TW: Domestic Violence.
A silver glittering stream of moonlight shone through the darkened room, bathing the girl in its magnificent glow casting muted shadows upon his bedroom wall. She stood idly before the naked man, watching him with intent. Her stomach did backflips as she stood beneath his hungry gaze. She saw the slight rise of a brow and the flicker of want as it crossed his face as tongue swiped across his lips in anticipation.
He wanted nothing more than to lay her down in his bed and make love to her for the night. She was intoxicating and made him want her even more now he had a small sampler only a mere hour ago. There was nothing he would rather do right now than sinking himself deep within her, to feel her hot breath on his skin and the striking of her nails upon his bare flesh as she mewled softly in his ear in ecstasy.
Glacially, she slipped her white dress off, letting it slide down her legs smoothly before it hit the floor she was standing on. She slumped her shoulders just so and angled her body away from the man once she was fully exposed under his gaze.
Eyes raking over her form, he froze for a second, feeding off her uncertainty. and he wondered what had changed between leaving the pub, to getting to his home and he prayed to Merlin that she wasn't having second thoughts or deep feelings of remorse. His heart couldn't take another blow like that.
"Are you ok?" His deep silken voice reverberated across the room, causing her to jump slightly.
"It's just…" she trailed off, sighing deeply, "It's just that last time you saw me naked. I was a lot thinner and toned, and now I'm a little fatter and my stomach is marred with stretch marks. I understand if you don't want me anymore…" She trailed off as tears pricked hotly at the corner of her eyes. She wasn't even going to wipe them away and pretend she wasn't crying.
He stepped forward, closing the space between them. Cupping her chin, he lifted her head softly, so she was looking at him. "Hermione," he began, "you are as beautiful now as you were the first night I slept with you, if not more so now. You carried a child, my child, for nine months in your body and if I was to be repulsed by such a selfless act, I wouldn't be much of a man. Now I don't know what your husband says to you about the way you look, but I think you are perfect."
It was foreign to her having a male tell her she was beautiful and treat her with respect. He and Ron were like day and night in their attitude and ways they treated her, and she realised just now she was an idiot to stay with Ron for so long when she could've had a better relationship with Severus.
"You deserve so much more than your husband ever gave you, Hermione. You deserve the world; you deserve to be loved unconditionally for the person you are and not the person he wants you to be."
She sniffed hard and smiled. "Thank you."
He leaned in, lips brushing lips feather-light she melted against his fiery touch. Enveloping her tightly in his arms, a hand cupped her arse tightly as he relished in the feeling of her warm flesh against his own as he guided her to the bed before gently leaning her down upon the mattress. She looked up at him with innocence as he loomed over her dauntingly, watching her.
Pushing her with a hand on her shoulder she lay horizontally across the bed, knee's bent and feet flat on the floor Severus, straddling her, his own knees on the bed he devoured her body whole, kissing every inch of the sweet bare flesh that he could reach, intoxicated by her sweet taste, his cock stiffened at the thought of sheathing himself within her.
"You're amazing," he whispered breathlessly in her ear. "You're amazing and you're mine," he growled low in his throat before peppering her collarbone with fervent kisses.
o-o-o-o
Hermione sat up in bed faster than she had ever moved in her life. Heart pounding hard against her chest, she looked frantically around the room for a clock. "I wasn't meant to fall asleep," she whispered to herself. She hazarded a guess that by the violet sky and the orange haze of the rising sun it was about six in the morning.
Severus stirred, opening his eyes groggily as he sat up beside her. "What's wrong?"
"I've got to go. I wasn't meant to fall asleep here with you. I need to get Lincoln," she said in a fluster, throwing the blankets off her and making a move to spring out of the bed.
"Hermione." A hand shot out, grabbing her by the wrist and pulling her back down into the bed. "Calm down. Lincoln is fine."
"Ron," she barked out amidst her panic attack, "he will be home soon and will wonder where I am."
"When do you plan on telling him about us?" Severus pushed gently, releasing her wrist.
"Today some time. I wanted to break it to him gently. I don't think me sneaking home doing the walk of shame is the best way to let him know I've been out all-night sleeping with another man," she sighed, frustrated.
"Do you want me to come with you?" Severus asked with genuine concern.
Her head shook slowly. "No. It's something I have to do alone. If you were there, it would only add fuel to the fire. I have to let him down gently." She inhaled a shuddery breath as her mind cast to the task at hand. How would she do this?
"Hermione, you are about to tell a man, your husband, that you have not only cheated on him, but you are also leaving him for another man and then to lay the boot in just a little more and pour salt into those fresh wounds, you need to inform him the child he assumed was his son isn't. He's going to be irate, and I don't trust him."
