3 Days… it's been three days since they found Gabrielle
Three Days… it's been three days since they found Gabrielle. Three days of watching over her. Three days of Ron and Ginny being bodyguards over the four inside the hospital wing. Three days of Ginny bringing them breakfast, lunch and dinner while Ron sat outside of the wing making sure no one went in. If they did he would stand two beds away from Gabrielle's bed, close enough to protect her but far enough away not scare her, while Ginny took his post outside. Three days of Harry, Ron and Ginny covering for Hermione in classes, getting her class work and turning it in. Three days of Harry bringing clothes for Hermione and Fleur to change into. Three days of Ron and Ginny making sure that the rumors of what happened were stopped. Three days that Fleur cried herself to sleep in Hermione's arms. Three days that Hermione didn't sleep but an hour or two a night. Three days while they watched Gabrielle's life slowly seep away.
On the forth day things took a turn for the worse; Gabrielle slipped into a coma. No one could understand why, Madam Pomfey tried to everything she knew. Fleur cried, Harry grew even more silent, Ginny and Ron stood guard and Hermione began to remember.
It was snowing lightly, and she was playing with some of her friends at the park. As they played, they noticed that the snow began to fall harder, so they each went back to their own homes. One by one they went; finally leaving a nine-year-old Hermione just a few minutes walk from her front door. She saw her father putting up some of the Christmas decorations, while her mother was telling him to come inside because there was a snowstorm on its way. Hermione smiled at them and started to run towards the house when suddenly she felt a pair of hands pull at her and toss her into the back seat of a car. She hit her head on the far door and blacked out.
She didn't know how long she was unconscious, but when she came to she realized that she was in a small room tied to a rather old squeaky bed. Her arms were tied to the headboard while her legs were spread apart, each leg tied to the footboard. She struggled against the ropes but couldn't loosen them. As she continued to struggle a man appeared in front of her. He grinned cruelly at her
" What's wrong Muggle? Can't get loose?"
She tried to scream but her mouth was gagged.
"Oh, I like it when they struggle." He smiled down at her, and grabbing a knife he removed her clothing. After a few minutes he smiled down at his work.
" Not bad for someone who doesn't normally use a knife." he said as he walked out of the room once again. Blood trickled down her arms, chest and hips.
Hermione knew what was going to happen, but no matter what she tried to do to get out of the bindings she was in she couldn't loosen them. He had left her there for two hours, left her to imagine what would happen, when it would happen. Suddenly he appeared again.
"Such a lovely body you have child, only nine and yet already coming into womanhood," he whispered as he ran his fingers down her body.
Then it began, six hours of pain, six hours of torture, six hours until he was finally satiated in his wants and needs. In those six hours Hermione lost the last shred of her childhood. This was also the night that Hermione had her first taste of magic. An hour after he left, and her tears had stopped falling, she grew angry. Once again she began to pull at the ties that she couldn't see. She was not going to go down quietly, not to him. She felt a burning sensation in her hands, her vision sharpened, her body felt as if it was on fire, and unexpectedly a growl came grumbling deep from within her chest.
The man came back into the room " What are you doing, muggle?" he hissed. She didn't say anything when the man reached for her. She wasn't going to give him the pleasure of it. Suddenly he pulled his hand back, his hand blistered from the heat of her body. "What the…" He never got to finish the sentence. There was a large Pop and two women appeared, a tall blond and a shorter brunette.
"Back off of zee girl." said the blond
"Like hell I will, you half breed Wench!" He lunged for Hermione but didn't get far before the heat hit him again this time knocking him down.
The brunette went to grab him, but then backed off. "Where in the hell is that heat coming from?"
The blonde's eyes grew wide, as she pointed to Hermione. She whispered "Zee girl."
Hermione could feel the heat surround her, and when she felt as if she was ready to explode, she let out a scream that came out as a growl, Suddenly a large fiery feline stood over Hermione, glaring at the man and freezing him on the spot. Then the cat looked down at the young girl and nudged her gently and she promptly passed out.
The man didn't move due to the fear that was rooting him to the spot. The large feline jumped on the man, engulfing him in flames while tearing him to shreds. The two women couldn't believe what they saw. The screams were so loud that the women had to cover their ears. Then there was nothing but silence. They watched in awe as the cat walked up to the girl and gently nudged her arms down, and then closed the girl's legs. Looking up at them it smiled, and then disappeared into the nine year olds body.
The blond woman walked over and picked the girl up, looking over at her partner. "She eez so young, Minerva. Why would zome one do zomezing like zis?" she asked in a heavy French accent.
"I wish I knew. She reminds me of your girls Apolline."
The French woman held the girl tighter. " Oui. I do not know what I would do eef zomezing like zis would 'appen to my leetle ones."
