Authors Note-
Uploaded this chapter day before last, but after re-reading it, I noticed a few mistakes to be edited, and a few extra words that could be added to help smoothe out some of the flow. Hope it worked!

Oookay. Last chapter. Except there is an epilogue written. It will be uploaded after I see whether or not everyone likes this chapter, or if I made a compelete muddle of it! Have been having a heck of a time editing this one, to make it sound believable, touching, and humorous , all at the same time.-

LuSa-Scarily enough, a lot these ideas are inspired by real event, and people hat I know! All I have to do is weave it into the fan fiction. But I am glad it is appreciated, because there is also some stuff in there that comes straight from my imagination.

billiejoe-Hehe, Snape should have, shouldn't he? Then Adrien would have been distracted!

Darth Depravious-I love your reviews! And I wuld have loved to do a Ministry invetigation of the duel, with Percy getting
Obliviated. . .so much fun!( C'mon, we'd all like to see ol' Percy get a little something!) But I am already way over my ten chapter quota, soooo, I had to just skip ahead to the fun parts. grin Sounds like you have Percy's dialogue nailed dead on though. . .:D

Crisjen-Thanks! I am really glad. :)

" A field?" she asked, surveying her surroundings with a polite smile." You wanted to show me a field."

" Don't be silly. " he removed a green silk blindfold from his pocket, and motioned for her to turn around.

The blind effectively cut away all of the light, leaving her completely at his mercy; which was rather like expecting a desert to spurt you with water, she thought. The name of Snape, and the word ' 'mercy" were not usually synonymous.

But she allowed herself to once again be Apparated, and didn't even complain when he set them down too roughly on a piece of rather stony ground.

He positioned her as he pleased, guiding her by the shoulders until she was standing perfectly aligned.

" You aren't going to spank me, are you?" she asked, with a bit of a nervous laugh.

" Not today, my arm is tired."

" That is what you get for playing with your wand all morning. . ." she sang at him, grinning when she heard him choke down a snort of laughter.

Suddenly the cloth was ripped from her eyes and she was blinded by the afternoon sunlight.

" Gah, you might have warned me." she squealed, blinking rapidly.

" I know." he smirked.

She squinted her eyes open, and found herself facing a house, which in itself was not unusual. However the house, or rather cottage, itself was quite the spectacle, and may have attributed in part to the glaring brilliance that had temporarily blinded her.

There was nothing else in sight, except for more fields of rolling, dry , greyish grass; extending off into unbelivablly clear horizons of nowhere. The area had a familiar and surreal feel to it, like a dream in which everything that is constant is suddenly turned inconstant, and twisted.

Ginny shook her head, trying not to wonder at the strangeness of the fields, when she had before her an astounding memorial dedicated either to the love he claimed to truly feel, or his intense determination to triumph over every task she set him.

He had built her a house. And managed to get in the last jabbing word, in a way that was so ultimately Snape that she could not even be irritated.

not that she wanted to be irritated at the moment. She was too busy bouncing up and down, with her hands clasped under her chin, much to his surprise and amusement.

" It's BEAUTIFUL!" she squealed, turning to plant a sloppy kiss on his lips, which she missed by a couple of inches, due to the fact that she was in flat shoes.

He wiped her lipstick from the botom of his chin, and frowned at the house, trying to discern where exactly he had gone so right, when he had been so intent on going purposefully wrong.

" Beautiful?' he repeated, and she nodded fervently, her eyes wide and glimmering. '' But. . .' he continued, bewildered." I painted it yellow. "

But she was already bounding up the crooked drive towards the door. He didn't follow immediately, but stayed safely back, just in case she didn't approve of the interior.

Ginny knew perfectly well, that he was confused by her lack of agitation; but she had made her mind up weeks ago to be gushing and enthusiastic about whatever he managed to concoct. She just hadn't expected to actually like his handiwork so much. She was genuinely impressed by his creativity.

The house itself had been built without magic. Not a single nail had gone into it that wasn't driven by hand, sometimes even his own hand. However, she had forgotten to make adequate stipulations as to where all of the supplies should come from. A great deal of the of the hardware and trims had come from wizard shops. Some, like the biting doorbell, and the Portkey-Potty seat had been generously donated by her twin brothers.

