A/N: Thank you, dear reader, for your interest in this story. Amortentia in my Veins did the beta work.

Chapter 29

Hermione kissed her husband before he straightened up.

"Mum will be here momentarily. I will see you later," he said.

"I love you," Hermione said to him with a smile.

"And I you," he said with a small bow of his head.

Turning, he left Hermione and moved out of the bedroom. It wasn't five minutes later that Eileen knocked on the door and entered the bedroom carrying a tray.

"Good morning," she said to Hermione.

"Hi," Hermione answered.

"I brought you some breakfast," Eileen said as she moved into the room and set the tray on Hermione's lap.

"Oh, thank you! You didn't need to do that!"

"Well, Miffy did it, actually, but Severus told me to make sure you got it."

Hermione chuckled as she took a piece of toast off the tray.

"No, really. He said to bring breakfast every morning because that would help him to get to work on time."

Hermione's eyes narrowed at Eileen. "I wouldn't have pegged you as a doting mother… no offense."

"None taken, and there's no doting to it. He told me what he needed, and I offered."

Hermione sipped her tea quietly as she mulled over what Eileen said.

Eileen sat on the side of the bed.

"Is there anything I can get you?"

Hermione shook her head. "No, I'm fine, really."

Eileen fished a small bag out of her pocket and enlarged it with her wand.

"Would you like to play Gobstones?"

Hermione grinned and nodded. Eileen pulled out the stones from the bag.

"I had to hunt these down. They were put away with all my other magical things."

"Was it hard?" Hermione asked.

Eileen's eyes met hers. She arched her eyebrow questioningly. Hermione saw Severus in that one small motion.

"To leave all your magic behind."

Eileen sighed. "I never really left it behind. I never use it in front of Tobias, but I do use magic. Nothing big, mind, but I do a little every day. I had to be very careful. I barely used it to teach Severus before he went to Hogwarts."

"From what I understand, he was well prepared to go to school."

Eileen gave a sharp nod. She looked down at the Gobstones.

"Things like these, though…" she motioned to the stones. "They had to be hidden away where Tobias wouldn't find them. A simple Notice-Me-Not spell on the box of my things keeps prying eyes from searching them out."

"Why does he hate magic so much?" Hermione asked.

Eileen sighed. "He expected me to make his life easy. He wanted me to make him rich. When I wouldn't, he became bitter and angry. He's never forgiven me."

"If he hates you, then why do you stay with him?"

Eileen frowned. "When I first met Tobias, I was in Muggle London. Tobias was in town visiting his aunt for the summer. We were both eighteen and fell in love almost at first sight. He found me attractive… probably the first man who did." Her eyes fell to her lap. "Maybe I was foolish to fall in love with him, but he had a silver tongue and made me feel so loved. When he asked me to marry him, I told him I was a witch. He didn't understand at first. I cast a few spells, and he was mesmerized."

She placed the stones on the bed and got up. She pulled the nearby chair close to the bed and sat in it.

"He thought it was the most wonderful thing he'd ever seen. I didn't quite understand what that meant to him. We got married, and we were happy for a couple of years. I got pregnant with Severus, and the extra money we needed to raise him just wasn't there. It was then that I learned what he thought my magic was for."

She fidgeted with her jumper, finally smoothing it out. "He wanted me to just make us rich. At least rich enough to not have to worry about supporting ourselves."

Her eyes came up to Hermione's. "I know it would have been easy to do it, but I couldn't. It would have been stealing. It was wrong, and I told Tobias that was how I felt. He never understood no matter how hard I tried to explain it to him. Something changed after that. He resented me and my magic. When I used it in front of him, he would get angry, so I just stopped doing it when he was around."

"Why does he beat you, Eileen?"

"He has a temper…"

"Severus has a temper as well. He's never touched me in that way."

Eileen nodded. "As well he shouldn't. He's not his father, thankfully."

"Eileen… you don't deserve to be treated the way he treats you."

Eileen was quiet for a very long time. Hermione waited in the silence, letting Eileen gather her thoughts. Finally, Eileen spoke.

"I don't know what to do," she said weakly.

Hermione waited some more.

A tear fell down Eileen's cheek. "I love him, and I know that deep down, he loves me."

Hermione scooted to the edge of the bed, moving her feet to the floor. She leaned forward and grasped Eileen's hand. She blinked back tears as she looked at Eileen.

"No one deserves to be beaten, Eileen. Part of him may love you, but he doesn't know how to show it. Love doesn't express itself by abuse."

"I'm not a good wife, Maia. He has no choice."

