Chapter Four

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Pretty please?"

"Absolutely not!"

Clopin sighed heavily as he tried to argue with Hermione. Dragging a hand down his face, he heard his fellow gypsies gather around them and make bets as to who was going to win this time. Smirking slightly, he knew he was going to win this time. He had a trick up his sleeve that he wasn't afraid to use. Staring at the annoyed woman before him, he couldn't deny that she looked beautiful when she was angry with him. Although, he did prefer her without the glamours.

He was pretty certain that he tried to anger Hermione on purpose, just to see that fire in her eyes. She tended to win their arguments but Clopin was determined to win this one. If it really came to it, he would pull the 'King' card, but only as an absolute last resort. After his trick, of course. Staring at the woman before him, he watched as she folded her arms under her bust, giving the men a good view. He almost groaned out loud but knew that it was piss her off to the point where he feared for his safety.

"Will you please just give it one go? Just one, then you never have to try it again if it fails."

His gaze stayed on the young woman as her eyes travelled up to the tight rope he was trying to convince her to walk. He had wanted to try and take their lessons to a new level and see if she could perform flips and cartwheels on the rope, if so then her act for the coming January was sorted. After all, she had been with them for three months now. Although, in hindsight, he probably shouldn't have put it up so high up. Hermione gulped as she stared at the height before lowering her gaze to his.

"Not a chance in hell!"

Hermione spun on her heel to walk away, Clopin heard people start to exchange their bets but he just smirked as he quickly chased after her and threw her over his shoulder. His ace up his sleeve. Kicking and screaming, Hermione was really making it hard for him to walk but he managed. Arriving at the ladder, Clopin was getting ready to climb up with her on his shoulder when she finally got free. Pinning her against the pole, he looked down at her fearful eyes and took a deep breath.

"I just want you to try. There will be a net at the bottom. I'll walk along the rope with you. Just one try."

Hermione stared back into his eyes as she tried to slow her breathing down. Clopin really tried his best not to look down her top but her chest was impressive. Biting the inside of his cheek, he forced his gaze to stay on her face, pointedly ignoring the catcalls from his people. An idea popped into his head.

"If you do this for me, I'll do something for you, mon cher."

Hermione's head lifted to meet his gaze properly, looking at him in confusion. Biting the bullet, Clopin leaned forward so that his lips were right by her ear, his lips brushing against her skin, sending a shiver down her spine.

"Try this just the once, and I'll do what I can to help you find that bank you told me about, Hermione."

Clopin heard her suck in a gasp. It wasn't often he got to say her name, with the fear of being caught, but he loved the way it rolled off his tongue. He had planned to help her anyway but she didn't need to know that at that moment in time. He felt bad for tricking her but he honestly believed that she could walk the tight rope. Hermione had progressed really well during his lessons, and whilst he still longed to watch her dance, he wanted to see just how far he could push her new skills.

He watched her carefully as she looked back up the mast before giving him just a terrified look. Clopin was about to call it off when Hermione slowly nodded. Feeling guilty, he offered her a warm smile as he gestured for her to go up the wooden ladder. He followed instantly, although he had to ignore the calls for him to look up her skirt, no matter how tempting it was. He was certain she would kill him. At the top, there was a little platform for them to stand on but there wasn't much room. Arriving at the top, he found Hermione sat down, clinging to the mast for dear life.

Clopin held out his hand but quickly noticed her eyes were squeezed shut. Smiling softly, he knelt down carefully and placed his hand on her shoulder, urging her to open her eyes.

"Don't sit, amour. It'll be twice as hard for you to get up."

Holding his hand out, he silently panicked at calling her love but brushed it off as he waited patiently. She shakily gave him her hand as she blinked a couple of times at the endearment. Gently pulling her up, the pair stood on the platform whilst Hermione's breathing steadily became erratic. Clopin stroked her hair, pulling her to his chest, as he whispered to her.

"Don't worry. There is a net. Don't look down. I'll walk behind you, I will catch you if you fall. Just focus on me." Hermione's eyes widened before a moment before they softened.

"You'll catch me if I fall?" Clopin noted the double meaning and smiled softly as he raised her hand to his mouth and placed a gentle kiss on her knuckles.

"Toujours."

Hermione looked at him slightly confused but hesitantly nodded. It would appear that he would have to teach her a little more French. He smiled as she slowly turned from him, he would always catch her.

Hand in hand as he stood behind her, Clopin felt her squeeze his hands so tight he feared they would break. Grimacing in pain, he let her continue, just so that she felt a little better. He whispered encouragement and notes on what to do as he slowly walked behind her. Just before they arrived at the half way point, he slowly let go of her hands as he quietly reassured her.

