Chapter Thirty-Eight

Hermione wiped her damp palms on her robes and then clenched her hands together once more in her lap. Her new perspective of the court room unnerved her; an intense claustrophobia descended as a hundred heads turned in her direction, expectant and impatient as they awaited her response to the prosecution's question.

'Perhaps you did not hear me, Miss Granger?' the hawk-lady sneered, her voice startling Hermione, 'did you believe Mr. Snape innocent of the crime of which he is accused when you went searching for him?'

She had already been forced to answer questions about Severus' behaviour towards her and other students when she was at school; about his unfairness and favouritism of the Slytherins; what she recalled of his work for The Order, his actions in the Final Battle, and every answer she had given had felt like she was twisting a knife into his back. There was no amiable way of describing how torturous his lessons had been, and no way to tell them about his vitriolic outbursts and seething hatred of Harry that put Severus in a good light. Hermione felt incoherent and foolish; no matter how she attempted to spin her telling of the story, the prosecution would trick and trap her into betraying him.

Now there was another letter being projected onto a screen; exhibit seventeen or whatever number they were up to, Hermione had lost count. It was a letter she had written to Ron perhaps three months after she left in search of Severus. In it she told Ron she loved him, described her desire for a little time away, and reiterated the doubts she had about Severus' innocence, and Harry's naïvety. Doubts that she had expressed to Ron, and only Ron, countless times before.

'Miss Granger,' a man's voice suddenly cut across the silence. Hermione looked up to see the Chief Warlock had gotten to his feet. 'I must insist on an answer,' he said, in a tone which suggested his patience was running thin. 'And I must remind you that you are under oath. Did you, or did you not, think the defendant was guilty of murdering Albus Dumbledore when you set out to find him?'

She inhaled sharply. 'I… I wanted to believe it,' she said in a panicked whisper, 'that he was innocent, I mean, but…' She frowned, daring to cast a quick look at Severus. Earlier he had been avoiding her gaze as he had yesterday, but now he glared at her with such ferocity she felt bruised by it. 'But… I had some… doubts, I suppose, yes.'

'Even after everything your good friend Harry Potter had told you, and everyone else for that matter, about Mr. Snape's memories?'

'I… I'd always defended Severus to Harry whenever he doubted his loyalty; if Dumbledore trusted him, then we all ought to, but… I suppose, perhaps… I don't know, it just seemed to me that… that there must have been another way, that Severus killing Dumbledore was… unnecessary, but-' She had wanted to go on, tell them how she had changed her mind, how she now knew it was the only way and had no doubt that Severus had acted on Dumbledore's order, but the prosecution lawyer had apparently finished with her; chewed her up and spat her back out.

'-so when you set out across Europe, as far as you were concerned,' the woman interjected, 'you were hunting down a murderer?'

'Hunting? No… I… Harry felt very strongly about Severus returning. I was just trying to help a friend, and I thought if Severus stood trial then, then it would be their decision as to whether or not he was guilty. It didn't matter what I thought!'

'So it was a sort of extradition… expedition you were on?'

'I certainly never thought of it like that,' Hermione replied, willing herself to remain civil but feeling her voice raise. 'I went looking for him primarily because it gave me an excuse to get away. I didn't give much consideration to the intricacies of Severus returning, not beyond Harry wanting him to; I don't even know that I ever expected I would really find him. I mean, even after I did find him, we didn't return for over two years.'

'So you played the long game. Lured Mr. Snape into a false sense of security and then convinced him to return to England with you,' the prosecution said, peering at Hermione over the top of her thick-rimmed spectacles in a condescending manner. 'But that is by-the-by, really. The fact of the matter is you set out to bring home someone who you believed to be a criminal. The fact that you harboured him for two years can perhaps be overlooked in this instance. We ought to be thanking you for your good work Miss Granger,' the lady said with a wry, self-satisfied smile. Hermione noted that she was not being given the opportunity to refute this claim, and the moment she opened her mouth to speak the prosecution said instead, 'no further questions.'

Feeling momentarily stunned, Hermione tried again to speak but was silenced by Featherstonehaugh hurriedly making his way across the courtroom towards her, issuing her a keen look which suggested she ought to be quiet before she made matters, if possible, even worse.

'What my learned colleague has conveniently omitted from her questioning,' Featherstonehaugh said quickly, 'is that Miss Granger and Mr. Snape have been romantically involved now for three years. Did you enter into a relationship with this man believing he was a murderer, Miss Granger?' he asked, pointing his finger at Severus, who flinched as though he had been struck by it.

'Absolutely not,' Hermione replied, watching Severus carefully. She needed him to believe her.

'Did you have children with a man you believed to be cold blooded killer?'

'No!' she implored. 'The memories might not have been enough to convince me but Severus has convinced me.'

'And you would say you know Mr. Snape quite well?'

Hermione looked at Severus once more. He looked wounded, timid almost.

'Yes,' Hermione replied decisively, 'better than anyone.'

Featherstonehaugh nodded. 'Yes. And what kind of a man would you say he is then?'

