Guess who's deciding on changing her major for the second time in a year? Meeee. So much paperwork, ugh. Please excuse any odd bits in this chapter, as I've had a permanent headache for three days and am suffering.
Enjoy the chapter!
Blaise was scared of McGonagall.
He was never ashamed to admit it, because most of the Slytherin house shared his fear. It was nothing like the cold, dry fear of Snape, which honestly they'd gotten used to over the years. There was only so much glowering and mean comments you could take before they started to lose their edge.
No, he was scared of McGonagall because she was so different from Snape. Sure, they both had their stern side (or, for Snape's case, his only side), but on their bad days they differed. Snape growled, sneered and brooded. McGonagall exploded in the quiet, angry, dangerous ways that left that fear curdling in your blood for ages to come. And he'd only ever seen that from a distance. He could only imagine the horror of having it directed at himself.
But Hermione hugged her tightly, complimented her on something in her office, and primly sat down before her desk and left Blaise to flounder about all on his own.
The woman, however, took pity on him, and offered her hand out, "Mister Zabini, it's lovely to see you again."
He relaxed and gave her a shaky grin as he shook her hand, "Th-thank you, Prof – err – Headmaster. Mistress?" His eyes widened at the mistakes, lips thinning into a worried line.
Her lips turned upwards ever so slightly. "McGonagall is fine. Minerva if you're feeling up to it."
"Oh, no, never, ma'am," he gave a shaky laugh before wobbling down to the seat next to Hermione, where she stifled her giggles and shared a quick grin with her former Head of House.
"Now," McGonagall sat down beyond the desk, steepling her hands and glancing between the two, "Let's get straight to business, shall we?" She tapped her wand against a piece of parchment, duplicating it, and offered the duplicate to him and Hermione to look over. "We typically use the Great Hall during winter break, as I'm sure you both know, but we've already determined that not that many students will remain, so dinner can be held in the Common Rooms for that night." Her lips pressed together, as she probably didn't like that idea.
"Oh, no, we wouldn't mind students joining us," Blaise said, Hermione nodding along.
"It would save extra trouble for the house elves, who we're already putting enough on, and it would be fun for the students," Hermione smiled sweetly, "Like another Yule Ball, but more boring."
McGonagall nodded, revising the paper on her end and having the changes made to their copy. "The house elves would be happy to decorate, but I wanted to check with you to see what you wanted."
"We can decorate," Hermione stated, McGonagall nodding and revising again.
"Or make Draco do it," Blaise hummed thoughtfully, grinning, "That would be a wonderful sight, him covered in ribbons and bows…do you think I could give Astoria some ideas for his wardrobe?"
McGonagall's lips twitched as Hermione laughed. "Do you have any requests for the dinner?"
"Actually," Hermione spoke up before Blaise could, "Blaise's grandmother makes wonderful meals, and we've already discussed with her about giving some recipes to the house elves, and we were wondering if that's something they would be comfortable with."
"Of course, they love learning new recipes," McGonagall nodded, "You can send copies of them to me, or have her owl me directly, and I'll see to it myself."
"And we were actually hoping that the orchestra and choir here would mind providing the music," Blaise suggested, seeing the next thing on the list.
"If you can get a list of songs to Filius, they would be happy to," she gave that weird slight smile again. "Now, who's to be officiating?"
Hermione beamed and scooted forward in her chair, "Actually, Professor, we were wondering if you would mind officiating for us?"
McGonagall looked up from her parchment and stared at Hermione, "Beg pardon?"
"Will you officiate at my wedding?" she repeated.
McGonagall blinked, looking to Blaise to see him smiling at the exchange, before she flustered and tried her hardest not to smile, "Of course, I'd be happy to. Thank you." She scribbled on the parchment, head bent further than necessary, and gave a big sniff. "Well, that seems to be everything necessary for the time being. If anything comes up, we can easily correspond."
"Professor, are you crying?" Hermione teased gently.
"I am not, Miss Granger," she snapped with a glare, eyes red and shiny. "I just…some ash, from Fawkes, has gotten into my eye."
"I'm glad you agreed, you know," Hermione continued on, "You always were my favorite professor, and you know that."
"Miss Granger – " her glare intensified.
"Actually, and this is something I haven't discussed with Blaise yet, but would you be terribly offended if I declared you godmother of my children?"
"Get out," she huffed, the tears finally slipping down, "I mean it, Hermione, get out. How dare you make an old woman cry? Honestly, you have some nerve."
