I Do Not Own Harry Potter.

Last Chapter!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh my gosh, I can't believe it's over. (ahem, ahem)
I would like to thank all those who reviewed (and even those who don't thanks for reading). You guys are the best. You make me feel so nice. Like This Time Imperfect said, I feel like a fluffy puff marshmallow. :o) I would also like to thank all the little people . . . Oops, wrong speech. Thanks to my friend in community college who challenged me to write this, she is now suffering through this fic and the 20 page paper she will have to complete after reading it. (Not really)
Happy Reading! Mattie :o)

Eva finished her exams on Thursday afternoon with the rest of her year and spent Friday morning in her rooms. She did not know if she was allowed to go downstairs, so she decided to play it safe and just stay in her sitting room. She'd not bothered to get out of pajamas and that was how Severus found her when he walked in.

Eva was sitting at the window box watching the students run around on the lawn below. She softly chuckled at something one of them did and then looked over at him. "Good afternoon, Dad."

"Good afternoon, Eva," he replied. "I came to ask if you would like me to have dinner with you."

"No, I'll be fine. I think you need to be there for dinner, don't you? Oh no . . . wait . . . Slytherin didn't win the House Cup this year," she said. Her voice held a mocking tone that was meant to jibe at the professor.

"No thanks to you. I think you are one of the reasons that we have such a low score this year."

"Like I said before, I never did see the point of the competition." Eva turned and looked back down at her schoolmates. "Any news about our travel plans?"

"Yes, your mother has just arrived and she is speaking with the Headmaster. You will be leaving tomorrow morning at sunrise."

"Portkey?" asked Eva.

"Yes, directly to your cousins home."

"I've never been so sad about going to see Brianna."

"You don't have any reason to be sad. You will be returning to England in a few weeks."

"But it's a few weeks where I won't be able to see Harry." Eva turned to her father. Her eyes were hiding none of the pain she felt. "One of these days, you're going to remember just how you felt when you couldn't see Mum, then you'll know how I feel."

"I know how you feel, Eva. The difference between that and this is: Harry will not wait for you. You two are too young to really know what true love is."

Eva turned back to the window, this time looking at the sky. "You know, Grandfather told me that my Healing gift came from a connection to the Snape family. I got to read about it. You know what else I found out? I read that Healers pass on their wisdom and knowledge through the ages." She turned her face back to her father. It had an expression of real peace. "I know that I will be with Harry. He's my soul-mate."

"How do you know that?" asked Severus.

"I had a dream about him. We both dreamt about each other, the same night, actually. I've read that that only happens with true soul mates. Their connection is so strong that it doesn't matter how far away they are from each other, they can reach the other person by just thinking about them."

Severus stood rooted to his spot. He never really had seen Eva as she was. He'd always seen her as the child he'd not been able to hold and raise, as he would have liked to. Now, here she was, telling him about love. "If it's really love, then you will be able to wait for the right time."

"I know," said Eva. "I'll wait forever for him, Dad. As long as it takes. I'll wait."

Eva expected to eat dinner with her mother that night. Saveage was not needed in the Great Hall and since she was here, Eva guessed she would join her daughter in her rooms. Eva waited for her to come, but half an hour after seven, there was no sign of Saveage. She sighed and looked at the plate in front of her. Severus had sent up a house elf with her plate, but she was no longer hungry.

She felt like this was her last meal. In reality, it was. This was her last meal at Hogwarts. She would be leaving at first light tomorrow morning. She poked at her food and only ate a few bites. She rose from her seat and went to her bedroom. She changed into her pajamas and looked at the two trunks that were at the foot of her bed. The second was a trunk that had been packed by the house elves of Nocturino Manor. It contained the Muggle clothes that she would need in California.

Eva wondered how they were going to convince Draco to wear Muggle clothes while they were in the States. It was not as common for wizards there to wear robes. Brianna made the excuse that California was too sunny half the time to be wearing such voluminous clothing. Eva usually walked around in short shorts or skirts and tank tops or halters. Even the thought of going to the beach and to parties with Brianna did not cheer her up. She knew she was going to be miserable not being able to see Harry.

Resigning herself to a lonely evening, Eva pulled out one of her Tolkien books and began to read. This was the only way she was going to be able to sleep tonight.

At the same time, a gang of students was waiting outside of the entrance to Professor Dumbledore's office. The Headmaster did not know what to make of the situation, but knew it had something to do with one of the students being punished, definitely not Pansy. "May I help you?" he asked Neville, the student closest to him.

"We were hoping you would be able to tell us where Eva is? And if we can see her? She wasn't at the Leaving Feast," he explained.

"I realize that, Mr. Longbottom. It was part of her punishment for the duel she and Miss Parkinson had at the beginning of the week. She is in her rooms and she is not allowed to have visitors."

Saveage was just passing by; she planned to spend the night with Severus, since she would not be seeing him until their return as well. "I'm sure Eva would enjoy your company," said Saveage. She turned to Professor Dumbledore. "Please, Professor, she will not see them again, for who knows how long. I'm sure a few minutes will not hurt."

The Headmaster conceded and the group of students marched up the stairs. Hermione was in the lead of them and she knocked on the door. Eva answered in her pajamas and she smiled widely at her friend.

"I had hoped Dumbledore would let you up here," she said.

"Your Mum convinced him. I brought a few people, too." Hermione entered and the dozens of students behind her followed.

Eva was dizzy from seeing all the students enter her room. They had all come to bid her farewell. Each one walked in and shook her hand or gave her a hug and told her how nice it had been to know her and spend time with her; there were a few who expressed their condolences about her grandparents. One of the Ravenclaws even shared that she was now friends with a Slytherin. Eva smiled and hugged each person. Her melancholy mood was forgotten.

