Forever

Chapter Nine~ Coping and Understanding

For you, there'll be no crying.

For you, the sun will go on shining.

Cause when I feel that when I'm with you, its alright I know its alright.

And the songbirds keeps singing like they know the score,

And I love you, I love you. I love you like never before.

-Eva Cassidy, Songbird

Wearing her favorite purple sweat pants and white jumper Hermione watched the gray clouds dance across the sky. She had not moved from the bay window in her room much at Zabini Manor since she had awoken that morning, one day after her wedding. Guests that had stayed the night after the reception and all had gone leaving her alone with her new husband in the large estate. Harry and Ginny both came in at different hours in the day to check on her only to receive Hermione's replies of 'I'll be fine.'

The knock at her door brought her out of thoughts of Ron; she missed him even though he had encouraged her to let Blaise love her. It was hard to put away the love she had felt for Ron and the many years they were together. Hermione glanced in the reflection of the window at the door, "Come in."

Blaise stuck his curly head in the room as he slowly opened the door. Eyeing his new wife in the bay window, he closed the door behind him and walked to her with his hands shoved in his pants pockets. Just as he was about to speak, Hermione spoke, "If you've come to apologize for last night, don't. It was just as much my fault as it was yours. I shouldn't have drunk so much wine."

"But I am sorry you're hurting. Please come down for dinner?" asking as he felt his heart tighten. It started to clench the moment she said the word 'fault'. He had not regretted last night because it was their first time together but he wished it had been under better circumstances.

Her head lowered onto her arms as she watched the sky slowly move with wind. "I'm not hungry. Thank you."

"Um, I have the week off. So, if you want to get out and get away, we can go wherever you want. Rome, Paris, Hong Kong, or even Maui, I hear it's beautiful this time of year. We don't have to do anything ... that you don't want to. I was just thinking it might be n-"

Hermione's voice cut him off, as she responded, "No, thanks I'll be brining my stuff over from the flat tomorrow. I'll just spend the week getting settled. Thanks for the offer, just not right now."

Blaise nodded his head as watched her in the reflection of the window and felt his heart tighten more. All he wanted to do was make her feel better, to be happy. Yet, he knew that was a lot to ask for the day after their wedding. He would give her time. Time to mourn and heal because he knew there would be a time for love later. Yes, he would give her that time because they now had forever.

The next day went by slowly for the two as they tried adjusting to each other. He appeared at the flat she had been sharing with Harry and Ginny. The four friends shrunk her belongings and then he took them over for her insisting that Hermione went out that night with Harry and Ginny for dinner and a movie. All four realizing she needed a distraction.

Returning to the manor, Blaise enlarged her possessions and spent the night arranging her room with the mixture of her belongings and his family heirlooms. His mother had a study next to her bedroom and he changed it around to make it feel more like it was Hermione's since it now belonged to her. Of course, she was free to change it to suit her tastes but he had a good guess on what she would like.

In the bedroom, her things were neatly ordered to where she had them in her room at the flat. Even Crackerjack, Crookshanks replacement after he had passed a year ago, was even making herself at home on the duvet. It seems that her cat had approved of Blaise and even purred as he held her to apparate with to the Manor. Blaise even moved his favorite painting, which was of a girl with long brown, curly hair sitting by the side of a lake as she watched the clouds magically move in the portrait, to above her fireplace.

When he heard her return back to the manor, Blaise was in his old room reading one of the books that he had not had a chance to read. A smile crept on his face when he heard her gasp from the hallway. It sounded like a good, surprised response. Then a knock came from his door and she poked her head in as she asked, "Can I come in for a minute?"

"Of course, Hermione," he stated as he got up to meet her in the middle of the room. He watched her glance around the room; her curiosity was one of the things that he loved about this witch.

"Thank you for fixing up the two rooms and bringing my stuff over," Hermione stated giving a small smile. Crackerjack had followed her mistress in and began to rub against his leg with a loud purr. "Looks like, she's taking a liking to you. She is a very picky cat. It took months for her to stop hissing at Ro-"

Blaise watched, as her words changed her face from happy to sad in one simple statement. He reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze. "You're welcome; anything to make you more comfortable here. Things will be fine. Everything takes time. I understand that, Hermione. Really, I do. We're in no rush here."

She nodded and then turned to walk out of the room stopping when she got to the door. "The painting above the fireplace is lovely. Do you know who the artist is?"

He smirked leaning against the side of his chair and replied, "Just a local artist. But I am glad you liked it. It's one of my favorites."

"Well, it's late and Harry and Ginny wore me out. Good night, Blaise."

"Good night, Hermione. Sleep well," he commented as he watched her leave his room. Maybe it wouldn't take as long as he thought for them to come together. Sitting back down in the chair and he held his book but only stared at the fire thinking about their future, which was beginning to look much brighter.

The rest of the week went slowly as they continued to adjust to each other and living in the same house. He noticed that there were dark shadows forming under her eyes and she was quiet whenever they were together. At times, like when they accidentally run into each coming out of a room, he would see her look at him, blushing, but then it was like she realized it. Her face would become a cold mask, as she would simply walk away in the opposite direction. He understood that she was fighting in yet another war, but this one was within her soul...and she was losing.

Sometimes at night, he heard her walking down the stairs and he always quietly followed. Always going to the garden where there was a stone bench. He watched as she wrapped her winter cloak around her and sat there for hours. Just as he would start to make a move toward asking her to come in from the cold, she would stand and say something out of his hearing. Blaise would hide in a nearby walkway as she went back into the house.

Blaise wrestled with what to do for her. He knew that she was not getting much sleep but did not know why. Whenever he asked about her sleep or her health, she always replied with 'I'm fine.'

It was hurting him to see her in such sorrow and not know how to comfort her. By Saturday night desperation was high as he slipped a dose of dreamless draught into her soup and noticed that she did not walk outside this night. The next morning as she slept in, he acknowledged that it was a step in the right direction but she needed some distraction in her life. He was sitting in the ground floor and thinking about that afternoon when she came into the room almost bouncing. He stood when she walked in as Hermione came over holding up an opened envelope. "I finally got it."

Blaise smiled at seeing her so happy, "Got what?"

"My Auror test letter," Hermione exclaimed pulling him into a joyous hug. Staying in his arms as she continued, "I put off setting up the date for taking the Auror test till after the war was over and I finally got the date for my test. It will be in three weeks. If all goes well, then I'll just have to take a physical, which is basically nothing, and then training starts."

This was a small surprise to Blaise but he was happy for her. He smiled and enjoyed feeling her in his arms again, "That's great. Is there anything I can do to help? I am going to be gone a couple hours during the afternoons but other than that, I'm all yours."

She laughed as she moved out of his arms and walked to the closest set of books along the wall. "Well, you can help test me when it gets closer to time. Oh, I am so excited. I want this so badly. I want to make a difference and this will be my way of doing that."

"If this is what you want, then I'll do what I can to help." walking up behind her as she began to pull books down into her arms. He placed a hand at the small of her back and then took the books from her arms to hold them for her.

Hermione rose on the balls of her feet as she placed a kiss on his cheek, blushing as she lowered herself back down. "Thanks for being so wonderful, Blaise."

"If you are trying to flirt so that I'll be easy on you during test sessions, it won't work, missy," Blaise smirked as he playfully eyed her causing both to break into laughter. She turned back to the shelves of his books as his smile grew brighter at seeing her happy again. It had been months since she'd really laughed. But maybe there would be more laughing and more of everything good in the future. Yes, things were definitely looking brighter for the newly weds.

To be continued...