A Sacrifice for Love

11 MONTHS LATER

Hermione stood holding Severus’s hand and watched her two best friends get married. It hadn’t been an easy year for any of them. She and Severus had married after turning Lucius Malfoy to the Ministry. Severus had suggested that they should just get it done since they were there already.

It wasn’t a very romantic wedding, she knew. It had been her, Severus, Harry, Ron and the Minister, himself, who performed the ceremony. But it had given her what she had most desperately wanted. She had moved into his quarters and continued her classes, although soon she felt like a beached whale. It didn’t stop her though and she had graduated 2 months before with the highest N.E.W.T scores in the history of Hogwarts.

She had given birth to her twin daughters just hours after taking the tests. She had actually gone into labor during the testing but she hadn’t let it stop her. Her daughters were born beautiful and healthy. Ariadne and Phaedre were perfect and adored by both parents and all of their adopted aunts, uncles and grandparents.

Hermione had been offered the Transfigurations teaching appointment and she had gladly taken it. She would also become the head of house for Gryffindor. Almost everyone said she was too young to have the post but it was what Hermione had wanted. The school governors had agreed quickly that she was right for the job. Harry, Ron and Draco had bets going on who would win the house cup. Hermione might be fair minded but when it came to her husband and his Slytherin ways, she pulled no punches.

Ginny had finally been completely cured and had returned to school. She hadn’t been overly shocked at Hermione’s and Ron’s Slytherin relationships. She had seen what the others had not. She and Harry acted as if they had never been apart and on Christmas Day, he had proposed. She had gleefully accepted, to everyone's delight.

Ron and Pansy had trouble dissolving Draco and Pansy’s engagement. According to the research Hermione had done, the spell had to be performed by a family member. Lucius was in Azkaban and Narcissa and Pansy’s parents had been killed in the final battle. Hermione finally told Severus to admit to them he could stand in as Draco’s godfather.

Severus had protested, citing the unnatural union of a Slytherin and Gryffindor until Hermione reminded him quite firmly of their own relationship and the consequences if he did not step forward and help them. He was upset to lose his entertainment but he would have been more upset to lose his place in Hermione’s bed. Once the ceremony had been complete, Ron and Pansy had not hesitating to consummate their relationship. On Christmas day, he also asked Pansy to marry him.

Draco however was another story. He finished the year without dating anyone, although he always had a girl on his arm if he desired one. He was quite an accomplished flirt and took great pride in ruffling Severus’s hide by flirting outrageously with Hermione. He seemed quite happy alone but his friends were always trying to match him with someone. Actually, Hermione had set him up with someone to be his date for the wedding. Everyone wondered how that would turn out.

“Did you want this?” Severus whispered to his wife. She gave him a startled glance and then looked around.

“You mean the opulent wedding? No, I didn’t. I didn’t care. I just wanted to make you mine.” She whispered back. He smirked and squeezed her closer. He had the same idea all those months ago.

The wedding seemed to last forever to Hermione and Severus. They had planned to take a belated honeymoon after the Ron and Harry’s wedding and they were somewhat impatient to get started. Still watching the ceremony, her thoughts drifted back to when they had returned to Hogwart’s from Malfoy Manor.

Severus had demanded she tell him about Amy and she had. He had been quite upset to find she had given her up her ghostly self to send Hermione back but he had said he was thankful. The next morning at breakfast she had been sitting with Harry and Ron at the Gryffindor table when she caught Neville’s eye.

This was nothing in itself but he was staring at her with his mouth open. When she gave him a questioning look, he mimicked writing on a paper and then looked up at the window the owls normally came through. Her eyes widened and she choked on the food she had been trying to chew. She glanced at Severus to find him watching her with a worried expression.

She put her head down for a moment and then started to stand to tell him what she had done when owls began to fly in the Great Hall. She sat back down heavily and watched as most of them dropped letters in front of Snape. They just kept coming for almost a half hour until letters were piled in front of him. There had to be hundreds of them.

He opened one carefully and while he was reading it, she could see his face began to flush. He looked up at her at one point with a stunned look on his face and she had to fight the laughter. The morning after the dream she had taken it into her head that he should be as humiliated as she was so she had sent a personal ad to the Daily Prophet. It had been the personal she had written before but with some revisions.

He kept looking at her as he read some of the letters. Professor Flitwick opened several of the letters himself and became so red, he looked like a tomato. He couldn’t look Severus in the face for almost a week after. She finally couldn’t take it any more and began to laugh hysterically.

Ron, Harry and the others didn’t know what had happened. Ron declared she had finally gone mental but Neville explained what he knew. This caused the others to start laughing, to Severus’s consternation. A week later he had still been getting responses.

“What is so funny?” Severus hissed at her, bringing her back to the present. She just smiled and continued watching the ceremony. It was almost over. He rolled his eyes, knowing he wouldn’t get anything out of her unless she wanted to tell him.

An hour later, they had given their congratulations to the brides and grooms and mingled with the others. Finally Severus pulled her to the side and whispered in her ear. She nodded and they went into the house. They said goodbye to everyone, grabbed their bags and a handful of Floo powder. Minerva had agreed to watch the babies for the week.

“Hawaii” they both said and entered the Floo.

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Two spirits watched the wedding, one with deep satisfaction and the other with a perplexed look.

“Well, I won, my friend. You now owe me.” The first said, motioning towards another couple that the wedding guests couldn’t see.

The second spirit shook his head, not denying the statement, but wondering where he had gone wrong.

“But their age differences... He is at least a hundred years older than she is and he covered up her murder...” he complained.

Salazar Slytherin grinned at his long time friend and once enemy, Godric Gryffindor. “Doesn’t matter. When you die, you are only as old as your spirit is. I would say he never outgrew being a teen even though he is quite skilled at manipulation. Besides, she is a Slytherin. She understands that sacrifice must be made for the greater... good, you could say. I knew she wouldn’t hold it against him. I did hope she could overcome his Gryffindor honor though.”

Godric growled his frustration. “I hate betting you, Salazar.” His look turned sly. “I should tell Rowena about this...”

Salazar shook his head in amusement. “She already knows. She is the one who pointed out that they would make a nice couple. She... persuaded me to do something about it.”

“Damned women, if she knew, likely Helga knew as well.” He groaned. “I do have a question...”

Salazar lifted an eyebrow in inquiry.

“Why Snape and Granger? I know you don’t like the Muggle born.”

Salazar smirked. “They will be our downfall, one day, rest assured, but I couldn’t let the powerful Miss Granger get out of Slytherin hands. He will need her in the future, trust me.” He said before disappearing.

Godric watched the wedding for a few moments more and felt a surge of admiration for Salazar. He was very like a chess player, moving the pieces here and there until you were beaten and didn’t know how it came about. Usually, you thought you were about to win, when he came out of nowhere and stomped you into the ground. That’s always the way it was with him and those who followed his footsteps. Godric disappeared as well.


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A/N There will be another chapter and then it will be the end. Can you believe this was only going to be 9 or 10 chapters? But I let the characters have their way and it became more. I want to thank everyone who has read and reviewed. You have made me very happy and kept me inspired. I hope you can guess who the other spirit was. I thought it would be a little bit of a shocker. I wanted something a little different. Let me know what you think and I will try to get the last chapter up as soon as I can.