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Back in her old life, Hermione never would have even considered doing this. It never would have crossed her mind.
In fact, as soon as the suggestion had left a boy's mouth, she would have scoffed, rolled her eyes and stormed passed the delusional soul. They were still children, after all, and she had dreams to fulfill still - including a perfect NEWT scorecard.
Somehow, in this new life she seemed to have stumbled upon, she was floored to find she was actually considering it.
"Marry me," Sirius had suggested in earnest, holding her hand between both of his, leaning so far across the library table that his elbows were pushing a large tome into her ribs. She couldn't feel it, though, captivated as she was by the mere possibility of marrying Sirius Black.
"I," she stammered, "w-we, y-you're…" but his face was set in resolve. He would not be persuaded to change his mind. His grey eyes were imploring her, begging her to agree to his whim.
They were in their seventh year. They were both of-age. Strangely, they had very similar goals for a post-Hogwarts life. The hiccup in this whole plan, that she could see, was that they weren't actually together, and Hermione didn't think it was especially unreasonable to marry for love.
"Sirius," she finally said, after searching for the right words and coming up only with his name. He quirked an eyebrow.
"Just picture it, Hermione," he released her hand and jumped up to sit cross-legged atop the table and waved his outstretched hand slowly in front of them as though he was slowly revealing an intricate tapestry of their future. "You and me, running a music and bookshop out in Muggle London. We'd have a house near Prongs and Evans because you know she's going to give into him soon, and we'll have a garden you can maintain if that's something you want. I can keep a potions room and we'll have a library for all your books, and Moony's too because you know he'll probably want to spend as much time in there are as you will." He was grinning from ear to ear, giving her a look that said, "come on. You know it sounds good."
"When do you suggest we get this done," she countered, hoping the mere thought of logistics would put him off on the whole thing. "I'm too busy with NEWTS to plan a summer wedding, you know. "
"Already thought of that," he said, reaching around behind him to grab a small stack of parchment. Curiously, Hermiome glanced through them to see it was a marriage license and permitting— which Sirius had already signed. "If you agree, all you have to do is sign and we can apparate to the Ministry from Hogsmeade tomorrow to have the bonding ceremony. I've booked the noon slot already, so we won't have to wait."
To say she was utterly gobsmacked was an understatement.
"Sirius, we're still in school," she protested.
"Only for about five more months."
"But why?"
"Well," he started. "I was talking to Prongs and he was talking about waiting his whole life for Evans if he had to because when you know, you just know. That's about when he started to make sense."
Hermione blinked stupidly, so he just continued. "There isn't much left for me to figure out, you know? I know you and you know me, and I'm pretty sure after meeting you I'm now basically ruined because no other witch in the world would ever measure up to you. You're smart, funny, brave, and kind of mean and that's just exactly what I need— you've said it yourself, don't look at me like that," he reprimanded, pointing a finger in her direction.
"Besides, I think Prongs has got it half right. Pick the woman of your dreams and try to get her to go out with you? That's child's play. Man-up, I say, and show the woman of your dreams that you're worth it. Provide for her, take care of her, support her and let her do all that stuff for you, too."
Somewhere in that mess of gobbledegook Hermione thought she'd heard Sirius call her the woman of his dreams. That was new. He was still chattering away as she took a renewed interest in the pile of parchment she had gripped in her hands, textbooks long forgotten.
"Sirius," she interrupted. He looked back at her, goofy smile still lighting his features. "There's no prenuptial agreement here." His smile fell as his brows knitted together.
"Prenup-- Hermione, I don't want to marry you for your money," he said, almost offended. "Besides, and no offense, you haven't a knut to your name."
She let out a breath of exasperation, "For you, Sirius." His expression returned to jovial once more.
"Oh. Yeah, I don't care about that, pet," he waved her off. "Whats mine is yours. You're probably better at handling it anyway. God knows I won't even want to look at it."
Her head was spinning, the reality of his proposal finally catching up with her. He seemed to notice her begin to feel faint because he gracefully jumped back down into the empty wooden seat beside her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. He turned her toward him and lifted her chin with a single finger.
"Love, I wouldn't ask if I wasn't one hundred percent serious, and I'm not even making a pun so you can understand how serious I am," he said, gently tugging on a curl and watching it spring back up by her ear. Unconsciously he ran the tip of his tongue across his bottom lip as the hair swung back and forth across a smooth expanse of skin at her neck.
"Really, pet. You're it for me. I'm not a romantic guy or anything, but you've told us over and over that you prefer practicality and this, I think, is very practical. This is probably the most practical I've been in my entire life. And I don't know what sort of men you had chasing after you back in your other life, but I know that none of them could ever love you like I do."
Her heart stopped. He was right, she thought, she always had preferred practicality over gaudy romantic gestures. And, he had a point, this could on some astronomical level be considered practical, but in all reality, this was by far the most romantic thing that had ever happened to her.
"What'd'you say, Hermione," he nudged. "Let's skip all the stupid teenage drama and just get married?"
"We won't be able to stop the gossip for weeks," she whispered. He barked out a laugh.
"Let them talk!"
"You're not just doing this to piss off your parents," she asked with suspicion.
"Consider it an added perk, but not at all a reason," he laughed.
"And you said James put you up to this?"
"Merlin no," he giggled, causing Hermione to look at him in amusement. He looked so happy and carefree. She liked it. "Can you imagine if he actually knew about this? He'd try it on Evans and then we'd have to attend a funeral tomorrow instead of our wedding!"
"I haven't said yes, yet," she admonished, trying to bite back a smile.
"Well you haven't said no yet, either, so I'm taking that as a good sign," he chuckled.
If she had still been in her original timeline with her original friends and her original crush, there was absolutely no way she would have agreed to this. But this life she was currently living was a gift. It was a second chance and she didn't even need to justify it to herself.
She was already in love with the git. She even knew him better than she'd known anyone else, other than Harry, in her other life. She knew him now as a kid, as an adult and as a teenager, and she knew him well enough to know he wasn't lying.
She sighed, faking a forlorn and weary tone as she picked up her quill from the table.
"Where do I sign?"