Chapter 9: Blank Pages

- - I really ought to thank you, and I do. You - unintentional as it was on your part - brought me and Severus together. Such a crazy match, I never would have even considered it, not even jokingly. I thank you, Tom. You made this happen and I'm happy. I'm content, for the first time in my life. I feel safe and cared for and there's purpose to my life, something more than ridding the world of you. So I thank you. I do. I'll be there soon to thank you in person.

Yours sincerely,

Harry

O O O

They had found an old abandoned factory at the edge of London where they decided to have their meetings with the potential defecting Death Eaters. They had discussed sending them letters, or possibly trick portkeys but the method of invitation they settled on was by house-elf. It really was quite convenient how the usefulness of house-elves was so often underestimated. It really was no trouble at all for Dobby to follow the targets and nap them when they were alone. He would then bring them, one at a time to the factory, knock them unconscious and then fetch Harry and Severus. The hardest part of the whole plan was actually for Harry and Severus to slip away unnoticed when they knew they wouldn't be missed for a couple of hours. That usually meant the dark hours of early morning when everyone else was deep asleep.

They had already met with three of the potential defectors and all three had agreed to a round of legilimizing in return of getting rid of the Mark. They were of the lesser Death Eaters and so had very little information about the plans of their Lord or the Inner Circle members. Practically all that Severus got out of them was the general atmosphere in the Death Eater ranks since he'd left. There was unrest and rumors about the Dark Lord being even more unstable than before.

They hit the jackpot with Rabastan Lestrange.

As they Apparated to the abandoned factory, they found Rabastan tied to a rickety chair and unconscious like their three previous targets. He was stripped of his wand and Dobby hadn't found any portkeys on him so it was safe to say the man wasn't going anywhere. With a soft poke of magic Harry woke Rabastan. The man returned to consciousness with a gasp and immediately proceeded to take in his surroundings, eyes settling on the two men before him. "Severus", he blinked, "Potter", another blink, "This is unexpected."

"No doubt", Harry chuckled, "Let's get down to business, shall we?"

"Business?" Rabastan parroted.

"You let Severus take a little peak inside your mind and I'll remove your Dark Mark", Harry said gesturing towards Rabastan's forearm.

"Wha – ?" The man gaped.

"Surely you realize the only reason I'm still alive is that I no longer have the Mark?" Severus asked.

"We suspected yes", Rabastan admitted, "But the Dark Lord said no one could possibly remove it! He said you had to be under the protection of some special protecting wards or the like."

Severus pushed up his sleeve to reveal his unmarked arm. "Harry learned how to remove them. We wouldn't have dared to marry otherwise." Not strictly true, but... yeah...

"I'm... I'm loyal to the – ", Rabastan began weakly.

"No, you're not", Harry cut him off. "You joined the Dark Order under duress, because your brother and father more or less forced you to. We're offering this chance to you because we are quite convinced you'll take it."

"You'll remove the Mark and what? Turn me over to the Aurors?"

"You'll walk away and we turn a blind eye. This never happened, as far as we're concerned. Start over somewhere else, make a new identity for yourself." Harry replied.

"And if I refuse?" Rabastan asked.

"I'll legilimize you anyway and then we'll send you back with a nice a little obliviate", Severus smirked.

Rabastan stared at them, face blank, but his eyes showed his head was positively spinning with possibilities. "Alright", he finally agreed.

"Brilliant", Harry smiled victoriously and Severus cast 'Legilimens'.

He didn't emerge from Rabastan's memories until half an hour later. One memory in particular had caught his attention. The memory in itself was very dull, simply of Rabastan visiting the Lestrange vault in Gringotts a while back. It was the contents of the vault that caught his eye. Severus turned to Harry, "There's a rather special object in the Lestrange vaults. The Hufflepuff's Cup."

Harry's eyes widened in surprise and his lips widened in a pleased smile. "Oh, Tom, how horribly obvious you're being", he chuckled. Rowena's Diadem and Helga's Cup. Giving the Diary to Lucius for safe-keeping and the Cup to one of the Lestranges, Bellatrix, Harry figured, since she was one of his favorites. He then asked Rabastan: "Would you be horribly opposed to doing us a tiny little favor? You may refuse, I'll remove the Mark as per our deal in any case."

"You want me to bring you this... Cup from our vault?" The man tied to the chair asked, clearly not aware of the significance of the Cup and probably not even aware of it residing among the Lestrange family's riches.

