Hey everyone! I know, I've sucked with the updates the past few weeks, but my break is next week and all of the teachers have been cramming so much work down our throats that I barely have a moment to even sleep.

Also, I have to say, Souls of Courage is winding down. We're almost to the end. I really hope you guys enjoy these last few chapters.

Let me know what you think!

"There is no place else in the world that I'd rather be," she said quietly to him.

"Mm," he agreed, leaning down to press his lips against hers gently.

When they pulled apart, Hermione walked around him and climbed back into bed, patting the spot next to her. Severus didn't move.

"I don't think that's such a good idea,"

"I won't do anything, I promise. You and I have a lot to talk about. You might want to get comfortable; it's going to be a long night,"

He looked at her for another moment before shuffling towards her. He climbed into the small bed, sighing deeply.

"I'm glad one of us is confident in their will power," he mumbled, stretching out beside her.

"We're just going to talk. Could you blow out the candle?"

The same way he had lit it was the same way the flame was extinguished.

"So," Hermione sighed into the darkness. "Where should we begin?"

"What were the three of you doing all of these months?"

The room was silent for a little bit.

"Do you know what a horcrux is?"

Severus felt his heart jump slightly. He had come across a few passages when his interest in Defense Against the Dark Arts had begun.

"A person has to kill another, so their soul can split. They conceal that part of their soul in an object," he replied.

"Yes," Hermione began nervously. "Voldemort made a horcrux. In fact, he made seven,"

"Good God," Severus blurted out.

"Professor Dumbledore had taken Harry with him, when he was searching, before his death. After that, Harry told Ron and I, but then I promised Professor Dumbledore that I wouldn't leave you alone, so they had to go on alone. We had to break into the Ministry to find one, Dolores Umbridge had it. That was the day you found us in the woods. We needed the sword because it was the only thing that could destroy the horcrux. It's goblin made, and when Harry killed the Basilisk in his second year, the sword was impregnated with the venom. The goblin that helped us into Gringotts took it as collateral. I'm sure you saw in the paper that we broke into Bellatrix's vault. Harry suspected that she was hiding a horcrux there, and he was right. It…it was around that time that I started to realize the reason that he could hear them. Of course I couldn't tell him, but I knew. Even when we were in the Room of Requirements, he could hear it, so when Voldemort said to go to the forest, I knew that he would have to…"

Her voice cut out, and Severus could feel her taking deep breaths beside him. He patiently waited for her to collect her thoughts.

"I wanted to go with him, no one should be alone when they have to do something like that, but he wouldn't allow it," she spoke softer than before.

"I saw you on the stairs,"

Severus felt her turn to him, but he kept his eyes on the ceiling.

"I knew you wouldn't stay in the Boathouse like I told you to,"

"You three wouldn't have gotten very far if I had,"

"I'm glad you didn't stay, that way he could see what side you were really on before Harry killed him,"

Severus was silent, but he was also glad to be able to reveal his true colors.

"And what about the Chamber?" he prompted.

"When we lost the sword, we had to find another way to destroy the remaining pieces, and Ron remembered the venom and that the remains of the Basilisk were most likely still in the Chamber, so while Harry went to look for another horcrux, Ron and I went to collect the teeth,"

"So what objects did he use to hide the pieces of his soul?"

"First there was the diary that Harry found in his second year, then it was Voldemort's grandfather's ring, then the locket that belonged to Salazar Slytherin, the lost diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff's cup, Nagini, and then Harry, though Harry was unintentional. The night Voldemort tried to kill Harry a part of his soul attached itself to the only living thing in the room. It explains why Harry can talk to snakes and why he was able to have a connection with Voldemort's mind, as well as hear a Horcrux if he was near one,"

"Why couldn't you tell me this? I could have helped,"

"We couldn't risk it. Remus doesn't even know. No one does. Plus, you were working closely with Voldemort, and if he had found out what we were looking for, there isn't a chance in the world we would have won. You don't know how many times I almost told you everything, just to be able to tell someone what was going on,"

They fell silent for a long while after that. He could tell she hadn't fallen asleep; she was picking at her nails. The grandfather clock in second floor hallway chimed, signaling that it was three in the morning. Hermione signed deeply before turning onto her side, wrapping an arm around his waist and resting her cheek on his chest. Severus shifted his arms so he could stroke her hair gently.

"What were you dreaming about before you woke up?" he asked into the darkness.

Her hand tightened on his robes.

"I don't know, just flashes of the war, things like that,"

Severus didn't push her, though he knew she wasn't being honest with him.