"You're not old, perish the thought," Hermione insisted with a scoff, coming around the desk and hugging her. "And surely you knew I would do this sooner or later. After all, being your favorite student, I think it should be known that you're my favorite teacher."
"I never should have told you that," she murmured behind Hermione's mountain of hair. "That was the whole reason we stopped those get-togethers and you know it."
"Of course," Hermione chuckled as she pulled away, "Both of us working full-time had nothing to do with it."
"Of course not," she sniffed again, this time a mischievous smile in place. "Of course, if you ever have time for a drink again, we could always discuss how your relationship is going."
Hermione flushed and sent her a quick glare as Blaise chuckled. They bid the woman goodbye, promised to meet up again soon, and departed as quickly as politely possible. Once they had reached Hermione's flat and she was bustling about with dinner and Crookshanks was perched awkwardly on top of Blaise's shoulders for some ungodly reason that only the cat knew, he finally began to laugh.
"You drank with your former professor? For fun?" he teased before wooden cooking utensils were flung in his immediate area, Crookshanks hissing and hopping off as Blaise dodged them all, thus disrupting his perch.
"She's a wonderful role model!" she defended with a huff, the pout on her lips deciding that the conversation was therefore over.
"Did you really mean it about wanting her as godmother?" he asked, perched on top of her counter and handing her various spices.
"Yes, actually," she shrugged, eyes trained on her food, "McGonagall has always been someone I looked up to. After the war, I wasn't really the best at coping, and she noticed and sought me out and we just…talked. For hours and hours, about things that were related to the war and then things that weren't. If…if you'd rather, you know, we not – "
"Oh please, our kids are probably going to be Slytherins, they need all the help they can get from her," Blaise scoffed, fiddling with a spatula.
"Excuse me? Our children shall be Gryffindors, I'll have you know," she snorted with a twinkle in her eye. He grinned, glad to see her better from their conversation over lunch, and simply glad to see that she was comfortable with talking to him about this.
"Hardly," he clicked his tongue with a grin, "I've had hundreds of Slytherins in my family, darling, it's practically genetic."
"Well, darling," she crooned, "You're about to be married to me, a Gryffindor, which will then make us family, which will then skew your odds."
"A hundred Slytherins to one Gryffindor, what horrible odds," he grinned, "For you."
There was a knock at the door and Hermione laughed, wiping her hands off on a towel to go answer it, "Watch, we'll have a bunch of sly, reckless Ravenclaws and then nobody will win."
He chuckled and nodded, already set to picture the little brood they'd have, when she opened the door and blinked at the man, scraggly and tall and lanky and with most of his face hidden by a beard.
"I'm sorry, sir, can I help you?" she asked as Blaise hopped off the counter and approached her.
The man grinned back, nodding, and lit up when he saw Blaise. "Ahh! The man of the hour!" He took his hand and started shaking, his tattered robes bouncing as he shook with his whole body, "I can't believe it, just can't believe it! So happy for you! Incredibly proud, I am!"
"Err, who are you?" he asked, ripping his hand away from the man and gripping Hermione to drag her bodily behind him.
The man blinked, looking at him curiously, "Blaise! It's me!"
He simply stared harder.
"Oh, is it the beard?" he questioned, waving his hand vaguely around his face. "Or is it the tea?"
"Tea?" Hermione questioned quietly, before Blaise shushed her gently.
"Oh, yes, where I was – small little place in the Himalayas, mind – there was this magical tribe that brewed this tea to hide a person's magical signature," he nodded soundly, "It's why I've been easily hidden over the years, yup. But, somehow, an owl still found me! Tricky little buggers, aren't they? Anyway, I heard you were marrying the one and only Hermione Granger, and knew I just had to come and say congratulations! Also, to be in town for the wedding, it didn't say when it was, I'm afraid, so I came now to be safe rather than sorry."
"I'm sorry – what?" he looked to Hermione as she blinked back at him, a look of feigned innocence perched upon her face. "What owl?"
"I, um, owled somebody and said that we were getting married, and that you wanted to catch up with them," she winced, tapping her fingertips against his shoulder and grinning sheepishly at him, "I just…didn't think he'd show up like this."
"Who?" Blaise asked warily.
"Blaise, it's me! Theo!" the man crowed happily, making Blaise stared him down and gape. Mentally shaving and giving him a trim, and situating him in nicer robes, the realization came crashing down on him.
