Happy Friday! So our official love interest for Hermione really came out swinging this chapter, I hope y'all like this version of him. :o) This one's a bit shorter than our last couple but probably one of my favorites, it definitely brings out this Hermione's snarky in all the best ways. :o)
Thank you so much for being here, thanks to those who reviewed, and a special thanks to pianomouse who is always appreciated!
Love Always,
Adrien
Disclaimer: I don't own any recognizable characters or settings, those belong to J. K. Rowling. I just enjoy making things in her sandbox.
Chapter Five: An Unexpected Introduction
The first time Hermione runs into Regulus Black, it is by accident. She knew that he was someone she wanted to save but she also knew that he would be one of the hardest life courses to change because she knew next to nothing about him (and his older brother had been exceedingly unhelpful in filling in any blanks). So she didn't know when exactly his views changed or even if they changed at all. For all she knew, he could have turned for his own self-serving purposes aftering finding out exactly how much dirty work Deatheaters were expected to do for their master.
She had run through a million scenarios for her first meeting with him in her mind. From having Sirius introduce them to posing as a pureblood so she could slowly gain his trust to stopping him from entering the cave the day she knew he died in her timeline. What she hadn't predicted was running into him in the middle of what was supposed to be a covert Order within The Order mission…
"Conceited, controlling, meddlesome, old bastard," Hermione grumbles, her eyes trained on The Marauder's Map as she makes her way back through the abandoned tunnel network underneath the castle that was supposedly the safest place in the world for wizarding youth. "Always preaches about doing everything necessary for the supposed greater good refuses to give us permission to enter the castle under his control like normal people so we have to throw together some half-cocked plan the first time the old coot actually leaves his fucking fortress…"
A bark of laughter makes Hermione jump, the map falling to the ground as she lunges toward the sound wand-first.
Regulus Black stares up at her without fear as she pins him to the ground with her wand to his neck.
He's radically different from the descriptions she'd received both in this timeline and her own but there is no mistaking who he is. He holds the same beautiful elegance that Hermione had come to associate with the Black bloodline but his clothes are the perfectly pressed, overly starched variety that she expected. They are rumpled, partly from being tackled to the ground unexpectedly, and lived in. His hair isn't slicked back or painstakingly styled. It's disheveled in a way that told Hermione he'd raked his fingers through his hair more than once today. Though he is slighter than Sirius as expected, he isn't frail or weak. He is firm underneath her, he could give her a fight if he really wanted to even without his wand.
Obliviating him would make the most sense in this moment…but an unexpected difference in his eyes has her making an impulsive–quite honestly irrational–decision.
Instead of the cold, calculating, unreadable grey eyes everyone had described in both timelines…His eyes are liquid mercury and his gaze is curious and intelligent…Nothing about him screams dangerous and if there is one thing Hermione had picked up from Harry over the year, it was to trust her instincts.
"What are you doing skulking around down here?!" Hermione snaps as she shoves harshly off of his chest, snatches his wand from his front pocket (because she's not stupid even if her current decision to continue this confrontation may have said otherwise) before scooping up the fallen map in the same hand, and rises to her feet.
"I could ask you the same thing." There is laughter in the younger Black's voice as he brushes the grime from his uniform with his palms.
"You could be expelled!"
"There are worse things," Regulus responds nonchalantly.
"Like getting killed! Which lurking around secret passageways is wont to do."
"Are you speaking from experience?"
Hermione sputters and Regulus laughs.
"Only joking, love."
"That is a terrible joke!"
"More of the luring a fifteen-year-old into a sad excuse for a shed with a known werewolf on a full moon type then?" The new mixture of snark and bitterness overtaking the near-lighthearted tone he'd held for their whole conversation thus far makes Hermione's head spin.
As a result, her response knee-jerk and a bit too serious:
"I've been told on more than one occasion that I can't take a joke actually."
But Regulus's body language changes completely in response. For the first time since literally running into him, he reminds Hermione of his brother as his head tilts slightly to the side and he stares at her like she's the kind of puzzle he has never come across before.
"Now, I don't think that's true at all."
"Because I'm so easy to read," Hermione deadpans.
"Maybe not as hard as you'd like to think." Regulus responds cheekily before changing the subject completely, "Care to tell me how exactly that map ended up in your hands?"
"Care to tell me why exactly you don't show up on said map?"
"Not especially."
"Then you have my answer. If you'll excuse me–"
"What's stopping me from telling the Deputy Headmistress that you're in the castle?" Regulus cuts Hermione off before she can push past him.
Hermione huffs, her eyes narrow, and her tone is tight, "Because you'd have to tell her how exactly you found me which would ruin whatever reason you had for lurking down here to begin with."
"What's a detention or two for me when you could be facing Azkaban?"
