Hermione woke from a nightmare. She was covered in sweat, and alone in the room. She stumbled over to the bathroom and looked at her reflection in the mirror. She looked perfectly normal, besides her flushed cheeks.
"What a weird dream." She muttered as she splashed cold water on her face.
When she saw the red eyes in the darkness of her dream, she had immediately assumed that she was dreaming about Voldemort. Only, when she illuminated the area with magic, she was staring at her own reflection in a mirror. There was blood smeared down the front of her clothes, covering her hands and even her face. Her irises were a matching colour.
She shook her head. Why was she dreaming about him anyway? He was gone. He had been so for over seven years. Hermione made her way downstairs and heard Severus' laughter, echoing from down the hallway. She smiled. His laugh was so special, and whenever he did laugh, it put a smile on her face and brightened her day. She found him, playing with Alex, and she placed her hands on her hips.
"You spend so much time with Alex and so little with our daughter." Hermione said.
"Well, he is my only son-" Severus started.
"Severus, you know how I feel about inequality…"
He sighed and stood, still holding Alex, and placed a quick kiss on her lips.
"What are the chances that Serena is still ticklish?"
"Very high." Hermione said, eyebrow raised.
Her husband marched off in the direction of the kitchen, and a few minutes later, Hermione heard the wailing pleas for mercy drifting up the stairs as Serena was tickled non-stop by her father and her little brother.
"It's not fair! Two against one! Mum!"
"It was your mother's idea in the first place."
"Mum! How could you!" Serena wailed, still laughing.
Hermione smiled. Severus may not appear so, but he was a very loving father, but he really did spend far more time with Alex than Serena. Hermione frowned at this.
Hermione spent the rest of the afternoon revising in her study. At nightfall, the door opened and she felt Severus' arms wrap themselves around her.
"Just one more minute." Hermione said, trying to ignore his lips that were now attacking her neck viciously.
"The children have eaten and are in bed." Severus growled.
His voice tickled her flesh, and Hermione could not resist anymore, and she yanked him onto her lap.
"A little eager?" He said.
"I'm supposed to be relaxing, I'm just making your job easier."
Hermione captured his lips. The books on the table were swiftly swept onto the floor, and Hermione was bent back over the desk.
"Well, that's off the checklist then." Hermione sighed as they lay spent on the carpeted floor.
Hermione drew patterns on Severus' chest, smiling whenever she felt him shudder. They soon moved back to the bedroom and continued there, before falling asleep a few hours later, entangled in each other's arms.
Hermione woke up early the next morning to find herself standing by Severus' side, hands high above her head, clutching the meat knife. She swallowed a shriek and stumbled away from the bed, dropping the knife onto the floor. It clattered loudly, but Severus continued sleeping. Hermione hurriedly took the knife back down to the kitchen, and found the knife drawer wide open.
Never, in all her time that she had lived in the house, had she left the knife drawer open and not be in the vicinity of the kitchen as well. Hermione re-locked the drawer before bursting into tears. She had to get out. She needed some time alone, to think.
She grabbed her coat off the coat stand and left the house. The sun had not even risen above the horizon. She made her way through the forest, meandering between the trees. The disused driveway led onto a gravel road through the forest, but there were several footpaths criss-crossing through the woods.. After walking for a long time, just absent-mindedly enjoying the morning air and the twittering of the birds, she discovered a bench and rested for a while.
"I have to stop delaying the inevitable." Hermione spoke to the air.
Analysis was her forte. She had to think logically, and come up with, if not a solution, at least a plan of action.
Why was her subconscious trying to kill her husband?
Hermione thought of all the things which he did that annoyed her. She fuelled her anger until it was reaching breaking point. Except that she could not forget all the things that she loved about him. She hoped that now she had finally sorted out that she actually did want to keep her husband alive, whatever homicidal urge she possessed would be calmed and would leave her alone. She trekked back slowly, smiling all the way. Everything would be fine.
"What is love?" She said.
That came out of the blue. Hermione paused and thought for a while. Love was what she felt when she saw Severus. Love was what she felt when she watched her children playing. It gave a familiar warmth to her heart as when she felt happiness, but it was different. Love is stronger than happiness. Love is even stronger than hate.
Hermione was glowing as she entered the house. However, her smile did not last long. Severus was very angry. He was blazing in fury. Hermione had not seen this in him in years. The anger rolled off him in waves as he clenched and unclenched his fists while pacing backwards and forwards in the kitchen.
"Good morning." Hermione said quietly.
"Where have you been?" Severus asked.
"I just went out for some fresh air." Hermione answered, bewildered.
"For five hours?"
"I walked to—"
"Hermione, who is it?" He snarled.
"Who?" Hermione said, feeling confused and scared.
Severus was completely red in the face. His hands shot to her shoulders, squeezing hard.
"Is it Potter? Or Weasley?"
"What in Merlin's name are you talking about, Severus?" Hermione said, trying to shake free of his hold.
"Who are you cheating on me with?" He shouted.
He released her. Hermione was shocked.
"But I- I'm not- What? I'm not ch-"
Hermione's head crashed into the kitchen counter. He had struck her.
"You hit me?" Hermione said indisbelief.
