A/N: Thank you for those who reviewed, favorited and followed after last chapter! Huge thanks to lanamarymack for alpha/beta reading this chapter! As you might be able to tell, this story is quickly coming to an end — we've got two more chapters after this. If you enjoy my writing, I've just started a new story. It's a Rabastan x Hermione and time travel called Linen & Curls. I hope you will check it out. You can also find me on tumblr (nauticalparamour) where I post sneak peeks, story updates and answer questions.
Please let me know what you thought of chapter nine and be on the lookout for chapter ten soon!
After the auction, Hermione and Fenrir were spending every minute together that they could while they waited for the money to move through the banking system to its ultimate destination. Everyone was a little on edge with the additional uncertainty that including an outsider had brought, though Hermione knew that Luna was trustworthy. And, even if she wasn't, she was entirely too wrapped up in Antonin to consider running.
Fenrir spent a cursory amount of time at his warehouse, still responsible for his day to day obligations, though it was obvious that his heart was no longer in it. Hermione sat in the flat and worked on her spreadsheets. But, when dinner time rolled around, Fenrir would return home and they would make dinner together, before tumbling into the bedroom, barely waiting to cross the threshold before they were completely naked. It was nice — almost domestic, even — and it made Hermione long for something real with the gangster who had captured her heart.
And, Hermione loved waking up in Fenrir's arms every morning. It was way too easy to get used to.
When she woke up that morning, her head on Fenrir's chest, she knew that it must be the day that the final balance was released into Tom's account and they would finally be free of this nonsense.
Fenrir was already awake, too, his fingers tracing up the bare length of her spine. His gaze was heavy and significant on her face, like he was trying to capture every little detail.
Hermione scrunched her nose up, feeling like she was being examined. "We should get up," Hermione said, though she didn't want to go anywhere else with how he was touching her. "Antonin will be expecting us."
But it seemed that he had other plans. Without preamble, he rolled her over until she was flat on her back and he was cradled between her spread thighs. He used his hand to caress the side of her face, his gaze intense as ever. "Let me have you, just one last time," he whispered, before catching her lips in a kiss.
She giggled to herself, returning the kiss eagerly. "You know that you aren't going to be able to get rid of me, even when this is over, right?" she asked.
"Still," he said, staring down at her like she might disappear if he blinked.
Hermione understood the impulse and wrapped her arms around his shoulder, pulling him down to kiss her. She pressed her lips against his, her tongue moving languidly against his, simply enjoying the feeling. She could have spent all day with him like this, his body wrapped around hers, but already she could feel the insistent pulse of his hard length against her center.
Teasingly, she rocked her hips against him. She was already slick between the legs, wanting to be joined with him all the same. Fenrir brought his hand between them to guide his cock inside her, groaning once they were as close as they could be.
This time, it was tender and decadent. Each one of them was more caught up in the act of being together rather than the ultimate destination. Hermione felt her heart swell with love for the man and she couldn't help but whisper his name like a prayer as he built her up with each thrust of his hips.
And all too soon, it was over. They found their peaks together, holding onto one another tightly, unwilling to let go even as their skin cooled and their breathing returned to normal.
"Mm, I don't know how I'm supposed to be able to do anything after that," Hermione said, giving him a satisfied grin.
But, they both knew that they could not wait any longer. Reluctantly, they got out of bed, taking the time to help dress one another until they were each ready to face the day. Hermione slipped into her trusty leather jacket on the way out the door and wondered if there would ever be a time that she could hang it up for good.
Fenrir drove them to Antonin's gym across town and when they got there, he held her hand tightly in his hand while they walked through the building to his office. It was nice, Hermione decided, all the affection that he was lavishing on her that day.
Antonin barely looked up from his work when they walked in the door, but ushered them to take their seats opposite him at the desk. "What good news do you have for me today?" he asked, writing something in the margins of the paper he was staring at.
"The funds should have all been deposited and showing in Tom's account now," Hermione said, helping herself to Antonin's lolly jar on his desk, finding a red one that was sure to stain her tongue. "Have you heard from him?"
"Yes and you have his thanks," Antonin answered with a smirk, leading Hermione to assume that they didn't really have his thanks. He just expected their work. He was a kingpin — he wasn't gracious to his underlings.
"But, do we have his payment?" Fenrir asked, the picture of relaxation sprawled out in his chair, but Hermione could see the nervous jiggle of his leg.
"Always business this one," Antonin said, giving Hermione a smirk. But, he opened the top drawer at his desk and pulled out two huge stacks of hundred dollar notes, before handing it to each of them. "Your cut. I assume you'll be happy with it?"
Fenrir thumbed through the bills before making an approving grunt. "It's what we agreed to, so no reason not to be," he answered.
"And you have my thanks for bringing the delightful Miss Lovegood to me," Antonin added, wearing a huge grin. "I did not think I would ever find a woman as insatiable as me."
