A/N: This took a bit longer than I anticipated to get out, my beta and I discussed this chapter a great deal before we decided it was ready. Shout out to my beta, Jeannie, for everything she has done in helping me make this story better. This is the last chapter, followed by the epilogue which I am uploading immediately after I upload this.

Also, I know Manson and Zombie didn't tour together until 2013 but I have only ever seen them together and it just felt right to write it that way.

The heat of the day was retreating with the sun, but there was a lingering warmth rising from the asphalt. Groups of people dressed all in black passed the little side alley, the passers by didn't even glance in its direction. If they had been paying attention, they would have seen the Snapes suddenly snap into view in the shadows. The couple crept to the entrance of the alley to peek out, ensuring no one had seen them. Once the coast was clear, Hermione took her husband's hand and pulled him in the same direction the other black-clad people had gone. He looked down at his hand being pulled forcefully by the witch in front of him and smirked. She really was quite excited about whatever they were going to attend, Severus loved it when she was so enthusiastic.

Lost in his thoughts about the various scenarios that brought out his wife's enthusiasm, Severus wasn't paying close attention to where he placed his feet and tripped a couple of steps. Hermione turned back to check on him with a questioning look on her face, his cheeks reddened just slightly and he shook his head mumbling "I'm fine."

The insistent witch shrugged and kept going, tugging at his hand. Severus decided to pay attention to his surroundings. Everyone seemed to be going to the same place they were and when he looked up ahead he could see a mob of black. It was oddly comforting to see a large gathering of other people who shared his fashion sense. They reached the queue and joined it, several other groups of concert-goers lined up right behind them. Hermione turned towards him, leaning against the building next to the line. She raised an eyebrow at him and opened her mouth to ask him a question when he suddenly jumped and spun around. Behind him stood a group of women in their late 30s, obviously there for the concert as well, based on their attire. They all had on black shirts that showed various different images of some pale, black haired man with high cheekbones and an extremely large amount of makeup on. Severus scowled at the group as he cleared his throat and asked "And just which of you decided to place your hands on my person?"

The woman toward the front of the group had the nerve to wink at him before wiggling her fingers as a greeting, nauseatingly similar to that wretched Skeeter witch. She grinned and said, "That was me and if you and that delightful, leather covered arse of yours decide you want a woman who can show you a better time than the frigid woman I saw pulling you along, feel free to call me."

The bold woman reached into her mostly exposed cleavage to pull out a piece of paper and stretched her hand out in an attempt to give it to him. The dark wizard clenched his fists and sneered at the woman as he said, "Absolutely not, I have no interest in you or your sweaty piece of paper. I am happily married and if you touch me again I might just let my wife have at you. She is…"

"I've been to prison and I don't mind going back!" Hermione interrupted as she felt anger surge uncontrollably through her entire body, stepping around him to stand between her wizard and the offending woman. Severus looked at her, no hint of his thoughts crossed his face but internally he was highly amused. His wife had technically visited Azkaban prison, so she had been to prison, just not in the sense that statement implied. The angry witch crossed her arms over her chest, scowling deeply. "Now run along before I'm tempted to do something that will send me back!"

The group of women looked rather startled by her claims but attempted to act unfazed. The ringleader rolled her eyes and huffed out a "Whatever." She curled her lip at them before continuing to the back of the queue. Hermione turned back to her husband who now wore a highly amused look on his face. The now self-conscious witch stepped back over to the wall and leaned her back against it. "Well, what are you looking at me like that for? That woman was bang out of order and you know it." She stated, feeling just a bit foolish for the way she had acted.

Placing one hand on the wall above her head, the dark haired wizard leaned in closer to her face, a small grin pulled on side of his mouth. "You've been to prison, eh? My, my what a dangerous wit-...woman you are." He teased, before leaning in to speak lowly in her ear, "Did that make you jealous? I don't think I've ever seen you jealous before. I never knew how much I would fancy seeing you in such a snit over me."

Hermione blushed slightly and fought back a grin as he pulled back slightly to meet her eyes with his. "Well, I'm not used to having other women put their hands all over you right in front of me," She said, slightly embarrassed "I haven't been that angry since I nearly attacked Rita Skeeter after your trial."

Smiling down at her, the potions master said, "Yes, I wish I'd had the time to truly look at you if you were half as alluring then as you were just now. I was a bit preoccupied with keeping you out of prison."