"I appreciate your concern, Severus, but this is something I need to do on my own. I've been married to Ron long enough now to know how to handle him. There is a certain way I need to go about telling him and if you were there, he would see no reason." She stood up and gathered her clothes and dressed quickly. "I promise you I will come back here with our son, and we can start a life together. It will be rough for a while with the rumour mill running at full speed given the profile of Ron in our world, but eventually, it will all calm down."
"I don't like it, but I will accept your better judgement on the matter," he agreed begrudgingly. "I'll be waiting here patiently for you."
"Thank you, Severus," she whispered, leaning down she place a chaste kiss upon his lips before pulling herself back up to full height. "For everything."
"Mmm," he hummed deep in his throat, knowing exactly what she meant. Not only was she thanking him for letting her go alone, but she was thanking him for helping her see where she was better off and breaking the shackles on a life she was merely existing in.
o-o-o-o-o
Shakily, her hand grasped the brass doorknob to her own home. Rooted to the spot, she willed herself to turn the handle, but her hand wouldn't function. Swallowing hard, she forced herself to turn the handle and walk into the house. Hopefully, she could sneak in, shower, pick up Lincoln and make it back home before Ron had even set foot in the door.
Closing the door softly behind her, she hurried down the hall and through the kitchen, placing her wand that she had been clutching tightly onto the bench before heading towards their bedroom. Taking large, quick steps, she jumped and stopped quickly when Ron stepped out of Lincoln's nursery and blocked her path.
"Where were you?" Ron asked coldly, looking his wife up and down with a repulsed look on his face.
"H… Here?" She questioned rather than stating.
"Bullshit!" Ron bellowed. "I've been home for hours and you weren't anywhere to be seen. Who were you fucking last night?" He bit venomously, with contempt.
"Ron," she dropped her voice softly. "We need to talk."
Ron's face fell instantly. "Please, for all that is holy, do not tell me it's Snape."
"Ron." Her tone was steady as she raised a brow.
"I knew it." What little colour he had in his face drained till he was as white as a bedsheet. "Of all the people in the world you could've slept with, you chose him. What, is his cock bigger than mine?" He spat viciously.
"Not that it matters in the grand scheme of things, Ron, but yes, it is."
"It's ok Hermione. We can work through this. We can put this behind us and move on together. You made a mistake and I forgive you." He made a move to hug her, but she stepped back away from him.
"Ron. I can't do this anymore. Us. I can't. I'm living a lie and you've sucked all the happiness out of me. Living with you is complete and utter torture. It's like living with a dementor if I am being honest."
"But I love you," he rasped, voice cracking as he spoke. His bottom lip quivered with vigour.
"Ron," she levelled, "don't make this harder than it has to be. I don't love you anymore."
"How can you love him? He's a Death Eater, Hermione," he pled. "I need you to love me. Love me, Hermione," he choked out as he pushed back tears that were threatening to fall down his freckled cheeks. "Mione," he begged, "love me."
"Ron, I can't help who I'm falling in love with," her voice a strained whisper. Turning her head just so she didn't want him to see the tears of penitence falling like tiny crystals down his red cheeks. "I never meant for any of this to happen."
"You slept with him for one night and you've decided you are going to leave me over a one-night stand. Hermione, none of this makes no sense."
She shifted uncomfortably on the spot and looked sheepishly at the ground, never daring to look up and into his eyes because the pain that would swim deep within them would send her over the edge. She may not love him anymore, but she still felt guilt.
"It's more than once, isn't it?" He stepped forward, wrapping long, slender fingers around her chin as he pulled her head up, forcing her to look at him. He didn't do it with the gentleness and lovingness that Severus did, instead, it was rough and careless, and she knew at that moment she had made the right decision.
She didn't even have to answer him because the look on her face and the guilt deep in her eyes told him all he needed to know.
"When? When was the first time?" He asked with a curious upward inflection, still holding her chin hard.
"Last year when we had that fight, and you went to the world cup. I was angry and upset and he was just there. One thing led to another and before I knew it, I was under him in his bed."
Ron paled again, digging his fingers hard into her chin. "Is Lincoln mine?" He asked so softly Hermione wasn't exactly sure what he said at first.
"Is. Lincoln. Mine?" He asked again, punctuating every word harshly, stray pieces of spittle hitting her abruptly on the cheek.
"No," was all she could force herself to mutter. "He's Severus's," her voice cracked and waned.
"Will you listen to yourself standing there calling him Severus? The damn man has brainwashed you well and good. I don't believe for one second Lincoln is his. You are just trying to take away every little thing from my life. Did he put you up to this?"
"Ron. He's not yours," she said with an eerie calmness. "I can show you. I'll go get him from your mums." She stepped back, pulling her chin from his grasp.
