Chapter 40

A/N: My thanks to JKR for her wonderful words. Soon, we will be departing the familiar and split off into a different existence. Watch for Chapter 45 and for the relationship between Sirius and Hermione. Again, my deepest thanks to luvsev and WriterMerrin for their hard work!

***

"How is the mutt?" Severus asked upon Hermione's return.

"Hellacious," she replied. "He sends his regards," she answered back in the same smug tone Severus had just used. "He still has faith in Dumbledore, in spite of your nastiness."

Snape snorted as he took the drink she poured him. "How many months now?" he asked.

"Five and a half," she replied suspiciously. "Why?"

"Oh, just wondering," he said airily.

"Why, you want to do something about it?" she asked aggressively as she walked over to him, swallowing her drink in one gulp. She straddled him, and Severus began to back-peddle.

"Hermione, don't do anything rash," he said with a frown.

She captured his lips in a kiss. He tasted like firewhisky, but so did she, and it was really getting to her. She slid her hands up her jumper, pulling her bra aside, and squeezed her bare breasts. She began to rock herself against his erection as she continued to touch herself underneath her shirt.

"This is wrong," he groaned. "What are you doing with your hands up your jumper?"

"Come on, Severus," she cooed. "Just let me...ah...angh...oh god!"

"Hermione?" he asked as he cupped her face. Her face was still warm from her orgasm, and she had a content grin on her face. She practically purred as she snuggled into him.

"I do believe I have been used," he said, pretending to be offended.

"Why don't you let me help you with your problem?" she whispered in his ear.

"Hermione, I can take care of it myself," he said sharply.

"Can I watch?" she asked with her huge doe-eyes looking up at him with that look she knew worked wonders on him.

"I don't think so," he answered in a strained voice.

She nuzzled his ear and flicked it with her tongue. "You let me watch once," she said seductively.

"No, Hermione," he said, now sounding extremely strained. "Besides, that was before you came to this timeline."

"Let me listen," she whispered seductively. "I'll press my ear to the bathroom door, and you can talk dirty to me," she offered.

"And what will you be doing?" he asked deeply as she nipped his chin with her pink lips.

"I don't know, I guess you'll have to imagine..."

"Fuck!" he swore as he threw her off him. She laughed as he slammed the door behind him. She made her way towards the door and listened with relish to the moans and grunts of the man she loved. Not much longer. We'll have to just work our way into it, so when the big night arrives, we won't be so tense, she plotted naughtily.

***

Later, as Hermione got ready for bed, she remembered the note that Sirius had passed to her discreetly as they had said goodbye. She took it out of her jeans pocket and opened it.

Dear Hermione,

Sirius

Hermione smiled as she threw the note into the fire. She was grateful that Sirius had grown a little. She was glad he was trying to mend the fences between them. She still didn't know if she should tell Severus about the note, but she sure felt better about Sirius now and was sad that he had lost Marlene while she still had Severus.

***

The next day, Ron, Harry, and Hermione went up to the owlery to mail Percy as they had promised Sirius they would. Afterwards, they went to the kitchens to see if they could talk to Winky.

"I also have to give Dobby his socks," Harry informed them. "After all, it was his idea to give me the gillyweed."

They were ambushed by eager house-elves when they entered. Harry was talking with Dobby, and Ron was asking for food while Hermione was looking around for Winky.

"Dobby," she asked. "Where is Winky?"

Dobby's ears fell. "Winky is not well, miss. Winky's been through six bottles a day now. She's there by the fire," he answered while pointing his finger in Winky's direction. "Winky wants to go home. Winky still thinks Mr. Crouch is her master, and nothing Dobby says will persuade her that Professor Dumbledore is her master now."

"Hey, Winky," Harry said as he bent down to talk with her, "you don't know what Mr. Crouch might be up to, do you? Because he's stopped coming up to judge the Tournament."

Winky focused onto Harry. "Master has...hic...stopped coming?" she said sluggishly.

