Amor Ignorat Tempus

A/N: Whew! This was a tricky chapter. I hope it will have been worth the wait. Thanks to WriterMerrin, who worked over this chapter with me, checking and rechecking bits I was unsure of, helping me to clarify other passages that were vague. Enjoy! Oh, and please REVIEW! I LOVE REVIEWS!

***

Hermione watched the Order Guard walk out into the open. The night sky shone with brilliant stars. The Aurors and the best of the Advance Guard of the Order of the Phoenix were staggered around the front of the castle, waiting for the inevitable attack. Hermione saw Savage and Proudfoot, but no sign of Dawlish.

"He was killed some months back," Kingsley said from behind her.

She whirled around. "Who?" demanded Hermione.

"Dawlish, of course. The man was too weak to withstand the Death Eaters. He just gave up and lost his mind. He died soon after he was admitted into St. Mungo's."

Hermione frowned. Already, the war had ruined so many lives, and the real battle hadn't even started.

"It's been a long time since the days on Fenwick Farm, eh, Hermione?" asked Kingsley.

Hermione laughed bitterly. "Since the days of Spinner's End and both Severus and I being little third-years," she added.

"True. It has," he agreed.

"What happened to Moody, Kingsley?" she asked as they kept their eyes trained out into the distance.

"It was the first battle. We were trying to get Harry safely to the Burrow," he replied sadly. "He fell in an air fight...we never found his body, only his magical eye."

"Please, Hermione," he whispered. "I don't fault you for refusing to fight. I don't know all of what happened, but I have continued to remain in contact with Tonks for quite a long time."

Hermione gave a snort as she turned her back to him. She'd be damned if he'd witness her tears. "Then we have nothing else to say," she snapped.

She heard his feet shift behind her. "Please don't think too harshly of us all, Hermione," he added.

"And why not?" she shouted as she turned around again to face him. "You all abandoned me! You left me here alone and never gave me a chance to prove myself. All anyone wanted to believe was Harry Potter! Well, you can have your precious 'Chosen One.' I haven't any use for him or any of you!"

"So what do you want?"

Hermione looked at him with pure loathing. "I want my life back! I want my daughter alive. I want Severus, and for all of you to let us be!"

She felt tears on her cheeks, and she was panting after she had calmed down from her outburst. She knew she looked angry and hateful, but she didn't want to hide how she really felt.

Kingsley nodded his head solemnly. "You've earned it," he whispered. "And we will respect it." He walked away from her to join the front of the battle.

Hermione was sober after that and didn't speak again for quite some time.

***

Hermione waited and waited for midnight. The tension was terrible. She cast all the protective charms she knew around herself and waited for the fight to commence. There was nothing she could do until the fighting began. Severus had to still be with his master. So, she began to wait.

The Death Eaters arrived, swooping down in black wisps and attacking full force. Hermione knew Severus had to be there, somewhere. She had trained with the best and knew how to duel and fight to the death. She had no problems disarming, slicing and hexing her way through any Death Eater who stood in her way as she searched for her husband.

An explosion from the right came from something hitting the castle.

"My God!" said Hermione in astonishment. There were two giants headed her way. The entire army on the ground shifted towards the left to get out of the brawling giants' path.

The fighting that had shifted left now was shifting back out towards the right, and the Advance Guard lured the Death Eaters inside a pocket of exposed land and let the fighters from the Astronomy Tower cut them all down with their own hexes while they, on the ground, finished them off completely. Another wave of Death Eaters were coming up from the valley, and werewolves, led by Greyback, were mixed with them. Hermione searched in vain for Severus as the werewolves led by Greyback poured over the ridge and began their attack.

The werewolves were upon them, but at least they had no wands. The killing was brutal. It took a lot to take down a werewolf. Lupin fought like a man possessed and kept on and on attacking each wolf he could find while more Death Eaters came their way.

Hermione fought Death Eaters she had never met, none she could recall from school days. She wondered as they fell around her what she would think if she were faced with Avery and Mulciber now since the Battle at the Department of Mysteries.

The fighting was taking a turn. Kingsley recalled the troops to come back into the castle. Hermione was relieved. It was better coverage for her; she knew every alcove and secret niche in Hogwarts due to Severus' kinky penchant for sex in the open. As she searched, she fought, and when she saw Dolohov stun Remus and go in for the kill shot, Hermione flung herself in front of Remus.