Hermione couldn't help but smile, pleased that Antonin had found someone who made him happy. "When you find the right person, things can get pretty magical," she said, giving Fenrir a shy grin. "Well, we really better be on our way."
"Uh, unfortunately Hermione, I have need of Fenrir today," Antonin said, sounding regretful. "As I said, there will always be another job."
She stilled. This was not according to the plan at all, but she wasn't exactly in a position to deny Antonin. "Seriously? We can't even have one weekend to ourselves?" she asked, not afraid to let him know that she was pissed off about it.
Fenrir grabbed her hand and gave it a tight squeeze. "It's alright, Hermione," he said, a casual smile on his face. But, the look in his blue eyes told her that he was anything but happy. In fact, he almost looked a little sad. "This is just something that I have to take care of. Take my cash for me, will you?"
"Okay," she agreed, stepping into the open space between his legs. Fenrir pulled her close, cupping her arse even in front of an audience. She gave him a tender kiss, catching his lip between hers, tongue swiping at the seam, though she didn't deepen it. There was a limit to what she was willing to do in front of Antonin.
Shoving the money in the pockets of her leather jacket, Hermione walked out of Antonin's gym for what she hoped would be the last time. Outside, she caught a bus back to her flat, her mind temporarily empty while she drank in the scenery of the neighborhood she'd unwittingly spent so much time in. Briefly, she wondered what people would do if they knew how much cash she had on her, before scoffing. She was Fenrir fucking Greyback's girlfriend. No one would mess with her.
When she got back to her flat, she tried to think of what she and Fenrir could have for their last meal in the flat together. Tomorrow she would return to her normal life and Fenrir would play it cool until Tom Riddle could finally be arrested. It would be a little while before the two of them would be able to reconnect — this time without a police investigation hanging over them.
But first, she walked straight to the closet in her bedroom and found the duffle bag on the shelf. Pulling it down, Hermione tossed it on the bed and unzipped it, revealing the bands and bands of bank notes that she'd kept from her first go 'round undercover. Sirius had told her to keep a little bit for herself and even though she detested the idea of doing something that was entirely illegal, she found herself holding a bit back, just for security's sake.
She pulled their new score out and put it in the duffle bag. This was all theirs — hers and Fenrirs. She wasn't going to give a single bill to her department after all the shit that they had put her through, twisting her arm and manipulating her to get her to do exactly what they wanted.
Smirking, she remembered Fenrir's imagined future. This was her fuck off fund, one that she hoped to use to take Fenrir to the Canary Islands. It wasn't enough to retire on — not nearly enough — but it was enough to sit out on the beach doing nothing but drinking mai tais for a year while they figured out what it was that they were going to do next.
Yawning, she zipped up the duffle and put it back up on her shelf. Hermione decided to lie down on the bed for a while. They had been under so much stress lately — and staying up late at night to find a more pleasurable outlet for that stress — that she hadn't been sleeping well. Dinner could wait. She could close her eyes for a bit and have a nap.
It was dark when she opened her eyes again. She had slept much later than she intended to. Looking at her clock, she groaned, seeing that it was already nearly 8:00. There was no time to make a special dinner with Fenrir now. Finishing out her mobile, she decided to text him to see if he could get them some take away, before she settled in the living room and put the tele on.
When she got through her entire television program, she realized that it had been an hour and still Fenrir was not back and he hadn't responded to her text, either. "What the fuck," she whispered to herself, before deciding to give him a call.
His phone rang and rang, before going to voicemail.
Suddenly, fear began to blossom in her belly. This was way too out of the ordinary for Fenrir and Antonin for that matter. She didn't have to wait another hour to know that something was really wrong. She dialed Sirius's number without thinking.
"Hello?" he answered.
"Hey, Sirius, something is up," Hermione said, chewing on her lower lip. "Fenrir hasn't come back tonight and he hasn't contacted me either. Antonin asked him to stay back for some kind of special job and I'm really wor—"
"Slow down, slow down," Sirius insisted on the other line. "When did you see him last?"
"It was a little bit after lunch," she answered.
"It hasn't been that long, Hermione. Greyback and Dolohov are friends," he reminded her. "Maybe Greyback knows that this is the end and he's out having one last hurrah with him."
Hermione bit her lower lip and considered calling the Slippery Serpent to see if they were there. It would be like Antonin to keep Fenrir out drinking until the small hours of the morning. "You think so?" she asked, not totally convinced.
"It hasn't even been twelve hours, Hermione," Sirius said gently. "You forget that Fenrir Greyback is a gangster. He didn't get in his position by chance. He's been in more trouble than you could ever dream up and he knows how to take care of himself, too."
"I guess," she said, though she still felt uncertain.
"Just, try to get some rest, okay?" Sirius suggested. "I am sure he'll be banging on your door to be let in at like four in the morning."
"Alright. Goodnight Sirius," she said, before hanging up the phone. She would try to do as he said, though she knew it was going to be a struggle to ignore the nagging feeling in her heart. She just hoped that Sirius was right.