Disclaimer: these characters are not mine – they belong to JK Rowling

AN: This is it! We're finally here! THE LAST CHAPTER! Some smut, but nothing too heavy - this was more of an emotional chapter, with a bit of light humor at the end. Please take a moment to tell me what you thought of it!

~~{0}~~

The next two weeks passed by in a blur of revisions, as Hermione finally sat her NEWTS. She was certain she had done well on all of them, simultaneously feeling relieved that they were over, and saddened that her time at Hogwarts had come to an end. The day she had been dreading had finally arrived. Hermione would need to relinquish the time turner. She woke that morning with a hollow feeling in her chest; the thought of having to tell Tom goodbye left her feeling nauseous. The thought that she would be leaving him behind to face fifty years alone wracked her with guilt.

At dinner time that night, Hermione waited for Draco to leave for the Great Hall, and once she heard him leave through the portrait hole, she picked up the pensieve that Dumbledore had gifted to her, and crept into the Head Boy's room. Pulling out her time turner, she changed the setting to 'decades' and gave it five and ¼ turns. The room shifted around her, until she found herself in Tom's room once again. He was at dinner, as she assumed he would be, so she took the opportunity to look around his room again, setting the pensieve down on his desk. There wasn't much change that she could see from the two previous times she had entered his room, it still was sparsely decorated, and the tatty old trunk still sat partially obscured by his bed. She ran her fingers over the rough surface, and she slowly opened the lid. Just as she had seen when she looked in it before, there were used Hogwarts text books, and the book on wandless spell casting that she had gifted to him at Christmas in his first year, and the old coin she had given him to contact her with, as well as his small silver box. She picked it up, and opened it; Tom's diary, and the small silver harmonica sat inside. She picked up his diary, and opened it to a random page towards the back. There was an entry he had made just the day before which read:

June 14, 1944

I should be writing in here to talk about leaving the place I have called home for the last seven years of my life, but that is not what has been plaguing my thoughts. She will be leaving me, and for the first time in my life, I feel like I am powerless. Powerless to stop the ache in my chest at the thought of no longer being able to feel her skin against mine. Fifty years is a long time, and although I would wait an eternity for her, my worst fear is that she will not want me then; that I will be too old. I remind myself that there is hope, but the fear still remains. How can I convey to her what she truly means to me? She is everything; she has been my teacher, my friend, my confidant, and my lover. I don't know how to let her go...

Hermione wiped the tears that had begun to fall as she read his entry. She felt her heart breaking all over again, closing it gently and placing it back in the silver box. She closed his trunk once more, and returned to where she had set the penseive down on the desk. She couldn't give him the next fifty years, but she could give him her memories. She wanted him to feel how deeply she felt for him, and how much he meant to her. She placed the tip of her wand to her temple, and extracted copies of the memories she had of their time together, and placed them into a small vial, setting it next to the pensieve.

A few moments later, she heard the door open, and then close quietly behind her.

"You've come to say goodbye, haven't you." He said softly, his voice sounding emotionless; flat.

She turned to him then, and her lip trembled as she memorized his face. She didn't trust herself to speak, so she nodded wiping the tears that had fallen onto her cheek.

He crossed the room and pulled her to him, holding her as if he were drowning.

"Stay with me…" he whispered, his voice held an edge of desperation.

Her heart was shattering with every word he spoke, "You know I can't..." She sobbed into his neck

She felt his hands move up to cup her cheek, and her eyes met his, searching their depths. He kissed her fiercely then, pouring everything he was feeling into the kiss. He pushed her back onto his bed, and took his time kissing every inch of her, as if he were committing her to memory; her scent, her taste, and the feel of her skin under his hands. He made love to her slowly that night, and as the sun was beginning to rise, she knew it was time to leave. He was still asleep, as she slipped from the bed dressing quickly, and left a letter she had written to him on his desk with her bottled memories and the pensieve. She leaned over to where he lay, and she kissed him softly on the lips and whispered, "We'll be together again, my love." in his ear.

She quickly left his room before she fell apart, as her tears began again. She pulled out the time turner, giving it five and ¼ turns forward for the very last time. The room spun around her, and she was in her own common room once more. She clutched her chest and let out an anguished sob. She felt so guilty; like she had abandoned him as everyone else in his life had ever done. She never wanted to be the one to hurt him that way, and it broke her heart into a thousand pieces. She felt like she couldn't breathe, so she ran; through the portrait hole, pushing it open as tears were obscuring her vision. She ran until her lungs felt like they would burst, and found herself standing in front of the Defense classroom door. She went inside, and collapsed into her seat inside the darkened room, sobbing uncontrollably as she rested her forehead against her desk. She felt a hand gently stroke her back and she turned to see Tom standing behind her looking as if he hadn't slept in days. She stood and threw herself into his arms and held onto him as if her life depended on it.