The women were silent as they Apparated to just outside the Grangers Home.
"I just wish we could heal her completely." Minerva said
" Zo do I."
When Hermione woke she found herself in her room. She tried to get up, but a soft hand was on her shoulder pushing her back down
"'ou must take eet slow."
" Who are you?" Hermione tried jumping back but the pain was too much and she shouted from the shock of it hitting her.
The blond smiled softly " A friend, 'ermione. Just a friend." Reaching down she pulled a potion from her bag. "I need 'ou to drink zis. Eet will 'elp 'ou sleep."
Hermione stared into the blue eyes of the woman. Something about them made her feel…safe. She decided to try and reach the potion but couldn't because of the pain. Apolline smiled again. "'ere, let me 'elp 'ou take zis." With that, she helped Hermione up and tipped the potion so that girl could drink it. Hermione made a face and almost gagged from the taste. "Eet does not taste good but eet will aid in 'ealing 'ou." Apolline laid the girl back down and pulled the covers over her. " Now go to sleep."
Hermione really didn't have a choice in the matter, she could feel her eyes getting heavy, but she wanted to know who this woman was so she asked again "Who are you?"
Apolline leaned over the girl and kissed her on the forehead, and just as Hermione was about to fall asleep, Apolline whispered in her ear "A flower in your court."
Hermione was staring out of the window by Gabrielle's bed when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning around she saw Ginny looking strangely at her.
"You ok?" The red head asked
Hermione nodded
"Why is it that I don't believe you." Ginny said with a smirk
"Because you know I'm not. Who is at the moment?" Hermione spoke softly, looking over at Gabrielle.
Ginny kept silent. No words were needed to answer the question. Ginny saw Ron peek through the door, motioning for her to come to him. She knew what he wanted. "I'm going to go to get some food for Ron and me. Do you want me to bring you some?"
Hermione didn't answer. She watched Fleur hold her sister's hand, murmuring soft words to her sister. She hadn't realized that she had been quiet for a good five minutes until Ginny placed her hand once again on her shoulder.
"Sorry, I would love a plate." Hermione closed her eyes, and then looked over at her redheaded friend," Would you mind bringing one in for Fleur?"
Ginny smiled at her "Don't I always." She patted Hermione on the back
"Thank you. " Ginny just smiled and left.
Hermione turned back to the window and closed her eyes, feeling the sun heat her skin. She never spoke to anyone about her rape. Never said anything to her parents about it even though they wanted her to talk to them about it but never pressured her too much. The police had found some evidence but even so, there was nothing they could do, the man was dead. Even she knew, she remembered the large cat smiling down at her. She never spoke of the cat to anyone, even though she had seen it many more times in her life. Always watching over her in her dreams or when she was extremely ill. Sometimes she could feel it want to burst through her chest when she is extremely angry.
She also remembered the blond woman with the piercing blue eyes and how kind she was. She remembered the first time that she got a letter from her. It was four days after the attack. Her father smiled at her saying she had gotten a letter, but when she opened it she realized she couldn't read it; it was in French. Try as she might she couldn't figure it out. Then the second letter came a few days later with a package, a book on how to speak French. The second letter was in English, and made her smile as she read it. It was one of her most prized possessions.
Dear Hermione,
I see you have been trying to figure out the first letter I sent you. That is good, ma chérie, very good. I do believe this book will help you. There is nothing you cannot do if you put your mind to it. Remember that little one.
A flower in your court
Over the next few years she would get letters from her, asking her how she was doing, how her classes were, always checking up on her, and all of the letters where in French. Each time Hermione would ask what the woman's name was and each time she got the same answer
"I'm but a flower in your court, ma chérie, just a flower."
She hadn't realized that there were hidden messages deep within each letter, not until the fourth one, when she held the letter close to the fire and saw an eagle move over the page. Each letter always had some animal, symbol or figure in it. Each time Hermione would go to the library and search out the meanings of each thing and write back to her. Most of the time she got it right but on the rare occasion she did get it wrong, another book was delivered to her for her to read and learn from. Some were in English, some in French, and even a few in Spanish.
When she got her letter for Hogwarts, the letters then began to come by owl and the books were more magical. Everyone thought that it was because she was a muggle-born that she wanted to learn everything. They didn't know that it was the letters from a woman who saved her that started her hunger for knowledge.
But now this brought her back to the rape again. She kept her eyes closed thinking. I haven't spoken to anyone about this except Flower and even then, I barely wrote much. Hermione sighed. What am I going to do?
