Chapter 117: The Crossing Of The Rubicon

A/N: Here's Another Update...

My Thanks To All My Readers And Reviewers-S.S.

The Sitting Room, The Snape Residence, Spinner's End, Cokeworth England, Muggle World...

Desperate and passion-filled kisses had been little more than a distraction from the inevitable impending doom that loomed over the horizon. Both Professor Severus S. Snape and his young student-turned-wife, Hermione Jean Granger-Snape had been well aware of the harrowing notion that war had been about to break out especially given that Headmaster Albus Dumbledore had been slain making Hogwarts Castle and The Wizarding World as a whole a great deal weaker in terms of united strength and the low level of moral due to the hopeless situation only seemed to make the upcoming battles all the more difficult with the total collapse of The Ministry Of Magic. For the first time in a long time, Wizarding England had been completely without proper defense from the likes of what the despot Voldemort had in store for it. Magical tyranny had once more become prevalent and the carefully cultivated peace between the Wizarding and Muggle worlds had been shattered since the end of The Second Great War.

A series of low moans followed by occasional grunts when given to the heightened sensation of passion filled the formerly dismal sitting room of one Severus Snape as he towered above his young wife, his pale naked form flexing in the wake of his rapid and deliberate thrusts as she clung to him, equally naked and wanting as their lips crashed together out of sheer desperation and need. They had both known all too well what lay ahead and dreaded it even as their bodies had been entangled in the heat of the moment.

"Severus..." moaned the amber-eyed lass that dared to reach up and stroke her husband's sallow pale cheek even as tears began to fall from his formerly cold eyes of obsidian.

The scent of herbs and fresh earth had lingered on him due to his potions work as much as the jasmine from her hair care products had lingered on her computing a kind of far-reaching memory for them both to cling to as much as they had each other in those final moments of sadness and bliss respectively.

Severus had done the unthinkable, he had killed Albus Dumbledore and spared his godson Draco Malfoy the misfortune of having his young sensitive soul split, but there was yet to be word as to what would happen to his own. He had felt the breaking as he collapsed in the forbidden forest, a most agonizing feeling since the night he'd gone to Godric's Hollow and found Lily Evans-Potter lying dead inside the bedroom that had been meant for her young son, a then baby, Harry James Potter.

The very same Harry James Potter, that had confronted him with fury behind his emerald green eyes, those same emerald green eyes that had belonged to his late mother, demanding restitution for the murder of Albus Dumbledore as he attempted to collect his perceived pound of flesh by way of attempting to murder his former Professor.

Severus had not held any grudge toward the boy, not this time around as he had known what it was like to lose someone so close to him more than twice over, Harry would never know the anguish he felt that day nor the day of the boy's mother's murder nor that both had been about the same as being by his hand.

A hiss escaped the harsh pale lips of Snape as he found himself being pulled from his wayward and morbid thoughts back down to earth and the sensation of his beloved young wife beneath him as his questing cock sunk into her warm depths over and over again as she clung to him, with her fingernails digging ever so deeply into the pale flesh of his back as they had on many occasion since the first time he'd taken her following their nuptials in a bid to keep her safe from his death eater brethren who had sought her hand in marriage if only to toy with her after stealing her virtue before ending her life.

She had changed him, in the end.

More so than she would ever have the pleasure of knowing.

He had felt the shift in his very being the moment her heart began to beat in time with his own. It had been quite some time since he'd known what it was like to feel genuine love for someone, especially when that love had been reciprocated at every turn. In secret Snape had longed for something similar for a great many years only to be met with mock and scorn for the sole purpose of being born below the standard of those of his kind. He sought to belong and be acknowledged all his life and only now when he'd finally been given his heart's desire did he know what it truly meant to be loved.

His Hermione had loved him, even when everyone else had opted to see him dead.

Even when he had willed it.

