Title: Truth Is

Chapter: 9

Author name: Khaila

Summary: Blaise and Hermione haven't spoken to one another in three years, suddenly they are once more apart of each other's life. When you think you can't hurt any worse, and you think your hope can never be revived, love shows up and makes a fool of you.

DISCLAIMER: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Author notes: I don't know how many chapters are left after this one, probably no more than two. I'm sad and excited all at once! I love the last two scenes, especially Victoria showing herself as a person, it was nice to write.


"Truth Is"


Chapter 9

(Three Weeks Later: Peru)


"I'm just staying consistent with the last administration's policy," growled the robust Bolivian diplomat, Pedro Hernandez, who seemed more and more intent on strangling the Colombian Minister of Magic who sat stoically before him.

"You will not continue to murder my people! I won't allow you to mercilessly murder my people! You will pay for all you've done!" yelled the Chilean President, Juan Alcazar, as he stood and pounded his hand on the table emotionally. Since the British Ministry's arrival almost four weeks before the Brazilian President had begun ordering renegade killing of citizens of Chile who lived near the landlocked border of the country.

"Your anger will not force change, Mr. Alcazar," Hermione interjected softly, placing her hand gently on his arm, as she chanced a glance at the other South American men in the room and saw each sending glares at men who stood on the other side.

The Brazilian president, Carlo Santiago, smirked arrogantly at the pair, growling, his accent not hindering the venom at all, "Woman I have not idea why you want to put ignorant head into man's business, learn your place and let the man speak his mind. He knows, just like the rest of these good men, that no one can prove I murdered anyone."

Hermione stood quickly and found her mouth about to insult the slimy looking Brazilian when a deeper, more threatening, voice interrupted her tirade. "You, Carlo Santiago, may be able to get away with a lot of things but while I'm standing in the same room with you addressing Miss Granger in that manner will not be one of them! Now I suggest you apologize and find your manners before I show you why the Zabini's where once feared by all who knew our legacy, your murder I will be able to get away with!"

Hermione's eyes widen as she turned to look at him, shocked she whimpered, "Blaise!"

Carlo Santiago glared into the angry Italian's eyes, meeting fire with fire and when he was finally convinced that he wasn't just spouting empty threats he turned to Hermione and just looked at her. He sat there for a moment looking her over, his eyes still narrowed but his tone less intimidating, he spoke, "Miss Granger, I apologize for my harsh words, I did not mean to insult you or your shining Knight in anyway."

Hermione narrowed her eyes, pursed her lips, and rose her nose as she replied, tightly, "Apology accepted, Santiago."

"Now," Blaise began, sending one more threatening glance at the brutal man in front of him, "if you are done insulting women, Santiago, we can go on and do what we came here to do. Fletchly, please, take the floor."

A tall, gray-haired, wizard stood and opened a manilla folder looking around at the rooms occupants before he opened his mouth and began to speak in a tone so deep that it seemed odd to be coming from his mouth. "The International Confederation of Wizards, including every branch found around the globe, have been assisting me in assessing much of the Genocide that have been reported around the region. After careful deliberation and plenty of cooperation from countries who have not yet joined your band of criminals, Santiago, we have found plenty of evidence that you were the criminal mastermind behind the start of these atrocities. Evidence has been found and confessions signed proving that you bribed, threatened, and eliminated many wizards to start what you fondly called "Spring Cleaning." The entire purpose of this meeting is -- "

He quickly stopped his sentence as four well dressed Aurors entered the room and quickly gathered Santiago up, securing him with their wands before Fletchly continued with his speaking. "As I was saying, ladies and gentlemen, the entire purpose of this meeting is to publicly serve you with a warrant that will have you standing before the Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards in trial."

