Disclosure: JK Rowling created and rightfully owns Harry Potter. I simply aim to give you a few happy minutes right before you have to get dinner started, as we imagine our favorite book characters living on past Deathly Hallows.

July 1999, part 1

Sunday, 4 July 1999

Dear Hermione,

What did I tell your father? I told him that you were brilliant, amazing, witty, and that you were my equal and my partner. And I told him that I love you, and that I was not letting you go, for as long as you would have me.

Hermione, I long for you, too. I long to make love to you again. But please believe me that I plan on making love to you for the rest of your life. It is a marathon, Hermione. You have another year at University and we will not be together as often as we would like. We will make it, I promise.

I am staying at Hogwarts. I do not want to return to my house at Spinners End. It is not a home. I am considering getting rid of it, actually.

I am glad that your mother is over the initial shock. I didn't get to spend too much time with your mother, but I like both of your parents. Your upbringing and mine can't even be compared.

I love you, too. How could I possibly mind hearing that you love me? I will never tire of it, Hermione.

Yours,

Severus

On Wednesday evening, Severus took a deep breath, removed his wand from his sleeve and said, "Portus."

He landed in the sitting room of the Granger's home and immediately conjured a shield. That turned out to be a good idea, as it deflected a stunner from Hermione.

"Severus!" Hermione was shocked at first, and then a smile appeared, and she ran to him.

Severus hugged her. "I cannot believe you tried to stun me again!" he teased dryly.

"Old habits die hard," Hermione deadpanned. "What are you doing here?"

Severus answered her by kissing her. While they kissed, Hermione apparated them to her bedroom. Severus was impressed, but was in no mood to discuss magic, or anything really. Severus could feel layers of stress and longing and need melt away from both of them as they made love. They lay in bed together afterwards, stroking, touching, kissing, whispering words of love and want. He could not get enough of the feel of her skin next to his.

After a while, Hermione's stomach rumbled and Severus chuckled. "Hungry, are we?"

Hermione sheepishly grinned at him. "Well, it looks like my very recent plan of staying in bed with you all day will not happen. I don't have a house-elf, so come on." She grabbed his hand and drew him out of bed with her. They stole kisses from one another as they both got dressed again.

They went downstairs to the kitchen and prepared lunch together. Severus barely touched his food and Hermione furrowed her brow at him. "It's after midnight on Wednesday, Hermione. I'm not very hungry."

Hermione smiled. "I forgot about the time change! Thank you for sitting with me, anyway. Do you need to get back? You're going to be so tired tomorrow!"

"I don't have to be anywhere. Minerva doesn't care if we show up for meals in the summer. I'll be fine."

Hermione smiled lovingly at him, and every tired feeling vanished. "Severus," she began seriously, "did you mean what you told my father?"

Severus was pained that she doubted. In that moment, he vowed to undo all of the pain that Ron and the war had caused. "Yes, Hermione. I meant every word. I am beginning to think that maybe you should have heard those words before your father heard them. Merlin, Hermione. I will never be good at this."

Hermione grabbed his hand. "You're doing quite well from where I sit, Severus. I just wanted to know, that's all."

Severus nodded. "Hermione, you are my partner and my equal." At this, Hermione chuckled. "You are brilliant and witty. I love you, and I will not let you go, for as long as you'll have me."

Hermione squeezed his hand. "I love you, too, Severus. I don't mean to be so insecure. I'm not very good at this, either."

"Well, I did say that we were equals," Severus joked, and Hermione laughed.

Severus looked at Hermione, who was obviously still mulling things over. "Hermione, I think we might have done this a little backwards. I can tell there are things you want to know. Things that 'normal people', I think you called them, know before they fall in love. I have about an hour before I need to leave. Ask me, Hermione. I don't want to leave with you looking like that."

"Looking like what?" Hermione asked.

"Scared. You look scared."

Hermione got up and began to make tea for the both of them. She turned back to Severus and sighed. "I'm not scared, Severus. We did do this a little oddly, though. I've been falling in love with you for many, many months, but we danced around it and avoided it until my semester was over, and I appreciate that. But in the last two weeks, we've declared our love, spent one day together, had sex- great sex, mind you, and I moved to Australia and we're back to writing letters."

