Disclaimer: LittleFics does not own any part of this story. Harry Potter is the property of J.K. Rowling, and is not LittleFics intellectual property. There is no financial gain made from this nor will any be sought. This is for entertainment purposes only.

Her fugue, His Lie, and Their Story

Epilogue

Black didn't suit Poppy, Severus thought as he took a hesitant step into the room. It was crowded, not noisy, but low murmuring echoed off the walls. Severus sunk into the darkness of the corner beside John's old bookcase with a bracing breath. He absolutely despised this sort of thing but he had to be there for Poppy- as old and frail as she was, there was no getting around it. He took another deep breath, leaning his head against the wall.

She was there. He could feel it.

Of course, Severus knew this would happen, but it didn't make it any less shocking. Poppy and John had stepped in as her surrogate parents so there was no reason to have possibly believed she would miss John's very funeral. Severus patted the folded parchment in coat pocket if only to stop the fluttering in his chest. The invisible ropes of fate were wrapping themselves around his ribs and yanking him towards the window.

Severus dared to raise his gaze. He had been thoroughly preparing for this moment ever since the news came that John had finally died, but still, his heart stopped.

Hermione stood with her youngest daughter, rocking a whining baby under the dark September sky. Her greying hair was cascading from her bun in tresses. There were wrinkles in the corners of her eyes and age spots on her hands, but when she smiled at the new baby Severus saw the beautiful girl he had left in the garden.

He just stood there, transfixed. Over half a century may have had passed them by but nothing had changed. He still loved her like he had loved nothing else in his life. Not the woman who he had fathered a son with and now had two sons of his own, not his mother, not Poppy or Minerva- not even Lily.

He could have stood and watched her for the rest of his life, but a tug at the bottom of his coat brought him back to reality. It was a little red-headed girl looking up at him with big honey colored eyes. There was a time when a child would not have dared to tug on his coat like that, but he had mellowed since then and now they simply saw him as an old, docile man.

"Granny Pol say you ought to come see her. The little girl said, "She says if you hang around in that corner much longer you'll both be dead."

Despite himself, Severus laughed. He looked over to Poppy wrapped up in a shawl and appearing oddly out of place in her own home without John flanking her side. Her body may have crumbled but her mind certainly had not.

"She might have a point," said Severus, "Well, speaking of grannies," he pointed out the window to where Hermione and her daughter were still standing, "does that happen to be yours?"

She nodded proudly, "Yep, that's my granny. She's going to be Minister for Magic, you know?"

"I have no doubt that she is… I used to know her."

"You used to love her," the girl replied in a teasing voice, "she told me so. She said she has a place in her heart that will always be for you. Ewwwww."

"Really?" Severus felt a lump spring up in his throat. "She said that?"

"Sure."

He patted the parchment in his pocket once more before finally gathering the courage to pull it out and place it in her hands. He knew what was on it had the ability to change both of their lives for better or for worse, but Hermione's granddaughter had just given him the very little assurance he needed. It was a risk he was willing to take now that life had marched on and he didn't have any more time to waste- at his age, time wasn't much.

"Would you do me a favor and take this to her? I'll watch you from the window. We'll see how fast you can get there."

"Okay," she took the letter hesitantly, "but don't start timing me until I get to the door. There's too many people in the way."

Severus nodded silently. He watched, every muscle tight, as the girl took off with the parchment. Her red curls bounced in only the way that a child's could behind her. Through the window, Severus saw her cross the garden to her grandmother and push the parchment into her hand. She pointed hurriedly to the window and then flew back towards the house in such a swift motion that he barely had time to even rethink his decision. Hermione looked, confused, in the direction of the widow. For a brief moment he thought she caught his eye. She quickly handed the baby over to its mother, unfolded the letter and began to read.

The girl arrived back out of breath a moment later with rosy cheeks and a wide grin on her face, "How was that?"

"It was perfect," said Severus, absentmindedly. Hermione's eyes were growing red with tears, "Perfect."

My Dearest Hermione,

As I look back on that day some sixty years ago now, when we stood together for the last time in Poppy and John's garden, I remember thinking that you had your whole life in front of you. I know now you saw this to be true, even if in that moment you did not want to believe it was not I who was to be a part of that life. You said, then, that you loved me for what I was, but I never told you everything I did during and before the war, and I am, and was what I did, as we all are.

They write in the history books about you and your friends- and me. But every time I see my face staring back up from the same page as yours, I shudder. I am not proud of the younger man I was in those photographs. There was so much that needed to undergo change. I lived in a world that would never be the same as I had once imagined it, where blood and lies no longer carried the same weight, and I was very good with lies.

Of course, I was never lying when I said I loved you. I meant it with every beat of my heart. But I had said it before and meant it just as much and I decided that was not fair to you. Why of all people did I deserve two great loves? I wasn't a good man. Just because I got a hero's ending didn't make me one. I could have played my role and been better. If I had only had the courage to tell you all the things I could have done and did not, you may have seen me differently.

But one thing I will never regret is in regard to you. When I could have taken your hand, right there in Poppy and John's garden, and held it in mine for the rest of my life. It would have been the greatest fault I ever suffered to cheat you out of your marriage to Mr. Weasley, and your children, and your children's children. So if you have ever resented me for that moment all those years ago, know that I have not once resented myself.

It is true, I still feel our connection and I'm certain you do too. I've traveled far and wide to deafen the grief I hold on to for what could not have been. But grief is the price we pay for love and you know this. Your price was paid just last December, when your husband of these sixty years fell protecting our world. There is nothing sharper than a shortened life but always remember that for every ending there is a beginning, for every heartbreak there is a time to heal, and for every love lost there was a love had.

My ending is near too. You see, I am nearly one-hundred years old now. If I am very lucky I shall live as long as John, the man who would have killed me with his bare hands once, and if I am not I have but a short time left. I know I will never be able to take the place of your husband, but now that you have had the life I dreamed you would have, I feel no guilt in propositioning you to be a part of what is left of mine.

I once said that I could never hate a man who loved you. I think Mr. Weasley might feel the same way. Perhaps he'll tell me someday.

Yours Always,

Severus

A/N: THE END. For real! I reallllyyyyy got the silent treatment last chapter so I guess a lot of you were not happy with the ending. Maybe this will make it better? Thanks again for staying with me. I would love to hear anything at all you have to say about any part of this story. Please tell me what you think! Can't believe it's really over ...Cheers, friends!