Success?

xxx-xxx

They took the floo network to London on September first. The trip was much smoother than taking the Knight Bus like they had done to get to the Lupins' house. As they walked through muggle London with their cases, they looked no different than any other child off to boarding school, save for Potter with his broom swung over his shoulder, and his owl in its cage.

It didn't take too long to get to Kings' cross. The only ones out of breath by the time they got to the front steps of the train station were Severus and Pettigrew.

Severus' nerves grew with every step towards Platforms 9 and 10. What would he do once he got to Hogwarts? Surely every Slytherin with firm family ties to the Dark Lord would know what had happened over the Summer. He and Sirius hadn't even talked about what they would do once they got to school. Would they come out? Would they be ridiculed? What if they broke up? Severus didn't even want to consider that possibility.

His fingers went for his pocket, and to the small box that was in it. He played with the box, turning it round and running his fingertips over the grain of the wood. Was he ready for any of this?

But then he caught Sirius' curious gaze, and Severus felt foolish for thinking about that. Everything would be fine.

One by one they walked through the wall between platforms 9 and 10, not running like some because they wanted to relish in the feeling. One more year. One last hurrah.

Severus pulled Sirius to the side once they were on Platform 9 3/4.

"What is it?" Sirius asked.

Severus reached into his pocket and pulled out the small wooden box. "Here," he said, pushing it into the Gryffindor's hands.

Sirius opened the box, revealing a ring with a glassy mirror set in the centre. "What is it?" he repeated.

"It's a two-way mirror... or sorts," Severus explained. "I have one too, so we can talk to each other whenever, or wherever. We won't be seeing each other as much, so I thought..."

Sirius smiled brightly. "This is brilliant!" he exclaimed, causing a few wizards and witches around them to startle. "Sev, this is brilliant. I'll wear it all the time." He slipped the ring onto his index finger and it shrunk to fit perfectly.

Severus pulled his out of his other pocket and put it on his left hand's thumb, and it did the same.

"Severus," Sirius whispered into the ring.

Beside him, Severus heard the whisper in his head. He shuddered, it was unlike anything he had ever experienced.

"We'll be fine, great even," Sirius said into the ring.

"I know," Severus said. Quickly, he looked around to see that no one was paying particularly close attention to them, before pulling Sirius down and pressing their lips together.

When they parted, Sirius was smiling again, a softer smile. "This year is going to be great."

Together they boarded the train. The conductor yelled "all aboard!" and they parted ways, Sirius to find Potter and Pettigrew, and Severus to the car where the Slug Club usually met.

Everything would be fine, Severus repeated to himself. It became his mantra as he wandered through the cars. Everything will be fine, right?

xxx-xxx

So, the story's officially done. There's an epilogue too, but I'm actually visiting my mum right now and have no access to it, so I'll post it in about a month.

Thank you everyone who's been reading since the beginning, it's been a long haul to the finish line, hasn't it? Thank you to everyone who has left me reviews (45 of them!), and to those of you who just started reading, or joined up along the way. It's been crazy and sporadic, and amazing.

Keep on the lookout for the sequel if you'd like to know what happens next. It probably won't happen for a little while, as I plan on writing quite a bit of it before I start posting it up. But as of right now, I've got an outline of the main plot, and I expect more plot bunnies will start hopping my way soon.

Until our paths cross again, farewell and happy reading!