Just a little short and sweet chapter before the Epilogue goes up! I can't believe it's almost over!

Hope you enjoy!

Hermione was thankful that the girls were too preoccupied with Ginny to notice what was going on around them. Again she was in bed that night, sleepless and worried about Severus. Maybe she should go and check on him, just to see how he was getting along? A sudden pop in the room and burst of wind ended her thoughts as she instantly bolted up in bed. She immediately knew from the silhouette who was in her room.

"Severus?" she said softly.

As the figure moved towards her, Hermione threw the covers from her body and climbed from the bed.

"I-"

Her sentence was cut off as his lips were suddenly on hers, his hands dragging across her body. A moment later Hermione found herself sinking into the bed with his body pressing down on her. He didn't speak, and neither did she, but she knew that he had one goal for that night, and she was not going to deny him.

Nearly twenty minutes passed in silence, each trying to catch their breath. Hermione's mind slowly cleared as she found her head resting on his bare shoulder. She was waiting for him to say something. Closing her eyes, she waited, though she didn't have to wait very long.

"Where are the girls?" he asked in a gravelly voice.

"In the next room," she responded, praying silently that they hadn't awoken them.

"They're doing okay?"

"Yes,"

He sighed deeply, frustrated with her short answers, but Hermione didn't want to talk about their children. That wasn't the problem.

"And you?" he pushed.

Hermione was quiet for a long moment. Yes, she supposed she was okay, but having her family separated was upsetting, and she hoped that once this business with Malfoy was settled, they'd never have to be apart again.

"I'm fine," she said, hearing her voice jump an octave.

"Hermione,"

"What?" she snapped, rolling away from him and tugging the sheet over her body.

"You didn't have to leave,"

"How could you expect me to live under the same roof as him? Especially with our children there. I'd rather die than have anything happen to them,"

"And do you think that I wouldn't do the same?" he snapped.

"I know you would, Severus, that's not what I'm trying to say,"

"I understand why you're wary to trust Draco, but he isn't the same person he was during the war,"

"When I was talking to Lucius, after the raid, he said that Draco was going to carry out his plans, even if he wasn't in the picture anymore, and his main goal was to destroy everything you had because you betrayed them,"

"You said yourself that Draco didn't have it in him to do Lucius' biding,"

"Severus, I don't know if he does or not. I mean, for a while I did believe that, but I was never sure. I can't stop thinking about the look he had in his eyes when he attacked me in the hallway outside the library, and that's what I don't trust. He's capable of things, Severus, and I'm not willing to take that chance, not when our children are involved,"

The room fell silent for a long moment as Hermione shivered in the cold, wanting to be in Severus' arms. She did understand why Severus wanted to help him, she really did, but their safety was potentially in jeopardy.

"I'll give him money, enough so he can get his own place and have time to find a job. He can write if he needs something, but you're right. He can't be around the girls. I don't want him near you for that matter. I remember how bruised your neck was that night, and if you're not comfortable with him, that's enough for me,"

Hermione had no qualms about giving Malfoy money; after Severus sold his potion to hospitals, they had such a large income that both could stop working for the rest of their lives if they so wished. Severus set aside two large sums for the two girls for when they were out of school or in the case something happened to him or Hermione. The rest of the money was in a vault in Gringotts, where each week they took money out, just enough to get by on. Neither were interested in living a luxurious life, they were more than happy with how things were, and both wanted to continue working.

"Give him however much he wants, enough so that he won't need to come back,"

"I'll take care of it first thing tomorrow,"

Hermione turned towards him.

"I don't want you to think I don't want you to see him ever again. I understand he's your godson, and if you want to see him, that's fine,"

"Draco isn't the best conversationalist in the world,"

"I'm just saying, if you ever want to meet up with him somewhere, I don't have a problem with it, as long as it isn't our house,"

"Understandable," Severus stated.

Hermione slid back against Severus' side with a sigh.

"Thank you," she stated quietly.

"I'm sorry for putting you in that position, it wasn't fair to you or the girls, and I didn't mean to lose my temper. I hope I didn't hurt your arm when I grabbed you, it was uncalled for,"

"It's not a big deal, don't worry about it," Hermione said, pressing her lips to his jawline.

"I didn't hurt you?" he pushed, running his fingers over her arm.

"Severus, I'm fine," she insisted.

The two fell quiet after that, wrapped up in one another. Hermione couldn't help the smile that was on her face. Everything was going to be okay. Just as Severus' breathing began to slow, Hermione climbed from the bed, jolting him awake.

"What are you doing?" he asked as Hermione began pulling her clothing back on.

"Getting dressed,"

"Why?"

"So when our children come into this room tomorrow morning to wake us up, they don't find both of their parents indecent. I don't feel like trying to explain that tomorrow morning,"

As Hermione finished dressing, she looked at Severus, still in bed, watching her.

"Well? At least put pants on," she sighed, climbing back under the covers.

Severus grumbled as he tossed the sheets from his body, looking for wherever his trousers landed. Hermione's eyes traced his body in the moonlight as he pulled up his pants and began to button them. His eyes suddenly caught hers and he lifted his eyebrow at her.

"What are you looking at?" he asked.

"Nothing," Hermione replied with a grin, pulling the covers up to her chin.

Severus joined her a moment later and Hermione didn't waste a moment before she was wrapping her arms around his bare torso.

"I missed you," she sighed, feeling tired.

"I missed you too," was his response before Hermione drifted to sleep.

Sure enough, the next morning, the two were awoken by two screeching girls who were ecstatic that their father had materialized in the middle of the night. For an hour Severus listened to his daughters chatter away about all of the things that he had missed. Olivia showed him all of the things that George had given her, and Severus sighed.

"I hope he isn't trying to pass on his…special abilities," Severus mentioned to Hermione as Olivia had a pile of things on their bed from the joke shop.

"I think it's too late for that, she absolutely adores him. I can't wait to see when she's in school. Mr. Filch thinks he's done dealing with the Weasley's. Wait until he finds out George has been training the next generation of trouble makers," Hermione said with a smile.

"I don't want any of my children to take after a Weasley," Severus stated. "I'd much rather they take after you,"

"Me?" Hermione scoffed. "If you knew half the things I did when I was in school,"

"Most of what you did was public knowledge, like the expedition for the Sorcerer's Stone,"

"I'm talking about behind the scenes,"

Severus looked down at her with raised eyebrows, like he couldn't believe the words that were coming out of her mouth. Hermione shrugged her shoulders.

"Being friends with Harry was bound to rub off. That and fighting Voldemort constitutes sacrifices and rule-breaking…a lot of rule-breaking. So, you should say that you want your children to take after you, because I certainly do. If they do take after me, I hope they learn how to be sly about it,"

"You're hoping our children learn how to get away with not following the rules?"

"I prefer they follow the rules, but if they don't, I hope they do learn how to get away with it. The three of us did when we were in school, for the most part,"

"Good lord, they'll never be out of detention," Severus muttered.

"They have us as parents; I think they're smart enough to keep out of trouble,"

"Or smart enough to get away with it," Severus grumbled.

"Exactly," Hermione replied smiling at him.

Malfoy was given the money, and left a few days later to move into a place located above a shop in Diagon Alley. He very rarely wrote to Severus, but never did ask for money again, seeing as he managed to find a job. Hermione took the girls back home the day after Malfoy left, allowing Severus ample amount of time to search the house for anything that Malfoy may have intentionally left behind.