A/N: Thank you so much for your reviews, favorites and follows! I am so glad that you liked the last chapter - it was so fun to write something so wholesome and sweet. Quick shout out to weestarmeggie for the term 'dicked down' that I used in this chapter. Haha, I don't know why but that really makes me giggle. Also, I posted the first chapter of a Theo x Daphne story last week - it's my first time writing non-Hermione centric fic, so I would be curious to hear what you think. So, check that out if you are interested! 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 eleven and be on the lookout for chapter twelve soon!
Ginny stared at Hermione from her place across the table, where she was sitting next to Luna, with a wild smirk on her face. Taking a sip of her pint, Ginny could no longer hold in her curiosity. "Soo..." she started, glancing up at Hermione.
"So?" Hermione answered, trying to hide her smile in her cocktail. Ever since things had gotten more serious with Rabastan, she'd been feeling happier, freer. Though he hadn't said it in as many words, Hermione knew that Rabastan had been trying to tell her that he cared for her. A lot.
"You haven't been able to stop grinning all night, Granger! Spill!" the spunky redhead commanded. "Is it Rabastan? You guys have been going out for a while now."
"Hmm, I suppose we have," Hermione said suddenly, counting up the weeks in her head. "Two and a half months?" she questioned aloud, before confirming in her head. It wasn't actually that much time in reality, but since they spent as many days as they could together, it ended up feeling far more significant than it probably was.
"Oh, is that why Hermione is always so busy these days?" Luna asked, in her typically dreamy voice. "I thought she was busy working on her term paper."
Hermione colored a bit in embarrassment, knowing that she had missed several girls nights along the way. She didn't mean to abandon her friends, but this thing with Rabastan was still so new and exciting it was hard to pull away from him.
Before she could apologize, Ginny was swatting Luna on the arm. "Don't make her feel guilty!" Ginny scolded. "If Hermione is too busy getting dicked down by her hot neighbor, I won't be upset with her for missing girls' nights out."
"Ginny!" Hermione cried out in embarrassment, wanting to deny that she and Rabastan had been very much engaged, but knowing that she could not. They'd spent the whole weekend in her bed after having sex for the first time, leaving briefly for food, only to have Rabastan take her right against the kitchen counter.
"Don't lie, Hermione," Ginny said with a mischievous grin on her lightly freckled face. "Your blush betrays you. Now come on, tell us the details! What was it like?" she demanded. "I practically set the pair of you up, the least that you can do is tell me details. Spice up my boring life."
"Wow, didn't think you'd ever call your sex life boring," Luna said, sounded utterly perplexed. "Does Blaise know?" she wondered aloud.
Ginny glared at her friend, knowing that she was just being overly dramatic. She and Blaise had a very healthy sex life, and she was more than happy to share the details. "Don't change the subject, Lovegood," Ginny whined.
With both of the girls' eager attention on her, Hermione could only feel her blush intensify. "I - it's very nice," she said with finality, unwilling to tell them of all that had transpired between the two of them.
Her terse description had even Luna smirking at her. "Just nice?" the blonde pressed, leaning forward in her seat.
"That's - that's all you'll get out of me, I'm afraid," Hermione said with a cheshire grin, wondering what Rabastan would make of her friend's interest in what he was like in bed. He'd probably be entirely too flattered by the idea, Hermione thought with a roll of her eyes.
Ginny let out a triumphant 'ha!' before leaning back in her chair. "At least we got her to admit that they are even having sex," she said with a grin. "I cannot wait to tell Ron. I am fairly certain that his head will go all the way round - like in the Exorcist!"
"Oh, please don't tell Ron," Hermione said, pressing her hands to her cheeks. "I don't think that either one of the boys would take kindly to hearing those kind of details about me, same as I don't want those kind of details about them." They were really far too close to one another, and it seemed a bit like knowing what your brothers got up to.
"Oh, fine," Ginny finally conceded with a put-on frown. "Party pooper."
Luna cocked her head to the side. "Can you at least tell us...does Rabastan have any hidden tattoos?" she asked. "I was so taken with the lovely snake on his arm."
Hermione thought about all the tattoos that Rabastan had on his body, and she was sure that he'd have had more had he not been in prison for so long. She could feel her blush creeping up the side of her neck, knowing that her physical reactions were giving away far more than she ever could tell them. "Can we not talk about my boyfriend anymore?" she begged.
"Okay," Luna said, cheerfully. "We can talk about Harry's tattoos. He's got a delightful tattoo, right on his left buttock. It's a whimsical little griffin."
"What?" Hermione asked, torn between wanting to know what the hell Harry had been thinking, and wanting to never think about Harry's arse ever again.
"It's true," Ginny confirmed with a smirk on her face. "It actually doesn't look that bad."
