Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Memories of Deception	By : professorflo Category: Harry Potter > General > General Views: 20868 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters within. I make no money from this story.

Chapter List
- 1-Memories of Deception
- 2-2
- 3-3
- 4-4
- 5-5
- 6-6
- 7-7
- 8-8
- 9-9.
- 10-10
- 11-11
- 12-12
- 13-13
- 14-14
- 15-15
- 16-16
- 17-17
- 18-18
- 19-19
- 20-20
- 21-21
- 22-22
- 23-23
- 24-24
- 25-25
- 26-26
- 27-27
- 28-28
- 29-29
- 30-30
- 31-31
- 32-32
- 33-33
- 34-34
- 35-35
- 36-36
- 37-37
- 38-38
- 39-39
- 40-40
- 41-41
- 42-42
- 43-43
- 44-44
- 45-45
- 46-46
- 47-47
- 48-48
- 49-49
- 50-50
- 51-51
- 52-52
- 53-53
- 54-54
- 55-55
- 56-56
- 57-57
- 58-58
- 59-59
- 60-60
- 61-61
- 62-62
- 63-63
- 64-64
- 65-65
- 66-66
- 67-67
- 68-68
- 69-69
- 70-70
- 71-71
- 72-72
- 73-73
- 74-74
- 75-75
- 76-76
- 77-77
- 78-78
- 79-79
- 80-80
- 81-81
- 82-82
- 83-83
- 84-84
- 85-85
- 86-86
- 87-87
- 88-88
- 89-89
- 90-90
- 91-91
- 92-92
- 93-93
- 94-94
- 95-95
- 96-96
- 97-97
- 98-98
- 99-99
- 100-100
- 101-101
- 102-102
- 103-103
- 104-104
- 105-105
- 106-106
- 107-107
- 108-108
- 109-109
- 110-110
- 111-111
- 112-112
- 113-113
- 114-114
- 115-115
- 116-116
- 117-117
- 118-118
- 119-119
- 120-120
- 121-121
- 122-122
- 123-123
- 124-124
- 125-125
- 126-126
- 127-127
- 128-128
- 129-129
- 130-130
- 129
- 130
Disclaimer: See Chapter 1
This is it...!
EPILOGUE
(7 years later)
The students started to file out of the hall, chattering noisily as they went, excited for the holidays, but sad not to be seeing their friends again for a few months.
Hermione turned to the figure beside her. "Well, that's that for another year at least. I can't wait for some peace and quiet, and nice long lie-ins." She reached under the table to squeeze his hand suggestively where it rested on his thigh. The corner of his mouth curled up slightly at her, as much of a smile as he usually showed in public, although it was becoming less rare of a sight every year.
Hermione leaned forward to speaking to the witch on the other side of him "Do you need any help with getting everyone on the train?"
"I'll always take any help getting that lot sorted, I swear they get worse every year. Either that or I'm getting too old for this job."
"Nonsense, Minerva, you'll still be going when the rest of us are long retired," Severus rumbled quietly, before rising from his chair. "Now, if you ladies will excuse me, I have several things that must be done before the holidays can begin."
As he turned to leave, his eyes caught Hermione's for a second, softening in a way that was only for her, and she smiled back up at him. "I won't be finished until late, I'm afraid. Will you wait up?"
"Of course."
"You can join me for a drink in my rooms once we're done. Pomona and Filius are coming too." Minerva suggested.
Severus only rolled his eyes. "I assume we won't be seeing you tomorrow until later in the day then," he said to Minerva, before leaning down to whisper seductively in Hermione's ear. "Don't have more than one or two, I'd rather like a more private celebration for the two of us later."
Hermione could only bite her lip and nod as a wave of desire washed over her. How he could still made her feel that way after so many years she didn't know, but she certainly wasn't complaining. Without another word, Severus turned and left, and her eyes followed him as he made his way down the hall to the main doors, his teaching robes flowing around him as the remaining students parted to either side. Many wished him a good holiday as he passed, and he nodded in reply.
Once he was out of earshot, Minerva leant across. "When are the two of you going to get married and start producing children for me to spoil? It's been long enough, and you've not kept your relationship a secret for years now." She had an expression on her face that Hermione couldn't quite decipher.
She shrugged. "We're happy as we are Minerva. You know I'd marry him in a heartbeat if he asked, but I don't know whether he'll ever be ready for that. As long as we have each other, that's all that matters."
