Sirius was leaving Hogwarts a day early after having worked harder than at any other time in his life to get the potions lab ready for the students return. His excuse was he wanted to run his courses past the smartest witch he knew but, if he was being honest with himself, he just missed the Potters.
He portkeyed into the entrance hall and his jaw almost hit the floor, yes the scenery was sensational but what really caught his attention was the beautiful young couple who were slowly making their way back from the beach. Harry and Hermione were walking with their arms around each other's waist, looking happy enough to out-shine the sun.
Sirius felt his mind drift to his best friend and his wife, 'Prongs and Lily, you would be so proud of him, and his wife is the best witch I've ever met! What the hell is it with you Potter men and these beautiful, brilliant witches?'
He was still standing there reminiscing when he suddenly found himself under attack from a couple of scantily clad youths.
"Hermione, we have to stop this. Your husband might find out!" cried Sirius.
"I've heard he's the right jealous type to," answered Harry.
Everyone was laughing until Sirius finally noticed what she was wearing while hugging him.
"Merlin Hermione, you've just made an old man very happy or a happy man very old. At this moment in time I'm not actually sure which it is."
A bikini clad Hermione laughed, took his hand before declaring, "ok granddad, let's get you some lunch."
They had just walked through to the garden when Narcissa joined them.
...
Hermione had watched as the last few days had seen the year's fall of Sirius. She and Ginny were currently lying sunbathing while the three males fought a battle in the surf that would decide the fate of the universe; she used to call it 'piggy in the middle'.
Sirius appeared to find himself in the middle a lot, as the quaffle seemed to always be just out of his reach. What he didn't know was that Neville was becoming proficient at wandless magic, as it looked like their power sharing had enhanced both him and Ginny permanently.
Sirius let out a roar when, just as they were about to go for lunch, Harry and Neville demonstrated their wandless abilities. The Marauder had been caught in the best possible type of prank, the kind where you don't even know it's happening.
After all those years of seeing nothing but the inside of a cell, they had to use strong sun screening charms to make sure his skin did not burn. Hermione and Harry preferred the non-magical method; rubbing lotion onto your partner's body was a lot more fun than a charm.
They say that person's eyes are the windows to their soul, when Hermione looked into his eyes she could see the pain and torture that his life had been. His family had treated him about as well as the Dursleys cared for her Harry, add to that his years in Azkaban for a crime he would never commit and Sirius was a man grasping at this second chance of life.
Her experience with Harry had taught her what Sirius was feeling, that at any moment this happiness was all going to be snatched away from him because he didn't deserve it.
...
This past few days spent with his new family had shown him that it was real, on the beach all day, swapping stories at night and now his eyes were starting to lose that haunted look. Hermione was sure she had seen something else there when Rose Parkinson had arrived with Narcissa to carry out an interview for the Prophet. She was so sure that Rose was invited, with her daughters to spend New Year at the island.
She watched as Sirius almost howled with delight when Rose accepted, Harry knew exactly what was going on and nearly choked trying to suppress his laughter at the old dogs reaction, if he was in his Padfoot form his tail would be whirling like a propeller.
When her mum, dad and gran arrived they headed down towards the beach and along to the small quay where the 'First Kiss' was moored. Her mother had 'oh-ed' and 'ah-ed' with each new sight but when she saw her yacht she was rendered speechless, for a Granger woman that was quite an achievement.
There was a ribbon to be cut before anyone was allowed on board, after the inspection everyone gathered on the main deck where glasses of champagne awaited and Amanda was given the honour, "I name this ship the First Kiss, may God bless her and all who sail in her." Everyone agreed that drinking the champagne was a much better option than smashing the bottle off the side of the yacht.
.....
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