"Then let's do it, Hermione. Let's pretend we're normal. Ask your questions. I love you. I will answer you honestly." Severus was trying to squash every rational and irrational fear that was rising within him.

Hermione finished the tea and sat down with two mugs. She looked at Severus and smiled. "Whom have you had sex with?" Hermione asked baldly.

"That's what you want to ask first?" Severus asked, surprised.

"Well, it's obvious to me that I am not your first. I am curious, I admit it."

"All right, Hermione. I am 39 years old. There have been quite a few. Nothing long-term, and it is very, very different with you. There was a neighbor teenaged girl when I was seventeen. When I was a Death Eater, there were a few witches. And when I was a spy, I had a few liaisons with muggle women that I met in London bars. Like I said, nothing more than one-night stands. The last year and a half of the war, there was no one, and there has been no one at all since we began corresponding."

Hermione nodded. "Anyone I know?"

"No."

"Did you love any of them?"

"No." He paused. "I have only loved two women: Lily Evans Potter and you."

Hermione nodded slowly. "Thank you for being honest with me."

"You're welcome. Your turn to answer."

Hermione looked shocked.

He smirked at her. "Well, Hermione, it's obvious to me that I'm not your first. I am curious, I admit."

Hoist by her own petard, she smirked back at him and sighed theatrically. "All right. Shortly before I modified my parents' memories and left my home for good, I had a twenty-minute stand with the muggle college student that lived next door, and after the war, there was a wizard."

Severus laughed. "Anyone I know?"

Hermione blushed. "Yes. It was Kingsley," she deadpanned, and laughed at Severus' shocked face. "I'm joking. It was Ron, of course."

"Did you love any of them?"

"Yes. I loved Ron, just not the way I hoped and thought that I would. It was never right. I have only loved two men: Ron Weasley and you."

They looked at each other for a minute before Hermione broke the silence. "Well, that was miserable," she joked. "The rest of my questions should be a walk in the park."

Severus smiled at her. "You did hear me say that it is very different with you, right? I need you to hear that, Hermione. I woke up holding you that first night, feeling as though if I never moved from that bed with you, I could die a very happy man. That is definitely not a feeling I've ever had before. I love you, Hermione. I loved you months before we ever made love."

Hermione smiled at him. "I know, and I love you, too."

"My turn to ask a question, I think," Severus said matter-of-factly. "Why did you start writing to me?"

Hermione furrowed her brow. "It's not a simple answer, but I'll try my best." After a moment, she continued. "Those weeks after the war ended were very chaotic for me. I had no home. I stayed at Grimmauld with Harry. I stayed at the Burrow with Ron; I stayed at Hogwarts, even. It became clear very quickly that Ron and I were not going to work out. To be fair, dating someone while they are grieving the loss of their brother is not reasonable. And no one is quite normal after going through a war. But I knew enough about me and enough about Ron to see that we were not well suited. And I still didn't fully trust him since he abandoned Harry and me. When he quit Auror training after one week to join the Chudley Canons, it sealed the deal for me. That's when we broke it off."

"Where do I come in to this picture?" Severus asked, confused.

"I'm getting there. I visited Minerva quite often the first two weeks, when we were clearing your name, and we enjoyed talking very much. I needed her. Molly was consumed with grief, and my mum was in some unknown city in Australia. So even after your trial was over, I found myself wanting to be with Minerva. But to talk to Minerva, I had to go to St. Mungo's, because she was at your bedside. Oh, the owls! So many owls... Minerva conducted most of Hogwarts' business and oversaw the reconstruction from your hospital room."

"I didn't know that," Severus said, shaking his head. "Once I woke up, it was only a few days before they transported me to Hogwarts."

Hermione smiled at him gently. "You were always three feet away, unconscious while Minerva and I sat and talked. You know Minerva – she is a bit of a gossip, and she was very upset about you, and how she misjudged you. So here's Minerva, day after day extolling your many virtues. You would have been livid, had you been awake!"

"A fair assessment," Severus said dryly.

