Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters. They are all property of J.K. Rowling.

Chapter 12

Get the Minister

Ron and Harry hurried off to Gryffindor Tower once Professor Dumbledore left them, they had to tell Ginny. They didn't say anything to each other as they ran down the corridors; both to afraid to mention what happened before Ginny knew.

The Fat Lady was back in her own portrait when they reached her, they didn't wait for her to ask the password as they both said it, rather breathlessly, in unison. She swing open and they stepped into the common room and heard the buzz of their fellow Gryffindor' talking. Rumors about Hermione were already in circulation. Though no one expect the few people that were in the hospital wing actually knew what happened.

Ginny spotted Ron and Harry as soon as the portrait hole had closed and looked up at them as they approached her.

"Come on, Gin." Ron said motioning for her to follow them.

Ginny didn't say anything as she followed Ron and Harry up to their dormitory; she was waiting on one of them to speak first, but neither of them did. They walked into Ron and Harry's room and Ginny shut the door behind her. They were alone. Ginny sat down on Ron's bed as Harry and Ron stood in front of her.

Ron jittered a little then cleared his throat, "Um… Gin… I know you've heard that something happened to Hermione."

Ginny nodded.

Ron swallowed hard, "Well, see…"

"Ginny," Harry continued, "Hermione was attacked by Professor Snape. He… er…" Harry hung his head; bring his hand up to remove his glasses he said, "He raped her, Ginny."

Ginny gasped. "What?"

"It's true; Malfoy told us, and Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Madam Pomfrey." Ron said as he put one of his hands on Ginny's shoulder.

Ginny shook her head, tears rolling down her cheeks, "No. No, he didn't. Malfoy's lying! He's a teacher!"

"No, Ginny, Malfoy isn't lying. Snape hurt him pretty bad too; used one of the Unforgivable Curses' on him. Madam Pomfrey is pretty sure they will both be alright. And Professor McGonagall said she would tell us how Hermione is doing as soon as she knows." Harry said placing his glasses back on his nose.

"Pretty sure? What does that mean…? Pretty sure?" Ginny choked.

Ron and Harry shrugged. "I don't know exactly. Look, she's strong, she will be fine." Harry said, not really believing his own words.

"But, what about Snape? Where's he off to? Have they caught him yet?" Ginny asked as she wiped her face.

Ron sighed, "Dumbledore went to find him, I expect he will; he's brilliant."

Aldus Dumbledore glided along the corridors taking long strides, he was on the prowl. He searched the Great Hall first, but did not find Professor Snape; the only people in there were students finishing what was left of dinner. From there he went into the Teacher's Lounge, no Snape. He hurried down into the dungeons; maybe Snape was in his class room.

As he swung the door open he heard something move at the back of the class room. "Severus?" He called.

As soon as he spoke, the movement stopped. He looked cautiously around the room, checking behind the door and under the desks. There was no one around. He walked farther into the class room, he could now see Snape's office door which was cracked open; there was a light shining through the crack.

Taking one last look around, he slowly pushed the door open. Snape was standing in the middle of his office, looking directly at the door when he came into Dumbledore's sight.

"Good evening, Severus." Dumbledore said, peering down his crooked nose.

"Ah, yes, headmaster, come in." Snape said motioning Dumbledore forward with his hand.

Dumbledore walked a little farther into the room and stopped about six feet away from where Snape stood. "Severus, I need a word with you. If you will be so kind as to come with me to my office."

Snape's face contorted into a peculiar smirk. "Of course sir."

Dumbledore examined Snape over his half moon spectacles, "Right then, come with me please, Severus." He held out his hand in front of him signaling Snape to go ahead of him.

Snape hesitated but after a few nervous glances around his office, he walked passed Dumbledore and into the empty class room. Dumbledore walked a few feet behind Snape with his hand in the pocket of his robes, obviously clutching his wand, incase Snape tried anything funny.

As they neared the gargoyle guarding Dumbledore's staircase, Snape stopped. "What is this about, headmaster?"

Dumbledore didn't answer right away, first he muttered his password and as the gargoyle leapt forward he motioned for Snape to enter the stair way. "Well, Severus, something of great importance has been brought to my attention and I would like to discuss it with you."

Snape's face flushed, "Right."

They climbed the stairs to Dumbledore's office in silence. As they entered the large room that was his office, Dumbledore told Snape to take a seat and he walked to his desk and sat down.

"Severus, I have something to ask of you." Dumbledore said staring at Snape's face.

Snape nodded, he was speechless.