Carlo Santiago stood fuming silently, sending Blaise a glare that sent chills through the hearts of those who weren't sitting anywhere near the young Minister. But Blaise stood quickly sending Santiago a quick smirk before turning to address the other three officials who had publicly taken Santiago's side. "Now, don't worry all three of you will be formally accused and given your own fair spot in the trial. Due process will be given to all three of you as you are formally accused and read your rights, now if you would excuse me, I have a press conference to get to."

Blaise nodded at the Aurors, buttoned his suit and robes, and made his way out of the room, but not before turning to Carlo Santiago and saying, "I hate to point this out but justice is a bitch."


"Sir, the peacemaking process has really just begun. When my country, Italy, America and several others leave this beautiful continent it will only have just begun. But myself and every Minister of the countries who form the ICW are fully committed to returning these battle torn countries to their former splendor," Blaise remarked, as delegates from several countries nodded in agreement as they stood lined up on either side of him.

"Minister," called the editor of the Daily Prophet, to catch his attention, "have formal charges been brought against Pedro Hernandez, Miguel Peron, and Ferdinand Leon?"

Blaise nodded, as his left hand began clutching the side of the podium and his eyes caught a glimpse of Hermione standing in the back observing the conference. "As I arrived I received an Owl saying that more than 15 formal charges have been brought against the three men making them more than just a crutch for Santiago's case, it makes them defendants along with him."

"Sir," called sandy-haired reported from Venezuela's top newspaper, "our Minister of Magic, Diego Santos, has been very appreciative of your presence and helping hand in this horrific situation but he has made it no secret he is more than ready to see you leave and to have his country -- and region -- to return to its normal state. Is there a time frame for your stay in this region?"

"There has been no time frame made for our stay here but we will be exiting as soon as it is safe and possible for us to do so," Blaise replied, quickly and honestly. The reporter was quite right about her Minister, Santos was a cooperative opponent of Santiago, and his ideals, but he was still a very vocal advocate of the ICW's quick removal from his country, which Blaise respected.

Blaise glanced around the crowd of eager reporters who were all calling for his attention at once as he saw an old Hogwarts classmate, Tracey Davis, and quickly allowed her question to be heard. "Yes, Miss Davis."

"A personal question, if you don't mind," Tracey began, as she sent Blaise a fond smile, they shared a huge bond because they were two of the few Slytherins who survived the Great War, "has the political situation here affected your engagement to Miss Victoria Carrington?"

"Miss Davis, I understand your Witch Weekly readers want to know the scoop on my relationship but for the sake of both my, as well as Miss Carrington's, privacy I will not address that. But the situation here has left me looking at my own personal life at little differently," Blaise remarked, respectively, although most in his camp knew that there was not much love left between the two, if there ever was any.

"Zir," began a Bulgarian reporter, with a thick accent, "is zee Miz Carrington still a staple in your political career?"

"She is," Blaise replied, gently, the lie not shocking anyone who knew the truth, lies are what politicians were trained at communicating, "she has been there from day one and I owe her, a lot."

"Do you think she'll make an excellent wife to the Minister of Magic of Britain?" yelled Tracey Davis before anyone else could send out a clear question.

Blaise cut his eyes at her, not much but enough for her to notice and gave a slight chuckle before replying, he knew she was trying to pry, "I think she'd make an excellent wife to any man. Next question!"

"How much do you think this Genocide will affect our countries overall?" asked a loud, boisterous, Colombian man from the very back of the crowd.

"I think," Blaise began, pausing for moment as if in deep thought, "that this Genocide will affect your country economic -- and possibly socially -- for years to come. This incident opened a Pandora's Box of issues that have been swept under the rug for years and now, because of this incident, it is up to each and every citizen of every country in this region to make it his or her goal to over come these deep-seated prejudices. This will only affect your livelihood as much as you will let it."

"Minister Zabini," called a very pretty Greek reporter, "do you think that imprisoning these men will take away their power come forty or fifty years if their sentence isn't severe enough?"

