A/N: Thank you so much for your reviews, favorites and follows after last chapter! Huge thanks to lanamarymack for alpha/beta reading this chapter! 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-one and be on the lookout for chapter forty-two soon!

It was not very often that Hermione had any one on one time with Regulus anymore. They were both so busy with exams and making the most of their last year at Hogwarts that it was difficult to find an afternoon to just talk, as they often had the year before. Even most of their time in the library now included Rabastan, the closer that they got to NEWTs, the more serious they all got about revising.

Hermione couldn't help but feel guilty that so much of her free time was eaten up by Rabastan now that they were openly dating, but their relationship was still in such an exciting new phase. But, if their parents had their way, Hermione and Rabastan would be spending the rest of their lives together, so it wasn't as if she needed to spend every waking moment with him.

In just a few months, she would be moving out of Grimmauld Place and into the new townhouse that her parents had purchased as a wedding gift, and her time with Regulus would be few and far between.

It was this that she reminded her brother of one afternoon in mid-March, as she practically had to beg him to spend time with her, just the two of them, when she knew that he didn't have anything going on. Mid-term exams had passed, there was no Quidditch for another month, and even Rabastan understood that she wanted a bit of time with her brother.

Hermione wasn't blind. She knew that Regulus had another unspoken activity — apparently a Gryffindor witch, whose name Rabastan had still not given up. But surely if this witch liked Regulus just as much as he liked her, she would understand if Hermione pulled him away for one afternoon, wouldn't she?

Reluctantly, Regulus agreed to it after some begging. Pleased, Hermione pulled him up the stairs to the girls dorm with her. Only Nella was in their room, but she was happy to clear out without even being asked.

"I've never been in the girls dorm before," Regulus said, looking around. "It smells a lot nicer than ours."

"Yeah, well maybe if you guys were better about picking up your dirty socks, it wouldn't smell so much," Hermione countered with a smirk. She still couldn't believe the state that it had been in the one time she'd been there. "Did you know, in Gryffindor, there is a jinx on the stairs up to the girls' dorms that turns the staircase into a slide if a boy tries to come up."

Regulus laughed, hearing that. "Wow, they really didn't trust the Gryffindors," he said, rolling his eyes. "Though, knowing Sirius, I don't suppose that I should be too surprised."

"I think knowing Sirius, he probably found about a dozen ways around the jinx," she added with a smirk. "Perhaps I should write him and find out for sure."

Her brother stiffened, but didn't say anything negative about the suggestion. Hermione was certain that their father had talked to Regulus about him reaching out to Sirius over Yule break, but that didn't mean that Regulus was fully on board. She wasn't sure what it would take to repair the rift between brothers, but she was certain that an apology from Sirius couldn't hurt.

"I'm just glad that they obviously trust us in Slytherin enough not to resort to such silly tactics," Regulus said, sitting down on the edge of her bed. "Though... perhaps I ought to jinx you so that you can't get into the boys' dorms."

Hermione felt her face go hot. "Regulus —" she warned.

"Hermione," he answered, rolling his eyes. "You know Ansel told me that he saw you and Rabastan in... states of undress."

"That fucking snitch," she muttered, wondering just how long it had taken for Ansel to cave and tattle on her to Regulus.

"He was right to tell me... so I could have a talk with you about it," he said, running a hand over his face.

"Please don't ruin our first afternoon just the two of us," Hermione begged, thinking that she would rather talk about this with anyone else. Hell, she might even rather talk about it with Ron and she didn't think there was any way he'd ever be able to accept her and Rabstan together.

Regulus sighed. "I am happy that you and Rabastan are getting on so well. You know, I obviously thought that the pair of you were well suited to one another," he started, looking pained. "But, I didn't know that you were going to be so... so demonstrative."

"He's my boyfriend, Regulus. Did you just expect that we weren't going to snog?" she squeaked, wondering just how she was going to tackle this.

"Of course not, I just... I want you to be careful that you aren't rushing things. That you aren't doing things that you are going to regret," he said, looking her in the eyes, even though it was an uncomfortable topic. His grey eyes were so like Sirius's — emotive and stormy.

"It's not like he could... dishonor me, Regulus. We are going to be getting married in less than five months, in case you forgot," she said, shaking her head. "So what if we... even if we slept together, it's not like anything will change!"

Regulus groaned at her words. "Contracts can change, Hermione, as I am sure you are aware. The whole reason you are engaged at all is because Bellatrix broke the contract."

"So what? You think that Rabastan is going to break off the contract with me?" she demanded, wondering where this was coming from. Edmond Lestrange had seemed so keen to complete the marriage as quickly as possible. She hadn't even considered the possibility of it not going through.

"I'm not saying that, I'm just saying that maybe it would be better to slow down until things were official," he said, looking at her significantly.

Hermione crossed her arms over her chest, feeling annoyed that he was trying to tell her what to do. "You're one to talk," she said, jutting her chin in the air. "You must think that I'm completely blind — that I don't know about your secret girlfriend. I'm sure the two of you just hold hands together."

Her brother was not expecting to be confronted about his witch. Hermione felt her stomach twist to realize that he actually thought that he'd been discreet enough to keep it a secret. "That's different," he said, with a scowl on his face.

"Of course it's different!" Hermione said, throwing up her hands in the air. "You are sneaking around with a witch, without the promise of anything — a real relationship, even — and because, why?"

