You Promised It Would Be Forever - Edit

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to JKR. All situations are mine. No $$$ is being made from this fanfic.
*******************************

Chapter 8 ~ Discoveries

The Potions Master walked swiftly across the grounds, carrying a lantern and a small oblong box tucked securely under his arm. He didn't enter the castle through the main doors, but instead walked around to a little used vine-covered door that opened directly on to the dungeon corridor.

He unwarded his office door, entered then warded it back, walking quickly toward his lab. He entered and gently set the small coffin on his counter and cast a stasis spell on it. He wasn't sure how the air would interact with his son's remains.

Severus pulled up a stool and sat down a little distance from the counter and stared at the small casket. Hermione had been almost five months when she lost the baby. Poppy had suggested they let her dispose of the remains, but neither Severus nor Hermione wanted that. He was still their child and deserved a proper burial. Only he, Hermione, Albus and Filch were at the gravesite. Severus had carried the casket himself, and also placed it in the grave as Hermione sobbed brokenly.

Filch stood off a ways respectfully, a shovel on his shoulder. He would fill in the child's grave when his parents left. As gnarled and bad-tempered as he was, the old caretaker couldn't help sympathizing with their grief. His eyes brimmed with tears as he heard the wails of the poor baby's mother. Albus stood by gravely, looking a bit older than what he was, his eyes also wet behind the half-moon glasses.

Severus' jaw was tightly locked as he looked down on the small casket. His son was gone before he even had a chance to see the world. Severus had small dreams of a little infant boy or girl he could bounce on his knee, a child he could be kind to and show love to, unlike his own father, a child he would teach every secret he knew concerning herbs and potions, one who he would watch graduate from Hogwarts with the best marks in a hundred years, eclipsing even Hermione's brilliance.

A single tear leaked from the Potions Master's eye, and he made no move to contain it as it coursed down his cheek, under his chin and dripped on to his dress robes.

Albus said but a few words, then the service was done. Severus had to gently pull the grieving Hermione from the gravesite. She didn't want to leave her child in the cold earth. Filch waited until they disappeared over a rise in the landscape, then set about his duty, forming a little mound.

"Poor little tyke," the caretaker said to the mound of earth, "Don't worry. I'll keep it pretty here for you. I'll plant flowers and such, little berry bushes to bring the bees, birds and rabbits. They'll buzz, sing and nibble. You won't be alone. You'll always be surrounded by life, little one."

Filch was as good as his word. He tended Jacob's grave as if he had been his own child. Hermione's grief had moved the old caretaker's hard heart, and he wanted it pretty anytime she came there to visit.

Severus sighed as his looked at the oak casket. He removed his robes, and rolled up his shirtsleeves, then set about collecting the knives, bowls and solutions he would need to test the remaining tissues. He too hoped he would find nothing out of the ordinary. It would be much kinder if life retreated simply because it wasn't time.

Everything arranged, Severus blinked down at the casket for several moments, his heart pounding. Finally, he inserted a small crowbar-like instrument and began wedging the small coffin open. When the edges were all loosened, he sat the tool on the counter, and returned to the stool to stare at the casket a bit longer. He had known it would be difficult, but thought he would be stronger than this.

After another half an hour, he steeled himself.

"I must do this. For Jacob, for Hermione, for myself," he said to himself and he strode over to the coffin and opened it.


***************************

Severus worked tirelessly through the night, cutting and testing, examining and testing the small pieces of flaky tissue. He found something that should not have been there and isolated it with a stasis spell. He then carefully replaced the small body and tissue samples back in the coffin and sealed it with his wand. He covered it with a cloth.

Using his wand and several solutions he tested the abnormal tissue until he identified the substance.

His face turned terrible as he whispered, "Murdered. My son, my child was murdered in the womb."

The Mordres Potion. An illegal elixir created for the sole purpose of ending pregnancy. The wizarding world was decidedly pro-life. To even have this potion in one's possession meant ten years in Azkaban prison. It took months to create, requiring weeks of applied heat, fermentation and precisely timed additions of the rare herbs necessary to bring it to potency. A very small amount caused the uterus to expel its contents. The potion cost a small fortune to make, and required a Master to brew it properly. It came in two forms. Liquid and finely powdered, the powdered form being the most potent, activated if inhaled, or somehow came in contact with any damp portion of the body where it would be absorbed into the skin or tissue.

Yes, this potion required a very skilled Potions Master to brew it, but any Potions Master found brewing such an elixir would be disbarred and forced to serve twenty-five years minimum in Azkaban. Severus knew every practicing Potions Master of note in the wizarding world, and none of them were of the character to create such an elixir for any price.

But what about Potions Masters who weren't practicing? Those who had been disbarred and served their sentences, and were released at the time he and Hermione married. There couldn't have been that many. The Ministry kept records of released prisoners and their whereabouts, even after serving their full sentences.

Hm, Ronald Weasley worked in the Ministry. Maybe he could…no…no. Albus could easily request any records and they would be delivered to him. The Headmaster already agreed to help him face Voldemort. He would most certainly requisition the records of all disbarred Potions Masters released before Hermione became pregnant. Severus would ask him to do it tomorrow morning.

