Thanks for everyone's support for this fic. I'm a little sad to see it end. Thank you Amortentia in my Veins for the great beta work!

Chapter 33: Epilogue

Thirteen-year-old Liam bounded into his father's lab excitedly.

"Mum, Dad, I just got an Owl from Harry!" he cried.

Hermione looked up at her son, who every day looked more and more like her husband.

"From Potter?" Severus said absently as he stirred the cauldron he was standing over.

"Do you know any other Harry?" Liam asked crisply garnering a glare from his father. "Sorry, Dad. Yes, from Harry Potter… my friend since he came to Hogwarts back in September… the son of the hated James Potter."

Hermione snorted. "Your father doesn't hate James Potter, per se. He just thinks he's a rotten toe-rag."

Liam arched an eyebrow at his mother. "Isn't that the same thing?"

Hermione shrugged. "Possibly."

She looked at Severus, who was still concentrating on his potion. Directing her gaze back at her son, she noted he was very excited about something.

"So, what did the illustrious Harry Potter have to say?" she asked him. "It's only been a month since you bade each other a fond farewell for the summer."

Liam almost bounced. "He said that he asked his parents, and he can stay a week if it's okay with you and Dad!"

Hermione's eyes shot to Severus', who had looked up from his stirring to meet her gaze. He shrugged his shoulders and went back to his brewing.

"It was inevitable, you know that," Severus said. "From the minute he wrote home and said he'd made friends with Potter, you knew the day would come where he'd be invited into this house."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Wherever will we put him?"

Emma came in then, curious about the conversation going on in the lab. "Mum," she cried. "We live in a mansion!"

Hermione studied her daughter with a smile. Her black curls surrounded her face, and her equally black eyes studied her mother as well. Hermione had spent some time teaching the eleven-year-old how to tame her curls so she didn't look like the ragamuffin Hermione had been at her age. She would be heading to Hogwarts this year with her brother, leaving Hermione and Severus as somewhat empty nesters.

"Emma, it was a joke," she explained to her sometimes-too-serious daughter.

"So, he can come?" Liam asked.

"It's just him?" Severus queried.

Liam nodded. "I'm not that close to Ron or Hermione. Besides, they've got their own things going on. He's just stuck at home and is bored. Just like me."

"Sorry you live such a boring life," Severus replied drolly as he placed the stirrer next to his cauldron, leaving the potion to rest. He came up to Hermione at the desk where she sat surrounded by paperwork.

"What do you think?" he asked her.

She chewed on her quill. "I think, like you said, it was inevitable."

"Oh, come on, Mum, he's never going to figure out that you're Hermione Granger! You're so old and all, he'd never see the connection."

"I think she looks a bit like her," Emma noted.

Hermione stood and placed her quill on the desk. Coming around to the front of the desk, she leaned against it and folded her arms.

"Well, that's because I AM her, and I'm not old, young man!"

Severus moved to her side. "Was Potter observant in the past?" he asked her.

Hermione scoffed. "Hardly. And he'd be less likely to be now as there aren't villains around every corner. He'll probably notice a resemblance, but we can explain that away as coincidence."

Liam looked to his mum with pleading eyes. "So, can I?"

With a final glance at Severus, she nodded at her son.

"Thanks, Mum! I'll go Owl him now and tell him to come on Sunday."

She shook her head as she watched him bound out the door. "At least he's not bringing my younger self home. I don't think I could hide the truth from myself if we were ever in a room together for any length of time. I'm glad he's not really friends with her."

"Mum…"

Hermione looked to Emma. "Yes, dear."

"I was hoping to be her friend next year. I want to know what you were like as a kid."

Hermione huffed. "This is what we get for having our kids so close in age to Harry, Ron, and me, I guess." She folded her arms. "I suppose you'll want her to visit at some point too."

"Maia," Severus said quietly. "Hermione Granger has no reason to suspect the truth, even if she thinks you look like her, it would just be an odd coincidence."

Hermione nodded. She looked up at Emma again.

"To be honest with you, Emma, she could use a good friend like you. Other than Ron and Harry, I really didn't have any close friends until I was a fifth or sixth year. I found people didn't take well to being mates with a know-it-all."

Emma thought about that. "Do you think I'll have trouble making friends?" she asked.

"I don't know for sure, but I think you'll find some good friends among your year. Don't fret over it."

"I hope I'm sorted into Gryffindor like you, Mum."

Hermione put her finger up to her lips. "Shhh! Don't give away my secret!"

Emma laughed. "I'm going to see if Gram will play Gobstones with me," she said as she left the room.

Hermione felt Severus' arm go around her.

"I'll be surprised if she's not a Gryffindor. She wears her heart on her sleeve, much like her mother."

Hermione looked at Severus and grinned. "I am rather transparent, I suppose."

Severus kissed her. "I would have you no other way, witch."

She pulled away all too soon, but her mind was racing. "Do you think it'll be all right?" she asked Severus.

"Of course, Maia. Like I said, your similarities with a twelve-year-old are not that apparent. We can explain it away."

She was quiet so Severus took her in his arms again. "It will be fine."

"Severus," she said into his chest. "As she ages, she'll obviously look more and more like me."

"Maia, we will probably never see her, and if we do, by that time she'll be an adult and not really care much about the aging mother of her friend."

Hermione huffed and pulled back from him, scowling.

"No matter how old you get, Maia, you will always be beautiful to me," he said simply.

She pointed her finger at him. "You're lucky you said that."

He smirked at her. Looking back at her desk, he wisely changed the subject. "Can you take a break from all that Ministry mumbo-jumbo and help me bottle up this potion?"

