AN: Thank you for the support! It is very deeply appreciated!
"He's completely cured," Hermione wound the last of her spaghetti around her fork. "When I left he was using a cane, not a walker."
"Hopefully he will not need that for much longer." Severus' glow was bright yellow.
"He probably will probably always need the cane given that he is developing arthritis in his hip. That could be our next project though: an arthritis reliever."
"Before my untimely demise, I had a few ideas for one, but there were parts of the formula I was unhappy with."
"I could help you perfect them."
"That would be wonderful."
He watched her take her bite. It was rare to find somebody who did not slurp their spaghetti, much less one who did not splatter sauce about the table. She was the most graceful woman he's ever met. How could every other man in her life be foolish enough to pass her by?
Their loss was his gain.
"I'm just grateful he has more time." The light in her eyes died. "I can't imagine my life without him."
"I am glad we were able to help him then."
"Indeed." She sipped her remaining merlot.
"Hopefully he will live a few more decades."
"Yes." She took a shaky breath.
Severus' glow dimmed.
"I've been thinking about something lately."
"What?"
"Is a long life truly desirable?"
"Why would you ask such a thing?" He turned white.
"My parents are getting older. I will live centuries, whereas they may only live to be eighty. Even though I do not see my muggle friends often, it will be surreal to attend their funerals knowing I am a middle aged witch. Then," she swallowed. "Then there's you."
"What about me?"
"I want to be around you forever, but surely you do not want to forego heaven for centuries. For all I know they will recall you from your mission because you are taking too long to help me find eudaimonia."
He placed his hand across the table. "Let's not deal with that"
"But…"
"We have an eternity together." He walked in the middle of the table. "Somehow we will find a way to be together."
"I know." She swallowed. "Still, the more I think of all the people I lost and how many I will lose, the less living two centuries appeals to me."
"You should enjoy life, not worry about the deaths of others."
"All I've done since I was eleven was think about death."
"True, but there is no war at the moment. You are free to enjoy life."
"And I do enjoy living," she gave him a small smile. "For the first time in a long time, I am happy."
"I am so glad to hear it." His glow intensified.
"Still," She sat up straighter. "Looking at my life two centuries from now is surreal. Seven years ago I did not know if I would live long enough to find my next meal. Now I am curing my parents, yet knowing I will probably live a century or more without them."
"I would imagine that is difficult to fathom"
"It is more difficult than I thought it would be, even more difficult than losing them forever by wiping their memories. At least when I erased their memories I knew if I'd died and they'd forgotten me they wouldn't grieve me. That gave me some peace. But," she blinked back a tear. "Not once did I think about how I would grieve them if I outlived them."
"You should not borrow trouble. After all your father is recovering. He has decades, not years, left."
"I know, yet it does not change the inevitable."
"Nothing can change death, try as much as we want it to."
"It seems surreal too because I fought a man who feared death more than anything. Now that I'm alive, I don't know if living forever is desirable. I wouldn't say death is desirable, but I'm losing my fear of it."
"There is no real reason to fear death. In a physical form we will die, but our spirits live on."
"I suppose there's that." She grinned. "And when I'm a spirit I can spend an eternity with you in heaven, assuming I make it."
"If the Trinity is who they claim to be, you will make it to heaven."
"I suppose I'll be with my loved ones there too, but I don't want to wait centuries to be with them." She huffed. "I'm not making sense anymore, am I?"
"No," he brushed his thumb over her hand. "You're making all the sense in the world."
Her face lit up and she exhaled. "Thank you."
"No, thank you for making this whole thing tolerable."
She hummed. "I have no idea what I would do without you. You have made everything so much better for me."
"The feeling is more than mutual."
She closed her eyes and moaned.
"You are the only joy I have ever had. Never forget that."
"I won't."
He took his hand away from her, though his glow remained just as bright.
"Severus?" She whispered.
"Yes?"
"I think I've fallen in love with you."
"You think you love me?" His glow dissipated.
"Yes," she breathed, her eyes still closed.
"You love me?"
"Yes, I love," she opened her eyes and gasped. "Oh God!"
He blinked.
"I didn't mean it in a way that should scare you. I mean…" She groaned. "Forget I said anything."
"How could I forget you saying that?"
"I don't know, I just." She covered her face with her hands. "I should have just kept my mouth shut."
He stared at her.
"I always do this. I always mess up perfectly good relationships with emotions. You think I would have learned from my mistakes by now."
"You are far from the first to muddy a relationship by bringing emotions into it."
Her body shook.
"In truth, I am just as able to destroy relationships with emotions," his voice softened, "just as I feared I would do with you."
She raised her head.
"Hermione," he turned pink. "I believe I have fallen in love with you as well."
"You have?"
"Indeed. It appears as if you have captured my heart."
"Does it bother you?"
"Not at all. In fact you may keep my heart for the rest of eternity."
"I will offer you a deal." She was beaming. "I will exchange my heart for yours. You may keep it for all of eternity if you so desire."
"It will be my most treasured possession." He floated several centimeters from the ground.
"Do you want to see if we can kiss to seal our deal?"
"I suppose we will try, though I cannot make any promises given our conditions."
"I'm willing to try."
"As am I." He leaned in closer to her until his lips were over hers.
Although she could not feel his lips capturing hers, she felt as if his love was no longer constrained by her insecurities. The sensation energized her, and made her wild with desire. Underlying the sensation was peace in knowing she was unconditionally accepted. She had finally found a man worthy to give her heart to, and she would never let him go.
Severus felt pure unconditional love coursing through his essence. His whole being wanted to fuse with hers until they became one like the spirits in heaven. With a body she could not do it, yet if she could they would be one for now and for all eternity.
"I love you, Severus." She broke away.
"I love you, Hermione." His glow was the softest pink she'd ever seen.
"So uh." She blushed. "After doing that, what exactly do we do"
"I will read more of The Paradisio."
"Oh you will?"
"I will," he purred. "I want to see your face when my voice is just the right timbre, the way your body relaxes when I begin describing the spirits, and the glisten in your eyes when you imagine yourself up there amongst them."
"I am actually imagining myself standing with you when he describes the joy of the heavenly souls."
"Good, because when I envision Beatrice, I envision you."
"Well, my Dante." She stood. "Lead me to the couch."
"I shall."
She followed him to the couch, her body already reacting to him. Merlin, how did he not have hundreds of women vying for his affections in life?
As she sat on the couch, she decided it mattered little why other women could not see what she saw in Severus. He was hers, and she was his.
It would be that way for all of eternity.