Chapter VI
AN: I do not own the rights to the world of Harry Potter and its characters.
Some characters may seem extremely out of character – especially Ron Weasley seeing as I believe he would never in his right mind abuse Hermione in any way. Also, dates and ages have been altered for narrative purposes (especially when it comes to the children)
Severus sighed deeply as he looked at the Muggleborn witch who was nestled under the warm sheets; he couldn't get the image out of his head, the sneaky witch had locked the door with a powerful locking spell –too bad he was an ex-death eater and knew everything about those kinds of spells. His heart had leapt to his throat at the sight before him: her body lay limp against the wall of the shower, as the now painfully cold water stung her naked body, her forearms as red as her children's red hair, her lips blue and skin lined with goosebumps.
He had tried to avert his eyes away from her naked body, yet he couldn't ignore the twinge in his trousers, he felt awful just thinking about her in this way –she was so vulnerable and here he was taking advantage of the situation for his own greedy desires. "She's bloody married for god sakes." He muttered to himself angrily as he watched her shift in her sleep. He glanced towards the crib where Hugo was snoozing quietly –blissfully unaware of the world that surrounded him; he was only six months old. As for Rose, she was bloody brilliant, much like her mother and unlike her brother she was fully aware of the situation at hand –but then again Ronald Weasley was her father; it's not like she could just stop loving him despite the pain he was causing Hermione.
He needed to clear his head, he couldn't drown himself in self-pity. He quickly got to his feet, glancing at the bedside table; the glass of water he had placed last night remained untouched. He waved his hand over the glass, the water bubbled momentarily a thin coat of frost gleamed over the clear material. He stalked out of the room, he staggered forward, leaning against the closed bedroom door, he took a shaky breath. This was why he didn't engage in social interactions; people always ended up getting hurt, it had happened with Lily years ago, and it was happening again now with Hermione –and the presence of her two small children didn't help the situation one bit, it only reinforced whatever feelings he had for her.
"Mr. Snape?" His eyes snapped open at the sound of the young girl. She was standing in front of him, holding onto her stuffed bunny, she had strawberry jam all over her face and her hair kept falling over her blue eyes. "I'm all done." She muttered happily, giving him a toothless grin.
He couldn't help but chuckle at the young girl's appearance –in this particular moment she reminded him so very much of her father who could sit down and eat until his trouser button popped open. "How about we get you cleaned up alright?" He quickly dismissed the thought, he didn't particularly want to associate the young innocent child with her pig-headed father.
She nodded as she slowly trudged behind him, the two walked towards the loo –Rose immediately began to giggle once she took notice of her appearance in the mirror. He grabbed a face cloth from under the sink and ran it under the lukewarm water –the young girl squirmed as he pressed the cloth against her face, wiping away all traces of the sweet and sticky substance. "You need to put my hair up now." She said looking at him through the mirror.
He rolled his eyes as he peered down at the unruly mob of red hair. "And how do you expect me to do that?" He asked seriously, glaring at the young girl curiously.
"First, you have to brush it out." She said knowingly. She looked around the small room. "Do you not have a brush?"
How had he ever gotten himself in this situation –he had never had kids for this simple reason amongst many others, he didn't know what to do with them, especially girls. With a flick of his wrist, the face clothes he had been holding transfigured into a hairbrush, much to Rose's excitement. He carefully brought the brush towards the girl's hair, pulling it down softly. "Owe," Rose said with a pout as she pushed her head away from him. "Carful of the tangles."
"My apologies princess." He muttered as he carefully and slowly began to brush her frizzies away. After a long twenty minutes, later Rose's head was slightly less dishevelled than it had previously been. "Now what?" He asked, placing the brush on the edge of the sink.
"You have to braid it."
"You're pulling my leg." He muttered with a deep sigh –Rose's warm smile looked back at him in the mirror; she was not joking. "I can't braid hair."
"But it's super easy!" Rose pleaded, giving him her best puppy dog look, her bottom lip quivered. "All you have to do is separate it into three sections and then you cross one over the other."
He sighed, cursing his inability to resist that cute face. He pulled the sleeves of his shirt up –exposing the Dark Mark, that had faded significantly ever since the end of the war, his path following him wherever he went still today years after the fall of the Dark Lord. "Is that a tattoo?" He flinched as he looked down at her face –her eyes awestruck at the mark on his forearm.
He grabbed three different fistfuls of her hair, parting them in a sloppy partition. "I guess you could call it that yes." He muttered bitterly concentrating on the task at hand.
"It's kind of scary." She added, groaning as he pulled at her hair.
"Glad we both agree then."
"Why did you get it if you think it's scary." She asked curiously, looking down at her hands.
He rolled his eyes as he twisted the strands of hair over the other, loosening his grip slightly. "I don't think it's any of your business is it." He mumbled, raising his brow at her.
She slumped her shoulder in defeat. "I'm sorry."
