6: Redeeming Severus Snape

Three months later….

Hermione was humming as she walked through the door of number twelve Grimmauld Place her arms loaded down with brown grocery bags. She had just came in from work and stopped off at the grocery before coming home. Though she still lived here most of the time, many of her nights were spent at Severus family home Spinner's End. She had never seen a place quite like it. Once all the years of dirt and grim had been cleared away she had found that it was quite a charming place to live or just spend the night.

She and Severus had discussed her moving in with him on several different occasions but she had wanted to stay with the rest of the group for a little while longer until Tonks and Ginny had had their babies then she'd move out to make room for them. Not that Harry was pushing it. If anything he was trying to convince her to stay more than he had when she'd first moved in.

'You don't have to leave 'Mione. You know that. We have plenty of room here without you moving out. And besides you can help out with the babies and stuff more if you stay here.' He had told her only the night before after dinner when they had been washing dishes together. She had simply smiled and shook her head.

She wanted to move out and be with Severus full time. After being away from him for four years she wanted to spend as much time as possible with him. She knew that no matter what Harry and Ron would never fully understand her love for him. She had never planed on really telling them about their relationship but she was glad that finally the truth was known.

"I don't believe I agree with you." The voice of Severus Snape floated through the closed kitchen door. Hermione nearly dropped her bags and felt her breath catch. Severus was here, in the house. Harry was going to have a fit.

"I would have to say that he is quite right." The voice of the last person Hermione had ever expected to hear floated through next. Harry sounded slightly amused and slightly stressed at the same time. It was difficult for her to hold inside the scream she felt rising up inside of her. If Harry had allowed Severus into his home then things couldn't have been as bad as she thought. Surely if Harry hadn't wanted Severus in his home then he wouldn't be there. But if Ginny had been around then she would have insisted that he be polite and listen to what the other man had to say. But if that were the case, then why did he sound amused? What was he agreeing with Severus on? The two of them had never agreed on anything.

"Well, if that's really how you feel then I don't see why this shouldn't work out for everyone involved." The voice of Minerva McGonagall floated through next and the woman sounded less than pleased. She had never known McGonagall to be rude or overly sarcastic but the one sentence Hermione had just heard her utter sounded as if it had been forced from her lips.

"Than I will start tomorrow Headmistress?" Severus asked and Hermione felt her heart thump hard against her ribs. What in the world was going on?

"I don't see why not." Was all that the Headmistress said before she rose and Hermione heard the sound of the back door opening and closing a bit harder than necessary.

The slammed door was followed by complete silence and Hermione found herself holding her breath, waiting for one of the two men to say something or someone to come out of the kitchen. There was nothing for a long time and Hermione could almost feel the tension between the two of them through the door. She raised her hand and was about to push the door open when Severus spoke.

"I want to thank you Potter for helping me convince the Headmistress that my return this fall would be beneficial to the school." He said and Hermione heard the sound of a chair scrapping the stone floor and heavy footfalls as if someone was walking across the kitchen. There was a grunt for a response but nothing else. "Minerva would never have agreed to it had you not thought it a good idea." Severus sounded almost as if he were trying to keep a conversation going with the other man in the room. Hermione knew Harry well enough to know that the boy and the man inside him both hated Snape in more ways than anyone could ever imagine. She also knew that Harry would do what was best for Hogwarts School and he would have been quick to agree that returning the former Potions Master to his position would benefit the school greatly. They were making do with temporaries as it seemed no one could hold down the position for very long. The Potions position had became much like the Defense Against the Dark Arts position had once been. Harry had managed to convince McGonagall that she should give the position to Bill Weasley who was now living in England again with his family. The man seemed to be enjoying the challenging position and was thriving. He had been able to hold down the position for four years now which was more than could be said for many of the Professors that Hermione, Harry and Ron had had.

"I merely did what I thought would benefit the school. Nothing more and nothing less." Harry no longer sound amused or stressed but his voice was cold and emotionless. Hermione felt her heart break slightly in her chest. She had had such high hopes that somewhere deep inside of Harry he didn't hate Severus as much as she had thought. But a last she was wrong.

"Of course. I just wanted to say…thank you for believing that it would benefit the school." Severus sounded as if he was trying to control his own hatred for the boy and the man that Harry had become. Hermione sighed and reached up to push open the door when Severus continued and made her stop in mid-shove. "I spent four, almost five years in Azkaban for killing Dumbledore and everyday I kicked myself for the way I acted toward you, Mr Weasley and most of all Hermione. I know that I can't take back all the things I said and did but I do want you to know that I'm sorry for everything. I never should have blamed you for your father's actions when we were in school. And I never should have shoved all the hatred I felt for your mother choosing your father over me off onto you. You are a great man Harry Potter and I admire you greatly for all that you've done." Once again a stressed silence filled the room. Hermione's heart was beating as fast as it had ever beaten before and tears stung her eyes.

