Come What May

Chapter 28

Hermione emerged in the bedroom of the chambers she had shared with her husband, throwing her backpack angrily at the base of their ornate bed frame. The witch collapsed in front of the trunk, opening it to begin her unpacking. Severus entered a minute later, moving seamlessly across the cold bedroom floor to sit rigidly in the window seat. His wife paid him no mind, pouring her energy into sorting her clothes, putting the dirty ones in a separate pile from the clean. Hermione reached into her backpack, pulling out a discarded trash sack; she studied it, puzzled. Holding her hand up, she let the plastic unroll and a small item fell into her hand with an uncomfortable thud. The muggle pregnancy test rested in her palm, Hermione's heart leaping. At first, she thought about marching into the living room, hurtling the painful reminder into the fire, but then, after her inner voice of reason spoke, chose to place it delicately in the trunk, beneath a pair of knickers.

The witch stifled a sob, biting her lip as she clutched her belly. No. No. She would not cry. Hermione reminded herself that she had been through far more difficult trials... But had she? What could compare to the pain she was enduring at that very moment? Losing a child, sacrificing it in order to save her husband. And now, did she even have a husband? Her thoughts wandered to the war, remembering the anguish she experienced at the hands of Voldemort and his army. Losing countless friends, including her first love, Ronald. The ripping, shredding pain she felt in her chest could not compare to that loss. It been excruciating, but at least it had not been at the hands of someone she loved.

Then, Hermione began to unpack once more, but instead of placing the things back into the trunk, she was removing them and shoving them into her hiking backpack. She furiously worked, packing as much as she could. A rustling behind her broke her concentration for a moment; she'd forgotten that Severus was in the room.

"What are you doing?" he questioned, hovering behind her. Hermione ignored him, standing now to zip up the backpack. She moved across the rug to open the wardrobe and pull out a few warmer items and two pairs of shoes. "Say something!" he roared, slamming the wardrobe shut in front of her.

Hermione jumped, frozen before her husband who stood erect with his fists clenched at his sides. Still, she did not speak. Crookshanks had lazily entered the bedroom, first hopping onto the trunk, and then onto the bed to curl into a fluffy orange roll. He watched as his owner hovered uncomfortably in front of her husband, her eyes focused on nothing in particular, but were glazed over.

"Do you feel nothing at all?" Severus asked, his voice softer, but still jagged-edged.

Finally, she broke free of her prison of silence. "I'm going to Harry and Ginny's."

"You do realize that our marriage cannot be annulled?"

"If our marriage was built on false pretenses, how could it not be?" she replied nonchalantly, looking back at him over her shoulder as she entered the bathroom.

"It is in the contract."

Hermione rolled her eyes, using her wand to enlarge her backpack into a rolling suitcase. This allowed her more space to pack her toiletries on top of her clothes and shoes as she knelt onto the floor. She made her way back into the bedroom, she saw Severus sitting on the trunk, hands on his knees with his fingers spread widely to grip the sides of his legs.

"That contract is null and void, Severus. If I can't get the ministry to agree, then you will."

"I will not!" he shouted, standing once again. He stormed over to Hermione, her frizzy curls blowing back from her face with the gust of wind he brought behind him.

"Are you really going to trap me in this marriage?" her voice raised, her arms crossing over her chest. "There's nothing left for me here! You've already stolen my independence, what more could you want?"