The End

A/N: You might notice that a story ending seems different, depending on where you read it. Just a thought. ;-)

My fanfiction will be up until August, at which time I will delete all my fanfiction under the name RachelW.

Thanks to everyone who stuck with me through finishing this story. It was a wild ride at times. The last year has been a rather tumultuous one for me, and I shelved the fanfiction to deal with things that had to be dealt with. Real life is priority, but now I give you the end of my story, such as it is. It won't please everyone, and it may not even please most... but it is what I feel to be a true ending to this story.

Severus,

Severus read and re-read the letter. She would meet him. Finally. His eyes drifted to the locked box on his desk where the Potion waited. It might not be a permanent solution, but it would set things straight for a while until he could discover a more permanent solution. There would just be the matter of slipping the potion into her drink. Her chosen location caused him some concern. This wasn't a drawn out time for extensive conversation she was planning on. It was a place to meet him quickly, probably to tell him to bugger off. Once she drank the Potion though, that would change.

He shouldn't have to be doing this, but he loved her enough to help her through what really was only brought upon by Lucius's actions. Everything had been fine before Lucius Malfoy had got hold of her. Everything would be fine again, and they would be happy together again.

*****

Hermione thought back to the time she'd made her decision to marry Severus. She wasn't sure that things would have been better with Kingsley Shacklebolt; at the time, her Arithmantic equations had favored Severus. Arithmancy was only as good as the information supplied in the equation, though. Severus had helped her with it, telling her to factor in her feelings on subjects in the equation, but she had substantially underestimated the impact. She hadn't had all the information. Facts, yes, but she hadn't fully understood what being in a relationship with Snape, acquiescing to his demands, even if she enjoyed it on some level, would do to her. It had had nothing to do with her enjoyment of his sexual preferences at all, and that's what she had based her calculations on. That was the crux of the issue. Control. It wasn't about sex, it was about control.

The law, though it had been altered from its original form and the coitus clause was no longer enforced, set up the relationships with a substantial power imbalance. A relationship formed under those circumstances would be colored by them, no matter how nice or how much a pureblood partner attempted to make the situation tolerable, they would still be in a position of authority over their Muggle-born spouse. She wondered, had it not been for the Marriage Law, if she would have ever been in a relationship with Severus of any sort other than that of student and teacher. The answer, no matter how she tried to look at it, was no.

Promises had been made, and she never wanted to break her promises, but standing by a promise made under duress and in a hurry when it was a bad promise to begin with was not honor, it was stupidity. Severus had used her sense of honor against her in reminding her time and time again that she had promised him, that she had agreed to everything in their relationship, even as he made concessions to her over time. She shouldn't have to feel grateful simply to be allowed to make a choice.

Hermione checked herself in the mirror, mentally picturing the coming scene. She would tell him, calmly, after cordial greetings, that she thought that it was best that they permanently separate. She would not accuse or attempt to draw out a conflict or confrontation. This was her decision. Once made, attempting to apologize for or justify it would only cloud the issue. She had tried to make it work, but living a life that wasn't truly her own was no longer an option. She felt she appeared calm and confident, as she quelled even the slightest internal tremor or doubt. She could not let herself be drawn into another battle of subtle manipulative deals and appeals for her to simply see reason... from his perspective. Even her perspective hadn't been her own, she realized. It was time to take her life back.

"Hermione, are you sure you want to do this alone?" Clarice asked.

"I'll be in a public place," Hermione answered.

"Yes, but do you trust him not to do something... magical?"

Hermione thought for a moment, she didn't believe he would go so far as to use a potion or spell on her, but there was a niggling doubt in the back of her mind. She wasn't completely sure he wouldn't if he saw an advantage in it. "I don't think he would..." she said, "but then, I haven't seen him in a while... he's done some things already I didn't think he would."

"I can go with you. I don't even have to sit near you, just somewhere nearby, just in case, you know."

