AN: Sorry for the long wait. I would like to say that I'll try to be consistent but that is not possible. Such is the way with life. I've read everyone's comments and there was some confusion on the time-line. This AU is set three years after the war. Hermione is 21 and the last time she checked the bounty placed on her was two years ago or one year after the war. If anyone spots any inconsistency within the plot, please mention it in a review or feel free to PM me and I'll be sure to fix it. As usual, I appreciate all the reviews and thank you for sticking around this far/long. Haha~~

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NOR DO I HAVE ANY RIGHTS TO EITHER OF THESE FRANCHISES

Hermione

Toretto was carrying her….

When they had regrouped to walk together, she had immediately decided to go barefoot. Her ballet flats, which were once an off-white lace, were ripped, caked in mud, and she can feel questionable liquid gush between her toes with every step she took. Of course, this is what happens when you run through seedy alleyways in the middle of the night. It was counterproductive to walk without any footwear but the disgusting feeling made her irrational.

Both men had paused and waited for her to wrestle her wet shoes off and when she stumbled, trying to balance on one foot, Brian took pity on her and steadied her with a gentle hand on her elbow and another on her back. For his efforts, she gave him what she hoped looked like a genuine smile filled with gratitude. With how long it's been, she was sure she was out of practice but he still gave her a boyish grin in return.

She had barely even made a step before Toretto was there, crouching down in front of her. She had tried to dissuade him but he sent her a look that didn't allow room for arguments. So, with a long-suffering sigh, she ambled onto his back and he lifted her easily like she weighed nothing. She felt uncharacteristically embarrassed over such a harmless, kind, and thoughtful gesture. She had always been independent and everyone had been content to leave her be and it usually worked out in her favor because she got more things done if she did it herself but she couldn't deny that it felt nice to allow herself to be vulnerable for once.

She hoped he didn't feel that distinct feeling of static between them. Her magic was still tingling under her skin but it was starting to slowly wind down and the calmer it got the more exhausted she became. Her mind, body, and magic were no longer used to being pushed to the edge like that, and should there be a next time, she was sure the results would be devastating.

Tensions were high tonight and too many unwanted memories were brought to light. She was emotionally drained and was slowly falling asleep on a man she had only met an hour ago but a man she felt she could trust. Actions speak louder than words and his instinctual need to protect her tonight had allowed her heart to open up again, if only for a brief amount of time. Surprisingly, Brian, whom she had little interaction with, was included in that fold of trust. These feelings were sudden and had nothing to grow from but they were there and she could not deny its presence. She didn't know where the paranoid whispers went but she liked it better without them constantly in her ear.

She turned her head to press her cheek against his shoulder, catching snippets of their conversation but not processing their words. Something about a business and someone's sister. She blinked her eyes slowly and saw Brian approach, his eyes warm and soft with fondness. Were those eyes for her? "I called a cab. Give them your address so you can go home, okay?" he said, his voice sounding muffled and distant.

She slowly registered his words and shook her head. The thought of being alone right now frightened her. The memories of war, death, and familiar lifeless faces still lingered in the back of her mind.

Brian gave her a long look, one that seems to see deeper than what was outwardly shown, and he silently nodded, giving her a comforting smile. Did he know? Could he see that she needed them right now? How can he read her so easily already? For someone she just met, he seemed to know and understand her more than he should.

If she didn't know any better, she would've thought he was a legilimens. In an attempt to hide, she closed her eyes and mentally pleaded with him not to say anything, and thankfully, he kept silent but she did feel his warm hand on her back and with it, she felt her magic settle in her chest and its warmth pulsate over her skin.

She needed to get away from these two. They brought forth all the parts of her she wanted gone but if she was going to metaphorically run again, she will do it after they helped her chase away her demons. So, when the cab finally came, she didn't say a word to their driver and allowed Brian and Toretto to squish her from both sides in the back seat. 'Why wasn't anyone sitting in the front seat?' she thought, with a slight pout. It was uncomfortable and comforting at the same time. While she enjoyed the closeness and warmth, she didn't like the cramped claustrophobic feeling.

Toretto's shoulders were very wide and forced her onto Brian's lean body, his arm draped over the back seat, allowing her the space to press against him comfortably but both of their legs were long and took up all the space on the floor of the cab so she propped her legs up onto Toretto's knee. His hand was almost scorchingly hot against her skin where he grasped her calves to keep them from slipping. The positioning was odd but she felt less confined and more snug.

The quiet of the night descended upon them and made the tension in the car unsettling. The nervous energy had made her wake up a little but she would prefer the sleepy feeling to the awkwardness. So when Toretto spoke up, she let out a small sigh of relief. "You're the last person in the world I expected to show up," he said, gazing out of the window, probably wondering where the people who were supposed to show up were.

"Yeah, well, I thought if I got in your good graces you would've let me keep my car. It doesn't matter now though," he muttered, finally sounding a little upset about his destroyed vehicle. She tilted her head back to look at him and let out a soft snort at his pouty face. His lips twitched at the little noise she made and his arm came down and wrapped around her shoulders, giving her a light squeeze - reprimanding her for laughing at him.

"You are in my good graces but you still owe me a ten-second car," Toretto fired back, grinning in that way that only men could when they're being an ass. She rolled her eyes at him. His expression was way too smug. "You drove like you had done that before. What are you? A wheel-man?"

"No."

"You boost cars?"

"No. Never." She felt a slight hitch against her.

"Ever done time?"

"Couple of overnighters. No big deal," Brian said with a faux nonchalant tone, and Toretto grins, catching him red-handed. His lies weren't obvious and she wouldn't have caught it under normal circumstances but being pressed up against him, she felt his breathing pattern shift. He was good but apparently, Toretto was better.

