AN: One more chapter after this one and this story has come to an end; I have enjoyed so much trying to mix mythology with the aftermath of the war. Thank you so much for reading and reviewing.

SSHGSSHG

"You really don't remember what happened in the cave or on the beach? We could see something massive, almost like the sea dragon, but we couldn't get there, it was a giant forcefield." Harry spoke low, buttering his toast as he offered Hermione a slice.

"I only remember it seeming like months had passed or minutes, there was no clear marker of time, it was relentless, though." She didn't want to lie to Harry, but she also knew she would be told by Minister Drakas or even Minister Shacklebolt that the job they'd completed was bound by international secrecy, or at least she assumed it would happen. Each question Harry asked, Hermione gave him an answer but it was always vague, and when she looked to Snape, he seemed to appreciate that she wasn't telling him about their experience.

"But how did you break the curse?" He asked, eating the rest of his eggs and kippers, drinking one more large gulp of tea.

"I honestly don't know, Harry, I just know the sea dragon left after a time. The cave with the runes was so massive, there is no way to explore it all or get to it unless the sea dragon is near, there must be some magic keeping it hidden." With this Harry finally stopped asking questions, they all finished breakfast and went to the museum for a debriefing. Minister Drakas thanked all of the researchers for their assistance, promising recommendations for other jobs and commendation for their service. It all felt a bit odd to Hermione, as the minister spoke about the event, the work of the curse breakers and researchers, as though they'd all actually done something. It wasn't that she expected the minster to tell the entire crew what had actually happened, but she had hoped that they wouldn't leave under the illusion that their efforts had been successful. Instead, as she spoke, Hermione started making a mental list of all the things she needed to do before they left for Britain, what she needed to get finished once she was back home and in the Magical Creatures division, but none of it seemed as interesting as what she had experienced wrapped in Snape's arms on the beach, singing an elegy, beckoning the souls into elysium. In her short life, she'd accomplished and experienced so much, but nothing felt more important than giving those souls peace.

"Your thoughts are quite loud." She heard from her right, where Snape was finalizing some paperwork for Minister Drakas before he would return to his home.

"Stop reading my mind." She squinted and scrunched her face, finding herself quite confused by the entire situation. Instead of engaging him further, Hermione grabbed her bag and papers, walking to Phoebe's to see if she was really the woman she'd seen on the beach, hoping to get a few answers before she left for Britain, but she wasn't there. Hermione thought over the time she'd been in Cyprus, how Snape has chastised her for pushing her mind and body too far, knowing how much strength she would need once the moment was right to open the gate to elysium, and as though she too could read her mind, Phoebe appeared at her door.

"Was I not right, is he not happier?" It was her, it was the woman from the beach. At least one question had been answered, she hadn't imagine Phoebe that day on the beach.

"I don't know him well enough to know if he's happier." Hermione responded, but she knew it was a lie, she may not have known Severus Snape beyond what Harry had told her and what she'd experienced in his classroom, but it was clear that his life in Cyprus was better.

"He is a natural protector, Nikolai, NIcholas, he will always protect." Hermione nodded in agreement, biting her lip as she wondered if he would want freedom from that responsibility.

"He deserves an unburdened life, he's been through so much." Hermione heard herself say the words, felt them deeply in her heart and before she could wipe them away, tears rolled down her cheeks steadily. Her respect for Severus Snape had grown, her desire to see him as happy as she had the night before on the balcony, that was new.

"He has choice now, that is an unburdened life to him." Phoebe patted Hermione's shoulder before going into her quaint restaurant to prepare for lunch service, leaving Hermione to further ruminate on her feelings, on her experience, on Severus Snape.

They left two days later, though Hermione was reluctant because she still felt there were so many things she wanted to talk to Snape about, so much she felt she still needed to learn, but away she went, trying her best to leave Cyprus and Severus Snape from her mind. Back at the Ministry, she and Seamus immediately began work on a new case, filing in more pages of her memoirs but leaving out her experience in Cyprus, she just didn't know how to write about it. Months passed her she even tried to record her experience, on enchanted parchment, tucked safely in her beaded bag, she didn't want anyone to find it, but she also felt every moment she was away from Cyprus, that her memories were becoming fuzzy, almost as though it had all been a dream. She went out with her friends, enjoyed a quidditch match every now and then, worked on her hours for her next certification in law, and when James Sirius Potter was born, she finally felt like more of her had returned from Cyprus.

