The Grey

Chapter 5: Fae

A/N: Thank you to the lovely msmerlin and BirdieMing for their beta work! This is a few hours later than expected as I accidentally set my kitchen on fire! Whoops! No damage was done and everything is ok. Except for my poor heart which had a few years shaved off, haha. Bonus - we went out to eat instead! Downside - took me an hour and then some to clean up all the fire extinguisher dust! So here's a good reminder - have a fire extinguisher or two in your house! You never know when you'll need them!

If you loved this (or hated it) let me know about it in a review! Find the aesthetic for this story on my Tumblr: crochetawayhpff or my Facebook Shan Crochetaway.

~0o0~

We are all somewhere or the other a little grey, not black and white. We have our imperfections. - Kriti Sanon

~0o0~

March 2022

~0o0~

"I dream-walked again last night," Sirius said in lieu of good morning as he took his seat at the table.

Hermione frowned and handed him a plate of toast. "Was it different? Or the same?"

Sirius had been back for just over six months, and he seemed to dream-walk most nights. Most of the time, the experiences didn't seem to vary. He'd see the Grey, then he'd spend some time with James and Remus. He would almost always awaken tired. Hermione had wondered if Dreamless Sleep would help, but Sirius was reluctant to try.

"Different," he shuddered and took a bite of toast.

"How so?" Hermione asked as she settled herself across the table from him, sipping at her tea.

"I think it's shrinking." He frowned. "And the magic there is strange."

"You can do magic in the Grey?" That was news to Hermione and not something she had contemplated.

"I am a wizard, love." Sirius grinned at her, and Hermione's heart pitter-pattered. She quelled the emotions rolling through her. Over the months, Sirius' flirting had elevated, and Hermione was finding it harder and harder to maintain any sort of boundary between them. She wouldn't go so far as to say she was in love with him, but she was afraid that if she truly let herself, she could fall in love very easily.

"It's the first I've thought about it. Can you do magic because you have a wand? Or can everyone do magic?" she asked and promptly hid her face in her tea mug.

"Everyone can, although not all of them have wands. Dumbledore doesn't, but I've seen him use magic," Sirius said around a bite of toast.

"Is the magic causing the destabilization?"

"Hadn't thought of that," he grunted, mulling over her words. Hermione was content to let him. These moments of casual intimacy were the hardest to handle. Easter holidays were coming up, and she would have to share a room with Sirius again. She'd barely survived it over the Christmas holidays. She didn't know how she was going to over Easter or Merlin forbid, summer if Sirius was still here then.

"Perhaps," he finally answered. "I can't be sure though."

"I need to find someone to speak with about the Unseelie," Hermione muttered as she finished her tea. She'd gone about as far as she could go with research into the afterlife. Now it was time to see if a Fae expert would speak with her. She knew they were out there, but she hadn't contacted one yet.

"Did Harry clean out the library at Grimmauld?" Sirius asked. "We had an entire section on the Fae and how they were connected to the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black."