The Web Of Love

"And can we really be here?" Hermione asked as she looked around the empty Quidditch field. She didn't have as much of a problem with breaking the rules as she'd always believed, but she still liked to keep things clear.

"Yes we can, as long as no one is training here we can use the field as we please most of the time," Tom replied with a small smile as he looked at Charlie who was holding her hand. "So, do you want to fly?"

"He certainly doesn't want to," Hermione dismissed it immediately and held him tighter.

It had been a week since their dinner when they had cleared up how things were between them, and Tom had sent her a letter today asking if she wanted to come to the field with Charlie after practice which surprised her, but she was glad for the distraction so she agreed without blinking. She knew now that she probably should have thought it through more carefully.

"But I want to!" protested little Zabini.

"You're still too young," she insisted. He'd be three in a few days, but that didn't matter. She'd rather have him sit on a broom for the first time at Hogwarts, and even that seemed too soon for her.

"Daddy let me," he mumbled.

"He does what now?" she yelped in shock. "Blaise is letting you fly on a broomstick?"

"Just a little," he said, shrugging it off like it was no big deal.

"Well, you see, then there's no reason not to let him," Tom stated triumphantly, and Hermione shot him an angry look. "Don't worry, he'll only be a few meters off the ground, and I'll be holding him the whole time," he tried to reassure her.

"Mommy, please!" Charlie cried before she could forcefully refuse.

"I'm not sure, it's dangerous," she couldn't be convinced so easily.

"Actually, it's not that dangerous," Tom said carefully.

The brunette sighed. "Promise you won't let him go?"

"I promise, we can make it an unbreakable promise," he suggested in all seriousness.

"That probably won't be necessary," she muttered. "But if you let him go, I'll kill you myself," she whispered menacingly so Charlie couldn't hear.

Tom grinned and Charlie stomped his feet excitedly. "So can I?"

"Just for a minute," Hermione allowed, and Charlie immediately wanted to run to Tom, but Hermione's hand, which was still holding him, wouldn't let him.

"Mommy," he moaned impatiently.

She gave him an anxious look and reluctantly let him go. Then she just watched as he stood in front of Tom, who let the broom hover a few inches off the ground so Charlie could sit on it without any problem. Tom instructed him, and when the little Zabini got a firm grip, Tom still held him as he had promised to Hermione and slowly let the broom rise up but no higher than his waist which calmed her down a bit.

And when she calmed down a little, her mind returned to her ex-husband, about whom she tried not to think even more today than other days. Blaise knew very well how she felt about flying, and he let Charlie go anyway. She could only hope that he did the same as Tom. She couldn't even imagine him flying somewhere high above the houses. Blaise was good at flying, almost starting a career as a Quidditch player like Ginny, but that didn't calm her down at all. Accidents happen all the time.

"Hermione?" Tom snapped her out of her thoughts. "Are you listening to me?"

The brunette looked around in confusion and found herself lost in thought more than was healthy as she suddenly found them behind her. "Sorry, I was thinking."

Tom nodded and studied her for a moment. He found it odd that she wasn't watching them as vigilantly as he thought she would be. In fact, she didn't follow them at all once they were out of sight. "Is everything okay?

"Yes, it is, but today is exactly one year since my divorce," she admitted with a weak smile.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

She quickly shook her head. "No, I really don't want to."

“Okay, so how about we wrap it up and go get coffee and something sweet?” he offered.

"We'd love to, wouldn't we, Charlie," she agreed for them both, taking him off the broom.

“I know it's none of my business, but maybe you should consider visiting Blaise. You said he was alone, and you two remained friends, didn't you?” he said casually, and left to clean up his broom.

She couldn't believe she'd let Tom talk her into visiting Blaise. Although, he didn't have to persuade her too much. All it took was one single mention of it to make her think about it, and she couldn't get it out of her head for the rest of the day.

Sighing, she moved the sleeping Charlie up on her side and knocked on the door before she could think it through. It was stupid, but it was too late to back out now as she heard footsteps behind the door.

Blaise opened the door with a glass of fire whiskey in hand, but as soon as he saw who was waiting for him in the hallway, he hurriedly placed the glass on the shoe rack. "Hermione! Did something happen?" he blurted out, a little horrified, because that was the only thought that came to his mind.

She gave him a small smile to calm him down. "Nothing happens. Charlie and I are fine," she assured him.

"I'm relieved," he muttered, and there was a moment of silence between them before he noticed Hermione struggling to hold their son. "Sorry, come in," he urged, carefully taking Charlie from her.

"Thanks, I won't even be able to hold him in no time," she lamented as she followed Blaise into Charlie's room where he tucked him into bed. They both kissed him goodnight and then quietly disappeared into the living room.

