…Italy…

We enjoy the rest of dinner. I was surprised when mum and Mrs. Zabini brought out a six-tiered cake for our graduation. Harry and Izzy were on the verge of tears. Blaise stares at the cake a hint of tears in his eyes. I slice the cake and gasp. Each of the tiers was a different flavor with different fillings. I gave everyone a piece of each tier. We continued to talk into the night. The adults went over to the kitchen to clean up.

A week later I was seeing my family off at the airport. I gave them all hugs. Mum kept returning for another hug. I tried to get dad's help, but he was looking at the ceiling.

"It's almost time to go." Blaise taps mum's shoulder. She looked at me with tears in her eyes. With Izzy's help I detached mum from me and hand her over to dad. "It'll only be two weeks." I try to reassure her. Dad shoos me and Blaise off. I walk hand in hand with him to board the flight.

I study my Italian and recipes on the flight. We land and I feel my stomach drop. Blaise holds my hand as we get off the plane. His mum picked us up from the airport and we went to their house. Mrs. Zabini took our luggage upstairs. Blaise led me to the kitchen. He handed me a glass of water. I drank it looking around. "They are not going to pop up from out of nowhere." he jokes but I wasn't sold.

"The family will be over for lunch tomorrow. You can relax, or we can find something to distract you with." he offers while grabbing some grapes. I look around again "Distraction." He nods and he waved me over to where he was. He opened what I thought was a pantry. Inside were cookbooks that had obviously been passed down for a long time.

I look over every single one. "Mum would be more than happy to help you make some of these tomorrow. I'm get this feeling you'd be comfortable meeting my family if you were covered in flour." he jokes. "You stop teasing her. Sweetie you pick quite a few recipes and we'll go shopping." Mrs. Zabini comes into the kitchen with a smile. She takes out a notepad so she can make a list.

I scan the recipes as quickly as I could. I chose several side dishes and main dishes. I began searching for desserts while Blaise helped his mum with the list. I finished and added the ingredients to the list along with my éclair ingredients.

We shopped for the items on the list at a local market. Blaise kept encouraging me to try samples of the food. A lot of the older women there knew the Zabini's. They kept bringing up all the trouble Blaise would get into when he was younger. This relaxes me especially when Blaise gets so flustered he chokes on a cheese sample.

When we were done, we went back to the house and I helped put the food away. Mrs. Zabini whispers something to Blaise, and he leads me from the kitchen. "She wants to make a special meal for you, so we're going upstairs." he explains once out of earshot of the kitchen. He leads me up the stairs and to a room.

He shakes his head. He motions for me to stay put. He came back looking very flustered. He motions me inside. "Mum thinks it might help you relax if we shared a room." he mumbled.

I smile. "See! That look is exactly why I said no to her saying we should share a room." he gives me a stern look. "What if I promise not to do anything." I pout holding up my hands. He thinks for a moment. He relents and I clap my hands. "You'll behave yourself. The entire time." he states as he looked around. I nod skipping around. He leans against a wall watching me explore the room.

We headed back down to the kitchen when dinner was done. "How do you like the room?" Mrs. Zabini asks as she put the finishing touches on Porchetta, Risotto alla Milanese, Scarcia, and a Caprese salad.

"I love it!" I exclaim as she pours some wine. "You just let me know if my son misbehaves in any way." she winks at me. Blaise scoffs and mutters under his breath "I can control myself, she can't." His mum tsks disapprovingly and he sits down.

After dinner we went outside to enjoy the last bits of the sunset as we finished our wine. "I'll see you two in the morning." Mrs. Zabini yawned as she headed inside. I wave at her then turned back to the night sky. I watch as the stars twinkled in the sky.

I was led back inside by Blaise who had decided that I needed rest. I changed into my pajamas and crawled into bed with Blaise. I put my head on his chest as he wrapped an arm around me, and I fell asleep.