Hermione swallowed. 'Loyal,' she began, keen to do this justice now she had been given the opportunity, 'supportive, protective, steadfast, brave, a good father, and… and more capable of loving than anyone I have ever known!'

'A glowing reference,' Featherstonehaugh said, 'so to conclude, you no longer think him guilty of the crime of which he is accused today?'

'Definitely, absolutely, not!'

'So your opinion of him changed? Instead you now find him to be a rather respectable man and husband?'

'I do.'

'Very good. Now may I remind my learned friend,' Featherstonehaugh continued looking back at the hawk-lady, 'that attempting to change peoples' opinions of other people is the very nature of our work as lawyers, so we cannot pretend that it is beyond the realms of possibility that Miss Granger's opinion of Mr. Snape may have changed as a result of time or a new perspective. That will be all, Miss Granger. No further questions.'

Hermione had almost breathed an audible sigh of relief as Featherstonehaugh scurried back to his seat, but then the hawk-lady was on her feet again, striding back over to the stand and watching Hermione with a determined expression.

'Miss Granger, I notice neither "honest" nor "kind" were not amongst your list of adjectives for describing Mr. Snape. Indeed, you have already spent a good portion of this morning's session using words like "vile" and "bitter" to describe him. At this point I'm not sure which you expect us to believe,' she said.

'People change.'

'Ever heard the phrase a Death Eater never changes his Mark?' the prosecution sneered.

'That's rubbish. There are plenty of Death Eaters who deferred to our side in the end,' Hermione argued.

'But did they really defer, Miss Granger, or did they affect deferring to their own end. I posit that Mr. Snape is amongst those in the latter category and I beseech the Winzengamot to acknowledge that the facts seem to point to this,' she paused, apparently giving the courtroom a moment to digest this. 'Mr. Snape has continually and repeatedly acted to his own end,' she added, and then concluded with a smug, 'that is all,' and returned to her seat.

Hermione wanted to scream or cry, or both, but before she knew it her feet were carrying her absently down the steps from the stand and across the centre of the court. When she looked again at Severus his gaze had returned to the floor and she felt like she had utterly failed him. A court warden gestured for her to return to her seat but she strode past him bound for the exit, unable to bare another moment of it. It was cowardly to leave Severus like that, when he didn't have a choice about sitting there and listening to his character being derided so, but she could feel herself crumbling and that would do him no good either.

She pushed through the same oak doors that she had hesitated to enter the day before and moved briskly along the corridors, the only sound the tap-tapping of her shoes on parquet flooring. She turned corners and strode down long corridors without much thought for where she was headed until she found a relatively clandestine alcove and ducked into it. She instantly collapsed onto the windowsill of a low, translucent, diamond-grille window, her head pressed against the cool glass, and tried to relax her body, which she realised now ached she had been holding it so tensely during her interrogation. Slowly, she felt it begin to uncoil, but the anger and frustration she felt both with the prosecution, and herself, took much longer to subside.

She wasn't sure how much time had passed when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

'Here you are,' a familiar voice spoke. She turned to find Ron kneeling beside her. 'I've been looking for you everywhere.'

'If I'd have sat in there in any longer I'd have ended up saying something I regretted!' she groaned, resting her elbows on her knees and her head in her hands despairingly. 'Even more than I already have.'

'Mm,' Ron murmured, sitting down beside her. 'That's why I came to find you, actually. I wanted to make sure you didn't think I'd done that on purpose.'

Hermione withdrew her head from her hands and looked at Ron quizzically. 'What do you mean?' she asked.

Ron winced as though he regretted saying anything. 'Oh… just that… I thought you - or at least Snape - might think that I'd handed over those letters on purpose…'

Hermione felt the anger that had begun to cool revolt like lava in her abdomen again. 'Well, I didn't think that, but now you've said it I do!' she snapped. 'I thought you were here to support us, but you've come just to make sure Severus gets sent down, haven't you? What? Do you think if Severus is sentenced to life in Azkaban I'll come back to you?'

'You're being hysterical, Hermione!' Ron protested.

'Don't "hysterical" me!' she responded. The argument was oddly nostalgic; Ron accusing of her of hysteria when she considered herself merely passionate. 'How do they even have those letters if you haven't done this on purpose?'

'Merlin! I wish I'd never said anything now. I thought that's why you'd run out of the court,' he replied, running a hand through his hair. 'I did give them the letters, but I gave them to them three years ago. You'd just written to me telling me you were staying abroad. I was pissed off, furious in fact! I brought them in to work, when I was still working with the Aurors, in the hope I could convince them that such a change in heart meant that Snape had tricked you, spelled you, was holding you against your will, convince them of anything, really, that would mean they'd go looking for you… bring you back…'

'And what did they make of them?'

'They didn't believe a word I said. Thought I was acting like any other spurned ex. They just gave them a cursory look to see if there were any indicators of where you were hiding out; I told them you were too clever to have left any obvious trail, and then they must have kept copies in Severus' file. I had as much idea as you that they were going to resurface today,' he concluded, almost pleading with her to believe him.

