I suck, I know. But these past two weeks, I have been the definition of productive! I'm on my last week of classes, then I have two finals, and then it's break!

Let me know what you guys think of this chapter :)

Enjoy!

When he arrived home, Severus immediately took a shower and climbed into bed. Even though his mind was buzzing with thoughts, he fell asleep easily. His dreams that night were split between horrifying and wonderful. When he awoke, it was dark out. Panicking, he jumped up to find his timepiece, finding it to be a quarter past nine. Taking his time, he dressed slowly, frowning at the dusty interior of his house.

His mind kept flashing to Hermione, hearing those three words roll off of her tongue. It was everything he didn't know he wanted. Though he still found it hard to express himself, he needed to let her know how much he loved her. He would do anything for her. What Severus was certain of was he would never be comfortable showing affection in public. He had taken a huge leap going this far, and he would never allow himself to become a love sick puppy like Weasley was when he was with that Brown girl.

Severus finished adjusting his robes before Apparating from the house. The lights were dimply illuminating the widows of Grimmauld Place as he let himself into the house. Immediately voices flooded from the library.

"Are you going to move back in with Severus?" Harry's voice floated to Severus' ears.

"I would like to, but it is up to Severus. I would like to have this Death Eater business behind us before that so we can start fresh,"

Severus quietly walked past the living room and into the kitchen where he was bombarded with a slew of red-heads. Before he could blink and leave the room, Molly Weasley sat him down in front of a plate of food.

"Hermione made me put a plate on the side for you," she said patting his shoulder.

A few moments later, she was shouting Hermione to come to the table. Harry and Hermione stumbled into the kitchen, happily talking. The moment she saw him, her eyes lit up. Hermione took the empty seat beside him, beaming.

"Hey," she said quietly.

"Hello," he replied, lifting his eyes to her face for a moment before scanning the room.

Hermione picked up her fork and began eating, listening into the conversations going on around them. Severus could barely keep his eyes from her. He desperately wanted to ask her to come and live with him, but she was right; they needed to finish things off in order to have a fresh start. Before they had a chance to talk, Kingsley entered the room, immediately looking at Severus. Molly was trying to get the man to sit down and eat, but he wasn't having any of it.

"I need to speak to Severus, alone,"

"Why?" Hermione asked, her fork forgotten on her plate.

"Severus?"

Severus stood, feeling all eyes on him, and left the room. When they arrived in the study, Kingsley took a seat at the desk.

"I'm here to ask for your help,"

Severus silently took a seat, waiting for what Kingsley had to say.

"Are you aware that there is a Death Eater problem?"

"It has come to my attention,"

"I need your help in getting rid of them,"

"Don't you have a team to do this for you?"

"They are too busy following rules. I need someone to work outside of the law,"

"I was nearly sentenced to death a few days ago, and now you want me to do something illegal?"

"I would give you complete protection; no one would know that you are involved. This problem is getting out of hand and needs to be handled immediately,"

Severus thought of Hermione, their new life, and the potential of starting a stress free life finally being normal.

"I'll do it,"

Kingsley began giving him details on the project, handing him a file which was a complete copy of the official file from the Auror's office. He listened intently and read the file closely, absorbing every detail he could.

"This is dangerous; I hope you're aware of the consequences if you choose to take this on,"

"I understand,"

It wasn't long after that meeting that Severus began spending his nights hunting down the Death Eaters. Hermione constantly asked him what he was up to and what Kingsley wanted that night, but he never said a word. Severus was well aware that his body was taking on the same appearance it did back during his teaching days, when she would constantly worry about his health.

"Why can't you tell me?" she asked, sitting at the large table at Grimmauld place with him one night.

"It's not important," he replied nonchalantly, taking a small sip from his tepid coffee.

Severus watched as she chewed the inside of her cheek, studying him closely. He remained calm, drinking his coffee and watching with an amused expression as she tried to find the answer. The more she concentrated, the more amusing he found it.