"I'm moving my hands to hover by your waist, chérie. Look you can still see them, oui?"

Hermione nodded jerkily but didn't look down to her waist. Clopin didn't think she would which was why he moved them there. It was then that he slowly stopped walking behind her and allowed her to move on her own. Grinning widely, he sent a gesture to the others to let them know that once she turned to realise that Hermione had done it by herself, they were to remove the ladder. That way she would have to walk the rope as many times as Clopin told her to.

Clopin's heart stopped for a moment when she swayed but was able to quickly correct herself. Sighing in relief, he was glad she was able to do so without his help. You see, he had lied about the net. They didn't even have one. Once Hermione found out, Clopin was sure he was going to be a dead man but it had helped convince her to give it a try. As soon as she stepped onto the second platform, he watched with a wide grin as she hugged the top of the mast before slowly turning around to see him.

Waving his hands out to the side, in a ta-dah kind of move, he grinned widely as her eyes widened in fear and shock as she slowly understood that she had walked half the tight rope on her own. Clopin felt his own fear increase as he watched Hermione turn red in anger and shoot him the most terrifying death glare he had ever had sent his way.

"YOU ARSEHOLE!"

All things considered, he was surprised she didn't call him something a lot stronger. Chuckling loudly, he raised his hand and gestured for her to come back. A ferocious shake of the head had him wondering if one could snap their neck like that. Rolling his eyes, he called out.

"There's no way down, amour. Come."

Surprised, Hermione turned to find the ladder, only to find that he was telling the truth, there wasn't one. He could hear her groaning from his spot on the rope and grinned, knowing he had won. He watched as she took a deep breath before straightening her spine to the point he thought it might break. Hermione then gave him a look of pure determination as she raised her arms out to the side and proceeded to make her way back to him. Grinning, he continued to offer encouragement.

"Keep your eyes on me, mon cher. You doing really well."

Clopin was fairly sure that she was ignoring him at this point but continued to give instruction anyways. When she was almost in reach, he took a couple steps back.

"Don't fucking move!" Hermione snarled at him. Clopin just chuckled and kept moving backwards until she had come to the starting point. Grinning at her, he wrapped her in a tight hug.

"See! You did it, chérie."

Despite accepting the hug, Clopin was pretty confident that she was still really angry with him. He was proven correct when she grabbed a hold of the front of his tunic and pulled his face to hers, growling under her breath.

"You ever make me do something like this again, I'll have your balls for a trophy."

Gulping, he slowly nodded, forcing himself not to try and cover the body parts mentioned. His answer must have been satisfactory since she let go. Looking back at the rope, Hermione tensed her jaw but got into position and began to walk across, all on her own. Once she had managed to do so a couple of times, Clopin had her lower her arms. It took a little while before she was comfortable but she was doing really well.

Smiling at her, he was quite proud. Hermione had arrived in a completely new time period, she was scared and she was settling into the role of a gypsy as well as she could. Clopin had no doubt that he would make a gypsy out of her in no time. Beaming at her, as she stepped towards him after another length with her arms down by her sides, Clopin clapped his hands.

"Wonderful, chérie. Shall we try flips?"

The death glare was enough to convince Clopin that he had pushed her enough for one day. Chuckling nervously, he gestured for the ladders to be put back. He quickly started descending but heard Hermione mutter under her breath.

"Look up my skirt and I'll make sure you beg for death."

Snorting, he slowly made his way down. Upon hitting the ground, Clopin gently took a hold of Hermione's waist and helped her jump off. Giving her a charming smile, he bowed to her.

"Well, Esmeralda. You did it!"

Hermione wasn't quite finished glaring at him but did offer a small, pleased smile. Glancing back up at the rope, she slowly nodded. Clopin really thought he was going to live when she turned to him with a frown.

"Where'd the net go?" Before he had the chance to say anything, Clopin heard Duke pipe up from the crowd.

"Net? We don't have one."

Clopin felt the blood from his face vanish when Hermione scowled at him something fierce. He was mentally praying to Maria that she would spare his life when the witch got in his face and hissed through her teeth.

"No. Fucking. Net? So much as look my way in the next twenty-four hours and I will string you up by your balls."

Clopin barely heard the laughter and jesting from the people gathered around them, he was too focused on the woman storming away from him. His fellow gypsies had all heard that particularly colourful threat and had naturally found it hilarious. Clopin turned his gaze towards Duke and scowled at the man who simply rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Sorry, Clopin. I didn't realise you had told her there was a net until it was too late."

