Harry Potter 1. Chapter 1

_Set 3 years after the end of Hogwarts. The war is over. R&R!_

**Chapter 1**

Hermione opened her eyes early that morning.

She felt ambitious. Something would happen today, she was sure of it. She had no idea why, but she just suspected it.

She decided to go and find her wonderful, wonderful fiancé, Ron, in his apartment.

She smiled at the thought of him, and then suddenly felt awkward, for some reason. She shrugged it off, got up and got dressed.

She felt that a walk would do her some good. It was cool outside and there was no stress to get to work, as it was a holiday.

She inhaled the cool, crisp London air. A small flush filled her cheeks due to the cold.

She wore her usual clothes that day: jeans that flared a bit at the bottom and a blue top that contrasted nicely with her hair. She did, of course, have a scarf and gloves, but she still kept her hands in her pocket.

She went into his apartment and just outside his door, fumbled a bit for the spare key to his house that he had given her.

She opened it and went inside. It was a small apartment, much smaller than the one she had, but she didn't really mind. She told herself that it had a certain charm. Ron hadn't been able to become an auror as he had wanted to- he didn't have the grades- but he managed to get a job as a barman in the Leaky Cauldron.

She called out "Ron?"

No answer.

She wandered around the house. She decided to check his bedroom.

She opened the door and heard moans. She decided he might be having a bad dream.

But then, she heard a woman's voice saying "Oh, Ron, you're _so _sexy…" in a low, husky voice.

"RON!" she cried, flicking on the lights, only to see a blonde, size zero woman with Pamela Anderson sized you-know-what's straddling Ron, who appeared to be having intense pleasure/orgasm.

"Wha'?" he asked, still half kissing the woman.

When he saw Hermione, he sat up, kissed the woman's neck-she smiled- and went out, where Hermione was waiting, fuming.

Before that, she managed to see a handbag lying under a table. There was a business card lying next to it.

_Britney Anderson_

_Private Hooker/Strippre_

_I make you feel like you've never felt before_

Hermione's jaw dropped in horror. And it wasn't even the error in the spelling of 'stripper'.

When Ron came out, still naked, she dropped the card, pulled back her hand, and slapped him, hard, across the face.

"You asshole. You've been having sex with a hooker?"

"Look, Hermione, it isn't me, it's you. Sex with you was just… no fun…" he said, not even sounding apologetic.

"How could you? I trusted you!"

"I know, but that's really not my problem. Now if you don't mind, could you please sod off out of my apartment? There's a beautiful, sexy woman, a thousand times more gorgeous than you, waiting for me in there."

Hermione's jaw dropped again.

Just then, Britney, who had apparently heard Ron describing her like that, came out, smiling seductively. She was also naked. Hermione couldn't even look.

But from what she had the misfortune of viewing, she could gather that the hooker had wrapped a leg around Ron's, licked his chest, and pulled him back into the room.

He didn't even look back. Not once.

She dropped her engagement ring on the floor.

She walked out of the apartment, not allowing herself to cry.

When she was safely at home and had finally given herself permission to weep, she found she could not. She crumpled to the floor and put her hear in her knees, but she could not make a single tear emerge from her eye.

She did, however, manage to erase any trace of Ron she could find in her spacious apartment. Presents, clothes, letters, anything that had even Ron's fingerprints, was put into a garbage bag and hauled out.

When she came back, she walked around for a while, stared at a tree, tidied up, rearranged her wardrobe and did various other activities that she hoped would take her mind off Ron.

None did.

It would take a while to get rid of him from her life, but she promised herself she would. She knew she would.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The following day, Hermione woke up with a terrible hangover.

She groaned and fell out of bed while trying to get up.

She took a shower in the vain hope that it would reduce, if not rid her of, her headache.

She wore a black top and very dark blue jeans.

She apparated to the Auror's office, where she worked.

She headed over to her department, Department of the Control of Magical Criminals.

Once she went in, the head of her department, Jacob, said "Hello, 'Mione!" tactfully not mentioning anything about her being late.

"Hello," she said, as cheerfully as possible. Jacob was nice.

