Hermione smiled when she opened her door. It was Severus. He stepped inside and closed the door behind him. He glanced at the foot of her bed, where her trunk was. But it wasn't the trunk that had drawn his eyes; on top of it several bags and boxes sat, waiting to be taken to the Burrow. Almost all of the students had left that morning on the Hogwarts Express for Platform 9 ¾ to go home for the holidays. There was a house elf with long white hair growing out of his ears who hurried around the room, trying to catch Crookshanks. Kreacher finally gave up on chasing him and apparated to the place right in front of the cat, stopping the animal in his tracks. Then Kreacher scooped up the cat, who yowled, complaining loudly, and carried him over to the bags on top of the trunk. Hermione nodded to him and he bowed, letting Crookshanks' bottom brush the floor when he did. He placed a hand on the bags and apparated, taking them with him to the Burrow.
Hermione looked back to Severus, who was watching her with an unreadable expression on his face. Unbidden, he closed the space between them and pulled her against him. She looked up at him, wrapping her arms around his neck, and stood on her toes, pulling herself up to kiss him. When it ended they stared into each other's eyes for a moment. He sighed and she detected some emotion in his expression. The strange, searching look that had come into his eyes nearly a week before was still there, but there was something else—worry, perhaps?—in his dark brown orbs as well. She bit her lip and smiled up at him, and he didn't even scowl at her for biting her lip. She took a deep breath just as he did, still locked tight in his arms. "I'll be back in a few days," she said, smiling again.
She pressed her face into his chest again and he rested his chin on the top of her head. "Be safe," he whispered.
She pulled away enough so that she could see his face, but was still in his arms. She smiled, but it was a strange, upset smile, twisted by confusion and surprise. "Severus," she blinked a few times, "I'll be fine. It's only a few days. It's Christmas, for goodness sake! And there aren't any more lunatic wizards around who want to kill either of us." She stood on her toes and kissed his cheek. "What are you worried about?"
He didn't speak and stared into her eyes, trying to explain his answer to her in silence, but she only got part of his unspoken message.
She sighed. "I'll be completely safe," she insisted. "I'll be surrounded by two aurors, a dragon-keeper, someone who works for Gringott's—the safest place in the world to keep something—and overall a group of people who love me and would never let anything happen to me."
He nodded and then smirked. "Keep an eye on Weasley. I do not want him trying anything."
Hermione laughed, relieved that Severus didn't seem so worried about her safety as much as annoyed about Ron. "He wouldn't dare," she said simply, smirking back. "For one thing, he knows he's already on thin ice. To try anything would be crazy, and he knows it. And for another, when he . . . . kissed me . . ." she had some minor difficulty getting the words out, "He had no idea that I was already spoken for. And by you of all people. He wouldn't dare challenge you like that if he had known."
"He pulled his wand on me in the hospital," Severus reminded her as he stroked her hair.
She shrugged, or tried anyways, failing because of how close he was holding her. "He was really upset. When Ron loses his temper, he does things he would never do in his right mind, things that he'll regret later."
Severus nodded, his face bored. He obviously didn't like discussing Ron. Hermione changed the subject then. "They're expecting me to floo to the house from my office with Ginny any time now."
He sighed, and there was a look that could have been pain that briefly lit his eyes.
She reached up, putting her hand on his cheek and staring into his eyes. "I love you."
He leaned down to kiss her. "I love you."
He hesitated a moment and then let her go, and Hermione was sure that she had actually seen him deciding whether to stop her from going by the look in his eyes. She didn't step back, but he didn't have his arms around her anymore. Hermione glanced around her room one last time to be sure she had everything she wanted for her short vacation and then turned back to Severus. He offered his arm and she took it. They walked out of the teachers' lounge and found Ginny waiting in the corridor outside for them. She smiled at them both, and Severus glared fiercely at her for it. She linked arms with Hermione's free arm and they walked up to her office together.
Kreacher had come and taken Ginny's things to the Burrow as well as Hermione's, so they didn't have any bags or luggage to take with them. They reached Hermione's office and Ginny looked to Hermione questioningly. Hermione grinned at her and nodded towards the fire, foreseeing the quick moment of awkwardness that would occur between Ginny and Severus if Hermione flooed first. Ginny grinned back and took a fistful of green powder from the container on a nearby shelf. She flung it into the fire and the flames turned green and roared higher than before. She stepped into the fire and said clearly, "The Burrow," before the flames rose even higher, and then she was gone, leaving Severus and Hermione alone.
