A/N: Hello all, and welcome to Accio Flaming Stake's spifftacular story! Now, usually I tend to believe that Sirius found love in his time with people from his time, but I just thought I should give a go at the second best there is: Sirius and Hermione and Remus triangle. I hope I don't disappoint you with how I write Harry and Hermione. It may not seem it, but they may be the most difficult to write. I mean, there are five bloody books written about them, so we know exactly how they act. Which is unlike the Marauders, where there is a limited amount of information on themselves. ... All right, enough of me rambling. Now, on with the show!
My first disclaimer: I do not own anything J.K. Rowling does.
Chapter 1: And So It Begins
It was the summer after Harry Potter's Fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He had already spent four tedious weeks at the Dursleys. He kept in close contact with his friends, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley. He was allowed to owl his friends (and they to him) as long as it didn't give any information away. Hermione, in particular, was very helpful. She had grown more than a friend over the month, even though Harry and Hermione never actually saw each other.
Once Dumbledore gave him the okay, Harry was whisked away to Grimmauld Place. He had thought that spending time away from the Dursleys would have been great, until he stepped into his past godfather's old house. Then memories of Sirius came flooding back.
Harry, at first, didn't seem to be as talkative towards everyone, including his friends. Then he started to lock himself up in his room, pouring over the past events. He continued to sit up there for two days straight. He had no contact with anyone, and no food to eat; nothing to do except sit and think. That is, until Hermione Granger spoke her mind.
"Don't any of you think that we should get Harry out?" Hermione asked loudly during dinner one night. Everyone, which included Mrs. Weasley, Mr. Weasley, Charlie, Bill, Percy (he came back to Dumbledore's side), Fred, George, Ron, Tonks, and Remus, all turned their heads towards her. "Well?" she asked impatiently. If she was standing, she would have put her hands on her hips and tapped her toe anxiously.
All remained silent until Remus spoke up. "I think, Hermione, that you're right. He has been up there for a really long time…"
Everyone murmured in agreement.
"I vote 'Mione to talk to him," Fred said at last. George sniggered while everyone else just glared. But Mrs. Weasley spoke up in concord.
"Yes, dear," she said, "I, too, think it would be best. Unless you want to join her, Ron?"
Ron, who had been quietly trying to scarf down his chicken, looked up. "I think just Herm should go." He looked at her apologetically. "You're good with feelings and stuff."
"Fine," Hermione said huffily. "I think I'll go now." She started to pile on some chicken and mashed potatoes onto her once-empty plate.
"Hermione, I don't think you're going to be that long," Ron said.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "This is for Harry," she said hurriedly.
Hermione raced as fast as she could without spilling any contents off the loaded plate. She quickly found Harry's room on the third floor. She looked around and spotted a table cluttered with a plethora of snake decors. She set the plate down on the nearby table after shoving a quite disgusting looking snake figure aside.
"Harry, open up, it's me," Hermione yelled through the closed door while rapping on it with her knuckles.
All she received was silence.
"Harry, you know I can break through this door. Wouldn't it just be better if you invited me in?"
Hermione heard a grunt through the door and then a pair of dragging feet. The next moment, the door creaked open to reveal a figure that made Hermione gasp out loud.
Harry looked, not to mention felt, dreadful. He hadn't any sleep at all, so there were heavy bags underneath his eyes. Since he hadn't anything to eat in almost two days, his face was gaunt and through his baggy clothes, he seemed skinnier than ever. He hadn't bothered with changing clothes, therefore he gave off a stale odor. His glasses were knocked askew and his hair messier than usual.
"Merlin's Beard, Harry," Hermione breathed, "you look awful!"
Harry just chuckled heartlessly.
"I mean…" Hermione started apologetically.
Harry held up his hand to signal for her to stop. He turned around and walked back into his room, to sit down again. Hermione had the impression that he meant for her to follow, so she grabbed the plate of food and rushed inside. She shut the door behind her and sat down opposite of Harry on his bed.
"Is that," Harry rasped. He had to clear his throat to speak, though it looked painful. "Is that for me?" he asked, pointing to the plate in Hermione's hands. She nodded and held it out for him. He hungrily grabbed it and started to shove the chicken down his throat.
After a few long minutes, Harry sat back and stared at the left over bits of chicken. "You know, we gave Sirius this same kind of chicken over a year ago…" he said, mostly to himself.
