Bloodbound

A/N: Sorry it has taken me so long to update, but I do have a blogpage now, where I will be posting info about updates. You can view it here www.myspace.com/violet_snape. Thank you to L’Vanna for helping me with this chapter. All those after midnight brainstorm sessions were totally worth it!

Resolve

Severus stopped outside the door to the Hospital Wing. Heart pounding, he slowly reached up and opened the door. The sight before him made his breath catch in his throat. There was Poppy Pomfrey, leaning over a bare-backed Hermione, applying salve to the faint lines on her back. Severus could tell he had hurt her badly, especially since a healing spell had not made the marks disappear completely.


Suddenly, Severus felt a strange sensation in his eyes. They were burning, and brimming with tears. Was he about to cry?? Severus Snape did not cry! He quickly composed himself.


“Severus Snape, what are you doing here? How did you get in?” the surprised mediwitch asked him scornfully.


“I was sent here by the headmaster to speak with my wife,” he replied, curtly. Madam Pomfrey’s angered expression melted into one of concern.


“ Oh. Very well, then. I’ll just leave you two. But if you lay one finger--”


“Save it, Poppy. I am not going to hurt her,” he said coldly, fighting to keep the lump that had formed in his throat at bay.


Poppy nodded and then took her leave. Severus looked at Hermione, once again feeling the lump rise in his throat. She did not look at him, but rather at her hands. The dark wizard walked slowly over to the bed, where Hermione had moved to a sitting position, and he sat down on the bed next to her. Gently, he tilted her chin up so she could look at his face.


The look of fear and sadness in the young woman’s eyes was too much for him. The tears willed themselves to spill over his cheeks. He had never felt like this before. He could not even remember the last time he had cried, and here he was, in the middle of Hogwarts with his young bride, crying like a newborn wizard. Suddenly, he felt a soft hand on his. He looked up, and saw the look of concern and understanding in his wife’s eyes, which caused the tears to flow faster. His shoulders shook as he silently sobbed.


Hermione wrapped both arms around him, and pulled his face to her soft neck.


“I am so s-sorry,” he sobbed, filled with shame and contempt for himself.


Hermione did not know what to say or what to do. In all the years she had known the man before her, he had never shown any strong emotion, much less had he cried. So she did what she did what she had done for Harry before. She held him, and let him cry.


After a few moments, Severus looked up.


“I am sorry. I should not have done that to you. I will never hurt you again, Hermione. I hope you believe that,” Severus said quietly.


“I forgive you,” she replied softly. She was not sure she believed he would be able to control his rage, but she did believe he was sorry.


Severus bent down and kissed her softly on the lips. “I love you, Hermione Snape,”


“I love you too, Severus,” Hermione said, laying her head on his chest.


Later that evening, Madam Pomfrey released Hermione back to her dungeon chambers, with the understanding that Severus would apply the salve before bed and upon waking. The next day, she would be allowed to return to classes.
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Hermione walked slowly to her Transfiguration class, nervous to face her friends again. They had heard about what happened to her, as she knew they undoubtedly would.


“Hermione!! Are you ok??” came the ambush she had been expecting. Suddenly she was being enveloped by both Harry, and surprisingly enough, the owner of the screech, Ron.


“Yes, I am fine,” she replied after the trio broke away. “At least, I will be,” she added, wiping away a tear that had formed when her friends finally acted like friends again.


Transfiguration went by smoothly, although Hermione did notice Professor McGonagall kept looking at her. Hermione supposed she had laid into Severus hard for what he had done. Hermione found it difficult to be near Severus. She was afraid he was going to hurt her again, and every time she saw the discipline chair in their quarters, she shuddered. She sincerely hoped never to merit an invitation to that chair again.
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Severus looked at Hermione intently. They were supposed to be heading to dinner together, and he had reached up to put an arm around her, to which she flinched. The gesture was unintentional he knew, but it still hurt him nonetheless to see that she did not trust him. He did not blame her. He still felt like a monster, and he thought for certain he would be hearing about his crying episode from amused students. However, it seemed as though Hermione had kept it to herself, for which he was thankful.


The pair walked hand in hand to the door, preparing to go to the Great Hall, and when they passed by the discipline chair, Hermione tensed visibly, and her eyes held a fear that broke his heart. Hermione had told him she wanted to go to the library after dinner, and Severus knew exactly what he was going to do while she was there.
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Hermione sat in the library, reading absently. She had no agenda, but had merely wished to pass the time before bed. She did not want to spend another awkward couple of hours with Severus in their chambers. And she certainly did not want to be anywhere near the dreaded whip and chair, should he find some reason to punish her.


Finally, it was time for students to return to their dormitories for the night, and Hermione could no longer seek refuge in the library. She rose lazily from the table at which she was sitting, and placed the musty book back on the shelf, feeling Madam Pince’s eyes burning through her, watching to see if she put the book in it’s proper place. She always did.


Hermione trudged down to the cold dungeons, pondering excuses for immediate sleep, to avoid awkward conversation with Severus. When she reached the door leading to their rooms, it opened as she reached her hand out towards it. ‘That’s strange,’ she thought to herself as she stepped over the threshold to the chambers.


Severus was seated on the couch, staring blankly into the fire, a glass of wine in hand. He seemed deep in thought, so Hermione thought it would be best to just go to her bedroom and crawl into bed. She walked silently across the room, and entered the dimly lit bedroom, heart pounding.


To her utter surprise, the discipline chair was nowhere to be seen. She stood there, dumbstruck, when she felt a hand upon her shoulder. She turned to see Severus standing behind her.


“I did not feel we needed to keep that any longer,” he said softly. “Look in the drawer.”


Hermione walked over to the desk and opened the drawer where Severus kept the whips. All were gone save for the silk one he had used during sexual play. Hermione’s eyes brimmed with tears.


“Thank you, Severus. Thank you so much,” she said. He moved closer to her and wrapped both arms around her.


“You have no need to fear me any longer. I will never hurt you again. I trust that we have enough respect for one another to discuss our disagreements, without the use of force,” he said, not breaking her gaze.


Hermione buried her face in his chest, and he kissed the top of her head.


“I love you Severus,” she whispered.


“I love you too, Hermione,” he breathed into her hair.