Blaise woke before Hermione, easing out of bed, he padded naked into the loo. He took care of his morning ablutions, using an unopened toothbrush that he found in a cup by the sink.
He stood in the doorway looking at Hermione sleep. Merlin, she was beautiful. He couldn't believe that after everything that she loved him. That she wanted to marry him.
He wanted to marry her as soon as possible. Now that he had her, he saw no reason to wait. He wanted to spend as much time with her as he could.
Walking to the living room, he cast both cleaning and drying spells on his clothes, grimacing at the stiffness of the fabric. He didn't have time to try to figure out the Muggle washing machines. He had a few errands to run before Hermione woke.
Hermione woke to a warm sugar smell. Blaise, in his boxers, was bringing her breakfast in bed.
Hermione stretched sitting and pulling just the sheet up over her. "Mmmm, you didn't have to do this, but thank you," she said. There were Belgian waffles with strawberries and whipped cream with a side of bacon. A glass of orange juice and a cup of coffee sat beside the plate. A slim, clear vase held a few jasmine flowers.
Hermione reached for a piece of bacon, gasping when a twinkle caught her eye. On her left ring finger was a large Burma star sapphire set in a gold setting.
"Oh Merlin, Blaise. It's beautiful," she said turning, her hand to watch the ring catch the light.
"That isn't all," Blaise said, setting the tray on the bed. "Blow your breath across it."
Hermione brought the ring near her lips and blew. The ring glowed with a muted blue light before an entwined B and H appeared within the stone, vivid for a moment, before fading.
"The sapphire and gold reminded me of that night, and I know blue is your favorite color, so...I thought that you would like it. I know it's a little unusual. We can get it exchanged if you want something different," He hastened to add.
"No! I love it," she said quickly.
"How did you find the time to get all of this together," Hermione said, turning to place a kiss on his lips.
"Well, I wanted to cook breakfast for you, but I don't know how to work the stove. So I went out for breakfast," he said with a laugh. "And I wanted you to have a ring right away. Sometimes money can make everything easier."
He grasped the hand that wore his ring and kissed it, looking into her eyes. "I want to marry you as soon as possible. Today, if you will have me."
Hermione's mind reeled. "Um...Okay," she said smiling. "But we have to have another ceremony later for my parents and friends. Not to mention the fact that you are still technically engaged."
Blaise scoffed. "No, I'm not. She just doesn't know it yet," he said watching Hermione eat. "She's at home right now. She'll be pissed because I'm skipping the rehearsal dinner. I'm going to call Ophelia and make her break the news. It will give us time to implement your plan, which is?"
Hermione outlined her plan to him while finishing her breakfast ending with, "But first I want to marry you. It's going to make the plan that much sweeter."
"You're brilliant, baby," Blaise said kissing her before asking, "Do you mind if I use your mirror?"
"Sure, just let me remove my name from it. You wouldn't want to spoil the surprise, now would you?" Hermione said with a laugh.
The conversation with his mother was less than ideal, but Blaise carried on lying. "The trip was unavoidable. There are some details that required my presence."
Ophelia frowned. "You are going to miss the rehearsal dinner. What am I going to tell everyone? Do you realize how this is going to make me look?"
"Do you really care, mother?" Blaise asked, irritated. "It doesn't matter. I will be at there for the wedding," he said, silently adding, I'm just not going through with the ceremony.
"I guess I shall have to be satisfied with that, but you are on thin ice. If you get one toe out of line, I'll ruin you," Ophelia said, the mirror blanking before Blaise could say another word.
Hermione sitting to his side said, "Blaise, your mother is horrible. I'm sorry, but I have to say it," she said pushing his inky curls back and kissing him by the ear. "I'm so sorry that you had to grow up around that awful woman."
Blaise shrugged, pushing away anxiety. "Don't even think about her. Just think about us, and the fact that I want to marry you as soon as possible. I don't want us to ever be apart again."
Hermione hugged him to her, their foreheads resting together. "You realize that this is crazy right? This is probably the most spontaneous thing I'll ever do."
One of his brows raised, a smirk gracing his lips. "Hmmm, I seem to remember you being very spontaneous last Christmas hols."
Hermione rolled her eyes, giggling. "Besides that. What? Can I help it that I have a dead sexy fiancé?"
Blaise loved the sound of the word fiancé coming out of Hermione's mouth in relation to him. He relaxed on the couch, pulling her to his side, her head resting in the crook of his neck.
"Do you have any ideas for the ceremony?" he asked.
"Well, if you don't mind, I'd like to have a combination Muggle and Wizard wedding. I know that it won't be the most traditional wedding ever, but there are some things that I've always wanted since I was a little girl."
"We can have whatever kind of wedding you want, as long as by the end of the night I get to call you my wife," Blaise said, kissing the top of her head. "What about witnesses?" he asked after a moment.
"I guess I could call April and Frank. You'll like them they...Oh Merlin! I need to call April. She is probably going insane not knowing what happened to me!" Hermione grabbed her mirror from the table, flipping the compact open, rubbing her thumb across the surface and speaking April's name.
