A/N: This short story is written for the Halloween Trope Fest hosted by the amazing Dramione Fanfiction Writers on Facebook.
My trope: Western AU! I'm so happy I got challanged to write this trope, here's to more western stories!
Beta love: savedprincess85, thank you so much for all your help and support! I could not have done this without you!
Hermione smiled at her daughter. The young girl had a determined look on her face as she rode Spartan, their black stallion. Her blonde hair was bound back into two low ponytails, and she wore a cowboy hat that was a little bit too large for her as it kept falling down into her eyes. Her father had gotten it for her before he left for a required work trip, and the girl had sworn to wear it every single day. She even slept with the thing, something Hermione thought to be absolutely adorable.
'You're doing great, Carina,' Hermione yelled to the five year old.
She leaned against the wood of the corral and scanned their surroundings. The corral was only a few feet away from their house so if something happened it wouldn't take her much time to grab Carina, and get into the house safely. She never had to do it before, but lately there were some alarming stories going around of bandits looking for trouble. Whenever her husband, Draco, was home with her, she felt completely safe. She knew he would never allow anything happen to their little girl. But when she was alone, she felt anxious even though she knew she could protect herself and Carina. She always carried a knife and her two favourite pistols, which she definitely knew how to use, but Hermione also knew that sometimes that wasn't enough.
'Mummie, look!' Carina yelled with laughter, interrupting Hermione's thoughts.
Her daughter was cantering around the corral with no hands, something she had been practising for a while now. Her arms were straight, and she had the biggest smile on face as Spartan calmly galloped around in circles.
'Whoooo!' Hermione cheered as she clapped her hands.
Her daughter's smile was mirrored on her own face. The girl reminded her of herself when she was younger, and seeing Carina on Spartan made her heart warm. Spartan had been her horse for fifteen years now, and she still remembered the day she got him as a yearling. He had been wild, and it had taken her a while to make him trust her. But once he did, they were best buddies for life. Spartan would do anything for Hermione, and especially now he was older he was the most loyal and calm horse she had ever seen. She never worried when Carine rode him, or groomed him. She knew that if her girl fell off, he would stop, and would wait right beside her. He was loyal like that, just as he had been with her.
Spartan was also with her when she met Draco almost ten years ago now. Hermione smiled at the memory, her eyes still following her daughters every move.
It was hot summer day when Hermione mounted Spartan. Sweat was already tickling down her temples and she quickly wiped her skin with her red bandana before adjusting her cowboy hat. With a little pressure of her legs Spartan moved forward and the journey to the neighbouring town started. It had been a month since she had visited Godric's Hollow, and she had promised Harry she would help him move his cattle before August ended. She had two days left to fill her promise. After half an hour of riding as fast as she and Spartan could handle in this heat, Hermione loosened the reins to give her horse the freedom to stretch his neck. He immediately let out a bray and moved his head down so his nose almost touched the ground. Hermione smiled and pat his neck.
'I know, bud. We're almost there,' she said to him.
From Spartan's back she could already see the town coming into view. It would probably take them about fifteen more minutes. Harry's ranch was on the other side of Godric's Hollow. Hermione reached for her water bottle to take a last sip when she heard it.
A gunshot.
Spartan snorted and his head shot upwards, ears in his neck. Hermione shortened the reins and encouraged Spartan into a canter. Every other woman would have gone straight to the town, but Hermione wasn't every other woman. She was the daughter of a sheriff. Her right hand moved towards her pistol when she heard another shot coming from deeper in the woods. And another.
She frowned. Either someone didn't know how to hit their target, or they were on a killing spree. She certainly hoped it wasn't the latter. Unless they were hunting rabbits.. Was it hunting season already? Skillfully, Hermione and Spartan moved through the trees, both fearless and determined.
The fourth shot was much closer than the others and Hermione prepared herself for what she was about to find. What she saw when she rode into an open field was definitely not what she expected. There, a few feet away from her, stood her godson with a gun in his hand. A GUN. HER GODSON.
James Potter looked up when she cantered towards him and Hermione saw a flicker of fear on his face. He immediately lowered the gun he was holding. When she halted Spartan and jumped from his back in a fluid movement, she noticed there was a man beside her godson. She couldn't see his face because he was wearing his hat low over his eyes, and at the moment she didn't really care.
'Are you out of your mind?' she snarled at him as she stalked towards the two.
Spartan followed her from a distance and then stopped to graze when she reached James.
'Aunt Hermione,' the young boy started.
