“You knew exactly who we are when you came to bed with us,” Severus snapped, and immediately regretted his words.
Hermione’s tears dripped from her cheeks into her lap where her hands shook, but it was the look of resignation in here eyes that sealed it.
“I did,” she said, her voice soft. “And then I let myself forget. That was my mistake.”
Severus pinched his nose, trying to work out a way to fix this, but Hermione was already moving around the room, and he felt the words coming before they left her lips.
“I need time.”
Her voice was still soft, and he let his hand fall away to see her at the door, that bloody bag of hers in hand.
It was now late morning, and he knew in his bones that if she walked out now, she wouldn’t be coming back tonight. Or tomorrow. Or possibly ever.
His instinct was to lash out, to accuse her of using him, but he knew it wasn’t the truth. He could beg her to stay, but why would she? She’d allowed herself to forget the men she’d idealized in her mind were deeply flawed in the worst ways, and she’d been confronted with the truth when she’d meant to feel safe.
There was no correcting that. Seeing only one way forward, he release the doorknob and stepped aside.
“Very well.” The two words fractured something inside of him, but he wouldn’t keep her captive. Nor would he attempt to convince her that she needed them, because she didn’t. They needed her, but she didn’t need them. If anything, she’d be better off.
Fresh tears pooled in her eyes, and she was careful not to brush against him as she exited the room that he’d only ever shared with her and Lucius. He’d never see this room with it’s ethereal white linens and not think of her tanned skin against the sheets between himself and Lucius, or the mornings of her draped over his chest, or late nights finding Lucius already holding her and waiting with exasperated expectation.
She passed Lucius in the entrance hall, her eyes resolutely downcast. Severus watch Lucius’s eyes darting between them, the flicker of hope extinguishing when Severus gave one shake of his head.
She stepped through the floo without looking back, and Lucius’s knees gave out beneath him when the emerald flames faded away. He was so distraught, he barely even reacted as Severus lowered himself to the polished marble floors beside him and gathered him in his arms.
Severus had never thought it possible to feel worse than when he arrived at the Potter house to find Lily lifeless on the floor, but this was somehow more painful by magnitudes. Lily had never loved him like he’d wanted her to. She’d been unattainable. Over the years since he’d faced his own mortality, he’d come to understand that unrequited love would never sustain him.
But Hermione… Hermione did love him. Through his darkest moods and through sleepless nights, she’d loved him. And against all odds, she’d loved Lucius too. Still, she’d left.
And he had sealed their fate when he’d let her go. That was his mistake.