It was true, but sometimes she couldn't help but wonder what a child of theirs would be like. An utter swot, no doubt, a son that looked like his father, or a daughter that looked like her, but with dark curly hair and black eyes. And Severus, she was convinced he would be an excellent father. He was still a strict teacher, but he had allowed his true personality to soften his interactions with the students somewhat, and was now universally liked and respected, albeit in a different way than Dumbledore had been.
The first two years after his return, however, had been quite different, the top five years remembering all too well his previous stint as head. The older children, with the benefit of maturity, understood better than the younger, the circumstances that had forced Severus to act the way he had done. However the third and fourth years in particular had found it harder. It wasn't that they outwardly made things difficult for him, but they clearly were scared of him and found it hard to trust him.
Hermione hadn't been working at the school at that time, having taken just under two years at St Mungo's finishing her mastery, but her heart had broken at the way he had spoken of the difficulties he'd had settling back into school life. He had often lain in her arms, recounting some story of distressed children believing that he was going torture them for some minor infraction, and she'd been horrified to see how badly it had affected him. Hermione was the only person to whom he would ever open up and confess his fears to, although Minerva had quickly noticed the problem herself and had taken steps to help, even going so far as to invite certain Order members to guest lecture in DADA and to talk about the war, including Severus's role.
Time and a better understanding had eventually convinced even the most affected child that he truly wasn't the cruel and vindictive person he had seemed to be in the years before Voldemort's final downfall. Now free to be his own person for the first time in twenty years, he had almost had to discover what his own personality was. There was no chance of him ever becoming a dotty, sweet-loving headmaster, but he was now known as universally fair, kind and always ready to listen to any problem. Severus even had, on the rare occasion, been known to laugh, and there were students ever year who seemed to go out of their way to elicit a smile. Under his influence Slytherin house had lost most of their bad reputation, perhaps because he didn't favour any house over the other, unlike Dumbledore, and inter-house camaraderie had never been so good.
A few months of living apart and seeing each other on days off and on as many evenings as they could manage with two busy schedules, had convinced them both they wanted more. Severus had secretly had the floo in his room connected to the one in Grimmauld Place, once Hermione had decided that there was no point buying or renting a house herself if she was only going to move to Hogwarts. They'd managed to keep their relationship secret from the wizarding world, if not their nearest and dearest, for about ten months. Neither was prepared to hide their affections, or to seem to the other or any observer that they were ashamed of their relationship, but they'd limited their outings to muggle restaurants and attractions, and spent lots of time just relaxing and enjoying each other's company either at Grimmauld Place or in his rooms at Hogwarts.
Although Hermione had at first been somewhat amused at all the witches throwing themselves at him, and while she trusted that Severus would never look twice at any of them – unless he was hexing them - she'd quickly become annoyed with it. It had only been an hour into the first official function that they'd both been asked to attend; the three year anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts, where the Ministry had insisted on presenting the Order of Merlin to Severus, before Hermione had grown fed up of being pushed aside and looked down on by several beautiful women vying for his attention.
She'd eventually snapped, dragging Severus out for a few minutes, and when they'd returned to the Hall, she'd been on his arm. They'd made it clear they were together when he'd swept her onto the dance floor, refused all other offers for dances, and in front of everyone, kissed her gently at the end of a particularly slow dance. Those who already knew just acted like there was nothing strange about it, but it hadn't taken long for the story to spread to those who had not seen for themselves.
The article that had been in the newspaper the next morning had been strangely subdued, the normal accusations of impropriety and scandal absent, although Hermione had assumed the conversation she'd spotted between Severus and the editor of the Prophet near the end of the evening had something to do with it.
After that, they'd started appearing out together more, going shopping together in Diagon Alley or for a meal in Hogsmeade, but because of Severus's position, they were careful not to do anything that might be seen as inappropriate. It would not be acceptable for someone to come across the Hogwarts' headmaster and his girlfriend snogging and groping each other in some public place. Not that she had ever been one for public displays of affection, although that hadn't stopped them from taking advantage of an almost empty castle during the holidays. By and large the news of their relationship hadn't created much of a fuss after the first few days, as the upcoming nuptials of the Chosen One had taken up most of the column inches.
