Truth Is

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"Truth Is"

 

Chapter 8

(A Week Later: Peru)

 

Ginny's letter had left Hermione with a multitude of thoughts none of which lead to a decent decision. It had been a week since Bolivia had held the conference with several South American dignitaries and it had been a week since anything substantial had been said on the Genocide. With those two facts pulling at her mind Hermione was left with not a moment of peace as everything seemed to be at a stagnant standstill. She ran her fingers through her thick hair as Ginny's words ran through her mind for what seemed to be the millionth time. Had she been happier? If so she couldn't remember for everything in her memory seemed to start with Ian but her heart knew that wasn't right because just the sight of Blaise sent it racing.

 

"I knew I'd find you here," came a soft, tenor, voice from the doorway of her room and she struggled to find a suitable expression as she turned to greet the voice.

 

"Ian," she whispered, her lips finally curling up in a smile as she rose to receive his embrace, "what a surprise."

 

Ian smiled down at her with a such a sweet expression that Hermione felt rather traitorous. "I knew it would be."

 

"What brings you here?" Hermione questioned, after he leaned in for a short kiss.

 

"Well, I was reading the Daily Prophet the other morning when I ran across an article about the situation over here and I just knew that you wouldn't be home for our anniversary. So I decided to come to you for a few days," he answered, pushing a stray piece of hair behind her ear.

 

She sighed softly, she had completely forgot about their anniversary in the mist of the thoughts that were bombarding her. "How thoughtful but can the hospital spare you during such a crisis?"

 

"Father says they will get on famously and I am determined to just enjoy being with you for a few days," Ian replied, as he threw a smirk at her and made his way into her sitting room off the side of the bedroom.

 

Hermione nervously frowned at his retreating form and rung her hands before following him into the sitting room. She searched for something to say without revealing how frustrated she was at being found so utterly unprepared, being unprepared was something she always hated. She bit her lip as he sat on the beige couch with a half-weary sigh before glancing over at her with a smile, saying, "I missed you, Liebe."

 

Hermione tried to relax as she replied, quite honestly, "I missed you, too, Ian."

 

"Cecania tells me you ran into her last week," Ian remarked jovially as he reacheed over to pickup the newspaper off the table.

 

"Yes, we ran into each other," she replied stiffly as she made her way over to the bar, trying not to think of the encounter which left her mildly irritated, "would you like something to drink?"

 

"A glass of Pumpkin juice will hit the spot, Liebe," Ian replied thoughtlessly as he continued to glance over the paper, "was it a very pleasant meeting?"

 

Suddenly Hermione's head rose from the bar, her eyebrow raising in question, it wasn't Ian's style to be blunt -- for fear it would warrant confrontation -- but his tone was asking something. So Hermione did what she did best, told it exactly how she knew it as she walked over and handed him his cup. "No, it was not pleasant in the least and if I am correct -- which I usually am -- the only reason you decided on this surprise visit is because of your snobby sister's commentary on our visit. So what is it that really brings you here, Ian? Our anniversary or the fear that we may not have anything to celebrate anymore?"

 

~*~

 "Blaise, you did excellent," Victoria remarked, honestly, as her fiance and a few people on his staff returned from a speaking engagement that had them tied up all morning.

Blaise looked blankly at her for a moment, trying to read her sincerity, before smiling as he sat his desk, replying, "Thank you, Victoria."

 

Several people in the room looked upon the exchange with genuine surprise, Blaise hadn't shown much respect for the debutante in the last few weeks in public or in private. It was public knowledge that Blaise wasn't feeling anything toward the woman who still wore his ring and it was common knowledge that Victoria was a woman in love, alone. Lavender looked between the two for a moment before speaking, "I'm going to get tomorrow's schedule written out and on your desk before I retire. Good speech, Blaise."

 

"Thanks, Lav, that'll be fine," he replying, nodding his good-bye as the brunette exited his room.

 

"Excellent, excellent job, Minister," Carrick Blair said as he followed Lavender out of the room, "I'm sure we'll be home in no time."

 

Blaise chuckled loudly, a chuckle that sent Victoria's soft blue eyes gazing at the smile that graced his handsome features. "I'm glad someone around here has the capacity to be optimistic, Blair!"

 

"That's why I'm here, sir," Carrick replied, good-naturedly, before closing the door behind him leaving the two distant lovers alone.

