"Do you know what today is ?"
He arched his brow at her "Tuesday?"
She swatted his arm. "It's a leap year, today is February 29th, I think it was fate that today was the day we got our date at the Ministry"
Biting her lip, she met his eyes which had suddenly snapped to hers.
"Severus Snape, will you marry me?"
oOo
The war had ended with a whimper, not a bang. Voldemort , lacking in support , followers and power, had been taken down in a well planned-out operation, he was a strong and talented wizard no doubt, but without a horde of death eaters behind him, he was just one wizard. With a joint task force with witches and wizards of all blood purities and all houses, the cooperation between the order and the Aurors, and the space of a 48 hour sting operation, and his hold on the wizarding world was over, for good. His body was on the front page of the papers for a week afterwards, and slowly faded into a distant memory of just another radical and not the all powerful being he'd always wanted to be remembered as. It was Trainee Auror Neville Longbottom that had dealt the killing blow. The wizarding world didn't give Tom Riddle the recognition he wanted, even in death, letting him become a footnote in history of magic lessons, instead of a boogeyman in the dark… he didn't deserve to be remembered as anything more than what he was, a corrupted man who preyed on and used others to achieve his goals.
Luna Longbottom (nee Lovegood)'s book on the war, with exclusive interviews with Hermione Granger, Severus Snape, Neville Longbottom, Minister for Magic Kinglsey Shacklebolt, Headmistress of Hogwarts Minerva McGonagall and many others became a bestseller, in years to come it was added to the Hogwarts, Beuaxbatons and Durmstrang History of Magic Curriculum for those learning about the second wizarding war.
Rita Skeeter's book however, with exclusive interviews and viewpoints from Ronald Weasley did not do quite as well. The book itself was quickly relegated to clearance bins, and the Author was on a suspended sentence from Azkaban for slander, pending further investigation. Ronald Weasley was removed from the Auror training program and was working in his brother's shop. Harry Potter had refused to be a part of either book, stating it wasn't his story to tell.
But with Luna's book release came another unexpected situation.
Harry Potter, genuinely apologised to Hermione. Distance, time (and reading Luna's book) had done more than anything else could, as well as dealing with the fact that he wasn't the "chosen one" after all, if such a thing had ever even existed beyond Dumbledore's scheming. Another huge factor was that he'd parted ways with Ginny Weasley after Neville's victory caused the end of the war, when suddenly she said they had "differences" and things weren't the same and had left him without much fanfare. He'd sat down with Hermione, and much to her shock with Severus also, apologising to both and began to explain how things had started to become so much clearer (yet also more confusing) after Ginny had left, even though he'd looked shocking and stated he had some sickness bug that he couldn't shift.
Severus, ever observant had looked into the issue further, and after contacting the auror's office and St Mungos, it had become clear that Harry Potter wasn't sick, but was in withdrawal from the love potions that Ginny Weasley had been giving him for an indeterminate amount of time.
Harry was less angry than she expected, less angry than Severus even, and more accepting than anyone could have anticipated, since the answers they'd found apparently gave him the clarity he'd not known he'd needed and not long after, began dating Draco Malfoy of all people. Both of whom were more than happy to quickly disappear from the limelight neither of them had ever wanted, Draco training to be a Mediwizard and Harry taking over Eeylops Owl Emporium when he retired , as well as trading quidditch for Abraxan Racing of all things, which Lucius Malfoy was all too happy to support, the hobby helped bridge the gap between the two of them when it became apparent to all that the Potter and Malfoy relationship was not going to be just a phase.
The wounds were deep, but in time they would heal, she would never be as close to the boy she once knew, but the man he'd become was a good friend.
Ginerva Weasley due to her age had been given a suspended sentence, as well as probation that prevented her from being near any types of controlled potions. From what they heard from Fred & George, who had immediately ditched all love potion sales, and had finally got an answer for the continual thefts and low stock they couldn't explain, Ginny planned on studying charms and moving to the states.
When the stress of the budding battles was snuffed out by Voldemort's swift defeat, inter house rivalries had quickly faded away into naught more than typical team rivalries over quidditch and gobstones. By the time the students that had been first years when Neville felled the dark lord, were taking their Newts, it would have been impossible to distinguish the unified houses from the steaming rivalries of before. No doubt helped by the fact that Minerva had quickly added a new rule in Hogwarts, where all students were re-sorted every year. It was very rare for any student to be in the same house every year.
Hermione became the floating professor she'd wanted to be, obtaining dual masteries in transfiguration and arithmancy and working on more, as Severus took 'tenure' for want of a better term. He teached higher year potions, sixth, seventh and an added 8th year that was for those who wanted more in depth study under a true Master prior to starting careers in potions, healing or other related subjects.
