Severus and Hermione spent every Christmas from then on at the little cottage in Truro, which Severus purchased for Hermione as a Valentine's Day gift. By Easter, which was held at the Burrow, as always, the pair announced that they had moved in together, and everyone was very happy for the two of them. The year seemed to go by quickly, with Pruina growing nicely in the treatment of her new master and mistress, and no one had ever seen a happier feline familiar. It wasn't a surprising development the following Christmas when, on Christmas morning, after they'd eaten breakfast and Severus was tidying up in the kitchen, when Hermione noticed a beautiful diamond ring within the confines of the branches. Immediately upon exiting the kitchen, Severus proposed to Hermione, and the pair were married in the New Year by Minerva herself, and she, plus the Weasleys, the Potters, the Malfoys, and the Longbottom's all came to the cottage in Truro to attend the bonding ceremony.
Severus finished the potion to fix Frank and Alice Longbottom's minds, previously destroyed by Barty Crouch, Jr., as well as the Lestrange family, so long ago. Hermione summoned Neville and a visibly pregnant Luna herself, while Molly watched over little Pandora for the day. Severus administered the potion to both Frank and Alice, and it seemed as if a veil had been lifted from their vision, and they were overjoyed to see their son again. They eagerly met Luna for the first time, and were anxious to meet their goddaughter, as well as their grandson, already named Alexander, due to be born in early summer.
Severus and Hermione attended the summer potions expo, held in St. Lucia that year, where Severus was presented with the highest honor a potions master could receive in the Wizarding World: The Gilded Cauldron, which everyone in that field coveted. Severus was promptly admitted as a member of the board of the guild as well, which included four meetings per year, as well as a mandatory presence at each potions expo, which now included the judge's table. It was quite emotional for Hermione, who insisted that they take a second honeymoon while in the beautiful tropical area, and Severus agreed.
The pair of them ended up buying property there, due to the rare ingredients one could find in that part of the world, and their skin darkened as they tanned daily, due to their new holiday homes' close proximity to the beach. The estate was high up in the hills, surrounded by lemon trees and breathtaking views, and they spent the rest of their summer there. Between lovemaking, Severus finding rare potions ingredients, and Hermione and Severus drafting new curriculum for the potions classes at the magical schools, life was truly happy. Hermione didn't want to leave when the summer ended but, with the potions textbooks ready, they needed to return to England to send them off to the schools who had requested them.
It was unsurprising that Hermione revealed to Severus, upon their third Christmas at the cottage with Pruina, that she was pregnant. Severus was overjoyed at the notion that the woman he loved was pregnant with his child, and, when the New Year dawned, they gave an exclusive interview to Luna for The Quibbler, much to the delight of the Wizarding World. Hermione was touched that Molly immediately began making baby clothes for her, and she and Hermione's own mother, plus Ginny, Luna, and Lavender, had joined forces to create the best baby shower that Hermione could ever ask for. Hermione and Severus decided that the theme for their baby's nursery would be the stories of Beatrix Potter, and everyone thought that the idea was nothing if not a stroke of genius.
Since selling off his childhood home of Spinner's End, Severus had lived in a bachelor flat in London, before he moved to Hermione's flat in Chelsea. Now that a baby was on the way, the two of them decided to buckle down and find a year-round house; the estate in St. Lucia and the cottage in Truro, they decided, would be for summers and Christmases. The pair of them found a beautiful home in Berkshire that they settled upon, with seven bedrooms, plenty of space for a large potions lab, many children's bedrooms, places for entertaining, and its interior reminded them of Middle Eastern architecture. Severus and Hermione purchased the property in the middle of spring, just a few weeks before Hermione was due to give birth.
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Lavender's Blue
FanfictionFive years after the Battle of Hogwarts, twenty-four-year-old Hermione Granger has yet to take a vacation. She has been rewriting curriculum in textbook form for various wizarding schools, and, while enjoying her work, is becoming burnt out. As all...
