Rebirth

Chapter 4: Freedom

The next morning, Sirius awoke with a thumping headache, to find Ron just starting to stir on the floor.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Ron said, looking a little green. He managed to stand up and then fell onto the sofa next to Sirius.

The pair sat next to each other with their heads in their hands, waiting for the room to stop spinning.

"It's been a while since I was that out of it," Sirius said.

"Don't think I've ever been that out of it," Ron moaned, clutching his head in his hands. "It was fun though," he added.

Sirius was just about to haul himself up and make some tea, when he heard a noise from the kitchen downstairs. He stood still and alert, suddenly sure there was something he should be remembering, but not quite able to call it to mind.

"Hermione?" asked Ron. "How drunk did she end up?"

The previous night's events flooded back into Sirius's mind at the mention of Hermione's name. He groaned aloud. What the hell was I thinking?

"Pretty drunk," he sighed. "Listen, Ron, make yourself scarce for a while. I was a bit of a shit last night and I need to apologise to her."

Ron glared at him.

"What did you do?" he asked, a stern look on his face.

"Nothing, nothing." Sirius replied. Ron was the last person he was going to confide in about this. "I just got a bit drunk and miserable. I was probably a bit loud."

"OK, I'll go for a shower," Ron replied, eyeing Sirius suspiciously.

Ron went upstairs and Sirius headed to the kitchen to find Hermione, wondering what on earth he would say to her. He silently prayed that she wouldn't be too angry.

When he arrived downstairs, she was standing over a pan of sizzling sausages and eggs.

"Morning," she said, in a sing-song, overly light hearted voice. She didn't look at him, but carried on attending to the stove.

"Morning," Sirius replied, a little more soberly. He cleared his throat, nervously, running his fingers through his hair. He hovered in the doorway, trying figure out what to say. "Listen, Hermione, about last night - ",

"What about it?" she cut him off, breezily, giving the kettle a tap with her wand.

"I'm really sorry. I acted like a bastard, and I'm sorry," he said, all in one breath. Still, she didn't turn round.

"Nothing to be sorry about," she answered, levitating some plates from the cupboard.

"Hermione, will you just stop for a minute?" he said, firmly. He knew she was mad, or embarrassed or something, and he was reluctantly determined to make it up to her. He strode over to her and grabbed her arm, turning her gently but firmly to face him. She flinched at his touch.

"Just listen to me for a minute." He had her attention, and his mind raced to find the right words. "I shouldn't have let things get out of hand like that. I don't know what was the matter with me. I was drunk and I took advantage. Will you forgive me?" he asked, desperately trying to read her cool expression to try and find out what happened. She paused for a moment before she spoke.

"Sirius, we're both adults. I was just as much to blame as you. Lets just forget it ever happened, OK?" She gave him a curt smile and pulled away from him to continue cooking.

He wasn't satisfied with her response, but he could see it was the best he was going to get for now. He sighed inwardly, mentally kicking himself for behaving so irresponsibly. It certainly wasn't the first time he had let lust get in the way of judgement and he knew himself too well to believe that it would be the last, but usually he didn't hang around long enough to witness the aftermath. The last thing he needed right now was an atmosphere in the house between Hermione and himself.

Ron appeared moments later, breaking the awkward silence. Hermione immediately started chattering inanely as she piled food onto the plates and pushed them in front of Sirius and a slightly bemused Ron. Sirius didn't say another word throughout breakfast, just giving Hermione a terse goodbye before she left for work.

Sirius felt decidedly bad about what had happened, but he soon forgot about it when he and Ron got ready to go to Diagon Alley later that day. The prospect of being able to walk the streets without disguise filled him with exhilaration. It had been too many years since he had been able to do this and it was something he had longed for. He had almost given up that he would ever walk free again.

They travelled by Floo Powder to the fireplace of the Leaky Cauldron. As the witches and wizards turned to see their arrival, the audible gasps of shock that filled the room set Sirius instantly on edge. Had he been mistaken in believing that he was free? He looked a the sea of faces with growing dread, expecting aurors to burst through the door at any second to carry him back to Azkaban.

After what seemed like an eternity, someone spoke.

"Sirius Black, well I never," said an old Wizard sitting at the bar. He stood up and walked towards Sirius, his hand outstretched. "Is it really you?"

Sirius stared at him, aghast, turning to Ron for support.

"Yes, it's really him. We brought him round a few days ago," Ron said, placing a protective hand on Sirius's shoulder.

"Well I never," said the wizard again. "Let me shake your hand," he said, extending his own hand out to Sirius. Sirius took it, wordlessly, still at a loss to explain the man's actions. As if prompted, witches and wizards came forward from all over the bar, clapping Sirius on the back, greeting him with warm, friendly smiles.

Sirius was overcome with emotion at the reaction of these strangers. It had been a long time since he had been surrounded by so many people, and it was the best welcome home he could have received.

As they left the pub, Ron leaned over to him and whispered in his ear.

"I should have warned you that might happen, sorry," he said.

"I thought they were going to lynch me!" Sirius laughed.

"Dumbledore made quite sure your face was known once the Ministry agreed you were innocent. He launched a massive campaign in the Daily Prophet to let everyone know that you'd been wrongly convicted. You're famous now, mate," Ron smiled, obviously pleased to see Sirius looking so happy after everything that had happened.

As they walked down the street, they were stopped by numerous people, wanting to shake Sirius's hand and tell him how glad they were to see him back. Sirius started to realise how Harry must have felt the first time he had entered the wizarding world to a similar reception. Ron rolled his eyes with impatience every time they were held up, but Sirius didn't mind at all. He could take as much of this as he could get.