She playfully slapped his chest, smiling despite herself. Hermione was about to speak again when an announcement sounded at the front of the line. Severus took a step back as they both turned towards the source of the announcement. A burly man wearing a security uniform stepped forward and yelled "We're going to let all of you in shortly. Have your tickets ready for scanning when you get up to the front of the line. This is for the Marilyn Manson and Rob Zombie show, if that isn't what you're here for, you're in the wrong line."

Quickly swiveling his head towards Hermione, Severus narrowed his eyes at his wife and brought a finger up under her chin to turn her eyes towards him. "You have been snooping around in my cassette tapes in the apothecary. Although how you did it is beyond me, did my assistant, Demetrius help you?" The dark wizard asked, cocking an eyebrow as he spat out the question.

Eyes wide and mouth partially open in surprise, Hermione vigorously shook her head as she replied, "Of course not! I would never violate your privacy like that. This was just a...erm...lucky guess?"

Snorting, Severus shook his head. "You're terrible at lying, Hermione."

"Really! I picked this because...well… because, I rather fancy this Marilyn Manson fellow. He looks a bit like you, don't you think?" She said rather hopefully. Her husband opened his mouth to protest then scowled in thought. Come to think of it, that man on those shirts does look vaguely like me, he thought. Although I would never wear lipstick or any of that other nonsense. So that's what Marilyn Manson looks like, not at all what I pictured.

The security guard broke into his thoughts by yelling for the line to move forward. Looking down at his wife, he saw she was looking at him a bit apprehensively. Severus sighed and quickly pecked a kiss on her cheek. "Alright, he does look a bit like me," he admitted, "it must just be a huge a coincidence that I also listen to his and Zombie's music. Apparently, unbeknownst to you."

She smiled at him as she pulled their tickets from the top of her boots. He raised an eyebrow at where she pulled the paper from. Hermione's smile only widened as she said, "Well, there was nowhere else to keep them without your seeing them."

As they walked with the rest of the line into the concert venue, Severus wondered, if she didn't know I listened to their music then why on earth would she bring me here?! Looking similar to a man is no real reason to attend his concert.

At the end of the opening act

"Thank you! You've been an amazing crowd, we're 'Homicidal Oranges' good night!" The band's lead singer screeched before the stage was doused in darkness.

The crowd yelled an indistinguishable returning sentiment before falling quiet. Severus turned to Hermione and lifted an eyebrow as he said, "Well, what did you think of the opener?"

The witch shrugged, "They were alright, I suppose. Not really my cup of tea." She continued, "Let's step back from this crowd for a bit, I'm roasting!"

The couple had been standing in a large press of people crammed tightly next to the stage, they wove their way through the masses to the bar. The cluster around the bar wasn't much better, glancing around Hermione turned to her husband, "Wait here, I'll be back in a tick."

Before he could reply she vanished from sight, leaving him little choice on whether he wait there or not. He crossed his arms over his chest and set about watching the people around him. The overwhelming majority of people were either very pale or artificially made to look that deathly pale. The contrast between their stark coloring and jet black attire was jarring but an aesthetic he personally loved. One cheeky woman had the audacity to wink at him from next to the bar, the alarmed wizard quickly averted his gaze. Why the hell are all these women acting like I'm some snack they are dying to consume?! I'll have to alert Hermione to the potential for a lust potion in the drinks, he thought, before reflecting that this explanation did not fit with the mild assault he had suffered in line outside.

Suddenly, his witch reappeared in front of him clutching two dripping bottles of water. She smiled as she held one out for him, which he readily took and quickly downed half of its contents. "I Disillusioned myself and grabbed these from behind the bar, I also dropped the necessary money into the register. They're so swamped, they never noticed me." She said, drinking from her own bottle just as eagerly.

Silence reigned over the two of them as they focused more on rehydrating themselves than idle conversation, the place was stiflingly hot and with the way people were packed in next to each other, cooling charms were not an option. As they tossed their bottles in the recycling bin, the crowd let out a roar behind them. The pair turned simultaneously to see a large banner of Marilyn Manson illuminated on stage. The enthusiastic concert goers began chanting, "Marilyn! Manson! Marilyn! Manson!"