"Can we please never mention this ever again? I don't know how I am going to face him next time I see him," Hermione groaned into her hands. Finishing off her drinks, she motioned to the bartender for a refill, hoping that copious amounts of alcohol would erase that from her memory. "If we must talk about Harry, why don't you just tell me what he's up to tonight, Luna."
Luna smiled when the waiter brought them a fresh round of drinks. "Oh, I think that he said he was going to try out a new bar himself. He and Sirius were going to meet for a pint or two, seeing as I am here and unavailable for the evening."
Finally feeling as if the conversation was headed in the right direction, Hermione allowed herself to relax, the blush slowly receding from her face.
Rabastan had done fairly well at avoiding Rodolphus and Bellatrix, spending most of his free time with Hermione. When he was with the brunette, it was as if nothing else in the world mattered to him. But, that was also a scary feeling when he remembered that was leverage they could use against him.
So far, he had a pretty good feeling that they had no idea who Hermione really was or where she lived. He'd never called her by her name in front of them, instead just sticking to babe. And, he was fairly certain they'd never guess that she just lived one floor above him, thinking that it was too close to consider.
That didn't mean that he'd been completely able to avoid them. They were always slinking back into his life at the least opportune time, reminding him that they were family, that he owed him, and that they needed him for this job.
He never asked for the details, but over time, the shape of the job had started to come out. They had gotten a tip about a stash house that was actually run by a police informant in the City, and they wanted to go rob it. It was meant to be a gift for the leader of the Death Eaters, the gang that they rode with, Tom, who was due to be out of prison himself soon. And, since they had all gotten locked up on the word of an informant, that meant this job was personal to them.
No matter how many times that he tried to talk them out of fucking with the police, they had been unwilling to budge. Instead of thinking rationally, their fucked up heads were filled with thoughts of blow and cash and getting Tom's favor back once again. At a different time of his life, that might have appealed to him too, but now all he wanted were nights cuddled on Hermione's couch, watching telly with her. Or drinks out at the pub, Hermione's head thrown back in laughter. Or his face pressed into Hermione's neck, leaving hickeys to show that she was his, while her fingers worked the button on his jeans.
Groaning, Rabastan tried to clear his head from those kind of thoughts while he was working, wiping a damp cloth back and forth across the bar.
The door opened and Rabastan looked up, furious to see none other than Bellatrix and Rodolphus walking in as if they owned the place. He wished that he could kick them out, but unfortunately, he worked in the seedy type of bar that his brother and sister-in-law fit right into. Bellatrix smiled when she locked eyes with him, dark eyes sparkling with mischief. They crossed the floor, before slipping into the seats at the bar right in front of him.
"What do you want?" he bit out gruffly, wanting to get them in and out as quickly as possible. The less time that he spent with them, the better.
"Oh, well, since you asked so nicely," Bellatrix sneered back at him sarcastically. "I'll have a whiskey neat, Rabby. Make it a double."
Rabastan didn't enjoy being ordered around, least of all by her, but he did as she said, pouring an additional portion for himself and Rodolphus. God knew that he would need the alcohol to deal with her. He downed the whiskey in two gulps before pouring himself another portion.
"You know you can't keep avoiding us forever, Rab," Rodolphus said, his voice dropping in volume. If he didn't know his brother better, Rabastan would almost think that he was concerned about him. But, it was Rodolphus he was talking to, so he knew that this was just another manipulation tactic. "One of these days, that little bitch you are dating is going to leave you to go off to do her fucking gap year or something, and you're gonna fall on hard times, and who will you have left to go to? We're your family Rab. You know that you can only count on us."
He shook his head, not wanting to believe Rodolphus's poison words. "No, that wouldn't happen," he said, his eyebrows furrowed together in concern. "She isn't - she isn't like that." He hoped that if he said it with enough conviction that it might come true, but deep down he had always been a little bit worried that Hermione was going to wake up one of these days and realize that she was too good for him. That she should be with someone like that prick he'd punched when he'd found her out in central London. She deserved more than a bartender felon.
Sometimes, it almost felt silly to think that she was with him at all. He'd nearly killed a woman, once, and yes, he'd done his time, but Hermione was just on a completely separate wavelength from him. It didn't stop him from begging for whatever scraps she would send his way, though.
"She is," Bellatrix responded, with a roll of her eyes. "Do you think that she understands you? Not the way that we do Rabby. One day, she'll get sick of her little pet project," she taunted.
Rabastan swallowed thickly, hoping that they weren't able to tell how close to the bone this was catching him. "Listen, if you are just here to lecture me about my personal relationships, I would prefer if you let me make my own fuckups," he responded, wanting to get them out of there as soon as possible.
"You know that's not the only reason we're here," Bellatrix said, smiling into her glass. "We need to talk details about Tom's little coming home party. I want to make sure we aren't getting him the same present."
He frowned at her. "I've told you time and time again that I'm not going to be coming to the party, let alone bringing a present," he growled, trying to shoo Bellatrix away. "So why don't you take your party planning committee elsewhere?"
