Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter the wonderful Joanne Rowling does.

I am so sorry about the huge length of time between these chapters. I have recently come to the end of my master's degree scheme at university and have had more free time to write this story. This chapter has not been beta read but I am on the lookout for a beta should any of you want to help me with this story.

Many thanks for your patience and enjoy 😊.

Chapter Three

Hermione was aware of a soft, warm ambience surround her as she snoozed. She had not felt this content in a while. She could hear the stirring of people around her and soft murmuring – she must have fallen asleep under the heavy blanket knitted by Mrs Weasley as a gift for Christmas in front of the fire in the Common Room.

"Tell me when she wakes up, Sirius".

Hermione's senses sharpened when she heard that voice. It sounded so commanding yet, smooth, like chocolate and so familiar. The noise of a chair scraping on a hard floor resonated like a chime of a bell, in her head.

"Stubborn git".

As she opened her eyes, Hermione could make out the increasingly familiar wild black curls of Sirius Black as he sat overlooking an equally wild, yet straighter mop of black hair. The warmth of her position soon dissipated as her cognition caught up to her eyesight. With a gasp and a jolt, Hermione sat bolt upright becoming over washed with concern for the Boy Who Lived as he lay in a hospital bed – next to her own as she came to realise.

"It's alright kitten, he's just asleep. How he managed to get out of that hellish mess without a scrape is beyond the knowledge of the living. That bastard snuck up on well and good in the Atrium, in a terrible rage". Sirius' eyes drew to hers to convey the warmth in his words towards his godson. Hermione visibly relaxed with deflation, until her senses came to the injury on her arm and she hissed in pain. There, on her left arm, vividly striking in red on the purple background of her skin were the letters M-U-D-B-L-O-O-D. She sat and stared at the wound that would eventually scar her for life and felt nothing. Numb. "My family did that to you. My own flesh and blood, the crazy flesh and blood I'll grant you that, but my blood all the same". Hermione felt the bed sink beneath the weight of Sirius perching himself on the end of her hospital cot. "For that I am eternally regretful, Hermione". She looked up at the man that had risked his life to save one of the people she held dear to her heart in this life and felt anger. "What do you mean you're regretful?! You did not do this to me Sirius, so you have nothing to apologise for. You are not your family. If you were you would have a hell of a lot more to be apologising for". At her words, a smirk crawled its way onto his face.

"I will not be having MY students or MY patients cursing in this ward. If you encourage such behaviour Mister Black, then I assure you I will revoke your privileges to this wing!" The screech of Madame Pomfrey broke through the reverie of the pair on Hermione's cot. "And I shall not have you sitting on the bed of an underage female. Come on, off you get, SHOO". With a wink at Hermione Sirius rose, "Anything for you Poppy my dear" and strolled over to Harry's bedside to resume his vigil with a tut from the matron.

"Nasty curse you had cast at you Miss Granger. Not entirely sure still what it was but the effects seemed to have gone", the nurse tilted Hermione's head back with a maternal tap of the chin. "Your eyes seem to have adjusted to the light, any woozy feeling?" Hermione shook her head as much as she could while in the vice like grip of the matron. "Good. Drink this and you should be alright to leave the ward if all stays well with you into this afternoon. I'll give you and Mr Potter some Pepper-up Potion, and you should both be on your way".

As Madame Pomfrey retreated to her office Hermione turned back to Sirius and Harry. "Sirius?". He turned to her as she swung her legs around the side of the cot. "What exactly happened? All I can remember is the Death Eaters arriving shortly followed by you and the Order…". The wistful look in Sirius' eyes made Hermione regret asking. "You all fought brilliantly" Sirius choked out. He cleared his throat with a gruff cough. "We rounded up most of the Death Eaters present thanks to you holding them off. We got rid of Bellatrix, Dolohov and that slimy bastard Malfoy – permanently". Hermione gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. "Don't fret kitten, all is fair in love and war. I gave my dear cousin Bella what was coming to her after Tonks stupidly took an Avada for me". The silence that followed Sirius' words was pregnant with grief. Tears silently streamed down Hermione's cheeks at the thought of tough, brave and hilariously clumsy Tonks having valiantly sacrificed herself for someone that meant so much to Harry and gave a connection to his parents. As she watched a single tear track its way down Sirius face, Hermione's mind stayed with the though of Harry's past.

