Hello Lovely Readers!
I just want to say a big thank you to all my reviewers out there. I may not be able to respond to all of you, but I just want to let you know that your reviews are appreciated immensely. I hope you like this chapter. It has a bit of everything; humour, sadness, fluff...well, hopefully not too much fluff. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it.
Disclaimer: I own nothing of this magical world
Chapter Nine: What must be done and what one needs
As soon as she was capable of movement again she replaced her clothes and raced to the Room of Requirement for the first time in a month. She needed help to try and sort this out as soon as possible. She almost jogged past the patch of wall three times because she was so desperate to see them. When she entered the room however, she did not expect to come face to face with a completely naked Malfoy. She screamed her head off and tried to duck out of the room again. Malfoy however, just rolled his eyes, grabbed a towel and shoved it around his lower section before grabbing her.
"Seriously Granger," he told her, "You really need to get some action."
"I doubt that will make the sight of you in your birthday suit any more appealing Malfoy!" She yelled at him.
"Well you haven't been here in over a month Granger," Draco told her, "Forgive me if I didn't think you would turn up today."
"Do you even know what today is?" She asked him sarcastically.
"No Granger," he rolled his eyes, "You were the only one who paid attention in History of Magic."
"November 6th, Malfoy!" She yelled at him again, "What happened on this day in 1944?"
"Aliens landed?" He suggested, figuring that she was now just yelling at him for the sake of yelling. To his shock, she turned her back on him and lifted up her shirt to reveal several deep gashes dripping with blood and some kind of ointment. Now that he looked at her, he could see blood all over her, her skirt was torn and she didn't have her wand in her holster.
"Shit," he swore as he looked at her, dragging her over to a chair, "What happened to you?"
She rolled her eyes and punched him in the arm. To her surprise he actually gave a yelp and stepped back, glaring at her.
"Go and get Severus," she ordered. Malfoy glared at her but did as he was told. Clearly now wasn't the time to argue. He walked over to the bathroom, opened the door, yelled something unintelligible to the older man and shut the door again. Moments later, Severus too, walked out with just a towel around his waist.
"Oh for Merlin's sake," Hermione sighed, "Doesn't anyone want to keep their clothes on?"
Severus didn't answer but simply sat at the table, his eyes running over her with concern.
"What happened to you?" He asked.
"November 6th 1944 is what happened to me," she rolled her eyes for the umpteenth time that day. That was all it took for Severus' mind to go into overdrive.
"Did you meet Grindlewald?" He asked immediately, walking over to his potions laboratory and retrieving a few things.
"No, we managed to avoid him," she told him, "I had completely forgotten about it and when I had figured it out, Riddle dragged me to the battle instead of letting me get the teachers to deal with it the way it should have happened."
"That was a smart move on his part," Severus said as he came back, gesturing for her to face him so that he could deal with the few cuts and scraps that were on her arms and face, "I'm assuming that the damage to students was minimal?"
She nodded.
"If the battle had played out the way it was supposed to, then half of the Hogwarts population would be dead due to a spell gone wrong by one of the teachers," he informed her, "Whether or not he knows it, he saved a few hundred people."
She winced slightly as he ran a cloth over a cut on her forehead and felt it close up in an instant.
"You need to be careful what you do Miss Granger," Severus continued, moving over to her arms now, "But if mistakes are made, you can not help it. Is there anywhere else that you are hurt?"
"My back has curse scars all over it, but I'm sure that Riddle covered them all in that-"
"Riddle what?!" The two chorused together. Ah, the reason she came here. Severus immediately bent her over the table to inspect her wounds as she spoke.
She told them all about the last month, how he had been observing her, how she had been ignoring him and then how today that had all changed. She told them about the battle, how she had saved his life by almost killing him and how he had almost killed her in turn. She then told them about the offer he had made her while he had been cleaning up her back, but decided at the last minute not to tell them of her almost kiss. That was one thing that she had to figure out on her own, at least for now.
"He wants to teach you?" Draco asked her and then shook his head, "No," he said, "You can't do it. He'll suck you in and you'll never be able to escape. You can't do it."
"It may be the only chance she has to get inside his head Draco," Severus countered calmly, "He won't just give her his plans and secrets just like that. She has to gain his trust. We have to take risks."
"This isn't a risk, it's suicide!You and I both know how alluring that branch of magic can be Severus!" He exclaimed, "She won't be able to resist it."
