Hermione stepped out into the hallway, where Ginny was waiting for her, and gave a sigh of contentment. Ginny was leaning patiently against the wall, until she glanced over and saw Hermione's left hand. She gasped and snatched up Hermione's hand, to get a better look at the ring.
"Wow! Talk about a rock! Who would have thought Professor Snape would be such a catch?" Ginny said with a wink.
"Ginny." Hermione admonished, a huge grin plastered on her face.
Ginny released her hand and wagged her eyebrows, "I'm sure his massive cock is an added bonus, you weren't counting on."
"Ginny!" Hermione gasped placing her hand in front of her mouth to stifle a giggle. "Geez, if Severus knew we were discussing the size of his manhood…"
"Oh, its Severus now, is it?"
Hermione laughed and playfully swatted her best friend on the shoulder.
Ginny was pleased to see how happy Hermione was. Never in a million years would she have believed that Professor Snape would make Hermione so happy. Ginny had already realized his bark was worse than his bite.
Ginny, who had began her part-time residency at St. Mungo's during her last year at Hogwarts, remembered when they first brought Professor Snape to St. Mungo's. He looked so pale and weak. After learning the truth about Professor Snape's true alliance and all the ways he secretly kept all the students safe at school, it was almost impossible for her to see him as the snarky and downright miserable Potions Master he had once been.
From that point on, he was just a helpless patient who needed her. He required constant around-the-clock care in the beginning and Ginny checked in on him whenever her schedule allowed. She would greet whichever nurse was in charge of his care that day and stand next to his bed, silently willing him to awaken...that was almost six months ago, at the end of November. She had taken her N.E.W.T.s, shortly thereafter, and began working full-time on her residency at St. Mungo's in January. She had been pulling double shifts, in an effort to have her residency hours completed by the time the school year started again in September. Her goal was to work with Madam Pomfrey at Hogwarts Hospital Wing, and eventually replace the Medi-witch, when she retired.
Ginny was delighted when she learned that Professor Snape would be one of the patients she cared for, now that she was full-time. She would carry on a one-sided conversation with him as she checked his vitals, cleaned his room and changed his bedding. Early in the mornings, she would watch him in his coma-like sleep and wonder why Harry's Mom had been so quick to throw him away. His actions over the many years, let alone his character, spoke volumes about his capability to be loyal, and his ability to love unconditionally. It was during one of these morning vigils that she smoothed the hair off of his face and placed a chaste kiss on his forehead. She whispered into his ear all of the things that people should have told him...about how grateful they all were...about how much the wizarding world owed him...and how grateful she was for the sacrifice he made for her Harry. She had yet to share with anyone what she had done, or the fact that after whispering in his ear, she had taken his limp hand and prayed to the heavens that he would wake soon; because the very next morning...he did.
Naturally, he was just as snarky, grumpy and demanding as ever...demanding to see Hermione, demanding that Ginny be the only Nurse to attend to him, demanding that everyone else...besides Mr. Weasley, just leave him the hell alone. Professor Snape tried to intimidate her the first day she brought in a cooling cloth to bring down his temperature. He tried to remove the cloth and she slapped his hand away. He only had to be slapped twice, before he got the message. His constant care, including sponge baths, washing his hair, and shaving him all fell to her. All the other nurses were reluctant to enter his room, for fear of incurring Snape's wrath. However, growing up with six brothers had given her experience with putting guys in their place. With a well-executed stare or the mention of hexes she had used in the past, she had Snape towing the line. Of course, some dark part of her got a thrill of satisfaction from seeing the look of fear that passed over Snape's features when she bestowed "the look" on him. She only had to remind him once that she was the Nurse and he was the patient...after that, he was more cooperative, and it didn't require the use of any hexes. Snape didn't outsmart one of the greatest wizards of all time by being daft. In a way, Hermione was a lot like Snape…intelligent, loyal, loved books… Ginny shook her head to clear her thoughts and returned to the conversation at hand.
"Well, I certainly am glad that Professor Snape makes you so happy." Ginny said as she observed the lovely blush that had risen into Hermione's cheeks and the smile that appeared to be glued on her best friend's face. "The letters you owled me over the past several months, always seemed so sad. I mean...I know your break-up with Ron had to be upsetting..." The words died on her lips when she saw the look on Hermione's face.
