A/N: Hello, my lovelies!

I have had quite the busy summer with traveling, dealing with busy children's schedules, and (big news) getting my first job since my little one was born. I'm also back at the LJ Hermione Smutfest (which I'm writing for), and won third-place in a Superhero-centric Fanfic contest, but hopefully now that school has started again I should have a bit more time to do some writing.

Thank you for your patience and support! This chapter is a bit shorter, but an important transition.

"What are you doing?" Severus asked bemusedly as Hermione studied a dinosaur skeleton with particular interest.

"Trying to see the top of its skull. If my suspicions are correct it'll be wearing a lurid purple hat with stars on it," she replied, and to her delight got a soft chuckle from him in return.

"Speaking ill of the dead, Hermione? I fear you're spending too much time around me, as my bad habits are obviously wearing off."

"Unfortunately for everyone around us I have no intentions of spending less time with you," she said with a smile, taking his hand as they started to head for the exit as a voice came over the intercom telling them that the museum would be closing in five minutes.

"I'm sure they will be booking you a visit at St. Mungos as soon as they can."

"Hush," she chided. "Not that I'm particularly eager to see my friends, but when are you planning on returning to London?"

His head turned away from her and his eyes focused on something in the distance as he replied, "We have one more stop before we return. We leave tomorrow, and we'll spend two nights there before returning."

"Another stop?" she asked.

"This one was only somewhat planned and I had to do some research before making any final decisions."

She bit her lip but didn't reply, knowing that the chances of her getting any more information were slim, and she didn't want to push Severus into a foul mood, especially when they had enjoyed such a lovely day at the museum together. For the first time since she could remember she hadn't felt rushed through the exhibits, and while they had only managed to get through a fraction of the museum they both had enjoyed what they had seen and learned a few things along the way.

"Are you feeling up to walking back?" she asked, noticing he was starting to limp slightly.

"I think so. We can stop to eat along the way," he nodded.

After about fifteen minutes they found a pub-style restaurant where they ate and talked a little about their day, and Severus' limp had gone by the time they left and wound their way through the busy Friday evening streets to their hotel. Once back in their room Hermione went to unwind with a book as Severus went to shower, but she found herself unable to concentrate on the words.

"Something is on your mind," he said after emerging from the bathroom and watching her for a moment.

"Just thinking about when we go back," she admitted. "What are we going to tell everyone?"

"I was assuming we would be giving off the impression that we spent our holiday as most newlyweds spend theirs," he replied.

"That will work for most, but what about Harry, Ron, and Ginny?"

He thought for a long moment, then he sat and opened a book before saying softly, "Tell them what you will, though warn them that I will not tolerate any accusations or commentary."

"Severus?" she asked, sliding from the bed and kneeling on the floor by him so she could study his face. "Do you think I'm ashamed of anything we've done this trip?"

"I think," he started cautiously, "that it would not be your first choice."

"I wish you'd stop speaking like that," she said firmly. "I did not sleep with you because I felt I had no other options. I did so because I am attracted to you and wanted to sleep with you."

"That doesn't mean..."

"Yes, it does," she interrupted, pulling the book from his hand and standing in front of him. She took his hand in hers and moved so she could touch his face even though he was still avoiding looking at her. "I never viewed my virginity as some sort of precious thing that had to be coddled and only should be given to some Prince Charming-type whom I had sappy romantic feelings for. It's not something I saw as being special or a gift to give to someone. It merely meant I had not slept with someone yet. If I did not want to have sex with you, Severus, I wouldn't have offered, idiotic fidelity charm or not. I'm not some hormone-crazed woman who doesn't care who she falls into bed with, in case you missed that fact."

He gently pulled her toward him so he could rest his head against her chest. "I did not miss that fact," he murmured.

"You just choose to believe that I couldn't possibly want you outside this situation," she guessed. She took a deep breath, then moved so she was sitting astride his lap. "Do you really think you're that undesirable?"

"History proves it," he shot back, finally looking up at her as his hands slid to her sides.

"Because no one has made the effort, and even if someone has you try to push them away," she replied. "You're afraid of something, but I don't want to push you. Just know that I find you so much more to me than someone to play with in bed."