"What have you been doing since Kingsley released you?" she asked.

"Thinking,"

"That's all?"

"That's all,"

Another long stretch of time passed between the two. Severus allowed his eyes to slip closed, his fingers still stroking Hermione's hair.

"Have you been reading the papers?"

Severus opened his eyes and glanced down at her, though he knew she couldn't see him.

"Should I be?"

"No, the last one I read was the day you were released. People are just rude, and I'm sure they're nastier now,"

"I'm sure Weasley has been eating it up," Severus replied.

"Oh, Ron," Hermione sighed shaking her head. "I wish I could say something that would help him move on,"

"He seemed confident enough tonight,"

"My mood hasn't been the best the past few days, so he probably assumed that this was over. He was the one who told the papers about everything,"

"Son of a –"

"He came here," Hermione said, cutting him off. "After you were arrested because he thought that having you out of the picture would make me change my mind,"

"Is that when he hit you?" Severus asked harshly, remembering the bruise on her face.

"Yes, the day before Mr. Weasley snuck me into the Ministry,"

"When I see him tomorrow, I'm-"

"I attacked him; it was my fault, really. He said horrible things about you and I just snapped. He accidentally hit me, it's fine, and you don't have to worry about it,"

"Maybe I can accidentally hit him,"

"Severus."

He sighed into the darkness.

"Fine,"

After a pause, Severus spoke.

"Whose idea was it to break you into my cell?"

"Mr. Weasley came to me and said you wouldn't listen to anyone, so he thought I could, judging by what the papers were saying about us,"

"Hm," he replied.

"Though it apparently did little good,"

"I told you to just leave it alone. Of course I forgot who I was talking to, stubborn Gryffindor,"

"I told you one way or another, I was going to get you out,"

"And you did,"

"And I did," she whispered with a smile in her voice.

Severus mulled the information over in his head, thinking through everything he wanted to talk to her about.

"I wonder what Weasley will think tomorrow," he mentioned.

"What is your obsession with him?" Hermione asked, sitting up to look at his face in the dark.

"He had me thrown in jail for a chance to win you over; I think I should be concerned,"

"He was just worried that you had me under some sort of spell. He was looking out for me, that's all,"

"As far as I'm concerned, that's far from 'all',"

Hermione placed her head down with a sigh.

"No matter what he does, I could never…not after you…I couldn't…"

She trailed off with a sigh of frustration.

"What I'm trying to say is that Ron and I had our chance, in school. He chose to pursue another course, so I moved on with my life. I don't think that anyone could replace this," she muttered, tightening her hold on his robes. "Not even Ronald," she added with a smile in her voice.

Her confidence and devotion settled his nerves about Weasley. Severus was relieved that his pushing hadn't driven her away, but made her cling to him even more. He went to tell her, but she instantly cut him off.

"If you say another word about Ron, I will hex you,"

And that settled it. He remained quiet with a smile on his face. Some of his character had rubbed off on her, especially when it came to his temper. Another hour chimed by, but Severus wasn't drowsy in the least. For the most part, his life was back on track, and he was holding the woman that he loved more than air in his arms. He couldn't remember feeling this good, about anything. It was a new experience for him, to be sure. Twenty years he had suffered and blamed himself for Lily's death, but not anymore. Severus found his thoughts distracted by Hermione playing with a button on his robes, wrapped in her own thoughts.

"I'm going back to teach," he mentioned.

"Really?" Hermione asked, propping herself up to face him.

"I asked Minerva the other day, and she said she'd take me on,"

"I thought you didn't like teaching very much. That's always the impression I got," Hermione said with a smile before snuggling closer to him.

"I like to teach, I like enlightening others, it's just when I have a group of idiots to instruct, it gets frustrating,"

"They're not all idiots. You intimidate them,"

"Good,"

Hermione laughed quietly causing a corner of his mouth to lift.

"In any case, I'm happy you're going back to teach. I think it's a nice gesture, on your part,"

"A nice gesture?"

"Yes, even after everything you're still willing to contribute to education and the community, instead of locking yourself away from the world,"

"You are aware that most parents will refuse to have a class taught by a former Death Eater and murderer,"

"You weren't charged with anything, so they can't make those claims,"

"They still know. If they had decided to have a retrial, I would have been convicted. You know that I would,"

"But they cleared you, and that's all that matters. I don't care about things that could have happened; I just care about what did happen," Hermione snapped.

He had upset her. Severus didn't realize how touchy of a subject it was with her. She rolled away from him so she was on her back.

