"I'm so excited!" Lily beamed as she dragged Hermione from the floo in Diagon Alley.
Hermione gave her a weak grimace, struggling with being around so many people. She'd only managed it once before when Lily had dragged her into the muggle world to shop. That had felt safer than this. "Right. Twilfit and Tattings and Madam May's, and if all else fails we can pop into Muggle London."
Taking a deep breath, Hermione nodded. "Right." Dorea sent her a sympathetic smile, threading her arm through Hermione's.
"Come along then." Dorea guided her into Twilfit and Tattings, promptly turning her over to a seamstress. "Do you know what you want?
Hermione sent her a panicked look, shaking her head. "I…nothing fussy."
Dorea rolled her eyes. "White, ivory, something else entirely?"
"Not white?"
"Long, short, sleeves, none, lace, satin….?"
"I…Gods. I don't know! Short probably. Long will drown me. I…I don't care about sleeves and um…not satin, I don't think."
"Right well that gives us somewhere to begin," Dorea nodded.
An hour later, they left the shop more than a little frustrated. "Madam Mays next!" Lily exclaimed, trying to inject some enthusiasm into her voice. Hermione snorted.
"Tell me yours was this frustrating?" she begged.
Lily smiled softly. "No. Three dresses and I knew it was the one," she admitted.
"Fucking wonderful," Hermione groused in return.
"How may I help you?" a woman's voice called from behind a door.
"We're looking for a wedding dress," Lily shouted back.
"Ooh!" a tall, dark-haired woman walked towards them. "For you?"
"No. For her." Lily indicated towards Hermione.
"I see." The woman paused, looking over her consideringly. "Short, not long. Long sleeves though. Lace I think. Plunging neckline. Ivory not white. Fuller skirt. Tulle." Hermione blinked as the woman barked out her list, causing dresses to sort themselves on a rack in the centre of the room. "Try this one," she commanded, handing over one of the last dresses to end up on the rail.
Not daring to argue with her, Hermione did as she was bid. "Oh," she heard Lily exclaim softly as she left the changing room. Dorea looked like she wanted to cry.
"I…How is it?"
"You look beautiful," Dorea whispered. Turning slowly towards the giant mirror, Hermione had to admit she was right. The cuffed blouson sleeves were sheer with delicate vines and leaves winding their way up her arms and down over the bodice. Her back was bare. The skirt was tea length and tulle. It was fuller than she had originally wanted, but yet she knew that this was her dress. It was such a surreal experience. Looking at herself in the dress she had stopped believing she'd get to wear.
"Ok," she said softly.
"This is it?" Dorea asked gently. Hermione nodded. "Veil? Shoes?"
"No veil. I should probably do something about shoes though. Green ones."
"Green? Not ivory?"
"No. I want green."
"Might I ask why?"
"Oh. It's one of the colours of House Malfoy."
"Green shoes it is then. We can charm them, no?" the sales witch looked startled at Dorea's question before she nodded.
"We can. Simple, 1950s style, point-toed. Green." She handed Hermione a pair of shoes she'd charmed to dark forest green, indicating she needed to put them on.
"I…yes. Let's go with these."
Lily snorted. "Because you couldn't care less about the shoes or because you truly like them?"
Hermione shrugged. "They fit the description I gave."
"Fine," Lily sighed, knowing it was pointless to argue. "It's not traditional, but then neither are you."
Hermine grinned back at her. "Draco will appreciate them."
"I think he'll appreciate that dress more," Lily replied wryly. "There's no way you're wearing a bra with that neckline. James is going to have kittens."
"James will be too distracted by you to care what I'm wearing."
"Your Uncle Sirius will not be!" Lily shot back.
Hermione grimaced. "He is not my Uncle!"
"Tell that to him. I'm relatively certain they've planned a hurt my Hermione and we'll break your legs chat with Draco today."
"You're not serious? Grandmother, tell me she's not serious!"
Dorea grimaced. "I do not believe in lying. It'll be fine. Your Draco is more than a match for the boys."
Hermione groaned. "Fucking wonderful."
"Let the fun begin." Severus grinned, opening the door.
"Who on Earth are you?" Regulus demanded his eyes travelling over Hermione before freezing on Draco. "Why do you look like Lucius? Severus what the fuck is going on!"
Hermione winced, moving to give Severus a hug, causing Regulus' eyes to pop as Severus dropped a kiss onto the crown of her head. "Hello, little Puff."
Hermione shoved him, rolling her eyes. "Stop it!"
