The next couple of days are busy with finalizing the wedding plans. Severus keeps his distance from everyone, wishing that the holiday break was over so he could miss the wedding and go back to terrorizing his students.

Hermione races to find the hospital's wedding chapel, already being a few minutes late. Gillian looks worriedly at Willem, but smiles when she sees Hermione. The wedding march starts to play as she walks down the aisle towards Aleksandr. She watches a very unhappy Severus who is forced to stand by his brother's side because of a family tradition. Aleksandr smiles as she comes to stand beside him. The priest waits until everyone is seated before beginning the ceremony.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to-"

"I object," Hermione says.

"Why?" Aleksandr asks sadly.

"I can't do this."

All eyes are on her, waiting for an explanation. She takes a deep breathe before explaining.

"I lied to you all. I am not a normal person from London. I am a witch, born to muggle parents. I was placed in Gryffindor at Hogwarts and was friends with Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. I left the wizarding world because I could not live with myself after I spoke one of the unforgivables, even if it was to defeat the Dark Lord. Severus and Dumbledore were the only ones that knew it was me who killed Voldemort."

Everyone sits in silence thinking about what she just said. Aleksandr is the first to break it.

"Hermione, it doesn't matter to me that you used one of the unforgivables. I still want to marry you."

She closes her eyes, tears now falling down her cheeks.

"I would still have to object," she states and they wait for her to continue. "The truth is, I was never engaged to you, Aleksandr," she sighs heavily. "We hadn't even spoken, but maybe two words to each other before you had your accident. There was a mix up with someone saying that I was your fiancée. I wanted to tell you all the truth, but for the first time since my parents and best friends were murdered, I felt like I belonged somewhere. And I just didn't want to give that up. I know I've hurt you all, and I am deeply sorry." She wipes at her eyes and leaves.

Severus starts to go after her, but his mother stands in his way.

"Let her go, Severus," she whispers. "She needs time."

He sighs, knowing that his mother is right.

He goes the rest of the holiday break without seeing or hearing from her. He

returns to Hogwarts and is worse than he ever was before, deducting points if anyone sneezed or coughed. He even takes away points from his own house.

Hermione slips into an even deeper depression than she had before. She goes as far as quitting her job and not eating for days at a time. Her days and nights all become one big blur from not sleeping. She stops paying her rent and ends up being evicted. As she packs her belongings, she runs across the black leather bound potions book that Severus gave her.

"Maybe it's time to go back."

She finishes packing and for the first time in years, she uses a spell to shrink the boxes down so they fit in her pockets, and apparates to Oxford.

It was one night in late January that Severus overheard Dumbledore telling McGonagall that Hermione had returned to Oxford. A rare smile crossed his lips, then disappeared as quickly as it had come, for fear some dunderheaded student wandering about might see. That had been the first piece of good news he had heard since he came back from Christmas break. For the rest of his stroll though the corridors, he thought of only one thing.

It didn't take long for Hermione to get back into the ways of the wizarding world, even though a few things were different. Her whole outlook on life had changed and she saw all the good that had come from using an unforgivable. Having gone through what she had, she realized that there are more important things in life than dwelling on things in the past. She had become quite popular at Oxford, had a ton of friends, but there was still one thing missing.

The day after classes at Hogwarts let out for the summer, Hermione gathered up all her courage and went to see Severus. She knocked on the potions door, scared to death that he would send her away without a second glance.

"Come in," he growls angrily. She opens the door, gingerly. He snarls at the towering stacks of papers on his desk. "As you can see, I am terribly busy, so would you just spit out whatever it is that you came down here to say and be on your way," he says coldly.

"I'm sorry I bothered you. I will leave," Hermione replies sadly.

His head snaps up to look at his visitor.

"Hermione? No, please stay," he says standing up and walking over to her. "Please, sit."

She smiles and takes a seat on one of the desks.

"How have you been, Severus?"

"I think you already know the answer to that," he says as he sits next to her. She nods her head. "I hear you went back to Oxford."

"Yeah, I decided that it was time to come back." They sit in an awkward silence. "Severus?" He looks at her. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you the truth about what really happened with your brother."

"You don't owe me an apology."

"Yes, I do. I forgot everything that I had learned from you when I started living in the muggle world. I was stuck on the fact that I was no longer perfect for using an unforgivable, and I let it destroy me. What I only realized after the fiasco at Christmas was that everyone makes mistakes, but not all mistakes turn out bad. Some do have happy endings."

"What are you getting at?"

She leans over slowly and kisses him softly.

"I love you, Severus," she breathes.

"I love you, too, Hermione," he whispers as he gently runs a hand over her face before reclaiming her lips in a tender kiss.

She smiles at him as he pulls her into an embrace.

A few weeks later, Hermione stands in front of the door leading into the Snape family home. She knocks tentatively, a

little nervous since this is the first time she has seen the family since Christmas. Andrea excitedly answers the door and ushers her into the house.

"Andrea, what's going on?" she asks looking back at her as she stumbles through the foyer.

"You'll see," she responds, pushing Hermione into the sitting room.

Hermione stops dead in her tracks. Severus stands in the center of the room, Gillian and Willem on either side of him with smiles on their faces.

"Severus?" Hermione questions.

He smiles as he walks to stand in front of her and takes her hands in his.

"I don't want to waist anymore time. I want to be able to hold you in my arms all night long, and wake up with you every morning for the rest of my life."

He reaches into his pocket as he gets down on one knee. Hermione's breathe catches in her throat as he opens a tiny black velvet box to reveal a beautiful diamond ring.

"Hermione, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife? Will you marry me?"

"Yes," she says smiling as tears slide down her face.

He slips the ring onto her finger as his family cheers and kisses her tenderly.

They stand before friends and family a little over a month later in a beautiful rose garden just south of Hogsmeade. A tear slides down Hermione's face as Severus says his vows and places a ring onto her finger. Her voice quivers as she does the same. He smiles as the priest pronounces them husband and wife and leans in to give her a tender kiss.

After a long honeymoon in Florence, Italy, Severus and Hermione returned back to Hogwarts just before the start of term. Thanks to Dumbledore and the headmaster at Oxford, Hermione was able attend her classes via the Floo Network.

That Christmas, Hermione and Severus joined his family for dinner and to exchange gifts. Since the wedding, Aleksandr and Severus had managed to work out a few problems between them. At least now they were being some what friendly to one another.

Hermione stood in the entry way to the sitting room, watching Severus and Andrea play with the puppy she received from her parents when Aleksandr came from the dinning room to stand next to her.

"How are you doing?" he asks her quietly.

"Pretty well, thank you," she responds as she places a hand on her slightly enlarged abdomen.

He looks down at her hand for a few moments before looking over at his brother, then back at her.

"Hermione, can I ask you something?"

"Sure. What is it?"

"When did you fall in love with Severus?"

She turns her attention away from her husband and looks at Aleksandr.

"It was while you were sleeping."

The End