"Well, about that, Gin...there's something I need to tell you. Something I probably should have confided in you while I was at the Academy." Hermione said quietly, looping her arm through the red-head's arm as they proceeded towards the main room where Mr. Weasley was waiting to escort Hermione back to the Burrow.
Inside his hospital room, Snape was busy thinking over everything that occurred since waking up in St Mungo's. His arms already missed the feeling of holding Hermione. How had that little minx changed his opinion of her so quickly? Gone was any anger he held against the girl for saving him, only to be replaced with his heart aching over her absence from the room. He realized how lucky he was that the Ministry was so open to the thought of him marrying her. Without a doubt, their marriage benefitted the Ministry, as well. According to yesterday's Daily Prophet, the magical world was still blaming the Ministry for the terror that Voldemort caused. Not being privy to the existence of Horcruxes, it was assumed that if a teenage boy succeeded in destroying Voldemort, surely the Ministry's team of Aurors should have been able to kill him years ago.
The latest criticism was pertaining to their new Marriage Law. Naturally, if the Ministry could hold up his and Hermione's marriage as a shining example of how a former Death Eater and the Princess of the Golden Trio could put aside their differences to ensure the magical race thrived, then they would surely be able to convince others that their law was a good thing.
The more Snape considered it, the more he realized how important he and Harry were to the Ministry. He didn't think it was a coincidence that Arthur was able to find Hermione's folder amongst the other files, in his messenger bag. The Ministry had expected Arthur to convince Harry of the importance of the golden boy and golden girl getting married.
Suddenly, it all made sense. What better propaganda than to have two of their biggest heroes wed? Not him, of course, they hadn't counted on him regaining consciousness. No, the ministry had originally planned to force Harry and Hermione to marry. He could see it all so clearly now. That's why they had put a nix on bids for Harry and only sent Hermione the offers of the most disgusting of wizards. He was sure that the young woman had several other offers; however, they decided not to tell her about them. They must have fallen all over themselves in delight when they received his contract. The spy who helped bring down Voldemort marrying the woman who saved him was an even bigger prize for them. That would explain why they were so adamant on throwing a big wedding and feast at the castle. This was how the Ministry was going to shift the magical world's focus off of the whole Voldemort fiasco. There was nothing like a "Celebrity Wedding" to get all the papers buzzing.
But what of Harry now that Snape had nabbed Hermione as his own? His heart swelled at the thought. She was his…she wanted to be his... He forced his thoughts back to the task at hand and thought about Nurse Ginny. Poor Ginny, she deserved to be happy. She deserved to marry Potter, if that's truly what she wanted.
The devious side of Snape's brain began plotting on a way to bring this about and he had a sudden inspiration...a plan of action. Yes, his plan just might work. Would Hermione be okay with his plan? Yes, once he explained it to her, he was sure she would understand…well, at least he hoped she would.
Ginny returned to tidy up Snape's room and change out his pillows. She waived her wand and everything around him appeared fresh and new. Ginny smiled, lost in thought as she turned to depart the room. Snape called out to her, and she turned with her hand on the knob to look back at him.
"Nurse Ginny, I assume you are also affected by the Ministry's Marriage Law. What are your plans? What I mean to say is...do you think you and Mr. Potter..."
"Well, I know the Ministry has refused to accept any contracts on him. I'm sure it's so he and I can get married, as soon as I complete my residency, here at St. Mungo's. It will be before the September deadline."
Oh, shit...she doesn't know the real reason they blocked all the contracts, Snape thought as he fought to keep a look of boredom upon his face.
"I was just curious, of course. Obviously, I do not deserve Miss Granger; and yet, I am so grateful that she has agreed to marry me. I mean, I assume you love Potter..."
For a split second, Snape thought about using occulmancy on her; however, he had been warned that she was a pro at simple hexes. He remembered something about a hex that put boogers all over the victims face...Snape was in no hurry to experience that first-hand, so asking her the question in a roundabout way seemed to be the safest route.
"Wha..What?" She stammered, "Why would you ask something like that? Of course I love him..." She answered heatedly, before adding, "I'd die for him."
