This is it, y'all! We've come full circle—kinda? You'll see! (Depends on how much you remember from the first chapter)

With the time differences, they were all more than a little knackered when they finally returned home. However, sleep didn't come easy for every member of the family once they finally settled into bed. Severus and Hermione both lay there, groaning at the fact that it was past midnight and that waking up in the morning would likely be difficult with every passing moment that they remained awake.

Grunting slightly, Hermione burrowed deeper into Severus so that his chest was pressed up against her back. He immediately threw his top arm over her to land first on her shoulder, sliding lower to eventually rest on her protruding stomach.

She wasn't sure how much time had passed, but she could tell that he was similarly awake a while later with the way he shifted in response to the slightest movement from her.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Hermione turned around to face Severus, confirming that he was indeed wide awake.

"That would depend on what you are thinking."

"I bet the boys have their windows open."

That was not what he was thinking.

"I'm going to go make sure all the windows are closed in each of the boys' rooms. Come with?"

"For heaven's sake." Still, as he wasn't about to get any sleep, he easily rolled out of bed and followed her, somewhat disappointed that their thoughts hadn't lined up. Even though it was still August—ergo, summertime—the seaside breeze got colder in the late hours and Hermione made it a habit to close the windows, despite the fact that all three of them protested and told her that they enjoyed the cold air. "The easiest way to get them to close those would be to not close them, thereby giving them horrible colds so they know to listen to you next time. Not this." Nonetheless, he went along with her, the two of them silenced as they first headed to Bryan's room.

Hermione made a beeline for the window, drawing it shut before moving back to stand beside Severus. He opened his mouth to speak, but his breath caught at the way she was glancing at their son.

"When did my baby get so big?"

Severus didn't answer, knowing that she wasn't expecting him to.

"Just yesterday we were taking him home, frantically wondering if we would make adequate parents."

Though he could not perfectly relate, he knew such a time would be coming for him sooner rather than later.

"And you've done a fine job."

"We've, Severus. We've."

He relented. "We've." Hermione evidently wasn't done staring at Bryan's sleeping form, so he let his eyes linger as well. He really ought to stop referring to him as a boy, he thought. The person in front of him was nothing less than a young man. More than a few times, now being one of them, he wished he'd had the opportunity to watch him grow. Though Hermione had been slowly sharing memories with him, he still felt guilt sometimes—even knowing that it could not possibly be his fault that he wasn't part of Bryan's—heck, all three of their—earlier years.

Even after Hermione emphasized all the more unsavory and stressful episodes that young Bryan had put them through, he still found that he wished he'd experienced it all.

"Sickle for your thoughts?" Her expression had softened as she saw the look in Severus's eyes.

"Stop looking at me the same way you just finished looking at Bryan," he answered immediately, though there was no acerbity in his tone. It certainly saved him from answering the question. "I'd like to think that you love us differently."

It did the trick; Hermione paused in her tracks and scowled at him. "Oh, certainly. For both your sakes."

As they stepped out of Bryan's room and headed toward Roman's, he placed a hand on her back. "As you said, he's a young man now. It's time to let him be."

"But I don't want him to have a cold," she joked, understanding his point perfectly. At his stern look, she capitulated. "You're right, I know. And it's not like I haven't still got time with the younger ones, eh?"

They made it to Roman's room, and it was Severus this time who walked over to the open window and snapped it shut.

"Yes, years." He looked fondly at his soon-to-be second youngest. "Why did I resign from teaching again? I won't be able to see him and Johnny every day anymore."

"So you could see me everyday," Hermione responded immediately, sticking her tongue out at him.

"You believe you outrank our children?"

She pretended to give it some thought.

"I love all of you," he put in before she could answer. "I didn't think it was possible, but it's happened."

Hermione beamed at him. Then, because she couldn't resist, she stepped forward and brushed some of the long hair from Roman's fringe out of his eyes. The boy stirred but didn't wake. Gesturing to Severus, the two made their final stop in Johnny's room.

Technically, it wasn't completely necessary—his window was closed, and both of them found that more than a little bit amusing. "We know who the obedient one is."

The recently-turned fifteen-year-old had experienced a growth spurt, and he was now as gangly as ever, though that wasn't completely evident under the covers and the dim light.

"Though he's also fast approaching adulthood, I'm glad I got these years with him."

Hermione simply smiled at him, not trusting her voice to sound normal. She blamed the pregnancy hormones.

Not staying much longer, the two returned to their room and climbed back into bed. The walk around the house hadn't helped their lack of sleepiness—if anything, they were even more awake now. Lying there, both attempted to doze off by remaining quiet. The peace wasn't to last.

"Has Johnny spoken to you about his desire to officially be a Snape again?" Severus's voice was like velvet in the darkness.

Hermione, who'd been forcefully keeping her eyes shut in the hope that it would help her fall asleep, opened them, even if she couldn't see anything in the dark. "Actually, he hasn't, but that doesn't mean I don't know."

