Chapter 3 – A Woman Scorned
A/N: I own nothing you recognize. This chapter is a little short, but I wanted to get ya'all an update! Thank you so much to all of you who have left me such lovely reviews and to those who are following the story. Please continue to read, enjoy, and review!
They stood on the street corner a block away from the flat building Hermione had shared with Ron until the day before. Hermione turned to Severus and began going over the plan once again. He huffed in slight annoyance. There wasn't really much to the plan, and they had already gone over it before leaving Grimmauld Place. But he allowed her to give the speech again, knowing that it was really a stalling tactic to give her time to gather her nerves.
When they finally reached the door, Hermione took a deep breath and reached for the door knob. But she jerked her hand back almost as soon as she had touched it.
"Ow!" she exclaimed, as she jumped back from the door slightly. Severus felt himself go into protective mode as he produced his wand almost out of thin air. Before he could do anything more substantial though, Hermione said, "He must have changed the wards already. Couldn't remember to set them to alert if I came home while he was in bed with that cow, but he can reset them not twenty-four hours after to not allow me at all?" She let out a high-pitched sound of frustrated anger as she pounded on the door.
Severus inwardly smirked. This should be good, he thought. Hermione was not only known for her intelligence, but for her fiery temper when pushed to her limit. The redheaded imbecile didn't stand a chance. He wasn't left wondering for long. There was a faint shimmer of fading magic around the door as it was pulled opened by Lavender Brown, who looked shocked at the sight of her lover's ex-girlfriend standing at the doorstep.
"Get out of my way," Hermione said, acid dripping from every word as she pushed past the stunned woman at the door. It was only after Hermione had let herself in that Lavender registered the presence of her former Potions professor. She stood there, opening and closing her mouth like a fish, until screaming from inside the flat caught the attention of them both.
"They are my things, Ron. I purchased them with my bank account or brought them from my home."
"That still doesn't give you the right to barge into my flat and take them!"
Hermione's face contorted so fiercely, that Severus, who had finally crossed the threshold and closed the door, almost felt pity for the Weasley boy. Hermione's voice was deathly quiet, but still full of venom. Not too far off the Muggle phrase, "the calm before the storm".
"The right? It doesn't give me the right? I spent three years of my life with you! I put up with your immature ramblings and whining about the pains of being famous and how I wasn't as good as your mother. I listened to your stupid Quidditch stories and even pretended to be interested!" Her voice was steadily rising in volume and she was inching closer and closer to the young man, who backed away from her until he was pinned against a wall.
"I loved you! I remained FAITHFUL to you! I shared my LIFE with you! And what do you do? You jump into bed with THAT COW!" There was an offended gasp from Severus's right as Hermione yelled her tirade. He shot Miss Brown a glare as Hermione whipped her head around and retorted, "Oh, shut it, Lavender. I'll get to you in a minute." Lavender shrank back and remained quiet as Hermione continued.
"Now, you will sit at your dining room table while Severus and I gather my things. If I hear so much as a whimper, I'll hex you to ensure you never fuck her or anyone else ever again!" She was centimeters away from Ron's chest, forcing her to look up at him. Her voice took on a deadly hiss. "Do I make myself clear?"
Severus had never seen this side of Hermione. It actually frightened him slightly. Not just because of the nasty threat she had made, but because he was certain that if anyone had the talent to follow through on such a threat, it was she. But the dunderheaded boy didn't seem to recall this little detail. His face took on a nasty sneer.
"Severus, is it? You're on a first name basis with this greasy git? I bet you've been sleeping with him! I knew you were cheating on me!" Ron took a step forward, making Severus reach for his wand again, but Hermione stood her ground.
"I never cheated on you, Ron," she said in a sad, but strong, voice. "Severus and I are splitting classes at Hogwarts. We're colleagues. And from where I stand, there is only one git in this room: you."
Without giving him the opportunity to respond, she abruptly turned to face Severus, addressing him for the first time since walking through the door. "All of the furniture but the kitchen table and chairs, this armchair, and the tall set of drawers in the bedroom are mine. If you would be so kind as to shrink them for me, I would be most grateful."
Severus nodded his assent. "Of course, Hermione." He moved toward the sofa, but before he could murmur the incantation, the redhead again displayed his inability to keep his mouth shut.
"What? Those are the only things you're leaving me? Hermione, I— " But before he could finish, there was a flash of light and the boy was writhing on the floor, holding his groin. Finally, apparently finding his voice through the pain, he shouted, "YOU BITCH!"
Without much thought, Severus threw a Silencing Spell at the boy. "That will be enough, Mr. Weasley," he said in his best professor voice. "Do not make me put a Body Binding Hex on you while we gather Hermione's belongings." He received a deathly glare in response. He glanced at Hermione and found her emptying one of the kitchen cabinets into the magically enlarged suitcase she had brought.