'Oh…'

'I'm sorry that they did resurface but I need you to know I didn't do this to cause trouble. I don't want to jeopardise our friendship again when it's already as tenuous as it is.'

Hermione sighed sadly, finding her anger with Ron to be misplaced. It was the situation she was angry with really. 'Our friendship isn't tenuous,' she assured him, 'after what we've been through together I don't think it ever could be. That stuff's unbreakable. Harry, you and me, I don't think anyone else could properly understand it. Things are different now, but I need you two as much as ever.'

Ron smiled weakly. 'That means a lot.'

'It means more to me that you would still want anything to do with me after what I've put you through,' Hermione said, hanging her head somewhat ashamedly.

'We can't keep having this conversation every time we see one another,' Ron said, shaking his head. 'Today we move on. I'm on your side.'

'And I yours.'

Ron placed his hand over Hermione's. It felt simultaneously wrong and yet comforting, and neither feeling particularly weighed out the other so she went with it, until there were more footsteps and suddenly Harry was rounding the corner too. He took a few steps passed the alcove before realising he'd seen them in it and retracing himself.

'They've broken for lunch,' he said, looking between his two old friends, 'Hermione, Snape would like to see you in the ante-chamber.'

'Right,' she muttered, a feeling of anticipatory dread overcoming her. She turned back to Ron, 'thank you,' she said, earnestly. He shrugged nonchalantly in response as she left him and Harry stood in the alcove.

~oOo~

She entered the ante-chamber to find Severus alone, picking at a ham salad sandwich. He looked up tiredly as she entered but wouldn't, or couldn't, hold her gaze.

'Severus, I…' she trailed off as he waved a dismissive hand to silence her.

'I don't want to talk about it,' he said.

'I think we have to. Let me explain…'

He shook his head. 'I don't want to talk about it,' he repeated, a little more definitively.

'Then, just… I'm sorry if I've disappointed you,' she said, needing to say something.

'Your adamancy that I would need Potter's influence to get off makes more sense now,' he said. 'I suppose I had always presumed that you thought I was innocent, but if you need The Winzegamot's confirmation then…'

'I don't,' she protested, 'that woman didn't ask me when I realised I was wrong. They didn't get to hear how the moment I saw you in The Moroi I knew you couldn't have done it for any sort of personal gain.' She paused, anticipating that he would ask her to elaborate, but he merely took a bite of his sandwich and gulp of his drink. With a sigh she moved towards the table and sat down facing him. 'You emanated self-loathing,' she said, 'vulnerability; and then there was the way you were with me; a tenderness, a gentility that I just knew someone who had murdered would not have been capable of. I just knew, and from that moment any notion I had that you weren't innocent was gone.'

He studied her for a moment, his sandwich temporarily forgotten. 'That's terribly naïve of you,' he said, 'uncharacteristically so, to "just know."'

'Are you saying you don't believe me?' she asked. Severus shrugged but didn't say anything. 'This is what they want,' Hermione continued, reaching out across the table for his hand, 'us arguing.'

'I told you I didn't want to talk about it.'

'And I don't want it to fester. I don't want you believing that I think that of you.'

'I don't,' he conceded at length, washing the last of his sandwich down the pumpkin juice he'd been provided with, 'you're too… Gryffindor to stand up like this for something you don't believe was the right thing.'

'Oh…' she said, frowning, 'I'm not sure how I should take that.'

'As a compliment. Look, what I definitely don't believe is that you would have stood by me all this time if you didn't, at least now, believe that I'm innocent. It wasn't nice to hear that you didn't always believe I was innocent but… it was clever of you, much cleverer than "just knowing," not to simply take it at face value. That's a quality I admire in people.'

'Skepticism?' Hermione asked with a raised eyebrow.

'Pragmatism. Anyway, you're right, they are just doing this to try and get everyone on the defence side arguing. Let's not give them the satisfaction, eh?' he concluded, squeezing her hand briefly in return.

'OK,' Hermione replied tentatively. Though she was grateful for it, his forgiveness didn't make her feel any better about the situation, she still felt as though she had done untold damage to his case.

She watched him eat in silence for a little while, and then, when she couldn't contain herself any longer, felt a duty to Ron to explain to Severus what he had told her about how the letters came to be in the prosecution's possession.

'Whatever,' Severus grunted. 'Please can we talk about something else?'

'Sorry, course. I missed Minerva's testimony. How was it?' Hermione asked.

Severus shrugged again. 'She tried her best but, like you, she didn't have a lot to work with.'

'It will all seem better after tomorrow,' she reassured him, though she was speaking as much to herself as she was him.

'I want you back in there this afternoon,' Severus then said solemnly, '…it's comforting to know you're nearby.'

'Of course,' she replied instantly, 'I'm sorry I walked out.'

Another shrug. It was becoming clear that shrugs were a substitute more pertinent things Severus would rather be saying, but Hermione didn't get the opportunity to extract what these might be before Featherstonehaugh had bumbled into the room, pointedly ignored Hermione in apparent protestation at her performance on the stand earlier, and informed Severus that the Wizengamot had returned from their break and he was required back in court.

