PART XI

They woke up next to each other on her bed, on the second floor. After a brief tussle down on the couch, they had both decided that they were tired and that the couch was no place to sleep, and since neither of them had any desire to go back to Severus' home, they went to her room.

Severus was the first one to wake up, spooned up tightly behind her on her small double bed.

His arms were wrapped around her waist, his left arm asleep from where she lay on it, and he carefully extricated it from beneath her.

He stared down at her and gently moved a strand of hair from her face, amazed at the woman that was married to him.

She had an inner resilience that he'd never seen before, and all of the things that had happened during the war would have caused even the most experienced of wizards to fall into deep depression, but she had not. She had endured, and come out stronger because of it.

As he waited for the numbness and painful tingling to go away in his left arm, he sat up and simply stared at her as she slept.

Severus felt exposed, as he was still in his transfigured clothes from earlier that day.

He'd worn his robe down to make breakfast for the two of them and had quickly transfigured it into a shirt and pants…which were now hopelessly wrinkled.

Realizing that he couldn't change a thing until they went back to Spinner's End, he simply sat there, staring at her. Her lips looked impossibly soft, and he found himself wanting to take her all over again, and he was slightly amazed at how much he wanted her.

She wasn't a stunningly perfect woman, as many who looked at her simply saw a brainy girl with bushy hair with a propensity to constantly ask questions…

…which, to be honest, was all he'd seen for many years, until the night that she had come to him.

Now, he couldn't imagine a more beautiful woman in his eyes, and even though he knew that people would claim that there were many women who were prettier than her, he knew that he'd never see it.

As he stared at her while she slept, he noticed that she looked more rested. The dark circles that had appeared under her eyes earlier that day were now gone, and he knew that were she to open her eyes at that moment, they would be bright and alert.

He thought about waking her up…but then decided to simply wait. She needed the sleep, the solace.

And he would give it to her.

She then shifted in her sleep and slowly woke up, rubbing her eyes.

"Se…Severus?" she said, right in the middle of a yawn.

It was impossible to keep the grin from stretching across his lips at the sight. She was utterly adorable. How she was able to seem that way, while still being a witch that he would be nervous being on the wand side of, completely baffled him.

"Good morning, love."

A soft smile crossed her lips, and she sleepily said, "Good morning."

Now he was having to suppress a grin at the sight of her tangled hair. Even with smudged makeup and mussed up hair, she was still stunning to him. And the crazy thing was…he had no idea why.

He looked down at her hand, still trying to wrap his head around the fact that they'd really been married for all of this time. She was his. She was his wife. She was Mrs. Hermione Jean Granger Snape. Entirely his for the rest of their lives together and even beyond. Even if one of them did pass on, they were tied together.

He reached down with his left hand and gently wrapped his fingers around hers, admiring their gold bands right next to each other.

She had truly become his salvation.

Feeling impulsive, he leaned down and captured her lips in an ardent kiss, taking her off guard in the best way possible.

He felt her surprise, and then her hunger as she arched up into him. He plundered her mouth, remembering all the nights that she'd warmed his bed back at Hogwarts. He wanted nothing more than to keep her in bed all day, letting both of them indulge every sensual pleasure that they could think of.

However, he kept himself under control and slowly pulled back.

"Hermione…" he breathed against her lips, and she smiled, her eyes glazed.

"Yes…?"

He searched her gaze and then smiled at what he saw.

"Marry me…"

A wide grin crossed her lips and she laughed. "Of course I will, Severus…but aren't we already married?"

He nodded.

"Yes, but I never actually asked you properly. I never actually said the words."

She gave him a devious smile.

"Well…you did ask me in bed both times." Her grin then turned from devious to reminiscent. "Did…did you like what we had? You know, back at Hogwarts?"

He waited a long moment before answering, gathering his thoughts, not wanting to say anything that might upset her or offend her in any way possible. He wanted to tell her the truth, but he didn't want her to be mistaken about his feelings for her.

"I…I needed it," he said, and then he quickly clarified the rest of the thought. "And I cherished every moment that we had together. All of it."

That seemed to be exactly what she needed to hear, as a broad grin crossed her lips.

"Me too."

He ran a hand through her hair, smoothing it down, and then said, "You are my salvation."

At this, her eyes went moist and she lifted a hand to his face, lovingly running her fingers along his jawline.

"And you are mine."

They lay there, she now resting on her side, he on his…and he realized, that for the first time in his life, he was happy. He was happy. From now on, she was going to be in his life, and because of that, he would happy for the rest of his life, no matter what.

They had found each other in the shadow darkness of war and had emerged on the other side with their hearts in each other's keeping.

He was happy.

Part 11/11

THE END!

A.N. - Thank you for staying along for the ride! I love these two, and I hope that you enjoyed the story!