Braving the Past

Chapter 31: Secrets Unveiled

That morning, Hermione felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She knew confiding in Sirius had been the right choice. After carrying around so much baggage all those months, she realized just how heavy it had weighed.

Things hadn't been awkward in the slightest when Hermione and Sirius had woken up that morning. Sirius ended up sprawled across the couch with his head in Hermione's lap, who had been confined to the corner. Her neck ached slightly, but she didn't care.

Things were finally starting to look up.

Now all she had to do was get the others on board, and they would finally be able to search for Tom.

The stupid, slimy git.

"Who's a slimy git?" Lily questioned amusedly as they sat at breakfast.

Hermione's cheeks warmed in embarrassment. "Did I say that out loud?"

Several heads around the table bobbed up and down in affirmation, and Hermione groaned, her fork clattering down onto her plate.

"Don't listen to me, I had a long night," she said tiredly.

"Does this have anything to do with the fact that Padfoot has proved it's possible to sleep with your eyes open?" Remus asked from a few seats down. He was currently watching Sirius, whose eyes were glazed over as he stared down at his untouched plate.

"We were up pretty late...er...reminiscing about old times when he'd just met the whole Potter family," Hermione replied.

James raised a quizzical eyebrow while everyone else just took her explanation in stride as they turned back to their breakfast. Hermione mouthed, "Later," to him from across the table. He seemed to like that better, and finally turned away.

Once again, she had Potions as her first class that second day of school. She knew Professor Slughorn was still teaching at this time, since he'd spoken dearly about his favored student, Lily many times before. Hermione just wasn't sure if he would recognize her the way Professor Dumbledore had, and began to play with her bag nervously as she and her friends made their way to the dungeons.

Sirius quickly fell into step beside her, and waited a moment before speaking.

"Do I really die?" he asked. "Before you fight the Big Guy, I mean."

Hermione looked at him curiously. "Is that was you were thinking about during breakfast? We all thought you were sleeping with your eyes open."

Sirius scoffed. "Of course I wasn't; I don't get that tired. I've been pulling all-nighters at least once a month every month for years...you do know about Moony's, er, condition, right?"

Hermione nodded. This is your chance! she screamed at herself. Tell him now. Tell him!

"I thought so," he went on. "I mean, you did know him after all. But you're avoiding the question. Maybe if you tell me what happens, I can change it and be there to help you all when you really need it."

Hermione looked down. She'd been trying to avoid changing the future as much as possible, and now she'd missed her chance to tell Sirius about her being a werewolf as well.

Before she could think up a reply, however, James had come between them and slung an arm around each of their shoulders. Sirius had changed his expression into an easy-going one so fast, Hermione barely had time to process it.

"Spending more time together, eh?" James said. "You'd best be careful or people might think you're...up to something," he finished mysteriously.