A/N: Thank you all so much for your reviews, favorites and follows! Reminder that I might not have been able to get to the review responses for last weeks since I got married last Saturday. Still, I hope that you like what I've got in store for you, to wrap the rest of this story up! You can follow me on tumblr (nauticalparamour) where I post sneak peeks, story updates and answer questions!

Huge thank you to Heeley and Calebski for beta reading this story! Without them, I have no idea if I would have even finished this story this year, and they honestly helped elevate my writing so much! I am eternally grateful to both of them!

Please let me know what you thought of chapter five, and Happy Halloween!

Scrambling to her feet, Hermione wished that she'd even been able to manage wandless magic, wanting nothing more than to have her wand back safely in her hand. She stared at it, from where it had rolled out of the hand of the now dead body of Antonin Dolohov, on the other side of Sirius Black.

Sirius Black, who she'd been spending hours, days, weeks, months, with, thinking that he was nothing more than a sad dog who didn't have anyone to look after him. When she thought about some of the things, some of the secrets she'd revealed to him, she could feel her face heat up in embarrassment, and her throat choke up with tears. All the things she'd told him about Ron and Lavender...

But, she had more important issues to deal with than just being mortified. Sirius Black was wanted for murder, having escaped from Azkaban, and now that she'd seen the ease with which he'd killed Dolohov, she had no reason to believe that he wouldn't do the same to her.

Taking a cautious step towards the edge of the cave, Hermione tried to gauge if she would be able to lunge and reach her wand safely, before Black would have a chance to react.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him make a move towards her, her name on his lips again, sounding hollow and broken. "Hermione, please," his voice was gravely from years of misuse, and Hermione wondered just how long he'd been in his animagus form. He had been missing for three years. Further, she wondered just what a prolonged animagus transformation could do to your psyche. How much of the man was actually left in him?

Hermione was shaking from fear and adrenaline, knowing she wasn't out of the woods yet. She wasn't safe yet. There was no promise that Black wouldn't hurt her just like Dolohov had tried to. "Just, please, let me pass. I won't tell anyone you are here," she pleaded.

Not heeding her request, or perhaps being too far gone to do so, he instead closed the distance between them, pressing his hands onto her shoulders. "Hermione, please, let's just talk about this," he begged, surprising Hermione with his tone. He almost seemed as if he was scared of...losing her.

Blinking away the tears in her eyes, she allowed herself to look the man over properly for the first time. He had a threadbare robe covering his naked form, his chest revealed by the parted fabric. He was thin, much too thin for a man of his height, and she could see the ridges of each of his ribs, hidden only by the dark ink of some tattoos. In another time, she might have wanted to explore those markings, but she was on edge, caged in by a man she didn't really know.

Her eyes trailed up to his face. He looked gaunt, cheekbones sharp and cutting, his skin stretched tight over bone. She felt a surge of disappointment when she thought of how little food she'd actually brought...Padfoot...thinking that he would be able to fend for himself as a dog. Clearly, it hadn't been enough. His hair, which she was sure was normally a deep, healthy black, looked ratty and rumpled. But the thing that stopped her in her tracks were his eyes. Deep, silver pools that held so much emotion - unwilling or unable to leave what he was feeling off of his face.

They were Padfoot's eyes. She remembered all of the times that she had stared into those eyes, thinking of how expressive and human-like they were. A bitter laugh escaped her throat, when she thought of how silly that seemed now.

"It's okay," he whispered a promise, but it did little to ease her panic. If anything, it just made Hermione feel more awful about the situation she'd gotten herself into. What if he never let her leave, thinking that she might turn him in? "You know me, Hermione. I'm Padfoot. You can trust me, just like you did before."

That certainly got her attention, making her push back, wiggling out of his embrace. "You are not Padfoot," she said, bossily, annoyed that he didn't seem to see anything wrong with what he'd put her through. "You could have...left after the first time Crookshanks brought me here. Or, transformed right then and there and told me the truth."

