It was in the late 17th century that the means of unbinding human house slaves from their established pureblood families was concocted. The employment of muggle borns had been occurring for centures in wizarding Britain, most notable throughout the generations of the oldest Pureblood families: the Avery's, Black's, Carrow's, Lestrange's, Malfoy's and Yaxley's. Through religious and intricate study of the original and complex 'doulos dodum' spell that binds one human to a family, (similarly to the elf being bound to a house), an English muggle-born wizard name Romulus Bloxam was able to reverse the spell on itself which then enabled the house slave in question to be "set free". The result was 'mudod soluod'…

"That's it Sirius, that's it!"

They were in her sleeping headquarters, lit up in candle light. Sirius, who was leaning on the wall opposite her, quickly glanced up from the ancient book of magic he was scanning through. They'd brought down a massive pile from the Black library, which had been a task in itself; tip toeing up and down the stairs, hiding in the shadows so no one would spot them…

"You're sure?"

He was grinning.

Hermione nodded and grinned back. "Positive. I do this spell then the spell her majesty cast on me will be reversed and I'll be released. I'll use my wand on my unbroken-wrist-hand, which is… my left. I'm not as confident so it'll be a bit shaky, but it should be okay. Have a look at this paragraph: page two hundred and eighty."

She handed him the book and watched him as he began to read, his eyes moving down the page. When he had finished his eyebrows rose impressively and his mouth slid into a delighted smirk. "And always, my 'Mione is right. Thank fuck for that." He put the book on the floor, still open, and patted his lap. "Come 'ere and give me a kiss."

She nibbled on her lip and timidly crawled over to him, unable to stop smiling when he started to drum his fingers against the floor in impatience. She dropped her head and stifled a laugh, and she could almost sense him trying to refrain from growling at her.

"Hermione," he said, in a low unamused drawl. "Get your arse here now."

She just about reached him and before she knew it he had swiftly pulled her onto his lap, his strong arms coiling around her waist, where he liked them best. Her dress had ripped on the night of the cruciatus curse and his hands rested on the hole that resulted, touching the bare, exposed skin of her abdomen.

"That's better."

He gently held her right hand, all wrapped up in cloth, and brought it to his lips, kissing each finger. "If only my lips could heal you baby."

Her throat had dried before she could comprehend it, and she made a soft hum of contentment. "If only."

He continued his tender kisses, and her lips parted as watched him. It was all way more sensual than he had intended it to be.

Her eyes flickered to his lips and suddenly they were kissing again, his fingers tangled in her hair and guiding her head to meet him a certain way. As cliché and pathetic as it sounded, their lips rubbing each other, coaxing in and out of each other felt right, in the most simplest and uncomplicated way.

It was like a replay of their kiss yesterday except now it was quicker, more insistent somehow. They knew what they wanted. Their tongues probed earlier, curling and caressing, his grunts and growls were louder, her whimpers more frequent and more intense. His hands became that little bit friskier, sliding up her back, down her long legs, even slipping under her dress to squeeze her arse. He explored her like a man starved.

It felt too good to stop him at first. She was too in the moment, too addicted to him.

But then he did it again.

She pulled away immediately, laughing. "No!" she caught his wandering hands and dragged them off and out from under there sharpish. "We're meant to be doing this spell!"

Her cheeks felt hot and her lips felt sore. Sirius grinned wolfishly as he panted, calming himself. She noticed his lips were moist and just as well kissed as hers. He ran a hand up her smooth leg again, revelling in the smooth velvetiness of her cream white skin, the thighs that he so loved and her voluptuous, perfect rear. All the girls in his year were just that… girls. Hermione was a woman, and the most gorgeous he'd ever clapped eyes on.

He shook his head slightly.

"You," he whispered, nipping her ear and growling. "Are positively sinful, trying to undo me like this."

Her eyes fell shut as she felt his lips descend her neck. His breath was hot and the soft nibbling, sucking, kissing of his lips so sensual that when she did finally break away again, her heart was beating so rapidly she was gasping for a breath. She clutched onto his hands again and held them in her own, ceasing their exploring. "The spell Sirius."

"Do we have to do it now?"

She bit her lip in uncertainty, but said nothing. Neither did he.

