Chapter 2: Suspicions

AN: Hey, sorry about the length of time between updates, I've had a lot of problems with my computer here at my mom's house, and let's just say, its not exactly possible for me to be at my dad's house right now. So, I'll try to update faster next time, and I hope you enjoy this chappie!

With her heart pounding, Hermione racked her brain for a way to escape the situation at hand.

Not really thinking clearly, she blurted out, "I, uh, gotta go, er, say hi to Harry, Ron, and

Ginny. Uh, yeah..."

Backing out of the room, she inwardly cursed herself. When she was fully out of the

sitting room's doorway, she broke into a sprint towards her usual bedroom. Upon arriving and

noticing her trunk at the end of one of the two queen-sized beds(she was rooming with Ginny,

like always), she flopped down on her bed, thinking to herself.

'Nice going, Mya. He probably knows some things up now, with all your stuttering. As if

it wasn't bad enough, with his extra senses, due to being a werewolf! Jeez, at this point, it's

going to end up like third year again.'

FLASHBACK:

"Hermione, could you perhaps stay after class for a few minutes, please? Don't worry,

you're not in trouble," Professor Lupin chuckled as he saw her stricken expression.

As she was packing up her things with the rest of the class, she wondered. What did he

want to talk to her about? Did she get a bad grade on the last test? Or maybe...what if he saw

any of the bruises, or cuts, or burns? Had he seen her limping at all? After all, she had been

trying to hide it, but... it just hurt so badly, and with everything he did to her over winter break

less than a week ago, her magic just wasn't enough to heal what it usually could. Could it be that he wanted to talk to her about any suspicions he might have? What would she tell him? What

if...?

Just then realizing that she was probably staring off into space, she snapped back to

reality, just in time to hear the professor offer her the wingback chair by his desk. Gratefully

taking the offer, she lowered herself into the comfortable chair.

" Would you like some chocolate?" he asked, taking out a bar of Honeyduke's dark

chocolate, and giving her that smile that always made her feel safe when she was around him.

"Yes, please,' she quietly answered, still worried. As he handed the sweet to her, she

could feel his eyes taking in her every move, and she looked away uncomfortably.

"Hey, Hermione, is there anything you want to tell me, get something off your chest, you

know? You've been acting differently since about a week or two before the break," he asked,

sounding worried, as he tried to place his hand on her's that was resting on the desk, but when he

did, he noticed a very peculiar thing. As soon as his hand came anywhere near her's, she flinched

and pulled her arm closer to her body.

" Um, no, not really," she said, barely above a whisper, as she pulled her knees up to her

chest.

Inwardly sighing, he replied, "Very well, but I want you to know, if you ever need to talk,

I'll be here to listen, alright?" The, just as he finished talking, music drifted down to meet their

ears from upstairs, in his personal office.

She walks to school with the lunch she packed
Nobody knows what she's holdin' back
Wearin' the same dress she wore yesterday
She hides the bruises with linen and lace

The teacher wonders but she doesn't ask
It's hard to see the pain behind the mask
Bearing the burden of a secret storm
Sometimes she wishes she was never born

"Oh, I'm sorry about that, I accidently set my alarm for lunch, sometimes I get so caught

up in a good book that if there isn't something to tell me when lunch is, I'll totally forget about

it," he said, eyes twinkling as they started to lunch. " Do you like this song? It's one of my

favorites. And by the way, not that many other people know that I'm a sucker for depressing

music, and every one that does know, thinks I'm really weird."

Through the wind and the rain
She stands hard as a stone
In a world that she can't rise above
But her dreams give her wings
And she flies to a place where she's loved
Concrete angel


Somebody cries in the middle of the night
The neighbors hear, but they turn out the lights
A fragile soul caught in the hands of fate
When morning comes it'll be too late

A statue stands in a shaded place
An angel girl with an upturned face
A name is written on a polished rock
A broken heart that the world forgot

" Yeah, I've heard it once or twice, it's good, but you're right, it is really depressing that a

parent can do that to their child," she was barely audible at this point, but the professor was able

to hear her because of the curse he lives with. However much she tried to hide her sadness, his

suspicions grew even bigger.

As they were nearing the Great Hall, none other than Draco Malfoy walked by, and decided that this would be a good time to bother Hermione and the DADA teacher.

"Hey! Mudblood, are you always going to be a teacher's pet? Or is it just a phase with

DADA professors?" he smirked as he said this, not really seeing the look on her face. She was

livid. "Or is it that that's all you can get?"

"Well, Ferret, I don't care what you say, as long as I know that it's not true," she said back

calmly enough.

"Why you! You need to learn your place, mudblood, and fast. Maybe we should have a

lesson right now," he smirked once again, walking closer, testing her and professor Lupin.

Once he was too close for comfort, Hermione did the only thing she could- brought her

knee up right where it hurts. When he fell to the floor, groaning, she looked back at Professor

Lupin with an expression that could only spell out fear on her face. She was surprised to see him

going towards Malfoy and conjuring ropes around his wrists.

When he saw her looking at him, he smiled apologetically and said,"Sorry, but rules state

that I have to wait until one of you actually touches the other before I can step in. Don't worry,

Hermione, you're not in trouble, and if you're okay, then you can go to lunch, alright?"

"Okay," she said simply, and as she walked off the scene, he watched as she traced her

finger along the stones embedded in the wall, thus causing her sleeve to slide back a bit. When it

did, the professor, having very acute eyesight, was able to see one large, hand-shaped bruise

running across her wrist. Turning back to the Malfoy boy, he promised himself that he would look

into it more later.

END FLASHBACK

Sighing at that conflicting memory, she got out her cd's and set up the cd player that she charmed to work in magical areas. Sliding in the

cd that held the song that described her better than any song out there, she turned it to the correct song, and set it on repeat.

Little did she know, a certain werewolf and an old, retired auror were sharing their

suspicions about her when at that moment a certain song drifted down to meet their ears from

upstairs.

She walks to school with the lunch she packed
Nobody knows what she's holdin' back
Wearin' the same dress she wore yesterday
She hides the bruises with linen and lace

The teacher wonders but she doesn't ask
It's hard to see the pain behind the mask
Bearing the burden of a secret storm
Sometimes she wishes she was never born

Through the wind and the rain
She stands hard as a stone
In a world that she can't rise above
But her dreams give her wings
And she flies to a place where she's loved
Concrete angel

Somebody cries in the middle of the night
The neighbors hear, but they turn out the lights
A fragile soul caught in the hands of fate
When morning comes it'll be too late

Through the wind and the rain
She stands hard as a stone
In a world that she can't rise above
But her dreams give her wings
And she flies to a place where she's loved
Concrete angel

A statue stands in a shaded place
An angel girl with an upturned face
A name is written on a polished rock
A broken heart that the world forgot

Through the wind and the rain
She stands hard as a stone
In a world that she can't rise above
But her dreams give her wings
And she flies to a place where she's loved
Concrete angel