Epilogue

One year later

Hermione had often heard that time healed all wounds, no matter if those wounds had been inflicted upon the body or the mind. But in the months that followed Ron's incarceration, she found that there were some things time could not mend; some hurts that just went to deep. In reality, she now understood that the wounds inflicted upon her psyche always would remain; however, the pain would probably lessen with time in order to protect her sanity.

The pain itself would never truly be gone.

Her pain and her wounds were not as great at the ones shared by the Weasley family. They had lost a son and a brother to Azkaban, and Hermione knew that it would take a long time for them to stop blaming themselves for his fate. Molly had taken it particularity hard, thinking that her treatment of Hermione had been the starting point for the shift in Ron's behavior. Harry had sat her down many times to try to explain that it had started long before that – that he had found the darkness inside of him while wearing the Horcrux and that he had probably found some kind of relief and escape in that darkness.

Life went on. It had been a while before anyone had cared enough to ask about the events that had lead to the conception and birth of Toby. It seemed so puny compared to everything else that had happened. Time healed those wounds too – Harry, Hermione and Toby, as well as a hesitant Severus, were now always welcome at the Burrow.

It would take a tiny miracle for the Weasleys, and especially Molly, to come back to life. Bill and Fleur welcomed their first daughter, Victorie, a few weeks before Christmas. And with her came hope; maybe life was about to become a little less dark – a little easier and maybe even a little happier.

Harry had told Hermione of his final conversation with Ron many times and Hermione agreed with him; somehow, Harry's words had brought forth the real Ron – their true friend – for a few seconds, but neither could come to terms with if this had been a good or a bad thing. It would have been easier to let him go if he hadn't resurfaced, if they just could have gone on thinking that their friend was truly gone. Seeing this tiny glance of Ron had made Harry feel as if his best friend could have been saved if they only had noticed the darkness earlier. Hermione had told Harry many times not to beat himself up about it – it only would have worked if Ron had wanted to be saved and she strongly felt that their friend had not wanted that.

Severus had given Hermione some time off from her apprenticeship to help Harry and the Weasleys through the first month after Ron's incarceration. They had all came together to mourn and seek strength from each other. True, Ron wasn't technically dead, but the son, brother and friend they had once known was gone and would never come back. Even if Ron for some reason got out from Azkaban, that awful place would have twisted his already messed up mind to the point where he was lost forever. They all knew that.

A month after term started, Hermione returned to complete her apprenticeship; it was clear that Severus had missed having her and Toby there, even though they had visited him a few times. They had stayed with Harry in his apartment and during their month living together they had come to a decision; neither one of them wanted to continue living in that apartment. Not only had it once been Ron's home, but Ginny had lived here too. They needed to find a place to call their own.

Harry sold his apartment and moved back into Grimmauld Place. While he had hated the house as much as Sirius had a few years ago, it now felt a bit like coming home. Kreacher was still there, with the company of two house-elves he had met at the Battle of Hogwarts; Moppy and Leeloo were both younger elves and they were a mated couple. Kreacher had known this, and he had also known that a mated house-elf couple would usually have younglings within ten years. Because of this, Kreacher had asked them, with permission from both Headmistress McGonagall and Harry, to come to Grimmauld Place in order to one day take over after him.

The three elves had worked tirelessly since the end of the war to turn the house back into its former glory. Harry hadn't been there for quite some time, but was still surprised at the house's new look; not only did it look like a house fitting for a Lord, but they had also managed to make it feel warm and cozy – like a true home. He saw no reason to buy a new place when Grimmauld Place had become so livable; at least not until Hermione was done at Hogwarts and they would live together as a family. Then they could decide where they would start their life together.

Although, Harry was secretly hoping that Hermione would fall in love with the Grimmauld Place, just like he had.

While Harry missed Hermione and Toby every day they weren't together, Harry didn't want to be at Hogwarts too much. Hermione needed to stay focused on her work and studies and she had on more than one occasion mentioned that Harry was a distraction; a very welcome one, but a distraction none the less. A couple of days each week, Toby would be with Harry at Grimmauld Place while Hermione was in the lab. Moppy and Leeloo loved the little boy and couldn't wait for the day when they would be introduced to their new mistress as well. Hermione had smiled when Harry had told her this, knowing that he was both paying them and making sure they had days off, and asked him to tell the young elves that she was looking forward to meeting them too.

