Special thanks (et Merci!) to the following for their support during posting: Articcat621, guiltypleasure2, ptite mac, Eminator, thebookworm90, worrywart, silverose29, arabellagrace, KillerSnowball, Notlori925, Misssunshine13, Sofia, SweetAle4u, roseberrygirl, Hello, IrishChic20, loyd1957, and of course, Yiggersentia ;)

Everyone, I hope you've enjoyed this, especially this last chapter as I bring it to a close. I love you all and to all a good night!

Chapter...O.o...13!

The next morning, Severus woke with a face full of curls. He blinked and sputtered, then smiled as he remembered everything that had transpired the previous night, and how this had to be the best birthday he'd ever experienced. Gently pushing her curls out of his face and disentangling a few strands from this morning's unshaven beard, he took stock of their positions and how best to wake her up. Her head was facing away on his chest and she was curled up to his side, one arm sprawled across him and both knees bracing against his hip. That made her hip jut beautifully out from underneath the covers, and his hand just couldn't resist stroking from her shoulder, down her soft waist, and up the curve of her hip to rest on her lovely, round buttocks. He even squeezed, just because he could.

She was awake now, and tightening her hold on his torso. "Mmmmorning."

His sleep-heavy voice replied to her husky one, "Good Morning."

She shifted up a little so she could turn to see him, "Good God, your voice is deep. Is it always like that when you wake up?"

He smirked, "You have the rest of your life to find out."

The relief that broke over her face was...interesting. She dropped her head to his chest again and closed her eyes. "You have no idea how glad I am that you remember that. I was afraid you were just lost in the moment."

His heart went out to her and he brushed some of her wayward curls from her face. "That was probably the most incandescent moment of my life. I will not ever forget it."

She smiled and her face crumpled pink into tears, "I'm so glad. I'm so happy. I've loved you so much for so...long." Her wet eyes shone brightly up at him and surely she could feel his heart hammering in his chest.

"Crying doesn't seem like happy."

She laughed a bit, which was his goal. He wanted her smiling at him again, not tearing up.

"Maybe not, but I can't help it."

His eyebrows came together in confusion, "I don't want you to cry on my birthday."

She looked ready to smack him when something registered across her face. She sat up and called out, "Bort!"

Before Severus could ask her what was going on, an elf cracked into the room. "Yes, Apprentice Granger?"

He was fascinated by the narrow look she gave him for the use of her title. Didn't she want the elf to use her name? Then he smirked at the thought that it wouldn't be her name for much longer.

"Bort, can you please bring me the satchel I left in the kitchens last night?"

To his surprise, the elf actually snorted. "Done that, Miss. Last night when all the professors were running havoc across the school. It's right over there."

It pointed to the chair by the door, shook its little head and snapped off. Severus knew his face was contorted into amusement, but honestly...running havoc? What were they doing? Spraying graffiti on the suits of armor? Showing their arses to the portraits?

"Well."

He looked to Hermione, who sat in indignation and stared at her satchel. Well, indeed. She looked a little out of sorts, but then smiled at him and scurried out of bed towards the chair and her satchel.

Watching her sashay across the room, she really did have the most perfect arse.

It was but a moment longer, and she rejoined him in bed, presenting him with a box wrapped in black paper, no bow.

He smirked. "Another gift?"

"Another?"

He accepted the box and shook his head at her, "You drugged my colleagues into some kind of insanity last night that even the elves have taken note of, you then danced your way into my lap, my bedroom and my heart...not long after, you agreed to become my wife. Now, what else are you giving me?"

Her face fell somewhere between pleased and embarrassed. "Oh. Um...nothing much, then, when you put it that way."

His eyebrow arched, but he went to unwrapping his gift just enough to get inside the box. Everyone knew boxes meant nothing, as it could hide something completely different. In this case, however...

He looked into the box with a puzzled expression, then pulled the odd shaped black bottle out. It looked to be a glass cologne bottle, shaped like the Union Jack. Eying Hermione, he pulled out the stopper and sniffed.

