Epilogue.

Severus couldn't believe that fifteen months had passed since the day he had spotted his former student Hermione Granger inside his favourite library, clutching to herself a book on erotic poetry. That day is life had changed, for the better. He had never really believed in second chances, but that's what Hermione had gifted him with. A new life, by her side.

More than one year had passed since that faithful day, and she was still there. She put up with his shortcomings, with his awkward shows of affection, his small gestures and words, while he accepted everything she wanted to give him without any complaint. All his life he had had nothing but now… now he had her, the most precious thing he could have been given. They often bickered, sometimes had also yelled at each other, because he was still a stubborn prick but she was more stubborn than he and such a fierce lioness that in the end, she usually won the argument. But he didn't really care, he was happy – oh so happy.

Hermione was able to pull out everything good he had bottled up for so long and, even if it was still somewhat difficult to open up and show his true emotions, he felt way better. With her, everything felt better. She still had her small flat in London, but she spent so much time with him in Spinner's End that it had eventually become their home. That alone meant a lot to Severus. It was difficult at first, to accept that she really loved him and would stay with him, but after a while it became obvious even to himself that she wasn't thinking of going away. He finally had someone who really wished to stay at his side, no matter the difficulties of life.

She loved him, and he loved her. When she had confessed her feelings, he had not been able to speak out loud those three words, choosing instead to let his mind tell what he had been feeling. It had been the easiest thing to do but one afternoon, some weeks later, those words had fallen from his lips without him even noticing immediately. They had been laying on the couch in his living room with their bodies entwined when, stroking lazily her bushy hair, he had asked her what had happened to her parents. At hearing his question, Hermione had tensed so much he had thought he had asked the wrong thing at the worst of moments. She had looked at him with sad eyes before beginning her report on what had happened. Tears had started flowing freely down her cheeks after only a couple of words, and he had hold her so fiercely in that moment that the pain she had been feeling had become his own.

"I didn't know what else to do, Severus!" she had said between sobs, clutching at him with dear life. "I had to go with Harry, to help him, and I knew they would have found them and killed them!"

"I know, I know." He had whispered in her hear while caressing her back, trying to be reassuring. "You did the right thing." He had told her, and he believed it. She had cancelled all the memories of her from her parents' mind and sent them to Australia, an act of extreme bravery. It had costed her a lot because, when she had gone back to retrieve them, she had not been able to bring their memories back. And she had been all alone since she hadn't said anything to Potter or Weasley. "You did the right thing."

"I miss them terribly." She had said trying to dry her eyes with the back of her hands, but her tears kept flowing freely. In that moment, looking at her heartbroken face, he had vowed to find a way to help her reunite with her parents.

"Starting tomorrow, we will begin studying their case." He had announced placing a gentle kiss on her lips which were salty from the tears. "I'm sure that between the two of us we will be able to bring their memories back."

At hearing those words, Hermione had sniffled nosily before throwing her arms around his neck with a small, elated cry which had warmed his heart. He wanted to see her happy and, if her happiness meant spending days on end bent over books, he would do it.

"I love you, Severus." She had murmured between kisses, her eyes bright and hopeful. He had looked at her then, drinking in the sight of her beauty, and gifted her with one of his rare smiles.

"I love you, too." He had said in a small voice and, only when her eyes had become big and her breath had stopped, he had realised what he had said. They had stayed in silence for several seconds before he had kissed her again and repeated those words with renewed confidence.

They had made love in that couch and it had been amazing. Their lovemaking nothing like it had been before, as if that declaration had shifted some inside their hearts and minds. He had poured in that single moment everything he had in her and she in him and, at every single touch, he had felt a new man. Before Hermione he had never been able to shed his multiple masks, but with her it was different. He could be himself, the true Severus Snape, without any fear. Hermione knew him and accepted his fragilities and his flaws. With her, he became a better man every day.

Just a little over a year, but he couldn't envision his life without her anymore. And now that he was finally a free man, no more under house arrest, the only thing he wished was to live her every single day. Walking down the corridors that brought them outside the building that housed the Ministry of Magic, his mind was kilometres away from there, wondering at the absurdity of his life. Only a gentle hand on his wrist brought him back, and when he turned his head on his left, Hermione was watching him curiously with a bright smile on her lips.

"What are you thinking about?" she asked, hooking her hand in the crook of his arm and moving closer to him. She didn't care about the people who looked strangely at them while whispering among themselves, she only cared about him and their love.

"Nothing really…" he muttered under his breath. He wanted to tell her, but he wasn't sure it was the right moment. They had been together for only a year.

"Are you going to finally tell me what you want to do now that you are a free man, Severus?"

She had asked him that question many times in those last months and the answer, the one he had always hidden under his "I don't know, yet.", hadn't changed. He loved her deeply.

"Not really." He only said, picking up the pace and quickly exiting the Ministry.

"It's not possible, Severus!" she complained stopping their movement. "There has to be something you wish to do! You have waited for this moment for so long."

"There is, indeed." He replied truthfully, looking intently at her.

"Then, what is it?"

"Spending the rest of my life with you, Hermione." He whispered lightly trailing down the side of her face with his fingertips, from her brow to her chin. "I wish to wake up in the morning with you by my side, your impossible hair tickling my nose and your small hand caressing my bruised chest. I wish to spend my days with you and then go to bed knowing that you will still be there, ready to help me fight my nightmares."

"Severus…" she gasped, and her hand went to cover her open mouth. Her eyes were shining, and he knew that his lioness was fighting back tears.

"I love you Hermione, and I would be the luckiest of men if you accepted to become my wife."

And just like that, in a little over a year, he got a new friend, a lover and a lifetime companion. A happy life, one he still wasn't sure he deserved but nonetheless one he had dreamt of having since he was only a child.

Finite.