She had wanted windows, and almost every spare inch of the house's front was occupied by a window. Large nine-pane windows. . .each with brightly painted shutters. ( Careful though, they were warded to prevent anyone except the two of them from peering in the window without receiving a healthy dose of electrocution. A privacy precaution invaluable to Witches and Wizards who might want to deter any overly curious Muggle neighbors)

What space remained between the windows was painted an almost phlegm color of yellow, and he had tampered with the paint so that it shone metallically and glittered as though it were rolled in multi-faceted stones. By itself, it would have been obnoxious, but with the equally shimmering aquamarine shutters, it was disturbingly eccentric, and rather charming.

The front door had a knob that was the shape of a lion's head, but the knocker was a heavy silver serpent devouring a Griffin. As soon as she stepped over the threshold, all of the lamps lit themselves, and she was again dazzled and tickled by the scene in front of her. Clearly he had meant to earn a little revenge for her ridiculous request to build the house.

The walls in the living room and dining area were all painted black, and the furniture was of heavy mahogany, with green and purple cushions. She had specified that she desired a fireplace, so that he could visit her anytime he wished. She discovered that he had complied by having one installed in every single room, including the two bathrooms.

One of the bathrooms, she discovered, was orange, with a black toilet.( That was the tricky one. . .but it would be weeks before Ginny accidentally sat down on the Portkey toilet seat, and found herself in one of ' Snape Manor's' unlit closets, with her knickers around her ankles, and bloody murder on her mind.)

The kitchen, she discovered, was blue, from the ceiling down. ( Including the inside of the Muggle refrigerator the workmen had insisted on adding.) It would be later that night, before she discovered that when the lights were off, the entire kitchen looked like an enormous aquarium; the blue walls rippling with silver light and charmed shadows flitted by like tropicl fish.

Evrywhere about the house were odd pieces of sculpture, some artistic, some erotic, and some confusing.( The one involving the entertwined bodies of a green elephant and a multi-headed woman with four breasts was just entertaining.) Lamps and mirrors spoke to her as she passed, and she was surprised when a closet door rudely informed her she would have to say ' please', if she wanted to ' twist it's knob.'

She examined each and every thing, only vaguely aware that Severus had crept into the house and was watching her, attempting to detect her mood from across the room. He was waiting for the last room, the master bedroom, to be opened.

First though she went to the kitchen window and threw back the curtain.

" A good kitchen view is priceless." she said, standing on tipte so she could look out. " Hey, what is that house over there?" she indicated a plain modest house.

" That is Snape Manor." he answered.

" But, that isn't a mansion!" she exclaimed.

" I never said that it was." he smirked.

She spun from the window, grinning.

" Aha, I see now. This is near to where we had our picnic, isn't it?"

" Yes. We were in the garden, behind the the Manor. You cannot see it from here. . .how did you know?"

" I recognized your Disillusionment ward. It feels. . .safe. "

" It is." he replied rather smugly.

" And what is this over here?" she asked, tilting her head toward the door to the left of the kitchen.

" Bedroom." he purred, his deep, smooth voice making the simple word seem positively wicked.

" Oh, I must see this. What is in here, whips and chains?" she batted her eyes at him.

" No, those are in my bedroom." he deadpanned.

She tiptoed to the door, and pretended to listen for a second.

" I don't here any gears or mechanisms suggesting the presence of a torture chamber. . ." she clasped the knob, ." So I will assume it is safe to enter."

" Assuming is a dangerous habit." he warned as she turned the knob.

The lamps inside of the bedroom snapped to attention, and she was bathed in a pool of dull red light, and surrounded suddenly by the sound of low wordless music, which seemed to be emanating from the walls. ( Actually, it was no more complicated than some Muggle wiring, and a motion sensor. He did not want her to be able to say that he had used more magic than was appreciated for decorating.) . She turned to give him a questioning look, as the music continued to trill dramatically from the hidden speakers, but he was completely expressionless, refusing to look at her

After she stepped inside, she understood why he had not met her eye.

The room looked, to be perfectly frank, like a cross between a bordello and the inside of a strawberry. From the elaborate scrolled chandelier with it's ruby teardrop pendants; to the red plush carpet that was so thick and soft that it gripped her ankles and prevented her from walking swiftly, it was both garish and erotic. It had red flocked wallpaper, red ostrich plume fans, and a large round feather bed in the very center, with a tufted velvet headboard.

