A/N: So, my dear fellow readers, this is the second chapter of this story. I hope that all of you will enjoy this one XD

Thank you to Just2Pretend for being such an amazing beta, you are a star XD

Chapter 2: The Confrontation

"Oh no."

Once Hermione and Stella reached the location, they quickly hid behind a crop of trees and what they saw shocked Hermione the most. She recognised the people fighting Dolohov, especially the leader, the very handsome and dangerous looking man she saw yesterday. He and his subordinates were fighting against the wanted Death Eater and one appeared to be injured badly. From the way the injury looked, Hermione could guess that Dolohov had used the slicing curse on him. That bastard.

The two women continued to watch worriedly with wide eyes. Hermione wanted to interfere and capture her target as quickly as possible, but was unsure as to how she could do so without grabbing the attention of the muggles. Turning to Stella, she quickly explained the next course of action.

"Go and send a patronus to Harry, inform him that we found Dolohov. Tell him to send backup as quickly as possible, go now." The younger girl nodded her head and left.

Hermione turned her attention back to the fighting not far from her. Her view was clear and, fortunately, she was able to see everything that was happening. Stella and Alejandro were right, these muggles were strong, especially him. She didn't know why, but she was worried for the man and didn't want him to get hurt. Leaning forward a bit, she saw Dolohov take out his wand and aim it at the group he was fighting. Her heart pounded and Hermione knew she needed to get there quickly. She didn't care if she was seen, she wasn't about to let Dolohov injure or kill them. Her mind made up, she exited her hiding place and ran to them, just as Dolohov was about to attack. His wand was aimed at the one they called Boss.

"Avada kedav-"

"Stupefy," Hermione shouted, cutting Dolohov off and throwing him backwards. The wizard was shocked but it was promptly replaced with anger as he saw Hermione Granger standing there looking at him. He growled his displeasure at being interrupted and focused his attention on the muggleborn.

"Mudblood," Dolohov snarled.

"Dolohov," Hermione responded. Her wand was held tightly in her hand, knowing how dangerous and cunning the Death Eater was. Her eyes were fixed on the criminal before her. The group of muggles watched anxiously and not a little astonished.

Xanxus couldn't believe his eyes. The young woman from the café yesterday was here and she had appeared out of nowhere. To make things more confusing, she was also using that stick the man they were fighting had used against them. What was going on? Who were these people?

Hermione didn't care whether the muggles were there or not; she was not allowing any blood to be shed here and most definitely wasn't going to allow Dolohov to hurt the leader. She had no idea why she felt that way in particular, but she trusted her instincts.

"Looks like you want to protect these muggles. Well, considering that filthy heritage of yours it shouldn't be a surprise. Isn't that right, mudblood?" Dolohov sneered at her. His wand was aimed at her.

Hermione clenched her wand tightly but otherwise showed no reaction. She was not going to allow him to insult her or her heritage. Muggleborn or not, it was who she was and she was proud of it.

"I think they are capable of taking care of themselves, seeing the way they had 'taken care' of you," she retorted. The wizard snapped.

"How dare you, mudblood! You and these filthy muggles will die!" Dolohov barked harshly, hatred clear on his face and in his voice

"Like I'm going to allow that to happen, Dolohov," Hermion spat, ready to take on the wizard if he so much as twitched towards them. They were both in a fighting stance, ready to start their own battle, when a voice interrupted.

"VROOOIIIIII…WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE AND WHO THE FUCKING HELL ARE YOU?" Squalo yelled, pointing his sword at them, but it was trained on Dolohov. The Varia Rain Guardian had enough of all the weirdness and trouble going on since the man with the stick came here. And now this young woman who they, or rather he and his boss, Xanxus, saw yesterday had joined them. She was the one Xanxus had his eyes on. He had been pondering it since the incident, of how his boss seemed drawn to her. It was new, as his boss had never been like this before, never attracted to anyone. But this woman was different, even Squalo could see that. Now here she was with a weird stick in her hand, just like the sick bastard that had been terrorising their territory recently.

Hermione fidgeted in her spot. She couldn't take her eyes off Dolohov, fearing that he would make his move then and would probably win if she did. On the other hand, she also wanted the muggles to leave for their own safety; but how to convince them to do so? She saw their strength and determination to take the Death Eater down, and that really surprised her. No muggle had fought against a wizard before and survived, but she knew these people were different. She absently wondered whether Stella had managed to contact Harry, but was more focused on her and the muggles' safety. Especially the one with the scars on his face. She knew Dolohov was bent on killing her, and them, and leaving to perhaps another province. She was not going to allow that to happen.

