The Web Of Love

The last few days had been really difficult for Blaise. Continually thinking about what he should do after finding out the hurtful truth was exhausting, and as it turned out it was completely pointless because when it was about Hermione, it wasn't worth fighting with himself. Now that he knew she still loved him, it was almost impossible to stay away from her. A year of convincing himself that it would be better if they stayed divorced had weakened him, so he didn't have much strength left now. He was glad deep in his heart because he didn't want to stay away from her anymore.

That's why he was now in front of the door of her apartment, which he bought for her after the divorce, and which she accepted only after much persuasion. At first, it was very difficult to convince her that just because they got divorced didn't mean he stopped caring for them.

He took a deep breath and knocked on the door. He was sure he wouldn't change his mind, but he'd rather be inside already, where escape would be more difficult, than in the deserted corridor.

The door opened in a few seconds, and he saw a surprised Hermione. "Blaise, hi!" she blurted out in surprise before looking back inside to see if she had woken up Charlie with her loud greeting, and when it was clear she hadn't, she turned back to her ex-husband. "Charlie's asleep now," she said noticeably quieter.

Blaise nodded as he was kind of counting on it. "I came to see you," he breathed out a little nervously before frowning slightly. He wasn't used to being nervous, and he still wasn't too fond of this feeling. Unfortunately, it was mostly only Hermione who made him feel this way, so he should get used to it, he will feel it again more often if tonight goes well.

"Okay," she muttered, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Then come in," she invited him, then took a step back so he could enter.

She closed the door behind him and took a deep breath to calm herself down a little. She had been impatiently waiting for this conversation for days, and now she was afraid of what he was going to tell her. However, she was ready to bear the consequences and do everything so that they could at least continue to be friends. Mainly because of Charlie.

When she regained her composure she turned her back to the door to find Blaise watching her. She swallowed hard, gave him a weak smile, and left for the kitchen. It was too late for coffee, so she decided to at least make them lemongrass tea.

Blaise followed her and waited patiently for her to make them tea. He knew she needed something to occupy herself and was hoping she would start talking, but he needed her to focus on him. He hadn't thought about what he was going to say to her and so he was more than happy to wait.

"Thank you," he said as she placed a mug of tea in front of him.

Hermione nodded and stood with her mug of tea on the other side of the table. Neither of them sat down. And since Blaise didn't know how to begin, they stood there in silence, their eyes fixed anywhere but on the other.

"This is stupid," the brunette blurted out when she couldn't take it anymore.

Blaise looked at her questioningly but said nothing.

"Just say it, whatever it is," she sighed. She was prepared to face the consequences but she didn't need to prolong the agony that came with thinking about all the possible situations that could arise. Not knowing was always destroying her.

"I…" Blaise started but somehow couldn't continue. He couldn't just say it like that.

Hermione's eyes filled with tears, which she refused to let out. "I understand if you don't want to be with me anymore."

“And that's just it, I shouldn't want it, should I? I should be angry. I'm angry, or at least I was. So damn much angry. But the thing is, despite everything, I don't want to be separated from you anymore. I belong to you anyway, so why hurt both of us by keeping you away from me? I'm not even capable of that. All it took was to spend a few beautiful moments with you, and I couldn't resist you anymore and almost slept with you. But that evening memories caught up with me. Memories of how I messed it all up. That was the reason why I didn't let it go further. It wasn't because I didn't want you, or because I didn't love you anymore. I don't think there will ever be a day when I don't love you," he finally got out and walked slowly around the table to stand next to her.

Hermione suppressed a smile as she tried to calm her racing heart. She wasn't even close to winning yet, so she couldn't get too carried away with the feeling of happiness that was now coursing through every cell in her body. “You know, Ginny changed tactics recently, and instead of trying to understand why we still didn't get back together, she told me to get over it and start looking for someone else. She pointed out that one day Charlie would grow up, and I'd be alone, and even though the idea of being alone bothered me a little, I didn't even want to think about finding someone because I knew there would never be a day when I stop loving you, so why try to find someone when I know I could never give them what they deserve. I didn't even want that. I didn't want to stop loving you, even though it's brought me more pain than happiness in the last year," she confided, looking away from his eyes. "You have to understand that what happened between me and Draco meant nothing. Yes, I know it was bad, but I really needed to fill that void, and he was right there. You're not the only one who got hurt in the end. I took advantage of him, and you don't know how ashamed I am. How sorry I am."

It still hurt Blaise. He was not proud of what his wife had done. He took some of the blame himself, but he still thought it was probably the worst thing Hermione had ever done. Even so, he couldn't help himself from smirking a little at her last words. He had always known that his ex-wife had a bit of Slytherin in her.