Quiet surrounded the pair as Severus held the loose braid with the tips of his fingers. "Now what?"
"You need a hair tie, but I don't suppose you have one of those do you?" Severus shook his head. "Do your magic again." She said, clapping her hands excitedly.
He slowly brought his unoccupied hand to her ear, wordlessly summoning a hair tie which he proceeded to 'pull out' of her ear. She squealed and gleamed at him through the glass. "How did you do that!" She asked in shock –eyeing his face carefully.
"That's my secret." He whispered with a chuckle as he twirled the hair tie around the tip of the braid. "There all done."
She coaxed her head to the side and twirled around, the braid flowing behind her freely. "I guess it's going to have to do. I'm gonna go get dressed now –but I don't need your help for that cause I'm a big girl who can get dressed by herself!" She quickly dashed out of the room, leaving behind a frozen Severus who was completely shocked at what had just happened.
He was snapped out of his trance as the shrill noise of the doorbell blared through the flat –weird he thought, who would be ringing the bell, normally people just waltzed into without much warning. He walked towards the door and pulled it open, revealing none other than Harry Potter. "Where is she Severus?" The young man asked as he pushed his way into the flat –looking around like a mad man. "I know she's here –Ron insists that she's off visiting some relatives with the kids but I don't buy that bullshit." He ruffled his hair dangerously, eyeing the older man cautiously.
His frown disappeared off his face as Rose appeared –dressed in a baby blue polka dotted dress. "Uncle Harry!" She said happily as she ran down the length of the hall, practically throwing herself into his arms.
"Hey, sweetheart," Harry said with a smirk –his eyes had turned a deep shade of green as he eyed the Potion Master wearily. "How are you doing?"
"Oh, I'm doing well. Look at my braid! Mr. Snape made it for me." She said twirling around in a circle.
"It looks great Rose," Harry mumbled awkwardly as he got to his feet. "You gonna explain to me why my goddaughter is in your flat?"
"Rose go play with your toys in the living room," Severus muttered glancing at the young girl, his voice low, his throat dry and raspy.
"But I wanna stay with you and Uncle Harry." She said sadly, stomping her little foot onto the ground.
"Severus is right, sweetheart. Go play with your toys." Rose rolled her eyes as she shuffled away from the two men, trudging her feet loudly against the hardwood flooring. Harry watched his goddaughter disappear from view before turning his body to look at Severus. "Where is Hermione, Severus," Harry said accusingly, pointing his index finger at the older man's chest.
"She's resting at the moment," Severus said slowly, slapping Harry's hand away from his chest.
"Resting from what –it's nearly twelve." Harry's brow creased in confusion. "Hermione never sleeps in."
"Well if you would like to know, I found her passed out in the shower about an hour ago."
"What did you do to her?"
Severus scoffed loudly. "Of course, I would have had to do something to cause it." He said slowly.
"She wouldn't voluntarily be here; you must have cursed her or something." Harry's chest rose and fell in quick breaths –his hands balling into fists at his side.
"Leave him alone Harry." Both men turned around at the sound of Hermione's voice. She slowly made her way down the hallway, holding on to a squirming Hugo. She hugged the wall almost as if she didn't trust her balance.
Severus quickly rushed towards her and grabbed her arm –something that didn't go unnoticed by Harry. "Mione." Harry staggered backwards at the sheer coldness in her voice.
"Severus did not drug me, or curse me in any way. He saved me." She muttered sadly, looking at her best friend through the curtain of hair that shielded her face. She took a deep breath as she walked towards him slowly –shifting Hugo's weight in her arms with each step she took.
"Mione I don't understand," Harry said sadly, as he met her halfway, grabbing her petite frame in his arms.
Hermione fell against his chest, her head nestled in the crook of his neck. "Harry." She mumbled sadly as her entire body began to shake.
Harry froze as he squeezed her body towards his –just enough to not make Hugo uncomfortable between them, he looked over Hermione's head, Severus was now leaning against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest. "Just come home, Hermione. Please." Harry whispered in her ear as he rubbed her back in comfort –something that just made her sob louder.
"I can't." She muttered her breathing hollow and laboured as she clutched onto him.
Severus slowly walked towards the pair, and carefully extracted the young red headed baby out of his mother's arms –Harry couldn't help but marvel at the careful nature in which Severus was tending to the baby.
Hermione immediately wrapped both arms around his neck, sobbing wholeheartedly against the warm skin of his neck. "I'm sorry."
"Why are you sorry?" Harry asked, kissing her damp hair lovingly. "You have no reason to be sorry." Harry opened his eyes as he looked towards the end of the hallway where Severus had disappeared seconds earlier. Why was Severus Snape, ex-Death Eater suddenly so caring towards his best friend? Why was Hermione apologising? It didn't make sense –unless…. "Are you sleeping with him?"
