"Hurt"

Genre: Angst/Romance

Rating: R

Author Notes: J.K. Rowling owns the characters. Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails own the songs. I own the plot.

So, my junior year of college is almost over. In fact, I will be done and out of the dorms Thursday afternoon. As far as my summer living arrangements go, I will be living with my parents for one more year, and that means no uploading for a while since I have dial-up connection.

But I do plan to write more, regardless of my situation. As long as my computer does not crash, I will be happy. And I promise to make better lemons. I can tell not many of you liked the last chapter. I honestly don't see why…

Until then, I shall leave you with this chapter.

Chapter 14: Ruiner, pt. 2

The following morning, Hermione jolted out of her fitful slumber at the sound of what could have been Severus slamming his door, along with a slew of expletives. She jumped onto her feet, only to realize that she was stark naked as the events from the previous night rushed to her head. She looked for some kind of garment, and as if he knew she would need it, Severus had provided her a green bathrobe hanging on one of the posts at the foot of his bed.

Slipping the fuzzy material onto her shoulders and tying the belt into a fancy bow, securing the robe tightly, she walked out of the master bedroom and found her husband, fully dressed in his usual black frock coat and trousers, on the couch pinching the bridge of his nose. There was obviously something wrong.

How did you get so big?

How did you get so strong?

How did you get so hard?

How did you get so long?

"Severus, what is it?" she asked.

He opened his right eye, looking at her with anger. "You remember Mr. Scrimgeour, the Minister for Magic who married us last night?"

"Yes. What about him?"

He handed her the Saturday morning copy of the Daily Prophet that had came to his chamber overnight. "Read the front cover," he told her.

You had to give them all a sign, didn't you?

You had to covet what was mine, didn't you?

She took the paper from his hand and gasped at the headlines in bold print: Minister for Magic Murdered by Death Eaters!

"But how?" she asked. "How did this happen?"

"I assume Lucius heard about the unfortunate groom whom you had chosen to marry, and he took his anger out on Scrimgeour," replied Severus. "After all, Rufus did write up the Marriage Law at his request, and it would seem Lucius had something in store for you and your friends, Madame Snape. What appears worse is that the entire wizarding world is now fully aware of the Death Eaters once again."

The ruiner's a collector

He's an infector serving shit to his flies

Maybe there will come a day

When those you keep blind will suddenly realize

"What about you?"

"I can only hope the Dark Lord will grant me a reward for marrying not only a Muggle-born but also one of Potter's best friends," he sighed. He knew, however, that he might not be forgiven by his "old friend" if they should meet again.

Hermione clenched hey eyes shut as she shed a tear. "But what about the Marriage Law? There is no one else who can marry the couples after us. I mean what will happen to those wizards and witches?"

Severus stood up and placed his hands on his wife's shoulders. "Hermione," he began in a calm voice, "there is no more marriage law. It was abolished after we must have consummated our marriage. But because the marriage law affected only us, we have to still remain married until death, according to the oath we made last night at the ceremony. There cannot be a divorce between us."

The next thing he knew he was holding a bawling Hermione in his arms, knowing that their fate was now forever sealed away because of a short-lived marriage law. And although he lusted for her, he could not tell her that what he felt was love. In return, he knew that she did not have any reciprocal feelings.

"Stupid bloody marriage law," he heard Hermione mutter between hiccups and sobs.

"I know how you feel, my dear," he said. "I know exactly how you feel."

Maybe it's a part of me you took

To a place I hoped it would never go

And maybe that fucked me up

So much more than you will ever know

In the Gryffindor tower, hoots and hollers filled the common room as everyone cheered for the abolishment of the Marriage Law, despite of the tragedy behind it. Harry found Ginny and kissed her as if he had returned home from a long war. "Isn't this great, Gin?" he asked. "We can still get married once I propose to you!"

"I know, Harry!" giggled Ginny. "But what about Hermione and Snape?"

"Maybe they didn't do the dirty last night! I mean we can only hope they didn't! If so, that would be even better news!"

The Boy-Who-Lived picked up his girlfriend and spun her around until they both saw their newlywed friend standing the doorway with a frown on her face. "Hey, 'Mione! Did you hear the good news?" asked Harry.

