A/N: So sorry, I forgot to post this last week! Well, here it is.

He gave a disgusted snort at the weak mudblood. To think she would not even last a mere hour! It was disappointing. No matter, he had other things to take care of anyway. He flicked his wand to shorten the chains holding the wench to the wall, so that she was properly stretched out; he didn't want to dissuade others after all. Another flick vanished her disgusting blood for the same reasons. He was looking forward to breaking her. He gathered his cloak and donned it in a graceful move and marched to the door.

As he wasn't supposed to be there, he was cautious. The out of the way room was under the fidelous charm but the corridor wasn't. He wasn't about to risk being seen. He snorted at the very idea and opened the door, making sure to be inside the room.

"Homenum Revelo." He waved his wand, one could never be sure just what teenagers were up to. He was however surprised when an outline told him someone was huddled in the dark corner to his right. The boy was looking around warily, probably because he realised he was glowing in the dark. Hissing in annoyance he sent a stunner right at whoever it was. He heard the satisfying thud of a falling body.

He smirked and approached the body which had now lost it's disillusionment charm. It was some red-head, not that Weasley he would be interested in but someone who looked a typical Irishman. He wondered if he was down here to meet someone then shrugged off the thought. What did he care? Though the boy did cause him inconvenience and deserved a little something, he mused. He brought down his heavy boot in his side, smiling widely when he heard the crack of his ribs. He'd have preferred a moan of pain but he didn't want to risk being spotted. He kicked the prone, unresponsive boy in the stomach a few more times before he was satisfied. A disillusionment charm later, he turned on his heel and walked away with a purpose, making sure his own stealth spells were properly cast. He missed seeing the headmistress and a dark skinned boy hurrying to the spot he just vacated, or he'd have stopped in worry.

Blaise softly called for Seamus, worried for his friend and fellow prankster. When he received no answer, his first reaction was anger that the teen had left his post but then he realized that was not possible. He shared a worried look with the headmistress and made his way to where Seamus was when he left him there. Sure enough his feet encountered something and he crouched down.

"What is it, Mr. Zabini?" McGonagall asked with a frown.

"I think Seamus is here…" Blaise murmured and waved his wand to lift the disillusionment spell. McGonagall hissed at seeing her student and woke him up with a quick spell.

"Mr. Finnegan, are you alright?" She asked worriedly.

"I…" Seamus moaned with one hand on his stomach and the other rubbing his head. "I could be better." He said taking a pained breath. "Think my rib's cracked…" He mused looking confused.

"Who did this?" Blaise demanded, helping the other boy sit up.

"I am not sure. A stunner came out of nowhere and I woke up feeling like sh… this."

"Allow me." McGonagall cast a charm to bind his chest. "This should help until we get you to Poppy." She explained.

"Thank you professor." He smiled at her.

"You're welcome." She smiled at her cub and looked around. "Where is Ms. Granger?" She asked.

"Somewhere here…" Blaise pointed to the wall. "We aren't sure how but they simply disappeared through that wall. Whoever stunned Seamus probably came from there."

"But… We have no idea how to access the place. We were hoping you would know, ma'am." Seamus was looking at the woman with so much hope, she grew determined to solve the mystery.

"We shall see…" She murmured. She cast a few spells at the wall and came up empty. She frowned. She cast something with complicated wand movements and hissed. "It seems there are wards in place over this wall… that doesn't make sense."

"Wards? Is… it possible?" Blaise mused.

"What?" She demanded.

"Are there any harmful wards, professor?"

"One or two." She said slowly.

"Can you take them down?" Blaise asked earnestly.

"Mate, what are you on about?" Seamus asked wincing.

"The entrance seems to be under Fidelous. If so, we just need to close our eyes and feel along the wall and we'd eventually find a door… of course any aggressive wards should be removed first." He explained. McGonagall nodded and started weaving intricate spells to take down the wards around the presumed door.