"Yes", Harry nodded, "You would like to fetch some funds for your trip anyway, wouldn't you? Bring us the Cup and should you somehow get caught by the Aurors, I'll promise to witness on your behalf, to ask for leniency at the very least." Rabastan eyed him, trying to judge his sincerity and was apparently satisfied with what he found as he nodded his assent. The robes holding him down fell limply to the floor and he rose to his feet. "It's probably better if I remove the Mark after your trip to Gringotts. You never know who you run into or when your Lord decides to summon you."

Rabastan nodded and then Apparated away. The trip to Gringotts went without a hitch and in about an hour he was back at the abandoned factory with a bottomless pouch full of cash and valuables and one very special Cup. There was something wrong about the Cup so he was actually very relieved to hand it to Harry, who swiftly stuffed it into one of his enlarged pockets before grabbing Rabastan's arm, "As I promised", he said. Rabastan's arm tingled and then it was over. He looked at Harry in question and when the younger wizard only smiled, he hastily pushed up his sleeve. He couldn't help the disbelief he felt when he took in the unmarked skin. A part of him hadn't believed it possible, he realized.

"Thank you", he said.

Harry nodded with a small smile, "Go now. I hope we'll never meet again, Rabastan Lestrange."

"Thank you", Rabastan repeated and Apparated away a free man.

O O O

The next morning, about three hours after they had finally gone to bed, they woke up to Dobby jumping up and down on their bed and practically shrieking: "Kreacher is a bad elf, stealing from his Master, Kreacher is!" The two wizards groaned and Harry tried to bury his head under a pillow. "Dobby found another thingie like the paper birdie in Kreacher's nest!"

"Kreacher took the Cup?" Harry mumbled, still half asleep.

Severus' eyes snapped open, "Wait, didn't you already remove the Horcrux from it?" Both wizards shot up and turned to look at Dobby who had finally stopped bouncing. He was holding a locket. "Slytherin's Locket", Severus gasped in awe and reached up to take it.

Harry beat him to it, "Probably better if I remove the taint before you have contact with it. Who knows what Voldemort has cast on it." The whole process from conjuring a paper animal (this time an orange butterfly) to burning it with the soul shard tied to it took him less than half a minute. He was becoming quite the expert in Horcrux extraction and disposal. He then handed the much safer locket to Severus, let himself fall back on the bed, pulled up the covers and rolled to his side, promptly falling asleep again.

Severus stared at the Locket in wonder, glanced at his now sleeping husband before turning to the uncharacteristically silent house-elf, "Good job, Dobby", he praised. With an overjoyed giggle the elf popped away. Severus went back to admiring the Locket.

O O O

It was almost midday when Harry next woke. Severus was still asleep. The other residents of Grimmauld Place had quickly learned to let the two of them sleep as long as they desired. Both Molly and Sirius had made the mistake of trying to wake them once and both had found themselves nastily hexed and with little success on the whole waking up front. It turned out both Harry and Severus had developed a habit to sleep-hex all intruders.

Harry found the Locket on the bedside table on Severus' side and took a good long look at the enchantments on it with his magical sight. From what he could see, there were several protective charms, mostly to protect the wearer against poisons and other harmful potions. The Locket could probably nullify the effects of all snake venom. That reminded him of the last Horcrux, Nagini. He was fairly certain the enormous snake was one, the last one. They would have to hunt down the snake before Voldemort could properly die. Seeing as how Voldemort liked to keep Nagini close, it meant one of them would need to keep Voldemort occupied while the other slayed the pet snake. He could never let Severus face Voldemort, not alone. He gently slipped the Locket around Severus neck, careful not to wake him and cast a subtle charm to prevent the Locket from being taken off. And then he decided he needed a bath.

When he returned to the bedroom, wet and wearing nothing but a towel, Severus was awake and turned to glare at him. "What did you do to it?" He was tugging at the Locket he was wearing.

Harry walked to the closet and pulled out a pair of boxers, black trousers and a white button-down shirt, "It's yours now. You'll need it when you kill Nagini."

"You're not going to try and extract the Horcrux from her?" Severus frowned.

"I doubt we'll have the time and honestly, from what I've seen the snake is entirely too attached to Voldemort. She'd rather die, trust me", Harry sighed. "Since catching her away from Voldemort isn't all that likely to happen, you'll have to deal with her while I keep him occupied."

"What does the Locket have to do with it?"

