This is the final part of Chapter 7


Grace had already changed into her pajamas and washed her makeup off. Now she was staring at herself in the mirror, with a million things on her mind. She had barely heard the knock on her door, and then someone come in. "Grace?" Severus called out to her.

"In here," her voice was strained from having a lump in her throat she was forcing herself to swallow. She didn't want to cry, she was done crying over that. Crying never did anything but make people pity you, and she was tired of the pity too.

Severus came in and saw Grace leaning on her hands against the vanity surrounded by bottles of her different medications. A jolt of panic went through Severus and he grabbed both of Grace's shoulders, "Grace how many of those did you take?"

Grace was both shocked by the question and by being man-handled, "What?"

"Your pills! How many did you take?" Now he was checking her eyes, making sure her pupils weren't dilated.

"I took the amount I'm supposed to take before bed! Merlin, what's wrong?"

"We need to talk, Grace?"

"About? And can you let go you're gonna bruise my shoulders."

Severus let go, "Sorry. And we need to talk about… about this," and grabbed both of her wrists.

Grace sighed, she was really in no mood to talk, but she somehow knew the man wasn't going to drop it until she did. She went over and sat on the edge of the bed, "Fine. We'll talk since my life is just oh-so-important to everyone."

"Grace, what I mean is, you can't keep everything bottled up inside, or else you're-"

"Or else what? Huh, Severus? Please, tell me what else I'll do? Jump out the window? Because you already thought I had just overdosed myself! I'm not stupid, Severus!"

"I never said you were stupid, Grace! And I didn't mean to imply that, I was just worried," tears had already begun to form in her eyes and he sat next to her on the edge of the bed. "But I can't help you if you never tell me what happened with your parents."

She was quiet for a few minutes, staring at the wall, trying to gather her thoughts in a way to tell her dark secret. It was easier when she told Luna, she had written it all down for Luna to read. Grace never actually orally told anyone what happened, not since the court case. Then, the tears really started to flow, and she shook her head to stop them but it was no use. "You wouldn't want to know… You'd think I'm broken and disgusting," her voice was strained and she frantically wiped at her eyes to stop her tears.

Severus' stomach started to twist in twenty different directions. He had an idea, but he didn't want to assume and also wanted Grace to come to terms with it. "Grace…"

"He told me if I told anyone he'd hurt me! I didn't know any better. And she knew, she knew and still did nothing! And it went on for years! My teacher was the one who called Child Services because I had asked her about a period because I was afraid of getting pregnant from my father! Shit like that happens all the time, Severus, did you know that? I was seven! I had to stand infant of a courtroom, at seven-years-old, and tell them what my father had done to me," her sobs were uncontrollable now, and she was gasping and wheezing for breath. Severus, whose heart was now shattered into a million pieces at the sight of the girl, and now wanted nothing more than to kill her father slowly and painfully, pulled her close, hand on her head, trying to get her to calm down. He didn't know what to say, nothing could have every prepared him to respond to this sort of thing.

Once she had gotten enough oxygen back into her lungs, she continued, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

"What the hell are you apologizing for?"

"Cause I'm a mess! Congratulations, you've got a stupid, whore Mudblood for a ward!"

Severus could have slapped her, but instead just tugged her hair and pulled her away to look in her eyes, "Grace McClivert, I never, ever, want to hear you describe yourself that way again! Do you understand me? What happened to you was not your fault, and you didn't deserve any of it. I'm sorry it happened, I'm so sorry you have to live with it, but you can't make it disappear, and you certainly can't hurt yourself in order to replace the pain he caused you. Promise me, Grace?"

Grace nodded and went back to hugging Severus, and she felt safe with him. She had spent years after being taken away being terrified of men, which made being in an all-girls home a good thing, but she had felt instantly comfortable with Severus. Now, with the relief of finally getting things off her chest, and the exhaustion from her breakdown, she relaxed enough to fall asleep against Severus' chest. He didn't leave her side for another two hours, afraid she was going to wake up from a nightmare.