Disclaimer; I own nothing.
A/N Hi all! Here is the next chapter you have been waiting for (Drumroll please!) Happy reading and don't forget to review.
Rage and Divorce
Steven was working when the owl appeared at the window. He rang up his customer who had kind words to say to him about Hermione's absence, before retrieving the message from the owl. His eyes scanned the words three times before it sunk in. 'Divorce' he thought. Oh no, no divorce for him. He crumpled the paper and called one of his employees over, instructing them to man the store while he went to the ministry and sorted it all out. He apperated with a pop and landed in the ministry lobby. He stormed off towards the Auror offices, crumpled note still clutched in his hand. The door flung open and several stunned Aurors stopped what they were doing and looked up. He marched right over to Harry's desk.
"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?" he yelled to Harry. Several of his co-workers moved closer in case he needed assistance.
"I think it is pretty self-explanatory Mr. Shanly. Hermione has decided she had enough of your abuse, and wants a divorce. Any questions?" he smirked in Steven's direction.
"Don't you fucking smirk at me. Where is she? Where is my wife?" he slammed his fists down on the desk. Harry just looked at him. He had faced Voldemort, nothing could be worse than that.
"I don't know where she is, and if I did, I still wouldn't tell you. I ran into her at the market a week before she ran off. She looked terrible mate, thin, covered in bruises and I thought what kind of a coward would hit a woman half his size. Then I remembered you, at your wedding."
"My wedding? How would you know anything about that?"
"Well I am glad to see that you are not as smart as you look. I was at your wedding; I was Hermione's best friend in school. Harry Potter." he lifted his hair to reveal a lightning bolt scar deep red on his forehead. Steven stepped back a bit.
"Harry Potter? I should have recognized you from the beginning. I want to speak to your supervisor. You are hiding her from me. You have always fancied her haven't you?" he was speaking in an eerily even calm tone.
"No, she was like my sister, and then I got a letter, telling me and Ron to stay away. I never knew why until today. Besides, my supervisor knows I was her friend and gave me the go ahead to call off the search and file for divorce on her behalf. Now if you don't mind, I have paperwork to file." Harry said turning to his pile of parchment on the desk.
Stevens face was a shocking color of red.
"You fucking tell me where she is right now or I'll…"
His words were broken by a crowd of Aurors surrounding Harry's desk, wands pointed readily at Steven's throat. He gave a look of contempt to the group before turning on his heel to leave.
He walked down the hallway towards the lobby. He was fuming with rage. How dare that little bitch tell everyone about their private life! Her punishments were well deserved. She was a useless woman, who needed strict discipline to know what to do and how to do it. She had never really mastered that in the bedroom however, she usually laid there like a lump. That's why he sought out alternatives. But back to her, she thinks she is getting a divorce? Not in this lifetime. He would play the good husband and tell the council she is accident prone, and that Potter is lying to cover up for his friend. Then, when she is forced to come home, well let's just say that those two days she spent in the basement last time would be gravy compared to his plans. He walked outside and then apperated home to begin the plans.
Meanwhile Hermione and Draco were having a rough day. Everything he did was wearing on her nerves. He was reading a book in the chair by the window when she shouted;
"Could you keep it down?"
He looked up startled. All he had done was turn a page.
"What is your problem Granger?" he asked in his old way.
"You over there making all that racket. It is driving me mad. Now please, keep it down." she went back to her book. He rolled his eyes at her before returning to his reading. She had been biting his head off all morning since Harry left. He had a sneaking suspicion that she was upset about their activities last night. She had said she was ok with it all, but deep inside he could see that internal war between the good, chaste, would never commit adultery Hermione, and the lustful, calling out his name in between orgasms Hermione. Clearly she had issues. The day passed ever so slowly since his only company was presently not speaking to him. He stood up and stretched before leaving the room to get their dinner order in. When he came back up she was in tears.
"What's the matter?" he asked.
"Nothing, just go."
"It must be something."
"Nothing you can help with."
"Try me."
"No."
"Why?"
"Because."
"Fine, don't tell me." he said, standing to walk to the other side of the room.
"Hold on, the problem is you. That's why I can't tell you."
"What did I do now?' he said sitting back down.
"You didn't do anything, it's me. I am being silly about last night." she looked sheepishly down at the rug.
"There was nothing silly about last night. We both are adults, and we had fun, well at least I hope you did."
She nodded tearfully.
"So are you having some kind of moral dilemma?" he asked.
"What do you mean?"
"Well you are clearly upset by what happened. So either you feel guilty since you are still married, which you shouldn't because your husband is an ass."
She smiled at that.
"Or I was that terrible last night and now you wish you had not been with me."
"That's not it at all."
"Then what?" he asked getting annoyed.
"I don't know what to feel. I need to be more in control of my emotions, and right now, I am not. It's not all you either. Something happened a while back, something I have had trouble getting over" tears fell fast and free. He looked around the room uncomfortably.
"Do you want to tell me about it?" she shook her head no.
"You don't need to dwell on your emotions right now. Just concentrate on your divorce, then you can find what you are feeling." he tried to hug her but she shrunk away into the couch. He took that as a cue to leave her be.
