Disclaimer: I do not own the original canon nor am I making any profit from writing this piece. All works are accredited to their original authors, performers, and producers while this piece is mine. No copyright infringement is intended. I acknowledge that all views and opinions expressed herein are merely my interpretations of the characters and situations found within the original canon and may not reflect the views and opinions of the original author(s), producer(s), and/or other people.
Warnings: This story may contain material that is not suitable for all audiences and may offend some readers. Please utilize understanding of personal sensitivities before and while reading.
Author's Note(s): I've gotten this question a few different times & places. I don't have any actual plans to continue working in this 'verse. That being said, I do occasionally play around with various portions. So maybe there will be more than this piece and Love in Adversity, someday, but it's not exactly likely.
Project Note: This was previously posted in Stories That Go Nowhere, due to time constraints. It is reposted on its own after being reviewed and formatting updated.
Challenge Information:
Day/Fic: 08
Representation(s): Rare Ship (Hermione Granger/Blaise Zabini); Cross-Racial Ship
Word Count: 515 (Story Only); n/a (Story & Epigraph)
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Love in Salvation
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They ran into each other at a Ministry sponsored charity gala.
Hermione Granger had been invited as one of the great heroes of the Second War with Voldemort, and because it was a well-known fact that the only way to lure Harry Potter to most public events was to invite her. Otherwise the Man-Who-Conquered would skip it in favor of literally anything else. Invite Hermione Granger and you were guaranteed to have Harry Potter. This combination was not without consequences as Hermione was determined to make the world a better place and when she couldn't get people to listen to a Muggle-born, Harry was more than willing to take up the fight. So dubious organizations and causes quickly learned to not invite the duo, which was becoming known as a sign of integrity in its own right.
Blaise Zabini had been invited because he was a young bachelor newly invested as the Lord of his House. As one of the few unmarked wizards of his generation in the British Isles, Blaise was considered to be quite in demand by the marrying set. His mother was willing to let him choose his own spouse, so long as he was demonstrating an ongoing effort to find one. Attending events such as the gala in question fulfilled that requirement, even if it always made him feel a bit like a steak being tossed into a pool filled with piranhas.
Which was how they ended up dancing, actually.
Hermione had swept in to save him from one such piranha who had, in addition to be generally pushy, had managed to slip a few drops of love potion into his drink without him noticing. With an ease he would not have expected of the bookworm he had remembered from school, Hermione had stepped in, and almost politely dragged him away from the would-be potioneer. By the time the music had changed from one song to the next, Harry had the woman in custody and Blaise knew he had found the only witch he would ever want to marry.
He knew she never hesitated to voice her opinion and was relentless in the pursuit of her goals. He knew that she would never be the gentle flower that so many considered the ideal Lady of the House and that her career was important to her. She was Muggle-born and Muggle-raised and would not put on airs pretending to be anything else. She had a passionate fire inside her and as an Unspeakable, she would always be required to keep secrets from him. Some of those secrets would also be related to Harry Potter, who was the only person outside of Hermione herself whose opinion was a deal-breaker for any relationship for reasons known only to the two friends.
Blaise knew all of that.
He still wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of his life making her as happy and comfortable as possible, making sure that she understood that she was precious and treasured. He fell in love in an instant and was willing to spend a lifetime proving that.
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An Ending
Same continuum as Love in Adversity
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