A Matter of Circumstance

Chapter 8 ~ A Shared Dream (Warning: Abuse)

Eris wasn’t finished with Severus yet. Or Hermione. There was one more thing she had to do to the couple.

Severus had returned to his rooms without saying anything to Hermione at all about her oath. He left as silently as he arrived, leaving the witch alone with her thoughts. But once he got behind closed doors and into his bed, he lay there thinking.

“The manipulative little chit,” he muttered to himself blackly, “Taking an oath. That was dirty Quidditch. Well, I’ve had her…that’s enough. Let Weasley have her then. Her and the child. I’m done with Hermione Granger. Finished. She’s old news.”

The wizard rolled over and fell into a fretful sleep.

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Hermione lay in her bed, torn about what had happened. An oath. She’d taken an oath to never engage Severus again after she married Ron. She hoped that the oath would take away all feelings for the wizard once she and Ron were permanently bound. It would be horrible if it didn’t, if she continued to pine for him for the rest of her days, think about him in the dead of night and when Ron was on top of her.

And what about the child? She would be reminded of the dark wizard every time she looked at it. Severus was bound to her for the rest of her life, whether they were involved or not. Why had she fallen for him so hard? Why didn’t she have the courage to tell Ron the truth?

Because she didn’t want to be alone, or raise a child without a father. Ron loved her, even if she didn’t love him with the same passion. She did care about him. She always had. But Molly was right. If Hermione hadn’t become pregnant, she wouldn’t have agreed to marry him.

The witch rolled over in her bed and fell into a fretful sleep.

Eris looked down at Hermione, then waved her hand over her.

”Now dream,” she whispered softly before transporting to Severus’ bedroom.

”You too, wizard. Dream,” the goddess said, giving him the same dream as Hermione.

They would share this nightmare.

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Hermione walked into a small dingy flat, books in her arms. It was dark, the only light coming from the small kitchen. She entered it and saw Ron sitting at the table, his face screwed up as he drank a glass of firewhiskey. The entire kitchen stunk of it.

“Ron, where’s Cassia?” Hermione asked her drunken husband.

”In her room,” Ron muttered, turning his bloodshot eyes on Hermione.

“How long has she been in there?” she asked him.

“The whole time,” the wizard replied, pouring himself another drink.

Suddenly a small voice piped, “Mummy? Mummy are you home?”

A little girl of about three appeared in the doorway. She had black curly hair, pale skin and black eyes. She looked at Hermione soberly, then at Ron, then back at Hermione.

”Didn’t I tell you to stay in your blasted room?” Ron suddenly yelled at the child, throwing his glass at the door so it shattered, the little girl disappearing the moment he screamed.

She was used to this.

“Ron! What the hell are you doing?” Hermione yelled at him.

Ron looked at her hatefully and stood up, walking toward her slowly.

”That little girl isn’t mine, Hermione,” he said to her quietly, “She’s not a Weasley. I’m raising another man’s child. You trapped me into this marriage. My mother tried to warn me, but I wouldn’t listen. I should have.”

Hermione stared at her husband, not knowing what to say.

Suddenly Ron grabbed her by the hair, dug into her pocket and pulled out her wand, throwing it across the room.

“Who’s the father, Hermione? Tell me who the father is!” he demanded, wrenching her head around, breathing liquor all over her.

”You’re the only father she knows, Ron,” Hermione cried.

“You’re a fucking lying whore, Hermione…and you’re going to pay for this, you bitch,” he cursed, striking her across the face, Hermione screaming and trying to get away.

Ron began to beat the witch brutally until she was nearly unconscious on the floor, the panting wizard looking down at her, his hands clenching and unclenching.

Cassia appeared in the doorway again and saw Ron standing over Hermione.

”Mummy?” she said in a scared voice, her dark eyes full of terror as she looked at Ron.

“Didn’t I tell you to stay in your room?” he said to the child, stalking toward her.

Cassia ran for her room, Ron stumbling behind her, muttering and undoing his belt. He walked into her bedroom, the little witch in the corner, clutching her teddy bear in front of her. Ron doubled the belt in his hand and started toward her.

“Daddy?...Daddy…” the little girl cried out as the wizard approached her, his eyes hard.

“I’m not your daddy,” Ron growled.

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Hermione awoke from the dream before Severus did, her eyes full of horror and tears as the nightmare gripped her. Ron had beaten both her and her child because of her treachery, though she didn’t witness his abuse of the little girl.

But Severus did…tossing and groaning in his bed as he watch Ron brutally whip the child, the little girl…his daughter. Eris didn’t let him out like she did Hermione. Snape needed to see this…needed to remember what it was like to be abused and unloved by a father. His own father was an abusive man and had treated the Potions Master just the way Ron was treating Cassia.

Finally Ron left the room, leaving the whimpering child covered in welts on the bedroom floor, the teddy bear resting beside her, staring up at the ceiling helplessly as she shuddered, wracked with pain and terror.

Severus awoke then, sitting up in the bed, his face terrible.

He didn’t care if he didn’t want the child…it wouldn’t be mistreated by anyone. He had mixed feelings about Hermione. He could understand Ron’s rage and even his reaction. But he hadn’t enjoyed seeing the witch brutalized that way.

Still, it was just a dream…not anything concrete.

The wizard lay back down on his back, staring up at the ceiling. What if the dream was a premonition…a warning of what would occur in the future? What if his child was condemned to a life of abuse because he allowed Hermione to let another wizard claim it? The child was an innocent after all. It was one thing if it were raised in a loving home. He was sure Hermione would love her child. But what about Weasley if he found out the truth? As cold and heartless as Severus was, the idea of a child living through what he himself had suffered struck a nerve. Particularly a child that was his own flesh and blood.

He had offered Hermione a potion to abort the child, but she refused. She wouldn’t kill it. He couldn’t force her though he had for a moment considered slipping her the potion. But even he wasn’t that cruel. Instead, he told her he wasn’t ready to be a father and if she had the child, she’d raise it alone, thinking that might make her rethink her situation.

She did. That was when she accepted Ron’s proposal.

Severus sighed. The magnitude of this situation had finally been driven home. He was responsible…for all of this. Hermione’s pregnancy, her engagement to Ron, her lies about the child…everything.

Albus was right. He had to do something.

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A/N: Thanks for reading.