Chapter 5: Unexpected Heartbreak

When Hermione woke, she saw her husband sleeping in a chair beside the bed and dared not blink, for fear of him disappearing like all the other times. When he woke, her eyes were dry and she refused to blink until he spoke.

"There is no easy way to say this, so I'm going to come right out and say it. I have had a great deal of time to think about this and I've come to the conclusion that we should get a divorce. You don't have to leave this house. Even after the divorce, I will be traveling the country, so you can stay here as long as you wish. We don't need to draw it out any longer than needed. As I see it, you can't argue because you're not wearing you're wedding ring."

Hermione closed her eyes, remembering the day she had taken off the beautiful white gold wedding band inset with diamonds. It had been the same day she had stopped waiting for him to come home. Her heart had been ripped out of her chest by this man more than once. And now he was doing it again. But she didn't argue. She agreed to give him a divorce, which was very hard to come by in the wizarding world.

"One more thing," Severus said, making her open her eyes to look at him. "You need to eat three meals a day. There is no need for you to starve yourself to death." Again, Hermione didn't argue.

Over the next few weeks, Severus and Hermione saw little of each other, both avoiding the other, refusing to give in to their lust.

Hermione stood in the kitchen in a skimpy black dress while cooking eggs when Severus entered, taking one look at her and feeling his body fill with heat. He couldn't help himself. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her just as he had kissed her their first time, in the Three Broomsticks. Her eyes widened in shock, but then closed, as her lust took over.

Severus picked her up in his arms and took her to bed after turning the stove off. They spent to the whole day in bed together, making love.

Later that day with Severus in bed, they both agreed that one of them would have to leave in order to finish off the divorce without the risk of pregnancy.

How very wrong they had been. A few days before their divorce hearing, Hermione found herself pregnant again.

***HGSSHGSSHGSSHGSS***

Hermione and Severus stood before the Ministry of Magic. Hermione refuses to inform Severus of her pregnancy. She was going to keep their daughter to herself.

Severus felt as if he was losing a part of himself while he felt his wife slipping farther away from him. As soon as he had seen that she had taken off her wedding ring, he knew he had lost her. He had waited too long to return to her.

The Minister of Magic was speaking. "Is this divorce an agreement of both parties?"

"Yes," they answered.

"Are there any children to speak of?"

"No," they answered.

The final question caught them both by surprise. "Have you have sexual relations in the time of the divorce proceedings?"

They hesitantly answered yes and Hermione realized her mistake too late. The Minister waved his wand and revealed her pregnancy.

Severus stared at his wife. She had known. He could tell. She had known and had kept his child a secret from him. He was angry. No. He was furious.

"Under these circumstance, I'm afraid we cannot grant you the mutual divorce agreement. Every child deserves to grow up in a home with both parents. Case Dismissed."

Severus and Hermione walked back to the visitor entrance in silence. They aparated back to Spinner's End together, Severus taking no chances of her running with his child. When they walked through the door, hell broke lose. Severus remained calm. His voice low and dangerous.

"Why did you keep this from me?"

"You wanted a divorce, so I was going to give it to you."

"And keep my child from me in the process. Or perhaps you didn't mean to keep it. Perhaps you meant to have another abortion. Did you give yourself another excuse involving me?"

Hermione's chest got a tight not in it. She found herself holding back tears. Not bothering to answer his question, she went to the bathroom and locked the door with her wand. Severus followed behind her, calmed down, and regretting his hasty words.

"Hermione, open the door."

She didn't answer. Trying his wand, he couldn't get it opened.

"Hermione please open the door. I'm sorry. I didn't mean what I just said. I was angry. You were going to keep something from me that you kept from me last time, too."

Silence answered him.

"Hermione, this isn't going to help us put together our marriage……Fine, if you don't want to answer me, I'll just wait outside this door until you're ready to come out."

Inside the bathroom, Hermione sat with her back against the door, silently crying. She didn't understand how Severus could believe something like that of her. Yes, she had gotten an abortion, but her hormones getting the best of her and he had made her think he didn't want their child. She had been depressed after the abortion and he had left her. The baby had been pushed to the back of her mind in all the time she had been waiting for him to come back. Now that he was back, she remembered how hard it had been to do what she had done. She remembered the pain she had gone through. She remembered the heartbreak of losing her first child. Severus could not have known what she was going through, or he wouldn't have said those things. He wouldn't have made her remember the pain she could still feel in her chest every second.

A few hours later, Hermione left the bathroom after taking a bath and calming down. Severus sat outside the door, sleeping. She silently crept past him and entered their bedroom, locking the door with her wand again. She changed into her nightgown and promptly went to sleep.

Severus woke from a crick in his neck to realize that the bathroom door was opened and his wife wasn't in there. Going to their bedroom, he tried to open the door. Finally going to the guest room, he laid on the bed and went to sleep.