Epilogue

Disclaimer: The characters still don't belong to me, sigh.

I would like to say thanks to my beta, Charmed_Nay. She always took the time to look over my chapters for me no matter what she had going on. She's simply brilliant and quick. I couldn't have done this without her.

Severus kissed Hermione on the brow before slipping out of bed. He quietly made his way through the open door to the small adjoining room. The dimly lit lantern cast a comfortable, soft light upon the room. He gazed down into the crib at the sleeping face of his daughter, Lillian. She would be four months old in a couple of weeks, and not one night had passed where at some point he hadn't come to just look at his miracle. Her dark hair was already long and silky to the touch. She had Hermione's complexion though, for which he was grateful. Her little button nose resembled Hermione's own. At that moment, she opened her eyes. They'd turned to a deep shade of brown much like her mother's pair.

"Hello, Lily," he whispered softly, waving his hand at the mobile above her crib. It began playing a light tune that he'd privately dubbed the Harry Potter Theme. It was, in fact, a gift from Harry. He'd made it himself, and even though it didn't go along with the theme of the baby's nursery, they'd decided to use it without altering it. The top part appeared to be an upside down Quidditch pitch. Dangling below, a Seeker, looking suspiciously like Harry, chased a Snitch whilst a rogue Bludger chased after him. A Beater taking on the appearance of one of the Weasley twins laughed and followed. Another player, a Chaser, resembling Draco flew towards the hoops with a Quaffle where a Keeper resembling Ronald waited. A Rolanda-like referee flew amongst them all, blowing a silent whistle. The players would interact continuously until someone spoke the password or Lily fell asleep. It was quite brilliant, to be honest. It seemed that Potter took his role of godfather very seriously.

Severus had wanted to ask Lucius, but after Harry's part in Hermione's recovery, he'd felt indebted to the boy. It was just as well. Lucius was busy preparing for the birth of his second child. It felt odd that his child would be going to school with a Malfoy child and a Potter child. It was likely that the three would be great friends. Would they be the next Golden Trio? He smirked. "Good Lord, I hope not. I've had enough of those for one teaching career."

He smiled as Lily cooed slightly, shook her little legs, and smiled at him whilst trying to reach for one of the mobile's figurines. He kissed his index finger and placed it against his daughter's temple. Severus didn't move until she'd fallen back to sleep. She'd finally started sleeping most of the night. For a while, both he and Hermione had a rough time getting up with her every couple of hours. Sleep had been hard to come by. She had now settled into a pattern of falling asleep near eight, waking at midnight, and sleeping until eight again. It was rather suspicious that she'd adopted this new habit after Hermione's parents stayed with them for the last couple of weeks. They'd been able to catch up on their much-needed rest whilst the doting grandparents took over nighttime care. Whatever the woman had done, he appreciated it.

He and Hermione were finally getting back on track in the intimacy department. Severus had been afraid to touch her after Poppy deemed her healed enough to make love. He'd been so uncomfortable with their first attempt that it had failed miserably. He'd been relieved when the baby's cries had interrupted. After a long talk, Hermione agreed to take the potion again, but she claimed that she wanted to have another child eventually. She said that being an only child had left her lonely at times, and whilst he agreed, he didn't want to put her body through such torture again, put himself through such torture. He'd almost lost her. That was the second time he'd thought that she'd been taken from him. Nobody had realized it until after, but when Potter revived her, it was just after midnight on her nineteenth birthday. How many people can say that they were given life on the same date... twice?

Each year, Lily's birthday and Hermione's birthday would be an emotional time for him. The first time he'd thought he lost her had been when Higgs had snatched her from Hogwarts. When he'd seen the bloodied lock of hair and her ring, he had been devastated. That devastation had been nothing compared to the one he'd felt when she had faded before his eyes whilst delivering Lily. It would always haunt him. The feel of her fingers losing their grip against his, the light leaving her eyes, the ragged last breath that she pulled in and released... He quickly wiped at his eyes.

They'd been together over a year now, had a child, and had a solid marriage. He couldn't ask for more. Noticing the skies outside graying slightly, he decided to go down and uncloak the house. He'd found out that their book had finally been published, and he didn't want any owls delivering the paper, any congratulations, or letters from friends until he had a chance to tell her. He'd had made sure that all owls had been directed to his house-elves. He summoned Zim and Zenka to him. "I'd like a nice breakfast on the back patio this morning. A couple of flowers would not be amiss," he said. "I shall wake her up after I've gone through the post. Do you have it ready?"

"We is happy you is letting us help you," Zim said quickly. The elf snapped twice. "You is finding it in the study."

