A/N: So sorry for the long wait guys! Life & my chronic illnes were a bitch these past few weeks.. BUT, I finally managed to finish this chapter (big big thanks to my amazing beta's!) and I really hope you like it. More Dramione next chapter, I promise :)

Beta Love: TheLastLynx & Mandi762

The following morning Hermione arrived at the Black Repair Shop early. It wasn't even eight yet, but she needed to talk to Sirius before she would bury herself in their finances again. Last night had been amazing. She and Draco had talked till midnight, discussing how they could make a possible relationship work. The first thing Hermione needed to do before she could commit to Draco would be talking to Sirius. She had to understand why he held such a grudge against both the Slytherins as well as Draco. She deep down hoped that he would approve of the relationship, but also knew that it was most likely far fetched. He was a good friend and confidant and she valued his opinions.

The second step would be: more dates. They needed to get to know each other, a good feeling wasn't enough for Hermione. She needed to be able to trust him if she would fully commit to him. Opening your heart is a scary thing, and she wasn't planning on letting anyone crush it if she could help it. She also wasn't about to step into a relationship blindly, she just met the man for God's sake. It was a miracle they were already talking and thinking about serious stuff like this. For years Hermione hadn't felt a thing when a man had looked at her, or touched her. And now, she felt more than she had ever imagined.

It didn't take her long to find Sirius. The raven-haired man was working on a big red motorcycle in the shop, Padfoot at his feet. The dog wagged his tail when he saw her entering, alarming his master of her presence.

'Good morning, Kitten,' Sirius greeted her.

'Morning Sirius,' Hermione bent down to scratch Padfoot behind his ear. 'How's he doing?'

He smiled and patted his dog's head. 'He will be okay. The vet told me he'll make a full recovery, so that's good.'

Padfoot had a big bandage around his midriff, and two big hairless spots on his front legs. It looked pretty serious, but the dog licked Hermione's hand, and kept wagging his tail, assuring her, he was, indeed, fine.

Hermione bit her lip, she dreaded the conversation they were about to have. For a second she was tempted to continue to chat about Padfoot, but then again she really should just get this over with.

'Sirius?'

The man looked up from his work, and raised his browns in question.

'Yes, Kitten?'

'Can I talk to you about something?'

Sirius sighed, and put down his tools. He cleaned his hands with an already filthy looking cloth, and turned around to look at her.

'I was wondering why you came in so early. Is this about the young man you left with last night?'

Hermione blinked. She didn't expect him to be quite so observant.

'Don't look so surprised, Kitten. I'm not stupid; I've known you for years, and believe it or not, but I can read you like a book. I already suspected your secret admirer was Draco Malfoy, and when I saw you on the back of his bike last night I knew I was right. I've been expecting you to come and ask questions, you wouldn't be you if you didn't,' he said, and the corners of his mouth turned upwards into a grin.

Hermione looked down at her hands before speaking.

'I just... I need some answers from you. I need to understand what you have against them, against him.'

Sirius placed his hand in her arm. 'I know, Kitten. But are you sure about this?'

Hermione nodded. 'I am. I'm finally feeling something, Sirius; I need to know.'

'Alright then, why don't you go to your office and make some coffee. I'll be there in a bit, and you can ask me anything you want. Take Padfoot with you, will you?'

She did what he'd asked, and when she placed two mugs of steaming coffee on her desk, Sirius walked in with a folder in his hands. He sat down at Regulus' desk. With a mumbled thanks he gulped down the caffeinated drink.

'Let me tell you something first; what I am about to tell you is coloured by my opinion and my experience. Anyone else might tell you these stories differently. But as much as I want you to see them the way I do, I don't expect you to.'

Hermione smiled, and gave him an encouraging nod. She was nervous about what she was about to hear, but he was right, she couldn't let herself be influenced by his point of view. After all, every story had different sides to it. Sirius cleared his throat, and opened the folder in his hands.

'When Reg and I were little, we were very close and always together. That changed when I went to High School, and our relationship grew from bitter to worse. It got so bad, in fact, that our dad couldn't take it anymore, and locked us into his garage to get us to fix our relationship,' Sirius lips tugged up into a small smile, clearly picturing that very moment in his mind. 'One of the reasons why we grew apart, was our different groups of friends. As you've probably guessed, his circle of friend were children of Slytherin members, and they were all destined to join their parents' gang as soon as they turned eighteen. Reg's behaviour had changed a lot since he had started hanging out with them, and sometimes I barely recognized my little brother. He frequently got into trouble, both at school and after. My friends and I tried everything to get him to drop the snakes, but that only pushed him away from me even more.'

He fell silent for moment.

'And then, a few years later, this happened.'

Sirius dropped some cut out newspaper articles in front of Hermione, and the headlines immediately got her attention.