Snape nodded, pleased with the information and the feeling that he could proceed with his plan.
As luck would have it, Mr. Weasley knocked on the door and stuck his head in. "Is visiting time over, Gin? I just wanted to look in on Severus."
Ginny bid Snape goodnight and placed a kiss on her dad's check before exiting the room
"Arthur, you're just the man I wanted to see. Please send a message to Kingsley and let him know I want to meet with him and Potter tonight." Snape said as he pulled himself to a sitting position against his pillows.
"Tonight? Right now?" Arthur stammered.
"Yes, it is urgent that I meet with all three of you, as a matter of fact." Snape said with a resemblance of a smile upon his face.
Arthur narrowed his eyes in suspicion at Snape for just a moment, and then exited the room to contact the other two men.
One hour later, the three men left his hospital room in a series of elated emotions. The Minister of Magic was quite pleased with the turn of events. Professor Snape's plan was brilliant. After the triple wedding…which the ministry would get full credit for…they would be back on top. The ministry would come out of this smelling like roses. The golden trio marrying their true loves, which the Ministry matched them with, would be front-page news for weeks to come. Witches everywhere would think the Ministry had the golden touch when it came to matching couples together under the new the Marriage Law.
Mr. Weasly was teary eyed and rushed home to talk to Molly. Harry the most excited of them all ran up and down the halls trying to find Ginny. He finally located her in the nurse's lounge, preparing to go home and pulled her into a deserted corner so he could talk to her privately. He was slightly out of breath from the exertion of running up and down the halls.
"Professor Snape is marrying Hermione!" He exclaimed.
"Oh, Harry, I know." Ginny said as she hugged him briefly, before stepping back to peer up into his eyes. "I was going to tell you tonight, really I was. Are you okay, with this? I mean Hermione's one of your best friends."
He nodded vigorously, "Yes, yes. Snape called for a meeting between the Minister, your Dad and me. As a matter of fact, I just left Snape's room. He loves her…I knew he would because of the tears."
"Professor Snape was crying?" asked Ginny, "Oh how touching," she said putting her hand to her heart.
"No, no, that's not what I mean…never mind, let me start over."
He pulled her over to arm chair in the corner and waived his wand which expanded the chair into a loveseat, allowing them to sit side-by-side.
"I didn't quite know how to tell you this, Ginny. The Ministry had been blocking all marriage contracts on me and Hermione, except for the most unsavory ones. They were going to force Hermione and me to marry. It was their grand plan to put the Ministry back in good standing with the magical world."
The look of shock and misery that crossed his girlfriends face almost broke his heart.
"You mean we can't marry? That's not fair…I thought they were doing that so you and I could marry as soon as I was completed my residency." She whispered as the tears began running down her face. "I love you Harry, I'd die before I would let the Ministry sell me off to another man."
Harry cringed at the thought of his beloved Ginny being forced to marry someone else. He shook his head to clear those disturbing thoughts.
"No, no, it's okay now. They didn't count on Professor Snape waking up. But now that he has," he said excitedly, "this changes everything." Ignoring her look of confusion, he continued, "Snape convinced the Minister that Hermione and him getting married would be a bigger trophy for the ministry and he'd let the ministry take credit for the match. Snape was very adamant; he said he would go along with the Ministry's plan, donate funds from his personal account and give them full credit for the match between him and Hermione; however on one condition, well two actually…"
"What conditions?" She whispered her heart breaking...almost too afraid to hope.
"The first condition is that you be transferred to Hogwarts when he is. He doesn't want anyone besides you overseeing his care."
"Okay...I'm sure St. Mungo's will allow me to return and finish my residency, when Professor Snape is finished with his treatment. What's the other condition?"
"The Ministry must perform a triple ceremony next week; Severus and Hermione, Ron and Gabrielle…and you and me. They're calling it the "Triple Wedding of the Golden Trio..." kind of corny if you ask me. This means we'll be able to get married...that is, if you'll consider marrying me next week. I mean I know it's sudden but this does seem like the only way we can…"
Ginny launched herself into Harry's arms and covered his face with kisses. "Yes! Yes! Yes!" She cried through her tears. "That's why he was asking..." She leapt off the sofa and ran from the room. Confused, Harry ran after her but she was too far ahead. He saw her race into Snape's room and arrived just as she had thrown herself into his arms weeping uncontrollably.