~oOo~

The afternoon session wore on much as the morning had; lengthy and tedious in the stifling courtroom.

It was Harry's turn to be made a fool of, much as Hermione had. He was ridiculed for attempting to 'ride on the coat tails of his childhood glory,' and 'pretending he still maintained any kind of sway of the Wizengamot of today.'

He was asked about Severus' memories, though, which he described in great detail; how he'd seen Severus and Lily grow up together, seen Severus' love for her, and that one word, "always," that haunted Hermione. Severus listened to it with closed eyes and a vaguely serene expression which suggested that it both pained and contented him to be reliving those moments. They helped Hermione understand Severus a little better though, why he behaved the way he did every Hallowe'en; he'd never had any closure on Lily's death.

And then the hawk-lady had struck the inevitable blow, arguing that memories were untrustworthy, could be easily tampered with, and Severus' eyes had shot open as though he couldn't he believe she had the audacity to suggest that those things he'd experienced, felt, believed had not been real either. But Harry had done his best, and whatever the outcome, Hermione would be eternally grateful to him for his efforts. He stepped down from the stand issuing her a tight-lipped smile, which she returned as best she could.

The next day Draco, similarly, put up a good fight, insistent that Severus had helped him when The Dark Lord had given him that fateful task during his sixth year, but there was no getting away from the apparent closeness Draco had witnessed between the same Dark Lord and Severus during meetings, no ignoring how intrinsic Severus had appeared to be to Voldemort's plan. Then Narcissa had followed Draco, her tale of Severus taking the Unbreakable Vow perhaps doing more good for Severus' case than everyone else's testimonies together.

And this was followed by Dumbledore, the 'pièce de résistance,' as Featherstonehaugh described him. A portrait propped up where the other witnesses had sat before looked undoubtedly ridiculous. There were a few titters of laughter from the gallery as the silk cloth that protected it was removed. Even Severus' grimace shifted fleetingly to a smirk, before settling back as the reality of being faced with his old master dawned on him.

But ridiculous as the portrait might look, it was adept in its duty. It would have been uncharacteristically careless of Dumbledore not to dedicate time and energy to his portrait, and it was evident in the intricacy with which it was able to relay Severus' role as spy - supporting Harry's recollection of Severus' memories, everything that Draco and Narcissa had said, and ruining everything the old Death Eaters had told of - that perhaps Dumbledore had even been preparing for such an event as this. He even withstood the prosecution's cross-examination better than any of the living witnesses had. Indeed, it was the first time Hermione had seen the hawk-lady flustered and it was, in fact, a rather satisfying feeling.

And so the giving of evidence part of the hearing came to a somewhat satisfactory end, and feeling utterly exhausted, both mentally and physically, Hermione and Severus withdrew to Spinner's End and fell into bed.

'Go on then,' Severus said drowsily after they'd switched off the lights. 'What's something you're grateful for today?'

'That Featherstonehaugh has finally been able to give the prosecution a taste of their own medicine,' Hermione answered decisively. 'You?'

As their eyes adjusted to the darkness she saw that he was looking at her, chewing his bottom lip contemplatively. Then he rolled into his back. 'That this is almost over,' he said, lacking any kind of lustre.

'Yeah,' Hermione agreed, 'although, a part of me wishes it would go on forever it means more time together,' she whispered, frowning at his profile.

~oOo~

The following morning Hermione awoke to husky wishes of 'happy birthday' in her ear. Severus kissed her lobe and then trailed a line of soft, whispering pecks down her neck before pausing at her collar bone and returning his attention to her lips. His stubble tickled her chin as he placed one final, deeper kiss there, and she savoured the sensation before he pulled away. 'I have something for you,' he said, reaching into the drawers at his side of the bed and pulling out a small square box wrapped in gold paper.

'Oh, thank you,' she replied, drawing herself up into a sitting position with her back rested agains the headboard. Severus lay on his side, his head rested on one hand and the other lay over Hermione's thigh where he drew gentle circles with his thumb. 'I didn't expect anything when you've had so much else going on.'

'Just open it,' he said, dismissive of her concerns.

Hermione pulled apart the bow and peeled back the gold paper to reveal a black, leather box. She glanced at Severus curiously and opened the box to find a pair of what appeared to be diamond earrings.

'Carpathian Crystal,' Severus said, acknowledging Hermione's perplexed expression.

'Oh my God, Severus,' Hermione said, picking one out between her thumb and forefinger to examine more closely. 'They're beautiful. How did you..?'

'That's the original reason I contacted Fiers and Stela. I wanted them to owl them over, not bring them themselves. You like them then? I was worried they might be a bit… fancy.'

'I have been known to be fancy from time to time, you know! I love them!'

'Hmm…' he murmured, clearly unconvinced, 'then why do you look so… consternated about them?'