He stepped closer to her again. "Couldn't transform from the pain the first time. Don't you think I would have just healed myself?" he questioned, with one raised eyebrow. It didn't take long for him to step towards her again, as if he were compelled to move by some magnetic force only he felt. This time, he wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight to his bare chest. "Then, once I saw you, I knew I couldn't leave. I've been alone for so long."

Hermione was uncomfortable, wrapped in his embrace, but she soon could feel the odd little movements of his chest, and realized he was crying. Listening to the steady thump of his heart beat beneath skin, muscle, and bone, Hermione forced herself to calm down. She couldn't imagine what it must have been like for him to be alone for so long. After all, no one had seen Sirius Black since her third year. How had he not gone mad, not having any human contact in so long.

Tentatively, and privately wondering if she was making a terrible, horrible mistake, she wrapped her own arms around his waist, returning his hug. She could feel all of his tension seem to bleed away from her one simple ask. His tears seemed to slow the longer that she held him, and she could feel herself relax as well.

"Oh, Merlin, Hermione, I've longed to hold you this way since you first came in here," he whispered into the crown of her head, making her stiffen once again. Her mind was still reeling from the revelation that Padfoot had not been just a dog this whole while, and she felt uncomfortable to learn that Sirius knew quite so much about her. She'd opened up to him in ways that she never would have if she'd known the truth. "I just wanted to keep you safe."

She hummed, supposing that he had kept her safe. He'd killed Dolohov for her and if he hadn't, she was positive that she wouldn't have lived much longer. Pulling away from his hug so that she could look over his face, she was shocked by the heat in his eyes, reflecting some kind of emotion that was unknown to her. "So you aren't going to kill me?"

"No!" he said fiercely, disgusted at the suggestion. "I promise that I would never do anything to hurt you."

"But you've lied to me, for all this time," Hermione insisted, her voice catching on the lump in her throat. "You pretended to be a dog to gain my trust. Now, I don't even know you…"

"You do know me, Hermione," Sirius argued, reaching out to entwine his hand in hers, as though he ached without the physical contact, reminding her of the way Padfoot would always shove his face into her hand. "Padfoot and I are one in the same, and I promise that I will keep your secrets, if you just keep mine."

She knew that he meant his presence on the Hogwarts grounds. Biting her lower lip, she stopped when she noticed the fond smile he gave her at the involuntary habit. Narrowing her eyes at him, she needed more information before she could give him an assurance either way. "What are you doing here anyway? Have you been at Hogwarts this whole time?"

"No, I only just came here," Sirius explained, looking down at the ground. "I'd hoped that enough time had passed, and perhaps everyone would stop searching for me...and I had to see Harry, just to make sure he was alright." His face lit up as if he'd only just remembered something. Surging forward, he cupped her face in his hands, tilting her up to look into his eyes. "And that was when I saw you. You wonderful witch. You helped me when no one else…"

He trailed off, his eyes darting down to her lips once again, and before she was able to stop it, he was kissing her, almost chastely. Hermione knew that she should pull away, but there was something holding her to the spot, and when his tongue brushed her lower lip to take the kiss deeper, she let him. It was easy, so easy for her to get swept into the moment...

Until she remembered that he had still lied to her, that he was still a wanted man...

Pulling away, she blushed a bright shade of pink, before looking down at the ground. "We can't - I... I don't know you, Sirius," she insisted. Yes, she was comfortable around Padfoot, but this was unknown territory. Her eyes traveled over to the dead body that was splayed out on the ground, remembering that she had a life outside of this tiny cave. "You can't stay here, and we have to take care of Dolohov."

He seemed disappointed at first, but eventually nodded, his own eyes staring at the man he'd killed. "I can take care of Dolohov."

Hermione didn't want to know what he was planning, but she was grateful to not have to think about that. "I think I have someone that can help you out of here, but...it could take some time. You should stay here, but it would be wise to stay as Padfoot as much as possible. Even though I know who you are, it doesn't mean that it would be wise to get too comfortable."