"I was in the middle of figuring out exactly why Ron and I would never work, and what I did find attractive in a man. Things like strength, intelligence, faithfulness, not a Quidditch player. Some things were more important than others, obviously. And there you were. I had no illusions of falling in love with you, or you with me; but when I looked at you, I knew you were an example of the kind of man I should be looking for. And so I thought that we could be friends, and to be honest, I needed a like-minded friend. I didn't think you'd write back to me, but Minerva insisted that I try."

Severus nodded.

"Your turn to answer," Hermione said, searching his eyes. Severus wondered which of them was more afraid of the answer.

"I answered your first letter as a kindness to Minerva, just like I told you." Hermione nodded, waiting.

Severus sighed. "I was not supposed to survive the war, Hermione." Hermione's eyes showed her pain at that statement, but she stayed silent. "Everything I did in life, both evil and good, was a step toward my death. I did not think I would survive, Albus did not think I would survive. I had accepted that."

The question came that he knew would come. "But the anti-venom," she intoned softly.

"That was because I am a Potions Master, and it was a challenge." The words were not said with pride, and void of emotion.

He watched as Hermione got up and went to the kitchen counter, turning her back on him. He knew it would upset her to find out the truth concerning the scope of the war's toll on him. "Why are you telling me this?" she asked, her words equally void of emotion.

"I'm telling you this because you need to know."

"I asked about the letters."

"You need to know. And I am answering your question. When I woke up in St. Mungo's, I was surprised to be alive. I had to start a new life entirely, Hermione. I wish I were telling you a story about a glorious rebirth. It was not glorious. It was miserable and painful and there were days that made me wish that Voldemort had not used Nagini." He paused and then added, "Please look at me, Hermione."

She slowly turned back to face him. He was relieved to see that she was not crying.

"Hermione, the only thing I could manage to decide was that I needed to make different choices this time around. That's how little I could process things. If Minerva wanted to talk to me and I wanted to yell at her, I forced myself to choose differently. The choices I made the first time led to death. No matter how heroic people make it out to be, it was still death. If I was going to live, I wasn't going to march toward death again. By the time you wrote me the first time, I was already doing better, thankfully. But when your third letter arrived, I was at a crossroads. I was so far out of my comfort, of which I had little of to begin with, that I did not even want to open it."

"Why did you?"

"Minerva. She talked to me about you. She said that you were in danger of becoming isolated and lonely, which I understand far too well. She also threw in a few barbs about your lamentable choice in friends." He smirked at her and she reluctantly smirked back. "So, I went back to my mantra of choosing differently. I decided at that moment to be your friend. And then I read your letter – you remember? You were about to start University and didn't know what you were walking in to. All of a sudden, I was feeling emotions that I hadn't been able to feel in months. I felt protective of you; I was worried about you. And I liked you. I know that sounds ridiculous, but you are funny and threaten me and you're sarcastic and brilliant, and once I allowed myself to look at you as a friend, I thought I was pretty damn lucky that you wanted to be my friend. Had you not been someone I already knew, who already knew my past, you wouldn't have had a chance. With every letter, I gave myself to you: first as a friend, and then as a man who loved you."

Severus stood and walked over to Hermione. He opened his arms to her and was utterly relieved when she didn't hesitate to be wrapped up in him. The few tears that had been threatening finally spilled over. After a few moments, she pulled away. She dried away the errant tears and looked at him square on. "Read my damn letters!" she said emphatically, knowing how nonsensical she sounded.

He looked at her and knew how much it had hurt her to know how close they had come to not having what they both cherished. It was a thought that had haunted him, as well.

"I will read your damn letters," he joked quietly. He held her again and they both calmed down and let go some of the stress of their afternoon.

It was a lot to digest for one day, for both of them. "Hermione, it's your turn to ask a question," he started, but Hermione interrupted him.

"You can't be serious! Even I can't ask any more today."

He smiled at her softly. "Thank Merlin for that. But I need to leave soon, and I need to ask another question before I go. It's important."

"All right, Severus."

"Do you think we have a future together?" he asked seriously.

Hermione nodded and smiled sweetly. "Yes." She paused, and then added, "I do, Severus."

Severus nodded. "Do you feel any better?"

