A/N: Thank you so much for your reviews, favorites and follows after last chapter! Huge thank you lanamarymack who has been invaluable alpha/beta reading these chapters! You can find me on tumblr (nauticalparamour) where I post sneak peeks, story updates and answer questions.
Please let me know what you thought of chapter forty-two and be on the lookout for chapter forty-three in a few days!
When the next Hogsmeade weekend came around, there was absolutely no way that Hermione wouldn't go with Rabastan. He simply wouldn't hear any suggestion that they go with friends, knowing that there were only two left before they would graduate in June.
Hermione was secretly pleased that she was getting to go on a proper date with Rabastan after so many months. She got ready with all of the girls, borrowing one of Elvira's floral print dresses, even though the weather was still a bit too chilly — it was nothing that a pair of knee socks and a warming charm couldn't take care of though.
While Mallory helped her with a few touches of makeup, Hermione was struck by how much she was going to miss rooming with all of her friends in just a few weeks. Between Walburga's hair charms and the Slytherin girls' makeup and styling, Hermione found herself so much happier with her appearance than she'd ever been. She worried that she was going to be horribly lost once she was on her own once again.
She found Rabastan in the Common Room. He'd dressed up as well, looking rather sharp in a set of casual robes. Privately, she wondered how he would look in more modern, muggle clothing, the sort that Harry wore, before deciding that it was a fool's errand to consider. It wasn't as if he would be wearing jeans any time soon.
Hermione pressed to her tiptoes to give him a hug and a chaste kiss, smiling when he wrapped his arms around her, holding her body close to his. "You look good," she murmured into his chest. "Did you get all dressed up for me?"
"Who else would I?" he teased back, wanting to reassure her that she was special to him. "Ready to go?"
She nodded and took his hand in hers, before they headed to the front of the castle so they could catch a carriage to the village. They didn't wait for any of their classmates, as it had already been agreed that they would all meet at the Hog's Head, as was tradition at this point.
"So, what would you like to do?" Rabastan asked when they finally arrived in the village.
"Oh, um, the girls and I usually go to the perfume shop and then I usually stop into Tomes and Scrolls," Hermione said, feeling self conscious. Yes, Rabastan was intelligent, but what if he didn't want to spend his precious free time at a bookstore?
"Is there where you get that haunting scent?" he asked, pressing his face into her neck so that he could breathe her in.
Hermione laughed, pushing him away. "Yes, that's where I get my perfume," she answered. "But I don't need any today. It's not like I use that much."
"I love how you smell," he revealed, wrapping his arm around her waist and leading them in the direction of Tomes and Scrolls first.
"I know, when I first got my perfume, you were sniffing me at the Hog's Head," Hermione told him, wondering if he'd managed to forget that.
His cheeks went slightly pink. "I'd hoped I was being subtle," he said. "But of course, you caught me. And you didn't forget it. "
They walked into the bookstore and Hermione immediately went for the magazines, hoping to look at the most recent Charms quarterly. "We don't need to stay here long," she promised. "I want to make sure that you have a good time, too."
"I don't think it's possible for me not to enjoy myself when you are around," Rabastan promised. "But, I am happy to look around too. It's been a while since I've visited. Care for a stop in Honeydukes after?"
"Of course," Hermione agreed, forcing herself to relax a bit. She was certain that Rabastan would let her know if she was boring him. And, she promised that she wasn't going to get lost in the shelves, like she had the last time that she'd visited.
A short time later, Hermione left with her Charms quarterly under her arm, as well as a book about blood magic in potions. Rabastan had picked up a fiction book of his own. Rabastan insisted on paying for her books and even carried them under his arm in a paper bag. With his arm around her waist once again, they began walking to Honeydukes.
When they got to the candy store, Rabastan was immediately off in the direction of the pepper imps, which Hermione knew were his favorite. She looked around a bit as well, deciding to pick up a bit of toffee for Regulus, seeing as they were still in a weird place after she challenged him to not just do as their family said all the time.
Rabastan found her not long after. "I got you a packet of sugar quills, too," he said, once they were at the register to pay. "I know they are your favorite."
"They are, are they?" Hermione asked, never having really thought of it before. She supposed that she was partial to a sugar quill, but to be honest, she'd never eaten too much candy, mostly because she knew that her dentist parents would hate it, the same way that they hated that she'd fixed her teeth in fourth year. "Well, thank you for thinking of me."
She insisted on paying for the toffee, though, as it was for Regulus and it would just be too odd if he paid for that as well.
"Where to next? Do you fancy going into the tea shop before we head over to the Hog's Head?" he asked, eager to hear what she wanted to do.
Hermione made a face. She'd never gone to Madam Puddifoot's in her time, after Harry's ghastly experience there, and to be honest, it hadn't changed much over the years. There was absolutely no way that she was going to be stepping into the garish pink nightmare. Between the cramped atmosphere and the overly amorous clientele, Hermione knew she'd rather face the scorn of the Gryffindors at the Three Broomsticks than go there.
"Why don't we just head to the Hog's Head," Hermione suggested with a grimace. "Madam Puddifoot's isn't really for me."
Luckily, Rabastan was up for that as well. He held the door for her as they exited the sweet shop and held her hand while they made their way down the lane to the quiet end of the village, where the Hog's Head was.
A tremendous boom caught them both by surprise, shaking the ground that they walked on. Hermione was embarrassed to find herself clutching onto Rabastan's arm. "What was that?" she demanded, looking around wildly.