"What do you want?" Hermione sighs in exasperation because Oblivating him would have been a much easier option.
"Go to Hogsmeade with me?"
"What?" Hermione's mind goes blank for a moment at the easy way he asks her that question. She can't remember the last time someone had asked her to Hogsmeade. If someone had ever asked her to Hogsmeade honestly.
"This Saturday," Regulus replies simply.
"Why?" Hermione asks suspiciously.
"Because I'm in need of an excuse to get out of another betrothal possibility set up by my family and you're in need of passage into and out of Hogwarts. I don't see why our causes can't be mutually beneficial." Regulus shrugs like he isn't attempting to blackmail her right now.
Hermione's knee-jerk response is to say no. She has both of their wands. Obliviating him would be easy. But…She doesn't know if she'll get an opportunity like this again. Going to Hogesmeade would give her the opportunity to see where Regulus stood. To get to know him on a level that no one in either timeline seemed to.
"Ok," Hermione agrees before she can talk herself out of it.
"Great!" Regulus smiles brightly, a dimple showing in his right cheek. "I'll meet you at Madam Puddifoot's at noon."
"Madam Puddifoot's?" Hermione groans before she can catch herself completely.
Regulus lets out another sharp laugh before saying, "We have to be seen."
"I'll be there," Hermione sighs before pushing past Regulus once again. "Give me five minutes before you follow me out. I'll disillusion your wand right outside the passage entrance."
Regulus doesn't respond but he also doesn't follow her which she appreciates. She'd hate to petrify him after that exchange and she had a feeling he wouldn't forgive her like Neville had if she were forced to.
Hermione drapes James's cloak over her shoulders and checks that the hallway is clear on the map before exiting the secret passageway and quickly disillusioning Regulus's wand just outside the door.
The journey after that is easy. Scaling the stairs to the seventh floor and picking through The Room of Hidden Things until she finds the all to familiar Horcrux is child's play after having watched Harry's memory from the first time he had been in that room…and the not kind of child's play she and her friends had gotten into in their time at Hogwarts. She decides to leave on the cloak as she makes her way back through the secret passageways, though Regulus is long gone by the time she passes where they had met, and only removes it when she pulls herself into the darkened backroom of Honeydukes.
She turns on her heel, apparating directly into the warded area on The Weasley's property which was slowly becoming The Order with The Order's headquarters. It was still pretty barren at the moment but they had built a secure area to keep all of the Horcruxes and they were slowly transfiguring a sort of obstacle course away from the makeshift shelter that housed their growing number of research materials and idea boards.
Securing the Horcrux was easy. In reality, she could have gone back to the flat within five minutes of apparating away from The Shrieking Shack. But she needed some quiet…especially after her unexpected meeting with Regulus Black.
So she focused on transfiguring their obstacle course, not realizing how much time had passed until Sirius apparated into the area to remind Hermione that she needed to eat at least one meal a day. Once she was back in the quiet chaos that was her current home base, she found herself pulled away from what had happened today. It still lingered in the back of her mind but it didn't really come to the forefront again until she was leaving for her meeting three days later…
"Where're you off to dressed like that?" Sirius's voice makes Hermione jump as she pulls on her best traveling cloak, the one she'd bought for the sole purpose of masquerading as pureblood princess…something she had a feeling she would be doing with an increasing frequency if today went as well as she hoped. Honestly, she might have to expand her pureblood wardrobe if that was the case because she couldn't wear the elegant, though not extravagant, tailored silk wizarding robes she normally donned for undercover pureblood work every single time she met Regulus without others being suspicious.
"A date with your brother?" The word comes out as a question because she's not really sure what else to call today. Especially since Regulus didn't know her main reasoning behind saying yes.
"My brother?!" Sirius explodes, his eyes wider than she has ever seen them before.
"It's not a real date!"
"He's a Deatheater, Hermione!"
"What's going on in here?" Remus interrupts before Hermione can attempt to further defend herself.
"Hermione has a date!"
"That's great–" Remus has a wide, genuine smile on his face before Sirius cuts him off.
"WITH MY BROTHER!"
"What?" Confusion and concern cloud Remus's face as his smile falls.
The floo flares before any one can reply and Hermione fights the urge to facepalm when James and Lily walk into the room. She had grown to love the open door policy this friend group had on their household but in moments like this, it was incredibly inconvenient.
The couple freezes at the unusually tense atmosphere, their gazes flicking from Hermione to the boys then back again.
"What's going on here?" James asks cautiously.
"Hermione has a date!" Remus immediately rats her out.
"What?!" James whirls toward Hermione with wide but quickly turning protective eyes.
"With MY brother!" Sirius adds his two cents.