"Harry, you know you can't blame yourself for his death," Hermione said quietly. "He's in a better place now."
"Is he?" Harry asked angrily. "We don't know. We can never contact him, never talk to him, ever…"
"I know, but you have to believe he's some place good."
Harry stayed silent for awhile. "But don't you ever wish…"
"Yes, I do," Hermione finished quietly. "All the time."
"Arg! It's just not fair!" he yelled out.
"I know, I know." Hermione slid closer to Harry and put a comforting arm around his shoulder. "But think about it, would Sirius want you to hide away just because of him? He would want you to carry on with life, wouldn't he?"
"But—"
"He would want to you carry on with him still in your heart."
Harry sighed and leaned his head against Hermione's. "You're right…as always."
"Good," Hermione said, standing up quickly. "Now, get changed and, please, take a shower." Harry raised his eyebrow. "You really do smell bad. Then come downstairs, all right?"
"Yes ma'am," Harry joked, giving her a salute.
Hermione grinned before clearing out of his room, empty plate in her hand.
After a week, Harry was back into the swing of things. He joked around with Ron, helped with the cleaning, even bought a few of Fred and George's joke shop items. He did feel bad about not being able to visit their shop, but the twins would sometimes bring some free samples to Grimmauld Place.
Hardly anyone, except Ron (who tended to be Captain Oblivious when it came to emotions), could avoid seeing Harry and Hermione growing so much closer. The two were scarcely found apart. They spent almost every night just sitting by the fire place, talking deep into the starry night. One day, Ginny walked into the kitchen to find Harry kissing Hermione on the cheek. Ginny found this excellent, for now she could tease Hermione about something other than her studies.
One day, Harry was stuck with the job of clearing out and cleaning one of the many studies. He started on a very elegant old desk while Hermione was making lunch. He opened up the top wooden drawer to find a numerous amount of quills and parchment. But among the dust-coated papers and an envelope that didn't seem under a few months old. Upon the front of the envelope was the most curious thing: Harry's name.
Harry ripped the paper out of the drawer and tore it open. Inside was a quite lengthy letter… from Sirius.
'Dear Harry,
'If you are reading this, either I have died or you have sneaked past my high security system (which is just me). I just wanted to tell you that I'm proud of you and all you've done and been through. I just wish I could be there with you. And I know you want me there right beside you.
'And I can, with your help.
'Deep embedded in this drawer is a magnificent little gadget that my parents kept for quite some time. It had two functions: one can sort of time-traveler and the other helps bring back "a beloved lost one." It takes a lot of power and love to bring them back. Now, I would be more than willing to let you use this to bring back your parents, but it wouldn't work. The person must have been dead for only a short amount of time. If one of your friends didn't make it out of the battle, I understand you wanting to save them instead.
'To use this Life-Alter, you need to perform the Andormiens Curse but say the name of the deceased one at the end while twisting the green side twice. Do not twist the black side. That will send you back in time and you do NOT want to do that.
'I hope this proves useful.
With all my love,
'Snuffles'
Harry re-read Sirius' letter two more times. He jumped back next to the desk and dove his hand deep into the drawer, but found nothing. He desperately pulled the drawer a little farther, but did not succeed in finding anything other than quills and parchment. There was an oddly placed small piece of paper propped up to where the letter was originally placed. On it in Sirius' handwriting was:
I solemnly swear that I am up to no good!
Harry had to smile as he reached his hand back inside to feel his fingertips close around a hard, smooth-surfaced triangular prism. He pulled it out to have a look at it.
The miniscule object could easily fit inside Harry's closed fist. One end was colored bright, Slytherin green while the other was deep, endless black. The center was transparent, as it was made of glass.
He stared at the magical item for what seemed like hours rotating it between his skinny fingertips. He was too busy gazing at it with glazed over eyes that he didn't notice someone enter the room.
"What cha' got there, Harry?" Hermione asked cheerfully with a tray in her hands.
Harry slowly turned around, still with a blank face.
"Hermione…" Harry said. His face started to clear up, as if he was just realizing what the letter had meant. "We're going to save Sirius."
A/N: Good? Bad? Did I get everyone's personality right? Now you know I won't know unless you review me so… REVIEW!
Oh, and for the next chapter… it might not be so lengthy. Harry and Hermione WILL travel back in time by the end, I promise you.
Note as of January 3, 2005, The chapters get much longer than this very soon. So bear with me here, for the short chapters do get longer.