Hermione had, of course, passed her mastery with honours, and no one had been able to say a word against her appointment as the new potions professor with such an achievement. Not wanting to give up her academic pursuits completely she'd made arrangements to start a charms mastery, although it was very much a part-time pursuit. When she had moved into the castle she had insisted on her own rooms as a matter of decorum – while their relationship was accepted there were always people looking for a good scandal.
The castle, had however, even without Severus's bidding, reduced her rooms to a non-descript hall with three doors and a study leading off from one of them, just in case pupils came knocking. One door from the hall opened into Severus's hall, and another straight into his bedroom. He had told her that he'd attempted to change it back, and that the castle was preventing it, but Hermione wasn't so sure that he'd really tried that hard. He'd clearly enjoyed having her there all the time, and surprisingly they'd had fewer issues learning to live with each other than she'd expected, considering that he was still a grumpy old sod a lot of the time.
In the last few years they'd not been so worried about hiding their relationship, and while they never did anything too overt around the students, they weren't so worried about being seen in each other's company around the castle, although Severus had always been careful to not show favouritism towards her, both for the students' benefit and the staff's. In general everyone was so used to the idea of them being together it was barely spoken of, even in the Hogwarts' gossip mill. When amongst their friends they were not very demonstrative, although those who knew them well could recognise the small signs of affection they showed towards the other, and could see that they were both happy.
In private, however, he was a different person, attentive and caring. If she tried to tell others what he was like she was sure they probably wouldn't believe her. Harry and Ron, she knew, were still weirded out by the fact that she slept with Severus, although they were more than happy for the two of them. Hermione couldn't envision a day when she wouldn't be with him, she wanted to live the rest of her life by his side. She would have loved to declare that to the rest of the world by getting married, especially as their relationship had been conducted almost all in private. Nothing big, just a few friends, a simple ceremony and a small celebration after. And then the train of thought always would always bring her back to the idea of having a child… Would he ever want one? She knew that long ago she had seen, in his memories, a dream of the future with her and a family. But he'd believed himself to be marching towards his death at the time, so it didn't necessarily mean anything beyond regret for a life not lived. He'd never said anything since, so she could only assume he was happy with the status quo.
"I know what that look means… I've been around long enough to know when a woman gets broody," Minerva said, tapping her on the arm and breaking her train of thought. "No, no, I won't say anymore," she continued, when she saw Hermione frown. "Come on, let's go and make sure they all managed to make it on the train safely. Wouldn't want any to be left behind now, would we."
"Dear Merlin, no," Hermione replied quietly as she stood, pushing thoughts of Severus and marriage away once more. She always looked forward to the summer holidays as the quiet meant that she could get far more work done, and in a way, she was far more aware of the Hogwarts as a somewhat sentient being when it wasn't filled with noisy children. "The castle always feels so different when the children aren't here," she said. "I quite enjoy the emptiness of it."
Minerva's eyes glinted. "I'm sure you do," she said with a grin.
Hermione could only blush. She hadn't been thinking of it until Minerva had reminded her, that they had, on more than one occasion during the summer months, taken advantage of the empty castle in a way that they never would when the students were there. Minerva had actually managed to come across them three times, twice when they were barely getting started, and once when they were in full flow. The two of them had been more embarrassed about it than Minerva had, and she would take every opportunity to remind them of it, in private at least.
She turned her attention to the last few children who hadn't yet left the hall in order to avoid replying to the older witch. "Come on, you three. You can finish your conversation on the train." She shooed the students out before her.
It was quite late, as Minerva and the other two professors had refused to let her leave before now. Hermione was making her way back to their rooms when a shimmery form appeared down the corridor in front of her, padding towards her sedately. As she neared it, Hermione reached out to stroke its muzzle. The panther pressed eagerly into her hand, and as always, she could feel warmth spread through her at the contact, something she had always believed to be an echo of Snape's love for her.
The panther opened its mouth to speak. "I'm in the astronomy tower, if you'd like to join me," Snape's voice whispered silkily, and Hermione recalled suddenly his earlier promise of a private celebration. Once its message had been delivered, the panther began to rub itself up against her again, brushing against her with its shoulder and side, even as it began to dissipate.
When she got to the next junction of corridors she turned right, instead of continuing on to her entrance to their rooms. She wasn't too far away from the stairs leading up the tower, so it didn't take long before she was ascending the steep steps up to where she assumed Severus was waiting.
