Sniff, sniff. Hermione-the smartest witch in sixth year- glanced around the common room.
Sniff, sniff. "What on earth is making that noise?" she asked herself.
She heard a small girl choke out sobs. Hermione walked over to her.
"Hello, are you alright?" She asked the small girl. The girl lept from her spot on the floor
"I thought no one was in here!"
"Well, I am." Hermione said softly.
"I'm-I'm fine." The girl said while wiping her eyes.
"No your not." My goodness! Hermione thought. She can't be older than a first year.
The girl looked at her reproachfully. "Come on, you can tell me."
"No offense, but I don't even know you."
"I'm Hermione Granger." Hermione said softly.
Sniff sniff. "Jane Goonal."
"Why are you crying?" Jane paused for a moment, staring at Hermione, testing her.
"Well-"
"And then the bloke said, 'Cheer up mate, at least you've got your pants!" Ron joked, entering the common room with Harry, who burst into a fit of laughter.
"Oh come now, really?!" That got the boy's attention.
"What's wrong?" Ron asked her.
"There was a first year here telling me what is wrong, until you two so gracefully interrupted her."
Ron and Harry walked over, and Ron bent down to see her.
"What's got your knickers in a twist, then?" Hermione rolled her eyes. "Boy trouble? Failing classes? Hard time with friends?"
Jane muttered something under her breath and looked down.
"Oh, honestly, Ronald! That's not the way to do it!"
"Now," Hermione said, bending down with Ron. "What's the trouble."
Jane glanced fearfully at the boys and shook her head. Hermione caught this. "These boys may be insensitive prats, but they mean well." She said, smiling.
"I-I don't like boys." This made Hermione's eyebrows rise, and a suppressed, yet familiar feeling crept back into her chest.
"Why not?" Harry asked, finally speaking. He bent down as well. "We won't hurt you."
Jane started crying and shaking again. Hermione shoved the boys out of the way. "That's what he always says! That's what he says when he hurts me!"
"Who hurts you?" Hermione asked, attempting to stay calm. But the words went unregistered.
"He says it won't hurt! But it does, it always does. He keeps wanting me to do it, though. But I don't want to! He makes me when he's done beating me!" She sobbed right into Hermione's arms.
"Who's he?" Ron asked.
"What does he make you do?" Hermione asked, though fearful of the answer.
"When he's done beating me, he touches me. Touches me everywhere. Under my clothes, for a long time. Usually at night. I beg my mum to make him stop, but she doesn't make him!" She continued sobbing. Hermione now had tears spilling out of her own eyes, slightly shaking too, and just held Jane, rocking her back-and-forth.
"I guess...he...would be your father?" Ron asked weakly, shocked by the pain this girl was going through. Jane nodded. Hermione held her tighter. The two boys looked at each other, unsure of what to do or how to react. Both had expressions of sadness on their faces.
"Her-Hermio-neee?" Hermione chuckled at the mispronunciation of her name. "Why are you holding me this way? Isn't this what a mummy does?" Hermione gripped Jane, and her body was shaking.
"Hermione?" Ron asked, concerned, placing a hand on her shoulder. Harry looked down on her, expecting the answer she gave.
"Because this is how I wish my mum would hold me when my father was done beating me and touching me." Ron quickly brought his hand away, looking at Harry in shock. Harry glanced mournfully at him, not nearly as surprised.
"Come on, then." Hermione said, taking the girl by her hand and leading her out of the room. "We need to tell one of the professors to make sure he never hurts you again."
"What about you?" Jane asked her. Hermione's face grew dark.
"I'm different."
"I-I can't believe it, mate." Ron said for the twentieth time, pacing in the boy's dorms. Harry was just staring at him sadly.
"How come your not in shock?!" Ron yelled accusingly at him.
"Because" Harry began. "I am a victim of a different form of abuse. Emotional. Even as different as it is, you can still recognize the signs of someone else being abused."
"Why didn't you say anything?!" Ron screamed, frustration and pain etched in every word.
"I was praying every night I was wrong." Harry said wistfully, glancing at the window.
"What's going on?" Ginny asked, entering the boy's dormitory. Ron looked at her, about ready to break down. "Ron, Ron everything okay?" Ginny asked him.
"Come here, Ginny." Harry commanded softly. He patted a spot on the bed and kissed her forehead.
"What's going on with you two?" She asked pointedly.
"You tell her." Ron's voice broke. Harry sighed, and told Ginny the whole story. Ginny seemed to grow more pained with every word.
"I just don't get it!" Ron screeched, slamming his fist into the wall. "Why didn't she tell us?!"
"Shame." Ginny said matter-of-factly. The two boys looked at her. "Shame. She is ashamed of her situation, that her father could be so cruel to her. She feels disgusted and violated, and that brings shame to her. She probably feels as though you and Harry would think differently of her, and leave her." Ron remembered how he jerked his hand away from her shoulder, and instantly regretted it.
"But I would never-"
"She also feels the bonds of family loyalty." Ginny continued calmly, ignoring her brother's outburst. "If she was to tell anyone, she would be betraying her family, kicking her father in prison. Her mother would probably be taken away, too. Not only that, but it was a secret for so long. Who could she tell? Who would believe her? Mr. Granger's daughter, the daughter of the esteemed dentist, was being beaten, molested, and raped by her father. Plus, what could she do? She depends on them for the basic necessities. She probably feels alone and isolated. She also loves her father, Ron. He is the man who helped to conceive her, after all"
"But I-"
"Think about it, Ron. Why does she devote so much time to studying? It's too distract herself from the pain. Why does she spend so much time at our house? To be away from him, and be safe. Though, usually, abusive fathers are very jealous of their daughter's guy friends, so I wonder-"
"Sexual favors." The three glanced at the door to see Hermione standing there, looking disheveled and sad. "Every time I visited the Burrow, I promised him sex when I get back. He rapes me when I come home from school." Hermione looked at Ginny concerned. "How do you know all this, Gin?"
"I had a friend." She began. "Her name was McKaya. She was being abused by her father, and told me all about it. I swore to keep it a secret. Then I remember one night-" Ginny's voice broke "-The Prophet told us that she was beaten to death by her father." The tears spilled, and Harry hugged her.
Ginny shook her head and looked at Hermione. "I'm not letting that happen to you." Ron ran to Hermione, and gave her a fierce hug. "None of us are." He whispered. Ginny and Harry ran to her and hugged her as well.
"But I can't-"
"Yes, you can, and yes, you are. You don't deserve-" Harry's voice broke as well, being a victim of abuse himself. "You don't deserve to be treated that way."
The four cried together, comforting each other, knowing that a better future was in store for their friend.