Time Heals All Wounds

Disclaimer: I do not in any way, own Harry Potter or any of it\'s affiliates.



::A/N:: !WARNING! THERE WILL BE LEMONS IN THIS CHAPTER. IF YOU ARE UNDER EIGHTEEN PLEASE DO NOT READ. !WARNING!



Chapter Seventeen: With Bated Breath.



"Severus…" Hermione\'s voice trembled as she spoke.



"Hermione, every moment since I first met you in that empty classroom after you ran from the dungeons, I have felt a connection to you. A spark if you will. As the weeks turned to months, I found myself falling deeply, and irreversibly in love with you.



You are my best friend, my study partner, and companion. But you are so much more than that. You are my love, my heart, my soul, and my reason for living. You give me the strength to do the impossible, and fight against the horrible future you described. You make me brave, give me courage, and…you make me whole, Hermione Jane Granger, so I ask you.



Will you marry me, and make a life with me?" Severus asked, his heart pounding a million miles per second. His breath held, and he waited for her answer.



Hermione listened to Severus proclamation of love, and felt tears sting her eyes. Her heart beat faster, and a light blush graced her cheeks. \'Oh Severus…\' Hermione thought as she saw his hand was shaking slightly as he held out the box.



Without looking at the ring she had known her answer. She had known what her answer would be, months before, when she realized that she was in love with him. That her life now held absolutely no meaning unless he was with her, holding her hand, kissing her palm, or her cheek; telling her she was his Hermione, and that he could, and would never leave her, and would protect her for as long as he could. Hermione had known what her answer was, because she could no longer see her life without Severus right there, by her side, coaching her when she needed it, loving her constantly.



She took a slow step toward Severus, she had been speechless when he asked her, and she realized that she had yet to answer and that he had to be losing hope. She brushed his hand away, that held the ring so that she could kneel infront of him, seeing that as she did so, the blood rushed out of Severus face. She reached out to gently take his face in her hands. She looked deep into his eyes, and saw the muted fear that she would turn him down.



"Severus, of course I will marry you." Hermione said, tears of joy running freely down her face. Severus\' eyes lit up with pure happiness, as he wrapped his arms around her.



The onlookers let out a breath, they hadn\'t realized they had been holding. They were happy for the two of them. They had been voted as tied for the best couple, tying with James and Lily, and they were happy that she had accepted Severus\' proposal.



"Severus you know I had no intention of saying no…don\'t you?" Hermione asked kissing him sweetly, then again passionately.



"Hermione…I love you." Severus said, kissing her back.



Severus pulled out of the kiss, and held up Hermione\'s hand, he used his other hand to pry the ring out of the box, and he dropped it to the ground beside him. He gently slid a ring that looked too big, onto Hermione\'s finger.



"Severus…the ring…" Hermione began, but was cut off.



The ring had shrunk to the exact size of her finger, when Severus tapped it with his wand.



At Hermione\'s look of confusion, he explained. "It is the one size fits all ring, shrinks or expands as your hands grow, so it will always fit you. I just keyed it to you, so it is impossible to lose it. It will never fall from your finger, yet never get stuck."



Hermione smiled at him. "I love you Severus." She took his proffered hand and let him pull her to her feet.



"Since we are officially graduated now," Severus began.



"And engaged! Don\'t forget engaged!" shouted a random voice from the crowd.



Severus shot a look at the shouter before turning to his Fiancé. "We are expected to take the train tomorrow, but I have express permission from the Headmaster to leave tonight…I have one more thing to show you." Severus said.



Hermione shook her head yes, and then said. "I just need to finish gathering my things, and say good bye to Lily and the boys…then can we go?"



"Okay, Hermione, as I have to finish packing as well." they kissed and went to their rooms.



Hermione packed quickly, throwing clothes and the like into her trunk, while shrinking her books, and putting them inside of a never ending box that she had also shrunk to make it easier to carry as she had several hundred around her bedroom alone, plus a great many in her common room. When she was done she cast an organization spell on her clothes, and they folded themselves and packed neater than she could ever do by hand. She shrunk her trunk as well as the box, and put it inside her magically expanded purse. She rushed from her room, stopping to talk to the portrait of Merlin, with whom she had spent a many great hours discussing many a topic.



