Chapter 9: Favor and Fault
{A/N: Here's Another Update...This is another Re-Post, I have changed the direction of this story from the original few chapter that were added since chapter seven...I found your reviews so compelling that I decided to throw you all a bone...sort of...all Ron bashing is welcome...also for those concerned, Hugo sounds like he is two years old because his dialogue was based off my own nephew, whom had been barley turned 3 when I wrote this chapter previously...he was making the transition of speaking properly as a three year old after just being two himself.}
My Thanks To All My Readers and Reviewers...Enjoy S.S.
{"Now if you lose your one and only...There's always room here for...The lonely...To watch your broken dreams...Dance in and out of the beams...Of a neon moon...I think of two young lovers...Running wild and free...I close my eyes...And sometimes see...You in the shadows...Of this smoke-filled room...No telling how many tears...I've sat here and cried...Or how many lies...That I've lied...Telling my poor heart...She'll come back someday...Oh, but I'll be alright...As long as there's light...From a neon moon..."} Neon Moon, Brooks & Dunn
The Sitting Room, Snape's Estate, Muggle World...
Night fall had brought with it more than a few restless fits as Hermione Granger-Weasley attempted to enjoy her last night of rest at Severus Snape's muggle world estate. Her blood ran cold when she thought back to all that time she spent married to that bastard Ron and who he so easily tossed away all their years of marriage for a quick shag with Lavender Brown of all people. Unable to find even the slightest bit of rest given her rage boiled blood and her already broken heart, Hermione made her way toward the sitting room hoping a good book would calm her already frazzled nerves.
She had been surprised to see Snape had not turned in for the night.
It had been strange to see the seemingly impervious man sitting at a grand piano with a glass of what she could tell had been whiskey given his choice of the swirling dark liquid her father often kept in his study when she was a girl. Mr. Granger had often taken a swig or two when things got to be hectic at work or he just needed to take the edge off a long day at the office.
The Potions Master had been bellowing out a drunken tune as his long pale fingers danced along the ivory keys as efficiently as they had done when he chopped potions ingredients. Hermione had been privy to his astounding feats more or less by being in the wrong place at the inappropriate time when she was given to curiosity back then.
"Severus?" she asked cautiously noting that he had been good and drunk as she continued to make her way toward him.
"Oh." he said in a voice dripping with contempt. "It's the girl whom doesn't know the difference between love and possession."
"I beg your pardon?" she replied taken aback by his sudden shift in mood.
"You bloody heard me." replied Snape stopping his fancy finger work abruptly. "Or is all that bushy hair making your skull impossibly thick?"
Hermione narrowed her amber eyes at the obviously drunken sod before her.
"I take it you're having a bad night." she said calmly. "I suppose the late hour and lack of sleep must be getting to your head."
Snape snarled standing up abruptly from the piano as he snatched up his whiskey filled glass.
"I don't need you to make half arsed excuses for me!" he said suddenly irate. "I am of perfectly sound mind, unlike some one else in this room."
"Severus what is the matter with you?" she asked confused by his sudden anger. "Is this all because I've decided to return to my home?"
Snape launched his now empty glass at the nearby wall shattering it instantly.
"WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH WITCHES LIKE YOU!?" he shouted clearly loosing control of his temper. "DO YOU THINK ME A FUCKING DOORMAT SO THAT YOU CAN RUN BACK TO YOUR PRECIOUS GRYFFINDOR LOVERS WHO CAN DO NO WRONG NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES THEY SHOW YOU THAT THEY AREN'T WORTH EVEN A SECOND GLANCE!"
"What's the matter with witches like me?" asked Hermione outraged. "I'm not the one in a drunken stupor and angry about me returning to my husband."
"FUCK!" shouted Snape as his emotions continued to surge forward. "YOUR FUCKING JUST LIKE HER!"
Hermione took a moment to realize what Snape had been getting at. She had thought back to the end of the second wizarding war when Harry had confided in her that he had seen Snape's memories, or what memories that Snape had given him in The Shrieking Shack. The images of the bloodied ebony clad wizard after Nagini's attack had sent chills down her spine.
"Severus please." she said trying to remain calm.
"AND THEY CALL ME A COWARD!" he shouted still very much irate. "YOU DON'T EVEN BLOODY KNOWN WHO YOU ARE ANY MORE!"
The amber eyed witch grew tense as Snape said this, for some reason she couldn't keep her own boiling temper at bay given the bloody infuriating wizard's known skill for verbal lashing anyone and everyone.
"YOU ARE A COWARD!" she shouted back before she could help herself. "YOU WOULD RATHER SIT HERE IN THIS LARGE EMPTY HOUSE AND PLAY DEAD THAN FACE HARRY NOW THAT HE KNOWNS THE TRUTH ABOUT YOU AND HIS MOTHER!"