"Yeah," Harry said softly. "The Daily Prophet says he's ill. He hasn't been back since the first task."

"Master...hic...ill?" she said as she got to her feet, swaying. Her bottom lip began to tremble.

"But we don't know if it's really true," Harry said shrewdly.

"Master needs his...hic...Winky!" she said as she burst into sobs. "Master cannot manage by himself!"

"Other people can manage their housework by themselves, you know," Hermione said softly.

"No!" she said indignantly. "Master needs...hic...more help than...hic...housework! Master is...trusting...Winky with his most...hic...important secret!"

"What?" asked Harry.

Winky shook her head very hard, spilling butterbeer down herself. "Winky keeps...hic...master's secrets! You is nosing, you is!"

"Winky must not talk that way to Harry Potter!" said Dobby angrily.

"He is nosing...hic...into master's private and secret...hic...Winky is a good house-elf...hic...Winky keeps her silence!"

Winky suddenly passed out from the all the butterbeer she'd consumed. Harry turned to the others and said, "That's that then. I don't think we'll be getting more out of her."

They got the ham and other assorted pies and flagons of pumpkin juice and went back to the owlery to send them to Sirius.

The next morning, Hermione was eager to get her morning paper. She had taken a subscription of the Daily Prophet so she could see for herself what others were saying about Crouch. She was starting to get some sort of an idea, but the possibility seemed so far-fetched, she knew she needed to think on it more.

Instead of a paper, she received letters. She opened the first one, and it said that she was a wicked girl and that Harry deserved more than her. It also called her a Mudblood and told her to go back where she came from.

"Oh, how ridiculous!" she spat as she passed the note to Harry to read. The next one was just as nasty, but the third burned her hand upon opening.

"Ouch!" she said as the yellowish-green liquid poured onto her hand. Boils began to erupt, and it smelt heavily of petrol.

"Undiluted bubotuber pus!" said Ron as he picked up the envelope gingerly and sniffed it.

"Ow!" she said as tears formed in her eyes. She tried to clean off the pus, but the boils were erupting so fast, she was now in serious pain. She went directly to the infirmary to get sorted out.

She was back in time for the last of her Care of Magical Creatures class and explained to Hagrid about her lateness. Her hands were covered in bandages, and she felt simply awful.

Hagrid commiserated. He had been receiving his own set of hate mail since Rita Skeeter's article. They made their way slowly towards the Great Hall for lunch, and Ron began to grumble about not having money after he found out the gold he had given Harry at the World Cup had been leprechaun gold.

"Well, at least your hands aren't full of pus," she said in an attempt to make him feel better. As she struggled with her knife and fork, she said irritably, "I hate that woman! I am going to get Rita Skeeter back for this if it is the last thing I do!"

***

The hate mail carried on, and Hermione began to just chuck it in the fire. "It'll die down," she said. "But what I want to know is how on earth did she get all that private information? I already asked Professor Moody if he had detected if she were under an invisibility cloak, but he said 'no.'"

"Maybe she had you bugged," suggested Harry.

"Bugged?" Ron said. "What... you mean like fleas or something?"

Harry started to explain to Ron about Muggle spy detection and Hermione interrupted. "Will you two ever read Hogwarts, A History ? Muggle devices will not work in this sort of magical field. So whatever she's doing, it's magical."

She stopped, and a flash of genius came over her. A bug! That's it, a bug! I wonder if she is an illegal Animagus like Sirius? If that is it, I have her now!

"I'll see you later," she said as she took off to speak with Professor McGonagall.

***

Minerva was shocked when Hermione told her of her suspicions.

"No," she gasped. Then after she thought about it, said, "Well, that would be right up her alley. Well, I can help you with that end. I will contact the Ministry to see if she is registered. They always let me look at their books, no questions asked."

"And you are sure you will know if she's registered or not?" Hermione asked.

"Definitely. And don't worry; I'm the soul of discretion," Minerva whispered.