He captured her lips in a kiss, and she felt the desperation in it. He trailed open mouthed kisses over her jaw, and he breathed against her ear, "I'll never let you go again..."

"I love you…" she whispered, kissing him hungrily

After a minute, he pulled back from her and wiped the tears from her cheeks, pulling out a small box from his pocket.

She inhaled sharply as her eyes fell to the small velvet box he held out to her as he sunk to his knees in front of her. With a trembling hand, she opened the box, and inside was a small gold ring with a black square stone set inside. It was the Gaunt family ring. Hermione's eyes widened as she looked from him to the ring, and her heart began to beat frantically in her chest.

"I know it doesn't look like much, but this ring has been passed down through my mother's family for generations. I inherited it after my uncle passed away. I didn't even know I had an uncle, so you can imagine my surprise….now I'm rambling." He laughed nervously and took a deep breath then looked back up at her as she stared down at him with wide eyes.

"What I'm trying to say, is that I love you, Hermione, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you by my side."

She opened her mouth, and closed it again, in shock. Finally, she managed to speak, "Even after all this time?" she whispered, her voice trembling as she stared at the ring.

He pulled the ring from the box and slipped it onto her finger, and quietly said, "Always…"

Hermione shook her head as new tears began to form in her eyes and she finally managed to answer him, that yes, of course she would marry him.

He picked her up then, sweeping her off her feet with his arm under her knees holding her closely to his chest as he carried her through the door at the far end of the classroom that led to his private quarters. They never made it to breakfast that morning.

~~{0}~~

Graduation day came quickly, and Hermione had never quite found the time to tell her friends that not only were she and Tom involved, but that they were going to be getting married. It wasn't that she was afraid of what they would say, since she was certain that Ginny would approve, it was just that she never quite knew how to bring it up. Telling your best friends that you were engaged to your Ex-Professor was not something you just blurted out over tea. After the official graduation party at the Potter's had ended, the unofficial party began when Ginny convinced everyone to go out to a muggle pub in London; even Lavender, Padma and Pavarti had joined them.

"Hermione, do a shot with me!" Ginny said laughing as she pulled her towards the bar.

Hermione didn't have the heart to say no to her best friend, so she walked up to the bar with her. The bartender leaned towards them and asked them what they wanted.

"We want to do a shot, what's good?" Ginny asked, leaning towards the bartender flirtatiously.

Hermione glanced over to the table, and Harry was glaring daggers at the poor man.

"How about a Red-Headed Slut." He said smirking.

"Sounds perfect." Ginny winked.

Hermione laughed as the bartender made their shots. Hermione was happily surprised that it was actually good.

By the time they headed back to the table, Hermione spotted Tom and waved him over to the table to join them.

"Professor!" Harry called out standing up to shake his hand in greeting.

"I'm not your Professor anymore, Harry." He said smiling and his eyes briefly flicked over to Hermione.

"Please, join us!" Ginny suggested a little too enthusiastically.

Tom nodded and took a seat between Hermione and Ron. He didn't notice the scowl on Ron's face, but Hermione did. She felt a tiny bit guilty, but, at least Lavender was there; maybe she would soften the blow. Hermione headed back to the bar to order another drink, and she got one for Tom too while she was there. When she returned, Lavender was batting her eyelashes at Tom from across the table, and Hermione slammed his drink down a little too forcefully in front of him. He looked up at her sharply and raised his eyebrows at her in surprise. He smirked when he noticed she was more than a tad jealous. He recalled how she had used magic on Lavender and Pansy in class to button up their blouses when they had been sitting in front of him showing off their cleavage. He liked that Hermione was so possessive of him.

"Oh! They're having a lip sync competition! Hermione! Will you do it with me? Pretty please?" Ginny whined and stuck out her lip in a pout.

"Ginny, Hermione's too chicken to get up on stage, you may as well forget it." Ron proclaimed and took a sip of his beer.

Hermione's jaw dropped and she swung around to face him, "Ronald Bilius Weasley, I'm not a chicken!" she said defensively.

"Wanna bet?" Ron asked and he smirked at Lavender and winked.

"I'll take that bet." Tom spoke up and slapped five Galleons on the table.

Hermione looked at him in shock. Crap. Now she really had to do this.

"Fine, Five Galleons that Hermione chickens out. Getty ready to lose your money, Professor." Ron snorted.

With that, Hermione narrowed her eyes at Ron, and she grabbed Ginny and pulled her towards the table that held the book of song choices. They made their selection, and signed up.

