worry for Sirius and not wanting to intrude on the man's privacy, she reached for the
doorknob and lightly turned it.
Scanning the dark room, she was unable to see much except for the shadows, but
when Sirius cried out again, clearly terrified, she could see the silhouette of his body
thrashing in his sleep. The sound brought tears to her eyes, but she did not know what to
do. A part of her said that she should shut the door and leave immediately, that his business
was his own, and he would probably be furious with her if he woke and found out that she
had sneaked inside his bedroom.
Before she could think of what to do, the door opened further. She looked down
and quietly hissed, "Crookshanks! Get back here!"
Crookshanks sauntered into Sirius's room and jumped up onto the bed, curling up
next to the sleeping man. Almost instantly, Sirius stopped moaning. Hermione could hear
his breath evening out. She let out a long sigh of relief, and the ache in her chest subsided
somewhat.
Not knowing what else to do, she retreated into the corridor, leant her back against
the wall and slid down to the floor, bringing her knees to her chest. She had hoped that
once Sirius was properly asleep, she could call for Crookshanks and get him out of the room.
If Sirius were to wake to find her familiar in his bed, he would more than likely have
questions, and she would not even begin to know how to answer them without blushing
awkwardly.
It was less than twenty minutes later when her eyes grew heavier and closed of their
own accord.
"Hermione?" Remus whispered when he stumbled upon the little witch sleeping in
the hallway, her wand gripped tightly in hand. "Hermione, are you okay?"
She blinked a few times, looking up at him. "Professor?"
Remus grimaced at the title as usual. "Hermione, is there a reason you're sitting
outside of Sirius's bedroom?" he asked, poking his head inside the cracked opening of the
door to see his friend snuggled up on his bed, an arm slung over Hermione's ugly cat, both
snoring softly.