Chapter 57: She Really Does Love Him

Severus and Lily stood huddled together, watching the jubilation of people in the Great Hall. Most survivors of the Battle of Hogwarts were working their way – some even with injury – to get to Neville and congratulate him.

Turning back to the man she loved, Lily smiled, her hazel eyes twinkling. "Well…. we did it."

Severus chuckled, curling an arm about her waist and pulling her close, causing her breath to hitch. "Better late than never. And for what it's worth, I'm sorry it took all of this. And I'm sorry for how I may have hurt you. I was wrong – about all of it."

Lily beamed, forgiving. "I know."

Giggling, the couple was just leaning in when three of the Weasleys – Molly, Arthur and Ginny – came dashing up to them.

"Mrs. Potter! Mrs. Potter! I can't find Harry!" The only Weasley girl looked terrified, stricken and in the back of her mind it made Lily wonder if her son was truly all grown up. If he had…

In the front of her mind, however, was a mother's instinct to locate her baby boy immediately. She felt Severus lightly touch her arm.

"He'll be found, love."

"Yes. Of course he will," Lily tried to breathe, even as she was barely staving off panic. "I'm going to get him right now….!"

"I'm getting Harry," Severus told her. "You stay here. I'll scour the grounds."

He had barely turned when Lily was gripping his shoulder, spinning him back around. "While what? I watch helplessly from the sidelines? I don't think so!"

"I'm asking you to wait with the Weasleys!"

"And I'm telling you: not a chance," Lily countered, not caring that she and Severus were having their first big married fight in front of others. She leaned in close and hissed low, "You're my husband; I'm with you –" she cupped his cheek and made him look at her. "For better or worse!"

Severus's face went through a physical struggle until he finally shrugged her off. "I have to do this alone!"

"He's my son; you need my help!"

"I don't want your help. I – I want you SAFE!"

She gawped at him, befuddled. "What is this to you – playtime?"

"No."

"So you can feel like you were when you were a Death Eater?"

"Yes – No!"

"Then what? What is it?"

"I'm…. I'm not strong enough!"

"Strong enough. And gallivanting off to find my son will make you stronger?" Lily challenged.

"No! I mean, Yes!"

"That's what this is? Some sort of workout?"

"I CAN'T LOSE YOU AGAIN!" Severus bellowed, taking her by the shoulders and giving her a little shake.

Lily's jaw dropped, utterly speechless and taken off guard by his outburst. Severus hung his head.

"I… I can't. Not… not again. I'm…. I'm not…. strong enough."

Lily was surprised. Peering up into his face, she finally swayed onto her tiptoes, looped her arms about his neck and, not caring that people were likely watching him, she sensuously kissed him. She was pleased and relieved when she felt him kiss her back. Drawing apart, she smiled softly.

"If we work together…. you won't have to be," she crooned.

"There could be Death Eaters still fleeing. Harry could be hurt. I don't know what will happen."

Lily grinned up at him, lacing her fingers through his. "Well…. then we'll just have to figure it out together, won't we?"

Molly and Arthur Weasley watched from the shores of the Black Lake the figure they knew to be their only daughter in the slight distance. She was in a rowboat with Ron, Hermione, Luna and Neville Longbottom, gazing at the sprawled, unconscious form of Harry Potter on the Lake's small stretch of beach.

Following Harry's brave slaying of the snake, clearly done to protect her, the second wave of the Battle of Hogwarts had dissolved into chaos. People had been swept away in a tsunami of fighters, and most quickly separated from those they loved if they weren't quick about it. Molly had only managed to locate her daughter in the nick of time to see Bellatrix Lestrange nearly murder her; naturally, she had gone on the attack. They weren't sure how Mrs. Potter and Snape, of all people, had managed to find each other (in more ways than one, it seemed), only that they had.

When the Dark Lord had fallen at last by Neville's hand, the celebration had been jubilant. The Boy Who had Saved Them All was all but carried away on other's shoulders, perfect strangers had hugged and even snogged each other. It was only when Ginny had come hurtling up to them, white-faced, gasping out how she couldn't find Harry had Molly become concerned. She had been in the middle of… of a head count of her own children too.

One that she had already known would never be completed. She and her husband of more than 20 years were still trying to wrap their heads around Fred's death. Molly was doubtful they ever would, at least not completely.

It was the thought of possibly having lost another child – even an honorary one, and Molly had a gaggle of those to match her babies by blood – that had caused many people to leap into action. Bill had organized a search party within moments, and different groups had fanned out throughout the castle and the grounds, calling Harry's name.

The most plausible theory was that Harry had been one of the handful who had been driven into the grounds, away from the main fighting, in pocket duels pursuing Death Eaters. Ginny and her friends had combed down by the boathouse, and Neville had commandeered a sloop to search the waters. Just when some had feared the poor boy was gone and were discussing dredging the Lake to look for a body….

