Chapter 3: Aftermath, Silence, and Night Terrors

A/N: Chapter warnings – This chapter contains mentions of sexual assault, non-con, violence, bad language, and general dark themes.

Hermione opened her eyes; the room was bright and inviting a new summer's day into the window. The sun was high in the sky, so it had to be at least midday. It was everything opposite to what Hermione was feeling. She could feel every ache and pain in her muscles, and it was a struggle just to sit up without crying out in pain.

It confirmed that last night had happened and hadn't just been a nasty dream. Hermione wanted to curl up into a ball and die but she knew she had to appear as her normal self, she couldn't let on that anything untoward had happened otherwise who knows what Sirius would come back and do to her.

She moved around silently, and slowly, and made her bed, like she would on a normal day and she then grabbed her toiletries, a clean towel and clothes and headed towards the bathroom. Once inside the bathroom she couldn't help but get into the shower, she needed to wash last night off of her. She took her time washing her hair and cleaning her body, she scrubbed herself raw.

Logically, Hermione knew she should tell someone, she didn't know what damage had been done to her, or if there were going to be any consequences as a result of the previous night. She stopped thinking, and switched off, she would start crying otherwise and that would naturally draw attention to herself that she didn't want. She just prayed for a little luck and hoped her body was fine, and would heal on its own.

Whilst in the bathroom, she opened the cupboard next to the sink, and found some glass bottles. Potions. She hoped that maybe there was something in there that she could use, that would help her in some way. She eventually came across some salve that would help heal any bruising, and she applied that to her intimate area. She also came across a pain relief potion and so she took it and immediately felt a tiny bit better. She just hoped Snape wouldn't notice and so wouldn't ask any questions. She was after all a terrible liar.

She dressed in her clothes for the day and collected her things and left the bathroom.

"Another shower Miss Granger?" a voice she knew all too well questioned from behind her.

Hermione automatically froze, and turned to face her potions professor. She took a deep breath and prepared to tell the most convincing lie of her life. Hopefully, this lie would get her professor to leave the matter be, it normally worked on every other man.

"Yes professor, I was unfortunate enough to start my menstrual cycle early this month, and I was in a bit of a mess when I woke up this morning" she half lied, she had definitely woken up in a state this morning. Also, hopefully this lie could prove useful if there was any residual blood on her bedsheets and may also help her to explain away a pain potion and any look of pain should it come to it.

Snape regarded his student and wanted to both run from the girl, and demand the whole truth from her. He knew she wasn't wholly telling the truth but in case, if she was telling the truth and had started her menses, he didn't want to 'rock the boat' as it were, and upset her. He didn't want to risk an emotional episode if he asked or said the wrong thing, so he let it go.

Being head of house Severus always had the Slytherin girls coming to him for all sorts of things. Nightmares, cheating boyfriends, menstruation - one girl once had no clue what was happening to her and was convinced she was dying. Nope, Snape was an understanding man but he was probably the last person, if at all, that one would go to for comfort.

He cleared his throat almost uncomfortably.

"Very well Miss Granger" he replied, and he quickly turned and headed towards the stairs.

Hermione watched the retreating man, until she heard him walking on the floor below, before releasing the breath she never knew she was holding. She hoped that it would be a closed matter and he would not interrogate her any further.

She didn't want to leave her room that day, so she would call upon the house elf. Even though it went against her morals, she would ask for food and some reading material to be delivered to her room. She also decided that, to pass the time, she would work on her summer projects; she would finish them within a week if she focused. After all, that's what it was all about, finding something else to focus on, so that her mind couldn't wander into dangerous thoughts.

After working diligently for hours, the room was starting to get dark, so she knew that night was approaching. She didn't really want to go to sleep; she knew that nightmares awaited her. She hoped that she wouldn't raise any suspicion. She couldn't cast a silencing spell, or use her wand for any purposes, because she was still underage, and she didn't need the ministry on her back on top of everything else that was going on.

She sighed as her eyes began to droop, sleep was inevitable, and she was so scared. But she would fight it for as long as she possibly could.