"Oh that reminds me Malfoy," she smirked, "You and I are now engaged."
He stared at her incredulously for a few moments.
"That better not be the end of that sentence Granger," He growled and she had to giggle a little as she told them of the marvelous cover story she had come up with.
"So now if you ever need to drag me away from Riddle, you can do it," she smirked, "Draco's my husband to be and Severus can be the uncle I never speak to. If you feel that I'm getting too close to him, you can always come and save me."
Severus stood her back up and gave her a once over. It made her feel like she had a guilty conscience, which technically if you counted the information she hadn't given them, she did. Severus then resumed his place in his chair without saying another word.
"I still think it's too risky," Draco continued, "Even if we're able to get to her...You're over estimating her determination Severus!"
"And you are under estimating her completely," he countered, again with such a calm air. Draco looked from one to the other, trying to pick up on what he had missed.
"Why do you have so much faith in her?" He asked quietly. Severus looked at Hermione for permission but she shook her head. She wasn't ready for Draco or anyone for that matter to hear about that.
"What aren't you telling me Granger?" He asked her quietly, standing up and walking over to her, leaning on the arms of her chair and pinning her to the back.
"It's none of your business Malfoy," she glared at him, then turned to Severus, "And if you tell him I'll hex you into oblivion."
"Hermione-"
"No," she said to him firmly, then she turned back to Malfoy, "Now get out of my way. I have world to save."
"Don't take lessons from him," he commanded, still not moving.
"Move," she ordered.
"Promise me you won't do it."
"Malfoy I'm not even sure that the lessons will be on offer after the way he reacted to-"
Oh crap. Malfoy definitely wasn't going to move now. He leaned in closer, looking her directly in the eye.
"Reacted to what?" He asked. Even Severus was curious as she saw him lean in from his seat. There was no getting out of this what so ever. She was stuck.
"While he was cleaning up my back," she told them quietly, "He made the offer and then he sort of went quiet. He turned me around to face him-"
"While you were half naked?" Draco asked, looking almost disgusted.
"Yes while I was half naked," she snapped at him, then calmed down again and looked down at the floor, "And then he sort of... and then he almost.... but then he went all funny and almost hit me and then he stormed out. It was really weird."
She managed to slip out after that as the two of them argued. Draco was now in hysterics, wanting to take her home instantly, saying that she didn't deserve to go through with any of that no matter how capable she was for the job. Severus in turn told him to stop being a petulant child and discuss the problem like an adult. He said that Hermione could more than look after herself and that she could always stop when she wanted to.
"He will destroy her!" Was the last thing she heard from Draco as the door shut behind her. She really didn't need to listen to them go at it right now. She left the seventh floor and made her way down to the dungeons as quickly as possible. She needed to change her clothes, she needed to take a shower, but more than that, she needed to think about her options and what Riddle's little tantrum meant. Unfortunately that would have to wait.
"Stop Miss Evans," a familiar, cold voice said from the shadows. Hermione glared up at the ceiling, mentally asking it what she had done to deserve this. She turned to see Professor Callus striding towards her, his face expressionless before her eyes.
"What are you doing down here?" He asked her.
"I'm going to go and get changed sir," she told him, "Being covered in blood isn't exactly comfortable."
"Watch your cheek," he said, "You may have had Mr. Riddle to lean on today-"
"I did nothing of the sort sir," she shot back, not really in the right frame of mind to take his insults, "I fought just as much, if not more than he did."
"Then why are you so covered in blood?" He asked her, a smirk creeping to his lips, "If you were as brilliant as your peers say-"
"It's because my line of fighting is a little more close and personal," she sneered at him, slowly, so that he did not feel threatened in anyway, drawing her daggers from her hidden holster behind her back, "Surely you may understand that knife fights are a little more bloody than duels. Specifically when you're winning."
She pointed them, hilt first in his direction.
"And where did you learn such a skill?" He asked her, still gazing down at the blades.
"With all do respect professor," she told him, her voice cold and heavy, an ice queen ready to strike, "That is my business and not yours."
"Seeing as you are bringing illegal weapons into this school, I would say that it is very much my business," he glared at her, "Fifty points from Slytherin for endangering the other the students and I will have to confiscate those."
She didn't hand them over as he expected her to. She instead replaced them back in their holster at the small of her back and glared at him.
"You'll have to pry them from my cold, dead fingers first."
