Ultimatums

Chapter 12

Hermione sighed and muttered to herself"Gift or hindrance, he needs to know. He can make a vow not to say anything, but I trust him" she thought back to Lupin's lycanthropy and followed Regulus out the door and across the hall.

When she arrived at Sirius's room, she knocked on the door, and when Sirius answered with a raised brow, she said

"Black, I'm going to tell you what happened last summer. The thing you asked Lupin to inquire about"

Sirius's eyes widened, and he was about to interrupt, but Regulus sent him a glare which Hermione couldn't see.

He let her in, and they sat on the ground cross legged. Regulus was avoiding her eyes, but Sirius was watching her intently.

"You need to swear on your magic not to tell anyone this, not even your pesky Marauders. I'm only telling you because I need help hiding it. And I know you can keep secrets, like Lupin's"

"You know about Rem?"

Hermione scoffed "Well it's fairly obvious. But don't  worry, I haven't even told Reg"

"Good, he's a terrible secret keeper. Once, I smuggled him some cookies when he was confined to his room, and when Mother asked if she should buy more, he started spilling everything! Over exaggerating everything and I got in so much trouble -"

"I'm still here" Regulus said irritably, giving his brother a dirty look.

"Cheer up, Reg. Now Sirius is going to know, this means so much leverage for us!"  Hermione ruffled his hair and grinned. She knew he was irritated with her, but the gesture worked like she knew it would. He let a small smile ghost across his lips.

Sirius was conflicted between knowing and having them threaten him with whatever it is when they were mad with him, or not knowing and being in the dark. Curiosity got the better of him however, and he muttered "Damn Slytherins"

"So, are you aware of the Ueni tribe?"
Hermione took him through the history of her people and the warning signs for when she was getting so mad that her core was overproducing magic.  

When she was finally finished and the vow was made, Sirius asked "Can I see?"

Hermione and Regulus exchanged glances. "You don't have replenishing potion do you?"

Kreacher was called, and he brought back a green, snot looking liquid.

"What spell would you like to see?" Hermione asked Regulus, and he whispered something in her ear, his breath tickling her neck.

She nodded, and tilted her head back, holding the ball of purple energy in her hands. She held the ball in her hands for a while, flexing her fingers to keep to contained, and letting Sirius and Regulus gape at it for a while.

Then, suddenly, Hermione lifted the hand on top of the ball and threw it at Sirius, saying aguamenti. Sirius was doused in water, his hair sticking to his face and his eyes squeezed shut.

Regulus was bent over laughing, and Hermione took a sip of the potion so she wouldn't immediately need a nap.

"Dry me, Potter!" Sirius snapped, shivering under the wet clothes clinging to his skin.

"Okay" Hermione chuckled and recast a ball into her palms. Sirius noticed this time how her eyes went violet, the blood drained from her face and her hair flew like in the Muggle movies he'd seen parts of. 

She shot a blast of hot air at him and smirked as his cheeks were blown back and his hair was on end. Hermione sipped at the potion again, and the purple in her eyes went mostly away, except this time her brown irises had a lavender tint around the edges.