Epilogue

Epilogue

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The sun was warm on her back when she climbed the last few feet to the top of the mountain, secured by a rope and a spell designed by Severus especially for this occasion. For more than an hour, she had worked her way up, one grip after the other, squeezing foot after foot in the small cracks in the rock. "Madness," she muttered to herself and wiped the sweat off her forehead. "Idiocy. We could Apparate up here, we could fly, we could have stayed home, come to think of it. Instead, I'm behaving like a spider, crawling up this bloody mountain!"

Well, Severus had been able to persuade her to do so for the third time now. Considering that, she supposed that climbing had its own way of seducing newcomers. It certainly had claimed her heart and her mind, as she dreamed of going back as soon as they were home.

"You are doing well, Hermione," Severus called from above. As usual, he had led the way, hammering the iron into the rock as grips for her hands and feet. Now, he secured her with the rope, standing at the edge of the mountain as if it didn't go down for several hundred feet. The wind blew, but his hair was pulled back to the base of his neck, and for once he didn't wear robes but tight jeans and a jumper. No boots, but soft climbing shoes made him look as un-Snape-ish as possible.

She loved it. He was so different out here, in nature, far away from Hogwarts. He laughed more, he kissed her at every possible and impossible occasion, and it had taken him only three years to persuade her to come with him, accompany him to one of his mountain trips.

Three years, she mused and reached up to catch his hand. Three years we are together now, and I love him so badly that it hurts.

One last push, and she was up, panting and sweating and cursing silently, as she had strained a muscle in her leg a few feet before the peak. Staggering, she leaned on Severus, who just scooped her up and carried her away from the abyss. "What about..." she began, but he just kissed the tip of her nose.

Snape peeked over the edge. Far below, three figures dangled in the ropes, obviously trying to figure out how to get up without falling down. "They insisted on coming with us, now they have to deal with the rock themselves. They'll do fine," he assured her. "They claimed in loud and clear words that they are, and I quote here, 'bloody capable of crawling up a bloody hill'. So let them crawl. Lie down and tell me what you think of this place." Carefully, he lowered her onto the soft grass and sat down next to her. A shrug of his shoulders and he held the rucksack he'd been carrying in his hands. After a bit of rummaging, he came up with a sandwich and a bottle of water, accompanied by a small bar of chocolate.

"Hmmm," she sighed. "You really know how to improve my mood. I thought I'd fall when I hurt my leg. But for chocolate I'd even go to hell and back."

"I know. That is the reason why I packed it. There must be a prize waiting for you at the top of each mountain, and I know by now that you have a sweet tooth." Teasingly, he held the bar right in front of her face until she boxed him in the ribs and snatched it out of his fingers. Opened in a second, she had devoured the better part of it before Severus fell upon her like a falcon falls on its prey, pressing her backwards into the grass and pinning her arms to the ground. "Greedy witch," he grumbled and stole the last bite.

Settling her head comfortably in his lap, she followed the slow movements of the clouds above. "Thief," she scolded. "Honestly, sometimes I wonder how you managed to talk me into your bed."

The sun was behind him, so she couldn't see his face when he answered. A strand of his long, black hair had escaped the ribbon and tickled her cheek. "Now that's easy," he said. "I'm tall, dark, extremely good looking, my nose is as crooked as any sensible witch could wish for, I am ridiculously intelligent, my climbing skills are extraordinary, I have a job that earns me enough money to provide for a family, I'm neither married nor drug-addicted, and, most importantly, I am of a decent age. I am the perfect candidate for a romantic relationship, and obviously, you were at least clever enough to admit a few of those facts because otherwise, you wouldn't have claimed me as yours."

She just snorted. "Not to forget your modesty."

"Not to forget that, correct. Thank you for reminding me to add this to my list of qualities."

She tugged at his hair, then brushed her fingertips against his cheek. "Considering all of this, I must be daft, risking you getting snatched away by an eager young girl," she mused. "I should bind you to me. Actually... I think... Yes. I think I should marry you. What d'you say?"

He bent a bit lower. There was a sparkle in his eyes she hadn't noticed before. "I wonder why it took you so long to ask me, Hermione," he whispered, his lips curving into a grin. "I have been waiting for you to ask the critical question since Christmas. I had already considered the possibility that you are not truly a Gryffindor, given your lack of courage."

"Oi!" she exclaimed. "I am Gryffindor. I asked you, didn't I? And besides – why didn't you ask me if you are so desperate to become a respectable man?"

He just chuckled and kissed her, and properly this time. "I preferred manoeuvring you into a situation where it became obvious that marrying me is what you really want," he murmured. "Asking you might have resolved in you saying yes without being sure if I am the man you want sleeping next to you for the next few decades. By making you ask me, I can be quite certain that you are."

"Slytherin," she breathed. "Horrible, manipulative, sneaky Slytherin. Marry me, or I will throw you off the mountain."

He let himself fall backwards into the grass, taking her along. Now she lay on top of him, pinned him down, and caught his face between her hands. "Marry me, Severus. Say you want me for your wife!"

"I will," he said. "I will and I do. Of course I do."

*****

When Harry, Ron, and Dudley finally reached the top of the mountain, they were swearing and cursing as loudly as possible. Ron's trousers were ripped along the knees, Harry's hands were both badly scratched as he had forgotten to put on his gloves, Dudley couldn't talk at all and all three of them were dripping with sweat.

When they saw the kissing couple, they went silent immediately. Harry had Ginny, Ron had Lavender, but Hermione was their best friend and neither was used to seeing her snogging so thoroughly. Of course they knew that she and Snape lived together in his dungeon rooms; of course they were aware that, possibly, they... kissed every now and then. Or snuggled. Or maybe even hugged each other.

But... this here? This encounter right in front of them made both young men blush up to their hairlines, and Ron as well as Harry turned away quickly. It looked so very passionate, far too close to... sex, to be blunt.

Dudley, on the other hand, was just grinning from ear to ear.

"Scary sight, isn't it?" murmured Harry.

"Very," Ron agreed with a shudder. "Can you imagine them like... naked? I mean, Hermione naked is an acceptable thought, but... him?"

"Huh!" Harry gulped and shot a glance over his shoulder. "That image will cause me nightmares for the next couple of years." Then he relaxed visibly. "They've stopped!" he said and grabbed Ron's arm. "Now look, Snape, that's definitely too gross to be allowed. Can't you do that in your dungeons?"

"I'm not having them witnessing our marriage," Snape snapped and put an arm round Hermione's waist.

Ron and Harry paled. "Marriage?" they managed in unison, staring at Hermione. "You and... Snape?"

"Yay!" Dudley cheered. Ever since he'd been at the christening of Harry's son, he simply loved to go to a feast organised by wizards and witches.

Hermione laughed. "Of course. What did you think, that I'd marry someone else after all we've gone through? After three years of living with him, after enduring all his moods for such a long time?"

Ron leaned towards Harry a bit and whispered in his ear, "If they aren't careful, they'll reproduce!"

"I heard that, Mr Weasley, and I thank you for the suggestion," Snape said silkily and smirked. "That was something I hadn't even considered until now."

A/N: Thank you so much for reading and reviewing this story - every single word you left means the world to me!