Chapter 12 for you!

I am sorry it has taken so long for me to post this. I have been struggling along with college work and it sort of takes over life as a whole. Kinda unfortunate really. Still struggling with it all, so this is going to be very short, because I need to get on with the two major projects that I have to have completely finished within the next three weeks.

Read review and enjoy

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Sirius jumped as the front door to the house opened with a loud bang. He looked out of the living room door to see a young girl with flaming red hair storming up the stairs. He assumed this must be Rose, he had heard about her temper. She was upset, and it was evident when the rest of the kids came in that something had happened while they were either on the train, or on the way home. A bedroom door slammed, and Sirius was once again thankful that Kreacher had gotten his mother's portrait off the wall. She would have had a fit.

The rest trooped up the stairs after depositing trunks in a pile near the door. They were silent, and he only heard one door close. They had opted to all stay in one place, and avoid the storming Rose.

Hermione came in through the front door, a pained and weary look on her face. She closed the front door and took off her coat, hanging it up on the hat stand by the door. She walked past the living room door and into the Kitchen, and Sirius heard the characteristic sounds of Hermione clattering around the room in an effort to put her negative energy to good use.

Sirius got up from his seat by the fire and followed her into the Kitchen. In the time that he had been living with Hermione at Grimmauld Place, he had worked out that this was never a healthy option as she would end up dropping a large quantity of something and that would make her even more angry than she was to begin with.

A large crash made him wince as the inevitable happened. She cursed loudly and Sirius opened the door to see her repairing half a cupboard's worth of plates. She was fuming. Sirius walked over to her, catching her wand hand and removing the potentially lethal piece of wood from it. She turned her gaze on him, a rage showing that she was clearly unimpressed that someone had stopped her. It softed however, the moment she realised who it was that had done so. The tense shoulders relaxed and she allowed Sirius to pull her up from the floor.

"What happened?" he asked gently, guiding her to sit down at the kitchen table. He waved his wand vagly over his shoulder and mended the plates, sending them back into the cupboard with a second vague wave. His focus remained on Hermione, who lloked like she was on the brink of tears. He knelt down in front of her, so he was looking up at her, meaning she couldn't avoid him by looking down.

"Ron happened."

That said it all. Ron had turned up again. "What has he done this time?"

"He was waiting at the car when we came out of the station. He said he wanted to see the kids. He wouldn't listen when I told him that they didn't want to see him, he just ploughed on. He wouldn't leave them be. Rose screamed at him, James said something and spat at his feet. He didn't seem to get it at all." Tears were beginning to slip down her face, the events of the day taking their toll. "and now Rose is in a foul mood which will take days to lift, all of the others are miserable. This isn't how them coming home is supposed to be. They are supposed to some home happy and ecited, not down hearted and depressed because some stupid bastard cant get it into his thick skull that he isn't wanted here anymore."

Sirius stood, lifting her chin. He wiped away her tears with the pad of his thumb. "Ron is an arse. Don't concern yourself with him. He isn't a threat to you. Not anymore." He wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. "Don't let him get to you. The kids will be fine, just give them a little time to come round. If all else fails I'll go for the cute dog that sits there with is head in your lap wagging his tail and starring at you till you cant help but smile. It's a fail safe. Works every time." He said. He felt her laugh a little and smiled.

They stayed that way for quite some time in companiable silence, Sirius still holding Hermione. Her head reasted on his chest and she could hear his heart beating. It was soothing and she soon felt much calmer. With a clearer head she tried to remember what the nagging feeling that she had forgotten something meant.

"Oh!" she said suddenly, remembering. "We have to call the Order back up." She pulled away from Sirius, as if she were going to go and begin sorting it out, but Sirius stopped her.

"What? Why?"

"Narcissa sent a message through Draco. She's being called to meetings and the old Death Eaters who were never caught are on the move. There are some new people too, but she's not sure as yet who they are." Hermione explained quickly.

She made to try and move again, but Sirius still refused to let her go. "Let Remus handle it. He knows who all the old crowd are."

"Remus doesn't know."

Sirius drew his wand and flicked it. His patronus flashed out of the room, and he smiled. "He does now."

Hermione quirked an eyebrow. What was he trying to do here?

"You need to calm down a bit. The world doesn't end just cause you aren't running around like a headless chicken organising everything." He said softly, hugging her again.

Hermione settled against his chest again. She wasn't complaining that one of the most sought after bachelors in wizarding history was hugging her; on the contrary, it was a very pleasant experience. He'd been doing it more often lately, hugging her, flirting with her, innuendoes flying around left write and centre. He twisted things she said, or things said in relation to her. She knew he liked her, the others had convinced her of that much, but he had only recently been blatantly showing his affection, as though testing her, to see if she had any interest in him. She had flirted back, and taken a lot more time over her appearance than she would have done previously. She had been tempted to let slip something she had found in his diary on more than one occasion, but she didn't want to upset him, so she kept it quiet.

"Mum?" a small voice came from the doorway and the two turned, Sirius releasing Hermione at the sound. Rose stood there, looking sad and still a little angry. She had been crying, and now she wanted someone to tell her it was all going to be ok.

Hermione walked over and wrapped her own arms around her daughter, letting the girl cling on. "You feeling a bit better now?" she asked. Rose nodded, but she still looked thoroughly miserable. Hermione led her over to the chair that until a few minutes before, she had been occupying. Sirius stepped back a little, giving Hermione a brief smile before slipping from the room.

He didn't go far, just outside the door, before transforming. He heard Hermione ask Rose if she wanted one of Molly's homemade chocolate muffins, and Rose agreeing. He padded into the room, brushing past Hermione as he did so. He went straight to Rose and sat in front of her. She ignored him at first, but he persisted. He laid his ears flat against his head and threw a puppy eyed look at her. She continued to ignore him. He rested his head on her knees and gave a soft whine. She looked at him and he wagged his tail, letting it thump the floor. She looked away again, but he kept it up, giving another little whine. She smiled, still trying to ignore him. He wasn't having that. He jumped up, licking the side of her face, his tail still wagging. His ears perked up and he titled his head to the side, giving him the air of a large playful puppy. She squealed, unable to ignore him and laughing outright. He backed happily and Hermione turned, laughing as he tried to get Rose again. The young girl was trying to fend him off.

"Sirius, get down. Bad boy!" Hermione called across the kitchen. He barked again. "Down!" she said again, and this time he listened. He jumped down and ran over to Hermione, jumping her instead. She moved out of the way. "Sirius stop it." She said smiling. He whined, throwing her the puppy eyes.

"Nice try Sirius, but you throw that look so much I'm practically immune to it." She said, stepping round him to give Rose her muffin. Sirius transformed again, standing up.

He placed his hands over his heart in mock drama. "You wound me Hermione you really do. Is that all the thanks I receive for my services? For taking care of you and your daughter in your time of need?"

The other two laughed. "Aw. I'm sorry Sirius." Hermione replied. He smiled. It was one of his winning smiles that made most women fall it his feet. Hermione could safely place herself in that category. Not that she was going to tell him that.

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There we go my lovelies. Longer than I thought it was going to be. Its not beta-ed cause I thought I'd kept you waiting long enough.

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