Without giving him a chance to reply and say something else she was sure would be self-denigrating she bent and kissed him, running her fingers through his hair. She noticed he had a tendency to tense at first, meaning he was still hesitant about the situation, and she happily took her time kissing him until she felt his body relax under hers, his hands sliding to her back to draw her closer. At some point he took the lead, and before too long she found herself underneath him on the bed, her legs wrapped around him as he took his time with her. It was long after dark when they were finally finished, and she insisted that they order dinner in as to enjoy their last night in what had quickly become her favorite hotel in the world. She had been expecting to spend another night in his arms, and was surprised when he woke her up not long after three in the morning to pack.

"It's crucial for our destination," he said somewhat apologetically, and she reluctantly packed her things. A couple of times she noticed him drop something and she had to remind him to pack his books, which fed a growing concern about what was about to happen. When they were done packing, to her surprise, he shrunk the luggage and gave them to her to put in her beaded bag.

"This is going to be a very long journey," he said cautiously. "We're going to have to move magically."

"Is something wrong?" she asked.

"I am unsure how you are going to react to where we are going," he replied hesitantly.

"I'm sure it won't be bad..." she tried to say comfortingly.

"Don't make that judgment before you've seen it," he interrupted. "This could, very possibly, be a the biggest mistake I've ever made."

"Well, let's see it, then," she nodded, trying to ignore the growing pit in her stomach.

He held out a pen to her, and she took the end, glancing one more time around before the Portkey activated and the invisible hook dragged her through space. It felt much longer than any of the other Portkeys she had taken before, and when they finally landed she had to shield her eyes from the bright sun and felt warmth flood over her body. Looking around she saw well-manicured grounds with several small lakes of crystal clear water and bright flowers all around. But there was something eerie about the quiet and calm surrounding the place, and she saw a few people standing in the distance, holding each other in a comforting way. She had a feeling the type of place they might be, but she had no idea where, so she turned to Severus.

"What is this place?" she whispered.

"This is a Memorial Garden just outside Newcastle, Australia," he replied, studying her reaction carefully.

She stared up at him in disbelief and felt her body start to tremble. "You found them?" she asked.

He nodded once.

"Where are they?" she looked around, eyes wide.

"I was able to find that they were buried here, but I don't know the exact location. We have a meeting with one of the caretakers, he said he can lead us to the site. Come," he finished gently, placing an arm around her and guiding her up a walkway towards a white building. She focused on her breathing as she let him lead her, trying not to focus too much on what would be happening the next few minutes, lest her emotions overcome her.

"Mr. and Mrs. Snape?" a man about her age greeted them as they walked inside. He shifted a large envelope to his left hand so he could shake Severus' hand with his right.

"Yes," Severus replied when it became apparent Hermione wasn't going to be able to find the words.

"Mrs. Snape, my name is Adam," he approached Hermione, and held out a hand. She instinctively held hers out to shake his, and found both of his hands wrapped around hers in a supportive gesture. "I am sorry we had to meet like this, and I must apologize. We would have contacted you if we had known... we got our information from their neighbors, who didn't mention you at all."

"They wouldn't," she murmured. "We were..." she couldn't finish.

He handed her the envelope. "I've taken the liberty of putting together all the information we had on them that I could for you, in case you need it. Their community and their patients rallied to make sure they were treated with dignity, and most of them attended the service. They paid for the plot and the marker, as well. Would you like me to take you there?"

"Please," she whispered.

Without another word they were led out a side door and down a stone path, around to the far side of a lake. Finally Adam stopped next to a tree and motioned towards a stone marker in the shade.

"That's them," he told Hermione. "Take all the time you need. If you wish, we have a counselor on-staff who knows of the situation and is ready to talk if you need her time."

Hermione's mouth opened and shut, but no words came out.

"Thank you," Severus said firmly and dismissively, and Adam quickly headed back up the stone path. Hermione found herself rooted to the spot, unable to approach as feelings of guilt and sadness washed over her and she fought back tears.

"How?" she managed.

"Potter knew what names you had given them," Severus replied, his voice barely louder than the soft breeze and filled with uncertainty. "From there it only took a trip to the library to look a few things up, and a couple phone calls to find the right place."