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After his conversation with the Granger girl, Snape had gone downstairs in search of something to eat. As he entered the kitchen he noticed Black, who seemed slightly pale and a little skittish.

'Serves you right for getting recklessly drunk, mutt' Snape thought to himself, whilst he relished in the fact that Black was experiencing discomfort. In fact, the bloke looked like he was about to lose the contents of his stomach.

"Don't look too cheerful at my death Snape" Sirius hissed.

"When you die Mutt, I will rejoice by dancing on your grave" Snape sneered back.

Sirius was not in the mood, he was lucky that his internal fear had come off as a hangover in front of Snape. He thought for a second that the Granger girl had opened her pretty little mouth and sold him out to old Snapey.

With a huff, Sirius left the kitchen and headed towards his study so that he could sit in silence and think things over, with some whiskey.

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Snape, after getting food, headed to the library. He went to research the Deathly Hallows, he felt stupid in doing so, it was a children's bedtime story after all.

The Dark Lord was convinced that the hallows existed, and suggested that the elder wand could become useful one day and was in the process of trying to track down where it was.

Snape had informed Albus, and an Order meeting was to take place, here at Grimmauld Place, on Tuesday evening. Hopefully, Lupin's furry problem would be over and he would have recovered by then, they needed everyone that they could get on this.

Severus sighed as he came up empty on his research and instead, let his mind wonder to thoughts of the troubling times ahead.

He didn't expect to survive this war, playing double agent was dangerous and one slip up would cost him his life.

'This is my promise to you Lily' he thought mournfully, as he remembered why he was putting himself in danger and protecting the Potter boy with his life.

Snape snapped out of it.

'Dangerous territory' he thought to himself, and quickly shook his head as if trying to clear his train of thought away.

He left the library and headed upstairs to his bedroom, he sat down at the desk that was provided, and took out a journal and wrote down potential leads and places that he could think of that would link directly to the hallows. He was sure the Potter boy had the cloak of invisibility, and he was also sure that it was the method Potter used to sneak out and wander the corridors after curfew.

Snape had no idea as to where he would begin looking for the other two hallow. It was going to be a lot harder than he thought; hopefully the Dark Lord was at an even bigger loss than he was. He eventually put the quill down and found that for the first time in a while, he had absolutely nothing to do. He sighed and decided the only thing for his to do was to go and have a bath.

Snape gathered his bathroom necessities, and headed for the bathroom. Granger had been awfully quiet today - actually he wasn't going to give it any more thought. He cringed as he remembered trying to fight back an awkward look from gracing his face this morning after Granger had spoken.

As he started running the bath. his thoughts turned to how wound up he had been recently. He loathed admitting it but, the mutt was right, Severus had not had any form of physical contact with another woman in well over seven years, and it was beginning to affect him.

The slightest woman in the street turned him on, and it was highly embarrassing and even more so, it was highly irritating and extremely distracting. There was only so much pleasure that his hand could give him.

He finished running his bath and submitted to his natural urges. He summoned a magical pornographic magazine and began to look at the moving pictures of the witches, and watched the compromising positions change.

He let his eyes close, and his hand drift down to where he needed it most of all. He let his head fall back in pleasure, and his jaw slackened, as he fully relaxed and allowed himself to enjoy this moment that he needed to satisfy himself.

His dick was long, thick and nearly purple for the release that it so desperately wanted. He began rubbing and ran his fist up and down his shaft, applying the perfect pressure. The right speed and with his other hand he fondled and played with his balls. He found himself coming closer and closer to climax, a lot more quickly than he thought.

"YESSSS" he couldn't help but yell as he finally achieved climax, and began to spurt long ropey white ribbons from his cock. He kept tossing his fist until he had spent every last drop he possibly could have had inside him.

His normal pale cheeks were now tinged red from exertion and arousal, and he was slightly breathless as he basked in the afterglow of his wanking session.

He stayed that way for who knows how long, until he decided it was time to get out, judging by the skin that had wrinkled due to being in the water for so long.

