Disclaimer: If I owned them I wouldn't be writing this.

Not Beta-d. All mistakes are mine. Sorry folks. Quick little one-shot.

Summary: Severus' and Hermione's last words before the Final Battle…

"Damn it Severus Snape, don't you DARE walk away from me!" Hermione Granger was livid. Here she was at his house, one last time before the Final Battle, and he wouldn't even look at her.

"Severus, stop it!" She reached out and grabbed his long black cloak, turning him around.

"Woman! I swear, leave me the hell alone! I don't want you here. I never did! All you've done is pester me these past seven months. You insufferable little girl, can you not recognize when your presence is not welcome anymore?"

Hermione's eyes watered as he yelled at her, but still, she held her ground.

"Severus…don't you dare act like the past seven month haven't been what you wanted; what you needed. I can see it in your eyes. You're just being a damned coward!"

Anyone who knew Severus Snape knew that he would not tolerate being called a coward, let alone by the woman who knows him best.

And so with that, he pinned her against the wall, his legs on either side of hers, and his arms holding hers above her head, and kissed her passionately.

Hermione moaned into his mouth and pushed herself closer to him, wanting to feel him. Maybe, for the last time. He lowered her arms and grabbed her hips, caressing her like he

should've been doing for the past fifteen minutes instead of screaming at her to leave.

She licked his bottom lip, and he graciously bade her entrance. They kissed roughly, passionately, hands searching each other's body frantically, for something to grasp, cling to, in this

last hour.

Finally, the kiss broke and he leaned his forehead against hers, both breathing heavily, lustfully.

"Hermione Granger, you truly are an insufferable little girl…and I could not love you more. How is it you always know what I need?"

"Because, Severus Snape, as you have so often reminded me," she whispered into his ear softly, "I am an obnoxiously accurate know-it-all." She grinned at him, as he stared into her

eyes. He kissed her softly, and she complied.

"Severus…" she whispered, her eyes brimming with salty tears.

"Wh-what if we n-never see each other af-afterwards?" she stumbled.

"Hush now, my darling. Don't speak like that." He back away from her and took her hands into his, and looked deeply into her eyes.

"We both know what this may lead to, Hermione. You knew that seven months ago when we entered into this unforgettable relationship." She sniffed. "You know my role in this war. I

very well may die. But you must promise me to not let me die in vain. If…"

She cut him off. "Shh, Severus…"

"No, Hermione," he spoke firmly. "This needs to be said. If I die, you must promise me to carry on with your life. Don't stop living just because I have. Do you understand me?"

She stared into his eyes, searching for another solution, some other resolution.

"Damn you Severus, why must you be so noble?" She smiled up at him with tears staining her flushed face. "But, you know I will promise you anything. Yes, my love, I promise. But, you

must know, it is rather empty because I don't believe you will die. I can't believe that…"

"I know darling…I know." He lifted her chin up with his fingers.

"I love you, Hermione Granger. And I swear that if we both get through this alive-"

"Which we will." She interjected.

"If we both get through this alive," he continued, "then I have every intention of making you my wife. Do you understand me?"

Hermione's face lit up and she through her arms around him. He lifted her with ease and held her close.

"Oh Severus! Do you mean that? Of course I'll marry you! I couldn't comprehend anything else." And she kissed him, fully, deeply, passionately, lovingly, her feet still a foot off the ground

from where he held her.

"Oh, and I love you too, Severus!" They laughed together and kissed again. He put her down gently and looked, yet again, deeply into his eyes.

"Severus…listen to me. No matter what happens to you, whether you live or die, I promise you this: I will come looking for you afterwards, I will find you, and I will love you forever."

Now it was his turn to cry. A tear delicately rolled down his cheek, and she gently wiped it with her thumb, and leaned up to kiss the wet trail away. He breathed in her scent, vowing to

never forget that, even if it's his last, dying thought. It will be of her in some way.