"Mr. Zabini, start investigating from that side." She pointed after a while and went over to the opposite side. They both felt the wall as they made their way across it with Seamus watching them. Suddenly, Blaise disappeared.

"Blaise! You're close." Seamus called and limped over to where Blaise had disappeared.

"Seamus?" Blaise startled as something bumped against him.

"Yeah it's me." Seamus answered.

"I think I have the hinge… yeah there's the door. We should be able to see once we are past the charm." He mumbled and felt around for the handle. It was strange as his eyes still supplied a blank wall. Finally, the handle was found and the door creaked open. Blaise and Seamus lost no time rushing in.

"Wha…?!" Seamus hissed as his eyes fell on the unconscious Hermione. Blaise was too shocked to say anything but walked shakily to the girl he had grown very fond of.

"Salazar what did they do to you?" Blaise whispered as he fumbled with his wand. She was covered in cuts and welts of all sizes and oozing blood in several wounds. Her body was twitching involuntarily; a clear sign of the torture curse. Seamus gently touched her face to see if she was awake.

"Don't!" She shrieked. Seamus took a step back but came back almost imediately.

"Shh… it's alright. It's Seamus and Blaise is here too. McGonagall is also here somewhere… you're safe…" Hermione lifted her head to stare at him unseeingly.

"Seamus?" She asked shakily.

"Yeah… Seamus Finnegan." He choked out. Her eyes held so much pain!

"Seamus, help me catch her." Blaise murmured. Hermione started and looked at him. "It's okay… it's just Blaise… Zabini, you know? Draco's friend?" He said softly and used his wand to release the metal cuffs around her wrists. Hermione whimpered as she fell into Seamus' and Blaise's arms.

"We got you, love." Seamus whispered. Blaise jerked his head up at that but concentrated on Hermione. Holding her with one hand, He summoned her robes which came zooming at him.

"Here, let me help you." Blaise said softly but stopped when Hermione whimpered in pain. He frowned and shared a look at Seamus.

"Maybe we should stun her…" Seamus said earning a panicked whimper from the girl. "Or not… hey, it's alright… we won't hurt you… Let's see…" Seamus pulled his wand and transfigured the robes Blaise held into a soft blanket. "There wrap it around her and we can float her to Pomfrey." He told Blaise as he held the girl up.

"What…?!" A horrified gasp alerted them to the headmistresses entrance.

"She's been hurt." Blaise said shortly. Between the three of them they had the soft blanket around the mostly naked girl and the boys floated her to the infirmary while McGonagall stayed behind to set up entrapment wards that would trap whoever came this way.

Harry had a bad feeling the whole day. They had spent the evening in Malfoy manor and the next day Draco and Ron started a truly long chess match right after breakfast. As a result he found himself chatting with Narcissa and Severus about various things. Apparently, Narcissa wanted to start and maintain an herb garden and wanted Severus' input on some of the most useful plants she could cultivate for potions and such. Harry, being not totally useless at Herbology, found he could chip in a few times. Neville's expertise truly helped him sometimes.

His feeling that something was wrong was confirmed when a silvery cat came up to him. He recognized Minerva's patronus at the same time as Severus did.

"Sorry to disturb your family weekend, Harry but you are needed at the castle. Hermione was attacked and is recovering from her injuries and she insists on speaking to you. I will have Hagrid at the gate for you." Her crisp voice told them and the cat disappeared.

"Merlin!" Draco, momentarily distracted from his game whispered.

"It must be related to the other attacks." Ron frowned.

"You'll be alright here, Draco?"

"Yeah… go, she needs you." Draco waved him away.

"I shall come with you." Severus rose and nodded to Ron.

"Right, I'll keep Draco company then." Ron smiled, knowing that was what Severus was hinting at. Besides, he didn't think he could see Hermione just yet.

"Merlin…" Severus gasped as he saw his smartest and most annoying student lying there practically covered in bandages.