"I am going to miss you, you know." Hermione said with tears in her eye.



"It is not forever…you will see me again soon enough." Merlin hinted, but gave nothing away. "It is time for you to go, now. He is waiting for you in your sanctuary. Your other friends are there as well."



"Thank you for everything." Hermione called running down the hallway. "I\'ll miss you!"



She was gone. Merlin smiled. "My dear friend, you will be back soon, I can guarantee it."



XxXxXTheLibraryXxXxX



Hermione saw her friends and Severus in the library. She hugged Lily, Remus, and the others. She smiled. "We expect to see you guys now and again, you hear?" she said sternly.



"Yes Hermione." came the dutiful response.



"Good." She smiled.



Severus hugged Lily, and shook hands with Remus. When he came to James and Sirius, he paused, ready to leave then.



Before the girls could force them to shake hands, and let bygones be bygones, James stepped up to the plate. He held his hand out and grasped Severus\'. "Hey, sorry about…before…I guess you aren\'t all bad Snivellus." James said shaking it curtly. "I still don\'t like you much, but I can be civil, for the girls.



Severus said nothing but nodded his head. Sirius glared at James, before Lily and Hermione glared at him. He hurriedly held out his hand as well, grasping Severus\'. "I still don\'t like you."



"The sentiment is mutual." Severus said letting go of his hand, to put Hermione\'s in its place. "I am sorry, Lily, Remus…Potter." he said the latter with slight distaste, but attempting to make Hermione happy. "But we really must be off."



The girls hugged once more, and they left.



"We still have one more person to visit." said Severus, "And we can be on our way."



"Dumbledore?" questioned Hermione.



"Yes."



XxXxXDumbledore\'sOfficeXxXxX



The two, still hand in hand, knocked together on the large door.



"Come in." a cheery voice said through the door.



They entered, and smiled at Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall.



"Ah, I see she accepted your proposal?" Said Professor McGonagall.



"Yes." Severus smiled. "We were just about to leave, but we had to come and say good bye."



"My dear boy, Miss Granger…" Dumbledore said with his customary twinkle. "I congratulate you, and also want you to know, that if ever you are in need, just send an owl. We will be more than happy to help. Also, there will be another order meeting very soon. I will owl you with the details."



"Thank you for all you have done, Professor, Headmaster." Hermione said smiling.



"Not at all, Miss Granger." Her former Transfiguration professor said with a smile.



"I am sorry, but we must go now." Severus said. "I trust that Professor Slughorn will owl me soon then?"



"Yes, yes of course." The headmaster said, with a wave. "Now go, I am sure you are in a hurry."



"Yes. Thank you." Severus said. "I will see you soon."



"Good bye." Hermione said as Severus ushered her out of the room.



Once they had descended the spiral stair case, they exited the castle. Hermione turned back, gazing at the castle. "I am going to miss this place." she said sadly.



"We will be back." Severus said.



"Yes…for the order meetings." Hermione said.



"And another reason," Severus said. "Professor Slughorn has asked me to apprentice for him. We will be back after the summer."



"Oh Severus, that is wonderful news!" exclaimed Hermione, as they walked.



"Yes…" he said. He held out his arm. "Hold my arm tightly, Hermione, we are going to apperate."



"But I know how to apperate." she said confused.



"Yeah but you do not know were we are going." Severus smiled. "Now hold on and close your eyes."



Still confused, Hermione did as he asked. Severus turned on the spot and they felt the familiar tug at the navel, and winked away from Hogwarts.



XxXxXSpinnersEndXxXxX



There was a loud crack, and they appeared in a dark alley, in Muggle London. Taking her hand, Severus lead the way out of the alley, and down the night road. Hermione was taking in the sights and ran into Severus when he stopped abruptly.



She followed his gaze, and smiled when she saw what he was looking at. It was a flat.



"Are we visiting someone, Severus?" Hermione asked.



"Not exactly." Severus smiled.



He led her into the building, and up a flight of stairs. When they reached the third floor, he pulled out a key.



"I bought this flat a while ago, after my parents died. I only stayed during summers, as you can imagine, but it is mine." Severus pulled open the door. "And now it is ours."