His face was twisted in agony. "Because I'm not stupid, okay? I know that her and I couldn't ever be together, not for real. Mother and Father would never accept her for me, alright? So I'm not getting my hopes up, I'm not getting her hopes up," he said with a frown. "I'm just... trying to enjoy it while it lasts."

Hermione moved closer to him, so she could press a hand to his shoulder. "Why can't you be with her?" she asked, gently. "Who is she?"

"Ivy... Ivy Northcott," he revealed after a beat of silence. "Do you even have to ask?"

Hermione felt her eyebrows raise. She certainly wasn't expecting Ivy to be the witch who had caught her brother's eye. She was very pretty, of course, but she was a loud, brash Gryffindor — all qualities that Regulus proclaimed to hate. In the one class they shared together, Ivy was not an especially good student, though she appeared to have some natural skill. But most of all, she was a half-blood and her father a blood traitor to boot, if you believed the Slytherins.

She wet her lips, trying to carefully consider her next words. "Ivy is a very lovely girl," she said, cautiously. "I know that she is not who Mother would necessarily pick for you, but I don't see why she couldn't come around."

Regulus laughed bitterly. "Please, Hermione, she's a blood-traitor," he said, rolling his eyes. "And a half-blood. Have you forgotten our family's motto?"

Again, nerves twisted in her belly. Hermione had not forgotten the Black family's horrible motto, but she personally thought it was a bit silly, if not outright offensive. "I thought that you might not agree with that, seeing as we've agreed that half-bloods and muggleborns have no less right to magic than you or I," she argued.

"Just because I will no longer follow Voldemort does not mean that I am going to turn my back on what my family values," he insisted, fiercely. "I'm not like Sirius or Andromeda. I'm not going to be kicked out just because I couldn't do as I'm told."

Hermione sneered at him, unable to help herself. "Have you forgotten that our family values are the reason that I thought I was a muggleborn to begin with?" she demanded. "Because my grandfather was unceremoniously booted from our world, without any support, I was left floundering with my magic for sixteen years?"

She could see the thoughts warring in his head. "I don't know, Hermione," he said, struggling to think it through. "You are still pureblood, even if you can't accept it."

"How so?" she questioned.

"Because you have eight pureblood great-grandparents," he said. "And, four pureblood grandparents. And yes, they might not have had magic, but you still do. You have no muggle family, even if that's how they lived."

Hermione made a frustrated, angry sort of noise. "Do you even hear yourself? How you are contorting yourself to make it make sense with your narrow world view?" she asked, frustrated that he couldn't — or didn't want to — understand.

"I'm not alone in this thinking," he said. "You know it's the only reason that the Lestranges accepted you. If you were not a pureblood, the marriage wouldn't be happening."

"Rabastan isn't like that," she insisted, remembering their discussion in the potions classroom. "His is the only opinion that really matters in this case."

Regulus laughed at her ferocity. "I bet he'd think the same way as me, if you pressed him," he said. "And if you weren't pureblooded, he certainly wouldn't be openly dating you."

She swallowed thickly. "I told him about my parents — my real parents. About how they lived as muggles and thought they were muggles and he didn't even bat an eyelash. I trust him," she insisted, knowing that she had to trust him. They were going to be married, after all.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, and I'm even thinking about telling him about where I really came from," she said, defiant as ever.

She had been thinking about broaching the topic with him. Surely, Rabastan was smart enough to understand time travel and its possibilities. And, she'd had too many near slipups when she'd been talking to him about herself. She would rather get it out of the way, rather than after she'd made a mistake and revealed too much. She wanted to tell him on her own terms.

Regulus pressed a hand to her knee, looking at her seriously. "I—I don't know if you should do that, Hermione," he said, eyebrows drawn together.

"Why not?" she asked. This was not the reaction that she was expecting to get from him at all.

"I just. It's a huge secret and one with a lot of potential pitfalls. I don't want it to be used against you," he said, his shoulders sagging.

"Don't you trust him?" Hermione asked, feeling her heart rate increase. "You are the one that suggested I marry him! If you don't think that I'm safe with him, why did you —"

"It's not that I don't trust him," Regulus promised her. "And, I don't think that Rabastan would do anything to harm you physically, it's just... I care a lot about you, Hermione. You are my sister. My favorite sibling. And, I couldn't bear it if anything happened to you. Just wait a little bit longer... maybe... maybe wait until after the marriage is finalized to let him in on the secret. Once you are tied to one another, magically. Then you have to be on the same team."

Hermione swallowed, feeling tears spring to her eyes. This was the last thing she expected to hear from Regulus, but she could see the merit in it. Still, the thought that she didn't know Rabastan well enough yet or that he might try to use her secret against her made her nervous. She didn't want to marry someone that would do that to her, so the logic of waiting until she was married to him didn't make sense.

Still, she could understand what Regulus was getting at. It was much scarier to reveal this information to Rabastan — a complete outsider — versus her parents, who were tied to her by blood and had a vested interest in helping her. She hoped, with time, she might be able to have that same assurance with Rabastan. But for now, she could at least pump the brakes a bit on her plans. There was no need to go rushing into anything, especially not when she was feeling so enamored with him.

"I didn't want to fight with you," she said weakly, wondering how they'd managed to ruin their afternoon with one another. "I just missed you."

"Hey, I'll always be here for you," Regulus answered, wrapping her up in a tight hug. "Even when you are married. You just say the word and I'll come stay over with you. I promise."

She laughed, wiping the tears away from her cheeks. "Okay, but only if you bring some of Kreacher's treacle tart with you," she said, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Absolutely," he agreed. "I wouldn't dream of it."