"PROTEGO!" she screamed, and Dolohov fell over dead in front of her from his own curse. A slicing hex nicked her in the shoulder, and she shot back a Sectumsempra to the caster. She barely had time to run for cover when the most gigantic sledgehammer came through the front of the castle's main gates. Everyone hid for cover and tried to gather the wounded out of the way. The Death Eaters in the middle of the Advance Guard stood smugly with the giants, as if nothing could harm them now.

Hermione was searching frantically for Severus, but Death Eaters refused to retreat. One after another, she was forced to fight, and still Severus was nowhere to be found. She heard Kingsley give the call to attack without quarter, and the Advance Guard sliced them all down. In her growing frustration and anxiety, Hermione sent a hex of flying arrows that speared one fat Death Eater, pinning him grotesquely against the wall through the cracks in the stone masonry of the entrance way to the castle.

She retreated back to the main gates after the next wave of Death Eaters had cleared out of their way. The Advance Guard began their assault on the giants. The house-elves joined them in their fight, spilling out from the castle, hurtling themselves onto the largest giant, biting, clawing and stunning...anything they could to stop its progress forward. The other giant had turned and run away from the castle when faced with another giant defending the castle. The weakened giant was enough for the other to overtake him, and the frightened giant moved out from inside the castle's interior, avoiding attack. For a while there was peace. Only in the rear of the castle was the fighting raging. The rest of the Advance Guard that was still alive or not severely wounded ran towards the fighting. Hermione ran blindly through them in the opposite direction, refusing to watch the killing and dying until out of the corner of one eye, she saw Harry and Ron running towards the Whomping Willow. She wanted to ignore them, forget what they had once meant to her.

Fuck! she thought as she turned from her direction towards them.

"Where are you going?" she shouted.

"We have to get the snake!" bellowed Harry above the din.

"You idiots!" she yelled. "Do want to die?"

***

Hermione bared the entrance way to the Whomping Willow as Ron and Harry tried to pass her where Voldemort was hiding. The tree was perfectly still, giving more credence to the idea that someone had entered. She hated that snake. She'd never seen it, but from what had happened to Mr. Weasley, it didn't bode well for Harry and Ron to run in all pell-mell without a plan of attack. She had her wand drawn on them.

"Move, Hermione!" Harry shouted as he pointed his wand straight at her.

"He's banking on you coming to him, don't you see, Harry?" she hissed as she shifted to stop them from entering. "Place yourselves strategically and wait. If he grows impatient, he will send some minion to fetch you."

Ron nodded as he listened to Hermione. "She's right, Harry. You have him cornered now. There is no way he will retreat back to Hogsmeade. His ego won't let him. I reckon he'll be expecting you to go to him," he deduced.

"So what do we do?" asked Harry nervously as he looked around them. "Make our last stand here?"

"Just wait," Hermione hissed as she found some cover for herself. "Just be prepared to capture whoever comes out of that hole."

"Why are you doing this, Hermione?" Harry asked her. "You don't want to be here. Just go find Snape. No one is going to stop you.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Please, Harry. You actually sound sincere and concerned."

"Hermione, I get it now. I betrayed you. You have every reason to walk away and never look back. I wouldn't blame you for it. So, why?"

"Perhaps I am invested in making sure my husband is rid of his final master."

***

Not five minutes later, Lucius Malfoy came out of the tunnel. Hermione jumped out at him. He leapt backwards, looking terrified. He had no wand, no means of protecting himself.

"Well, well," said Hermione. "I just seem to pop in and ruin your plans, Lucius. Now, tell me, where are you scurrying off to?"

Malfoy was weary. He looked weak and terrified.

"Look," he said, "if I don't do everything he tells me, he will kill my son and my wife. Do you understand?"

Hermione took his ragged clothes and gaunt face into consideration. The look in his eyes was of sheer terror. "Lucius," said Hermione as she kept her wand steady, pointing it straight at him. "Let me ease your suffering. Just let go of what he wants and allow the Order to take care of you, Narcissa, and Draco. Now, where are you going?"

"I must get Severus. The Dark Lord is most insistent he come!"

"Playing Wormtail's role now, are you, Malfoy?" sneered Harry from behind Hermione.