Some of the students did not stay long, and soon they were all gone to their dormitories. Eva sat down in one of the chairs and looked at the handful of students still in her room. Hermione and Draco were smooshed into one chair; Neville, Ginny and Ron were sharing her sofa and she was sitting in the chintz chair opposite Draco. The only one missing was Harry. "I'm glad you lot came to say goodbye. I didn't think I'd get a chance tomorrow," said Eva.

"We're sorry that you had to go like this," said Neville. "We'll all owl you during the summer. And I'm sure Mum and Dad will let me go to Nocturino Manor before school starts."

"That would be great, Neville," said Eva.

"I'm sure Mum and Dad wouldn't mind Ginny and me going over either. Maybe we can all make a weekend out of it," suggested Ron.

"What about you, 'Mione?" asked Draco. "Since I am going to be there until I find a new house, will you visit?"

"Of course I'm going to visit," she said and planted a kiss on his cheek.

"Get a room," teased Eva. Hermione stuck her tongue out at her.

The students stayed in Eva's room until curfew. Draco offered to spend the night with her, knowing that she would have a hard time sleeping, but Eva refused. She wanted to be alone in her misery. She held Neville back for a minute, though.

"Would you tell Harry I said goodbye? But make sure he knows that I'm only saying goodbye because I plan on saying hello again."

"Why don't you go and tell him yourself, Eva?" asked Neville.

"I can't. If I see him, I don't think I'll be able to leave." Eva looked up at the ceiling to hold back the tears. "Just tell him I said goodbye, okay?"

"Yeah, I will." Neville kissed her cheek and told her to take care of herself. He would keep his promise, but he'd make sure that Eva and Harry said goodbye in person.

The next morning, just before sunrise, Neville woke up and tiptoed across the dormitory. He pulled back Harry's curtains and was surprised to see an empty bed.

"I'm over here, Neville," said Harry from the window box. He'd developed the habit of sitting there when he couldn't sleep.

Neville walked over to him and leaned against the wall. "She's leaving in about an hour," he said.

"I know."

"Aren't you going to say goodbye?" asked Neville.

"I hate goodbye's Neville," Harry said sadly. "They're so permanent."

Neville chuckled at that. "Funny. Last night, Eva told me to make sure I said goodbye to you, for her. She wanted you to know that she's only saying goodbye because she plans on saying hello again. She sounded a bit worried that you might not want to hear that hello," said Neville. It wasn't a complete lie, Eva did sound sad, but he'd just interpreted her silence in his own way. It had its desired affect.

Harry stood from his seat and hurriedly put on some clothes. He went back to the window where Neville was watching him. He looked down and saw the magical carriage that was to take Eva to Hogsmeade and then they would take the Knight Bus to London and then Portkey to the U.S. "What if she won't wait for me, Neville?" he asked without taking his eyes off the carriage.

"She'll wait, Harry. Just go and ask her if you don't believe me."

Harry needed no more prompting. He ran out of the dormitory and into the dark corridors of Hogwarts. He would normally have been afraid of being seen by Mrs. Norris, but his fright of the cat was overcome by fright of not seeing Eva before she left. He arrived at the front of the school breathless and looked for her. She wasn't anywhere near the carriage, which was being loaded by house elves.

"Morning, Potter," said Draco from behind him.

Harry turned and saw Draco carrying his bag at his side. "Morning, Malfoy. Where's Eva?" he asked.

"And here I thought you came to see me off," he teased. "She's just behind."

Harry waited for her. Eva came out of the doors dressed in her long cape and hood. She did not look up from the floor until she heard Harry's voice. "Eva?"

"Harry?" she called. He was in front of her in an instant. "What are you doing out here? You should be in bed."

"I didn't want you leaving without hearing me say goodbye," he explained.

"I thought Neville said goodbye for me," said Eva, confused.

"It's not the same as hearing it from the person."

"But it's a lot easier."

Harry nodded and looked over his shoulder. He caught sight of Snape coming out of the doors with Eva's Mum. "Eva? I wanted to ask you something."

"Anything."

Harry cupped her face in his hands and she moved closer to him and put her hands on his chest. "Will you wait for me?" he asked, his voice in a whisper.

"Yes, Harry, I will wait for you. I'll wait as long as it takes for you to do whatever you want. I'll wait for Auror training, anything. Promise you'll be there in the end?"

"I promise," he whispered. Knowing that Snape was just a few feet away, Harry lowered his lips to Eva's. He tried to tell her just how much he loved her and how much he would miss her in that one kiss.

When he pulled back, Eva had tears on her cheeks. "I love you, too, Harry."

Severus had helped Saveage into the carriage and Draco was waiting for Eva to enter. "Eva, it's time to go," said Severus.

Eva nodded her head, but reached for Harry's hands. She lifted them to her lips and kissed his palms. She put them one on top of the other, and in doing so, slipped a small two-way mirror in his hand. She had another and both were small enough to fit in a pocket. "Whenever you want to talk," she whispered and kissed his cheek.

Eva quickly turned and allowed Draco to help her into the carriage. The Slytherin boy turned to Harry and smirked. "Guess I'll see you next year, Harry?"

"That's right, Draco."

Severus watched in wonder as the two shook hands and Draco entered the carriage. The vehicle began to move on its own, carrying away the hearts of both of the men who were standing at the doors of Hogwarts.

Mattie Robertson

May 2004

(Sniff, sniff) Well, that's it, but don't throw your mouses at me yet! I will have a sequel to this. It's already begun actually, but not going to be posted. (I'm not your average writer, I tend to start in the middle and then move up and down) With any luck I will have it by the end of the summer. Email me, flame me, drive by my house, anything! Just let me know what you think. :o) I look forward to your reviews, and thanks for hanging in there! Happy reading, Mattie :o)