"What about the two years in juvie for boosting cars?" Toretto says, looking at Brian, who falls silent. She can tell that he did not like having his past brought up so abruptly and she could relate. Trying to comfort him, without seeming like she was pitying him, she grasped his arm, where it was tucked under her chin, and lightly ran her thumb over the soft fine hair. She wasn't sure if it would help, considering Toretto just continued with an almost cruel chuckle and a mocking tone, "Tucson, right?" She could seriously kick him right now. "Yeah, I had Jesse run a profile on you, Brian Earl Spilner. He'll find anything on the web, anything about anybody. So why bullshit?" he said, shaking his head. In disappointment? Frustration?

Brian ignores the question and turns the tables around on Toretto. "So what about you?"

It was his turn to fall silent. These two were filled with complications, like her. It explained why she felt so comfortable around them. There was a kinship there. With clear reluctance, he said, "Two years in Lompoc." He looked out the window. "I'll die before I go back," he said, still avoiding eye contact. Almost like hiding.

She was sure prison was bad but there were worse things that could happen to a person. She gazed at the dirty ceiling of the car, looking at the colorful gum that stuck there but not seeing it. In its place were high Victorian style arches - beautiful and grandeur but a remembrance of a time she so desperately wanted to be forgotten. She remembered how cold the marble flooring felt against her back. She remembered the feeling of the long skeleton-like fingers with sharp untrimmed nails tangled through her hair, pulling harshly on the strands and the burning sensation that accompanied it. She remembered the silver glint of a blade before pain and heat rippled up her left arm. She remembered how her body had nearly snapped in half every time the blood-red curse struck her over and over again. She may not feel pain anymore but her body never forgot.

A slight pressure over her collarbone pulled her out of the past and she tilted her head back and smiled thankfully at Brian. She had started slipping fast and her mind felt like it was closing in all around her but he, once again, showed that he, oddly enough, understood and helped pull her back to the present. How the hell does he do that?

Loud energetic music seemed to cut through the silence of the night. She looked out the window to see that they had pulled up to a two-story house in the middle of a party. Toretto releases her leg, leaving an uncomfortably warm spot on the area where he had held her, and opens the door. Cool air rushes inside the tiny space of the cab, clinging to her skin. He looks to them and asks, "Want a beer?" Brian almost immediately agrees and she bites her lip nervously but nods. She takes a deep breath to collect herself because she was about to go socialize and hopefully not fuck it up. She can act like a normal human being for one night… right?

She slowly and gently slides her legs off of its comfortable perch on his knee. After all, it would be really bad if she accidentally kicked him in his… little Toretto's. Once he was out, she slid out after him, the sticky leather seats pulled at the skin of her thighs and she tried to not think about what could've made it like that. She couldn't wait to take a hot shower to wash away the mud, sweat, and lingering depression.

Brian pays the driver and exits from his side, allowing the cab to drive off before following after them. She slowly climbs the steps to the front door and a weight settles low in her gut, getting heavier and heavier until she just stops and stands there, watching Toretto disappear into the house, the door closing after him. He seemed like he was getting ready for a confrontation. Probably with the people he expected to be there for him.

To always be there...

Green eyes and messy black hair flashed in her peripheral and she shuddered, her heart dragging down with the weight that was growing inside her. 'It's not him… he's dead… don't look…', she kept repeating to herself. Oh, how she wished Harry was here with her. He was just as, if not more so, socially awkward than her. He could be here, standing by her side, being just as fidgety and nervous as she was right now and she wouldn't be feeling so alone and afraid. He wasn't though. She couldn't protect him.

Hallucinations. Not new but not welcomed either. They don't show up as frequently as they did the following months after the war. She saw a myriad of familiar faces, both friendly and unfriendly. She saw Voldemort and his glowing red eyes in the dark corners of her house. She saw the dark mark in places they couldn't have possibly shown up - in the swirls of her coffee, the tea leaves floating in her mug, blurred words in the distance, sometimes she'd see it in the glint of her eyes when she'd look in the mirror.

The fact that they showed up tonight, was enough proof of how shaken her foundations were. Her walls were already built on uneven ground and now they were being violently tested. She couldn't do this! She wasn't like these people! They were living their lives with a carefree attitude - having parties, racing through the streets in their fast cars, unbothered by the chances of getting arrested. They most likely find it thrilling to test their luck. There were no dark clouds in their skies. How could she possibly go in there, acting like there weren't any shadows following her?

"Not a party person?" Brian says from behind her, his smooth voice silencing the doubts and fears in her head. She's starting to get used to his uncanny ability to calm her but she'll never understand how he does it or how he just knows. Maybe she would ask him one day. Without turning around to look at him, she silently shakes her head. "Me neither," he says, stepping up next to her. "I don't mind going to parties but I prefer to just hang out with some close friends." He's looking at her. She can feel his eyes on her face, like a phantom caress.

Brian smiles at her and places a hand on the small of her back and opens the door to escort her inside. Though the feel of his palm was firm, it was not pushy or insistent, it was more like he was encouraging her to join the party. Her arm slips around his waist and grasps onto the back of his shirt like a child, deciding to use him as a shield against the drunkards, dancers, and people in general. If he felt her tugging, he didn't acknowledge it.

They walked into a wall of noise and she felt whatever courage she had managed to salvage rattle inside her body. Her eyes darted this way and that, looking at everything, trying to catalog faces and as much detail as she could take in. She looked up the stairs, into the kitchen, and the living room, looking for exits and possible pathways to make a grand escape. She quickly eased herself behind Brian, keeping him in front of her and the door behind her. This way, she can keep anything and anyone within her line of vision with the added benefit of having a shield in front of her and a quick exit behind her.

'Fuck! How did I get here again?!'