"Yes, I think I do. I don't think we'll ever be normal, but I think we got some of the big questions out of the way today. Right?" she added questioningly.

Severus chuckled darkly. "I don't think they get any bigger than that. The rest, as you said, will be a 'walk in the park.'"

"Let's hope," Hermione joked. She looked on as Severus picked up the tea mugs and magically cleaned them and then placed them once more into the cupboard.

Severus furrowed his brow as he watched Hermione's eyes grow wide with shock.

"My father told you they would not be here on Thursdays!"

Severus smiled. "I did say that he would make a fine Slytherin."

"I can't believe he did that. He must really like you."

"Yes, but don't say anything to him. No matter how much he likes me, he does not want to think about his daughter apparating a man to her bedroom, much less anything else we did up there."

Hermione smirked. "No doubt. Will you come to see me next Thursday?"

Severus smiled at her. "Do you want me to?"

Hermione answered by kissing him.

"I'll see what I can do…" he teased, grateful that they were back onto safer ground after such stressful conversations. "Now, I've got to go before Demeter gets home."

Hermione laughed. "Am I still a goddess even after asking all of those questions?"

Severus kissed her and lifted her chin to look at him, "Hermione, you would not be you if you were not asking questions. And I love you."

She smiled at him. "I love you, too. Goodbye, Severus."

"Goodbye, Hermione." And with that, he stepped back and for what felt like the thousandth time, said, "Portus."

Sunday, 11 July 1999

Dear Severus,

I'm still smiling when I think about you surprising me on Thursday. Of course, it was surprising in many ways, to be sure!

Tell me more about your house at Spinner's End. Why is it not a home? And do you have books there that aren't in your library at Hogwarts?

I'm glad that you liked my parents. What would you have done if they, or at least my father, didn't like you? It seems important to you, but I don't really know why. That is my "walk in the park" question for this week, on our quest for normality.

I will see you before I get another letter from you, which thrills me. I promise not to hex you this time.

Until I see you again, be well, dear one.

Yours,
Hermione

Wednesday would never get here, Severus was absolutely certain of that fact. Time was dragging more between Wednesdays than any time of the year, including the last week of term when everyone was overly ready for summer holiday every year.

When Wednesday finally arrived, he arranged to have tea with Minerva after dinner.

They watched the house-elf bring them tea and biscuits and then blink out. Minerva then turned to Severus, "Are you all right, Severus?" she asked kindly.

"Yes, Minerva. I'm all right, I just wanted to talk to you." He paused. "Thank you, Minerva."

"Whatever for?"

"Hermione told me that you didn't leave my side at St. Mungo's, that you even oversaw the repair of the castle from St. Mungo's."

"I left you for an entire year, Severus. It won't ever happen again."

"I feel like I owe you very much."

"You owe me for nothing."

"Hermione."

"What about Hermione, Severus?"

"I wouldn't have Hermione if it weren't for you."

"Absolute nonsense!" Her brogue was getting thicker by the minute.

Severus chuckled. "Hermione mentioned that you were 'extolling my many virtues' in the hospital."

"I didn't show her anything she wouldn't have seen on her own. She's a smart woman, Severus."

"Yes, she is."

"Do you want to know the smartest thing she ever did?" she asked, with a twinkle in her eye.

"All right, what is it?"

"Dumping Weasley. Do you want to know the smartest thing you ever did?"

Severus rolled his eyes in response.

"Opening that letter." She laughed and then continued. "I do not take credit for you and Hermione falling in love. I do, however, take some credit for her dumping Weasley and for you opening that letter. I expect a new scarf every Christmas!"

Severus laughed and smiled warmly at her. "A tartan scarf for Minerva. You are officially on the Christmas list. I'll do you a favor and let Hermione pick it out for you."

Minerva laughed. "Get out of my office, Severus. I happen to know that there is a young woman waiting for you in Australia."

Severus smirked. "I'll be glad when I can give this teacup back to you, Minerva. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Goodbye, Severus."

As Severus landed in the sitting room of the Granger's home, he found a smiling Hermione waiting for him.

She got up from the couch where she had been reading and kissed him.