In a silent agreement they moved hastily and were kissing again. Hands were tugging at hair, wrapped around necks, sliding down chests and backs. He tasted so good – a mixture of wine, smoke and mint and his scent smelling like sweet hazelnut and cinnamon… she was beside herself, really, in a way she had never been with Ron. If their kisses could be a word, the word was passion. The raw and fiery kind that some people long for, search their whole lives for but never find. And it took every slither of power she possessed to drag herself away.

"Yes."

He went to kiss her again and she put a finger to his lips.

"Stop now."

His head fell back against the wall with a thump. She ignored him. "Where's your wand?"

"In my trousers love," his voice was husky as he tried to catch his breath. "It's hard as a brick and standing at fourteen inches."

His eyes were dark and twinkling with mischief. It only confirmed her suspicions. She could feel the evidence herself, restrained in his chinos but pressing so deliciously against her French knickers. In their hazy fumbling she had barely registered it, his want, his desire, how much she was driving him crazy- and now she was wondering how on earth she hadn't. She thought about older Sirius. This was him she was kissing after all, his hands that she held, his erection she could feel against her. She swallowed hard and slid off of him before her breath started coming out in pants again.

"It's not fourteen inches really," he said lightly, watching her as she adjusted herself.

"Didn't think so."

"It's fifteen."

He barked with laughter. She rolled her eyes and shook her head. In their moment of hasty passion the book they had found the spell in had been kicked shut and now they had lost the page. She flicked to two hundred and eighty again, sighing as she tried to ignore that his body was still shaking with chuckles.

"Sirius."

He cleared his throat, seeming to sense she was no longer in the mood for banter, no matter how flirtatious it may be. "Sorry love, what's the spell?"

He reached for his wand in his pocket, trying to ignore the raging hard on he was currently harbouring. It was proving to be difficult.

She squinted at the page. "Mudod soluod…" her eyes scanned further down the page and widened in shock. "Oh, you've got to be joking…"

His eyebrows sprung up at her tone. "What? What's the matter?"

"It says… It says the caster of the spell has to be a member of the family I'm a slave for. Bloxam discovered, after months of investigation, that the freeing of the slave would be impotent unless the spell was performed by a member of the family, sharing the same bond of pure blood. In cases in the last three hundred years where the family has not consented to cast the spell, slaves have laboured for more than half a century to perish in the house of their enslaved, whereas others have committed suicide as a means of escape from the world they so loathe." She looked up at him mournfully.

Sirius, concerned but confused, shook his head. "So I'll cast the spell. What's the problem?"

She had a feeling he knew exactly what the problem was, but he was just feigning innocence. Or ignorance.

"You aren't allowed to do magic outside of school! And this isn't some…" she thought of Harry, "some occasion where you accidentally blow up a garden gnome…" He shot her a strange look, and she vaguely supposed that wasn't a typical accident for a teenage wizard. "You know what I mean," she said with a huff. "This is dark magic Sirius, ancient magic. You'll be expelled within a minute! There's no possibility we can-"

"Has it ever occurred to you 'Mione, as amazing and intelligent and beautiful as you are-" she blushed. "-That I don't actually give two shits about whether I'm expelled or not?"

The blush turned to into a bristle. "You say that now, but you wait. What about James, Remus…?" she refused to say Peter. "-what about Lily and all the things you will be missing out on?"

She couldn't believe he was actually considering this.

"They're my best mates, I'll still see them," he said nonchalantly.

When she nibbled on her lip, clearly unconvinced, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, cuddling her close.

"I've had nearly seven years with them 'Mione, and only a month with you. Do you know what we could do when you've been released from this place? Of all the places we could go? We could do whatever we want. We…" he ran a hand through his hair, like he was contemplating all the options. "-we could go shopping by day and eat in fancy restaurants by night. We could go to concerts and theatre shows and the pubs in muggle London that I've been to with James. We could get you an unlimited supply of fudge from Honeydukes. We could get drunk together and go skinny dipping. We could stay up all night, gazing at the stars, looking for the dogstar. And I can teach you Wizards chess and how to ballroom dance. We could…" he started to chuckle lowly. "Well I was never one for cheesy speeches but we could explore the world! And you know, the best bit…" he stroked a finger down her cheek, his eyes looking steadily into her own. "We could be together without having to look over our shoulder all the time."