"You mean the bad news?" corrected Hermione.

"Come on, 'Mione! It can't be that bad," countered Ron. "It's not like you slept with the Greasy Git. Or did you?"

A blush appeared on Hermione's face as she recalled the memory of her wedding night, indirectly answering his question.

"Oh shit," murmured Harry.

"That bastard," muttered Ron.

Ginny rushed over to her best friend and gave her a hug. "Do you want to talk about this in private?" she asked, knowing that the Head Girl was on the verge of tears once again.

Hermione nodded and followed the youngest Weasley child to the girls' dormitories, leaving behind a concerned Harry Potter and Ron Weasley.

Ginny locked her door and placed a silencing charm in case certain people were eavesdropping on the other side. She sat next to Hermione on her bed and held the crying woman in her arms. "Now tell me all about it," she said, trying to stifle a giggle. "Was he good?"

"Oh, Gin! It was painful!" wailed Hermione. "He said because Voldemort was present at the wedding, he had to take me in the manner of a Death Eater. Otherwise, I would be fair game among the inner circle as well as Voldemort himself! He had to mark me in order to save me from them!"

"By marking, do you mean he raped you?"

"It felt like it, but I was a virgin before last night! He was very rough!"

Ginny gulped and asked, "If you don't mind, can I see where he marked you?"

Hermione grasped her robe as if her husband was reaching out to touch her. "I don't think that will be necessary!"

"Hermione Granger – I mean, Hermione Snape! You are my best friend, and I have every right know if he hurt you! Please, Hermione."

The Head Girl slowly nodded her head and undid her green robe, letting it fall at her feet. To Ginny's horror, the girl had dark bruises over certain areas of her body. The right side of her neck was covered in bites, her breasts also had teeth marks but also imprints from Severus' fingers when he groped them hard, and between her thighs, there was evidence that he had his way with his wife at a rough and hard pace.

How did you get so big?

How did you get so strong?

How did you get so hard?

How did you get so long?

"Merlin's beard, 'Mione!" exclaimed Ginny. "You do look like you were a rape victim!"

"At least he is going to be gentle next time," said Hermione, folding her arms to cover her exposed breasts.

"Are you certain?"

"Well, of course."

"Hermione, let me remind you of a minor detail you are missing. He may be serving for the Order, but he is also their Death Eater-turned-spy!" cried Ginny. "You are married to a Death Eater! Death Eaters are not gentle. Snape has never been gentle to us, even before we found out the truth about him. He does not know the meaning of being gentle!"

She stopped her rant when she saw her friend begin to cry once more. She took her into her arms and said, "We are going to see Madame Pomfrey and get these bruises healed, okay?"

"No," begged Hermione. "Let them be."

"You sure?"

"Yes, I am sure." The newlywed Gryffindor slipped into her robe once again and secured it shut with the tie at her waist. "That being said, I will finish answering your question, Ginny."

The youngest Weasley shook her head. "I don't need to know the rest of the details. I think I have an idea about it."

"No, you don't understand. We… We didn't finish last night."

"What do you mean you didn't finish last night?"

Hermione sighed, tucking a strand of her brunette hair behind her right ear. "He was too big for me and I wasn't quite ready for him."

"You mean to tell me he didn't make you cum!" Ginny gasped. "I mean he takes you roughly and it didn't work for either of you?"

"That is why he said he is going to be gentle with me the next time. I've been marked by him, Gin. That's all."

Ginny stepped up to her best friend and held her hands in hers. "'Mione, if the next time is just as bad as your first, you are going to teach him how to be gentle so he doesn't hurt you every time you two want to make love," she said. "Last night must have been nothing more than just a –"

"Fuck," said Hermione, finishing the sentence for the redhead. "That is what he told me. Well, it was more like a 'rough fuck,' but, yes, it was a fuck, nevertheless."

"I can only hope for the best." Ginny led her friend to the door but stopped herself from unlocking it, only to be stunned with a question that hit her like a hex. "I forgot to ask you, 'Mione," she said. "Does he love you?"

