A New Day

A/N: Well, I can't believe it, yet here we are. This is the last chapter, and I want to say how humbled and touched I've been by the following this fic has received. It has been so much fun reading all the reviews you've sent, and I want to thank each one one of you who took the time to send me your thoughts. Big hugs and chocolate for everyone. Also, a special thanks to MadBrilliant, and all the admins who are so patient with my dyslexic mind!

***

Hermione returned to her quarters from a long day. It was nearly examination time, and the students were nervous and jittery. She was ready for the year to be finished. She and Severus were due to leave at the end of June to go retrieve her parents from Australia. Only one more month and she would see her parents again. She felt happy and scared at the same time. She desperately hoped they wouldn’t be too angry with her for Modifying their minds. She also wanted them to accept Severus as her husband.

As she walked into her husband’s office, she grabbed roughly from behind and pulled against a solid form. She screamed, and she was turned forcefully around to find her husband there holding her firmly by the waist.

“I dare say you owe me a debt, my wife!” he said wickedly.

“You’re going to hold me to it?” she asked unbelievably. “You know the bargain held that you would hire a Divination teacher. In the end, you failed to fill the position,” she said shrewdly.

Severus sneered at his wife. “Don’t try to out-Slytherin me, my dear! You know very well when you agreed to drop Divination as a subject for the year, that portion of our bargain became null and void!”

Severus cocked an eyebrow. “Don’t play the innocent with me, Hermione. You are as wanton as the next woman—probably even more so!” He smiled nastily at her and leered at her body.

“Strip and lay down on my desk,” he ordered as he stood in front of her.

She blanched. Severus narrowed his eyes. “Do not make me strip you, Hermione. I shall then be forced to cruelty!” A thought crossed her mind that she might defy him, just to see how forceful he could be. However, she thought on it and decided not to press her luck.

Hermione took a deep breath and began to strip. She watched as her husband flicked his wand and all the paperwork disappeared from his desk. She sat on the surface with her feet dangling from the edge. He grabbed her thighs and spread her further.

“Lay down, Madam Snape,” he commanded.

She did and he took off his robes, frock coat, and shirt. Hermione propped herself on her elbows and watched the vision in front of her from between her spread legs. He unbuttoned his trousers and released his already hardened cock. It was engorged and angry-looking. His face was inscrutable. He grabbed the back of her knees and pulled her sex flush against his hardness. He lowered himself to place a hand behind her back as he plundered her mouth and lifted one leg over his shoulder. She squealed as he pounded into her, twisting and pummeling her without quarter as she gasped and cried out. He continued until she was weak and limp from an explosive orgasm. Then, he withdrew and dragged her to her feet. He turned her around, and she fell forward as he took her from behind, rotating and forcing her to take all of him. He was grunting and cursing profusely. Hermione was too far-gone to give a damn about who might be watching. She was screaming her husband’s name, begging him to fuck her harder and harder.

“Whatever Madam wants, Madam shall get!” he growled fiercely as he pulled her upright and flipped her around to face him. He held her upright and took her standing. He slammed her up against the door that led to their quarters, pressing her back to it, and fucked her viciously. He took her screams into his mouth, and she held onto him for dear life. Finally, when they were spent, they looked at each other and laughed as if they were insane. They went into their private rooms and collapsed into sleep.

***

“Hermione,” Severus whispered into the darkness.

“Umm, yes, Severus?” she asked sleepily.

“I do love you. I really do. Not because you are my wife or my deputy headmistress. I love you because you have made me so happy by your presence. I have never slept so well than when I began to sleep next to you. You being by my side is enough to make me so happy, and I love you for staying with me,” he murmured softly against her hair.

“I love you, Severus. I loved you before we married. You snarked your way into my heart,” she said with a giggle.

“Hermione,” he breathed.

“I know, giggling is such dirty pool!” she teased. “However, I don’t care. I love being intimate with you,” she confessed as she stroked his chest.

He pulled her closer and held her possessively against him.

***

There was precious little time to lounge about and celebrate. There were still massive amounts of work, which needed finalization, and then there were goodbyes to say to the staff members leaving. The days blew past, and before they realized it, it was time for the end-of-year feast.