"Harry, we don't need any barbs. Look at the man!" Hermione snapped, never taking her eyes off Malfoy for a second. She touched Malfoy's face with her wand and saw the marks, the beatings he must have had to endure.

"Why serve a master who is so cruel?" she whispered.

"My family, dammit!" he cried out.

"I can protect your family, Lucius. Just tell us where Snape is and who all is in that Shack," said Harry.

Lucius struggled, but his need to survive was greater than any belief or principle. "The Dark Lord is in there with Nagini. Severus has been overseeing the troops from the far hill towards the south," he replied.

"Ron, get Malfoy inside, and reunite him with his wife and son. Place them under arrest. Any Auror will do," Hermione ordered, never once taking her eyes or wand off the elder Malfoy.

Ron placed magical bonds on his wrists and led him back towards the castle. As soon as they were out of earshot, Hermione turned to Harry. She placed her hands on his shoulders and inhaled slowly before she spoke. "That snake bastard is waiting for you in there. I bet you he knows all his Horcruxes are gone, save Nagini, and he's not going to let her go without a fight. You need to get him to come out. Kill the snake, and then you can kill him." She looked into his face. "Dumbledore never told you...he was too scared...but you know that beast placed a part of his soul inside you, don't you?"

Harry nodded in recognition, but his eyes looked blank. "That's why he tried to possess me...but he failed."

"Albus always thought you would have to give yourself up to him. Let him strike you down with the Avada Kedavra. He will kill his own soul, but you will be free. He'll think as you lie there seemingly dead that he's won. He'll think he's beaten you, Harry, and like the pathetic bully he is, he won't be able to resist strutting around and declaring his victory. But you will be waiting...waiting for him to get far enough away from his familiar so you or someone else can kill that menace. After that, you will find yourself finally on equal footing. Then you'll kill him and end all of this!" Hermione told him passionately.

"Hermione," he replied. "I don't understand how this is all possible!" His green eyes were so wide and so full of fear, she could read all the vulnerability inside him there.

Hermione was insistent as she grabbed his arms. "Yes, you do, Harry! But for now, wait for him to come out of that lair. Frustrate his plans, gather your own contingent of fighters waiting at the first opportunity to watch your back!

"Good luck," she said as she squeezed his shoulders. "I'm going to get Severus, and we're leaving."

"Hermione...I can't do this without you," he said in a frightened child's voice.

He looked so lost, so much like the first-year she knew so many years ago. She wanted to forget everything that had come between them and make his fear go away. She kept her distance, forcing herself not to crumble. "You've been doing it! If you must, go break into Snape's office, use his Pensieve and let Ginny view your memory of what I just told you. Ginny will help you! She was always meant to be there for you. You are a team, you and she. Who else knows this snake bastard more than the both of you?"

Before another word could be said, Hermione took off running for Severus. She watched for him, scouring the battlefield for his outline. She looked up at the higher ridge. He was standing alone, watching from a distance the carnage of the battle, looking hopeless and alone.

***

As Hermione came closer, he pointed his wand at her; then when he saw it was she, his face broke apart, and he reached out, grabbing her body to press her against himself. He was trembling. Hermione could feel the raw, emotional pain radiating from him. She drew away to look at his face more fully.

Severus' face was drawn and full of pain. "I failed you," he whispered. "I promised I would find you, and I didn't. I was to be your rescuer..."

"No," Hermione told him, her voice firm and absolute. "You have been looking out for me since we were children. You carried such a load of responsibility for me, Mary, and Lily...every Muggle-born in Hogwarts. You've had to keep your word to protect Harry."

Severus tried to interrupt her, and she placed a finger on his lips. "Just take us away, Severus," she whispered. "It's nearly over, and Harry will win. Besides, Lucius was asked by the Dark Lord to fetch you. It's not good. He's turned against you. We have to leave!" She pulled urgently at him, but he remained firm.

"I know," he replied. "There is so much I want to tell you...I scarcely know where to begin. I missed you...I starting thinking we would never be together again."

Husband and wife stood facing each other, unable to speak, not knowing where to start. Hermione released her tenacious hold on him and let her body mold into his, giving all of herself to him. Severus pulled her to him and enveloped her in his arms. He leaned to kiss her, and Hermione yielded, nearly losing herself as he explored her lips and mouth. The first time in months, she could let her mind go and forget all the pain and anguish. In a whirl, they left Hogwarts and the war behind, landing in a strange cottage.

