"I never knew it had a mind of it's own" She chuckled.
"Yes, and all he thinks about is you" he added and with a playful growl he flipped them until she was underneath him.
She squealed in delight and he kissed her soundly.
But then he made a horrible mistake.
In his excitement and lust , his mind still reeling in a post orgasmic haze, he'd playfully grabbed her wrists and pinned them above her head , with the intent of kissing her soundly once more .
It had been a mistake though , the second her hands were pinned she panicked.
He recognised the signs of a flashback immediately, even before she began begging him.
"No! Please stop ! Don't! Not that , Please don't !" She was writhing under him, her eyes wide and panicked as her body trembled and her breaths came in great gasps as tears welled in her eyes.
Instantly he let go and backed away from her. He sat back on his heels with his hands raised in submission to show her he had no intent to hurt her.
"Hermione , it's OK , I'm not going to touch you...I'm going to stay right here"
She'd shot up the second he'd removed his weight from her and scrambled backwards until her back was against the tent.
There were tears running down her face as she looked wide eyed and panicked.
"Please don't..."
The panic in her tone was breaking his heart and he ached to go and comfort her, but he knew he had to stay put until she calmed down. He was also wondering exactly who had threatened her with that , as there was no mistaking exactly what she was asking him not to do. He made a mental note to disembowel them if they were still alive. If anyone had laid a hand on her unwanted or Merlin forbid touched her he would kill them. Slowly.
"Hermione... my robes are by your leg, there's a calming draft in the pocket... I am going to stay here, I won't move I swear on my magic"
She was still wide eyed and her panic was not helped by the arrival of Margorian at the entrance of the tent , it seems knocking was not a centaur custom as he just opened the flap and looked in with concern.
"Sister, what's going on..."
He noticed the way the stallion first looked accusingly at him, but he could not blame him , it did look very suspicious.
"She's having another panic attack Brother, like the one on new years" He offered his gaze to Margorian , all his shields down, his open invitation for Margorian to take the truth from his mind.
He felt the presence of Margorian in his mind briefly , and then the centaur nodded to him in apology as he turned to approach Hermione.
It was no good , even the sight of Margorian sent her further into a panic as she buried her head in her knees and backed away from him.
"Please Don't... Please"
Margorian froze and took a step backwards , Severus could tell the centaur was upset at the girl's distress , but didn't know what to do.
"I'm trying to get her to take a calming draught , but she won't listen to me"
"Wait here..." Margorian ordered him , but he needn't have. He wasn't about to leave her.
After a moment the tent flap opened and a Blonde centaur mare walked in. She was much shorter than Margorian and extremely stocky, her body a golden palomino and her hair a dirty blonde. It was Lucretia , Margorian's mate and the lead mare of the herd.
It was a well known , but not discussed, fact among centaurs that though the lead stallion 'led' the herd, and 'made' all the decisions...it was the lead mare that was in charge.
Severus bowed his head in respect and gestured to his robes. "There's a calming draft in there Herd mother , it's in a vial and is the colour pink like the flowers that grow on the edge of the lake"
The mare inclined her head to him , but did not speak to him. She got the vial out of his robes and laid down next to hermione , with her legs folded under her she was much closer in height to the sitting girl.
Speaking soft and soothing words to the crying girl , she rubbed her back and offered the vial in one hand and rather than asking her to do so, she instructed her to drink.
It was clever.
Though he was accepted by the herd as brother, Hermione was family to them. Deep in her soul it was a part of her, and when the herd mother told you to do something, you did it. Even through her panic and distress, Hermione trusted the herd mother and drank the contents of the vial without question.
It took a few moments to work but he saw the instant she came back to herself , and he let out a sigh of relief and dropped his hands to his lap...suddenly very aware that he was only wearing his boxers on his bottom half. Considering their previous actions, and he could still feel the dampness, he was exceedingly glad that he was wearing black boxers and folded his hands in his lap to cover himself.
Hermione wiped her tears and hugged the lead mare , who then held Hermione's face in a motherly way and brushed her hair back behind her ears.
He dropped his gaze as they exchanged a few soft words between them , this was a private moment and he would not intrude.
Lucretia rose and made her way from the tent , but not before casting a sly look at him , still attempting to conceal his crotch subtly with his hands.
Amazing how with one look , he just felt like a teenager who just got caught making out by his girlfriends parents.
To be fair, that wasn't far off the mark.
As soon as she left the tent he felt Hermione put wards up for privacy.
"I can't stop Margorian or Lagertha coming in...but no-one will hear us " She whispered it and her voice was shaky.
"I understand"
He wanted to go to her , but she was still shaking slightly and he was unsure if she would want the contact.
When she dropped her head into her hands and started crying and apologising, he went to her immediately.
