"Severus," She began.
Hermione sat cross-legged on the warm floorboards, staring up at him. Staring up at the life that they'd built. It was enough, once. She drew a breath and tried again.
"I," He was looking at her now, looking down at her sprawled and confused on the floor. But the words were jumbled in her head, sprawled at her feet, tangled in her hair.
"Yes, Mrs. Snape" He drawled, voice dulled by a lingering cold. But it did not lessen the sting in her chest. She could feel every capital letter, ever space, every malicious syllable. He was in a foul mood tonight.
And that was the brunt of it all. She'd spent years, peeling back the layers. Whoever had planted the ridiculous 'onion' concept in her head had been cruelly misleading. The truth was nothing waited in the center. You peeled and peeled and peeled and finally you'd realize that the person wasn't hidden behind the layers. He was made up of them. There wasn't a brilliant jewel in the core. The hurt. The dark, harsh nights. The remnants of unfulfilled dreams. That was Severus Snape.
But it wasn't quite like that. Despite everything, there was a lot of love, and after eight years of marriage it was safe to say there was a fair bit of commitment as well. It was enough, once.
Hermione had gone to Singapore. Mostly because she didn't think there was a place on Earth quite so Muggle. So she sat in the tube and reacquainted herself with escalators. Driven by a bizarre adventurous urge--for she had not felt compelled to do anything vaguely exciting since her last near-death encounter-- Hermione had found herself waiting in line to get on the G-Max:Ultimate Bungy. By the time she decided she really didn't need the extra adrenaline, she was already buckled in. The burly man seated beside her did not look like the kind to find the humour, or the sympathy, to deal with her backing out on the last minute. Not too many moments later Hermione was several thousand feet above the ground and decidedly horrified. Her heart lurched forward and for one surreal second it felt like she was still up there, hanging breathlessly in the air as her body plunged downward and out of sight. When she arrived back at Hogwarts, the feeling was all too similar.
Now she was here, looking up at her husband's face. Her husband. Oh God, this was going to be messy. But it was all wrong. Five days overseas had transformed her into this other woman. A woman that wasn't satisfied being a Charms professor, that didn't enjoy a damp, musty existence in the dungeons and would not look up to her husband any longer. Her heart was beating, beating farther and farther away from him with every passing breath.
Hermione stood up wordlessly, which Severus interpreted as being speechless. He turned back to his book and she tread across the room, towards their room. Maybe if she held her breath. If she could make that beating still, just for a moment, maybe she would be able to stay here. Maybe, that would be enough.
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This is my first HGSS fiction, after being a huge fan for over 11 months. Please review! :D It'd be great to hear what people think of this.