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Resolution	By : chrmisha Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Snape/Hermione Views: 8076 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

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Resolution: Chapter 11 of 13

Hermione returned to the Burrow the next day, feeling tremendously better about the relationship between herself and Severus. Someday, she thought, she would be able to consummate their marriage. It would take time, but it didn�t seem hopeless anymore.

Later that day, she received an owl from Severus. He had gone to visit the Ministry to apply for their marriage license. He had also gotten a commitment from them that the one month consummation clause would be extended to one year, with the possibility of six month extensions as needed.

With her mind at ease, she began planning the wedding almost immediately. Molly and Ginny were excited to help and told her all about weddings in the Wizarding world. Her only experience had been Muggle weddings. She was looking forward to the enchanted side of things and was eager to learn all she could.

When she returned to Hogwarts, she had tried to involve Severus in the planning. He had groaned at her repeated attempts, citing that the details should be left to the women who cared about such nonsensical things. As far as he was concerned, she would be the most beautiful bride in the world regardless of what she did and his only concern was the nuptial vows; everything else was icing on the cake for her. He told her she could have whatever she wanted so long as she didn�t make him suffer through the details of arranging it. In the end, she enlisted Molly and Ginny Weasley and Minerva McGonagall to help work out the details.

Aside from planning the wedding, she was writing up her and Severus�s combined research on treating the after effects of the Cruciatus curse to submit to various Wizarding medical and scientific journals. She had also applied to begin studying at Worcester Witches� College in Wales for the fall semester. Severus had assured her repeatedly that she would be accepted and that she had nothing to worry about. Still, until she received the owl, nothing would calm her in that regard. She had decided that she wanted to study Magical Plants, and Botany was one of Worcester�s specialties. Ginny had assured her that the atmosphere was entirely different than Gladwick and that Hermione would enjoy it immensely. Ginny had received a full scholarship from St. Mungo�s and was studying to be a Healer, something that suited her perfectly in Hermione�s opinion.

***

The owl from Worcester arrived on a Saturday morning. Hermione was lying on the floor in the study, pouring over color and material swatches for the wedding while Severus periodically made sarcastic remarks to get a reaction from her. He had become quite fond of teasing her; she had certainly dished out her fair share as well.

He was surprised she hadn�t noticed the owl outside the window. He let it in and detached the parchment, knowing Hermione�s nerves had been on edge ever since she had sent in her college application. Parchment in hand, he walked over to Hermione and knelt down beside her, the wax seal of Worcester Witches� College clearly in her line of view.

She sat up quickly, tearing open the parchment and scanning its contents. �I�ve been accepted!�

�Hermione, you are the brightest witch in the United Kingdom. Did you really have any doubts?�

Hermione smiled at her soon-to-be husband. �As a matter of fact, I did.�

Severus rolled his eyes and laughed, pulling her into an embrace.

Suddenly, she stiffened in his arms. He loosened his grip on her, sensing that something was bothering her.

�Where will I live?� she asked.

He decided right then and there that he had no hope of ever understanding how the woman�s mind worked. �Here, of course. Where else?�

�Can I do that? I mean, most students live on campus.�

�You�re not most students, Hermione. Soon you will be Mrs. Snape, and as such, you will have the privilege of living with your husband if you so desire. Of course, you could live in the dorms if you prefer.�

At that, she laughed. �No thank you, I intend to stay right here with you.�

He caught the gleam in her eyes; he loved when she was happy. He knew, though, that it would be short-lived. Her research and the wedding had kept her busy, but he still sensed she wasn�t quite herself. She had gained back her confidence with regard to her abilities, but her inner sense of self still seemed to be a bit off. He had worked hard to reassure her that in time she would feel whole again, but he wasn�t sure she believed him. There was one more thing he could offer her, and as the wedding drew nearer, he knew he couldn�t put it off for much longer.

As he had expected, the happiness over her acceptance was fleeting. Soon, she had that nervous look on her face as she twirled her hair in her fingers, thinking something over.

�Severus? I didn�t have such a good experience at Gladwick, as you know, and I�m a little worried about how people will react to me at Worcester. I know it�s an all witches� college, and I think that will be much better, plus I�ll be married, but still��

Ah, the perfect opening. �Perhaps there is something I can offer you that would put your mind at ease.�

�What�s that?� she asked.

He took in her trusting brown eyes and knew he�d never had any chance of resisting her. �There is an ancient ritual called The Linking of the Rings. It is believed that the ritual originated as a way for husbands and wives to ensure their faithfulness to one another, for if they strayed, the other would know immediately. At the time, land and other worldly goods were at stake, and evidence of infidelity could be used as grounds to end a marriage. The guilty witch or wizard would lose everything. Since then, it has been used for a variety of other purposes; most notably, mother�s seeking to protect their young children. However, I have done some research, and I believe we could use it to link to one another�s emotional states such that if either one of us encountered some dire situation, the other would be able to feel it and would be led to their location to offer assistance. In other words, Hermione, if you ever felt threatened or afraid, I would know it and I could Apparate to your side immediately, wherever you were. The same would hold true if the situation were reversed.� Although Severus did not think that precaution was necessary, he did think Hermione would find it unfair or downright disagree if the link was not performed in both directions. �If you are interested, the ritual could be performed during the marriage ceremony, and as long as we both wear our wedding rings, we would be able to feel each other�s emotions if they were intense enough.�

�So you would know what I was feeling at all times?�

�I would only be able to sense your feelings if they were particularly intense.�

�Like if I was in trouble.�

�Precisely.�

When she didn�t respond, he asked, �What is it?�

She sighed. �I was just wishing that this link would have been in place before� before Lucius abducted me. Then someone would have known that I wasn�t really dead.�

�And Rowland wouldn�t have been able to hurt you either,� Severus added, pulling Hermione back into his arms. �I promise you Hermione, I will do everything in my power to never let anyone hurt you again.�

He felt her arms encircle him tightly as she held onto him. �Yes, Severus, let�s do it.� Looking into his eyes, she smiled. �I will consider this your contribution to the wedding.�

He laughed and leaned down to kiss her, her lips meshing eagerly with his.
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