A.N. This is my first try at a Hermione/Sirius drabble but this just occurred to me as I was reading the Order of the Phoenix, I had the smallest of hopes that he may come back (as I am stupid, say it with me... Stupid!) Please tell me what you think, I really would like to know.
She watched him so avidly it was a mystery he hadn't seen, the whole hidden depths of him intriguing her and forcing her to stare mindlessly at him. Following him slyly as he edged his way around the table, old and worn through years of use by his family. Sirius hated it here, he begged for company as to chase away the memories of his house. A house he despised and made quite obvious to anyone who came to visit, a house so full of pureblood pride that once he was joined by the Weasleys, Hermione and Harry he had thrown at least a third of the contents away.
Hermione herself helping but for her own reasons, reasons that half of her mind wished Sirius knew. She was fascinated in the old pieces, the pieces which told her so much about his family. Everything engraved with a 'B' as he threw them unceremoniously into a already over stuffed bag, muttering darkly to himself as Harry, Ron and herself kept quiet. The two boys throwing looks to each other as they both agreed to help Molly prize a charmed painting off the opposite wall, the three of them heaving at it as it didn't budge and Sirius looking over his shoulder with a smile, once again ignoring Hermione as she edged closer and preoccupied herself with a silver necklace. Shaking her hands out of the thick gloves and wiping her forehead, Sirius continued to watch the three over the other side of the room as they made no progress.
Delicate and covered in a light coat of dust, the tips of her fingers only just grasping it before a stronger hand grabbed hers and pulled it away. Only after it was gone did she feel the slight tingle on her fingertips, as if she was numb or had just plunged her hand into ice. She was being steered out of the room before she even realised Sirius had wrapped an arm around her. Shortly arriving in an empty kitchen, Hermione being seated at the same aged table that she watched him across every meal. Glancing at her hand it seemed to be burnt, the line of the chain easily seen as if she had been branded as the numbness died and a dull ache settled in.
Sirius himself quickly delving into the drawer above Kreacher's little 'room' as he continued to mutter, pulling out a vial of something and swiftly seating himself next to her. At some point he had grabbed a cloth and was already applying the vial of suspicious green liquid onto it, grasping her wrist lightly as he turned her hand and examined it.
"Maybe 'Mione, you should pay more attention to what you're doing." Sirius said in a gruff voice, his head bowed over her hand as his hair fell forward.
"Excuse me but..." She was interrupted as the cloth was brought onto her 'burn' and Sirius raised his eyes to her, stopping her train of thought as she locked on to the orbs of endless, swirling black.
"This is after all the 'Most Noble House of Black'." He said before snorting loudly, never seeming to blink as he kept his eyes on her before a large grin took over his face. "Y'know at first I kept checking my face in the mirror, I wanted to see what it was you were watching." He added with liberal humour in his voice, leaving Hermione to try desperately to decipher his meaning, furrowing her brow and watching him intensely. Did he know? She had never caught his eyes, she seemed to him to be invisible. Her doubts being eradicated totally when he seemed to smile even larger, raising his eyebrows expectantly.
"I was not watching." She said hotly, staring hard at her hand which he was still holding. "I was observing." Added in a whisper, glancing up quickly to see him smiling genuinely and nodding at her in agreement.
"Oh really? Well that's put me in my place! How's that?" He said as he lifted the cloth from her hand, the burn looking less angry and Hermione hadn't even realised the stinging had receded.
"Better." She said briskly as she made to stand up, lifting her hand from his grasp only for him to grab her fingertips lightly, moving his grasp to her wrist as to avoid the red line left by the necklace.
"I'm grateful." He said with another cocky grin, tilting his head to the side to reveal the muscles taut in his neck at which Hermione tried not to watch. The slight glance and back to his face again in less than three seconds, of which he noticed and gave her hand a slight squeeze.
"For what?"
"The attention." He said simply, standing with her at which she was level with his shoulders. Lifting her face to meet his gaze, only for the slightest moment before he walked her back to the room they were cleaning. "It's flattering, to have someone like you 'Mione watching me. Although I would, one day like to know why."
She kept quiet as he stopped her outside the room, the sounds of Molly, Harry and Ron floating out to them as they seemed to be carrying on their attack at the painting. Biting quite viciously at her bottom lip as she forced herself to stare straight back into his eyes, she could tell without even looking he was grinning and again tilting his head to one side. Hermione being the first to look away as he was obviously waiting for an answer, the next events happening so quickly it wasn't until afterwards that it all sunk in.
The first thing she remembered being the loss on her hand before her back met the wall beside the door, a pressure to her front as she later realised to be Sirius who she looked up to see grinning at her. Soft damp lips meeting hers harshly as she straightened herself fully against the wall, raising her hands up although she was clueless what to do with them. The scratching on her face being stubble, a new concept entirely to Hermione as she was used to smooth skin. She felt almost fragile, small, innocent in fact as he towered over her by at least a foot. His hands resting feather light on her waist and back, his chin pressing stubble into her cheek. She decided as the weight left her front and she was being pulled lightly into the room again, that she enjoyed that feeling.
Hermione was sure she was blushing as she kept her head forward and let her hair cover her face, jumping only slightly as a pair of gloves came into her line of vision. She took them and realised the slight brush beside her as Sirius carried on throwing old trinkets into a bag, looking up to see his face from behind her hair. For the first time since her stay of a month and a half he met her gaze, shocking her most of all as he lowered his head to level with her ear.
"I do love attention, almost as much as you love watching." And with a wink he straightened up again, returning his eyes to the cabinet with a smile.
A.N. Well? First Sirius drabble ever! Remember that if you review, give me a bit of slack and all that. x