Severus leaned down and kissed Hermione one last time, but she gave him a stern look that stopped him from any more whisperings about staying safe. She stepped up to the fire and had her back to him. He had turned to go to the door, and was just walking out of it. She hadn't told Severus about her patronus changing to mirror his. Deciding it could be an early Christmas present for him, she quickly took out her wand and pointed it to the door, through which he'd just disappeared. "Expecto Patronum," she whispered.
A silver doe burst out of her wand tip and stood in the midst of the room, looking at her. "Go to him," Hermione said, nodding towards the door and watching the animal bound away to do as she'd said. She tucked her wand away, threw a fistful of powder into the fire, and flooed to the Burrow without another glance back.
She stepped out of the fireplace and just had time to use magic to get the soot and ash off of her robes before a whole group of people converged on her and squeezed her until she thought she heard one of her ribs crack. When at last they stood back and let her stand on her own and breathe again, she took a deep breath and grinned at them all. The Weasleys were all there, along with Harry. Fleur stepped out of the crowd and kissed Hermione's cheek, and when she drew back Hermione smiled at the baby in her arms, who had bright purple hair.
Little Teddy Lupin had been placed under the care of Molly and Arthur Weasley after his parents deaths during the battle at Hogwarts. He looked healthy and happy in his adopted sister-in-law's arms. Harry was his godfather, but at eighteen and with a career as an auror Harry hadn't thought himself an acceptable caretaker for the baby. The Weasleys were raising Teddy as their own, though of course he would keep his parents' name. Hermione couldn't help but wonder if, when he was older, Teddy would keep his hair red and make himself look like a Weasley, as he was a metamorphmagus like his mother had been.
They all sat down or stood around the kitchen after things settled down, and everyone was served dinner. All of them were thrilled to have Hermione and Ginny back, and Ginny and Harry were less than enigmatic about their joy at being together again. Hermione was surprised later when someone knocked on the door and George jumped up, looking actually happy and as if he were anticipating something. He was obviously getting better and recovering more and more with each day from the loss of his twin, but it was still a burden he carried, and everyone could see it. Hermione was the only one who was surprised when he walked back in with Angelina Johnson holding his hand and smiling at him.
They stayed up late, swapping stories until it was late. Everyone wanted to know about Rookwood's attack on the school and Hermione told the story, and everyone had questions. The obvious question—why she and Severus were walking together through the dungeon—was the only one that didn't get asked. Of course, all of the people there had heard of she and the potions master's love for one another, and it had been confirmed as fact and not just rumor when Ron and Harry had come back to visit after they saw Hermione at Saint Mungo's.
At last, Ginny seemed unable to take the blatant way they were ignoring the obvious question, and she herself said, "Hermione, tell them about Severus."
Hermione turned quite red, but she told them that she did indeed love him, and when they asked for the full story, she shared the big parts, ignoring most of the details and sparing the male creatures in the room the ooh's and ah's of the females, who would undoubtedly have giggled and gasped over certain parts of the tale. When she was finished telling, Hermione was no longer red, and in fact looked rather as if she was going to remain unaffected no matter what the others thought of her now. However, Harry spoke up kindly after a while to break the silence. "Snape is different since he's fallen for Hermione. I've seen it. Others have too."
Hermione remembered sending her patronus after Severus and wondered what he had thought of it and how he had reacted. She and the others stayed up late talking about everything, while Ginny sat beside Hermione on the floor and they had their arms around each other.
Back at Hogwarts, Severus was pacing his room, unable to sleep. It wasn't so much that he worried for Hermione's safety that he just wanted to be near her. The desire to hold her close or at least be in her presence was overpowering. And to be able to look at her face, see her smile, gaze into her bright, beautiful brown eyes, to know that she was alive. It was what he needed. He had to see her with his own eyes as he looked at her, feel her with his own hands as he held her in his arms, hear her with his own ears when she spoke, had have solid, physical proof to be sure that she really was still alive. He had lost her once, and just being away from her nearly felt like losing her again. There was the pleasant thought that she would return to him in a matter of days, but other thoughts echoed in his mind, whispering that she was dead, that she would die alone and without him around to protect her, that she wasn't safe even among friends.