"Well, I guess it's not going to be long before Remus find out I'm back. Maybe he'll make contact," Sirius grinned to Ron as they finally approached the Apothecary.

"Well, I was hoping that would happen," said Ron, grinning. "The Ministry wanted to keep you under wraps for a while in case either Remus or Peter came after you since they're both supposedly so dangerous; they just won't listen to reason. Anyway, I told them that short of hiding you away again there wasn't a lot we could do to stop the news getting around."

Sirius felt utterly elated as the chilly March breeze stung his face. For the first time for as long as he could remember, he felt happy. Even the grief he felt for Harry's death and his concern for Remus could not spoil this moment for him. Ron picked up Hermione's order from the Apothecary and they headed back to the Leaky Cauldron for a butterbeer.

Settling down at a table in front of the large fireplace, Ron and Sirius gulped down their hot drinks.

"So are you going to tell me what happened with Hermione?" Ron asked, giving Sirius a nervous smile. His voice was casual, but it seemed obvious to Sirius that this meant more to him than he was letting on. He really didn't want to have this conversation, but something in Ron's tone told him he was no going to be given the option.

"Nothing, I told you, I was just being drunk and obnoxious," Sirius lied, fingering the edge of his robes nervously. Ron shook his head.

"Sirius, I know Hermione pretty well," he said. "I know something went on last night. You could have cut the atmosphere with a severing charm this morning."

Sirius stared into the fire with irritation. He really didn't want to get into some kind of schoolboy duelling session with Ron, and he also didn't want to admit that he actually felt pretty ashamed of himself for coming on to her as ruthlessly as he had.

"Ron, it's really none of your business," he said in the most patronising tone he could muster. "But if you must know, we got drunk, we kissed, she went to bed. End of story."

"You kissed her?" Ron asked incredulously.

"Yes, just kissed her," said Sirius, "Look it's no big deal. We were drunk. Just forget about it."

"You kissed her?" Ron said again, his voice rising with anger. Here we go, thought Sirius, groaning inwardly.

"It's certainly not going to happen again, so I wouldn't worry about it." Ron paused for a moment, his face flushed with anger. People were starting to look round.

"It'd better not," he said, a definite trace of confrontation in his voice. This, Sirius could not ignore.

"What did you say?" he asked incredulously.

Ron stood up, facing Remus, his hand in his pocket curled around his wand.

"I said it had better not happen again," he said, his voice thick with anger. Sirius laughed out loud.

"Or what?" he said. "Are you going to set your brothers on me?" Most of the people surrounding their table were now surveying the scene with interest. A fight was always a good bit of entertainment in the Leaky Cauldron.

If it was possible, Ron's face went redder at the sound of Sirius's laughter.

"Or I'll make sure you regret it," he said, pulling out his wand and pointing it at Sirius. Sirius didn't even bother to put his hand in his pocket. He found the whole situation incredibly amusing and not in the least bit threatening. He could perform fifty counter-curses before Ron could even think of an incantation. He laughed again, tears starting to form in his eyes.

"Ron, for heaven's sake, she's not interested in you. Take a hint." He grinned at Ron in an effort to calm him down, wiping a tear from his cheek. "And will you put that thing down before you take someone's eye out!" Ron lowered his wand, clearly humiliated, but his anger had not abated.

"You can't just waltz back here after all this time and just take her, you just can't. I won't let you," he spluttered.

"Listen, sunshine," said Sirius, his tone becoming a little more menacing. "Let's just get one thing straight. If I wanted to 'take' her, you certainly would not be able to stop me. But quite apart from the fact that she's a person, not a possession, I have no intention of pursuing anything with her, so let's just leave it at that before you do something you'll regret, OK?"

Ron sank back down into his chair, still fuming. Sirius looked around, glaring at anyone who was still staring at them. He was annoyed that such a good day had been marred by this, and felt more than a little sorry for Ron who had obviously got it bad for Hermione. But he certainly wasn't going to apologise for his actions to him, and he certainly wasn't going to be threatened by him. Sirius had never been the type to back down from a fight, no matter what the circumstances.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" A chorus of cheers peeled throughout the room. Sirius looked up to see a group of rather drunken witches and wizards raising their glasses as the bar tender conjured up a large cake covered in candles. He suddenly remembered the photograph of Harry he had seen the previous day.

"Ron, I meant to ask you," he said, hoping a change of subject would lighten the mood. "Hermione said Harry was sixteen when he was killed didn't she?" He raised his glass and smiled towards the party of wizards.

"Yes, why?" he asked sullenly, watching them levitate the birthday boy into the air and clumsily drop him back to the ground repeatedly.

"I found a picture of him in the library yesterday. It was his birthday and he was standing in front of a banner that said '17 today'," Sirius was sure he saw a flicker of anxiousness cross Ron's eyes before he spoke.

"I don't know. Why don't you ask Hermione since you're obviously so close to her." he snapped.

Sirius rolled his eyes gave up, confident at least that he wasn't going to get a sensible answer out of Ron. He was reminded rather unpleasantly of an attempt he had once made to hold a sensible conversation with Severus Snape.

"By the way," said Sirius as they returned to Grimmauld Place. "What happened to Snape?"

"Dead," snapped Ron, stamping childishly up the stairs to his room.

"Good," replied Sirius indifferently and went into the kitchen to fix himself something to eat.