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Not Myself by Saerry Snape

Epilogue – An Ending of Some Things and the Beginning of Others

"There. Finished at long last."

On a desk in a dark room lit only by a small lamp, a book closed. A man's hand lay on the plain brown cover for a moment before it was moved away.

A heavy sigh echoed upon the air as a quill was shaken to dry the ink clinging to its tip and placed in the claws of the pewter dragon that held the inkpot in the curl of its tail. There was a creak as a chair was leaned back.

Slowly, the door opened, sending a shaft of light into that semi-lit room. A woman with a three-year-old boy asleep in her arms appeared in the doorway.

"Is it done?"

"Yes," came the reply to her question. "Its finally finished."

The woman smiled and stepped into the room, crossing over to the tall figure that slouched in the desk chair. She leaned over the chair back and laid her hand on a broad shoulder as she bent to press a kiss into ebony hair.

"I have never heard more happy news. Will you come to bed now?"

"Yes…yes, I will. Just one more thing…"

The man leaned across the desk and took up the quill again, dipping its tip into the inkpot. He then opened the book to its first page and wrote something by the light of the suddenly failing lamp. Blowing the new ink dry, he returned the quill to the grasp of the pewter dragon.

The woman leaned over to read what had been written, the child stirring in her arms.

"That's a lovely postscript."

"Mmm," grunted the man, rising from the chair and turning off the lamp. He turned the woman around and led her out, saying, "We're finished now, love."

"Not yet, dear heart."

"Hmm?"

"We have someone to put to bed."

The man smiled at the woman he held in his arms and the child she held in hers.

"Indeed we do. Indeed we do…"

Their voices faded away as they walked further into the house, leaving the door to the room where the man had been writing open. The light shining through the door fell upon the still open book.

The first page read as follows:

Our Story: A Tale of Slytherin and Gryffindor

By

Harry and Niamh Snape

With additions by

Mika and Virginia Davids, Neville and Amanda Longbottom, Draco and Hermione Malfoy, Mischa Moody, Ronald Weasley, and Thomas Ymber

And below the title ran a heart-felt dedication:

To my father Severus Snape, my parents Lily and James Potter, my surrogate parents Evan Sykes and Lyla Phar, my dear friends Tyls and Cedric Diggory, and my lost half Jardin. Rest easy and know that I shall never forget any of you as long as I live. Thank you for all you gave me.

Your loving son, friend, and other half,

Harold Jamison Snape

In the rebuilt manor on the Ashdeir Fierion estate, Harry Snape tucked his son into his bed then went to his own and the arms of his wife Niamh.

FIN

Author's Notes

It's finished. It's actually finished. I almost can't believe it. Two years and some odd months of writing and suddenly the fic I've worked so long on is done.

687 pages.

359,748 words.

2,011,295 characters (including spaces).

183 chapters including the prologue and epilogue.

I shall probably never write a fic as long as this ever again. Even in its current state, with its plot holes and bits of shoddy grammar, it's the best piece of fanfiction I've got. And it shall probably forever hold that title.

Many thanks to you readers, who enlivened me with your reviews and kept me writing. This fic wouldn't be what it is without the support of you guys – and you spreading the word of it. If I could, I'd hug each and every one of you guys senseless.

I hope all of you stick around to read the four-part sequel I have planned and the various short stories I have to finish. As well as the AU NM fic I'm working on. Yeah, if you haven't heard, I'm writing an Alternate Universe fic of the NM Universe. Isn't it wild? :D

So, I hope you guys enjoyed this trip as much as I have and that you enjoy anything else that comes springing from my keyboard. I love writing and would keep churning out stories no matter what but you guys, you readers and reviewers, you help me churn them out a little faster.

Atra: Only because you don't want them breathing down your neck.

Atra! I'm trying to be sentimental here!

Atra: So?

Ye gods. Anyway…as long as you guys keep reviewing whatever I've got, I'll keep writing. Through rain, sleet, sun, or snow with short braking periods for that accursed thing known as Writer's Block.

So. Its farewell to NM and all the gang. At least for a little while.

Hugs everyone who's reviewed then goes off to have a good cry.