Snape sidled past her arrogantly, sat on this bed, ( making a notable depresion in the seductively soft mattress) , and back against the headboard.

" So what do you think?" he asked crossing his arms over his chest, and admiring her gaping mouth.

" It looks like a. . .a. . ." she stammered.

" Brothel?" he offered.

" Yes." she answered.

" Oh, are you blushing? " he jibed. " Wonder what these are for. . ." he added musingly, lifting a long red length of silk that was tied loosely to the bedpost. It's twin was tied to the opposite side, and she was struck suddenly with the image of him bound securely with those ropes. At her mercy.

" Severus." her voice was stern, and he let the length of silk flutter out of his hand.

" Yesss?"

" Sevvy-Baby is going to clash horribly with this color scheme." she stated, the teasing curl back on the corner of her mouth.

" Well, feel free to alter the decor at any time." he answered.

" Oh, no. . .you match it so well. " she replied. " It is absolutely wonderful!" she added breathlessly, already rearranging furniture in her mind as she planned on where her old possessions would be placed.

He waved his hand in a bored fashion.

" Of course you are completely ruining my day." he said. " First by tricking me, and then by denying me the satisfaction of seeing your complete annoyance."

" But, I am not annoyed." she said.

" You aren't?"

"No. . .in fact I am once more impressed. "

" By what?"

" By you."

" That is understandable." he said slyly.

" I'm serious. I never though you would humor me this long. And yet, you have gone beyond what I would have expected. I asked you to prove yourself, and you have, without complaint, and in some cases, with surprising ingenuity. "

" In twenty successful ways?" he asked, a little too hopefully.

" Well, perhaps it is time for me to count the ways." she said, placing one hand on her hip, and holding the other one up, prepared to count off his attempts on her slender fingers. " First off, I knew you were at least remotely sincere, from the beginning, because you handed over your wand to me that first night, to prove you were sincere."

He winced a little at the memory of that first ' kiss'.

" From the very beginning you have been brutally honest, which is a rare commodity. You agreed to prove it. That was actually test number one, but I couldn't tell you that then, could I?'

" You could have, it would have saved time."

" Don't interrupt unless there is a fire. You sent me flowers, and were thoughtful enough to put them in my school colors, and you took me to the hospital."

He shifted uncomfortably.

" But actually thought to find out what my favorite color was. No one has ever done that before."

'' You listened to me, at the restaurant, and did not leave after I had kissed you. You took it like a man."

" How do you know I didn't leave?"

She only smiled, and continued.

" You have been extremely patient and well behaved, especially with Hermione and Remus, going to them for advice and everything."

Severus was beginning to frown. He had a list of things memorized in his head, that he had counted as his " twenty ways''. So far, what she was mentioning were not gifts that he had given, so much as gestures. He was beginning to understand, with a bit of embarrassment, that it was not his generosity so much as his attitude that had been put to the test.

Suddenly his cold self assuredness began to peel away; certainly he not made enough kind gestures to have earned her respect and love?

" In the garden at Grimmauld, the night I asked you to build me this. .. " she waved a hand nervously. '' I felt that we had been but playing, and I wanted to really see. . .and you promised me that you would give me more than Hermione had, a house, babies, . . .you. "

She paused to take a much deserved breath, her hand raised to prevent him from speaking before she was completely finished.

You remembered my birthday, and sent me not only the most original card I have ever received, but also one of the most original gifts. I can't begin to explain to you how refreshing it was to see something new, not a necklace or another bottle of perfume. A purple iguana was perfectly silly, and I loved it.

Then there was the day of the picnic, you showing up in that ridiculous shirt! You were spontaneous, and thoughtful. You found out that I loved picnics, you had been having tea with my Mum! We had a great picnic, a lovely talk, and then screamingly good sex in a swamp. And all of that was after you had once more proven you cared for me by being honest and confessing all of that rubbish about Ron and Harry's candy. You didn't even leave when I had a tantrum."

" Ginny, there is something else I have to tell you. . ." he thought about his business dealings with her brothers, and wondered if this was not the appropriate time to make yet another confession.

