the_debt_of_time

hands as he passed by her. She tossed him a grateful look, and he dipped his head to her
appreciatively. "Ron can date whomever he pleases as well."
Lavender gaped at Hermione. "You're not together? But I thought... Ginny said
you had been off running together all year. And you're telling me nothing happened?" She
had her "gossip voice" on—a voice Hermione spent years trying to tune out.
"Ron and I are not together, never got together, and will never get together,"
Hermione said as clearly as possible, smiling testily. "Got it?"
"Got it," Lavender said thoughtfully as she turned in the direction Ron had walked
off to. "So you don't mind if I... ?"
"As long as you don't do it in front of me." Hermione blanched at the image that
popped up in her mind. She used her wand to syphon the rest of the healing ointment off
of her hands. "You're all set to go. Maybe wait until the battle's over to go snog Ron? Just
a suggestion."
As the words left her mouth, the memory of Sirius's large hands pulling her onto
his lap came into her mind. She instantly recalled the firm feel of his chest as she pressed
her hands against it and the taste of his lips and the way he sounded when he moaned into
her mouth...
"Son of a bitch!"
Snapped from her daze, Hermione's attention darted toward a raging Sirius, his
body rigid as he moved, his hair flying behind him due to the speed of his steps. A furious-
looking Ron tailed him.
"What's happened?" she asked anxiously as she rushed to Sirius, stepping in front
of him and walking backward as he continued to move. "Where's Harry?"
"Never thought I'd live to see the day when I'd agree with bloody Snivellus!" Sirius
snarled as he moved toward the exit. He looked as though he barely even noticed Hermione
as she pressed her hands to his chest to slow him down. "Harry really is as arrogant as his
father!"
She glanced to the side as Ron rushed over to where Kingsley Shacklebolt stood
among the gathered Weasleys as well as Neville and Luna, presumably catching them up
on the situation.