A/N: Just a note to say thank you very much to everyone who has been viewing and reviewing this story. I had one comment that said I needed to be a bit more direct with the warnings that I give for the more distressing chapters. I apologise if previous chapters have not had enough warning and I will ensure that any future chapters will have more warning about the nature of its content. This story is about rape and the recovery of a rape victim so there will be discussion of the subject and potential triggers throughout this whole story. I just wanted to say a massive thank you for all the support you have been giving me on this story. I'm glad you are enjoying this fanfic. I wonder what will happen between Hermione and Dumbledore. I also apologise for all the typos and grammar mistakes (stupid autocorrect), I've just read through what has been posted so far and I was appalled by my own proof reading! I promise to do better on that, I pride myself on my spelling and punctuation. Once again, thank you for your support! xxx (I also posted this comment in the review section for those who have been reviewing but I wanted to let all those, who view this story, know that I appreciate you all taking the time to read this fanfic).

A/N: WARNING - This chapter contains discussion of rape and could be a trigger.

Chapter 5: Telling Dumbledore, Telling Snape, and an Examination

Hermione frowned.

"I don't follow sir" she whispered confused at the situation.

"Miss Granger, have you informed anyone else about any of this, besides me?" he asked.

"No sir" she confirmed.

"You're sure?" He asked

"Yes sir" she said nodding

"I'm afraid, Miss Granger, that there is not much that I can do, given the circumstances" he said carefully.

Hermione looked at him; tears began to form in her eyes and the hope in her eyes diminishing.

"Circumstances, sir?" She questioned weakly.

Dumbledore cleared his throat and continued.

"Yes, Sirius has so kindly given us his only home to use as a safe house, and as a headquarters, for the Order. He is also still a wanted man after his Azkaban escape and more importantly, he is godfather and a role model for Harry. If one of the last remaining ties to Harry's family were to be taken away from him, it may distract him from the future tasks and difficulties that he will face" Dumbledore explained.

"You're not going to do anything because Harry needs support?" She asked, trying to comprehend what was being said to her.

She wasn't going to get help, she wasn't allowed to tell anybody about it, and it was all because Harry would not be able to cope without his godfather, her rapist.

The term 'The Greater Good' rang through her mind, and she suddenly lost all respect for Dumbledore. So her rapist was not going to be punished, because it would upset Dumbledore's 'Golden Boy'. Hermione felt humiliated once again, and just wanted to leave so she could cry out her pain. Dumbledore hadn't even offered her medical treatment, and instead made sure she kept quiet. She looked down at her feet.

"I regret to inform you Miss Granger but Mr Potter needs all the support he can get" Dumbledore stated.

"And what about the support I need" she whispered through her tears.

Dumbledore just stared at her, and shook his head at her.

She was in despair and she made her move towards the door. She just wanted to be alone now.

"Can you promise me Miss Granger that you won't tell anyone else about what happened? I can't get you to take a wand oath, because of underage magic, but can I have your word?" he asked as he dropped all then spells and enchantments that he had placed around the room.

She just turned to look at him with tears in her eyes, a sad expression on her face and body gave off a defeated stance and she left the library, closing the door behind her.

Once she assessed that the hallway and the kitchen were clear, she ran as fast as she could to her room. She closed the door behind her and flung herself on the bed and sobbed herself to sleep.

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Severus Snape was talking with Arthur Weasley who had expressed to him that Lucius Malfoy had recently been found continually in the Department of Mysteries.

Severus found this strange, as Malfoy worked on the other side of the ministry. What business did Lucius Malfoy have skulking around that department? Severus couldn't just shake it off as a coincidence, not with how things had been recently, and he vowed to find out.

He walked towards the library and saw the back of Miss Granger as she disappeared up the stairs, and a worried looking Dumbledore stood in the doorway of the library. Severus raised his eyebrow in question as if to ask what the girl had wanted to say, but Dumbledore just held up his hand and shook his head in response.

"I must retire for the night Severus, I'm not as young as I once was" and with that, Dumbledore was gone.

Severus hated not knowing what was going on, and being kept out of the loop. Whatever it was must have been bad if it had worried the headmaster like that. Severus sighed and threw himself into more research, this time anything he could find on the Department of Mysteries, which he knew would be limited.