'James Albus Potter, you, young man, are in so much trouble,' she growled as she grabbed his shoulders.
The boy flinched and let his head hang down in shame. He definitely knew he was wrong. Only a few weeks ago Harry had forbidden his son to train with his newly received gun. He had made James promise to wait until he turned eleven, so Harry could teach him when it was legal in town. But it looked like her godson had other plans. She knew he was impatient, and she could sympathize with that, but sneaking off with someone else to train was just wrong.
Hermione sighed as she cupped his face, making James look at her.
'Listen Jamie, you know I love you right?' she started.
He nodded.
'But I have to be very angry with you right now, because you broke a promise you made. You broke a big rule, and there will be consequences for that. I will have to tell your father what I just saw, and I definitely will have a conversation with whoever you tricked in coming with you. Do you understand what you did wrong?' she asked, giving him her famous stern look.
James bit his lip, but nodded again.
'I'm sorry auntie Hermione, I just couldn't wait. Do you know how many more sleeps until I turn eleven? It's ages away,' he complained.
'You should have waited, James. I understand you are excited, I remember how excited I was when I first got to learn how to shoot. But your father wanted to teach you. What do you think he'll say when he finds out he's not the first to take you out hunting? To teach you how to use your gun?' she asked.
James his face fell, he clearly hadn't thought of that yet. Hermione already felt sorry for Harry as she knew how much he had looked forward to teach James. Suddenly she remembered the man. She whirled around and stabbed her finger into his chest.
'You!' she snarled. 'What were you thinking?'
The man took off his hat, and Hermione almost forgot what she was about to say when she saw his face. He was extremely handsome. His stormy grey eyes were unlike any other eye color she had ever seen. He had white blonde hair and pale skin, that made him look even more gorgeous. His strong jawline was a little stubbled and even though his lips were chapped, they looked very kissable.
Wait.
Hermione quickly pushed her angry thoughts forward and stabbed her finger into his chest again. Damn, his shoulders were broad.
'How dare you take a ten year old into the woods to teach him how to use a gun? Who are you?' she demanded.
James his hand slipped into hers, and she calmed down a little.
'It's not Mister Draco's fault, I begged him to take me.' He said in a little voice.
'That doesn't make this right, he should have said no.' she answered James before looking at the man before her again. 'And you're an adult, Mister Draco, you should have known better.'
'I should have,' he replied.
Hermione blinked.
'Then why did you take him?' she asked as she narrowed her eyes at him.
He kind of looked familiar, but she couldn't quite place his face. She probably met him before at Harry's ranch, or maybe he used to hang around in their favorite bar in town.
Draco shot her a lazy smile as he placed his cowboy hat back on his head.
'I couldn't resist the boy's puppy eyes and pleas.'
'That's bullshit,' Hermione growled. 'Are you incapable of saying no, or what?'
'I think we should finish this conversation elsewhere,' Draco replied, his grey eyes flickered to James quickly before looking back at her.
Right. She should get James back to Harry anyways, it was probably best if he handled his son and decided what to do with this gorgeous blond human being who took his son without permission.
Hermione nodded at the man and tugged on James his hand.
'Come Jamie, you can ride back with me on Spartan.'
Yeah, their first meeting didn't go over very smoothly. They had a huge argument after she had reunited James with Harry. Her best friend had been upset with both his son and Draco, who to Hermione's surprise was his business partner. It took them a few days to warm up to each other, but even until today, the couple was still the best at arguing. It was their specialty.
Spartan's light whinny made Hermione get back to the here and now. Carina was now in the middle of the corral, her body turned to the opposite direction as she looked at something.
'Is that daddy?' she asked, turning back to look at her mom.
Hermione frowned and climbed onto the wooden gate to see what her daughter was talking about. Draco wasn't supposed to come back until the day after tomorrow. In the distance she saw a horse approaching their ranch house at a trot and it's owner wore a cowboy hat. It wasn't Draco, she could see it at the man's frame and the way he sat on his horse.
'It's not daddy Carrie. Come off Spartan, love, and get inside to get ready for lunch alright?' Hermione told her daughter as she opened the gate for her.
Carina nodded, the girl knew better than to ignore her mother's orders. She hopped off of Spartan, hugged her mom quickly and then jogged towards the house. When she was inside Hermione let out a sigh of relief and focused her attention on the rider again. He was getting closer, and it would probably take him about three more minutes to reach her.
