Hermione laughed. She couldn't help it.

'You're a plonker,' she told Sirius. 'An absolute plonker.'

He gave her that familiar cheeky grin but his eyes didn't quite make the smile. They were full of confusion and hurt. She felt her heart breaking all over again as she looked at him. She patted the space on the bed next to her, inviting him to sit down. He shook his head, not wanting to get any closer to her than she was. She didn't seem real, this didn't seem real.

'What now?' he murmured, crossing his arms. Two small, single syllable words yet they meant so much to the both of them. Hermione gave a small, defeated shrug. She thought she'd know what she got here what to do. Merlin knows she knew everything else. She reached out to touch him, to comfort him, to get him to uncross his arms, relax and come and sit next to her so she did not feel quite so out of place. He flinched from her hand, though, and drew his arms tighter to his chest.

She stood up, slowly, not wanting to startle him. Sirius stood his ground, watching her warily. Not touching him, she went up on her tiptoes until their lips were level and gently pressed hers against his. She savoured the quick contact but quickly broke it off. He still watched her as she returned to normal level, standing on the flats of her sole. Carefully, ever so carefully, he reached up to her cheek and slowly touched it with the tip of his finger. Hermione was not sure how to react as he softly touched her. He drew away.

'Eyelash,' he said quietly, displaying his fingertip to her which indeed had a long black eyelash on. 'Make a wish.'

Hermione ran through all the wishes she could make, the improbable, the impossible and finally settled at one. She puffed her cheeks and breathed out, blowing the eyelash away as she made her wish. She smiled up at him and she saw a ghost of a smile back. This was enough for her and she threw her arms around his neck before kissing him again; gentle no longer. To her surprise, he complied, kissing her back with all the desperation, passion and sadness he could manage. He picked her up, still joined at the lips and put her down on the bed, following her.

Before long, they were a mess of legs and arms, still fully clothed. Sirius was stroking her cheek, an intimate action of which Hermione appreciated the tenderness of. And they were kissing, kissing, kissing. They had not stopped kissing. It was proving to be a much more effective way of communication compared to talking. Hermione could tell how Sirius felt by the way he was kissing her. Sirius could tell what Hermione could not explain by the way she was kissing him.

Time passed. It could've been minutes, hours, days, even mere seconds. The time was not the important thing, being with each other was. Eventually, they drew away from one another, his hand still resting on her cheek.

'I love you,' she told him.

'I know,' he said. 'I know.' He kissed her at the end of her gorgeous little nose. 'I love you too.' She smiled at that, knowing he meant it. 'What did you wish for?'

'I can't tell you that,' she answered. 'Then it won't come true.'

'Fair enough,' he said, removing his hand from her cheek. Hermione's heart sank for a mere second before she realised he was just brushing the hair out of her eyes. 'I want you to keep it, by the way.'

'Keep what?'

'The necklace.' He pushed himself off the bed and picked the necklace off the floor. He motioned for her to turn around and placed the necklace round her neck, fastening it at the back. Pushing her hair out of the way, he kissed the back of her neck.

'I want to keep it,' she said, turning to face him. They stared at one another, the necklace meaning so much more than a necklace. 'What now?' she murmured softly, repeating his words. He gave the same shrug she did, which would have been funny if it wasn't so tragic.

'Go,' he said. 'I understand.' Hermione's eyes filled with tears but she had already come to the conclusion that it was the only way. She gave him one last peck on the cheek, which he gave a disdainful laugh to before sweeping her up in his arms and giving her a deep kiss. As their tongues met, she felt herself melt in his arms.

'Go,' he broke away and commanded her. She gave a small, determined nod. The time turner/portkey lay on the side and she walked over to it, hand trembling above it. Sirius was watching her and gave her a reassuring smile. Her hand got closer and closer to it, but just before touching it she turned to face him again.

'I wished that you'd be happy, Sirius.'

And with that, she was gone in a whirlwind of magic and reality.

He stared at the space she had been for a while but did not cry. Instead, he sat there with a small smile at the corner of one mouth. He was determined to make her wish come true.