Chapter 44: A Reflection Of Grievances
{A/N: LOL ndavis77... This chapter however is not so funny...Bellatrix is deranged after all...}
My Thanks To All My Readers And Reviewers...Enjoy-S.S.
Warning: Mild Torture, Abuse...you have been warned.
Secret Room, Malfoy Manor, Wizarding World...
All around there had been walls of solid gray and an eerie cold that seemed to seep into one's very soul and suck the life out of it. Hermione Granger-Snape found herself awakening in this strange place when her amber eyes opened and she came to after a short battle in the forest against a few low level death eaters. The Gryffindor witch had barely any time to save Ron and Harry before she was grabbed and apparated to this place. Shivering from the cold and unnerved by the emptiness of the room, Hermione found herself trying to gather information about her location, if at all to ease her mind enough so that she could execute a plan to escape.
She had not gotten use to being awake and gauging her surroundings long, because she was immediately graced with the presence of a visitor. A visitor in the form of Bellatrix LeStrange. It unnerved Hermione that her dark eyes were glinting in the most malicious of ways. The bushy haired Gryffindor hated this deranged witch for a number of reasons, most of them involving her Slytherin death eater murderer husband.
"Hello love..." taunted Bellatrix. "We are going to have a little conversation...girl to girl."
Hermione noted the flicker of malice again and braced herself. Whatever Bellatrix had planned for her was not going to be good.
Before she knew it, Bellatrix had pulled her from the strange gray room and into the rather empty dining hall. With a casual flick of her wrists her wand let fly curse after curse as she merrily went about taunting the writhing witch in her sing song tone.
"Crucio!" shouted Bellatrix glaring down at Hermione with rage and contempt. "Swotty little Mudblood cunt thinks she can steal what's rightfully mine!"
Hermione felt her body jolt and jerk from the curse before searing white-hot pain filled her and she screamed out in agony. Bellatrix took to cackling as she tormented the younger witch.
"Crucio!" she shouted. "Everything was perfect between us until you came around batting your little eyelashes and offering your easily accessible Mudblood cunt."
Tears streamed down Hermione's cheeks as Bellatrix continued to rant. She knew she had to find some way to get out of this. The mad woman was seemingly hell bent on killing her.
Enraged by the aspect of what happened Bellatrix bit Hermione arm hard enough to break the skin and draw blood. The deranged witch smiled reveling her bloodied lips and teeth to the sobbing young witch below her.
"You have no idea what a man like him needs." she said with blood trickling down her pale face. "You have no idea of the darkness that resides in him...with me he can embrace it...he'll never have to hide from himself or be ashamed..."
Hermione didn't understand whom it was she had been talking about until that very moment. Rage filled her belly as she glared at the evil witch that sat on top of her chest.
"HE NEVER LOVED YOU!" she shouted defiantly. "AND ONCE HE FINDS OUT WHAT YOU'VE DONE HE NEVER WILL!"
Bellatrix slapped the defiant Gryffindor across the face.
Hermione spit into the deranged witch's eye in response.
"Bitch." said Bellatrix slapping her a second time, hard enough to make her lip bleed.
Meanwhile...
Malfoy Manor, Wizarding World...
Severus Snape came through the floo with rage seeping off him. Draco had been kind enough to inform him that Bellatrix had taken Hermione prisoner inside Malfoy Manor and was torturing her as they spoke. The dour wizard moved through the house as quickly as he could keeping to the shadows unsure wither or not The Dark Lord had been still taking up residence in the manor. He avoided being seen by anyone until he happened upon the particular room where Bellatrix had been straddling Hermione's chest and her screams were enough to deafen a werewolf.
The deranged Bellatrix had carved MUDBLOOD into the soft flesh of her right arm, so she would never again forget her place.
"He was inside me you know." taunted Bellatrix. "Just recently in fact...he seemed to enjoy every minute of it."
Hermione glared murderously at the deranged witch.
"You are just a bratty little Gryffindor girl out of your league." continued Bellatrix. "You wouldn't even know what to do with a man like Severus on your own terms...better to find yourself a nice boy to keep you warm at night...if you live that long."
"EXPELLIAMUS!" shouted Snape getting the attention of the two witches who were discussing him.
Instantly, Bellatrix flew across the room hitting her head on a nearby wall and falling unconscious.
Snape looked down at a bloodied and trembling Hermione.
Her amber eyes widened in a mix of fury and fear as she looked upon her estranged husband for the first time since that night he killed Dumbledore.
"Levicorpus." he said.
Hermione's limp frame flew into the air and he caught her into his ebony clad arms.
He tossed a few quick wandless hexes at Bellatrix and made his way into the floo. In seconds they were at another series of floos and then finally at Hog Head Inn back in Hogsmeade. Snape quickly covered Hermione with a charm and placed her in one of the available rooms. He ran down stairs paid for their lodging and returned to his badly battered wife.
Hog's Head INN, Hogsmeade, Wizarding World...
Hermione Granger Snape's amber eyes stared into the obsidian ones of her murderous husband Severus Snape. She had been so filled with anger at the dour wizard for a great number of things. It seemed his capacity for betrayl knew no bounds if he was resorting to bedding Bellatrix LeStrange. Without a word Snape warded their room and healed his ailing wife who had still not spoken a word to him since her rescue. She was still seething from his antics.
"Why?" she asked bitterly.
Snape arched an eyebrow at this.
"You're going to have to be more specific if you are going to ask me questions Miss Granger." he said sounding like his usual Professor self.
"Okay." said Hermione narrowing her eyes at him. "Why did I have to marry such a selfish, back-stabbing, bastard, capable of murder, infidelity and being a complete asshole?"
Snape rolled his eyes.
"I am not the one that petitioned for this so called marriage." he said bitterly.
"And I am not the cheating bastard who slept with the bitch that tried to kill me." said Hermione equally bitter.
"What do you want from me?" asked Snape. "You and I both know that I never deserved you."
"That much we agree on." replied Hermione still bitter.
"Good, then why are we having this conversation?" asked Snape folding his arms across his ebony clad chest.
Feeling her rage boil over Hermione sat up and swiftly slapped Snape across the face. The gesture shocked them both but not for long as Hermione launched herself into the "cheating bastard's chest continuing to rain down blows on him. Snape for his part fell back onto the floor with her landing on top of him. She caught him square in the jaw a couple of times hard enough to do more than sting for a few days.
"I HATE YOU!" she shouted still hitting him. "I HATE YOU...I HATE YOU...I HATE YOU!"
So entranced by her fury she never noticed that he did nothing to stop her from venting her rage. She continued to rain down hard blows punching at him as hard as she could hoping to hurt him, she wanted to hurt him like he had hurt her for so long. After a while her rage turned to all out pain as tears began to stream down her cheeks and her hits lost some sting.
Winded and reduced to sobbing Hermione simply rested her weary head on her husband's chest. She could hear his heart beat and his breathing as it rose and fell. Thinking back she noted how comforted she felt when they made love and he would allow her to rest her head on him in this manner. She had always meant to simply catch her breath but she always ended up falling asleep. This time had been no different as she found herself drifting off into a peaceful like sleep. Snape said nothing, nor did he make a move. He simply closed his eyes taking in the jasmine scent of her bushy hair.
He knew she hated him.
He knew that he didn't deserve her.
But there was no way in hell he was going to end this brief interlude between them.
It was only an illusion he knew.
But it was all he had.
She was there in the flesh and he wasn't going to ruin the moment. No matter how angry she'd be when she awoke. He told himself that whatever punishment she decided to issue to him, he would just take it. He would take anything if it meant being in her arms again.