Work Text:
Day 25
Siremione
Ever since we were kids it’s been our tradition to binge watch horrible scary movies on Halloween, go get the popcorn ready.
xXx
She’d been “back” for a few months now. Their Hermione. The young woman who blew into their lives first year and dug out a place in their hearts. She was everything to them, warming their home, their hearts and their bed.
And then she was gone.
Sirius spent twelve years in Azkaban and Remus spent twelve years alone, all because she had to go home; back to her own time. They had no idea, at the time, where she had gone, but the first time Remus had seen that familiar head of frizzy hair, he nearly lost his footing. He wanted to know where she had been.
Listening to her conversation with Harry (as if he needed a bigger kick in the teeth) it was obvious she wasn't the same woman. He spent the first few days of the term trying to figure out how she could possibly be there before McGonagle let him in on a little secret.
Time travel, more specifically, a time turner. Hermione had signed up for every class and the Headmaster was certain if any one of his students could handle such a responsibility, it was Hermione Granger.
Of course, when he ‘d made the decision, the chances of Sirius Black, escaped convict, coming after Harry were slim. They should have known better.
Sirius’ single minded determination to find Peter Pettigrew, effectively distracted him from focusing on the familiar young woman his godson loved like a sister. But then the truth came out and he had Harry and Remus back and his focus could no longer drift away from the young witch. Many a nights at Grimmauld Place were spent conversing over Hermione, first anger, then understanding, then longing returned to haunt them as she grew up without them.
Sirius nearly drank himself into a coma when he found out she’d spent the summer with the Bulgarian Seeker and Remus knew better than to get him started on Ron Weasley. A boy neither of them thought was good enough for her, no matter how good a friend he was to Harry.
They had to sit back and watch as she went through difficult times that would later plague her with nightmares she couldn’t talk about. They could merely lend her comfort in a platonic sort of way, hoping and praying she would make it through.
And she did, until finally she ended up going back in time.
When she returned she was distraught, unable to look Harry in the eye knowing she could have saved his parents. Harry knew better, though. She’d once told him the consequences of messing with time and he wasn’t going to blame her for not breaking the rules when she’d spent her childhood breaking rules to protect him.
With Hermione back, Sirius and Remus were determined to pick up where they left off, that is of course, if she’d have them.
Hermione had had a Halloween tradition since she was kid. Her father was a big fan of bad horror movies and passed on that love to his daughter. So, every Halloween Hermione snuck off to the Room of Requirements and somehow, a secret she still wouldn’t share with them, managed to watch muggle movies.
They’d caught her in third year and she invited them to join her, turning her tradition, into their tradition. They carried it with them after graduation and even managed to work their way into hers as she and Harry temporarily moved in with them after their either year. But this was the first Halloween since her return and from what they could tell she didn’t plan to continue the tradition this year.
They would just have to rectify that.
“Siri?” Hermione called out as she came through the floo. She was still dress for work, having just clocked out and she kicked off her heels gathering them up and heading deeper into the house.
The first thing she noticed was how quiet it was, something unusual for the former order headquarters. Even Walburga was silent as she passed the portrait.
“Remus?” she called again. Still no answer. She sighed. She’d gotten the message to meet them here around lunch, so shouldn’t they be here.
Hermione had been back in her own time for three months now, but it still didn’t feel right. Despite knowing no one blamed her for the things she couldn’t change, the wounds were still too fresh. She could still hear Lily’s laugh, could still hear James’ voice. She could still remember the light in Remus and Sirius’ eyes before everything went to hell.
Going back to work wasn’t simple either. She loved her job, but she spent years in the past when only minutes had passed in her own time and getting back into it was proving difficult.
Hermione sighed again as she entered the bedroom she used whenever she stayed over. After three months she still hadn’t worked up the nerve to move back in with them, but she’d spent the night a few times, which despite the lack of past intimacy, seemed to make her boys happy.
“Kitten, is that you?” Sirius’ voice sounded in the hall outside her room as she finished changing.
“Yes Sirius.” she called back and a moment later he appeared in the doorway with a broad smile.
“Hello love, when did you get in?” he asked.
“A few minutes ago, didn’t you hear me calling you?”
Sirius shook his head. “Sorry, Remus and I were in the attic.”
“The attic?” Hermione asked confused. “What were you doing up there?”
Since the end of the war, the attic had become a catch all for pretty much everything, from furniture, to old trunks, to pretty much everything that belong to Walburga at one time. It was so packed now, you could barely move.
“Renovating.” Sirius replied simply, gesturing for her to follow him.
That made even less sense, given that neither man seemed to have any interest in fixing the house up aside from what needed to be done to live there. When she’d temporarily moved in after school, Hermione assumed the lack of desire had everything to do with the fact that Sirius hated the home he grew up in, but now, having grown up with them, she knew better. She’d once confided in them growing up that she wanted to build or renovate her own home. A place she could really call her own because she’d built it herself. She’d weave enchantments into the work to stave off darkness and when the house was finished she’d build her family there.
It was obvious when she got back that they were waiting for her.
Hermione followed Sirius up the stairs to the attic, stopping short when she saw what they had been working on.
“You… you built me a movie theatre?”
“Yes, we did.” Remus replied. “It’s Halloween and it’s occurred to us that we didn’t have a proper place for our tradition.
She was not going to cry over a room, absolutely not.
“We need popcorn.” she finally spoke up much to their relief.
“Coming right up kitten.”