Clopin sighed heavily as he wiped his face tiredly. He needed a drink after that threat. Moving over towards the beer, he grabbed a stein and filled it to the top. Downing it, he quickly topped it back up. A few of the men decided to join him, believing he was drowning his sorrows, for all he knew he probably was, whilst the women followed Hermione. This left a good portion of the men being neutral and not getting involved, which meant their wives, fiancées or girlfriends had gone after Hermione and they didn't want a threat like that aimed at them.

Sighing, Clopin didn't really blame them. He was glad that he had been able to convince Hermione to give the tight rope a go, but he wasn't sure if it was worth risking his manhood for. Shaking his head, he decided to drink a bit more whilst the men offered their 'support'. Rolling his eyes, he quickly realised that they were just offering ways to make it up to the woman. He ignored them until Bartley came up with a fairly good idea.

"Clopin, we haven't had a celebration for Esmeralda joining us and it's been three months. Perhaps a party would ease her ire."

Clopin perked up at the idea. Slowly nodding, he beamed at his right-hand man and raised his mug, proposing a toast to the man.

"My dear, Bartley! You are an angel among men!" The burly man gave a deep laugh that came from the gut.

"Sorry, Clopin. I don't have the eyes for that role."

The man proceeded to bat his eyes, completely exaggerating how women have been seen to do so but they found it hilarious. Or, perhaps it was the alcohol that made it so funny. Shrugging his shoulders, Clopin quickly passed the word along to let the women know what was going on. The gypsy didn't want to go anywhere near the other women until they knew he was trying to make it up to Hermione.

Luckily for him, the news spread like wildfire. Everyone began to get excited for the party, rushing around getting ready. Food and beer were being gathered around the centre of the square, amongst many, many cushions for them all to sit on. Someone was even preparing a small bonfire. Chuckling to himself, Clopin had to admit, his people were one of a kind.

It didn't take long for the women to slowly begin talking to him again. Admittedly, Clopin hadn't minded the peace but knew it was in his best interest to make out as though he couldn't live without them. The conversations were all about little details about the party, although, the moment he spotted Kezia walking towards him, he wanted to duck and run.

That woman had been a thorn in his side ever since Hermione had arrived. Constantly cornering him about courting the young woman. Declaring how he wasn't getting any younger and how she saw something between them. Rubbing the back of his neck, Clopin had to admit that he was tempted. But, Hermione was still adjusting to the new time period, it didn't seem right to suddenly ask her if he could court her. Musing to himself, he quickly found himself trapped by the older woman.

The terrifying woman stood straight and folded her arms as she scrutinized him. Fidgeting on the spot, Clopin could hear the other men wondering out loud what he had done now. Huffing at the men, irritated, he waited for Kezia to speak.

"I assume this will be like all other parties, Clopin?' Confused, Clopin simply nodded. 'Then go and wash up and get dressed.' She turned to the other men gathered and glared. 'That goes for the rest of you sorry lot."

Raising their hands in surrender, the group of men quickly dispersed to their own tents. Clopin gladly took the opportunity to go back to his own. The elder women of the Court still managed to terrify him, no matter how long he has been their King. A shudder ran down his spine at the thought of Kezia forcing him to wash up like she had done when he was only a child.

Shaking his head firmly, he took out his best tunic and trousers, the ones he usually wore for parties, and put them on his bed ready. Washing up as quickly as he could, Clopin changed into the clothes and brushed them down once ready. Hat placed firmly on his head, he stepped out of his tent and took in the preparations that were going on around him. He was glad for the peace that, unfortunately, only lasted a moment. Bartley and Duke called out to him.

"Oi, Clopin! Dressing to impress, are we?"

Bartley laughed loudly at Duke's comment but soon quietened at his King's scowl. Rolling his eyes, he headed over to them.

"You both know Kezia would have my skin for a throw rug if I didn't dress up. Just like she will do to the pair of you if you don't change."

The two men gulped as they looked down at what they were wearing. Exchanging scared looks, the two men nodded and dashed back to their tents. Chuckling, Clopin shook his head at the pair before walking around, helping with various jobs. He watched as the children ran around the square in excitement. They all loved Hermione, and were really looking forward to welcoming her properly.

Clopin gulped slightly at that thought. He had completely forgot that the woman would have to perform an opening dance at the party. Perhaps he could convince Selina to dance with her. Biting his lip, he quickly shook his head as he followed his people to the square. Grabbing another drink, he knocked it back like a pro before topping it up straightaway.

The party had started but the guest of honour had yet to arrive. Clopin was beginning to get worried, but quickly calmed down when he realised that Kezia and Selina weren't there yet either. He felt Bartley slap his back, almost causing him to fall over. Sending the man a scowl, he froze at the sight of the burly man's stunned expression as he looked over Clopin's shoulder. Slowly, Clopin turned his head to see what the man was staring at when his own jaw dropped to the floor.

Hermione had arrived.