She knew that she would get in so much trouble for it, but at this point in time, she didn't really care. Hermione had learned a long time ago never to hand over her wand; therefore the same rule had to apply to her daggers as well. She turned her back on him and walked away, further down into the dungeons. She could almost see the scowl on his face and would later dread what he might have planned for her, but at the moment, all she wanted to do was get into a bath tub and think.
She got to the Slytherin common room, tired, frustrated and confused but most of all, hostile. Several first years tried to speak to her but she ignored them for fear of yelling at them. Christa tried to say something when she got inside the dormitory, but she just stomped past her, straight into the bathroom.
She looked in the mirror as the hot water filled the tub. No matter how much Severus had cleaned her up, it still hadn't helped. She had dirt on her face, and dried blood where her scratches had been. Her back was still killing her and it added to her frustration. The least Riddle could have done was finish what he had started. She took her hair out of her bun and watched as it turned back into its messy uncontrollable state. The Death Eaters were rampant, Callus was all over the place, Draco and Severus were frizzy as hell and Tom and Voldemort just wouldn't sit straight. She tried so hard not to cry, she tried so hard not to scream out her frustrations with the world, but she lost. She knocked all the lotions off of the sink and threw one of her knives at the wall before sinking to the floor and placing her head in her hands. Why did this have to be so hard? She couldn't keep anything under control anymore and it was starting to show. She had to pull herself together, but suddenly...she just didn't know how. All her knowledge of books and spells couldn't help her here at all. It would protect her physically, but how was she supposed to keep herself from going to pieces in the midst of all this? Riddle was being a confusing jerk, Severus and Draco couldn't agree on anything and Callus was bound to try and have her thrown out after she lost her temper. The whole world was against her and she had let it get that way, just watching it happen without really seeing where it would lead to.
"I can't do this," she whispered into the darkness, "I can't do this at all."
"Can't do what?"
Hermione looked up to see Eileen standing in the doorway. She looked a little worse for wear, but she was at least standing. She walked over to the bathtub and turned the water off, seeing as it was just about to over flow and then walked back over to Hermione, helping her up off the floor.
"You look better," she tried to smile, but failed miserably.
"Thanks to you they didn't get very far," she smiled, "I can't imagine what might have happened if you had come a few minutes later."
"Me either."
They stood in silence for a bit until Eileen shook her head and walked her back into the now empty dormitory.
"What's the matter Hermione?" She asked her, "This past month you've been up and down like a yo-yo and now you're destroying the bathroom with your unusual weaponry."
"It's nothing Eileen-"
"Don't tell me it's nothing," she whispered calmly shaking her head, "Seeing you on the battle field today proved to me that you're one of the strongest people I've ever met. If something has you upset or confused, then it's not nothing. Has it got something to do with Tom?"
Hermione couldn't even look at her.
"Partly," she admitted quietly.
"I'm not surprised," Eileen gave her a sympathetic smile, "He's hard to deal with in general, but when he takes a special interest in you, I can imagine that it would be much worse."
Hermione looked at her blankly.
"Oh come on Hermione," Eileen laughed, "Don't tell me you haven't noticed anything. For the past month, all he's done is watch you and listen to you. Before that you used to flirt so much-"
"That," Hermione told her firmly, "Was not flirting. That was fighting between an idiot and the person he thinks is an idiot."
"Hermione," Eileen smiled, "Tom doesn't normally speak, let alone fight with anyone in school. He gives a few orders to his friends and then he shuts up for the rest of the year. Arguing is flirting with him. This is the most he's spoken to a student in years."
"That has to be the most ridiculous theory I've heard in years, and I was taught by Gilderoy Lockheart."
"Who?"
"Never mind."
There was another pause.
"Christa told me what happened with Potter in the hospital wing," she said with furrowed eyebrows, "I saw Cygnus and Abraxus afterwards and I have to say that I've never seen them so angry."
"I'm sure it was an accident-"
"No Hermione," she shook her head, "It's never an accident with Gryffindors. Druella saw him push the cart into you."
She sat there for a while, not really believing what she was hearing. Gryffindors just didn't do that in her time. Normally they were the victims of that kind of stuff.
"Christa also told me that Tom picked you up and took you behind a curtain," she smiled, "What happened there?"
She needed to get it out, she needed answers and it seemed the only person that was willing to give them to her with an unbiased opinion was Eileen. Should she really tell her? Over the past few hours she had come to realize that she couldn't figure it out on her own, especially with what Eileen had just told her. Had she really had that much of an effect on him? It seemed so impossible, so unlikely, and yet the way he had touched her so gently, the way he held onto her waist...