I was woken in the morning by Blaise tapping my shoulder. I open my eyes. "Time to wake up sleepy head." he whispers. I groan and roll back over covering my face with a pillow.

I feel the bed shift as he sat on it. Then I feel icy cold water being poured on me. I jump up glaring and spluttering. He leaves the room with a chuckle. I shower and wave my wand so that the ice water was no longer on the bed. I put on a midi skirt, a blouse, and a pair of flats. I pinned my hair up into a braided bun. I make my way into the kitchen where Mrs. Zabini was already prepping.

"Ah, come in dear. Blaise just left for a run. You can help me prepare the ingredients." she waves at some vegetables on the counter. "Did you sleep well?" she asks as she prepped some fresh pasta.

I give a shudder "I was until Blaise poured ice water on my head." She shakes her head. I chopped, sliced, and minced as she instructed me through the dishes. The first guests arrived after she took the eclairs out of the oven.

She motions for me to stay put as she rushed off to the front door. I hear cheerful voices coming from the door. I wrung my hands together. I organize the eclairs and cannoli's on a tray.

They come in the kitchen still talking. "This is Charlotte Black!" Mrs. Zabini introduces me. A woman with ivy colored eyes and auburn hair rushes over hugging me and kissing my face. "Charlotte dear this is Bianka and Roque Zabini and their daughter Rochelle." Mrs. Zabini explains waving to each one. A man with Blaise's brown eyes smiles at me. Roque Zabini shakes my hand. He had mahogany brown hair just like Rochelle. Rochelle gave me an eye smile and I notice she has her mother's ivy eyes.

"Bianka dear relax you'll scare the child." Roque told his wife. She let me go and went around the kitchen looking at the food we'd prepared. "So, this is the young woman who was finally able to capture Blaise's eye Cianna!" a new voice called from the doorway. Mrs. Zabini turned and hugged the voice.

Rochelle stood by me as we watched. "That's auntie Cianna's sister. The one with amber eyes and brown hair." she informs me. I nod. "Her name is Ymelda Bianchi. The man next to her is her husband Jeno Bianchi." she points at a man with ebony eyes and chestnut brown hair.

Two girls came over while the adults talked. "These two are Ortensia and Elda Bianchi." the girls raise their hands respectively as Rochelle introduced them. They had their mother's amber eyes and their father's chestnut hair.

"Where is Blaise? I know he didn't leave you here to meet us by yourself." Elda whispers looking around shocked by Blaise's actions. "He left to go on a run." I explain. Ortensia shook her head. "We've heard a lot about you from auntie Cianna and Blaise. Did you really make him eat that icing?" Rochelle asks. "He wasn't behaving." I laugh as the memory came back.

We talk at the kitchen island while the adults went to the garden. "I'm guessing that you probably had to work really hard to get Blaise to bring you here." Ortensia said as she looked at me. "Of course. I had to beat him in 6 subjects at school. He was pretty shocked when I beat him at 8." I respond as I check on the dishes bubbling away on the stove.

Elda gasps and I turn around. They'd begun eating the eclairs. "Blaise said that these were good, but I don't think he did this enough justice." Elda bounces around in her seat. Rochelle nods as Ortensia grabs another. "He told us all about how much you like food, so if you need any advice on where to get some amazing food just ask us." Ortensia told me as she started on the cannoli in front of her.

The doorbell rang again, and Elda rushed off to get it. She returned with more people. "Charlotte! Let me introduce you. This is Nardo and Zoela Zabini and their daughters Byanca and Neryssa." she points to each of them in turn. Nardo was just like Roque except his hair was more of a coco than mahogany brown. Zoela exuded the same elegant energy as Mrs. Zabini. Her Caribbean blue eyes scanned the room as she ran her hand through her onyx hair. Rochelle tells Zoela and Nardo that the others were in the garden.

