A/N: Thanks to my great beta AMRA1 for looking over this. After twenty-one chapters I'm too burnt out to read and catch all the mistakes.
Chapter Twenty-one
His eyes opened slowly and she could see that it took him a moment to register where he was.
"What happened?" Severus asked, his voice raspy from disuse.
"When Voldemort disappeared, anyone with a Dark Mark was affected severely. Some were driven insane by the pain, while others, like you, fell into a deep coma. But Madame Pomfrey assures me you'll be fine sooner rather than later," Hermione told him, reaching out to take his hand in hers. She had hardly left his bedside in the last two weeks, refusing to leave despite the cajoling of Harry and others.
"We won," he said incredulously. She liked how he said 'we'.
"Yes, we won." Unbidden, tears began streaming down her face. She hadn't realized until now, how truly worried she had been. If he had died, so too would have a part of her heart. She felt as though she had been holding her breath the last two weeks and now that he was awake, her pent up emotion tumbled forth.
"Why are you crying?" he demanded. She shook her hand, dismissing the question and quickly wiped her eyes.
"I'm not crying," she said. He ignored her obvious lie, trying unsteadily to sit up instead. She stood, took his arm and tried to help him.
"Why aren't you off celebrating then?" he asked her bitterly, pulling his arm from her grasp. Hermione smiled and sat back down, leaving him to settle himself; he always was grumpy when he first woke up. She would have been worried if he had responded in any other way; it was a sign that he would be alright.
"Because I wanted to wait and celebrate with you."
Madame Pomfrey had told her that he might not make it; if he didn't wake up soon, then he might never wake up. Hermione had hardly slept, too afraid that he might slip away sometime in the night. She didn't care if the Voldemort was gone or if the Wizarding world was safe, she wouldn't have anything to celebrate if Severus was gone.
"What is today? How long have I been here," he asked harshly.
"You've been here two weeks; it's the fourth," she answered. He looked at her with a puzzled look on his face.
"That date means something."
"It's our wedding anniversary," she said, nodding. He didn't say anything, but sat contemplating her words.
"You know they say that the first year of marriage is the hardest," she told him. He snorted.
"They don't get more difficult than this year," he said ironically.
"I'd say if we can survive a Ministry marriage law, espionage, a Dark Lord and his Death Eaters, then we can survive anything."
"Even each other?" he asked. She chuckled and placed one hand over his.
"I can survive even you, you grump."
"Know-it-all," he retorted, turning his hand to grasp hers. She gave it a reassuring squeeze before letting go.
"Here," she said reaching into her bag, "I did go down to the Great Hall long enough to get you some cake." She pulled out a small piece of chocolate cake, smiling as she saw him eyeing it ravenously.
"I am hungry," he admitted.
"And we have lots to celebrate," she added. He was just taking his first bite, when Madame Pomfrey came out of her office.
"I thought I heard voices," she said cheerfully, but her smile faded when she saw what he was eating.
"Severus Snape! You are not to be eating cake…and chocolate cake at that! You are restricted to fluids only for the next twenty-fours at least," she exclaimed, plucking the plate away from him. "And I suppose you're the one that gave it to him…really, Hermione, I expected better from you." With a wave of her wand she banished the contraband cake to the wastebasket.
Hermione managed to look chagrined, but Severus' expression was a mixture of both disappointment and frustration at having lost his treat. Ignoring the glares and evil looks he kept shooting her way, the mediwitch bustled around, waving her wand with diagnostic spells. He resisted the inevitable poking and prodding, treating Pomfrey to a slew of insults. But she was apparently accustomed to unruly and uncouth patients, and after ten minutes she declared that, with the proper rest and combination of potions, he would be fine and finally left the two alone again.
"Is she gone?" Hermione asked, peering around to make sure they were quite alone.
"I bloody well hope so," Severus grumbled.
"Good," she said, rustling around in her bag again, "I thought something like that might happen." She pulled out two more pieces of cake, both much bigger than the last one had been.
"So the first one was a…"
"Decoy. Yup," she said nodding her head.
"I love you," he said minutes later, his mouth full of cake. "That was brilliant, absolutely brilliant."
She grinned at him, while inside her heart almost burst. He had said 'I love you'. Maybe it was because he had just woken up or perhaps because he was happy just to be alive and to be eating chocolate cake, but he had finally said the words neither one of them had ventured yet to say. The meaning was implied in their actions towards one another, but the words hadn't been spoken until now. Like the ancient city of Jericho, she had circled his walls, occasionally glimpsing the man within, but today, with three little words she knew that they had finally fallen—for her at least. Maybe now that she had broken in, he would make room for others as well.
"I love you too," she said.
And together they ate their cake.
Love is patient, love is kind…Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices in the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
A/N: Thanks for your encouragment and reviews, especially those who have been there since the beginning. I never imagined my first effort would be received as well as this has been. If you are interested my inspiration sprang from several sources: the editorials at mugglenet and Redhen. com, The Hidden Keyto Harry Potter by John Granger, The Great Divorce and Mere Christianity by CS Lewis, and the many other marriage law fics out there, (what can I say, I have a degree in History, I was taught to research and then to write.) This is, by the way, the end.