'' Not right now, I'll lose my place.'' she said. "Then you were summoned, and I was so worried when you didn't come back. I was so thankful when Remus finally found you."

He did not want to think about that rescue. There were certain limits to his pride, and having her learn that Lupin had gagged him, looked at his bare arse, and poured Firewhiskey on his groin was certainly out of bounds, especially since they were only a few feet from where the incident had taken place.

Ginny, mercifully, didn't notice his obvious discomfort.

" Then there was this. . ." she showed him her palm, where the little forget-me-not simpered pertly against the pink flesh. " I am still not too sure about this, but once again, since it was original, I rather like it. Especially since it is like a secret, yet permanent apology for your nasty burst of selflessness." she winked at him, when he realized she had said 'selflessness'. . .not 'selfishness'.

'' You told me I was a good teacher. You defended me against Adrien. You agreed to a duel, even though you could have been arrested for it. You were going to stuff me in a closet, and I was upset, but I am mature enough to realize, if not appreciate that it was for my own good."

" For what it was worth." he muttered.

" It was worth a lot. So now, after all has been said, and done, and if my calculations are in order. . ." she said, impersonating Dumbledore. " Then I believe that, with this fantastic little house thrown in , you have. . .found nineteen ways to prove yourself."

" Nineteen!" he exclaimed, sitting up. " How do you figure that? I counted well over twenty-five!"

" You would! But, I have to take off one big point for the closet, telling me not to come to see you in the hospital, and for not telling me about the business relationship you have been keeping with Fred, George, Ron, and Harry. Along with other small annoyances."

" How did you. . .all that. . .how did you figure. . .?"

" I have my moments of deviousness, Professor Snape. Now. . .should I make you earn your last point? Or should I just let it go?"

" Well, I wish you would give it to me, free of charge, I was intending to write a book ' Twenty Ways to Catch a Weasley. ' 'Nineteen Ways' just wouldn't have the same selling potential as a title."

"I am just teasing you. You have met my expectations in more ways than I could ever count with words. So, how about now I tell you a big secret? One that I didn't even know for certain until the day of the duel?"

" As long as it isn't some heartbreaking piece of bad news. If that is the case then-"

" I love you." she blurted.

He had waited a long time to hear her say those words, completely. Not just hinting and teasing, but a real open confession of love. Now that he had heard it, all of the sarcastic quips he had rehearsed for the occasion packed up their vowels and went on vacation. The best he could manage was;

" You. . .do?"

" Yes. It came as a complete shock to me as well. I was growing extremely fond of you, actually, I think you had me from the night in the garden. But I didn't understand to what extent, until I saw that curse almost hit you at the duel. For a moment, I forgot I was supposed to be Lupin. . .I just wanted to kill Adrien and kiss you.Right in front of Hrry and everybody."

" Probably best that you didn't." he smiled wincingly, forbidding himself to imagine how horrific that would have been.

" Yes." she laughed. " And luckily you were too intent on hexing Cusp, to notice I was crying, That would have been awkward."

They were silent a moment, simply watching each other shyly across the way.

" So to what extent are you willing to go to prove yourself to me?" he asked, finally, breaking the awkward silence.

She grinned, relieved that he had acknowledged her confession, but was not going to take cruel advantage of the fact that her heart was bared before him.

" Well, I could probably think of twenty ways or more. But I would start by walking around the world just to get to you."

'' That is completely unnecessary. . ." he murmured, holding out a hand to her, and smiling with, for once, a completely tender smile. " Across this room would suffice."

Somewhere in the dim light of late afternoon, a wine bottle, seeming to appear from the very air itself, plummeted down through the wisps of fog, and splashed into the cool grey waters of the English Channel. No one was there to witness this phenomena.

It would be two days before a very confused young man with the letters " SOS" tattooed on his forehead would be returned to the Wizarding world, sans a few excruciatingly important memories.

Someone however was kind enough to send him a '' Get Well '' card, and a bouquet of flowers that had nestled in their midst a very large, rolled up handkerchief.

" You always liked to keep this close. I thought you would appreciate having it back in your. . .possession. Surely you have felt somewhat ' diminished' without it."

Signed,

An anonymous acquaintance