"Never," he grinned. "Now who wants to start?"
"I will," Draco sighed. "We need a vow. If it helps, Severus has already taken one."
"And why would I do that?" Regulus sneered.
"Because you want to hear this one Reg," Severus sighed.
"Finally moved on from the mudblood?" He replied caustically, his eyes on Hermione, raking up and down her frame insolently before he frowned. "That's… that's Aunt Casseopias's ring."
"Yes," Draco agreed, making Regulus' eyes fly back to him.
"Why the fuck does she have my Aunt Cassie's ring?"
"Because I gave her it."
"What? She's not with Severus? I…are you a fucking triad?"
"Ew," Hermione wrinkled her nose before she turned to Severus. "I love you. But no. It's…icky."
"Icky?" he repeated with amusement.
"It is! You know it is!"
"So eloquent, little Puff," he teased. "However, despite it not being my word of choice, I agree wholeheartedly."
"What the bloody fuck is going on!" Regulus roared. "Who are you? How the fuck did you get my Aunt Cassies ring? And why is Severus…happy?"
Draco snorted, reaching to pull Hermione down beside him. "A vow?"
"What sort of vow?" he asked suspiciously.
"An unbreakable one."
"And why in the name of Salazar would I bind myself to you? I have no fucking idea who you are!" Regulus howled.
"He's my godson and she's the closest thing to a little sister I'll ever have. Now stop being an unmitigated arse and do as they say before I remember I haven't yet hexed you for that slur against Lily," Severus growled.
"Fuck this," Regulus muttered, standing. He twirled on the spot, making Hermione giggle. His eyes widened in horror. "What the fuck!"
"Did we not mention the anti-apparition wards?" Draco asked with an amused lilt.
"Do you intend to kill me?" Regulus asked, his eyes darting around the room in panic. "Merlin, Severus, I thought we were friends!"
"So fucking dramatic," Severus muttered. "Sit the fuck down, Regulus. No one is going to kill you unless you continue to be a prat, in which case I might consider it."
Regulus sat looking dumbfounded. "I'm not taking an unbreakable vow. I am the Heir to the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black."
"And you'll be the dead Heir of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black before the year is out if you don't," Draco bit out.
"What?" he gasped.
"Has he asked for Kreacher yet?" Hermione asked suddenly.
"He…how did you know?"
Hermione hummed. "The vow?"
"Fuck," Regulus swore. "Fucking hell." He turned to Severus. "You promise this isn't going to get me killed?"
"No," Severus replied. "I can promise no such thing, but I can promise you that this is your best chance at living."
"Fuck," Regulus swore again.
"I cannot imagine your mother approving of that language," Hermione mused.
"My mother doesn't approve of a lot of things," Regulus muttered before he flushed, realising what he'd said. "What are the terms of the vow?"
Draco shrugged. "You cannot tell anyone not already approved what we're about to tell you unless we agree beforehand. You cannot actively work against us. You cannot give hints to allow others to."
"Fine." Regulus nodded. "Who am I to be bonded to?"
"That would be me," Draco replied with a smile. "You're up, Princess."
Regulus tensed as Hermione led him through the vow, his eyes watching the golden ropes coiling around this wrist as if he couldn't believe he'd agreed.
"Now fucking explain," he demanded, glaring at them all.
"My name is Hermione Potter and this is Draco Malfoy," Hermione began softly.
"Malfoy! There is no Draco Malfoy!"
"Not yet," Hermione agreed. Regulus' jaw dropped.
"Pardon?" He barked.
"What do you know of the Tempus Reset ritual?"
Regulus paled. "Fuck," he hissed. "Why the fuck would you do that? That's insane! No one does that ritual!"
"Because we had no choice," Draco answered, reaching for Hermione's hand. "Everyone was dead."
"Everyone?"
"Yes. The Dark Lord won and it was…more of a fucking nightmare than you could ever imagine. You die this year after he borrows Kreacher to hide a Horcrux. You went…will go…back to the place it's hidden and demand Kreacher destroy it. He can't, by the way. It wasn't destroyed until 1998. We'd quite like to speed up that timeline and hopefully prevent your death."
"I…I think I'm going to be sick," Regulus muttered, bolting from the sofa.
"Is he always this highly strung?" Hermione asked, watching the door Regulus had just left through.
"Yes," Severus replied succinctly as they settled down to wait for Regulus to return.
Several hours, several calming draughts, and a dose of veritaserum later, they had managed to convince Regulus they were serious.