She was surprised to reach the top and find herself in the dark. She could only just make out where the stones ended and the sky began because of the twinkling of the stars.
"Severus?" she called, pulling out her wand with the intention of creating a light. But before she could cast, first one candle flame suddenly roared into life, then more and more, until the whole of the space was bathed in the flickering light of a thousand flames, glinting off the lenses and sweeping golden arches of the telescope.. Hermione gaped in surprise, as two arms came front behind to wrap around her waist.
"Right on time, my love," was the silky whisper in her ear.
She twisted in his arms. "What's all this for?" she asked, waving one hand in the direction of the candles as she used the other to tuck her wand away again. "Isn't it a bit much just to celebrate the start of the holidays?"
"That's not why I asked you here." He smiled, but she thought she could detect a trace of nervousness in his expression. She chose not to say anything in reply. She'd learnt over the past years that he would only ever tell her when he was ready to.
Severus pulled her gently towards the centre of the space as he began to speak. "I once thought my life had effectively ended in this place. The night I killed Albus I believed that I would either die trying to defeat the Dark Lord from within his ranks, or if I managed to survive, be placed in Azkaban for the rest of my days. Then I found you, and I can safely say my life hasn't been the same since. It took me a long time to understand how I felt, and even longer to accept that you returned my feelings.
"You brought me back to life, both literally and figuratively. You showed me that my future didn't have to be dictated solely by my past, that I had the chance to do the things that I once dreamed of and never believed would happen."
Hermione opened her mouth to reply, still confused by what they were doing up in the tower, and by Severus' unusual behaviour, but he stopped her with a kiss before continuing.
"I have almost all the things I dreamed of, and I hope that you will help me with the last two." He pulled her closer, his hands tightly gripping her upper arms. This close she could see the terror in his eyes, and her own heart started to beat wildly as she began to realise what he possibly was about to say.
"I want a family, a wife and child…"
"What, only one?" Hermione joked nervously, trying to break the tension.
He looked slightly relieved. "Let's see how the first one turns out," he replied with a slight smile, before turning serious again. He let go of her arms and took her hands in his. "I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Hermione." He paused, before taking a deep breath. "Will you do me the honour of becoming my wife? I promise I shall spend every day making you as happy as I possibly can."
Hermione could feel the tremble in his hands as he waited for his answer. "And what about you? Will you be happy?" she asked intently, as her heart seemed to stop beating in her chest.
"You make me happy. Every day I think of how lucky I am to have you in my life, and I never want you to leave it."
"Then yes," she flung her arms around his neck. "Yes, I will marry you."
He wrapped his arms back around her waist and pulled her in for a deep kiss that lasted some time. When they were both finally out of breath they pulled back from each other slightly, sheepish grins on both their faces.
Thinking back on the evening that had led them to this point, Hermione suddenly put two and two together. "Wait… did Minerva know you were planning this?"
He tried to look innocent but failed. "Why? Why do you ask?"
"Because she said something to me earlier about children and marriage, and she and Pomona and Filius worked very hard at getting me to stay for drinks until late."
"She may have had orders to keep you there until half ten, even if she had to restrain you. I did have work to do, and then I needed to set everything up before you arrived. I'm surprised you didn't guess, Minerva's been ridiculously excited ever since I asked her for help. I don't know how she managed to keep quiet."
"She's desperate for babies to spoil," Hermione laughed. "But I think she'll have to wait a little longer. I'd like a little more time with just the two of us first."
"I won't complain about that." He bent down to kiss her again, before nuzzling his way across her cheek to nibble at her ear, just the way he knew made her crazy.
She scrabbled for her wand, struggling to keep her head long enough to conjure a rug and a small pile of cushions on the stone floor. She steered him towards it, before pushing him to the floor and following him down, even as her fingers tore at his shirt.
"Would you complain if I wanted to get in plenty of practise, at least until we get it perfect?" she asked as she started to kiss her way down his chest.
"Not at all," he replied with a groan, his fingers tangling in her hair. "I wouldn't want it any other way."
THE END
I can't believe this story is finally finished. What started out as a random idea has turned into a 16 month long saga. Thanks to everyone who took the time to review, especially those who reviewed regularly and to all the readers who stuck it out to the end. You really kept me going, even when it was difficult to find the right words to express what I wanted to say. I look forward to seeing you all on the next story. XxX
- 129
- 130
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Memories of Deception