"Oh, he's a looker! Good eye, Hermione!" Lily squeals, smiling brightly at the other witch.
"Excuse me!" This response comes from all three men in the room as their attention whirls toward the redhead and their individual responses overlap.
"You're married!" James's tone is entirely offended.
"That's my brother!" Sirius interjects for what feels like the millionth time.
"He's a Deatheater!" Remus objects.
"IT'S NOT A REAL DATE!" Hermione yells, losing her patience entirely even though this whole situation was her fault to begin with.
"What?" This time the question is curious instead of accusing and it comes from Lily as she ignores the responses to her original comment.
"It's not a real date," Hermione explains calmly, focusing on the redhead in front of her "Regulus turns against Voldemort in my timeline and he dies in December of next year in his attempt to destroy the Horcrux his family was tasked with protecting. But there's no information on when exactly he turned since his betrayal stayed a secret for nearly twenty years and he made his choices alone. I want to see where his headspace is now, to see if he's already leaning in our direction or if something happens to lead him that way in the coming year. This is the best way to do that."
"And how exactly did you procure a date with him?" Remus prods cautiously.
"He invited me," Hermione replies honestly.
"He INVITED you?" Sirius asks in disbelief.
"Yes."
"When?" James pushes further.
"When I snuck into Hogwarts. Apparently you weren't as careful as you thought with your map. Regulus knew enough about it to counteract it, making him invisible to you. He also apparently frequents the secret tunnels and he caught me. He promised to keep my activities to himself if I met him in Hogsmeade."
"So he blackmailed you?" James's stance is once again protective.
"I wouldn't call it blackmail."
"What would you call it?" James asks incredulously.
"A reciprocal scenario. He wanted to get out of a date set up by his family and I wanted to get more information on him."
"This is insane." James sighs, running his fingers roughly through his hair.
"What's insane is that you lot are going to make me late. I'm leaving. We can argue more when I get back."
"If you get back!" Sirius interjects petulantly.
"He's not going to attack me in broad daylight, you prat!" Hermione throws over her shoulder before slamming the door behind her and storming her way to the apparition point.
When she lands in the Hogsmeade apparition point closest to Madam Puddifoot's, Hermione takes a deep breath and casts a wandless straightening charm on her clothes as she self-consciously brushes her hands across non-existent creases. Maybe they were right…Maybe this was a bad idea…Maybe she should have just Obliviated him.
Regulus's eyes widen almost imperceivably when he sees her, his eyes scanning from her feet to her head in disbelief (which is fair considering she'd been in slightly dirty, purposefully understated clothing the last time they had seen each other).
"Cutting it a bit close there, love," he greets her, offering his arm like the pureblood prince he'd been raised to be once she is close enough.
"You can thank my brother, your brother, and the rest of their lot," Hermione grumbles, slipping her hand primly into the crook of his arm and allowing him to lead her into Madam Puddifoot's.
"Your brother?"
"James Potter."
Had she not been holding onto him, she would have missed the minute pause in his step that showed his surprise at the statement.
"I was unaware Potter had any living family."
"My integration into the main branch is a recent alteration."
"Interesting," Regulus hums, holding out the chair facing the door for Hermione. An odd move but one she appreciated. Living on the run made an inability to see the exits anxiety inducing after all. "And what business did my brother have holding you back?"
"None," Hermione's sharp answer has Regulus barking with laughter.
"He does tend to put his nose where it doesn't belong, doesn't he?" Regulus's tone loses its underlying wariness as he gives her an easy smile.
"It's what Gryffindors are wont to do," Hermione replies. Herself included.
"And how would you know that if you didn't attend their alma mater?"
"Who says I didn't?"
"I'd definitely remember you."
Hermione only hums slightly in response, not wanting to openly lie to someone whose life (in her timeline at least) had been surrounded by lies.
The rest of their day passes surprisingly smoothly. Hermione learns everything and nothing about Regulus Black. His sleeves are down and his opens on blood purity aren't obvious but she finds that he is incredibly kind to the waitstaff with easy small talk and encouragement if something isn't completely right. Instead of asking why she was at Hogwarts or what exactly her relationship was with The Marauders, he asks her about her interests and opinions. They fall into easy debates about upcoming creature laws and changes in potion ingredient regulations (many of which had driven Hermione crazy since she'd fallen back in time). They jump from one topic to another in the way Hermione's brain had always worked but very few people had been successful in following. To be entirely honest, Hermione loses track of time.
"Same time next Hogsmeade?" Regulus asks hopefully when the pair realizes he's at risk of missing curfew if he doesn't head back to Hogwarts.
"I expect at least one owl in the meantime," Hermione finds herself replying easily, giving Regulus a genuine smile.
"I'll write you every day if it means I can avoid being set up on any more airheaded dates."