Disclaimer:- I neither earn nor own anything from this story except my plot. Harry Potter and his world are the intellectual property of JK Rowling and her associates.

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A/N:- Thank you to you all for your reviews and alerts. I appreciate every one of them. Also thank you to LadyWinterlight for her beta work this chapter. I hope that you enjoy this last offering of this story, it has been a joy to write, thank you for reading.

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Chapter Twenty-Two – Epilogue

As a special before bed treat, Thaddeus, Sebastian and Minerva Snape were standing in the teacher's entrance to the Great Hall with their grandmother, watching their sister parading in with the first years coming up to be sorted behind Filius Flitwick.

Their grandmother, Minerva McGonagall, was leaning heavily on her walking stick as she stood with them, explaining in quiet tones what was happening to the three excited younger Snape children. The old witch could not have been prouder of her first grandchild as she made the first steps to becoming an adult witch, but she didn't miss little Minnie suddenly darting away, making a bee-line towards Hermione and Severus at the head table either as she saw her father rising from his chair.

The little girl was pulled back against her grandmother as Severus welcomed the first years into the hall and called for the sorting ceremony to begin. She looked down at Minnie and pulled her into the skirts of her robes, shaking her head. "I'm sorry, Lassie, but you need to watch from here."

"Yes, Nanny Nerva," the little girl replied, happy to be in her grandmother's skirts holding her gnarled old hand as her eyes excitedly went back to the spectacle beyond her.

All the Snape children called the former headmistress by the same name as Alice always had, and it never got old as far as she was concerned, and she looked down at them watching in rapt attention as the sorting started.

The twins were almost eight now, and they were not identical. Thaddeus was going to be the spitting image of his father, although he had an ever so slight wave in his raven hair. Sebastian on the other hand was more like Hermione, he was not as severe as Thad and though his hair was also black as night, it was as curly as Hermione and Alice's.

Then there was the youngest child, Minerva, who was brunette like Hermione, but had straw straight hair like Severus. Little Minerva had been a lovely surprise almost five years ago. Hermione and Severus had not been planning any more children, but Minerva or Minnie as everyone called her had arrived out of the blue anyway. It had been on the occasion of Draco's marriage to Daphne Greengrass, and a forgotten contraceptive spell as Severus and Hermione got carried away with the fact that Minerva had the twins at Hogwarts and they were spending a treasured weekend alone at their house.

It had taken Draco a few years to take the plunge into marriage again, but when he had it had been a social spectacular thanks to his and Daphne's mothers, and there had been copious amounts of champagne flowing. Nature—as they say—had basically taken its course, but neither Hermione nor Severus had been anything but happy about their unexpected child's arrival.

Finally, Minerva's eyes turned to Alice, and she smiled. This year was Alice's first year as a proper Hogwarts student; of course having lived at the castle since she was three she'd pretty much exceeded the expectations of a first year student, and even a second. But Hermione and Severus were planning to keep their daughter occupied with extra-curricular activities, like continuing the muggle style schooling that all the Snape children were enjoying, along with her magical instruction. In fact, Minerva believed that several of the higher achieving Hogwarts students were benefitting from the same arrangement.

Alice was a very smart little girl, and she was standing next to her best friend Scorpius Malfoy. They were such a contrast, Alice with her wild raven locks and dark eyes, and Scorpius with his pale blond hair and grey eyes, but they were inseparable friends and Minerva had heard Narcissa Malfoy commenting to Severus the other day that perhaps they were fated. Minerva did not know about that, but they certainly were very compatible, and she had the same hope for her granddaughter that all grandmothers have; she wished her joy and happiness in whatever form that took. But for now, she came back from her thoughts as Filius called, "Malfoy, Scorpius Draco," and she watched as the paled-haired boy grinned at Alice and then darted towards the stool excitedly.

However, his excitement stalled when the hat announced, "Ravenclaw!" moments later to a collective gasp of surprise that resonated around the hall. There had not been a Malfoy for hundreds of years who had not been sorted into Slytherin, and Minerva saw Severus lean across to Hermione and make a comment that made Hermione nod to her husband and get up from the head table.

Filius had also seen Hermione rise and gave the stunned blond wizard a little push as he said, "Welcome to Ravenclaw, Mister Malfoy," and pointed him in Hermione's direction. "I believe Madam Snape wants a word."

As Scorpius walked towards his aunt in something of a daze, he saw her glance up apparently towards the charmed ceiling, but what he and countless other first years did not know was that above the charmed ceiling there was a visitors gallery, a place where members of the old families and particularly members of the board of governors could always come—at the invitation of the headmaster—to observe the sorting of their children, unseen.

As Severus had predicted, once Lucius had been settled back into his ancestral home and he discovered that people found him—and especially his money—very palatable, it did not take him long to start looking towards some of the positions of power that he'd once held, and his money had been most welcome at Hogwarts, so a member of the board of governors he once again was. Therefore, Hermione knew that he was observing the proceedings from the gallery in great interest because his precious grandson was being sorted.