Hermione considered it. It wouldn't hurt, but something about someone watching from her new life on her old life, especially the part of her old life she wanted to excise, seemed too naked.

"I should be fine, but if I'm not back by..." she glanced at the clock seeing it was six and she was to meet Severus at six-thirty, "ten, at the latest, there's a problem."

"And if there's a problem, just how am I supposed to do something about it?" Clarice asked pointedly.

"Oh, good point. Well..." Hermione thought it over. She could summon a general postal owl and pre-write a message to someone... Harry, perhaps, or perhaps Kingsley Shacklebolt, but involving either of them didn't seem right. Then she remembered Treva. Treva would be perfect. Actually, she shouldn't have let things drift so badly between them. "I'll summon an owl, if I'm not back by ten, you can send a letter for me to a friend."

She wrote quickly, and muttered an incantation to summon the owl, opening the window, and hoping no one would notice it approaching. It was still daylight, after all. She finished the note, only a brief paragraph that Clarice would explain to Treva and that she might need help just in case. Just as she was going to be nearly late for her meeting with Severus, the owl flew through the window. It wouldn't like having to wait so long to possibly just be dismissed; she would have to pay an extra fee when she returned. But better safe than sorry. Clarice was in the bathroom at the moment.

"I'm going to be late," Hermione muttered to the owl. Hating to be late, even for something she was rather dreading, Hermione decided to Apparate. She checked that she had everything, then disappeared with a pop.

She Apparated near a garbage dumpster which she had kept in mind from when she discovered it. It was walled in on all sides around the dumpster to make the area not seem run-down. Stinky, but private, and only a very short walk to the coffee-shop. She didn't see him, so took a seat at one of the outdoor tables to wait for him.

*****

Approaching the coffee-shop, Severus looked over the outdoor tables first for Hermione. He saw her, and his heart clenched. She looked wonderful, but as he circled round to see her face, his stomach clenched and throat constricted to see the firm expression on her face. She had nothing in front of her yet. He approached her slowly. He'd prepared well, dressing his best in a deep green shirt, the color he'd worn for their wedding, and had pulled his hair back into a neat queue. She glanced up and saw him, and he realized his efforts were not for nothing.

"Hermione, thank you for meeting me," he said smoothly, despite the pain in his throat. He had an urgent feeling that this meeting must go perfectly, else their marriage truly would be finished. "Would you like me to get us something to drink?"

She nodded at him tightly. "I'd like a mocha- latté, please, Severus," she said tightly. He noticed, but said nothing about, the stiff posture she sat with.

"Very well, I will return momentarily." He smiled softly at her, and was pleased to see her respond, even if it was only slight. He turned and walked inside, grateful that this was the perfect opportunity to slip the potion into her drink. His knees seemed to tremble as he walked inside the shop, glancing back to where Hermione sat to be sure she wouldn't leave. There was a short line, blast the classless, assembly-line style Muggle trend of coffee-shops, and he stood at the end, reaching into his trouser pocket to finger the phial. So close, so very close.

He ordered two mocha lattés, not really caring what he had to drink. He stepped aside when they were given to him, muttering a quick spell to divert attention, and poured in the potion. The drink fizzed for a few seconds, then went still. He sniffed at it, satisfied that it was undetectable. Perfect. He took the drinks back outside, placing the spiked latté before Hermione.

As he sat, he saw Hermione straighten, brows furrowed and lips tight. She was going to say something soon, and he had to stop her saying it... she would change her mind after the drink, but she had to actually drink the damned thing.

"I've missed you," he said simply in opening. "I saw some interesting patterns made by the Mooncalves in the field last week after the full moon. I think they're growing in numbers. I thought you would have loved watching them."

"Oh, really," she said, blinking.

"Yes. I'm sure they're only going to get more interesting here on out." He wanted to pull her away from her original thoughts first, get her to relax a bit, to remember the good times they'd shared.

