((Disclaimer: I do NOT own HP…Looks like you would've figured it out by now! I am NOT JK Rowling either! –Samuel-mun))

Hermione ran a hand through her hair and scribbled a few more notes. The snow had thickened over night somehow, even though the weather had been warm the previous day. She guessed someone charmed the air around the castle. Dumbledore was a large possibility. He seemed to like winter a lot more than any other season.

"One last though," Fred added with a bit of a sigh.

"Hmm?" Hermione responded, half listening.

"I don't see any harm in it. George might, though," he mumbled. Hermione slapped him in the arm and went crimson.

"Just get off the subject, Fred," she growled, head shaking a bit before she scribbled another sentence.

"What would I see harm in?" George sat down beside his brother. Hermione completely ignored him.

"Nothing, George," Fred shook his head a bit and stared down at the snow.

"Hermione, let's just forget it happened and move on with our lives," George groaned. Hermione took a deep breath.

"Fine with me," she continued writing, lips thinning considerably. There was a harsh silence. "I'm going to leave before either one of you get any more bright ideas about my love life," she scolded and then stood, walking as fast as one could through snow towards the castle.

Fred had been bugging Hermione about her feelings for Severus all morning long. Hermione couldn't take it any longer. Then George had to show up. That made it even more on the embarrassing side. Fred and George just didn't understand her. Not at all. They're just bloody jealous, the both of them! Hermione thought to herself before she pushed her way through a crowd of second years in order to get into the castle.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!" a tiny, raven haired, blue eyed girl squeaked at Hermione. She turned on her heel so fast the little girl nearly jumped out of her shoes.

"I don't think I would take that tone of voice with a Slytherin, you foul little badger," she sneered at the Hufflepuff and then watched as the girl nodded quickly. Hermione turned again and sped down the corridor as fast as she could only to stop dead at the sight of Parkinson smirking in her face.

"Well, well, looks like our little lion certainly has become a snake," Pansy gave her a fake, toothy grin.

"Maybe I was never a lion to begin with," Hermione pushed past her, but Pansy caught her by the arm, squeezing hard. Hermione spun around and punched Pansy hard in the nose.

"Ah!" Pansy stumbled back and then came full force at Hermione with an open hand. Hermione blocked her hit and punched her in the stomach. She fell to the floor with a heavy thud and then tried to crawl backwards away.

"Leave me the hell alone!" Hermione screamed, then turned and walked off for the Slytherin common room. A large lot of students had been watching the fight and were now giggling and whispering and taunting Pansy for her lack of strength.

"Serves you right, Parkinson," Narcissa smirked, arms crossing over her chest. Pansy staggered to her feet. "Stay away from Lucius or you'll be getting that from me," she bit.

"I'll do whatever I damn well please," Pansy sneered and then stormed off after Hermione. She caught up with her in the common room. "That's it, Mudblood, your secret is out now. You've messed with the wrong girl!"

"I don't care, Pansy! Tell the entire world! Tell everyone! Tell all Hogwarts! I'm done with secrets, and I'm done with you! So go on, scream it, then!" Hermione breathed heavily, chest rising and falling with every yelled word. Her face was red from screaming so loud, and her eyes were watering from held in emotions. Pansy growled.

"You don't make it worth the trouble, Mudblood," she snapped, voice shrill. Hermione slapped her hard.

"Call me that one more time and we'll have a repeat of what happened five minutes ago, Parkinson," she snarled.

"Read my lips," Pansy got closer. "Go home, Mudblood," she gave her an angry smirk. Hermione drew her wand and pressed the tip at Pansy's throat. Pansy's eyes grew wide. "You wouldn't dare."

"Yes, I would," Hermione's words had a large amount of bite to them.

"No you wouldn't. You're too good. Potter's little angel and Weasley's whore," she gave an insincere giggle. Hermione scowled and pressed the tip of her wand in further, hand turning a bit. They had gathered a crowd of Slytherins now. Actually, they had gathered every seventh and sixth year Slytherin in the castle.

"Take it back," she snapped. "Take it back!"

"No! Everyone knows you slept with Potter to get attention!" Pansy grinned evilly.

"I didn't!" Hermione growled.

"Then who was it? Weasley?" Pansy responded, not even trying to back away. Hermione scowled.

"No… It wasn't Ron," tears were forming in her eyes now. "And it wasn't Harry."

Pansy licked her lips, "Then who was it, Granger?" Hermione's honey eyes were wide. "We all heard you," she snarled. "Every one of us… Even Fred and George."

"No!" Hermione felt a tear trickle down her cheek and her jaw dropped slightly.

"Yes, we did, Granger," she smirked, "Who was it, then? Who raped you?" her black eyes bore into Hermione's. Hermione blinked back at them. She could see her reflection in the girl's wicked eyes. She felt a hand push her wand arm down to her side but she didn't break gaze from Pansy.

"That's enough, Parkinson," Severus said softly, pushing her back from Hermione. Hermione blinked into Pansy's eyes and her wand dropped from her hand and hit the floor with a light tap. Pansy grinned and let out a laugh.

"Whatever… I'm bored with her anyway," she turned away, breaking gaze and walked out of the common room. Hermione stared after her for a few moments before she turned and pushed past all of the students crowded around. There were whispers and frowns and gossip. Hermione ran up the stairs to the girls' dorms and into her own as quickly as she could. She slammed the door shut and curled on her bed, sobbing as hard as she could.

The cold seemed to surround her. She knew she needed to eat, go to class, study, bathe and brush her hair and teeth, but she couldn't do anything but lay in her bed. She hadn't been out of bed for two days, and she had taken care of her bathroom needs by a simple spell. She didn't feel hungry. Her stomach felt as if it was upside down, and her body was shaking constantly. She hadn't heard from anyone other than Narcissa who was looking to tell her that Fred and George were worried about her.

