Author's Notes: OK so I actually wasn't originally going to write this scene but people seemed to like the idea of it so now I am. I changed my original plans to pop this piece in so this chapter is shorter than most I'm afraid but I hope to have another with you soon enough! Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I still don't own it and I'm still poor…alas at least I can enjoy them for a few brief moments!

All My Agony Fades Away

Chapter Thirty-Three

Severus made his way back to his room, eager to have a hot bath or shower and relax until dinner time. He paused at his door way upon hearing laughter inside and tensed slightly before swinging the door open fiercely.

He found Hermione and Minerva sat on his sofa drinking tea and nibbling on biscuits in deep conversation, both witches turned to look at him as he entered. He looked at them suspiciously for a moment.

"To what do I owe this pleasure Minerva?" he murmured.

"Am I not allowed to visit my future Head of Gryffindor?" she asked.

"Severus you don't have to be rude, you weren't here so we were hardly disturbing you." The younger of the two witches added. It was then that he had the feeling something was off. He was a spy after all, he noticed when things were different…but nothing in the room looked out of place. Giving no response he swiftly made his way to the bedroom and slammed the door behind him.

Hermione glanced at the Headmistress with a small smile before they saw the door swing back open and Severus storm out looking extremely put out.

"What is the meaning of this?!" he demanded, his finger pointing to the door from which he had just came.

"It's a bedroom." Hermione replied.

"Yes but what have you done to it?" he growled.

"Nothing!" Hermione laughed.

"I can honestly say Severus that neither of us did anything to your rooms nor did we request it to be done by anyone else." Minerva said before he could accuse her.

"Would one of you get to the point and explain what has happened to my room?!" he snapped.

"If you think this is bad, imagine my surprise when I can back from my shopping trip to discover that I wasn't able to get into my rooms at all because apparently they no longer existed." Hermione smirked. She left out the part about panicking that she had lost her job, he didn't need to know about that moment of silliness.

"So you just moved into mine?" he asked incredulously.

"Actually…the castle pretty much did that too. Did you not notice the door?" she asked.

"The castle moved you into my rooms?" he asked, trying to hold a straight face. She had to smile at the bewildered look in his eyes even if his face didn't show it.

"You can stop repeating everything I say you know." She grinned, standing and crossing the room to the bedroom. "Come on." He sighed and followed the witch into the bedroom.

His bedroom was now considerably larger than it had been and featured a small fireplace, not large enough to be connected to the floo network but certainly large enough to heat the room a little. The décor was deep greens and gold and had been just rearranged slightly to accommodate the extra wardrobe and drawers and larger bed than the one that had previously been against the other wall.

Hermione moved to open a door that hadn't been in the bedroom before to reveal his bathroom only again slightly larger, with a large tub in the left corner that resembled the prefect bathrooms.

"The castle re-arranged it's rooms…for us?" he frowned. Leading him back out to the main room, she gestured to what had been the bathroom door. Sighing he opened the door and then stood stiffly at the nearly empty room. Inside the small room was carpeted and held only two larger bookcases full of books. "What is this room for?"

"I'm not sure. The other bookcases are full but…there is space in the bedroom to add these bookcases now that it's bigger so it does seem strange to have an extra room." She shrugged. "I guess it just decided we didn't need separate rooms and just meshed them together how it thought was best. We could always move the desk in here and make it a study."

"Either that of the castle knows something no one else does." Minerva spoke up, startling Hermione.

"I rather doubt it, I've been taking a potion." Hermione laughed, the two witches saw how uncomfortable the man stood between them looked and laughed again. "I…I suppose it may have left an empty room for the future though."

"I suppose there's no getting rid of you now then?" Severus asked quirking an eyebrow. The young witch swatted him with a look of irritation.

"I suppose I should excuse myself now." The Headmistress announced.

"You suppose correctly." The dark haired wizard retorted.

Silence fell as the older witch left them alone and Hermione glanced nervously up at Severus. He stood leant against the door frame with his arms folded in front of him, his expression as unreadable as usual.