Poor Ravenclaw house had been hit the hardest. Not only had they lost housemates in the war, but they also lost the Head of their House. Mandy Brocklehurst, the only sole surviving member of Hermione’s year came to offer her services to the school.

She was very somber and humbled. She told her story that her parents were so afraid she would die that they took her to America to stay with cousins she had there. She was devastated to hear of the deaths of all her friends.

“I wish I had the will and strength to stand up to my parents and tell them what I wanted for my life. On the other hand, I can’t help but feel grateful. I would be dead if I had stayed,” she said sadly as she twisted her robes in her hands.

“Anyway, I heard about that Death Eater that wormed his way inside and that the Head of Ravenclaw House had been his mistress. I don’t know if you have a Head of House for next year, but if you don’t, I would be more than happy to offer my assistance. I could also do whatever ‘filler’ work that needs to be done. I know things are getting better for Hogwarts, and I just want to do my part. That is, if you are agreeable.” She looked hopefully at the headmaster and the deputy headmistress.

Hermione looked at her husband, and he asked, “What line of work are you in, Miss Brocklehurst?” he inquired.

“I’m employed at the Ministry in their Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office,” she replied.

Hermione happily interjected as she placed a hand on her husband’s forearm. “Well, I’m sure you could be a great help with Mr. Ackerley! I’m overseeing his apprenticeship, but you being a Ministry official working with the misuse of Muggle items, you must know a great deal about various Muggle objects and their intended uses. Your expertise could be invaluable, not to mention give me much needed help whilst I work on my own apprenticeship,” Hermione offered.

Severus thought purposefully. “I think that would be an ideal solution. Please give your notice to the Ministry and report here in August. We shall take the month to get you settled in, and then you should be ready to begin at the start of term,” he said.

“Oh, thank you! I’m so grateful!” she said happily.

“No, we are the grateful ones,” Hermione replied gracefully.

After Miss Brocklehurst left, Hermione whirled around to face her husband. “I cannot believe our good fortune! Things are definitely coming together. A hodge-podge group we may be, but we’re getting it done! In a couple years, we shall be able to fully relax. You will be just the Headmaster and I shall just be the Charms professor and deputy headmistress!” Her face was beaming with glee.

***

Finally, the end of the term had arrived. Headmaster and Madam Snape sat at the head table watching all their students enjoy themselves. Graduation had been a somber affair. Many tears were shed for those lost who should have been there. It had been such a tumultuous year. Although Severus and Hermione were happy it was over, a part of them felt sad at the same time. Nevertheless, they could be proud of the work they had accomplished.

The Leaving Feast and Graduation Ceremony was to be like none other in the history of Hogwarts. Dignitaries from every Wizarding School in Europe and the Americas were present. There would be no “giving” away of the House Cup this year. EVERY House would share in the spotlight of all the hard work and sacrifices that had occurred to make Hogwarts come back to life.

Minister Shacklebolt addressed the school during the Leaving Feast. The press was invited to cover the historical moment. Kingsley spoke affectionately about the sacrifices and trials the headmaster and deputy headmistress endured to keep Hogwarts from disappearing into history. He recalled the harrowing first weeks when it had been only the two battle veterans, himself, and the school’s mediwitch to shoulder the burden of starting over.

“It was they who stood at the ends of the chasm and lifted this school up from its broken foundations. A seasoned warrior, double agent, and spy of two Wizarding Wars, and a young, brilliant witch, and a fellow veteran of war were left to face the destruction and pain. They could have been no more different from each other even if they had tried. However, they filled the gaps of the brokenness that surrounded them while supporting and nurturing the need for our nation to have its own Wizarding School returned to them. Through so much adversity, Severus Snape and Hermione Granger Snape held to each other and held up this school. Severus and Hermione Snape shall be remembered forever as the saviors of Hogwarts.

“In time, their names will stand alongside the great four who first imagined this school and all its wondrous possibilities. In the same tradition of the Founders Four, Severus and Hermione Snape kept that possibility closer to their hearts, and with their own unique talents and gifts, worked together to rebuild Hogwarts, ushering a new era. We are so grateful for them.”

