Autumn is the Cruelest Season

Blaise was sitting in a rocker, slowly rocking back and forth. He stared at the tiny infant in his arms, trying to decide who Anthony looked more like. The mop of unruly brown hair was definitely Hermione-like. However, the ears which stuck out slightly reminded Blaise more of himself. Anthony had yet to open his eyes, but Blaise felt sure they'd be startlingly blue.

Hermione had been so frightened to tell him that she thought she was pregnant. Anthony was nowhere near planned and they'd only been married for a year.

************************************

"I...um...there's something...I need to..." Hermione was staring at herself in mirror, mumbling, when Blaise snuck up on her. She jumped several inches when he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"What in Merlin's name are you doing?" he asked playfully.

"N-nothing," she stammered, dropping her gaze to the floor.

His expression turned serious. Turning her in his arms, he put a finger under her chin and tilted her head upward to meet his eyes. "I've known you for seven years, Hermione. What's the matter?"

"I...I...I think I'm pregnant," her admission came out in a whisper.

Blaise blinked twice and took a deep breath. "Think?"

She shrugged and tried to twist out of his grasp, but he held fast to her. "I'm late."

"All right," he said in that slightly clueless manner that all men had when talking about womanly things.

"I'm never late," she said flatly.

Holding onto Hermione with one hand, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his wand. "Let's find out, shall we?" he asked with more confidence than he felt.

"No!" she exclaimed. "I...I want to do this...the muggle way."

"But why?" he argued. "I can do the spell and we can..."

"I just want to!"

From her ungrammatical sentence, Blaise knew she was dangerously close to the edge and backed off. "So what do we do?"

She began to explain, but at his glazed- over look, she just huffed and stormed into their bathroom. Blaise sat on the bed to wait for her. After several minutes of silence, he prompted, "Well?"

"Two more minutes," she replied nervously from the bathroom..

"Remind me why we didn't do this with magic?"

"Shut it."

"No, really, muggles sit around and wait to find out?"

"I see your lips moving, but all I hear is blah, blah, blah."

"Nervous?" he teased, trying to alleviate some of her apprehension.

"Aren't you?" she retorted.

He shrugged. However, before he could answer, she said loudly, "Time's up."

"Well?" he said anxiously. There was no answer for a moment. "Hermione?"

She walked back into their room, looking dazed. She held out a stick for him. Taking it, he stared for a long moment. "What in Merlin's name does this mean?" he asked, squinting at the small window.

"It means we're going to have a baby," she said slowly.

*********************************

"He's gorgeous." Blaise looked up to find Harry staring down at him, smiling. "What's his name?"

"Anthony Salvatore Zabini," Blaise said proudly, wiping at the tears that were again forming in his eyes.

Harry's smile stretched into a grin. "Awfully big name for such a small bloke."

Despite everything, Blaise found himself smiling back. "Would you like to hold him?" Harry looked alarmed by this suggestion and the other man laughed aloud, causing Anthony to stir in his sleep. "It sort of comes with the territory...being godfather and all."

Harry's emerald eyes widened behind his glasses. "G-godfather?"

Blaise nodded. "We were going to ask you this weekend. Before everything..."

Harry reached out his arms and nestled the tiny body against his chest. Instinctively, Anthony snuggled closer. "How is she?" he asked seriously.

The curly haired wizard shrugged. "Dunno. They're still healing her." He stood up abruptly. "I...I need to find a phone...to call Jane."

"I'll come with you."

Blaise shook his head. "Stay here with Anthony." He motioned to the rocking chair. Watching thoughtfully, he waited for Harry to settle in before leaving the nursery.

Once outside St. Mungo's, Blaise walked around the block, trying to clear his head. What was he supposed to say to Jane? He'd promised her and Anthony Granger that he would never let anything happen to their only child. And he'd made a hash of it.

**********************************

Blaise apparated in the alley behind the building in which the Grangers had their dental practice. Clutching the small box in his jacket pocket, he took a deep breath and pushed open the front door to their office.

"Hello, Mr. Zabini," Delores, their receptionist, squeaked out. Hermione teased him mercilessly about the older woman having a crush on him. "I didn't know you were dropping by."

"Neither did the Grangers. It's sort of a surprise. Are they available by any chance?" He flashed his most charming smile--'The one that makes women wet their knickers,' Hermione had told him after she'd had several drinks at Ron and Susan's engagement party--and Delores blushed and stammered something about getting them. Two minutes later, Anthony was hailing Blaise and ushering him into the small office in the back.

"This is unexpected," Anthony said, slapping the younger man on the back as they shook hands.

"Is Jane available?" Blaise asked nervously.

"She's with a patient." Anthony glanced at his watch. "She ought to be done in twenty minutes." Blaise looked stunned by this information; he knew there was no way he could make small talk for twenty minutes. Hermione's father laughed. "I think I can pry her away for a few moments." He disappeared from the office. Blaise paced, picking up the picture sitting on the desk. It was of Anthony, Jane, and Hermione, probably taken when Hermione was eight or nine. She had an enormous amount of Jane's brown hair combined with Anthony's naturally curly locks.

"You wanted to see me?" Jane Granger asked.

"Actually, I wanted to see both of you," he started to explain. Both of Hermione's parents sat and gestured for Blaise to do the same. He declined politely and paced as he spoke. "Hermione and I have been together for four years now. And I...I didn't think it would possible to love her more than I did, but I do," he was babbling, but was powerless to stop. "And she loves me. She's the most important person in the world to me and I wouldn't let anything..."

"Blaise," Anthony broke in gently, smiling. "Is there something you're trying to tell us?"

"Right, yes," he answered. Hesitantly, he said, "I'm going to ask Hermione to marry me. And I'd like your blessing."

Before he even got the entire statement out, Jane had jumped out of her seat and wrapped him in an enormous hug. "Nothing would make us happier than to have you join our family," she whispered in his ear.

"R-really?" Blaise asked, looking at Anthony who still hadn't said anything.

"I always wanted a son," Anthony said, extending his hand.

*********************************

Blaise found himself in front of a telephone booth. He entered and pulled the door shut behind him. From his wallet, he extracted the piece of paper Jane had made him take with her hotel information. He picked up the receiver and realized that he didn't have any muggle coins on him. He slammed the receiver back on the cradle and swore. Before he could open the door, a tiny tap on the glass caught his attention. Harry was standing outside, coins scattered in his open palm. Blaise yanked open the door.

"I thought I told you to stay with Anthony," he snapped.

"Ron and Susan are with him," Harry said mildly.

Blaise muttered something under his breath and took the coins. Glad to have a task, he slowly inserted them one by one and carefully dialed the number after another consultation with his paper. The phone rang twice before Jane picked up.

"Hello," she said.

"Jane, it's...it's Blaise."

"Don't tell me my daughter's gone ahead and had that baby early," she said jokingly.

"T-there was an a-accident..." that was about all Blaise could choke out.

"Accident? Is Hermione all right?"

He lost it and managed, between sobs, "I dunno."

Without a word, Harry plucked the phone out of Blaise's hands. "Jane, it's me, Harry." While Harry spoke to Hermione's mother, Blaise leaned against the booth, hands covering his face. Several minutes later, Harry hung up the phone and gently led Blaise from the booth.

Taking great gulping breaths, Blaise managed to gain control of himself. "Is she coming?"

"Yeah, I need to contact Arthur about a portkey from Dublin. Let's get back to the hospital."