Promise to the Past | 🐾 ᴍᴀʀᴀᴜᴅᴇʀs ✓

30 | Battle Strategy

For the first time in months, Hermione woke up feeling warm. Usually, she woke in the middle of the night in a panic or would find herself curled up in a fetal position at the crack of dawn. But this time, her eyes fluttered open to welcoming rays of sunshine. Glancing back, she drank in the sight of Sirius sleeping peacefully while holding her in a secure cocoon. Now that she thought about it, she always slept peacefully with Sirius- even back in her first days in this time when he'd merely sit at her feet in his dog form to chase the nightmares away.  

She gently extracted herself from his hold, slipping out of bed. 

While she enjoyed being in his arms, she was always restless in the mornings. Setting about to find Sirius' stash of coffee, Hermione let her curiosity take hold as she carefully studied the scattered photo frames on the walls on the way to the kitchen. None of them had Peter in them anymore. But nearly all of them had the Marauders. She liked that about Sirius; he was so fiercely loyal to his own. Even though he was sometimes childish and hot-headed, there was a burning intensity about the way he cared. Hermione snorted to herself as she realized he almost reminded her of Ron in that sense. 

It was marveling how drastically life had changed. For years she'd thought she was destined to be with her best friend. Sometimes the loss of her old life still snuck up on her during lonely nights of pondering where she might have been if they hadn't gotten dragged to Malfoy Manor that fateful night. Yet, when she sat at breakfast with the Potters and Harry and Neville, the self-pity faded into a comfortable sense of belonging. Sure this wasn't what she'd planned for, even though Hermione Granger always had a plan. But it was hardly the worst price to pay for all the good it's done. 

Hermione was humming to herself as she poured hot water from the kettle she'd set, not even detecting the wizard leaning against the far wall as he smiled at her. 

"Oh, MERLIN," Hermione jumped in surprise as she turned with her cup of coffee. "Sirius!" 

"Morning," he smirked, not at all apologetic. 

"You're lucky you didn't make me spill my coffee," Hermione glowered, setting her cup on the counter. 

He raised an eyebrow in amusement. "Worth it." 

Sirius wrapped his arms around Hermione's waist, his head settling comfortably on her shoulder. "Why are you up so early? Did you have a nightmare?" 

"This is late for me." 

"Hermione, it's 7 am!"    

"I slept really well," she turned her head to look at him. "Probably partially because of you," she admitted. "Usually, I wake around five and have a hard time getting back to sleep." 

Sirius groaned, burying his head into the crook of her neck. "The atrocity!" He mumbled into her skin. He detached himself from her with a soft pinch to the waist. "We're going to have to teach you how to have a proper lay-in."  

She watched him over her cup of coffee as he set about making a cup for himself. "I'd like that," she responded softly. She didn't quite know how to be in a relationship- especially this one, where everything was so complicated from the beginning.  

Sirius glanced over, noticing the slight hesitance in her words. "Oh, don't you worry," he warned her. "We have plenty to learn about each other. For example: if you ever try and get me out of bed before I'm ready, I'll likely vanish you to the Black Lake."  

Hermione raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Well... just know I'll do the same if you ever snatch a book out of my hand." 

He nodded with the utmost seriousness for a moment before breaking into rich, melodic chuckles that made her heart warm. "I might get a trip to the Black Lake then because I'm not sure I can promise that. You almost always have your nose stuck in them!"