Chapter 13
It was around the little girl’s, what was her name again?, second nap that Ariana broke
“Enough! You’ve been mumbling and pacing for hours. It is not because we’re dead and nobody is waiting for us that you can abuse our time like this. We have to be with you until you find your way and we have many stops to make, so, please, get a grip on yourself and do what you need to do”
“Alright, alright!”
Hermione’s Gryffindor courage had abandoned her after the girl's first nap when she realized what was in store for her. She tried summoning the snitch, Regulus and Regulus’ broom to no avail. Not wandlesly, not with a wand. “The mean lady who pushed Tommy had it with her” The Malfoy's summoning magic and secrets didn’t help either.
She has to face the music and fly, yes she was scared of flying but in this case it was more than that. What happens if Regulus catches the snitch? Does he move on? If he does, does she lose one of her anchors? What happens to the bond with the Black Family? He was the last Black heir dead or alive after all. And if she catches it? Would she be able to catch a snitch on her first time flying for real?
Ugh!
She would stomp her feet and whine about it but there was a very judgemental teenager who reminded her a bit of herself who she didn’t want to provoque.
Here goes nothing!
The Potters were masters of transfiguration so, with the knowledge and the power she acquired from the ritual, she transfigured her hair band into a Firebolt.
She mounted the broom more with determination than any sense of courage and pushed the floor flying towards Regulus who was hovering in the same position looking for the snitch.
“Hullo” she said placing herself in front of him
“Hello” he answered with a curious smile.
He was gorgeous, the planes of his face well defined, soft but high cheekbones, chiseled jaw and full lips, his thick eyebrows and full eyelashes encasing grey metallic orbs. She remembered Regulus died at nineteen but this was no teen, he was full man .
Hermione was so shocked that she dropped a couple of feet down with an ungraceful
Eeeppp
Voice soft, he chuckled coming to her rescue, “Should you be riding a broom without supervision Miss….”
“Granger, Hermione Granger”
“Hermione Granger” his smile grew blinding “ Kitten!”
It has been so long since someone called her that. She smiled happily “Sirius talked about me”
“Oh, we talked about everything, we talked for so long that I think it is the most words we have shared compared to the fourteen years living under the same roof. He told me the good and the bad, for example I can tell you how many shades of grey there are in an Azkaban cell without having been there, and how amazing it is to ride a Hippogriff” He gave her a melancholic smile.
His eyes narrowed and he studied her left arm and scrunched his eyebrows in question.
“What is it ?” she asked catching his eye
“Nothing” “ I shall thank you Miss Granger, it seems a well placed reducto on your part bought my brother two years of peace”
“It was a bombarda actually” she remarked proudly, but then her tone softened “ I wish I could have done more for him”
“A bombarda! yes!...subtle” He smiled at her “Thank you, really…
…Can I ask you what are you doing here Miss Granger? Not that I'm not pleased with the beautiful addition to my landscape, but you’re not dead are you? It makes no sense that I’m in your path to eternity and I would have been able to stop and approach you on the stands if that were the case”
So, he is fit, charming, a flirt and observant. Are all the good ones dead?
“Could you please get on with it?” Cried Ariana from the stands. Right the legilimens not legilimens thing.
“ Can you guys take a walk around the lake?” maybe jump in it.
“Are you with both of them, Miss Granger?” asked Regulus with narrowed eyes following the girl’s way out of the pitch.
“Hermione”.
“Hermione, call me Regulus, please” he stared at her with hungry eyes.
Smiling and with a little blush if the heat on her cheeks was any indication “Yes, The little one was the guide of someone else but there was a change of plans and you are correct Regulus, I seem to be not quite dead… umm….but I have a mission to get back to the living and you are part of that mission”.
“Is it because of your bond and the Black family’s magic pulsing from your arm?”
“Uhmm. I don’t have the answer for that but it is our best bet. Can you feel it?”
“When Sirius ran away they trained me everyday of every break on black magic and the Family’s Grimoire, I can feel it. You are going to ask me to catch the snitch aren’t you?”
“Not sure what the best procedure is in this case”.
“I’m going to make it easier for you, it is not in my cards to move on anytime soon so, lovely and brave as you are, I'm not doing it for you. And you can’t do it on your own, with the way you’re sitting and gripping on the broom you’re going to fall the moment you move too fast, if you were alive you’d have stiff muscles by now”
Hermione sighed and tried to relax her posture, now that he had mentioned it her mind decided to make it a reality.
“Regulus, I don’t want you to do anything you don’t want, but maybe you can help me? Maybe if I catch the snitch and the game is over you don’t need to go anywhere? I have no guide or instructions with this, I only know that I had to be here with you and then continue on the road with the girls but I can’t leave the pitch while you’re still flying”.
He studied her for a long time. “How long have I been dead?”
“Around twenty two years, Sirius died five years ago”
“So long “ he swallowed “I’ve seen almost everyone I’ve known pass by, there’s no one left…”
Hermione didn't know how to give him any privacy in a moment like this so she just waited.
“Hermione,I’ve been here for a long time trying to find some meaning to my existence better than a bloody allegory of not reaching a destiny” he stated “I’m not ready to accept that so you’ll have to be the one to do it” after his moment of sincerity he huffed.
He took a deep breath and then his whole demeanor changed back. He gave her a feline grin “I admit It would be nice to change the scenery. If I’m going to risk my afterlife to help an unknown beauty I ask for a price”
“A price? For helping me catch the snitch?”
