Maternal Instinct

Hermione put her hand careful on her former Professors arm, "She'll be alright when they find out what's wrong. It's probably just a bug; kids get them all the time."

They were sitting in one of the relatives rooms in St. Mungo's. Hermione didn't even try to imagine how worried Snape must be. He blinked in acknowledgement of her words, before continuing to stare across the room.

A door opened and an old, thin Healer shuffled in. When he was standing in from of them, he asked very slowly, "Are you Mr. and Mrs. Snape?"

Hermione was about to correct the man, but it seemed that Snape was impatient to know what was wrong with his daughter, as he said quickly, "Yes."

The Healer nodded slowly, "We have found the reason for your daughters’ sickness. It seems that she has, somehow, imbibe a type of toxic beauty potion. Another few hours without treatment and she wouldn't have survived." He gave Hermione a sharp look, "We will need to keep her in over night. It is suggested that you go home and come back tomorrow, as there is nothing that you can do now. And it is advised that you keep any type of feature-enhancing product out of the reach of children." With that, he turned and shuffled out, muttering, "The potion obviously didn't work on you anyway, lady."

Hermione ignored his remark and turned to the man sitting next to her, "See, she's in good hands. Let’s go now and we'll come back tomorrow and see her."

He nodded and they left the hospital. When they were back at the house, he sat heavily on the sofa. Hermione made a cup of tea for them both and then sat down next to him. She didn't really know what to say to him, so instead she played out scenes of revenge in her head - like inflicting Amy on Viktors' parents - while Snape found himself some type of whiskey to drink.

They had spent most of the day at the hospital and it was dark before Snape spoke, tearing Hermione away from a fantasy of feeding Mr. and Mrs. Krum to a lake of starving piranhas.

"Thank you, Miss Granger." He said quietly.

Hermione opened her eyes and lifted her head from the arm of the sofa, "There's no need to thank me, Professor. I just think you should ask your wife to make sure she doesn't leave any potions out in future."

"She won't be my wife for much longer." He sneered.

Hermione frowned, "What?"

Sighing, he stood up and went to a draw behind a desk. After a bit of rummaging, he pulled out some papers and handed them to her, sitting down again.

When she finished reading, she looked up at him, "Divorce? I know that Amy isn't very nice, but surely she just left the potion out by accident. That doesn't deserve a divorce, does it?"

"I will not stay with her after this." he said sharply. He rubbed his hands over his face, "If you hadn't of been here Corrin would have died. It is as simple as that. I had no idea what to do."

"I know it's none of my business, but... Maybe when you tell Amy about leaving her things around and about what happened with Corrin... I don't know, maybe she'll realize how silly she can be." Hermione tried, "And if you divorce her, who will look after Corrin? You work and Amy... well, I’m not really sure she cares enough about other people to take care of a child. And - assuming this is your house - where will Amy go? And if it isn't your house, where will you go? And if you go to Hogwarts, what about Corrin?"

Snape raised an eyebrow, "Are you quite finished? This is my house, so I won't be going any where and I don't care where Amy goes. Amy is incapable of looking after a child, so Corrin will be staying here. And, as for who would take care of Corrin, I seem to recall that you are employed to do that job. But you were right in the first place, it is none of your business."

"Professor, I've only looked after Corrin in the day. When you're at Hogwarts, Amy is with Corrin at night. If Amy's not here and you're working... well, as much as I like Corrin, I couldn't stay with her all night. I have my own home and Viktor -"

"Don't tell me you're still with that idiot." Snape sneered.

"Well, yes, actually," Hermione said, slightly flustered, "Of course I am."

"After what his parents did and the way he treats you?" he pinched the bridge of his nose, "You really are unbelievably stupid sometimes, Miss Granger. I don't even treat Amy like that, and she would deserve it if I did. Why do you put up with him when you don't even love him?"

"I do love him!" Hermione said indignantly, though she wasn't sure she believed herself totally.

Snape shook his head, "No you don't, Miss Granger. And do you know how I know?" When she shook her head, he leaned closer conspiratorially, looking her straight in the eye, "I know you don't love him, because, if you did, you wouldn't still be here."

"Did you ever think that I might still be here to make sure you're alright after today?" Hermione asked, "Just because I’m still here, doesn't mean that I don't love Viktor. The fact that you're here and Amy's God knows where, doesn't mean that you don't love her, does it?"

Snape smirked, "That woman can be any where on this planet and I still wouldn't love her."

Hermione shook her head, "I don't think you mean that, Professor. You must love her in some way; why else would you have married her?"

"The point I was trying to make, Miss Granger, is that you never let Draco Malfoy use you, yet Viktor Krum manages to quite easily."

Hermione stood up, "I-I'm sorry, Professor. I... I have to go home. It's late, you know... and I just have to go home."

She hurried out of the room and was nearly at the front door when Snapes voice made her jump and turn around. "Go home and do what?" he asked snidely, "Get used to try for a baby that will never be made?"

Hermione looked away, wrapping her arms around herself, "N-no..."

He came down the hall towards her, "You do realize that he's using you, don't you, Miss Granger?"

She stepped away from his approaching form, her back hitting the wall beside the door, "W-what on earth are you talking about? Of... of course he's not..."

A hand planted itself on the wall next to her shoulder and she turned her face away, looking up cautiously from the corner of her eye.

"You shouldn't let him." He murmured.

"I... I don't..." She said quietly.

Slowly, a finger lifted her chin, until she was staring at him defiantly. He hadn't been able to scare her for a long time, but he could still make her feel as though she was wrong in whatever she was doing. What business of his was it anyway? What did it matter to him if she didn't love Viktor or if he was using her?

His other hand came up to the wall by her other should and there was the faint smell of whiskey before his lips touched hers.