Antonin Dolohov was enraged. He didn't like how he had been unable to kill these muggles with their unusual abilities and now the mudblood was here to capture him. He waited for a loophole, a gap that he could exploit and would grant his escape. He noticed the Granger girl fidget, having exposed magic in front of muggles, but he had, too, when he was about kill the scar-faced man and his damned followers. Then he saw an opportunity.

"Crucio," he hissed, but wasn't fast enough.

Hermione dodged the curse.

"Petrificus Totalus," she called out in retaliation and Dolohov fell the the ground. Hermione took his wand and silenced him. Since his magic had been weakening since their last fight and had yet to be healed, he was unable to do any wandless magic.

The Varia watched in stunned silence. Never in their lives had they witnessed something like this. Well, sort of. They had seen and contributed to many unexpected occurences, especially with being part of the mafia, but never like this. This was different and so were the two they were watching.

Xanxus kept his eyes on Hermione. With guns in his hands, he was ready to strike if anything went wrong, though deep inside he doubted that she would cause them problems.

"Boss, what should we do?" Levi asked. The Varia Lightning Guardian didn't recognise the woman, having not noticed her at the café yesterday. Most of the Varia members were ready to attack, though they were held back by Squalo. He, too, doubted that the young woman would cause any trouble.

Xanxus growled as he watched Dolohov lying stiffly on the ground. Though the man wore an emotionless expression, the Boss of the Varia could guess the prone man was very much angry and full of hatred towards them. Xanxus then turned to Hermione.

"Hey, who the hell are you? What is going on here and who the hell is that bastard?" His voice was harsh as he glared at both Hermione and Dolohov.

Hermione was in a tight spot. She shouldn't have exposed magic to muggles; she was an auror and should know better. Harry and Kingsley won't be happy if they find out about this. "Harry is so going to kill me. Oh Merlin, what should I do?" she thought desperately.

"Hey, my Boss asked you a question, damned woman," Levi reminded rudely, resulting in a hard kick to his gut by Squalo. Levi may not have noticed, but Squalo saw how tightly Xanxus had gripped his guns and the glare he shot the stupid Lightning Guardian. He should consider himself lucky Xanxus didn't shoot him for yelling at the woman. What happens would be between the boss and her.

Hermione flinched when the silver-haired man glowered at the groaning man that had spoken. If looks could kill, the man would surely be dead by now.

The young witch found herself in a dilemma. Should she or should she not tell them? Muggles weren't supposed to find out about magic, and she ought to obliviate them and she would, usually. But the handsome with scars on his face had a strong effect on her and she found herself unwilling to do so. There was something about him that had drawn her attention yesterday, something she couldn't ignore then or now. It was some sort of feeling: A crush, love? She felt lost.

Then there's Dolohov. If she told the muggles, she'd be in trouble. She was sure the damned wizard would tell the Wizengamot that she had spilled their secret to a bunch of muggles.

"Hey, what did you do to this scum?" Xanxus barked, though his question sounded more like an order. He sneered down at Dolohov.

"I petrified him," Hermione answered truthfully, though she cursed herself a moment later for telling a muggle about this. Xanxus raised an eyebrow and looked at her sceptically.

"You… what? Don't fuck with me," he cautioned, his veins twitching. He couldn't take this joke, though something inside him said it wasn't a joke and to be careful.

"I'm not," Hermione said impatiently. She had no time to lie or joke about this.

Xanxus hissed through gritted teeth and glared at her angrily. "Then tell me what you did to him."

"Like I said, I petrified him. End of story," she snapped back, irritated.

Hermione and Xanxus seemed to have a glaring contest. Neither wanted to back down, but at the same time, they were attracted to each other, though neither would admit it. Hermione was drawn into his deep, terrifying eyes. Terrifying, yes, but she could tell that it made him attractive.

A part of Hermione was worried. She had Dolohov under her control, but she was scared that he might escape her, or worse, attack her from behind. Judging from the injuries Dolohov had suffered, Hermione realised she didn't want to be on this man's bad side, or that of his subordinates. In fact, she wanted to make peace with him and to know his name. Well, better now than never.

"Well, I think we should push this misunderstanding aside. Let me introduce myself. My name is Hermione, Hermione Granger, and may I know yours, sir?" Hermione asked politely. She kept both wands in her sleeve, wordlessly telling him she meant no harm.

Xanxus still looked sceptical but saw the sincerity in her eyes and the slight blush on her face. He could not deny that he was attracted her, but there was no way in hell he would voice it out loud.

