Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, Moulin Rouge's song "Come What May," or any other recognisable material.

Hello! Well, here I was, wondering "Which of my many fanfics should I update? I'll check my email and maybe that will give me a sign." Well, I got my sign, as my story Chip Away the Stone received a review by Briallen Hunter, who asked, no, demanded, that I write another Sirius/Hermione story, because there are not enough good ones out there, and I was only too happy to oblige. I hope you like this one, which I'm making up as I go along, since I was like "Hm, I'll pick a song to go off of," and I got this beautiful song from Moulin Rouge. Enjoy! ^^

...

And there's no mountain too high, no river too wide

Sing out this song and I'll be there by your side

Storm clouds may gather and stars may collide

But I love you…

Until the end of time

(I love you) (Until the end "of time")

Come what may, come what may

I will love you until my dying day

Oh come what may, come what may

I will love you

I will love you

Come What May – Moulin Rouge

...

There's a lot of black here, isn't there? How much time has passed? Can I still hear screaming, or is that the ringing in my ears? How long has it been? It feels like years, but has it been minutes? I feel like I haven't felt a thing in a hundred years. Maybe I'm dead. What should I do? Am I falling? I do believe I'm falling. But I don't feel anything. Wait. What is that? I feel...warm. Something is soft. Something smells good. Something is there. Or...someone? Hopefully someone. I don't care anymore. If I'm dead, I'm dead. I'm just glad someone decided to - ugh! I think I just fell on something. And I'm getting very warm...

Hermione sighed and kicked off her shoes, rolling her neck as she crossed the room. She tossed her shoes, purse and jacket into the closet by the door and dropped her keys onto the table by the closet.

"Hey, Hermione!" Harry called from the kitchen. "Hungry?"

"Not really; I had a big lunch," she replied, her eyes glued to the body on the couch.

Harry wandered into the living room with a bowl of a liquid he was furiously mixing.

"Any changes?" Hermione asked as she entered the kitchen, quickly followed by Harry.

Harry shook his head and watched as Hermione pulled out a glass and filled it half-way with the wine she had received for her birthday. "Nah. He's been talking, though. He keeps talking about something smelling nice."

Hermione rolled her eyes and crossed back into the living room, plopping into the recliner across from the couch and propping her feet up on the coffee table. She locked her eyes on the face of the man who had been sleeping peacefully for the past week without many signs of waking besides random muttering and the ability to eat and drink while unconscious.

They had pulled Sirius Black from the Veil, and were eagerly awaiting his coming alive once again.

Hermione sipped at her wine and flipped her hair away from her face. Resting her wine glass on the table, she threw her head back against the back of her chair and closed her eyes with a yawn.

"Busy day at work?"

Hermione glanced at the entrance to the bathroom, where her other roommate, Ronald Weasley, was standing with a towel around his waist and a toothbrush in his mouth.

Hermione smiled and nodded. "Hugely busy. I was on a huge goose chase across the entire world today, trying to track down this guy. I ended up finding him in Canada! Do you have any idea how much effort it takes to apparate all of the way to Canada without splinching?"

Ron grimaced. "I'm just guessing, but a lot?"

Hermione just sighed loudly and shook her head, her eyes wide.

Ron chuckled and returned to the bathroom to spit out his toothpaste and rinse his mouth.

"I'm sorry about that. And to top it all off, there's an Order meeting tonight."

Hermione groaned. "I need caffeine. Does somebody want to come to the coffee shop with me?"

"I've got a ton of paperwork to do," Ron replied. "Sorry, 'Mione."

"Harry?" Hermione called as she retrieved her keys, shoes, jacket and purse once more.

"But I'm baking a cake!" He exclaimed.

Hermione shook her head. Ever since the end of the war, the only things he had to take his mind off of things were Ginny and baking. "Alright, then…. Anybody want anything?"

"Get me a cookie!" Ron called.

"Pick up some more eggs," Harry cried frantically.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Alright. See you guys in a bit."

She left as they said their goodbyes and headed out of the building, down onto the street.

The coffee shop that Hermione frequented, the Black Dragon, was owned by none other than Severus Snape, and was a part-time (secret) apothecary. Ginny worked the counter during the day and took lessons from Snape during the early morning, evening, and in between shifts, as one thing she really wanted to do was to own an apothecary. She was Snape's apprentice, aside from being a cashier.

