The shouts coming from downstairs were enough to make anyone scream in fear. Hermione lay on her bed, curled into a tight ball, nursing the new bruise on her face, and listening to her mother and him arguing. It was Hermione he wanted to see, Hermione who seemed to be the cause of his anger tonight. She hadn't gone down when she heard him bursting through the door, drunk, the knowledge of being hurt of she went down already planted deep into her memory. She just had to wait it out, and hope to God that her mother wouldn't be hurt. It was when she hard his feet pounding on the stairs, that she realized he wasn't interested in hurting her mother anymore. No, he was bored of that; he needed a new target.
He had smashed through the door like an angry rhino, bellowing at her, and waving his arms around manically. She couldn't make out the exact words he was shouting, as he slurred them drunkenly, but she caught three of the words as he spat them spitefully. Not my daughter. Not my daughter. He kept repeating those words again and again, as he strode towards her, his eyes wide and bulging with anger.
Hermione shrunk away as far as she could from him, fiery tears forcing their way into existence. Her mother was pulling at his arm, trying desperately to turn his attention to her, afraid for her daughter, but he didn't pay any attention, just brushed her off carelessly. He was intent on making his anger known, in anyway he deemed needed. He moved right up close to her, and screamed something unrecognizable into her face, before scrunching his hand into a tight fist.
Time seemed to slow for all three of them as he brought his hand forward towards her face. Hermione watched it, terribly afraid as it came towards her eye. The pain didn't come for a second after his hand made contact with her face, a second that lasted for eternity. Then, all of a sudden, a horrific stringing took over her right eye, making her bring her hand up to her face to cover it, and her eye to screw up in pain. That was enough for her mother. Finding strength from nowhere, she grabbed his shoulder and turned him around to face her, screaming obscenities at him. Hermione only caught a few of them, all her concentration on her eye.
His need for revenge on Hermione fulfilled, he turned his attention to his screaming wife; another target. He begun to lumber towards her, but she backed out through the door, still shouting and cursing at him, leading him away from her daughter and downstairs. Hermione climbed onto her bed and curled into a small ball, holding her legs up to her face, and crying silently.
The war downstairs carried on, the awful screams echoing up to Hermione, who desperately tried to block them out, to ignore the fact that she was living in World War three for one night, just one, so she could have a decent night's sleep for once. It was driving her crazy, and she was fed up of it. The yells of Adrian Granger drowned out her mother's.
"No more, please. No more of this. Stop yelling please, stop it." She whispered into the pillow.
All of a sudden, there was silence in the house. Hermione's ears pricked of their own accord, listening desperately. Fears chased themselves around her brain, each more crazy than the last. Had he hurt her? Had he hurt her so much that she couldn't speak? Had he killed her? She trembled in fear as she waited.
She didn't have to wait long. Soon there were footsteps on the stairs again, but quieter this time, lighter. Hermione couldn't help flinching at the sound. Jill walked in and sat next to her daughter, putting her hand on her trembling back, feeling her start again.
"Hermione? It's me."
Slowly, her daughter took her face out of the pillow. Her eyes were red and puffy, and her cheeks were striped with dried tears. Blackness was already clouding around her eye, as she watched her mother warily.
"He's gone Hermione." She smiled at her daughter and kissed the top of her head. "It's just us."
Her daughter nodded slowly, as if the information wasn't registering as quickly as it should, as if she was still unsure. Jill moved up closer to her daughter, who sat up and leaned against her mother, fresh tears leaking into her clothes. Jill put her arm around her daughter and kissed her head again, reassuring her, even though she was crying too, desperate tears of longing. Longing to be rid of him, rid of the only thing she couldn't let go.
"It's going to be alright, isn't it, mum? Isn't it?" Hermione sounded like a toddler desperate for something to grasp onto. She needed to see the light at the end of the tunnel, as it seemed to be covered now. Jill didn't know what to say. If she said yes, and it turned out that nothing became alright, what sort of guilt would she feel?
"Yes Hermione, it's going to fine."
The conversation had switched from an hour ago; it was now Hermione who wanted the advice, and her mother who was giving it. It felt alien to the both of them, as it had been the other way round since Hermione was fifteen, since the fights had started, but it was the way it should be, and a strange sort of contentment settled in both of them. So much so, that Hermione fell asleep leaning against her mother.
Jill laid her daughter gently onto her bed, and watched her for a moment. There was a peaceful smile residing on her face, as different from the absolute terror as Adrian hit her as a lamb is different from a lion. Forcing that picture out of her mind, Jill went down to the kitchen to see if there was anything remotely normal to do. As she moved down the stairs slowly, she noted that one of the boards creaked. She would have to ask Adrian to see to it. No, wait, he wouldn't have anything to do with her.
Finding nothing to do, she went to sit at the scrubbed wooden breakfast table. She loved Adrian with a deep passion, yet she hated him with the same passion. Passionate love could turn into hate, she reasoned, there was a very thin line between them. She had thought of leaving before, and taking Hermione with her. Just upping and going all of a sudden. See how he liked to wash and cook for himself. But whenever she had planned everything out, and she was sure she hated him more than anything, he did something for her – brought her some flowers or some tickets to the theatre. Then she would falter, and tell herself that he really wasn't that bad, and discard her plans as spur of the moment rubbish.
