#they expressed their concerns about my academic career while we were having lunch and mum went like 'we don't ask u cause u r an adult'

[zzuuha]

✨ me not telling my parents absolutely anything about my uni life, even though we're currently living together ✨

[synoir]

Seasons: Autumn

Fourth addition to the Seasons series

Read in order: Seasons: Winter | Seasons: Spring⎪Seasons: Summer

Sirius Black x Hermione Granger | Muggle AU

Warnings: Coarse language.

Thanks to @thornweed who beta−read this final part!

Read on FFNET (Rating: M): Chapter 1 – Chapter 2 – Chapter 3 − Chapter 4

Sirius moved towards Hermione and put his hands on her shaking shoulders. The rain was tapping on the window relentlessly, and his girl was holding back tears. He knew she was more angry than sad, but it did nothing to make him feel better.

"I'm so sorry Sirius," she said in a tiny voice. He put a kiss on where the neckline of her dress met with her skin, in hopes that it would be reassuring.

"You've got nothing to apologise for," he said meaning every word. She didn't need to apologise for she had done nothing wrong. "I can handle a little scrutiny from your parents, love. They worry about you and your future. I admit their method is a bit unsavoury but... They'll come around."

Hermione shook her head and took the apple pie she had put on the counter to cool. She had been trying to cook a perfect pie since she had heard her parents were coming to visit them from Australia. Hermione wasn't a good cook and was an even worse baker, but she was stubborn and the result was perfect like everything else she had put on her mind to achieve. Sirius hated that after all her hard work she had done for her parents' visit everything turned so gloomy.

On one hand, Sirius understood their concerns, he really did. He had the same concerns after all. Although his were for more selfish reasons, he couldn't blame her mother and father to want to talk to her about moving in with a man nineteen years her senior. He just didn't expect them to be so callous about their disapproval. He didn't want to think about how the rest of the two weeks of their planned visit would resume.

"They should at least try to be polite," Hermione said with an air of righteous indignation then she sighed dejectedly. "Can you grab the plates?"

Sirius left another kiss on her shoulder before doing as he was told and following Hermione to the dining room.

Sirius had left for work in the morning. After the disastrous dinner, they had decided she needed to talk to her parents alone, so Sirius claimed he needed to go the bar that he owned to check something.

"He doesn't even arrange a day off the first morning we are here?" Catherine Granger asked as she sat down on the living room sofa. Her father had gone for a walk as he did every Sunday morning after breakfast since she could remember, so she was alone with her mother now. She put down two mugs of tea on the coffee table and turned to her mother with a saccharine smile.

"He did actually, but I asked him to give us space so we can talk," she explained. Her mother sighed and nodded her head picking up the mug nearest to her.

"Very well," she said primly. "I don't approve of your relationship with him. Please don't ask me to pretend like I do."

"I don't ask you to approve Mum," Hermione said seriously. "I can't control your feelings. I expect you to be polite towards him in his own home. I expect you to respect the decisions I make for my own life. I honestly thought you would be opposed to it to a degree−"

"He is old enough to be your father," her mother interrupted her.

"But he is not my father," Hermione returned, just as fast.

"Darling, you can't hope to have the same expectations in life as him. You two are clearly very different people. What about your academic career? You had a perfectly good house and a life plan. And now you suddenly throw it all away for a man who has made very different choices than you in such a short time. That isn't like you."

Hermione had promised herself not to get agitated and start to shout, but suddenly that didn't seem possible to her. Still, she took a deep breath to calm herself.

"He is very supportive of my academic career," she said. "Didn't you see the study he made for me? That was his birthday gift to me, you know. Not chocolate and roses and a dinner outside. A study with wall-to-wall bookshelves. He cares for me. Yes, he didn't make the same decisions in life. And yes, he is much older than I. We know.

