Imperfect Reason

Pairings: Early Hermione x Ron but Endgame Sirius x Hermione, Remus x Tonks, Harry x Ginny, Neville x Luna, Ron x Lavender

Prompt: What if Hermione pushes Sirius out of the way before Bellatrix can hex him?

[A/N: I haven't read many Sirimione stories without Hermione going back to the Marauder Era, but I was interested in seeing where this would go if Hermione saved Sirius in the Department of Mysteries. I do not own the characters, just the plot. Enjoy!]

Chapter One: Ignored Logic

Hermione Granger was always known as the level-headed, pragmatic sort of girl that everyone often overlooked as being just a bit too prudish. Harry, Ron and even Ginny were always on at her to lighten up a bit, mostly in an attempt for her to turn the other cheek when sneaking in butterbeer from the Hogwarts' kitchens for the ever coveted Gryffindor house parties. And yet, her no nonsense nature was one of the only things she truly appreciated about herself. After all, it had gotten her this far.

That is, until Harry refused to listen to reason and insisted on breaking into the Department of Mysteries to rescue his godfather, Sirius Black from the hands of Voldemort. Hermione just knew that they were being lead into a very intricate trap, where they- six Hogwarts students- were bound to meet a horrid fate. At the ages of fourteen and fifteen, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Ginny and Luna were not a match for experienced dark wizards and witches who were intent on Harry's downfall and would take out anyone who got in their way.

But she also knew she couldn't leave him to go alone. In spite of everything, she was a Gryffindor, and Harry's best friend at that. He was the first person she ever recognised as a friend, who ever actually showed they saw her as anything other than the stuffy teacher's pet that everyone else expected her to be. Whilst she didn't think she was particularly reckless, she was brave and would remain loyal to him regardless of the outcome. So, in this case, her pragmatism was quite necessarily thrown out the hypothetical window. Later, Hermione figured that this was the moment that changed absolutely everything.

Choking and gasping for breath, Hermione abruptly awoke to angry, frantic shouts of curses and spells. She recognised the tell-tale smell of spell residue pervading her nostrils. With a groan she squeezed her eyes closed again tightly in an attempt to rid her sight of black dots threatening her vision and consciousness.

For a second she could not place where she was, before she recalled with a gasp: The Department of Mysteries, Sirius… Harry! Opening her eyes with a jolt, she was met with colourful flashes of light and smoke that alerted her the battle was not yet over. She began to sit up but her body stopped with a hiss of pain, noting a searing heat radiating through her chest and side.

Looking down to find the source of the pain, she noticed the colour of her school shirt was no longer a pristine white but a gradually deepening crimson red, as her blood continued to spill onto the fabric from the laceration on her ribcage. At the sight, she bitterly recalled how Antonin Dolohov, one of Voldemort's most esteemed Death Eaters, had sent a deep purple curse lashing toward her when they left the Time Chamber room. Considering it was the last thing she remembered, she easily assumed it was what knocked her unconscious. Internally, she thanked her quick thinking for using a silencio on the man, weakening what she guessed was likely a fatal curse when verbal.

More desperate cries and bright flashes of spells slammed Hermione from her reverie and she frowned at herself for disregarding Moody's infamous barking order of "CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" amidst what was still an extremely dangerous battle. Hermione almost couldn't concentrate due to the pain in her torso, but the adrenaline was keeping her from passing out again. Sucking in a breath between her teeth, Hermione pressed her hand to her ribs to try and stem the bleeding and raised herself to her elbows to take in the chaotic scene around her.

She noted that she was in a different room than where she was struck, so Harry or Neville must have carried her here. However, she was in the corner of the room, safe from any wayward spells. The room was large with expensive black marbled walls and the only thing decorating it was a large archway in the middle of the room that seemed to be omitting a faint glow in the centre. It reminded her of the window in Professor Trelawny's Divination classroom, where the daylight was dimmed from a silvery veil. Peppered around the room were mini battles between Death Eaters and members of the Order. A surge of gratitude swelled in her at the sight of the adults who had come to help.

Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt was the embodiment of control and authority, easily casting hexes at both Augustus Rockwood and Rodolphus Lestrange, catching them both off guard with his strength and aim. A knot drew into her throat as she watched her favourite professor Remus Lupin duck from a rather nasty looking curse sent by Goyle Senior. She did not have time to panic, however, as the kind but talented werewolf sent a volley of hexes that the bulky Death Eater could not avoid; he fell to the floor after a Stupefy hit his chest.