"Mione?" Harry whispered, his eyes wide. He rushed to her side without even realizing the two young men sitting on a conjured couch beside her bed.

"She should wake in a half hour." Blaise said softly. "Madam Pomfrey had to dose her with a sleeping draught as the calming draught wasn't doing much for her panic."

"How… who…?" Harry turned his smoldering look on the two men.

"We don't know who but we can guess how." Seamus offered, his eyes on the girl breathing softly.

"How?" Severus demanded as he placed a calming hand on Harry's shoulder.

"She was ambushed and knocked out somewhere in the castle and floated to a warded room." Blaise met Harry's eyes with his own smoldering with anger. "We saw a couple of slytherins walking in a strange pattern and realized they were floating someone between them. We followed."

"We couldn't see the door or anything. Blaise thinks there is a fidelous on it. We saw all three student's exiting but it seems someone was already in there."

"He or she stunned Seamus while I found the headmistress. He has a broken rib and bruises to show for it. We don't know who it was but it was whoever hurt Hermione." Blaise glared at his hands. "We weren't fast enough to rescue her."

"We found her…" Seamus choked. "We found her naked… almost. her body littered with cuts and oozing blood. She's been under the crutiatus several times from what Pomfrey said. He shoulder was dislocated because it was stretched too far when they secured her to the wall…" Seamus spoke almost mechanically, staring at the white wall. "She was so scared… and didn't even recognize us." He turned to Harry. "McGonagall has taken our earlier memories to identify the students who helped."

"Was she…" Harry swallowed. "Did they…"

"Thankfully, no…" Blaise whispered. "They wanted to but she got lucky."

"The bastards." Harry hissed angrily.

"I will go see Minerva, Harry and see what she has ascertained. I am… interested in punishing the perpetrators especially." Harry nodded as Severus swept away. To those like Harry and Blaise who knew the man well, his posture exuded righteous anger.

It took another fifteen minutes for Hermione to wake up. Meanwhile, Harry studied the two boys silently holding vigil with him. He already knew Blaise had feelings for his friend and sister but Seamus seemed to hold similar feelings. What was even more interesting was the way the two boys were leaning into each other seeking comfort as their eyes remained on the slumbering from of the only girl in the room. It was an interesting dynamic and Harry couldn't help but wonder just how his more or less conventional best friend was going to deal with this situation. It would be interesting to watch… that is when she finally gets over this latest threat to herself.

He sighed wearily. He knew Hermione still had trouble with things concerning the war. More than himself or Ron or even Draco. He himself had lived with death in his life and the horrors he had seen during the war were not much worse than he was already used to. He had lived through that type of thing since he was a child and he was frankly used to it. He did have occasional nightmares of the slaughter he sometimes saw in Voldemort's mind but even that, with enough repetition, dulled in his mind. He had been a machine without feelings and he was still recovering from that particular mind-set. Ron had been very affected at first but his Veela status had taken the focus to Severus rather than the war. The same applied to Draco as well. Both still had the nightmares but given their future looking bright, they dealt with it. Hermione didn't.

If she had faced adversity like he or Severus had from a young age, she might not have been so affected. He suspected her irrational behavior and her dedication to break up Ron and Severus spawned partly from how tired and stressed she must feel. There was really not much he could do for her since she didn't want to talk about it- ironic as she had hounded him for the same thing most of his life. Still, it was just worse because she had no one suddenly. Her parents were lost. Harry had Draco and Ron had Severus. He suddenly felt guilty for is part in abandoning her but he really had no choice after she wanted to kill his children. Well, he had forgiven her but it still had the power to hurt him. With all that still being unresolved, he feared what state his brainy best friend would be in after this latest fiasco. His anger at those responsible just grew a hundred fold and his mind started making plans to hasten his plans.

"Ughh…" Hermione's pained moan startled the three men who immediately hurried to her side. Blaise stood at her head, stroking her hair slowly, soothingly while Seamus held on to her hand gently. Harry took her other hand and squeezed gently.