"You want to do this the hard way?" Rodolphus asked, rhetorically. "Okay, we will do this the hard way. But for the record, Rab, I didn't want it to go this way. You will either do as we say, like a good little boy, or else your little girlfriend is gonna get it."
"I would so love to have a little chat with her - girl to girl," Bellatrix said, running her tongue along her front teeth.
Rabastan stared at his brother with a blank face, though internally he was beginning to panic. "Don't believe me? I'm trying to tell you that Hermione Granger, who lives in the flat above you - very convenient, I must say, Rab - might get her pretty little face bashed in if you don't do as you're told. Now, are you going to do as you are told, or do I need to make the message clearer."
He knew that he shouldn't confirm any of the details that Rodolphus had gleaned, not wanting him to know how on the money he really was, but Rabastan was far too scared for Hermione's safety not to. Inside, he could feel his heart pounding against his rib cage, his pulse rushing in his ears, as he thought about what Rodolphus and Bellatrix would do to her. He crossed his arms over his chest, wishing that he wasn't currently in this situation.
"What's the plan then?" he asked, clenching his teeth so that he didn't just slip and tell Dolph what he really thought about him.
"I knew he'd come around to our way of thinking," Bellatrix cooed into her husband's ear, wrapping her arms around him. "We just needed the right sort of leverage."
Rodolphus was already gathering coasters and napkins off of the bar, creating a makeshift little map to describe the scene. "Alright, so the house is here, right on the corner," he pointed out to Rabastan. "It's got just two entrances - one in and one out, here and here."
Bellatrix watched in interest. "You'll be hanging around in the back, Rab. Barty is going to go in the front. He's been working with the guy, you see, trying to buy a package from him. Once he's inside, I'll rush the front, and Rodolphus will come in the back."
Running his hands through his hair, certain that this was a supremely terrible idea, Rabastan shrugged his shoulders. "What exactly do you need me to do?" he asked, overwhelmed by the need to put space between him and his brother, but remaining rooted at the spot, if only because it meant Hermione's safety.
"I thought you'd never ask," Bellatrix teased with a grin.
Rodolphus pointed between the coasters. "There is an alley that runs along the back of the property. You'll be in the car, waiting here. Wait three minutes after I go into the back," he said, giving Rabastan a pointed look. "Three minutes, and then all three of us will run out. You'll drive us to safety."
"And that's all I gotta do?" he asked, feeling skeptical. Last time had seen deceptively simple, too, that was until Bellatrix went off the rails and Rodolphus stabbed someone. Then, it had all descended into chaos.
"That's all you gotta do," Rodolphus nodded. "And, we'll give you ten percent for your cut."
"Ten? Shouldn't I get twenty-five?" he questioned. If he was going to take part in an armed robbery, he was at least going to get his fair share of it in the end. "That's fair."
Bellatrix rolled her eyes at him. "No, it's not as simple as a four way cut. We'll give half to Tom, and then split the rest between us," she said firmly.
"Then I should be getting twelve and a half," Rabastan said, narrowing his eyes. "Listen - you and Rodolphus and Barty can give half of your shares away to Tom if you want to, but I'm not going to. I want twenty-five."
"Twelve and a half," Rodolphus countered offered.
"Twenty," Rabastan demanded, staring his brother down, wondering how high he could get him to go.
"Fifteen, Rabastan, and that's it," Rodolphus said, pounding his fist against the bar in anger. "That's more than generous."
Rabastan shook his head. "We're family, remember? Seventeen and a half," he countered, feeling a bit malicious, but wanting his fair cut.
"Fine, seventeen and a half," Rodolphus finally agreed. "Christ, you were never this much of a stickler before prison, Rabastan. What did they teach you math in there or something?"
"Very funny," he deadpanned, knowing that Rodolphus just wasn't used to him sticking up for himself. The old Rabastan would have been eager to go along, just for a bit of fun. "Now, where the fuck am I supposed to get a car?" he asked, feeling testy and on edge.
Bellatrix smirked. "Just get one off the street. Prison didn't make you forget how to hotwire a car, did it?" she teased. Bellatrix had always insisted that he couldn't do something, knowing that Rabastan was so eager to prove himself that he'd make it happen. Now, he knew it was just another way they manipulated him.
"Fine," he bit out, running his hand down his face, suddenly feeling very old. When he finally looked back up, he gave his brother a hard look. "But this is the last time, okay? I do this for you, and then next time you find someone else. You forget Hermione's name, is that understood?"
Rodolphus stood, and laughed at him, before drinking the rest of the whiskey in his glass. "I don't really think that you are in the position to make those kind of demands, Rabastan," he said. "But, we'll see. You stay on your best behavior, and we'll revisit this." His brother wrapped his arm around Bellatrix's shoulder, before turning to leave, and Rabastan was only too happy to see them go.
They left without paying.