Hermione wrapped her arms around herself. She knew that if she told Gabrielle it would make it a little easier for the younger girl. It would give her someone she could relate to, who could understand what it was like, but she had to be honest with herself. She didn't want to go down that road again. It was still hard to think about. Suddenly she felt as if she were being watched. Opening her eyes she turned to look over her shoulder only to see Fleur's puffy red-rimmed eyes mere inches from her. They stared at each other for some time, and then Fleur spoke to her gently, "'ou seem to be remembering zomezing unpleasant and pleasant all at once."
Hermione nodded and smiled sadly "How are you holding up?" she asked, ignoring the question altogether.
Fleur looked over at her sister and could feel the tears begin to well up again; brushing them aside she said "I will be better once she is awake and getting well."
Hermione stared at Gabrielle with such sadness in her heart " The physical will heal but the mental will take time. It's not going to be an easy time for her. Not for a very Long time."
Fleur watched Hermione, She eez not telling me everyzing. Fleur thought to herself. Taking Hermione's hand she lead them to a bed near Gabrielle's and sat down, pulling Hermione to sit in front of her. " What were 'ou zinking about?"
Hermione just sat there staring at Fleur, and then looked down. She couldn't tell her. Not now… not when she needed to be strong for the both Gabrielle and Fleur. She couldn't do it. During the past three days they had gotten much closer; they had spoken of their past, where they came from, how life was different being a muggle and a witch. She just… she couldn't do it. Even though she knew she would need to talk to Gabrielle about it. It wasn't that she didn't trust Fleur. It was more then that. It ran so deep that even she didn't understand it.
"Pleaze tell me."
Hermione could feel her eyes begin to fill with tears. A few stray ones fell and Fleur gently wiped them away. "Eet must be zomezing 'orrible eef 'ou can not tell…" She never finished the sentence. Fleur's eyes got wide as she realized why Hermione was unsure of telling her. " Eet 'appened to 'ou, didn't eet?" She whispered so softly that if they hadn't been so close to each other, that neither of them would have heard it.
It was as if the dam broke; all the years of holding in the pain, heartache and fear came rushing forward. Her tears began to fall harder and harder, one after another. Hermione made no sound, but only looked up at Fleur and nodded. She closed her eyes trying to stop the flow of water from them but to no avail. Unexpectedly, she felt a set of arms wrap around her and pull her down on to the bed, a hand moving her head to lie on the woman's chest. She held tightly to Fleur as if she was her lifeline as her tears continued to run down her face.
"Shh I have you, ma chérie I have you."
Fleur held Hermione tightly to her body, letting the girl cry. She began to think about the girl in her arms. Fleur didn't understand why she felt the way she did towards Hermione. She remembered climbing out of the carriage to have a gust of wind whip through her hair, then moving it out of her eyes to see everyone looking at them. Except her eyes didn't look to just anyone. They hit on a bushy haired girl. She wanted to look more but everyone was so cold that they began to push her towards the castle. Then when they all entered the great hall she saw the girl again, but this time Fleur looked straight into Hermione's eyes and it set her mind and body on fire. It took all her strength not to stare into those warm brown eyes every time their paths crossed. Something about her made Fleur want to loose herself in nothing but earth-warm eyes and rolling brown hair.
All of a sudden Fleur heard a soft purring sound. Looking down she saw that Hermione had fallen asleep. Reaching down she gently moved a stray hair out of the girls face and watched, with some amusement, Hermione nuzzle into her breast a little, the purring growing a little louder. She tried not to moan as she felt her body begin to burn with a need that only Hermione could put out. She didn't understand it. Why such a sound would make her feel like that? Although each purr was different one was soothing to her and another made her body burn with need. She didn't understand it, and at the moment she really didn't mind. As if realizing the effect she was having on the older girl, the purr changed once again. This time the purr made Fleur's body relax and she felt very sleepy. She kissed Hermione softly on the forehead and fell asleep.
Ginny walked in to the wing and smiled. There on the bed was Hermione lying on Fleur, whose arms were wrapped tightly around the young Gryffindor. Ginny went by the bed and placed the two trays down. She went and got a blanket, and covered the two sleeping beauties, but as she covered them she heard a strange sound. Listening closer she realized that Hermione was purring, shaking her head.
"Good night kitty cat." Ginny said with a small smile. With that she moved back and closed the curtain around the bed and left.
Well here is the second chapter. I'm having to rewrite the third once because i feel like i am pulling away fromt eh story line and maybe adding to much very quickly. ANYWAYS! Please review, review review.. i so love them:)
I hope you are enjoying this story as much as i am writing it. I know it deals with some dark subjects but there will be happy endings for all the girls, although it will get a bit rough before it gets better.
Thank you for all the reviews i recieved before. I really didn't think people would like this story due to its darker content, but I'm glad you did. Thank you!