A/N: I started writing this story 5 years ago, and I haven't written much since. But I'm back now. Hope there's someone out there still reading. This chapter took a very long time to complete. If you think it's still worth it, review and I'll go on with the story. Thanks a bunch!

Disclaimer: Own nothing, just my computer and my will to write

Puppy Love

Chapter V: Beginnings

They say time flies when you're having fun. Well, time was certainly behaving strangely for Hermione. Not only had she travelled 30 years into the past, months were now slipping away like sand from her fingers. Three months had passed since she had woken up in the hospital wing, and she could hardly believe it. Between classes, homework and getting to know her new friends, she had lost track of dates and before she knew it, Christmas was just a couple of weeks away.

Life had come to be pretty similar to what she knew in her own time. She attended classes, studied hard, did her homework, aced every class. In relation to study, it was business as usual. As to the people around her, well, she had grown very fond of Lily and Beth; she came to consider them real friends. Olivia, on the other hand, she didn't care for. There was something dark about her. She didn't fully trust her, and it was clear Hermione wasn't her favorite person either, so they were just polite and civil to each other, but mainly tried to avoid one another when they could. As for the boys, Hermione greatly enjoyed spending time with them as well. She didn't share Lily's opinion of them, but of course, her judgment was biased, as she already knew and liked two of them, and was best friends with the other's son. In any case, whenever she was alone with them, it felt almost as if she was back where she belonged.

However, she also missed her friends. She still hadn't figured out what she was supposed to be doing or which was the reason why she had been sent to the past. From her research and her conversations with Professor Dumbledore she had gathered that there was no way of getting home until the castle was satisfied she had accomplished her mission. And the fastest way of doing that was discovering what that was. She should be putting all her efforts into finding out the reason why Hogwarts had decided to remove her from her age and send her to the past.

Be as it may, there was something else that was starting to occupy too many of her thoughts for her liking, something that had her worried enough to send her mission to the back of her head. Or rather, someone else. Sirius. They were spending a lot of time together. At the beginning, it was as if he felt responsible for her, like he had to look after her and make sure she fitted in, she was happy. But now, they just wanted to be together. They talked a lot, laughed a lot. They managed to find excuses to be together, preferably alone. They sought each other out for the silliest reasons. She knew what that meant, she wasn't going to lie to herself.

It had taken her only a couple of weeks for her to see Sirius in a different light. She had never known him so careless and free. She suspected he had never truly been himself around her until now. The Sirius she knew was a responsible adult who had to look out for the life of his godson. But even then she had found him fascinating. How was she to resist the charms of this young, unpreoccupied, yet just as enchanting, version of him? She had tried very hard to stop herself from falling for him, but the damage was done from that afternoon in Hogsmeade, and there was nothing she could do about it now.

Still, it weren't her feelings for him what worried her the most. She knew that nothing could happen between them; she had seen the future, knew what lay ahead of him and she couldn't change it, no matter how much she wanted to. She was, after all, Hermione Granger, rational and sensible, even when it came to feelings. No, her worries were elsewhere, with him. She was aware that she wasn't the only one who was experiencing inappropriate emotions. Yet, he didn't understand the dangers involved, how could he? He had no idea that their paths were to cross in a couple of decades for a period as short as critical of their lives.

Hermione knew she was supposed to discourage those feelings. However, it was proving almost as hard as not thinking about the future. He was handsome, funny, smart and above all, sweet. He had managed to get under her skin in a way only one other person had: Ron. And he had enough experience as to know how to use that situation to his advantage. He had had enough girls to recognize the signs, and though Hermione was clever enough to see through his most obvious moves, this time he was playing a card he had never used before, one that was powerful enough to knock down any wall of excuses: honesty.

He really was falling for her and he was determined to get her. This was what had Hermione so preoccupied. If these feelings had been one-sided, she was sure she would have been able to handle them without anyone even noticing, But with Sirius being so blatant about his intentions towards her… well, she wasn't sure how long her resolution would hold.

This evening she was trying to read an Ancient Runs book in the Common Room, but every other minute her gaze traveled up to where he was, concentrated on a Quidditch magazine. A flock of hair was falling over his face, making him look –if possible- even hotter. He had the shadow of a beard which gave him a sort of rough look. Suddenly, he looked up from his magazine and caught her staring. He grinned.