"Stop smirking," she snapped, finally giving up.

"Hermione, we have to go," Harry said quickly from the doorway before disappearing again.

"Coming," she said, getting up and putting her cup in the sink.

Severus watched her slip on a sweater and tie her hair back quickly. He could tell when she was preparing for a mission that was tougher than usual. Her face became drawn and her eyes were wide and alert like she was shutting herself behind a door until the mission was over.

"Are you going to be here when we get back?" she asked, though by the look in her eyes, she knew what he would say.

His pause was enough to answer her question.

"I'll see you tomorrow then," she replied leaning down and pressing her lips against his cheek.

Severus watched as she slipped from the kitchen and heard her meaningful strides echo down the hall. He listened to the door close behind the group. Waiting a few minutes, he placed his cup in the sink and left the house.

There was going to be a large Death Eater meeting tonight, he had been tracking them for weeks now, giving Kingsley all the information he could, knowing that the Aurors were a few steps behind and the Death Eaters were becoming reckless. Hermione had been receiving more threats and there had been more attacks. He was specifically told to not be at the abandoned warehouse that night; now that the Death Eaters were pinned down, the 'trained professionals', as Kingsley put it, would step in and do their job. Severus nodded, though he had absolutely no intention of letting Hermione or her friends step into a warehouse full of rouge Death Eaters.

In a flash he Apparated to an abandoned warehouse. He could feel his blood pounding through his veins, reminding him of the meetings he used to attend in the dead of night. A moment later the windows were alight with spells, the silent night shattered by explosions and screams. Severus wasted no time, darting into the slightly opened door.

There was no light, except for when a spell was cast. He could hear people shouting orders at one another and people screaming as they were hit. There were flashes of masks, masks he was only too familiar with. A flash of green suddenly flew by him, causing him to hit the floor in an effort to shield himself. A box near him suddenly exploded, causing him to duck behind a crate, trying to gather his bearings. He yanked his wand out from his robes and quickly began firing spells at the masked figures while expertly moving around.

A flash of light revealed Potter's form, pressed tightly against a column waiting for an opportunity to attack. With impressive reflexes, he spun from the column, firing two quick spells off before shielding himself again. Severus peered around, failing to find Hermione anywhere. Panic flooded his body, and he instantly Apparated in front of Harry, grabbing his shoulders and pinning him against the stone. The boy was momentarily frightened, but his fear was overtaken by the shock at seeing Severus.

"Where is she?" he asked breathlessly.

"Near the front, they have her pinned down," he responded.

Severus looked past the column, using the light of the spell fire as a guide. He couldn't see her, and the panic gripping his heart caused the grasp on Harry's shoulders to tighten. As he was turning his eyes towards him to ask for more information, he saw her form, huddled behind a box. He wasted no time running forward, quickly thrown from his path by the onslaught of green flashes.

He could instantly tell that these Death Eaters were not interested in possibly taking one of them hostage for leverage, but wanted to cause the ultimate amount of destruction in the event that they couldn't get away. They were intent on making sure a very small amount of people left the warehouse alive.

Severus expertly made his way forward, striking down as many Death Eaters as he could. As much as he wanted to Apparate directly to her, the amount of spell fire was too dangerous to attempt it. He would more than likely be hit. After a few minutes of progress, Severus quickly located her again. He watched as a spell grazed dangerously close to her, causing her to press her body closer to the crate she was using for coverage. She had taken on a more subdued role, focused more on surviving than attacking. Her back was pressed flat to the crate, her hands braced against the floor. His eyes looked up; they were aware of her presence.

Severus began pushing forward, thankful that the Aurors were putting up enough of a fight to distract the Death Eaters from immediately striking Hermione down. Finally, he was close enough. Severus threw himself forward, ducking behind a box that was an arm's length away from Hermione's right side. Before she could notice his presence, a spell hit the crate, causing large chunks to rain down on her. She tucked her head to her chest, using her arms as protection.

