Disclaimer: It's J.K.'s world, and I just like to play in it because she has the coolest toys, so welcome to the game. And when I'm done, I promise I'll put them all away.

A/N: As I said, the last chapter was dark. I had no idea that this story was going to turn out the way it's turning out, but as it comes to me, I just take it all down. And right now I'm having a major attack of the killer plot bunnies, so if I happen to get like three chapters up tonight, go me. But don't go expecting that sort of thing every time. Hehehe.

She never heard him leave, but a loud slam of a door woke her from her slumber. Hermione shot up from the bed she was snuggly tucked into and looked around frantically. The old grandfather clock on the wall said half past two, and from the looks of it, noon had not yet come. There were footsteps out in the study, loud and clunky before a loud thud on the door. Gasping, she sprang from the bed and ran to the door, only to find it locked.

"Severus?" she called out in a voice filled with terror. Her hands gripped the handle tightly and tugged at the door, but it wouldn't budge. "Oh bloody hell!" she fished around in her pocket and drew her wand. "Alohamora!" she cried and the door flew open. All was silent in the study and she nervously edged forward form the bedroom. "Severus?" she called out again. But there was no answer.

She stepped cautiously over to the dinning room table, finding nothing or no one to be the cause of the footsteps and loud thump that she had heard just moments ago. Hermione turned back towards the hearth, finding the fire extinguished. Suddenly a hand clamped tightly around her ankle. "AH!" she cried and spun around to Severus lying on the floor, blood askew his face and hands, his fingers clenched tightly around her. "Severus!"

His entire body shook as if his nerves were a live wire and his eyes were hollow, his pale skin tainted with blood, though his or another's she could not tell. "Oh Severus!" she knew at once he had been summoned by the Dark Lord and only hoped that he had not been tortured, but by the looks of it, he had. Immediately she fell to her knees beside him and attempted to scoop him up into her arms. He was hardly in control of his own body as he thrashed against her touch. It suddenly dawned on her that he was enduring the effects of the Cruciatus curse, and that while under it, the touch of another was more painful then the curse itself, particularly the touch of someone you loved.

"Oh what can I do?" she closed her eyes and struggled to think, but her knowledge on the unforgivable curses left something to be desired. "I remember reading something…that's it!" with her wand in her hand, she muttered a levitation charm and floated him off to the bathroom.

~*~

With a warm bath drawn and his shaking stopped, Severus sat in the tub, she kneeling on the floor at his side, gently washing the blood from his body. He was untouched, aside from a few bruises and cuts, how he had acquired them, she could not begin to fathom. The blood that stained his hands, body and face was not his, thank god, but she shuddered to think at who it did belong to.

"You should go…" he muttered, gasping as she brushed a soapy washcloth over a cut on his shoulder. His pale skin made him look like death warmed over, as he sat in the water, his hair matted to his face. He felt utterly embarrassed that she was seeing him like this, but had not the heart nor the strength to turn her away. She placed her hand on his cheek, making him face her.

"You are not alone in this world Severus, you just have to let those people who are willing to help you, let them inside." She continued to wash his shoulders and back, as well as his chest with the washrag, wiping away the blood. "Are you alright?" she asked after a few minutes of silence. Again he stared at her, but nodded slowly, not trusting his mouth enough to speak for him. Her hands cupped some water and poured it over his head, wetting his hair and smoothing it away from his face.

"Hermione…" he said weakly.

"Yes Severus?" Her eyes were filled with concern, as she watched his still trembling figure turn about in the tub.

"Thank you." She nodded to him and continued to run the warm water gently over his body, clearing away the remaining blood and dirt that marred his skin. He could hardly move on his own, his body still shaking from the after effects of the Cruciatus curse. Hermione could not help but feel her heart bleeding for him as he sat there, helpless.

After a while the water drew cold and she shivered to touch it. "Let me get a towel, and I'll help you up, you can dry off and I'll take you to your bed." She turned around and summoned a large green towel. The idea that she would see him in this state, and naked at that, made him cringe, it was more then his pride could take. But he stood, slowly and with much difficulty, from the tub, trembling and not seeming to be able to stand on his own. Reaching over to him, she placed his arms on her shoulders and helped him step out of the tub so that he could lean back against the wall.

Her eyes raked him over just once and she gasped. "Severus!" his thighs and legs were covered with deep cuts and bruises, bleeding profusely as he closed his eyes tightly and winced. "Dear god…" she whirled her wand in the air and summoned a container of salve and another rag. "How did this happen?" she said kneeling down before him to attempt and clean his wounds.

"It is punishment for what I have done…" his voice was weak, his eyes still closed. "The rape of an innocent girl, and partaking in her death…I do not deserve to be healed." His words immobilized her momentarily, though they did not shock her, she had assumed as much from the moment she had laid eyes on him on the floor of his study. "I do not deserve to be healed," he repeated.

Hermione pushed his legs apart a bit, dipping her hands in the salve. "Severus, it is not your fault, now hush." Her hands were soft as they descended on his wounds, around the tops of his thighs, but he winced in pain nonetheless. "I'm sorry…I don't mean to hurt you…but these wounds are fierce…" she noticed that his limp member was also cut along the sides and stained with blood, though she was a little hesitant to touch him there, fearing she might overstep her boundaries.

He took little comfort in her hesitation, and closed his eyes again. "Do as you will…" his final vestige of pride slipping from his grasp. She took this as the verbal confirmation she needed, and placed her hand, wrapped with the warm wet rag, over his genitals and wiped them clean of the blood. Severus tensed visibly, drawing in a breath, but relaxed when her fingers, coated in salve, replaced the rag and smoothed their way over his scrapes. She stood and helped wrap the towel around his waist, pinning it to the side.

His eyes were hazed over and she stared up into them. "Thank you," he murmured as she took his hand and led him into his bedroom. The room was dark, until she muttered for candles, and even then, he looked ghostly pale in the light. She walked him over to the bed before going to his wardrobe and rummaging around in it for a pair of boxers and soft cotton tee shirt. Finding the articles of clothing, she came over and held the boxers out to him.

"Turn around and I'll help you step into them," he nodded slowly, bowing his head almost as if in shame that he was so shook from the curse, that even the simplest tasks became difficult. Upon seeing his backside, she looked away. Marks of old encounters were scared upon his lower back and they made her shudder just to think about them. With her holding his waist, and leaning on her shoulders, he was able to step into the boxers and then toss on the shirt.

"Come here…let's get you into bed." Hermione turned down the duvet and helped him into the bed. He laid his head back on the pillow and she brushed his hair from his eyes. "Close your eyes, go to sleep…" she hummed a muggle lullaby as she hovered over him. Severus' eyes fell closed as she lifted herself from the bed and walked to the door.

"Please…" he called out from the bed, eyes still closed. "Don't go…don't leave me alone…" The words shocked her, but she immediately crossed the room to the bed. Her eyes searched his worn body over, his hands still shaking.

Hermione walked to his wardrobe and took a navy blue Oxford tee for herself. She dropped her robes and panties, then removed her bra before tossing the shirt on over her head. Climbing into bed beside him, she breathed a deep breath she was not aware she had been holding. "Alright Severus, I won't leave you…" He turned a bit in attempts to hold her close, but his hands were still trembling. Sliding her body over, she curled into his arms and nestled her head by his chest.

His breathing was shallow as she listened to his heart. "I love you…" his voice was a whisper and she looked at him, yearning to ask if he had said something. But she was sure if he had, and if it were what she thought it was, he thinking of Wendy, and not her. Her eyes fell closed soon there after, and she never heard him mutter the words again, this time adding her name.