He sat down on his bed and stared at the ground, remembering what had happened after Hermione had left. He had been walking away, back to his office to grade papers, when a silver doe identical to his own patronus had bounded past, turned, and stood in front of him, cocking its head and looking at him with silver eyes. He had frozen in place, and for a moment he had been sure that Lily had somehow sent him her patronus, as he knew that this was not his own. But then it had occurred to him that the doe had come from behind him, from Hermione's office. And everything clicked into place in his head; the doe was Hermione's patronus. Her patronus had changed for him. He had stared at the doe, momentarily paralyzed by the crippling depth of what the patronus meant. If Hermione's patronus had change to mirror his, then she was deeply in love, even more than he had dared to hope. It meant that she loved him as he loved her.
He admitted to himself that he had half expected his own patronus to change to an otter, but thinking over it all, it made more sense for Hermione's to have changed rather than his. The doe had trotted beside him in an almost friendly way, and they had walked back to the teachers' lounge together rather than to Severus' office. He needed to see something to be sure. The doe had entered the lounge with him and then vanished, and he had turned his back on the place that she had stood and approached Hermione's door, anticipating what he would find there. And sure enough, carved there into the wooden door among the swirling shapes and patterns, was a doe like his own. The doe on his door was bounding gracefully, as was Hermione's, though he inspected them and found that his own had changed and they seemed to be trying to bound right out of the doors towards each other.
Severus changed but was still restless. He lay down in bed and turned out the lights, but sleep would not come. He thought again about his solution to missing Hermione as he missed her even now. Her patronus had changed because she loved him so much. Surely that meant that he could ask her and she would say yes?
Severus decided then and there that he would indeed ask her, and finally fell into a restful sleep, thinking over and planning how to go about what he was now determined to do.
Severus Snape had never in his life even once considered marriage. He had loved Lily, yes, but he had loved her when they were children, and then the idea of marrying her—or asking her, for that matter—had never crossed his mind. When they had come to school and been separated into different houses, they had grown apart. That, doubled with Severus' decision to become a death eater, had caused a cavernous space to grow between them, until they were hardly friends anymore. He had still loved her, but she had moved on to love James Potter, and as soon as they were a couple Severus had known that he had no chance of getting Lily back. He had loved her from afar, cursed the day that she and James were wed, and cried with rage when he heard that Lily was pregnant.
Because the woman he loved had never loved him as he did her and because she was taken by James Potter when they were in school, there had never been time for him to consider asking her to marry him. She had never been his, not that way. But now, things were different. He loved a young woman who loved him and him alone and would never settle for another man. He loved a young woman whose heart didn't belong to another. He loved a young woman who, unbeknownst to him, wanted nothing more than to become his wife and bear his children.
The next morning Hermione woke up and grinned at Ginny. They had duplicated Ginny's bed and together the two beds took up most of the room, aside from their luggage. Ginny was just waking up as well, but she grinned back and sat up as Hermione did. They changed and got ready for their day. It was Christmas Eve, and everyone was going to take a last-minute trip to Diagon Alley to purchase gifts and enjoy themselves for the day. Everyone met downstairs in the kitchen, and they all ate breakfast and then gathered together. Angelina had slept on the couch downstairs overnight and was staying at the Burrow with the Weasleys for Christmas along with Hermione and Harry.
Then they flooed, one at a time, to Diagon Alley and met up in front of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. When Molly had counted heads at least four times and was finally convinced that they were all there safe and sound, they split up as they pleased. Hermione went with Ginny, Ron, and Harry, following George and Angelina into the joke shop. George—and Angelina with him—went to talk to the people working for him and make sure things were running smoothly, and the four friends split up into two groups. Harry and Ron went to look at some of the actual jokes and things, while Hermione and Ginny went to look at the pygmy puffs and love potions. Ginny still had Arnold, her purple pygmy puff, and started telling Hermione about how she had decided that she wanted to get him a friend.
The four friends spent hours in the joke shop before they browsed the other shops, most of which had only just reopened after the war. Hermione and Ginny linked arms and ran to Ollivander's wand shop, thrilled to see it open again. They stepped inside and Mr. Ollivander looked at them and a mysterious smile split across his face. Hermione had helped save him from Malfoy Manor and freed him from the dark lord only months before during the war. He nodded to them, and they nodded back. They looked around. All of the shelves of boxed wands were polished and clean, looking just as impressive and nice as they had years before when Hermione and then Ginny had first come in to get their own wands.