"He almost kissed me," she blurted out and Eileen gasped in shock, "But then he almost hit me. It was like he was going to punish me for what he was about to do."
"Wow," she sighed, "If I were you I'd keep that bit of information to myself. Do you have any idea how many girls would kill for that?"
"I really couldn't care less Eileen," she said as she stood from the bed they were sitting on and walked over to a window, "I need to know what's going on inside his head. I have to put a stop to what ever is happening before it ruins everything."
"Why do you have to stop it?" She smiled, "I think you and Tom would make a nice pair. You're both brilliant, you're both strong....Tom's never been close to anyone let alone had a girlfriend before. I think you would be good for him."
"But he wouldn't be good for me," she whispered, "The things he would do to me as a person... I shudder to think what I would be like if I was involved with him."
"Do you want to be involved with him?"
"No," she said firmly.
"Are you seriously telling me that you don't find him the least bit attractive?"
"Are you seriously telling me that you do?"
"Come on Hermione," she rolled her eyes, "He's the most gorgeous boy in this castle and you know it."
"He may be physically appealing, but his soul is ugly. I would never be able to get past that."
"So you do like him," she smirked.
"What?" She asked, screwing up her face in confusion.
"You said that he was, and I quote, "Physically appealing"," she smiled, "You do like him."
"I do not," she said indignantly.
"There's nothing wrong with it Hermione," she smirked.
"Yes!" She yelled at her, her hands diving to her hair as she paced the room, "Yes there is something wrong with it! He's pure evil! I can not be attracted to someone like that."
"Well whether you like it or not, pure evil is attracted to you."
"If he liked me then why would he decide to try and hit me?"
"Open your eyes," Eileen told her, standing and putting her hands on Hermione's shoulders, "He reacted that way because he's not used to having feelings for anyone. He's never been attracted to a girl in his life and he just doesn't know how to handle it. I'll bet you anything that it's confusing him just as much as it's confusing you."
"Eileen I'm engaged!" She suddenly yelled out and the other girl gasped.
"Who to?" She asked, walking her over to the bed again.
"Lieutenant Draco Malone of the Italian Wizarding Army," she sighed, pulling out the ring that Ron had given her only a few months before hand and showing it to her. Ron had saved up for months to get her an engagement ring, something that would be special to them. It was a gold band with a ruby centre and leaf-shaped diamonds surrounding it.
"It's beautiful," Eileen gasped.
"I know," Hermione smiled quietly, but then her face turned dark, "I may not have a hope in hell of ever seeing him again, but I still love him. More than anything."
"Why don't you ever wear it?" She suddenly asked, "Why not show the world that you're taken?"
"Because even though I have hope, it could be entirely false," she whispered, "Draco might have been captured by Grindlewald the night I came here. For all I know, he's lying in a ditch somewhere. But I can't move on because there's that tiny voice inside my head telling me that he's still alive."
Eileen looked down at the ring for another moment and then covered Hermione's hand with her own.
"I have to say that I don't envy your position, even if I do envy your jewelry," she smiled, "But when and if you do decide to move on, I still think Tom would be a fine choice."
"Eileen..." she groaned.
"Think about it Hermione," she smiled again, "He's smart, he's a strong fighter, he's more than likely going to be Minister for Magic one day..."
"Eileen he is incapable of love," she told her and she looked at her confusedly.
"He's never had a girlfriend before but that doesn't mean-"
"He hasn't shown the least bit of affection to anyone since I've been here, whether it be boy or girl, plutonic or otherwise. He has compassion for no one, his empathy is nonexistent and he would surely die before he trusted another human being. You can't have love without any of these properties."
"It doesn't mean he can't learn," she told her, "And personally, I think you may be the girl to teach him."
"I highly doubt that," Hermione muttered, "May I trust you to keep this quiet. Only two others know of my engagement."
"If one of those others is Cygnus you can guarantee that Abraxus knows now too," Eileen smiled, "But I swear that I will keep this conversation a secret."
"Thank you," she said, standing and moving over to the bathroom.
"Oh, Hermione," Eileen called after her and she turned, "Do be sure that you don't throw your knives in the wrong direction. I shudder to think of what might happen if one was aimed at the door and someone happened to walk in."