"Oh my Merlin, Theo, you look…" he trailed off before gripping his friend's shoulders and wincing, "You look like shit, mate."
"Hah! I could say the same about you," he grinned back, the two hugging each other and gruffly slapping the other's back. "Good to see you though. Missed you like crazy, I did."
"Apparently missing someone like crazy has some side effects, I see," he murmured, mostly to himself, but Hermione pinched his elbow when she heard.
Theo, apparently, heard too, "Oh, actually, I'm a bit drunk."
"Drunk?" Hermione's eyebrows shot up to her hairline and her lips pursed.
Theo nodded, "It's the tea. More of a cocktail, really, but they said it would help with my nightmares and hide my magical signature."
"Why would you want to hide your magical signature?" Hermione questioned.
Theo's gaze turned stormy, and he gazed down at Crookshanks as he brushed up against Blaise's leg, before he popped up and grinned back at Blaise, "No use talking about dear ol' dad, hmm? Say, uh, mind if I borrow a razor?"
"Sure, come with me to my flat, we'll get you cleaned up for dinner," Blaise gripped his shoulder, sharing a quick nod with Hermione, "Hermione's flat is a bit too small, so we can just have it there, okay?"
"Alrighty," Theo nodded back, "I hope I'm not imposing."
"No, Theo, it's…" he faltered and shot a grateful smile to Hermione, "It's really great to see you." She smiled back, nodding as he escorted Theo to his flat, watching over him as he carefully shaved in the bathroom mirror.
"So how did you meet up with Hermione?" Theo asked casually, regarding his reflection. "Last I heard, you were illegally engaged to Daphne Greengrass."
"It's a…long, slightly illegal story," Blaise sighed, leaning against the doorway.
"Oh, well, those are always the best kind," he gave him a grin.
"Theo," Blaise called out before he even knew what to say, "I'm…sorry, that I haven't…been there to help you out."
"Psht," he waved it away, "Everyone deals with things differently. Truth be told, I don't think I would've accepted your help back then."
"Will you accept it now?" he asked, chewing on his lip and furrowing his brow.
Theo paused, half of his face shaved, regarding his face in the mirror and touching the smoothed portion. "Yeah, I think I will," he nodded, "Getting that letter that you were getting married…I realized that I missed out too much on my best friend's life, and that's not fair. To either of us, I think."
Blaise nodded, smiling, "You didn't miss much, I'm afraid."
"Just you getting thrown into an Unbreakable Vow with the girl you fancied in Hogwarts." At Blaise's wide-eyed stare, Theo grinned, "I stopped by Draco's first, that's how I knew you were at Hermione's. He's a blabber-mouth."
With Theo freshly shaved and trimmed and in one of Blaise's shirts and pants – which were far too big on him, given that he hadn't been eating properly in ages – they sat down and ate with Hermione once dinner was finished and brought over.
"How were the Himalayas, Theo?" Hermione questioned, not even blinking twice as he faltered from picking up the rice with his hand.
"Erm, good," he said, wiping the flecks off on a napkin, "Sorry, I…forgot. We use forks here."
"It's alright, no harm," she shrugged, smiling sweetly. "Loads of different regions use their hands for certain meals. If you'd rather not use a fork, I don't mind."
"No, I'm good," he reassured, "And they were incredibly interesting! I mean, I'm a bit tired of yaks, but other than that I learned far more about different cultures than I ever would have here. Sure, it took me loads of time to even communicate with anybody there, but it really was a great experience."
"That sounds really interesting, mate, what else did you do there?" Blaise asked.
Theo paused, lengthily, and Blaise checked over him to make sure he was okay. "Uhm, to be honest, I don't quite remember." At Blaise's wary look, he grinned sheepishly, "The tea drinking started quite early, I'm afraid."
"Then how do you know about the culture?" he questioned with a grin.
"Oh, that would be the five or six times I was completely sober," he smiled, before looking to Hermione gently, "I am sobering up, International Portkey will do that to you, I promise I'm not always this…" he waved his hand around vaguely before hearing her laugh.
"It's alright, Theo, I understand," she grinned, "I'm just glad we found you before we got married."
"I am too! I can't just let Draco be the best man unopposed," he teased, "His ego is big enough as it is."
She chuckled, resuming her dinner, and Blaise merely grinned at the two of them as they ate. His best friend had been found, his barminess had been acknowledged, and he was on the track to better living. He'd gotten over his fear of McGonagall after seeing her cry once she was told that she was to officiate and be the godmother, and lunch had gone well all around.
