Epilogue
The brunette carefully folded the letter back into the envelope and took a satisfied drink of coffee. The last pieces of the puzzle have finally fallen into place and they will be able to put everything behind them for good. All of them.
"Mommy, hurry up!" Charlie ran into the kitchen screaming and immediately started pulling her by the hand into the living room.
Hermione had to laugh at that. It was nice to see that some things hadn't changed even though he had been five for a while. To be honest, she quite appreciated it, because otherwise she couldn't handle the fact that her little boy was growing so fast. He would be going to school soon, and just the thought of not having him home all day made her want to cry.
"Surprise!" Blaise exclaimed happily as they reached the living room, and Hermione wanted to cry just for a little more at the scene she saw.
Instead, she gasped in surprise as she tried to hold back the tears. "There's someone very skilled here," she gushed, sitting down on the ground next to her husband.
"Mama!" exclaimed the youngest member of their family, namely Jasmine Zabini, who had been enriching their lives for ten months.
And she just stood up for the first time.
"We have to tell our children that they are no longer allowed to grow up," she sniffed and took Jasmine in her arms with a smile.
"Hermione, love, Jasmine isn't even a year old, and Charlie is five," he commented with a teasing smile.
Which he didn't have to remind her of because she remembered his last birthday party all too vividly. When he was four, he got lucky and got a birthday present that he said he wanted so much the year before. He was informed that he was going to be a big brother soon, and he kind of expected to get the same gift on his fifth birthday.
"Chacha!" their little princess bubbled, so Hermione placed her on the ground so she could crawl over to Charlie.
"Don't say you don't mind how fast they are growing," she whispered, picking up on their previous conversation.
"Um, maybe we should get another one," he whispered back, and before she could object, she was lying under him.
“Blaise!” she laughed, giving his shoulders a little push.
"I know, I should keep that behind closed doors," he smirked and gave her one quick kiss before sitting up and holding out his hand for her.
Hermione sat between his legs and leaned her back against his chest. Blaise immediately hugged her and they both enjoyed watching their two children play together. It was absolutely incredible how attentive Charlie was to his little sister.
"Draco wrote," she said after a moment of silence.
"What did he do now?" Blaise asked as their blond friend had a habit of only writing when something happened.
"He's going back to England with Astoria," she replied, carefully waiting for his reaction. She was almost ninety-nine percent sure that Draco had already made things up with Blaise, but she could never know for sure.
They first saw each other at Theodore and Daphne's wedding, and well, it wasn't exactly a heart-wrenching reunion, but they both made an effort that day for Theo. After the wedding, two whole letters were exchanged, one from each side, and then when they saw each other on Charlie's fourth birthday, things seemed to be much better. She suspected that Blaise had softened because of her pregnancy quite a bit, and the fact that Draco had started dating Astoria had also helped a little. Since then, it has been relatively smooth. Slow but smooth.
“It's about time, don't you think? Just a little while longer, and maybe he would have convinced me that he likes it in France," he said completely freely, and the last of the worries she didn't know had disappeared from Hermione's shoulders.
"And he has a surprise, so I think we'll be going to another wedding soon," she informed him of her hunch.
“Can you imagine Jasmine in one of those cute bridesmaid dresses? Poor Astoria, our daughter is gonna steal all the attention,” he chuckled.
The brunette smiled widely. Fortunately, Blaise no longer questioned what an amazing father he was, but when they found out they were having a girl, he started to panic a bit. He was afraid that he wouldn't be able to deal with a girl when he was used to a boy, but just like Hermione had thought, Jasmie had very quickly become the center of his universe. She knew she would have a lot of work to do to keep Blaise from spoiling her. It was enough that Charlotte kept doing it. She was absolutely thrilled to have another grandchild to spend her money on.
"You're really cute, but I'm going to have to get rid of it somehow because it's clear to me that when she starts talking and asking for things, you're going to comply with everything," she teased him.
Blaise gasped. "Excuse me! You make it seem like I've granted Charlie everything he's ever asked of me," he said playfully.
"Not really, but Charlie isn't Daddy's princess, is he?"
"He really isn't. He's more of a mama's boy," he returned.
Hermione sighed but laughed. "You got me here."
Blaise placed a kiss on her hair. "Don't worry, we just created the two most amazing people we could," he whispered.
She nodded. "Don't say it in front of Ginny, you know how fixated she is on James. And now that Albus is born, it's almost unbearable. Maybe she should go back to work, she must miss Quidditch so much."
"And aren't all parents like that?"
"I guess so. I can't blame her, the boys are truly amazing," she gushed as she remembered their two nephews.
Behind her, Blaise paused for a moment to consider her words. "Do you miss work?"
"You know I do, but there's nowhere I'd rather be than right here with you," she assured him.
"But you know that if you wanted to come back part-time again, we'd figure it out somehow, right? I could go to work less,” he suggested, as he would hate to keep her from anything.
"Even less than now?" she wondered.
Her husband really wanted to avoid the same end of their marriage, so he limited his working hours to what was absolutely necessary.
Blaise grabbed her chin gently and turned her head so she was looking at him. "Nothing is more important to me than you and the children," he said looking into her eyes.
"I know," she breathed out softly, pulling him into a brief kiss before turning her back to him again to bask in him. "But it's really not necessary. I'll get back to work when Jasmine is older."
"Whatever you wish."
Hermione closed her eyes to fully enjoy the moment, knowing that Blaise wasn't just talking about work. After the whole divorce fiasco where she thought he didn't love her anymore, sometimes she still couldn't believe she was here today. Because today she already knew that Blaise Zabini would do whatever she wanted for her, just like she would do for him.
Her fairy tale was real. And what she thought was her end was just a few grim chapters.
"I love you, Blaise Zabini," she smiled, even though he couldn't see it.
"And I love you, Hermione Zabini, you don't know how much," he croaked, placing another kiss on her hair.