Hermione gave her one last smile before she walked into the bathroom once more. Being with Eileen had certainly helped. Talking out her fears that Ron/ Draco Malone might be dead was a small comfort. She removed her knife from the wall and gazed down at it. It had been the first time that she had ever used them in combat and she had hoped that it might be a while before she had to again. She stripped down, replacing everything in its holsters and climbed into the now chilly water. Somehow she didn't seem to mind the fact that it was cold, in fact it was almost soothing against the stinging of her back. She leaned her head back against the rim of the tub and picked up her engagement ring. It seemed like only yesterday that Ron had given this to her...
They were huddled up together inside her room after one of the Order's victory parties, both laughing at what they had seen and done.
"Did you see Harry's face when Ginny poured champagne all over him?" Ron laughed, "I've never seen him look so stunned in his life."
"I know what you mean," she laughed to, flopping down on her bed, "He looked like a fish out of water."
They laughed together as Ron sat beside her. She rested her head on his shoulder with a smile on her face. No matter what happened on the battle field, as long as she had him, she would never feel alone. He was her rock, the one thing that kept her focused, the one thing that gave her the will to carry on. She didn't know what she would do if she ever lost him. She felt him wrap his arms around her and kiss the top of her head before lifting her chin to face him.
"You have to be the most beautiful girl I've ever seen," he smiled.
"You're completely drunk off your face Ronald Weasley," she smiled back.
"That's beside the point," he told her and they laughed again, "Even if I wasn't, you'd still be the most beautiful, the most intelligent and the most gracious girl in all Britain."
"Well if that was true, then why won't you sleep with me?" She asked him, the smile still on her face even though she really wanted to know. She had tried seducing him, tried coercing him in everyway possible and still he remained head strong.
He sighed and he looked at her with the same goofy crooked smile that she loved.
"Because I want our first time to be special," he told her, moving from the bed to the floor before her on one knee with her hands in his, "Because you deserve nothing but the best."
He kissed each of her hands as she spoke to him.
"I already have the best," she told him, "I have you."
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a tiny velvet box. Hermione gasped at the ring inside. It had to have cost a fortune.
"I want to have you for the rest of my life Hermione," he whispered to her, "I want to know that if I die on the battle field tomorrow that I'll have you to wait for on the other side. I want to be sure that the moment this war is over that I have someone as amazing, as beautiful as you ready to have gorgeous children with me to keep my mother happy," she giggled at that as tears flowed down her cheeks, "Someone who wants to grow old with me, someone who would go through eternity with me and be happy."
She smiled down at him through her tears, already knowing her answer before the question was even asked.
"Hermione Jean Granger," he finally said, "Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"
She stood from the bed and pulled him up with her, placing her arms around his neck with a watery smile.
"I would be a fool if I didn't."
That was the last time she had been truly happy. Exactly one year and two months ago. She smiled down at the ring as fresh tears came to her eyes. They had kept their engagement secret from everyone, so that they wouldn't have to face questions. They were only sixteen after all. Getting engaged and married so young would have prompted some speculative looks and they didn't want that. They had planned to tell everyone after the war, and then they would get married some time in July with lots of guests and flowers and music and dancing. They had decided that their wedding would function as a celebration that the Dark Lord had finally been defeated. They would have been so happy. But Hermione didn't even know if Ron was still alive. As she had said before, she had hoped that he would be waiting for her somewhere, but with no way to find out, that hope could be entirely false. She tried so hard to hold onto his face, to let it give her strength in these times, but it was just so hard.
She placed the ring back in the front pocket where it always stayed, where she slipped it on every now and then when she required courage. Her eyes then found her daggers. It had been so long since she had thought of their meaning, so long since she had gazed upon their rubies and cried. She picked one up and saw that dried blood remained on the hilt and blade. She could still hear the screams of the night that had prompted their making; she could still see the faces of those who made her suffer...
Pavarti screamed as a red hot poker was pushed onto her skin and Hermione turned her head away in horror. This had just been a simple mission to retrieve a package, something that the two of them had done time and time before. How could it have gone so horribly wrong? The Death Eater who held onto her laughed without repentance and she so wished that she could reach her wand to silence him. She had never been good with wandless magic and now that she truly needed it...The prospect of what awaited the two friends was dire and frightening.
The Death Eater pushed the poker onto the girl again, eliciting a scream that was far more chilling than before.
"Tell us where they are!" He roared at her, "Tell us where the Order of the Phoenix and Potter are hiding or this iron is going to go many places it shouldn't!"
