Senses

Chapter 25

Severus woke with a start, his eyes turning towards the clock on the bedside table. Like clockwork for the past three weeks Granger had woken from night terrors at 3:04 exactly and crawled into his bed for comfort. Initially, he'd been very off-put by her presence. Choosing to lay on the far end of the bed when she would make a plea to join him. Though steadily he had found himself waking to find her head tucked into his arm with her hand wrapped around it. He'd given up, rather reluctantly, on having any personal space during his sleep.

He'd given her her own bed just to the side of his. Smaller, of course, just room for her. The room easily accommodated the addition. Now, however, he was greatly debating on just allowing her in his bed from the beginning in the hopes that he wouldn't be woken every night when she would ask to join him.

His brain ticked when he turned his head towards the edge that she'd always come to and found himself perplexed to find her not there. He pushed himself onto his arms to find her bed empty and his heart kicked up. A deep retching noise from the other side of the room cleared his sinuses and he was able to get to his feet surprisingly quickly.

"Miss Granger?"

Soft desperate sounding words reached his ears like a mantra but they were far to slurred for him to make out clearly. A heavy hand pushed open the door to the bathroom and another deep retch filled his ears.

Granger was braced over the toilet, her entire body shaking as she spit up what little she had left. Her face was red with heavy tears glistening down her cheeks. When her head turned to his approach she let out a soft yet deep chest shuddering sob before looking down at her hand that clawed into her stomach.

"I don't want to be pregnant, please... Please...I can't...I can't..."

"Shh...What are you talking about?" Severus knelt down beside her, his hand pushing back the hair that had come loose to stick to her face, "You're not pregnant..."

"I am...I can...I can feel it...my stomach...look at it..."

Severus turned his head down but merely shook his head. The only thing she'd done was regain most of the weight she'd lost. She'd gained a fair bit of muscle thanks to his rigorous routines that had kept her busy through the days. Keeping her safely away inside the trunk and out of his hair. He'd created a small body training area for her, as well as adjusted the swimming pool to allow her to do laps. His carrot and stick strategy pushing her forward to become somewhat resemblant of her former self.

"The only thing you've done is gain weight." Severus took her wrist guiding it away from her stomach and onto his waist, "It was a dream...just a dream..." His lack of sleep made his tone a bit sharper than he'd wished but what could be expected of him at 3 in the morning? It wasn't uncommon for her to wake in a daze too stuck inside her dream to take in the reality around her but this was the first time she'd ever talked about being pregnant. He supposed it was a fear most women held but he wasn't sure.

"No...please...he...he did this... I can't...I can't carry his child..." Hermione pulled weakly against the arm that came to raise her up. Her head rolling around her chest as she continued to look down at her stomach. She could feel him, deep inside her, clawing away at her insides. Tearing away everything.

Severus shushed her once more as he pulled her legs up with the rest of her. She was definitely heavier than before and standing with her took a little more effort but he managed well enough. His body shuddered from the exertion, still half asleep himself. Walking her to the bed, he sat her down before using his wand to clear her nose and face.