"Are you angry?" she asked softly.

"Honestly?" he replied, glancing towards their new bedroom. "I'm not angry…I'm not really sure what I'm feeling right now. It's certainly not something I expected."

"As if anyone could have." She shrugged. "I…the house elves can somehow tell that we're connected now. Minerva said that the magic was sort of…like marriage. I actually wanted to go to the library and look that up…" He froze, that was something he hadn't considered at all.

"Bonded." He said, moving to a bookcase near the fireplace. His fingers skimmed the spines of several books until he tugged one off of the shelf.

"Bond as in the old version of wizarding marriage that they don't use anymore?" she asked.

"They still use it, just not always…it's up to personal preference." He spoke, but he didn't look away from the page that he was reading. Eventually he shut the book and dropped it onto the table before looking back at the shelves for another.

"Well?" she asked, unable to take the silence any longer.

"If we now share a bond, then it is indeed effectively a wizarding marriage…just without the paperwork." He replied, still more occupied with the books than answering her.

"You don't look very happy about this." She said quietly.

Pausing his reading he glanced up at the witch now sat nervously on the sofa, staring at the book he had left on the table. Her hands twisted together and she wasn't looking at him. He sighed and moved to sit next to her.

"I'm…It's not you." He told her carefully. "I would be lying if I said I hadn't contemplated the idea of marrying you one day."

"Contemplating isn't the same as wanting." She replied softly.

"No it isn't but this isn't about whether or not I wanted to marry you." He explained. She glanced up at him and he knew she had taken his words the wrong way when he saw the anger flash in her eyes.

"How can it not be about that?" she asked. "It's completely about that!"

"It isn't." he replied firmly, placing the second book on the table and reaching to take her hands. A measure to prevent her running away from him. "I'm not unhappy because I don't want to be married to you. I'm unhappy because there was no choice, no warning…not even a celebration of something that was supposed to be a big important decision and event in our lives. If it was the magic that night that did this, which is the most likely cause…then I went from realising how much I actually care about you but unsure if we would ever actually come to be, to being your husband overnight."

"Another big decision in your life that you didn't get to make." She said sadly, realising exactly why he was upset. "We don't have to actually get married though, legally we aren't…and I know it's not quite the same now but that part at least can be on your terms Severus. I will be happy to marry you one day, however you wish."

"You really want to marry me?" he asked, looking slightly shocked.

"Why are you so surprised?" she chuckled. "I love you. When I came here that night I told you I didn't want to be anyone or anything but what you are and I meant it. If you want to kick me out then I'm sure there are other empty rooms in this castle. As long as you promise me that you still want to be with me, as long as we are still trying then I don't care if I'm living with you or just visiting you nearly every night or if I'm your wife or just your…girlfriend? Lover?" She trailed off contemplating the best word to describe what they were.

"I never said I was kicking you out." He frowned. "I don't want to run the risk that if I do, the castle might take back that rather large bed and large bathtub." With that he watched as Hermione burst into laughter, she wiped her unshed tears from her eyes, all previous traces of hurt and anger vanished.

"Oh Severus Snape, you're extremely lucky that I love you just as you are, you know that?" she laughed. He stared at her face, flushed with mirth and eyes alight with joy and decided that…yes he was indeed very lucky to have such a witch in his life at all.

He reached out and tangled his hands into her hair, tugging her softly towards him. "I do know that." He admitted softly, lowering his face to kiss her.

Hermione's breath caught, she hadn't expected such a tender response from him. She had been joking before, she felt lucky and blessed to have him! After all one could hardly be anything but grateful to have met someone they truly love and truly loves them in return at her age. It was incredible how deep and complex he really was…

She smiled to herself and kissed him back. He caught her off guard in moments like this, moments when he did or said something incredibly sweet or romantic, despite all previous assurances that he would never be so. Oh yes, she was certainly glad to have him in her life.