Hermione sat back with her tea, a coy smile playing around the corners of her mouth. Oh, yes. Rita Skeeter was going to get hers.

***

While Harry was clandestinely sending food to Sirius by owl, Hermione was getting out of the castle with a little help from Dumbledore to pass along information and to bring fresh water and pumpkin juice.

One day, around Easter, after the high hike up the hill, Sirius was waiting as usual. He grabbed Hermione by the hand and helped her inside. She bowed to Buckbeak, he bowed to her, per their usual ritual, and she sat down on the dirt floor.

"So, no word from Ron's brother at the Ministry?" he asked as always.

"Nope," she answered as she caught her breath.

"Damn, Sirius, I wish these people would get onto clearing you so you won't have to live like this anymore," she said as she squinted around her.

Sirius barked a laugh. "Me too, although where could I go that would feel like home? This is just like Azkaban! Albeit without the Dementors, and having fresh air, fresh food, and a woman that visits me every week," he said with a wink.

Hermione laughed at his ability to see the bright side of things.

"You do know that Severus would be having kittens if he knew I was meeting you like this, right?" she asked.

"But, of course!" he said with a playful grin. "That's where I get my entertainment."

"Ah-ha," said Hermione, pointing her finger at him. "Well, let's get to business, shall we?"

"Fine. How is the Skeeter-baiting coming along?" he inquired.

"Oh, I've got her now," Hermione said wickedly. "That bitch is an Unregistered Animagus. I have figured out what she is too."

"What?" he asked with a smile.

"She's some sort of beetle. I narrowed it down to that because after the second task, Harry was late getting out of the water, and I was concerned and hugging him, and at the same time, Viktor was trying his hardest to get my attention from him. He said, and I quote, 'You haff a vater-beetle in your hair, Hermy-own-ninny.'"

Sirius snorted as he laughed. "I love that! You got that Durmstrang accent spot on."

Hermione giggled. "Well, I'm biding my time and keeping my eyes open. That old cow isn't going to ruin any more lives with her half-truths and innuendos. I'll make sure of that."

"What's your plan?" he asked as he started to drink from one of the flagons of pumpkin juice.

"You'll find out when it's all said and done," she replied with narrowed eyes. "I'll just cross that bitch when I get to her."

"You always liked to play it close to the vest, Hermione," he said appreciatively. "Well, so what's the word on Crouch?" he asked lightheartedly, changing the subject.

Hermione pursed her lips. "I've a theory, Sirius, but I don't know what to do about it. I can't talk to Severus about it. It would send his paranoia to new heights. You know how he is," she said.

"Only one other person I know who is more paranoid is Moody," he replied.

"Well," Hermione said softly. "I've been thinking about what Harry said about that night. He said the Map read Barty Crouch. He's too sick to come and judge the tasks, but he comes in the middle of the night? Then, Moody shows up out of the blue.

"Now, Severus has been furious because someone is breaking into his stores. He jumped on Harry about it and accused him of doing it so fast that he can't even imagine the possibility that it might be someone else. If Harry were stealing from Snape, I would know, because I am the potion maker in our group!"

Hermione breathed deeply as she scooted closer to Sirius. "What if, and I know I can't explain, but what if Barty Crouch is stealing from Severus' stores to make Polyjuice Potion in order to pass himself off as Moody?"

"What?" Sirius said in disbelief. "You think Barty Crouch is disguising himself as Alastor Moody. Why?"

"I don't know, Sirius," she answered honestly. "However, I do know this: Moody and I spent the summer after my sixth year in training. He taught me how to duel, combat, and to throw off the Imperius Curse. I lived with the man on Fenwick's farm that summer with Remus and Kingsley. I know him! And no one can convince me that that man at Hogwarts is Moody. He doesn't know me, and he doesn't know that he is to know me."

Sirius' eyes were opened wide. "Did you tell Albus?" he said hurriedly.