Everything hurt. Her heart thudded in her chest, but with each beat came another choking sob. Her eyes had large black bags under them from crying herself to sleep. She only slept an hour at the time, and then woke to stare at an empty wall. Moaning Myrtle came to visit her from the girls' bathroom. She cried with her. Hermione wished to force the ghost away, however.

But now, now that Lily had traveled into the dungeons and snapped at about twenty different Slytherins just to check on her was Hermione's wake up call.

Three days in this room. Three days in this room. Hermione reminded herself.

"Hermione, it's awful what happened to you, but you can't stay up here forever because of Parkinson," Lily said softly, brushing a piece of hair from Hermione's face. "The boys are all worried to death about you. Sirius won't talk. James and Remus mope around. Severus hasn't slept in two days. Fred and George loom around outside and throw rocks at my window at two in the morning because they want me to come check on you… We're all worried," she sighed softly. Hermione closed her eyes slowly and sat up.

"If I can have an hour to prepare myself, will you walk with me?" Hermione's voice was weak. Lily nodded softly.

"Yeah. I'll be downstairs, all right?" she said softly and stroked her cheek.

"Just stay here…Please?" Hermione murmured, tears welling up in her eyes again. Lily nodded.

"All right," she smiled a bit. Hermione stood up and gathered fresh clothes before she made her way into her bathroom and shut the door with a light click. Lily made to freshen the bed covers and then made her bed, drew the curtains to bring light into the room, and then picked up soiled linens and placed them in a pile for the house elves who came about five minutes later and scooped them up.

Hermione reappeared in a pair of fitted low riser jeans and a simple black t-shirt. She slipped on some socks and sneakers, then brushed out her wet hair and pulled it into a bun on the back of her head as usual. Lily smiled softly and gave her a hug. "C'mon… It will be all right, Hermione," Lily sighed. Hermione nodded a bit and hugged her in return.

They headed for the stairs, and they earned more whispers from the girls in the dorm corridor. Hermione stared straight ahead of herself, ignoring the frantic noises the other girls were making. Lily rubbed her back a bit and then slipped down the stairs and into the common room. Hermione swallowed hard and lifted her head to see more people staring and starting to whisper. "Can we go somewhere else?" Hermione asked softly. Lily nodded quickly.

"We're going to meet the boys in Gryffindor Tower. Everyone is at home still for his or her holiday. They boys aren't, though," she whispered and pulled Hermione towards the portrait hole. They walked down the corridor until they reached a small opening in the stone wall on their left. Lily stepped through it and Hermione followed close behind. When they emerged, Hermione noticed the familiar warmth of the Gryffindor common room. She gaped around.

"Finally," Remus muttered from the couch nearest the fire. Hermione snapped her head towards him, not used to Remus sounding so tired. James elbowed Remus in the ribs.

"Leave her be, man, honestly," James snapped. Hermione sat down in an armchair and stared at the fire. Severus was sitting on one side of the couch with Sirius at the other. Lily sat between them.

"What happened was awful," Lily started, "and I don't want to hear any talk about it from any of you. Severus stepped in and cut it when it went too far, and obviously he didn't step in soon enough. Parkinson is leaving the school in a week. We only have two weeks left before school starts again," her voice was soft. "I think it would be a good idea for Hermione to bunk with me until Parkinson leaves."

Hermione glanced over at her, "Thank you."

Lily nodded a bit, "Don't mention it."

James stared at the floor. Sirius blinked up at Hermione, "Hermione, if you'll tell us who did it, we can get after him."

"Sirius, I said drop it!" Lily snapped, reaching across to pop him in the back of the head.

"No, it's all right, Lily," Hermione said softly. "I just don't want to talk about it, Sirius. It's over."

"Well, if it was Malfoy, I would be glad to kick his ass," James muttered under his breath. Hermione smirked and stared down at her lap.

"It wasn't Malfoy, and I join you in that opinion."

"I don't really care who it was. It's over, and let's stop discussing it," Severus said quickly, giving James a quick glare. James glared back and then turned his gaze to the fire. Hermione licked her lips softly before she turned her eyes back down to her lap.

There was silence for a few moments. Fred and George walked into the common room and sat down slowly on another couch. Hermione stared over at them. "Why didn't you tell me you knew?"

Fred swallowed hard, "Dumbledore told us to keep it to ourselves when we went to him about it."

"He said it would be best not to say anything to you," George added, glancing down at the floor. Hermione nodded a bit.

"All right," she said softly. "Who else heard?" her honey eyes seemed to pierce into Fred's green ones.

"Draco, our Snape," he glanced at Severus, then back at Hermione, "Harry, Ron, Boot and Abbot."

Hermione nodded, "So Harry and Ron didn't say anything either."

"No," George shook his head a bit.

"And neither did Snape," she murmured, eyes closing tight. Her hands drew into fists. "Was," she opened her eyes and she glanced at Remus, then back at Fred, "was my ex there too?"

"No… He was on a raid," George said softly.

"Good," Hermione bit her bottom lip hard. "So you two know who did it, then?"

Fred and George didn't respond.

"Boys…" Hermione said.

"Yes, we know," Fred choked. George scowled.

"I'm surprised that Harry didn't explode… Well, I'm assuming he knows, at least."

"Yes, he knows," George said softly.

((Do you have any clue who this person might be? Don't worry, this is the only REALLY gloomy chapter. After this is pretty much romantic… Or is it? Read on to find out. Review telling your ideas as to who raped Hermione. I might tell in the next few chapters, so get on with it! Thanks, and REVIEW PLEASE! –Samuel-mun))