***

"Where are we?" Hermione asked as she looked around. It was a small, modest place with a little kitchen and a generous sitting room with a comfortable couch and two plush armchairs. Severus went and lit the fire for them and came towards Hermione, who was looking at all the books that wrapped around the room, lining the top of the walls.

Severus placed a hand on her shoulder. She jumped out of reflex, and he hushed her.

"It's all right, Hermione. This place was Dumbledore's. He always kept this place a secret. He needed somewhere to go when Fudge tried to have him arrested when Umbridge was at Hogwarts," he said as he took her hand in his.

"Come with me. The bedroom and shower is in here."

Hermione's stomach fluttered when he took her hand. She was so happy they were finally together. They stood in the bedroom and just stared hungrily at each other.

"Your hair is long again, just as I remembered," he whispered as he lightly touched her curls.

Hermione smiled timidly as he placed his hands on her hips.

"So round and soft," he whispered. "You are more filled out than I remembered. You are lovely." He dragged his hands up and down around her waist, hips and thighs, sighing as he looked into her face.

"I suppose you want to shower?"

"Yes, please."

He gestured his hand toward the bathroom door, and she quietly went in and took off all her clothes. She found some soap and shampoo. She looked at her naked body in the mirror. Her body was different after having Serena. She had stretch marks on her stomach, and her breasts hung a little lower. There was no disguising it. Severus would know, and she had no idea how to tell him.

As she showered, she heard the bathroom door open. When she finished, she emerged from the shower and saw Severus sitting on a chair watching her. He didn't say anything as Hermione tried to get the towel around her without showing him her body. She started to towel dry her hair and saw from the mirror that Severus was getting undressed behind her. She watched him discreetly, feeling the need for him blaze through her core. She looked at his erection. He was ready. She knew him. After all this time, she still could feel the connection between them. She forced her eyes from his body, her breathing growing shallow and uneven. He went into the shower, and Hermione walked back into the bedroom to look for something clean to wear. She found a number of Severus' white shirts, pants, and robes. She took a white shirt and put it on. She spell-dried her hair, and as she was settling into bed to sleep, Severus came out, naked, and fixated his eyes on his wife.

"Are we safe here?" she whispered as she lay curled up under the blankets.

"As safe as anywhere," Severus replied. "It is Unplottable, even for a Death Eater, for I know their tricks. We'll hide out here and wait for the news about the outcome."

At first it was awkward. They had spent so much time apart, and although time apart was no stranger to them...secrets were. Severus knew it too. He came to his side of the bed and carefully urged her to release the blankets and let him see her. As the bed shifted with his added weight, Hermione's mind flashed back to that first night at Spinner's End. How scared they both had been! He cautiously unbuttoned the shirt she wore, his eyes reveling in the thrill of revealing of her body to himself. His hand ghosted over her plump breasts before placing delicate kisses around each nipple.

Hermione watched her husband drink in the sight of her nakedness. His stare reminded her how long it had been since she had made love. Then she thought about Serena and began to cry.

Severus was alarmed. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close. She hit him in the chest and pushed him away.

"Why did you leave me like that? Do have any idea what they did to me?" she shouted at him.

"I was told you were placed under house arrest at Hogwarts," he replied, confusion apparent in his voice.

"Didn't it strike you as odd to know that I wasn't there come September?"

"Actually, no," he replied bluntly. "There was no way you could have set one foot inside Hogwarts without being arrested and sent to Azkaban, or worse!"

Severus cradled her in his arms. "Hermione, I was sick with worry for nearly a year until I got word that you had been with Andromeda and later were safe with Hagrid."

"And that's all you were told?' she asked him as she pulled away from him and walked to the bureau to put on one of his robes.

"Hermione, what are you doing?" he asked.

She stopped at the doorway, but didn't turn around. "I have to talk to you, and I can't do it in bed," she whispered.

She heard him get up from the bed and put on his robes. They walked silently into the kitchen where Severus made them a pot of tea.

He sat across from her as they waited for the kettle to heat up and confessed, "Yes, every day I missed you and worried for your safety, and although I was concerned about you being discovered in hiding, I knew it was the safest place for you. Then with Hagrid and the others, you were with friends."

"That's not exactly what happened, Severus," she admitted as her eyes filled up with tears.

Severus was showing signs of distress. His twitch near his mouth started, and the vein in his temple began to throb.

