When readying for his date with Parvati, Rabastan opted for black and silver dress robes over a black suit.
"Lookin' good, motherfucker," he told himself in the mirror with a grin.
He was clean shaven, his collar-length wavy black hair combed straight back in what he always considered to be a nineteen-twenties gangster style. Wizard gangsters had been the most badass back in their day. No one fucked with them, and likewise no one fucked with him, so it worked. Strolling from the room, he whistled a tune under his breath as he headed down stairs.
"Looking sharp," Rod called in rare encouragement.
Shit! Was his mild state of nervousness that apparent?
"Thanks," he said, nodding at Bella and Rod, who were headed upstairs as he moved down. They were probably going to shag, an activity that he would also be enjoying if the night went well.
"Be careful," Rod called and Rabastan waved over one shoulder to indicate he'd heard. "Always," he bellowed back as he headed out the manor's front door.
Once he'd locked up behind him, he Apparated to Enchanted Odds where he was to meet Parvati. When he entered the shop, Mag was leaning against the counter, idly chatting with Parvati. The large white owl that Snape usually had with him rested on her shoulder.
"Not a raven this time," Parvati asked in mock disappointment.
Rabastan grinned. "I try not to use the same tricks too many times in a row. Besides, it got me the date, so I'm good."
Parvati winked. "We'll see about that." She could shoot the shit and keep up with him. Rabastan liked.
Glancing at Mag, he frowned. "Everything alright?" He hoped she wasn't going to shrink him without Bella and Rod there. That shit would be weird.
"Oh, everything is fine as far as I know," Mag assured hastily. "I just wanted to see if I could go by yours and look through the blasting rods?"
"Oh yeah, of course. I was so wiped out from making all the fuckers, I forgot to let you know that a lot are ready," Rabastan said, embarrassed to have neglected to get Mag one sooner, considering she was the reason he had supplies to work with! "I guess Griphook will need one too, so let him know they're ready if you don't mind."
Mag nodded.
"And I think Bella and Rod may be shagging so tell Harold that you saw me, and I said it's okay to show you all the rods and let you take one."
Parvati made a choking sound, but Mag's calm expression never wavered at the casual mention of Bella and Rod's sex life. "I discovered the rods were ready when Gellert and Blaise showed theirs off at a dinner meeting tonight," Mag said reproachfully.
"Really sorry," Rabastan reiterated. "You try making these fuckers! They wear you out."
Mag gave a faint smile. "Alright," she relented. "As I'm relatively certain I couldn't make one as good as yours, considering wand making is entirely different, I'll forgive you this time."
"Thank you," Rab said humbly and Parvati snorted.
"I'll just go and pick out my blasting rod now, then," Mag said, and left the shop with a cheerful wave.
"So weird to think of Snape being married to anyone," Rabastan said with a bemused grin once the shop's door had swung closed behind the redhead.
Parvati rolled her eyes, grinning fondly. "I was there when it all went down, so not so much for me."
Rabastan felt his eyes widening. "Really?"
Parvati nodded. "Oh yes! I was two years behind Mag in school. She had this weird psychological game she liked to play where she'd smile at Gryffindors and be all friendly just to screw with their heads. You know, because they all expected Slytherins to be horrid. So I was young when we met, third or fourth year, and she smiled at me so I thought she really wanted to be friends. I liked the idea of having a Prefect friend with so much shit always going down between the houses, and she looked nice so I started talking to her." She chuckled. "Though that wasn't at all in Mag's plans, she didn't have the heart to be mean to sweet little me for no reason whatsoever, so we ended up becoming friends, long story short."
Rabastan grinned, as it had really been long story short. Many women couldn't manage long story short to save their fucking lives! Instead, it was a lot of repeating entire long and drawn out conversations of he, or she, said verbatim which bored him out of his fucking skull.
"So you saw her and Snape get all romantic? When was this? That's still really difficult to fucking imagine, you know."
Parvati laughed, nodding. "He isn't exactly approachable, is he? He isn't so bad once you get to know him, though. I think he likes me."
The way she said that, it was like it was some achievement. Who the fuck would want Snape liking them?
"So you don't think he put some sort of love spell on her, then? That's what Bella thought."
"Gods no," Parvati laughed as she came out from around the counter and began turning down the lights in the shop with short sure flicks of her wand. "She was always big time obsessed over him, and like plotted how to get him for years."