"It's a piece of art, the charm work is exquisite. I wish you could see it", Harry smiled, "It'll protect you from harmful substances. Should Nagini bite you, the Locket might just keep you alive long enough for help to arrive."

Severus rose and walked to now properly clothed Harry, "I don't want to let you face him alone."

Harry touched his cheek gently, eyes shining with adoration and a soft smile adoring his lips, "Then you'll just have to deal with Nagini real quick and join me in defeating him."

That adoration he saw in Harry's eyes, it hurt. He hurriedly stepped back. He didn't deserve it. He wanted it so much. To have someone like him, love him even. But he didn't deserve it, especially not from Harry. Not when he was the reason his parents were dead. The hurt that replaced the adoration at his distancing himself was apparent and he couldn't stand that look so he turned away. But he could still feel it, the hurt he caused with that little rejection. He ran a shaking hand through his sleep tangled hair and with a fortifying breath turned back to face Harry and the moment of truth that he had for a long while known was coming. "I was the one who told the Dark Lord the Prophecy."

"What?" Harry asked frowning in confusion. "What are you – ?"

"I was there when Trelawney spoke the Prophecy to the Headmaster, I heard the first part and like the loyal dog of a Death Eater I was, I ran to the Dark Lord with it." His voice cracked. "I'm the reason behind the death of your parents. I'm the reason Lily and James are dead, Harry. I'm the reason you've had a shitty childhood. I'm the reason you've had to fend of more murder attempts during your school years than the average wild rabbit. I was young and foolish and I've regretted it ever since but some things can't be taken back! For some things there is no forgiveness. I was never going to tell you. I was going to hate you and have you loath me even more, as I deserve, and watch over you and protect you with my life like Lily would have wanted me to."

"You were the one who told him the Prophecy", Harry numbly said, his eyes staring into space. Suddenly his eyes snapped to Severus and he noticed the broken expression the man was wearing. That, right there, was remorse if he'd ever seen any. The very definition of remorse. And Severus had protected him even when they couldn't yet stand the sight of each other. Had he heard this confession before he had gotten to know the man, he wouldn't have been able to... But he did know him and he had occasionally wondered what was it that brought that tortured expression to his face, the one he tried so hard to hide. This remorse, there really was no way he could not forgive Severus. The blame didn't even lay solely at his feet. Dumbledore, Peter, James and Lily, Sirius, Voldemort... All had played a part in the tragedy, more or less. And so... "I forgive you", the words were spoken no louder than a whisper.

Severus shook his head in denial.

In two steps Harry was right in front of him, "I forgive you", he said with more confidence. "It was a long time ago. You were young. You were foolish. And you've tried to redeem yourself ever since. I forgive you and I'm sure my mother would have as well."

"You... You can't just – ", Severus protested weakly, he felt dizzy.

"Forgive you? I can. I do", Harry took one more step to close the gap between them and slipped his arms around the man. He noticed Severus was shaking. "You've been good to me for the last few months. You've showed me there's a good man under that mask of cruelty. I've grown quite fond of you, did you know?" He released Severus slowly and noticed there were what looked like unshed tears in his eyes. "Why don't you take a bath, hmm? Mrs Weasley will worry if we fail to show up for lunch." He watched Severus hurriedly retreat to the privacy of the bathroom. He needed to think. He left the room and headed to the attic. It was one of the few places in the house with some peace and quiet.

O O O

For their plan to slay Voldemort to work, they needed to choose the time very carefully. If there were many Death Eaters in attendance, everything would be ruined. Severus had argued that surely the Order could handle a few Death Eaters but Harry stubbornly refused to involve them. Perhaps it was madness, but Harry wasn't going to risk their lives, not again. They did eventually find the most ideal time. They would sneak in to Voldemort's residence, the Riddle Mansion, during Malfoy's annual Christmas Ball. The Malfoy's hadn't publicly announced they were holding one, but Severus was still convinced one was going to take place. It was tradition and Malfoy's were sticklers for traditions, if nothing else. The lack of announcement simply meant the attendees would most likely all be either Death Eaters or at least unmarked supporters of the Dark Lord. Of course, this also meant that Voldemort himself would attend as well but if there was one thing Harry had learned of dear old Tom, was that the wizard simply loved attention and to always present himself in a way that emphasized his superiority. In other words, Voldemort would be the last one to arrive, to make an entrance. They had a slim window in which all Death Eaters would already be at Malfoy Mannor but Voldemort not quite yet there.