She could hardly believe the words she had just heard. The things that Severus had said to Harry she knew would mean something to him. All Harry had ever wanted was for Severus to realize what a git he was being and say that he was sorry. Harry was never one to hold a grudge against someone if they realized their mistakes and tried to redeem themselves. When Harry finally spoke his voice was even and without emotion but Hermione knew that it was a step in the right direction.

"Thank you for you kind words and your apology. They are greatly appreciated." He paused and Hermione heard him draw a deep breath before continuing. "I'm not going to say that I forgive you or am I going to act as if you are my best-mate. I will however treat you with respect and say that you are welcome to visit my home and my family anytime you like. Put I am warning you, if this is some kind of trick you will regret it. I don't want to see Hermione hurt because you are plotting something to get back at me."

"I would never hurt Hermione intentionally and I promise you that I have no ulterior motive in apologizing to you or saying any of the things I have just said. I just want us to be able to come to an understanding so it will be less of a stress on Hermione. She doesn't say it but I know that she feels as if she is going to come to a point where she must choice me or you and I don't want that to happen because honestly…I think she would likely choose you over me. You have been her friend since she was eleven, I've been nothing to her until four years ago when I became her lover for a night and then the next time she saw me I was a murder." Tears that she had been trying to hold back fell from her eyes as she stood there, her arm still lying against the cold wood of the door throbbed from the lack of blood flow. Gods he really understood her better than she did herself. "I think we can both see why she'd choose you over me."

"That and I'm so much better looking." The words came out and Hermione heard the amusement in Harry's tone. He was cracking a joke. He actually had the gall to crack a joke when Severus was saying things that were so sweet and kind. Oh, she was going to kill Harry Potter when she got into the kitchen. But before Hermione could think of a proper curse that would suffice to punish Harry with there was the sound of laughter from both men. Harry's laughter was deep and heartfelt and Severus' sounded as if it hadn't been used in quite sometime. The tears came harder as she pushed open the door and dropped the grocery bags on the floor racing forward and throwing her arms around Severus.

The two were shocked at her sudden appearance but neither of them had time to say anything before Hermione reached up and cradled Severus' face between her hands.

"You are a sweet and wonderful man. I love you so much." She said between sobs and pressed a wet kiss to his cheek before burring her face in the front of Severus' black robes. Though several things had changed about him he had refused to wear any other color but black. He looked up at Harry who was leaning against the stove and the younger man shrugged before pulling his wand out and waving it at the fallen bags of groceries. Instantly the bags leapt up from the floor and onto the table. The contents began to put themselves away with another flick and the man didn't even have to move.

Hermione's sobs finally began to silence and he pulled back slightly to look down at her red cheeked tearstained face. Her pretty brown eyes that he could have stared into for hours were bloodshot and the skin around them puffy and he brought his hand up to whip at the last of the tears that were streaming down her face.

"What brought this on?" He asked watched as she grabbed the front of her robes and used them to whip away the tears. Pulling out his own wand he gave it a quick wave and produced a handkerchief and handed it to her. She took it and blew her nose before handing it back to him. He held it between two fingers and quickly waved his wand to make it disappear. He had never been good with female tears. He hated to see a woman cry and he seldom knew what to say or do in any case. He looked at Harry for answers but the boy just shook his head and turned to leave.

"All those things you said to Harry. About admiring him and being sorry for how you treated us in school. I was standing outside the door and I never meant to listen but I did and I just think that it's the sweetest and most wonderful thing that you've ever done. Oh," she sighed and wrapped her arms around him once more burring her head in his chest.

"I think she's finally cracked Professor Snape. Enjoy." Harry joked and with a smile left the two alone in his kitchen. He would never have thought in a million years that he would openly joke with Severus Snape and he'd never thought that he would defend the man to Headmistress McGonagall either. But he found himself doing both things today.

The words that the man had said to him rang in his head as if there was someone up there with a hammer hitting a bell that every time repeated them over and over. He would not tell Snape he was forgiven and he would not act as if he could just forget the seven years of hell that he had put him through. But he would be civil with the man and he would respect him. And he knew that since Hermione had obviously heard him give Snape an open invitation to visit Grimmauld Place he could expect to see his ex-Potions Master around often.

And Harry really didn't mind. Not at all. Turning the corner into the sitting room with the Black family tree on the walls he wondered where Ginny had gotten off to. She'd been in here reading awhile ago when Snape and McGonagall had arrived. He would have to hunt her down before she got herself into trouble. Gods love his poor little pregnant wife. She was going to be the death of him before the baby was even born. He could just see the headlines now: The Great Harry Potter, Only Known Sirvivor Of The KillIing Curse, Killed By Pregnant Wife Ginny Weasley-Potter.

He heard the sound of Ginny's voice from high above his head shouting profanities the likes of which her mother would likely wash her mouth out had she heard her using them. Even if she was married and having a baby. With a smile on his face and a spring in his step Harry started toward the attic where he knew that his little wife was.

THE END!!!