A Dark and Stormy Night

PROLOGUE

"Mr. Black... Sirius... I have to ask you something."

Sirius turned away from the stack of papers on his desk. "How can I help you, Ron?"

"Well, of course you know that Harry and I are going in a few days... to..." Ron struggled.

"To fight Voldemort," Sirius supplied.

"Yes," Ron said, "to carry out the plan. And well, I just wanted to ask a favor of you. A really big favor."

Sirius met his eyes. "What do you need, Ron?"

"Well, you know Hermione..."

Sirius nodded. "Yes, I know Hermione."

Ron briefly smiled, then his face tightened. "I just... if something happens to me... promise me you'll take care of her... I mean, you won't let You Know Who come after her..."

"She's more than a friend to you, isn't she?" Sirius asked.

"I wish... Sirius."

"She's a very bright girl, Ron. You couldn't have fallen in love with a better one."

"Oh yeah, I know..." Ron said.

"Ron, I promise you that I'll look after her if anything happens. I care about her, too..."

"Not like I do!"

"Well, no, probably not... but I want you to promise me something, Ron. Before you leave, you'll tell Hermione how you feel."

Ron pushed his hand through his bright red hair. "Do you really think I should?"

"No doubt. You should tell her."

Ron's face hardened resolutely. He looked more like a man then than Sirius had ever seen him look before. "I'll tell her tomorrow," he finally said.

Sirius squeezed his shoulder and Ron left the room.

-----

Harry's heart shattered when he saw the body on the floor. "No!"

Lord Voldemort lay dead on the other side of the chamber, but Harry's victory had come at a price. He knealt down beside the crumpled form of Ron Weasley. He turned the body over and put his fingers on Ron's neck. Cold and lifeless. Footsteps and screams resounded in the next room. Death Eaters were coming. A dozen tears dropped onto Ron's dead body, and Harry ran away.

Chapter 1

"Professor Dumbledore, I'm afraid I've got an... er... problem with the Blacks."

"Sirius and Hermione?" Dumbledore tried to keep from smiling. "Tell me, Severus, when did you not have a problem with Sirius?"

Snape pinched his lips together. "I assure you, Professor Dumbledore, I'm not still hung up on old grudges." He scowled over his cup of black coffee and shifted his thin frame on the faculty lounge sofa. "But do you expect me to watch those two acting... like a couple of students! It's completely unprofessional! I actually caught those two making out in the corridor between classes!"

"They're still newlyweds, Severus..."

"I think that interfaculty relationships are completely inappropriate."

Dumbledore glanced behind Snape's back to see Hermione standing in the doorway, shaking with restrained laughter. "You know, you once told me, Severus," she said, eliciting a startled jump from Snape, "that you didn't think that there was anything wrong with interfaculty relationships. You told me you just wanted me to know that..."

"I don't remember saying anything of the sort, Miss Gr--Mrs. Black. Well, I'll be on my way. I have a class to teach." He glared at Hermione as he skulked out the door.

Hermione and Professor Dumbledore waited until he was a safe distance away before they started laughing.

*~*~*

Sirius strolled down the hall to the faculty lounge, grinning broadly as he met a particularly irritated-looking Snape. "Good morning, Sevvy! How are you, pal?"

"Fine, thank you, Black," he responded curtly, avoiding Sirius's gaze.

"Wait, Sevvy, your hair looks good today! Less of it to wash, huh?" Sirius smirked.

Severus self-consciously touched the hairline that had, in the last few months, obviously begun to recede. He glowered at Sirius. "Sh... j.. S... Just shut up, Sirius! Will you never grow up? First it was you and Potter, now it's you and that child you married! You cradle-robber! Have you nothing better in your life than to terrorize me? Can't you see that all I ever wanted was... oh..." Severus's mouth turned downward stiffly. "Never mind, Black! Just go away!"

"Hey, man, I'm sor..." Sirius felt rather ashamed of himself as Snape's dark robes flew around the corner.

He headed into the faculty lounge for his morning coffee--with cream and seven sugars, of course. "Good morning, Prof D!"

"You're in a good mood this morning, eh, Sirius?"

"Mostly." Sirius smiled and joined his wife on the sofa. "You let me sleep late, honey."

"You were sleeping so beautifully." She snuggled subtly into his shoulder. "I just wanted to watch you."

Sirius widened his eyes and gazed at her. He still couldn't believe that this... angel... could love him. And in the back of his mind, he had a gnawing fear that someday it would all be over. He kissed her and held the moment as if it were the only moment he had with her. Dumbledore smiled slightly as he looked away.

Sirius opened his eyes. Hermione was speaking to him. "Have you noticed Snape's hair lately? I think he's going bald..."

He felt a twinge of guilt, but couldn't help mirroring the mischievous grin on Hermione's face. "Yeah, but it was cleaner than usual..."

*~*~*

Snape slouched against the wall in the potions dungeon and squeezed his eyes shut. He tried to dull the hypersensitive hearing that forced him to listen to the juvenile mutterings of the Blacks, who currently occupied the DADA classroom on the floor above him. He had inherited the gift of the Snape family--the blessing and curse of exceptional hearing. He tried to shut it out, but his mind was plagued by their incessant whispers... their annoying giggles... and, worst of all, the telling silences that were occasionally interrupted by their agonizing little moans. Snape picked up a vial and tried to crush it in his hands. His arms shook and the glass rattled as he set it back on his immaculately organized desk. He spastically pulled on his hair, then, remembering the bald spot, banged his head against the wall. He still couldn't ignore them.

And even if he could block out the tortuous noises upstairs, he couldn't forget that horrible nightmare... that monster with bushy red hair, smiling coyly at him as she said, "I'm Lily Granger," then attacking him with a pair of pinking shears, bluntly shoved right through his heart.