"Next thing you know, Muggle Ufologists will be all over the place," Hermione joked, slightly relaxing. She reached forward and took a sip of her drink. Severus tried not to appear as if that was exactly what he was waiting for. She took a deep breath.

"I think being on my own has given me a lot of time to work out some things I really needed to work out, Severus," she began, sounding as if she had rehearsed this opening a dozen times.

"I understand," Severus interjected, needing to slow her rehearsed speech. "Your life has been rather eventful. You've done more in the last ten years than many people do in a lifetime. Needing to take a break from it all and sort things out is natural. I was upset at first, but I've come to understand what it is you needed to do."

Yes, well, thank you for understanding," Hermione said, unbalanced by his confirmation of having read and understood her first letter to him on the subject. Looking as if she meant to steady herself, she took a large gulp of the coffee, opened her mouth as if to say something, then closed it again.

"I've also realized several other things, and I would like to make a proposal I believe would help, if you would hear me out?" he asked deferentially. His dark eyes seemed open and honest.

"I... well, okay," Hermione conceded, watching him closely now.

"The root of the problem was that our relationship progressed too quickly. We went from being strictly student and teacher, and not a well-liked teacher at that..." he smiled slightly at his own self-depreciating remark, happy to see the corners of her mouth lift slightly with mirth, "then directly to engagement and marriage, with little time to adjust. Looking back, I would have approached a relationship differently. I've learned a lot since we've been together, realized things that have changed my perspective. I've made too big an issue of things that weren't that important in the bigger picture because I've never experienced what I have with you." He reached forward and took her hands in his. "I've never loved anyone before you, Hermione. That has changed everything for me. Living without you has been hell. Right now, I think if only we could spend a little time together, go out on real dates, perhaps twice a week, over the next few months, we can progress on firmer footing from there. Would you be comfortable with that, Hermione? Remain at school, and see me twice a week. We'll go do things together that should have been done long ago."

Hermione felt confused as she gazed into his eyes. He seemed so sincere, and face to face with him, somehow all the happy memories came rushing back. Her rehearsed speech faded in her memory, and she found herself wondering what it would be like to actually date him. Did he truly regret the way he'd set their relationship at the start?

"There's no need to answer just yet, but please think about it." He squeezed her hands, then let them go, retreating to sit back in his seat so as not to make her feel crowded or pushed. "Have you been enjoying school?" he asked, changing the subject again to distract her.

"Well, yes, I have been." She gave him a smile. "I'm pulling good grades. Actually, focusing on bare mathematics has given me some insights on Arithmancy that I plan on exploring more in the future. I feel like it's very balancing in a way, and I wonder if some study in physics wouldn't be called for sometime, too." Hermione smiled despite herself, feeling relief to be speaking with Severus nicely. She drank some more of her latté. Severus drank some of his as well, and made a sour face.

"You enjoy this? It's entirely too sweet." Keep the conversation light, Severus reminded himself. She was going to be his, and it was taking quite a bit of effort to force himself to appear collected. This seemed even more difficult than keeping himself collected when he'd been a spy amongst the Dark Lord's followers. Somehow, hope and love seemed a greater emotion to bury than fear. Once it had been sparked, it had grown to the point that it seemed a wildfire was consuming him. Seeing Hermione before him now, all the hateful thoughts he'd had of her when she first left him seemed to fade in the light of that fire.

"I've gotten into the habit with all the studying again. At Hogwarts, it was massive amounts of tea, but the coffee seems easier now. But I'm really enjoying this; it's almost like how learning should have been before, without the rise of Voldemort and all the things happening."

"Yes, those were difficult times. But now it's good that you're enjoying yourself."

Hermione nodded, and a moment of silence passed nearly comfortably. She drained the rest of her drink. "I hadn't really thought of anything else to do here today..." she said almost apologetically. "I'd actually come thinking... well," she glanced toward him momentarily, "that I didn't want to spend that much time with you, that things between us would be too strained."

