A/N: Thank you all so much for your reviews, favorites and follows! This chapter begins with a tiny little jump forward, but if you liked last chapter, I think that you'll like this one too! There are only a few chapters of this left - there are fifteen chapters all together, so you know some drama is just around the corner. You can follow me on tumblr (nauticalparamour) where I post sneak peeks, story updates and answer questions!
Please let me know what you thought of chapter ten and be on the lookout for chapter eleven soon!
The spring term was speeding by more quickly than Hermione had ever experienced, and for once it wasn't because she was up to her neck. Instead, she spent her days anticipating the next time that she'd see Rabastan.
It felt like her world had been completely shaken up ever since her downstairs neighbor had moved in, but Hermione found that she didn't mind the change in equilibrium. Instead, she enjoyed clinging to Rabastan as they experienced new things together.
Without really trying, they'd ended up spending every available moment with one another, when she wasn't at school and when he wasn't working. Just the week before, he'd come over to her flat to make cookies with her again, after he'd revealed that they were the best cookies he'd ever had in his life.
Smiling to herself, she thought about how much her feelings had changed since her first meeting with him. At the time, when he'd so callously invited her in for a fuck, she'd wanted nothing more than to dump the plate of cookies on his head and never see him again. It had taken time, but the more that she got to know him, the more she was positive that she was falling for him hard.
This time, the cookie making process was not disturbed by her nerves, but rather by Rabastan wrapping his arms around her waist to press kisses to her exposed neck, pressing her back against the counter to tease her, kissing her so fiercely that she nearly forgot what it was that she was working on.
They'd gone on several dates together, some more fancy than others, but Hermione mostly liked when they would just wander around outside, his arm slung around her waist, holding her against him. She was certain that she'd never get tired of how physically affectionate Rabastan was with her.
With how much their relationship was progressing, Hermione had even invited him to hang out with her friends one time. They'd all met up at a tiki club not far from campus called the Kitty Kat Club which had a five piece band and served strong, sugary cocktails. Ron had brought his girlfriend, Lavender, but still looked increasingly annoyed every time that Rabastan would whisper something into her ear. Ginny hadn't been able to keep the smirk off of her face. Hermione knew that the redhead was just feeling very pleased with herself for setting up Hermione and Rabastan.
It had gone so much better than Hermione would have ever thought, and by the end of the night, drunk on Hemingway daiquiris and fogcutters, even Harry was joking around with Rabastan. He'd kissed up and down her neck, leaving her a keening mess, until Ron had glared at them and demanded that they get a room. The pair had stumbled back to Hermione's flat together and collapsed into Hermione's bed, a tangle of greedy fingers and lips. That night, their relationship had reached a new milestone, with Rabastan kissing her between her legs until she didn't even know her own name any more.
Blushing, Hermione pulled herself out from that particular memory, knowing that she was probably lit up brighter than Rudolph's nose.
Standing up from her bed, Hermione knew that she couldn't dally much longer if she wanted to get ready for her date in time for Rabastan to pick her up. He'd been very secretive to what it was going to be, except that she should wear jeans. She quickly threw on a pair, before selected a thin sweater to celebrate the warming temperatures. She left her hair down, knowing that Rabastan enjoyed running his fingers through it, before putting on a bit of mascara.
She'd just finished getting ready when she heard Rabastan's knocking at the front door. Eager, she hustled to open the front door, bidding Crookshanks a good afternoon to himself, having gotten the older cat a new catnip toy for the occasion.
As soon as she exited her flat, Rabastan pulled her in for a fierce kiss, pressing her back against her door, his hands coming to cup her jeans clad arse. Pulling away, Hermione couldn't suppress her giggles. "Did you just tell me to wear jeans because you wanted to feel me up?" she asked, her eyes narrowing in suspicion.
Rabastan shook his head, a cheeky grin on his face. "Not quite, though it is a nice perk," he added.
"Alright, well, what do you have planned?" she asked. "I have to admit, I am dying of curiosity."
He only grinned wider, before stepping aside, so that she could see his motorcycle waiting on the street in front of their building, shining in the sunlight. Immediately, Hermione began to backtrack. "Oh, I don't know Rabastan," she said, fretting over the idea of getting on the back of little bike that offered no protection to her body should they cross.
"It's okay, I promise that you will be completely safe on it," he said, taking her hand in his, pressing a kiss to her knuckles. "You will like it, if you give it a chance," he added.
Hermione felt skeptical to his promise that she would like it. She didn't think that she would enjoy it for a minute, and even though he promised she would be perfectly safe, on an intellectual level, Hermione knew that that was impossible, even if he didn't mean to. But, she also trusted Rabastan. It was out of her comfort zone, of course, but she wanted to try something new.