The downside of the timing was that it happened to be the evening of Christmas eve. Which meant their absence at the dinner table at Grimmauld Place would be noticed very quickly. That is why Harry had assigned both Dobby and Winky to run interference. They had been told to lie, lie and lie some more to prolong the time before they were realized missing and after that they had the permission to resort to the more magical means to keep the Order members from trying to run after the two of them.

"It's really quite creepy how normal it looks", Harry commented as they appeared outside the Riddle Mansion, "Except for the wards, that is. Those are quite extraordinary." He quickly wove holes into the wards to allow the two of them passage without alerting the warder of their presence. The front door was unlocked. In the front hall they took a moment to observe. Harry stretched his magical sight to its limit, "From what I can see, there are only three magical presences in the house. Two in a room upstairs, one that way", he pointed at the door on his right, "I'm fairly certain the two upstairs are Voldemort and Nagini. I don't know who the third one is."

"I'll take care of it", Severus said and without further ado left to hunt down the third presence. He returned shortly with an unconscious rat with one silver paw that he was hanging by the tail.

Harry grabbed the rat eagerly, a slightly sadistic smile making its way to his face, "The perfect Christmas present. Oh, you know me so well!" He stuffed the rat into one of his cloak pockets and then more seriously asked: "Ready?" Severus nodded and up the stairs they went. As they passed by, the wallpaper was silently peeled from the walls and cut into small, about 7 by 7 inch squares and folded into birds and butterflies that then fluttered after the two wizards. Severus eyed the animated origami amused. Perhaps Harry wasn't quite as unaffected as he seemed. There were hundreds of them by the time they reached their destination. With magic, Harry pushed the door before them open and the cloud of his creations flew past them to the room. Through the loud fluttering of paper wings he could hear Voldemort hissing to Nagini: /Stay behind me./

He guided the origami to part so that they were no longer obstructing the view between the two opposing parties. "Hello Tom", He cordially greeted.

"Potter", Voldemort hissed, "I see you brought the traitor with you. A gift for me, perhaps?"

Harry chuckled, "Sorry, he's all mine." He then asked: "You did get my letter, didn't you?" He could practically feel the questioning look Severus was no doubt shooting at him. He hadn't told Severus about the letter he had had Dobby deliver right before they left for the Riddle Manor.

"Nauseating sentimental drivel", Voldemort snorted, "I had hoped you were joking."

"Yes, I didn't think you'd understand. But it all just had to be said", Harry shook his head sadly and then asked: "Shall we do this?" And then without waiting for a reply, he had lashed out his hand and a wave of magic slammed into Voldemort from the side slamming him against the wall to his right, effectively putting almost four feet between him and his last remaining Horcrux.

Knowing an opening when presented with one, Severus quickly cast Fiendfyre on the furiously hissing Nagini and was pleasantly surprised to see her burn.

"No!" Voldemort yelled breaking free from Harry's magic's hold but it was too late for his snake, he could see it and so he turned his attention to Harry and Severus. He made a powerful visage with his blood read eyes burning with fury, but Harry could see just the tiniest hint of fear in them. Fear of death, now that there was nothing left to keep him anchored to world of the living. The eyes were drawn to the Slytherin's Locket hanging around Severus' neck and glinting in the fire light. "You gave my Locket to your whore?" Voldemort asked Harry with much venom. "How dare you cheapen it like that!?"

"You would have preferred I wear it myself?" Harry asked bemused.

"He's not worthy!" Voldemort raged. "None but you and I should lay a finger on it, much less wear it!"

"So you do consider me your equal then", Harry smiled sadly.

"Of course not!" Voldemort hissed and then grudgingly admitted: "But you have come the closest. None but you and I can speak the noble language of parseltongue and you have been the first to find a way to remove my Mark. You're the only one with real potential."

"I'm going to kill you, Tom", Harry said softly, "You brought this upon yourself, with your choices, with your actions. You could have been great. You could have ruled the Wizarding Britain as the new Dumbledore. If only you'd chosen the less bloody road. But what is, is." He closed his eyes and then slowly opened them and lifted his arm. He rolled his hand and a golden piece of string appeared at his fingertips and shot through the air, wrapping around Voldemort's throat tightly enough to make the wizard choke and try to claw at it. "I'm sorry it has to be this way", Harry apologized and actually felt sorry, "And thank you." And then he flicked his wrist and the string neatly beheaded one of the most feared Dark Lords in history.

He turned to look at Severus who was standing right next to him, quietly. "Thank you for letting me do it", Harry said.