Hermione smiled the smile of someone who had been caught out trying to conceal something. 'I suppose it's just… well, they must have cost a fortune,' she said, frowning. 'We're not really in a position to be buying Carpathian Crystal jewellery now, are we?'

Severus chuckled. 'Don't worry, you- we won't starve,' he said. 'In fact, I'll make you a slap up breakfast to prove it. Full works?'

'Alright,' she practically giggled, glad to pretend for just a little longer that this was a birthday like any other. She watched as he pulled on a t-shirt and shabby pair of faded black jeans and hurried, pausing momentarily at the door of the twins' room, down the stairs.

Hermione got herself and the twins out of bed and followed Severus downstairs a few minutes later to the smell of sizzling bacon. They sat, just the four of them, eating and laughing until they were disturbed by a brief knock at the front door followed by Hermione's parents shouting their greetings down the hallway.

'In here!' Hermione called back.

'Morning,' Severus grunted as they came into the room.

'Good morning,' they replied in chorus, then, 'happy birthday darling!' Georgia said, approaching Hermione with open arms. They hugged one another tightly and then Georgia withdrew. 'Hard to believe you're twenty-six! It goes so fast. Be sure to appreciate that with these two…' she said, trailing off as though another thought was consuming her as she stroked the babies' heads. Perhaps she had realised that Severus might not have the opportunity to appreciate the twins growing up, which was precisely the thought that had struck Hermione, but then, seemingly everything anyone said reminded Hermione of that these days.

'Here you go 'Mione,' Bertram added, handing Hermione a pale blue envelope and kissing her on the top of the head.

'Thank you,' she replied, opening it to find a birthday card and a cheque for a substantial amount inside. 'Oh… gosh! Thank you!' she said. Severus peered over her shoulder but looked more uncomfortable than grateful.

'You're welcome,' Georgia said, smiling in a way which reminded Hermione that her parents questioned her life choices.

'Just the closing statement today, then?' Bertram asked, filling the empty seat beside Severus.

'Yes. We could be back just after lunchtime,' Hermione replied, standing and putting the dirty pots in the sink.

'It's no matter,' Georgia shrugged, 'we're going to go to the park, aren't we darlings?' she added, fussing the babies again, at which Isaac brought his breakfast back up all down his front.

'Merlin!' Severus groaned, rushing to get a cloth.

'We'll sort it,' Georgia interjected, grabbing the cloth from Severus' hand.

'No!' he snapped, snatching it back. 'I'll do it.'

Georgia acquiesced with a glance at Hermione, who shook her head apologetically in the hope that her mother would leave it at that.

'I think he's clean,' Hermione said after watching Severus wipe Isaac's front for far longer than was necessary.

Severus sighed and stood straight. 'Sorry,' he murmured to Georgia, looking suitably embarrassed.

Georgia smiled weakly and waved her hand dismissively. 'You're under a lot of stress,' she said, as though that made his behaviour acceptable. 'Now, you two go get ready. We've got everything under hand here.'

Hermione led Severus upstairs and they dressed in silence with the exception of Severus' occasional deep sighs, frustrated groans, and slamming of wardrobe doors.

'I'm sensing something is the matter beyond it being the last proper day of the trial?' she said eventually.

Severus sighed again. 'Why'd they have to give you so much money?' he asked, sounding petulant.

'Err… because I'm their daughter, because it's my birthday, because they're nice people doing a nice thing, or maybe because, my God, we could use it?' she replied.

'I can look after you,' he mumbled.

'No one's saying you can't, Severus - not that I need looking after, of course. My parents are just helping us out, that's all.'

'Fine,' he grumbled, like a teenager. 'But… well, if you'll accept money from them, you'll accept it from me,' he said, reaching into the top drawer of his bedside cabinet and pulling out the papers for signing over the house and giving Hermione access to his Gringotts account from within.

'Severus, do you really think there's any need?-'

'-Yes. Whether you need it or not, I want to look after you. Sign them and then I'll know you and the kids at least have the house and the money, well, what's left the money,' he laughed grimly. 'It would make me feel a lot better.'

'Fine,' she said, in perfect imitation of his earlier "fine." He simply scowled in response and handed the parchment over to her. Hermione read through them briefly, trusting that Severus wouldn't have her signing anything dicey, and scribbled her name on the line at the bottom. Severus then took the form and did the same. 'It just seems like we're admitting defeat by signing those,' she added once he'd finished.

'Thank you,' he said at last, sounding genuinely relieved and ignoring her comment. 'Come on now, let's go.'

'Hang on.' And with that she picked out her new earrings and slid them into her lobes. They looked too dressy for what she was wearing, even though they were of a subtle size, but they also made Hermione feel attached to something solid, close to Bolstrad, where she'd felt secure, eventually, and close to Severus who had made her feel that way.

~oOo~

As Hermione had predicted Featherstonehaugh and the hawk-lady's closing statements had not taken too long. The prosecution had denigrated Severus' character succinctly, whilst Featherstonehaugh, for his part, had done all he could to undo this, reminding the Winzengamot of his client's heroism and sacrifice. But ultimately Hermione could not shake the feeling of uncertainty that washed over her as the Wizengamot filed out of the courtroom to the deliberation chamber.