Harry went back to being an Auror, but he only wanted to work halftime so that he would be free to take care of Toby. He had always wanted children, but never in his wildest dreams would he have guessed how much he would love spending time with his son. Kingsley was kind enough to let Harry set his own schedule for the time being, on the premiss that once Hermione was done at Hogwarts and Toby was older, he would come back full time.

When Harry wasn't at work or being with Toby, he would try to come up with the perfect way to propose to Hermione. Whatever idea he got seemed to him absolutely ridiculous and nothing he thought of sounded like something Hermione would enjoy. He had understood that the right timing was just as important as the actual words and setting. Problem was, Hermione already knew that he wanted to marry her and they both knew that she would say yes. In the end, he realized that he couldn't plan a special evening, because she would just figure out that tonight was the night as soon as he asked her out. He had to catch her a time when she least of all expected it.

He had carried the box with the ring in it around with him for several weeks when he finally saw his chance. It was a cold evening at the end of April and he was going to drop Toby off at Hogwarts, only to find that Hermione was still in lab. Severus had told him that she was close to a breakthrough in her research and was thinking of nothing else at the moment.

* ~ * Flashback * ~ *

"Is she in a critical stage where something will be completely ruined or something might blow up if she is caught by surprise?" Harry wondered carefully.

Severus gave him a suspicious look and Harry tried his very best to keep his facial expression neutral.

"Last I checked, no," he answered as he got to his feet. "Would you like me to go and make sure?"

After Harry answered in the affirmative, Severus disappeared for a minute. While he was gone, Harry turned to his son, who was sitting on the floor playing with the purple hippogriff he always carried around with him.

"Alright, Toby, this is probably it," he said quietly.

Toby perked up and immediately dropped the hippogriff as he stood up. He held out his hand expectantly and when his father didn't do as he wanted right away, he started wiggling his fingers. Harry let out a little chuckle, marveling in how astute the boy was; he was, after all, only fourteen months old.

"Wait just a minute, little man," he said as he ruffled Toby's mop of black hair. "We have to wait for Severus to come back."

They didn't have to wait long. The moment Severus came back, Toby let out a sound of pure happiness and rushed forward towards his godfather.

"Sevvieeeeeee!" he squealed as Severus picked him up and swung him around. "This it!"

Severus stopped short and gave the boy a curious look. This it? What did that mean? He turned to ask Harry what he meant, but as he noticed Harry's inflamed cheeks as he nervously twirled a box in his hand, he understood.

"Would you like for Toby to stay with me while you... ask her?" Severus asked carefully.

Harry managed to smile, but he shook his head.

"Toby is a part of my plan."

Severus couldn't help wishing to be a part of the plan as well; he desperately wanted to see what he actually had planned, and more than anything else, he wanted to see Hermione's reaction.

"She is a little frazzled at the moment, but nothing will be ruined if you go to her now," the Potions Master told him as he handed the younger man the little boy. "Good luck."

"Wait, you have to come with us," Harry said, almost panicking at the thought that Severus would stay behind.

Severus' eyebrows shot up in surprise, but he didn't dare question the boy who lived – if he did, Harry might change his mind and he didn't want to miss this for anything in the world. Together they made their way to the lab, and as soon as they entered, Harry knew this was the perfect time. The room was filled with a hazy, odorless smoke; Hermione was staring into the cauldron with a determination Harry hadn't seen in a long time, stirring occasionally. Then she sat the stirring rod down and wrote something in her journal. He noticed her posture relax a little and at that moment he knew he wouldn't interrupt an important thought.

"Hey, love," he said as he put Toby down on the floor, walking up to her to give her a quick kiss. "Severus said something about a breakthrough?"

"Oh, Harry, it's amazing!" she exclaimed, and then she was off, explaining everything about her potion, turning back to the cauldron and her journal to show him what she had been doing the last couple of days.

Even if he had been paying attention, Harry wasn't sure he would have understood the words coming out of her mouth. She was, however, perfectly distracted. He carefully opened the box and then gave it to Toby, winking as he did so. Then Toby stretched his arm up and stood perfectly still, just like they had practiced at home.

"Hermione, will you enrich my life?" Harry suddenly asked, interrupting her monolog.

"I thought I already did that," she answered absentmindedly, but didn't turn to look at him as she still focused on something in her journal.

Harry had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep himself from laughing.

"Hermione," he tried again with a little more force, "will you enrich my life?"

This seemed to confuse her enough to tear her eyes away from the journal and she turned to look at Harry. He smiled sweetly and patiently waited for her to notice Toby.