And with that, she kissed him one last time, squeezed his hand, turned, and walked out of his house.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~AFTER THE BATTLE~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Everything was in a black haze as the smoke from the last curses and hexes wore off, polluting the air. Bodies lay everywhere, some unrecognizable from the anguish and despair the

occupant soul had gone through until it floated away, leaving it's carrier behind. Hermione stumbled over a few, some elves, other humans and centaurs. But she was determined to find

him. She never broke her word.

"Severus?" Hermione yelled her voice desperate. "Oh Merlin, Severus where are you?" Others were doing the same, searching for their loved ones, but none as determined as she.

Finally, she recognized his lank hair, fallen over his stone face, as he lay on the freezing ground. She ran toward him, pulling his head carefully into her lap.

"Severus!" she cried, frantically willing him to be alive. "Severus, darling, it's me. It's Hermione." She wiped his hair from his face and put her ear close to his slightly opened mouth,

listening for any hint of breath.

And there it was!

The slight tremor of breath, caressing the tiny hairs sweeping over her face.

"Err-my-knee." He shuttered, eyes flickering.

"Oh my Severus, can you hear me?" now his eyes opened fully, and he took in a sharp breath.

"Did I hurt you?" She asked quickly, noting the vague pained expression on his face.

"No, my love," he breathed, "You just look so beautiful." He smiled at her and she beamed back at him.

"Here, let me help you up." She offered, carefully starting to set him upright.

"Oomph!" He grunted, and his hand went directly to his rib cage.

"I think my ribs might by broken." He managed to sputter through the pain.

"Oh dear!" Hermione exclaimed, "I can fix that. Lay back down." She gently laid his head on the hard ground, and heard him groan.

"Ossementes repairo!" Hermione said as she pointed her wand to his ribs. They heard a distinct crack and he groaned again. She then touched her wand to his ribcage and said "Ferula"

and a multitude of bandages wrapped around him. He breathed in a deep breath, but coughed because of all the smoke in the air, and then sat up to look at Hermione.

"Thank you, my love."

"Anything for you." She said sincerely. And then she threw herself on top of him, bruises, cuts, burns and all, and kissed him fiercely. He wrapped his arms around her body and pulled her

closer to him.

"I told you I'd come for you Severus, I told you I'd look."

"Yes, Hermione, you did. And I can never thank you enough." He looked deeply into her eyes, kissed her lightly and whispered against her lips, "Je t'taime, ma chere." She giggled and

kissed him again. He then got up and helped her up too, and they walked, arm in arm, back to the castle to help repairo some of the damages caused by the devastating Final Battle. As

they walked up the steps to the front door, Hermione suddenly stopped and Severus had to do a double take to realize where she went. He turned to her, and could determine the

worried look on her face.

"Hermione, what's wrong?" he asked.

"I…Well, I was just wondering if you meant what you said earlier…a-about, you know, marrying me if we survived through this." She looked up at him hopefully.

"Oh my 'Mione, of course I meant it. I truly plan on marrying you," and then he gave his sheepish grin and said "whether you like it or not." And he picked her up in his arms and kissed

her. "That is, of course, if you'll still have me, darling."

"Severus…" Hermione said seriously, and for a minute he thought she was going to deny him. "Severus, of course I'll still have you!" She grinned her devilish grin she saved for him. "And

after that," she said seductively, "I'll have you again, and again, and again and ag-"

"Okay woman, I got the point! Now stop being so damn sexy in the midst of all this chaos!" He grinned and kissed her passionately once again that night, but definitely not for the last

time. And so with that, they walked through the front doors together, leaning on each other to face whatever grief and sadness lay in the halls ahead.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~FIN~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ok, so it didn't go exactly how I wanted it but I figured I'd post it anyways. Not my best writing, but reviews are always appreciated. No flames please, just constructive criticism.

Oh, and the "Ossementes repairo" spell, I made up the first part. Ossements is French for bones, and Repairo is obviously one of J.K.'s own, used for fixing things. I thought Tonks had

used Episky to fix Harry's broken nose, but I couldn't find anything about it so I just went with this. Anyways…REVIEW!!!! :-D

Cheers!

~RB