Unbroken Promise

Remus sat quietly watching the younger occupants of the house play Quidditch. Sirius sat restlessly beside him. He kept grunting and mumbling when they would do a maneuver he disapproved of or cheered loudly when they did particularly well. Harry smiled down at them and gave a little wave. Remus watched as Sirius grinned and waved back.

"Padfoot, why don't you join them?" Remus queried. His friend grumbled his response. "They're short a player anyway."

"They don't want to play with me." Sirius sounded so forlorn.

"Of course they do. The twins worship you and Harry well, he sees you as some sort of god as well."

"Maybe," his voice had taken on a hopeful quality, "but what about the others?"

"Oh please, Ron follows you about like a little puppy. And Ginny moons over you like every other female you've ever met."

"Not Hermione," he mumbled.

"What was that?" Remus heard what he said, but he couldn't hide his surprise.

Sirius sighed and ran a hand through his long hair. "I said, 'not Hermione'."

"And that bothers you?"

"Of course it bothers me!" He leapt to his feet, paced a few steps away then came back and sat down. "Yes, ok? Yes, it bothers me."

"Why?" Remus tried to hide the amusement in his voice.

"Because she's gorgeous." He lowered his voice and looked over to where the girl under discussion sat reading a book. "Alright, so she's not really that beautiful. But she is pretty. And smart. And worst of all, completely resistant to my charm."

Remus could no longer hold in his chuckle. "So that's it then? She's a challenge?" He looked his best friend over and turned his gaze hard. "Sirius, you cannot, under any circumstances chase after her for the sake of the catch. She's not that kind of girl."

"How would you know?" He eyed his friend suspiciously.

"I have eyes, don't I?"

"Yeah, yeah."

"Sirius I mean it. The fastest way off of that pedestal those lads put you on, is to insult Hermione."

"I'm not going to insult her," Sirius said, offended.

"If you catch her, shag her, and then brush her off-"

"I wouldn't do that!" Sirius interrupted but Remus continued in a louder voice.

"If you brush her off like you have every other female you've ever come in contact with, those boys will tear you to pieces." Remus watched his friend wave off the statement. "And I'll help."

Sirius turned wide eyes on his best friend. "Alright, alright. I won't chase her."

"Thank you." Remus turned back to the book in his lap.

Sirius watched the young woman lift her face and look nonchalantly around the yard. Her gaze landed on him. He grinned when her eyes slowly made their way up to his. When she saw him staring back at her, her pretty brown eyes widened and immediately darted back to her book. He promised Remus he wouldn't chase her, he didn't say anything about letting her chase him. He smirked as he lay back with his hands behind his head, thinking of all the ways he could encourage her to go for him without ever breaking his promise.

The end. Thanks for reading! Please review!