She stared at the spot for several minutes, unable to get her body to obey even the simplest of commands. "I don't think I can do this," she finally whispered, backing up against his body, wanting him to hold her, to protect her, to get her out of there.

He was silent for a moment, his hand slowly rubbing her upper arm as he held her. "Obviously I am not a father," he finally said. "And Merlin knows I am the last person anyone should ask when it comes to what a parent might have thought in the situation, but I know that you are a young woman any parent would be proud to call their daughter. You were in a very bad situation, and you had very few options in front of you. You did what you could to give your parents the best chance of survival. The end result is not your failure, Hermione. Sometimes, no matter what you do or how much effort you put into it, the outcome will not be in your favor. That is life. Your parents were wise enough to know that. You did not fail them. No matter what you had done this would have been the outcome. It's hard to admit that there was nothing to be done in some situations, because it's so easy to come up with alternatives in our heads that we can convince ourselves would have led to different outcomes. It's human nature to come up with alternatives after the fact and convince ourselves that the outcome would have been different, but that does not make it so, and it does not change the fact. You did everything right, and I know they would have been proud of you for it."

"They can't be proud," she replied, squeezing her eyes shut in a last-ditch effort to keep from crying. "They're gone."

"Physically. But very few people are truly gone when they pass."

"They didn't even know I existed when they were killed. Those are strangers names on that stone."

Without a word he drew his wand and waved it at the stone. Unable to contain her curiosity she left his side and stepped towards it, and saw it now bore her parents' real names.

"The Muggles will see it as it's been, but anyone magical will see this version," Severus said behind her.

She knelt in front of the stone and placed her hand on the engraved letters.

Harold Granger and Jean Granger

Devoted to each other, and their daughter Hermione

"To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die."

"It's perfect, Severus," she looked up at him. "Thank you."

He nodded once, then held out a piece of paper for her. "This is where we'll be staying. I'll go ahead. Take your time," he murmured before turning and walking up the path. As he walked he heard her start to softly sing behind him.

XXXXXX

She stayed until the sun had nearly set and the counselor had come to check up on her. The waved off the help save for requesting a taxi, but when she got in she asked to be taken to the beach rather than the hotel Severus was staying in. She walked along the sand as others, mostly couples, walked past her going in the opposite direction, and stared at the rapidly darkening water until the only light that could be seen was the dull reflection of the city's lights behind her. She knew she should be going to Severus, but she just couldn't find the energy to get her thoughts in line. She opened the envelope and looked through the information. There were photos of a modest townhouse in a suburb, and some information on a small dental practice they had established, and a few more things like police reports she couldn't bear to even glance over. She was holding the lives of two strangers in her hand; Wendell and Monica Wilkins were absolutely no one to her, just two people living a shadow of the life they had left back in England when she had forced them to flee. She placed the envelope and its contents on the wet sand and poked them with her wand, and they instantly went up in flames, burning quickly, almost violently, until a large wave rolled in, extinguished the fire, and carried the ashes away into the darkness. She looked out across the blackness, watched the lights of a distant ship move lazily along the horizon, and waited until she was sure that Wendell and Monica were gone.

It was late, but she was mentally and physically exhausted, so she turned towards some lights that indicated open businesses and walked to them. She entered the first bar she saw and asked that they call her a taxi, which the bartender did without hesitation. She took the ride as time to collect herself, so she didn't upset Severus when she entered the hotel room, but when she entered she found it too late for that. Severus was sitting, back stick-straight, at the small table in the room. He wasn't even attempting to hide his concern, black eyes studying her intently as she entered and slowly closed the door and locked it. She did her best to show no emotion as she went and sat across from him.

"Thank you," she said softly.

He did not reply, instead his intense gaze concentrated on her face.

"I needed this. But I'm also going to need a little time to process everything," she admitted. "But I wanted you to know that I really appreciate the effort you put into finding this place and bringing me here. I may be a bit out of sorts the next couple days, but that doesn't mean I feel you did the wrong thing."

He nodded once in acknowledgment. After a long silence he asked, "What do you need right now, Hermione? Have you eaten?"

"I'm not hungry," she shook her head. "I'm actually quite tired. I think I'm going to go to bed."