The look of shock and discomfort on Snape's face was enough to make Harry hide his smile behind his hand. Snape had just said to him not fifteen minutes earlier that crying women made him nervous. Snape patted her on the back, whispering kind words and then motioned for Harry to do something. Harry entered the room and gently removed Ginny arms from around Snape's neck. Snape collapsed wearily upon the bed, as Harry escorted a sobbing Ginny from the room. Harry looked back at Snape with a grin on his face, before closing the door behind him.
Snape took a deep breath; Nurse Ginny had scared the shit out of him running in here like that. Until he saw Harry standing in the doorway, grinning, he'd assumed something had happened to Hermione and thought he'd die. He put his hand on his racing heart and concentrated on calming himself. Hermione! Oh wizard's beard, he had to tell her. He couldn't let her find out from someone else.
He called out to Tippy, who appeared and handed him what looked like a muggle snow globe. He recorded a short message and begged Hermione to forgive him, if his rash decision upset her. He didn't know how women felt about sharing their big day. He handed the globe back to Tippy and watched with trepidation as the elf snapped her fingers and disappeared to deliver his message to Hermione. He could only hope and wait.
It seemed like eternity, but in reality it was only 15 minutes, before the tiny elf reappeared at the foot of his bed. She approached him and sat cross legged near his knees as she handed him back the globe...she was smiling from ear to ear.
Snape activated the message globe and the reflection of Hermione appeared inside, it was apparent that she was excited, "You wonderful, wonderful man! Thank you, thank you so much! This will be the best wedding ceremony in history. Thank you for thinking of my friends...Ron too I guess. Thank you especially for thinking of Ginny and Harry…I hadn't known about the Ministry's plans. Suddenly her expression changed to anger. "I'd like to see those sneaky old rats try to keep you and me from marrying!" Who was this woman and how the hell was he lucky enough to be marrying her? Snape was wondering for the hundredth time. Her smile returned and she was blowing him a kiss. A pair of lips fluttered from the globe like a butterfly and kissed his face with a loud smack, before disappearing. Tippy fell backwards on the bed howling with laughter. Her laughter was contagious and Snape had to fight to keep from smiling. He hadn't been expecting the flying smooch so he was sure he must have looked surprised when it landed on him. "Okay, okay, Miss Tippy…Nobody is to know about that kiss."
He proceeded to discuss with Tippy an errand he wanted her to run. He needed her to go speak with Molly Weasley and report back to him the next day, as soon as she was able to accomplish the things on the list he handed to her. The small elf tucked the list in her pocket, stifled a small giggle and snapped her fingers to disapparate.
The next morning, Snape was dreaming about attending a huge ball, where he was the guest of honor and he had Hermione on his arm. He was wearing the dress robes he wore to the Tri-Wizard Ball and Hermione was wearing a lovely navy-colored gown that showed ample cleavage and clung to her every curve. Her long hair was curled and pinned up with jeweled combs, leaving her neck bare and very snoggable. Everyone was obviously so jealous of him. The women stared at him as if Hermione must know something they didn't and the men looked at Hermione and sighed in longing.
He was rudely awakened from the dream when Nurse Ginny entered his room and turned up the lights. She laid a robe on his chair and advised him she was there to help him get dressed. He moaned and turned over, wanting to return to his dream.
"Okay, but today's the day we're both being transferred to Hogwarts. Hermione's coming to get you and she'll be disappointed that you're not ready." Ginny whispered softly.
He quickly sat up in bed, causing her to laugh at his disheveled appearance.
"Take it easy, lover boy, you still have a little time to become presentable," Ginny said with a huge grin on her face. She was more cheerful than usual and Snape knew it must be because of her upcoming wedding. His chest swelled with pride when he thought of how he was able to bring that about.
She opened the adjoining bathroom door and began drawing a bath.
Hermione is coming, Hermione is coming...his heart was singing. He heard Ginny giggle and realized he was probably sitting there with a stupid, giddy look on his face.