She grabbed Spartan's reins and moved him towards the stables, pretending not to care about the stranger coming her way. While whistling a country song, Hermione started to brush Spartan's black fur. From the outside she might seem relaxed, but all of her senses were on high alert and ready to act when necessary. As soon as the rider and his horse trotted onto her lawn she turned around to look at them.
'Hello there,' she greeted the stranger. 'Can I help you?'
The man jumped out of his saddle, and Hermione palmed the knife in her back pocket.
'Howdy Miss, I'm looking for one, Draco Malfoy. Is he here?'
His deep voice sounded friendly, but Hermione didn't trust the look in the man's eyes. They were dark, and even though he smiled at her, his eyes didn't smile with it. She met guys like this before while working at her dad's sheriff station. The man was tall, had broad shoulders and his dark hair just reached below his ear. He had a few scars in his neck and three different pistols hung at the belt he wore across his torso.
'Who's asking?' Hermione asked, eyeing the man carefully.
She wasn't about to give away that she was Draco's wife. If he had bad intentions, she could easily be the one to suffer from them if the man learned Draco was not here.
'Rabastan Lestrange, Miss,' he answered. 'I desperately need to speak to him, it's a family matter you see.'
Family? Hermione couldn't remember Draco ever mentioning other family members beside his mother, father, and his aunt Andromeda Tonks. The name Lestrange did sound familiar though, and she tried to think where she could have heard it before.
'Then I'm sorry to tell you he's not here, Sir. Perhaps you could try and look for him at the local bar, I've heard he often spends his time there,' Hermione replied with a small smile, hoping it was enough to get the man off of her property.
'Ah, so you do know the guy? I was hoping you would, I've been trying to find him for a while now. I would really appreciate if you could just be honest with me, and tell me where he is,'
Rabastan chuckled and Hermione's smile immediately faltered.
She patted Spartan on his neck in attempt to calm herself before looking the stranger in the eyes again.
'I know of him yes, he bought some of our horses and likes to drop by now and then. I couldn't tell you where he is though, as I don't know. But like I said; you should try the local bar first.'
Rabastan tilted his head and smiled at her.
'I find that hard to believe Mrs Hermione Malfoy, but I applaud you for lying to my face to try and protect your husband.'
Hermione froze and then slowly moved her hand to her pistol.
'Uh uh, I wouldn't do that if I were you,' Rebastan said cheerfully, and he moved so quick she barely saw him grab his own pistol before he pointed it at her head.
She'd been at the other end of a gun before, but somehow this felt different. She hadn't been a mother before, and the fear of leaving her daughter behind was worse than her fear of dying. Thankfully Carina was safely inside the house, and Rabastan hadn't made any comment about knowing the little girl existed. Her hope of keeping her daughter safe shattered into a hundred pieces when she heard a scream coming from the house.
Rabastan grinned evilly at her, and seconds later the front door opened and another man dragged Carina out of the house. The blond little girl struggled against his grip on her arms and Hermione felt anger rise up in her chest. No one touched her daughter. She had to do something.
'What do you want,' she growled, sounding braver then she felt.
Carina continued to yell at the men to let her go, but the second stranger just lifted her up and threw her over his shoulder like she weighted nothing.
'I want your husband, Mrs Malfoy,' Rabastan said, stepping closer to her.
His gun almost touched her chest, but for some reason she didn't feel scared anymore. She raised his eyebrows at him.
'You want my husband? What, you're in love with him or something?' she mocked him.
The man before her narrowed his eyes and took another step towards her, his free hand grabbed her chin harshly.
'No time for jokes Mrs Malfoy, you wouldn't want my brother to hurt your precious little daughter now, would you?' he said with a low voice.
His brother? Suddenly all alarm bells in her brain started ringing. The Lestrange brothers, of course. That's why his name sounded so familiar. The brothers were wanted criminals, they had been for a few years now. But ever since one of them lost his wife three years ago, they disappeared and were somehow forgotten.
'Leave my daughter out of it,' Hermione growled. 'She didn't do anything wrong. Let her go, and I will give you anything you want.'
'You hear that Roddie? She'll give us anything,' Rabastan laughed at his brother and looked her over like she was a piece of meat.
The man he called Roddie chuckled, and Hermione glared at the both of them. She would not let them do anything, she just needed time. Time to get herself and Carine out of this mess safe and sound. Draco would kill her if she let anything happen to the both of them. And he would definitely want to kill the two brothers in front of her.
Shit, what was she going to do?
To be continued..