A/N: So…It's apparently been three years since I updated this. Seriously? Three years?! Sheesh. I had no idea. I'm so sorry guys.

Okay. So here's how it's gunna go down. I have almost four notebooks full of other stories and ideas for at least nine different ships. I've spent the last six-ish months trying to figure out how to fix this mess of a fic, and I haven't found one that will both make some semblance of logical sense and not go over another 30 chapters. So. This is my copout ending. I'd rather just put this train wreck of a fic behind me and publish stuff that I know is somewhat decent and am proud of.

There's a fic that I've had in the works for the last year or so, and I'm really working my ass off on it. I think you'll all enjoy it. And to keep this from happening again, I'm going to publish it all in one go. I'm about halfway through it now and I'm really proud of it. I'm sorry if you expected more out of this than you received, particularly to those readers who followed it from the beginning. If you want to know more about what I originally had planned or anything having to do with the travesty of DTTS, feel free to message me.

Thank you guys so much, and I'll be seeing you around.

SSHGSSHG

As it turned out, Severus did have his way. Nothing happened to Hermione. Not for awhile, at least. They were both able to sit down and talk everything out, with Severus having to calm her down here and there when he got to the parts about Albus cursing them. The idea that anyone could toy with the independent emotions of human beings 'just for the hell of it' , as Hermione so eloquently described Albus's actions, was surprisingly more than her vast brain could wrap around.

It took the castle a few days to get back to normal, but once the base cause of all the violence and emotional outbursts was determined, the school and its occupants seemed to heal much faster. As it so happened, the Headmaster was much more determined than he originally thought to find happiness for his Potions Master and the curse he cast ended up affecting all of those inside the school. Ron's indelicacies with Hermione, the Gryffindor reactions to such indelicacies, and Minerva and Molly freaking out in a surprisingly physical retaliation against the youngest male Weasley were all Albus's fault. Minerva didn't drop the matter for the next six months, it was such a disaster. Apparently, there were strange cases of emotional outbursts throughout the castle, as the Heads of Houses were able to figure out once they got a chance to sit down and discuss everything that had been happening. Albus's magic began to dissipate within a few days and the occupants of Hogwarts were able to settle down into relative normalcy, until Umbridge became a much bigger toad-faced bitch of a problem. But that's another story.

With physical injuries repaired, mental and emotional injuries well on the way to being healed with copious amounts of chocolate, and Albus spending a week's worth of detention with each Head of House in the hopes of teaching him to be more careful in his matchmaking endeavors, Severus and Hermione began work on an actual relationship. Despite Hogwarts's reputation for never keeping a secret, the couple quickly found out that only a select few were aware of their real feelings for each other. The Heads of Houses (Minerva had a field day when she found out that they were actually staying together), Ginny, and of course, Albus. Everyone else deeply involved in the fray was given a shortened, Severus-and-Hermione-sexytimes-free,version of events.

Severus and Hermione spent what little free time they had with the other, and never seemed to forget to convey their feelings for the other with each day that passed. Severus made sure to repeat the night they spent with each other at Grimmauld Place, but in a matter that he deemed "much more appropriate and deserving of the witch who holds my heart". In fact, he made sure to more than make it up to her as frequently, and in as many locations, as possible.

He found great amusement in the time Hermione spent with him in her mind when she was unconscious in the Hospital Wing. The flattery he felt when she told him the tale of his starring role in her dreams quickly changed into desire when he figured out where exactly she had placed them. The rain-covered cliffs overlocking Hogwarts rapidly changed into their own private getaway, magic allowing them to enjoy it even on the coldest of winter nights.

Severus Snape had never thought that he would be the type of man to appreciate the symbolism and nostalgia that came with such a mundane thing as the weather, but both Severus and Hermione could say with complete honesty, and a blush or two creeping up their faces, that from that summer forward there was never a storm that the two lovers didn't spend wrapped up in each other's arms, windows open, hearing the sound of the rain and feeling the thunder flow through their hearts. It had all worked out as well as could have been expected.

The rain poured as the lovers dreamt, content in the thought that no matter how dark or how hard it stormed, they would always be together.