Man's Best Friend

Chapter Ten: Damage Control

WARNING! disturbing rape scene. If you feel uncomfortable, SKIP the ITALICS! YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.

"Hermione, could I talk to you a moment?" Remus sighed when she didn't answer. "Hermione I know you're in there. There's no use trying to pretend you're not. I can hear you breathing."

A smile tugged at his lips when he heard a mumbled 'bloody werewolf' and the door opened. "What do you want?"

"It's about our last conversation. I believe you misunderstood me." he said walking into her room.

She sighed and closed her door, then sat on her bed. "You said you didn't approve and that he wanted me because I was vulnerable." she said grimly.

"That's exactly what you misunderstood. I only said I didn't approve because I thought you were going too fast with him. And I never said that he only wanted you because you're vulnerable." he said gently.

Hermione stared at her hands. "Then what did you mean?"

"I just meant that I think you should wait before acting on your feelings for him until you're out of your vulnerable state."

"He makes me feel better." she whispered.

Remus pulled her into a hug. "At the moment, yes, but once you're feeling better, I don't want you regretting anything. Understand, now?" he asked, resting his head on top of hers. She nodded and he looked down at her. "So what are you going to do?"

"Wait until I'm feeling better before doing anything about my feelings for him." she repeated.

Remus smiled. "Good. I just don't want you hurt. You're like a daughter to me, Hermione."

Hermione gave a small smile and hugged him. "Thank you, Remus."

"Anytime, now, we need to talk about something else, as well." Remus said, frowning.

Hermione pulled back. "What's wrong?"

"Sirius told me that you've been having nightmares."

Hermione stiffened. She shook her head. "No. No, I'm fine." she said, not looking at him. "No more nightmares." she whispered.

Remus gently squeezed her hand. "I want you to know," he whispered. "if any of us had known, we would have stopped hi…the nightmares sooner. It isn't your fault. It never was. Don't ever believe for one second, that you're the reason he…those nightmares happened."

Hermione sniffed. "I know Sirius told you." she said after a moment. "We both know they weren't nightmares." she squeezed his hand. "But thank you anyway."

Standing up, Remus pulled Hermione into a tight hug. "Don't ever believe for one second it was your fault, Hermione." he whispered when she began crying.

Once she had calmed down, she stayed in his arms, listening to his heart beating. "He was right you know."

Remus glanced down at her. "Who?"

"Sirius. If you had gone after my dad and I lost you too, I would have taken it harder than losing my parents." she whispered.

Remus pulled away. "How did you…"

"Silencing charms work better on rooms if the door is closed." she said, smiling softly.

Remus chuckled. "Yes, I suppose we were both a bit preoccupied to notice the door was still open." He smiled sadly down at her and kissed her forehead. "Get some rest, Hermione."

Hermione nodded and laid down. He was just about to close the door when she spoke up. "Remus?"

"Yes?"

"Does that make me a bad person?" Hermione whispered, new tears in her eyes.

"Does what make you a bad person?" Remus sat down on the edge of her bed.

"That I would have taken losing you, harder than losing my parents."

Remus shook his head. "No, Hermione. They hurt you. You have every right to be angry with them. They hardly knew you and you them. It doesnt make you a bad person to be more upset about losing someone else. You have every right to. You're a good person, Hermione."

"Shhh, it's alright, honey. Daddy's here."

Hermione couldn't move. Tears streamed down her face as her father ran a hand over her chest, resting to tease each nipple, then continued down her stomach and grabbed between her legs. She tried to scream but he had a hand covering her mouth. He rubbed her, trying to ease her tears and letting her know he wouldn't hurt her. Finally annoyed with her muffled screams, he brought his fist down across her temple. Everything began to spin and unfocus. She felt him slide his fingers into her, trying to make her cum. She could hear him whispering to her; telling her to cum for him. That he wanted to taste her. She knew she was sobbing now but no sounds would come out. She screamed at her body to fight back, but her limbs ignored her and laid motionless on the bed.

He kissed her softly, making trails down her neck and chest, taking the time to nibble on each tiny pebble, then kissed and bit at her torso. Moving lower still, he kissed her thighs, moving higher towards her core. He gripped her hair, forcing her to watch as he flicked his tongue over her. He sucked on her, becoming more rough every time she tried to scream. Wrapping a hand around her neck, he held her down and began unbuckling his belt. He bent down towards her, once he'd freed himself and kissed her, forcing his tongue into her mouth.

"Daddy's going to make you feel good, baby girl." he whispered as he positioned himself between her legs. "Daddys gonna fuck you real good. I know you want to cum for me."

"Hermione! Hermione wake up!"

Hermione held onto the bodies sitting on either side of her and continued to scream. She heard identical grunts as her nails dug into their flesh. Remus and Sirius wrapped their arms around her, trying to calm her down. Her voice gave out and she slumped against one of them. She wasn't sure who at the moment, but she didn't care. Sirius wrapped his arms tighter around her and pulled her onto his lap, rocking her back and forth as she stared wide-eyed into space, still clutching the front of his shirt.

"What the hell is going on?" Harry askd as he came bursting into the room, his wand raised.

Sirius looked over at Remus and back down at Hermione. Remus took the shaking girl from his arms and sat down where Padfoot had just been sitting. "We need to talk, Harry." Sirius said and led him out of the room.

Hermione was shaking uncontrollably and was pale as a ghost. She gripped the front of Remus' shirt, afraid if she let go, it would all be a dream and she'd wake up beneath the monster society called her father. Remus ran a comforting hand through her hair as she let her head fall against his chest. He closed his eyes as anger bubbled up inside him and he tried to calm himself, for Hermione's sake.

"Shhh, It's alright, Hermione. You're safe. He can't hurt you." Remus whispered. "You're safe."

Hermione shook her head. "No...no, I'm never safe..."

Remus squeezed his eyes shut as tears began forming. He held the shaking girl tighter. Yelling reached his ears from somewhere in the house, his heart picking up pace as he heard the floo and then silence. Sirius ran back into the room, blood dripping down the side of his face and Remus knew instantly what had happened. Harry had gone after .