A roar of cheering and applause spread across the crowd. Hermione suddenly burst into tears. Severus placed an arm around her, escorted her off the podium, and back to his office through the teacher’s entrance off to the side. Kingsley, true to the politician he was, smoothed over their hasty exit.

When Seveurs and Hermione entered the headmaster’s office, he sat on the couch and placed his wife’s head on his lap. “Hermione, you must calm yourself!” Severus pleaded as he held her head in his lap.

“I’m sorry, Severus, I just don’t feel well. Everything has been so difficult this past month, I’ve been so tired these last two days and so emotional! I must just need to relax a bit before we travel to Australia. Can we take a few days before we leave?” she asked.

“Of course,” he said as he stroked her hair. “I’m concerned about you. I want you to go straight to bed and rest. I will bring you something to eat later.”

“No! I don’t want to eat; I’m not hungry. I think I must be starting my cycle soon. I’m so bloated and off-color. Just let me sleep,” she pleaded.

Severus watched his wife with a keen eye for the next two days. There was something off about her. She slept for hours on end, and she just wasn’t interested in food. Then, the third day, he woke up to the sound of her retching in the bathroom.

He jumped up and ran in. She was on the floor, sobbing between dry heaves. She had eaten precious little; there was nothing but bile to eject. He grabbed a washcloth, ran cool water through it, pressed it against her wrists, back of her neck, and her forehead.

“I’m sick, Severus. So sick. I can’t move anymore,” she rasped.

He stripped her, carried her to the shower, and washed her off as she leaned on him. Then he drew in her relaxing bath and placed her into it. She fell asleep and he watched her as she breathed shallowly. After a while, he took her out, dried her off, and laid her on their bed as he searched for her favorite cotton nightgown. Lately, she had been wearing more seductive pieces to bed that had been very exciting and erotic. He loved her no matter what she wore, but seeing her in a green and silver corset with her breasts free for him to touch and taste without removing it made him unbelievably hard at the sight. They had been quite active since that day he took her on his table in the office. He smirked as he recalled how wantonly she had responded to him. Then a thought ran across his mind.

He walked over to his naked, sleeping beauty lying supine and relaxed on their bed. He took his wand and ran some diagnostic tests. Soon, a faint glimmer rose from her abdomen. She was having his child.

He smirked, thinking how she must have conceived that day he had brutally taken her on his desk and then against the door. Oh, how she had screamed for him. She had loved every minute of it and had asked him later if he had thought less of her that she had liked his rougher side. He had given a snort and had said, “Absolutely not!”

They had continued their explorations into her deviant little mind. He had a very dirty little witch on his hands, he had concluded, and he had been very pleased. Now, she was having his baby. He looked at her, so rosy and clean from her bath. He stripped off his robe and knelt in front of her. Knowing she was carrying a life because he had taken her and thrust his seed into her made him want her now. He parted her legs and lay on top of her. She sighed and moaned as he shifted his erection against her mound. She was getting wet and her nipples were hardening. Her breathing was growing shallow and still she slept. She arched her back and murmured something. He eased into her and slowly moved inside her. Hermione began to awaken, and she could smell the familiar, calming scent of Severus. She realized he was inside her. She opened her eyes, and he was looking at her so lovingly and adoringly, she practically cooed her approval. She scooted her bottom lower and held her thighs up and apart so he could reach that place that she had come to love so much.

“This is a bit perverted, husband,” she teased him. “Taking your wife while she is unconscious.”

He stopped and withdrew from her. He looked upset.

Hermione sat up. “I’m sorry, Severus, I was only teasing. I thought it was really sexy!” she exclaimed as she sat up to comfort him.

“Hermione,” he whispered. “I performed a diagnostic test on you. I was worried about you being sick. You’re pregnant.” He looked into her face to see her reaction. Would she be happy or would she be upset?

Hermione’s hands flew to her mouth, and her brown eyes watered. “I thought the wife was supposed to tell the husband that,” she whispered back.

He held her to him. “I’m sorry, I just wanted you to know how happy I was when I saw you were pregnant. You looked so peaceful and beautiful. Knowing I had placed life inside you made me want to be with you.”

