Hope is a Dangerous Thing

Epilogue

2008

Hermione had long been able to appreciate a lovely, quiet relaxing Sunday, but they were now her favourite day of the week for a rather different reason.

She crossed the Entrance Hall swiftly, buttoning her cloak, before setting off down through the grounds at a brisk pace, hoping no one would accost her and cause her delay. She was in luck; lately, the cold weather tended to keep most of the children indoors.

She was quite sure her flitting back and forth from the castle after years of barely leaving it was becoming noticeable, but she pushed that to the back of her mind to be dealt with again. In any case, hopefully, it would soon no longer be an issue.

Closing the gates behind her, she started off down the path to Hogsmeade, before veering off it to the side a little. No sooner had she done so, a dark figure detached itself from the trees and moved to greet her.

'Good—'

She cut him off by throwing her arms up and pressing their lips together. 'I've missed you this week,' she whispered, when she released him.

He glanced at their surroundings before leaning back towards her to reignite their kiss. It was more than reignited. Her own muffled whimper was enough to alert her to pull away. She let out a breathless laugh. 'Can you imagine? Only weeks into the job and I'm sacked for public indecency!'

'Smuggle me into the castle,' he urged, ignoring her.

'No!' She admonished, extricating herself fully and putting a respectable distance between them. 'There will be enough time later for that; there is something else we need to do first.'

'So you mentioned, but you have been very cryptic.'

'I preferred to show rather than tell… Come, I will have to Apparate us.'

She took hold of his hand and, in a few moments, brought them to stand in the front garden of a small, detached, stone-built cottage.

'Is this…?' Severus asked, looking around at the obviously Scottish landscape that surrounded the cottage.

'Minerva's home, yes.' Hermione reached into her cloak and pulled out a large scroll. 'I received her will and testament from the Ministry this week and I am to execute it.'

'I see.'

Hermione looked to the cottage and then to him. 'She has left this to the both of us—half each.'

Severus blinked in mild surprise. 'She has bequeathed us a house?'

Hermione nodded. 'It is very generous, to be sure.'

She watched him survey the scene before him, wondering what he might be thinking. 'Minerva placed no stipulations upon it, so we may sell it if we wish to.'

His head snapped to hers then. 'How mercenary of you,' he observed with a smirk.

Hermione let out a weak laugh. 'Well, neither of us needs another house, of course. You have your own, and I, well, I have Hogwarts…'

Her parents had sold their house to fund the move to Australia, and with spending the majority of the year at Hogwarts, and most of her free time at Grimmauld Place, Hermione had never seen the need to purchase her own property.

'By the turn of your expression and tone of voice, I'm sensing you do see an alternative use for it.'

She smiled inwardly, always pleased that he could read her so well.

'I think the real reason Minerva left this to us is that one of the perks of being Headteacher is being allowed a Floo connection to a home they own outside of the castle, and this being hers means that connection is already in place.'

He looked at her then with comprehension, and she took his hand in hers.

'So you see, I wouldn't need to smuggle you in, or out, under the cover of darkness anymore.'

Hermione watched for his reaction. The first few months had been relatively easy, they both had free time on the weekend, and she had the odd evening in the week. But they were not enough for her now. She could not spend nights away, and he had no business in the castle anymore. Truth be told, she wanted him around every evening, and every morning, come to that.

She never wanted to ask him to live at Hogwarts, though. He could choose it, if he wanted, but she would never ask that of him. In her mind, this option gave them both some freedom, but convenience, too.

'I'm not saying you have to live here, of course—you will be able to Apparate here from Durham.'

He nodded to himself. 'But this is a gateway to unfettered access to the Headmistress's rooms? To come and go as I please?'

She nodded enthusiastically.

'It's a tempting proposition, to be sure,' he murmured, before chuckling lightly. 'How will that Governor's meeting go when they do find out you have me shacked up in your tower?'

She laughed. 'Well, they don't need to know for the time being, not until we are ready to tell.' She paused for a moment. 'They will probably expect us to formalise our relationship properly, at some point, of course.'

'Marriage?' He blurted out, feigning to be scandalised. In a moment, his expression turned serious. 'But you know, my dear, they may never be happy that I, an ex-Death Eater, an ex-convict, is attached to their illustrious Headmistress, married or otherwise.'

Her expression clouded darkly. 'Don't be silly.'

He raised an eyebrow at her.

'Well, who cares? I love my job, but not half as much as I love you.'

That, quite clearly, stunned him—she squeezed his hand tightly, before releasing it.

'Come on, let's have a look inside.' She walked on up to the front door, biting her lip to prevent a smile forming. She had been waiting for the right moment to tell him that for the first time, and to her, that was perfect. Succinct and matter of fact, no drama. No pressure.

She was already through the door before he managed to stir himself into following.

'Minerva has given us first dibs on her books, as well; many of which are at the castle, but there are some here, too.'

Hermione left him to his own devices, moving from room to room, making mental notes as she did so. In the upcoming half-term she would travel back here and empty the place. There were no specific requests with regard to the furnishings. She would meet Minerva's next-of-kin there for them to take whatever they wished. In reality, most of Minerva's treasured possessions were at Hogwarts and Minerva herself had been able to resolve their fate before her passing.

