Everyday Life

Disclaimer: see first chapter.

Chapter reread by Dacian Goddess.

I'd thought Severus wouldn't be the kind of man to whisper sweet nothings into my ear after lov... sex, as Ron used to do (don't think of Ron, don't think of Ron), but I had never imagined that he would be gone less than a quarter of an hour after. That said, I hadn't expected to feel any pleasure, either. To think that it took Ron and me seven attempts before I could find some satisfaction in the act (don't think of Ron, don't think of Ron); but we were both virgins at the time. That won't do. I can't let myself go and dwell in the past. I now have a husband whom I want to get rid of legally, and I want to develop S.P.E.W. I don comfortable clothes, settle down at my desk and get ready to prepare a schedule to organise my activities in the months to come the way I did in the good old times of OWLs and NEWTs.

The first thing to do though is to open the envelope Harry gave me earlier. My eyes widen without me knowing it as I read its content. This is an invitation for an interview at the Law Department of the Nimbus Racing Broom Company on March 27th in the morning! They have a vacant position as legal assistant, which consists...according to the job's description...in researching in books and parchments for facts and affairs already tried, to help the lawyer of the company build their cases against the more and more numerous complaints from the customers. I remember having read something to that effect in the Prophet. People buy a broom to fly, and when they fall, they shift the blame onto the manufacturer. I've already done these kinds of things for Buckbeak's defense in my third year. The case was lost, but not because I had done a bad job of it. I trust I will get the job.

Now, my anti-marriage plan. I can't use the non-consummation clause to ask for a divorce. I still have adultery, sterility and marital assault at my disposal. What can I do? After a bit of thinking, I have a plan.

1/Adultery: after all the upheaval following the announcement of the romantic hero's wedding, it shouldn't be too difficult to put some naïve young woman under that big nose of his. If I'm lucky, he won't resist her, and I'll be there to catch him in flagrante delicto.

Synthesis: my two best chances to succeed in getting a divorce without suffering are adultery committed by Severus and sterility.

This brainstorming has exhausted me. I prepare a light meal for myself and get to the "marital" bed with a good book. At least it, unlike my husband, is giving me company.

I want to sleep! What's making such a racket? I'll complain to the landlord; the neighbours shouldn't make so much noise on a Sunday morning. I turn around in my bed, and instead of an empty space, I meet with a warm body.... Everything comes back to me in a rush: the wedding, the sex and Severus, who hadn't come back yet when I went to bed. I can see, and especially hear, that he came back while I was asleep. He snores so loudly that he could move the rafters! I will have to insist that he takes a spoon of Silent Sleep potion every night.

Since sleep is forbidden to me now, I get up. I notice when I look at my husband that he's wrapped himself up snugly in the blankets like a larva (now, this is a term that suits him) in a cocoon. I must be cautious lest he monopolises all the bedding. Well, if he doesn't want us to sleep in separate rooms, he'll have to reform his habits, whether they're conscious or not.

After breakfast, I shut myself away in my office. Just in time, it seems, for I hear noise in the bedroom. I let Severus attend to his business and write a letter to Harry. I confirm that I'll go to the interview at Nimbus, and I thank him profusely. I assure him that I'm well and that I intend to organise a S.P.E.W. meeting on the summer solstice, on June 21st. Would he agree to make an appearance to support the cause?

Around noon, I get down to the kitchen, where I find Severus preparing our meal, in accordance with our marriage contract. The washing-up is for me.

"Hello, Hermione. You did well not to wait for me yesterday evening. My outing lasted more than I expected."

"No problem. Remember that our marriage is for convenience. You don't have to account for you actions to me.

"Indeed, but I though that a bit of civility between us would make our life easier."

You mostly want to make sure that I won't have any reason to complain to anybody, which could give me a reason to divorce, I think.

"By the way, I have an interview for a job at Nimbus on March 27th. It's for a legal assistant position."

"Ah? I'm surprised that they would propose a job to a beginner."

I'm not going to tell him that Harry made me a favour.

"I suppose they appreciate my NEWTs results."

He doesn't answer. He is...how to put it?...lost in his thoughts. I consider that there's nothing more to say on the subject and concentrate on my plate.