"You didn't seem to need my help", Severus pointed out.

"Yeah", Harry sighed, "I think he's been ruling with fear for a while now. I imagine he lost the majority of his magic a long while ago." He walked to the remains of Voldemort. "Looks like he left behind a corpse after all. We should probably drop it at the Department of Law Enforcement. I imagine they'll appreciate a chance to have a chat with Peter as well."

"What's this about a letter to the Dark Lord?" Severus asked, tone demanding and eyebrow twitching in irritation.

"Letter?" Harry gave a nervous little laugh, "That's a funny thing actually, see... Uhh..."

"Just stick with the truth", Severus advised when it looked like Harry was trying to come up with a convincing lie.

"Okay, so..." Harry shuffled his feet nervously, "I may have written a letter to him and have Dobby deliver it to him a few moments before we arrived."

"And why would you do something like that?" Severus asked.

"It was therapeutic?" Harry replied, though it sounded more like a question. "Honestly, I didn't think he'd just quietly sit and listen while I talk about my feelings and I really needed to get it off my chest. I wanted this to be over with his death and letting all those rather deep and profound thoughts just muddle up my head indefinitely, I didn't want to let it happen. So I decided to write him a letter."

Severus sighed, "Writing I understand, but did you really need to have him read it?"

"Yes?" Harry replied hesitantly and then exasperatedly said: "Oh come on, Severus! There was no harm, was there? I mean he's dead, deader than dead, and we're both fine!"

"You should have – ", Severus began but stopped when the clear sound of the front door slamming open could be heard.

"Oh look! The cavalry's here!" Harry giggled (it was a very manly giggle, more of a chuckle really, if you asked Harry).

"Yes, but of which side..?" Severus muttered.

Footsteps making their way up the stairs to the second floor in hurry and then Albus appeared at the doorway, "Harry! Severus!" His tone was near frantic, quite uncharacteristic for the old and usually so composed wizard. He stopped dead as his eyes slid over to Voldemort's remains, "Tom?"

"He lost his head, Headmaster", Harry giggled and then coughed embarrassed, "Sorry, that was entirely inappropriate. It's the passing adrenaline high, I imagine."

"Really, Harry? You're blaming adrenaline for the giggling?" Severus asked incredulous.

"It wasn't giggling!" Harry whined, "And yes, yes I am! It's an entirely possible explanation!"

"Of course it is", Severus replied, tone indicating he believed the exact opposite.

"But what about the Horcruxes?" Albus asked while cautiously approaching Voldemort's detached head.

"Oh we dealt with those", Harry dismissively replied and then pointed at the pile of ash Nagini had been reduced to, "His snake was the last one." He then clapped his hands together and asked: "I take it dinner's ready then?"

"What?" Albus frowned in confusion by the sudden change in topic.

"Dinner? Since you realized we weren't at HQ? I doubt you all would have realized there was any reason to worry until we didn't show up for dinner", Harry explained.

"Yes, Molly made quite a fuss about your absence", Albus replied.

"Great!" Harry exclaimed, "I was starting to feel rather peckish." He started towards the door but then stopped, "Oh! I nearly forgot!" He walked to Albus, dug out a rat from his pocket and tossed it to the Headmaster, "You can take that to the Aurors, right? Since you'll have to go to the Ministry anyway..?"

Albus lifted the filthy rat by its tail, "Peter?"

"Have fun at the Ministry!" Harry said and then swept out of the room, Severus following him not far behind. Before they made it to the front door, they had come across half the Order and Harry had expertly blown them off, simply telling everyone he'd see them at the Headquarters. One Apparition and few steps later Harry was eagerly entering the kitchen and taking a seat at the largely unoccupied dining table and piling his plate. "Where's everyone?" Harry asked suddenly, looking around the room. Only Molly and the younger Weasleys were present. And they were staring at him and Severus dumbly. How rude.

Severus heaved a sigh of resignation, "Let's just eat."

"You think they're all at the Riddle Manor?" Harry asked while chewing. "Surely they've realized by now that there's nothing interesting going on there anymore?"

"It might have helped had you stayed to offer a proper explanation", Severus pointed out.

"Oh yeah... I'll probably need to have a chat with the Minister, eh?"

"Yes."

"But it's Christmas! It can wait until after Christmas, right?" Harry asked pouting.

"Of course."

"What does he need to hear from me anyway? I mean, it's rather obvious Voldemort's dead so that's that, right?"