Everyone enjoyed their day in Diagon Alley, and Harry even went to Gringott's and took out some gold to spend on treating his friends to ice cream. They all bought plenty of things from multiple shops—though George's got the most business that day—and hid them from each other because most things were presents.
They flooed back to the Burrow late in the afternoon and everyone went to their rooms. They wrapped the gifts with magic or set the ones that had been wrapped in the shops aside and soon everyone was ready for Christmas the next day. Hermione and Ginny sat on their beds and talked while Crookshanks and Arnold chased each other around the room, under the furniture and across the floor. Ginny asked her if she had gotten Severus anything and she shook her head. "I thought about it plenty of times. I just never had any clue what I could get him that he would like or actually have any use for."
Ginny nodded.
They had grinned at each other then. Hermione was thrilled to have Ginny as a best friend; she was the only person aside from Harry who was completely unafraid to ask about things relating to Severus or her relationship with him, and even then Harry was hesitant sometimes. Ginny seemed to have accepted in full that Hermione and Severus really were together and in love and it was okay to ask them about their relationship.
Everyone went to sleep late that night, most of them in their own rooms. But as almost all of them were sharing their room with at least one other person, they talked together until around midnight, when their day at Diagon Alley, added to the late hour, finally made them turn out the lights and rest.
The next day there were presents at the foot of everyone's beds and people were opening them as soon as they woke. Hermione had indeed gotten a friend for Ginny to give to Arnold, a pink pygmy puff that was a female. It had been quite difficult to smuggle home a living creature and keep it in the same room as the person who was supposed to receive it, but Hermione had managed. Arnold, Crookshanks, and the new pygmy puff were soon running around on the floor. Ginny looked at the pink creature and pronounced her "Penelope" immediately. The Hermione had giggled and they had gone back to opening presents together.
Hermione received a new sweater from Molly, several "Intriguing" muggle items from Arthur, books from Percy, books from Ron, books from Harry, a beautiful goblin-made necklace from Fleur (and Bill, though he had signed the card and specifically said that the gift was from his wife—she had crossed out the last part and written in that it was from him too), as well as a book from Angelina, some kind of candies from Luna and her father, a carnivorous rose contained in a bottle—both beautiful and frightening—from Neville, and a dragon claw from Charlie. With a pang, she remembered that her mum's presents had usually included sweets and a motherly letter, with her dad's sloppy but sincere signature and small note from him in the corner of their card. This was her first Christmas since they'd been completely obliviated and reduced to the state they were currently in.
When everyone met up downstairs there were shouts of thanks and hugs and kisses all over the place, causing chaos until Molly finally banged two iron pans together and got everyone to shut up. They all sat down and she served a large, delicious Christmas breakfast, and soon all of them were talking loudly, joking, smiling, and having a grand time again. But behind everyone's smile there was untold of pain. Everyone had lost someone in the war, and this was the first Christmas they were to spend without those people. Hermione knew that she wasn't the only person missing someone that morning. But she, along with the rest of them, did their best to see the bright side of things, and soon they were able to remember their lost loved ones with smiles at the good times spent with them rather than the sad.
Hermione stayed at the Burrow for a few hours after breakfast before she said goodbye to everyone and left the house, walking until she passed the protective boundaries and then apparating to the entrance to Saint Mungo's. She entered and was pleased to find things back to normal; the entrance area was still a bit chaotic but not half as bad as it had been the last time she was there. Her friends had offered to come with her, but she had wanted some time alone with her parents and had politely refused. They understood completely, and were happy to wait at the Burrow for her return. She was planning on spending the day at the hospital with her parents and then going back to the house in the afternoon sometime. She wasn't worried about lunch, as they'd eaten a late breakfast and all of them had consumed far too much food to get hungry for nearly the rest of the day. And if she didn't make it back for dinner Molly would always have set aside some of the meal for her to eat when she did get back.
Hermione hadn't even taken another step into the hospital when someone behind her who had just entered touched her shoulder. She turned to see who it was and jumped when she realized that she recognized the face. "Severus?" she stared at him in surprise.
He nodded and gave a smirk, but it was twisted strangely. Hermione looked him up and down and frowned; he looked anxious and uneasy.
"Is something the matter?"
