"Tell us a story, Mommy!"


Hermione smiled as she looked at her children, sitting on her daughter's bed and saying, "Okay, but only one and then its bed for both of you."


"Story," Nicolas urged as he crawled into his Mum's lap, the three year-old smiling as he snuggled against her.


"Tell us the one about the witch and the wizard!" Ashley smiled eagerly as she sat on her Mum's other leg, the five year-old loving that story and never tiring of hearing about it.


"Once upon a time there was a witch," Hemione began.


"Was she a beautiful witch?" Ashley asked with a smile as she saw her Daddy leaning against the door, her baby brother in his arms.


"She was the most beautiful witch in the world," Blaise spoke up, winking at his wife when she looked at him.


"The wizard thought she was beautiful but she was really just a normal witch with bushy hair and a nice smile," Hermione continued the story, her eyes on Blaise's as he held their sleeping son in his arms. "There was also a wizard. He was very handsome but quiet and mysterious and he didn't seem to like the witch too much."


"He'd really fancied her for years but he didn't know how to tell her so he ignored her to get her interested in him, knowing how much she loved to solve puzzles," Blaise leaned against the door frame as he helped Hermione tell the story to their children.


"Well, the witch was really smart and soon figured out that the wizard was a charming and sweet man who was almost as smart as she was," Hermione grinned as Blaise laughed, finding him even more attractive when he was smiling.


"The witch had a very high opinion of her intelligence and the wizard was brilliant so she enjoyed studying with him and having conversations about subjects that no one else was familiar with," Blaise added. His mind drifted back to sixth year when Hermione had cornered him in the library and told him that she had decided they should study together since they shared most of their classes. She'd not given him a chance to refuse, simply sitting down and opening a book. Of course, he wouldn't have refused since he'd been fascinated by the brunette Muggleborn since first year, the fascination becoming infatuation some time around the middle of fourth year.


"The witch and the wizard spent a lot of time together and eventually fell in love," Hermione said softly, still remembering the day she had told Blaise how she felt. It had been seventh year. Hermione had declined the Head Girl position due to helping Harry and the Order and studying for her NEWTs, but she'd still kept her prefect position. She been on patrol with Ernie, the Head Boy, and had just been thinking about her day as they'd checked the hallways and she'd suddenly realized that the happiest part of her day was when she was with Blaise. It was that night, during a routine patrol, that she realized she loved Blaise.


"But there was an evil man that wanted to keep the witch and the wizard apart," Blaise spoke quietly, flashing back the events of the War. The friends they had both lost, the fighting and the constant threat of death. Voldemort had made it a particular interest to go after the Purebloods that refused to join him, angry that a majority of Blaise's generation defied their parents wishes to remain neutral or join Voldemort and had fought alongside the Order. Hermione had moved to the top of Voldemort's list since she'd captured Bellatrix Lestrange during a battle following graduation, rising to be even with Potter on the Dark Lord's torture and kill list.


They were both targets for Voldemort and his Deatheaters, more so than a majority of the others due to the special circumstances surrounding the Dark Lord's dislike of them. Hermione had refused to marry him until the War was over, the two of them clinging to every moment together and dreaming of a future. She was the reason he had survived after getting caught during a raid, suffering curses and old-fashioned Muggle beatings for three days before Draco and Longbottom had found him and freed him. He'd nearly died, had spent two weeks in the hospital following his escape, but he'd survived because he loved Hermione and wanted a future with her. The War had finally ended not longer after his capture, Potter defeating Voldemort for good. A lot of lost lives, but it could have been far worse.


"The evil man was destroyed and the witch and the wizard were finally able to be together," Hermione's eyes moved over her husband's face, knowing he was dwelling on those years after graduation. He had told her about his capture, needing to talk to someone about it and she'd listened and cried and hated everyone that had hurt him during those few days, so thankful to see them all dead at the end of the War. He still had some of the scars on his lower back and legs, but he hadn't had nightmares since immediately after his escape. In the eight years since, they had both moved forward, not forgetting but moving on.


"The wizard was the luckiest man in the world when the beautiful witch agreed to marry him," Blaise smiled as he shook away thoughts of the past and simply looked at his wife, adjusting Daniel in his arms.



"The witch and the wizard were married on a pretty day in June," Hermione recalled, "all of their friends were there and they were incredibly happy. A couple of years later, they had a beautiful daughter that they named after the witch's Grandmother. Then they had a handsome son that they named after the wizard's Grandfather."


"Then they had another son," Ashley grinned, "and they named him Daniel after Grandpa. And they all lived happily ever after ever."


"And now it's time for you children to get some sleep!" Hermione hugged them before standing up, pulling Nicolas into her arms before brushing her lips against Ashley's forehead, "Good night, darling."


"Night, Mum," Ashley kissed her cheek before kissing her Daddy's cheek. "Night, Daddy." She snuggled under her covers and was soon asleep.


"Sleepy, Mummy," Nicolas muttered as he closed his eyes. Hermione took him down the hall to his room and tucked him in before going to Daniel's room. Blaise was covering him with a blanket, the witch moving behind her husband and hugging him.


"I love you," she whispered as she tightened her arms around him.


"I love you, too," Blaise turned his head and caught her lips in a tender kiss.


"Do you think Ashley will ever get tired of hearing how we fell in love?"


"I hope not," Blaise smiled, "I always love the end."


"Me too," Hermione looked at their son before looking back at him, a loving smile on her face as she echoed Ashley's words, "And they all lived happily ever after."


*the end *