Chapter 27

All canon characters belong to JKR.

Thank you to June for all of the hard work she put in and for helping me with this story.

Chapter 27

Crookshanks was standing on his hind paws as Osiris stood on the top of his head. He was just able to peek through the keyhole of the large side door that lead into the Great Hall from the dungeons. The lights had gone out on cue.

“Perfect,” said Osiris. He then quickly muttered the spell he had learned from Severus’ books, thus assuring no one inside the Great Hall would be able to conjure any light.

“Well?” asked Crookshanks as he tried to keep from moving too much, aware that Osiris was precariously perched on his head, looking down at him.

“Alohomora,” Osiris whispered, then watched as the door slowly began to open slightly. “Okay, it’s time.” He hopped off of Crookshanks’ head and got onto his back once more. They, along with their new friends, managed to open the door just enough to squeeze in. After two months of preparing for this ultimate surprise, it would finally be realized.

As the rumble of the crowd began to grow louder, the ceiling suddenly began to glow. Thousands of fairies were fluttering around the room. Fairy dust filled the air, and a golden light fell upon the entire hall. All the guests were looking up and around.

Severus looked to Raven and Odette and saw them smiling at the surprise. He looked down to see his Osiris and Crookshanks scuttle towards him.

“Oh, Raven, it’s beautiful. It looks like one of those Muggle snowglobes filled with glitter.” Odette was looking all over the room. It was the most beautiful sight she had ever seen. The fairies were flying around the Great Hall, filling it with their ethereal light; some even flew in formations such as joined hearts, candelabras, fireworks fountains, and “Raven Loves Odette.” It was something no one in the room had ever seen on such a large scale. Raven looked at Odette; she glowed in the fairy light as though she were made of gold herself.

Albus cleared his throat once more. “Shall we begin?” he asked as he smiled and looked over his glasses.

The guests all sat back down, and Osiris and Crookshanks took their places. Osiris flew onto Severus’ shoulder, and Crookshanks jumped onto Hermione’s lap.

“How did you ever get all of these fairies to agree to do this?” Severus asked, as he looked over to his cousin.

“Crooks and I have been offering our services for the last few months,” said Osiris.

“Do I want to know what kind of services?” asked the now quite nervous Potions Master, arching his brow.

“Please; I’m not so hard up I’d do THAT to a fairy.” Osiris shook his head at Severus.”The fairies lost their queen a few months ago, so we’ve been protecting them from predators until their new queen arrived. I almost got eaten by a damn Augurey.” Before Severus could retort, Hermione lightly swatted him on the arm and shushed him.

After the ceremony ended, all of the guests followed the new Mr. and Mrs. Raven Snape into the gardens. The fairies followed the procession of people and positioned themselves in the trees, flying in garland formations. The sky was clear, and the full moon was floating just above them.

Severus sat along the edge of the celebration. He watched his son and his new daughter-in-law as they walked to each guest and thanked them for attending. He watched as his daughter Kat and her fiancé Vladimir Malfoy sat holding each other’s hands as they watched the newlyweds with sparkling eyes. He saw as his friend Lucius Malfoy sat with his son Draco and discussed how they could best use the money now pouring in from their business ventures to good use, both in the Wizarding and Muggle world. Severus looked at Harry, sitting with Remus’ baby daughter, Lily, on his lap. He laughed as he saw Crookshanks chasing a low-flying Osiris, who held a box of the cat’s favorite chocolate in his talons.

How different the world would have been had Harry not defeated Voldemort. All of these people would have been fated for something far different than what they were doing now, and some far worse. His own children might never have been born. Severus smiled as he saw Hermione approach him with a glass of wine. She handed it to him and sat down, taking his hand in hers.

“It was beautiful, wasn’t it?” she said, as she looked out onto the celebration.

“It was perfect,” he said as he squeezed her hand and looked into her eyes. “Have you seen your daughter? I think we shall have to endure another celebration very soon.”

Hermione looked to where Kat and Vlad sat; they were now talking to Raven and Odette. She smiled.

“Our children are grown, Severus. Look at how beautiful they are.” She shed a single tear before she wiped her eyes with the pale yellow handkerchief in her hand.

“Thank you.” He looked to her and caressed her cheek. “I love you, so very much.”

“What were you thinking of before I arrived?” she asked, noting the wistfulness in his words.

“I was thinking that, had we not won the war, I would not have any of this. These friends, this family.” Severus turned away from her. “You would have been lost to me, Hermione. I think of that sometimes and cannot bear it.” His voice broke as he said the last words.

“But we did win,” she said as she leaned her head on his shoulder and moved closer to him. “And we are here, my love. I am here.”

He looked down at her and smiled. Yes, they did win; and yes, she was there. She would be there with him forever.

And so this is how their life was spent. Their children wed and had children and grandchildren of their own. Severus was eventually given the position of Headmaster after Albus retired, and Hermione became the deputy Headmistress, replacing Minerva. They worked hard to not show favoritism to their grandchildren and great-grandchildren, regardless of which house they were sorted into. Osiris and Crookshanks kept the school on their toes in their usual manner, and every once in a while Severus and Hermione had to stop classes because the classrooms were filled with Jell-O or smelled of horse manure.

But in the comfort of his office, each day Severus looked onto the Hogwarts grounds and thought that his life had turned out rather nicely.

The end.

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I have come to the end of my tale and probably the end of the series. But, who knows. I may decide to revist these characters again. Thank you for reading.

There is a short sequel called "A Small Addition" which you can read also.