"Mate, the staring's a bit odd, and that's saying something coming from me," Theo observed, making Blaise snort and prod at him with his fork. "Ouch! Hermione, your dumb fiancé just abused me!"
"Blaise, don't abuse Theo," she chided, "Theo, don't give Blaise reason to abuse you."
Dinner was wrapped up and stored in Blaise's fridge, Hermione promising to talk to him later tomorrow to discuss more plans, although he was sad to see her go and not be wrapped up with her later in the evening. He and Theo stayed up and talked for a bit, waiting until Theo finally passed out on the couch, Blaise turning in at a late hour after running through the events of the day.
He awoke, however, with someone gruffly throwing a pillow at him.
"Wake the fuck up," Theo grumbled, rubbing at his eyes tiredly, "Go open the fridge and get me eggs."
"Good morning to you too, Theo," Blaise chuckled sleepily. "Did you sleep well?"
"Fuck off, I've got a three year hangover," he cursed. "Your fridge has a fucking mini-sun in it. I can't open it."
"Fried, scrambled or hard-boiled?" he asked as he stood and made his way to the kitchen, Theo shuffling along quietly.
"Whichever makes the least amount of noise," he answered before hissing as Blaise slammed the fridge shut. "You fucking bastard."
Blaise laughed quietly as he filled up a pot with water, dunking the eggs in and setting them on the stove, picking through other things to make with breakfast.
"I like her," Theo finally announced quietly, "She's good for you."
"I think so too," Blaise admitted.
"You love her?" It didn't really sound like a question.
"Yeah," he answered softly.
"I call dibs on godfather," he decided with a grin.
"Oh, good," Blaise stated nonchalantly, "We were wondering who to pick. We've already got the godmother picked out. I think you and Minerva will get along just fine."
"Minerva?" Theo echoed.
"McGonagall," he said with a wicked grin as Theo's face contorted into fear. "What, you don't want to do it now, mate?"
Theo was silent, glaring at him for as long as it took the eggs to cook, "I would tread hail and high water to be godfather."
"Nice to hear," he smiled back genuinely. "I'll pass it along to Hermione. Now eat your eggs while I brave the mini-sun and find something more to eat."
Crookshanks tread on Hermione's shoulder, making her groan and start to swat him away lazily. How dare she treat him like that? He was just being a good kitty and bringing her the letter that Blaise had gone through all the trouble to write, hop in the Floo, and set on the coffee table where she could see it before leaving again. He just wanted to go the extra mile. However, it seemed that his mistress could not see how helpful he was. Perhaps it was all the hair covering her face. Yes, that must have been it. Honestly, it was a wonder that she hadn't suffocated on all of it yet. He'd tried to groom her unsuccessfully several times throughout their years together, and each time he'd given up after the first strand.
"Crooks, no," Hermione groaned as he began to burrow under her hair and her arm, letter in mouth. "Saturday. Sat-ur-day. I don't work. Let me sleep in."
He poked her in the side of the nose with the letter, and she huffed before snatching it away and sitting up, rubbing at her eyes and unfolding it to peer blearily at it. Seeing this as a good opportunity for a nap now that his job was done, he crept into her lap and began kneading again to get it nice and comfy.
Hermione,
I just wanted to say thank you for everything that you did and do for me. I'm forever grateful to you for your warm, compassionate and caring nature, and look forward to how I'll make it up to you in these coming years.
I'm lucky to have you in my life, let alone have the privilege to marry you.
Yours truly,
Blaise
PS – Would you like to meet me for dinner tonight? I find it atrocious that as fiances, we've never been on a proper date. Let me know what time you're available?
Crookshanks blinked and stared up at Hermione as she emitted a tiny squeal and flew back into her mattress, jostling him as she spread her fingers over her red face and pressed another hand to her heart. He sat up, ears flattened to his head, and steadied her with a glare as she re-read the letter. Noticing that she'd disrupt her cat, she began scratching behind his ear and got him purring, that silly smile still on her face.
I'm really trying to avoid writing from Hermione's perspective, as I always seem to do that. It's so much fun writing from Blaise's, but as I keep writing I'm aware that at certain parts I'll have to switch narrators. But I'm going to try to keep it from going to Hermione as long as I can, just to give me a different point of view to write from!
Thank you so much for reading, I'd love it if you'd review!
See you next chapter!