Chapter Thirteen: At Last

Disclaimer: They all belong to JKR. I'm just playing with them for a while.

Chapter Thirteen: At Last

The dark wizard smirks as his wife continues the tale. This was always his favourite part of the story.

The next morning, Hermione arrived on the doorstep of number twelve, Grimmauld Place, braced for the upcoming confrontation. Harry had disappeared after Ron last night, and neither had been seen since.

"Harry? Ron?" The house was quiet, even the dreadful portrait of Mrs Black had been silenced. "Where is everyone?" she called.

A rattle of a door handle and a shuffle of footsteps announced the presence of someone. A half dressed, dishevelled young wizard ran his hands through unruly, black hair and peered at her with bloodshot eyes.

"Shhhh! Shtop shouting, Hermi... Hermy... Herm... you," he managed to croak as he held his head.

Rolling her eyes, Hermione stalked into the kitchen and retrieved the hangover potion kept in the cupboard. Regular bouts of drinking larger quantities of alcohol than they were used to, either in celebration or commiseration, had rendered a supply of the potion essential for the two inhabitants of the house.

"Here, drink this," she ordered.

"Oh, yeah. Good thinking." Harry obediently complied, wincing as the effects of the previous night's overindulgence suddenly left his system. "Ahh. That's better," he sighed.

"Yes, well, I should think so." Hermione eyed the bare chest of her best friend. As well put together as he was, he just didn't compare to a certain pale, lean, older wizard. "So, what happened?"

"Last night?"

"No, last week. Honestly, Harry, did you leave your brain somewhere with your shirt?"

"Okay, okay. No need to get touchy." He pulled out a chair for her at the kitchen table and seated himself opposite. "Ron ran off. I followed him. He was pretty upset, but by the time we'd had a few Firewhiskys and talked I think he came around. Not that I remember everything. After that, he decided I needed to join him in drowning his sorrows." His crooked grin would have been endearing if it weren't accompanied by a less than savoury aroma.

"At least he knows now. Whew." She wrinkled her nose. "How about you go and have a shower while I cook some breakfast. I'm sure even if Ronald is no longer speaking to me, he will want food once he has had some of the potion."

"Why would Ronald not be speaking to you?" asked the young man himself as he entered the room, looking considerably less worse for wear than his drinking companion.

"You tell me, Ron," she replied, meeting his eyes for the first time since she had announced Snape's survival.

"I won't lie and tell you I am happy about it, but you did give me fair warning. I suppose Snape deserves to be happy as much as anyone else," he reluctantly admitted.

"I wish he would realise that," she muttered.

"Have you still not talked to him?" Harry shook his head in disbelief.

"No. I am planning to tonight. Now go. Shower!"

"Talked to him about what?" Ron asked, feeling left out of the conversation.

"About our relationship. What it is. What he wants."

"Oh. The talk." Ron grinned, suddenly sympathetic towards the older wizard. "So, what's for breakfast?"

***

"Severus?" Hermione asked as they were reading companionably on the sofa later that evening. "Do you think you will look for a woman you would like to spend your life with, now you are free to do as you choose? Or a man, if that is your preference," she added, grinning at his scowl.

He considered her question carefully for several long moments, then replied with a satisfied smile, "You know, I rather suspect I have already found her."

"You... you have?" Eyes wide, confidence shaken, Hermione stared at the man beside her. She couldn't remember seeing him with any women recently. As far as she knew, he had not left the cottage except for their trip to Australia and the meeting the previous night.

"What is she like?" she asked, turning the knife in her own, self-induced wound.

"You would like her," he replied. "She's intelligent, attractive, witty, and sexy. She's inquisitive and bossy and drives me to distraction at times. But I love her with all my heart and hope she will one day see me as worthy of hers." He watched as she took a deep breath and slumped a little.

"Oh. That's lovely. Well, I must go; I have some things to do."

Hermione leapt off the couch and rushed out of the door before tears could betray her, not seeing the smirk on Snape's face as she left.

