Chapter 22: A Rather Hopeless Situation
{A/N: Here's Another Update...}
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The Sinclair Residence, Unknown Location, Unknown World...
Humiliation from his latest experience had done little to endure Sidney's life to Severus Snape, it was a relatively good thing however that he had been well use to being humiliated following his experiences prior to the two wizarding wars. The moment he and Hermione returned home, he had been interested in simply going back to bed and acting as if the whole event never happened. Hermione on the other hand had been of the mind to call the matter into discussion, much to Snape's chagrin.
"Sidney..." she began.
Snape rolled his eyes as he took off his coat.
Even in this life she wasn't one to let things go, especially things that were none of her business.
"Before you start woman...know that I do not wish to have this discussion." he said annoyed.
"Something is going on with you...you never took male enhancement pills before." she said. "In fact you've been acting strange ever since the accident...I mean I understand that you may still be suffering from amnesia but..."
"The very point of me telling you that I do not wish to have this discussion was to illustrate that I do not wish to talk about this." growled Snape no longer in the mood to humor her. "Fucking insufferable know it all...always have to know every fucking thing about everyone every fucking minute...why can't you ever mind your fucking business!?"
Hermione looked at him stunned by the hostile tone he had taken with her. In all their years of marriage Sidney had never been one to lose his temper with her at least not directly.
"I was just trying to understand...what was happening to you." she said heartbroken.
"No one asked you to." hissed Snape still angry about being roped into the discussion he did not want to have in the first place. "LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE!"
With that Snape stormed off from the sitting room leaving a tearful Hermione behind.
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Hours Later...
The Kitchen, The Sinclair Residence, Unknown Location, Unknown World...
Severus Snape finally ventured from the garage in the late hours of the night unsure of how he would approach the situation with Hermione. It seemed all he had been capable of in terms of his marriage to her was hurting through the most ridiculous of way. Even in this life seeing the amber eyed girl cry was a step too far despite the fact that she always seemed to be looking to him for some sort of direction. The former Potions Professor sighed as he reached the sitting room seeing no sign of the tearful woman he had left during his fit of rage hours beforehand.
As he continued in the darkness, he heard her voice coming from the kitchen as she appeared to have been talking on the telephone.
{"No...I don't know where he's gone to."} she said in a sorrowful tone. {"I don't even know what I did that upset him so much...I just wanted to know why I have this awful feeling that...that he's slipping away somehow..."}
Snape sighed recalling a similar scene in his life time when he had overheard his mother trying two work out what she had done wrong in her relationship with Tobias to where he had been nothing but angry whenever she attempted to be close to him.
{"He's been complaining of terrible headaches for quite a while now."} said Hermione as she continued to talk to whomever had been on the other end of the telephone. {"Yes, I've taken him to the doctor...Remus says it's possibly due to the fall he had when trying to put up the holiday lights..."}
Snape rolled his eyes knowing full well what Sidney Sinclair had been doing on the roof top that day and it wasn't at all to decorate the house for the Holidays. The former Potions Professor had barely noticed that she was still crying from his explosion of temper when they returned from the hospital.
{"I know that mother...but it's just...that I love him so much and we nearly lost him twice already...with the accident and him nearly freezing in the snow a week a back...and today...I...I just don't know what to do."} continued Hermione as she spoke to her mother. {"He hates me...and I don't know what I did to make him feel that way...Do you suppose he's angry that I'm not her...he's never given any indication about such a thing before but...he loved her first..."}
Hearing this, Snape could take no more and ventured into the kitchen. He had not meant to hurt her the way Tobias had hurt Eileen in his time despite being enraged by the entire situation he found himself in. His lack of respect for the idiot muggle Sidney had been no excuse for breaking the hearts of his clueless family members.
Hermione gasped when she felt the arms of her current husband wrap around her body as he pulled her close to him.
"I'm sorry." he said kissing her neck. "I should never have taken that out on you...but I told you that I didn't wish to discuss anything with you when we arrived."
"I'm sorry I ignored your wishes." replied Hermione turning her attention to him. "It's just..."
Snape leaned down and captured the inquisitive young woman's lips in a timidly apologetic kiss before releasing her to her phone call and making his way out of the kitchen and toward their bedroom.
Hermione sighed seeming to have been as exhausted as he looked in that moment.
{"Yes mother, I'm still here...yes that was Sidney...he came to apologize."} she said continuing her conversation. {"No, he just seemed to be very tired...I think he's gone to bed..."}
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The Bedroom, The Sinclair Residence, Unknown Location, Unknown World...
Severus Snape lied on his back in the center of the bed he shared with his young wife for the time being. His dark eyes seemed to burn into the ceiling as he contemplated his fruitless efforts to understand the point of whatever reason he found himself living the life of another man. In some ways it had been like when he'd been a spy for both The Order Of Phoenix and within the ranks of The Dark Lord's Army. He knew whom he truly was and how he had gotten to this place but then came the responsibility of keeping up the charade for the sake of those around him. It appeared that nothing much had changed and being between two worlds had been an inevitable draw for him.
He certainly had a new part to play, being a man dying of a terminal illness with a family to care for while maintaining the secret of his true identity and the secrets of the man he had been replacing.
For a long time he'd been angry about Sidney's notable cowardice in ending his life without telling the truth to his loved ones but he also knew how much they doubted on him and what devastation it would cause if they found out not only that he was dying but that he had planned to take his own life.
With an exhausted sigh, Severus Snape put a hold on his contemplation of a rather hopeless situation and turned his attention to what he could actually accomplish. Sidney had three sons and a lovely daughter that needed the love and attention of a father even if he had not been there and Hermione seemed to be desperately competing with a ghost of the past to prove her love for the man and it was only making her miserable.
Given Sidney's days being number due to illness, Snape knew he didn't have much time if he was going to turn things around...or at the very least make an attempt to. Not for his sake as he had desired in the past, nor even for Sidney's given he didn't deserve their love and forgiveness in Snape's eyes but for them to at least have the final moments they spent with the man they thought they knew be something other than miserable.