"I believe, with the charges lining up beside them, that all of their sentences will be severe enough to have them in Azkaban, or any maximum security military prison,for life . . . or even executed. You see, power is when you have every justification to kill, and they don't, so they have no power and the Supreme Mugwump will see to it that justice is served. Next question please," he replied solemnly, his countenance giving Hermione a vision of him in his father's skin thirty years from now, his eyes would still hold all of his power.

Hermione watched from the very seat she occupied when she had attended the last media conference in Brazil. Yet this time she watched with the knowledge that the very man she compared to him every moment they spent together was waiting for her return to her room. As she watched him charm the crowd with every chuckle and solemn look he sent a reporter she found herself longing to touch him, be near him, to just experience him again. And while she sat Ginny's words bombarded her, he used to make her happy, when did that end? Did March 14, 2005, really change the way she felt about Blaise? Did one moment three years before really justify her feelings about him today? But watching him as he did what made him happy made her remember the days that she had once refused to even reminisce upon a few months ago, the days when nothing was as confusing as the emotions that she was experiencing today.

"Do you think that your predecessor is accountable for ignoring the chaos that was erupting in this part of the world?" called a reporter from London's Diagon Daily.

"Honestly," Blaise began, noticing for the first time to the brown eyes intent on him, "I believe if he had taken more of a decisive stance on aiding in the original transition of power Santiago could have been stopped before he turned 45 of the population of this region into refugees. It is up to the Supreme Mugwump and his judgment of the evidence, and facts, if one could indict my predecessor."

"After looking through history books -- Muggle and Wizard -- one could say that Genocide is not an uncommon crime but many Governments and private citizens have applauded you in your attempts to quickly end this murderous rampage. But is it true that Mugwump Balfour made you the poster boy of this crusade because you were the only head of Government to take any interest in the Brazilian election? And if so why didn't you realize that everyone else in the world was avoiding this man for a reason?" asked a Canadian reporter who stood taller than have the mob of reporters before him, his eyes gleaming, proud of the potentially damaging question he'd just posed.

"Mugwump Balfour made me the head of this operation because I did take interest in the Brazilian election but if I hadn't Santiago would have been successful in killing off anyone he wanted to. So whether my initial interest is right or wrong is beside the point at this moment," Blaise replied quickly and without fear, setting his jaw in a way that told the crowd that he wasn't hesitant to answer any question, damaging or not.

"Last question please," called out the Press Secretary for the International Confederation of Wizards, which caused the crowd to scramble to be the lucky one to hand the question of this Historic Media conference.

"Can you give a few acts under which Santiago, Leon, Peron, and Hernandez will be prosecuted?" asked a petite Asian woman who stood near the center of the crowd, her loud voice and American accent taking precedent over every other reporter speaking.

Blaise smirked, as he nodded, it was always the American's who wanted to the most detail, they could never just be content with victory. "Genocide itself, conspiracy to commit genocide, direct and public incitement to commit genocide, attempt to commit genocide, complicity in genocide and anything else that has been proven to be systematic destruction of these people's way of life. Those are just a few that I can think off of the top of my head, my Minister of Justice, Adrian Pucey, has assured me that there are dozens more."


"I see the infamous Ian Knight has arrived to whisk you away from this horrid place," Blaise remarked softly, as he made his presence known to the brunette who stood in the beautiful Peruvian sands looking out into the sea.

"He's been here since the ninth," Hermione replied, bending over to take off her shoes and sit on the warm sand.

Blaise followed suit, except he kept his shoes on as he sat beside her, saying, "You don't sound very excited about it."

"Our two year anniversary is a month away and he thinks we have something to celebrate, I beg to differ," she remarked softly, as she folded her arms on her knees and laid her chin on her arm.

"Well," he sighed, looking away from her, "making it for twenty-four months is something to celebrate, at least you and he have something to celebrate. I think I'll be celebrating this victory by breaking my engagement."