"How could he? Right under my nose! She is intelligent, attractive, witty, and sexy. She is inquisitive and bossy and drives me to distraction at times," she muttered to herself as she fumed on the doorstep. The realisation that she was about to step aside and let another witch take her man stopped her short as she was about to Disapparate. Wait a minute. Am I going to accept that? Am I some pathetic wimp who won't fight for her wizard? Dammit, I want an explanation, and I want it now!

Turning back to the door, the angry young woman threw it open with all the dramatic force the man himself was known for. She barely had time to notice his grin and the fingers he had held up as if counting before she launched her tirade.

"What am I, Severus Snape, chopped liver? I'm intelligent. I'm witty. I'm bossy, and I'm sure I drive you to distraction often enough." She stood, arms akimbo, glaring at Snape, who was now standing immediately in front of her sporting a curiously tender expression.

"You forgot attractive, inquisitive, and sexy," he added as their eyes met and a startling comprehension dawned.

"Oh."

"Indeed." Drawing her into his arms, Severus Snape did something he had longed to do for months.

He kissed her.

Properly.

With tongue and lips and soft, growling noises.

"Wow! I never knew... All this time hoping and wishing and wondering," Hermione whispered.

"So much time wasted because I was too afraid to risk what we had in my greed for more," he replied.

"I was too, Severus. Our friendship means so much to me; I was terrified you would regret letting me become so close if you knew how I felt."

"How could I regret the best thing that has ever happened to me?" He took her hand in his and placed it over the centre of his chest. "Do you feel it?"

"Feel what?" She wrinkled her forehead in confusion.

"My heart. It belongs to you. Only you." His finger trailed along the back of her hand as he leaned forward to claim another heated kiss. "I'm yours, Hermione. I think I have been since the moment I discovered you still believed in me after..." He sighed. "But I knew you wanted Ronald Weasley. I could not tell you how I felt. It is only recently I have seen something in your eyes reflecting my own feelings and dared to hope."

"Severus, I admit I wanted Ron to notice me. All through sixth year. Heaven knows, you teased me enough about it. But all the time we were in that damned tent I could only ever think of you. I worried so much about what Voldemort would do to you if he ever discovered our friendship. Oh, we had our moments, but I spent more time thinking about you than our own safety."

"If Voldemort had broken me sufficiently to discover our friendship, my dear, he would have already known enough to send me to the darkest pits of hell. You were never a risk for my safety, only my heart." He grinned ruefully.

"Your heart was never at risk, Severus. Mine apparently made its decision long before my mind caught up. You know, Ron and I shared a kiss in the heat of the final battle, and later I could never understand why after all those years mooning around after him I only wanted him as a friend. Now I understand. You were already embedded in my heart, and there was no room for anyone else. I love you, Severus Snape. I love you, and I want you with every fibre of my being." Hands reached up and drew his lips back to hers to pour all her unquenched desire into the kiss.

He groaned, helpless in the face of her need. "Gods, I have waited so long to hear you say that."

Taking her hand, he brushed the palm with his mouth.

"I love you, Hermione Granger."

Winding his arms around her waist, he once again tasted her lips.

"I need you."

Gathering her into his embrace and carrying her upstairs, fierce, black eyes met molten amber.

"I want you."

"Take me then," she replied as he laid her on the soft, inviting bed; a precious gift waiting to be unwrapped.

"I shall."

And he did.

***

"Oh, Daddy, you were such a romantic under all those sneers and frowns. It's no wonder Mum loves you so much." She snuggles closer to her beloved parents. "But I have one question. Why do you always tell the story as if they were someone else?"

Then together, arm in arm, the three leave the cottage to face the future.

The End

***

A/N: This was written for the Hermione Big Bang, which posted on LiveJournal on September 9th 2009 to celebrate Hermione's 30th birthday.

Many thanks go to my wonderful beta, ladyinthecloak, whose skill at rounding up commas is legendary, my friends Jan and Catrina, who patiently put up with endless discussions on the plot and characters, and my cheerleader, Michelle.