She turned to look at him, her forehead resting on his. He was looking at her. His grey eyes had tinge of light blue in them in the candlelight. It made her smile, and she was sure in that moment that Sirius Black was her favourite person in the whole world.

"I'm just worried about you." She muttered, leaning to kiss him.

He kissed her back. "Why?"

"I don't know."

"I think you do."

She grinned and rested her hand on his cheek, her fingers running over his stubble. He leant into her touch and kissed her thumb, grinning too. He looked so astounding that her eyes started prickling, and she willed for them to stop. She didn't want any water works, but they seemed damn well likely. What had happened to her? When had she become such a romantic?

"I want you to be having a wild time Sirius, doing all that stuff you just said… but with your friends. Not me. It's what being a teenager and growing up is all about. Love comes after. And Hogwarts is your home."

He's goes into Azkaban when he's twenty one. He's goes into Azkaban when he's twenty one!

He smiled and pushed back a strand of her fallen hair. "So we are then?"

She furrowed her eyebrows. "Are we what?"

"In love."

He gazed at her. She was pretty sure she was gazing right back. And she was also pretty sure that she had just been melted to mush and all that was left was a puddle with her beating heart in. She swallowed hard. The lump didn't go away.

"Well," she cleared her throat and looked at him again. "From the books I've read…-"

"Books?"

"Yes."

For the life of her she didn't know how he managed to bark with laughter when she was battling sobbing her heart out, but he did. And he sounded so happy. And he looked so delectably handsome it made her heart physically ache.

The answer they finally came down to, three minutes and twelve seconds later, was that yes they were in love, and yes, Hermione had read several people's accounts of what it felt like to 'fall in love' to confirm it. She realised how funny she sounded when Sirius had imitated her some minutes later…

"So… the spell…" he said, when their laughter had finally died down. "Will you let me do it?"

She peered down at their joined hands, their intertwined fingers, mulling it over. The spell would definitely lead to expulsion…

Somewhere in the back of her mind she knew that older Sirius had got NEWTs, so he must have gone back to Hogwarts in his seventh year somehow. But still, that wasn't the point was it? She had been telling him for weeks that she wouldn't be responsible for getting him expelled. She didn't want to risk changing the time line. She was already stepping on dangerous grounds being stuck in 1976 and meddling with events such as this, and people, such as Sirius.

Sirius wasn't meant to fall for her.

Maybe some part of her hoped that it wouldn't ripple through to her time; that his love for her would shrivel up and die like a rose in winter. Or maybe she hoped that he'd be obliviated somehow, and he'd forgotten that she was ever a slave in his childhood home.

But then she looked at him.

She saw how the easy smile spread across his lips. How his eyes were alight and twinkling like jolly stars in the sky. How his hair was shaggy and bed tousled like he'd arisen from bed minutes ago, not hours. How he had called her beautiful the moment they first met on top of the stairs. How he knocked on her door and begged her to let him in. How they stayed up till dawn asking questions about each other. How he stumbled over his words when he told her he bought her some fudge from Honeydukes. How they fell asleep in each other's arms. How he mouthed 'kiss me' with his lips. How, in the same spot where they were now, he asked her if she'd ever been in love and she'd pretended to be asleep.

And she couldn't obliviate him.

Because she knew that he'd lose his two best friends on his birthday five years from now, and she knew that for twelve years he wouldn't sleep on a bed. Most of all, she knew the two things that would keep him living through it all, give him a reason to open his eyes and blink in the blackness every morning. One was Harry. The other was her.

She needed him to embrace every second and take life by the gruff of its neck now, while he was still young and blissfully unaware. She needed him to live the way he wanted. And that meant letting him free her and letting him get expelled from Hogwarts.

He's got NEWTs. She reminded herself. He'll go back. She didn't know how he would go back, but she knew he did.

"Do it then," she said, flashing him with a brilliant smile.

His mouth hung open and he blinked at her, clearly in shock. "Really? You want me to?"

She beamed. "I want you to."

Before he could say anything else she snuggled into his embrace, squeezed her eyes closed and listened to the excited thumping of his heart.