He held her waist and looked at her as if it had been a year instead of a week. "That was much nicer than being hexed."

"Yes, I imagine it was." She smiled and kissed him again. "I have a surprise planned for us, since I knew you were coming this time."

"I rather liked last week's surprise," he said, kissing her neck.

Hermione moaned. "Well, I guess my surprise can wait a bit…"

She laughed when Severus apparated them to her bedroom as she had done last week. "It's my turn to take care of you," he purred, as he gently laid her upon her bed.

Afterward, Severus marveled again at the naked witch now reclining lazily against his chest as he sat, propped up by her headboard. "You are my good fortune, Hermione."

"Hmmmm…." Hermione responded dreamily.

Severus chuckled.

"I'm sorry," she said, laughing and shaking her head. "But you've only yourself to blame if I'm distracted."

"Fair enough," he said smiling, and kissed the top of her hair.

"Well, it's almost lunch time, and you know what happens then," Hermione joked.

"Yes, and I seem to recall something about a surprise."

"I've already had my surprise," Hermione deadpanned.

Severus laughed. "What have I done to my brilliant, logical…." He paused. "What are you?"

Hermione chuckled. "I would not recommend you say the word, 'lover.'"

"Don't worry. Girlfriend does not suit, either," Severus mused. "Ahhh," he began in his most silky voice. "I know. What have I done to my brilliant, logical witch?"

Hermione sighed. "First, only you could make the word 'witch' sound so wonderful. Secondly, you have turned me into an illogical sap. A hungry, illogical sap, to be more specific. Let's go."

They got dressed once more and made their way down to the kitchen. Severus sat at the table, but Hermione grabbed a picnic basket off of the kitchen counter and looked back at him with a smile. "We're going on a midnight picnic. Come on, get up!"

As she shrunk the basket and put it into her pocket, he was tempted to ask a multitude of questions that immediately entered his mind, but he stopped himself. He got up and walked to Hermione. "I'm all yours." He had spent the last twenty years making sure that no one and no thing surprised him, that he knew every move of every chess game. He was ready to be let go and be surprised: surprised by life, surprised by Hermione.

"What are you thinking?" Hermione asked with a furrowed brow.

"I'm thinking how nice it is to be surprised." And he dipped his head down to kiss her softly.

She smiled sweetly at him and snaked her arm around his waist. He put his arm around her shoulders and they soon landed in an isolated wooded area.

"Where are we?" Severus asked, looking around.

"We're still near Sydney. This is Cremorne Reserve; it's the tip of a little peninsula. I like to sit and watch the boats. It's very peaceful." They started walking toward the shore where they would be able to see the boats.

They settled themselves on a very large flat expanse of rock. Hermione cast warming charms and a cushioning charm before laying out a blanket for them. They sat and Hermione ate lunch while they watched the boats. It was very tranquil as they listened to the waves lap onto the rocky coastline.

"Now that I'm a little more alert," Hermione began, "what were you saying earlier?"

"About being surprised?" Severus asked.

"No, before that, when we were in bed."

"Oh. I said that you were my good fortune. The moment has passed, but it is still true," he teased gently.

"That's why you were quoting from Thomas Fuller, isn't it? That day that we went to Hogsmeade?"

"Yes. 'A wise man turns chance into good fortune.' You are my good fortune. Thank Merlin I was wise enough to see you."

Hermione smiled at him.

"All is see when I look at you is Hermione. There was a time when I saw a former student, a younger woman, a friend of Harry Potter's, someone who could not possibly fall in love with me. But now, all I see is Hermione."

"And all I see when I look at you is Severus," Hermione said, contentedly.

Severus smiled at her. Those smiles belonged only to Hermione. His Hermione.

Sunday, 18 July 1999

Dear Hermione,

On our quest for normality, which I assure you will be never-ending, I am happy to answer your questions.

Spinner's End is where I grew up. First, the good part: I do have more books there. My library at Hogwarts is better and bigger, and many of the books at Spinner's End concern the Dark Arts. I'm sure I just opened a proverbial can of worms with that last statement, but there it is. You are welcome to any of my books.