"Tell me, Hermione!" he demanded.

She looked at him and said in a very detached voice as tears poured down her face, "The night Dumbledore died, I found out I was pregnant. I was having a girl and was already three months along. After the battle was over, I was interrogated and placed in the Tower jail overnight until arrangements could be made for my immediate house arrest. I was placed in a room with a bathroom attached, and my food was brought to me by the house-elves.

"I started getting a baby bump during my fifth month, and since I knew it was a girl, I named her Serena. It made me feel closer to you. The night the Ministry fell, I got a Patronus from Tonks to get the hell out of Hogwarts. She had given me my wand back illegally during her last visit, so I was able to pack a few things and get out of there before the Death Eaters came. I Apparated home and found my parents had been dead and buried and the house blown apart. My neighbor gave me some things to help me on my way. I knew I couldn't stay there. I need to go where I wouldn't be found."

She lowered her eyes to focus on the table. She could no longer stand to watch the look of horror coming over his face. "I went to the Forest of Dean where my family and I had camped many times over the years, and I spent a month alone, trying to find shelter and food. When the food I had was running out, I had a hunting knife. I made snares for squirrels and rabbits and ate them."

Severus jumped to his feet and began to pace in the living room. His face was so angry, angrier than she had ever seen before. She continued, although she was becoming increasingly afraid of telling him about Serena's death.

"One day I-I s-stumbled upon Dean Thomas, Ted Tonks, Dirk Creswell and two goblins, Griphook and Gornuk. They told me about the new rules of the regime. I stayed with them and shared their tent. Dean took care of me and watched over me. Another month went by, and I was starting my seventh month. It was getting colder; food was getting harder to find for all of us. I couldn't stop losing weight. Dean gave me most of his food so I could keep my nutrition up, but one morning that October, I-I w-woke up, a-and I was in s-so much pain, a-and the bleeding wouldn't stop..."

She screamed as Severus strode to the kitchen and threw the kitchen table across the room into the living room, howling in rage. Hermione sat cowering in her chair, crying and shaking, trying to hide her face as he came to her. She was so scared he was going to blame her, yell at her, leave her, or hit her. Instead, he fell to his knees in front of her and lowered his head onto her lap. His back shook, and he reached up and wrapped his arms around her waist. She heard a gut-wrenching sob escape from him, and she could feel the tears seep though to her thighs as he wept silently. She didn't know what to do or what to say, except place her hands on his back, stroking it to ease his suffering.

"Our baby," he cried out. "Our baby," he said over and over. After a while, he looked up at her as he remained kneeling with his hands still wrapped around her. He looked so sad and destroyed. The pain was etched all over his face.

Hermione just wanted to get this over with. "The birth was over in an hour. There was so much blood. I remember asking Dean why the baby wasn't crying, and he said she was dead. Andromeda buried her in her garden, and we spoke the Anglican funeral rites over the grave." She shuddered as she took a deep breath. She was glad it was over, and now he knew.

Severus stood up, wrapped his arms around his chest protectively, and said, "How you must hate that I wasn't there; I should have been there. I love you, Hermione. Please forgive me," he said as he covered his face and began to cry over again.

Hermione scrambled out of her seat and reached out to him. "There is nothing for you to feel guilty about. Dumbledore, Voldemort...this fucking war is to blame! There is good news, though. I can still have children, nothing is so broken that we have to give up our dreams."

Severus smiled through his tears. "Our little house full of soft sofas and chairs, a roaring fire and cocoa in the winter..."

"...And lemon and pumpkin juice in the summertime," finished Hermione.

"I missed you!" he said emotionally as he held her close to him. "Every day we were apart was torture. I was terrified you were dead, or worse...you had given up and believed I was a monster."

Hermione pushed herself away enough to look at his face. "I was angry. I wanted to know how you could be so silent. I wished every day for you to reach out to me. I felt so alone and afraid you had forgotten all about me or had given up on us! I have missed you so much!"

Severus placed his hands on both sides of her face. "You and I have loved each other for so long, and we've suffered through so much, I couldn't forget you if I tried. You are the only person who has loved me without reservation or care for your own reputation. Even when I was undeserving, even when you could have turned your back on me, you were always there." He lowered his head and kissed her.