Hermione squeezed Eileen's hand and shook it. "Look at me!" she demanded.

Eileen's eyes snapped up to hers.

"You are his wife, not his property," Hermione continued. "You don't deserve this. If he truly loved you, he wouldn't beat you!"

Eileen withdrew her gaze and looked to her lap. She was quiet again for a very long time. Hermione reached out and gently touched the black and blue around her eye.

"Things like this should never happen. It's not love he feels for you, Eileen. This… this is not the sign of love."

Eileen pulled back as if slapped. "You don't understand," she ground out before she rose and moved away.

Hermione reached out to her to try and stop her, but Eileen evaded her grasp and rushed out of the room. Hermione debated following her, but she thought it might be better to let the woman think about what they'd discussed. She turned and got fully back into the bed, putting the Gobstones back into their bag and picking up her book. She wound up not reading it. She just stared at the door, worrying about Eileen and whether she'd gone too far.

oooOOOooo

Eileen knocked on the door a good time later. At Hermione's call for her to come in, she entered with a tray.

"I brought you lunch," she said in a clipped tone.

Hermione sat up and received the tray. Eileen had prepared a sandwich and crisps for her with a large glass of pumpkin juice.

"Thank you, Eileen. This sandwich is huge! I don't know if I can eat it all."

"Well, you're eating for two, so you'd better."

Hermione smiled at Eileen and began eating her lunch.

"I want to apologize for earlier," she said as she chewed. "It's not my business, and I didn't mean to upset you."

Eileen huffed. "No matter."

Hermione frowned. "Are you sure?" she asked tentatively.

Eileen's eyes met hers. "Maia, I appreciate you caring enough to say anything. What you said did mean something to me."

Eileen looked away and moved to the stack of books on Hermione's bedstand, concentrating on straightening them. She finally moved to the nearby chair and sat in it. Hermione ate, and they made small talk about the house. Hermione told her how it had helped them in the battle against Voldemort.

"I saw that in The Prophet. It sounds like it was a dangerous battle."

"Yes, it was, but the house really did help. Its sentience was critical in us winning."

Eileen looked around the room. "Does it bother you that it's listening to us?" she asked.

Hermione laughed. "Maybe a little, but we've been quite frank with it, and it seems to respect us. We've formed a bond with it, and even though it was odd at first, I've really grown to love it."

"I've always felt at home here, too." Eileen started laughing. "One day in the summer when I was home from Hogwarts between my sixth and seventh year, my beau came by. My father answered the door when he came and told him I couldn't see him." She looked up at Hermione. "It wasn't Tobias. It was a handsome Slytherin boy who was very full of himself."

"Was it a Malfoy?" Hermione said with a grin.

"No," Eileen responded while pointing her finger at Hermione. "But it could have been he was so cocky."

Eileen smiled to herself for a little bit. Coming back to the present, she shook her head lightly.

"Anyway, He thought he was being clever and tried to sneak into my room. My bedroom was upstairs in the other wing. He transfigured a stick into a ladder and tried to climb up. The house wouldn't let him lean the ladder against it. He kept trying, and the house eventually burned the ladder to ashes. My beau got so flustered and scared he left and wouldn't talk to me again until we got back to school!"

Eileen and Hermione laughed together. Hermione shook her head at Eileen's story.

"What was it like growing up in this house?" she asked Eileen.

Eileen sobered. "It was… we were… We were a Pureblood family. We all did what was expected of us. My parents were more concerned with propriety than with showing me they loved me. I know they did, but they weren't very demonstrative."

"So, they disowned you when you married Tobias?"

Eileen nodded. "I left here after Hogwarts and moved to London. The last time I was here, Tobias and I announced our engagement. My parents told me if I was insistent on marrying 'that Muggle,' I wasn't allowed back here again."

Hermione got to the edge of the bed and reached out to put her hand over Eileen's. "It must have been hard choosing between him and your family."

Eileen shook her head. "It wasn't, actually. I was so incensed with them that I told them they never loved me, stood up, and stormed out of the house. I never saw them again. After I calmed down, I did miss them, but I knew they'd never change their mind. It all goes back to propriety and appearances. By marrying a Muggle, I left my magical heritage behind me."

Eileen looked to her lap and Hermione's hand on hers. "That's why I can't leave him. Ending my marriage would mean I not only failed with my parents; I failed with my marriage as well. Breaking ties with my parents way back then would have been for nothing."

Hermione shook Eileen's hand slightly. "Walking away from your marriage doesn't mean you failed. It means he did." Hermione looked at Eileen, studying her intensely. "You can hardly call Severus a failure," she said finally.