He offered her his arm and said, "I needed to speak to you and knew that you would be here today, so I waited in the street with the muggles and watched for you."
She took his arm and said, "All right," still wondering what was wrong.
She started to walk in the direction of the lift to go to the floor and see her parents, but he steered her back towards the door. She looked at him questioningly and he said, "I don't have to take you if you don't want. We won't be long and then you can get to your parents." His words were sincere and his voice said that she was free to go to her parents and leave him there if she wanted, but his eyes were pleading with her to come with him. He still looked jumpy and nervous.
Hermione wanted to know what was wrong, and going with him meant that he would tell her and she could possibly ease his worries. Without a second glance at the lift and the people behind them, she nodded. "All right. Where are we going?"
He looked pleased with her choice, but still extremely nervous. "You'll see," he said before leading her back out the door. They stepped out onto the muggle street and he looked down at her before they disapparated. As they were enveloped by crushing, smothering darkness Hermione thought it over briefly. She had no idea where they were going or why, and what was wrong with Severus, she didn't know. But she trusted him completely, and whatever this was, she was sure that he would have a satisfactory explanation for her in the end.
Their feet touched firm ground and she opened her eyes, blinking in the sunlight. She looked around and stared in surprise; they were on the edge of a small open space between the trees in some forest. The trees were green and healthy, and grass was lush and looked cool, and the sky above was almost too blue to be real. She curled her arm around his and stepped closer to him, staring around in amazement. "Severus, where are we?"
She looked up into his face and saw that he had been watching her reaction carefully. That searching, questioning look was in his eyes again, and she had no idea that only a matter of moments later she would understand what his eyes were asking that his lips had failed to so far. He smirked at the awed expression on her face and said, "Not far from London. I came here once when I was a boy, and never wanted to leave once I'd seen it. It was a picnic with my mother, the only one we ever went on, and it was one of the best days of my life."
Hermione nodded and looked around again, trying to take it all in and also trying to spot every detail and memorize it. This place was indeed captivating, and she thought it was lovely. The temperature was cool, but comfortable, and it occurred to her that no place in England should be this nice in the middle of December. "It's beautiful," she breathed.
He seemed to read her mind and said, "There's a large square area of land here, bewitched to be forever a spring afternoon."
She smiled in response to this. Then she looked at him again and asked, "Did you have a blanket? On the picnic, I mean."
He nodded and led her out into the middle of the clearing. When they stopped he looked over her head at the forest around them and said, "It was here."
Hermione looked around again. From the middle of the clearing things were even more amazing and the forest and everything looked more beautiful than before. "It's amazing," she said, voicing her thoughts. She looked back to his face and he was looking down at her. Their eyes met and she silently asked why he had brought her here, though she certainly wasn't complaining.
They stared at each other for a few moments. Severus looked extremely nervous, panicky even now that she was asking what was going on.
But he looked calm compared to what he was actually feeling. He was suddenly thinking that this had all been a terrible idea and there was no way she would say yes and he ought to just take her back to Saint Mungo's and make up some excuse. But then there was his heart, beating quickly and pounding loudly as it was, telling him to follow through, to do what he had come for. There was a reason he had brought her here, and that reason was repeating itself over and again in his head. He had all of these thoughts in only a matter of seconds, and when his eyes focused once more and he found himself looking at Hermione, there was no turning back because he was convinced that he really did need to do this.
Hermione watched him. Several emotions passed over his face and then he focused on her again rather than his thoughts. She wondered what he was thinking and what was going through his mind. And why had he brought her here?
She let go of his arm and stood on her own, still close to but not touching him. A lump started to form in her throat when he sank downwards. He wasn't on his knees as he had been when he came back to her room to admit that he loved her, but he was on one. He was kneeling on one knee. Hermione's mind was reeling. Was he really doing this with the intention that she was thinking or was she making assumptions? But no, now he was taking her hands in his and looking up into her face. And he looked very nervous again. The look was in his eyes, but she knew somehow that he was about to actually ask her the question that had been unspoken and silent for so very long. She couldn't breathe.
He stared into her eyes a moment longer, his hands shaking as he held hers. Hermione hadn't seen him so emotional and physically affected by anything since he came to her room to confess his love. She hadn't been awake to see how he was when he thought she had died.