"Of course!" Hermione replied. "He told me to stay away from Moody. Which makes me wonder why did he never tell Moody about me? I mean he told you and Remus. He also told me he was going to keep the situation under wraps, but he'll have an eye on him. I haven't come forward with anything new. It's just crazy. Why would Barty Crouch want to pretend to be Alastor Moody?"

"Unless he's completely gone round the twist and is desperate to get his hands on either Karkaroff or Snape," he said as he scratched his beard. "I think you need to tell Dumbledore this, Hermione."

Hermione looked away and thought hard about it. Sirius broke her out of her thoughts.

"On the subject of my living arrangements, Albus and I have been discussing a plan to get me out of this cave and into a somewhat normal domicile."

"Oh, really?" she asked. "What?"

"My parents' house in London. It's vacant, has been since my mother died ten years ago. As far as Albus has been able to find out, only our old house-elf, Kreacher, lives there now. It's an old pure-blood house, full of Dark magic and Dark items that would need working on. I think Bill Weasley will be coming back from Egypt to help Albus with it if we decide to move. You know what that means, right?" he asked darkly.

"The Order?" she whispered.

"Yes. Some of us are already at a standing call, awaiting orders. Snape has been telling Dumbledore his Dark Mark is getting darker. Have you...uh...seen it?" he asked nervously.

"Are you trying to find out if I'm sleeping with Severus?" she asked calmly.

Sirius grimaced. "God, Hermione, I'm not a well man! I can't handle that information. If it hadn't been for James taking off his underwear in fifth year, I wouldn't have known Snape had a penis!"

Hermione grew angry at the memory of that day. "I bet it made you jealous," she said viciously.

"What's with the hostility?" he asked, confused.

"You know exactly what I'm referring to, Sirius Black! I was there that day, right at Avery's side. I was to be a front-row guest at what he called 'a magnificent performance' orchestrated by you, he, and Regulus in order to humiliate Lily, test Severus' loyalties, and use James as the tool to make it all happen!" she shouted.

Sirius bowed his head. "I'm not proud of what I did, I'm not. I just wanted Lily out of Severus' life. He was no good for her. You knew it then as I did!" he said hotly.

"You used your best friend, hurt Lily, and nearly destroyed Severus. For your information, everything Severus has done, he's done for my protection and Lily's. You remember Laura Danbury...what those animals did to her?"

Sirius nodded silently.

"How would you like to have the choice placed on you...what if Death Eaters had come to you and said, 'Here, Sirius, this is your chance to finally have it all over and done with, here are your choices: either we take Marlene and pass her around a few times to all the pure-bloods of Slytherin, or you can prove your loyalty by making sure she never wants to have anything to do with you ever again?' That's what he did. He had to make her hate him. You thought if Snivellus was just pushed enough, his true colors would stand out. Well, they did, but you were so damn color-blind, you couldn't see it!" she hollered.

She grabbed her bag and went to leave. Sirius placed his hand on her shoulder, "Please, Hermione, wait!"

She turned and faced him angrily. "I am sorry, Hermione. I paid for it too. I loved Marlene, and if it had been me, I would have done the same for her. I could see a change in Snape. You just don't know what he was like the first two years at school. He was a nasty piece of work. I think you came along and saved him. I just didn't figure it out until it was too late."

He sighed and continued. "I wonder at night sometimes what my life would have been like if Marlene hadn't died. She was so much like you, Hermione, full of fire, beauty, and such bravery. She would have kept me grounded...just like you do for Snape." He looked into her face as if he were searching for something. "I just hope he appreciates what he has."

Hermione was feeling the tears fall down her face. "I can't talk anymore today. I've got to help Harry prepare for the third task soon, and I've loads of work to do. I-I'll see you next week."

She left and didn't look back. She still hated what Sirius had done all those years ago, but he had apologized and had seen the error and damage. It was true that he had paid. He had paid dearly for his cruelty towards her and Severus and his damnable pride. He'd lost Marlene, his true love, and he lost his youth to Azkaban as an innocent man. Hermione decided she would forgive him. She would just need time to think it through.