He healed her wrist first, and for several minutes she entertained herself with moving it around in a circle just because she could. It's funny how you take little things like that for granted in everyday life, and you only realise what you have until it's gone. He performed the freeing spell minutes after, and she felt a wave of cool pass over as she was magically relieved from the duties of the Ancient House of Black.

"Time to start living 'Mione. Let's get the fuck out of here."

He pulled her to her feet, wrapped his arm under her knees and lifted her into his arms.

"Where are we going?"

She glanced back over his shoulder as she was carried up the spiral staircase, seeing the dingy basement she had slept in for last month slip away from her. So much had happened to her in that room, and she found herself wandering how something so foul could be the setting for some entirely new and blossoming love between two of its inhabitants. It was oddly surreal, that she would never be on her knees furiously scrubbing at the floors again. But it was a good-surreal. A life changing-surreal. He hoisted her higher into his arms and chuckled amusedly as she squealed and clung onto his shoulders for dear life. In his mind, the tighter she held him the better. He never wanted to let her go.

He kicked open the door and the hall flooded with the dusky moonlight of early morning.

"Sirius!" she stage whispered this time. If it was close to six o'clock Mistress Black would be waking up for the day. "-Tell me where we're going!"

"We'll go shopping to get you some new clothes, then wherever you want," he said, as if it was as easy and as simple as talking about the weather. He started to chuckle because he then added as an afterthought- "I hope you like flying… we're going on my motorbike."

He dropped a kiss to her forehead and grinned charmingly at her as she stared at him, completely and utterly stunned, but more excited than she ever had been in her whole life. They were passing the last portrait of a Black ancestor, Orion Black 2nd, when she said the words. She didn't think three words could be said with the bursting emotion in which she said them.

Well she proved herself wrong.

She cupped a hand around his ear. "I love you."

She felt his muscles tense, and immediately he inclined his head towards her, his eyes quietly seeking the comfort of her own. He found what he needed in them: her sincerity. They could see each other's silhouettes reflected in their eyes. Slowly he lowered her to the floor and raised her chin with a single touch of his finger. His adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed.

She didn't know when he had turned from boy to man, but he had. Being in such delicious proximity to him she could see the smattering of dark stubble along his jaw, and the grey blue swirls in his eyes, which looked like every emotion was flittering through them. This Sirius was the Sirius she knew, and the Sirius that she wanted so hopelessly. There were some differences of course, but they looked the same, smelt the same, laughed the same, whispered her name the same.

"Mione... Oh 'Mione, merlin knows I love you too."

Her face flooded with happiness and she smiled until she grinned, grinned until she laughed and laughed until she cried. Why she was crying, really, she didn't know, but Sirius held her in his arms and kissed her until all her trickling tears had dried. That's what they were like when it happened – standing right by the front door, cradling each other's faces, their bodies wound into one as they kissed each other achingly slow, their tongues latching together.

Neither of them realised it was six o'clock.

Breaking for breath and recapturing, he walked them to the door, her back hitting it with a thud that didn't hurt. She whimpered as he deepened the kiss further, hot tongues connecting, his hand on her neck, the other tangled in her hair; he revelled in the sounds she made, the short, sharp breaths she gasped as he traced kisses to her neck.

One minute they were alone, the next minute the eerily loud footsteps of Walburga Black were hurtling down the stairs towards them. The shadow of her raised wand was reflected on the wall.

"YOU MUDBLOOD WHORE!"

Sirius saw her in the last second and yanked Hermione out of the way, his eyes wide. Walburga's green killing curse shot past them and into the wall of the drawing room. Both Sirius and Hermione clamped their hands over their ears as the curse blasted the wall apart. Portraits and bricks flew to the air, and everything seemed to slow.

He could hear his mother's ear piercing shrieks, but they sounded far away, echoing in his head, as if he was in a dream. He knew why it that was when he put a hand to his head and felt the bubbling warmth of his blood.

"YOU! GET OUT! GET OUT! YOU DISGUSTING, LOATHSOME PIECE OF FILTH-!"

Sirius was only looking at one person. "Hermione, let's go."

