it would have been a scream and then — the pain abated. She remembered to breathe. The magic settled in her body. Hermione could feel a warm ball of energy at the centre of her heart. She knew this to be her magical core, though she had never felt it before. Her eyes were still locked on Sirius' and from the way his brows drew together, she knew he could feel his own magical core as well.

The pain had left but the intensity of the magic pushing in on her body and rushing through her veins was still present. Her fingers tightened reflexively around Sirius' as the power surged in a massive wave around her.

Hermione gasped as the magic finally released her. Her knees buckled and she fell forward into Sirius. He hissed as he caught her and fell to his knees. Hermione's fingers clutched at his leather jacket and her head fell forward. The second her forehead touched his chin they both gasped. Magic swelled within their magical cores. Hermione's skin tingled where Sirius touched. She could feel the heat of him through his jacket and her fingers ached to press against his firm chest. Sirius' fingers spread across the width of her waist, sending tingles along Hermione's sides.

"Blessed be," Freemon said with subdued, but genuine with congratulations once the pentagram has stopped glowing. "You are now bonded. The bond you have received is a physical one, as I'm sure you've already noted. You have roughly twenty-four hours to consummate the marriage or the bond will slowly fade away."

Still breathing heavily, Hermione pulled her head back slightly so she could meet Sirius' gaze. His eyes were a steely grey colour that sent a thrill down her spine not unlike the tingles she felt beneath her fingers that had moved to touch the soft fabric of his shirt. Twenty-four hours. She tried not to grin.

Why am I posting this? I have most definitely not finished As It Should Be but I've been really killing it with this story as of late and I thought I'd share it. Man, if you guys only knew how many stories I was hiding in my laptop. It's criminal. Any ship requests? I've got more Harmony, more Sirmione, two Jamiones, and a Thormione too.

I don't have a problem you have a problem!

Okay, please review, lots of love xx