 

"You really are going to be a truly remarkable minister, Blaise," Victoria said as she strutted over to the bar to fix Blaise his customary glass of Gin as he loosened his robes and tie.

 

Blaise grunted, looking down at the pile of paper on his desk, saying, "You knew that four years ago, don't sound so surprised that I'm pulling it off."

 

"No need to be rude, Blaise," she quipped, from the bar as she continued to mix his drink.

 

"No need to scold me, Victoria, we have no children," he replied as he sat his feet on the desk and proceeded to read the file that he had been passed to Lavender during his speaking engagement a few hours earlier.

 

Victoria glared at him, wondering what ever possessed her to feel anything at all for the man that now sat before her. It wasn't until she had seen the way he gazed at Hermione on the day he had won the election -- and he had barely seen her for five minutes -- that she knew he would never love her the way she wanted because he couldn't, he already loved someone with every fiber of his being. Yet, even with that knowledge, she never left him and even after the way he treated her, including the hurtful things he'd say, she still had no plans to leave. "Sometimes I wonder if you even want to be the Minister of Magic, Blaise. You go through hell and King Neptune's wrath to get there and now you seem so unaffected by it."

 

"Well, sometimes, Victoria, I wonder if getting here was worth everything I sacrificed," Blaise replied darkly, his narrowed eyes meeting hers as she handed him his drink, "it's never a matter of if I want the job or not, I want it all right."

 

"However, you wished you wouldn't have had to trade Filet Minigon for beans and bread, huh?" Victoria retorted quickly as she quirked an eyebrow and stood with her arms folded and her eyes set on his countenance.

 

"Why do you always do this, Victoria? Do you really want to hear that I love her? Do you? Could you really hate yourself that much?" he asked, his tone telling her that he was up for the challenge that she was inviting him to.

 

"No, I don't hate myself at all, Blaise, I just happened to fall in love with you while you were playing me for a fool," she replied, loudly, quickly turning from him so he wouldn't see the mist that clouded her eyes.

 

Blaise frowned as he stood up and rounded his desk to place his hands, supportively, on her arms. He may have been an arrogant prick at time but he wasn't completely heartless, sighing as he said, gently, "Blimey, Victoria, I never mean to hurt your feelings the way I do but sometimes you just irritate me I just lash out."

 

Victoria sniffled softly, before she replied, "I cant figure out what's worse, Blaise, having to know every single detail of your desperate love for some other woman, or having to know that you obviously didn't even come close to feeling the same way about me. It's not a good feeling, Blaise, at all and I know you never mean to hurt anybody but you always do, Blaise, you always do."

 

"You rarely act as if you love me, Victoria, this masquerade seems to be a fairly recent occurrence," Blaise answered, his patience growing thin at the slight tremble of her shoulders.

 

"I only acted in such a manner that made you happy," she replied softly, crossing her arms in such a way that her hands landed on top of his, "anytime I acted too in love you would get this blank look in your eye and I knew she had returned. You know you never mean to hurt me but I should have expected it, look how you hurt the woman you love."

 

"Victoria . . ." He mumbled, with a frown, as his hands slipped from her arms and he leaned on the edge of his desk with a loud sigh.

 

~*~

 

"What are you doing here, Draco?" Ginny Weasley asked, with a smile, as Draco's strong arms gathered her into an embrace that had Ginny's head spinning.

"Taking leave to see you," he replied, roguishly, watching as her hair swayed gently behind her and fell softly on her shoulder.

 

Ginny smirked at her boyfriend, wondering how they got to this place, it had been a little more than two months since she had seen his face and his absence made her heart grow fonder. They wrote each other more than regularly and she fond herself becoming more enthralled with the enigma of man who had more of a heart than she could have ever believed. He was the main reason she was so worried about Blaise, she knew he had feelings for Hermione and she knew her friend felt the same but Draco had made her realize that things between them weren't progressing and he wanted so badly to play matchmaker but she wouldn't let him. If Hermione were to find out that she encouraged him and things crashed and burned she would never have a moment of peace.

 

"How long does this leave last?" she asked, as he leaned in to kiss her cheeks softly.

 

"Only a few hours," he replied, before kissing her nose and each of her eyelids, "and when I discovered this I decided what better way to spend it than to come see you."

 

"I always knew you were a smart one," she smirked as his journey finally arrived at her lips and his tongue pried open her lips to massage her tongue before he finally ended with a quick bite to her bottom lip.