He took a deep breath and grabbed her hands. "It was stupid. I let my head play with me, and I destroyed the only good thing in my life. Do you think we can put this behind us?"

Hermione closed her eyes for a moment before letting out a sigh of relief. "I'm ready if you are too. I can forget about it, the thing is if you're capable of it," she whispered. She'd had a year to come to terms with how their marriage had turned out, and even though she'd rather kick his ass now for his reasons for divorcing her, she was more than ready to put it behind her and look forward to a better tomorrow. But was Blaise even capable of it when he only had a few days to accept what Hermione had done?

"I'm not saying it will happen right away, but I really want to put it behind me. Besides, now that Draco would be in France, I think it might go faster, after all, it's easy to forget everything around when I have you in my arms," he said, pulling her to him.

Hermione felt dizzy at his sudden proximity. Suddenly, she found herself back at Hogwarts at a time when their relationship was just beginning. She couldn't believe that someone like Blaise would be interested in her back then, but she quickly found out she was the only one for him. He proved it to her with everything he did. Even more so, she never really understood how he could suddenly stop loving her. Now that she knew the truth about their divorce, she was mad at herself for not looking into it earlier. It wouldn't have happened at all if she just took a moment to think instead of feeling hurt. But what could she do at that time?

"I love you," he whispered hoarsely.

The brunette smiled before capturing his lips in a tender kiss. This man belonged to her, and she would never let him go. She was tired of fighting. She didn't want to see everything as a battle, but she had to remind herself that some things were worth fighting for. And Blaise was one of them.

"I love you too," she smiled as she pulled away from him ever so slightly. However, her smile was soon replaced by a small frown as she realized his previous words. She didn't think it was twice the right time to start talking about it, so she bit her lip to stop the words from leaving her mouth.

Blaise gave her a searching look. "Thoughts came to you that quickly already? Maybe I should kiss you again to make you stop thinking."

"And I was just thinking that if I had thought more about it a year ago, we wouldn't have to be divorced now. It's weird how I spend my whole life just thinking and analyzing everything, and when you asked for a divorce all the thoughts were suddenly gone," she grinned and grabbed his shirt tightly so he couldn't run away from her when she told him what was on his mind "You know, I was just surprised by what you said. Draco is going to France?" she asked, trying to sound dispassionate.

Blaise nodded. “He came to my office and told me. We talked a bit, but it didn't change anything for me. I'm pretty glad he's going away," he confided as he caressed her cheek.

"How so? Didn't you talk it out?" she wanted to know. She wasn't sure if they'd even talked, but if Blaise was here and he was ready to put it all behind them, she kind of thought he'd made things up with Draco as well.

“There was some effort, but Draco isn't as handsome as you, and he isn't my son's mother, so it doesn't come easily. Besides, he didn't even realize the seriousness of what he had done. Once again. And my cup of patience has already overflowed. I think his time with Theo in France will do him good," he said honestly, leaning his forehead against hers. "Let's not talk about Draco right now."

Hermione's heart ached. She quickly pulled him into a kiss as she thought of how to tell him what she was going to do without looking like the worst person in the world. She seemed to be having a hard time being the person she wanted to be lately, but Draco was still their friend, and even though things were more than difficult with him at times, they couldn't give up on him. Not when it was her fault.

"I need you to stay here and watch over Charlie," she whispered as their lips parted. "I need to talk to him," she added with what little courage she had left.

Blaise frowned and wanted to pull away from her, but she was still holding his shirt so she wouldn't let him. He grabbed her hands but didn't try to free himself from her grip just yet. "I must have heard wrong. I thought we were here working on restoring our marriage, and you want to go see him?” he said quite coldly.

"Listen to me, Blaise," she pleaded desperately. "It's my fault, okay? He just lost one of his best friends. His brother. How do you think he's feeling? No matter what happens, he's still our friend. Our family. I need to make sure he will make it. I think he should go there, too, but that doesn't mean I'm going to let him go like this. Not like this."

This time he broke free from her grip and took a step back, but said nothing.

"If it's going to work between us again, we'll have to trust each other. Just give me half an hour, and then it'll just be you and me, okay?" she continued, moving closer to him, so she could place her hand on his cheek. "I love you," she whispered, then gave him a short kiss in which she tried to show him all the love she felt for him.

"You have half an hour. You're only a second late, but it's really over between us."

"I'll be here in time, don't worry," she assured him, giving him one last kiss on the cheek before running to the fireplace.