April's face appeared in less than a second. "Hermione Granger! Where the hell are you? Do you know how crazy Frank and I have been going? Not to mention Rand! You better start giving me some answers!"
Hermione cringed. "Well...I...I met up with someone that I haven't seen in a while and we got to talking," she said, elbowing Blaise as he snickered off to the side.
"Sure, we were talking," she heard him mumble under his breath, chuckling.
"What?! Why didn't you just invite him in? No, you had to run out into a bloody downpour! Anything could have happened to you! I thought maybe some leftover Voldemort sympathizers had gotten you! Frank barely kept me from notifying the authorities."
"I'm sorry, look, I was wondering if you would do me a favor...Can you and Frank be my witnesses? I'm getting married," Hermione said holding the engagement ring up for April to see.
"Oh my gosh! I think I'm going to have a heart attack. Frank and I are coming over right now! Don't you dare leave!"
Charles Martin rolled his shoulders, his muscles tired. Sitting back in his chair wearily, he contemplated his day. He had spent the last six hours guiding Tike, a first time dam, through a difficult foaling. The foal's head had been at a problematic angle, and readjusting the foal and calming the dam had added to an already stressful day. He hadn't wanted to use magic; he still trusted the old methods and only used his wand as a last resort. It made him a valuable veterinarian in his field.
Charles didn't mind his work, in fact, he loved it. Coming to work at the chateau had been a dream come true, and an opportunity that he hadn't been able to pass up. Meeting Jacqueline had been the icing on top of his cake; at least, at first.
Jacqueline was engaged to another man, and while she kept telling him that she was going to end it, Charles saw nothing to attest to that. He was getting tired of being led on, but he loved Jacqueline. He knew that it was pathetic, but he kept hoping that she would choose him. That, and the fact that she was all too willing to seduce him into submission, had made him hold on to hope.
He leaned forward, massaging his temples, thinking, and was startled when the woman, who was in his thoughts, burst into his office.
"Charles, darling, I missed you so today, you won't believe the day I've 'ad, it 'as been so stressful!" The blonde witch said, sitting on the edge of his desk. Most of the employees had gone for the day, of course. Jacqueline never did visit during normal business hours; she knew that the stragglers leftover valued their jobs too much to interfere with her actions.
Charles pushed a hand in his hair, trying to push back the bone straight, silky strands. It was time for a haircut, he thought in irritation. "I hope that involved breaking off your engagement," he said.
Jacqueline blinked then seemed to rally. She walked over to Charles, swinging a leg over his hip and straddling him in the office chair. "Oh, Mon cher, soon. It just isn't the right time," she said softly. She didn't tell him that she had absolutely no intention of ending the engagement. Men had had mistresses for centuries. Why shouldn't she have her cake and eat it too? It served Blaise right anyway, she thought. The man had been MIA for over a day. Their rehearsal dinner was tomorrow, and Ophelia had called to say that Blaise wouldn't be able to make it. He hadn't even had the decency to call himself! Jacqueline ignored the fact that she had been acting with everything but decency for the past few months.
"Just give me a little more time," she said, kissing his lips, nibbling a little.
Charles was annoyed. He grasped her hips, lifting her away from him and setting her on the desk. "I'm tired of this. I don't want to give you more time. It's now or never. You break it off with him or we are over," he said angrily.
Jacqueline was shocked. She had never thought that he would give her an ultimatum. "Over? You can't mean that. Oh, Mon Cher, just relax and let me love you. You will forget about this business soon enough."
It pained Charles that he wasn't surprised at her answer. Deep down he had knew that it was going to end this way, but he had hoped for more. "No, Jacqueline. I deserve more than this. I deserve more than you just using me for you ready piece of cock. You said that you loved me. Obviously, it was a lie. I meant it when I said that I loved you, but I won't let you use me like this anymore."
"What! You can't leave me," Jacqueline refused to listen. "I could 'ave your job for this! Do you realize the opportunity that you 'ave 'ere? You will never find a place as nice. You will never 'ave another woman like me!"
Charles flinched. The truth had slammed him in the face, and he was ashamed. Ashamed that he had let this go on so far, that his weakness had allowed it. In his defense, he had done it out of love. Love that had only ever been real to him apparently.
"That is fine. I will offer my resignation to your father as soon as possible. As for you, I pity you. You don't know what we could have had. I still love you, and because of that, I won't tell your fiancé, but that is all you will get from me. Call it a parting gift of sorts," Charles said sadly.
Jacqueline jumped down from the desk, chest heaving in anger. "Fine," she said eyes narrowed, hands on her hips. "You think that matters? You think I would 'ave ever settled down with a poor veterinarian? Blaise 'as mansions, money, poise, and class. Things that you will never 'ave. 'E is going to marry me and we will live 'appily ever after and I will never want for anything, instead of living with you as a pauper." With that, she turned from the room.
Charles stood motionless in the doorway, watching her walk away. He ignored the looks of pity that the vet techs gave him.