"Alright, but just this once," she insisted, before walking down the front stairs with him, his arm around her waist.
Rabastan looked serious once they arrived at the side of the motorcycle. He helped her up onto it, seeing as she was a bit short to try and get on herself, before showing her where to keep her legs so that she didn't get burned. Then, he got on it himself. Reaching for her hands, he pulled them until they were wrapped tightly around his waist, her fingers inside the soft leather of his jacket.
When he first revved the engine, Hermione was certain that her heart was going to leap out of her throat. Instead, she shoved her face into Rabastan's back, closing her eyes and holding on for dear life while he slowly starting driving them forward.
She could feel all of his movements, gently guiding the motorcycle through turns, and eventually, she grew comfortable enough to open her eyes. Looking around, Hermione felt as if she was seeing a whole new side of London as they sped through the streets. As the world was slowly waking up to the springtime, it was as if everything had come to life in color.
He drove her down along the Thames, and Hermione was excited to see the water taxis bringing tourists and annoyed citizens down the river. Eventually, she found herself enjoying the feeling of the wind in her hair, Rabastan's warmth under her fingertips, and the subtle vibration of the engine between her thighs.
She wasn't sure how long their joyride lasted, but eventually, he was finding a space to park. Helping her off, he didn't laugh at her slightly wobbly legs, and instead held her hand before taking her to a quaint French bakery. Rabastan looked supremely out of place in the bright yellow of the shop, but she was excited that he'd listened to her moaning about how much she'd missed Paris just the week before.
They shared a quiche lorraine together, sitting in the window and watching all of the people walk by. Hermione asked him all about the things he'd had to do to the motorcycle to get it running again, and though she didn't understand half of the complex mechanical systems that he described to her, she loved seeing the look on his face when he described something he obviously cared a lot about.
Hermione was suddenly struck by how much she'd grown to care for the other man in just a short amount of time. Honestly, she was a bit scared by the depth of her feelings, especially considering that there was still so much about him that he didn't know. They rarely ever talked about his brother, despite Hermione's curiosity. She tried to remain patient, though, not wanting to push him into a subject he wasn't ready to face yet.
After they finished their food, they walked around a bit. Hermione was unfamiliar with that part of town, but she easily found a used bookshop and begged Rabastan to let her enter it. He waited patiently while she got her fill of wandering through the shelves, her fingers trailing along the spines of the old books.
Before long, though, they agreed that it was time for them to return home. "You better hurry," Hermione teased, taking in the sky above them. "It looks like it could start raining at any moment."
Later, Rabastan would blame her warning as the reason that they got soaked. They had barely been riding for five minutes when the clouds opened up above them. It was not a typical London dreary rain, instead a full downpour that had Hermione squealing as they became fully drenched.
Rabastan finally guided his bike back towards the little shed that he kept it in. Hermione grabbed his hand eagerly, laughing as they ran towards the flat, slipping into her backdoor.
"Oh god, I'm soaked," she said, laughing, with flushed cheeks as they stood dripping in the kitchen together. Rabastan did not return her laugh, but instead gave her a heated look.
Hermione wasn't entirely sure who moved first, but in the next instance, they were kissing fiercely, their lips sliding against one another in a rhythm they had long since perfected. He wound his fingers through her hair, pulling her just how he wanted her, while the other hand held her body closer to his.
Her fingers cautiously slunk underneath the soaking wet fabric of his tshirt, which was now fairly clinging to his well muscled chest. Wishing that she didn't need to break the kiss, she pulled the shirt up over his head and dropped it to the floor, uncaring of the wet thunk it made against the wood, before wrapping her arms around his neck.
Rabastan seemed to understand her message then, and picked her up as though it was effortless. Hermione clung to his body as he clumsily walked them back towards her bedroom, stumbling now and again as he fought to kick off his boots, leaving them where they fell.
Only when they finally breached the threshold of her room - a journey that seemed to take ten times longer than it usually did - did Rabastan set her down so that her feet were on the floor. Hermione was trembling, but she was unsure if it was from nerves or from the chill of the rain. She let him pull her sweater over her head, divesting her as she'd done to him, before reaching behind herself to lose the band of her bra, while his long fingers worked the snap and zipper of her jeans. Hermione giggled while she struggled to get free from the wet denim, Rabastan having the same issues that she was.
Finally free, they tumbled into her bed, with only their undergarments to separate them. Rabastan pulled up her rumpled covers, trying to give them a bit of warmth, while their bodies were pressed together. She wasn't sure who was colder, but she was disappointed when she trailed her toes up his calves, only to find them feeling icier than her feet did.
