Author's Note: Honeymoon chapter... major R rating here. Oh, and it's not over yet. I'm not sure when I'll post the epilogue... I usually try to update daily so I don't get distracted from writing, but my time might be limited over the weekend. Hopefully, I can get it done before then.

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and the characters in the series are copyright JK Rowling. They are not being used for profit, only for personal enjoyment.

*****

Chapter 39 ~ "The Greatest Gift"

When they reached their quarters, Severus gently set Hermione on her feet before closing and warding the door behind him. Hermione smiled seductively as she reached out and grabbed his hand, trying to lead him closer to the bed.

"No," he rasped, "Not yet..." He flicked his wand to dim the lights, so that she was bathed in the glow of the fire.

He looked intensely into her eyes, "I just want to look at you..." his eyes roamed up and down her body, from her glorious mane of hair to her sandaled toes. His hand trembled as he reached out and cupped the back of her head, "You are so beautiful..."

Hermione was nearly trembling in anticipation... all she wanted was for him to touch her. Yet, somehow, just standing her being ravished by his eyes was nearly as intoxicating as his touch. He leaned in and gently kissed her lips, before speaking in a hoarse voice, "When I first saw you today, I thought I was dreaming. You looked... ethereal... like a goddess, or an angel. I just wanted to touch you and make sure that you were real. How can anybody so beautiful love somebody like me?"

His breath on her cheek felt so delicious as he whispered those words to her, "I do love you, Severus..." she rasped.

Slowly, he removed her sheer cape, gently tossing it aside as he turned her around. He lifted her hair off of her shoulders as he embraced her from behind and began kissing the nape of her neck. His warm hands slid up her arms, pausing to caress her bare shoulder before his fingers moved to unbutton the back of her gown. With each open button, he kissed her warm flesh, until he had traced a trail of kisses all the way down her spine to the small of her back. He kissed his way back up to her neck, moving to nibble her shoulders as he slowly moved the strap of her gown down her arm, and kissing his way to her other shoulder as he continued to undress her.

Placing his hands firmly on her waist, he gently spun her back around and began kissing the flesh at the base of her throat as he slid the bodice of her dress further down, exposing her breasts. Hermione threw her head back, and her eyes closed as she allowed him to worship her body. His lips kissed their way down between the valley of her breasts, dropping to his knees as he reached her navel, where he paused as his hands gently slid her gown past her waist and over her hips. When it finally landed in a crumpled heap on the floor, he moaned as he saw that she wore nothing underneath, but for a delicate lace garter around her thigh. He gently caressed her bare back as he slowly kissed his way back up to her neck.

He pulled her to him, lacing his hands into her hair as he tilted her head backwards, and began to ravish her neck once again.

"Severus..." she moaned, her full lips parted as she breathed shallowly.

"Hermione..." he rasped before crushing his lips to hers, and sweeping her into his arms to carry her to the bed. He laid her tenderly on the bed, standing back to look at her intensely, his eyes full of desire, as he began to remove his robes. She reached up to pull him to her, "Let me..." she whispered as her fingers began to unbutton his silk shirt. As he had done with her, she kissed her way through every button, laving a trail of tender kisses down his chest as she bared his torso. Her hands slipped his shirt off over his strong shoulders, exposing the contours of his upper body. She let her hands explore him as he kissed her, before reaching down to unbutton his trousers. She gently pushed them down his thighs with her fingertips, before reaching up with her foot to seductively toe them to his ankles, where he paused for a moment to kick them off.

One of Severus' hands slid down her thigh, caressing it softly as his fingers toyed with the garter that she was wearing. It was torture for Hermione to feel his fingers so close, and she moaned as she urged him on. Slowly, he allowed his hand to slide the garter down past her knee to her calf. He sat back on his knees as he lifted her leg to remove the garter over her foot, before kissing his way up her calf, past her knee, and to her thigh as his other hand reached to touch her intimately.

Hermione tried to pull him back to her, but Severus was intent on taking his time, exploring and kissing every inch of her before claiming her as his wife. He gently spread himself over her, pressing his warm body to hers as he kissed her desperately. Hermione gasped at the feel of his arousal against her inner thigh, and tried to coax him in. Severus gently shook his head and placed a finger to her lips as she whimpered in need. Reaching down to her knees, he gently positioned her legs around him as he continued to tease her, kissing and carressing her until he finally sensed that she could bear no more.

"Hermione..." he rasped as he finally became one with her, "My wife..."

"Oh! Severus!" she cried in passion, tears spilling from her eyes, "I love you!"

They both continued to cry out in their passion, words of love, tears of joy, and when it was all over, Severus clutched her tightly as his voice choked with emotion, "I can't believe that you are mine..."

