"Does Snape know?" Ginny asked, her eyes growing wide.

"Er, no, never saw fit to tell him."

"You have to!"

"Only if you come and visit me, I really want to be around friends."

"It's a deal." Ginny grinned and shook Hermione's hand. It felt like the deal of a lifetime, Hermione couldn't wait to have her friends back.

…

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT – THESE PASSAGES OF TIME

"Well that wasn't awful." Severus said when they reached the farmhouse. "But I was glad I was not left alone with the Weasley clan." He gave her a pointed look. "Remus was glad to distract."

"Remus, now huh?" Hermione teased him.

"I believe we may have settled some differences." Severus said haughtily.

"I'm glad. And I did too, with Harry and Ginny."

Severus pulled her tight against him. "I'm pleased to hear it. Speaking of Potter, he could hardly look at me when he came back down those stairs without turning a rather unfavorable colour of red. What happened?"

Hermione was glad her face was still against his chest where he couldn't see her also turn red. "Ginny sort of figured out something was going on between us and she asked if you were any good in bed." Hermione said in a rush.

Severus barked out a laugh and Hermione pushed back to look at him, surprised. "What did you tell her?"

Hermione grew even more red. "That you were fantastic."

Severus looked at her with dark eyes. "Fantastic, hmm?" He purred. "I would like to be fantastic with you right now."

"Oh!"

Hermione giggled as he backed her into the arm of the couch, kissing her heartily as he untangled the scarf from her neck, so he could suck at her flesh there. She moaned into the feeling, encouraging him to suck harder, eager to leave his little purple bruises across her throat. She ground against him, always ready for him. Grabbing at her arse, Severus pulled her with him to the couch, falling back so that she could straddle him, rubbing her core against his erection. When Hermione couldn't take it anymore, she jerked away to take off his pants and some feral side of him roared his arousal to see his pants stained with her wetness. She sunk down on his cock with a keening moan, she rose up and drove herself down as he bucked upwards to meet her, his hands gripping her arsecheeks. Hermione rode him hard, milking him, her sweet warmth tightening with each thrust and he came with a shouted fuck! His hips continuing to twitch up to match her movements as she rode out his wave on one of her own, her loud cries filling the room.

SHSHSH

Dawn broke through the dark with a burst of colours and a low light that seeped through the curtains they had forgotten to close before retiring. The light woke Severus immediately and he opened his eyes to what had to be the best view in the world. From here, the large window opened up into the untended fields where the colours of the sunrise spread wide as if they were stretching after their sleep. He could see part of the barn-turned-lab absorbing the new light and casting the first shadow of the day. Beside him, Hermione slept peacefully, an arm wrapped tightly around his torso and a leg tossed over his hips. He smirked at the sight of the marks he had left on her skin the night before. It had been a wonderful night, two passionate rounds of love making and a second dinner just because they felt like it. They had been relaxed and happy and Severus wondered if the visit to the Weasley's house had helped Hermione more than he had assumed it would.

In this moment, Severus had a revelation of his own and slowly began to wake Hermione with tiny kisses to her face and arms. She made the funny groaning and grunting noises she always did when she first woke up, trying to bury her face in his neck and go back to sleep. But this time Severus wouldn't let her, he needed to ask her something before he lost the nerve. Finally Hermione blinked up at him, yawned and snuggled back into his chest.

"Morning." She mumbled.

"Good morning."

"Why are you smiling? It's too early."

"Because I have an idea."

"Oh no." Hermione said and giggled.

"With your permission, I would like to ask Minerva if we could stay here permanently."

Hermione sat up quickly, balancing herself with a hand on his chest. "Are you asking me to move in with you?"

"Hermione Granger," he scolded, "We have been living together far longer than we have been able to tolerate each other." He paused while she scowled at him. "But yes, the idea is the same. Would you want to… to stay here, with me?" He hated the uncertainty that crept into his voice at the end.

Hermione threw herself at him, hugging and kissing his neck. "Yes! Yes! A thousand times yes!"

SHSHSH

Time seemed to fly after that. Severus sent a begrudging Toby with a request to McGonagall to make the place theirs. Toby came back with two letters, McGonagall's transference of the house in their names on the condition that she remain a secret keeper, and the other Hermione's pardon from the ministry. They converted one of the upstairs bedrooms into a nursery for Teddy, who came to visit a lot with Remus. After a month, Remus left Teddy with them at random intervals, sometimes during the week around the full moon and during that time Harry would stay with them to spend time with his friend and godson. Harry, Ginny, and Neville came to visit a lot, initially giving Severus a lot of suggestive eyebrow wiggles but soon the hilarity of it ended and they appreciated just how happy Severus made Hermione. Just as Hermione predicted, one fine morning when she and Severus were having brunch at the Weasley's, Ron sat at the table and struck a conversation with them, apologising for his behaviour just before they left.

Severus and Remus became rather close over time and Hermione was proud of Severus' efforts. Severus also built an unlikely kind of relationship with George, who had laughed quite hysterically when Severus had told him he was the reason for his missing ear. In the course of a year, old wounds had been healed and the foundations for new bonds had been built. Harry and Ginny got married, much to Mrs. Weasley's delight, a large fanfare of a wedding. Severus and Hermione had slipped away during the reception to couple behind the garden shed and had emerged looking a touch ruffled, earning them a disapproving glare from the matriarch.