"You can torture me all you want you piece of slime," she answered once she had caught her breath, "But I won't tell you anything!"
"Maybe we should try the other one?" The Death Eater holding Hermione suggested, "She's been awfully quiet."
"You know our orders Rosier," the other one said, "He wants her alive and untouched. Just hold her there and watch this one scream!"
Hermione struggled further still, but kept quiet as Pavarti screamed again. After an hour or so the other Death Eater, Lestrange from what she could hear, decided that he'd had enough. To her horror, he didn't cast Avada Kedavra, as anyone with a sense of conscience or mercy would have. He instead stabbed her in the heart with the poker and watched as she struggled for breath a smile of distorted glee. Hermione gazed down at her friend with tears in her eyes before they took her out of the Malfoy Manor stables and started to walk her upwards. She could hear more screams the further up they went and she assumed that some of the rooms in this wing had been converted to torture chambers. Inwardly, she hoped that they would just kill her instead of worrying about torture, but then she remembered what Lestrange had said. The Dark Lord wanted her alive and untouched.
"Oh God," she whispered.
"Oh God is right sweetheart," Rosier told her, wrapping his arms around her waist as he dragged her, "The Dark Lord wants to see you personally. I guess that's what you get for being the best friend of Potter. Royal treatment."
They deposited her inside a grand room of silver and green with leather furniture and marble floors. She stood in the middle, alert and ready for her fate. If she was going to die today, then she would make sure that she went down fighting. She had no weapons, she had no wand, but she wasn't going to let him win so easily. If he wanted information, he wouldn't get it, if he wanted her to join him, she would not be swayed. She would not give in no matter what.
She suddenly heard voices from outside.
"...Why can't I have a go?" Someone asked.
"Because more than one would alert the Dark Lord," someone hissed back, "He's probably brought her here as a reward for me anyway for the work I've done over the past month. I'm sure he won't mind me unwrapping my present a little earlier than expected."
"If she dies, it'll be on your head," another one spoke, "I don't think she's here for anyone but the Dark Lord."
"Oh please," the second told the third, "What the hell would he do with her? She's Hermione fucking Granger! Best friend of Potter! She would die before she gave us information and it's not like the Dark Lord has a libido. It only makes sense that he gives her to those that do."
The door then cracked open and the owner of the second voice slipped inside with an evil grin lining his lips. Augustus Rookwood. The Death Eater's leading rapist extraordinaire. There wasn't a man alive, except maybe the Dark Lord, who could surpass his cruelty and his malice. Hermione suddenly found herself wishing for a weapon, anything she could hit him with or throw at him as he slowly advanced on her with a predatory glint in his eye.
"You are going to taste lovely," he said as he took a few steps forward and she took a few steps back.
"The Dark Lord wanted me alive and untouched," she tried to remind him with a shaky voice, she knew she was close to tears for fear of what was going to happen to her.
"Only so that I could touch you later," he smiled again, "But I prefer sooner rather than later."
He then lunged at her, tackling her to the ground and picking her up again. She tried hitting him as much as she could but nothing she did caught his attention. She was then thrown onto the bed before him. She tried to crawl away but he caught her ankle and dragged her back, pulling her beneath him as he reached beneath her shirt to the cool flesh of her belly. He crushed his lips to hers before she could scream. He bit her so that she gasped from pain and open her mouth as he slipped his tongue inside, invading her, taking a little of her innocence with every swipe. He ripped open her shirt as she struggled against him, trying to kick him, trying to scream, trying to get away frantically as he fondled her and squeezed so tightly she felt herself bruising. She thrashed about as hard as she could as he went for her jeans but it was no use as he ripped them from her body and returned his mouth to hers. She felt his fingers where no man had ever been before and sure enough, tears started to coat her cheeks. She could feel his hardness against her hip as he began to undo his zip and prayed for anything, anyone to stop this from happening. She would do anything to make this nightmare go away.
She never expected her prayers to be answered.
"Avada Kedavra!" A silky, yet completely enraged voice said from somewhere up above and Rookwood's body suddenly fell in a heavy heap on top of her. She squirmed as quickly as she could out from under him and over to the head of the bed, covering herself with a pillow and crying her eyes out. She felt a pair of cool, soft hands on her shoulders and she froze as she looked up into the eyes of Severus Snape. They were the softest brown she had ever seen them be, filled with empathy and guilt for not arriving sooner. He took off his outer robes and placed them around her and she found herself leaning into him as he embraced her. It was the beginning of a new alliance as far as she could see.