She'd been the best thing that had ever happened to him since his affiliation with The Malfoy family and the subsequent birth of his godson Draco Malfoy. Looking back on all the times he had dared to classify love as a mere weakness, even as Hermione had protested his outlook and dared to prove him wrong, Snape had considered what a fool he'd been to waste such a precious gift and the time they had that seemed to slowly ebb away as the moments had been fleeting.

The pale wizard closed his eyes tight as he continued his pace pumping his hips into the pelvis of his one true love as she continued to cling to him, her own eyes shut tight as she attempted to hold on to the sensation of what their bodies had been like when clashing against one another.

The sound of her soft moans had been like music to his rather keen ears as he held his body above hers, her pert breasts pressing into his lean pale chest as the echo of their mutual love-making filled the front room of his family home. Everything in him longed for her and for the ability to take her as far away from this living hell as he could get and live out the remainder of his days at her side and in her bed, but he had been bound in more ways than one to see this war's end even if it had meant never again being able to take her as he had in that very moment.

"S-Severus." moaned Hermione as tears streamed down her supple young cheeks.

She loved him more than he would ever know as she continued to cling to him, wrapping her thighs around his lean form as best she could as she pulled his body closer, needing to feel all of him in the wake of what had been to come for them both.

Hermione had felt it almost as he had that their time together had been growing short and a fear filled her like never before that something awful would befall her husband and she had not been sure she would be able to endure it. For so long, this man, this wizard had held her young heart and had never let go and the very thought of life without him had been worse than death itself in her young mind.

Throughout their marriage, she had been quite fortunate to learn that her former Potions Professor, turned lover had been quite a passionate man, given to vast intellect and snide charms that she had only come to appreciate all the more as the days passed with them being man and wife. In his capable hands, she had felt safe from the moment she ventured to Hogwarts and admired everything about him the more she learned when being in his presence. He'd been much more than her Potions Professor following their arranged marriage and even then she had fantasized about becoming his wife and sharing his bed. A formerly foolish notion turned full-on reality in the wake of the Wizarding World Decree.

There were no words she could utter to express the depths of her appreciation for the man that had become her husband in every sense of the word, and there had been even less of a means of defining her love and devotion to him to the caliber that he so richly deserved. She had loved him more fiercely with each passing day and knew not how her life would continue should the worst come to pass and he is taken away from her.

Snape seemed to sense her sadness almost as if it had been purely his own and kissed her feverishly as he continued his pace of rapid thrusts into her warm willing body. She could feel it, as she had so many times before, the impending sensation of his welcomed and equally dreaded release as she had known all too well that their loving act would be forced to come to an end once it came.

A low groan escaped his harsh pale lips as he leaned toward her, his lengthy raven locks drenched in sweat and fallen in a curtain-like fashion about his sallow pale face. She knew that he'd have hexed her if she were to dare say she thought he looked adorable at that moment as he always had whenever they were about to reach the end of their joint venture into heights beyond the world amid mutual pleasure. But he had, indeed looked so to her even as her body was slowly jolted along the cold hardwood floor of his sitting room while he continued to tower above her.

Hermione ran her fingers through his raven locks pulling him closer as his desperation grew and translated to his rapidly increased pace. She had been unable to stop it, as the sensation rippled through her young body and she gasped before moaning outright while her breasts bounced in his line of sight and he leaned his weary head down to suckle them one by one as his hips pumped into her giving her every ounce of his passion as she rode out her release still moaning his name and then some as their bodies continued their mutual clashing.

More tears streamed down her supple cheeks as the bliss of passion filled her heated young body and a grunt from her beloved Severus filled her ears as much it always had in signal for the inevitable as his rather impressive and decidedly thick cock pulsed amid her slickness and began to fill her young body with his spilled seed. His release had come as she both dreaded and anticipated equally as her keen ears noted his rapid breaths and the crackling of the log in his not-too-distant fireplace as the yellow-orange flames danced about illuminating the sitting room and filling the place with the scent of burning wood.

Their eyes met, once more as the sensation continued to pass between them, their act finally at an end despite their desperate lips clashing once more and twice again in the wake of rapid heavy breaths and impending doom.