Severus looked down at his wedding band. When he spoke, his voice was thick with emotion. "I think it's time... to make an effort to truly live up to the hopes we declared with our rings, Hermione. I realize a lot of that work must be mine now. I feel like I want to take so many of the things I said to you early on and erase them..." He'd thought long and hard about what he would say, and what he would do in the future. It really was true that he wasn't so concerned anymore with their sexual relationship being precisely as he had set up. It was all about priorities, really. Having her at all was more important than having her complete sexual submission. Patience on her return home was worth it if it meant she would return home. His hand tightened around hers. "For both of us, serenity and peace was our highest hope, perhaps we should cultivate that, before we move on to further things?"

It seemed a whirl of emotions was ready to overwhelm Hermione. He was being more than reasonable, he was being downright understanding and caring. Perhaps she had judged things too harshly once her ordeal with Lucius was over? It hadn't really been that bad, in retrospect. "I think that might be acceptable," Hermione finally said, now with a surge of hope that things would be fine after all.

*****

"Hermione, everything okay?" Clarice asked.

"Yes, fine, actually," she answered. She walked to the owl and gave it an owl treat and a Sickle for the time-fee, and it flew back out the window. "I think this break has been good, actually. Let me clear my head, get some distance for a while, but seeing him again now has just brought back so many things." Hermione kicked off her shoes and placed them in her wardrobe, sighing. She grabbed her robe and turned, thinking a hot shower would be great, but then she saw the stricken look on Clarice's face. "Are you okay, Clair?"

"Yes... um, sure. I've... just remembered I was supposed to call my mum this week and I forgot is all." She was looking out the window at the owl flying away.

"Oh, well, I'll be in the bath for a while, I think, so you'll have plenty of time to talk privately." She went into the bathroom and ran a bath, enjoying a truly relaxing, luxurious bath. She'd been getting by with quick showers for quite a while now... in fact, the last time she'd had a long, luxurious bath was months ago, with Severus.

Those baths with Severus really had been lovely, she thought. As she sank into the hot, aromatic water, she thought back to those times, her hands creeping down to stroke herself, pinch herself the way he used to. She bit her lip as she brought herself to orgasm, moaning quietly, imagining his hands, his cock, and how much she wanted him again.

Outside the bathroom door, Clarice was pacing back and forth, knowing for certain that something terrible had happened to Hermione. Though she hadn't known her for all that long, only a few months, she felt that this was someone who she would know, would like to know, that is, for quite some time.

*****

Severus Apparated home elated. She'd drank the potion, and it had worked. He'd suggested that she remain in the dormitory – so that they could take it slow. Within a few weeks she would be insisting she return, and that's exactly what he wanted. She would see then that he cared.

"Lumos!" he cast, and the lights and candles around the house lit themselves. It was a shambles. He set to work in a frenzy, undeterred by the late hour, by his own exhaustion, he worked well into the evening scouring, organizing, straightening, and repairing. By sunrise, the little house gleamed like never before. He wasn't done. Outside, he trimmed the bushes, mowed the yard, and cleaned the garden. He pictured Hermione through the process, as she might be as she walked around the hedge, sat on the rock by the fence, or leaned out the dining room window to grab the cooking herbs which had grown there. He made a list of plants to acquire. Exhaustion and elation combined to form a drunkenness he'd never really felt before. He laughed aloud, relieved and blissful that Hermione would be returning home. Something else though, something dark seemed to cast a shadow on his joy, but he pushed that far away. It was time to think on the future, not the past. Their future together could still be good. The fact that they had a future at all was good.

*****

"Hermione! We really have to talk!" Clarice called loudly as she caught up with Hermione on the pathway around the Mathematics building.