"What's up, Pickles?"

"Pickles?" She questioned him, glad he hadn't asked why she had been looking at him, even though it sounded by his tone he already knew.

"That's my nickname for you. It was high time I found you one that suited you, since I have one for everybody else," he answered simply.

"Yeah, but why Pickles?" She asked, wrinkling her nose.

"You've just answered your own question. It's because of that thing you do with your nose. I do the same every time I have pickles. Besides, it goes cute on you…" He made a pause, as if considering what he had just said, "then again, everything does," he finished with a confident wink.

The Common Room was pretty empty. Most of the students were outside, enjoying what was probably the last sun of the year. Hermione was suddenly very aware of the quietness that surrounded them. She didn't know what to say. Or rather, she knew perfectly well what she wanted to say, and all the reasons why she wasn't supposed to. However, as he so often did, he seemed to know exactly what was going on inside her head. He stood up from his couch and walked towards her, sitting down right next to her. This sent her heart racing and made her breathing lose its usual pace.

"This chair is not big enough for both of us," she managed to say, trying hard to avoid his eyes, which was a difficult task, since his face was inches from his.

"I know that," he replied in a soft voice. How could he be so calmed when her heart felt as if it was trying to climb up her throat? "But I tend to ignore rules when they are, hm, inconvenient."

He was so close, she could feel his breath on her lips. She took a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself, but his cologne filler her lungs and her head, numbing her senses. She knew the only reason why he hadn't kissed her yet was because he cared enough for her to let her make the decision. Yet, this didn't mean he was going to make it easy for her to make the right one rather than the one they both wanted her to take.

"Sirius, I…" She began, but she couldn't continue. She couldn't tell him what was on her mind because it was wrong. And at the same time, she couldn't deny what she was feeling, because she didn't want to.

There he was, looking at the straight in the eye, reading her feelings like an open book.

"What are you so afraid of?" he asked softly. He took one of her hands between his before continuing. "You know how I feel, it's not like with the others. I feel different about you, I'm serious about you."

"You have no idea how difficult you're making this for me," she managed to say, breathlessly.

"I could make it so easy," he said, every syllable filled with longing. "I've never been like this before; you bring this out in me. And I can see right there, in your eyes, that you feel the same. I wish you would tell me why…" He didn't finish the sentence.

"Sirius, you know where I come from; you know sooner or later I'll have to go back." It wasn't enough for him, and she knew it. Hell, it was scarcely enough for her.

"Then why not make the most of the time we have together? And when you go back, you can look me up. I promise I'll wait for you. Hermione, I know I'll never feel for any other woman how I feel about you."

He was so honest, so certain of what he was saying that for a moment Hermione believed he was going to beat death and they would live happily ever after. But the warm bubble that his words had pumped up inside her burst a second later. Their destiny was written and nothing could nor would change that.

"It doesn't work like that," she tried to explain, but he interrupted her.

"At least tell me that you'll think about it."

"I think about it all the time," she answered honestly. She shouldn't have said that, she was making herself too vulnerable, but the words had left her mouth before she could stop them. She saw his eyes light up with hope as he held her hand tighter.

In the intensity of the moment, neither of them had heard the other marauders enter the Common Room. James cleared his throat making both Sirius and Hermione looked towards the entrance.

"We are terribly sorry to interrupt this tooth-caviting moment, but we need Padfoot,"said Remus, not even bothering to hide the teasing grin that was playing on his lips.

"Yeah, it's time we left to do the thing," James said pointedly. "We'll leave you two to say your goodbyes," he added winking, "try to make it quick Padfoot, we know you can." Laughing, the three boys left the room before either of the other two could said anything.

"Well, Pickles, I need to go now. But this conversation isn't over." He kissed her in the forehead and followed his friends through the portrait, leaving her to unriddle her own thoughts and wishing she could go after him.