Sirius nodded, looking solemn, before a small smile formed on his face. "You know, my friends at Hogwarts used to call me Padfoot as well."

She shook her head. She hadn't known that, but it only made her feel more confident that Professor Lupin would be ready to help. Feeling a bit odd just leaving the cave this time, she gave Sirius a little wave goodbye; internally, she was glad to put some space between her and the other man. He was confusing all of her thoughts and feelings, not sure if she should feel sorry for him or still be mad at him for lying to her.

Some distance between them would be good.

Hermione couldn't just jump into telling Professor Lupin about Sirius being in the cave. First, she had needed to suss out exactly what he thought of his old friend. Sure, immediately after the Potters had died, Professor Lupin had been vocal that Sirius couldn't possibly have done it, but many things had changed. There were rumors that Peter Pettigrew had been seen again, assisting Voldemort himself, and if one of his best friends could flip to being a Death Eater, why couldn't two?

She danced around the topic at first, not sure how to broach the subject exactly. At first, she had come to him with her worries about Harry's obsessiveness over Malfoy, and told him she thought that learning more about his parents and his parents friends would give him something healthier to focus on. That hadn't worked, as her Professor preferred to speak to Harry directly.

Then, she tried to talk to him about the Grim that he had seen her with, tried to suss out if he'd recognized the animagus as his old best friend. That had put him in a very bad mood, his body going tense immediately. He had clammed up, and had instructed her to speak with Firenze if she had questions about omens.

In the meantime, she continued to visit Sirius as often as she could. It was different, but the same. He would always transform back out of his animagus form, as soon as she showed up. He had many of the same mannerisms as Padfoot, so there were some part of their interactions that were similar. However, seeing as he could actually talk back, their relationship began to change and morph.

It was easy to talk to him. She found that opening up to him was as easy as opening up to Padfoot, and before long, she was sharing her dreams, her fears, what she wanted to do after Hogwarts, how she really felt being called Mudblood, as if nothing had ever changed. He listened to everything she had to say, telling her about his own past and experiences. She found herself laughing with him more often than not, and before long, she was beginning to quite like him, despite the way that their relationship had begun.

She shared many details and memories of her friendship with Harry, the whole time wondering if she was making the right decision. There was always the chance that Sirius was just playing her, that he'd really done all those awful things he was accused of, and that he would be using her intelligence to get to and hurt Harry. Based on the genuine and melancholy way that he responded, though, she was willing to take the chance.

It was clear that he was still starved for human affection. Many times while they would sit next to each other, she would find him leaning towards her, or find his hand reaching for hers. She could never shake the feeling of his kiss, and she found herself imagining what it would be like to do that again. Eventually, the curiosity would pass, and she would scold herself for wanting so much from someone she barely knew.

Hermione thought that Sirius might have been willing to continue the way that they were, but she knew that he couldn't remain on Hogwarts grounds forever, and thus, continued to press Professor Lupin. They had already tempted fate for long.

In the end, her hand was tipped for her. Headmaster Dumbledore's death had come as a shock to the school. He'd drunk poisoned mead given to him by Professor Slughorn. Draco Malfoy's involvement shocked everyone except for Harry. He had no time to be smug about it, though, seeing as Malfoy had let Death Eaters into the school. The Order had been called, and Dumbledore's Army had fought alongside of them, chasing Voldemort's minions off of school grounds, Malfoy protected in the swoop of Professor Snape's cape.

She knew then that she had to come clean to Professor Lupin about what she'd been doing. Tearfully telling him that she needed to show him something, there was nothing that could be done to dissuade Harry and Ron from tagging along.

Sirius was glad to see Hermione, not having been blind to the fact that some kind of altercation was going on at the school. He'd longed to run into the fray, but he knew that his presence was more likely to cause harm than good. He hadn't been able to contain a whoop of joy when he saw Hermione, bookended by Remus and Harry, who looked exactly like a young James.