She smiled at him. “Never be ashamed to want me, Severus. It’s not a terrible way to wake up to, really!” she admitted as she smiled.

“Do we know what we are having?” she asked.

“We’ll have to see Poppy about that,” he replied.

“I would like to finish what you were starting, my love,” she crooned as she lay back on the bed and opened her legs for him.

Severus took his wife into his arms and tenderly made love to her.

Afterward, they lay in bed talking about the past year, playing with each other's hands, intertwining them as they dreamt of the future they saw for themselves.

Hermione snuggled in her husband’s embrace as she envisioned getting her parents back from Australia and living a happy life with them and her own little family they were starting.

“Suddenly, the world is beginning to seem larger, fuller somehow,” she mused.

“We won’t be needed as much to keep everyone in line,” he said.

He turned over and faced his wife and the mother of his child. He ran his hands through her hair and brought her face to his, softly kissing her tender lips.

“Remember the first time we kissed?” asked Hermione as she giggled.

Severus stripped the duvet off of them, raised Hermione’s nightgown, and lowered his head to Hermione’s belly. “Your mother is very naughty. You’d best be careful; she will constantly be two steps ahead of you, even if you become a Slytherin!” he teased.

Hermione smiled as she watched her husband kiss all over her belly. She sighed contentedly and stroked his hair.

“I love this life,” she whispered.

***

Severus and Hermione Snape stood in front of a modest flat in Melbourne. It seemed that Wendall and Monica Wilkins, previously Drs. Granger and Granger, had gone their own way, not wanting to stay where Hermione had first placed them. It had been a very anxious and hand wringing experience for Hermione, tracking them down. Once they had located them, though, Hermione was a nervous wreck. She had no idea how her parents were going to accept the reality of everything she had done for their safety.

The Snapes stood silently in front of the door to the Granger’s flat. As Hermione went to knock, Severus stopped her.

“You realize that after this, there will be no more ‘Severus and Hermione.’ There will be in-laws, baby preparations, intrusions into our private life—”

Hermione started laughing uncontrollably. Severus scowled at her.

“What is so damned funny?” he snarled.

“You!” she whispered. “You—you silly man! When have our lives ever been private? When has our marriage, our relationship, our work NOT been the source of all kinds of gossip and slander for all and sundry?”

Her voice grew soft, and she wrapped her arms around his waist. “And through all the intrusions, we have managed to push it all out of our little world. At the end of the day, it’s always been just you and I,” she whispered. “Even if many children come our way, it will always be you and I, together, supporting one another, beholding to each other, and working alongside as we have been this past year. I’m not fussed. As long as we have each other, we will be okay,” she said confidently.

Severus kissed the end of her pert nose. “I never would have thought the day you first came into my classroom, you would be the one to become my other half,” he said incredulously.

Hermione snorted. “I never thought of you as even being remotely human until the day in the infirmary when you told me that you bite!”

He chuckled. “What did you think of that?” he asked with great interest.

Hermione blushed. “I just remember feeling really warm between my legs,” she murmured.

He kissed her then, passionately, and with all the desire he could muster. They broke apart and regarded the other. Both remembered the first feeling that had brought them together in the first place: respect.

Silently sharing the same fear.

Severus lowered his hand to touch the belly of his wife, companion, and fellow veteran. She was more than a “better half”; she was what kept him up, kept him strong.

Hermione watched her husband caress her. There was no question that she never would have made it on her own. Her grief would have swallowed her whole. Severus had held her up with his strength, and she had done the same for him.

“Well, are you ready?” she asked him.

Severus nodded, and she rang the doorbell.

A very nice looking middle-aged lady answered the door. She had Hermione’s face, but not her hair. It was the same color, but long and board straight. She looked inquisitively into her daughter’s face.

“Do I know you?” she asked, her brow furrowing.

Hermione smiled at her mother. Severus found his wife’s hand to squeeze it with his own. When their fingers touched, they encircled the other as they steadied themselves for their next adventure.

A/N: Silently sharing the same fear was taken directly from Simon and Garfunkel's song, Bookends.