Severus suddenly grinned, he took Hermione's hand began dragging her back to the mad press of humanity around the stage. Unbeknownst to him, the sneaky witch had added a few drops of an odorless, tasteless euphoria potion to his water, just enough for the next hour or two. She wanted him to really enjoy himself and not be so...restrained. Although, it was really only a matter of seconds into his gleeful pulling on her hand that he stopped and turned suspiciously towards her. His dark eyes narrowed at her seemingly innocent expression. "You've drugged me, witch! I never grin in public!" He exclaimed, still not managing to wipe the look of joy from his features.

"I did, I thought you should let loose and truly enjoy the experience." Hermione stated firmly, "I knew short of this or getting you drunk, it wouldn't happen."

The grumpy but grinning wizard looked at her thoughtfully for a moment. "Fine, but in the future, ask first. I might have actually agreed to the idea."

Hermione smiled at him and agreed. They resumed their trip to get closer to the stage among all of the sweaty bodies. Feedback from several instruments sounded over the speakers, triggering another round of cheers from crowd. This time, her husband's voice joined in as well. She looked at him, amused at his complete immersion in the experience, something normally reserved for private moments. She knew he was passionate, she had been on the receiving end of it countless times but it was different to see him so intensely enjoying himself in public. Making a mental note to explore using that potion in another setting, she joined in the exuberant yelling.

The lights suddenly dropped to a single spotlight as a heartbeat began playing over the speakers, the spotlight pulsing in intensity with it. The crowd unleashed a cacophony of screams and shrieks. The heartbeat continued, building tension in the packed space. Suddenly, the heart beat transitioned to a haunting drumline.

DADADADADUM DADADADADUM DADADADADUM

The guitars joined in to bring the introduction of the song in full swing. The banner dropped and a multitude of lights swiveled to the lead singer on the stage. The nearly frenzied crowd began jumping and screaming even more. Several bits of fabric flew over head to land on the stage, Hermione glanced up as one such item flew perilously close to her head. Her eyes widened as she realized it was women's underwear, she kept a closer watch for more missiles of that nature as she had no desire to have anyone else knickers on her head.

Marilyn Manson began growling the song lyrics and Hermione lost sight of her husband jumping in the crowd. She shrugged, she would find him later, he knew where she was.

Two hours later

Night had truly settled over London by the time the Snapes were strolling down the sidewalk back to the tiny alley from which they had emerged earlier in the evening. They were walking arm in arm slowly, enjoying the cool night air together. Hermione was smiling contentedly while Severus was deep in thought. Finally, he asked his wife the question that had been on his mind since they had walked into the building. "Why did you decide this was the best way to celebrate our anniversary? You didn't know I listened their music and my sharing a resemblance with one of them is hardly reason enough." he said, "Don't misunderstand, I enjoyed it immensely, drugging and all, but why?"

Sighing, Hermione pulled him into the alley but before they could apparate, she turned and faced him. "Well, I just wanted you to see someone who looks like you, have….well, be seen as…" she paused, searching for the right words, "I wanted you to believe me when I said you are attractive. I thought the only way to make you see it was to show you another person, who looks like you, have women fawn over him."

He stared at her, completely at a loss for words. So this was the big plot Luna had been referencing, he thought. Hermione, thinking he was building up to an angry state, rushed on "I mean did you see the women who had written 'Fuck me, Manson' across their chests? Or the number of undergarments thrown on stage at him? Clearly there are plenty of people, other than me, who find men like the two of you attractive."

Fighting a bubble of laughter in his chest, Severus grabbed his wife's hand and they spun away home. Once their feet touched the ground in their backyard, he gave up the fight and unleashed his pent up laughter, one hand on his knee while the other still held Hermione's hand. She looked down at him, completely puzzled by his behavior. "What on earth is so funny about this?!" the young witch exclaimed, beginning to become mildly annoyed.

Catching his breath, the tall wizard straightened his back and looked her in the eyes, still highly amused. "You, witch. What was the end goal of making me feel pretty this evening?" he asked, his eyes alight with mirth, "Were you hoping to seduce me? Other than the first time, I have never turned down a proposition from you."

Stamping one booted foot at him, snatching her hand away from his, and crossing her arms over her chest, Hermione replied, "You arse, I wasn't trying to make you feel pretty or seduce you! I was hoping to boost your self esteem a bit!"