He felt fully relaxed and in state of bliss as he got dressed into his bed clothes and made his way to his bedroom. Once inside, he flopped down onto the bed and lay there completely mellow, and enjoying the high.

Sometime later Severus fell into a blissful sleep, something that hasn't happened in decades. He had left his window open, so there was a light summer breeze blowing into the room. There was silence and he enjoyed the tranquillity whilst he had it.

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Meanwhile, Hermione sat wide eyed in her bed. What had Snape been doing in that bathroom to make him yell like that? She didn't want to think of the obvious, everything sex related was making her feel extremely anxious. She tried to play it off; by telling herself that there was no way that she had just heard her professor getting himself off in the bath. Did he realise he had forgotten a silencing charm, or did he do it on purpose? Maybe he knew what had really happened to her, and this was his idea of mockery. She seriously doubted it, but she was too shocked by this turn of events.

Thinking no more on this subject, she got into her bed, and immediately fell asleep.

Hermione was dreaming. She was in a dungeon, or somewhere similar, it was dark and she couldn't see very well. Ice cold fear pricked at her skin and then she was running, running so fast.

From what?

She didn't know. She just knew that she had to get as far away as she possibly could.

She turned a corner, and a hand grabbed her and pulled her into the darkness. They were rough hands and all they did was cause pain, wherever they touched. She felt panicked and slightly disgusted, and then a head became visible, and she was able to distinguish the facial features. She froze in horror.

Sirius Black, he had come to get her for another round.

She screamed, and screamed, and screamed, as she knew her life depended on it. She yelled for help and begged for mercy.

"NO, PLEASE DON'T, STOP IT! NO, NO, NO, NO, NO" she screeched.

She felt like she was suffocating, like there was something holding her down and encasing her, she tried to fight and then her whole body shook as if an earthquake were happening. There were vibrations all through her body.

"STOP, STOP, STOP, STOP!" she screeched, begging.

Her eyes flew open and she immediately made eye contact with a pair of black eyes. Given her dream, she felt the panic rising again. She could feel the sweat of her nightmare, in fact, she was soaked and all the anxiety was not helping, she began to feel dizzy.

She noticed that the person with the black eyes was trying to say something, their lips were moving but she couldn't hear anything but a high pitched ringing. Then, there was a hand on her shoulder, trying to shake her out of her terror but, physical contact was only making things worse.

She could feel herself losing the battle to keep the contents of her stomach and so she flung herself away from the eyes and the hand, and threw up over the other side of the bed. She was vaguely aware that she has sobbing, whilst she was heaving and trying her hardest not to scream and then, she became aware of something else.

The hand had moved from her shoulder and was now rubbing her back, in an up and down motion. She thought that it would have made her feel uneasy but, she actually felt comforted by it in an odd way.

She eventually took some deep breaths in time with the hand on her back and was able to think and see clearly again.

She lay back on her bed, still breathing heavily and looked over and the person who belonged to the comforting hand.

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Severus Snape had been startled out of his sleep by a female screaming. It was the 'I'm about to be murdered' type of scream. Sheer terror and fright. Without another pause, he flew out of bed and grabbed his wand and held it in a defence stance as he entered the Granger girl's room. What he saw made him pause.

She was having a night terror, a powerfully horrific one at that, and he didn't know what to do. He acted on instinct and firstly tried to shout at the girl to see if he could stir her but it only got worse. She was trying to kick the covers off of her, and Snape aided by moving them completely, she must have felt restricted by them and he hoped that he had helped, even if just slightly.

He watched in shock as the poor girl was in such a state of terror and distress, that she lost control of her bladder and wet herself in front of Snape's eyes. Snape promptly averted his gaze from her as if trying to give her some privacy and save some humiliation.

He knew he had to get her to wake up right now so, he tried to violently shake the girl awake in hopes that she would snap out of whatever she was in.

The girl was covered in sweat and she was still screaming and crying and, a few seconds later, her eyes snapped open and found his. He was stunned by the fear that he saw in her eyes and knew that she wasn't completely out of it yet and it looked like she was having a panic attack.

"Miss Granger can you hear me?" Snape asked.