"But you see, that's why it's him. Because we talk about our worries and we work on them together. Because he respects my decisions on a level no one else does. He doesn't treat me like a little girl. He isn't with me because of, what was it that you so elegantly put, A mid−life crisis."

Hermione stopped herself from talking more before she lost the control of her voice. She wrapped her cardigan more firmly around herself and glared at her mother. She gritted her teeth as her mother sighed one more time in a way that screamed you are making a mistake, Hermione. She could hear the unspoken words so clearly in her head she wanted to scream.

"You'll see," her mother said. "One day you'll realise you wasted your youth with an older man and you'll regret it."

"Until that day," Hermione began. "You will accept him. You don't have to like him, but Sirius and I have a serious relationship. So you either accept us or you won't be a part of our life. And I expect you to treat him with decorum in his own house too, while you are here."

"Hermione!" her mother exclaimed, clearly shocked. Hermione didn't blame her. She had been living in Australia for the last couple of years and no longer knew what kind of a woman Hermione had become.

"Alright," came the voice of her father behind them. She turned and looked at him. He must have returned from his walk and now was standing in the living room.

"Dad," she said and her father walked in and sat down on one of the chairs without even taking his coat off.

"I do not approve of it. But alright."

Maybe taking his girlfriend's parents, who had decided to dislike him, to a lunch without the buffer offered by the said girlfriend was not the wisest of decisions. But Sirius was not a child, hadn't been one for a long time, and he wouldn't take it sitting down when his peers tried to belittle him because of the decisions he had made in his private life. Even if those peers were the parents of one of those decisions.

The polite and strained conversation about the day and their plans could have been the only topics that they talked today. But Sirius hadn't invited them out when Hermione was at the university to talk about how good the weather was in Australia during this season.

"You know," he began as he took a sip from his ginger ale. "There is a great chance that I won't go anywhere."

The sudden change of topic was effective, he knew. It was one of the things that disarmed people and showed their immediate response. In this case, it was two pair of eyes looking at him in surprise that soon morphed into scowling. He wouldn't complain; that's why he took them out of the house. So they would be in a mutual territory.

"You should," Matthew Granger said. "You must know she deserves someone –"

"Younger?" Sirius questioned then he smirked. He knew his face must look predatory. It was an expression he had learned at a very young age. "Richer? Although I must admit that would be overly ambitious of you..."

"Excuse me?" Catherine's indignation was almost identical to Hermione's, yet it had the opposite effect on Sirius.

"I understand your worries," he said then. "But I don't care about them. I invited you here to tell you that I will do my best to remain a permanent part of Hermione's life. And I don't mean remaining friendly if this thing between us doesn't work. I mean that I will make it work."

Hermione drove her parents to the airport after a torturous fortnight spent with them in her new home. Visiting for her birthday... What a crap excuse. They hadn't come to visit her for her birthday since they retired and moved to Australia. They usually would send her a plane ticket, and she would have to arrange her life accordingly to visit them. When they did the same this summer and Hermione told them she couldn't because she was moving in with her boyfriend they suddenly decided to make the trip themselves. She would have liked to think that it was because they wanted to see her. She should have known it was to come and convince her that her chosen partner was not good enough.

They didn't like Sirius. Which would be acceptable for her if they had actually made an effort to get to know him. It was worse since they were forced to spend fourteen horrible days in the same house.

Her mother hugged Hermione, and she returned the gesture stiffly.

"You know, you can come and visit us whenever you want," her mother said.

"Well, it would depend on Sirius' schedule, Mum."

Catherine Granger didn't like that answer, not that it surprised Hermione. "You could always come alone."

Hermione snorted. "Like you go abroad without each other," she said pointing at the space between her mother and father.

"Well, we are married, pumpkin," her father said unnecessarily.

Hermione stiffened her shoulders and looked at them. "Well, Sirius and I are as good as married. We live together, pay the bills together, and plan our life together." She shook her head. "And considering how rude you were towards him in his own house, I don't think I will be asking him to visit you in yours anytime soon."