Hermione and Severus also held a study club, which was also where they had become somewhat unofficial guidance counsellors. Students came to them for homework help, advice, potions, or just somewhere to vent their frustrations to adults that listened and understood and took them and their troubles seriously, whilst getting the opportunity to snuggle a cantankerous old emerald green feline. It was held in a spare classroom that had two separate offices in case anyone wanted to speak to Hermione or Severus alone, for issues that for whatever reason they'd rather not discuss in front of the opposite sex.
It took a few years, a decade really, but Hermione finally understood why the centaurs had dubbed her Ola Mitera, and in time after their wedding, dubbed Severus Olos Pateras.
All-Mother and All-Father.
Her and Severus had married, a small affair at Hogwarts, neither of them needing nor wanting more than a small gathering of their closest and dearest. And as soon as they were legally wed, they approached their Baby about adopting him officially. Severus was already his legal guardian, and it was clear to all that Hermione was his mother in all but genetics, the boy lived with them and called them mum and dad but still they had given him the choice and it had of course been a resounding yes. It had also been a resounding yes from Coral when he had been bonded as the family house elf for the most noble house of Granger-Snape. Weeping openly at his new uniform, that bore the family crest, a rearing chimaera and nundu.
Baby, always loathing the name Jacob which he'd been named from his abusive uncle, had changed his name legally when they went through the adoption. Taking his surname Grey as his forename, and adopting the Granger-Snape Surname. So Jacob Grey, became Grey Granger-Snape, to all but Hermione and Severus, who he'd forever be their 'Baby', even when he got his arithmancy mastery and became Beauxbatons youngest ever professor, much as Severus himself had been for Hogwarts, marrying Helena Black in Paris the year after.
But Baby wasn't the only Granger-Snape. A few years after they adopted Grey, there was another student who came through the doors of Hogwarts, quiet and reserved and screaming of neglect. The girl had instantly become a fixture in Hermione and Severus' study club , and it was not long before the wheels were in motion and she was removed from the situation she was in and became firstly a ward of Hogwarts, before going on to become another part of the Granger Snape household.
Over time more and more children from broken homes became part of the Granger-Snape household, each child glady dropping ties with their abusive and neglectful families and eventually adopting the Granger-Snape name with pride.
Each child was raised with love, compassion and fierce protection, that led to well rounded children who became brave, loyal, cunning and ambitious adults, taking the wizarding world by storm with masters of potions, charms, arithmancy, sports stars and beast keepers, the name Granger-Snape becoming synonymous with loyalty, honesty and success.
It was a year after Grey's wedding, after a handful of Granger-Snapes were already in the world, that the first baby arrived. The child, no older than 18 months, was left at the gates of Hogwarts with both Hermione and Severus's names on a parchment.
The child was deaf , and a squib…Hermione and Severus loved him fiercely.
His inner ear had been irreparably damaged by being too close to what was most likely a blasting hex of some kind. Neville, who was studying part time to take over from Pomona when she retired, at this point had pointed out the way his uncle used to try and force the magic out of him when he was a child by dropping him from heights or throwing items (and spells) at him, and the tests confirmed the boy had no magic.
Ludwig Granger Snape was welcomed with open arms by the extended Granger-Snape family, Baby upon meeting him, had told him he better not get used to being the littlest one in the family, because he and Helena had their own baby on the way and with that Hermione and Severus became grandparents for the first, though decidedly not, last time.
Ludwig, who was always promised his deafness (nor lack of magic) would ever stop him from amounting to greatness just like his namesake, was never treated as lesser by anyone, and grew to become Hogwart's first outreach professor. He taught sign language to anyone who wanted to learn and held special classes for squibs and students that needed extra help, bringing muggle technologies and advances to the wizarding world. Sign Language, Prosthetics, Knowledge of Dyslexia, ADHD, Autism and more.
Hogwarts had become the home to all it had always been supposed to be. In time when Minerva stepped down as Headmistress and Severus Stepped up, then as yet more years went along, Severus Stepped down and Hermione stepped up.
Until Eventually Ludwig Granger-Snape became the first Squib Headmaster that Hogwarts had ever had.
Many decades of peace later, new students would walk through the gates of Hogwarts for the first time and ask why, when the houses were represented by a Lion, an Eagle, a Snake and a Badger… were the stone guardians statues at the gates, a Nundu and a Chimaera?
And Rubeus Granger-Snape, groundskeeper and care of magical creatures professor, the Grandson of Ludwig Granger Snape and Lily Potter - Malfoy, would get a funny little smile and say, "now let me tell you a story…"