A/N: Thank you for your reviews, favorites and follows after last chapter! Huge thank you to lanamarymack for alpha/beta reading this chapter! You can find me over on tumblr (nauticalparamour).
Please let me know what you thought of chapter thirty-four and be on the lookout for chapter thirty-five soon!
Hermione found that, when he wasn't teasing her, Regulus was actually a good help with brainstorming a present to get Rabastan for his birthday. He had much more insight to modern courtship gifts and after seeing the earrings that her betrothed had gifted her, he knew the direction to go in.
Since Rabastan had gifted her something to wear, it stood to reason that she should respond in kind. A book or packet of sweets would not be meaningful enough, no matter how perfectly chosen for Rabastan it was. Most wizards received pocket watches when they came of age at seventeen, so Hermione thought a watch chain might be useful, but Regulus said he probably already had one, not to mention that he didn't typically wear his watch.
Her brother suggested something simpler — a humble tie pin — which would get a lot of wear, making Rabastan think of her every time that he placed it when got dressed. Plus, it was not an overt and obvious gift, which they could conceivably keep between the two of them, if that was something they wanted. Hermione was glad that her brother seemed to understand her hesitancy to shout from the rooftops about her new relationship status with Rabastan.
He did, however, suggest that they might select something from the family vaults to make the tie pin more special. Somehow, Hermione found herself writing to their father to request a particular onyx stone that belonged to some four times great-grandfather, so that it might be inlayed into a simple, silver tie bar. She received the gift just in time and showed it to Regulus when they had a bit of time together before classes.
"What do you think?" she asked him, nervously biting her lip. This was her first... well, courtship ritual with Rabastan, and she didn't want to mess things up. "Do you think he will like it?"
"I'm sure he'll be dying with happiness just because you thought of him," Regulus answered, rolling his eyes. "And, I am sure that mother and father probably were, too. They'll all be fawning over you. You get to be the favorite child for once. How does it feel?"
Hermione scoffed. "Please be serious, Regulus," she scolded him.
"Are you sure you'd want that? I think one Sirius is more than enough," he quipped back.
"Ugh! You are incorrigible," she said, tapping him lightly on the arm. Regulus was really enjoying himself far too much these days, with all of the focus off of him and squarely on her shoulders. He was free to creep around the castle with whichever witch he wanted.
"Just think, by Yule time, you'll probably be ready to give Rab something really daring," he added, raising his eyebrows at her. "A gift he can wear is one thing, but a gift you've worn is... the height of intimacy."
"Really?" Hermione asked, scrunching her nose up in confusion. "Like one of my hair ribbons. Or... no, you don't mean — Do people really gift someone else their knickers?"
Regulus's face grew very red at that. "I didn't mean that!" he said, suddenly furious at the idea. "I meant like a... a stocking or a garter if you must."
"A garter?" Hermione questioned. "Regulus, I don't think that you are very up to date on witches' fashions. I've not had the occasion to wear a garter my whole life!"
"Enough talking about garters and knickers," he said, pressing his hands to his ears. "Go and give that to Rabastan before you chicken out of it. He's probably back from flying with Ansel and Angus at this point."
Truthfully, Hermione did not want to stop speaking to Regulus because she was dreading giving it to Rabastan. She was really worried that he wouldn't like it or it would be wrong or think it was too much or too little. It had her stomach in absolute knots. But, she agreed and they made their walk back to the common room together.
Rabastan was sitting on one of the big leather settees, laughing with Ansel and Angus, his hair still damp from a post fly shower. Hermione sucked in a breath, struck by how good he looked sitting there relaxing, a broad smile on his face. Her feet carried her over to the settee and she sat down next to Rabastan, her leg nearly touching his.
"Hello boys, enjoy your practice?" she asked.
Angus and Ansel greeted her in kind, telling her a bit about their flight, but they were more interested in their game of wizard's chess and they didn't pay her too much attention. Hermione didn't mind, because she wasn't that interested in them, either. All her focus was on the tall wizard sat beside her.
"How about you, Rabastan?" she asked, turning to look at him shyly. "Do you think you'll beat Hufflepuff next week?"
Rabastan was one of the three Chasers on the Slytherin team and she understood that their upcoming game would be difficult against the Badgers. They had a very quick Seeker, from what Regulus had explained to her, and so the Chasers were hoping to score as many points as quickly as they could to outbalance the points won from catching the Snitch, should Regulus not get to it first.
He rewarded her question with a teasing half-smile. "Yes, it was nice, but chilly," he said, before throwing an arm over her shoulder to pull her in closer to his side. "I much prefer to be here in the Common Room where it's warm."
Hermione felt her cheeks blaze pink — this was the most overt show of affection that Rabastan had put on in front of witnesses thus far — but she didn't say anything. It didn't seem like the other two wizards had noticed anything out of the ordinary. "Um, do you think you might like to go for a walk, maybe to the library or something?" she squeaked out, barely able to contain herself. "I have something for you."
Rabastan looked increasingly intrigued and nodded. "Well, I'm headed to the library with Hermione," Rabastan told the other two. "We have a bit more to revise for Ancient Runes tomorrow."
Angus did look up at that and gave them a teasing smile. "Ah, yes, the study of Ancient Runes," he said, sounding like he didn't believe them one inch. "I am sure that you two have much to revise. You don't get to be a top student without a lot of revision."
Internally, Hermione groaned, hating that she had been quite so obvious, but well... she didn't want to give Rabastan his present in front of all of their friends, too worried that they would read into it. But, on the outside, she kept her face as blank as she could. "Well, you can't blame me for taking my studies seriously when it's a NEWT year," she said.
Ansel smirked at her. "Of course not, Hermione," he said. "I'm sure there will be no one as well prepared as you."