Byanca and Neryssa relax as soon as their parents leave. "Nice to meet you Charlotte!" Neryssa greets me as she sat down beside Elda. She and her sister had their mum's blue eyes and father's coco hair. They began chatting and asked to see a picture of my family.

I obliged and got my photobook. I pointed everyone out to them. Rochelle was the same age as Harry. Ortensia and Neryssa were my age. Elda was the same age as Ava and Lucas. Byanca was the same age as Akio who she seemed very interested in upon seeing his picture with Alastair.

"There's one more family on the way. Auntie Cianna's brother and his family." Elda explain as the doorbell rang. Neryssa got the door. They filled me in quickly before they entered the room. Belvidere Ricci and his wife walked in first. Belvidere had amber eyes and black hair. He had his arm around his wife, Cyprienne Ricci. She had hazel eyes and rose-colored hair. She gave me a hug before joining her husband and the others in the garden.

The next to enter the room was Cesco Ricci looking extremely harassed. He was about Lucas' age with amber eyes and rose hair. We wave and he waves back before sitting on the kitchen counter. "So, you're the problem child Blaise mentioned." he states as he looks at me.

"Problem child?", I scoffed, "No, I'm not a problem child but I am the one Blaise mentioned. He laughs "Flying a motorbike around at a young age isn't being a problem child?" The others tsk at him, but I turn some pages in the book we were looking through. I point at a photo and he hops off the counter. Everyone bent over to look at the photo of the motorbike. He shakes my hand "You have my respect Charlotte." He went back to the countertop as the twins entered the room.

Uberto and Jino Ricci waved and hugged me as they entered the room. They were Edwin and Jessica's age, and they had Hazel eyes and black hair. They looked less harassed than Cesco did when he entered the room. They were laughing with Neryssa and Cesco shook his head.

I relaxed and moved around them as I finished up lunch. "Nice to see everyone getting along." Blaise calls from where he was leaning on the door frame, already showered, and changed. Rochelle rushes over hitting him. "You left Charlotte here by her lonesome." she scolds as everyone laughs as he tried to avoid her.

Elda leads Rochelle back to her seat. "I just got an extreme case of déjà vu from that attack." he smiles at me. I wave him off. "Why did you hit him?" Elda asks turning to me. "He pushed me off a zipline with no warning.", I explained. Ortensia gives him look that asked why. "Charlotte and her friends left without leaving a note. So, we punished them by making them go on an early morning hike and ziplining." he shrugs unashamed.

Rochelle and I throw bits of éclair at him. Cesco shakes his head again. "Don't tell me you're on her side." Blaise groans in mock despair. "As soon as I saw that motorbike my loyalties shifted." Cesco states proudly. Since Blaise had finally arrived, we could start lunch. We were halfway through lunch when the questions began. "I already know how Blaise acted in the beginning. So, how about you tell me about his reaction when it finally hit him who you are and are related to?" Ymelda asked with a sly smile.

"Ah, we were cleaning a house up for my cousins from France. We found a couple of bins of photos from their travels over the years. Then we went to the garage where the men in my family keep their motorcycles and such. I turned around because he wasn't moving. He just stood there muttering. I only had one thought. After years of stories I told him the point at which it finally hit him was when he realized my grandparents work as spies." I explain as everyone sits up.

Blaise looks down remembering that day and shakes his head. "It was insanity. Her mum and aunts sent their husbands to Las Vegas just so they could go on vacation." he told them. I pointed at his bewildered expression "Times that by about a 1000 and that was his reaction then." I smile. Rochelle and Elda scoff.

"I saw the family portrait you sent him the last time we visited." Elda informs me as the others began teasing Blaise. "Ah yes. He seems to find the range eye and hair colors in my family mind-numbing and technicolor living. So, I sent him a portrait of everyone." I smile. Zoela reaches across the table smacking Blaise's arm. "First you leave her alone to meet everyone and now we find out you made comments like that." she chides him in a playful manner. He blinks looking slightly affronted. "What if she left you alone with her family?" she asks. I hold up a hand.