'Now we just wait,' Featherstonehaugh informed them unhelpfully as they sat in the ante-chamber half an hour later. 'I think we managed to undo some of the damage done the other day at any rate,' he added, casting a dark look in Hermione's direction.

'I thought I'd feel relieved that it was over,' Severus said, clutching Hermione's hand under the table, which wasn't like him at all. 'But I mostly feel sick.'

Hermione smiled softly at him. 'Then let's get you home.'

Severus squinted at her, glanced at his watch, looked as though he was about to say one thing and then said instead, 'yes, come on,' and led her out to the Atrium and through one of the fireplaces. They re-appeared in Spinner's End a few moments later to a confusing chorus of 'Happy Birthday' yelled by a dozen or so people crammed into their tiny living room. Hermione froze, still stood in the hearth, looking bewilderedly between her unexpected guests and Severus.

'Surprise,' he murmured in her ear, not sounding too enthusiastic about it.

'I…' Hermione stammered, 'wow! I don't know what to say,' she added, and never a truer phrase had been spoken. She was completely taken aback; against the backdrop of the trial, birthday celebrations felt completely out of sorts.

'We thought it might be nice to have a little surprise party for you, darling,' Georgia said, stepping forward from the gathering with a grumpy looking Isaac in her arms. He reached out for Hermione who took him as a distraction as much as anything else.

'Wow,' she repeated. 'It certainly is a surprise.'

'There's food and drink and music and presents,' Harry said, standing beside Georgia.

Hermione feigned a smile and looked back at Severus whose expression remained neutral. 'Sounds… fun,' he said silkily, the corner of his mouth twitching.

'Yes, it does,' Hermione said, sounding, if not feeling, a little more convinced.

She squeezed Severus' hand in a subtle show of solidarity and began making her way around the guests, chatting, receiving gifts and hugs, cooing over baby James and new baby Potter's scan photograph, and having everyone coo over the twins. Harry manned a barbecue in the back garden and nibbles were laid out in the kitchen. It would have been quite pleasant if it wasn't for the awful sense of foreboding which relentlessly overshadowed it.

'Did you organise this then?' Hermione asked, managing to get Severus alone by the buffet table over an hour later.

He shook his head. 'The Potters, in conjunction with your mother. I'm not sure I actually even agreed to it,' he said, shoving a sausage roll on his mouth and glancing around at their guests a little skeptically.

'Then let's ask everyone to leave,' Hermione pleaded, 'it doesn't feel right having them here when tonight could be…'

'Our last night,' Severus finished for her. 'Not saying it aloud isn't going to make any less true, but anyway, no. The world hasn't stopped spinning just because of the trial. If nothing else I think they just want to take your mind off things.'

'Mmm,' she murmured thoughtfully. If the intention of the party had been to take Hermione's mind off things, it had failed miserably in its task, for the only topic of conversation amongst the guests was indeed the trial. Harry, Neville and Fiers had sat out in the garden, dissecting all the evidence themselves; Luna had tried to engage Stela and Eileen in conversation about discrepancies between Lucius and Dumbledore's version of events; and everyone else had done nothing but try and convince Hermione that everything was going to be alright, reminding her, each time they said it, of the distinct possibility that it everything might be far from alright. 'And you're OK?' Hermione asked Severus.

'I'll be better once Fiers and Stela let up on the babies,' he replied, looking through the kitchen window to where their old friends were monopolising the babies on the grass outside. 'I want a turn.'

Hermione chuckled. 'Has your mother been formally introduced?'

'Err…'

'You ought to,' Hermione advised, stroking his arm. 'She seems to be coming around to the idea of them.'

'You'll let her them see them, won't you, if I'm not around?' he asked, frowning.

'Of course!' Hermione exclaimed. 'If that's what she wants.'

'I'll go find out,' he said, kissing the top of Hermione's head, pinching one last sausage roll from the table and heading outside into the garden in search of his babies. Hermione watched as he crouched on the grass and immediately they both went to him for hugs.

'He is surprisingly good with them,' Harry suddenly said, standing beside Hermione as though he'd been waiting for Severus to leave before making himself known. 'How are you faring?'

'Not great,' Hermione replied, adding, with a small smile, 'but so long as Severus doesn't know that.'

'Of course he knows that,' Harry stated. 'You might be able to hide it from the rest of us, but not him.'

Hermione sighed with closed eyes. 'I don't know how I'm going to cope.'

Harry made a tutting sound. 'You'll cope because you always do, and if you're struggling… well, look around you! Everyone here would help you out in a heartbeat, regardless of whether Sna- Severus goes to Azkaban or not.'

'Of course,' she said, 'I know everyone means well, and of course that will be useful practically, but Severus and I… I don't know… we understand one another, that's the only way I can describe it, and no one is going to be able to replace that.'

Harry didn't reply for a moment and then, a little sheepishly, asked. 'Not even Ron?'

'Ron?'