Hermione froze in his arms, her cries immediately died in her throat. She pulled back from his embrace, her eyes bloodshot and puffy. "Oh of course. It always about me doing something wrong isn't it." She accused loudly, stepping back from him.
"I'm just trying to understand Hermione. Why else would Severus willingly take care of your children? He's an ex-Death Eater, what else am I suppose to think?" He retaliated back.
"There's a difference between understanding and denying it Harry," Hermione said, her voice loud and dangerous. "I am not sleeping with Severus." She said pointedly. "I know that Severus came to see you in your office, Ron told me so before nearly beating me to death." Her whole body was now shaking; her eyes wide in fury.
Harry flinched.
"I sent Rose through the floo to fetch him –luckily for me he had forgotten to close the network, cause if he had I might have bled to death on the floor of my living room, with Rose a few steps away and Hugo sobbing his little heart out upstairs." She scoffed loudly as he remained silent. "You know I'm not even surprised at this point."
"Surprised by what Hermione!" Harry bellowed loudly, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Ron's friendship was always more important to you and this is proof of that," Hermione said sadly, her voice now low and shaky –silent tears streamed down her cheeks.
"That's not true and you know it." Harry snapped –she slumped her shoulders in defeat.
"Then why won't you believe me?" She asked, looking towards him sadly. She pulled up the sleeves of her shirt up, exposing the various bruises on her forearms. "Is this proof enough?"
Harry walked forward and grabbed her arms gently, tracing the bruises with the tip of his pointer finger. "Hermione." Her name tumbled out of his lips.
"Do you wanna see my memories? Severus's memories or better yet Rose's memories?" She pleaded, grabbing his hands in hers attempting to tug him closer to her.
He dropped her arms and took a step back. "I should go."
She closed her eyes, biting her bottom lip. "Just don't tell Ron where I am. Please. That's all I'm asking."
"I won't." He walked towards the door of the flat, his hand grabbed the handle –he paused. "I love you, Hermione," Harry mumbled sadly, glancing back over his shoulder –Hermione remained still, looking down at the ground. "Just please don't do anything you'll regret."
And with that he left the flat, leaving Hermione standing still as tears coursed down her cheeks, her bruised arms still visible to the world around her. Her throat felt tight, almost as if it was closing in on itself; preventing her from taking the required breath she needed. Her legs shook violently under the weight of her body and if it wouldn't have been for the strong arms that wrapped around her waist she would have plummeted to the ground.
"It's okay. You're okay." His soft voice whispered in her ear as he pulled her up. "Come on." She twisted her body in his grasp and collapsed against his chest, she immediately wrapped her arms around his waist. He gingerly brought his hand towards her hair, running it through the soft and damp tresses. "I'm right here." She sobbed, there was no end to her sobbing.
"Please don't leave me." She mumbled against the material of his shirt.
His heart dropped as he squeezed her petite form closer to his body –he closed his eyes and kissed the top of her head lovingly. "I'm not going anywhere." He promised –his voice was raspy and shaky; something that was quite unusual for him.
"Thank you." She whispered quietly once her sobs died down. She pulled back from the embrace and looked up at his face. She carefully brought her hand up to touch his face, the tips of her fingers tracing the edge of his jawline. "Thank you so much." She repeated, giving him a small smile. She cupped his cheek, running the pad of her thumb against the cleanly shaven skin.
He instinctively leant into her embrace –loving the feeling of her hands on him. His breath caught in his throat as she stepped up on her tippy toes, he closed his eyes as her lips came in contact with his other cheek –her lips so warm against his skin. "How about some tea?" He found himself muttering once the soles of her feet touched the hardwood flooring.
"Tea would be great." She whispered with a warm smile –desperately trying to ignore the fluttering feeling inside her tummy; she couldn't be feeling this way, she looked down at her wedding ring, Harry's wise words resonating in her head 'Don't do anything you'll regret.'
She wasn't going to do anything regretful, despite the rocky state of her marriage she wouldn't stoop as low as to cheat -she couldn't.
Unknowingly to her, Severus was combatting similar feelings. He looked down at the Muggleborn witch, her smile sincere and honest for the first time since she had gotten here. He groaned to himself as he thought back to Potter's bitter accusation 'Are you sleeping with him?'
No, they were not sleeping together, he wouldn't allow himself to express these feelings towards her -he couldn't.
I know don't kill me, Harry is being a complete bum face and I know it. I promise though he will come around sooner or later and he will feel like utter shit for treating her this way. Happy to know you all enjoyed the Rose and Scorpius interaction in the previous chapter, the Malfoy's will definitely come back in the story so no worries there! Also Severus and Hermione relationship development in the works hopefully you are all as excited as I am! Thank you to every single one of you guys for following, favoriting and reviewing! I am super excited about all the positive responses I have been getting and please keep reviewing by now you should all know how reviews fuel my desire to write! Last note this story is almost at 200 follows which is completely crazy, I love you all so much and I'll see you soon!
Penny x