There was an air of excitement on the Great Hall the following morning during breakfast. There was to be a visit to Hogsmead so that the students could go Christmas shopping. Olivia had a date with a guy from Ravenclaw, so Beth, Lily and Hermione were going by themselves. Beth was delighted at the prospect of an afternoon full of shopping bags, she talked with eagerness about all the stores they could visit and which they should go to first. Lily and Hermione were exchanging amused glances over toast when the marauders took the empty sits next to them.

"Morning Lils," greeted James, attempting bravely to put his arm around her shoulders, but freezing in mid gesture when he saw the look she was throwing him.

"I've told you a thousand times not to call me Lils… And don't touch me," she scowled.

This made Hermione smile sadly. It had just occurred to her that if any girl had looked at Harry like that he would have blushed scarlet and refused to talk to her for months. James, who the living image of his son-to-be, merely smiled even more broadly and changed tactics. "Sorry, I forgot. I just can't help myself when I'm near you. When will you give me a chance?" he asked making puppy eyes at her.

"What's wrong, Mione?" Sirius inquired. As he had no interest in watching Lily turn James down yet again, he had been concentrating in Hermione, and couldn't help but notice her grim.

"Nothing," she said as brightly as she could manage, avoiding his gaze. "So, what are you up to today?"

"We thought we'd tried to get in the Shrieking Shack," James answered, inflating his chest to make himself look taller. Lily coffed something that sounded very much like "childish". Everyone laughed as James' chest deflated.

"What are you girls doing?" Remus asked, looking at Beth.

"Oh, just Christmas shopping," she answered, matter-of-factly, though her cheeks had turned the faintest shade of pink.

Hermione sighed. It was so clear those two liked each other. Of course, she knew why Remus wasn't doing anything about it. He thought he wasn't worthy of her. Or anyone, for that matter. And he was scared of her finding out what he really was and hating him for that. And as for her, she was just really shy when she liked someone that much. It was a pity, really. They could be together, they were a perfect match. It wasn't as with her and… "Stop it," she told herself. She wasn't supposed to be thinking about it. She made up her mind. She was going to try to get Remus and Beth together. It was going to be tricky convincing Remus without confessing she knew his secret. She looked at them, stealing glances when they thought no one was looking. Maybe all they needed was a little nudge in the right direction.

"Where's Peter?" Hermione asked as a plan formed in her head.

"Detention with McGonagall. He didn't finish his essay in time, so he has to spend the afternoon in the library working on it," explained James.

Hermione smiled, this was perfect. "Why don't we get together for drinks later today?" She looked sideways at Lily to shut her up. She knew she was going to protest, but she'd have to explain later, when Beth wasn't around. Otherwise, they would never agree.

"You mean, like a date?" Sirius asked enthusiastically.

"Nope, just drinks, the six of us. Say, around four at the Three Broomsticks?" They boys nodded their agreement, so did Beth. Lily looked at her a little crossed, but said nothing. "Great then, girls, we should be going. See you later, guys." And with that, the three girls left the table, leaving behind three boys who just couldn't believe their luck.

"Why on earth did you do that?" Lily rounded on Hermione the moment they were out of earshot.

"It was the only way I could think of to get those two together," she pointed at Beth, who had not noticed her friends had come to holt and was walking ahead, and Lily understood.

"The things one does for friends…" Lily sighed and rushed on to catch up with Beth.

They had a most enjoyable morning, in spite of the cold weather. Hermione had thought she would feel weird visiting Hogsmead without Harry and Ron, but the truth was that she had barely thought about them. In fact, she was having such a good time, she was surprised when Beth pointed out it was nearly time to meet the boys, where had the day gone?

James, Remus and Sirius were already there, sitting at a table at the very back of the pub, six butterbeers in front of them. It took some time for the girls to negotiate their way to where they were, since all of them where carrying at least six or seven shopping bags.

"What did you get me for Christmas?" James asked Lily genially, as she sat down in front of him.

"A hard kick in the chin, but I can give it to you right now, if you don't want to wait till the 25th," she answered in a falsely sweet voice. Everyone laughed. And James, instead of blushing or looking putout as Harry would most certainly do, replied "You don't need to invent excuses to make physical contact, Lils, I'm yours for you to touch whenever and wherever you want." She scowled, but Hermione noticed that the gesture seemed somewhat forced. She wondered whether there was a part of Lily that was starting to consider the possibility that James wasn't just a big-headed prat. No sooner had this thought formed in her head, she felt something funny inside her, something very similar to what she had experienced right before passing out and waking up in the Hospital Wing thirty years in the past. And an idea occurred to her: had she been sent here to help Lily and James get together?