He watched as Remus instructed Harry, Hermione and the Weasley boy Hermione had cried over to stay back for a while. It was odd - before, he would have been at his wits end to speak with Harry, but now, his eyes lingered longest on Hermione's. Once the haggard werewolf had come within an arm's distance away, Sirius wrapped him in a bone-breaking hug. Tears came to both of their eyes.

"I always knew it wasn't you," Remus swore up and down. "If I hadn't found Peter a few years ago, though, I doubt anyone else in the Order would have believed me."

It was nice to know that his friend had been his friend through and through, but it didn't do much to erase the pain of being in Azkaban for many years, tormented by every negative memory that the dementors could pull out of him. Sirius listened patiently while Remus explained that Dumbledore was dead. The Order was convening at a safe house, and that Remus would take him there.

A hand squeezed around his heart when he thought about leaving Hermione behind. He glanced over his friend's shoulder, seeing her curly hair and tear stained face, and he thought of all the things he hadn't told her yet. She'd made him feel human again. Would he see her after this day or would fate keep them apart?

Too perceptive for his liking, Remus hissed when he realized that his attention was elsewhere. "Not a good idea, Padfoot. Don't think I haven't picked up on your feelings for Hermione," he scolded. "She's just a girl...barely seventeen. Let her be a teenager, before the war takes that from her too."

Sirius thought about all the things that she had told him about her life, and wondered if it hadn't been taken already. He couldn't help the intense way he felt about her, but he also knew there was no use in arguing about it with Remus now. "Just let me say goodbye to her."

Remus walked back towards the trio, whispering to them, before Hermione crossed the room to stand in front of him. Sirius swept her up into his arms, wanting to take her away from this, from all the hurt and pain. But he knew that they were both Gryffindors, and neither of them would feel content sitting idly by while the rest of the Wizarding World was in turmoil.

"We are leaving tonight," Hermione told him. "Voldemort...well, Professor Dumbledore gave Harry a mission, and we are going to go complete it."

It piqued his interest, but he knew that he wouldn't get more details out of her. "Let me come with you. I can keep you safe," he whispered, his thumb reaching up to trace her bottom lip. "I've been all over the country, and I am sure I can help."

She bit her lower lip, turning her head away from him. This hurt her too. "I don't want to leave you," she admitted, eventually making eye contact. "But it's not safe for you at the moment. Professor Lupin said he was taking you to a safe house. I think that's the best option for us right now."

Hearing her insistence that she wanted to stay with him had his heart soaring. Not caring about their increasingly annoyed audience, Sirius slanted his mouth along hers, wasting no time deepening the kiss, letting his tongue slip against hers greedily. His hand dove into her hair, holding her against his body, relishing the way that they fit together perfectly. Breaking the kiss, he felt pride at seeing her dazed expression; even after all these years without human touch, he could still make a witch see stars. "I love you," he told her simply, his eyes intense, catching her off guard.

Her eyes widening in surprise, she did not immediately return the sentiment. Instead, she seemed troubled by his assertion. "Love? Sirius, we've only known each other for a few days," she argued, taking a minute step backwards, needing the space between them.

"I've known you for weeks now, Hermione," he explained. "I told you before - you know me. Padfoot and I are one in the same."

She didn't seem very convinced, but still, he pressed on. "As soon as the war is over, I will find you, and then we will never have to part again. I love you, Hermione, and when it's done, nothing will keep me away from you," he promised, knowing that it was true. He pressed one last, lingering kiss to her lips, before he pulled away.

Hermione took a deep, shuddering breath, before nodding. "As soon as the war is over," she agreed, before leading him towards her friends. With them all together, he could clearly see that the Weasley boy's face had turned an alarming shade of red, and he looked as though he were trying to hold his tongue. Giving the younger man a smirk, he wished the trio good luck on their mission, before transforming into Padfoot once again, so that he could follow Remus to the safe house.

Walking away from Hermione, leaving her in their cave, was so painful, but he was bolstered by their shared promise. In the light of the moon, he raised his head, before howling out his angst, a haunting sound echoed and rolled over the grounds, ringing long after they were gone.