"Clarice... I've told you a dozen times already. I really am fine. Now really, I'll be late for class." Hermione hurried forward, aggravated. She was on the verge of moving back with Severus, but he was insisting that they take things slowly, not rush too much. At any rate, Clarice had been neurotic ever since Hermione had come back from that first meeting with Severus. She could almost think Clarice was jealous... she didn't... no... probably not.

"Being late one day won't hurt you. In fact, skipping one lecture completely won't hurt you. Hermione, stop and listen! Look at yourself. You've changed completely in the past few months; you're not yourself."

"Yes," Hermione said hotly, "because you've known me, oh so very long." She regretted it the moment the words had slipped from her mouth. "I...I'm sorry, Clarice. I didn't mean..."

Clarice had looked hurt for a moment, but recovered quickly. She took a deep breath, and in a cool, level voice said: "He's done something to you, Hermione. Why are you acting like this if something isn't seriously wrong with you?"

"No." Hermione shook her head. "He hasn't done anything to me. Clarice, I'm sorry, but you've got to quit this. I just don't need this now, and you're not helping. I know you mean well, but just, please, quit it." She stood stiffly, her arms crossed tightly in front of her.

"Hermione... well, fine." Clarice looked dejected, but turned and walked away. Hermione watched her go, wishing she didn't have to be mean, but at the same time glad she wouldn't be bothered anymore.

Hermione started avoiding Clarice after her next meeting with Severus; she'd become obsessed with interfering with Hermione's personal life and decisions and Hermione had decided enough was enough. She finished filling out the change of address form at the post office, and then took all her belongings and checked into a new flat of her own, where she'd be able to concentrate. As she moved her stuff in, she couldn't help but imagine that perhaps in the new flat, she and Severus might have a chance to talk together privately. He'd refused to let her see the house, saying only that there would be a surprise for her when she was ready to return.

*****

"I don't think I'll be going to school next semester." They were walking down a pebbly beach. The sun was warm though the water was quite cold still. They'd spent the night together in her flat.

"Don't you?" Severus asked. "What shall you do, then, Hermione?"

"I'm not sure. I've always wanted to travel the world. In fact, I think it might be a good idea for the two of us to do that together, wouldn't you?"

"It's a possibility, yes." His dark hair fell aside as he turned to smile at her.

"Then let's do it once the semester is up. Let's travel the world, go see all the great things. Haven't you been to any interesting places?"

"No... I never had the chance... but it's time that was corrected. What do you want to see first?" he asked, then smiled.

Hermione laughed. "Fiji... then... well, wherever we feel like next."

"I can have all our loose ends tied up within the week." Snape said.

"And I'll be done with testing in two weeks." Hermione smiled. She didn't feel so tense about the upcoming tests as she had at Hogwarts. She felt a sort of peace had settled around her, making the world feel calm and make more sense.

"So, we have it then?" he asked. "Away to see the world, two weeks from today? Just a vacation, let's not think of things further than that for now."

"I think it sounds lovely." Hermione smiled, her brown eyes twinkling with laughter.

Two weeks later two figures stood on a pebbly, mist-shrouded beach, looking westward over the Atlantic ocean. They looked around for the Portkey that was to be there, and found it. One passerby had looked at them as if they were crazy, standing there on the misty morning dressed as if they were at a tropical beach. Once the Muggle was out of sight, they both grasped the Portkey and disappeared together.

The beach they landed on was warm and sunny. The next year was one of excitement and adventure together. They took many pictures of happy times. And it was a lovely life they led afterwards. They developed a small circle of friends – though their old connections from Hogwarts and the Order fell away slowly, moving on to other things, other goals. Some stayed in touch through a seasonal letter.

Every so often (every six to nine months), Hermione grew restless, and she started to spend more time with friends, her moods would grow erratic again, and she would think of changing her career or going back to school, and Severus knew it was time to give her the potion again. She was happier that way; life was more calm. He loved her enough to help her like that. She would settle right back down afterwards and enjoy their quiet routine again. The garden needed tending; the potions needed stirring. Their life together was simple. Their life together was good.