"It's Potter, isn't it?"

I jump when he speaks and eye him questioningly.

"What? Why do you speak of Harry?"

"Did Potter secure that interview for you?"

His eyes glint with malice.

"You didn't dazzle them with your brilliance, but rather with you personal relationship with the Chosen One."

Oh, that was very low.

"I don't think they would propose me an interview if I didn't have the skills required, whether I'm friends with Harry or not."

He smiles like a shark on the brink of crushing its prey between its teeth.

"It'll be cheaper for them to hire you than to pay Potter to advertise them! By the way, what salary do they propose?"

I can't help it. I know I should avoid such an attitude with Severus, but I can't help it; I'm on the defensive.

"That will be tackled during the interview."

He doesn't even hide his jubilation.

"I'd be curious to know your worth."

"Probably more than you think."

Well done, Hermione. You managed to land yourself in an impossible situation. Not only do I have to get the job, but I also have to get decent pay if I don't want to lose face with Severus.

I put on an expression that I hope expresses certainty.

Once the meal and the washing up are done, each of us gets back to their personal spaces: Severus in his laboratory and I in my office. I spend my time reading and thinking of my job interview. I take a bath before going down to eat, and then I go to bed with a good book, as is my habit. This time, Severus comes soon after me, and he too has a book. Around the same hour, we feel like sleeping and put out the lights.

Actually, this Sunday has set the tone of our first week of common life. We've met only at meals and at bedtime. There has been friction between us, the, "There's too much butter in the pasta" or "You're too noisy when you turn the pages of your book" kind; nothing cataclysmic then.

I managed to meet Dobby and Winky without ensuing trouble while Severus was at work so that we could speak about the June meeting. We agreed that it'd give a boost to our movement if Harry were present. I'm still waiting for his answer about it.

Thursday evening, we slept together once more. I could have gone without, but Severus managed to make the sex agreeable. I couldn't help but ask him why he was so careful that I felt satisfaction from it. He answered me that "giving pleasure is a form of power". Why did I think that he perhaps had, in the very well hidden depths of his psyche, an ounce of compassion and goodness?

I'd like for this week to be the archetype of our relationship, but every good thing has an end. It began when I had to ask Severus for money. I don't have a sickle left, and I can't go to the interview in any of the outfits that fill my wardrobe.

Being married isn't as disagreeable as I feared. Of course, I have to share my space, but we make it a point of honour to avoid each other as much as possible. Yet, I must admit that it's not that difficult to fall asleep with another person in one's bed. Actually, it's incredible how much it warms the bedding and induces sleep rapidly. She, on the other hand, accuses me of snoring very loudly. As if! Because I have been awakened by my own snoring on occasion doesn't mean that I have troubles with my upper respiratory system, whatever she says, but only to be left alone do I take a spoon of Silent Sleep potion before going to bed.

Monday morning, even before going to WWW, I visit the Auror Headquarters to leave my employers' certificate stating that my being employed by them was essential for the development of their company and my marriage certificate. They don't comment. They don't ask that I produce any other parchment (my employers' name is synonym to war hero), but I have hardly turned my back that I hear them murmur to each other.

"Snape married Harry Potter's best friend! It wasn't only a rumour."

"He's probably bewitched her."

"Or do you think he could have served her a potion without her knowing? It's his specialty after all."

"Yeah. Like the Dark Arts."

I leave before I hear more. The only potion I served her was amber, had more than fifty degrees and I didn't need to trick her to drink it.

Once at work, I meet indifferent expressions at best, hostile ones at worse.

"How is Hermione?" one of the twins asks me from the counter in a defiant voice meaning: if you hurt her, you'll be dealing with me.

I use my most unctuous voice to answer him.

"She's very well, Mr. Weasley. It's very kind of you to inquire about her health now. I suppose she would have preferred you to ask when your brother chose to give up on her."

They have a weird habit in that family of blushing by the ears first when they're angry or embarrassed. Wisely, he elects to shut up and to turn tail to the stockroom. I head for my laboratory and stay there until the end of the day.

The rest of the week doesn't see any notable incident, only the hitches of common life. We offer the perfect picture of domestic life, up to when she asks money for new robes when I'm still under the effect of post-coital bliss.