"Oh no. We could never do that. Especially with the portrait of grandma Black. Oh no. I can't even begin to fathom what might've happened. Besides, he was terrified enough that he had to help me cook." I explain patting Blaise's shoulder.

Ortensia drops her cutlery. "He cooked?!" Roque chokes on his wine. "He was nowhere near as bad as my auntie Amber used to be before mum and her sisters taught her. He did a very good job and then I sent him off to hang out with my dad and uncles. Heard they took the motorcycles out while everyone else was inside." I shake my head in mock sadness.

The meal continued. "What does your grandma Black think of Blaise?" Rochelle asks me in a whisper. "She thinks he's finer than wine." I respond as we fall into a fit of giggles.

"You're gossiping about me on the side, aren't you?" Blaise asks. We shrug. I brought my photobook from the kitchen since Ymelda wanted to see my family. "Was this the game punishment?" Cyprienne giggles pointing to the picture of Izzy and Ava eating their punishment. I nod.

Blaise gave an involuntary shudder. "She got you good with all those pranks, didn't she?" Nardo asked as he chuckled. I wink at Blaise. "I do believe the last one was a mixture I made. The worst Bertie Botts Beans flavors, licorice, habanero peppers, Scotch Bonnet peppers, pickles, baking soda, and durian." I smile. Elda and Jeno high-five me as Blaise shudders.

"See how she treats me." he whines. After lunch everyone went home promising to come by every now and then. Mrs. Zabini joined Bianka and Ymelda who were going to the store for wine.

Blaise closes the door as the last person left. I pretend like I am exhausted. "Those pranks were really mean." he sighs. I hug him. He chuckles. "See that wasn't so bad. They completely loved you." he states. I nod. I yawn. "Come on. You need a nap." he smiles. I follow him upstairs and collapse into bed.

I woke up the next morning with my head on Blaise's chest. It wasn't even 7 in the morning. I went to sit up, but Blaise pulls me back down. "Morning love." he murmurs. "Morning. How are you?" I ask. He kisses my forehead "That's my line."

I buried my face in his neck. "I was more wound up than I thought. Should've relaxed.", I mumbled. He chuckled. I wrapped my arms around his waist as we watched the sunrise. I wanted to stay there a bit longer, but then I decided I wanted to go exploring. "Come on. Get up." I poke Blaise, but he keeps shaking his head. I lean down so my face and his were mere inches away. "Why not?" I mumble against his lips. "I'd rather keep you to myself for a day." he replies as he kisses me.

"Nope, get up." I say as he lets me go. He groans. I kiss him and jump up from the bed. Once I was showered and dressed I waited on the couch. I play with the settings on my brand-new camera while I waited on him.

Blaise finally emerges 20 minutes later. I put my camera down. We were both wearing jeans, boots, a tee, and a jacket. "Go change." I tell him with my hands on my hips. He scoffs and walks around me. I jump on his back. "Please?!" I whine. "Why?" he snickers. "You look to good." I mutter. He laughs and I hop off his back. He sits on the couch still laughing. I poke his arm. "No love." he pulls me down to him. I sigh giving in.

I play with my camera again. He takes and puts my camera down on the table. He slides me onto his lap. "Time to go." he says with a smile. He kisses me until I return his smile. I bury my face in his neck. "Good. Your done pouting." he grabs my things and stands with me still clinging to him.

I shift so he's giving me a piggyback ride as he descends the stairs. He starts down a path that he knows well. I take in the sights as he walked. He seems to have found what he was looking for.

He puts me down. I look around. We were on the top of a hill with the Italian countryside spread out below. I hop up and down. I start bending down and observing. "What are you doing?" he asks from where he was sitting. "Practicing camera angles." I mumble barely paying attention.