Snape narrowed his obsidian eyes at the young witch's audacity.
"LOOKS WHO'S TALKING YOU CAN'T EVEN STAND UP TO YOUR BLOODY CHEATING HUSBAND WEASLEY!" he shouted back. "WHO THE FUCK DRAGS TWO SMALL CHILDREN OFF IN THE MIDDLE OF A STORM BECAUSE THEY CAN'T CONTROL THEIR WAYWARD HUSBAND AND NEARLY GETS THEM KILLED IN THE PROCESS!?"
Upon hearing her most recent blunder in the wake of her fight with Ron, Hermione's body reacted with cold tension and before she knew it she slapped the greasy git across his sallow pale face. Snape to her shock simply stood there staring passed her if she had been correct in guessing why he had been utterly silent and not even blinking for a moment.
She backed away from him unsure what his reaction would be given that she had assaulted his person. With the rage boiling between them, Hermione gasped when his long arms reached out and quickly pulled her into him, pressing her youthful slender frame against his seemingly toned body.
What happened next had been swift, as Snape scooped up the nearly breathless witch crushing his pale lips into her soft pink ones. Hermione had no thoughts other than the taste of whiskey he passed along so freely as he held her to him. On instinct, she wrapped her legs around his waist and he carried her over to the sofa. There had been no more words between them as all the hurt and betrayal they've each suffered at the will of another boiled to the surface.
Hermione knew it was wrong to indulge the drunken wizard but all she could see was Ron kissing and touching Lavender Brown as she got her wretched scent of fresh fruit and flowers all over him. The smug look on his face when he didn't deny cheating on her with her most hated enemy during their time at Hogwarts. She briefly reflected on how much Ron had hated Severus when he had been their instructor.
The Potions Master's mind had gone back to a certain young witch with red hair and emerald green eyes that lit up in the midday sun. He could still remember the cool of the breeze when she had gotten him to give her the only gift he, being as poor and unloved as he had been to give her. The drunken wizard fiddled with his belt, unbuckling it rather quickly as he pressed his surprisingly toned body between the young witch Hermione Granger's slender thighs.
She let out a soft moan as he raised her pale white night gown and his rough calloused fingers made contact with the soft flesh of her inner thigh. He groaned at her sweetness knowing all too well as her body grew tense in all the right places that she had very little experience in the art of love making.
"Severus." she said softly.
"Hermione." he replied as the dam of emotions began to swell inside him.
"Severus...please." she pleaded unsure of what she was asking for.
Snape's pale lips crashed into her soft pink ones once more with heightened passion.
"Severus...we can't." she said despite giving in to one more kiss.
"I know." he replied softly moving to trail his kisses down her exposed neck. "I know."
Hermione ran her fingers through his lengthy raven hair.
"I want to." she said softly as he rested his head against her chest still moving her fingers. "I want to so badly but...I don't want what we could possibly have together cheapened by Ron."
"I understand." he replied kissing her one last time. "I..."
He pulled away from her seemingly ashamed by his brash behavior.
"I apologize Miss Granger." he said suddenly reverting back to his emotionless tone. "Good night."
Hermione had not gotten to get a word in edgewise as Snape left the sitting room and headed toward the master bedroom. She heard the door slam and cringed at the sound of it. She had not known what had come over The Potions Master but she had no words to describe what she, herself was feeling at the moment. After several minutes of thought, she briskly cleaned the mess Snape left behind and made her way back to bed writing it off as a side effect of Severus being drunk.
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The Grounds, Snape's Estate, Muggle World...
Morning had come and with it the dread of Hermione Granger's time at Snape's estate coming to an end. She had not see the snarky wizard for much of the morning, their brief encounter the night before had been at the forefront of her mind when she had woken. When she had gone down to the kitchen, she found that he had made breakfast with the children and had taken them on one last venture into the garden. The effects of the previous night's drinking didn't seem to have lingered and he behaved as if they had not occurred at all. After a while Snape brought them back in time for lunch and took off once more.
He had barely said a word to her since the previous night and it seemed that he had still been upset with her in some way. Having had enough of the cold shoulder from Snape, the bushy haired witch marched down to the garage. To her surprise, Snape had been covered in grease once more. His pale flesh exposed as he put the finishing touches on the vehicle he had been working on.
"Well Miss Granger, I believe this sedan will serve you well in the coming days." he said wiping off the door of the light blue four door with the clean side of the rag he had been holding.
Hermione had been speechless as Snape closed the hood and flicked his wand at the car ensuring that all the safety features he deigned as well as it's capacity to run on any sort of fuel source had been up to standard. He handed her the keys and she looked at him in disbelief.