"The name's Xanxus, and what the hell are you?" he replied, sounding a bit harsh. Despite his attraction, he needed to be careful. He was aware that he was usually the type to directly attack his opponent, either with strength or verbally, but he suspected this young woman was not someone he could easily mess with.

Hermione looked at the rather straightforward man. How was she going to admit that she was a witch? From the look on his face, she confidently assumed he would think she was pulling another stupid joke on him. She was sure he would have a good laugh, not to mention his subordinates. She prayed Harry would arrive soon regardless of knowing that for him, and others, travelling from England to here might take a while.

"Hey, I asked you a question here," Xanxus said, snapping Hermione out of her thoughts.

"Well, if you want to know so much, then I'm a... " Just as Hermione was about to answer, they heard cracks and pops nearby. Hermione surmised that her prayers were answered, and that Harry and the rest had arrived. Xanxus and his men looked around, suddenly alert, wondering what the sound could be. Weapons were held at the ready and Hermione desperately wanted to tell them that it was okay, that nothing bad would happen, but she doubted they would listen. She had to try, though.

"No, stop. It's all right. Don't worry,," she assured them as they went into fighting mode. They turned their attention to her and glared at her. Hermione only barely held back a flinch.

"Vroooiiii…. What the hell are you talking about?" Squalo asked. He quickly turned around when he heard footsteps coming towards them. The Varia were ready to strike but were held back by Hermione.

"No, don't. You misunderstand. It's the backup, my backup," Hermione told them. She shivered when Xanxus turned his glare on her but knew she had to stand her ground if she wanted to avoid another fight from happening.

Xanxus was surprised. People usually fell to their knees the moment he glared at them, but she was different. He could still sense that she was terrified, but yet she braved herself to stand her ground. What an intriguing little thing. It reminded him of that trash Tsunayoshi Sawada.

Suddenly, a black-haired man appeared with a few people who were oddly dressed, with a familiar stick in their hands. Who the hell were these people?

"Hermione, are you alright?"

"Yes, Harry, I'm okay," she assured her newly arrived companion. Hermione nodded to both Stella and Alejandro, who came with Harry and a few of the aurors. Xanxus watched as this Harry went to her and hugged her tightly. He felt something weird rumbling in his stomach, like he was jealous and angry. How dare that man touch her?

"Ushishishi, more weaklings wanted to join in the battle I see," Bel, the tiara-wearing Varia's Storm Guardian, commented. His grin was as unsettling as the knives in his hands.

"VROOOIIII….what's this? More people to fight against us?" Squalo asked loudly, more towards Harry and the newcomers than Hermione. He didn't dare point his sword towards Hermione, knowing the consequences and possible punishment he would receive from Xanxus.

"Oh hohoho…what a handsome looking man. Can I take you home after this? I really need someone to cuddle with after all this fighting," Lussuria purred as he pouted his lips, making a smooching sound to Harry and the other male aurors. The rest of the Varia gawked, while some turned slightly green in disgust.

"Hermione, what's going on here? Who are they?" Harry asked, barely restraining from freaking out. He looked at them in fear and bewilderment. Weren't they muggles?

Hermione found herself in yet another dilemma. How the hell was she going to tell Harry about the battle that took place earlier? She was positive that if Harry found out they were muggles, he and the rest of the aurors would obliviate them, despite what they did to Dolohov. As much as she would usually agree, her heart was against it. Hermione turned to the group of muggles and stood face to face with Xanxus. Her pulse quickened. If Harry obliviated them, she would never see him again. Why was this happening to her? Had she fallen in love with him?

"Merlin, God, and whoever else is listening... please help me. I'm so confused. Is this what love is called?" She felt her heart skip when she thought of that particular word.

"Hermione, Hermione. Hey can you hear me, HERMIONE," Harry called loudly, bringing Hermione back to the outside world.

"Yes, yes, what is it Harry?" Hermione asked, oblivious to the weird look Harry was giving her. He then looked between Hermione and Xanxus, back and forth. Had something happened between them before his arrival?

Suddenly, Harry recognised the look in Hermione's eyes. It was the same look he had whenever he looked at Blaise. Oh dear Merlin, his best friend had fallen in love with this man. The question was whether this man was wizard or muggle, though he didn't look to be the former. He hoped Hermione remembered the Oath of Secrecy.

"Hermione-"

"What the hell are these scum?" Xanxus cut in angrily. He glared at the pair, though it was mostly focused on Harry. And Harry now knew they were facing a bunch of muggles.

"Oh hell, what are we going to do?

So, here you go, the second chapter. Hope that all of you will like it. All reviews and comments are most welcome XD

If there's any questions please PM me XD