"We had a whole conversation yesterday. He enjoys the anonymity he didn't previously have back in the future, but he doesn't want to go on using 'Sawyer' forever. Additionally, he was concerned for my privacy—the papers would pick up immediately if a student or two changed their names to mine, he rightfully said."

"Is this leading anywhere?"

"The press is already searching high and low for me. If we are to live the way we plan to, they won't find us no matter how hard they try. I think it only fair that Johnny—and Roman, if he is interested—get to change their names back to who they really are, if it's what they want. Obviously, with Bryan settling in the muggle world, this isn't an issue for him."

Hermione turned on the lamp, all pretense on sleep gone, but Severus scowled at the sudden light and turned it off. "What do you think?"

"Of course I'd rather our sons be Snapes than Sawyers. I'm wary of the attention that's going to give them, but I'm warier of how we'd pull that off and make it seem like a logical course of action without making anyone suspicious."

"Well, our son had quite the idea." Hermione marveled that it was the first time she'd heard him say 'our son.' "He thought we could claim that I'd married his mother—not you, mind you, but his 'mother'—making me his stepfather. Then, I'd adopt him and give him my name."

"That doesn't sound outrageous—"

"And then have you killed."

"What?" Hermione's brows scrunched in confusion, though it was unseen in the dark.

"Of course, that's unnecessary—there could be a number of less fatal ways to make me a single man again."

"I'm not following—"

"So that I'd be free to marry you, of course." It was such a casual remark that Hermione was momentarily floundered. Yes, they'd spoken of false marriages in order to attend Josephine's family event, but both had skirted around the topic of actual marriage. Her because she didn't want to rush him, and him because, well, he hadn't worked himself up to it yet. Until now.

"Severus?"

Clearly, his mouth got ahead of his mind and spoke without his permission, as he had not planned on doing this here and now. Still, he was unprepared for the utter relief that flooded him now that he'd gotten the hard part out of the way. He continued talking, much of it coming naturally.

"I haven't got a ring yet—I imagined we could go together—but we're already living with each other, and with three, soon to be four children between us, I don't see a reason to wait. So?"

There was silence, and Severus almost wished that he'd not turned off the lamp so he could see her expression.

"What kind of bloody proposal was that? We're both in bed, and you didn't even ask!" Hermione was only teasing—she'd never been one for mushy romantic gestures, not to mention this was much more in-character to the gruff Severus she knew. "Say it properly."

"What, you won't answer 'less I 'kneel down and everything'?" His voice had taken on a joking manner, and Hermione wondered if he was smiling in the dark. As if reading her mind, Severus used his wand to cast a soft lumos.

"I don't need you to kneel. We're comfortable right here." She cozied up against him and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek. "Go on."

Severus pretended to sigh loudly, as if saying the actual words would cost him a lot of effort. The acting was so exaggerated that Hermione giggled and gave him a tiny shove, also in fun. "Will you marry me?"

She pretended to consider the offer. He watched as she made a face. "Just a little bit more. One more try."

He rolled his eyes but complied. "I don't know what stroke of luck brought you to me, but you've given me something that I didn't know existed; that I didn't know I needed to survive. Hermione Jean Granger, will you marry—"

"Yes!"

"I can't be responsible for not saying it properly if you interrupt me!"

"Oh, bugger that. You knew the answer was yes from the beginning." She leaned over fully and he caught her in his embrace. Hermione could not have felt more wholesome anywhere else.

She was right where she wanted to be, and sneaking suspicion told her that the same could be said for him.

fin.

May or may not have an epilogue coming; for now this is complete, but... (translation, I caved and am now writing a little addendum)

Y'all, I'm feeling separation anxiety already from this story. A big thank you to all the people who joined me in this journey. I never imagined that I'd surpass 200k words (or even 100k!) but I did that and more!

Many of you have messaged/reviewed to tell me how much you love this family, and gosh, how I love them too! I mentioned a prequel in the works—it's more than a little rudimentary at the moment and likely very, very far from seeing the light of day. I bring this up though, because my brainstorms went a different direction as well: while creating the three Snape boys, I was drawn to them in their own ways. Bryan, in particular, was particularly interesting for me to flesh out. As this story was primarily from Hermione's POV, no matter how well she knew her boys, I felt that I couldn't truly illustrate the inner workings of Bryan's mind, which, as we discovered later on, was much more intricate than what it seemed at first.

And so what I'm trying to say is... I know very few people would be interested in an OC/OC story (Bryan/Lia, ha!) but it very well may happen.

Here are the directions I plan on going:

-short one shots, similar to Batman Daddy and Fateful April

-SS/HG prequel

-Bryan/Lia, stretching before and after this fic

-unrelated SS/HG

But I digress. Once again, I cannot thank everyone enough for caring about this brainchild of mine. You guys are the best! Even if you've never reviewed and just read (which I'm guilty of doing on occasion), thank you, and I highly encourage you to leave a review on your way out so I know you were by! Hopefully, you'll be reading more from me sooner rather than later x (hint hint, author alert)