Hermione walked into the large flat, and stared in awe. The living room was huge. She vaguely noticed the lack of furniture besides the one armchair. \'Black and green.\' she thought, smiling. \'Slytherin\'s colors.\' "Where is the furniture?" she asked confused.



"I never had any need of it until now…how about you decorate?" he asked, knowing she would love that. "I can get a homemakers magazine from the store tomorrow, and you can find what you like in there. Then do what you did when you transfigured stuff in class. Just make it look just like the pictures."



Hermione threw her arms around Severus. "Thank you Severus!"



He smiled at her happiness. "You can do every room in the house if you like."



"But Severus, you need to have some say…" she said, hesitant.



"I will like what ever you decide. I want you to be happy and comfortable here." he said shyly.



Then as if struck by lightening, he remembered. "OH! I almost forgot to put up the wards." he turned and faced the door, while telling Hermione to watch him closely. "Memorize my wand movements and then I will show you how to drop the wards, and you can try."



Hermione nodded. It took all of thirty seconds, and the wards were up. Making sure she memorized it, she nodded to Severus, signaling for him to drop them.



Severus turned to her. "Okay, now you try it."



Hermione flicked her wand, and soon the wards were up. Another flick, and jab, and they were down again. She smiled triumphantly.



Severus put the wards up, and took her hand. He placed it against the door, and muttered a few words. Her hand was becoming warm, as yellow light enveloped it.



"There," Severus said with a smile. "Now it is keyed to you, so if you are in danger, just place your hand anywhere on the door and push, you will slid right through the ward, and door, as if it was open, and any pursuer will be shocked severely."



He took her hand, and led her into the kitchen, "I do not have any food in the house, so we will need to go shopping tomorrow, and I am sure you will want to redecorate this as well, it is falling apart." he gestured to the table, and counter.



He led her to the bathroom, "This needs work as well, but when you decorate it, do not do anything with the walls."



At her confused expression he said, "I have something in mind."



Grinning he pulled her to the next room in the house. The library. This was the only room that he kept well furnished, being that he spent the most time in it. The walls were covered in book cases, over half of them full, with his own collection he had accumulated over the years. The other half was empty. "You can put your books in here, and you have access to many rare books, from my collection." he waved his arm at the left side of the room.



He led her to the last book case and said, "These should not be touched, though." she opened her mouth to ask why, when he answered before her. "These, I had inherited from my uncle, who was very immersed in dark magic. If you want to read them, you should ask me first, due to several having caged demons inside their pages, and have to be dealt with accordingly before you can read them, as they will try to drag whoever opens them to the depths of hell."



Hermione was horrified. "Why would your uncle give you books this dangerous?"



"I was the soul benefactor of his possessions. It was in his will." Severus said.



"I am sorry," Hermione said. "How did he die?"



"He was drunk one night, and forgot to use the counter curse on one of the demon books, and they tore him open and pulled him in." Severus said, "I was in my third year."



"Oh!" Hermione\'s eyes were wide.



He pulled her away from the book cases, and led her into the hall. "I am sure you are tired," he stated. "I can show you to your room, or…you could…share a room with me." he finished with a blush.



Hermione blushed back and nodded.



He took her hand and led her to the second door on the left of the hall. He opened the door, and she walked inside. There was a large bed, with green blankets. On either side were small end tables, and a dresser. Hermione smirked and pulled Severus to her.



!WARNING! LEMON STARTS HERE !WARNING!



Severus knew what Hermione wanted, just from that smirk, and he kissed her deeply and passionately. He ran his tongue over her lips, before plunging inside. Their tongues battled for dominance over the kiss, and soon, Severus won.



He deepened the kiss, with bold, long strokes. Hermione moaned into his mouth, and he pulled back, to kiss her neck.



"Severus, no. I want you now," she lay down and pulled him down on top of her. "I want you to take me, and take my now." she said, her voice aching with need.



Severus immediately pulled at her shirt, tugging it up and over her head. Tossing that aside he pulled her skirt down and discarded that as well.



Hermione had likewise begun to undress him, but she took the easy way, brandishing her wand, she divested him of his clothing, and his large, hard manhood was standing at attention.



He mock glared at her as she took over, and vanished her own bra and panties. She pulled him back down, and kissed him long and hard.



