The Final Goodbye
"Can you believe it? She's finally letting us go," Hermione said to Severus as she tied on her light traveling cloak.
The Potions master harrumphed as Hermione pulled the torch and raised the study wall.
"It makes no difference in the larger scheme of things. There's always going to be people sticking us in situations we have no place being. I'm supposed to be resting in peace," he snarked, following her out of his study.
Hermione turned to him, her eyes glistening.
"But if you were resting in peace, Severus . . . we couldn't be together," she said to him quietly.
The severe look on the wizard's face softened a bit as his dark eyes drifted over her. Yes, if not for those writers and their Muggle pens and machines and libidos, he would have never known happiness. That was something to be thankful for at least. Usually they gave him happy endings.
"Yes, there is that, I suppose," he replied.
Hermione scowled slightly.
"Plus I'd be married to Ron. You'd be resting in peace, but I'd be in a living hell. So be glad they're out there. I know I am," she told the dark wizard, standing on her tiptoes and giving him a quick kiss.
Severus grabbed Hermione before she could pull away and gave her a proper snogging. It was nice to be able to do that and to know the witch welcomed it, welcomed him. His life had been so empty and dark without her. Yes, he supposed he should be grateful.
But damn, it could also be so irritating. He never knew what the fuck was going to happen to him day to day. Anything was possible when you were a popular fictional character.
But Hermione would always be there in the end.
And that made it bearable.
He released her, and Hermione gave him a soft smile.
"Come on. They're waiting for us to see them off," Hermione said to Severus.
"I'll be glad to see the whole lot of them gone," he replied.
"Severus, that's not nice," Hermione chided him as they walked up the dungeon corridor.
"I don't care how fluffy they make me in their idiotic stories, Hermione, I'm not nice nor will I ever be," he groused.
Hermione shook her head as they headed for the Main Hall. They were supposed to meet everyone by the main gates. It was there they would say goodbye.
A nice little crowd of individuals stood by the Main Gate. There was Marcus Delaluci, on his best behavior because the Obeah woman, Cassandra was with him. Endora, her friend was also present, looking wonderful and happy. Andreas Mbutu and his family stood off to the side, talking to Mathias Snape.
Mathias wasn't going with them. He was too bound to the world of Harry Potter, and his mother and father. Odessa Divine was there, being stalked by the ever-creepy Cedric, owner of the Sex Symposium. He didn't care where he was going. There were kinky freaks in every world and he had everything they needed. He rubbed his knuckles sensuously at the thought, his eyes glazed as Odessa shuddered and moved further away.
Several Madams and their employees stood about in boas and garters, looking both competitive and available. Jasmine Malfoy was noticeably absent, having married a Muggle-born and currently expecting twins. There was no other world for her. Petra and her son Peter stood off to the side as well, staring at all the strange people. Peter looked excited as he held his mother's hand but Petra was contrite. She'd be glad to see Hermione though. It had been such a long time. She wondered where they'd go.
Vivaldi sat brooding in a conjured chair, his half-sister Venoma standing next to him, one elegant pale hand idly rubbing his shoulder. Ozmandias stood beside her, the great bird's hulking form a matter of discussion.
Rod Dormers was saying goodbye to a tearful Rose and a sad-eyed Hugo.
"Hey, don't cry Rose," the blonde wizard said to her softly, "I never belonged here anyway."
It didn't help as Rose embraced him, crying into his shoulder as if her heart were breaking, and it was.
"I feel like I don't belong here either," the witch said as Hugo kicked at the ground.
He felt the same way . . . but they both belonged here. Still he wished he could go on another adventure.
A new world sounded cool.
Gabby the weredog was far across the grounds, pissing on the roots of a trembling Whomping Willow. It had been stopped for safety purposes, but if it ever wanted to whomp it was now. But Gabby would soon be nothing but a dripping, salty memory, watering trees in another place and time.
Rubin Fezwig leaned on the gate, his straw hat pushed back, his work worn hands shoved deep in his overall pockets. He chewed on a piece of hay. What the heck, maybe the farming was good in this new place. He'd take a look at it. Eloise stood next to him. It was time for a change and Remus had Isadora. It had been nice while it lasted, but in the new world she might be cured of her lycanthropy. It was worth a shot. She wasn't a witch anyway, so what would it hurt?
Bagheera, the saber-toothed black panther stretched lazily in the rays of the setting sun. This was an adventure. He liked adventure. This world had been interesting. There was no reason to think the next one wouldn't be.
Neither Voltaire nor his sister Volaria were present. They both were living peaceful lives and weren't willing to uproot themselves to possibly go through even more hell. Besides, they were too tied to this world as well. Their dad was a major villain after all. Without him, they wouldn't even exist. It made no sense for them to go anywhere.
Justice Forall decided to stay. He had a good job at the Ministry as an Auror and Wizarding England was his adopted home. Being part American, he had no problem claiming a new land as his own.
Adam was present, but looked a bit forlorn without Victor. As a Queen vampire, he could walk in sunlight. It just took away most of his powers. Victor would turn into a pile of ash if he stepped one delicious foot out into the light of day. Hopefully there was a way he could get to the new world without having to face the light.
"Here they come!" Endora cried, pointing toward Hogwarts as Hermione and Severus walked over the rise. The impact of seeing them hit every character in a different way, they had been so central in their lives. In fact, the couple was the very reason for their existence. That was a sobering thought for most of them.
But not all of them.
Marcus was glad to get the hell out of Dodge. Severus always seemed to be kicking his ass for one reason or another, and that little bitch Hermione got on his last nerve. He was ready for greener pastures.
Snape and Hermione walked up and were greeted by everyone. They moved through the crowd, Hermione hugging and shaking hands. Marcus got a nasty glare and a muttered "Good riddance" from the witch.