"Mummy, here!" the boy suddenly shouted, his arms getting tired from holding the box up in the air.

Hermione looked down and her mouth dropped in surprise. For a moment she only stared at the ring. Then Toby started shaking the box a little, emphasizing that she should take it. Her hand was a little shaky as the reached for the box, her eyes teary as she looked up at Harry.

"Hermione Granger," he said, his voice thick with emotion. "Will you do be honor of becoming my wife?"

"Oh, Harry – YES!"

Hermione flung herself into his arms, kissing him soundly on the lips before burying her face in his neck. He squeezed her tightly to him in return before gently letting go; he needed to see the ring on her finger, needed it to be official. He took the ring from the box and slipped it on to her finger in one swift motion. Hermione held her hand up to admire it for a moment and then turned to kiss Harry again.

"I found it in my parents vault at Gringotts, so it's some kind of heirloom. Do you like it?" he wondered carefully, as he took a hold of her hand to look a little closer at the ring.

"It's perfect, Harry. This was just... perfect. Everything. Thank you," she said, her voice breaking towards the end. "I love you so much."

"I love you too, Hermione. More than you will ever know."

* ~ * End of flashback * ~ *

Now, almost one year after they had last gathered at the Burrow for a wedding, Hermione and Harry were in two separate rooms getting ready for a wedding of their own. Thinking that it would be too painful for Molly to host a wedding at the same place her son had tried to kill the bride and groom of the day, they had first planned to have the wedding at Hogwarts. However, Molly had insisted; she wanted everyone to be able to move on from those events. Ron was not coming back – they had come a long way to grasp that and they needed to return to a normal life and not let the events of last year spiral into a grief they couldn't come back from.

Hermione was currently in the bedroom she had shared with Ginny so many times as a child; she wore a simple, but elegant, short dress in a creamy white color. Luna was braiding her hair while Ginny fussed over Toby; the boy was not liking the little tie he wore around the neck and Hermione watched with a fond smile as the redhead pried away the boy's hand from the tie in order to loosen it a little. Hermione could hardly understand how she and Ginny had managed to become real friends again, but they had. And what was even more remarkable was how much her son adored the youngest Weasley.

"Toby, I will have to tighten the tie again once we go downstairs," Ginny said slowly, "since your mum and dad want you to look your best on their big day."

"Don't wanna!" Toby wailed and pouted, crossing his arms over his chest like he had seen his uncle Severus do so many times, his eyes defiant.

"You don't want to look your best for you mum and dad's special day?" the redhead asked, feigning surprise. "But they have waited so long for you to dress up in your special clothes – do you really want to disappoint them?"

Toby continued to pout, but the three women could see that the little boy was seriously considering her question. After a few seconds he lowered his arms as well as his gaze and looked thoroughly chastised.

"No," he finally answered. "Toby make mummy 'n daddy happy."

Ginny wrapped her arms around him in a quick hug and then pulled back.

"There's a good boy. You'll make them so proud!"

Toby immediately perked up at that, making the women watching him smile; Ginny ruffled his hair and then turned to Hermione, giving her a quick wink.

"Have you decided where you are going on your honeymoon?" Luna wondered as she finished the braiding, sitting down on the bed with a glass of champagne in her hand.

"Harry wanted to surprise me, but after reminding him that lying on the beach for a month would drive me insane, we decided to travel from city to city; starting with wedding night in London, then going to Amsterdam and Paris before continuing to the French Riviera. After that, Italy!"

She let out a little squeal at the prospect of touring all over Italy – it had been a dream of hers for several years.

"Sounds fab," Ginny said with a smile as she clinked her glass together with Hermione's." You're so lucky that Severus can floo in now and then to babysit Toby so the two of you can have some alone time."

Hermione just smiled, nodding her head. She was fully aware of how lucky they were. When they had first approached the Potions Master about maybe joining them a few evenings and nights here and there, they had been apprehensive – the last thing they wanted was for the older man to think that they were using him, but Severus had squashed their worries within a few seconds. He merely said that he would be delighted to spend a few days and nights alone with his godson; he had long ago spoken to Minerva to lighten his workload (mainly the restocking of the infirmary) for the first month of term so that he could serve as babysitter to the newlyweds. The headmistress had agreed, secretly loving all the positive changes she saw in the once very surly man.

"Mummy!"

Hermione had apparently been daydreaming, because her son was looking at her with that annoyed expression he always got when he caught her not paying attention to him. She looked down and her breath caught.

