Well, well, what do you know, I did it! I finished the story on September the first, like I had planned! It's still September the first in this part of the world, anyway... At least for another hour. But now I really have to sleep.

I hope you have enjoyed this story. I would love to know what you thought about it!

Take care!

Epilogue

"Come on mommy! I'm going to be late!" A very excited eleven-year old boy was jumping up and down in his mother's bed.

The mother groaned and opened her eyes. "It's seven thirty, Thomas. You have already packed and Severus isn't going to pick you up for another three hours."

"But… but…"

She sighed. "Fine… go and take a shower and I'll do some breakfast for us."

"Yippy!" The little boy ran out from the room.

The mother, Hermione Granger, sighed and got up. Who would have thought that the child of Lord Voldemort would be such a happy little boy? Not that anyone knew he was the child of Voldemort. Severus had been more than happy to pretend to be the boy's father. The two others who knew the truth, Harry and Ginny, had promised to never tell a soul. Especially not after they had found out that little Thomas Granger was a very happy and generous boy.

Hermione was still surprised that she had managed to do it. The baby she had got from the iceberg hadn't really been alive and Voldemort hadn't really been dead. Without anyone knowing, she had transported the essence, or life spark of Voldemort into the baby and it had resulted in a perfectly healthy baby boy. The first years, she had been worried that the baby would have Voldemort's memories, but Thomas had never showed any indication that he was the Dark Lord reborn. He had some resembling of Voldemort, but most of them were positive. He had his father's ambitiousness, but unlike his father, he didn't want to become immortal and rule the world. Thomas wanted to get new books and a more candy every Friday, and he worked very hard to get it. He would clean his room, he would (try to) make breakfast and he would help Hermione with the laundry.

Another thing that convinced Hermione that Thomas wasn't Voldemort was that Thomas loved his grandparents. Hugo and Rose had been very surprised, and a bit angry, to find out that Hermione had got a baby and a divorce without telling them. But they had forgiven her after a while and were now more than happy to take care of Thomas if Hermione had to go away for a weekend.

"Mom, where are my robes?!"

Hermione followed the voice and found her son standing in just his underwear in his room. The two of them lived alone in a small cottage outside of London. Hermione had never re-married, even if she had been out with a couple of wizards. The only wizard she managed to stick with for a longer time was Severus. They had both understood that they weren't meant to be, but it didn't stop then from shagging once in a while.

"They are in the washroom," Hermione said and looked around in the room. She felt a stab in her heart. The shelves which were usually filled with books where almost empty. The room was tidy and clean, but it almost looked like no one lived in it. She couldn't believe that she wouldn't see her little boy until Christmas.

Thomas, on the other hand, was more than enthusiastic. He had looked forward to begin in Hogwarts since he had found out what it was.

Hermione went down to the kitchen and made some breakfast. Thomas ate, but couldn't stop talking about Hogwarts. It was hard to believe that the boy had never been there before.

"Mom," Thomas said when he was finally done with his breakfast. "Do you think I can open the Chamber of Secrets?"

Hermione got cold. "Why would you want to do that?"

"Harry said that you have to be able to talk to snakes to do it… And I can talk to snakes."

Hermione swallowed. "We have talked about that, Thomas. You know what happened to Harry when people found out he could talk to snakes. You don't want that."

"Why? It's nothing wrong with Harry."

"No, I now… But people will start to ask questions if they find out what you can do… Questions about your real father."

Thomas sighed. Hermione had told him that Severus wasn't his biological father even if everyone thought he was. Hermione didn't want to lie to her son but she hadn't told him the whole truth yet.

"I know, mommy… But it would just be cool to have some secret place only I could go to!"

Hermione snorted. "Well, Harry gave you his map; you will find a lot of secret places with that."

"Mm… okay."

"Now go and brush your teeth!"

The boy ran away again and Hermione started to do the dishes. She heard the Floo and turned around to see Severus walking into the kitchen.

"Hello Minister," he purred. "And how is the most powerful witch in the world feeling today?"

Hermione smiled. "Hello on you too, Headmaster. I'm just fine, how are you?"

After Voldemort's death, Hermione had been the one to try to heal the country again. She had succeeded thanks to her powers as a Connected. Two years earlier, she had become the Minister of Magic. Severus had been headmaster for four years.

Severus chuckled. "I'm fine. How is Thomas?"

"Excited," Hermione answered dryly as Thomas stormed into the kitchen again with his wand in his hand. He stopped when he saw Severus.

"Hello Mr Granger," Severus said with a smile.

"Hi, Severus," Thomas said with a frown. Even if everyone believed Severus was the father, Thomas had never called him dad.

"That is not the way to greet the Headmaster, Mr Granger," Severus said with a fake stern look.

"Oh, hello Professor," Thomas corrected himself.

Hermione chuckled and turned to Severus. "Why are you here so early?"

"Actually, I have some papers the Minister has to see."

Hermione dried her hand on a towel. "I see, what is it about?"

"Money, as always," Severus said with a sign. "Hagrid have had some problem with termites on the ground…"

Thomas sighed and left the room as his mother and fake father began to talk business. He loved his mother more than anything, but she could be so boring sometimes.

A couple of hours later, it was finally time too leave. Hermione got tears in her eyes and hugged her son tightly.

"Owl me tonight!" she said to her son. "I want to know which house you enter."

Thomas rolled his eyes. "I already know which house I'll enter, Ravenclaw!"

Hermione just smiled and watched as Severus Apparated Thomas to the train. She would have loved to go with him, but she had to get ready for a conference in Switzerland. It was hard work to be the most powerful witch in all the land. She hoped the power wouldn't corrupt her as it had done with Voldemort. But she didn't think she would. Unlike Voldemort, she had Thomas.

Hermione smiled and closed the door. It was time for business.