Chapter 4 Just As It Should Be
General POV
He was sitting in the living room nervously when he heard the distinct crack of someone apparating. She had come just like he asked. He hated that he had to do this, but it did have to be done. She drew nearer to him and bent down to place a soft kiss upon his cheek.
"Hey," she greeted. "What's going on?" He was sitting in an armchair with his arms resting on his legs and his hands clasp together. He didn't look at her. He couldn't. She noticed something was wrong, but put on a fake smile anyway. "You okay?" she asked concerned. He didn't answer, but continued to stare down at the ground for a moment. He slowly raised his eyes to meet hers.
"Fiona, listen…" he started slowly, but even though he hadn't even gotten to what he wanted to say yet, Fiona had a shocked look on her face. She knew what was coming.
"Are you breaking up with me?" she asked quietly, though she wanted to scream. Sirius glanced guiltily away. He had answered without even speaking. "Oh my- you're breaking up with me," she stated rather than asked. Sirius still looked guilty, but now a panicked look appeared on his face as well.
"Listen, please," he said standing and placing his hands on her shoulders. Fiona took a step back and glared coldly at him. A hurt look appeared in his eyes, but it was gone the next moment. He wasn't the one who should feel hurt. He deserved anything she threw at him. "I think you're great, I really do." She looked as if she didn't believe this for a second. "But I reserved my heart to someone else a long time ago without even realizing it. I can't give you my heart because it already has someone else's name etched on it. I just couldn't read the writing until recently. I'm sorry to put you through all of this, I really am."
She had tears in her eyes as she slipped off the engagement ring he had given her and threw it to him. She was determined not to let the tears fall. Sirius caught the ring and looked down at it turning it so that the light was gleaming off of it. When he looked up, she was just about to apparate away. He noticed the tear running down her cheek and the hurt look on her face before she disappeared. He closed his hand tightly around the ring before sinking back into the armchair.
"Well," Sirius spoke quietly to the empty room, "at least that's over." It hadn't taken him long to come to the decision to do this. Hermione had been right; he couldn't have both of them. She proved her point when she had silently left the Weasley's home the day after Christmas. It took just two days for him to realize that without her around, life just wasn't the same. It hurt that she left without saying a word to him and he knew that he didn't want her to ever leave him ever again. Breaking up with Fiona was the right thing to do, even if it did hurt her. He was confident that she could easily replace him.
Sirius took a few days to get over the loss of Fiona. While it was true that he didn't love her like he did Hermione, he would still miss her.
Hermione's POV
I had gone back to work the day after returning home after Christmas. It was nice to have something to distract my thoughts for awhile. New Years Eve was swiftly approaching and although Mrs. Weasley had invited me back to her home to spend it there, I declined her offer. The Weasley's home contained far too many recent memories for me to go back anytime soon. I decided to spend the night in my apartment just like any other night.
Although I had my work to distract me again, it seemed as if nothing could distract me for long. If I wasn't careful, my mind easily slipped back to thoughts of Sirius. It was hard not to with everything that had happened in the past few days. I found it mentally straining to be working and shoo away the thoughts of Sirius at the same time. I often arrived home from work, made myself dinner, then attempted to relax for the remainder of the evening, but it was easier said than done.
On the night of New Years Eve, I was so exhausted that I allowed myself to get carried away with the thoughts of Sirius. I thought of everything that had happened, and I wondered what he might be doing now. He was probably all cuddled up with Fiona awaiting the new year which would undoubtedly, in time, bring their wedding. I wondered if I would be invited. Of course I would be, but the real question was if I would attend. I wasn't sure I would be able to bring myself to attend the celebration of him marrying someone else.
I let my mind wander to thoughts of what might have happened if he had never met Fiona. I knew this was a terrible thought, but I allowed my mind to wander. I thought of Sirius coming to my apartment and cuddling up with me awaiting the new year that would bring our marriage. Previous to Sirius kissing me only days ago, I had thought that I would fit perfectly into his arms, though I didn't know how I was so sure of this. My thoughts were confirmed as Sirius held me in his arms that night.
I jumped as I heard a knock on my door. I pulled the blanket off that I had wrapped around myself and went to answer the door. I hadn't been cold, I just always found comfort in a blanket wrapped around me. I tingle swept through my body as I opened the door to find Sirius standing there, leaning against the doorframe, looking anxious.