He didn't give a flying fuck. Let her have Snape. They deserved each other.
Severus only shook hands with Rubin, Rod and Andreas. He had a pat for Gabby and a caress for Bagheera, who rubbed against his robes affectionately.
"I still say I've seen smaller noses on elephants," the big cat purred at him in thought-speak.
Severus smirked at him, but said nothing.
Adam sauntered up to the pale wizard, his lips pursed. He started to stand on his tiptoes to kiss the wizard's cheek. Severus jerked his head out of range and scowled at him.
"If you want to live to see another sunset Adam, I'd advise you to just say good-bye and go away," the wizard growled at the Queen.
Adam fluttered his eyes at him.
"I'll always love you, Professor . . . or at least that wand you have tucked in your trousers," the vampire said, his eyes dropping to the wizard's loins.
Severus made a feint at the vampire as if he was going to run at him, and Adam quickly skittered to Hermione's side, embracing her.
"It would take me going to another world to endure a booby crush," the vampire said, his nose wrinkled as he released Hermione, who laughed.
"I'm going to miss you, Adam," she said to him.
"You'll get over it. Get tall, pale and yummy over there to give you a few good hard ones and you'll be like 'Adam who?'" he said to her softly, his eyes glistening.
He was going to miss Hermione too.
Finally all the goodbyes were said, and all the original characters looked at Hermione and Severus expectantly.
Severus started scowling. Why the hell were they looking at him for?
"Well?" Marcus said suddenly.
"Well what?" Hermione replied.
"What happens now? What do we do?" Odessa demanded, moving through the crowd, Cedric slinking after her.
"We wait . . ." Caasandra said sagely, "for the author."
"What, is she going to appear?" Endora asked the Obeah.
Severus thought that wouldn't be wise. Whoever the author was, he or she deserved a good hexing for some of the shit he had gone through.
He hoped she did show up.
But he needn't have worried about that.
She wasn't stupid.
Suddenly the gates to Hogwarts opened of their own accord, swinging wide without anyone unwarding them.
"She's here," Cassandra said, as everyone looked around.
"Show yourself!" Marcus called, spinning in place and looking up at the sky. "I want to see who it was that set me up with that he-she!"
Silence followed for several seconds, then a response seemed to come from everywhere at once.
"Forget it, Marcus. It's not going to happen," a somewhat husky voice said, "now everybody who's an original character . . . through the gate. I don't want to make this a big production. Move it."
The voice was female and full of authority. It felt almost like the equivalent of talking to God. But anyone who read her stories knew that she was borderline godless.
Severus, Hermione, Mathias, Hugo and Rose watched as the group walked out of the grounds of Hogwarts. There was a sense of finality.
Then the voice spoke again. It was soft this time, and a bit quavery.
"I just want to say goodbye to you two . . .Severus . . . Hermione. And to thank you for being the wonderful, exciting, maddening characters you are. You kept me from going insane, you know. You gave me something that helped keep me going, helped me keep it together. You two gave me hope and I will always, always love you for that," the author said.
Severus and Hermione both stood there silently, Hermione's eyes glistening.
"You certainly made life interesting," she replied softly.
A chuckle sounded.
"That's what I was supposed to do. You both made a lot of people very happy and I'm sure you will continue to do so," the author said.
"Yes . . . and I can only imagine how," Severus said scowling. "Maybe swimming through a river of hot, boiling lava in my altogether, protected by some infernal spell."
Now the voice laughed.
"Well, if it happens, it's probably because you said it," the voice said. "Well, this is goodbye you two. I would say long life to you both, but let's face it. You're both going to live forever. Bye."
And the gates to Hogwarts closed.
Severus and Hermione watched as the group began to walk up the road, dusk beginning to settle.
Suddenly, it began to rain, but only outside the gates.
"Puddles! What the fuck do you mean we have to walk through puddles to get there?" somebody screeched in outrage.
Hermione turned, flanked by Severus and the others. She started to walk back, then stopped.
"Hold it," she said, frowning. "Where the hell was Raucous? Gods, I hope that bloody bird didn't decide to stay . . . "
Suddenly there was a deafening caw, and Raucous swooped down out of nowhere, deposited a sopping wet dropping on the witch's head and winged away, his birdie laughter echoing behind him as he joined the others on the other side of the gate.
He wanted to give Hermione the kind of goodbye only he could provide. One she would never, ever forget.
"Oh that damn bird!" Hermione cried, "He got me again!"
Severus laughed out loud as Hermione sullenly pulled out her wand and scourgified her hair. Mathias, Rose and Hugo wisely covered their mouths and fought back their laughter. What Raucous did was funny, but not worth getting hexed for.
The characters all walked back toward the castle, Hermione muttering about insufferable authors with warped senses of humor, unsympathetic lovers who should keep their big mouths shut and above all, roasted ravens.
The End
A/N: Thank you all for reading my fanfics. It's time to move on now. I'm all written out with HG/SS although I still love the characters dearly. It's time to make my own world now, and take a little stroll on my own side of the gate. This will be my last fic in HG/SS. For my reasons you can check out my livejournal at ms (dash) figg . livejournal . com
I am in the process of creating an original world with my own characters, hopefully for publication. I have a couple of shorts up about them and you can read about the world I'm developing at ruthrsolomon . com I wish all of you every happiness and all the best. I won't be disappearing because I have one or two stories to finish. My one-shots "Dark Lady" and "A Turn for the Better" will be moved into the plot bunny realm. Anyone is welcome to pick them up. It's been a great ride, hasn't it? And even when I'm done with the stories, I will still from time to time put up an idea like I did with 100 ways to Kill Ron Weasley because I enjoy all the creativity. Again, I say . . . thank you for being with me on this journey. It was one wild ride. Ruth