His rage terrified him the night he pushed her down the stairs. It had been a reflex she wasn't sure he would ever forgive himself for. The two years that followed, when he worked so hard to make up for his terrible lapse in judgment and his dangerous temper, had been the best years of their marriage. A flicker of hope within Hermione that maybe they weren't doomed to a life of abject misery fanned into a flame. Until a long day at their fucked up excuse for an office ended with the back of his hand splitting her lip open.