"S-Sirius," I stammered, genuinely surprised to see him. "What are you doing here?"
He spoke not a word, but took a step towards me, put his hands on my waist, and brought his lips down to mine as though he needed this in order to live. I was too shocked to pull away, but within moments my mind got foggy and I threw my arms around his neck, no longer caring of the consequences. His tongue begged entrance to which I gladly admitted. My heart was racing with excitement and my mind was in complete bliss. I was greatly disappointed when Sirius pulled back, though he did not step away. He held me with one arm and brought the other up to stroke my hair lightly as he smiled softly at me.
I welcomed his touch, but as the fog rolled away from my mind, I wondered again what he was doing here and more importantly, what was he doing? My heart froze as I realized what had just happened even though I had told myself a thousand times over it should never happen again. As though he could read my thoughts, he answered my unspoken question.
"I broke up with Fiona. You were right. This is right," he gently said. I stared up at him with wide eyes. I had never expected this. "Don't look so surprised," he said still smiling softly at me. "What's right always works out in the end." I returned his smile at this, but then shook my head slightly.
"What about Fiona? Is she okay?" As I spoke these words, I almost regretted them. Sirius looked guiltily away.
"She wasn't all that happy with me, but she'll be okay. She's strong. I'm confident that she'll be able to find someone who can make her happier than I could have. This was hard on me, too. It was like losing a friend." His eyes told me that he wasn't seeing my apartment anymore but was looking through his memories. He looked back at me and offered me a gentle smile. "But I came here to be with you because I couldn't spend another moment without you. I realized when you disappeared on me that I didn't like it when you weren't around."
I smiled at his words and put my head against his chest. "I've never wanted to spend a moment without you, but you weren't making this easy on me," I told him while I listened to his heart beating softly.
He went back to stroking my hair and said softly, "I know. But everything will be okay now." I held on to him tighter when he said this. How could he know that this is all I've ever wanted?
The following Christmas…
"Merry Christmas, love," Sirius softly spoke as he kissed my cheek. He grinned widely as he pulled away and lifted my shirt to press his lips to my rounded belly. "And Merry Christmas to you too little one." I smiled fondly at him. "Let me see it again," he begged suddenly. His eyes were pleading with me, but I rolled my eyes at him.
"Sirius, it's been there for months now," I reminded him. Of course he knew this full well.
"Please? I just like to look at it," he said sounding like a child who really wanted something. I sighed at him, but smiled all the same as I gave him my hand. He held it tenderly and looked at the ring upon my finger. Kissing my hand softly, he said, "I just like to know that no one else can have you." I smiled at him and he gently pulled me closer to him, wrapping his arms around me. We sat in the living room of our home, watching the snow gently falling outside. Sirius had his hand on my belly as though protecting it, and I kept my hand atop of his. As we sat there together watching the snow fall, I knew everything was just as it should be.
AN: Eh... I was not happy with this chapter. I might eventually rewrite it, but it is what it is for now. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this little story. This is my second completed story. If you've read JASC, then I don't know what it is about New Years Eve. Just seems like a perfect time. So please let me know what you thought. I'm sorry if you're disappointed with this chapter. I'm awful at writing in third person, but I had to for the beginning of the chapter.
Here are some things that didn't make it into the story, but you might be curious about anyway:
Hermione's occupation is a spell researcher. She attempts to create new spells.
Sirius is a Professor at Hogwarts.
This was 2 years after the Trio graduated Hogwarts. Voldemort was defeated at the end of their 7th year.
Harry/Ginny and Sirius/Hermione shared a wedding during the summer between the two Christmas' mentioned.
The thought just occurred to me to write a companion to this story of the time between the two Christmas'. Would anyone be interested in that? I'll admit that I would like to finish the story I started before this one before I start another new story, but just out of curiosity, let me know. Okay, well I hope you enjoyed. I'll put a note in my profile if I decide to rewrite this chapter or write the companion. If I did rewrite this chapter, nothing drastic would change. I just wasn't happy with the quality of the writing, not necessarily the content. Well, I'm blathering again, so I'll just let you review or ignore me... whatever you choose to do. Thanks for reading!
PadfootBlack4Ever
Completed at 8:08pm