The bad parts are far too numerous, but I'll try to summarize. You know that my father was abusive. That in and of itself would be reason enough for me to torch it. Both summers before your Sixth and Seventh Years, Wormtail was my "guest." Another great reason to torch it. With him there, I had to be a spy twenty-four hours a day. My quarters at Hogwarts have always been a respite for me, but I didn't even have that during those two summers. It was very exhausting. It simply does not hold anything for me but bad memories. I could never raise a family there.

On to cheerier subjects. I am your "change the subject" friend, after all. Your parents are important to me because they are important to you. Had your father not liked me, I would have worked for however long it took to change his opinion of me. It's important. Families should have peace. I'm not in the mood to spend another four decades without it. But I am a patient man, and if it takes a while for your mother to like me, it's all right. I think your father rather enjoyed having someone with whom to drink brandy. And to be honest, I rather enjoyed having someone with whom to drink brandy, as well. When I visit, you and your mother will have to go shopping or something. You know, do something feminine…

My body is at Hogwarts. My mind is with you in Cremorne Reserve, listening to the waves and watching the boats. You are a gift.

Yours,

Severus

When Severus landed in the Granger's home the following Thursday, Hermione was nowhere to be seen. "Hermione?"

"I'm up here!"

Brow furrowed, he climbed the stairs and opened the door to Hermione's bedroom.

"Merlin, but I do love your surprises, Hermione," he purred. All he could think of while he made love to Hermione was that she worth the wait. She was worth waiting almost forty years for, and she was worth waiting however many more years until he could marry her.

They went again to Cremorne Reserve to watch the boats.

"Hermione, can you transform something more comfortable for us? My knee is hurting today."

Hermione transfigured a rock to be shaped like her bed, which earned her a raised eyebrow from Severus. It looked exactly like the rocks around them, but it had a comfortable mattress. He sat against the headboard and drew Hermione to sit back between his legs and against him. He loved holding her to his chest and putting his chin on her hair.

"Is this good for your knee?" Hermione asked.

"What knee?" he deadpanned, holding her tighter and breathing in the smell of her hair.

Hermione chuckled. "Now that I have you where I want you, we have something to discuss."

Severus groaned. "What have I done now?" He relished the feel of her laughing in his arms.

"You want my mum and I out of the house so that you can drink brandy with my father?"

"I am surrounded by strong-willed women, Hermione. I am on vacation. Surely I am entitled to some good brandy and good conversation, free from aforementioned strong-willed women. If your father plays chess, all the better."

After a moment, she reached up to stroke his cheek and sighed. "You miss Albus."

Severus sighed and closed his eyes. "Yes."

Sunday, 25 July 1999

Dear Severus,

My parents are expecting you on Wednesday. Both of them are glad that you are able to come for a visit and, of course, they got us tickets to the opera on Friday night. I told Mrs. Weasley that we will arrive late afternoon on Saturday, 31 July. I have found that I do better with the time change if I get up very early and arrive in the afternoon. That way, I'm very tired that night and can get back on schedule a little easier. I hope that works for you, as well.

Thank you for telling me about Spinner's End. I am intrigued by something you wrote: do you want to have a family, as in children?

My body is in Australia. My mind is at Hogwarts with you, reading your books on your couch, with your arm around me. You are my gift.

Yours,

Hermione

Severus kept himself busy on Tuesday by brewing the Wolfsbane for Teddy, which Minerva then delivered. He also brewed chocolate for Hermione. How many months had he been brewing her chocolate? He never thought he would ever make another person happy. He had been useful to people, but never a joy to anyone.

Author's Note: This was the logical break for July, but it did not split July equally in length. Your final installment will be quite long, and I hope satisfying. Many people have asked about a sequel, so I'll answer here. I meant it to be a two-year story, hence Hermione's two-year stint at Uni. Last chapter's declaration of love was actually the original conclusion of the second year. However, they grew a life of their own, as characters are wont to do. Their relationship grew quickly when I went to fill in the middle, compelling me to shrink this part of their story into one year's time. All of this to say, that I do not have a sequel written, nor do I anticipate writing one.

Being asked that question, by the way, is the neatest compliment in the world.

Thank you so much to all of you who have taken the time to review!