"It went 'foooooff'!" Toby exclaimed and held out the remains of his tie.

Apparently her little boy had just managed to produce his first accidental magic by setting his uncomfortable tie on fire – a fire which, by the looks of it, had not harmed him in the slightest.

Hermione groaned as she realized for the first time that her precious little angel was on his way to becoming a handful.

In the meantime, Harry was having a glass of firewhiskey together with George and Severus. They were downstairs in the living room as Harry seldom ventured up the stairs at the Burrow; too much reminded him of Ron and too much was still too painful. Harry had always had a hard time facing his inner demons and this was one demon had just couldn't face yet.

"About time Hermione makes you an honest man," George said as he saluted Harry with his glass.

Harry smiled and returned the salute; they clinked their glasses together and Harry took a small sip while George downed the amber liquid in one motion.

"Are you nervous, Harry?" Severus asked as he swirled the whiskey around in his glass.

"No," Harry said without hesitation, his eyes sparkling. "Just excited; I want to be officially hers and I want her to be my wife."

He shared a smile with his old professor at that; he could tell that Severus was pleased with his answer.

"And you don't regret making it a small affair?" George asked, letting out a snort as he poured himself another glass. "I think all of Wizarding England wishes they were here tonight."

Harry rolled his eyes and took another sip of his drink.

"George, first of all – slow down with the firewhiskey; Hermione will hex you into oblivion if you turn up drunk at her wedding. Second of all, I don't give a damn about the rest of Wizarding England – it's our wedding."

George, who had begun raising his glass to his lips while Harry spoke, quickly sat his glass down; he didn't much fancy being hexed on any day.

"Besides, they'll be able to see the wedding pictures in the Quibbler," Harry said with a smirk.

He thought back at the moment when he had told the Daily Prophet's Chief Editor that they would not be allowed to document the wedding – the portly man had spluttered, saying something about how the hero of the wizarding world needed to share this day with the masses and the look of pure shock when Harry had told him that he was giving the feature of the year to the Quibbler instead.

"Harry," he suddenly heard Arthur say behind him.

He turned towards the Weasley patriarch, already knowing that the older man would say.

"It's time," was all Arthur said, a small smile playing on his lips.

This was it; the moment he had waited for so long. He finished his drink, high-fived George and shared a rare hug with Severus. It was amazing how much he had come to rely on and enjoy the older man's company. As he pulled back, he was surprised when Severus caught him by the arms and looked him straight in the eye.

"Your parents would be immensely proud of the man you've become, Harry," he said quietly, "as would your godfather and Lupin. It pains me for your sake that none of them are here today, but know that they are all watching."

Harry felt his throat burn as he fought back tears.

"Thank you, Severus," Harry whispered, not daring to say anything more.

If he started crying now, he wouldn't be able to stop. Severus seemed to understand this as he squeezed Harry's arms with an encouraging smile and then promptly told him to "buck up", which made the younger man burst into laughter instead of tears.

"Your future awaits you, Harry," Arthur said, gesturing towards the door. "Good luck, my boy."

Harry felt something flutter in his stomach. Maybe he was a little nervous after all.

* THE END *

AN: The first part about healing is based on two quotes.

First, by Tolkien: "How do you pick up the threads of an old life? How do you go on, when in your heart, you begin to understand, there is no going back? There are some things that time cannot mend. Some hurts that go too deep...that have taken hold."

And then, by Rose Kennedy: "It has been said, 'time heals all wounds.' I do not agree. The wounds remain. In time, the mind, protecting its sanity, covers them with scar tissue and the pain lessens. But it is never gone."

The proposal scene is based on two real life proposals; my husband's proposal to me and my brother's proposal to his fiance. I knew my husband was going to propose, because I had given him the diamond from my grandmother's engagement ring to do something with (we had also been together for nearly five years), so he had to catch me off guard and his exact words were "Will you enrich my life?" (or actually, Swedish "Vill du förgylla mitt liv?") and I just answered, a little snappishly since I was irritated with our dog, "I thought I already did." He asked the same question again and I frowned and turned around to find him on one knee behind me. My brother, on the other hand, had their son hold the box with the ring, before calling to his girlfriend, a little frantically, "What's that he's holding in his hand?!"

Thanks for reading and a special thanks to all of you who have been with me since the start. It took me more than five years to complete this story and there and have been a lot of ups and downs. Big thanks and lots of love to you all! På återseende!

~*~ coolalisa ~*~