She waved hello to all of her colleagues, Alex, Justin, Amelia, Sophie, Victoria, Diana, Kate, Clive, Jack and David. There were quite a lot, but it was to be expected. They were all very nice, but they were all couples, as strange as it was.

Alex was dating Amelia, Justin was dating Diana, Clive was dating Sophie, David was dating Victoria, and Jack was dating Diana.

She was left out, but she had never really minded until now. Before she had had Ron to make her feel wanted, but now she was alone.

Jacob entered the room. "Everyone, Blaise Zabini has come from an Auror office just outside London. He will be working with you now. Please make him feel at home."

A very embarrassed looking guy stood next to him. Just as Jacob gestured to the empty desk next to Hermione's, where he would be working, something clicked in her.

Blaise Zabini. The _Slytherin _Blaise Zabini.

Oh, shit. Could things get any worse for her? When Jacob had left again, she let her head drop against the desk, hard. Then she jerked it up. "Ow!" she said, earning herself odd looks from her colleagues.

Blaise Zabini, who had just sat down, asked, "Are you okay?"

She had let her head fall to the desk again, more gently this time, and did not feel like looking up to respond, so she just nodded her head. From the table, it looked like she was rubbing her head against it.

She managed a peep and saw that he was looking amused.

He stuck out his hand, she saw from the corner of her eye, and said "I'm Blaise. Nice to meet you."

She said "Mhmm." And nodded again, before deciding that she should get up.

As nonchalantly as possible, she swung her head up and the same time as she rotated her chair to face him.

She stuck out her hand and said "Hermione Granger. Nice to meet you too."

The look of surprise that flickered across his face made up for her not being able to die with her head on the table.

But then she noticed how cute he was.

All the other girls in her department were taken and their boyfriends there, so they couldn't allow themselves more than the occasional peek.

Hermione, on the other hand, was unattached, and could allow herself a good long stare at him.

With chocolate brown hair, piercing blue eyes, pale skin, sparkling white teeth and a lean figure, he was by far the cutest guy she had ever laid eyes on.

"It's been a while, eh?" he asked, smirking at Hermione's expression.

She hadn't spent much time staring at him in Hogwarts or anything, but she could see that he hadn't changed very much. They had been quite good friends in Hogwarts, since they were both Heads. But after Hogwarts, they had sort of lost touch.

God, what was wrong with her? It had been one day since she had broken up with her boyfriend and she was already thinking about how hot another guy was.

She nodded dumbly, not meeting his eyes.

Soon enough, all the girls, none of whom Hermione or Blaise had acquainted in Hogwarts, gave up on being loyal to their boyfriends and came up to introduce themselves.

Blaise looked amused at all the attention he was receiving.

At the end of the day, when Hermione was getting ready to go home, Blaise caught up with her and asked "Hey, Hermione, want to go grab a coffee tomorrow? Just to, you know, catch up?"

She thought at first that this was too shallow or whatever, to go out with a guy the day after she'd broken up with her boyfriend, but then she thought about what Ron had done to her and thought "What the hell."

"Um, sure, Blaise, I would love to," she replied smiling.

He seemed a little surprised. "Great! So, um, tomorrow, say, five? At that Starbucks café down the road?"

"Sounds perfect."

"See you tomorrow then," he grinned.

"Bye!"

--

The next day, work ended at three. So Hermione had ample time to go home, shower, change, neaten up her hair and reach on time.

Not that she intended to do all that.

Oh, screw it; she did intend to do all that.

She didn't want to have coffee with the cutest guy she'd ever seen and look like a troll doing it.

So she went home and took a shower.

After that, she wore a dark green halter top with a pretty braided trim which flared out with jeans in the usual dark blue.

She experimented with several other accessories, but decided that it would look like she was trying too hard.

So she just wore a simple necklace with a heart shaped pendant which her mum had given to her. It was something of a family heirloom.

She couldn't apparate to Starbucks directly, but she could apparate to the alley behind it, and then walk out.

Which is what she did.

