To Save A Serpent

A/N: Thank you all for following me on this painstakingly sorrowful journey. Please take a moment, after this final chapter, to leave me a review with thoughts and comments. If you hate the story because of my decisions, please tell me anyhow. In this difficult time where we all are coping with the loss of Severus Snape, I remind you only that he was Dumbledore’s man, through and through.


NINETEEN YEARS LATER

Hermione found herself standing on Platform 9¾, just beside Ginny and Harry. She’d not liked his initial decision eleven years ago to name his youngest son Albus Severus, but could hardly deny that he was doing it for the right reasons. “Mum!” and Hermione turned to gaze down at her youngest daughter also eleven. “Do you think I’ll be sorted into Gryffindor too?”

She had never felt completely justified in marrying Ron, but did so because he seemed to love her so and refused everyone else that came his way. She never thought it was fair that he played second fiddle in her heart to a man long gone, but he stated that he would rather play second fiddle than not in the band at all. “I don’t know, sweetheart, but wherever you end up, you’re going to do just fine.”

Ron kissed his youngest daughter on the cheek. “That’s right, Rose, you’ll be fine.”

Hugo, Hermione’s older son, was already on the train with James and Lily, and she sighed, they grew up so quickly. Wiping her hand across her eye she sighed. “I saw that.” Hermione turned to face her eldest daughter, nineteen years old, curly black hair and smoldering black eyes.

“Ellie! What are you doing here? I thought you had work?” she wrapped both arms around her daughter. When she’d been asked to take over the Potions position at Hogwarts, she had been more than happy to do so, finding herself in his chambers. At times she felt him with her, a gentle brush of the wind in her hair while she laid in his bed at night, or a tingle on her neck in the shower in the morning. That was how she’d come across Eileen as a name for her daughter. It had been jotted down in a book, hidden in his desk.

“…note to self, if Hermione ever gets pregnant, ask her if we can name the girl Eileen after my mother, and call her Ellie…” and she had doubled over laughing when she found it.

“Couldn’t miss seeing Rose off, now could I?”

Bounding over to the platform, long arms and curly color changing hair, Teddy Lupin wrapped his arms around Ellie and kissed her cheek. “Wotcher, love!” he smiled.

Ron cleared his throat. “Not in front of the children?”

Teddy blushed and then shrugged his shoulders. “They’re going to figure it out when they get to Hogwarts anyhow.” Hermione smacked his arm and he laughed, scrunching his nose as his mother so often did and let his hair become black like Ellie’s. “So how’s about we get some lunch with your folks and mine and talk about—”

“Teddy!” Ellie turned her eyes, nearly murderous on him. “I haven’t told them yet!”

“Told us what?” Hermione asked gazing at her daughter.

“Oh, well,” she blushed and then pulled her hand out of her pocket, a giant diamond sparkling from her left ring finger. “Mum, I’m engaged!”

“Oh my heavens!” Hermione shouted. “Ron! Ron!” she called to her husband, who had gone to help Rose up onto the train. “Ron!”

“What, ‘Mione?” he turned after hugging Rose one last time and walked over to her. “What are you— bloody hell!” His face cracked into a wide grin. “Ellie? Really? Him?” he pointed to Teddy and then smiled some more, rushing forth to hug the girl that he’d treated like his own all his life. “Harry! Gin! My girl’s getting married!”

Hermione stepped back a moment as her two best friends, and husband continued to congratulate her daughter and Teddy Lupin. With a sigh she gazed up, and closed her eyes, feeling a hand wrap around her back and a soft pair of lips at her cheek. “Congratulations…” she heard a whisper and reveled in it a moment longer before opening her eyes and gazing back to the happy crowd gathered on the platform.

“Oh good gods!” she squealed and pulled her daughter into her arms. “Well we should go and meet Remus and Tonks! Oh, do they know yet?” Teddy and Ellie shook their heads. “Oh goodness!” she was beaming. “Can Harry and Ginny come?”

“Of course, I have to have my godfather there,” he gave Harry a great big bear hug and then wrapped his arms back around Ellie. “They’re waiting for us in Diagon Ally, it won’t take long to apparate.”

“Yes, alright then,” Hermione smiled and followed her giddy daughter and future son-in-law back through the wall between platforms nine and ten. “All is well,” she said to herself with a smile.



A/N: And so as this story comes to a close, I thank you all for baring with me up to this point. As sorry as we all are to have lost Severus Snape, I could just not bring myself to start off with a story where he was alive right away. Much to my own chagrin, however, I realized that in making his death a permanent facet in this story, I was more readily able to accept that JK Rowling is going to hell for killing him, and that he is truly dead. I was a weeping mess for hours when I finished the book, to the point where I’d locked myself in my room and it took three of my housemates to physically come in, drag me out into the kitchen for dinner and force feed me. (Pathetic, right?) But it is with my deepest sympathies that I express this story, and I hope that I am not hated for writing this, but to clear it from my system, I had no other choice. I would not, in good conscience, be able to continue writing about our beloved potions master without having first put this notion to paper. For happier Severus living related stories please see my other works. ;P Thank you again for baring with me, and all reviews are appreciated, thank you to those who have done so already.