Bergamot, with notes of jasmine, cedar...vanilla...then, before he could catalogue the many scents and textures of the cologne, he remembered why bergamot.

His eyes flew back to hers, "I don't think I'll easily forget that kiss, either, but I appreciate the reminder."

She bit her lip with a smile, waited for him to restopper the bottle and put it down on the floor, then flew into his arms for a hug. "I knew you'd know why I got it! I'm sorry I didn't take the time to make it for you, but cologne is just so bloody difficult to get right the first time and I was concentrating on my little revenge for the other professors. You don't mind? You like it?"

He laughed, "I wondered when you'd start your incessant chattering again."

She backed away in affront but he pulled her back, "Of course I like it. I'll wear some down to breakfast, shall I? Then we can see the results of your revenge."

"Oh, yes please."

He smiled and kissed her quickly before they both got out of bed, performed their morning rituals and got dressed. He wore his usual, while she borrowed one of his shirts, pulling a brassiere, her light green slip and a knee length black skirt out of her satchel. At his inquiring eyebrow, she responded, "Well, I was hoping..."

He smiled again and as soon as she was dressed—all the way to her outer robes and green glittery shoes—he slipped his hand into hers. He felt her fingers and something struck him as missing...

Inspiration struck, "Ah. Wait here a moment."

She stood still and lovely in the middle of his parlor as he retreated back to his bedroom, digging through his keepsake chest in the bottom drawer of his clothing armoire. His fingers slipped over a black velvet bag and he knew he had what he needed.

He closed everything back up and walked back to his fiancee. His chest expanded a little with the ability to say that, even in his head.

He approached her and instructed her to hold out her hand as he pulled loose the drawstring at the mouth of the bag and tumped its lone content into her palm. A silver signet ring with the initials ELP rolled into her hand.

She held it up with wonder, "Severus?"

He looked from her to the ring and back, "It's only until I can get a proper one. Even Daigon Alley's not open on Sunday."

Her eyes were tearing up, but she was smiling softly. "But darling, this was your mother's. I don't mind in the least, but are you sure?" She finished by looking up at him and he was startled beyond comprehension...

"How—?"

Her head bowed, "Um...Sixth year." She fidgeted. "Harry had your book and I...I found her name in the library."

He was shocked. "Didn't you tell him? He acted like he didn't know..."

She shook her head, "We didn't put her name with yours until later. We thought the book might have been hers, but she...didn't fit the description so obvious from the book."

She wasn't looking at him. She was obviously afraid of his response, but she'd done nothing wrong. She was biting her lips together and turning the ring back and forth between her fingers. Impulsively, he reached forward and closed his hand around hers to stop the movement.

"Hermione, I want you to wear the symbol of our troth, and that's the only ring I have until I can get out to get your own. Will you wear this for me?"

She nodded and lifted her head. She was crying again, and smiling again...he wondered if this was a normal thing for her when she crashed into him for a tight embrace.

"Of course I will!" She backed away and held it up to him. He blinked. Her smile brightened, "Put it on me, silly!"

He rolled his eyes, but his mouth was threatening another smile as he plucked the small silver signet ring out of her fingers and grabbed for her left hand. She flattened out her fingers and he held the ring over the index, middle, pinky, then back to her ring finger. He looked back into her eyes and murmured, "The closest to your heart and mine." With a small shimmer of unintentional magic, he slid the cold metal onto her hand and watched it resize to fit.

Her grin was going to break her face if it grew much larger, but it was adorable. He kept his snort internal and angled out his elbow for her to take. Her smile melted into a smirk, her nose tipped in the air and she slipped her hand round his elbow to show off her new ring. With her nose up, she looked up to him and asked, "Shall we?"

He'd watched her in bemusement, but this made him snort, then chortle. She laughed with him and they finally made it out of his quarters and into the hallway.

As they approached the Great Hall, staring down anyone so uncouth as to gape at their coupleness, they noticed that the closer the got to the Hall, the less attention anyone paid them. Excited buzzing hovered around an announcement board to the right of the main doors.