"You, to my knowledge, have never lied to me before and I do not expect you to start doing so now." He paused for a moment before continuing, "A student has accused you of having an improper relationship with a new student; do you know what I am speaking of?"

Snape's eyes narrowed, "No, sir, I am not aware of any improper relationship I have ever had with a student at this school."

Dumbledore blinked quickly, "Okay Severus."

With that he stood and walked toward the door of his office. He did not speak as he left the office closing the door behind him. He hurried up the steps and out into the corridor, muttering an incantation under his breath, he taped the gargoyle's head with his wand as it leapt back into place. The purpose of the incantation was to prevent anyone from entering or leaving the office, only he knew the counter curse, having developed it himself.

He hasty walked down the corridor toward the hospital wing. When he entered he was greeted by Professor McGonagall. She walked quickly across the room toward him.

"Albus, did you find him?" She asked.

Dumbledore nodded, "Yes, Minerva, he is locked within the wall of my office, there is no way out. How are our dear Ms. Granger and Mr. Malfoy doing?" He glanced around her to the bed he knew Hermione was in, he couldn't see her for the curtains Madam Pomfrey had drawn but he noticed she was no longer crying.

"They're both asleep, Mr. Malfoy fell into a deep sleep just after you left with Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley and Ms. Granger has been asleep for nearly twenty minutes now. Poor thing, she's doing a bit better, though. Albus, have you contacted the Ministry yet?"

Dumbledore directed his eyes back in Professor McGonagall's direction, "I was just about to ask Madam Pomfrey to use her fire place. I think the floo network would work best for this kind of emergency. Have you contacted Ms. Granger's parents or Mr. Malfoy's relatives?"

"No, I thought it best to do that when you returned." She answered.

Dumbledore nodded but averted his attention to Madam Pomfrey who was stepping out from behind the curtains around Hermione's bed. "Madam, a word please."

Shaking her head Madam Pomfrey walked nearer to Dumbledore, "Yes, headmaster?"

"I need to borrow your fire place for a moment, if you don't mind." He said.

"Not a'tall," She was now rummaging through the pockets on her apron.

"Thank you." Dumbledore said as he turned to walk into Madam Pomfrey's office. "Minerva," He called. Professor McGonagall turned around to face him, "I think you should personally go to the home of the Granger's and maybe to Mr. Malfoy's family as well."

She nodded and left the hospital in a hurry.

Professor McGonagall had no problem going to the Granger's home but she did not wish to go to the home of Draco's realities. They were all involved with the Death Eaters and she knew they would not want to hear that Draco was socializing with a Muggle born. This was highly frowned upon in Draco's family and it was a well known fact. If they found out he was having a relationship with Hermione, they would be furious. They may not even care that he was hurt; if they found out he was protecting Hermione from Snape, a former Death Eater.

She feared seeing the look on Hermione's parent's faces almost as much, if not more than she feared the reaction of Draco's family. What was she going to tell them? It wasn't right to tell them the details of Hermione and Draco's relationship. That was their business, them both being consenting adults, they were to decide if they wanted to inform their parents. It was a nightmare, but she was the one that had to do it, being Head of Gryffindor House, it was her responsibility to inform her students' parents of anything that went wrong.

In Madam Pomfrey's office, Professor Dumbledore took a pinch of floo powder from a flower vase and threw it into the fire; as soon as the flames turned emerald he stuck his head inside and said "The Minister of Magic's Office."

With a whirl of emerald flames, Dumbledore's head spun. As he stopped spinning he opened his eyes and looked around a large circular office.

"Minister!" He called from the fireplace as he straightened his glasses.

He heard someone hurrying toward the fire place and then saw the Minister standing in front of him.

"Well, Professor, to what do I owe this surprise?" Said Rufus Scrimgeour, the Minister of Magic.

"No time to explain, your services are need at my school immediately, you may want to bring along an Auror as well. One of my Teachers has been accused of a hideous crime against a student." Dumbledore explained.

"A teacher? Dear dear. It could take us a little bit, not being able to apparate in." Scrimgeour said stroking his chin.

"Minister, you can apparate to the front gates, this teacher is being held in my office and is safe there for only a little while. I urge you to please make haste. I will be in the hospital wing when you arrive." And with those being his last words, Dumbledore's head disappeared from the Minister's fire.

He shook a bit of soot from his long hair and beard. Was he actually worried that Snape might escape? Did this mean he believes Draco? After all, for now, it was only Draco's word against that of a teacher, not to mention, a teacher Dumbledore trusted.

Dumbledore left Madam Pomfrey's office and looked around to find her. She was sitting in the chair next to Draco, rubbing a green cream on his arms as Dumbledore approached her.