Cocking an eyebrow, Severus feigned confusion, he knew why but wanted her to say it, perhaps it would ease the delivery of his confession this evening. "And why would I need to improve my self esteem?"

"Because I want children with you! Because every time I try to talk to you about starting a family, you go on about how unattractive you are and how you don't want to pass that on to any child! Well I want children and I'm tired of trying to talk you into it!" Hermione exclaimed, nearly yelling at him. Tears began to well in her eyes and spill down her cheeks as she spoke, much to his alarm. She turned and stomped away to their backdoor.

Frozen in place briefly, Severus hastened to catch up with her, half afraid she may lock him out of the house if he didn't. "Wait!" he called, taking large strides to gain ground on her. She did not even hesitate in her steps at the sound of his voice. Pulling the door open angrily, the irate witch took one step towards the inside before Severus caught up with her and gently wrapped his hand around her upper arm.

"Wait for a bloody moment and let me talk to you." he said softly, "Please let me explain."

"Explain what?! How you'll never have a family with me?!" She snarled, not looking at him.

"No, let me explain...just...let's talk about what you want. Let's talk about a family. Please." The dark wizard pleaded, squeezing her arm slightly.

Sniffing rather unattractively, Hermione turned towards him, wiping her eyes with her other hand. "Fine, I don't know what you could possibly have to say at this point but I'll listen." she said, turning back to walk into their house, shaking loose of his grip as she did.

Sighing, Severus followed her inside, hoping this conversation went well. She magically removed her boots and banished them to her closet as she sat down on the couch in their living room. The nervous wizard followed her example, removing his boots to his closet and settling onto the couch next to her. He turned to face her, placing an arm along the back of the couch and bringing a knee up onto the cushion between them. Clearing his throat, he began, praying to Salazar, Merlin, and whoever else that may be listening that this would go well.

"When we first started dating and it became serious, I realized that I was not emotionally prepared to be the man you deserved. I knew you wanted children and marriage, with me, of all people. Since I could search this world over the rest of my life and never find another woman as... Well lets just say I knew I would never have such an opportunity again if I blew it with you." Severus stated, looking down at his shirt briefly to gather his thoughts again. He returned his gaze to Hermione's eyes to find his witch looking fractionally more calm and took it as a good sign.

"I consulted Minerva on the matter and she informed me that Luna Lovegood was in training to offer counseling services within the magical community. I was skeptical at first but I was determined to try so I contacted her about what would become my Saturday morning appointments with her. Luna quickly agreed to work with me and I have been immensely grateful to her for all she has done for me. A little over week ago, she finally informed me that I was ready." Severus proudly stated.

Hermione's eyes bored into his, an expression of mild confusion on her face. She waited for him to continue, but when he didn't, she cleared her throat and asked, "Ready for what?"

"To start a family, that was the overall goal of my getting therapy. It turned out I had a great deal of self loathing and once we worked on that, the other issues became easier to tackle." He said, feeling a bit concerned that perhaps she would hex him before this conversation was over.

Thunderstruck, Hermione sat there staring at him for a full minute before speaking. "So let me get this straight, you have been in therapy since before we were even married because you knew that one day I wanted to start a family and you wanted to ensure that I would be able to do that with you?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

The emotional witch could feel tears prickling in her eyes again, her brown orbs were glistening with them as Severus nodded before speaking, "Yes, I knew I had to try everything and anything at my disposal to keep you in my life and happy, lioness."

Tears once again spilled down her cheeks as he spoke, as she chuckled briefly. "I don't know what to say, I guess my plan seems a bit mad, in retrospect."

Smirking at her as he stretched out a hand to gently wipe the tears from her cheeks, Severus replied, "A bit, but I probably should have told you about my therapy. I just didn't want to get your hopes up if I should fail."

"Yes, you should have, you git!" Hermione exclaimed, unable to keep the grin off her face.

Adopting a facade of mock hurt, Severus placed one hand over his heart and the other over his eyes. "My lady wounds me! To bandy about such harsh names! My poor ears shall never be the same! My sincerest apologies, Madam, clearly I've done irreparable damage with my actions for you to call me such a name." the dark wizard proclaimed as he peeked around his hand at his witch.

