Reaching across time

Chapter 43: Maid of Honor

"You should listen to Bill tell the story...They were aurors, Bloody good ones too, Mad eye's favorites... Took twelve death eaters to finish them off....five died with them...Their loss hit mom hard though...only family she had left...She was a wreck but the twins being born two days after that was what made her pick herself up he reckons...George says they are her favorites because they remind her of them, Fred says it's the sad time he was born in that makes them natural pranksters...born to cheer people up they claim... that's nonsense though...they'll be a pair of clowns either way..."

It was far too early on a Sunday morning for anyone to be awake yet, But Hermione found she couldn't sleep. Lying awake on the bed with Sirius's hand draped over her stomach, she thought time and again of Ron's words.

It had been the only time he had ever mentioned the Prewett brothers and she desperately wished that hadn't been the case. She needed more information and it didn't suit her to be in the dark.

She had talked to McGonagall and even Dumbledore but both of them had told her that there was nothing to worry about and that the house elves trailing the twins would save them regardless of whether it was this week or the next.

But Hermione, true to herself couldn't stop worrying. This was going to be the first major change she would inflict upon the time line and the consequences of her actions would be unpredictable.

Seven lives - if the elves got to them before they brought the five death eaters down -could change quite a lot. But she also hoped it would indirectly save Cassie who she now realized had been affected by Fabians death and had probably done something to make Voldemort himself come after her.

With another sigh she carefully sat up in bed and leaned against the head rest. Deciding that she needed something to calm her down, she focused on Sirius. Peacefully asleep, his even breaths helped her mind clear and his tousled hair along with those slightly parted lips quite effectively distracted her.

While her eyes strayed the length of his sleeping form, she noticed that on the bed side table was a completed cube with all colors properly aligned.

In the dim light of the dawn she saw her own neat script on the white side of the cube and wondered how he would react when he finally realized what her real gift had been.

"You should make a law about legal timings to wake up on a Sunday morning" Sirius teased, his voice drawing her back out of her reverie.

The handsome Marauder had shifted and opened his bleary eyes to see his girlfriend sitting up. Her eyes caught his and she smiled softly at him and ran her fingers lazily through his hair. Grabbing the hand, he pulled it lower and to his lips.

Her smile widened as his lips pressed against each finger tip and she quickly moved to straddle him. His eyebrows rose and he smirked as he pulled her down to a passionate kiss, his hands slipping around her waist and neck.

"Still complaining about the early hour?" Hermione asked playfully

"Not that much..." Sirius answered before pressing his lips to hers again. The kiss lasted longer and both of them finally broke off, panting hard.

"And now?" She asked stealing a trail of kisses down his neck and his chest.

"Maybe mornings aren't bad" he mused before flipping over in one smooth move, so that she was lying on the bed and he was hovering on top. She laughed and let him kiss her all over again.

Time passed by much faster now and the two were quietly snuggled into each other again, Hermione feeling much happier and Sirius positively awake by now.