Severus opened his weary eyes to the sun in the morning sky. He was still laying in a pool of his dried blood in the shack as his eyes surveyed the surroundings. One teary eyed Hermione Granger knelt beside him. He eyes traveled to his hand in her palm. He gave it a squeeze. "You're alive!" She smiled more broadly than he'd ever seen.

"Due to some know-it-all disobeying instructions," his vibrato was a near whisper as she wrapped her arms around him.

"A wise man once told me that not everything should be done according to the books," Her hot tears pressed against his neck.

"Is it… done?" he dared to ask as she pulled away.

"It's over," she spoke with sweet assurance, "Voldemort is no more."

"We did it, Professor." Severus noted the voice of young Potter now on his knees beside Miss Granger. So the boy-who-lived had lived to see another day. His efforts were not in vain. And suddenly, Harry bleeding Potter was wrapping his arms around his teacher's prone frame. "How can I ever thank you enough?"

Severus took a moment to examine the foreign situation in front of him. The boy who hated him for years was now treating him like a saint. One which he certainly was not. He snorted at the irony. "You can get off."

"Oh! Right," Harry pulled back swiftly and straightened his glasses, "sorry."

Severus noted how young Mister Weasley remained in the doorway. "Not going to get yours in as well, are you?"

"No thanks," Ron shook his head. "I think 'Mione and Harry have learned more than I care to know about."

"As usual," Snape smiled.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Ron stomped his foot as his friends laughed at the shared joke. It was over. After years of torture and despair, it was finally over.

Hogwarts. The place that had both literally and metaphorically almost been his tomb. That was, until one bright eyed and bushy-haired girl changed his world. After he had made a full recovery from his injuries, and from a lengthy trial, he'd filed the resignation papers he'd been holding in his cabinet- practically since he'd started the position.

"Oh, Severus," Headmaster McGonagall shook her head as her spectacled eyes perused the paper. "I'm sorry we could not have understood one another better during the war. But, are you sure you want to leave the position?"

"I've never been more certain, Minerva. My reasons for taking up this position have long been fulfilled." He looked to her, "I for one thought your Gryffindors would be celebrating the occasion."

The corners of her wrinkled lips quirked, "Perhaps the ones who have had you, yes. But the ones who have heard of you, they will be awfully disappointed."

"Embellishment is the mark of a Gryffindor story," he stated while thinking of one in particular. "Being a better judge of character than Albus, I trust that the Head of Slytherin House won't be some Lockhart or Umbridge... or worse?"

"You may put your faith in me, Severus. I know that those children need a strong leader now more than ever. Can you guess who it was that made certain I knew?"

Severus looked back from his stance at the window.

"It was Miss Granger," she smiled proudly, a smile which she noted was reciprocated on Severus' face. "You must have had a positive effect on the girl in some fashion. She positively advocated for Slytherins both young and not so young. Why, she was even more passionate than her S.P.E.W days!"

He laughed through his nose, "You're wrong you know. I believe… it was the girl who was responsible for any positive impacts… on me."

The Headmaster was startled by his wistful expression. Then her eyes began to twinkle with Dumbledore's warmth. "Good bye, Severus. And thank you, for all of your service."

One Summer Later

"Severus, are you ready?" Hermione asked as she finished placing an earring in each ear. She checked her hair and makeup in the mirror once more. She was not one to waste time on such frivolous things and the sight of her done up reflection caused her stomach to flip. Was the style too revealing?

"As I'll ever be," he spoke as he rounded the corner to their bedroom, stopping to admire the girl who had become the woman before him. "You're a vision in that black dress," he spoke as the back of his hand caressed her cheek, ending under her chin to bring her into a kiss. How had one so intelligent, so vivaciously bold and stubbornly beautiful chosen to be his? He would never know. But he was determined to never let her go. She deepened it by placing her arms around his shoulder. "Why is it we have to go again?" His words ghosted her lips.

She smiled as she pulled away, "I've been accepted to a position at the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, and you said you would whisk me off somewhere to celebrate."

"And what if I would like to celebrate here, in our bedroom, Miss Granger?" His lips grazed the column of her throat.

"Then," she took a breath as her heart beat out of time, "I would say this was an awful waste of lipstick and silk."

His fingers traced up the slit in her dress, up her stockinged legs to the juncture of her thighs. "Oh, I wouldn't call it a waste. Never a waste."

She ran her fingers through his hair as he continued his administrations. She cried out as his lips expertly captured her breast. "Well," she breathed, "perhaps we do have a bit of time…"

His coal colored eyes sought hers with hunger as her lifted her squealing to the bed.

One hour later, a satisfied Hermione was attempting to fix her wild hair in the mirror.

"You look ravishing," Severus purred by her ear, planting another kiss on her exposed throat. To her, he was ravishing as well, adorned in a fancier version of his buttoned black robes.

"Where are we going, anyway?"

"You'll see," Severus gave an enigmatic smile. His smile came more easily and often these days. She had yet to see a show of teeth, but she couldn't help but smile back. "Take my hand."

"What? We're apparating?"

He gave a simple nod.

"A- All right." She spoke as she placed her hand in his. "I haven't done this in an awfully long time."

"Trust me," he affirmed.

She closed her eyes as she placed her head against his chest. "You know I do."

Their occlumency connection made it the most seamless apparating experience she had ever known, for once she blinked her eyes she found they'd arrived at the location. And it was one she could never forget. "The Shrieking Shack…" she whispered into the candlelit darkness.

"Hermione," Severus spoke as he grasped each of her hands in his own. "One year ago, on this spot, my life would have ended. It is all thanks to you that I stand here today."

Hermione's eyes grew wide, reflecting the flickering flames.

"And, now, I would like to kneel before you," he spoke as he sunk slowly, "and offer you my life once more. Everything I am will always be in your hands. Hermione Jean Granger, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?" He held a citrine ring in his tremulous fingers, a symbol of their passion, a phoenix returned from the ashes.

"Yes!" Her tears fell unbidden, "Severus, yes." She whispered, "I will."

As he slipped the ring onto her finger, she was rewarded by that rare smile with teeth. She wrapped her arms around him, and he around her: both noting how well they fit another's frame. For the first time in Severus' life, all was truly well.

A/N: OMG It's OVER! IT'S OVER! If you've read this from the beginning, bravo on graduating from Hogwarts for a second time because you've been with Severus and Hermione for seven magical years. Thank you dear reader. Let us leave them to their marital bliss.