"It should keep you and the children safe no matter the weather." he said looking into her eyes. "Of course Weasley might find difficulty dealing with it so I suggest you keep him clear of it...other than that it's more than ready for your road trip."
Unable to express how much she appreciated this gesture, Hermione simply approached the half naked wizard and embraced him. Snape froze, not at all use to the contact. He caught a whiff of jasmine from her bushy hair and had been rendered speechless himself. Hermione's amber eyes met his obsidian gaze for a moment before she released him and looked back at her new sedan. He put on an old navy blue t-shirt as he watched her try and mentally figure out what modifications he made to the sedan via magic. It wasn't long before it had been time for the Granger-Weasley family to be on their way.
Hermione packed up her car with a few road essentials as well as Rose and Hugo. Snape assisted her a bit and had been just closing the trunk when the two children came up to him with tear stained faces and sad expressions across their beautiful faces. The Potions Master noted that this was the first time that he had been the cause of tears in small children that had been because they would miss him not due to his initial presence.
"I don't want to leave Uncle Sev." said Rose giving him the most adorable pouting expression.
She looked a good deal like her mother in that regard and it almost made him smile.
"Want to stay!" shouted Hugo folding his arms across his chest. "Want to stay with Uncle Sev."
"Rose, Hugo...as much as we all have enjoyed being here with Uncle Sev, there are a lot of people who miss us back home." explained Hermione.
"No go!" shouted Hugo. "No go!"
Rose had been intelligent enough in her age to know that she was given no choice in this matter and hugged Severus Snape tightly before climbing into the backseat of the sedan and finding herself locked in a child's seat. Hugo had been a bit more difficult with Snape having to pry the boy off him in a bid to get him into the car.
"No go Uncle Sev!" shouted the saddened boy.
"Rose, Hugo...No giving your mother trouble." said Snape in his usual Professor tone. "You are all welcome to visit me whenever you'd like but it has to stay between the four of us where I live do I make myself clear?"
Rose and Hugo both nodded.
Hermione also gave an indication that she understood that Snape wanted his whereabouts and living status to remain a secret to the wizarding world. She was well aware of the extended invitation to come see him should she or the children feel the need to. While he frequently visited the town when weather permitted it, it was clear to see that Snape had grown rather accustomed to their company.
"I promise we'll come back soon." she said as she too threw her arms around the former Potions Professor.
It pleased her that he had not died all those years ago in due to that awful snake. He had been a much better man than anyone had ever realized.
"Drive carefully Miss Granger." he said as she let go of him and climbed into the driver's seat.
"I will." replied Hermione. "Thanks again."
Snape waved her off and it earned him one last smile from the insufferable witch for the road. Hermione started the sedan and took the old county road back toward where she had arrived from the wizarding world. Severus Snape watched the young witch and her children disappear down the road and turned his attention to the pre-chopped logs of wood nearby. He took off his shirt and proceeded to chop more as the strange memory of smelling jasmine in Hermione Granger's hair lingered in his mind. His frequent flashbacks to how her lips tasted when he kissed her had not done him any justice either.
"Bloody sod." he muttered to himself as more shame came from his drunken folly.
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Open Highway, Muggle World...
Driving away from Severus Snape's estate had been the hardest thing that Hermione had to experience since she decided to return to Hogwarts after the second wizarding war. She fought back tears as she kept her attention on the road. The sky had been perfectly clear and there was not an ounce of danger in sight as far as she could tell. Snape had been kind enough to put a navigation system in the sedan and she simply had to follow the guide back to the wizarding world or back to his estate if need be. A couple of times, she had almost turned the car around but logic prevailed and she kept going back toward home.
She would have to face Ron sooner or later.
She opted for sooner rather than later of course.
The amber eyed witch had no idea what to expect from her husband after all this time. A dozen questions had been running through her mind as she continued down the highway. Rose and Hugo remained silent possibly wishing they could turn back and stay one more night with Severus Snape. Hermione wondered if Ron even bothered to look for them. Then again, she had known him well enough to know that wasn't something he'd do. Not in this life time. He had been much too full of himself for that.
With a sigh, Hermione crossed the barrier between the wizarding and muggle worlds. It wouldn't be long now before she was back home. Back where her husband ignored her or constantly paraded his extramarital affairs with younger witches in her face while on tour playing Quidditch. Back to being unemployed due to her losing her job at the Ministry of Magic offices. Back to being Mrs. Ron Weasley and as miserable as they come in the wake of her shattered dreams. Looking back, Hermione wondered why she had been so eager to leave the blissful peace of Snape's estate to come back to this place. She supposed that if one were to be confronted with something unpleasant, they'd be more inclined to just get it out of the way then put it off any longer.
Besides, Snape did say they were welcome back anytime. Perhaps he knew something she didn't know. And perhaps he knew that Ron would prove once again just how much of an immature git he truly was.