"Hermione!" he called over the explosions.

Her head snapped up and to the right, her eyes widening upon seeing him.

"Give me your hand!" he called, reaching for her.

Another explosion caused Severus to pull his hand back as he felt the electricity from the spell brush his hand.

"I can't!" she called, shooting a spell around the crate, not watching where it landed.

"Hermione, give me your hand now!"

She had moved to a crouched position now, and he could see by her face she was ready for the last stand. Severus was not going to allow that to happen. Any sense of personal preservation immediately left his body, and he mimicked her position. Before she could process what he was doing, Severus threw himself at her, colliding with her body. The second his arms encircled her, he Apparated them to the back of the warehouse. Not having enough time to regain his footing, the two fell to the ground, Severus' arms encircling her frame, crushed beneath his body. He could immediately feel the pain in his elbows when the collided with the concrete ground, supporting Hermione. She groaned, pushing against his chest. Severus immediately pushed himself up, allowing her room to pull herself out from under him. Once they were on their feet, she looked at him, her breathing still ragged.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, brushing herself off but not upset at the fact he was there.

"It's a long story,"

She didn't push but instead turned her attention to the others who were keeping their heads down.

"Where's Ron?" Hermione asked, peering around.

"Here," he grunted, stumbling forward, looking as if a bear had attacked him.

"And the others?"

Everyone lowered their eyes, not wanting to say anything, but it was enough.

"How many were there to start with?" Severus asked.

"Nine," a man replied.

Severus could feel his mouth hanging open. People shuffled nervously and Hermione's eyes were on him.

"What?" she asked.

"You only brought nine people to a raid? Nine?"

"We're fine," she countered, turning back to the crowd. "We need to regroup,"

There were still a few fighting, but in a moment, silence fell over the warehouse. Hermione was speaking to a man who appeared to be in charge while Severus leaned against a pillar. When the silence began, they both turned to look into the large warehouse. Hermione had her wand out, stepping forward towards their makeshift fortress of crates. Things were so quiet people didn't dare move a muscle. Severus stepped forward also, feeling as if something was terribly wrong. Hermione turned to look at him, questioning him fiercely with her eyes. Just as she opened her mouth to whisper to him, a burst of smoke came from behind her. Things appeared to happen in slow motion, but Severus knew the events took less than a few seconds to transpire.

He raised his arm, casting a spell silently. Hermione's eyes widened, and she immediately fell to the ground, just in time for the burst of light to pass through the space her body was just occupying. The spell was absorbed into black robes, sending the figure sailing through the air, ending with a crash against the wall, crumbling to the ground. Severus was on the figure seconds later, tearing the mask away.

"Lucius," he hissed, seeing the long flowing hair.

"Severus," the man groggily answered, recovering from his impact.

Severus couldn't stop himself; he pulled his arm back, packing as much force as he could into the swing of his arm. He felt gratified when he felt the crunch of the man's cheek bone against his knuckles. Severus managed another punch before there were people on him, pulling him away. He wanted to strike that man's face over and over until no one on the face of the planet would be able to recognize him. Deep in his mind, Severus wasn't surprised that Lucius was a part of this group. He'd bet anything that he was leader.

"Round the others up!" someone called.

The remaining people began to scurry around, looking for other Death Eaters that were still left behind. Severus turned, seeing Hermione pulling herself up from the ground, allowing her eyes to stray to Lucius' form as he was pulled from the warehouse. Once he was out of sight, her eyes slid to Severus. Harry and Ron were beside her a moment later, questioning her. She answered politely, slowly edging away from the attention. The moment she was free, Hermione strode over to him, wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling his body to hers.

They had done it; Severus wasn't sure it was all over, but he was more optimistic than anything at the moment. He wrapped his arms around her body, pressing his face into her hair. They could finally start their lives together, without the threat of death hanging over their heads at every turn. They finally had a chance to be normal.