"Gods Severus i'm so sorry "
He pulled her into his arms and was relieved when she instantly folded into his grasp and wrapped her arms tightly around him.
"Don't be sorry , you've done nothing wrong"
She only sobbed harder at that.
"Yes I have, I've ruined everything! You didn't even do anything, I'm so fucked up"
Tucking her head under his chin he held her tightly to him, he was afraid he was squeezing her too tight but she only held him tighter.
"You're not fucked up " he whispered into her hair as he held her as she cried.
When she began to settle in his arms , he took a deep breath before asking the question that had been eating away at him since her reaction.
"Hermione...in the war, has someone...did someone , hurt you in that way ?"
She tensed in his arms when he spoke , but he couldn't have held the question back with all his strength
"NO...no...I mean... no-one hurt me..."
She sounded more unsure as she went along and he set his jaw.
"So you weren't..." He couldn't say the word. couldn't think it.
"No, I wasn't..." But from the way she trailed off uncertain , her eyes distant as though searching for something lost, he could tell there was more to it. And he was well aware of the death eater's appetites.
"You weren't...but someone threatened you?"
"No..no..I..oh god...I'd forgotten...I mean, I thought I'd forgotten"
The colour had drained from her face and he held her a little tighter.
"Who , and when. Is he still alive?"
She was shaking in his arms, and he felt her tears on his shirt.
"Severus...let's not do this now , I don't want to ruin your birthday"
"The witching hour has long past , it's no longer my birthday, and I am more concerned about you , tell me what happened Hermione"
"I'd forgotten...with everything else that happened, it just got pushed to the back"
"The body remembers, even if the mind forgets. Sometimes things get lost in your subconscious but the body still remembers, like a toddler that almost drowned, growing up to be afraid of water even though they don't remember the event. Their body does."
She was silent in his arms, her eyes distant.
"Tell me."
Eventually she answered him.
"Malfoy Manor"
He grit his teeth, a death eater then
"Is he dead ?"
"Yes"
He didn't know whether to be relieved, or angry that he didn't get to do the job himself.
"Who?"
Her words were said quietly , he could barely hear them
"Greyback"
He inhaled sharply as his hatred for the beast grew tenfold , the dog was well known for his interest in young girls.
"I don't know how you do it snape , stay up there in that castle day in day out surrounded by all that delicious young trim , pretty young girls tear like pink paper and taste even better"
"Did he touch you" He practically growled it .
"He... he was with the snatchers who caught us...he dragged me into Malfoy Manor"
There was more to it than that he could tell , so he just signalled for her to continue
"He held me in front of him...he was h-hard"
Her voice was breaking and he held her close.
"What did he do ?"
"He t-touched my breasts and said he w-wanted to r-rape me and then eat me...Bellatrix said she was going to g-give me to him w-when she was done with m-me but we were rescued by d-dobby"
She cried for a long time after her admission and he just held her close to him , making soothing noises and rubbing her back as he rocked her.
He was glad the man was already dead , for if he was alive he would've surely landed Severus in azkaban for what he would have done to the dog.
How dare he touch her , threaten her like that.
She began speaking once more when she had calmed down.
"How can it affect me like this Severus ? I didn't even remember , I swear I didn't... With what Bellatrix did after, it pales in comparison , I hadn't even given it a second thought until now"
She moved back to look at him.
"Severus she tortured me for nearly two hours , I was crucioed and hexed and bitten and... and I'm reacting like that because of a few things he said ?"
Maybe I could resurrect him , and kill him again ?
"The body remembers Hermione, and sexual assault of whatever degree, is nothing to dismiss so easily"
She just buried her head in his chest when he said that.
"I'm sorry , it wasn't you, I swear I trust you"
"I know you do"
She tilted her head up to his and kissed him softly , which he returned gently.
"God I'm so wrung out "
" Let's sleep then... would you like me to go stay with ronan or bane ?"
"No , Gods no , will you just hold me ? Please ?"
"Of course "
They'd settled in together on the furs , after hermione had cast quick cleansing charms at both of their clothes.
"Everything else was good though , right ?" She whispered to him.
" Amazing" He assured her with a soft kiss.
"I just don't understand why I freaked out when you grabbed my hands, he never did that "
" It was probably the sensation of feeling out of control , being helpless"
Her smile was sad when she answered him.
"That's something I got very familiar with feeling during our time on the run"
"Well I can assure you , I have no desire to control anything about you , I like you just the way you are"
She smiled at that.
"Even if you can be a little harpy at times"
She kicked his shin as she kissed him , and he grinned into her mouth.
"Bastard"
"I may be a bastard , but I'm your bastard"
"Don't you forget it Severus Snape"
He chuckled and pulled her into his embrace.
AN: Wooh , poor Hermione . She went through some stuff in the war , I hated how the films just glossed over the torture she endured in the books