He had planned what he would say, but now his mind went completely blank. He didn't remember what he'd decided he would say. He looked up at the beautiful young woman waiting for him, seemingly just as nervous as he was. And then words came. They weren't the words he had planned, but it didn't matter anymore because he knew that she would understand and wouldn't be upset with him for babbling.
"Hermione," he said quietly, remembering to breathe before he went on, "I love you. I need you. I will always need you. When you leave I can think of nothing but how much I want to be with you." He swallowed. This was the first time he'd spoken so openly of his emotions in years. "I don't want to live without you." He swallowed again, licked his lips, and opened his mouth to say more, but found that he couldn't.
Hermione looked down at him, waiting, but she wasn't annoyed by the pause; her eyes were wet and glistening, and she bit her lip as she waited. It was the act of biting her lip that allowed him to speak again.
He licked his lips again and this time when he opened his mouth he was able to make proper words come out. "I love you," he said again. "I can't offer you much more than that."
They stared at each other for a few precious, silent moments, and then he found his voice again. "Marry me."
Hermione took a deep breath and stared into his eyes. She nodded and took one of her hands from his grasp to cover her mouth and let out something caught between a laugh and a sob. Then she nodded again and he stood up, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close. "Yes," she said into his chest as she sniffed and wiped away the few tears that had escaped and were sliding down her cheeks. The tears were gone soon, though, and she was laughing into his shirt as he held her close. She sniffed again and he let her pull away enough to look up into his face.
She put her arms around his neck and they just stared at each other for a few timeless moments. Hermione bit her lip and Severus raised an eyebrow at her. "You are abusing your lip once more," he scolded lightly.
She stopped biting it, smiling, and raised an eyebrow in return. "I love you." But her eyes said more. Severus could see it plainly now. Her lips had only said three words, but her eyes clearly said that she wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of her life with him.
And then something happened that Hermione would never forget; Severus Snape smiled. Because of something she said. It was sincere and genuine and just as she'd always imagined and hoped it would be, when she at last made him smile. He actually looked quite handsome and attractive when he smiled like that. Hermione smiled back, laughing quietly at him, eyes shining. Then they both became more serious, though Hermione's lips twitched in a small, toothless smile where she didn't open her mouth and the corners of his mouth turned up just a bit. "I love you," he said.
Then he leaned down and she stood on her toes and they kissed.
When the kiss was over he held her close again, and then Severus remembered. It had been part of his plan, but having deserted that, he had forgotten about it. He let her stand on her own and leaned back slightly, and she watched him, wondering what he was doing. He reached into his robes and took a small velvet box from his pocket. He opened the box so that she couldn't see what was inside of it. "It was my mother's," he said, lifting a small silver ring with an emerald set in it. "A family heirloom, you would say," he said as he took her hand.
The ring looked miniscule in his large hand, but fit Hermione's slender finger perfectly. She bit her lip after he released her hand and then she turned it this way and that, looking at it and admiring the way that it glinted in the sunlight. "Severus, it's lovely," she breathed, looking back to his face. He smiled again. After the first time, it seemed easier for him to smile rather than smirk to show his pleasure over something. And he was obviously pleased that she liked the ring so much. Hermione threw her arms around his neck again and pressed her face into his chest, smiling widely. "Thank you."
He shook his head and put a finger under her chin so she looked at him. "No. Thank you."
She smiled and they stood and looked around at the beautiful place they were in for a few more moments before he offered her his arm. She knew they as soon as she took it, they would apparate back to the hospital. She smiled at him and took his arm, feeling as if she could walk on air if she tried.
They entered Saint Mungo's and went to the lift. Hermione leaned her head on his shoulder and they waited in silence, enjoying each other's presence. Severus had offered to leave her with some time alone with her parents, but she had asked him to walk with her to them before he left her. Perhaps it was a bit selfish, but she wanted time alone with her parents and also never wanted Severus to leave, especially not now.
He walked her to the entrance to the ward where her parents were with the rest of the people whose memories were gone or had been tampered with and would never recover. Then she let go of his arm. Now it was her who never wanted to see him leave. He smirked down at her for a moment before leaning down to kiss her. "I'll be back at the school tomorrow," she said breathlessly, more to reassure herself than him. He nodded and brushed a stray curl out of her face before he turned and walked away. Hermione wanted to run after him and stop him to kiss him again or at least feel his embrace, but she didn't. Rather, she turned and walked into the large open room where her parents were, along with Neville's.