For as long as Hermione had been teaching, she knew Minerva had spent little time in the cottage, preferring to stay in the castle, but there were still familiar little reminders about the place, however, that made her pause. Photographs of the young Minerva. Lots of tartan. Quidditch paraphernalia. Gryffindor scarves.

Hermione smiled fondly.

When she arrived back downstairs, she found Severus sitting at the kitchen table, ostensibly in thought. She walked up behind him and put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

'All right?' she asked, as he glanced up at her.

'Will her family not be upset about this?'

'Oh, I think not… Her closest surviving relative is a niece with no specific tie to Scotland, and in any case, she left them her entire life savings.'

'Ah,' he said.

'You know, we can do something else with it if you feel uncomfortable—'

He shook his head. 'It is not that… It's…'

'Unexpected?'

He nodded. 'But oddly comforting…'

She watched his expression twist in confusion slightly and she nodded, speaking quietly, 'Because, it's almost like we don't have to say goodbye to her fully now—that she is still part of this.'

He turned his eyes up to hers and there was a small, mildly irritated frown. 'How is it that you understand me so well? Tell me, because I have spent years trying to fathom it out. No one has ever understood me the way you do.'

She laughed. 'It is what it is,' she said firmly. 'I have told you this before.'

He rose to his feet. 'I still think you cast some arcane spell upon me whilst I was comatose, all those years ago.'

Hermione rolled her eyes and he smiled a little ruefully. He lifted his arm to curl about her shoulders and pulled her to him. 'Whatever it is, I am glad of it,' he murmured, kissing her hair.

She brought her arm up around his waist and squeezed him reassuringly.

'You know that I love you, too, don't you?' he whispered, after a moment.

Her heart stilled at the words. She had not heard them from him before, but in fact, she had not concerned herself over it. In many ways she had felt assured of his feelings regardless, and only worried that he would be assured of hers. And so, to now hear those words spoken, but for them to unexpectedly elicit hot tears was a little galling to her. She subtly tried to bring her free hand up to wipe them away but she failed.

He leaned back to survey her. 'What the…?'

'I am happy,' she cried, pushing her lips firmly against his. 'So happy that you are here and we are together. I feel that I am lucky and I am grateful for it. But then I am reminded that if Minerva had not become ill, we would not be here—we would not be together.' Her tears fell a little more thickly. 'I do not want to feel grateful for Minerva's passing.'

He caught a few tears with his thumb. 'My dearest Hermione, no one would ever think you grateful for Minerva's passing. You just said it yourself, it is what it is. It is true that without Minerva we may never have met again, but it is also true that Minerva would have become ill regardless of you or me. It gave Minerva comfort that her illness might bear something positive—you should focus on that.'

'I'm being foolish,' she muttered.

'Not foolish… You miss her.'

She looked up, nodding her agreement. At his soft expression she bit her lip to try and prevent a sob.

'It is still raw.'

'Yes.' Hermione mentally drew herself up and sighed. 'Come on, let's go; I believe you said you would cook for me today.'

She had been vaguely unsurprised to learn this had become a hobby. It suited him.

'One moment,' he cautioned, turning from her to move in front of the fireplace that loomed quite large in the modest kitchen. 'Ah,' he hummed, reaching for a small pot that sat on top of the mantelpiece.

Hermione watched as he put his hand into it, pinching up the Floo powder within and allowing it to spill through his fingers and back into the pot.

'Perfect condition,' he observed, setting the pot down and crossing back to her. 'Just confirming whether I'll need my overnight bag tonight or not.'

She laughed brightly. 'You don't let the grass grow, do you?'

'Not anymore—learnt my lesson well.' He gave a sheepish smirk. 'I'm a proper go-getter these days'.

Hermione also smirked and nudged him to the front door.

He continually surprised her, she thought. And in spite of her earlier brush off to him, she often found herself wondering how they could have become so connected, so swiftly, but so intensely, and for it to have prevailed through time to have influenced her decision-making, affected her personal relationships, and would now shape her future.

She thought of her younger self and how the conundrum had consumed her for a long time. His exile to the Muggle World had largely taken any agency from her, and after the initial anger, she had tried to move on. But when those five years expired, no one could have known that she had acknowledged that day—he could not have known that, for some time after it, she had felt renewed hope.

Invigorating and crushing hope.

It is what it is. It was true and Hermione was satisfied to leave it at that.

She could think about it now and feel that it was all more than worth it.

Her reverie was interrupted when her companion halted suddenly and she crashed into him.

'What the hell are they?' Severus hissed in disgust.

Hermione peered around him, but already knew what he had spotted on opening the front door. There was a reason she had Apparated them directly into the garden, for, standing guard at the front gate, at the end of the path, were two large lion statues—Gryffindor lions, to be exact.

'Oh, I quite like them.'

He glanced over his shoulder and she smiled benignly at him.

He grimaced and appeared to curtail any further comments, but she thought she heard a muttered 'Gryffindors' and 'bane of my life' as he Apparated away with her.

Hermione kept her smile hidden.

She was quite sure they wouldn't be the only surprise gift Minerva had left him.

FIN

A/N There we go. Hope you enjoyed it and thanks, once again, for reading it. Thanks, also, for taking the time to review, they are much appreciated.

I have enjoyed writing again. I have a few ideas knocking about, so, hopefully, if I can develop those I may be back with something else : )