"I'm sorry, I didn't-"

"It's fine," Hermione cut him off, though he knew she was crying. "You're right, you know. If they had decided to retry you, the evidence against you is indisputable, even if you had put up a defense, they would have found you guilty. That's what scares me. What happens if someone decides to bring something up in the future and they have a trial again? All of this will be dug back up, pardon or no pardon. I pulled out all of the stops to get you out this time, and I don't know if that's going to be enough the next time,"

"I don't think it gets much worse than killing Albus Dumbledore,"

"You didn't kill him, he asked you to,"

Severus could tell she was becoming irritated again.

"I held the wand,"

She remained silent for a few moments.

"I'm hungry," Hermione said, sitting up and climbing from the bed.

Severus instantly missed her warmth, but that was overpowered by his confusion.

"What?" he asked, remaining stretched out on the bed.

"I'm hungry, and judging by how much weight you've lost in the past few months, I'm assuming you haven't eaten a decent meal in quite a while,"

He could hear her on the floor, moving around.

"Ministry food isn't exactly a Hogwarts dinner," he muttered, sitting up, wondering what she was doing crawling around.

"Where did you throw my wand?" she asked.

Severus pulled out his wand, and summoned hers to his hand.

"Here," he muttered, standing up and heading to where he could see her form near the door.

"Thank you," she said, grabbing her wand.

He didn't let go.

"What?"

"We were just talking about Albus,"

"I know," she replied casually, pulling her wand clear out of his hand and opening the door, signaling her desire to avoid the conversation.

"Well, are you coming?" she whispered from the hallway.

Seeing no reason to stay alone in her room, he swiftly followed her, closing the door softly behind him. As they walked past the rooms, Severus could hear people breathing softly, still asleep seeing as it was now five in the morning (he glanced at the clock as he passed). Hermione's feet made soft pattering noises on the wood floor and he could hear her quietly humming to herself. When they entered the kitchen, Hermione lit only two candles, leaving the rest of the room in darkness.

"Hello, Crookshanks," Hermione greeted warmly as she dug through the cabinets and the fridge.

Severus took a seat at the table, watching her, until the cat decided to jump on his lap.

"One thing I can say for Grimmauld Place," she said, waving her wand this way and that. "There is always something to eat, and you never have to scrounge for ingredients to make a meal," she said eyeing him over her shoulder and giving him a pointed look.

"I'm sure more competent people do the shopping in this house," he volleyed back easily with a smirk.

"I still prefer Spinner's End; it's smaller, but comfortable. You'd be surprised by how stuffy this place can get, especially when all of the Weasleys are here,"

Severus could barely contain himself when she said she preferred his home over this. Spinner's End was always covered in an endless dust, the floors were creaky, the basement was damp and smelled of potion experiments, and the windows did little to keep the cold damp air out.

"I'm sure the company is more enjoyable at Spinner's End," he mentioned with a smile.

"Severus Snape is being funny, never thought I'd see the day," Hermione said with mock horror before giving him a wide smile.

Before long, the room was filled with the smell of bacon and eggs. Hermione worked efficiently, even taking time to stroke Crookshanks and give him a generous portion of his own food. The dishes were washed and put away, coffee was made, and the paper was delivered. Hermione took one look at the headline, scoffed, and tossed the paper into the fireplace. Severus casually looked over at the headline: SNAPE VANISHES AFTER TRIAL. SUSPECTED OF RETURNING TO LEAD THE DEATH EATERS.

"Is that what they usually print?" he asked.

Hermione turned, and followed his gaze to the fireplace before turning back around.

"Every day it's something new. Whether you're becoming the new Voldemort, leading a Death Eater revolution, or running off with a mistress, they never seem to be able to get the facts straight,"

"Mistress?" he asked with a smirk.

Hermione placed a cup of coffee in front of him with a small glare.

"Yes, according to them you've had some mistress stowed away in Russia, and I was utterly heartbroken when I discovered her," Hermione said dramatically before smiling.

Severus shook his head before pulling the steaming cup closer to him. It had been a while since he had had a hot or even semi-warm cup of coffee. He took a small sip, relishing the bitter taste on his tongue. Before he could appreciate his coffee much longer, Hermione placed a plate down in front of him.

"I'm sure the others will be up soon with the smell of food wafting around the house,"

"Thank you," he said realizing how long it had been since he had eaten a decent meal.

Hermione sat across from him, with a noticeably smaller plate, and a cup of tea.

"I like this new you," she said picking up her fork.

He looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"The new me?"