He hands me my camera. I take a few photos. I stand up and look around. I grab Blaise's hand. I pose him on the hillside and begin taking photos again.

When I was done, I sat beside Blaise. I lean my head on his shoulder. "This place is beautiful." I murmur. We stay there for a bit longer before continuing on our way. He holds my hand as we walked up the path. We walk until we reached his house. I'd taken a lot of photos during our walk. We went back up to our room. I put my camera away and flop on the couch.

Blaise sits down beside me. "What do you want to do tomorrow?" he asks. "The taste of Italy. Presented by the people who know it best." I smile happily. "People? Oh, no. you mean person." he corrects. "Oh, no. I mean people." I joke.

He pulls me onto his lap. "I don't want to share." he states looking upset. I bury my face in his neck to hide my smile. "Do you really want to meet with others?" he murmurs. I kiss him up and down his neck. "You have to learn to share." I tell him. He shakes his head defiantly. I kiss him and wrap my arms arounds his neck.

He presses me up against him. I smile against his lips. "I still don't want to share." he whispers. I frown and kiss him again. I let my hands travel the length of his torso.

He groans. "Really. I don't want to share." he huffs. "Seriously Blaise!" I huff. He stares at me defiantly. "Do you really want to see who'll win this?" he whispers kissing my neck.

I slide his jacket off "Blaise if you don't want to share, I'll just go out by myself." He freezes as my fingers made their way to the hem of his shirt. I work his shirt off of him. "Really Charlotte." he mutters. He flips us over so that I was beneath him on the couch. He kisses me with more passion this time around. I giggle against his lips as I press myself against him. I shrug out of my jacket.

"Do give in before I lose all myself control. Please love." he whispers as he attacks my neck. I give a moan as he focuses in on his task. I manage to shake my head. His hands made their way to my shirt and started rolling it up.

I throw it off as he rolled it up to my neck. He stops his assault on my neck to stare at me. His eyes reflected mine. "Merlin's beard you're going to get me in trouble." his eyes traveled down my body. My breath caught as I watched him. "Fuck it." he groans as his eyes met mine. He captures my mouth in a kiss. I let him take control. He picks me up and I wrap my legs around his torso as he carried me to the bed.

I roll off my jeans flinging them into a corner of the room before returning to my task of kissing Blaise's neck. He bends down kissing a trail down my neck and chest. I felt a sense of longing wash over my body. He kept kissing until he reached the top of my panties. He began kissing the insides of my legs and I give a slight shudder. He rolls my panties all the way off my legs. He licks away at me sucking my clit into his mouth as I grab at the sheets.

He uses a hand to hold me still and get me to stop squirming. I let out a moan as I feel an orgasm wash over my body, and Blaise keeps going. Orgasm after orgasm rolls over me. Blaise began kissing my legs again.

"Need you. Need you now." I pant. He smirks. He reaches over to the dresser and got out something. I faintly heard the sound of him rolling on the condom. He slid down between my legs kissing me passionately again. "Let me know when to stop." he whispers. He looks at me with concern. I nod.

He slowly pushes himself inside me. I bury my face in his neck. I shudder and then the pain is gone. I kiss his neck. He groans in understandment. I press myself against him as he thrusts in and out of me. "I love you. I love you so very much Charlotte." he looks at me. "I love you too.", I whisper as tears of happiness spring up into my eyes.

He kept going until I had another orgasm and then he started going full speed. I arch my back as I felt my strongest orgasm yet wash over me as he came. I pant trying to catch my breath. I was shuddering uncontrollably as the waves of orgasm still crashed over me. I kiss Blaise gently. "I love you." I murmur against his lips. He groans again. "I love you too." he slides himself out of me and collapses on the bed next to me.

He pulls me over to him so that my head was on his chest. I wrap my arms around his torso. "If I have to share you with others, I suppose I'll have to. You win." he kisses my forehead. I smile while I play with his hand. He pulls the blanket over us as I fall asleep content.