Hello everybody! I had originally written Searching for More as a one-shot, but seeing as it got such a good response, I've decided to extend it by three or four more chapters! I hope you guys like it :)

*** By the way, Argos is a British catalogue retailer in Ireland and the U.K.

Light chatter and laughter filled the evening air in the recently installed garden of Number 12 Grimmauld Place in the late June evening. On all sides of the awestruck guests, red and white valerian sprigs were in full bloom.

"Hermione dear, the garden is coming along beautifully!" Mrs Weasley called over to Hermione from the miniature waterfall and pond, where star white petals of the asphodel plant were starting to flower.

Sirius Black watched his fiancé glide over to the Weasley matriarch, dressed in a white summer dress and a gleaming smile.

"Remind me again why the Ministry of Magic consented to build a magical garden in a muggle neighbourhood in Islington." Remus Lupin enquired of his best friend, his keen eyes following the toy broomstick zooming around the garden mounted by his son.

"Hermione." Was the languished response he received.

"Ah, of course." His son had now entered Tonks' territory of the garden, allowing Remus to dedicate his full attention to his friend. "Kingsley is still after brownie points I see."

Although it was now public knowledge that both Hermione Granger and Sirius Black were head over heels in love, the young witch made it quite clear to the Minister for Magic how much disdain she held for the new marriage law.

"He did the extension charm himself, and threw up a shed for my bike while he was here." Sirius added with a fond smile on his face.

"That was good of him." Remus noted with a tone of surprise.

"I don't think he really had much of a choice."

"Why not?" The father of one looked at Sirius with an enquiring look.

"Hermione wouldn't allow it in the greenhouse." He sighed, eyeing said greenhouse with wary eyes. The first (and last) time he was in there, something bit him.

"So, what did you get out of this deal then?" Remus laughed, picking up a bottle of ketchup from the bench beside him.

"I, dear Remus, got this beauty." Turning with his arms spread wide and a dazzling smile on his face, Sirius Black turned to face his brand new 6 Burner Hooded Barbecue. He was positively ecstatic with himself as he made up another burger to devour.

"Where did you get this marvellous piece of equipment Sirius?" Arthur Weasley eventually made his way towards the muggle machinery while his wife was safely occupied with Hermione.

"Hermione ordered it from Argos." Sirius bragged to Arthur, washing down his food with a swig of mulled mead and a proud grin.

"All the way from Argos?" Arthur Weasley's astonishment was short lived, as he frowned when Sirius had to swat his hand away from the knobs with a spatula.

"Well, the Greeks are known for their food." Remus attempted to change the subject quickly; Sirius was very protective of his new toy. All three men nodded in agreement, and conversation eventually moved on to quidditch. Shaking his luscious black locks from his face, the reformed womanizer looked down fondly at his new apron, bought for a well spent seventeen quid in a muggle store. Good lookin' and cookin' was printed in bold letters across the chest.

Across the garden lit with the warm glow of the evening sun, Hermione sat in the circle of chatting women by her pond. Sirius enchanted the ornamental stones encasing the water to feel as soft as a feather to her touch.

"So, how is the refurbishing coming along Hermione?" Tonks sidled over with her bubblegum pink hair to occupy the seat on the swinging bench beside Mrs Weasley. Unnoticed to most, Tonks' hair soon changed to match the sweet pea flowers climbing the bench's ivy covered arch.

"Quite well actually." Hermione turned away from her pond with her eyes alight, eager to speak about her new project. "The plan is to work from the bottom upwards, so we started with the kitchen and that's been completely remodelled. Of course, we had to be careful to keep in theme with the ceiling beams, so everything had to be antique wood."

The sound of squealing laughter drifted to women's ears, and they turned to see Sirius and Harry playfully chasing Teddy around on his broom. While Teddy veered towards them to show his mother his flying prowess, Sirius followed swiftly behind him.

"Ladies, I should inform you that whenever Hermione's uses the word 'antique' what she really means is 'old and used'." Lunging for Teddy and missing, Sirius dramatically sprawled himself on the grass beside Hermione as the boy hovered beside him. Laughing from the ground, Sirius playfully reached for the young metamorphmagus whose hair was currently electric blue, before he flew off towards Harry.

"How many times Teddy, not over the water!" Tonks hopped up and ran after her reckless child, who believed he could outrun his auror mother on a toy broom.

"I should also inform you ladies, that when Hermione says 'we', she means she." Sirius sat up and threw an arm around Hermione, gazing into her caramel eyes.

