Epilogue – A rose one rainy night.

She had cried herself to sleep every single night after Voldemort's defeat. In her mind the memory of those impossible black eyes that had made her feel so many emotions that in the end she was breathless. In her heart the pain of what it had been, of what it might have been and never have. In her hands a rose with darker shades that never abandoned her and a small piece of burnt paper that recited a single word written in Severus Snape's elegant handwriting.

She had immediately gone to Spinner's End as soon as she had found the wizard's blood-stained clothes, and what she had found had left her speechless. The only thing she felt was pain. It rumbled in her heart and ears like a hammer nailing her to the ground. Before her eyes there were only four walls eaten by fire and the biting smell of smoke and soot. She had had to sit on the ground so as not to risk fainting. Her breath was short, her hands sweaty, and her head dizzy. Then suddenly a strange noise and a puff of air coming from some burnt pieces that had belonged to the fence in the courtyard, and an unfolded piece of paper had sailed towards her and the world had collapsed on her. "Forgive me." He had written to her, like a farewell whispered to the wind. But Hermione didn't know if she'd ever be able to do it. He had abandoned her, left her alone in a world she did not know, of which she did not feel an integral part, and which frightened her. He hadn't stayed there to watch the dawn of that new Magical World with her.

She had waited for him for days on end, huddled in front of the window of the house where she was staying at with Professor McGonagall, hoping that he would come and get her. Shes didn't want to lose hope, she didn't want to believe that the only man she had really loved was dead. In front of that window, in the privacy of the night, she would weep while thinking back to the moments spent with him as the tears on her cheeks flowed as free as the rain rivulets on the glass. Several times Minerva had caught her crying, but she had never judged her. She usually stood silent, simply laying a lean hand on her shoulder as a gesture of comfort. It wasn't enough. Only once had the old witch dared to give voice to her thoughts, and it had happened the day when hope had completely abandoned her and pain had taken over her. The little rose given Severus had given her had stopped living and with a slight puff it had vanished before her eyes. In that moment all the pain and despair inside her had exploded in an unprecedented crisis leaving her a wreck. She had collapsed to the ground in a puddle of anguish and tears, the emptiness in her soul a deep abyss. She kept hearing Severus' voice whispering in her ear to forgive him, and seeing his magnetic eyes sink into her. Minerva had appeared beside her immediately and had welcomed her protectively into her arms. When the hiccups had finally passed and her breathing was almost back normal, then the woman had caressed her head fondly and had spoken for the first time - her voice said and full of emotions.

"You are in love with him, don't you Hermione?"

"Is it so wrong, Professor?" the girl had replied looking her former Professor straight in the eye. "Is it so wrong to love a man who has tormented me for years but who eventually gave everything he had in order to see again the light that had disappeared from my eyes?"

"No, my dear, it isn't."

That night she had stayed awake watching the ceiling of her bedroom, lying in the middle of the bed above the blankets, holding in her fingers the small piece of paper left to her by Severus.

Then the months had passed, and the winter frost had given way to a light breeze full of rain. That night, like all nights, she was sitting in front of the window contemplating the nothingness and getting lost in the memories of her previous lives. The house was quiet, there was no one but her, and the only noises that could be heard were those of the wind blowing loud and undisturbed and the thin drizzle that fell thick around the house.

As she watched the night's nothingness, Hermione realized that in the distance there was a dark figure illuminated by the light of one of the lampposts on the sidewalk. She squinted her eyes as hard as possible trying to figure out who it was while a knot in her throat blocked her breath. A single name struck her heart and mind and in an instant she found herself running out of the house in the darkness of the night and under the rain. Her wet hair immediately glued to her forehead as the clothes she wore tightened to her slender body. It was cold outside, but she felt nothing but the desire to run towards that black hooded figure who watched her from afar. She walked uncertain towards him until she found herself almost in front of it. A male hand sprang from those heavy robes stretching towards her. His palm was facing upwards and Hermione observed, with eyes that immediately filled with tears, a red rose being born from it. Once again she could not breathe and she felt her heartbeat accelerate. She couldn't believe it... she didn't want to believe it. Severus...

When the hood was lowered and Severus Snape's edgy profile appeared under the light of the lamppost, Hermione gasped.

"Severus!" she exclaimed, her voice broken by tears, throwing herself into her strong arms that immediately enveloped her. His scent of musk and burned wood stroked her senses while an indescribable warmth heated her limbs. Severus wasn't dead, he was alive. And he was there with her at last. But why did he leave her alone all those months? Why hadn't he come back to her immediately? A scorching pain and anger suddenly exploded inside her, like a bomb that had long been waiting to be dropped. "Why did you leave? Why?" she asked, untangling from his body and hitting him in the chest. "I thought you were dead! Why did you leave me alone, Severus?"

The wizard observed her for a moment with his intense black eyes before calmly grabbing the young witch's wrists and stopping her assault.

"Why? Because the spell I used to activate the potion almost killed me and for a long time I had just barely the strength to stay alive... For you. Just for you, Hermione." Severus replied in a whisper. "As my body healed, I realized how much you had got under my skin, but I couldn't do anything."

"I was here!" Hermione nearly yelled. "I was here and I was waiting for you!"

"I had to make sure that our bond was not just the result of a... of what I did to you."

"Do you really think that my love for you is the result of a rape?"

"I promised you you'd be free once all of this was over."

"Don't you understand that I don't want freedom?" the almost hysterical witch asked, taking Severus' face in her hands. "I want you." To those whispered words, Severus closed his eyes and breathed deeply.

"I had asked you to forgive me."

"I'm ready to do it, if you in turn make me a promise."

"Which is?"

"That you will accept my love;" She told him and kissed him softly on the lips. "and the fact that the price I had to pay to ensure the end of Voldemort was but a small sacrifice in light of all this. I would do it a thousand more times Severus if that meant watching the sunrise with you."

"I promise." The wizard answered and slowly touched Hermione's sweet mouth with his and at that moment she felt complete again.

Their pain vanished.

Their fear just a distant memory.

Their love a rush of emotions straight to the heart.

Fin.