Severus had been the one to find him, unconscious on the Lake's shores. A Casting Trace revealed Stupefy as the culprit, though not its caster; whoever it was, they appeared to have fled.

Now, even from this far distance, Molly could tell from the way Ginny gazed at the shore…. something had changed between her and Harry, which surprised and intrigued her. At one time, for a few of her earliest school years, Ginny had been infatuated with Neville Longbottom in a sort of hero's crush. All the evidence had led her to assume that Harry was just a friend, and to Ginny, one of her more harmlessly annoying ones at that. This had been all the more amusing by how, whenever the Weasleys had opened their doors to their kids friends, it had been patently obvious: Harry was infatuated with Ginny.

Molly had just never expected that one day, Ginny might return those feelings.

From the way he sighed next to her, she suspected her husband was pondering much the same thoughts. "She really does love him, doesn't she, Molly-wobbles?"

Molly took a deep, cleansing breath, trying to keep her maternal emotions in check. It had never been the easiest thing for her, to watch her children grow and pair off with significant others. Observing Bill court and eventually marry Fleur had been a trial because he had been her first-born. Though she had yet to witness them kiss, from the intimate way they huddled together, Molly imagined that Hermione would marry into the family before long, once Ron worked up the nerve to propose to her.

But Ginny…. Ginny was different. Her only girl, their little girl. True, she had dated boys during her time at Hogwarts, but the way she pined after Harry now indicated a caring with more weight.

Taking Arthur's question to be something more of a prompting, she at last managed, "Well…. it's like I've always said, Arthur: children have got to be free to lead their own lives."

"You…. always say that?" Arthur queried softly, the amusement and bemusement clear in his voice, if not quite on his face, which seemed to be keeping a smile in check. Molly grinned sheepishly and swatted at him.

Arthur let it go, sighing again. "Well…. then I gaze there's just one problem left."

"And what's that, darling?"

She watched her husband nod, deciding something, as he draped an arm over her shoulders and tucked her into him. "How much we're going to miss her."

With that, he waved his wand, so that a sort of golden path illuminated on the water, blazing a trail from the rowboat directly to the beach where Harry lay. Even from afar, they could Ginny's face light up in amazed and anxious surprise.

Back in the rowboat, her smile was hopeful, yet she hung back for a moment, scared and unsure. She glanced back to Ron, as if asking for permission. He merely smiled, and Hermione waved her on, beaming with pride.

"Come off it, Gin, old girl: you love him." Her eyes met Neville's knowing expression. He gave a jerk of his head, with Luna nodding fervently at his side, and it was the Ravenclaw oddball who gave her that last push.

"Go on!"

Ginny spared Luna a hug before she jumped overboard. Instead of sinking, however, her feet remained suspended above the white froth of the small waves, so that she literally walked on water, like the powerful wizard she had once heard tell of in one of the Muggle's old, ancient stories. As she neared the shore, she watched on baited breath as Harry stirred, the Stunning Curse at last wearing off. Lifting his head, the first thing he saw was Ginny running towards him over the crests of the Black Lake, beaming smile and with arms outstretched.

Only, the damn spell keeping her aloft wore off just as she reached the shallows and she had to fight the slight tide the rest of the way to get to him. She tackled him into the surf, causing him to half-laugh, half-grunt, and Ginny had barely let him up before she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him hungrily.

They broke apart after only a moment or two, Harry rising first; taking her hands, he gentlemanly helped her to her feet.

"Harry…" her soft voice made him lift his head to gaze into her eyes, and there was no greater sight than the one they his own orbs beheld just then: Ginny's smile. It was a smile he hoped to look at for the rest of his life. Her grin broadened. "I love you," she murmured.

Elated, Harry picked her up and swirled her around. Setting her down, he was now the one to draw her close and kiss her….

…. And when they broke apart, it seemed, it was barely a few days later. Ginny was resplendent and blushing in a white gown. She hadn't imagined she would be married, a wife, before she even came of age; as such, consent laws in the wizarding stipulated that any wizard or witch under the age of 17 who wished to marry needed their parents' permission. Ginny had been pleasantly surprised and thrilled to receive her mum and dad' blessing with no objection.

Her and Harry's wedding kiss was hilariously interrupted by Hagrid's dog, now prancing into the middle of their embrace and slobbering them all over, causing Ginny to laugh musically as everyone present burst into applause. Mummy was crying (expected), Hermione appeared ecstatic for her, Luna serene and at peace. Even Ron sported a small smile, though his arms were folded in judgment. She grinned, hardly minding his big-brother meddling so much anymore.