Rabastan helpfully pressed his hand on her lower back, leading her away from his friends and out of the Common Room. When they were alone, she couldn't help but groan. "Ugh, that was so embarrassing," she said, wishing she still had a time turner so she could go back and do it over again.
"Please, it's not like your friends are any better," Rabastan said, knocking his arm into hers, gently. "Mallory won't stop making helpful suggestions for me to ask you to the next Hogsmeade weekend, reminding me how pretty you looked when you went with Ansel last year."
She pressed her hands to her hot cheeks, willing them to cool down. "They must suspect something is going on," she said, wondering how much longer she'd be able to contain this. And, she wondered how their feelings would change when they realized that it was just a betrothal and not something organic.
Rabastan didn't let her off the hook. "Yes, I think that everyone can tell there has been a change," he agreed.
In a few moments, they were in the library, seated at their normal table. Hermione was pleased to see that there were not too many people around that night, seeing as it was close to curfew. "Thank you for coming here with me," she said, feeling her heart hammering away against her rib cage. "I actually have something for you. For your birthday."
Hermione reached into her bag and pulled out the small square box, before passing it over to him. Rabastan eagerly took it, a goofy smile on his face. "I didn't realize that you knew when my birthday was," he said, softly, opening the lid.
"Yes, well, you are my future husband. What sort of witch would I be if I didn't know your birthday?" she said, reminded of his words at her own birthday.
Rabastan didn't seem to hear her words. Instead, all of his focus appeared to be on the slim tie pin in the velvet, the onyx glinting in the candlelight of the library.
Hermione's stomach dropped, immediately worried that she'd somehow fucked up the present. She started to babble nervously. "The stone is a family heirloom, actually. It was my grandfather's grandfather's. Or was it his father's?" she said, feeling a bit helpless. "Anyway, I thought it might be something simple enough to wear more frequently, but if you don't like it, I can certainly get you something else. I just didn't really know —"
"I love it, really," he said, giving her a broad smile. He plucked it out of the velvet to get a better look at it. "I wish I was still in my uniform so I could try it. I'll take good care of this."
Hermione felt herself relax a bit, still feeling off balance, wondering if he actually liked it or was just trying to let her save face. "Don't — don't feel obligated to wear it," she said, hoping that he'd only wear it if he really wanted to. Her eyes dropped to her lap, unsure of what she should do now. Her attention was captured by how close they were sitting to one another, their knees touching under the table. Rabastan always selected the seat next to her now, even if they weren't joined by anyone else.
"I was actually hoping to give you something for my birthday," he said, his voice a low rumble.
Hermione's eyes snapped up and found him looking directly at her. She swallowed, feeling her eyes flutter at the possibilities of what that could be. The one that she kept coming back to was something she knew she should want. A kiss. "Oh?" she asked, her gaze dropping to his lips. "That hardly seems fair. It's your birthday."
"Still, it would make me very happy to know that you wore it," he said.
Wore it? Hermione thought to herself, wondering what he meant. Only then, she saw him fiddling with the ring on his forefinger — the signet ring that he so coveted when he received it the year before. The one he was always toying with. With it off his finger, he pressed it into her hands.
"I know it's not a gem, like other witches might wear. I just thought that you wouldn't want something so flashy while we were at school. But after graduation, I promise I will get you something better," he said. It appeared that it was his turn to babble.
She swallowed thickly, turning the ring around in her hands. She could still feel the heat of his hand in the metal. She couldn't wear this, not when everyone would see it immediately and realize that it was a Lestrange ring! "I — I don't know if I'm ready to put it on," she whispered. "Wouldn't it be quite sudden."
Rabastan scoffed. "We can't just keep pretending like this isn't going to happen, Hermione," he scolded her. "Do you think our friends will understand it anymore when we suddenly get married next summer, without ever having dated?"
"I know," she said, feeling like a vise was around her heart. "I know I can't keep pretending forever, I just... I just don't want them to know about the betrothal."
"So then we just tell them that we are dating," he said, his knee bouncing with nervous energy. "I've offered that before."
"Yes," Hermione agreed. "I think that makes sense. After Yule, perhaps?" It was a concession. She still didn't want to play along, but she knew that she was only hurting him by putting up so much resistance. And for what? Her own pride and some misplaced hope that she might still get back to her real time? A desire for a real relationship, one that wasn't just filled in because her cousin had jilted her fiance? A relationship with a wizard who wasn't going to take the Mark some day?
Rabastan sighed, reaching to take the ring out of her hand. Reacting without thinking, Hermione closed her hand around it, holding it tightly to her chest. "What?" he asked, confused.
"Just because I can't wear it on my hand right now doesn't mean that I don't want it," she told him, halfway unsure of what she was saying herself. It felt insane, but she wanted to have this little part of him, especially knowing how important it was to him. She reached behind her and pulled the thin scrap of linen that was keeping her hair halfway up and pulled it free. Using her wand, she transfigured it into a thin silver chain and thread it through the ring. Then she put it over her head, the chain long enough that it would remain hidden underneath her shirt. "Besides, it's your birthday, it would be rude to refuse your ask."
He was staring at the spot where the ring was hidden. Taking a shuddering breath, he reached out and used his finger to slip under the chain, grazing the skin near above her collarbone in the process. "After Yule," he agreed, wistfully.
Hermione bit her lower lip. "I'll take very good care of it," she promised, repeating his earlier words. "I won't even take it off."
She could see his adam's apple bob in his throat. "I wouldn't trust it to anyone else," he said. He looked like he might want to say something else, but before he could, he leaned back, breaking up the intimate moment. "We should probably get back to the common room. It's already past curfew."
She nodded, pulling her bag over his arm. Their walk back was silent and Hermione couldn't understand why she was feeling halfway disappointed.