Rabastan laughed. "It wasn't as if she had any competition."
Parvati grinned back. "True enough. Well, I'm done closing up as soon as we leave and I lock the door behind us. Are you ready to go?"
Rabastan nodded, moving to the door and holding it open.
"Where are we going anyway," Parvati asked, closing the door and locking it with her wand.
"I thought we'd go to the Crystal Cave."
That was one of the most posh restaurants in Knockturn Alley. It was full of fucking crystals and magicked to look like Merlin's famed crystal cave where legend said he and Nimue still slept. Of course, he knew the legend was bullshit, but most of them probably were, to one extent or another.
"Ooh, they have the best salmon ever," Parvati gushed.
Somehow Rabastan wasn't surprised that she knew about the fine dining in Knockturn. Gryffindor or not, she had enough dark in her to be fun, else she'd not have friends like the Snapes and Grindelwald.
"I'll definitely try the salmon, then," he said. "I usually go for the loaded potato cheese soup, cause it is fucking LOADED, but now you have me curious."
"You won't regret it," Parvati assured as she placed a hand on his arm to Apparate. Now that she was close, he noticed she wore flowing dark red dress robes that were drawn in tight at the waist and looked good as fuck. They were made of some sort of filmy shimmery material which showed off her figure and her skin to perfection, making her positively scrumptious.
"Um...you look nice," he told her.
She grinned, tilting her head to the side, like a curious bird. "Why, thank you."
He Apparated them to the Crystal Cave before he could say anything stupid. A couple dressed as Merlin and Nimue ushered them to a table. They ordered drinks, and Rabastan figured they may as well order the food too, considering they both knew they wanted the salmon.
When the couple glided away to fill their order, Rabastan sat wondering what to say. Parvati sat across from him, slender fingers idly toying with one of the large raw crystal quartz shards that appeared to be growing directly from the wood of the table itself.
"So," she began, looking up from the crystal to lock her dark gaze with his. "What's up with all the torture?"
He blinked. "Because it's fun, and quickly quells your enemies. Contrary to popular fucking belief, we don't do it randomly. I mean sure, we do it more than you, but again we have found that it has its uses. I do other things too. Like as you likely gleaned from my conversation with Mag, I recently discovered that I can make blasting rods."
He glanced around, but the place only had a few other diners, and all at tables far away from their own. Reassured that no one would overhear him talking about blasting rods, he turned his attention back to Parvati.
"I like Lyra a lot, and she doesn't seem down with the torture."
Rabastan nodded. "Our cousins did their best bringing her up, but they aren't us."
"I think I like you a lot too, and the torture is going to be something I will probably struggle with." She let out a breath. "I try to be very honest when I like someone."
He nodded, not knowing what to say. Honesty was good, but he didn't know what he could say about her torture issue to fix it. He wasn't changing, and he didn't expect her to either.
To his relief she changed the subject, asking about his work in Shadow Ops.
"Of course I get that you can't tell me top secret stuff, but anything would be interesting," she said.
As they waited for their food, he told her about what it was like to work for Shadow Ops. Soon their wine arrived, of course, in goblets cut from crystal quartz. The wine they'd chosen was called Druid Fluid, and it was strong and sweet. They had two glasses each by the time the food arrived. As it turned out, the salmon was delicious. It came with a thick flaky bread whose flavor put Rabastan in mind of thick cream. There were potatoes on the side along with sliced grilled vegetables. As they ate, Parvati told Rabastan what it was like to work for Blaise and Gellert in Enchanted Odds.
"Whatever you do, though," she said, peering at him over her crystal goblet with a traumatized look in her eyes, "never sit on the long leather bench in the back of the shop. It's what Kreacher and Regulus use for..."
Rabastan choked on his wine, then coughed as he attempted to swallow. "No! Say no more. I shall gladly avoid the bench, just no more! I can't take it."
Parvati giggled, nodding. "I so understand!"
For dessert they had dark chocolate cream pie with strawberries. Both were trying it for the first time and both vowed to have it again very soon.
"So...you want to go dancing or something," Rabastan asked awkwardly as he was paying their tab.
"Sure," Parvati said brightly. "I hope you didn't think you were getting rid of me this early."
Rabastan gave her a sidelong look. "Well, I could've scared you off over the torture bit."