Hermione entered the coffee shop, which had a considerable amount of business at the time, and headed for the counter. She knew that the population was about half-and-half – some people were wizards, some were muggles. Anyone talking about magic had their conversations changed to the ears of the muggles. Say Hermione was talking to Ginny about a Hippogriff or a baking spell. The muggles would hear this as her talking about a car or her washing machine, due to several spells Snape had placed on the building. Along with this, any bulletins meant for wizards could simply not be seen by muggles. It was really very helpful.

As she entered, Ginny came out of the back room frantically trying to flatten her hair and scrape a crusty purple substance from her face while asking if she could take someone's order. When she saw who was at the door, she grinned.

"Hermione!" she exclaimed. "I'll pay for whatever you order if you help me."

Hermione laughed as she dropped her purse onto the counter and pulled out her handkerchief. She dabbed her tongue and began to scrub at Ginny's face. "What are you brewing back there?"

Ginny shook her head. "It's a lollygag potion. It's supposed to make pain drag behind so you don't feel it for a while."

"You're tearing the leaves instead of chopping," Hermione said.

Ginny groaned. "But chopping takes so much time!"

"Would you rather take the time to chop or blow your head off?"

Ginny's eyes narrowed, but then she laughed. Then sighed. "Is it all gone?"

Hermione took a step back and examined Ginny's face. "Yep. You're all set."

"Great," Ginny replied, moving to the cash register. "What can I get for you?"

"I'll just have a coffee," she replied. "And Ron wants a cookie."

Ginny nodded, pressed a few buttons, wrote something down beside the cash register, and then turned around to begin making Hermione's coffee, just how she liked it.

"Here you are," Ginny said after a few moments, handing over the coffee and the cookie. Then she called over her shoulder, "I'm taking my leave, Professor - James is here for his shift. I'm taking the night off since we have a meeting tonight."

"You'd better be at the meeting or I'm docking your pay," was all they heard.

Ginny rolled her eyes and untied her apron, shoving it under the counter before she came around to Hermione's side.

"Need some company while you drink your coffee?" she asked as she plucked her jacket and scarf from the coat rack, slinging the purse she'd retrieved from beneath the counter over her shoulder.

"That would be great," Hermione replied. "I need to run to the store to pick up a few things. Would you like to come with?"

"Sure!" Ginny exclaimed.

The two left the coffee shop and entered the breezy streets of Lapham, a town that was mainly wizard, with the occasional muggle who passed through. They crossed the street and headed across the downtown to the grocery store, where Hermione began loading things into her basket.

"Anything new from Sirius?" Ginny asked as she pulled a bag of marshmallows from the shelf and slipped it into the cart – it was one of her favourite games to see if she could make Hermione accidentally buy something.

Hermione shook her head as she slipped the marshmallows back onto the shelf – she was never fooled – and replied: "Not really, but Harry said that he kept talking about smelling something nice, which is good, because that means he's sensing things now. Anyways, my day off is tomorrow, and I was planning on changing his environment - hot, cold, soft, hard - stuff like that - and see if he has any sort of - oh, hold on."

Hermione fished her cell phone from her pocket. The caller ID had the number of her flat, and she immediately opened it.

"Hello? Yes, Harry, what is it? Oh, we were just talking about -...he's what? Er, ok, hold on a second and I'll be right there."

She hung up her phone and handed Ginny her basket.

"Please, Ginny, will you get some eggs and check out for me? I'll pay you back, pinkie swear, but I'm needed -"

"Hermione!" Ginny interrupted. She laughed. "Just go."

Hermione smiled appreciatively and dashed from the store. She ran down the street, unable to force herself to go fast enough. He was awake! And he could speak and eat and drink! Sure, he had no idea what was going on, but now they could explain and everything would be alright once again.

She was finally at the door when she realised that, in her haste, she had forgotten her purse, and, therefore, her keys, with Ginny. Groaning, she began to pound on the door as hard as she could.

"Harry, Ron!" she called. "Let me in!"

Harry cracked the door open and looked Hermione up and down. "Did you buy more eggs?"

Hermione rolled her eyes and pushed past him. "Ginny's getting them! Now where is...he?"

Hermione's breath disappeared and her heart fluttered.

"Sirius," she whispered.

He blinked at Hermione. He squinted. "Did we win?"

...

Hey! So here's chapter one. I have to go clean my fish tank so have fun reading this while I'm gone! Tell me if I should continue. It would make me very happy. ^^