A Change of Scenery

It was surreal to be standing in Tonks' childhood room. Just as she had imagined, the walls were covered with posters of The Weird Sisters, famous Aurors, and unicorns. Well, she never had imagined there would be unicorns. A brightly colored bedspread with mismatched pillows just screamed 'Tonks.' Her black and yellow tie was knotted around one of the bedposts as a testament to her old school house. Large stacks of overflowing boxes in the corner made Hermione's heart drop. All of Tonks' and Remus' worldly possessions were erected in a sad monument to their former owners. She felt suddenly uncomfortable, as if she had trespassed in a tomb. It was, unfortunately, the last available bed in the house.

Harry was ensconced in the guest bedroom, and Sirius took Andromeda's room, leaving Regulus with the sitting room couch, although he had done an impressive job transfiguring it. Not surprisingly, her thoughts turned to him again. Harry hardly let the two of them out of his sight after the incident back at Grimmauld Place, so they had only managed to exchange a few words since then.

She picked up a book entitled Metamorphmagi Magic and attempted to read it with little success. Her mind would not wander from the man in the sitting room, a former Death Eater, no less. In her heart, she knew he had done more to fight Voldemort than most members of the Order. He was driving her mad. And she did not know why. After a short time spent twisting her fingers and pacing the floor, she resolved to go talk to him. Just talk. And if he happened to try to kiss her again, then...

Her daydream was interrupted by a small bit of movement out of the corner of her eye. The edge of a photograph stuck out from the nearest box, its occupants catching her attention. Hermione pulled it out to see a flushed and happy Tonks and Remus holding their newborn son. Their smiles were so wide and happy, so filled with hope, it broke her heart. Wiping away a fresh stream of tears, Hermione redoubled her resolve to talk to Regulus. Life was too short to fret about the little things.

-o-O-o-

Harry and his overly watchful eyes went to bed, figuring that someone should be alert to watch Teddy in the morning. Regulus found him more than a bit irritating. He may have had the power to vanquish the Dark Lord, but that was no excuse to vanquish others' love lives as well. Love life? Maybe that was a stretch. He just wanted to kiss the girl. Okay, he wanted to do more than that, but one had to start somewhere. He knew he should go talk to her, but he was afraid she had retired to bed already. Sirius was occupied with Teddy at the moment; they had agreed to take turns watching him through the night. Perhaps Sirius would not notice if he slipped out to check on her.

Needless to say, Regulus was happily surprised when Hermione entered. His eyebrows met when he noticed her looking flustered and teary eyed. Shite. He did not know what to do with crying girls.

It turned out he did not need to know what to do. She strode up to him, threw her arms around him and kissed him hard on the mouth. He got over his shock immediately and raised his hands to her face. A rush of adrenaline quickened his pulse. She pulled back suddenly, quite out of breath and eyes wide with shock. He grinned at her and pulled her in for another kiss before she could change her mind. Her lips were soft. He brushed against them lightly, wanting to savor her this time. Ever so gently, his fingers wound into her hair, trapping her against him.

"Don't mind me," Sirius exclaimed, giving a small huff when they did not, in fact, mind him at all. Teddy found it greatly amusing. He reverted to his favorite game of laughing and hopping up and down. "Come on, Teddy, we can tell when we're not wanted." He swung the giggling boy under his arm and sulked out of the room after one last glance at the couple.

"Regulus, I..." She pulled back to look him in the eyes. He did not know what to say either. This was not how he had imagined it. It was better. He wanted to say something to her, something to express the warm feeling that was spreading through him. He settled for tightening his grip on her hair and kissing her again.

Regulus took a chance and nipped her lower lip lightly. When she gasped, he slid his tongue against hers. She responded immediately. Soon, her hands began a timid exploration of his lean body. The experience was more intense than either expected. When they finally broke for air, he hugged her close. She pressed her forehead against his chest, and they stood, silently enjoying the close contact.

"Where did Sirius go?"

"Who cares?"

-o-O-o-

"Enough you two. I need sleep; it's your turn to watch Teddy." Sirius reentered the room past midnight, eyeing their disheveled hair and swollen lips curiously.

"I'll watch over his crib tonight. Hermione, you get your rest."

"Actually, I was thinking of taking him to bed with me, I don't feel like being alone in that room." She examined a bit of lint on the floor, not wanting to admit how much it bothered her.

"I could keep you company, you know." A slow smile spread across her face, and she looked up to see Regulus' naughty smirk.

"Nice try," she said as she wagged a finger at him. He shrugged and smiled sweetly back at her.

Sirius was awed. This was not the brother he had known when they were in school, but then, they had not spoken since he was sixteen. The young man before him reminded him of himself, not the uptight, self-righteous prick he remembered. He felt guilty for not trying harder with him when they were younger. How would things have been different if he had met the good man inside of Regulus sooner?

-o-O-o-

Regulus did leave her and Teddy to sleep alone in the darkened bedroom after he insisted on tucking them in, making sure to kiss them both chastely on the forehead. Hermione pulled him in for a not so chaste kiss on the lips as well. He smiled at her serenely as she fell asleep. Teddy stirred uncomfortably, his hair turning a deeper shade of blue in the night air. Regulus found an old cloak to wrap him in to give him extra protection from the cold before bidding them a whispered goodnight.

He leaned against the doorframe for one last look. She was beautiful. Wild hair fanned out across the pillow, framing her pink-tinged face. He marveled at the girl. His girl. What had started as a mutual attraction between two strangers now had him plotting things that did not bode well for the purity of the noble and most ancient house of Black.

-o-O-o-

Hermione was having the most fantastic dream. She was sure it could not be real. She lay in bed next to Regulus, his warm arm draped over her. It was comfortable. It had to be a dream. Regulus would not be so bold as to crawl into her bed. If so, he would have done it earlier. Her stomach twisted with nerves. How much did she want to admit to wanting that?

She drifted into full consciousness. She was not dreaming. There was someone in bed with her besides Teddy, and this definitely was not him.

Regulus heard a shriek come from Hermione's room. He was up in an instant. Wand out and eyes wide, he burst through the doorway to her room. She was sitting upright clutching a confused Teddy to her. There was a strange man at the other end of her bed, reaching toward her.

"Stupefy!" Hermione gasped in shock when the man slumped forward on the bed.

"Regulus, that's Teddy's..."

"What is going on in here?" Sirius arrived on the scene looking distinctly disheveled from sleep. "Hermione, are you okay?" His eyes traveled from a horrified Hermione to Regulus standing in front of her, wand drawn. He gave his brother the dirtiest of looks. When he did, he noticed what was over his shoulder. He shoved Regulus aside for a better look.

"Remus?"

Regulus walked around the bed to put a hand on Hermione's shoulder. "It's okay, Regulus," she said, her eyes never leaving the form on the bed. "You can wake him up."

He hesitated.

"It's Teddy's father."

"Let me guess, he was..."

"Dead. Yes." Regulus shrugged at the confirmation of his guess. Nothing shocked him anymore.

"Ennervate."

Remus came to, startled and confused. "What's going on?"

"Relax, Moony, everything is fine."

"Sirius?" Remus was deathly pale. He rubbed his eyes and looked from Sirius to Regulus, then Hermione and finally Teddy.

"Teddy? You're so big, what..." He was still disoriented. "What is going on here?"