She was brought back from her musings by Sirius tracing the palm of her hand with his index finger, which resulted in goosebumps running down her back. "Hi," he said smiling seductively when she looked up at him. This made her blush, but not from embarrassment, and look around. Beth and Remus were sitting side by side, making small talk and smiling shyly at one another. Hermione caught Lily's eye and beamed, the readhead returned her smile.

She could still feel Sirius's eyes on her, so she took a sip of butterbeer and looked around the pub. Only then she realized that the Marauders had chosen a pretty secluded corner for the meeting, and that a Christmas tree –not unlike the one she had placed in front of her's, Harry's and Ron's table at that very bar a couple of years ago- had suddenly appeared, blocking the view of the rest of the room.

"We wanted to get some privacy," said Sirius, who was looking at where Hermione's head pointed.

"And why exactly did you need privacy for?" She asked, feigning ignorance.

"Oh, I don't know… planning a trip to the Forbidden Forest tonight, discussing ways of upsetting Snivelus… kissing…" he answered, playing with a lock of her hair around his finger, and getting closer. It was imperative he stopped doing that to her, she wasn't sure how much longer she would resist.

"I don't think Lily would agree to any of them," she answered, averting her eyes from his handsome features. Her heart was beating fast, and it was getting difficult to follow a train of thought. She had half hoped Lily would look up at the sound of her name, but nothing happened. In fact, through the corner of her eye she saw that neither Lily nor James where there.

"They went to get drinks," explained Sirius, who was still gazing at her intently. In front of them, Beth was giggling at a story Remus was telling her, their heads a lot closer than was necessary and completely oblivious to anything that happened around them. Hermione had a sudden inspiration. She took Sirius by the hand and made him stand up. He looked astonished but delighted.

"I think we should leave them alone," Hermione whispered, gesturing to the couple sitting opposite them. Sirius' chest fell a little, but he nodded. He waved his wand and Hermione's packages disappeared, he had sent them straight to her bedroom.

They saw Lily and James at the bar, chatting amicably. "Maybe we shouldn't interrupt them either," suggested Hermione, and Sirius nodded again, looking happier this time, because that meant they were going to be alone together as well.

He took her hand the moment they were outside the door, and steered her up the road that lead to the shrieking shack. She hadn't had time to put on her gloves, still his touch was enough to keep her warm. She should suggest they went back to the castle, to the crowded Common Room, where the most they could do was exchange glances and smile at each other. Letting him guide her to an isolated building was reckless, even dangerous. She was playing with fire. They were playing with fire. However, it appeared her resolution had been magically sent to her bedroom together with the rest of her stuff. The tinkling sensation spreading from the hand he was holding fogged her brain.

They had reached the fence of the Shack, predictably, there was nowhere around. He conjured a blanket out of thin air and enchanted it so it wouldn't get wet or cold in the snow. Placed it below a large tree facing the house and motioned for her to sit down. Knowing full well that this was the last thing she should do, she obliged. He sat next to her, their shoulders touching.

"Have you thought about what we talked about yesterday?"

"Sirius, I…" She said once more, but she really had no idea how to go on. How could she explain everything she had on her mind at that very moment?

"Hermione," he said very seriously, "I know you know things I don't about the future; and I know there's a good reason for you to battle so hard against this. But, the truth is, these feelings exist between us, weather we act on them or not. Even if nothing ever happens between us, I will still have them, and I'm pretty sure the same goes for you. So, what's the point in fighting when we could be so happy?"

He was looking straight into her eyes, looking for the answer her mouth wouldn't give. The battle was lost, he could read how she felt right there in her eyes. Hermione's heart was beating so fast she thought it might leap from her chest. He had placed one of his hands on her chin, and was tracing her lips with his thumb. She blinked and swallowed. Without a single word, he asked the question. She nodded, unable to fight it any longer. He moved his hand to her cheek, and slowly grew closer, until his lips found hers.