"Are you cutting us out of your life, Hermione?" her mother asked with surprise and her father seemed angry.

"No." Hermione's answer was quick and loud. "Of course not. But I have different priorities, now. Mainly, him."

"Hermione, moving in with someone is not the same thing as being married."

Hermione took a deep breath. "It is for me."

Hermione took out her key and opened the door to her home, their home. She was tired. Now that her parents were gone, she felt the loss of their disapproving presence like a ghost ache. She had apologised to Sirius and he never accepted it, and now she was at a loss on how to make him forgive her. She could have declined her parents when they wanted to visit, but she didn't know how, so Sirius had to listen to her parents' objections and their criticism of his life. He had to listen to them ask about her ex−boyfriend Mark and whether Hermione was still in contact with him, Mark was such a gentleman, after all, and no point in cutting ties because you had broken up. Or they would complain that motorcycles were too dangerous.

Or that whether he ever regretted his tattoos.

Why was he never married?

Oh, his parents were dead? Was it old age?

Hermione smiled remembering Sirius' answer. "Father died because of Mother. She died out of spite. I don't remember actually when... would have to check the date on the death certificates."

Well, that certainly didn't make the Grangers love him more, but Hermione wasn't about the get angry with him because of that. At that point, Hermione wished Sirius retorted with sarcasm to everything they said. But instead, he had held his tongue so as not to increase the tension. She had later warned her mother that Sirius' family was a private and tense subject and she would appreciate them not bringing it up again. So whenever they were alone Catherine Granger lamented on the importance of family and having well-established roots.

So, yes, Hermione was tired. She wanted to open a bottle of wine, take a long bath and then, if she felt rejuvenated enough, probably shag Sirius loudly. She was also tired of keeping it silent. It was a good plan. She knew that Sirius would appreciate the loud sex.

She wanted to skip the living room and climb the stairs toward the bedroom but stopped when she noticed the warm light that was coming from there. She pushed the French doors that divided the area and slowly walked into the room where Sirius was throwing wood into the fireplace, his face glowing as the flames moved in their confines. Crookshanks was right next to Sirius, undoubtedly enjoying the heat. He seemed unaware of Hermione's presence and she liked the small time frame that gave her to watch the man she loved. She noticed the wine bottle opened to let it breathe on the coffee table and the selection of dried fruits and cheese on a plate. She sighed contently. He knew her too well.

Sirius must have heard her sigh because he lifted his head and looked at her. He poked the fire one last time to place the wood properly and got up to walk towards her.

Hermione didn't move, instead, she let Sirius come to her, with steps unhesitating yet not fast. Like a man who knew where he was going, like a man who knew who he was going towards. Hermione's heart filled with familiarity and attraction towards him. He stood when he was in her personal space, and he belonged there like a limb of hers. His hands moved up and his palms pressed onto her arms, gently squeezing and climbing up towards her shoulders only to climb down again.

Her eyes teared up. How did her parents not see how much they belonged together? How easy it was for them to just be when they were together? Even fighting was easy with Sirius. It lacked the fear of being judged or misunderstood because all that he shouted and got angry and frustrated, he was there and he would hear her. It was easy to laugh with him because he wouldn't keep it down, he would reach the very peak of joy and take her with him. It was easy to make love to him because they hadn't stopped learning each other, and their curiosity was mingled with a passion that was born of physical attraction and wants they shared. She watched Sirius' every move like the man was a poem that decided papers were too confining and he broke free of them, and as sappy as that sounded Hermione didn't think she would ever get tired of reading it.

When Sirius' right hand reached up to her face to cup her cheek and his thumb moved right above her cheeks to take a teardrop Hermione realised she was crying. A second later she was enveloped in his arms, their bodies touching each other over Hermione's thick coat and his wool jumper and jeans, but it felt as if there were no restrictions at all. Familiar. He was familiar.

And he smelled like home.