Severus nodded and went about enabling the house to receive post again. Once he made his way into the study, he nearly growled in frustration. There were letters, packages, and single parchments heaped onto his desk. He went through them, finding only the things they would want to open immediately. The rest seemed to be mail from readers, their publisher, and many others. He sighed. She would have to help him go through that lot. When he entered the kitchen, he chuckled. Through the back door, he could see that the table was already prepared. The elves were just finishing breakfast and bringing it onto the patio.

"I am going to retrieve her now," he said, moving to place the letters on the table. "I would like for you to be near the nursery in case Lily wakes earlier than usual." He quickly made his way to his wife. She was not in bed. He looked into the small nursery and found her smiling at their daughter's sleeping form. He put his arms around her. "Good morning."

"Morning," she said softly. "You're up early."

"I have something to show you," he said. "Come. Zim and Zenka will be about whilst we have breakfast." He pulled her down to the patio with him.

"Oh, Severus, this is very thoughtful," she said appreciatively. "It's not your birthday yet. I wonder what the occasion may be."

"Do I need a reason to be good to my wife?" he asked indignantly.

"Not at all," she said with a grin. "But there must be some reason that you've done all this."

"Without further ado," he said smugly, pulling a parcel from beneath the table. "Open this."

She tore into the paper and squealed with delight. "They've published it! When?"

"It's been on the shelf for four days now. I've had a hell of a time screening the Floo, the Piw, and the post. In fact, we've several letters to look at in my study along with those just to your left from our acquaintances."

"Look how beautiful this is. We've created this together! I wonder what the public's response will be?"

"As I said, we've already received letters about it," he said before sipping his coffee.

"That makes two things that we've created that are beautiful. First, Lily and now our book in all its hardbound glory! I'm rather glad that we settled on midnight blue for the color." She pulled his unoccupied hand into hers for a moment before tearing into one of the letters. "Oh, no," she said softly. She handed him the letter.

Hermione,

Viktor

Severus frowned. "I am sorry to hear about his loss," he said. He truly meant it. What he'd gone through with Hermione's delivery was not something that he would wish on anyone. "Interesting name he's picked out for his child."

"Yes, poor Viktor. I wonder if maybe we should invite him for a visit this coming summer. The Quidditch season will be over by then," she said, eyeing her husband nervously.

Feeling pity, he said, "Perhaps we could. We've extra room."

"I'll mention it in reply." She blew out a large breath before reaching for the next letter. "Minerva!" She smiled as she read. "I think we've been missed. It seems that dear Minerva and Albus now feel that teaching is no longer for them. She says that everything is caught up, and she eagerly awaits my return next week. She also says that Albus is still feeling a bit weak, what with all he did to heal Harry quickly. She says that the long days of teaching your Potions classes are taking its toll."

Severus chuckled. "I hope it's not truly been that hard on him. She could have hired another substitute for my paternity leave. It was he who insisted on pulling his weight about the castle. He doesn't say anything about it in our Floo conversations."

"True, but you saw how he looked in person before we left to come here. Maybe it was too soon for him to start taking over your classes. I don't know what he did to Harry, but for Harry to be back teaching in two days, it must have cost him something as well." She sighed sadly. "I overheard him talking to Minerva. He told her that Harry would have been in a weakened state for nearly a couple of weeks if he hadn't known how to help him."

"I thank anyone listening each day that Harry knew what to do," Severus said. "It appears that he has learnt more than even I know about the Dark Arts. There is a letter there from him. Although I have no idea why he would be writing. We've just seen him for Christmas."

She smiled and opened the letter. "Oh! He says that they can feel their baby moving. He says that Gringotts has notified him that the account he created for his unborn baby is already gaining profits from the book. I'm so glad we finally talked him into accepting something. He also says that Ginny has ended her counseling sessions, and they've been getting along better." After a long pause, her eyes lifted to look at Severus. "It's Nagini. She's resigned herself to death. She wants to go home and die in her forest in Albania. He and Bella are going to bring her there. In fact," she gasped, "they are probably there as we speak."

"Why?" Severus asked incredulously.

"He says that she's nearing thirty years. That's about the life span for her species. He's offered to keep her alive, but she's refused."

"So, Bella gets to be alone. I still don't trust her in snake form," Severus said darkly.

"I don't think she's all that bad any longer," Hermione said softly.

"What?"

"I can talk to her," she said. "I've had a few conversations with her. I can hear her in my mind because of Harry's Mark. Lily will be able to do the same when she's old enough."

"Just bloody great! Why did you not tell me about this?" he asked, feeling his anger mounting.