On observing Scorpius closely, Severus had already noted that the boy did not possess many of the traits that would make the hat choose Slytherin, and he had spoken to his friend about this for the sake of the boy. It was part of the reason that both Lucius and Draco had decided to attend in the gallery tonight, and they all knew it.

Hermione just hoped that Lucius especially wasn't too deeply shocked to reassure his grandson that all was well. "Come with me, Mister Malfoy, there is someone you need to speak to," and she turned and exited the Great Hall with the solemn boy following her obediently.

As Hermione shut the door of the Great Hall, Lucius and Draco arrived in the entranceway too, appearing from a hidden door off to the side. The door could easily be mistaken for a broom cupboard, and probably often was, but Hermione was not concerned with that at present.

"Oh, Grandfather… Father," Scorpius cried, seeing them approaching, and not thinking about why his grandfather and father were on hand. "I don't know what went wrong, I'm sorry," and his emotions bubbled over.

Draco lowered himself to the same height as his son and pulled the boy into a hug. "Nothing went wrong, Scorp, if the hat thinks that you'll do best in Ravenclaw then it is the right place for you, I am certain of it," he stated. "It simply means that you are a very special little boy," Draco told his son.

Hermione watched on as Draco comforted his son, and the elder Malfoy watched on, and she marvelled as she often did at how far they'd come since those awful war days.

"That's correct, isn't it, Father?" Draco prompted.

"Oh, yes indeed," Lucius stated. "Whilst Slytherin is the usual house for Malfoys, over the centuries there have also been some sorted into Ravenclaw. It is most acceptable, Scorpius."

"Really, Grandfather?" Scorpius questioned, looking at his grandfather and smiling.

Hermione saw Lucius literally melt under the influence of his grandson's smile. "Yes, really," he told him. "Now, you go back into your first Hogwarts feast and write to us all very soon."

"I will Grandfather, I will," Scorpius cried and ran to Lucius, hugging him.

Hermione looked away, back into the hall, as she thought that the proper Lucius would not like her to see his private grandfatherly affection for his grandson. She still had her hand on the door to the hall and she heard that the sorting had progressed alphabetically to the R's with Ross, Jacob Emmanuel, and she was eager to get back inside so that she did not miss Alice's sorting, so she gave them a moment but then interrupted.

"Right, Mister Malfoy, you can sleep happily in your bed in Ravenclaw Tower tonight without worrying that your grandfather may think any less of you for not being sorted into Slytherin," and her eyes settled on Lucius. "Right, gentlemen?"

Draco came forward guiding his son before him. "Thank you, Hermione," he said, and then tussled Scorpius' hair. "We're starting a new era, Scorp, and you should think of yourself as a trail-blazer. Now, you better go back in with Madam Snape, and who knows, Alice might be sorted into the Ravenclaw too."

Scorpius turned excited eyes to Hermione. "Do you think so, Auntie?" he asked, seeming to understand that they were in a private family setting at the moment and not the greater Hogwarts world where his supportive aunt and uncle were officials of the school and were to be treated with the respect that entailed

Hermione smiled as she nodded to Draco and Lucius and turned him back towards the hall. "How about we see," she said, guiding Scorpius back in. She deposited him between Lorcan and Lysander Scamander, who were now both sixth year Ravenclaws and she walked back towards the head table just as Filius called Alice up to be sorted.

"Snape, Alice Jean," Hermione heard, and she stopped just down from where she'd left Scorpius, between the Ravenclaw and Slytherin tables, and she watched Alice also becoming a Ravenclaw.

Then her grinning daughter was running towards her, Alice gifted her with a glancing one armed hug and then, beaming, she carried on and wrapped her arms around Scorpius from behind before sitting animatedly next to him, as Lorcan slid further aside to make room for her. Alice was still greeting the pale-haired sixth year boys and turning back to watch as Weasley, Petunia Lavender became a Gryffindor, and Zabini, Angelina Pansy—the last first year sorted—became a Slytherin as Hermione continued her journey back to the front of the room.

Hermione smiled as she carried on back to the front of the hall. Having taught most of the children sorted tonight she'd correctly anticipated every one of the house placements for her students, and she detoured over to the teacher's entrance to wish Thad, Sebastian and Minnie a good night before she came back to sit beside Severus quietly as he rose to give his start of year speech and announcements.

Part of Severus' duties tonight were to announce the head boy and girl, and this year, Lily Potter was head girl. Hermione was trying to be fair with the quiet young woman who was currently officially receiving her badge from Severus, but she was a copy of her mother, and even now Hermione had to hide a shiver of how close she'd come to losing Alice because of Ginny Potter.

It was going to be a challenging year for Hermione, with a prominent Potter once more in the school, but unlike her father, Lily was a neat and respectful student who had earned her head girl badge by being a worthy human being, and not because of anyone's fame or favouritism.

Hermione knew that the three Potter children had been scanned for all kinds of traces of dark magic after the discovery of what had afflicted their parents, and Severus had been involved in the process, but Hermione had always kept her distance from them as much as she'd been able to.