After going over the names, he might just have to pay one or two of those disbarred Potions Masters a visit and find out if any had done any under the cauldron brewing shortly before their loss. And if so, for who?

Severus' eyes glittered with vengeance.

Someone had intentionally caused Hermione to miscarry. What he needed to know now was how Hermione was infected with this potion? Did someone slip it into her food at the Three Broomsticks, or did she inadvertently inhale it?

He needed that pensieve.

************************

Hermione was sound asleep when there was a knock on her door. She sat up quickly, first turning up the single torch then pointing her wand at the door. Shit, it had to be at least five in the morning.

"Go away. My room is off limits!" she shouted at the door.

"Not if you let me in it isn't," replied a female voice.

Female? Hermione's brows lifted. There was a female deatheater at her door?

"Who are you? What do you want?" Hermione called at the door.

"It's Bellatrix LeStrange. I wanted to see how you are doing," the gray-eyed witch said, grinning wickedly on the other side of the door.

"Are you alone?" Hermione asked her, rising from the bed.

"Do you think I would bring any of those pigs with me? I abhor them all," Bella replied.

Hermione thought about this, then unwarded the door. She leveled her wand at it.

"Come in, slowly…both hands empty and in front of you," Hermione breathed, ready to hex.

Slowly the knob turned and the door swung open. A pair of pale, feminine hands turned palm up entered first, followed by the curvaceous body of Bellatrix LeStrange. The witch twisted her hands at Hermione.

"Nothing up my sleeves," she said, smiling at Hermione in a way that looked distinctly carnivorous. Bella eyed the upraised wand. "May I put my hands down now?"

Hermione nodded, and slowly lowered her wand…but she didn't put it away. She still remembered Bellatrix from the Department of Mysteries. The witch was vicious and violent.

"How can I help you, Bellatrix?" Hermione asked her.

Bella leveled her gray eyes at Hermione speculatively, as if sizing her up. The witch noticed Hermione had not put away her wand. She was cautious. She was wise to be.

"The rest of the girls and I were curious what the witch who dumped Severus Snape was like," Bella said, "When he took up with you, there were quite a few disappointed females here at the stronghold. Severus was a real stud. He could go for hours…I myself can remember one time…"

"I really don't care to hear about my ex-husband's sexual prowess with other women, Bellatrix. I assure you, I am very familiar with what he is capable of, thank you," Hermione said evenly. "In fact, since he is free now I imagine he will be most accommodating if you wanted a repeat performance."

Bellatrix turned her mouth downward a bit.

"You would think that wouldn't you. I mean after going from that…" Here she pointed at Hermione, "to this…" and she pointed at herself, "You wouldn't think he'd be able to resist someone as prime as I am. But Severus hasn't fucked anyone here…or anywhere as far as I know, since you divorced him."

Hermione just looked at her, a bit of disbelief on her face. Severus had a very strong sex drive. It was hard to believe he wasn't fucking anyone. Bella's eyes narrowed.

"You didn't hit him with an Impotence spell before you divorced him, did you?" Bella asked in a "you can tell me" voice.

"Of course I didn't. Severus can fuck who he wants. If he doesn't want you…then that's something between you and him. I could care less," Hermione spat.

"Do you ever miss him? Those cold lonely nights?" Bella asked her.

Hermione sat down and looked up at the witch in exasperation.

"I thought you came here to find out about me. Sounds like you want to know more about my ex-husband than me," she said her eyes narrowed.

"Of course we do. You are only interesting because you had him exclusively to yourself for five years…oh…did I say five? I didn't mean that. Let me correct myself. You were married for three of those five years but not fucking for two and a half," Bella said, a nasty smile on her face.

Hermione was taken aback.

"How do you know that?" Hermione asked her. "That was personal information."

"Not after your divorce became public. You included other grounds for divorce other than being muggle-born. That was available to anyone who wanted to read it in the Ministry records. It was popular reading around here for a while. Even our Lord got a good laugh out of it. Severus was a laughingstock. Everyone started kicking his ass in the arena too," Bella said, enjoying telling Hermione all this.

"It was hilarious. You moved out of his bedroom. Suspected him of cheating because he was gone days at a time. Hadn't engaged in intercourse with him for two and a half years. Sent all of his clothing back to Hogwarts…gods it was too much. How did he keep from killing you?" Bella laughed. "Particularly since you lost his child. I don't understand why he just didn't abandon you right then. After all, he only married you because you were pregnant, am I right? Why did he stick around and take all that abuse from you? The only good thing that came from it though was he was an animal in the arena. He fought three or four wizards at once sometimes almost killing all of them. He was something to see then. But after the divorce?"

Bella held one arm out, then let it flop dramatically.

"He was nothing," she said, " Wizards half his size were kicking his ass all around the throne room. The fight with the deatheaters last night was the first fight he'd won in more than a year. The Dark Lord thinks it's because of your presence. So naturally we witches were curious as to what you had that made Severus respond as he did. Whatever it is, I certainly can't see it," Bella said with a sneer, looking Hermione up and down as if she were garbage. "It's a shame that Severus is so ruined in his tastes now, he can only respond to a filthy mudblood."