I was naïve; your love was like candy
Artificially sweet, I was deceived by the wrapping
Got caught in your web and I learned how to bleed
I was prey in your bed and devoured completely
And it hurts my soul 'cause I can't let go all these walls are cavin' in
I can't stop my sufferin'
I hate to show that I've lost control 'cause I
I keep going right back to the one thing that I need
To walk away from
I should have know that I was used for amusement
Couldn't see through the smoke; it was all an illusion
Now I've been lickin' my wounds, but the venom seeps deeper
We both can seduce but darling you hold me prisoner
Oh I'm about to break, I can't stop this ache
I'm addicted to your allure, and I'm fiendin' for a cure
Every step I take leads to one mistake
I keep going right back to the one thing that I need
I'm about to break and I can't stop this ache, getting nothing in return
What did I do to deserve the pain of this slow burn?
And everywhere I turn I keep going right back to the one thing that I need
To walk away from
Every time I try to gasp for air, I am smothered in despair it's never over, over
Seems I'll never wake from this nightmare, I let out a silent pray
Let it be over, over
Inside I'm screaming, begging, pleading no more
No what to do, my heart has been bruised, so sad but it's true
Each beat reminds me of you
And it hurts my soul 'cause I can't let go all these walls are cavin' in
I can't stop my sufferin'
I hate to show that I've lost control 'cause I
I keep going right back to the one thing that I need, Oh
Oh I'm about to break, I can't stop this ache
I'm addicted to your allure, and I'm fiendin' for a cure
Every step I take leads to one mistake
I keep going right back to the one thing that I need, Oh
I can't mend this torn state I'm in
Getting nothing in return what I do to deserve
The pain of this slow burn
And everywhere I turn I keep going right back
To the one thing that I need to get away from
*
Disclaimer: I own Harry Potter????? YAY *runs to bank and gets out millions of pounds from blatant merchandising but finds nothing except a spider web* Damn, I've been taken by those damn stupid adverts again. 'You can own Harry Potter with this or that.'
Right, only four pages. Not that long. But it is Easter. Happy Easter everyone! *Throws chocolate eggs at everyone who has reviewed*
Thanks:
Redone: Thanks for pointing that out. It's kinda part of the plot for it to be like that though so I can't really change it. Can't say anymore.
kittygirl1220: Don't be annoyed. I have the next chapter up!
sammis: Thanks!
Rufus: Thanks!
Lucent: Cool name.
Silverstar: Thank-you!
JLF: Are you sure your name isn't JKR?
JoeBob1379: I've fixed that little mistake at the end of chappie 3 now. I laughed when you pointed it out to me. And yes, Dumbledore is a little older than 150.
Dragoneyes: Thanks!
Silindro: I don't think a lot of people saw it coming. That's the beauty of it.
piper: I've been dying for a review from you. I've seen you all over this section. Thanks for reviewing.
eris wannabe: Actually I hadn't spotted the thing with lunatic. Ah well.
Daria-B: Are you usually talkative?
Bunny: That is such a sweet name!
Li-Chan: You will have to wait I'm afraid. Is your name Chinese?
Luna-Elentari: When you're listening to something like that, little things don't really register. It's like when you're listening to someone telling you that someone's dead. You don't really listen to how after you've been told their dead. Or at least, I don't.
Jade: Yes, this is a SS/HG romance.
azabeth99: Like I said to Luna-Elentari, you don't really register the little things. Well done for spotting that though.
Meriadoc/Celithrathien: Hmm, it does kinds ruin it, but that has something to do with the plot.
Laylana-Fairyweather: Wow! I didn't think it was that good.
Rain: Thanks!
Doneril: More will be explained later.
Amber: Thanks for reviewing.
Flamekitty: Food? No, that's things like chocolate and chocolate cake and chocolate ice-cream. As hard as I tried I couldn't get the monitor in my mouth, let alone chew. I was reduced to sucking on the screen. No, not like that!
Riley: I thought Remus would make a good daddy too. He just seems that type.
Silvermoon: They do have a lot of similarities don't they? It's like JKR meant it to happen in canon. Ooh, scary thought.
PatsySO: Thanks! I'm not sure many people were expecting it actually. That's the fun.
Jen_the_writer: Wicked!
Sarah Riddle: Ha! You shall just have to wait and see.
Minerva of Tortall: Breathe, breathe. It's not that good.
SperryDee: Thanks!
Alley: Thanks.
michelline: Thanks!
If I've missed anyone off, I am eternally sorry. I have typing cramp now. It's a bit like writing cramp except your fingers hurt instead.
As you will know, it is the Easter hols at the mo, but in exactly 1 week I will be off to school again (boo!) and won't be able to update as much. I'm telling you this now so you don't kill me when I take forever to update. I promise I will update at least once a week. Oh yeah, and the song is Walk Away by Christina Aguilera. How can you fit so many brilliant songs onto one album?
Redstrawberry900.