Eileen's eyes snapped up to hers. "No, you're right. He's the only good thing that came of my folly."

"You love your husband. There's no folly in that. You just need to love yourself more."

"I'm not used to giving up, Maia."

"But you're not giving up. You're fighting for your own life and happiness."

"I know you mean well, but I can't leave him. I won't."

"Eileen, of course, it's your decision. The next time he beats you, would you at least come here?"

"I…"

"Promise me."

Eileen's shoulders sagged in defeat.

"All right, but he won't do it again. He gave me his word."

"Even I can see you don't believe that," Hermione said with a huff.

Eileen shrugged, and Hermione bit her lip so she didn't say anything caustic. Finally, she nodded. They sat there awkwardly for a bit before Hermione asked to play Gobstones with Eileen. They spent the rest of the afternoon laughing and getting covered in goo. They quickly cleaned everything up before Severus got home to see the mischief they'd gotten into.

oooOOOooo

The rest of the week passed by quickly, and the Healer had finally deemed Hermione well enough to move around the house on her own, not needing a chaperone.

Severus asked her to not return to work for at least another week as she wasn't supposed to Apparate for that timeframe, and he wanted her to not overexert herself. Hermione was going to argue against her staying home another week, but looking at the concern in his eyes, she had decided against it. Nodding at him, she rose from the breakfast table and held her hand out to him. He took it and rose with her and they began walking down the hallway.

He gave her a small grin. "Thank you." He drew her into his arms. "I thought that it was going to be much harder to convince you."

Hermione kissed him on the cheek. "I would rather get back to work, but another week off isn't going to hurt anything at the Ministry, and I don't want to risk anything with the baby."

Severus' gaze was filled with love for her. "You know I could never forgive myself if something happened to you, Maia."

"Severus, everything is fine. The baby is fine."

Severus' hand caressed her abdomen. "You're starting to show," he said with a smile.

Hermione cringed. "I'm already getting fat, you mean."

Severus narrowed his eyes at her. His gaze swept up from her feet all the way up to her face.

"Maia Snape, you are beautiful. I have always found you to be beautiful. The idea of our child growing inside of you fills me with wonder, and if I am fully honest… attraction to you. You are perfect."

Tears streamed down Hermione's cheeks, and she pulled Severus to her, covering him in kisses. She finally pulled back and wiped her eyes.

"Stupid hormones," she grumbled. Looking back into his eyes, she smiled. "I love you so much, Severus. I can't even really put into words how much I care about you."

Severus arched his eyebrow. "May I?" he asked.

They had a habit of looking into each other's minds when they felt they couldn't express what they wanted to say in words. She nodded, and he was in her mind in an instant. All her tender feelings for her husband were brought forward for him. Severus gasped but stayed in her mind for quite some time. When he finally withdrew, Hermione saw he was close to tears.

"Maia, I never hoped that anyone could feel even half of what you feel for me." His hand caressed her cheek. "It's your turn."

Hermione gave him a quizzical glance. "Really? I know you can be private, Severus. I don't want to intrude just because you feel like you owe it to me right now."

He continued to rub her cheek with his thumb. "Maia, I want you to know exactly how I feel about you. Please."

She smiled. "Legilimens," she whispered as she entered his mind.

She was enveloped in love. It surrounded her fully, caressing her, honoring her, making her feel desirable and wanted. She felt his passion for her, his love, and his devotion. She saw his previous insecurity about her loving him slowly dissipate with all they had been through, and finally wash away completely with his entry into her mind.

Everything he felt for her was wrapped up in his mind and given to her. Words could never express what he felt for her. They never would be able to, just like they were unable to convey her feelings about him. Still basking in his feelings for her, Hermione pulled herself to him and kissed him.

"Oh, Severus," she murmured as she showered him in kisses. "You are everything to me."

She felt him smirk against her mouth, and she smirked as well. Drawing back, she looked up into his eyes, which were smoldering as he gazed at her. He bent low and picked her up, proceeding to the stairs.

"Let's continue this upstairs, shall we?" he said huskily.

She kissed him again and didn't release him until he'd placed her gently on their bed. She caught her breath as she looked at him. He was looking at her with such devotion that she didn't need to be in his mind to know what he was feeling. Severus closed the distance between them and covered her mouth with his, lovingly pouring his emotions into the kisses he was bestowing upon her.

After a long while, he pulled back, and they gazed into each other's eyes. Each of them entered the other's mind, filling themselves with the other's attraction and love. Unable to control themselves any longer, they demonstrated their feelings for each other long into the night, their passion only increased by their mental link.