Spotting Harry and Neville face to face with Lucius Malfoy, Hermione immediately decided on her next action. She quickly scanned the floor around her but could not find her wand, so she gritted her teeth against the pain and struggled to her feet, making sure her right hand remained clamped around her side. She did not have time to move toward them, though, before Professor Dumbledore burst into the room surrounded by a bright aura of light and power.

Fury was evident in every line of his aged face, an emotion that Hermione was completely unused to seeing on the benevolent Headmaster. He had his wand raised and was charging with surprising speed and agility amongst the duelling adults. As soon as the Death Eaters registered who had entered, they immediately began a futile attempt to escape. Before any of them could set another foot forward, the ancient yet commanding wizard had quickly intercepted, stunning and binding multiple Dark robed figures and sitting them in a line alongside one wall.

"Is that all you've got, Cousin?" A deep voice mocked, drawing Hermione's attention away to a pair around ten feet to her left. Sirius and Bellatrix Lestrange nee Black were locked in a rather vicious and heated exchange, seemingly unaware of anything else happening around them. Hermione was stunned at the familial similarities between the pair, never having seen them together. Both Bellatrix and Sirius were tall, with sharp, aristocratic features. Their eyes the same steel grey that were carried down through the Noble and Ancient House of Black as a sign of nobility and what Sirius had once bitterly mentioned as 'a hefty dose of inbreeding.'

And yet, in this moment, Hermione knew that although they appeared to be similar, they were nothing alike. The half crazed witch was devoted to a cause intent on bringing pain and suffering to people like Hermione whilst Sirius had been blasted from the Black family tree for openly shunning the Pure-blooded ideologies he was raised to believe in. Watching Sirius confront his cousin for the sake of his godson, and for the sake of the Wizarding world made Hermione soften considerably toward the man.

Bellatrix had her teeth bared in a feral grimace at Sirius' mocking words, her eyes full of malice.

"Bombarda!", she shrieked.

"Protego! Impedimenta!" Sirius quickly countered, with a flourish of his wand. Unfortunately, as much as Hermione hated to admit it, Bellatrix was a talented witch and she blocked the attack with a flick of her hand. The pair continued this dance back and forth, but Hermione noticed that the witch was advancing forward rather quickly, forcing Sirius backward to maintain a distance between them.

She quickly realised that Bellatrix was trying to corral Sirius into the middle of the room, as her hooded wild eyes continuously flickered between the handsome man standing before her and the ominously glowing Archway. Hermione just knew that whatever the object did, it was nothing at all good, and if Bellatrix wanted her 'blood-traitor' cousin near it, then Hermione definitely did not. She began limping her way toward the pair, who continued with their spiteful exchange of insults amongst curses and dark spells, completely oblivious to her gradual approach. Later on, Hermione would chalk it up to her good nature and her dedication to Harry but at that moment all she could think was "not him".

"Come on, Bella. You have to give better than that, or has the twenty years you've spent pining after a bloke with no nose left you as dim witted as your husband?"

Sirius was now standing in front of the Archway, laughing sarcastically at the woman before him. At his comment, Bellatrix let out an enraged snarl, snapped her wand forward and non-verbally sent a dark blue curse toward the smirking wizard. But before it could hit its target, Hermione had ran the last few steps ignoring the pain in her side and lurched forward, shoving Sirius aside with her free hand. As the man did not see her coming, he fell to the floor with a surprised grunt. In one moment, the momentum caused her to stumble forward, taking Sirius' place and the next, the Dark curse caught her shoulder, sending her pitching sideways and her head hitting the stone floor with a resounding CRACK.

As Bellatrix realised what happened, she let out a shriek of indignation and screamed, "HOW DARE YOU, YOU FILTHY LITTLE MUDBLOOD?" The deranged witch went to step toward the young girl on the floor but she stopped abruptly, looking behind her at the commotion she finally seemed to register and then disappeared from Hermione's vision.

Hermione could not focus on much other than the unsettling icy sensation that was rapidly seeping through her veins from the spell meant for Sirius. No longer fearing an attack, Hermione rolled to her back on the floor allowing the black spots to begin pervading her vision once more. She was shuddering as the two curses began overtaking her nervous system. She noted the odd sensation of both toe curling pain and increasing icy numbness from the individual curses she was hit with.

What have you done, what have you done, what have you done? She kept asking herself, her teeth chattering with such strength she feared they may break. She huffed what was between a laugh and a gasp at the fleeting and entirely inappropriate thought of what her Dentist parents would think.

At that moment, Hermione began to give up fighting consciousness. The last thing she saw was two furious, stormy grey eyes looking down at her, before everything went black.

[A/N: Thank you for reading! Please leave a review. Chapter Two coming soon.]