"Sirius," she began raising her head to look at him and his arms squeezed her firmer in reassurance. She wanted to apologise for her parents' treatment of him, thank him for putting up with it. She wanted to say that he came first now, that she loved him and that he was a part of her; a permanent fixture that her parents would have to accept. She could probably talk about what she thought, what she wished for and what she felt. The words that came out of her though were different, and even though she hadn't planned for the words to be spoken she wasn't surprised when the question left her mouth and became a breath shared by the two of them.

"Will you marry me?"

Sirius' heart leapt.

Did he hear her right? Did she just ask what he thought she asked? He looked at her face, focusing on her eyes. There were no tears anymore, just the shine that was left from them. The tiredness had gone from her posture and instead, she had that stubborn stance that he loved so much, shoulders raised and chin up, like it was not a strain on her neck when she looked at his face but a natural posture. The decisiveness and a lack of fear that he found in her face warmed his heart. It wasn't a romantic uprising towards her family in search of rebellion, and how dare he think such things about Hermione, anyway? Did she ever say anything that she did not firmly believe in?

"When?" he asked then took a deep breath. "Yes. Hermione," he leant in and put a kiss on her lips, barely holding himself to not tremble. "I will marry you. Just say when."

She smiled at him and kissed him once again, rising on her toes and holding herself with arms placed on his shoulders. "Anytime."

Sirius nodded and grinned leaning to hoist her up in his arms and moved her to the sofa. He gently laid her there and followed her body with his. "I think autumn is a great season for a wedding."

Hermione's following laughter was a thing that should have been bottled for an eternity. The humankind surely would miss out on not hearing it over and over again. "I agree. October is my favourite month. And it's right between our birthdays too, very convenient."

He hummed in approval and kissed her cheek and then her ear. "James owns this great house north of here. It belonged to his parents. It's fancy and big enough for a small wedding."

Hermione sighed lightly, pleased and Sirius put an open-mouthed kiss right below her chin, a place he knew she liked. Sure enough, she let out a small moan. "I think I could find a nice dress by the time. Silver and midnight blue for the wedding colours, I was thinking."

Sirius chuckled. "Were you, now?"

Hermione shrugged. "No, but blue is my favourite colour and white is too boring."

Sirius made a sound to show her he agreed. "I like it. Chocolate for the wedding cake?"

"Of course," Hermione said immediately. "That place we discovered, Honeydukes? I love their chocolate cake."

Sirius moaned as he thought of the promise of that particular flavour and kissed her full on mouth to reward her for the amazing idea. "We should ask Luna to make the invitations. I have a feeling that she would make it weird enough to fit us both."

Hermione grinned as Sirius started to take off her coat. He struggled a little with the thick material and when he was done her hands wormed their way underneath his jumper. "Open bar?" she asked hesitantly and was surely considering the expense of such frivolous wishes.

"Oh, love, you know how to excite me," he said and settled between her legs and as if they were waiting for the cue they hugged his waist. "I think I can arrange that, yes. I'll ask Narcissa for a catering company for the food."

"Oh," Hermione said but Sirius couldn't be sure if that was a testimony to the closeness of their bodies or an agreement to his idea to let the Malfoys handle the food. "That would please the masses, I think."

"Would it please you?" he asked with a firm move of his hips that pressed onto her core.

"Yes... yes it would," was the content response from his woman.

Sirius grinned and kissed her again moving his body in sync with her heated responses, and finding a rhythm to remind her how good they were together. He watched her face as her eyes fluttered close, like a promise of things to come. The light from the fireplace was turning her wild hair that was around her head into a fiery halo and warming the lines of her face. "I love you."

Hermione hummed and pressed her chest firmly against his, arching towards him. "And I love you," she said and he kissed her with all his being.

And it was like magic.

The End

This had been a joy to write although a little bit slower than I would have liked. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I will as usual tag some of you here. If I have forgotten someone know that it wasn’t intentional.