13

                                    

                                          
After their quiet dinner, Sirius and Hermione disapparated for the main house. To his dismay, he saw about twenty motorized vehicles of various shapes and sizes parked in front of the Chateau. Hermione felt him stiffen and she pulled him along. 
                          
"Oh hell no!"
                          
"You want to see it don't you?" 
                          
"Not this badly," he replied as his breath increased rapidly and he stopped abruptly. 
                          
"Look, no one in there is going to hurt you. I won't allow it and I don't think Connie or the staff will either."
                          
The door opened and Hermione signaled for more time as Sirius had begun to hyperventilate. His eyes were clenched tightly and his chest was heaving. Finally, he heard someone moving quickly toward him and he began to back away. Then the footfalls quickened and he heard another woman's voice directly before him; she possessed a American's southern  accent.
                          
"Sirius," she began. "Listen to the sound of my voice. My name is Suzanne. Alexander is my husband. You remember him don't you? He told me stories of the both of y'all riding motorcycles together when he visited you in London. You remember that right?"
                          
Sirius nodded his head as he struggled to breathe. 
                          
"We're going to concentrate on your breathing, okay? I want you to breathe along with me alright? We're going to slow it down before you pass the hell out on this gravel out here. In through your nose and out through your mouth, okay? Come on, breathe with me...here we go..."
                          
Hermione found herself breathing along with them and caught the woman looking at her as if she had only just realized that she had two people to worry about. 
                          
Once his breathing was under control, he finally opened his eyes and looked at her as he was clutching on to Hermione's hand so tightly that she had no feeling in it anymore. "You're pretty," he managed with a weak smile.
                          
"Thank you," she cooed. "Why don't you come on inside now? Come on? Everyone's waiting to see you," she said gently. She latched onto his arm and led him inside the large doorway. He still had a tight grip on Hermione and she uttered a tiny cry. 
                          
He realized that his grip was so tight on her that her fingers had turned white. He closed his eyes and hung his head, apologizing profusely. 
                          
"Tell me, Suzanne," Hermione began with a bit of a stutter from the pain, "is there any brandy inside?"
                          
"Oh yeah, gallons of the stuff, why? Surely you don't want none of that now, do you?"
                          
Hermione shook her head. "Oh, just asking is all."
                          
Sirius began to laugh silently and he pulled Hermione to him and kissed the top of her head. "I love you," he whispered into her hair. "So much!"
                          
Once they were in the main hall, everyone inside stopped what they were doing to eye up the Heir and his consort.
                          
Connie approached them. "I'm so happy you could join us," she said and she eyed Hermione, silently asking permission to pry him away from her for a few minutes. 
                          
"What happened to him? I've never seen that kind of behavior from him before," Hermione exclaimed as she turned toward Sue.
                          
"That was a panic attack. My name is Suzanne Black, but you can call me Sue or Suzy. What's your name honey?"
                          
"Hermione Granger," she replied.
                          
"What a beautiful name! So good to meet you, Hermione!"
                          
Hermione smiled as she found relief that someone finally got the pronunciation on her name correct of the first try. "You're a psychiatrist, aren't you?"