"It's a modified Stinging Hex," she said dispassionately. "It will wear off in an hour or so. Just leave him there." She quickly finished in the kitchen and made her way down the hallway that, he assumed, led to the bedroom.
After making short work of shrinking the sofa, love seat, coffee table, and two bookshelves, Severus assured himself that Weasley wouldn't be moving any time soon and went off in search of Hermione. He found her in the bedroom, simply staring at the four-poster bed in front of her. He cleared his throat gently to alert her of his presence. She looked back over her shoulder.
"This is my bed. I should take it with me. But how could I ever sleep on it again knowing…" Her voice caught with emotion. Severus had to resist the urge to rush forward and pull her into his arms. He so badly wanted to tell her that they could find another bed and make memories passionate enough to drown out any thoughts of the redhead and his cow. But he couldn't. It would just complicate matters. She didn't need a lover, she needed a friend.
He stood so their arms were touching. He looked thoughtfully at the bed in question. "Well, you could burn it. That way, you're not taking it with you, yet you're still leaving Weasley without a bed. You are a Charms mistress, after all. I'm sure you'll think of something."
She looked up at him and gave him a watery smile, evil humor sparkling in her lovely brown eyes. It almost made him weak at the knees.
"Severus, I'm beginning to enjoy our friendship a great deal. Is all of the furniture is shrunk?" He nodded. "Good. Accio furniture!" she said with a flourish of her wand. Several pieces of what could have been dollhouse furniture flew into the room and into the suitcase with ease. Hermione snapped shut the lid and picked it up. Without another word, she pointed her wand at the bed and blue flames engulfed the wood frame and mattress, leaving only a large pile of ash in the center of the room. Yes, Severus was now sure he never wanted to be on the receiving end of Hermione Granger's wrath.
Hermione turned on her heel and marched out of the room, suitcase in hand. She only paused when she reached Lavender. The girl shrank back, most likely afraid Hermione would hex her as she had Ron. But she didn't. She simply said, "Hope you've had your fun. You're stuck with him now. Oh, and it won't work properly for a week. Your shagfest is done for now." She smiled sweetly at the dropped jaw displayed before her and then walked out the door without another word.
"Mr. Weasley. Miss Brown," Severus called as he followed Hermione out of the flat.
They made it to the corner before Hermione's tough exterior began to crumble. She sank onto a nearby bench, throwing her head into her hands, and began to weep. Severus instantly sat down next to her and slipped an arm around her shoulders. She twisted and buried her head into his chest and cried. They remained in that position for several minutes. Severus felt a pang of disappointment when Hermione finally pulled away from his grasp.
"I'm sorry!" she said, shaking her head and wiping tears from her eyes. "I keep falling apart on you."
"Think nothing of it, Hermione." He squeezed her hand gently before standing and holding a hand out to her. "I believe if we leave now, we can make lunch at Hogwarts." She smiled before taking hold of his proffered hand and picking up her suitcase.
Taking a calming breath, she said, "Yes. Lunch sounds amazing right now. You would not believe how much energy hexing bollocks can take out of a person!" Laughing, they both Disapparated.
Severus arrived at his temporary home shortly after sunset. He went straight to the library. His head was pounding. It had indeed been a long day.
After lunch, he had been helping Hermione settle into her chambers, resizing the furniture and moving every piece what seemed like a hundred times, when Minerva had popped through the Floo. She had spent the remainder of the afternoon grilling them both on their combined curriculum. It had been taxing for them both since they had only decided which classes they would be teaching, not the substance of the classes. Their only escape had been dinner. After finishing his pudding and bidding the staff a good night, Severus had left the school immediately.
Now he sat on the sofa, attempting to read the latest edition of Popular Potions. Instead of comprehending the latest discovered uses for Hippogriff feathers, Hermione filled his thoughts. He knew he was only torturing himself by indulging in the thoughts of the night before, or what he could remember anyway.
Finally giving up on his periodical, he finished the splash of Scotch he'd poured himself before sitting down. His head was still pounding, and he pinched the bridge of his nose. Intent upon finding the headache relief he had in his medicine cabinet, he headed up the stairs.
As he entered his bedroom, he started removing his many layers of clothing and sending them zooming into the wardrobe after casting a cleansing charm over them. He pulled on a pair of black cotton pajama pants and made his way to the en suite bathroom. He pulled open the mirror to reveal the shelves behind it. He reached instinctively for the top shelf for the headache relief, but the bottle his hand retrieved was not a headache relief. He felt the blood drain from his face, and he had to grab the counter to keep from falling to the tiled floor.
In his hand was the contraceptive potion he had thought he had given Hermione.
A/N: Many, many thanks and hugs to my incomparable beta, AmyLouise. She was the genius behind the chapter title because I was at a lost. She also is the queen of making my run-ons readable. Thanks again sweetie!