"Are you referring to the way that I finally found a way to take those distasteful posters down from your bedroom wall?" Hermione turned on him with a defined arched brow.

"Well sweetheart, if there's anyone who could do it it's you." He smiled and hopped up, Tonks' threats of discontinuing Teddy's visits to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes evidently wearing off as he called for his uncle Sirius to watch him. "As long as you leave my mother dearest up long enough to enjoy the upcoming festivities." Placing a loving kiss on her forehead, he bounded off towards Teddy, leaping into the air to become Padfoot as requested.

Hermione shook her head and laughed, wondering how in the name of Merlin that less than a month ago she would have preferred the company of Padfoot to Sirius.

Sitting opposite from her, Molly Weasley smiled affectionately at her honorary daughter. Basking in the golden evening rays, there was an inner light shining from Hermione that she had previously prayed to see whilst Hermione and Ron were an item.

Unfortunately they were not to be.

However, Molly still loved Hermione and wanted nothing but happiness for her- which is why she was so displeased when news of this marriage law nonsense came about. A forced marriage was bad enough, but a marriage to Sirius of all people was enough to turn any mother's stomach.

But then something changed; well, not exactly something. Everything.

Gone were the Saturday mornings where Sirius would arrive late for breakfast, still wearing last night's clothes, trying to mask his scent with bottles of expensive cologne and boasting about his debauched escapades to the boys. Gone were the evenings where Hermione would land in an hour late for dinner, pausing only for a quick cup of tea by the fire before escaping into research again.

Nowadays Sirius is the one to make the breakfast on Saturday mornings, while Hermione returns home from work on time, and the only reading she does is for pleasure, sitting on a couch with her feet in Sirius' lap.

As the golden light dipped to a rosy glow, Teddy Lupin's bed time was visible on the horizon. Wandering over with his mother to say goodbye to everyone, he had a bright smile on his face as he wiped his tired eyes.

"Hermione, can I feed the fishies before I go home?" Teddy let go of his mother's hand and dropped himself down beside Hermione, wearing a pair of dungarees with one strap open.

"Of course you can Teddy! Here, take these in your hand and just drop them on top of the water." Hermione placed some fish flakes into his little hand and watched him lean forwardly carefully, dropping each piece individually onto the rippling surface.

Teddy's face lit up as the breath taking koi fish emerged from the bottom of the blooming pond, their scales glittering as they passed through the last rays of evening sunshine.

"Hermione, their amazing! Mum, come and look at these!" Ginny grabbed her mother's hand and pulled her closer, Tonks joining the circle to gaze at three purple koi's.

"Where did you get them?" Tonks turned to look at Hermione in awe.

"Sirius got them for me…."

Hermione turned to run her fingers across the pond's surface, remembering the night he gifted them to her with a fond smile on her face. They ate a candle lit dinner under the stars, and she watched in awe as a gift of three purple orchids dropped out of sight below the surface of the water, only to reappear as purple koi fish.

Hermione Granger had a feeling before, but in that moment, under the stars of a midsummer night, she knew that she loved Sirius Black.

Pulled out of her reverie as Teddy leaned in to give her a hug and a kiss goodnight, Hermione shook herself and stood up as the boy ran off.

"Oh Hermione, I'm so happy for you!" Tonks pulled the muggleborn to her excitedly. "The wedding ceremony is going to be absolutely beautiful."

"Yes, well Sirius and I haven't decided on any wedding details yet." Tonks missed the dismissive look that swept across Hermione's features at the mention of her wedding.

"Hermione, you would be daft not to have it here! Sirius was just enquiring about Bill and Fluer's marquee for their wedding, a similar set up to that would be perfect!" Hermione grimaced at Tonks' relay of information, knowing that words between her and Sirius would have to be exchanged once again in relation to their wedding.

After the goodbyes were exchanged and the last Weasley disappeared in a burst of green flames, the inhabitants of Number 12 Grimmauld Place slumped on the new leather couches by the fire in the kitchen.

"Well, I think I'll hit the hay." Harry muttered, hiding a yawn behind his hand. "Night guys."

"Night mate."

"Goodnight Harry."

Sirius Black knew there was something off about Hermione towards the latter part of the night, after the Lupin's left and Fred and George popped in for a beer. It wasn't until Harry left, and she silently made her way to the sink with the dishes that he knew the evening was about to take a downturn.

Women, silence and banging china have only one conclusion: trouble.

"Everything alright darling?" He asked her, coming around the other side of the kitchen island and returning the bottle of Ogden's whiskey.

For a few seconds, the stiff set of Hermione's sun kissed shoulders led him to believe that he was going to get the silent treatment.