Another killing spell, this time at hurtling for the both of them. They leapt apart like the gates of hell were hot on their heels and it flew by, inches from Hermione's shoulder. The mere heat of it singed his eyebrows and her long hair. With a roar, the wooden banister went up in flames.

"YOU'RE NO SON OF MINE! GET OUT AND NEVER SHOW YOUR FACE TO ME AGAIN! YOU'RE A SHAME TO YOUR FAMILY! A SHAME TO THE NAME OF WIZARD, SHE'S A WHORE, A MUDBLOOD WHORE, DIRT, FILTH-"

Hermione was on the floor, having fallen into a heap of rubble. He kicked and shoved the rubble out of his way to get to her, flattening and ripping several oiled portraits in the process. The whole hallway had been demolished in a matter of seconds, and the fire was getting fiercer, eating up the stairs, licking up carpet. His mother screamed more, like a furious banshee let loose in the room. The fire was spreading now, the smoke getting thicker.

"HERMIONE!" he roared, stretching for her hand. "WE NEED TO GO - NOW!"

Hermione reached out for him, struggling to grasp his fingers. Her leg was stuck. And she couldn't reach for her wand.

She could hear cackling, but she didn't know if it was Mistress Black or the fire. Everything was a blur. Her senses were hazy. Sirius saw, out of the corner of his eye, his mother raise his wand again. The final strike. Tears were clawing at his eyes.

"SHIT HERMIONE, MOVE! MOVE!"

But she couldn't.

"AVADA-"

Yelling, he dived on top of her.

"KEDAV-"

He landed on top of her back, his body shielding hers and his head buried into her hair. In the last second, he gripped onto her hand. If he was to die, he wanted to do it with her beside him. He wanted to do it being with her, as he wanted to be for the rest of his life. He closed his eyes, and breathed in her scent. The smell of roses in her hair...

"MOTHER STOP!"

There was earth shattering screech followed by a blast that shook the house. The clonk and thud of bricks falling around them filled their ears, and Sirius cocooned his body over Hermione's as much as he could.

There was a muffled yell. Panting and heart pumping, Sirius snapped his head up and saw Regulus behind his mother, his hand wrapped around her hand, both their arms in the air as they wrestled over her wand which he had managed to force into the air, away from them.

"GO SIRIUS!" he roared. "RUN!"

He was wincing with pain, red in the face.

Sirius's head nearly burst with panic. And surprise. And love.

"REG-!"

His little brother let out a cry of pain and bulged his eyes at him desperately. "JUST GO!"

Their mother was struggling furiously against him, clawing at his arms, drawing blood. But her eyes were on Sirius, as dead and as black as her name.

"YOU'RE NO SON OF MINE! I WISH YOU WERE DEAD, I WISH YOU HAD NEVER BEEN BORN!"

Regulus was losing control of his mother. "SIRIUS! FUCKING RUN! NOW!"

Another cry of pain from his brother that made him shiver to the bone and he scrambled up, breathing so hard his lungs hurt. His hand was trembling, but he managed to wrestle his wand out of his pocket and blast away the bricks that were crushing Hermione's leg. With one swift movement he lifted her into his arms once more.

Hermione pulled her wand out of her bra. This time, it was her time to play, and on her terms. She was the woman who survived the wand of Bellatrix Lestrange after all.

"Petrificus totalus!"

It was a perfect hit, smacking Walburga Black square on the chest. Her legs and arms snapped together and she toppled to the floor, all the time screaming as loud as her voice would allow. And she deserved every bit of pain she got, there and then. Regulus collapsed heavily against the wall like a sack of potatoes, clutching his stomach, gasping for air, while Hermione sprayed water out of her wand. The blazing fire sizzled to a stop and the sweltering heat dropped.

When she had finished, Sirius was staring open mouthed at her, the love in his irises never greater. Her amused smile back at him was their cue to leave. He wrenched open the door and turned back around, taking one last look at his brother.

He flashed him a grin. The first in years.

"Thanks Reg. I owe you one."

There was a rev of a motorbike, and then they were gone, the sounds of their laughter floating in the wind.

To the people who reviewed last chapter- thank you. They were very funny and insightful! This chapter is a favourite of mine. And for once, I don't really know what to say. So I'll let you do the talking! -much love x