"No sponge bath today, though, today I think we can manage to soak you in the tub a little." Ginny remarked as she waved her wand to add bath salts to the tub.
Snape regained his scowling composure and pulling the bed sheets up to his chest said, "I think you can manage to bathe all by myself today."
"Sorry, doctor's orders…It will take a few more days of treatment before you will be able to do anything on your own." Seeing his blankets pulled up to his chest, Ginny rolled her eyes, "Don't be so modest, it's too late, I've already seen everything."
Snape lowered the covers in defeat, knowing she was right.
Ginny crossed the room and pulled the blankets down to the end of bed. She grabbed his bare legs and swung him around so that he was sitting on the side of the bed. Unfortunately, the swiftness of her actions made him dizzy.
"Are you okay?" She grabbed his arms to steady him. "I could levitate you into the tub."
"Stop coddling me, woman, I'm fine." Snape growled, when the room was no longer spinning. "I'm a grown-ass man...Nurse Ginny...not an invalid."
"Why do you always refer to me as, Nurse Ginny...why not just Ginny?" She asked quietly.
Snape looked down into his lap, refusing to meet her eyes, "because it is easier to imagine Nurse Ginny sponge bathing me, than little Ginny Weasley, who used to sit in my Potion's Class and make faces behind my back. I'm not too keen, as it were, with the latter one seeing me in my naked glory...if you must know." He cleared his throat and indicated with a wave of his hand that he was ready to go.
Ginny hid her smile as she slowly helped him stand on his shaky legs. She assisted him into the bathroom, where it was a battle of wills to get him stripped and in the tub; however, Nurse Ginny was triumphant.
She left a sulking Professor Snape in the tub to wash his own hair, as she hovered nearby. The Ministry still refused to bring him his wand, so he had to sit patiently while Ginny used her wand to shave his face and rinse his hair.
After she thoroughly scrubbed him, which he accused her of enjoying too much, she used her wand to drain the tub. It was a struggle to assist him from the tub, partly due to Snape insisting that she keep her eyes closed. By the time she leaned him against the bathroom counter, she was almost as wet as he was. Ginny rolled her eyes again, and with a flick of her wand, they were both dry. She promised to keep her eyes closed as she held out a pair of clean boxers for him to step into, vowing to yank them up and give him a wedgie if he accused her of peeking, one more time.
She heaved a sigh of relief now that he was dry and wearing a clean pair of boxers. She even managed to trim a few inches off the back of his hair, layering it a little in the front, before he was accusing her of coddling him again.
Ginny left him leaning against the bathroom sink while she exited the room, saying she was going to get the clean hospital gown and robe she had left on the chair, "and maybe a bludger to beat you with..." she muttered under her breath. Snape stood in front of the bathroom mirror scowling at his appearance. He sneered in slight disgust. It was the same face he'd seen a year ago, what could someone as lovely as Hermione see in him? He looked closer. He didn't have as many lines on his face. He knew it must be the effects of the "Blood of the Stone" Dumbledore had added to the tears. Yes, looking closer now, he appeared to be ten years younger. He could have easily passed for a 29 year-old man instead of the 39 year-old he actually was. His heart sunk momentarily. Did Hermione know how old he was? Yes, yes, she had seen his memories, plus he had to put it in the contract, which he was sure she had read.
Ginny came back into the room and assisted him with slipping on the hospital gown and bathrobe. Snape inspected the robe; it appeared to be a Hogwarts Hospital Robe. His heart skipped a beat. It was really happening; he was going home to Hogwarts, with his Hermione.
His smiling face met Ginny's in the mirror and seeing her smug look made him scowl. He hated it when she looked at him like that. He was a grown man for goodness sake and was going around looking like a lovesick teenager. This of course was exactly how he felt when he thought of Hermione. What was this power that little witch had over him? He'd survived his whole life without Hermione and yet the thought of being away from her made his heart ache. He placed his hand on his chest and heard Nurse Ginny say, "Okay, you need to rest some before it's time to go. Hermione will have my head if she shows up and you look exhausted." He smiled when he thought of Hermione scolding Ginny on his behalf.