They looked to each other until he leaned down to her, "Wait a moment and I'll clear them off."

Well, at least this time, she could watch him and enjoy the spectacle without being caught up in it. She settled against a column and waited for him to descend upon the masses.

His Billowness swept down upon the innocent hordes of gossipers and barked, "Cease your gossip-mongering! Two points from each person left loitering about this hallway by the time I reach the count of three!"

Oh, my, he was being soft on them. He'd given them a head start! She smiled and watched the children scamper off like water bugs from a torch. One of the groups muttered as they walked quickly by, "Merlin, if anyone needed to get laid, it's him."

She covered her mouth and snorted. If they only knew.

As the last miscreants left the corridor, Hermione approached the board. Severus was already chuckling under his breath, so whatever it was must be good.

She came around his shoulder and blinked. "Severus?"

He broke out of laughter and stood up from peering at one of the photographs, "Yes?" She looked over his shoulder and saw what had so interested the children as well as her soon-to-be husband. Oh, Good Lord. Fred and George had had a camera!

She reached forward and started snatching them off the cork board. "Help me take these down before anyone else sees them. They'll all be humiliated."

At that, Severus bent into a bray of laughter and slapped his knee. "Finally! Someone other than me!"

She cocked her head at him in curiosity, "You?"

"Yes! Oh, this is brilliant." She eyed him and kept taking the moving pictures down, but caught herself watching them as they filled her hands. One in particular had Hagrid tossing Filius over the crowd and as he started to descend, he grabbed Albus' collar, pulling his robes over his head as he landed with a well-placed charm. Thankfully the picture stopped as soon as Albus bent over to simply let his robes fly, but it started again with the 'midget toss' and repeated.

"Oh, God." She stuffed it under an innocuous one of Poppy and Sybill sleeping in a pile against the High Table, drooling into each other's hair.

It was when she came across the image of a tabby cat licking her bum, then rolling around on the table and lapping up all the alcohol that she started snatching off everything and not even looking.

Severus had fallen to sit on the ground, giving up trying to stand with laughing so hard.

When she tried to pull the last photograph out of his hand, he held tight, looking up at her in amusement. She tugged and tugged and he held and held until finally he let go and she fell right on her bottom. His face exploded in more laughter and he started slapping the floor.

She looked down into the image and found Hooch tripping Hagrid and him landing face first into the cake. It then followed him drunkenly eating the cake around his head. Back to the trip and over and over.

She shook her head and tucked them all into an inner pocket of her robes as she stood.

Severus had climbed to his feet, pulled her into his arms and bent her backwards with a kiss.

"My darling, that was fantastic. This has been...the Best Birthday Ever. Thank you! We have blackmail for years, thanks to you!"

She smiled, breathless after the kiss. "I'd love to lay claim, but Fred and George did most of this. I didn't do much."

He shook his head, kissed her again, and said, "I don't care. You asked them for help, right?"

"Mmm-hm."

"Then it was you." He looked down at her in wonder, "Are you certain you were sorted right?"

She chuckled, "Were you?"

"Damned if I know. Let's have breakfast, future-Madame Snape."

The sentiment sent thrills down her spine as she took his elbow again. They stalked through the large front doors into the Great Hall with all the aplomb of a King and Queen, watching everyone watch them as they did so.

Albus was back in his chair, though it looked like a potion or two was holding him together. The closer they got, the more glazed his eyes became. They took their seats to his left and started in on the food before them. No other teachers were in sight.

It wasn't long before the headmaster's voice wafted down from on high. "Am I to assume the two of you had a pleasant evening?"

They exchanged a look before Severus turned to him with an arched brow, "Didn't you?"

The End

xoxo Dena

Oh, Gracious, this was fun! I hope you like it all and I really and truly thank everyone who stuck with me on this journey. Credit to Guiltypleasure2 for the suggestion of there being incriminating pictures! Thank you!