Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own any of the Harry Potter characters. Everything belongs to JK Rowling, and I'm merely allowed to play around with them. No copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter 22

-o-O-o-

The rest of Hermione's holidays were plagued by thought of Regulus. She found herself stupid for kissing him. After all, wouldn't she look ridiculous if he didn't return her attraction?

'You're so dumb, Hermione!' she told herself as Sirius took hold of her hand to Apparate her back to King's Cross.

She and he hadn't talked much, and none of them had mentioned the kiss, which was perfectly fine with her. That was one less person to worry about. After all, he was the only person who knew about it without being one of the main 'actors'.

She hopped onto the train while the boys loaded her luggage in the back. It was one of the advantages of being in this timeline, boys were much more gallant.

She started to walk towards the back, intending on finding Regulus and talking to him. After a while, she came across a nearly full compartment, and heard voices. Or, more particularly, a certain, very recognisable voice. "- not agree with you, Avery, wand lore commercials should not be restricted to-"

Without waiting for any more, she slammed the door open and looked inside. It was full to the brim with people she knew were Death Eaters in her timeline. 'Phew!' she told herself. 'Maybe I just interrupted his only chance to join the Death Eaters.' Knowing full well that this hypothesis was fairly unlikely, she contented herself with telling Regulus, who was now staring directly and intently at her: "I need to talk to you."

The boy who had cornered her on her first day here scoffed. "So what?" he asked. "A dignified Pure Blood like Black doesn't bow to your needs!"

The others around him started laughing, but Regulus snapped. "Shut up, Avery!" He turned to another guy. "Yaxley, stop laughing; you sound like a female Grindilow having her baby." He turned back to Hermione. "What do you want to see me for?" His glare was icy cold, although she could sense amusement deep down.

She sighed. "I want to sort a couple of things out." she said.

He smirked, confirming her suspicions. "What about?"

He was clearly taunting her, and she didn't bite the bait. "If I say it in front of your little friends, I'm not responsible for what follows." There. She had turned the tide.

He didn't seem at all perturbed by that. He stood up, still smirking. "You're getting good." he said. He walked out the door and turned around, addressing himself to all the Death Eaters in the compartment. "Excuse me ladies," he nodded at each and every one of them. When he arrived at Yaxley, he added: "And Grindilow, but it appears as though Granger and I have some serious matters to deal with, no pun intended."

And with that, he closed the door, facing Hermione with his full height. It was either he had grown a lot during the last week of the holiday, either she was scared of him and found him imposing, but he seemed to tower over her even more than usual.

"So," he said, breaking her out of her reverie. "What do you want to talk about?"

The train started moving; but both barely noticed. "I want to talk about us." she admitted.

He moved closer to her and she backed off, at least until her back hit the window and all that was left to do was stare at his figure looming over hers. He approached even closer, so that his lips were at her ear as he whispered: "What is there to talk about?"

Momentarily stunned, she managed to mumble: "Well… I'm not going to beat around the bush, so are we a couple or what?"

He brushed his nose gently against her neck, placing his hands on either side of her head, trapping her against his body. "That," he whispered. "Is for me to decide, and for you to follow."

She gulped as his hands moved closer to her body and started roaming around her face. "Don't you think that's slightly unfair?" she asked.

His hands left her face and moved lower, brushing slightly against her breasts before continuing their descent. "Actually," he whispered. "I think it's unfair for me." He placed a light kiss on her neck, making her shiver.

"May I ask why you think that?" she asked, her voice quivering.

He chuckled as his hands landed on her legs, pulling them up and wrapping them around his thin waist. He pulled away and stared at her eyes intently. "Well,' he continued, just as quietly. "You are mine after all."

She regained her senses, suddenly, and blubbered: "Yours? Full of yourself much?"

He stared at her, but this time, his eyes weren't playful. His hands moved from her legs to her shirt, slipping under and splaying across her stomach. She shivered because his hands were cold, but they made her feel so warm, inside, that she leaned in to increase the contact. "See that?" he asked. "Only I can do that to you. That's why you're mine."

"I… I…" she mumbled incoherently, because truly, she didn't want to protest anymore.

He leaned in and pressed his lips to her neck once more. She moaned breathlessly and he whispered in her ear: "My little vixen…"

And with that, he moved his hands back to her legs, unhooked them and set them back on the ground and pulling away, a huge evil grin on his face.

"Well," he said, shoving his hands down his pockets, a huge grin plastered on his face. "I'm certainly glad that's sorted out." And with nothing short of a playful slap on her butt, he left her there, dishevelled and breathless, in a corridor of the Hogwarts Express.

-o-O-o-

Since Hermione and Regulus couldn't exactly be called a couple, they did nothing for Valentine's day. In fact, they rarely did anything at all that was out of the ordinary for them.

They still hung out and were great friends, it was just that Regulus sometimes had tendencies to pull her into a broom closet unannounced and leave five minutes later, looking perfectly groomed and dressed while she was half naked, hot and bothered, her lips swollen and her hair a mess.