Upon reentering the room, Snape saw that the bed had been replaced with two comfortable chairs and a small table in between holding something dark brown in a dessert bowl next to a folded napkin.
Ginny lowered him into one of the chairs and handed him the cold dish. "Eat...you have to maintain your strength and don't think I wasn't aware that you haven't been eating properly."
Snape stirred the pudding warily and asked, "What is it?"
"It's a chocolate pudding; however, it is loaded with nutrients. All the nutrients you haven't been getting by picking at your food. Eat…you're not leaving until you do." She said as she busied herself around the room.
Snape begrudging began eating the pudding, careful not to let her see how delicious he found it. She was already smug enough, he reasoned. He finished the pudding and just set it on the table when a glass of milk appeared on the table next to the empty dish. He drank the entire glass and after wiping his mouth with the napkin said, "Thank you."
Ginny spun around in mock surprise, "What? Professor Snape knows how to say, Thank you." A small smile played about his mouth as he replied, "Smart ass."
She laughed and blew him a kiss as she exited the room. He wished he had a pillow handy to throw at her as she exited. She seemed to read his mind and laughed again. He could still here her laughter, out in the hall until she was too far away for it to carry back to him.
Damn! He had forgotten to ask her when they were leaving. She'd said today, but how long would he have to wait? Where was Hermione, shouldn't she be here by now? His breakfast tray arrived, but he ignored it. The pudding had done wonders for him and he was too nervous to eat anything else.
Tippy appeared and assured him that Molly had everything well under way and would follow his list to the letter. Snape thanked her and she puffed her chest out in pride before snapping her fingers to disapparate back to Hogwarts.
He leaned his head back in the chair, suddenly so very tired. Please, please let her still be coming, please don't let her change her mind he thought as he slowly nodded off.
A short while later, Hermione dressed in jeans and an aqua blue jumper slipped into the room. Her hair hung loosely down her back and everyone she passed on her way to Snape's room had stopped to stare at her loveliness; of course, Hermione was oblivious to this. She crossed the room quickly and knelt in front of Snape's chair. His head lay back and he was sleeping with his mouth slightly open. She wondered for a brief moment if he snored. The thought made her giggle aloud and he stirred awake.
"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to wake you." She said while still kneeling next to his chair. He sighed and leaned forward, pressing his lips against her forehead. She was enjoying the small kisses he was placing on her forehead when she sensed someone was in the room. She pivoted around on her heels and saw Draco Malfoy had just entered. Snape recognized him instantly and marveled at how he seemed to be a grownup version of the teenager he remembered.
"Draco!" Hermione squealed as she jumped up and raced to him. Meeting her half way, he held open his arms as she leapt into them. He closed his arms around her, his height making her feet dangle above the floor. Snape who had placed one arm on his armchair was now resting his head in his hand watching through his spread fingers as Draco hugged Hermione fiercely. What the hell was this? He thought they were mortal enemies. Had so much changed in the past year? Another thought crossed his mind and made his blood run cold. Had Draco put in a contract on Hermione? Was he here to beg her to choose him instead of Snape? At the sound of Snape's groan of despair, Draco released her with a look of concern and Hermione raced back to Snape.
"Baby, are you okay? Are you hurting somewhere?" She took his free hand in hers and was kissing it tenderly, a look of worry etched along her face. Snape watched Draco to see what his reaction was, but the young man only smiled when he noticed the large stone glimmering on Hermione's finger.
"Baby? So it's true, my Godfather and my best girl are getting hitched?" He didn't seem to be upset which caused Snape to be even more confused. What did he mean, Hermione was his best girl? Hermione laughed and flipped her hair, over her shoulder, as she looked back at Draco.
She stood and sat down gently onto Snape's lap. He wrapped his arms around her waist pulling her against him, loving the feel of her body through her loose sweater. Snape's reaction wasn't lost on Draco and he smiled at how possessive Snape seemed to be of her. Good, he thought, the old man deserved to be happy…especially if he was what was making Hermione so giddy.
"Vanessa will be so thrilled. She loves weddings, keeps threatening to redo ours...she loves them so much." Snape suddenly relaxed and Hermione leaned back against him, hoping she wasn't crushing him. He planted a kiss on her shoulder, and reassured, she turned back to Draco.