Hermione's face blanched as she recalled her memory from yesterday. She shook her head and added, "I don't remember telling me that he does. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, I was just wondering," replied Ginny as she unlocked her dormitory door and walked next to Hermione toward the Gryffindor common room.

A few minutes later, Hermione used the floo network to return to her new home, only to find Severus talking to Minerva in the small sitting room. "Headmistress! What a surprise!" she exclaimed.

Minerva looked at Hermione's lack of attire with a stern glint in her eyes. "The same to you, Madame Snape. I certainly hope you were not parading around the school in just that bathrobe."

Hermione's face flushed with embarrassment. Shit, she thought. I forgot I had it on. "Well, I had to go to the Gryffindor tower for a moment. And then I used the floo to get back here. There was no other student in the hallway but me."

"Was Potter and Weasley around?" asked her husband with an arched eyebrow. He certainly did not want his wife to walk the halls of Hogwarts in just a bathrobe, but for her to wear just a bathrobe in front of two students he barely tolerated made his blood boiled.

He watched his wife swallow the thick lump of fear in her throat. Knowing the answer he received, he silenced her with his hand and added in a low growl, "I hope you were smart enough not to be near them for so long during your little trip to your beloved common room."

"I wasn't with them the entire time," Hermione answered, sticking her chin out defiantly. "I spent most of my visit talking to Ginny instead." Her expression did not change as she saw her husband nostrils flaring in anger.

Minerva looked at her Potions Master, and then quickly looked at her student, sensing tension looming in the air. "I am sorry to cut our little meeting short, but I do have some business to attend to," she lied. "Severus, Hermione, I wish you two the best of luck and I expect to see you later this afternoon." She hastily ran to the door and left the Snapes' quarters, rushing down the staircase to escape Severus' furious wrath.

"Foolish girl," she murmured. "She should not have done that."

Severus, on the other hand, was barely able to control himself from slapping his wife. It took all his will to still his right hand at his side. Instead, he clenched his fist and stalked toward Hermione, who was frightened as she saw anger burning in his black eyes. "You stupid girl," he hissed. "When I said you could visit your friends, I thought you would be smart enough to change into something decent!"

"I forgot!" she countered. "I wasn't thinking –"

"You mean to tell me you were not using that marvelous brain of yours for once?" he asked.

"Just listen to me! I needed to see my friends right away! I was too upset, Severus; I needed someone from my peers to comfort me, especially a girl like Ginny! Don't you understand that?"

Hermione hung her head, trying to hide her tears from her angry husband. She knew crying would not calm his fury down, but she too was furious but also stressed. Her life had taken quite a huge toll on her: her first year back at school after the war, an arranged marriage to the school's most hated professor, and now a future that could only mean nothing but hell to her.

Severus, however, could not stay angry with the girl any longer. He wrapped his around his wife and hugged her. "I am sorry," he said quietly. "I should have not yelled at you like that." He rubbed his hooked nose into her bushy hair, taking in her scent. He was starting to have the first stirring of arousal in his loins, but he knew he had no time for a round of his first make-up sex.

With a tear-stained face, Hermione looked up at her sour husband, shocked and surprised for a brief moment. "Did you say what I thought you said?" she asked.

"What did I say?" he asked with a small smirk.

"You apologized to me!"

"Perhaps I did, and perhaps I did not." His smirk grew wider as he placed a kiss on her forehead. "Now, my dear, why don't you get out of that blasted robe, wash up, and get fully dressed so we can eat some lunch and talk about our plans for the rest of the day."

"Plans?" asked Hermione.

"Yes, plans," he replied coolly. "We have to take a trip to London and investigate the death of Mr. Scrimgeour. After all, we were the last ones to see him."

Hermione nodded her head, understanding of what they would have to do that afternoon. "I promise not to take a long shower," she said, turning on her heel and walking to the master bathroom. When she reached the door, she turned to her husband and asked, "Do you need to take one as well, Mr. Snape?"

"Is this an invitation to invade your privacy, Madame Snape?" Severus asked, trying to ignore his growing erection in his trousers.

"Perhaps."