The grin on her face widened, a spark of mischief lit up her eyes as she clambered into his lap, straddling him on the couch. Hermione reached up and removed his hands from their placement on his body to place them on her hips. Her hands ran up his chest appreciatively and around his neck. Bringing her face in mere inches his, she planted a chaste kiss on his lips and tossed her hair over her shoulder. His black eyes met her brown ones knowingly. "I'll forgive you, on a few conditions." she said, curling her fingers lovingly through the hair at the base of his head.

Running his hands down to cup her arse firmly and pull her body more closely against his, Severus cocked an eyebrow at her before speaking, "Oh I'll probably agree to whatever they may be, especially if our current physical arrangement is any indication as to the nature of your conditions." He gave her round flesh a squeeze as he spoke, causing her to huff out a laugh.

Hermione reached up a finger and placed it over his lips and continued, "Don't be too sure. One, I get to name our first child completely, I choose the first and middle name. Two, we split the responsibilities equally, I will not carry an unreasonable amount of the workload that comes with having a family. Three, I can add new conditions whenever I like. Four, we begin trying tonight."

Having spoke her mind on the matter, the young witch leaned in and captured his lips in a passionate kiss which he returned with enthusiasm. Severus pulled her flush up against his body and turned her over on to her back on couch. Bringing his body over hers and settling his hips between her thighs, he deepened the kiss, eliciting a slight moan from his wife as their tongues met. However, he was still mentally processing everything she had said, so a minute into their passionate kissing, the dark wizard wrinkled his forehead and pulled back.

His rather disheveled looking wife looked up at him confused. "What's the matter?" she asked, disgruntled over the abrupt halt in their physical activities.

"You can't just add whatever conditions you like whenever you like. It's completely unfair, witch." he said, nipping at her bottom lip. "You're being awfully hard on a wizard who put in five years worth of work to make you happy."

Smiling devilishly up at him, Hermione reached into her skirt's waistband and pulled out her wand. She nonverbally banished his clothes to their bedroom as she spoke, "Nonsense, every woman changes her mind about what she wants and how she wants it, all the time. I'm just giving you some warning that I will do that."

Pointing her wand in the general direction of their bathroom, she firmly stated "Accio fertility potion."

Seconds later, a small vial flew into the room and smacked into her outreached palm. Pulling the stopper out and downing the contents, she turned back to her stunned wizard. "Now, I do hope that clears things up."

Severus opened and closed his mouth twice before clearing his throat to speak, "Fair enough, I was always warned by my father that women change their moods more often than most men change their pants. So, I trust you got that potion from Demetrius without my knowing?"

"Oh no, I brewed it myself, I didn't see the need to involve him in this. Plus, I was worried he would tip you off." she said, "Now enough talk, I was promised an easy lay but you haven't even gotten me out of my knickers yet."

Smirking at her, he resumed kissing her, sliding his tongue gently along hers as he slide a hand up her leg to the boundary of her skirt. His hand continued on it's journey to remove her undergarments only to encounter more skin. He kissed his way to her ear and growled "That was a bit of trick, Madam Snape, you aren't wearing any knickers."

Hermione grinned at his discovery and a shiver travelled down her spine at his growl. She opened her mouth to reply but instead drew a sharp intake of breath as his fingers glided over to delve into her wet heat. She moaned and clutched his shoulders as he nipped and kissed his way down her neck, his fingers slowly caressed her clitoris in circles. Her eyes slid closed as her pleasure began to build, suddenly she was rid of her shirt and bra via her husband's wandless magic. His hot mouth quickly found her nipple, licking and biting it to an erect point before latching on and sucking it firmly. Hermione cried out as the pleasure from the added stimulation jolted through her body. One of her hands came up to tunnel through his hair before settling on the back of his head while the other ran down his back and lightly scratched his skin as she dragged it up again.

Severus pulled his head back and removed his hand from her body, he brought his fingers up his mouth and briefly sucked them between his lips. Hermione watched this through heavy lidded eyes, enjoying the sight of her wizard tasting her on his fingertips. He dropped his gaze to hers and grinned wickedly at her around his fingers. The still grinning wizard began kissing his way from her neck to her navel, Hermione briefly thought about the conversation that led to their current position. Her husband had gone through years of therapy and now they were going to start a family. She smiled at the thought but that smile was quickly replaced with a pleasantly surprised look after her wizard deftly pushed up her skirt and buried his face between her thighs.