Hermione eyed her cluttered desk. "All of this can definitely wait. Being the head of the Runes and Symbols department has its advantages."

He turned to head to the cauldron, but Hermione tugged him back around to her. She kissed him lovingly before releasing him. "I know we don't have time to relax and be together right now. I just wanted you to know that I love you."

"I love you too," Severus purred. "Sadly, St. Mungo's needs their potions today or I'd just leave it to bottle later and ravish you like you deserve."

Hermione giggled, but turned Severus around and pushed him towards the cauldron. "If you get behind with this, then all your other requisitions will be behind as well, and I'll never be able to ravage you like I want to."

Severus smirked. "The trials and tribulations of a busy Potioneer."

A pop sounded, and a house-elf appeared with a missive in her small hand.

"This came for you by owl, Master Snape," she said as she handed the parchment to Severus.

"Thank you Murtlap. You're dismissed."

Severus unfolded the paper, reading the note. His eyebrows drew together, and he crumpled the letter up and threw it in the flames of the fireplace. Sneering, he turned away from the flames.

"Imbecile," he grumbled. "Why can the Ministry not understand that these things take time?"

"What is it?" Hermione asked.

"That Osgood cretin from the Auror division wants the Invisibility potion. I already told the little blighter that it needs to sit for twenty days before I can finish brewing it. He wants it by next Tuesday. Maybe I'll just cast a hex on him that will last for twenty days so he'll know when the damn potion is ready."

"You could do that, but I'm not going to visit you when you wind up in Azkaban for throwing hexes at Ministry officials."

Severus' angry mood softened. "You wouldn't? But hexing him would be justifiable. You'd have to come and visit me."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Justifiable or not, you need to check your temper, my love."

Severus huffed. "Yes, Mistress Snape. I will hold my temper and avoid being put away only because it would keep me away from you."

"Come on, let's get to bottling," Hermione said, ignoring his comment.

They set to work on the potion for St. Mungo's. Hermione's mind began to wander, and she thought about the Severus Snape of her past (which was now her present.) She had thought her Severus would go into teaching when he finished his apprenticeship, but he'd chosen to start his own business. He was now the most renowned Potioneer in the world and received requests from all parts of the globe for his patented creations.

Stoppering the vials she'd filled, she looked up at her husband.

"Severus, are you happy?" she asked.

Severus gave her an odd look. "What do you mean, am I happy? Isn't that obvious?"

Hermione sighed. She wasn't being very clear in what she was asking. "I was just thinking about who you were in this timeframe in my past. You know from my memories what you were like. I don't think you were happy as a teacher. I know you never chose to be a teacher in this timeline, but I just was wondering… are you happy with how this… how your life is?"

"You mean as opposed to how it was in your memories, Maia?"

She nodded.

Severus put down the ladle that he was using and came up to his wife. He took her into his arms. "Are you serious?"

She studied him. "I just… When I came to you in the past, I wanted you to live. Then we worked together to change history. Everything's different. I have always wanted you to be happy. I just want to make sure that you are."

"Merlin, Maia, how could I not be happy? I have the most wonderful wife and two beautiful children. My career is fulfilling and gives me the time that I need to be with my family. My past is only a disturbing memory that I've been able to put behind me a long time ago. I haven't had to carry an evil Mark my entire life, and a giant snake will never attack me and take my life."

He pulled her to him and kissed her tenderly. "Looking at the man from your memories, I cringe to think that I could have been him. My life is so much better than his ever was, and it's all because of you, Maia. I thank Merlin every day that you came back in time to save me. I could not be more content with my life as it is."

Hermione chuckled. "I'm just being silly."

"Nonsense. You are just showing me once again how much you care about me. Thank you for being my best friend, Maia."

Hermione gave him a loving look. "Severus, we have been best friends since almost the first day we set eyes on one another. You have been there for me—by my side—since we were in school."

His hand came up, and he caressed her cheek. "We have been partners since then… supporting one another… loving one another…. I can't express how much you mean to me."

She snuggled into him. "I love you, Severus."

"And I, you, Maia." He kissed her then, and she was filled with love for Severus Snape all over again. She marveled at how much their passion for each other had only grown over the years.

"Thank you," Severus murmured as he pulled back from her. "Thank you for caring enough about me to travel back in time. You saved my life; you saved my future…" He looked into her eyes lovingly as his hand came up and cupped her cheek. "You saved me."

"And I found the most precious love I could have imagined," Hermione whispered. "Thank you, Severus, for being mine."

Her lips met his once again, and they were lost in one another a second time. Her hand wound its way into Severus' hair as she pulled him even closer. At long last, they pulled apart, slightly breathless.

"You are magnificent," Severus murmured before taking small nips of her neck, making her giggle. "And delicious, Maia" he continued.

She pushed him away gently. "Although this is wonderful, and I definitely want to continue it later, we aren't quite finished with your potion."

"Cursed deadlines," he sighed heavily. "I'm half tempted to say bugger the potion."

Hermione tweaked his nose, causing Severus to scowl. "You're too dedicated to do that, though, my love."

"Come," he directed as he took her hand and brought her back to the cauldron. "Let's finish this up."

They returned to their task, filling each vial carefully. Hermione looked up at Severus and smiled shyly. He arched an eyebrow at her. Her heartfelt full as she gazed upon her husband.

"Even doing something as mundane as filling potions bottles makes me happy when I'm doing it with you," she confessed.

She looked at him in surprise as his cheeks reddened. Her unflappable husband had actually blushed. She grinned at him.

"I love you, Severus Snape," she said happily.

"And I love you, Maia Snape," he answered before busying himself with the potions once again.

The End