"So much happened. I didn't know until that day Ginny and Harry were married, and then the pregnancy was so tiring. I was waiting for a good time. Then, I had Lily, and really I've not thought of it since."

"Is it any snake or just Bella?" he asked suspiciously.

"Just Bella," she said. "Harry hears her that way as well. It's how they converse silently without Parseltongue." He stood, opened the back door, and disappeared. "Shite! Things were going so well." A moment later, he entered with a small snake. "What the hell are you doing?" she asked, leaning away from it.

"What's it saying?" he asked, eyeing her warily.

"How am I supposed..."

It's too cold, a voice whispered. What does he want?

"Are you talking to me?" she asked the small snake. It peeked at her curiously.

Tell him to put me back where it's warm, it said.

"Severus! I heard it in my mind! It wants you to put it back." She watched as her husband exited and then returned to his seat.

"You speak Parseltongue now."

"No, that's impossible," she said with a laugh. "It's as it was with Bella...in my mind."

"Hermione, you were hissing and spitting like a snake. It did the same in return."

"Oh, my God. So that's what Harry meant about speaking another language without realizing it." She looked thoughtful for a moment. "I've never understood Nagini or Bella when they've hissed."

"You've not been around either since Harry... since Lily was born."

"You mean to say that his blood and magic transferred some of his powers to me. Parseltongue being one?"

"I would say so," he said, clearly annoyed. "Has anything else changed that you can note?"

"Not exactly. I've been taking things easy though. I barely use magic, wanting to do things hands on with Lily," she said softly. "We will need to meet with Harry about this."

Severus nodded and grinned slightly. "Perhaps a Parselmouth won't be so bad. You can always set other snakes to spy on Bella or spy on her conversations with Harry."

"Oh, honestly," she said, glaring at him lightly. "Let's see what Ron has to say." She read his letter and smiled sadly. "I think Ron is unhappy. Would you like to read?"

"Sure," he said, taking the letter.

Mione,

Ron

Severus raised an eyebrow. "He has been hanging about the castle lately according to Harry and Albus. I would say that he doesn't like living at Grimmauld Place alone. He's always had someone about before. Those weeks when Ron is away, he likely wants to be around his other friends. Maybe Miss Lovegood sees this as acceptable without realizing that her first lover is now feeling left out."

"I still say Draco fancies Ron, but until I see an interaction between Draco and Luna alone for myself, I don't feel that I'd be able to give Ron a fair opinion. I'll write to him and let him know." She picked up the last letter. "This is from Daphne Greengrass. What the bloody hell does she want?" She flipped over the expensive, olive-colored envelope and broke the seal.

Mr. and Mrs. Gregory Merton Glynnis Greengrass

Transportation home will be provided.

"I can't believe it! Who would have thought that those two would have hit it off so quickly? I am happy for Neville. She seems like a nice enough girl. Her parents must be proud that she landed a pureblood after all. I'd heard that they interfered with a romance she had going with Justin Finch-Fletchley last year."

Severus shook his head. "I'm not sure that is entirely true. Daphne's mother has a sister that married a Muggle-born wizard. She and her family are always welcome in their home."

Hermione smiled. "I suppose that goes to show that we can't always believe nasty little rumors."

"Too right," Severus said, leaning forward to kiss her lips lightly. "If you are finished nibbling, wife, perhaps we could slip back into bed before Lily wakes."

She giggled. "I think that would be a grand idea, husband." Hermione glanced down at their first published book and beamed brightly. "I love the sound of this. Lascivious Dreams? Sometimes they are too good to be true. Written by Severus and Hermione Snape with a foreword by Harry Potter." She pulled her husband back to her for a deep kiss. "Take me to bed."

Hermione held her husband's hand as they made their way to their bedroom. They dismissed the watchful little elves and had just settled down on the edge of the bed for a healthy snog when a small squeal of delight alerted them that their daughter was awake. Severus growled. "Damn."

"But you'd not change our lives for anything in the world, would you?"

"Certainly not. I'll fetch Lily." He left her there, and she prepared herself to feed her child. A feeling of completeness settled over her body as her husband came back to her, holding his child proudly. Their first year together had been full of twists and turns. Was it now time to live relaxed lives and enjoy their new family that they'd created together? What would the future hold for them? She didn't dare to guess, but she could only imagine that it wouldn't throw anything their way that they couldn't handle together.

~~~~ Here Ends The Succubus Part One ~~~~

Southern's Notes: I just want to say thanks again to everyone that followed this story, and I did appreciate each review that you left for me. I'm going to break from this story line for a while to complete some other WIPs that I currently have. Hope to have you along for that adventure as well. Cheers!