'I feel like I interrupted a… moment of some description, outside of the courtroom the other day,' he explained.

'Definitely not!' Hermione replied, aghast, 'at least not in the way you're implying. Ron doesn't think that, does he?'

'He hasn't said that he does,' Harry said, now grazing at the buffet table himself. 'But I know if you said the word, he'd be… open to the idea.'

'I've been quite explicit that I'd like for us to be friends, just friends,' she said, thinking back to see if there was a time she might have given Ron the wrong impression. She'd held his hand for a moment in that little alcove, but that was all, and she'd do the same with Harry, or any of her friends, it didn't mean anything.

'And that's fine,' Harry shrugged, 'but if things don't go in Severus' favour tomorrow, just be careful with Ron. He's always going to wonder what could have been and I have to look out the both of you.'

'I can't be worrying about Ron, not tonight,' Hermione said, shaking her head and turning her attention back to the scene in the garden.

'Hermione?' came a sudden call from outside. 'Hermione?' It was Georgia, who a moment later was stepping into the kitchen. 'Come outside, let's get some photographs of you, Severus and the babies,' she said, waving the camera Severus had bought for Hermione on their first Christmas together around before her. 'Does this have the magic, moving film in it?'

'Yes,' Hermione replied with a smile, 'come on, Harry. Let's get some group shots too.'

They followed Georgia outside where Hermione was promptly directed to stand beside Severus in front of the flowerbed, which consisted solely of his booming crop of Snowdonia Hawkweed. Severus sidled up beside her with Erin in his arms and Eileen, who appeared to have cheered Isaac up somewhat, handed him to Hermione. Severus placed his spare arm firmly around Hermione's shoulders as she slid hers around his waist.

'Say cheese,' Georgia urged, standing a few paces away and holding the camera up to her face.

Hermione looked up at Severus who raised a customary eyebrow and issued the camera with something more akin to a smirk than a smile, which caused Hermione to giggle, Erin to wriggle, and Isaac to cry at precisely the moment Georgia pressed the shutter button.

~oOo~

'That was nice of everyone really, I suppose,' Hermione said, coming back into the living room where Severus was sat, looking a little frazzled, on the settee. He nursed a glass of red wine in his hands and Hermione suspected he might have had perhaps one too many.

'Mmm…' he grumbled in agreement, swilling the contents of the glass. 'That's all I wanted, for you to be surrounded by your friends and family if things don't go well tomorrow.'

'I know,' Hermione replied sadly. It seemed futile to rebuke him with her usual "you're going to be found innocent" mantra. 'We'll be fine, but that doesn't mean we won't miss you, won't think about you all the time, or that I won't make sure your children know the truth!'

'I should think not,' he replied with a smirk, 'actually… now we're alone,' he said, 'there's something else I'd like to give you.'

'You already gave me something,' she replied with a hint of suspicion. 'The earrings were more than enough.'

'This is not really for your birthday,' he explained as he stood, discarding his wine on the coffee table, 'not this birthday anyway. Wait here.' And with that he had dashed out of the room and up the stairs. There was a creaking of floorboards above Hermione's head and the sound of something heavy been slid across the bare wood before Severus returned a moment later carrying a shoebox, which, after just a slight hesitation, he passed to Hermione.

Looking up at him a little bewildered she slowly removed the lid. Inside was crammed full of sealed envelopes, each with her name written on them in Severus' spiky scrawl. She glanced up at him bemused and questioning.

He sighed and sat down beside her again, leaning against the back of the settee but looking far from relaxed. 'Seeing as I won't be able to write to you should things not go as planned tomorrow, I've written you these letters instead, one for every birthday, Christmas, and anniversary of our getting together. They're all dated and you have to promise me you won't open them until the date it says on the letter.'

Hermione looked down at the box with an overwhelming sadness. Suddenly the reality of the possibility that after tomorrow she would never see him again felt too keen. She realised that for all they had spoken about it, planned for it, over the last few months, she had avoided considering what it would actually mean; fundamentally, never seeing one another again. At a loss for words, she looked back to Severus, wanting to thank him but not sure she could convey the depth of gratitude she was feeling, only to find that he was crying. He was sat perfectly still, one hand over his eyes but tears streaming visibly down his cheeks, but the moment he felt Hermione watching him he could hold his composure no more. He began to tremble, tear at his hair, and groan as if in pain, as wild sobs gripped his body.

Hermione had never seen him cry before and for a fleeting moment she wasn't sure how to react, how he would want her to react. She placed a tentative hand on his shoulder but as another sob wracked his body she instinctively drew him close to her, stroking one hand through his hair, so he could tear at it no longer, and gripping him tightly with the other. She didn't speak but merely held him, hushing him soothingly for time to time, until he had exhausted himself.

He lay with his head rested against her chest for a moment breathing long, steadying breaths, then righted himself in his seat at length and hid his face behind his hands once more. 'Fuck,' he managed at length, 'sorry.'

'You don't have anything to apologise for,' Hermione assured him.