"I'm sure that's exactly how he sees it."

"You're being sarcastic, aren't you?" Harry shot accusing eyes at his husband.

"Wait, V-Voldemort's dead?" Ron asked hesitantly.

Harry made a cutting motion across his neck and said: "Lost his head, he did."

"He's dead? For good?" Molly asked, voice full of hope.

"Quite", Severus confirmed.

Stunned silence. And then... "I need to write Hermione!" Ron ran out of the kitchen.

With a stage whisper Harry said to Severus: "Those two are so going to end up dating."

O O O

It had taken two long hours before Harry and Severus were finally allowed reprieve from constant questioning. The Order members had all returned and everyone had wanted to hear every last detail. Seeing as how they didn't want to spread the whole Horcrux side of things, they (mostly Harry) ended up painting a slightly exaggerated image of the battle between the two of them and Voldemort and his pet snake to appease their audience. When Remus had finally agreed to go and pick up Hermione (after much begging on Ron's part), Harry had to explain the whole thing again, this time to her and she was a stickler for detail.

So, it wasn't until two hours later that the much awaited peace paid Harry a visit. He still wasn't allowed to leave the mother hens' (Molly and Sirius') sight but at least they had let him retreat to the less crowded corner of the Grimmauld Place parlor. He felt his lips twitch a little as he noticed Severus was being cornered by the two mother hens and getting a serious talking to, no doubt about his part in letting Harry run into a dangerous situation. He was busy watching them when he felt someone sit down next to him, on the window sill he was sitting on. It was Hermione. They sat in comfortable silence for a moment until Harry asked: "Did you ever find anything about the magical light show at our wedding?" With all the slaying Voldemort business going on, he hadn't had the time to pay it much thought himself until now.

"I only found one book that discussed the matter properly", Hermione slowly admitted, "And even that book was vague at best. According to it there have been only a scant few occurrences like it in all magical history. The book mentioned three couples in particular and the author had found only two common nominators between them. In all three cases the couples had been exceptionally powerful, magically. And the marriages are recorded as few of the most successful unions in history. The most recent case being the Flamels, Nicolas and Perenelle."

"Ah, I figured", Harry softly said, his eyes sliding back to look at Severus who was now sitting by the fire, trying to ignore the people around him and sipping Firewhiskey.

"I didn't want to say anything, 'cause I figured you'd freak out, Harry. There was really very little backing behind the authors theories. It's probably just coincidence or something!" Hermione hastily added.

Harry ignored her in favor of asking: "Did it strike you as strange that the contract I signed specified I need to stay married to Severus for five years instead of something like 'until the Dark Lord is permanently defeated'?"

"Well... Yes... But I thought the whole contract was a little odd", Hermione frowned.

"I think she wanted us to feel like we had to truly try to get along or the years would feel like a prison sentence. I think she wanted us to fall in love and realize how perfect we are for each other. This, him and I, never would have been possible without divine intervention, don't you agree?" Harry asked, his tone calm and even and a soft smile playing at his lips.

"In love? Perfect? But Harry – !" Hermione protested.

Harry cut her off, "I think I'm falling in love with him." He ignored Hermione gaping at him. "He's not ready to hear it though, so I'll wait. I still have more than four and half years left to show him, don't I?"

"But..! But, Harry – !"

Harry's eyes were suddenly on her and he placed a finger on her lips, "Shh! Don't tell anyone. Not yet." He then rose and as he was walking past Severus, stopped to tell him he was going to bed and then left the parlor, leaving a rather stunned Hermione behind. He felt Minerva's Guide to Victory warm up in his pocket and he smiled. His goddess would help him win this battle as well, the battle for the heart of one Severus Snape. And the battle after that. And the one after that. There were plenty of blank pages left in the Guide. His goddess wouldn't be leaving him anytime soon.

End of The Contract and the Guide

O O O

AN: So this was the last chapter of The Contract and the Guide. Since I feel like I've achieved the two major end goals I had set, Voldie's death and the whole falling in love thing (they are clearly in love or at least falling rapidly and inevitably, right?), I decided it's better to end this story here, lest I destroy the whole structure I built. I have no plans for a sequel yet. It's not very likely I'll end up writing one, but if I do, then it's not going to happen in the near future, sorry. I'm just glad I finally got one of my many unfinished fanfics finished (and posted). Thank you for reading, and especially huge thanks for all the reviews! -rrenvy

Posted March 2th 2013