SHOOTING BETWEEN SLYTHERIN AND THE MARAUDERS

TWO DEAD AFTER STREET FIGHT BETWEEN RIVAL BIKE GANGS

THE MARAUDERS DEMAND JUSTICE FOR DEAD GIRLFRIEND

'Who are The Marauders? I don't think I've heard of them,' Hermione frowned.

She looked up from the papers when Sirius didn't answer. His eyes, filled with tears, were focused on one particular picture in front of him. It was another newspaper piece; showing a photograph of a beautiful blonde girl.

'Sirius? Are you okay?'

The man in question slowly turned his head to meet her worried gaze.

'Did you know her?' Hermione asked when he still didn't say anything.

He bit his lip, and traced the lines of the girl her face with his fingers.

'She was my girlfriend,' he whispered. 'She was killed the day of the shooting. One of our own betrayed us by joining the snakes, and she was just there. At the wrong place, at the wrong time, some would say.'

Hermione felt her throat tighten, and her eyes filled up with tears.

'Oh Sirius.. I didn't know,' her voice sounded hoarse.

'Her name was Marlene. She was the most beautiful girl I've ever seen, and they killed her. I know it was an accident, but it still happened. For the longest time I blamed Regulus. I blamed him for joining the snakes, for making me and my friends feel like we had to join The Marauders. If he hadn't accepted his place in Slytherin, Marlene would still be alive,' Sirius closed his eyes, and dragged his hand through his messy black hair. 'It happened a long time ago, and me and my friends quit the gang after it happened. But in the end I realized it wasn't his fault, and he was still my brother.'

'Oh Sirius, I'm so sorry I made you tell me this,' Hermione whispered as she wiped the tears off of her cheeks.

'It's okay Kitten, you needed to know. Slytherin is far from being just an innocent gang, but I don't believe they killed Marlene on purpose, not anymore. However, they did shoot to hurt us, to injure and weaken us. We were at war, Kitten, and it was serious.'

Hermione frowned. Then why did he let them come to his shop? Why fix their bikes? She felt like she was missing something.

'I must also tell you, that this war was led by our gang leaders of the time; Tom Riddle and Albus Dumbledore. They absolutely despised each other, and it's what got them both killed in the end. Lots of the Marauders chose to leave the gang, and others, who weren't ready to leave the gang life behind, joined Slytherin, setting aside their differences. Lucius Malfoy, Draco's dad, took over from Tom and has been leading the snakes ever since,' Sirius explained.

'What about The Marauders, did they just stop to exist?' Hermione asked.

Even though she wanted to ask a million other question, she decided to take it easy on Sirius. He clearly found it hard to talk about that part of his past. His shoulders looked stiff, his eyes sad as he stared to nothing in particular and his lips weren't curled up in a smile as they usually were.

'Like I said; everyone either quit or joined our rivals, so yes I think we did,' Sirius said sadly.

His eyes met hers and slowly his lips curled upward again. It was a fake smile, but at least he looked a little more like Sirius again.

'Can I ask why you in god's name you fix their bikes? I'm sorry, but I just don't get it,' Hermione blurted out, her cheeks flushed red.

'Because I grew up,' Sirius chuckled. 'I also love my brother, and he will always be a snake. I didn't want to keep living the way I did, so I decided to put my differences aside. Things changed when Lucius took over anyways.'

Hermione looked at him for a moment. She definitely understood now why he mistrusted the Slytherins, but she still didn't get how he could live with his former enemies being around him every day. With the reminder that one of them killed his girlfriend.

'Do you still blame them?' she asked.

Sirius sighed and rubbed his face with his hands. He looked frustrated, and Hermione almost felt sorry for asking the question.

'I do. By not turning in the monster who killed Marlene, he killed three more girls before he went to prison. Lucius did banish him from Slytherin after the accident, but that accident none-the-less triggered something in him. That man was a beast, Hermione,' he said.

Hermione suddenly remembered. Fenrir Greyback. He'd killed three girls in a week, ravished them like a beast, a monster. He had mutilated them, made them almost unrecognizable for their family. A shiver went through her body; it was a good thing that man was behind bars, but it was so unfair that he was still alive. Hermione would never wish someone dead, but this man killed innocent people, he took those girls away from their loved ones, and for what? His own pleasure?

Sirius placed his hand over Hermione's.

'You okay, Kitten? Let me make you some more coffee.'

He stood up before she could answer, and Hermione just stared at her hands until her mug was placed back in front of her. She had not expected the conversation to turn out this way. It didn't change her feelings for Draco, he had nothing to do with all this, but it definitely made her think. She wouldn't be able to look at any of the older generation of members the same. She would always have the thoughts lingering, wondering, questioning, did they watch and bear witness to that beast kill an innocent girl? If so, how could they have just let him get away with it? How could they live with themselves? Poor Sirius. The things he went through... It broke Hermione's heart.