'It's the thought of leaving you, the twins too… it's killing me. It hurts,' he said meekly, pointing to his chest as if to say that is where his pain was manifest. 'I shouldn't have let myself get so… complacent in my happiness.'

'Yes you should,' Hermione replied, placing a kiss at his temple, 'you deserve happiness.'

'Well, even if it was just for a little while, I'm glad I got to experience it,' he said, sniffing loudly and rubbing his eyes one last time.

'Severus…' Hermione sighed, feeling her own eyes well up. He'd had such a tragic life and now it seemed likely it might have such a tragic ending.

'No more crying,' he ordered, however, thankfully stopping her before she had even started.

'Bed?'

'No. I don't want to sleep. I don't want to miss a moment of being with you. Let's just… talk.'

She smiled. 'Like we used to, back in Bolstrad when we'd stay up all night debating an article from one of your potions journals or something to do with The Watch?'

'Yeah, or when we used to plan for the future…'

'You want to do that?' she asked with frown. A part of her was hopeful that he did, but another part knew it would be indeterminately painful for both of them.

Severus chuckled quietly. 'Just tell me of your plans,' he said, 'regardless of what happens tomorrow.'

And so she did. She told him of her half-formed plans to work in The Ministry again, "nothing fancy, just something. Maybe part time," she told him how she'd like to take the twins back to Bolstrad, perhaps once a year, and they shared their predictions on what houses Erin and Isaac would be sorted into once they went to Hogwarts. In her mind, when she imagined these things, Severus was always there beside her, but he remained a shadowy, allusive figure. She trusted it was the uncertainty of the whole thing that caused this, but it unnerved her, terrified her even, that she was unable to conjure more vivid images of him, like he was somehow fading before he was even gone.

'You'll be fantastic whatever you do. All of you,' Severus said tiredly just as the sun was beginning to rise. They sat cross legged, facing one another on the living room floor, a plate of cold vol-au-vents from the party between them. The night had gone too quickly.

Hermione smiled back at him. 'I love you,' she said, reaching out to stroke his stubbly chin. He brought his hand up to hers and then pressed his lips against it, his dark eyes never leaving her hazel ones.

'I think I just heard the twins,' he said after a long moment, he looked torn between wanting to remain alone with Hermione and seeing the babies upstairs. Hermione took his hand and pulled him to his feet, leading him upstairs to the twins' room. They were both awake, chubby faces pressed against the bars of their cots. Severus leaned over to pick Isaac up, holding him out in front of himself for a moment, checking him over with a slight frown, before pulling him against his chest. Hermione pulled Erin into her arms likewise. 'I never would have thought I could have had a part in creating anything as beautiful as these two,' Severus said looking between them both. He reached out with his spare hand to stroke a thumb over one of Erin's curls.

'I would have,' Hermione whispered, smiling at him sadly as her heart swelled to see him stood there holding his son. 'It's still early. Let's have breakfast together, before my parents get here.'

Severus had nodded and followed her back downstairs where they'd sat together at the kitchen table, feeding the twins, eating their own toast, and talking about anything other than the latest edition of The Daily Prophet, which showed a photograph of Severus looking drawn and weary on the steps of the courthouse below a headline that cried: "The Last Day of The Last Death Eater!" With breakfast all finished Hermione had showered and dressed slowly, allowing Severus time alone with the children. As she did her hair she heard him talking them in the next room, so quietly that she suspected he didn't mean for her to hear, and in many respects she rather wished she hadn't on account of how it made her heart ache. He told them how much he loved them, would miss them, was proud of them; how he didn't mind what they did, what they became, so long as they were happy.

Her parents had arrived shortly afterwards. Severus had kissed each of the babies on the forehead as they sat, non-the-wiser, in their grandparents arms, before striding away from them and refusing to look back.

'No more pretending now,' Severus said as he and Hermione stood together in the fireplace, his fingers clutching at her upper arms so tightly it was almost painful, though it was a welcome pain, it felt rich against her numbness. 'I love you,' he added, simply but earnestly.

'I love you too,' she replied, matching his sincerity.

Between stepping out of the green flames into the Atrium at the Ministry and seeing Severus stood in the dock for the final time was something of a blur, and Hermione only really came to her senses when the Chief Warlock, in his starched, plum-coloured robes, got to his feet and cleared his throat.

'We have listened and seen much evidence in this case over the past week. The Winzengamot has discussed and debated this evidence late into the night and have come to a conclusion regarding it.' He peeled back the opening of an envelope, reminding Hermione of those old Muggle talent shows she'd used to watch with her mum on a Saturday evening when she was younger, and reminding her also that for almost everyone in the courtroom what was written on the parchment inside was equally as entertaining. 'We find the defendant…' the Chief Warlock read, before pausing at length, undoubtedly for dramatic effect, or merely to prolong Severus' pain. '…Not guilty of the murder of Albus Dumbledore.'

~oOo~

A/N: Phew! Obviously that was going to be the outcome! One more chapter and an epilogue to go. I could be a while getting them up, but they're on the way I promise!