Hermione stood up, pointing her wand directly between Bellatrix's eyes.

"All right Bellatrix, you have officially worn out your welcome and pissed me off. Get the fuck out of my room before I blast your pale ass through the door," Hermione said, her amber eyes flashing.

Bellatrix backed toward the door slowly.

"Careful, little mudblood. You wouldn't want the females after you like the males are. Only lust wouldn't be our motive. Humiliation would. We have lots of little toys we use on each other when we're bored…" she said, her lips drawn up in a lascivious smile. "We have dildos much bigger than that monster of a cock Severus has. But you might find that…pleasant."

"Get out, Bellatrix. I'm warning you," Hermione said evenly.

Bella turned and exited out the door…then stuck her head back in.

"This is what a girl gets for trying to be friendly?" she asked, her eyes slitted.

"GET OUT!" Hermione seethed, slamming and warding the door with her wand. Bella extracted her head just in time.

Hermione dropped back on the bed.

"Fuck," she said to herself, "Now I have the witches as well as the wizards after me. Voldemort's reign is worse than Caligula's"

She lay back down in the bed and tried to catch a few more winks.

She hoped Severus had some news when she saw him tonight.

Severus. So he hadn't returned to the arms of the female deatheaters? And she hadn't known the details of their divorce were made public knowledge, but she should have figured they would be. Theirs was the first wizarding divorce in many, many, many years. And the fighting? Severus was a powerful fighter. Had their divorce taken that much out of him that he had been a punching bag for deatheaters for the past year? How horrible.

Hermione realized that she hadn't thought about how Severus was coping with their divorce. But he had said he wanted to walk away. All she had done was let him do it. He was supposed to be happy. She had always assumed he was, since he was out of a miserable marriage like he wanted. He had wanted it, hadn't he?

She lay there thinking about when she got the owl from his solicitor, asking to meet with her for an attempt at reconciliation. How she had torn the parchment to bits in a fit of rage. Then how he had tried to offer her what a wife deserved from her spouse. Support, assets. She threw those back at him as well.

She began to think. She accused him of cheating on her, when he was simply gone like he was always gone…doing his work for the Order. She accused him of cheating on her when she had left his bed, denying him sex. If he had gone elsewhere…it would have been her own fault. She realized she had made up the charge to justify treating him badly and escalating the arguments that occurred more and more. As Hermione thought about this, her mind turned to the arguments themselves. How she would walk in on Severus quietly reading a Potions magazine and start in on him, cursing and brow-beating him for no other reason than he was there to target. He never once cursed her back. He would leave or go to his room and ward the door while she raged outside it.

He never really said anything truly hurtful until he got mad and said she made him miserable and wished he could walk away. But had he meant it? When she said all the terrible things she said to him, had she meant them or was she lashing out because of Jacob, having no one else to heap her anger and grief on other than her husband? Did Severus finally reach the breaking point and purposely say something to hurt her as badly as she was hurting him?

Today, he corrected her and said they had both lost a child. That Jacob was his son too, and he also felt grief. Hermione was realizing that she had treated Jacob's death as something that affected her alone. No one else could possibly understand how it was to carry a child in your womb and lose it.

But that child was Severus' child as well. He placed his ear against her belly to try and hear the tiny heartbeat constantly, and would rub her belly, saying he wanted the baby to know his touch. He was constantly proclaiming that his child would not be a dunderhead like the majority of idiot children in the wizarding world. He had dreams invested in Jacob. He may not have carried him physically, but he carried their child in his heart. Not only had he lost Jacob, but he had lost her too.

Hermione had promised him, sworn to him that she would never break his heart.

She had lied.

For Hermione, it was like waking up from a terrible drug-induced existence. Suddenly, she was able to stand on the outside of the situation and look in on herself. She didn't like what she saw. She wasn't sure what woke her up. Was it Bellatrix telling her all what Severus went through after the divorce, or was it Severus, telling her that her miscarriage might have been intentional?

Gods, what had she done to him? What had she done to them? Jacob was gone, but Severus was still alive, and he had needed her care as much as her child did. Someone may have murdered their child, but Hermione herself had murdered their relationship just as effectively as if she had plunged a knife into Severus' heart.

Hermione lay there in the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling as self-recrimination piled on her chest, making it hard for her to breathe. But it wasn't her chest that was heavy, it was her heart.

It was feeling again.

**************************

A/N: Man, Bella is a piece of work, isn't she? She was purposely baiting Hermione. I wonder if her threat about the female deatheaters were real. Hermione shouldn't take any chances. Severus found traces of the Mordres Potion in Jacob. He is ready to do some serious sleuthing now. I think Albus is going to play a large role in this fic when the chips are down. I wonder what Severus will discover in the pensieve? And Hermione is coming back to herself, starting to see and feel things she couldn't see and feel before because of her pain. She is slowly moving out of the "me, me, me" state of mind, and into the "we". But it seems too little, too late. Well, we'll find out a little more next chapter. Please review.