A short while later, everyone turned their chairs around to face the small stage where the lip sync competition would take place. A few random muggles went first, and they all chuckled when one of them was so drunk that she tripped and fell off the stage. The stage itself was small, and only a single step up from the floor. There were also colored spotlights in the corners for added effect, as well as a couple microphones that were really just there as props.

Ginny and Hermione were called up next, and Hermione took her place at center stage, with Ginny posing as her 'backup singer'.

Harry clapped loudly, and wolf whistled at them, as Tom watched sipping his drink. This should be interesting.

The music started, and Hermione began swishing her hips from side to side to the beat and then grabbed one of the microphones and pretended to sing, keeping her eyes trained on Tom;

I love myself, I want you to love me
When I feel down, I want you above me
I search myself, I want you to find me
I forget myself, I want you to remind me

I don't want anybody else
When I think about you, I touch myself
Ooh, I don't want anybody else
Oh no, oh no, oh no

Hermione now stepped off the stage taking the microphone as she sauntered up to Tom seductively, and Ron's jaw hit the floor. Hermione gave Tom a lap dance as she continued to pretend sing:

You're the one who makes me come runnin'
You're the sun who makes me shine
When you're around, I'm always laughin'
I want to make you mine

I close my eyes and see you before me
Think I would die if you were to ignore me
A fool could see just how much I adore you
I'd get down on my knees, I'd do anything for you

At this, Hermione dropped to her knees in front of him, and ran her hands up his thighs while he stared at her with lust filled eyes.

I love myself, I want you to love me
When I feel down, I want you above me
I search myself, I want you to find me
I forget myself, I want you to remind me

I don't want anybody else
When I think about you, I touch myself
Ooh, I don't want anybody else
Oh no, oh no, oh no…

I want you
I don't want anybody else
When I think about you, I touch myself

Ooh ooh ooh ooh ah ah ah ah oh ah

I don't want anybody else
When I think about you, I touch myself
Ooh, I don't want anybody else
When I think about you, I touch myself

Hermione finished the song, and sat herself in his lap and plated a big kiss on him in front of everyone at the table.

The room was silent for a moment the point where you could have heard a pin drop; when Hermione pulled back from him, the room erupted in applause. Even the muggles clapped.

Lavender was shooting daggers at Hermione, and Ron just stared at the two of them in disbelief.

"Pay up, Weasley." Tom said to Ron with a smirk

"Bloody Hell." Ron said shaking his head and digging the coins from his pocket.

"So Hermione…you and Professor Riddle then?" Harry asked awkwardly gesturing to the both of them.

Hermione smiled and draped her arm around Tom's neck while still sitting in his lap, "Yes actually. He's asked me to marry him."

"I knew it!" Ginny cackled and Harry pulled her into his lap, and then shook Tom's hand in congratulations, "Wow, you work fast. I'd ask how you two met, but…" he trailed off laughing.

Tom laughed, and shook his head, "It's not what you think. I wasn't taking advantage of Hermione while she was my student…well…not much anyway." He smirked.

Harry furrowed his brow. Classes had only ended a week ago…

"I met Hermione when I was eleven." Tom said watching the looks of confusion spread across their faces.

"How?" Harry asked what they were all wondering. Clearly, the professor was much older than Hermione, she shouldn't even have been born yet when he was eleven!

"Time-turner." Hermione spoke up and smiled mischievously.

"Apparently I was supposed to become an evil overlord, but Hermione took it upon herself to save the world instead." Tom said dismissively.

Hermione snorted, "He's just being modest, He killed a Basilisk with the sword of Gryffindor in his sixth year. He's the heir of Slytherin."

Tom blushed, "Well, it sounds impressive when you say it like that…" he laughed.

Ginny elbowed Harry in the ribs, and pointed over at Tom, "Oi, this one's over here killing Basilisks and Grindelwald…what have you got?" Ginny teased.

"Well, I may not be descended from Salazar Slytherin, but I am apparently a descendant of Ignotus Peverell." Harry sniffed.

"Oh, you mean from the Tale of the Three Brothers!" Hermione said excitedly.

"Yeah…Dad just gave me the invisibility cloak as a graduation present. It's wicked." Harry smirked.

"What about the Elder wand?" Ron finally rejoined the conversation. Hermione noticed Lavender was seated much closer to him now. Good.

"Unfortunately, it was destroyed with fiendfyre when I defeated Grindelwald." Tom admitted.

"Bummer, that is." Ron said absently.

Tom shrugged, "I rather like my wand, it's served me well over the years."

"So the Hallow's really exist then? It's not just a story? " Ginny asked, still nursing her drink.

Hermione glanced down at her engagement ring. She wondered if Tom even knew that he too was descended from a Peverell, and that the stone in her ring was in fact, the resurrection stone.

"So it would seem." Hermione said with a small smile.

~Fin~