"Why were you asking Arthur about marquee's for our wedding?" She turned to him, dishwater flowing out of the sink as she grabbed a towel and wiped the suds from her hands.

"I just thought that now we have the garden, it might be a good idea to have the wedding here."

"Sirius, I-"

"Please, just hear me out for a second, alright? A small, simple ceremony in our own back garden, close friends and family only. We don't even need to have a band, we can have caterer's deliver the food and set up a buffet. No mess, no fuss, it'll be perfect!" His grey eyes danced at the idea, and with a flick of his wand a towel began to dry the dishes.

"I don't want a small and simple ceremony Sirius!" She moaned, plucking a dish from the pile and placing it not so gently back into the cupboard. "I don't even want a ceremony!"

"You're just saying that kitten, trust me on June 20th you're going to thank me!" Leaning back against the wooden island, he was so sure of himself and his plan that he did not expect the following outburst.

"You've already picked a date! Sirius, that's eight days away! How on earth do you possibly think you can organize everything by then?" By this stage, Hermione was firing all of their cutlery into the drawer.

"And even if you could, what about the invites, people need more than a week's notice for a wedding Sirius!" Grabbing the chopping board from the draining board, she gave it another meticulous inspection before putting it away.

"Not that any of this even matters, because we've already discussed this and decided on just going to the registry office!" Looking around and finding no more cutlery to put away, Hermione swept past Sirius towards the fire and took out the poker.

"Don't you mean that you decided?" Sirius drawled in the way that only he could, leaning against the table with his arms folded across his sculpted chest.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She turned and stood, sparks from the fire dancing in her eyes.

"You know exactly what it means kitten." Displaying one of his great party tricks in the nick of time, a tumbler of fire whiskey appeared in Sirius' hand out of nowhere.

"For Merlin's sake, if this is about remodelling the house, then you're being absolutely ridiculous. There's only so many times a person can listen to 'You know best darling' before they stop asking!" Picking up the throw for the couch and folding it to her preference, Hermione continued to glare over at Sirius.

"You know I'm not arsed about the bloody house! I'd rather see the thing knocked than remodelled, which I made quite clear before you began all this business with rustic bloody kitchens!" He finished his drink and slammed it down on the table, grabbing the bottle and pouring himself another glass.

"Well then why did you finally agree to it?" She hissed at him, pulling her hair back with a runaway chop stick.

"Because I wanted to make you bloody well happy, that's why!" Turning on his heel, Sirius left a dejected looking Hermione clutching a stack of home improvement magazines.

"And for your information, something cannot be described as 'antique' and 'vintage' if it's been produced in the last year!" His grey eyes were a swirling torment of liquid mercury as they fixed on Hermione's shocked form. "So you might as well burn those catalogue's you're holding, because they're full of shit!" He roared, pointing his tattooed fingers towards the fire.

"Fine!"

In a move that surprised the pair of them, Hermione flung the magazines into the open flames. Sparks flew in all directions, and she let out a scream as a multitude of them landed on her bare skin. Throwing his glass to the floor, Sirius rushed forward, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her away from the hearth.

"Hermione, are you alright?" He held her cheeks in his strong hands, calloused thumbs wiping gently across her cheekbones.

She looked into his eyes, molten mercury gazing worriedly back at her, and she felt her hand clutch his shirt.

"I'm fine." Lowering her gaze to her hand, she hadn't realised she was holding him so tightly. Without looking back up at him, Hermione sighed and dropped onto the couch behind them. Sirius followed suit, unwilling to release her from his arms.

They both remained silent for a few more moments, him resting his chin on her soft curls. Hermione stared at the burning catalogues in the fire, watching the pages curl and turn to ash, until eventually all that was left were glowering embers.

"I sent out the invitations last week." Sirius spoke to the empty air, his arms still holding her to him.

"Sirius…" Hermione sighed. The tension that was smothering them earlier had disappeared. Now, the pair of them were simply exhausted.

"Please Hermione, let me do this for you. Let me do this for us." Sirius bent down and kissed her soft curls again. She remained silent, hardly even acknowledging him as he explained about the wedding planner he hired who was organising everything. "…and if we have it here, then there's no reason to worry about Rita Skeeter, or anyone from The Prophet turning up uninvited! No fuss love, just us and our friends."

Hermione still hadn't spoken, and frown lines appeared on Sirius forehead.

"That's the problem Sirius...it's only going to be our friends." Hermione's voice cracked, and Sirius suddenly pulled her around to see tears glistening in her normally sweet eyes.