"Hermione," he breathed as he wrapped his arms around her. "That terrible day when you found me, lost and in pain in front of Lily's house, you sat with me and stayed without reproach or disgust. When you fell asleep, I watched you. You were so beautiful, so comforting...I loved you. I know now that was when I loved you."

Hermione leaned back her head. "You came to my bed that night for a kiss."

Severus looked at her with hooded eyes that were full of desire. "I wanted everything, Hermione. I wanted you to cover me with your body, your hands, and your hair and be a part of me." When he spoke again, his voice was raspy. "Is it too soon?"

"No. I'm healed. I saw a doctor and everything is fine. Where are the rings?"

He had them on a long chain around his neck. He broke the chain off from his neck and removed them. They placed their wedding rings on each other, and Hermione sighed. "I won't ever have to worry about taking it off again." She smiled as she hugged him.

He kissed her as he reached his hands into her robe and found her breasts. "It's been so long, Hermione. I need to be with you."

"Yes, Severus. Let's go to bed."

A snap of his fingers and the kitchen table righted itself as they approached the bedroom. He gently removed his shirt and robe from her and sat on the bed to look at her.

"You are so lovely," he whispered. "It's as if nothing has changed. I love you."

Hermione felt her blushing. "I was afraid you would see all my stretch marks and not be interested anymore."

He stroked her breasts, stomach, and bum. Then he urged her closer to him. "Never, sweet girl. I will always want you. I have dreamt of you, missed you, I need you," he pleaded.

He lifted her up and made her straddle him. He kissed her as he played with her curly hair. They kissed slowly and softly, relearning how to taste each other and savor their passion. Too soon, his kisses became ardent and hungry. Hermione was urged to lie down on the bed as Severus began to play and tease her body. Hermione didn't feel the urge yet to make love, but Severus did. She returned his caresses and enjoyed the feel and closeness of him. Soon he was easing into her, straining to take her gently. Hermione tucked his hair behind his ears and cupped his face. He reached down and captured her lips with his own.

"Please, Hermione, don't you want me?" he whispered.

"I do, it's been so long. So much pain, I just want to enjoy being close to you," she replied. She closed her eyes, and gratitude washed over her as he withdrew from her body. He lowered his mouth between her thighs and teased her clit with his tongue. Hermione gasped at the shock of pleasure that flooded her body. She felt the hair on her arms stand up and her nipples tingle, and she knew she needed him as much as he needed her.

She buried her hands in his hair and pushed him farther in to taste her more. She was shifting her legs as each jolt of pleasure rushed through her.

His hands sought their way to her full breasts, squeezing and pinching her nipples. He was going to make her orgasm, and she could feel it happening. It had been so long since she had felt this need. When Serena died, she had felt her desire for life had died with her. As she peaked, she burst into tears, sobbing through the ecstasy she was feeling. It was too much at once.

Severus rose to her face and asked, "Are you all right?"

She nodded and pulled him to lie on top of her. "I'm ready now," she whispered. "I need you inside me. It's been too long."

She lifted her legs to feel as much of him inside her. As he entered her, they both gasped.

Hermione felt her fears drift away as he sheathed himself fully within her. It was real. Severus was here with her. It wasn't a dream. They had found each other at last. To Hermione's surprise, he still filled her snugly, as if no time had passed, and soon he was panting and growling as he thrust inside her.

"Hermione," he groaned. "I haven't felt this safe in so very long." His movement became languorous and teasing. "There were so many nights I craved this. I needed you so much."

Hermione felt the slow burn of his passion take over her mind. He was still both the loving boy who had kissed her in that record booth and the man who had ravished her so many times over the years. He still was her boy, and she was still his girl.

She felt her whole body relax, and she released her need and fear, giving the emotions over for Severus to drive from her. "You're still so...perfect," he whispered into her ear. He lowered his head to suck and lave her nipples, and she felt the familiar rising tide inside her building higher and higher. She came again with agonizing sobs racking her body, and he kissed her tears as he spilled his seed into her, whispering her name, thanking her for coming back to him and letting him make love to her.

He rested against her and stroked her arm. "This was the last thing I expected to do today," he said, chuckling.

Hermione smiled and kept one leg tightly around his waist, keeping him inside her. "Sleep," she whispered as she snuggled firmly against him.

"Yes," he murmured. "Finally, after so long, I shall truly sleep."

***

Amor Ignorat Tempus is Latin for "Love does not know time."