Hermione sat at Severus' work table on her usual stool, the rickety one that Severus' tried to fix with some paper jammed under it. She looked around his lab, waiting for him to finish with a customer. Today they were going to pick up the keys to their new house. Hermione was excited. It was time for them to move on and move on together.
Severus had left a few composition notebooks sprawled around the lab. She knew how fastidious he was about tidying up before he left for the evening so she set about putting his books back on the shelves where they sat in order of most use.
She gingerly handled the most tatty of his books, the one with the cardboard corners fraying. She smiled at the reminder that he embraced the more old school aspects of his Muggle upbringing. It was one of the things she loved about him.
As Hermione bent down to pick up a scrap of paper that she had accidently knocked off the work bench, she lost her gentle grip on the notebook and it slipped out of her fingers to the floor. Glancing down at the first page it was open to, Hermione noticed some kind of letter affixed to the inside front cover.
Frowning, she picked it up and read it.
When Severus came through the curtain separating his lab from the back area of the shop, Hermione had tears in her eyes.
Before Severus could ask what was going on, she carefully put down the book, walked over to him, leaned up on her tippy toes, and kissed him on the mouth.
Severus had no desire to question what had brought on this sudden flood of affection. He encircled her in his arms and kissed her back.
When they broke apart, he lifted an eyebrow at her.
"That," she whispered, "was for replying to my letter."
/
Well, my dears, after eight years, I have finally finished this story. I will never stop feeling bad for how long it took but if you have hung in there since the beginning, leave me a note. I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. To all my readers, I really hope you've enjoyed this fic. It is definitely one of my favorites. Love to you all always.