"How is your wife?"
"Vanessa is doing wonderful. I swear she gets prettier every day. She set aside some of our wedding pictures for you. She feels bad that you weren't there to witness it in person."
"That's so sweet of her. Severus and I would love to see them."
"Severus, huh? You ole dragon you!" Draco laughed walking over and shaking Snape's hand.
Who was this guy? Snape thought returning Draco's firm handshake. Draco seemed truly happy for him. Had everyone gone mad in his absence?
Just then Harry knocked on the door and poking his head around saw Draco standing there. Uh oh, Snape thought but was shocked to see Harry enter the room and pull Draco into a big bear hug each man patting the other on the back like old friends. They stepped back and began shaking hands as they discussed Harry's upcoming wedding. What the hell was going on? Snape wondered again. Seeing Snape's look of confusion, Hermione leaned down to his ear and whispered.
"Recovering from the war, a lot of us realized that life was too short to hold onto old grudges and old ways of thinking…we let bygones be bygones. It all started about two months after the end of the war, right around the time Lucious Malfoy passed away," she added thoughtfully. "A lot of the old discriminations died with him. Draco wrote me a letter of apology right after I arrived at the academy. His letters gave me hope and kept me going. We continued writing each other every week, until he became engaged to Vanessa, of course. I sent him an owl to let him know I was leaving the Academy and coming home."
Snape swallowed and asked the Question many people had asked since learning of her friendship with Draco.
"Why didn't you marry Draco? Did you not consider it?"
Hermione looked at him and said lovingly, "Draco knew I could never step foot in his family's mansion again. Not after I was tortured there."
Snape pulled up the sleeve on Hermione's left arm and began gently kissing the letters that were carved into her arm. The feeling of his lips on her arm almost drove her crazy with passion. Fighting the urges she was feeling, she continued, "Draco has been secretly in love with Vanessa ever since he saw her. You remember...she was the girl with the long, lovely black hair that you said should never plan on making a career in potions?" Snape groaned as the memory surfaced. Yes he remembered her. She was a lovely girl with big blue eyes that contrasted with her black hair. He chuckled when he remembered something.
"What?" Hermione asked quietly when she heard his soft laugh.
"I always thought she had silently jinxed me. For some reason it hurt to sit down for two days after that."
Hermione fought the smile that tried to surface to her face and lost.
"She did, didn't she?" He asked incredulously.
"Besides," Hermione said quickly, in an attempt to change the subject. "I couldn't marry Draco; I was waiting for my Prince Charming…well, my half a Prince, anyway."
Snape smirked and looked back at Draco and Harry still deep in discussion. Slowly, the smirk slid off his face, only to be replaced with a thoughtful frown. He continued holding Hermione in his arms and watching the two men talk animatedly. It was then that he suddenly realized what he had failed to notice earlier…what was different about everyone…they had grown up.
Until he had seen Hermione's photograph, he had still carried around the image of "sixth-year" students in his mind. However, seeing these two men in person, reiterated the fact that his prior students were now adults...one of them already married. He felt like he was a bystander watching life pass him by, his heart aching at the loss of time, until Hermione placed a kiss on his cheek. It was a sweet reminder that he was here with them in the now. Right here with them, in the present, was more important to him than the past.
"Well Severus," Hermione said as she stood and held out her hand to him, "we better get out of here before Ginny decides she likes you too much and wants to keep you here all to herself."
Harry, upon hearing what Hermione had just said, mocked great fear at this possibility and rushed over to assist Hermione with pulling Snape to his feet. Ginny chose that moment to enter the room and after returning Draco's embrace turned and said, "What? What's so funny?"
With a huge grin, Harry repeated what Hermione had just said.
Placing her hands on her hips for emphasis, Ginny proclaimed, "And miss seeing Professor Snape's smiling face and sunny disposition at Hogwarts?"
Laughter rippled around the room as Snape narrowed his eyes at her. Ginny blew him a kiss and announced that they were finally ready to go. Smiling up at his scowling face, Hermione slipped his left arm over her shoulder while sliding her arm around his waist. "Let's go home."
Snape placed a kiss on forehead and sighed, "Home."