He said, "Madam, how are they doing?"

She sighed, "Well, Mr. Malfoy should be a good as new in a few days, with this cream," she held up the bowl in her hand, "and a fair bit of rest. This curse really did a number on him. A few seconds longer and he wouldn't have been able to tell anyone anything."

"And our dear, Ms. Granger?" He said glancing toward the drawn curtains.

Madam Pomfrey shook her head, "I've never seen anyone in a state of shock like this, Albus. She was pretty badly battered and did suffer a few cuts, but the bite on her chest…" She closed her eyes. "I took an impression of the marks before I healed it. It was rather difficult; she may still have scars, not to mention the ones on the inside. I did, however, get her to drink some Guava juice with Ginger root before she passed out, it should help with the shock."

"Ah, well, we had better let them rest until their guardian's arrive." Dumbledore said as he took a seat across the room from the beds.

With in fifteen minutes, The Minister of Magic burst through the doors followed by Tonks, an Auror.

Scrimgeour hurried toward Dumbledore, followed by Tonks. "What's happened, Albus?"

Dumbledore rose from his seat and left the hospital, stopping just outside the doors. He began explaining the story Draco had told him, not missing one detail. Draco told Dumbledore everything, from the first night Snape caught he and Hermione kissing outside the library, to what he did to her in the Astronomy Tower, even what was occurring when Snape burst into his room and what happened there after. He knew it was best to be honest and tell every detail, it could help them more. He, Draco, was still unsure how Snape got in; he put a spell on his bedroom so no one but him could open the door. Maybe Snape knew something he didn't. It wasn't relevant though, at this point in time.

The Minister looked truly appalled and Tonks was flushed. She knew Hermione, she was her friend. She thought to herself, 'I have to tell Remus.' This was something she knew Remus Lupin would want to know, he cared not only for Harry but for Ron and Hermione as well. They were his family, so to speak.

"Take us to him, Albus." The Minister Demanded.

"Now, Rufus, this is only an accusation. He will need to be questioned, as well as the two victims." Dumbledore said calmly.

"Let us just get him into custody, Albus; we will worry about the questioning at a later date. He does not need to get away with this and wasting time will not help." Scrimgeour said angrily.

Dumbledore silently agreed and led the Minister and Tonks toward his office.

When they reached the statue of the gargoyle, Dumbledore muttered the counter curse and his password and the gargoyle obediently leapt aside, granting them entrance.

Snape was pacing in the middle of the office when Dumbledore, Tonks, and the Minister entered. His head shot toward them and his face flushed once again.

"Severus Snape," Bellowed the Minister.

Snape's black eyes hardened, "Yes."

"You are under arrest for the mistreatment of a student and for the use of an Unforgivable curse." He said as he pointed his wand at Snape.

Snape's eyes turned to Dumbledore, "Headmaster, what is the meaning of this?"

Dumbledore didn't respond.

Snape's mouth gaped open, "I demand an explanation!"

The Minister nodded at Tonks and a burst of red light flew from her wand as she brought it up, pointing it at Snape's chest. Ropes tangled around Snape's whole body in seconds. He fell to the floor with a loud thud as his head hit.

Snape struggled to get free but it was no use, he was bound so tightly he couldn't even reach his wand. "I demand an explanation!" He yelled.

No one spoke to Snape for a few seconds then the Minister approached him. His face was so close to Snape's, Snape could feel the Minister's breath, "You will get an explanation at your trial!"

The Minister nodded at Dumbledore then pointed his wand at Snape, causing his body to rise in the air and float there a few feet from the ground, Snape still struggling to free himself. "Albus, we will be taking him to the Ministry of Magic where he will be held for questioning. Once the two victims wake, notify me immediately."

Dumbledore looked away from Snape's pleading eyes, "Thank you, Minister. I will be in contact with you as soon as I can. For now, I have some student's parents to explain this to."

With out any further words, the Minister floated Snape from the room followed by Tonks, leaving Dumbledore alone in his office.

His head was flooded with questions. How could Snape do such a thing? Did he actually think he would get away with it? He was angry with himself for employing such a rotten person, for not seeing this before hand. Surely Mr. Malfoy wasn't lying to him, if he was, he, Dumbledore, would have much more explaining to do. He wasn't concerned with that at this time though, he was worried about how the Granger's were going to take the news. Things like this didn't happen in Hogwarts, they just didn't.

A/N: I know this one's kind of boring, but it had to be done. Let me know what you think, I love reviews! Sway