She shook her head, leaning into his arm in a way that caused him to catch his breath a little. She smelled very good. Like some sort of flower mixed with vanilla cream.
"That would hardly be fair when I brought the torture up," she murmured, gazing at him through half lidded eyes.
Her dark lashes were so long that they brushed her cheeks. He found himself swallowing hard as he pressed his hands to his sides to keep from reaching for her. Trying to shag too soon would not be good. It would come off all ungentlemanly and shit.
"There's a place called the Glass Slipper. It's a little rough but kind of fun. It's just down the alley from here, so we could walk."
Parvati grinned, slipping her arm through his. "A romantic walk to a mildly rough bar. Sounds perfect."
The night was pleasant, as was her closeness as they walked down Knockturn Alley in the slightly chilly air.
"Do you know how to dance," he asked and she chuckled. "I can get around without stepping on your toes."
From the outside, the Glass Slipper looked like a ballet flat made of sparkling clear glass. One could see dancers from the outside as well as other patrons sitting at a bar made like a pumpkin coach carved of dark wood.
"Oh, this is brilliant," Parvati whooped. "I wish I had a camera! I need a picture of this place." She turned to Rabastan. "Can we come back again next time?"
So she already wanted a second date. That was good! "Sure. We'll go anywhere you want," he promised, and laughing, she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. He groaned as the poised to be erection in his pants sprang to full life against her slender yet luscious curves.
"Mmmm. You really like me," she murmured against his lips, then wiggled against said erection.
Fuck!
"Yeah, I like you," he rasped, then lowered his mouth to hers once again, tongue running across her lower lip to taste her sweetness.
Gasping she clutched at his shoulders, her eyes sliding closed as she leaned into him. A loud cat call from inside the bar caused her to jerk back, glancing in horror over one shoulder. "Oh! I forgot that they could see us just as we can see them!"
"Yeah, so did I," Rabastan said.
Everyone in the bar who had been looking, had just received an eye full of their hot makeout. Ah well, probably taught the fuckers a few things.
"Let's go dance. We'll just give them a closer look. You want a drink first or later?"
Parvati grinned. "Both."
Rabastan grinned back. She was his kind of girl.
There wasn't much more conversation, due to the loud rock music in the Slipper, but the drinking and dancing were fun. Parvati made for a great partner, easily keeping up with him in both areas, and she felt good as fuck in his arms. From time to time, they forgot to dance, becoming lost in heated kisses instead, but cat calls from other drunken patrons always served to bring them back from makeout land.
"The only problem with the Slipper is it closes at midnight," Rabastan said, leaning to murmur into Parvati's ear in order to be heard over the music. "You know, because of the old fairy story where Cinderella had to be home at midnight."
"Yeah, I know," she called back. "I did read that one a few times as a child."
Rabastan pretended to hex her and she giggled, slumping against his chest.
Instead of straightening, though, she slid her arms around his neck. "We'd better go before they throw us out, then," she said, and he nodded.
He Apparated them outside, wondering if he was expected to take her home or if she wanted to return to Enchanted Odds or what. Before he could ask, though, she was kissing him hungrily.
Groaning with the need of the throbbing erection in his pants, he returned her kisses with an equal hunger of his own. Making a low sound of desire, she tangled her hands in his hair and wound one leg around his waist.
Fuck! Arching against her, he tangled a hand in her long silken tresses, pulling her head back hard to nip at her neck. She made a small sound, and attempted to straighten. He'd hurt her. Stepping back he let her slide gently to the ground, releasing her once her feet were planted on the cobblestones of Knockturn Alley.
"Are you sober enough to Apparate," he asked.
"I...yeah, but…"
"Then do that. Go home," he told her, then Apparated to Raven's Nest. He could swear she'd shouted "Wait!" as he'd left. Instead of going inside, he slumped down onto the top step with his face in his hands.
Tonight never should've happened. He was too rough for her sort, and it would only end in a bunch of fucked up shit. He'd hurt her and not even meant to. She'd never understand him. Not truly. Rod was lucky to have someone so much like him, but that shit wasn't for everyone, and Rabastan had never thought it was.
Parvati was innocent compared to them. She may dabble in the dark, but that didn't make her one of them, and he'd only wanted to take her innocence. He knew this, and earlier in the day, he hadn't minded that. Getting to know her, though, made it somehow different. Pushing her away was the best thing to do for both of them.