"Here you go, madam," Sirius said with a mock-French accent. With a sweep of his arm, he presented a bright yellow lollipop from behind his back to Hermione.
"What is it?" she asked warily. Knowing Sirius to be a joker, there was no way she would accept anything edible from him until she was absolutely certain what it could do to her.
"Oh...nothing," he said, giving her an innocent smile. "Just a present for you, my lovely lady."
She rolled her eyes playfully. "No really...what is it going to do to me?"
"Try it and see. I promise it's not anything fatal."
Sighing, Hermione took the lollipop and licked it cautiously. She suddenly felt an odd sensation around her scalp, and after a few moments of confusion on her part and chuckling on Sirius', she realized it was her hair rising. "Oh Merlin," she groaned.
Pulling her wand out, she muttered a hair-flattening spell and breathed a sigh of relief when she felt her light-brown locks settle back on her shoulders. "You are so immature," she grumbled. Sirius simply laughed at this, and strode off to stuff his pockets with more candy.
"Shouldn't we be getting that acid pop?" Hermione called out loud to Sirius' retreating form.
"Yeah I'll go get it in a bit," was his faint answer.
True to his word, the tall, lanky Gryffindor soon came back with an acid pop in one hand. He gave it to her, and she put it in her robes pocket.
"So...what are we going to do for the night?" Hermione asked.
"No clue," Sirius said as he crouched down in front of her. His exhilaration and excitement at having been locked in a candy shop had died down a while ago, and he now looked bored and uninterested in his surroundings.
Hermione turned down to button up her pocket, then looked up. To her surprise, Sirius' face was now mere inches away from hers, and he was gazing at her intently. She blinked, and said awkwardly, "Can I help you?"
"Yes...yes you can," he responded softly. Then, he leaned in and kissed her on the lips.
Although Hermione's initial reaction was to recoil, she fought her instincts away and bravely leaned into the kiss. Mmm he's a very good kisser, she thought happily. Then the realization of what she was doing hit her, and she pulled away. I'm kissing my best friend's godfather! she thought in disgust. What in God's name has gotten into me?
"Anything wrong?" asked Sirius with a cocked eyebrow. A faint smirk now rested on his handsome face as he tilted his head to one side.
"Nothing," she lied.
"All right then...would you like to continue?" he said, the smirk growing.
"Uh...maybe...later," Hermione replied, blushing.
Sirius shrugged. "Okay then, your choice." With that, he sprung up and headed off somewhere else to investigate the wonders of Honeydukes.
In the Room of Requirement, James still sat on the edge of the bed, gazing down at Ginny. His mind was a turmoil of confused emotions and thoughts.
Is it even possible that I can be falling in love with her so...soon? Maybe it's just lust. Maybe I'm just attracted to her because she's gorgeous. Her eyes...oh God I've never seen anything so beautiful. Yet she's so sweet and innocent, and I want to protect her from everything whenever I'm around her. Even though I've only known her for...less than a day. But what about Lily? I've loved her for so long...I can't just give up on her...Argh, what do I do? James burrowed his face in his hands and uttered a frusterated groan as these thoughts ran through his mind.
As he did so, a rustle from behind him startled him. Turning around, he saw that Ginny had shifted positions and now lay curled on her side, clutching the blankets. A stray wisp of hair fluttered lightly everytime she exhaled, and on instinct, James extended a hand and gently brushed it away. Her image was one of pure serenity. But she's so beautiful...