"He so gorgeous, Ginny, I could just stare at him for hours." The little bundle in her arms looked remarkably like Harry wish striking dark hair and light eyes, pudgy and chunky as a healthy baby should be, making little sounds and holding her thumb so tightly.

"You need one of these, you know." Harry watched her with James, how happy she seemed for the first time in a while, then he noticed the tears in her eyes.

"Oh, Hermione, don't cry." Ginny moved to sit next to her on the sofa, Harry immediately joined her, bookending her with his wife and child.

"No, it's just, he's perfect." Hermione could not tell them, what she'd seen in their little boys eyes, how long he would live, how many things he would do, how he would bring them so much joy. This side effect, this power she did not know she possessed frightened her. There was a knock at the door, so Harry moved to let Draco, Astoria, and Snape in, all coming to visit the baby Potter.

"Are you sure this child is half Weasley because all I see is Harry." Draco commented as Hermione handed the perfect bundle over.

"I did carry him for nine months, maybe someday it'll show." Ginny joked, garnering a laugh from the room, causing Hermione to wipe her eyes again to remove the last of her tears.

"I'll get tea." She remarked standing, walking past them and into the long hallway leading to the dining room and kitchen, finding Kreature already putting the teapot on the tray.

"Thank you, Kreature." He bowed slightly, then moved to the larder, still not entirely comfortable with Hermione. Before she could put the tea cups on the tray and the biscuits she'd brought from Marks and Spencers, she felt a static change in the air, her mind was invaded before she could try and throw up a wall.

"Do you require help, Ms. Granger?" His voice was still ragged, he was still slightly tanned, his hair short as before, he was wearing a black oxford shirt and pants, he looked exactly the same.

"You could take the cakes, if you will." But as she reached for the cakes tray, moving it closer to him, she met his eyes and he saw it, what she'd seen in James eyes, his future in quick succession.

"Don't be frightened, this happens to me as well."

"You could've warned me, I was not prepared to see my nephew's entire life flash before my eyes." Her own eyes could not move from his, the draw they held, how she remembered him looking at her as she sang, how she'd never felt so supported in her life.

"You left before we could talk properly, there is more that needs to be told." Immediately taken aback, Hermione remembered there being ample time for conversation before she and Harry returned with Percy to Britain.

"Are you staying here, then?" Hermione asked, motioning to the upper floors before taking the tea tray in her hands and liting it from the kitchen island.

"Yes, for a time."

"Vague as usual. Is it one of your special talents to answer questions with riddles, or is that a byproduct of ketea?" When his lips moved into a smirk, his eyebrow raised, Hermione knew that the animosity she'd felt so severely upon arriving on Cyprus was gone, he didn't mean her harm even if he couldn't speak to her in any linear fashion.

"I never meant to harm you." He spoke immediately, reminding her that he was an expert legilimens, that his ability to read something's thoughts was like breathing.

"You didn't, not really, you saved me." With the confession spoken aloud, Hermione felt her eyes watering again, wishing she could speak to him more, to admit that her life had felt meaningless since the war ended, that any healing that should've happened hadn't, her body had healed, but her mind hadn't. Being in Cyprus, eventually understanding why she was there, the usefulness she felt, the way everything seemed new, fresh, the stars more beautiful than ever and her heart so full, like it was looking into baby James' sweet face, she finally felt like she was living again. She took the tea tray into the sitting room and served everyone, hoping that once the fray left, she'd get an opportunity to talk more to Snape, to really ask questions about the magic she felt surge through her when he was around, how everything seemed so different since she'd been to Cyprus. But, she fell asleep on the settee as she waited, her week catching up with her. James' cries eventually roused her from sleep, forgetting her mission to speak with Snape completely, she apparated to her flat and went to bed.