"I love you, Severus," said Hermione reaching up and stroking his sallow pale cheek amid tears.

"I love you too," replied Severus Snape closing his eyes briefly at the instant of her soft touch. "Hermione."

She had been the only one to touch him this way, the tender caress of one true love and the kindness behind her amber gaze had always gotten to him, even when he'd been stubborn about admitting it.

This girl, this silly little school girl had changed his life, changed his way of thinking, and allowed him to know what it truly meant to love and be loved in return. He never would have guessed or even entertained the idea when she had first walked through those heavy oak wood doors and into The Great Hall for the first time. His focus was on the possibility of who among the newest batch of young students would make their way into Slytherin's house at the time. Their eyes met once, the fierce determination and drive that seemed to kindle a spark in him that he had not recognized due to years of disappointment. She of course soaked up everything like a sponge much to his annoyance and her capacity to learn had been awe-inspiring, to say the least.

There was so much about this witch, His Witch, that he was going to miss. Severus Snape had known the taste of her passion, her vengeance, and her sense of justice all too well. It was almost a rare privilege looking back, to have endured it all.

Another desperate and heavily passionate kiss had passed between them. Despite them both knowing that it had only been to further delay the inevitable. As Hermione Granger gave in to the passion of her husband's deep kiss, Severus Snape slowly moved his hand to clasp the black wand he'd carried ever since his first venturing to Olivander's in Diagon Alley. Try as he might to hold on to this, brief moment of love and passion he'd never again receive from his lovely young wife. He had known it would do neither of them any good to wish it would be so.

As he had told her upon her initial arrival, he could not let her leave knowing the truth and as a result, used his magic to lock her memories of her knowledge of what truly happened the night he murdered the late Headmaster Albus Dumbledore.

She'd been none the wiser as she closed her eyes due to the involuntary slumber.

Agonized tears streamed down the sallow pale cheeks of the former Potions Master as he once more kissed her lips and ran the lengthy pale fingers of his free hand through her unruly brown locks. Just the very thought of her loving amber gaze being filled with little more than contempt for him had broken his already sadden heart. He had little to no choice in the matter, as per usual in his situation, it was far better for him in the long run if his young wife lived a life free of magical tyranny and hated him than if she had loved him and died for said love. He had taken care to work out that she'd obtain her true memories once the war had been over and the despot vanquished whether he'd be there with her or not had been something he bothered to factor in so long as she lived and in the end knew just how much he had truly loved her.

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The Outskirts Of Hogwarts Castle, Wizarding World...

A rushed trip to Hogwarts saw to a redressed and saddened Severus Snape carrying his equally dressed and cleanly spelled young wife's unconscious form back to the school where she'd be most protected. He couldn't help but look upon her with love and admiration even as he sought to steel his heart against all affection for her. She would one day know the great lengths he'd gone through to see her able to live free and at peace, even if it had not been with him. In his logical mind's eye, it had been the least he could do, as he could never repay her for her bold choice in having him be her husband.

She'd been a true Gryffindor after all.

Once he reached a secure spot at the school where he wouldn't run into any problems and she'd been reasonably safe, he stopped and looked down at her one last time.

"I love you, Hermione," he said before closing his eyes and burying any aspect of his feelings for her so deep that not even he would be sure they remained. "Farewell, Mrs. Snape."

With that, he gently placed her down amid the grass and took his leave of her. He did not doubt that Harry Potter and his infernal Marauder's Map would find her location and see to her from there. When she awoke she couldn't recall a thing aside from Potter's rant about him having killed the former Headmaster, her mind reset to believe the worst about him. A necessary sacrifice on his part for the outcome of saving her life.

A crack of thunder resounded and Severus Snape once more departed the Hogwarts Grounds and any trace of the man who had loved Hermione Granger had been long gone as far as anyone else could tell.

Snape had done it, he had committed himself to cross the Rubicon and there was no turning back.