"Hey Mione." He softly called. Big brown eyes peeked from beneath her long lashes and she blinked.

"Ha…Harry?" She croaked. Instantly Blaise had a glass of cool water at her lips. She glanced at him with a frown.

"Just water." Blaise whispered softly and Hermione sipped slowly, wetting her parched throat.

"Harry." She breathed again.

"I'm here Mione…" Harry carded his hand through her hair and kissed her forehead. She smiled. "Ron?" She looked towards Seamus.

"A red-head but not Ron." Harry said amused. "It's Seamus. He and Blaise found you."

"Oh…" She gasped and tears cascaded down her bruised cheeks.

"Hey… sh… You're okay. You're safe. I'm here…" Harry soothingly spoke to her.

"They…" She choked looking at Harry. "… ambush… in secret passage…" She struggled.

"Hey, you don't have to tell us right now." Blaise stroked her cheek. "We understand if you want to wait." Hermione looked at him and smiled but shook her head. She soon decided that was a bad idea and looked to Harry again.

"Look." She said. Harry frowned and realized she was looking directly at his eyes with determination.

"You sure?" Harry whispered. She nodded. "Would you let me take a copy of the memory? That way you don't have to relive it." He asked gently.

"Okay." She agreed.

"Alright. Stay calm… I'll just get an clean vial from Poppy and be right back." Seeing the fear in her eyes he smoothed her hair down. "Don't worry. Blaise and Seamus are here." He pointed at them. "You can trust them… they did rescue you and they won't let anyone harm you." He smiled at her. She frowned.

"H…how?" She asked the two teens, fixing them with her gaze even if she could barely move.

"We didn't know it was you who got captured but we saw suspicious activity and followed. The short of it is we were able to figure it out and get you out… sorry we were… late." Seamus flushed and a tear escaped his blue eyes.

"You save." Hermione forced out with difficulty and squeezed Seamus' hand weakly. She met Blaise's eyes as well and smiled.

Harry slipped away and returned a moment later with the vial and Poppy. Poppy quickly took her diagnostics and laid out the potions for Hermione to take once she gave her memory and ate some soup. Harry quickly collected the memory and corked it. He helped Blaise help her sit up a bit and fed her clear soup as Poppy commanded. The potions were a bit harder to dispense but with Harry's coaxing, Hermione finally drank all six of them. She soon fell back into a restful slumber.

"I want to see." Blaise declared suddenly, meeting Harry's eyes with determination.

"No." Harry answered immediately.

"Potter…" He growled angrily. "I want… no need to know."

"No." He repeated staring the Slytherin down.

"Blaise, Harry is right." Seamus said quietly.

"What?! You mean to say you don't care? You don't want to know? What I heard was a lie, then?!" He demanded.

"No!" Seamus shouted, earning a glare from Poppy who was still hovering around. "No, I just…" He continued in a subdued tone. "She won't like it. She wanted Harry and only Harry to see what happened. If and when she wants to, she'll tell us. I… don't want to break her trust." Seamus was gently rubbing the other boy's hand, calming him.

"But…"

"Zabini. Whatever happened is something Hermione is going to have a hard time dealing with. It isn't the sort of thing she'd share with anyone." Harry gentled his tone.

"We're not…" Blaise sobbed.

"No, but you need her permission first. I'll take care of the bastards who hurt her. You two keep her safe." He said firmly. He could understand where Blaise was coming from but it would utterly wreck the already weak Hermione if her trust was also broken. He wouldn't do that to anyone. He sighed and put a hand on each boy's shoulder and squeezed once before leaving the hall in search of a pensive.

A/N: Please don't comment of how the Fidelous can't be broken that way and whatnot. It's my story and I say if you already know there is something there, then you can find it, magic or not! XD!

As you may have noticed, I got equal votes for two dashing men for dear 'Mione... So... well there's a triangle now. Who knows what will happen in the end...~~~ -smirks-