It was also easier now that she was no longer the school librarian. Three years ago, she'd trained an apprentice, a young witch from Ravenclaw, and she was now solely part of the school as the head of a new enterprise she'd started several years ago. It had been soon after the Snape family had moved back to Hogwarts when Severus had taken on the headmastership again, and Hermione had suggested to him that their children would need somewhere to go to school when the time came. She had also suggested that living for most of the year in the wilds of Scotland that correspondence school would be the most feasible way to do that; it had been what she'd done during her Hogwarts years to keep up with her Muggle education.

However, the Muggle lessons—like the ones Hermione herself had done—were no longer delivered by post, but were online, and that was not possible at Hogwarts, nor was it allowed in Hogsmeade, but this was Hermione and she found a way around it.

The Gryffindor witch had always known, because she'd read it in her favourite book, 'Hogwarts, A History', that in centuries past Hogwarts had also had a preparatory school that taught the three R's to the children of any wizarding families who wished to attend. Therefore, Hermione simply set about—with Severus' full approval—reinstating this school.

There were many old and disused buildings on the school grounds, but the rather substantial gate house was chosen as the site of the new school. Because of its proximity to the front gates, magical families could Floo or apparate in, and a new wizarding bus was commissioned to transport children from both Muggle and magical areas. It was operated by the same people who ran the Knight Bus, but its sole purpose was to collect children from around the British Isles each morning and return them home each afternoon, because this new school was a day only school.

Lucius Malfoy funded the initial school setup and Hermione's wages—a move that had been very popular with the wizarding public—and she had been the sole teacher when it had merely been Alice and Scorpius learning. However, by the time Thaddeus and Sabastian had started school, and had been joined by Calanthe Shacklebolt, as well there were seven students from other wizarding families they'd all decided that it was time to expand.

They started advertising and news of this new school had spread like wildfire; soon they had more than a class full of students. At that point, Hermione hired a second teacher to oversee the primary side of the school, a retired Muggle school teacher, who was from a magical family, but didn't possess active magic, which was much nicer than saying she was a squib. Hermione continued on as the teacher of the infants department, and Belladonna Rosier, was only too happy to teach on the grounds of an institution that she'd never thought she'd see.

Then, two years ago Hermione had handed over her teaching position to a new infants teacher and the school had grown so much that she'd been appointed headmistress of it. This year, the school had expanded again. There would be two primary teachers, Belladonna, and a new primary teacher called Jane Sherlock, who would take the lower primary years while Belladonna took the upper.

Additionally, a high school teacher had been hired to teach their first graduating class who were moving on to Hogwarts proper, but wished to take the Muggle Education classes that were being offered as an alternative to Muggle Studies. This new teacher was a wizard who had opted to go to university and then teach in the Muggle system. He was someone who Hermione only remembered as a small child after the war before his grandmother had moved them away from all the memories that had been too painful. Therefore, this year Edward Lupin—or Teddy as he told Hermione to call him—who still had his vivid blue hair, and had been teaching in a small one-teacher school in the outer Hebrides until his appointment to Hermione's school, would start working his class towards their GCSE levels as they also achieved their magical education.

As headmistress in her own right at the little school, Hermione had three live-in teachers to oversee, and a branch of the vast Hogwarts kitchen providing morning tea and lunches for her students with its own elves working for her. She and her staff had their lunch with the students, but her teachers joined the other professors at Hogwarts head table for their breakfasts and dinners, as well as festival occasions. On top of having her own school to run, Hermione had also taken on the role that her mother had as Dumbledore's deputy—even though she was not Severus' deputy—and that had been the Hogwarts Cradle Roll manager.

Now the school on the hill—as it was known—was up and running she was expanding further into the Muggle system, and the Cradle Roll this was how she found out about magical children being born to Muggles, and how she offered them more support than simply advising them once their child turned eleven that they were magical. It was a delicate process that Hermione—having been through it herself—was perfectly placed to help families with.

It was a fuller life than Hermione had ever envisaged for herself, but she could not have been happier.

Later that night after the Welcoming Feast, when Hermione and Severus had finally fulfilled all their duties and were ready for the start of the school year tomorrow, in the privacy of their bedroom, Severus chuckled softly. "I would have given galleons to see the look on Lucius' face when his grandson was not sorted into Slytherin," he cackled.

"Well, both Lucius and Draco settled Scorpius. In fact, they were very supportive, you did the right thing suggesting that I take him to see them before they left," Hermione replied.

Severus nodded. "I'm pleased to hear it."

Hermione snuggled into his side. "Were you expecting the boy to be in Ravenclaw?" she asked.

He looked down at her and the corner of his mouth tilted up. "I suspected that whatever house our little girl was sorted into Hogwarts would make certain that Scorpius went too," and he laughed. "It's still being a pushy presumptuous stone edifice," and he smiled. "But this time I can't bring myself to care because I now know that it has our best interests at heart."

"That's a beautiful thing to say, love," Hermione answered, looking up at him.

"I mean it," he replied. "I love you, you've made me the happiest man, with or without the pushy castle joining us in the first place," and his head started to lower to hers.

She snickered. "I love you too," and their lips met and they became lost in their own private world.

"Nox," Severus murmured between kisses.

~~Finis~~

Thank you for reading.