Severus lost all of his restraint, in that kiss, and lifted her legs, so she could wrap them around him. He used his hand to position himself at her entrance, and finding her dripping, pushed at her opening.



Hermione moaned, and he pushed into her hard. Severus almost cried out, as Hermione gasped his name. She felt so good. Severus pulled almost all of the way out, before slamming inside her once more. At her screech, and cries for more, Severus obliged her, and began to pound into her with fervor.



Hermione whimpered his name, "Ah! Sev…erus! Ah!" she moaned and tilted her hips, and at once she screamed in pleasure.



Severus continued to hit that sweet spot, over and over again. He could feel that he was close, and gritted his teeth, determined to make Hermione come. He threw her legs over his shoulder, and pounded harder. He heard Hermione scream his name, gasping and moaning as she came, releasing over him. He called out her name, and thrust two more times as he went over the edge. Waves and waves of pleasure rolled over them both, and Severus came, releasing his seed deep inside her, filling her.



They lay there, not moving for several minutes, catching their breaths. Severus summoned all his strength, and rolled off of Hermione. He pulled her flush against him, as they fell asleep.



!THE LEMON IS OVER NOW!



Severus shook his Fiancé awake, and said, "Hermione, wake up. We need to get to the great hall for breakfast."



Hermione groaned and rolled over. "Five more minutes, Severus."



Two weeks after they graduated, he got a letter from Professor Slughorn, congratulating them on their engagement, and sending a formal request for Severus to become his apprentice, and the two had moved back to Hogwarts, and into Hermione\'s old rooms. They had quickly fallen back into routine, and Hermione had been spending a lot of time in her precious library.



"Hermione wake up!" Severus shook her lightly, "We have go get going, remember, after breakfast Albus requested to talk to you."



"Fine." Hermione said grumpily, as she kicked her legs from under the covers. She dressed quickly, and spelled her hair into place, and they left for the great hall.



After breakfast, Severus kissed Hermione, and made his way to the dungeons, ready to get to work on whatever Slughorn had for him.



Hermione however, made her way to Albus\' study. When she arrived, slightly out of breath, she knocked. "Albus, it\'s me, Hermione. You wanted to see me?"



The door swung open of it\'s own accord, and Hermione stepped into the room.



Albus Dumbledore sat behind his desk, and in one of the two chairs, sad Irma Pince.



"Hermione, my dear, please have a seat." He said with his customary twinkle. He held out a small bowl. "Lemon drop?"



Hermione felt queasy at the thought. "No thank you, Albus." she sat in the proffered chair.



"Hermione, I have asked you here because I have a request of you." Albus started Irma here is retiring this year, and I had hoped that you, since Irma has informed me that you know the library inside and out, would accept the position of librarian."



Hermione\'s eyes widened in excitement. "You are offering me a job?"



"Why yes, my dear, I do believe I am." Albus said with humor in his voice.



"Yes! Yes of course I will." Hermione said happily. "I would be honored!"



"Splendid." he said. "I trust you know where everything is? The files, and the like?"



"No, Albus, I know where everything is." Hermione said excided. "Thank you." she hugged Ms. Pince, and hurried from the room, calling, "Thank you!"



The two left in the room smiled and then laughed at her exuberance. They really were lucky that Hermione knew the library inside and out, it made it easier on Ms. Pince. She was getting on in her years, and wanted to settle down at home with her husband of fifty years.



Over the next few days, Severus noticed, Hermione was acting a bit off. She had been in the bathroom for twenty minutes now, and Severus knocked on the door. "Hermione…love, are you ok?"



His answer was the sound of the toilet flushing, and then water running. Hermione walked out of the bathroom, and said, "I am ok Severus, I think I just have some food poisoning." she lightly touched his arm in reassurance. "There is nothing to worry about."



"Do you want me to go on ahead to breakfast, or do you want me to wait for you?" Severus asked.



"Go on ahead, I have to finish up the filing in the library, I will go to the kitchens later, and get something." she pulled out her robe, kissing Severus and rushing him out of the room, than put it on. She sighed. When she was almost out the door, she lurched and ran back to the bathroom, throwing up. Wiping her mouth she swore. "Damned food poisoning."



::A/N:: Thank you for reading, and as always, please review.



~ Kiera