"Was Professor Lupin here before I woke up?"

"Yeah, kitten, he was. He left to research the cure Dolohov hit you with I presume". With an inquisitive glance Sirius let out a short heartfelt chuckle. "I had an alert from the wards surrounding Number 12. Guessing ol' Moony went to the library to relieve some stress". Hermione swung her legs back onto the cot and relaxed at this summation. "How did you know?" This time it was Sirius' turn to be curious. Hermione turned her face towards him with a rosy blush creeping its way across her neck and cheeks.

"I, uh, guess I regained consciousness just before he left and, uh, heard his voice".

Sirius' eyes lit up with glee and he nodded, before turning back to Harry who mumbled in his stupor.

It was a few hours before Harry woke up with a grim smile towards both Sirius and, eventually, Hermione. Sirius had passed the time by tending to Harry and intermittently winding up Madame Pomfrey. Hermione just sat on her cot and tutted at Sirius' antics while reading her favourite tome summoned from the library. Madame Pomfrey released Harry and Hermione into the care of Sirius who shepherded the pair back to Grimmauld Place under strict instructions for rest and recuperation for the next two days.

Upon their arrival to the house they were bombarded by a bustling Mrs Weasley who almost levitated them other to their respective bedrooms to settle in for the night along with the Dreamless Sleep potions gifted to them by Madame Pomfrey. Everyone understood the need for this potion was not to get a good night's rest, but to keep the eventual nightmares at bay for the time present.

After reading Hogwarts, A History for a few hours, Hermione led upon her bed listening to Ginny snore. It had been two hours since Ginny had been sent to bed by her mother and Hermione assumed, she had heard the last of the adults retire for the evening a few short moments ago. Spreading ointment on her arm and rebandaging it, Hermione snuck out of bed in search of warmth and familiarity to relax her whirring mind. She had refused to take the Dreamless Sleep potion until she had woken up due to a nightmare, not the type for pre-emptive medicating. Hermione's thin pyjama bottoms and tank held little warmth against the cold, dark dankness that was Number 12 Grimmauld Place so she darted into the nearest room that she could see held light. The light turned out to be a torch in the library. A fire was lit in a far corner of the room, next to an emerald green chair that looked inviting to the young woman seeing comfort. The heat of the fire and the plushness of the chair made Hermione groan in pleasure as she sunk into its depths. After what seemed like an age of sitting in silence, bar the cracking of the fire, Hermione realised that someone must have been here recently to have made the room habitable. Looking around, no-one was to be seen nor heard so she looked around for clues as the previous occupant of the room. Upon the small coffee table in front of the fire lay a distinctly warn volume. Reaching for the book, Hermione reverently turned it to read the cover, 'Canis Lupus Luna'.

"The wolf of the moon", Hermione whispered to herself. Professor Lupin must have been here she surmised. Flipping through the pages, Hermione encountered vivid retellings of those with lycanthropy of their transformations under the full moon and the effects the wolf had over them during their times of humanity. Hermione was fascinated and horrified by these accounts and quickly found herself getting lost within the book.

By the time Hermione had got to the final pages of the book she understood Professor Lupin's fundamental self-loathing of what he was. But these stories were not him nor his character, she thought. Turning the net page, Hermione found the words covered in a light ash of some kind and underneath, dents into the page that looked like fingernails. Blowing the dust off the book, she held her breath.

It is a little known fact that werewolves, like normal wolves, mate for life.

Hermione slammed the book shut as tears sprang to her eyes. So that is why he is nowhere to be found. He is lost, like his mate. Hermione stared into the fire and wondered if Sirius, or even Kingsley, knew of Professor Lupin's affection for Tonks…