"Miss Granger can you understand me?" He asked a follow up question.

He tried to hold her steady, by placing his hand firmly on her shoulder, but that appeared to make things worse as she leaned over the other side of the bed and vomited.

Snape, now at a loss, knew that if she remained this distressed whilst being sick, there was a good chance she could choke so, he did the only thing he could think to do. He placed his hand on her back and began rubbing in, what he hoped was, soothing motions on her back.

This seemed to work and she eventually stopped and lay back on the bed, whilst breathing heavily and then she looked towards him.

"Miss Granger?" Snape said softly, his voice laced with concern. She was still looking at him trying to get her brain and mouth to cooperate in order to form a sentence.

After a moment she just gave up, and broke down into heart breaking sobs, as she clung to the hand that had been on her back and belonged to her potions professor.

Snape just let her do what she needed to do and, after a few minutes, she went silent and looked directly at him.

"I had a nightmare sir, I apologise if I woke you" she looked down at her hands feeling guilty at being such a nuisance.

That's when she noticed how uncomfortable she was and realised, to her horror, that she had wet the bed in her distress and vomited in front of her professor. Not to mention that she was still covered in sweat and probably stank to high heaven. She brought her knees up to her chest and put her head on her knees.

Snape could see the embarrassment on her features and knew she understood what had happened in her distress. He quickly vanished the vomit, and cast a cleansing and freshening charm on her, and the bed, and saw that she was now looking at him and shaking her head.

"Thank you sir but I can't -, I mean I'm going to have to take another shower. I just can't sleep feeling like this. I may be clean but I can still feel it all on me" she muttered looking down at her knees.

Severus understood and so, he encouraged her to get off the bed and head towards the bathroom. He wordlessly called for a fresh pair of pyjamas and a towel and handed them to her.

"Thank you sir" she looked like she wanted to say something else but decided against it, and just nodded, and stepped towards her door.

Snape having attended to nightmares before knew that a female normally wanted to feel secure after a scare and so, he took a leap of faith and hoped he didn't sound like too much of a pillock.

"Miss Granger, if you leave the bathroom door unlocked, I will wait outside for you to finish. If you need me you only have to ask" he said hoping that he had been right.

She was still looking down but she nodded and she looked back up at him. He could see a small smile of thanks on her lips and he knew he was right about what she was too scared to ask.

As she showered Severus pondered over her night terror. He wasn't going to use legilimency on her, because he knew that it could do more damage than good in these situations. So, he decided he would leave it up to the girl and trusted that when she was ready, she would talk.

A short while later, she exited the bathroom, and was mildly surprised that he was still stood there, outside the bathroom door. She had expected him to have grown impatient and gone back to bed by now.

As she thanked him and walked into her room, Snape followed, he wanted to ensure the girl was alright and would settle.

"Miss Granger...is there anything you would like to talk about?" Snape asked.

Hermione but her lip in contemplation, should she tell him? She quickly decided against it and shook her head.

She was feeling worn out from her nightmare and knew she would be falling asleep again soon.

"I apologise professor, I'm a bit embarrassed about-" Snape held up his hand and cut her off.

"Nonsense girl, you do not need to apologise for such things. After all I did say I would help clean up if anything were to happen in the night" he tried to joke.

"Did you just make a joke?" Hermione asked, the hint of a smile told her what she needed to know. Then she paused, she hated to ask him this but she had to know she didn't ever want to be reminded of what had happened here tonight.

"Sir? You won't bring this up again in class or as a way of-" she was cut off again.

"Never, Miss Granger. I would never. Not with something like this anyway. You have my word" he pledged.

She smiled and yawned. Snape summoned a dreamless sleep potion, and got her to take it and she fell back into an easy sleep.

Snape watched her for a few moments before heading to bed. As he left, he warded the girl's room so he would know if anything else was amiss, and he stared at the ceiling as he lay in bed.

'What on earth could cause a reaction like that?' he thought to himself.

Whatever it was, he was going to help her when she needed it.

'Reputation be damned.' He thought to himself as he drifted back into a light sleep.