You Promised It Would Be Forever - Edit

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to JKR. All situations are mine. No $$$ is being made from this fanfic.
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Chapter 13 ~ Final Arrangements

After giving their statements to the Ministry, Hermione, Albus and Severus returned to Hogwarts with Argus' body and left him in the care of a shocked Poppy, who placed him in the morgue. The morticians would arrive and prepare him for his journey to eternity.

The three immediately went to Argus' small, dreary room. Hermione almost was overcome by tears when she saw how the man had lived in such small cramped quarters. A number of gardening tools rested against the wall, a few books and muggle gadgets rested on the counter

"He never wanted anything more than this," Albus said, looking over at the small twin-sized bed in the corner of the room. "He kept his whips, chains and other muggle weapons he collected locked in the lower regions of the castle…the sub-dungeons. He loved those things."

Severus looked around the small room solemnly, his black eyes falling on a small door. He walked over to it and opened it to see a small bathroom with a basin, loo and bathtub. The squib didn't even have a shower. He closed the door and returned to the center of the cramped quarters.

Hermione opened the rusted cooler, looked in it and removed a small white box, and a magazine clip full of bullets. She brought them over to the table and set them down. She picked up one of the small bottles of clear liquid and studied it.

"Potions?" Severus asked her, walking up to his ex-wife and looking over her shoulder at the small bottles

She shook her head.

"No, not potions. King Cobra anti-venom," she said softly. "Filch knew that Voldemort used snake venom to stay alive. The best way to protect yourself from the bite of a snake is with snake venom. I doubt if Filch knew it would destroy Voldemort, but he might have thought it could protect us from him. He put the anti-venom inside the bullets and capped them off."

"Brilliant," Severus said quietly as he looked down at the bottles. Then his black eyes fell on a piece of parchment. He picked it up.

"The Last Will and Testament of Argus Odysseus Filch," he read out loud.

Both Albus and Hermione drew closer so they could see the document.

Severus' eyes shifted as he read the will.

"He named Albus as his executor and requests that in the event of his death, he be buried alongside Jacob Dante Snape, so he can keep him company in the garden forever," Severus said, his eyes blinking rapidly for a moment.

"Of course," Hermione said, her bottom lip trembling as she fought back tears.

"He also requests that half of his money be placed in a fund in Jacob's name to be used to help abandoned children, and the other half invested in the development of Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes line of squib-related items and the residuals also be directed to the fund, so there will always be money available. He says he was abandoned as a child and knows how hard it is to be alone in the world."

Severus' eyes widened as he read the amount of galleons Filch had stored away at Gringotts.

"Gods, he was loaded," Hermione said, her eyes wide as she too read the amount.

Albus nodded.

"Argus had worked here at Hogwarts since he was fourteen years old. He rarely spent any of his wages, but put them away. He had it tough as a child and learned to hang on to what he had," Albus said, his eyes glistening. "But once a year he would give me between two and five hundred galleons to be used to help provide books and wands for the poorest of our students," Albus said.

"Filch?" Hermione said, "I thought he hated the students."

Albus' eyes twinkled

"Argus hated the way the students behaved, not the students themselves. No doubt he would have beaten them for their own good if he had the opportunity and the authority. He believed whole-heartedly in the "Spare the whip, Spoil the child," adage. Actually, one year he did have the authority to punish students. It was the best-behaved year in the history of Hogwarts. But his methods were deemed too barbaric, so his authority was taken away. Hanging students upside down by their ankles and beating the soles of their feet with supple willow switches just wasn't appropriate, although effective."

Hermione couldn't help grinning, as horrible as it was. She remembered Filch yelling at students about how he wished he could handle them like in the old days. He was excellent at terrorizing the youngsters, but suffered a lot of pranks because he was a squib.

Albus took the will from Severus, rolled it up and put it in his robes pocket. He looked around the room once more.

"I think I will just seal this off," he said in a soft voice, "I can't stand the idea of clearing it out."

Hermione and Severus both nodded. Actually, the room Argus Filch occupied would be considered a kind of landmark and have historical value.

"Maybe you should leave it open, Headmaster. Argus Filch died a hero. People would want to see where he lived and how he lived. You could have a tour maybe, and charge a small fee which could be directed to Jacob's fund," she suggested as she returned the venom and gun magazine to the cooler.

"A good thought, Hermione," Albus said as he headed for the door. "I will consider it."

Both Albus and Hermione exited Filch's room. Severus lowered the torch and glanced around it one more time.

"Rest in peace, Argus," he said, then exited, warding the door behind him.