"I'm yours, Severus... forever."

*****

"Severus," Hermione murmured as she rolled to her side and nestled her back into his warm body, "What made you fall in love with me?"

"Ah... just the question I've been wondering about you, Hermione. I don't know why you love me... but I'm grateful that you do."

Hermione smiled, "I do love you, Severus... very much. I have for a long time."

"How long?"

"I asked you, first."

Severus pulled her closer to him and kissed her, "I love you on so many levels, Hermione. I loved you as Samuel's mother almost from the moment I knew he was my son. You had blessed me with the greatest gift. Over time, that love blossomed into so much more... only, I don't think I realized it until..."

"Until when?"

Severus sighed, "I don't know if I can pinpoint exactly when I fell in love with you, Hermione. I began to love you as a friend when you first moved in here. I treasured every moment we shared together, and hated myself for hurting you so many times." He paused, deep in thought for a moment before he continued, "I suppose I started feeling attracted to you the first time that we fell asleep together on the sofa in the nursery. You haunted my dreams for so long after that," he moaned, "It was torture! But the most pleasant kind of torture I have ever endured."

"When did it become more than attraction?"

"I think..." he paused, "I think I truly fell in love with you when we danced, only I didn't recognize it as love until much later. All I knew was that I wanted to hold you in my arms like that forever."

"Me too..." Hermione murmured.

"Your turn," he nudged her.

"Last year..." she sighed.

Severus frowned, "You've loved me that long?"

"I think so... but I didn't know it. All I knew was that I saw another side of you that night, during and after the battle. But at the time, I thought I was only infatuated with the image of my 'knight in shining armor'. I had to bury that image, it hurt so much for so long, because I was certain that you would never love me the way I yearned to be loved. Every time I started to think of you that way, I'd push the image farther away and try to convince myself that it was just a silly fantasy."

"But then... Samuel was born. And I got to know the real you. Suddenly, I couldn't imagine life without you, Severus."

"I still couldn't admit it to myself at the time, Severus. But now I know that I loved you, even then," she smiled, "But it was the night of the Valentine's ball, for sure, when I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I was in love with you. I just didn't think you did, or ever would, love me that way. I guess that is why I over-reacted when I thought you were only in it for the weekend. I should have known you better than that, Severus. I should never have stormed out like that... I should have had more faith in you."

"I'm sorry, Severus," she rasped as she finished.

"I'm not," he tightened his arms around her, "It took you walking out on me to make me realize what I would have lost if I let you go. I might have fallen in love with you on the night of the ball, but I refused to admit it to myself. I knew, when you walked out that door, that I had lost the best thing that had ever happened to me."

"The best?" she smiled.

"Well... maybe second best," he teased, "The other, being Samuel. If not for him, we wouldn't have found each other."

"You think not?" Hermione frowned.

"Let's not dwell on what might have been, Hermione. Here and now, we are together. I love you, Hermione Snape!"

"Severus," Hermione murmured, "I have a gift for you."

He spooned her closer to him as he kissed the back of her shoulder, "What more could you give me, Hermione? You've already given me everything I could ever want... give me anything more, and I don't think I could bear it," his lips moved to her neck, "besides, I haven't got a gift for you."

"You've already given me a gift," she smiled.

He whispered, "And what would that be, love?"

"The same gift that I give to you," she replied as she grabbed his hand and held it close to her abdomen. His warm fingers caressed her as he gasped, "Are you...?"

"Yes."

He rolled her over to face him, kissing her passionately, "Are you sure?"

"Nearly positive," she replied as she returned the kiss with just as much passion, "Do you like it?" she smiled teasingly.

"Ha!" Severus laughed as his eyes glittered with tears, "It's the most incredible gift you could have given me, Hermione," he shook his head, "No... the second most incredible. You've already given me a son."

"Do you want another son, or a daughter?"

"As long as it's a gift from you, either will be fine."

Hermione began to kiss him, urging him to make love to her again.

He looked at her and smirked, "What are you doing? We don't need to try anymore..." he teased her.

"Then we'll just keep practicing for next time," she smiled.

"Next time? How large of a brood do you intend to bless me with, love?" he chuckled.

"Oh... maybe a dozen," she smiled mischievously.

"Hermione! I'm not a young man anymore..."

"What happened to that 'randy teenager' you likened yourself to earlier this afternoon?" Hermione teased. As Severus groaned, Hermione let out an exaggerated sigh, "I guess we'll settle for two, then."

Severus smiled, "In that case, then I think a daughter would be nice. Then we'll have one of each," he paused, "But, I suppose you're right... we should keep practicing, in case we change our minds."

He reached out and pulled her to him, kissing her deeply as they celebrated the new life that they had created through their love.