She entered and was unsurprised to find Neville sitting in a chair between his parents' beds and talking to them. She walked up and he heard her footsteps and turned. He smiled when he saw her and stood up, walking to meet her. "Merry Christmas," he said, giving her a quick hug.
She laughed. "Merry Christmas, Neville!"
He studied her face for a moment and then narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Wait, something's happened and you think it's just brilliant, I can tell," he said.
Hermione swallowed and nodded. She looked at the ground for a moment and then raised her gaze to meet his.
He shook his head. "Well?"
Hermione took a deep breath and nodded again. She bit her lip and then opened her mouth, but no words would come. How could she explain? She still had her mouth open, trying to speak, and eventually just lifted her left hand to where he could see it.
He glanced at it, spotted the ring, and froze. Then he leaned closer and looked at it. He swallowed, looking both nervous and happy. "S- Snape asked you . . .?" he asked, looking up at her with wide eyes.
She nodded again. "Yeah, he asked me."
Neville seemed to be coming to grips with the news pretty quickly and he was handling it surprisingly well. He nodded back. And then he smiled, genuinely happy for her. "When did he ask?"
Hermione sighed and smiled. "Not half an hour ago."
His eyes widened again and he glanced past her, but she shook her head. "He walked me to the door and then he left."
Neville nodded. He eyed the ring for a moment and then seemed to make up his mind that he was really, truly happy for her and Severus. "Congratulations," he said, smiling and hugging her again.
They talked for a few minutes and then parted ways. She went to her parents, telling them everything that had happened since she'd seen them last, ending with the news about her engagement and showing them her ring. Her dad took her hand and held it gently, gazing at the ring with shining eyes. Her mum just stared at it and smiled, clapping her hands together in delight. Hermione couldn't have been more pleased with their reactions to the news.
She spent a few moments outside of the hospital entrance talking to Neville about his Christmas with his grandmother and then the Lovegoods. Then they parted ways again, smiling at each other before disapparating to two different places.
Hermione hit the ground running and was inside the Weasley house before she knew what she was doing. "Ginny!" she squealed, unable to act maturely anymore. Everyone came downstairs at her desperate yell, and Ginny ran up and looked worried.
"What? What is it? Hermione, what?" she looked almost hysterical with worry, grabbing Hermione's shoulders and looking desperately into her friend's face.
Hermione started to laugh, tears filling her eyes, and held up her hand, showing them the ring. She only just jumped forward and grabbed Ginny before the younger witch shrieked and jumped up and down and screamed before collapsing in a fit of giggles. Hermione, however, was no help to Ginny, as she only shrieked and giggled and collapsed as well. Everyone else stood around, staring down at the two girls hugging and shrieking on the floor, smiling and laughing while tears ran down their cheeks.
Harry eventually stepped forward and helped the two up, grabbing their hands and pulling them to their feet. He inspected Hermione's ring with interest, and then everyone else looked at it. They all seemed a bit too shocked to comment, but Ginny was still crying. And because she was crying, Hermione was crying too. As soon as everyone had seen the ring, Hermione and her best friend hugged again and starting giggling once more.
Eventually the laughter and hysterics subsided and Hermione was able to tell the story to everyone, who was waiting and wondering what had happened after Hermione left the Burrow. Ron looked particularly sour during the story and after, but everyone else smiled and congratulated her. Harry hugged her and nodded to her. He grinned and said, "Congratulations."
Hermione smiled, wiping tears from her eyes as she looked at him. "Thanks."
Then she hugged him again before she and Ginny ran up the stairs to Ginny's room to talk more about it all. Ginny had stars in her eyes, obviously dreaming about the day that Harry would propose to her, and she asked Hermione to tell the story over and again as if she were a child begging her grandparent to retell a happening of his younger years.
That night Hermione fell asleep, her fingertips brushing the emerald on the ring that Severus had given her. She would marry him. She would take his name. He had asked her. He had poured out his heart and told her things that no one but him had ever known. He loved her. And she loved him. Hermione Snape, she thought to herself, a smile parting her lips as she drifted off.
All right, here it is, one of the big chapters! How did you like it? Do tell! I'll love you forever if you review! Please, if you have a moment, tell me what you think. I really enjoyed writing this chapter, and hope you enjoyed reading it as much! I have some more big things planned for future chapters, so keep checking for daily updates! Thank you all for reading. I love you all so very, very much! ~Taelr