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The public funeral of Argus Odysseus Filch was quite an event. Classes were cancelled for a week, and Argus' body laid out in state in the Great Hall for two days in order to accommodate all the mourners and curiosity seekers. The hall was filled with flowers and wreaths, and thousands of visitors streamed through from morning till evening to look upon the man who had killed the greatest threat to the wizarding world, Lord Voldemort. Most were surprised he was so old and so ugly.

The morticians had done their best, and Filch's hair was soft instead of straggly but there wasn't much they could do to improve his face. They had initially put a glamour on him to make him look better, but Hermione raged about it being disrespectful, so they removed it under threat of being hexed right out of business by the tiny, angry witch.

To the right of the coffin was a large, perfectly horrendous photo of Argus, holding Mrs. Norris, glaring maliciously and making threatening motions, sometimes startling those who passed it by.

It was the best photo Hermione could find of the old caretaker. As horrible as it was, Hermione was certain he would have been perfectly delighted with it. The squib had enjoyed frightening people after all. Argus had been worse than Severus in his way.

Argus was awarded the Order of Merlin, First Class medal posthumously. He was the first squib in wizarding history to receive this honor. . He was also given a Gold Medal, and the illustrious Medal for Magical Merit for his use of anti-venom to bring down the Dark Lord. While the anti-venom itself was not magical, it overcame dark magic…so it was decided the squib deserved the honor. Filch would have been quite pleased to know he had received a magic-based award. All of Filch's awards were accepted by Albus Dumbledore and displayed prominently in the Main Hall.

The newspapers were all frustrated with their attempts at reporting the life of Argus Filch, which was far from exciting. Reporters looked for people to interview about him in a positive light, but all they got were stories about how crotchety and bad-tempered he was. It was difficult to paint a noble picture of the squib's 's life. They went with the "dependable, hard-working and trustworthy squib" angle and focused primarily on his courageous take down of the Dark Lord, appearing out of nowhere and gunning him down, saving the Headmaster, Severus and Hermione as well as the entire wizarding world. It was an exciting account and left no doubt in anyone's mind that the squib was deserving of every honor.

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Hermione, Severus, Albus and Hagrid stood in the small garden. It was a rare sunny day, with birds singing, bees buzzing and flowers in bloom. They all looked down on the large mound of fresh earth, beneath which the body of Argus Filch lay alongside "his boy" Jacob Dante Snape. They were together now, and would be for eternity.

Tears ran freely from Hermione's eyes as she looked at first one grave, then the other. Hagrid, shovel on his shoulder, sobbed openly, his grizzly beard soaked through with tears. Severus looked somber, as did Albus.

"Well, Argus is at peace now, buried on the grounds of the home he loved, next to the child he loved. He'll be honored throughout the wizarding world forever. He will never be forgotten," Albus said turning towards Hermione and Severus. "Now we must be about the business of living…and loving," he added, his eyes twinkling. He began to walk back toward the castle.

Severus and Hermione stood there a moment more.

"He's been avenged, Severus," Hermione said softly, looking down at Jacob's tiny grave. "Filch gave up his life for Jacob. He was a very brave and caring man. No one ever knew."

"They know now, Hermione," Severus said, his black eyes looking at the marble marker at the head of Filch's grave.

It read, "Argus Odysseus Filch, Defeater of Lord Voldemort, Savior of the Wizarding World and Beloved Guardian of Jacob Dante Snape."

"They know now," the Potions Master reiterated.

He began to walk back toward the castle, expecting Hermione to follow. But she stood over the graves unmoving. Severus turned and looked at her. He knew Hermione would stand there for hours if he didn't bring her along. He walked back to the witch.

"Come on, Hermione. They are together. They will both be fine," he said softly, grasping her by her arm.

Hermione turned and looked at him, her eyes full of tears. Suddenly she clung to the wizard, sobbing as if her heart would break.

Severus wasn't sure what he should do as his ex-wife wrapped her arms around him and cried. To just stand there seemed too cold, but to embrace her would be inappropriate…wouldn't it? He looked down at her. Hermione's cheek was pressed against his chest, her eyes closed, tears streaming down her face, clinging to him as if she would never let him go.

Severus sighed and against his better judgment, wrapped his long arms around her, and gently caressed her hair as she sobbed, rocking her slowly like a child until she cried herself out.

As he held her, the Potions Master couldn't help but notice she still fit perfectly in his arms.

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A/N: There we have it. Filch's final moments. Now, what's going to happen with Severus and Hermione? Is there any hope for reconciliation? So much resentment, anger and pain passed between them. So many hateful, hurtful words. Trust was broken. Can all of this be healed? We'll find out in upcoming chapters. Please review.