Love, Deryah | Blaise Zabini

E P I L O G U E

another year later...

deryah, forever and always an outspoken, intelligent, and generous ravenclaw; she was constantly credited for being the finest in all of her classes. she never stopped believing in endless possibilities, and she damn sure didn't let anything or anyone get in her way. that's why people continued to admire and honor her; no matter what she went through, she always knew who she was.

now, she once again stood in front of her mirror...but something was different. she wasn't the adolescent girl who criticized her looks anymore; she was now the mature young woman who felt more at home in her own mix of toffee and mocha colored skin. in fact, she began to fall in love and embrace it.

that same small knock invaded her train of thought once again. elizabeth fontaine walked in, gazing at her daughter. she knew deryah hadn't been nitpicking at herself, so her smile was bright as she observed her. "you look absolutely ethereal," she spoke, placing her hand over deryah's stomach. "you both do."

deryah placed a hand on top of her mother's as she leaned her head back onto her shoulder. "thank you for everything. thank you for giving him your blessing."

"of course deryah, but i never gave blaise my blessing. does he have it? yes, because i love you both! but, i wasn't the one who gave it to him."

deryah began to ponder everything. "was it uncle micah? but how? he and blaise barely talk.. or maybe they bond more when i'm not around? have you seen them talking when i wasn't there? what did they look like? were they laughing? or whispering? there's no way!"

"deryah-"

"i mean, the only man i've seen blaise really bond with is da... was it dad?" elizabeth only stood there, turning away quickly to go fix her flowers. "mom?" picking the flower pot up from the table, she went to move to the door. "mother?! don't leave! i just want to know!" she shouted these words, as elizabeth closed the door behind her. deryah rolled her eyes, and continued to gaze at herself in the mirror until everyone was ready to start.

on the other side of the mirror, there was blaise, pacing as usual. blaise was always going to be the clever, athletic, and an outspoken slytherin. he, too, was the finest in all of his classes–even the ones where he and deryah were going head to head. even though he was an outspoken person, he tried his best to stay grounded, to make something good of any reality that he was facing.

right now, he was pacing. he was excited, yet he was pacing. this was a very important day, and he hated to admit it, but he was very nervous. the entire time, he had been very calm and collected about helping plan details, but when the actual day came, it meant it was actually real. he wasn't getting cold feet, he was just fervent about it all, and didn't want to mess anything up.

"you'll be fine. stop overthinking."

"what?"

"you're stressing me out; i can hear your thoughts from here." draco nagged.

"don't worry blaise, being nervous is completely normal. you're eighteen and are about to get married." lorenzo stepped in. "making such a commitment at a young age can be life changing. don't be so insensitive draco." lorenzo launched a grape at draco before he had the chance to dodge it. "now let's go, we've got five minutes before the ceremony starts."

stopping their previous actions, the young men took one last glance at themselves in the mirror before making their ways outside.

***

the wedding had started, and it came time for them to soon say their vows. "i, blaise zabini, take you deryah fontaine, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, excluding all others, till death do us part."