"That's all insane," he muttered. "All of it. What the fuck are we going to do?"
"You are going to let us know when Kreacher returns, order him to obey people of our choosing for this particular task, and we are going to take it from there." Hermione replied.
Regulus blinked. "I'm not going to be going for the Horcrux?"
"No."
"You are?"
"No. She is not," Draco snarled, his face brokering no argument.
"We haven't quite decided," Hermione demurred.
"We fucking have. It's not you. James, Benjy Fenwick, and the Prewett twins are fighting it out."
"What? When the fuck did that happen?"
"Earlier this week."
"No! For fucks sake! They're…"
"All fucking adults who know what they're sighing up for. Severus has a purging potion ready, so the effects of the Draught of Despair won't last. Charlus has been sorting a box to store the locket in. There'll be a group going in case more magic is needed to prevent whoever goes from touching the inferi-infested water, but we're hoping elf magic is enough," Draco spoke over her.
"I don't like it," Hermione pouted.
"Fucking tough. I warned you, Princess. You do not get to die in this war."
Regulus was looking at them with barely disguised interest. "You actually love her," he mused. "It's not just some strange little rebellion against Lucius."
"You really are an arsehole," Draco responded. "Of course I fucking love her."
Regulus shrugged. "It's a valid thought. I don't imagine your upbringing was much different than mine."
"Probably not," Draco conceded.
Regulus hummed. "So while you're all doing good deeds, what do you expect from me?"
"Don't get killed and undo all our good work preventing it in the first place," Hermione shot back.
Regulus grimaced. "I shall try. Although it's getting harder to pretend I agree with the way he's doing things."
"It's not for much longer," Hermione consoled. "Do you want to be introduced to the Order?"
"God no. My brother would never let me live it down."
"He misses you," Hermione replied softly.
What?" Regulus barked.
"He misses you."
"And you know him that well?" he sneered
"Yes. Did you miss the fact that he was my best friend's godfather? That I knew him before this? He used to tell us stories of the things you two got up to together before Hogwarts. He missed you then. He misses you now."
"Fuck," Regtulus hissed. "I…fuck. I want to meet with Sirius before I agree to meet with your Order. I…this Mark on my arm is going to send me to Azkaban when all this is over isn't it?"
"Not if you help us," Hermione replied stubbornly. "We won't let it."
Regulus barked out a laugh. "I almost want to see you take on the Wizengamot. I don't imagine they'll know what's hit them."
"Probably not. Now. We also need your help with Narcissa."
"Why?" Regulus asked warily.
"Because we don't know if Draco has shown up on her tapestry."
Regulus paled. "If you lift the anti-apparition wards I can answer that." Hermione frowned before her eyes widened in realisation.
"Fucking hell. I forgot you had one too."
"Indeed. Let me out. I'll be back."
Ten minutes later a pale Regulus was back. "He's there. I've….obscured it for now but it means he's on Cissa's too. Your date of birth fluctuates though, it can't decide between 5th June 1980 and 15th June 1979."
"The date we arrived," Draco murmured. "Fucking wonderful."
"We really do need to speak with her soon. Do you think you can convince her?"
Regulus gave a strangled little laugh. "No. Gods, I have no idea how we'll convince her."
"Women trouble?" Draco suggested.
Regulus sighed. "For fucks sake. I'll think of something that's not fucking that! She'll have me married off to some boringly acceptable mannequin before I can blink."
Draco shrugged. "Just trying to help…Cousin."
Regulus blanched as if he hadn't joined the dots to their familial connection. "Right. Tomorrow? I'll…Gods I have no idea how but she'll be here. Be ready with the anti-apparition wards….and shield charms. She is not going to be happy."
Draco nodded. "Fine. I…thank you."
Regulus nodded. "I should probably be thanking you. And in the spirit of cooperation, there's a hit out on the Pretwett twins. I have no idea what they've done but Dolohov is not happy with them. He's been granted permission to take a group to get rid of them later this week."
Hermione paled. "Thank you for letting us know."
"You'll get them out?"
"We'll try," she allowed.
"Good. See you tomorrow. Severus…you owe me a rather large drink for this."
Severus snorted. "I brought you information that prevents your certain death. If anyone is owed a drink it is me, arsehole."
Regulus scowled before disappearing, leaving them all wondering what the next day would bring.
"Are you coming with us to this sodding Order meeting?" Draco asked, as he stood to leave.
Severus sighed. "If I must."