Ron folded his arms tightly across his chest. "He's in his crib sleeping, Hermione. While you were too busy off being a slut and sleeping around, I was here with my son, caring for him."
"I'll show you, Ron. I've been using a glamour." She went to step around him, but he blocked her. She tried again, and he stepped in front of her again.
"Let me get my son," she spoke through gritted teeth, voice shaking as she spoke.
"No. You're not taking my son away from me." He stepped forward, pushing Hermione two steps back down the hall and away from Lincoln's nursery.
"Ron!" she snarled harshly. "Let me pass."
"No!" He roared, his voice tearing through the house with the ferocity of a lion's roar.
Hermione swallowed hard. Determination crossed her face as she stepped forward, closing any gap between the two of them. She was a head and shoulders shorter than her husband and a lot weaker, but she would not back down, not when her son was in the equation.
"What are you going to do, Hermione? You can't overpower me. Step back before you get hurt."
"Move!" she screamed, pushing Ron with all her might. He stumbled backwards three steps before catching himself.
"You move!" He snarled back. Laying a palm flat on her breastbone, he pushed her with all the force his muscles would produce.
Stumbling back, she felt herself collide hard with a wall; the plasterboard shattering upon impact. Shakily and slowly, she rose to her feet and turned on her heel. She needed to get her wand from the kitchen. Her body ached and shook with heavy sobs.
She could hear him bounding along behind her. She didn't care to look back. Reaching the kitchen, she skidded across the floor, making a reach for her wand as she slid past the bench and missed. Strong arms enveloped her, pinning her arms to her sides, catching her just before she fell to the floor.
She saw out of the corner of her eye he grabbed her wand off the bench with his left arm, keeping his right tight to her body. Wrapping his arm back around her, he held her wand in both hands in front of her as he still held her tight and snapped it clean in half as if were little more than a toothpick.
"You won't be needing that," he panted in her ear, tossing the two broken pieces onto the tiled floor with a soft clatter. Pink sparks flew from the break site before fizzling out to nothing.
"You need to sort yourself out, Hermione. You are my wife. You married me. You love me." He spun her around harshly, so she was facing him. Leaning down, he tried to kiss her.
Hermione didn't know what to do. She was weaker and smaller, and her wand was broken. She had a bit of magic within her she could use without a wand, but it took a lot of energy, and she didn't want to spend herself.
Doing the only thing she could think of right in the heat of the moment, she drew her head back quickly and thrust it forward with every ounce of strength she could muster, head butting him hard in the lips.
Hissing loudly, he released her for a moment as the stab of teeth sliced through flesh. "You are a fucking slut," he howled, grasping her shoulder just as she turned to run.
Wrapping a hand tightly around her neck, his long fingers dug harder and harder into the flesh of her delicate throat. "Where is he?" Ron scoffed. "not even around to save the day." Fingers dug tighter into her trachea. A small pop emitted from beneath his fingers as he used every bit of his strength. He wanted her to her like she had hurt him. He wanted her to suffer and break just as he was right in this moment.
"R…Ro…n," Hermione choked out, breathless. Trying to stay calm on the outside, she was panicking on the inside. Severus wouldn't come looking for her this early in the piece and by the time he did she could be dead.
"You are pathetic, Hermione." In one fluid motion, he flung her hard to the floor. Head hitting tiles, she became dizzy instantly and felt like vomiting. Throat burning with pain as she gasped for air, tears fell hotly down her cheeks. Was this how she was going to die?
Deep wheezing filled the air as she struggled in vain to inhale enough oxygen to keep herself alive. Every breath felt as if the life was being pulled from her body.
She lay on the floor, bracing for what was to come next. She didn't want to move in case she was on the receiving end of a kiss of a fist to her body. Every fibre of her being told her to flee. Shakily, she pulled herself up onto her hands and knees, looking up at Ron from her spot low on the floor. She did the one thing he didn't think she would. Using the minute bit of energy she could muster from within, she apparated, hoping she could get herself to his front door.
Still gasping for air as she landed on his doorstep on all fours, she clawed at his front door, pulling herself to her feet shakily. With an open palm, she banged on the front door three times. Her throat felt as if it were caving in, burning with such pain when she swallowed. She tried to refrain from doing so.
Time seemed to stand still as she stood slumped against the door, waiting for him to answer. She didn't have to energy to knock again, and she certainly couldn't bring herself to open the door in her state. Every raspy breath she sucked in down her throat was torturous, and the slow trickle of blood down the side of her head dripped effortlessly down her neck and pooled in her collarbone.
The door opened slowly. Severus's face fell as he caught her before she hit the floor. "He's got Lincoln," was all she could whisper as the world went black and she slumped into his arms.
A/N: I hope you all enjoy this chapter. It took me weeks of typing and deleting to get it just right.
-Aliasmel1