"Darling, what's wrong?"

"It's my parent's Sirius! What's the point in buying a beautiful gown, having everyone we love turn up and fussing over us, when the two people…the only two people in the world who could even come close to feeling as happy as I do….won't even be there!" By this stage the tears were streaming down Hermione's rosy cheeks and gentle sobs were shaking her chest.

Sirius encased her in his muscular arms, brushing his hand through her wavy locks and kissing her forehead.

"Darling, your parents would want you to celebrate our wedding the same way you would do if they were there." He whispered softly to her, trying to soothe her hitching sobs.

"You don't know that Sirius."

"Darling, of course they would! They'd want you to do whatever made you happy!" Sirius bent down to kneel in front of her, his hands cupping her tear stained face, beautiful even when crying.

Still, Hermione remained silent, and he hoped that finally he had gotten through to her. He hoped that finally she would let him throw her the beautiful wedding she deserved to have.

"What would make me happy is to not have a wedding ceremony…not without them." Hermione whispered in a cracked voice, her throat dry from crying. She brushed her hand across his stubbled cheek before walking away.

Sirius sighed, still crouched on his knee before the couch. He watched Hermione standing in front of the open French doors, staring out into the now starry sky. She hugged her arms around her chest, trying to ward off the cool night air.

"What if I told you they would be there?" Sirius spoke slowly, hoping she would understand what he was trying to say...hoping that Hermione, his brilliant beauty, would discover what he had been trying to hide from her for so long now.

Slowly she turned to face him, her caramel eyes staring deep into his own, searching for the answer in the one place where he couldn't lie to her.

"Sirius, what are you saying?" She stood as if frozen in time, afraid to react in case what she heard was just a trick of the wind.

"Hermione, what I'm saying is that you're parents are going to be at our wedding." Sirius walked forward slowly, stopping barely an inch from her as he spoke. "I found them."

Without batting an eyelid, she launched herself into his arms, her tears of joy soaking through his shirt as she buried herself in his embrace.

"I don't understand…when…how…when did you…" He could feel her trembling in his arms, words rushing out of her perfect mouth in a way that was so unlike his Hermione.

He brushed the tears from her cheeks once more, and told her the story of his search for her parents, and how it all began four months ago with a piece of parchment he found in the library ripped to shreds, her usually neat writing scribbled all over it and the smell of her tears lingering all around him.

"The thought of you sitting there all on your own, night after night, I…." He stopped, unable to articulate how miserable it had made him. "I hired a private detective to find them and three weeks ago, he did." She gasped, her brows furrowed as she stared at him in shock. Four months ago, she still despised him...or so she thought.

"I'm sorry I couldn't tell you darling, but recovering memories that long gone is a tricky business, I wasn't even allowed to see them. Not until last Friday…when I sent out the wedding invitations."

Hermione's breath hitched and caught in her chest, her eyes sparkling with euphoria.

"I told them about our…situation. They were going to turn up here and surprise you on the night before our wedding." The only noise was the soft wind blowing in from the garden, as Hermione continued to gaze at Sirius in shock.

"I can't believe you did that for me." She whispered, before leaping into his arms and crushing her lips against his.

Her hands tangled wildly in his ebony hair, gripping and tugging in every attempt to pull him closer to her. His muscular arms pinned her against his body, encircling her waist and holding her to his chest as they all but moulded their bodies together. When finally their passionate kiss ended and her feet could touch the floor again, Sirius stared at Hermione, breathless and in awe.

"Knock the house." She whispered.

"Excuse me?"

"Burn it, smash it, blow it up if you want!" Sirius looked at her incredulously, whilst somewhere in the background an elf like wailing began. "If you still don't want to live here, we can leave. Buy a city apartment, or even a country cottage like you mentioned last night! Whatever you want to do, where ever you want to go, I'll follow! I love you!" Hermione roared, a horrible feeling of selfishness sinking into the pit of her stomach at the thought of how she point blank refused to allow him buy them a new house.

Letting out his signature bark like laughter, Sirius picked her off the floor once more and swung her into the garden, kissing her under the stars for hours upon hours with the pale moon hanging high in the sky above them, and the summer dew resting lightly on their sticky skin.

Later that night in bed, both of them thoroughly exhausted after the nights activities and resting on the cusp of sleep, Hermione yawned, her head resting in the crook of Sirius' arm. Before she drifted off, she mumbled one last thing from the edge of conciousness.

"If we move we're taking that garden with us."

Suddenly, staying put didn't seem like such a bad idea.