"Yes. You're kinder, I mean, not that you weren't before. It's just more prominent. You don't look as if you're single handedly trying to carry the whole world on your shoulders. I don't know, you look younger and healthier, well, as healthy as a man who was locked up for months can look,"

He offered her a small smile, and the two ate in silence. Hermione allowed Crookshanks to eat the remainder of her eggs as she sipped at her tea. As Severus was nearing the end of his plate, he suddenly looked up at her and reached for his coffee.

"Minerva told me you chose a career,"

Her eyes immediately dropped to her cup which she placed on the table, as she pulled one foot up on to the chair and hugged her leg to her chest.

"I did,"

"And?" he asked, taking another gulp.

"You might want to finish eating first,"

"I'm done," he said, feeling a slight panic setting in at the fact she wouldn't meet her eyes.

"Then I would put your cup down,"

He immediately did so.

"You can't freak out," she began, eyeing him carefully.

He didn't say anything, just simply looked at her.

"Well, I passed my exams, and they gave me a list of careers I would be suitable for. Well, Harry and Ron had started training to be Aurors, because Kingsley said that the department had been nearly wiped out, so they were taking anyone, no matter what. Well, I was initially set on being a Healer, but-"

"Hermione." he cut her off. "Get to the point,"

"I want to be an Auror, I've already started my training," she said with wide eyes.

The two kept eye contact, but Severus could see Hermione's eyes darting around his face anxiously.

"I've upset you. I know that it's dangerous, and that there's a high risk for permanent injury, but I can do it, I know I can, it's just some parts are a little more difficult, and the missions are becoming more rigorous, but I think in a few months I'll have the hang of it," she said, becoming flustered and trying to plead her case.

"What?" he asked, coming out of his daze. "What are you going on about?"

"All the blood left your face, I thought you were going to start going on about what an idiot I am for doing this,"

"If you haven't noticed, I'm usually the color of a corpse," he said without humor while grabbing his cup.

"So, what do you think?" she asked, pulling her leg tighter to her chest.

He paused a moment, staring into the black liquid in his cup.

"Of course I'm going to say it's dangerous, because it is,"

He saw her crest-fallen face.

"But," he quickly caught her attention. "It's obviously something that is very important to you. You are more than capable of handling yourself; I'm not worried about that. I'm not going to tell you what to do, you are your own person, and you are perfectly capable of making your own decisions,"

"Wow," she said loosening her grip on her bare leg. "That went so much better than I thought it would,"

"Oh?"

"In my head it was a whole lot of you yelling about me being an idiot and how after everything I've survived I was basically walking to my death…you know, typical you being extremely protective,"

"I'm not extremely protective," he immediately protested.

Hermione remained silent, looking at him with a raised eyebrow that clearly said 'really?'. Severus frowned at her before grumbling to himself and looking into his almost empty cup.

"Sometimes it's nice to know that someone is looking out for you," she said in a clear attempt to mull things over.

Severus raised his eyes to hers for a moment, before a sudden thought popped into his head.

"Minerva said you found your parents,"

"Yes," Hermione said, looking away from his eyes. "I'm sure she told you that I didn't bring them back or fix their memories,"

"She did,"

"Well, that's that," she said scooping up their plates and bringing them to the sink. "More coffee?" she asked, moving to his side to take his cup.

Severus caught her hand before she could reach the cup, studying her face. She was struggling without her parents, he could see.

"I know it must be hard for you,"

"It's bearable," she muttered, still refusing to meet his gaze.

"Hermione," he said softly.

In seconds her façade crumbled as she attempted to cover her face with her free hand. Severus' chair scraped across the floor as he stood to pull her into his arms, unsure of what to do with a crying woman. She pressed her face into his robes, crying quietly. He held her until her sobs subsided and she pulled away, wiping at her face. He brushed a stray tear from her cheek and she smiled slightly, but wouldn't meet his eyes.

"I'm fine, really. It's just stress,"

"I was rude when you came back from Australia. It didn't even cross my mind to ask you about them,"

Hermione laughed and swiped at her eyes once more.

"We had more important things to worry about at the moment if I remember correctly,"

He couldn't help but smile as she looked at him accusingly.

"I do remember you setting fire to my desk,"

"That's what you get for sending me divorce papers,"

"I guess I won't be making that mistake again,"

"Good," Hermione replied, wrapping her arms around his neck to pull his face down to hers.

As Severus went to embrace her, footsteps were suddenly on the stairs, and the two immediately separated out of sheer habit. Severus sighed in frustration as he took his seat while Hermione took his cup to refill it.

"Get used to it," she said placing the refilled cup in front of him. "You barely get a moment to yourself here,"