A/N: Eileen will keep her son safe. Warning for domestic abuse.
Submission for:
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry (Challenges & Assignments): Astronomy Assignment #3 - Write about a downtrodden/oppressed female character.
Hogwarts Writing Club Competition: Round 4 - maid
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
Her shoulders stiffened as she heard the front door open and shut with a loud slam. She had hoped today would have been one of his good days, but that would not be the case. With a quick glance towards her son sleeping in the nearby bassinet, she turned away from the stove and began to plate her husband's dinner.
"Good evening, dear," she said quietly once his figure darkened the doorway.
He narrowed his eyes, his gaze running over her sallow skin and damp black hair before he gave her a low grunt. He stepped forward, taking the seat before the plate of chicken and mashed potatoes.
She let out a soft exhale, turning back towards the stove to plate her own meal when his large hand shot out to grab her wrist.
"This meat is barely cooked!" he roared, using his other hand to sweep his plate to the ground. Then he pulled her to the ground, her face almost slamming onto the wooden floorboards as he screamed, "Clean this up and do it again!"
She whimpered, picking herself up slowly as she rubbed her wrist, her skin marred by imprints of his fingers. After her confession, she was nothing more than a maid to him, meant to do her duty and then disappear from sight.
But then the air was cut with the sound of crying, the lights in the dining room flickering as they got louder and louder.
"I'll give that boy something to-" her husband growled, rising from his chair with a murderous look on his face.
But she put a hand on his shoulder, pushing him back down in his seat with as much strength as she could. She stood between her husband and her son, a stern expression on her own face. "Don't you dare touch him," she said. Anything could happen to her, but she would never let him lay a hand on her son.
Her husband looked between her face and the crying infant before he shrugged her hand off his shoulder. However, instead of continuing towards the child, he grabbed a beer from the refrigerator and moved into the next room.
She sighed as she ran to her son's side, bouncing him as she tried to quiet his cries. This wasn't over. Tobias would still expect the floor to be cleaned and his dinner to be ready, and there would be hell to pay once she retired to bed. However, she would take it all if it meant keeping Severus safe from his wrath.