Hogwarts: A History (Hermione's Version)

Chapter 3

"Do you think she will be alright?" Sirius asked as he paced back and forth in their bedroom. It was the first time he and Remus had been separated from Hermione and his nerves were shot. In all his years alive, he had never seen himself with children. He was Sirius Black, he didn't like the idea of responsibilities, and children were the biggest responsibility one could have. He was content playing the role of godfather and uncle for the rest of his life. That all changed as soon as Narcissa had thrust Hermione into their lives.

"She was sleeping soundly when we left her Pads," Remus chuckled, turning the page in his book as he laid comfortably in their bed. The last forty-eight hours had felt like a dream to him. Ever since Hermione had entered their life, he felt this piece of him slide into place that he didn't even know was missing. "We set the wards to alert us if anything changed, remember?"

"I know, I know," Sirius grumbled, running his hands through his hair. When they had arrived at the house, Hermione had been quiet and shy. He and Remus had shown her around her new home, making sure she knew her way around. They showed her to her bedroom and pointed out where there's was. Her favorite room in the entire house was the library though. That is where they spent the majority of their night. It's also where she was introduced to Regulus for the first time.

Remus was reading Where the Wild Things are and Hermione was completely lost in the story. Sirius smiled to himself as he gently worked the brush through her unruly curls. She may not have been a Black by blood but she definitely had curls that rivaled theirs. Sirius knew how to tame them though. He was doing exactly that when Regulus walked into the room. Hermione stiffened nervously when she saw him, curling in towards Remus as the younger Black brother entered the room.

"Regulus there you are," Sirius spoke up, gently rubbing her back in a soothing manner. "We didn't see you at dinner."

"I was held up in the potions lab," Regulus answered, cocking his head to the side as he took in the scene before him. "I lost track of time. Is this our newest ward then?"

"Hermione, this is my brother Regulus," Sirius said. The smile on his face as he looked at her, caused a small crack in the ice around his heart. Regulus could see that his brother was blissfully happy in the presence of the tiny girl and his werewolf. "He may seem a bit stuffy but that's just because he doesn't know any better."

Giggling after Sirius poked her nose playfully, she turned to Regulus with a bashful smile. "Hi..." she said timidly as she continued to clutch onto Remus.

"Hello there," Regulus said with a nod. "Well I will leave you three for your evening. Goodnight all."

"Maybe I should just go check on her," Sirius said, accepting that he wouldn't be able to rest until he knew she was alright.

"Or perhaps you crawl into bed and stop worrying so much," Remus suggested, giving him a pointed look that it was in fact not a suggestion, it was a demand. Sighing in defeat, Sirius crawled into bed beside Remus and tried to get comfortable. "You have to relax Sirius."

"I'm trying."

As he was about to finally settle, he felt a shift in the wards around her room just as Remus heard a whimper as well. Both men jumped out of their bed and made their way down the hall to where her bedroom was. As Remus opened the door and entered the room first, his eyes fell on the little girl who was tossing and turning in her bed, obviously having a nightmare. It broke his heart to see that she was already plagued with horrible dreams. Sirius wasted no time shifting into Padfoot and jumping onto her bed. Walking over to sit on the side of her bed, Remus smoothed the curls away from her eyes, gently muttering soothing words to the girl. Sirius nuzzled against her side as her eyes fluttered open.