Back at Hermione's house Steven was making his plans. He was down the basement, waving his wand. He stood back looking at his work. Floor to ceiling bars, strong lock. Nice. He would enjoy sticking her in here when he went to work, and now he decided after sex, he would put her back down here as well. He smirked as he tested the strength of the bars. Perfect. The rest of the basement had been cleared of all things. Blank walls, windows boarded up. Nothing for her to look at or do. She always wanted mind stimulation, and this would totally drain her of any and all will to live. Then she would finally be broken. He was still fuming over Potter. Of course, she saw him and her will came back to her. That would not happen again. He had been much too lenient of course. He considered putting a toilet in with her and a blanket, but he decided against it in the end. He would make her earn a blanket, and beg for bathroom rights. He smiled at the thought of her down here, all to himself. She would do things she had not been willing to do in the past. And, if possible he wanted to get her pregnant as soon as possible. She had put this off for three long years, saying she didn't feel like she was ready to be a mother. He had complied, wanting her for himself for a while, but this was getting out of hand. She had gotten pregnant on accident once, about a year after their wedding. He was happy but she moped about the house like a beaten house-elf. Finally in anger he had pushed her down the steps, and she lay on the bottom landing, bleeding. He walked by smirking and told her to clean herself up and get his dinner. He heard her crying back up the stairs and after an hour she came back down eyes red from crying. He looked at her and yelled;
"WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU CRYING? YOU DIDN'T WANT THE LITTLE BASTARD ANYWAY NOW DID YOU?"
It took another 12 hours of being locked in the basement before she snapped out of it and got back to the routine. He had not wanted to harm his child, but he wasn't going to have his wife walking around like a fucking zombie. It had been almost 2 years since that incident. He was finished now, and walked back upstairs to plan the next phase of his plan.
Harry worked away on his piles of papers. He had to do all of his regular work, give a press statement to the Daily Prophet on Hermione's disappearance, and file her divorce papers to the Marriage council. He started writing.
Name; Hermione Granger Shanly
Address; 3434 Maple Lane, London
Occupation; Homemaker
Date of Marriage; June 12, 2002
Spouse's name; Steven Shanly
Reason for divorce; Abuse, rape.
Witnesses you wish to call; Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy, Vendors in London's outdoor market, but since they are muggles I will request their testimony in writing.
Type of hearing requested, check one;
X Disillusion (no children or property involved.
Divorce with children and property.
Divorce with no children, but mutual property.
Annulment, a marriage of less than one year.
I swear before this council that the statements I make are true to the best of my knowledge and with no uncertainty and may be presented in trial.
Signature
There, he looked over the paperwork, and owled it to Hermione, she needed to look it over and sign it before he could present it to the council. He looked out the window after the owl and sat back down to write his press release to the Prophet. An hour later he was walking to the lobby to meet the reporters, luckily Rita Skeeter had been fired years ago, but some of the new reporters were just as bad.
"Thank you for coming, Ladies and Gentlemen. If I can have your full attention, I will fill you in on the status of the case. You may ask questions afterwards if there is time."
There was a clamor in the crowd, and then silence.
"Earlier today, Hermione Granger Shanly sought me out. She wanted to clear things up about the supposed kidnapping. She in fact had not been kidnapped, but left her husband and went into hiding."
There was a gasp from the crowd.
"She told me that her husband of 3 years, Steven Shanly had consistently abused and raped for the duration of their marriage. She had finally had enough and left. She has been in hiding ever since. I witnessed the bruises and cuts on her a week before her disappearance, and just this morning Mr. Shanly came into the Auror office and threatened me in front of my co-workers. Until the divorce is final, Hermione Shanly will be in hiding and unavailable for comment. Thank you. I will take your questions now." Harry pointed at a squat witch in the front row.
"Mr. Potter, how is it you noticed her bruises and alleged abuse a week before her disappearance?"
"Well," Harry said "I ran into her in an outdoor market in muggle London. Next?"
"We have reports that you knew Miss Granger/Shanly from school, is that true?"
"Yes, but it has nothing to do with this case, moving on."
"What kind of alleged abuse is Mrs. Shanly claiming?"
"The kind that will be kept private until the divorce is final. Anything else?"
"Yes, did she plan to go into hiding on her own, or did she have help from, let's say a lover?"
"No, she planned it on her own, and she has no lover. This is strictly a case of outright abuse. Thank you. Have a nice day." Harry waved them off.
"Damn barracudas." he smirked walking back up to his office.
An owl was furiously tapping on Draco's window.
"It's from Harry." he said tossing the letter to Hermione. She opened it right away and read over the contents.
"Its my divorce papers, I have to sign them."
He jumped up and handed her a quill.
"There you go."
She hesitated, point of the quill resting on the spot where she should be signing. She began to bite her lower lip.
"Go on sign." he nudged her arm, but she shot him a nasty look.
"I don't know." she said quietly. "Maybe he can change, he seemed awful worried about me in the Prophet." she tapped the quill on the paper repeatedly.
"My father was always nice to my mother for a few days after a blow up, but it never stopped, not until he died. But you do what you want, if you like that sort of thing, then by all means go back to him." he said bitterly.
"It's not that, but divorce?" she said, eyes wide, looking at Draco looking for comfort. That didn't come. He was annoyed that she would even consider going back after all that had happened, after the incident at the club. He just shook his head.
"It is your decision what to do with your life." he said flatly. She sat there staring for a moment longer, before penning her name to the papers, and sending them off along with her wedding ring, with Draco's owl.