the_debt_of_time

"Life debts," she answered as she fumbled with the phial stopper. "Cast a Warming
Charm." She tilted Sirius's head back and opened his mouth, letting the green liquid slip
down his throat.
Remus reacted right away, casting the charm and watching quietly as Sirius's body
stopped shaking. When his limbs relaxed, the chestnut wand that had still been tightly
gripped in his hand fell free, clattering to the ground. Remus pocketed the item right away.
"Life debts?" he echoed automatically, wondering if he was going into shock as he
watched Hermione administer a third potion.
"I saved Sirius, remember?" she answered quickly as she continued to rummage
around in the kit, fumbling with the wand in her mouth. "Here, hold this." She handed her
wand to Remus. "He would have been given the Dementor's Kiss. They were already on
their way, and I broke him out of the classroom he was locked in. He owed me a life debt."
"Hermione, life debts can't bring people back from the dead!" Remus shouted,
noticing his volume and wincing. "Sorry." He focused his attention away from her and
rubbed his hands over his face.
She handed him a phial. "Here, have some Pepper-Up." With a shrug, she added,
"I'm sure as hell not giving it to him." Her chuckle was nervous as she reached for the
Calming Draught. When she poured the liquid into Sirius's mouth, she frowned in
concentration. "And no, generally, life debts can't bring back the dead."
"So how did you—?"
"Unless they didn't die from the Killing Curse," she said and then hesitantly
muttered, "and you use a life debt ritual."
Remus gaped, silently scolding himself for underestimating her. "Hermione, that
was Blood Magic."
"Yes," she confirmed, not going further into detail.
"How did you get Sirius's blood?" he demanded, wondering how long she had been
planning this mission of hers.
"I didn't. Not exactly. That was Harry's t-shirt. Malfoy broke Harry's nose on the
train last year, and this was the shirt he was wearing. Glad I never took the stain out. I
honestly didn't know if it was going to work." She laughed shakily, clearly depleted by the
energy she had put into the spell.
"How did it work?"