After a moment, when she had calmed down again he looked at her.
"Come," he spoke softly, "I'll take you back."
That had been almost two months after Ron had proposed and she had never been the same again. She hadn't told anyone what had transpired that night and she had made Severus swear that he would never breathe a word. She promised herself after that night that she would never let herself be so vulnerable again, that she would murder any monster like Rookwood who came within her sights. She would never let anyone feel the pain that she felt, she would never let herself feel so helpless again and she would never allow anyone to break her so badly for a second time. The distress of Harry's death, of Ron's grief, of the Order going to pieces, was nothing compared to that. She wouldn't allow herself to feel that way ever again.
She had healed only somewhat within the months that followed. She was never called for assignments anymore, seeing as she had failed her last one and gotten Pavarti killed. The Order had lost faith in her, even though she didn't try to dissuade them from it. She kept quiet when they said that she took on too much responsibility too soon, she didn't breathe a word when they said she was still a child. Ron came in to defend her and so did Harry, but she would never defend herself. She remained a part of the Order of the Phoenix but never volunteered information again, seeing as she would be ignored anyway. It was on her seventeenth birthday that she finally found herself again...
She had just returned from her celebrations with a smile on her face. Ron and Harry had been so lovely putting all that together for her. The flowers, the balloons, the music, everything was wonderful. Ron had wanted to come back with her and celebrate with a little make out session, but she had told him that she was tired...just like she did every night now. She still loved him, but she could still feel Rookwood's hands all over her body every time Ron touched her. Sometimes she was able to ignore it and remember that Ron would never do anything like that, that he would've protected her from that vile creature if he had been there, but most of the time she just felt sick whenever her fiancée came near.
"How were the festivities?" Severus asked from an armchair.
"Wonderful," she smiled at him, "Why didn't you come? It would have been lovely to have you there."
"The rest of the Order isn't as agreeable as you are to my presence Miss Granger," he told her softly, standing from his seat, "However, I do have a gift for you."
She smiled at him as he walked over to behind the couch and grabbed a wooden box about the size of a men's shoe box. He brought it over to her and offered a small smile.
"I hope you find them useful," he said quietly.
She took the box from him with an offer of thanks and unhitched the lid. The most beautiful knives she had ever seen grinned up at her. She looked at him with shock.
"I had them specifically made for you," he said quietly, "In the hopes that you may never find yourself in that position again."
She didn't need to ask what he was talking about as Rookwood's face flashed in her mind. But now that she had the daggers in her hands, she didn't feel threatened by it. She felt powerful, she felt in control and for the first time in months, she felt as though she could make a difference.
"The blades are made of white gold," he explained, "And those are blood rubies on the hilt."
"Red and gold?" She asked him with a smile.
"I thought that a bit of courage might be needed," he explained, "There are several enchantments on the blade to make them move quicker and contour to your grip. There's one of my own invention that allows only you to use them. The holster has a charm to make them invisible beneath clothing so that you may carry them with you everywhere you go."
There was a small pause as he gazed down at them too.
"I have not dealt in blades since I was your age," he spoke again, "But I am willing to pass on what knowledge I can recall. You should be able to figure out the rest."
She placed the knives carefully on the coffee table and embraced him for the first time since that night. They had never been close, they never would be, but the fact that he cared enough to do something like that for her was just filling. She didn't feel empty anymore. After a moment's shock, she felt him slip his arms around her as well.
She was a changed woman after that night, but this time for the better. The next day she made out with Ron for a full hour to make up for the time she missed, she started volunteering for missions again, even if she was rejected and she became more confident in herself around all her peers.
Hermione rubbed the dried dirt and blood from the hilt of the blade. What she wouldn't give just to see them again. Just Harry and Ron, no others. Harry may have been frightened, but he still loved her and Ron always supported her no matter what she did. She just wished that she could see their faces one more time, just to ask them if she was doing the right thing. But she couldn't and that was the way it had to be.
She climbed out of the bathtub a few minutes past midnight. She was shocked at the time. She had been remembering things for hours and hadn't even noticed. Hermione grabbed her nightgown and draped it over her body, slipping beneath the covers of her four-poster for a trifled sleep. Tomorrow would be another day, but now, she just wished that tomorrow would never come.