For about twenty minutes they just sat there. Thinking, drinking coffee, staring at everything but each other. Hermione's mind was spinning. She had so many more questions, but she didn't know if she wanted to ask if she wanted more answers. There was one thing nagging her, and she couldn't help but smile and spit it out anyway.

'James and Remus in a biker gang, damn.'

Sirius barked out a laugh, a real one.

'I know right, it might surprise you how much they fit in though. We formed the Marauders to protect our friends and loved ones, and for most of the time, it worked. We trained together every day to get stronger and better. We had self-defence lessons, learned how to shoot guns and the girlfriends and wives would cook us dinner every Friday night. We were a close group, different from the other bikers but also the same; we protected our own.'

Hermione said nothing, letting all the information sink in. She understood now why Draco had insisted to go to Sirius for the real story. How much did he know about this? His father was Slytherin's leader, who knows what story he told his son. She let her eyes wander to Sirius. He was looking at her with a puzzled expression.

'What is it?' she asked.

'You're taking this really well.'

'I'm still processing everything, but I do understand now why you reacted badly to seeing me with Draco.'

Sirius raised his eyebrows, then frowned.

'Let me tell you this, Sirius; I will never turn my back at you, and I won't change by dating Draco, besides maybe by being happier. I also will not turn into a snake, you have my word, and I promise I'll come to you whenever I feel like something's wrong. I'm not Regulus, and Draco is not his father or their former leader, we are our own people,' Hermione said, hoping it would ease her friend's mind.

'I'll even learn self-defence if that makes you feel better,' she added with a smile.

Sirius sighed, but the corners of his lips curled up a little.

'You'll learn to defend yourself with and without a weapon, and if Draco or any other snake bothers you or hurts you, you'll come straight to me. Promise?'

'I promise.'

Sirius stood up from his chair and pulled her out of hers to wrap his arms around her body. Hermione smiled and nestled her head against his chest, letting him hug her.

'You're like a daughter to me, Hermione; I just want you safe. You don't need my permission or acceptance to do anything, but I will do everything to protect you,' he muttered in her hair.

'I know.'

When Sirius pulled back he pressed a kiss on her forehead and shot her a smile.

'I have to get back to the shop, but if you want to talk more about this, or if you have questions, just let me know. okay?'

Hermione nodded and leaned forward to hug him once more.

'Thank you for telling me all this, Sirius.'

He patted her back and then left her alone in her office. Hermione sat down at her desk again and rubbed her temples. What a story. It took her a few minutes to focus and get back to work, but when her brain finally allowed her to dive back in she didn't stop until Draco knocked on her door with lunch.

'Time for a break, Miss Granger,' he called out as he stepped inside her office with a grin on his face.

Hermione chuckled and for once she dropped her work immediately. She was hungry and in desperate need of some food and distraction. Her conversation with Sirius had dragged all the happy and giddy feelings Draco gave her the night before out of her body, and had filled her with sadness. Draco greeted her with a kiss on her cheek, and placed a paper bag in front of her.

'I brought you some sandwiches as well, Princess. I couldn't remember if we said to bring our own food or not,' he said as he grabbed a chair for himself, and sat down next to her. 'Hey, are you okay? You look sad.'

Draco looked at her with a frown and reached out for her with his arms, pulling her in his lap. Hermione sighed and melted against him, curling around his body and letting her head lean against his.

'I talked to Sirius this morning, and it sort of sucked all the energy out of me. I expected a story filled with anger, not with sadness. Did you know about Marlene?'

Draco nodded. 'Dad told me, and some of the old Marauders still talk about her sometimes.'

'Wait, she was a member as well?' Hermione asked, lifting her head to look at him.

'No, but she was very loved. At least that's what I get out of the stories about her; apparently, she also used to bake the most delicious treats. Alastor always compares my mother's chocolate cookies to hers.'

Hermione smiled sadly and grabbed the bag of sandwiches, not sure what to say next. She offered one to Draco and pulled out the one with lettuce and chicken for herself.

'Do you feel differently about me now?' Draco suddenly asked.

Hermione lowered her sandwich and looked up at him with big eyes. She shook her head very fast and put down her food so she could grab his face in her hands.

'I don't. You might be a Slytherin, but you weren't a part of the shooting that killed her. You're not Tom Riddle or Fenrir Greyback, and I don't believe you ever could be as evil like them. You're not responsible for any of this. It's your actions that define you, Draco. And you haven't done anything to make me change my mind about you.'

'Yet,' Draco mumbled, but the corners of his lips tugged upward already.

'As long as you don't hurt people and stay honest with me, I won't,' Hermione answered.

'So you still want to go on that next date with me?'

'Definitely. Can I eat my sandwich now?'

Draco chuckled and nodded, taking a bite of his own meal.

'So, not scared of the big bad snake huh, Princess?'

Hermione grinned and made a clawing movement with her right hand.

'Nope, I'm a fierce lioness. Didn't you know?'