"Honestly?" Hermione questioned, as she turned her gaze to the handsome Italian who had failed to leave her thoughts for even a second in the past few weeks.

"Honestly," Blaise nodded, he bit his lip for a moment before he continued, "marriage is sacred to me and I don't know what made me think I could marry a woman that I've never loved."

"Sometimes things don't work out, they take their place in your heart and make you a little stronger the next time," she replied softly, her voice barely loud enough for him to distinguish over the loud sway of the waves, "we should know, huh."

"Things should've worked out," he said quickly, catching her eyes for the first time since he had followed her outside, "because obviously we just closed the door without ever moving our stuff out."

"Blaise," Hermione sighed, as she reached over to run some sand through her fingers nervously, "there are some things that are nothing more than what they are, they're not meant to last and maybe we were meant to leave our stuff there . . .forgotten."

"Who are you talking about? You and me or Victoria and me?" Blaise asked, raising his eyebrow.

"Blaise don't make this difficult," she groaned, looking away from his inquiring glance.

"I couldn't make what we feel difficult if I tried," he replied, inhaling and exhaling slowly before he chose to speak again, "you know there is something I should've said long ago."

"What?" Hermione asked, slowly, almost scared to hear what Blaise could be beginning.

"I'm sorry, simply, honestly, apologetic for what happened. I really am sorry, Hermione," Blaise said, looking over at her just in time to see her shoulders slump in emotion.

Hermione sniffed silently, taking a moment to find her voice before speaking, "What was it? Were you bored?"

"No," he whispered, shaking head as he began to avoid her sorrowful eyes, "I just became consumed with the quest for power and Victoria aided power in seducing me, I was never bored with you and she knew it."

"Somehow I've known that all these years," she remarked, an ironic smirk playing upon her lips.

Blaise reached out to take her hand, before saying, "Hermione, my heart is and will always be yours. Everything I do, and have done, I did it for you. Anything that might be special in me, is you, Hermione, always have been and always will be."

"How can you say that? It wasn't about me three years ago," she snapped, as she yanked her hand from his grasp.

"No," he admitted, "but everything since that day has been. I knew if I could succeed you'd know my worth and realize that what I did was just to get me what you and I both wanted so badly."

"So breaking my heart was the only way to succeed? Blaise, I think not," Hermione replied, struggling to keep her voice calm and collected.

"I'm not saying that but I am saying that I wanted to succeed so bad because of you. And there is not a moment in my life that I regret more than that one," Blaise replied, honestly, sighing as the salty air began to blow against his skin.

Suddenly Hermione rose and began to make her way back toward the hotel, saying, her voice full of tears, "I'm glad you've come clean, I hope you feel better."

Blaise jumped up, a frown covering his face, calling, "It's not like that! Hermione, don't walk away from me, please!"

"Blaise, you taught me how," she replied, as she stopped in her tracks to turn and glare at him.

"I know," he whispered, as he slowly began to approach her, "and I just want to find a way to tell you that when I gave my heart to you ten years ago I never got it back."

"What do you want from me?" Hermione asked, as a solemn tear began to make its way down her face.

"I don't want anything from you," Blaise answered huskily, as he reached out to place his hands on her arms, "I just want you."

"Blaise, people fall in love all the time and they fall right back out, we just need to move on with our lives," she whispered, as the feel of his hands on her skin gave her chills.

"Tell me you don't love me," he demanded, as he pulled her closer and looked down into her eyes that were begging for him to just leave it alone. "Tell me you don't."

"Love is about what you do, not the words you say," Hermione argued, struggling to keep her composure when she was so close to the one man that she had loved for so long.

"Not with us, Hermione, and you know it. We are human and sometimes we don't do the right thing and words are the only way we can make up for it," he replied, determined to make her understand that it wasn't it over.