“Yes, It's fair, is it not?” He asked grinning
“What are your terms? She held her chin up and narrowed her eyes, bloody Slytherins
“We are riding on a broom together because you are obviously not very good at it and once you catch it, If I haven’t evaporated from this plane, you will give me a kiss” he said defiantly expecting outrage and rejection
Regulus Arcturus Black however, didn’t know that Hermione Granger has been thirsty for the last five months, and the price was actually for her.
“Deal”
In a flash Regulus caught the handle of the firebolt and pulled it towards him with a Cheshire smile, he rumbled
“This is the broom Sirius bought Harry, right?”..... she nodded.. “I’m going to climb behind you Hermione, you can't die from falling in this plane but if you’re scared close your eyes and make some room for me”
She did just that, gripping the broom to the point of almost breaking it. The closed eyes was a bad idea on many levels, not knowing what was happening scared her, also her other senses heightened. His hand gripping her broom, his arm touching hers, his breath over her ear, his other hand gripping the handle between her hands and her hips, his hard and warm thighs behind hers, his hard and warm chest against her back , his warm and hard ….oh… if the state of her knickers wasn’t proof enough that you can get horny in the afterlife then that’ll do it.
“Hermione” he breathed next to her ear “I don’t want to be disrespectful, or step out of line with you, but you’re so beautiful and Sirius talked so much about your bravery and intelligence that…” he cleared his throat and she felt it from her hips to her chest “ …also I’ve never been this close to a woman before”
Is he a virgin? Well, that never stopped Hermione before, and she didn’t have so much experience either. She didn’t know yet what exactly he was asking from her but, to be honest she wasn’t against it.
“Regulus”....” if I don't like anything you’re doing I’ll tell you to stop.” He exhaled excitedly “However I am a little opposed to you getting creative on a broom, soaring in the air”.
“Don’t worry Hermione” moving his hand from between her legs caressing and squeezing her left thigh up to her left hip, he then moved his hand inside her blouse touching her soft belly crossing his arm and pulling her closer to him, a band of steel pressing her against his chest. He caressed the side of her throat with his nose. “I’d prefer watching what I’m doing so, I’ll leave the creativity when we are both on solid ground”.
Her moan and the heat in her belly , transformed quickly into a shriek and lead when he sped up on the broom.
—------
He ruined his opportunity with Hermione, He knew it, he was so embarrassed that he didn’t even ask for the kiss once they landed. The poor little witch had shrieked the whole ordeal, she was so tense in his arms that he kept touching her not for the pleasure of it but to try to help her relax, he was sure she had fainted at least once. He had to hold her hand in his and close it around the snitch, he then sped up to the ground scared that if he indeed vanished from this plane she wouldn't be able to land safely.
“Hermione, Lovely, I need you to breathe with me, ok? I’m still here and I’m not going anywhere”
“I’m ok, I’m ok, I’m ok” she repeated under her breath which translated to: dont fucking do that to me again!
They were standing on the pitch and dropped the broom from between their legs, Regulus was still holding her to him from behind nuzzling her neck and whispering reassurances, trying to make her calm her breath.
If she weren’t in the state of shock she was in, she would ask herself when did she get so comfortable with a stranger, why didn’t it bother her how loving he was being with her? Did death make her lose her morals? That sounded logical actually.
“Are you feeling better?” he rumbled from behind her.
“Yes, Yes Regulus, thank you” before she finished talking he had released her and taken two steps away from her.
Hermione turned and saw him looking away, biting his lips and blushing.
“Is something wrong?”
“No, no, I’m…” he exhaled “I’m sorry I made you do that, If I had known that your fear of flying was this great I wouldn’t have…” “…it was also wrong from me asking for a price, I was feeling very confident when I asked for it”
Was he feeling insecure? The idea of a man his size, and that strong feeling insecure, and after having efficiently flirted with her and ruined her knickers. He was so attractive.
“Let’s change the deal, I will not kiss you out of obligation, and not now cause I’m feeling a bit brittle, but, I reserve that kiss for another occasion, what do you think?”
He gave her a sensual smirk, recovering his bravado “oh, Miss Granger” He purred, “by the end of your mission you’ll be bestowing me with more than a kiss” he held her hand and kissed the back of it.
A cough
“Are you done with the spectacle then? We could hear your shrieking all the way to the astronomy tower, on the overworld side”
Ariana and the little girl were back. If Regulus was surprised by the little girl’s face he was very good at hiding it.
“ Oh my fucking God ” repeated the little one giggling “ Jesus Christ on a cracker ”
“ Oh Merlin!! Please don’t repeat those words little one, aunty Hermione is scared of heights you see? And has a very foul mouth” did she just refer to herself as aunty Hermione ?
“Hmm Regulus Black this is Ariana Dumbledore, and little one is..”
“Merope Gaunt and this is baby Tommy…. Merope is spelled M-e-”
Hermione stared, not registering the rest, she turned to Regulus, as he in turn stared at the doll. He caught that too . Something most have shown on their faces because Ariana was fast to put herself between them and Merope.
“Let’s go Mery, you and Tommy should show aunty Hermione the way to her next visit”.
A reminder and warning. The irony of Voldemort being a threat to her in an inanimate object, again, was not lost on her.
“ Livin' easy, Lovin' free,Season ticket on a one way ride ” sang happily Merope leading the way out of Hogwarts
“Your brother Sirius stayed a long time with us, he couldn’t help leaving a mark could he?” explained Ariana about Merope's musical selection.
“I'M ON THE HIGHWAY TO HELL” Merope continued energetically.
“He was feeling very positive about the afterlife” Ariana said
Regulus squeezed her hand. They hadn’t let go of eachother since they landed. She squeezed back.