He nodded again, but didn't make a motion to move. She stood and reached for her bag, but paused and looked back at him. "Are you coming?" she asked.

His eyebrow raised.

"I just..." she started, then bit her lip. "Could you hold me tonight? Nothing more, I don't think I could handle it right now. But I don't want to be alone right now."

"Then I will... join you," he replied softly, standing and sweeping into the bathroom. Hermione looked at her bag, and decided to take a risk. She undressed, folding her clothes and putting them away, then crawled into bed and covered most of herself with the sheets. Severus came out a minute later wearing worn pajama bottoms and a t-shirt. He looked at her for a long moment, then sat on the bed, peeled off the t-shirt, and settled down next to her. She moved so she could rest her head on his chest, thankful for the intimate contact between them, and felt his arm curl around her back. The last thought that went through her mind before she fell asleep was that she was quite sure she was the only person in years, possibly decades, who had ever seen this side of Severus Snape.

XXXXXXX

When they returned home Severus immediately went to unpack. Hermione decided to relax a little, and made herself a cup of tea before turning to a large pile of mail and several copies of the Daily Prophet waiting for them on the kitchen table. Hermione picked up the top paper and looked at the front, which contained some news about Hogwarts' continuing staffing problem, but didn't mention them. It wasn't until the third page that she found any mention of them, with a single picture of them at the zoo and some generic information about their visit to New York City, along with a note that they had appeared to have left, though Harry refused to comment. Pushing aside the Prophets she found what she was looking for, and she sat down before she flipped over the special edition of the Quibbler dedicated to her wedding.

If she hadn't known she was the bride she never would have guessed. The woman dancing with Severus on the front cover was smiling widely, laughing, and looking up at him with such reverence that she was sure she was looking at the actual bride of Severus- someone who loved him and was thrilled to finally become his wife. She considered everything that had happened the prior two weeks, how much had shifted with their trip, and uncertainty began to settle over her. Now that they were home what were the dynamics going to be? Was he going to invite her into his room? Should she invite him into hers? What were they going to tell her friends, or should she pretend that the most risque thing that had happened between them during the trip was a particularly interesting game of chess? And if Ron was already starting to see through the act how much longer could she hide from the spy she lived with how deeply her feelings for him ran?

Biting her lip she flipped the pages of the Quibbler, studying each picture. No one who saw these would doubt that she and Severus were in love, even her notoriously cantankerous husband was caught smiling down at his new wife in several photos, his tiny moving image seeming unable to leave her side or keep from having some form of physical contact between them. When they danced they moved as one, and when they kissed there was no hint of hesitation. Their guests were all happy, cheering the couple and celebrating them. Luna had, once again, taken their relationship and made it not just believable, but downright romantic. Even the Prophet couldn't seem to find an unkind word. If Hermione could be bothered looking at the pile of mail she was sure that the number of those that supported them or apologized for ever doubting them would far outweigh the number of hateful messages. She found that she cared even less than usual, and swept all the mail into a box and took it to the fireplace. She coaxed a flame from some old logs, and fed them with all the mail from people she did not recognize. Once everything was sorted she watched the last of the letters burn to ash, then cleaned the mess and went to attend to some bills, wondering what was taking Severus and trying to ignore the knot in her stomach that wondered if his absence was from more than him merely wanting to put away his things. She took her time finishing her tea as she flipped absentmindedly through the papers, finding nothing really exciting, then washed the cup and straightened everything by hand before gathering her own bag and heading for her room. She was just about to enter when the door to Severus' room opened just enough for him to slip out and shut it behind him.

"I need to attend to a few potions I left stewing in my lab," he announced softly.

"Alright," she nodded, unsure of what else to say.

"It will most likely take most of the night," he added.

Her stomach knotted even tighter and she fought the urge to swallow visibly. "Okay," she nodded.

They stared at each other fora long moment. Hermione tried to bring words forward, something, anything to break the silence. She wanted some kind of indication of what to do next, and, with Draco's words echoing in her head, wondered if she should be the one to invite him in. But before she could say anything he swept past her, barely whispering, "Goodnight, Hermione," before entering his lab and closing the door behind himself. Fighting a feeling of rejection she entered her own room and tried to keep the tears at bay.