It Had To Be Her

39: The Bite Pt. 2

Hermione

Severus ended his story, and my initial hurt that he had been intimate with Ellara dissipated simply because neither of us had any choice in the matter of how this bond was sealed between all of us. Certainly, in all of my magical research and education, I didn't come across too many instances where sex was used to seal off a spell or ritual, but then again, I had to admit that Ellara and Kaelin were right in that the wizarding world had grown far too reliant on wand casting.

"Well, seeing as I have no choice, give me the bite," I decided.

Severus shook his head. "I would rather not give them the satisfaction of that victory over you. You deserve to be free of being a werewolf."

I cupped his cheek, and he kissed my inner wrist in response. "I know, but you know I'm right. Besides, there are pleasant aspects to lycanthropy."

He smirked. "Ah yes, the enhanced senses in every aspect of life, the strength. But are you certain you want to face further discrimination, lioness? The wizarding world is not kind to werewolves. Even to purebloods who have taken the bite, they are not kind to them once that occurs."

I didn't want to do it, I knew exactly what it would mean for our family, our very marital dynamic. I lightly kissed him as I lounged against the pillows.

"I understand. But we need to do this."

"Yes." He rolled over and turned on his nightstand lamp. The light made me shut my eyes against it until they adjusted. He opened up one of the drawers and unzipped his emergency potions bag, which looked like an old-fashioned black doctors traveling bag. He dug around in it for a bit until he found what he wanted: a vial of silver and wolfsbane. I could tell it was wolfsbane by its purple color. He zipped up the bag and put it away before shutting the drawer up.

"This will hurt," He warned. "But I will try to make it as pleasant as possible."

"But why the silver? It's toxic to werewolves. I understand the wolfsbane, though: it's so I don't shift right away."

"Correct. The silver simply ensures that the bite won't leave a lasting scar on your body. You can see where not having it applied right away does," He pointed to his wrist scar where Moony looked like he nearly tore off Severus's hand.

I shivered at that. "Yes, I can see that. I'm ready. Do it."

Severus sighed heavily. "As you wish."

We began to make out a bit and kiss before he trailed his lips down to the sensitive area of my neck where my neck met my shoulders. Severus hesitated slightly and then lightly bit down. I winced as I could feel the serrated edges of his sharpened canines break the skin there, and he licked up the bite he made to soothe me.

He took the vial of wolfsbane, and I nodded. I unscrewed the lid and drained it. I winced at the bitter taste of it and handed it back to him. He placed the empty vial on the nightstand. "This will be painful but necessary. I tried to make as small a bite as possible."

I smiled. "I trust you."

He unscrewed the lid of the Essence of Silver and poured it onto my bite wound. The pain was...unbelievable, burning, and I couldn't help but scream. Severus worked fast to sew up the bite mark, and when he was done bandaging it up, he held me close, almost rocking me until I stopped crying.

Another husband would have said some soothing words, perhaps been more gentle, but all he did was apologize in a soft voice, "Forgive me. I did say that it would hurt."

"Yeah, you did. Wow, I just... yeah, you were right it was painful. Not as much as labor, but still."

He chuckled. "Yes, I'm sure. Thank you for that welcome imagery. Now I can recall you covered in gory blood once more."

I playfully swatted him. "Oh, hush. It's only the result of having a child, no big deal. I suppose I will have to lay here in recovery until this heals." I tried to move and found that my muscles were feeling weak all of a sudden. "Ow..oh, okay, yeah, I'm not moving. I feel so... so tired."

Severus nodded. "Rest then. I can check on Daemon."

I yawned. "He seems to be fine for now. Will you not come to bed?"

He looked just about to do that, but then the charm that informed the house that my son was up went off. "Duty calls. I will come right back."

"Mm, you do that. He fed earlier. He likely just wants attention. You need to see him more."

He kissed my cheek before putting his pajama bottoms on and closing the door behind him. My eyelids grew heavy, and I fell into a deep, restful sleep, not knowing that I would sleep until the night of the full moon where I would shift for the first time in my wolf form to begin my life all over again...