She went out and into Starbucks casually. She went in and sat down at a table. She looked around to make sure Blaise wasn't already there, waiting at another table. She ran a hand over her hair to smoothen it down. It had grown quite straight and silky as she'd hit puberty and now cascaded elegantly over her shoulders in waves.

Just then, Blaise came in, looking as though he'd rushed. He spotted Hermione and his face lit up. She grinned at him and he walked over to her.

"Hey," he said, sitting down.

"Hi," she replied.

"I'm late, aren't I?" he asked.

"Um…no… it's only one minute past five…"

"Oh, okay. Cos my cousin called and she instantly wanted to talk and talk and talk and I was like 'Shut up already!' but no-o-o. So I had to listen to her rant about how her husband said something that implied something else and how it put her into a fit of worry, or whatever. Women." He rolled his eyes. "There are implications for everything."

She giggled.

He grinned. "So, what's up?" he asked, once they had ordered their coffees.

"Nothing, really, I suppose."

"Are you still with Weasel?" his tone was teasing.

"Actually, no, I broke the engagement with him after I caught him sleeping with some random hooker." she looked away.

"Oh, Hermione, I'm sorry."

He reached out and placed his hand over hers and looked into her eyes with his own striking, penetratingly blue ones. "I always thought you were too good for him, anyways."

She looked up, surprised. "Really?"

He looked surprised at the question. "Of course really."

"He said I wasn't ever good enough for him."

"That asshole." He muttered. "Hermione, you know that's not true."

"He said that the hooker he was sleeping with was a thousand times prettier than me." She shrugged. "It's probably true, anyways."

"Hermione, you're not pretty."

She started to stand up, and could not control a few tears that rolled down her face, but he pulled her down and said "You're beautiful."

She blushed.

"That idiot doesn't know what he's lost. And if he thinks any hooker could be a thousand times prettier than you, he's mad."

He took hold of her hand. "Don't listen to him."

And then he did something that really surprised Hermione. He reached out his hand and brushed away her tears. His hand was pleasantly warm and soft.

He seemed to realize what he had just done and said "Sorry,"

She shook her head.

"Look, Hermione, I know I'm way out of my league here, but I think that you're a beautiful, smart, and amazing woman, and any man would be lucky to have you."

She flushed dark red.

After a moment of silence, she reached out and took his hand. "Thanks, Blaise,"

He smiled.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

So for the rest of the 'date', Hermione and Blaise chatted about other things.

"So, how's your life?" she asked.

"Meaning?"

"Oh, you know, girlfriends, marriage, children…"

He grinned. "Nope, I'm single."

She grinned back.

"Why? Did you have something in mind?"

"NO!" she said, mock-angrily, but they were both smiling.

At six thirty, Hermione remembered that she had a doctor's appointment.

Once outside the café, Blaise bowed deeply, and took Hermione's hand, kissed it and said "Till we meet again, fair lady,"

She giggled. "You mean tomorrow." Once he rose again, she tiptoed and kissed his cheek. "Thanks, Blaise. I feel a lot better."

He smiled. "My pleasure, Hermione,"

They apparated home.

Hermione dreamt about Blaise that night.

--

The next morning, she got dressed with extra special care.

She didn't know why.

Oh, okay, she _did _know why. It was because of Blaise. Ngeh. So sue her.

It was an especially cold day, so she wore a pale pink, long-sleeved sweater with jeans. Even if she said so herself, it looked good on her.

She went to work. Blaise came in just moments after her. She smiled and waved at him.

He smiled back and walked over to his desk. "Hey," he said.

"Hey," she replied.

They proceeded with their work, occasionally looking at each other and smiling.

Over the next few weeks, Hermione and Blaise grew closer and closer. He took her out a few times for lunch and even dinner!

She was beginning to develop something of a crush on him!

--

"Okay, people, Death Eaters have kidnapped the Minister of Magic's daughter. Get her back! He's throwing a fit!"

They rolled their eyes.

"Hermione, Blaise, I want you two to go into the field. The rest of you, research!"

They all nodded.

He handed out a case file to each of them.

They read through it and got to work.

A week passed.

"Where are you in the MOM case?"

"We've just located the girl. We still have to go and get her and arrest those Death Eaters." Said Jack.