"Then I must say I am afraid to turn down your invite, but I will accept the next time you offer a chance to share your shower with a man like me." He slowly approached her with lustful eyes peer down her. "I am afraid time is running short for us, and although I would love to enjoy a moment of… Intimacy… With you, I would lose all control of myself and say 'sod off' to our trip. But I believe I hear my shower calling your name, and we must not haste yet we must not be as slow as a caterpillar." He pushed Hermione into the bathroom and quickly shut the door before she could protest.

"I will have sandwiches available when you are finished, Hermione!" he called.

Hermione simply crossed her arms over her chest and huffed. She vowed to herself that she would get even with him one day. "Yes, but I bet you didn't take a shower this morning!"

"Oh, I did, my dear, while you were dead to the world until you heard a few choice of words from me hours later. Now, hurry up so we can eat!"

The brown-haired witch sighed as she gave into her husband's order. She turned on the taps and let the water become a warm temperature she could tolerate. The green robe fell at her feet, and she climbed into the giant tub, relaxing her head on the edge.

She laid there as the water began to rise over her body, thinking about how her life was going to be from that moment on. She had already found herself in a shouting match with Severus, and they were not even married for twenty-four hours! She also found herself crying quite a bit since the night before. She wanted to blame Severus for her problems, but she silently admitted to herself that she was also responsible for her actions that would cause him rip a new ass out of her, only to make her cry in the end.

But there is no love between us, she thought as she drew her knees up to her chin. She winced at the pain between her thighs, a reminder of the pain she felt on her wedding night. Maybe I should seek Madame Pomfrey and let her look at these bruises. That or I could ask Severus for a potion that would make them go away.

As if he had read her thoughts, she jumped at the sound of the Potions Master knocking on the bathroom door. "Hermione," he said from the other side, "are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine," she answered, drawing her knees closer to her body.

"Do you mind if I come in?"

A blush crept over her face, and she mentally scolded herself for it. He has already seen you, 'Mione, chided her inner voice. Let him see the damage he had caused. "No, not at all. The door is unlocked."

Severus peered his head into the room and found his wife sitting in a tub of warm water, her hair still dry and still untouched. He bit his lower lip for he knew she was too busy contemplating about something. "Something's troubling you," he said.

Hermione nodded her head. She remained silent as she watched the tall, dark wizard knelt down next to her. "Do you want to talk about it?" he asked.

Before she was able to answer, she felt him pull her onto her feet and heard him curse under his breath. "Merlin!" he exclaimed. "Did I do that to you last night?"

What you gave to me

My perfect ring of scars

You know I can see what you really are

She watched his dark gaze scan her body up and down with a worried look on his face. "There's nothing to worry about, Severus. Honestly," she said. "I mean my thighs hurt just a bit, but I read it is only natural for a woman to feel tender after a night of sex."

He smirked. That's my wife, he thought. Always reading a book for the answer to her every question. "Yes, well, I am sure no woman had a night like yours, my dear. But do not worry – you will become more experienced, and I will be considerate when I have my way with you unless you want me to take you roughly. Do you need a potion that will soothe your pain?"

Hermione shook her head. "I think I can deal with this."

"Hermione, you are lying again."

She looked at her husband and found him arching an eyebrow. "Were you reading my mind?"

"No, but I can tell when you lie and when you tell the truth." Using wandless magic, he summoned an emerald green towel with a golden snake into his hands and wrapped Hermione in it. "Stay here," he said. "I will be back with the Morning After Potion."

You didn't hurt me

Nothing can hurt me

You didn't hurt me

Nothing can stop me now

When he walked briskly out of the bathroom, Hermione sighed and reached for her wand that was in the inside pocket of her bathrobe. She transfigured the towel from green to red, replacing the snake with a lion. "That's more like it," she said with a small smile.

Moments later with the desired potion in his hand, Severus found what she had done to one of his favorite towels, shaking his head and rolling his eyes in disgust. "Bloody Gryffindors," he growled.

Yay! Chapter 14 is done, and so is this story until I have time to add more to it! Don't forget to read and review!

TheGoodWitchoftheNorth