"I can't believe I just attended Harry Potter's wedding." Severus sneered as they arrived back to their home, immediately shedding their fancy clothes for comfortable sweats.

"It was wonderful though."

Severus turned to look at Hermione in the low light of their room. "You looked magnificent tonight." Hermione blushed. "And you look magnificent every time you are with Teddy."

"What are you saying?" Her heart quickened and she begged it to slow down, to remain calm.

"We should get married, Hermione, have kids."

"You would want that?"

"I want you in all the ways I can have you."

"I thought you were scared to be a father?"

"I was, and I am, but we have spent so much time with Teddy this year that it's made me think I wouldn't be all that bad. I'm an intelligent man, I can learn."

Hermione grinned at him. "I would love all of that with you."

Severus exhaled deeply. "Then I have one more proposition."

"Yes?"

"We have this adequate lab in our backyard, we could start a small brew company. We could use the income. Especially when we have children."

Hermione grinned. "I was just thinking about how we both needed jobs one day soon."

"Yes?"

"Yes."

Without further ado, they began brewing, leaving potions settled along the expansive shelves preserved with stasis charms. At least twice a week they sent Toby out with several letters to local shops, smaller wizarding hospitals, and even some families. Most of the shops accepted the partnership, one of the hospitals, and two families, one of which was the Malfoys. With their name in ruin and Narcissa trying to rebuild a life for herself and her son, she was glad to accept the help of an old friend. During dinner one night a curt knock resounded on their front door and Severus opened it with a wave of his hand. McGonagall marched in waving a letter.

"You two mean to tell me you've started brewing professionally and neither of you thought to proposition Hogwarts?"

"Minerva, it seems the hospital wing has been doing fine since-"

"Bullocks." The couple looks distinctly surprised. "We've been suffering under the mediocre brewing of Slughorn since I never thought you would work again a day in your life. We would happily pay you double what you've been asking."

"Consider it done."

McGonagall gave the pair a sly smile and retreated with a barely heard comment about her pride. With that addition, Hermione and Severus considered their business complete. They no longer sent out requests, for which Toby seemed grateful, although they did accept a few more which came to them. Greyla happily popped about, delivering batches to their buyers. All in all, Severus and Hermione were happy.

SHSHSH

"YOU'RE GETTING MARRIED!?" Ginny screeched.

Hermione grinned shaking her head. "Shut it. We don't want anything ridiculous, but we do want to share the moment with our friends."

"Mum is going to kill you if she can't plan your wedding."

"That's a hard boundary, Ginny."

"Yup. She will kill you."

Hermione grinned and told Ginny that if she could keep her mother in check, Mrs. Weasley could plan the reception, only with the list of people Severus and she had created. Ginny swore by it and immediately ran off to tell her mother. Severus and Hermione got eloped the following week with Minerva as a witness, who, much to their chagrin, began to cry. Ginny informed Hermione with a wicked grin that the reception was exactly a week later in the backyard of the farmhouse, so the two should find something to do for the day.

"Hello, husband." Hermione greeted Severus on her return from her meet up with Ginny.

"Hello, wife."

Hermione beamed at him and he kissed her languidly. He could do this every day for the rest of eternity, and now he suddenly felt like he could take things a slow pace, his desire for her calmed from a burning flame, needing her every chance he got, to a glowing coal, ready for any moment but not desperate. He felt like this he could spend every moment enjoying all of the facets of Hermione Granger and everything she was. Like the way she told him about Mrs. Weasley's reception plans in a sardonic voice but a happy gleam in her eye.

"Severus," she added cautiously. "I'd like to take a trip to the ministry tomorrow, to change my name."

"You'd want that? To be a Snape?"

"I want you in all the ways I can have you." She said, echoing his words.

"Then we shall go tomorrow." He smiled at her and Hermione felt the warmth of it. She loved Severus' smile, and the rarity of it only made it more special. "Would you also want to do that honeymoon thing?"

Hermione snorted. "Honeymoon thing?"

"We could go for the next week, arrive back in time for that wretched reception."

Hermione grinned. "Anywhere you want to take me, I will go happily."

They spent the rest of the night planning and packing, as soon as they changed her name with the ministry, they would leave for their travels. Severus unpacked the ring she had made him so long ago, that had been stowed away with their things the night they had been hauled out of the Shrieking Shack. Opening the package neither had been brave enough to open, they both felt cold, reminded of the darkest of times. Hermione ran her hands over his favoured teacher's robes, stained with dried blood, but she could not look at her own set of clothes. They removed the ring, the necklace Hermione had been wearing that night, and with one look at each other, incinerated the bag and the rest of its contents. Too much time had passed and far too much had happened since then to hang on to anything from that time. When Severus vanished the ashes, it felt like their last connection to the broken past was severed and now they were truly free to be their own selves in their new lives.

…

My dear readers, thank you for taking this journey with me! Only two more chapters to go…