"Okay. Well, what are you waiting for? Go!" he ushered them out.

So they went.

"Come on," Blaise said, once they were outside the building.

"They're holding her in an abandoned garage in Brighton."

"Okay."

He held out his hand. She grabbed it, and they both vanished.

They entered the garage. It was eerily quiet and pitch black.

Suddenly, they heard footsteps. Thinking quickly, they hid behind a cabinet. It was a large but ordinary garage, with all the things ordinary garages have. This appeared to be a discarded cabinet.

They didn't dare to breathe.

One voice rang out. "Wait."

The footsteps subsided.

"There is filth amongst us. I smell…a mudblood."

Hermione's hand flew to cover her mouth and she sank quietly to the floor.

"It's all my fault." She breathed.

"Hermione, it's _not _your fault." He breathed back.

She shook her head, angry at herself.

"Hermione, look at me."

She didn't respond.

He put his hand on her cheek and turned her head.

She looked at him. "It's not your fault." He said again.

Then, he leaned over, as though he were about to tell her a secret, hesitated for a moment, and kissed her- on the lips…


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

It was very short; perhaps even a peck, but Hermione felt it all the way to her toes.

When he pulled away, he gazed into her eyes penetratingly.

She surprised him by kissing back, just as lightly.

Just when she pulled away, and they smiled slightly at each other, the cabinet exploded. The Death Eaters stood there, smirking evilly under their hoods.

"Well, what have we here?"

They both clambered to their feet.

"The easiest spells work best," muttered Hermione. Blaise nodded.

"Expelliarmus!" they cried in unison. The wands of all the Death Eaters flew out of their reach.

"Petrificus Totalus!" cried Hermione.

Soon enough, they had petrified all the Death Eaters but one.

"Petrificus Totalus!" said Blaise.

Nothing happened. The Death Eater sneered. "It won't work on me, you know. The simplest spells may work best, but the more complex ones work just fine, too… _Crucio!"_

Blaise crumpled to the ground. Hermione stared at him in horror. But bending over to help him was the stupidest thing she could do, so she didn't.

She was angry. And shocked. And scared. Gathering all those emotions, she aimed her wand and uttered "Petrificus Totalus."

The Death Eater froze in mid laugh.

Hermione crouched next to Blaise, who was looking very much in pain. Well, duh.

She uttered the counter spell, and he relaxed. "Hermione?" he whispered.

"I'm here," she held his hand and used her other hand as a support under his head.

She bent over in her already crouching position and kissed his cheek. "Wait here, I have to go and get the daughter, okay? Just stay here, and rest." He nodded. She helped him lean against a wall and stood up to find the girl.

"Macy?" she called out the girl's name.

"Mmmfhmh!"

She went towards the sound and found the girl bound and gagged in a corner. Just then, Blaise stumbled over, his hand on the side of his head. It was aching, probably.

"Blaise! What on earth are you doing? Sit down!"

He shook his head and said in a somewhat strained voice "I'm fine,"

"No, you're not! You idiot." She rolled her eyes when he stuck out his tongue defiantly.

She untied the girl who stood up shakily. Hermione helped her out.

"Come on, let's go home." She held their hands and apparated. Blaise was too weak and couldn't apparate himself.

--

A few days later, Blaise had completely recovered. Macy had safely been returned to her immensely relieved parents.

Hermione and Blaise at first pretended that nothing had happened.

Then one day, after work, Blaise dragged Hermione to a side.

"Hermione, we need to talk."

"I know."

"On our last mission…something happened."

She nodded.

"And…I've been unable to think of much else for the past few days."

"Me either." She admitted.

"Hermione, I've been harboring certain _feelings _for you for some time now."

"Me too…"

Then, with some uncertainty in his eyes, he pulled her up to him and kissed her, full on the mouth.

She soon got over her surprise and started kissing him back. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he wrapped his arms around her small waist.

When they broke apart, Hermione rested her forehead against his shoulder.

"I love you, Blaise, so, so much." She whispered into his ear.

"I love you too, Hermione, more than anything." He replied sincerely.

**The End **


End file.

Harry Potter, Romance