"It sounded like an explosion," Rabastan said, turning around to try to figure out where it came from.
A pair of black-robed people flew overhead on broomsticks towards the center of the village and the screaming came not too much longer. It didn't take a great leap for Hermione to figure out just what was happening.
"Death Eaters?" she asked, her voice catching in her throat. "In Hogsmeade?"
"We should go — run back up to the castle," he said, tugging on her arm.
Hermione pulled her arm from his and shook her head fiercely. "Absolutely not! We have to go help," she insisted. She didn't even want to wait for him to make up his mind and she began running towards the town center. Her heart was pounding out of her chest, wondering what had made the Death Eaters so bold as to attack Hogsmeade during a school visit. They had never tried anything so brazen before.
It did not take long for her to find herself in the thick of the fray. There were spells whizzing by left and right, catching the Hogsmeade villagers and the older students when they could. To her relief, it did seem that some care was being taken not to injure any of the younger students, but it was clear that the primary goal was to sow chaos — to make people feel unsafe and scared.
And, it was working. There were people hiding anywhere they could, students crying, people running to get away from the Death Eaters. Though, some of the older students were attempting to fight back with the Professors that were chaperoning.
Hermione immediately pulled out her wand and cast a shield charm to protect a trio of Hufflepuff students that were hiding in an alcove, before she sent a hex towards one of the Death Eaters on the ground. Rabastan appeared only a few seconds later and drew his own wand to help as well.
The windows in one of the homes shattered after a fireball hit it, starting a small fire. She knew that she'd never be able to contain the blaze, so she instead focused on one of the Death Eaters. Hermione managed to hit him with an incarcerous, sending him sprawling to the ground.
Her victory was short lived, as he managed to throw off the ropes, and started chasing a Ravenclaw girl down one of the side alleys. Immediately, she took off after him, determined not to let anything happen to her.
She could hear the Death Eater taunting the girl, his laughs echoing off of the buildings. It only made the fire in her belly burn hotter and she knew then that she would make him pay for hurting that poor girl.
Hermione rushed to turn the corner, certain that she would find him there. Her heart stopped when she saw that he was waiting for her, his wand trained on her face. Stuttering to a stop, Hermione looked around to get her bearings, only to find another Death Eater had followed her. Fuck, she was outnumbered.
But, this wasn't the first time that she'd faced a Death Eater before and she knew that she could hold her own, until help arrived. Her heart was hammering against her ribcage, but she reacted instinctively when the first curse came her way. She blocked it like it was nothing. When the second curse came, she blocked it again, and sent back a jinx of her own for good measure.
The brunette witch smiled when she heard the man's groan of pain, pleased to know that she'd hit her target. She'd done a lot of reading in the Black family library since she'd been in the past and she knew she had more dangerous spells in her repertoire. If they were looking for a fight, they were going to get one.
To her dismay, the Death Eaters began to work more as a team, and taking on two opponents at one time was taxing. Hermione cried when a cutting hex caught her on her upper arm, red blood immediately blooming under the cheery floral sleeve. She would have to buy Elvira a new dress, she thought, regretfully.
Just when she thought that it couldn't get any worse, a third Death Eater came around the corner and Hermione felt her stomach drop. She was already exhausted and she knew that she wouldn't be able to hold off another opponent.
"What the fuck are you doing?" he groused at the other two Death Eaters, sounding thoroughly irritated. "Don't you know who she is?"
Immediately, she knew that she recognized the voice. And, even though the robes and mask obscured their identities, Rodolphus Lestrange was far too large to go incognito.
"So? She hit me first," the one who had lured her into the alley hissed.
"She's a Black. And she's going to be a Lestrange soon," Rodolphus roared. "She is off limits. Don't fucking touch her again. Now run along back home. We are done here."
Twin pops of apparition later, she was left alone in the alley with Rodolphus. "Rodolphus," she greeted him, clenching her teeth tightly.
He took a step closer to her and raised his wand. For an instant, she was worried that he was going to hurt her, but to her surprise, he simply healed the cut on her arm. "Run along back to my brother now," he said with a sneer. "Don't be playing pretend as the daring heroine. It's dangerous." He apparated away before she could say anything.
Hermione ran back to the main part of the village, pleased to see that the Death Eaters were gone, even though the destruction that they left in their wake was devastating. The Dark Mark was in the sky over the village.
Rabastan looked relieved when he saw her. "Oh, thank Salazar you are safe," he whispered, wrapping her in a tight hug. He pulled back seeing the blood on her shoulder. "What happened? I couldn't find you anywhere."
"I got lured into an alley and — well, no worries. Your brother helped me," she said, with a frown firmly on her face. "When did he become You-Know-Who's errand boy again? Last time we spoke, he was pretty furious with the man."
She could see the set of Rabastan's jaw that this was unwelcome news to him. "I don't know," he said, but he pressed a kiss to her forehead. "But at least he picked his family when it counted, keeping you safe."
Hermione wasn't sure if that's how she would classify it, but she supposed that he didn't need to help her. Whatever the reason, she was glad that he stepped in when he did, or who knew what would have happened to her. "Come on, let's get back to the castle," she said with a frown. "We can help get the other students back safely."
Rabastan agreed with her and they started mobilizing the students back up to the safety of Hogwarts. Hermione felt her stomach twist with nerves. She'd been feeling so untouchable at Hogwarts, but Voldemort had just proved why he was so dangerous. There was no place that he couldn't get to if he wanted, as evidenced by the brazen attack on the village at Hogwarts's doorstep.