Her gaze swept onto Neville last of all. His smile was soft and platonic, supportive in her decision, and she beamed brightly back. As she and her…. her husband (Harry Potter was her husband), headed back up the small aisle, she spotted the Chosen One sidle up to Luna and whisper something in her ear, before the pair slipped off alone together.

Meeting them at the back of the open-air congregation were the parents. Ginny embraced both of hers, then (with plenty of weepy giggling) Mrs. Potter. She stopped short with Snape, just of Harry's mum's shoulder, but gave him the barest nod. He nodded back. Forgiveness between them would almost surely never come, but both seemed able to live with that.

"Mum?" Harry was embracing his mother, and the pretty witch looked at him expectantly.

"Yes, son?"

Harry's grin widened knowingly. "Just because I get my happy ending doesn't mean you shouldn't."

Lily's hazel eyes – replicas of her son's – went huge, and she glanced back once nervously to Severus. "Oh…. Well, I…." True, she had agreed to have him as her spouse while fighting in the midst of a bloody battle; Dumbledore himself had married them, so she didn't feel any less like Severus's wife already. Recalling the church wedding to her first husband, however, Lily suddenly decided that she wanted to have a more peaceful, traditional commencement of her union. She glanced to Severus for help; from the love in his eyes, he told silently told her he would go forward with whatever she wanted. Beaming with love at him, she wordlessly offered him her arm. Severus Snape actually smirked and accepted it, and the couple walked up the aisle to wed….. again, and formally this time.

Per normal, Ron looked lost. "What's happening?"

"Harry's mum is getting married! To Snape!" Hermione chittered to him.

"Married? To Snape? Bollocks!" A thud and a yelp predictably followed.

Lily was blushing as red as her hair, smiling shyly at the befuddled congregation, as it slowly dawned on all assembled that there was to be another wedding. Smiling tenderly, Hermione drew her wand and softly performed an incantation under her breath.

"Cumaria dressalia….. cumaria dressalia…."

Before their very eyes, Lily's battle-torn, green robes transformed into a swan-like bridal gown with matching veil. Catching Hermione's eye, Lily bashfully bowed her head in silent thanks as she and Snape now made to stand before Kingsley Shacklebolt, who had just married her son and daughter-in-law.

"Interim Minister…. I would like to take this man as my husband, if you please."

Kingsley grinned and presided over a brief ceremony. At its conclusion, he declared, "I know pronounce these two people man and wife, and declare them bonded for life. You may kiss."

Severus appeared solemn as he lifted his bride's veil. He was flummoxed when the gesture revealed his love smirking deviously at him; next moment, Lily had dipped him, laughing uproariously, before she kissed him soundly on the mouth. Severus melted into it as the congregation actually did manage to applaud. When his wife lifted him out of the dip, still beaming, he kissed her in return and swept her off her feet, causing her to squeal with shocked delight into his mouth as he carried up away and off, back up the aisle.

Meanwhile, some distance away from the multiple nuptials, Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood strolled hand-in-hand along the stone viaduct bridge. In his free fist, Neville clenched the Elder Wand. He could sense Luna studying it, but not – he noted with pride – the kind of corrupted longing that most others might give away on their faces.

"What are you going to do with it?" she murmured quietly.

"Voldemort took this off of Dumbledore, but he failed to remember that the Wand passes from owner to owner if won in a duel. Malfoy disarmed Dumbledore on the Astronomy Tower, and a few weeks ago, I disarmed Draco."

Luna gasped. "That means…."

"…. It's mine."

They came to a halt in the center of the viaduct, Neville turning to face her. She peered up into his handsome eyes, wondering. "Are…. Are you…?"

Grinning, Neville lifted the most powerful wand in history between them…. And snapped it unceremoniously in two. Turning, he cast both pieces off the edge of the viaduct into the ravine below. He rounded back on her quite unexpectedly, suddenly taking Luna by her waist and pulling her close, causing even carefree Luna to suck in a breath. She felt her pulse begin to race.

Neville looked at her in a way she had noticed only a few times before: smoldering, full of love.

"No. I've already got all the power I want." And he now intimately brushed back the blonde curls from out of her silvery, expressive eyes, while with his other, he audaciously dared to cup her smart little buttocks before sweeping lower and gripping the inside of her thigh. In fluid harmony, Luna let him raise her leg to curl it about his middle. "Besides, to tell you the truth: I've had enough trouble for a lifetime."

Luna beamed with triumphant glee, even as she hesitantly draped her arms about his neck. She was pleased and thrilled when Neville simply bent his head close and the couple embraced, at last sharing a long and relieved kiss.

It was the best snog Luna Lovegood had ever experienced in her entire life. And the enthusiastic shagging which followed, though giggly and awkward, was decidedly pleasant as well.