Rolling her onto her back, Rabastan loomed over her, before returning to kiss her, his hand brought up to cup her breast and roll his fingers against the stiff flesh of her nipple. Hermione moaned into his mouth, feeling dizzy with desire, her heart beating against her ribcage as she thought about what she wanted. Feeling that insistent pulse between her legs, she pushed her knickers down.
Rabastan broke the kiss in surprise when he felt her trying to repeat the action with his own boxer briefs. "Hermione?" he asked, his voice sounding tortured, but unsure.
They had never gone this far in their relationship, mostly due to Hermione's nervousness over Rabastan's intentions. She still worried that he would get bored of her once she'd given in to him, but their date that day had proven a different side of him. She smiled up at him breathlessly, before nodding furious. "Please? I want to," she practically begged him.
He groaned, capturing her lips once more, before moving to settle himself between her legs, caught off guard by the feeling of her heat against his skin. Rocking against her several times, enjoying the way that he could slip against her, he finally positioned himself against her opening, before pushing forward, entering her fully.
Fully seated inside of her, Rabastan pressed his face into the crook of her neck, trying to keep his head for the moment. The breathed together as one, before Hermione grew impatient and began rocking back against him. Wrapping a leg around his waist, Rabastan snapped back into action, thrusting into her, staring at her face in wonder.
Hermione wasn't sure how much time had passed, only that she was growing closer and closer to orgasm, her fingers gripping at his back and shoulders, desperate for more. He seemed to be close, too, as he grew more erratic with his thrusts, his pubic bone pressed against her making her see stars. Finally, when she snapped, she called out his name with a breathy moan, Rabastan following her only a hairsbreadth later.
Feeling a bit dazed, Hermione sighed when Rabastan's comforting weight was removed from her body, before wrapping his arms around her and pulling her to his side. Sleepy after the big afternoon that they had with one another, Hermione felt her eyes dip closed for a tiny cat nap.
When she woke sometime later, Rabastan was laid on his side, staring at her with those lovesick green eyes, his fingers playing with her bottom lip. She looked at him, feeling as though her heart might just burst from the feeling.
Suddenly feeling quite vulnerable, Hermione against started to worry that Rabastan would tire of her now that he'd gotten what he'd been initially after. Her eyes guiltily darted towards her desk where his arrest report lie, as of yet unread, from when Harry had given it to her. She wanted to trust that the man he told her he was trying to become was the man that he was. But, he was still so closed off.
Bringing up her hand, she interlaced their fingers together. She looked at Rabastan through her eyelashes and hoped that he wouldn't see the tears lurking in her eyes. "When are we going to talk about your brother?" she asked, tentatively, knowing that it was a conversation they were going to have to have eventually.
Rabastan bristled at the line of questioning. "Why would you ask about him?" he asked, sounding irritated. "If I had it my way I'd never see him again. I wish we hadn't even run into them that day at the grocery story."
"I just-" Hermione cut herself off, licking her lower lip, trying to put into words everything that she was feeling. "He obviously is still a part of your life, and well, he's a big part of your life."
His eyes dropped from her eyes, unwilling or unable to maintain the eye contact. "I just mean, well...you and your brother have much more in common than you and I do." It was true that neither one of them were very alike when it came to where they were in their lives. Hermione never would have imagined dating someone like Rabastan before he met him, but she'd found that she loved his presence in her life, really far more than she was expecting.
Rabastan snorted in frustration. "Sure, but I certainly don't want my brother to be my girlfriend," he rolled his eyes. Suddenly, he seemed to realize what it was that he'd said, and he pulled her closer to him, pressing her head into his chest. "I just...Dolph is my past. And I'd prefer that he stay there," he said, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "I hope this isn't too presumptuous of me to say, but well, I kind of hope that you are what's in store for my future."
Hermione could feel her cheeks light up at his statement, but was unable to keep a smile from her lips. Pressing forward, she let her lips linger against his now warm chest, before giving his hand a tight squeeze. "I just...I don't want to get tossed aside when you get sick of me," she said, softly. "If you should decide that you want your old life back, and we suddenly find ourselves incompatible."
Rabastan laughed, a comforting rumble against her ear. "Babe, I don't think that I could get sick of you if I tried," he told her, honestly, making Hermione's heart beat even harder.
She hoped that was the truth. She knew she wouldn't be able to stand it if he grew bored of her now that they'd been together. Trying to let go of her fears, she told herself that this was only a step in the right direction.