Hermione pressed her hand against her stinging cheek, and looked up at her husband. The man she loved. The man she loved with all her heart. Tears welled up in her eyes. She watched him march angrily to the fire.
"Severus, don't leave me." Hermione whimpered. "I--"
He was gone.
She slipped into darkness. When she woke up, she was lying on the couch in the TV room. Her head felt very sore. Sobs alerted her to the presence of Serena. She was sitting in a foetal position in the corner of the room, crying.
"Serena, what's wrong?"
Hermione went over to her daughter and gathered her into her arms. Her daughter continued to cry for a long time, until she ran out of tears and she hugged her mother.
"I heard you. I heard you and Daddy fighting."
"Serena…"
"Has Daddy left us?"
"No, he'll come back."
"Are you going to get divorced?"
Where did Serena learn all of this?
"Of course not, darling. I love your father very much."
"But he hit you. He hurt you, Mum. Does that mean he doesn't love you?"
"No darling… I think that Daddy loves me, but he… he is a little paranoid."
"Why?"
"Because…" How do you explain to a seven-year-old that you had sex with another man in front of her father even if it had been forced? "I don't know, Serena, but I promise you that he still loves you and Alex with all his heart."
"He only loves Alex." Serena said in a petulant tone.
"Of course not! Don't say that!"
"But it's true, Mum, he always checks on Alex before coming to see me. He never plays with me anymore, and-"
"Alex is still very young. Your father is beginning to treat you as an adult. He knows that you're responsible enough not to swallow anything small enough to fit into your mouth and he knows that you like books and reading, just like your father and I both do."
Serena nodded, seemingly appeased.
"I love you, Mum. You won't leave us, will you?"
"I love you too, Serena. I love you and Alex both. I would never leave you if I had a choice in the matter."
"Does that mean Daddy may force you to leave?"
"No." How do you explain to your child that someday you will die and leave the world forever?
"Mum, I think I'll go and play with Alex for a while… you don't mind, do you?"
"No, no, of course not. Go ahead. Just don't wander off into the forest."
"Yes, Mum."
Serena disappeared up the stairs. Hermione finally let herself cry. Although she had promised Serena that Severus would return, she was not sure if he actually would… of course, she would be able to find him in Hogwarts tomorrow, since he would never miss lessons, but…
Hermione spent the day moping about in the kitchen, learning new recipes, cleaning the surfaces, making lunch, waiting, and waiting. She stayed up all night, waiting, but he never came. Serena got up by herself the next morning, and Hermione had kissed her goodbye before she left to take her exams.
Hermione knew she would pass them, for sure, but she had been so upset that she had burst into tears halfway through. She left half of it unfinished, knowing that she would get a very low grade, but she could not care less. Her heart was aching for Severus to return.
She flooed home, silently hoping, wishing that he would be there, arms wide open, waiting for her. But she stepped into a silent house. Alex was sleeping, Serena in her lessons.
Hermione was willing to put up with anything, as long as he came back. She could not bear it anymore. Knowing that he was angry with her. Suddenly, a thought of him terrorising his poor students slipped unbidden into her thoughts and she smiled, before remembering the reason for his anger.
She must have fallen asleep over the kitchen counter, but she only woke many hours later, inside the room of her son, hands high above her head, ready to bring down the sharpest knife from the drawer into the crib where Alex lay innocently staring up at her.
"Mama." He gurgled.
"Oh Merlin!" Hermione breathed, dropping the knife on the floor, hands shaking.
"Mum?"
Hermione clapped her hands over her ears as she heard Voldemort's maniacal laughter, ringing in her head. She backed away from the knife and saw Serena enter the room. Hermione grabbed Serena and made her look into her eyes.
"Serena, I need you to be brave. Take the knife, and take my wand. Hold them, and don't let go of them, no matter what. As soon as I've left the room, I want you to lock the door, and keep it locked. Do not open the door unless your father, Uncle Harry, Uncle Ron, or Professor Dumbledore is with me. Do not open the door if I am alone. If the house is about to burn down, I don't care, you are to stay in this room and wait for someone other than myself to get you out."
"Mum, what's going on? You're scaring me." Serena said.
She clutched the knife and the wand in her hands, but they were shaking in fear.
"I don't know, Serena, but I'm going to find out. Remember what I said. Lock the door."
Hermione made sure she heard the click of the lock before she ran to her study. She began to pull out all of her books. Every single tome that she owned that lined the walls of her study. She flicked through the books one by one before throwing them onto the floor.
"Where is it? Where?" She could see part of the extract in her mind.
It took her an hour, but she found it in a large tome.
When a spirit possesses a body, it may lie dormant for hours, days, months, or even years. When it wakes, the possessed will begin to suffer memory loss. These times are when the spirit has taken control of the body. The spirit can either be forced out by an exorciser (beware, for the spirit may enter another person) or, if the person kills themselves, the spirit will die with them. However—
Hermione felt like her head had been shoved into a tank of water. She clutched at her throat gasping for air. She tried to read on, but darkness overwhelmed her.
"No…" She cried hoarsely.
Seconds later, she stood up again, and looked into her reflection in the glass. Her eyes were scarlet red.
A smile adorned her lips. "Come out and play with me, little ones."