Chapter 1 The Task
Severus Snape was a grey area. He wasn't bad, but he wasn't good either. Professor Dumbledore trusted him and so did everyone else. But, little did he know how much Lord Voldemort trusted him. He trusted Severus Snape enough to give him one of the toughest assignments he has ever given.
"Severus, I have a task for you." Lord Voldemort said.
"Yes, my Lord." Severus replied, eager to learn more.
"I need you to help me. You have a close connection with the Potter boy, do you not?" Voldemort asked.
"In a sense." Snape answered.
"So, you know his...friends?"
"I know of every current Hogwarts student, Weasley and Granger make no exception." Snape informed Voldemort.
"Harry Potter, unlike you, unlike me, unlike the rest of my Death Eaters, cares for people. That can break him. I need to break him before I kill him. It's so much more satisfying. Will you do that for me?"
"And how exactly am I supposed to do that?" Snape asked. His hands writhed underneath the table at which Voldemort and himself sat.
"Through the people he cares about, his friends, Weasley and Granger. Particularly Granger, she's the interesting one. Mind more...developed." Voldemort said.
"You want me to kill Granger, torture Granger? What exactly do you want me to do with her?" Snape inquired.
"No not killing, not torturing, that's not quite it. I want you to dig down into the deepest parts of her vulnerability, let her lose everything she had, including Potter. Rape her Severus. Rape her and impregnate her. Take all that she has. Make her terrified." Voldemort assigned.
Snape stomach clenched. The words spilling out of the Dark Lord's mouth disgusted him. It was one of the most difficult things trying to keep his face straight.
"You want me to rape and impregnate Hermione Granger?" Snape asked for confirmation.
"Precisely. One more thing. This must be a secret. Nobody can know of your indecent acts to Granger, especially not Potter. You must convince her to bottle it all up inside." Voldemort made his last condition.
Snape agreed, leaving the Dark Lord's companionship to return home for planning. But Snape didn't return to Spinner's End. He instead flew to Hogwarts, where his most respected colleague and mentor Albus Dumbledore was staying for summer. He was preparing for Voldemort's attacks and manipulating schedules so that he could cancel finals at any moment.
"What am I going to do?" Snape questioned. Dumbledore was sitting unnaturally uncomfortable at his desk. He was usually so calm, but with the contemplation at hand he couldn't help but squirm.
"Well, I'm afraid to say Severus that I have no idea." Dumbledore answered.
"But you're never afraid. Please, help me." Snape requested. He was practically pleading on his knees, begging for a do-over.
"How did Voldemort seem? Was he frightened?" Dumbledore investigated, regaining his calm demeanor.
"He seemed almost joyful." Snape answered. His hands shaking. The even mention of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named after the despicable events he requested, chilled Snape to the core.
"You have to do it."
"What?"
"You have to do it. I'm sorry Severus, but it's the only way you're going to be able to gain his trust." Dumbledore informed Snape, giving him an empathetic look.
"I don't know if I can-"
"You have too. I'm sorry."
Harry, Ron and Hermione were sitting on the floor of 12 Grimmauld Place. Harry and Ron were in a heated match of wizard chess and Hermione was doing Charms homework.
"Rook to D4." Ron commanded as the pronged piece glided over the board.
"Damn." Harry swore. "Queen to H3." The same happened with Harry's queen.
"Please excuse me." Hermione requested, uncrossing her legs and placing the Charms essay beside the cushion she sat on. She entered the bathroom.
Hermione turned on the tap and placed her hands underneath it. The heat was sweltering this summer, especially in Grimmauld Place. Hermione splashed her face with the cool water. Unfortunately, now that the tap was running, and the pipes moaned, she couldn't hear the gentle creaking of footsteps up the stairs and down the hallways.
"Checkmate!" Ron shouted down the hall, and the howls of laughter and defeat echoed down the hall, blurring out the footsteps for the rest of the apartment floor.
Hermione jumped at the sound of the door opening. And there, in the doorway, was Professor Snape, staring back at Hermione. He wasn't looking in her eyes, he didn't seem to have the courage to do that.
Snape closed the door behind him, mumbled some type of spell over the room's walls, and returned to Hermione's terrified gaze. Snape spread his hand over Hermione's wrists. She screamed out, but it seemed as though nobody could hear her. Snape bound together Hermione's hands with his wand and lowered her down, cautious to not hit her head on the tub. Hermione kicked and squirmed and screamed, but it didn't do anything. Snape slowed Hermione's legs and then head as though they were in molasses.
Hermione had no idea of what was going on, but she didn't like it. She hated Snape. She hated whatever he was doing to her. And she hated this bathroom floor. Once Hermione finally realized what was going on, she was scared even further.
Snape started to lower Hermione's pj shorts. She screamed even louder, begging for somebody to save her. Hermione felt something plunge into her, like a corpse in freezing cold water.
Snape slid his hands over Hermione's mouth, muffling her screaming. "You need to listen to me. You can't tell anybody of this incident. It will cause great harm to you and your friends if anybody is to know. Do you understand?"
Hermione continued screaming through Snape's fingers licking and biting at them, but the odd slowing charm prevented her from doing so.
"Do you understand?" Snape asked again. He seemed to peer into Hermione's inner most mind. She wouldn't tell anybody. At least, that was the conclusion he came to.
"I'm so sorry." Snape apologized through a groggy voice, as though he were crying. Snape got off the floor, swished his cloak behind him, and with one flick of his wand, removed all of the charms on Hermione and the bathroom. He left without another sound.
Hermione lay slumped on the bathroom floor, silent tears dripping out of her eyes. She sat there for minutes, but she had to push through. Snape told her, nobody could know. He seemed so threatening about it, so sincere about the harm he would inflict. So, Hermione, wanting no one to be suspicious, got off the floor. She tiptoed to Harry and Ron's room, whispered, "I'm going to sleep. Goodnight." And left. She completely forgot about her Charms homework, but Harry and Ron didn't seem to notice. They were too engaged in their second chess match.
Hermione crawled into her covers. Ginny in bed yet, and Hermione was grateful for that. She lay with the light on, on her back, crying silently. Hermione appeared to not be able to make noise anymore, no louder than a mouse anyway. She felt broken.