On Regulus' seventeenth birthday, on March the seventh, Hermione still concocted a little party for him, in the kitchens, and had dressed in green for the occasion. He had smiled and kissed her sweetly.

It was in moments like these that Hermione questioned her feelings for Regulus. Sometimes she felt as it was her duty, that she was only doing this to save him from his fate and to get information about Time-Travel, but the rest of the time… She found herself imagining things she shouldn't… The type of ungodly thoughts she simply couldn't put in words.

Despite her fears and occasional doubts, she still supported him every step of the way, through his Quidditch matches (which he won whenever James was not against him), all his classes, even the ones that they didn't have in common, and their relationship.

He couldn't deny that she was supportive. Without her, he'd probably have collapsed under the pressure of maintaining both his image, his relationship with her and his status as Death Eater. Near the Easter holidays, the Dark Lord's trust in him had amplified when he found himself saving a catch the rest of them had almost lost.

The Dark Lord had never looked at him twice until then. After that raping fiasco with Rosier, he had been sent to do some killing with Severus, and had succeeded. His friend had helped him block out his thoughts so that he didn't feel disgusted by the blood spurting and the guts spilling. It was a ruthless world out there, and he needed to be on the winning side.

That's why, on his first true mission, when the witch they had kidnapped managed to Stun his cousin Bella and run away, he killed her instantly. She had given away all her secrets, anyway, so there was no more need for filth like her. And all he had been expected to do was watch for Aurors.

And so he had been both punished and rewarded.

The Dark Lord had told him that he could make it to the High Council, where his newly cousin in law Lucius was, if he continued that way, in less than a year. "But then again," he had mused. "You disobeyed your orders… you should have stayed at your place and not moved a muscle… Believe me, you will pay… I just need to find a suitable punishment for you first."

That had probably been one of the scariest moments of Regulus Arcturus Black's life.

In any case, everything was going smoothly for him. He passed his end of year exams les doigts dans le nez, like his French cousins would say. Hermione nearly flew through them, thanks to her uncanny ability to revise 24/7. In any case, then came the problem of what they would do for the vacation.

"You can't stay at Hogwarts," Hermione had philosophised. "And I can't come at your place. Your parents would kill me and roast me on the spot, like they would do with an old house elf."

He had flinched. "Thanks for the image." he said. "It was very… descriptive."

"You forget real." she'd told him.

"Actually, we just chop the house elves' heads off when they get too old." he'd corrected her.

She had rolled her eyes and bitten her lip. "That's a shame, I'd have loved to have gone to your place." she had admitted.

He'd stared at her. "It's just a dusty old house with ghouls in the closets, there's really nothing to be excited about." he'd tried to reason.

She'd turned to him and smiled brilliantly, her eyes twinkling. "I heard there was one of the best furnished libraries in Britain."

He'd laughed. "It's true." he'd said. "If you want to know something about the Dark Arts, there is no better place to learn." He'd turned to her. "I'll try my parents out of the house for a day, like that you can come to my place and read."

With the emphasis on the 'read' and the wiggle of his eyebrows, he'd made it clear they weren't going to read if she ever went there.

And so they had parted on good terms. The Hogwarts Express had been as punctual as ever, so they didn't have the time to kiss. They'd waved at each other even long after they couldn't catch any glimpse of the other.

Hermione had re-taken her part time job at the Three Broomsticks, but she somehow was jollier about it. She woke early every day, worked, did her homework, wrote to Regulus and her friends and went to sleep late. Despite the busy days, she was happier than she'd been in a long time… And she had no idea why.

As she pondered on the reason for her weird happiness, on a warm July Friday night, she heard a tap on her window. She looked up and saw Regulus' favourite owl, a raven black one with bright golden eyes named Pisces. She opened the window and let the majestic bird fly in, dropping a letter on her bed on the way.

Popping a couple of owl treats on her desk for Pisces to nibble at, she took the piece of parchment and opened it. The letter was short, but it took her breath away.

Dear Hermione,

Tomorrow is my uncle Alphard's burial. My parents hated him for giving all his money to Sirius, but he was still family, so they're going.

They are not, however, making me go, so I guess you know what that means.

See you tomorrow,

Regulus Arcturus Black

PS: Don't you find it weird that they bury him months after his death? Apparently, it was to place all sorts of spells on him to keep his corpse from rotting… Gross.

PPS: Have sweet dreams. :)

As she finished his letter, she smiled. Not only at Regulus' weird sense of humour, but also with happiness.

After all, tomorrow, she was going to Grimmauld place.

-o-O-o-

I know this is a) short b) late but I am going through a bad case of writer's block, where nothing I write seems right… With a little bit of luck, I'll have the next chapter next week, but don't count on it too much… I'm sad too.

Anyway, I've got a new poll up for those who want Regulus and Hermione to end up together. Which they will, in any case. Also, the usual, please review, follow me on Twitter, check out my profile and have a nice day! :)