She pushed away from him, looking into his eyes once more before saying, "I don't want to ever forget what we shared and I am not bitter because of what happened, I promise. I know what we felt was real and I'm so thankful that what we had lasted for as long as it did but now we must move on. Blaise, I'll love you until the day I leave this earth but its time to just go on, work together and every now and then stop to remember our past because there is no way we can revive it."

"You can't revive something that never died," Blaise replied as he took three large steps toward her and pulled her into his arms and touched his lips to hers for the first time in three years. As he touched her lips for the first time in years he felt such urgency that he couldn't stop himself, his hands found a place on her shapely hips as she slowly responded to his touch. Sparks flew between them as Hermione hesitantly traced his bottom lip with her tongue, she could feel the electricity and she knew right then that the passion never died.


"He's really in love with you," came a soft, feminine, voice behind Hermione as she made her way up to her room.

Hermione turned quickly to be confronted with the clear blue eyes of the woman whom she had once fantasized about murdering, the woman who ruined everything that she had ever wanted in one selfish moment. Her eyes narrowed as she snarled, "I didn't think Vultures knew what love was."

Victoria sighed, blinking her eyes rapidly as she nodded her head, understanding Hermione's anger, replying, "I deserve that, I know I do but I speak the truth, Blaise really does love you."

"How long did it take you to realize that?" Hermione asked, stone faced as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"I had doubts when I slept with him for the first time," she answered, looking over at the Greek hand-woven carpet as she spoke, "but I realized it when I figured out that he had you on a pedestal and I was just in his arms."

Hermione sighed loudly, rolling her eyes, deciding that holding a grudge wasn't going to hurt Victoria anymore than loving a man that never loved her. "I'm sorry, I don't feel sorry for you but I am sorry. I'm sorry that you thought that sex could make a man love you, it's a lesson many find hard to learn, and I'm sorry you had to learn it this way."

"I'll always love him," Victoria whispered, brushing a strand of her silky blond hair behind her ear, "he knows that."

"Love someone else, Victoria, it'll end a lot nicer," Hermione countered, as she turned to began her long walk up the stairs.

"Hermione," Victoria called, moving a little closer to the brunette, "I just wanted to apologize for any pain I've caused you."

"When did you grow a heart, Victoria? When you realized that you'd lost a battle that you had been fighting alone for the better part of three years?" Hermione asked, her voice full of venom and her eyes full of fire. She genuinelydisliked this woman, from the very moment she witnessed her atop her fiancÉ in her own bed Hermione had hated her with such passion that it was almost tangible.

"I understand that you may never like me I just wanted to apologize," Victoria continued, quickly looking away from the one woman she had felt herself in competition with for years.

"You know," Hermione began, her eyebrows furrowed and the venom gone from her tone, "I don't know how you live with yourself because if someone doesn't believe in me I can't believe in them. Victoria, value yourself more than any title and I promise you'll find more love than you could ever imagine having at one time."

Victoria nodded, understanding completely, her blue eyes lined with unshed tears. She looked up at the older woman with a bit of wonder in her eyes, she had been so intent on getting that title that she had forgotten what was important in marriage, love. "When you sleep with someone, your body makes a connection, whether you do or not. And so I thought that maybe that connection could evolve into something else, something more, something deeper . . . but it never did. I just wanted so badly for him to love me that I forgot I was important too."

"I love him, Victoria, I do but I also love someone else. Now I have to figure out which love is the right love and I'm afraid it might take forever. Victoria, move on and find a man who loves you and only you. Every woman deserves that," Hermione replied solemnly, sending her a sad smile and making her way up the winding stairs.

"Hermione," Victoria called, her Texan accent soft and elegant as she barely raised her voice, just as Hermione began to reach the curve of the steps.

"Yea?" Hermione answered, as she halted and looked back at the blond woman who was dressed in the very color of her eyes and had no idea how beautiful she looked.

"You can say I love you all day long and it will never been the same as actually being in love with someone, love is just a word," Victoria advised wisely as Hermione nodded and once again began her ascent up the stairs.