“To what do I owe for your visit? Don't get me wrong, I'm always glad to see you, it's just such an odd hour," Blaise spoke first.

Hermione took a breath for an answer, but no sound came out. She somehow didn't think this through.

"I heard you're letting Charlie fly on a broom," she said instead, the first thing that came to mind.

"Listen, I can explain…" he started but Hermione wasn't listening. Instead, she was looking around the room as she realized she never really spent any time here.

Her gaze landed on the coffee table, on which lay a bottle of fire whiskey and a framed photo of the three of them from Charlie's first birthday. She found it rather strange. Although she came here in the end, she didn't think that Blaise would be experiencing today the way she was. After all, he was the one who divorced her.

Blaise noticed he was talking to himself and paused. “May I offer you something to drink? Water, tea…” His gaze matched hers. “Something stronger?”

The brunette didn't like whiskey, but now she had a taste for the golden liquid like never before in her life. "I think I'll have a drink with you."

He nodded and motioned for her to sit on the couch while he returned to the hall where he retrieved the whiskey glass that had been set aside. Back to his ex-wife, he went across the kitchen to get her a glass, into which he somewhat hesitantly poured some fiery whiskey.

They drank and let the whiskey do its work in silence before the momentary feeling of warmth spread over their bodies. After that, nothing prevented them from falling into a pleasant conversation. And as the number of glasses of fire whiskey increased, they both gradually forgot why they were there together that evening.

The brunette was resting her head on his shoulder and Blaise was ruffling her hair when he suddenly looked at the photo on the table which brought him back to reality. He finished the rest of the glass but didn't move a millimeter.

"You never answered my question," he said, cutting her off.

Hermione shifted a little so she could tilt her head to look at him. "What do you mean?"

“Why did you come here tonight?” he sighed.

Now it was her turn to finish her whiskey. She should have known he wasn't going to let it go.

"To be honest? I don't even know," she admitted, sitting up straight to create some kind of imaginary barrier between them. "I tried not to think about you, but here I am. I guess I didn't want you to be alone today, I don't know...”

Blaise just watched her silently, wondering how he could ever let such a wonderful woman go, or rather how he could ever get her in the first place. The whiskey bottle was almost empty, which was probably why he grabbed her by the hips and swung it gracefully over him, so she was now straddling him.

They were both surprised by his actions, but before he could say anything, Hermione leaned down and captured his lips with hers. And Blaise, oh, Blaise felt like he was going to die right then and there. It had been so long since he had kissed his ex-wife that he had almost forgotten how it felt. Memories could never compare to reality.

His hands were still on her hips, which he had to change very quickly, making his way very slowly up her curves before he got all the way up to dig his hands into her curls. Without thinking, he pulled her hair causing them to separate, but not for long as he lunged at her neck to make sure he remembered her weak spot.

"Blaise," she gasped, and he had to smirk. He loved that he could take her apart like that.

Hermione grabbed his cheeks and forced him to pull away from her neck and return his lips to hers where they belonged. And Blaise didn't object. He didn't mind admitting that her bossy side was his weakness.

"Where have you been?" Hermione asked before the door closed behind him.

"At work," Blaise answered simply.

"It's half past eleven in the evening," she objected.

Blaise said nothing.

"Charlie has a fever and has been asking about you all day," she added before returning to the nursery.

Blaise deepened their kiss even more. He didn't want to think about what he had done wrong now. Not now that he had Hermione with him.

"I'm sorry, happy?!" he barked more sharply than he intended.

"No! I'm not so happy because lately, you've only been apologizing," she said in a hard but quiet voice.

"I'm trying Hermione. I don't know what more you want from me."

“I want you to be home more!” she cried out brokenly. “And it's quite heartbreaking for me to have to tell you so you know. I understand your work is important, but is it more important than me? More important than Charlie?"

This time he pulled away from his ex-wife to catch his breath. Hermione didn't hesitate for a second and started placing small kisses on his neck.

"I think we should get a divorce."

His beautiful wife, whom it proved he never deserved, looked at him with tears in her eyes but said nothing. She turned on the spot and went to Charlie's room, where she locked herself.

"Hermione," he breathed out weakly, trying to escape her lips even though he didn't want to. "Stop, please," he begged her tornly.

The brunette was brought back to reality very quickly by his request, and not only did she stop, but she got up at the same speed.

A strange chill ran through Blais' body when she was no longer with him. He grabbed her hands before she was out of reach completely. "Hermione -"

“It's okay, Blaise. Believe it or not, that's not why I came here today," she said with a weak smile, leaning down to kiss his forehead. "Good night."

Just like in the memories, she was walking away from him now with tears in her eyes, which was exactly what Blaise had been trying to avoid all this time. All this time, it was just a matter of not hurting her again, and he ended up doing it anyway.