 

"I always knew you had a little talent, Miss Weasley," Draco joked, as she pulled from his embrace and walked over to the couch and took a seat, prompting him to follow and pull her into his arms as they sat on her comfortable sofa.

 

"Of course I have some, you keep coming back don't you?" she replied, wittily as she chuckled to herself. "So how are our dearest friends?"

 

"Hermione, I couldn't tell you, I'm sure you know more than I do but Blaise is trying to show that he has changed but all he has been successful in doing is confusing Hermione and abusing Victoria," Draco answered, with a sigh, as Ginny snuggled further into his arms.

 

"If he knows Hermione like I know he does, he realizes that showing his change in mind frame isn't going to do much for that stubborn witch, which is why he is so frustrated. But why is he taking his frustration out on Victoria?" she remarked with a frown, looking up at the glaring photo of her mother that looked like she was moments from screaming obscenities at the blond young man.

 

"Victoria," he began, with a judgmental grunt, "has decided that she truly loves Blaise and hopes that their pending nuptials will happen even though his heart is clearly with his ex. I most definitely do not see the logic in that."

 

"Women," Ginny said, irritably, as Draco tightened his grip on her, "why would she do that to herself? Has he told her he doesn't love her?"

 

"If he treated her any worse he would have to hit her, Ginny, she just keeps on putting up with it," he answered with a shake of his head, "but lets end this discussion, I want to enjoy my time with you."

 

"Grand idea, Malfoy." She grinned as he leaned down and kissed her fiery red hair.

 

Draco sighed contentedly, as she began to play with their intertwined fingers. "I wish I could stay a little longer."

 

"I wish you could stay forever," she whispered, with a sigh, prompting a raised eyebrow from her companion.

 

~*~

 

"Liebe," Ian whispered, as he gently nudged Hermione's naked form as they lay wrapped up in pure white sheets, "Liebe."

"Huh?" she mumbled, as she kept her back to him so he wouldn't see the pained look in her eyes. She couldn't remember how they had even got to the bed let alone made love, all she could remember was their argument and somewhere in the middle of it all he kissed her and she didn't have the strength to stop him. She trembled in disgust, just the images of the romp she had just had was making her stomach hurt, how did she just let him run away with her like that?

 

"I just wanted to tell you how much I love you," he whispered in her ear as he moved closer to her and wrapped his strong, tanned arms about her petite frame. "I really do believe that we have plenty to celebrate."

 

"Yea," Hermione replied, almost inaudibly, "I love you, too, Ian."

 

"It's just," Ian began, his lips gently gliding against her ear, sending chills down her spine, "that you made a lot of sense, I mean, what you said to Cecania. I didn't have the right to be suspicious when I never made one attempt to come visit you while you were out here with that snake and for that I apologize."

 

"Don't apologize, Ian," she whispered, as she reached out to lay her hands on his arms and felt the urge to cry. How could he be apologizing when he was right? She fought back tears as she thought of the man whom she had whimpered for while they made love, how could she love one man and long for another?

 

"Don't be so forgiving, Liebe," he remarked with a smile, as he tightened his arms around her, "I love you and I'm all for making this work even though you have this past that is bigger than anything I can ever imagine. I love you through anything we may have to work through, I want you to know that."

 

Hermione squeezed her eyes shut as his words connected with her ears. She turned to lay on her back as he lay on his side looking down at her face being framed by her thick hair. She spoke slowly, her voice not jumping at her command, a lonely tear making its way down her cheek, "I love you more than you know, Ian, and I'm sorry I made you feel insecure about what we have."

 

Ian kissed the tear off her cheek before pulling her into his arms, whispering, "Don't cry, Liebe, I don't deserve that. You never made me feel any less than the greatest bloke in the world and those insecurities came from my lack of understanding of your history but that's all on me."

 

Hermione bit her lip to push back another wave of tears, she felt nothing short of traitorous, her heart was pulling her two ways and the last thing she wanted to was hurt this wonderful man that had never did anything but adore her. What could she say to him that wouldn't betray her traitorous heart? Nothing more than a sentiment that would keep him contended while he slept and she lay awake searching for a solution that may never come. "You are worth so much more, Ian, so much more."

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Author notes: College has kept me away so long I'm sorry and I hope ya'll are still reading and I hope this lives up to ya'll expectations. The story is complete and I will attempt to post the rest in a timely fashion.

Chapter 9 - In Which Love is Just a Word

Blaise in action – politically and personally.

Victoria has her say . . . to Hermione.