Severus sat researching for hours, and only came up with a few books on the ministry as a whole and decided he would take them to his room, so he could read them at his own leisure.

'Another dead end, no doubt' he thought to himself as he headed to his room.

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He heard her screams before he had reached the top of the stairs and immediately sprinted into action, and flung his student's bedroom door open so hard he was surprised the door didn't break from its hinges. He quickly slammed the door shut and went over to the distressed girl.

'Not again' he thought to himself.

This time he was not going to be as gentle, he was going to shake her out of this night terror as quickly as he could.

The girl was still screaming, and she was sobbing.

"HELP ME! HELP ME!" She screamed.

Severus was startled but was able to quickly jolt the girl awake, and it seemed this time she was fully coherent when she opened her eyes.

She paused for a second to recollect where she was and then she turned to Severus. To his surprise she flung herself at him, seeking comfort from the person she knew could offer it, and began sobbing once more.

"Miss Granger, Miss Granger, hush now witch, you're ok" Severus said gently, as if she were a small child. He had no idea where this caring thing had come from, and couldn't believe he was comforting the Granger girl again.

They sat like that for a few minutes before Hermione let go of him and looked rather embarrassed by her actions. Severus didn't miss a beat.

"That's it Miss Granger, no more sidestepping. What the devil is going on? He questioned her.

She sniffed and for a moment, Severus thought she was going to start crying again. But then she looked at him, and he knew she was going to tell her what he had wanted to know.

"Um, S-Saturday night, when you and Sirius w-were on the landing arguing, and I was in just my t-towel. After you had taken S-Sirius back downstairs and left him he came b-back up" she began her story.

Severus didn't like where this was heading, he knew that the mutt was capable of despicable things but he didn't want to believe that the mutt was low enough to sink to such a thing as -

"W-when he came back up, he came into my room and h-he, h-he, hurt me" she whispered.

Severus swore under his breath

"How did he hurt you? What did he do to you?" he asked her. She had to say it, the first step of healing would be to get her to admit it out loud as well as to herself what had happened.

"He r-raped me" she sobbed violently.

"I told him n-no over and over again, I b-begged and pleaded but he d-did it anyway and I couldn't fight him. H-he threatened me and t-told me not to tell anyone" she got out between the sobs.

Severus was murderous, not just at Black but also at himself. How the hell had this gone on right under his nose.

'Some spy' he thought to himself in disgust as he remembered, that was the night he had fallen asleep in the library.

'Poor girl' he thought wondering if he should provide comfort again, but decided against it given what she had just told him.

"Is this what you told the headmaster earlier?" He questioned gently.

Hermione tensed and nodded.

"He said he wasn't going to do anything because it would distract Harry if his godfather was not with him. 'The Greater Good'" She muttered.

Severus was furious.

'NOTHING? NOTHING? NOTHING!' he thought angrily, as he tried to process what he was being told.

The girl needed support, and help, not to be forced to keep everything quiet and locked away until she lost her sanity in her night terrors.

"Miss Granger, have you been checked over for any injuries, or had anyone take a look at you for any damage that may have occurred?" Severus asked awkwardly.

Hermione shook her head.

"No sir, however, I-I admit that I may have taken some of your pain relief potions and healing salves from the bathroom. I'm sorry sir; I didn't really know what else to do. I was terrified" she said.

Severus had wondered where those potions had gone. He nodded thoughtfully, she needed medical attention. There was no way he was leaving this any longer.

"In the morning Miss Granger, we will go to a nearby muggle hospital, you must get checked over, there may be more damage than you realise" he said firmly, leaving no room for argument.

Hermione just nodded accepting that arguing with the man would be pointless.

"Will you be alright for tonight Miss Granger, is there anything I can do for you?" He asked.

Hermione hesitated for a moment. Severus knew she wanted to ask something but knew she was afraid to ask.

"Yes?" he encouraged.

"Could you perhaps...the wards you placed on my room the other night...could you do it again?" she asked and then began to chew on her lip.

Severus immediately cast the spells needed, and he looked at her rather sympathetically. He had made a silent promise to the girl that he would help, and support, her in any way that he could, and hoped he would be able to help her get over the incident. He refused to let the brightest mind he knew go to waste because some dog decided to claim her. He then thought of something else and paused for a moment before speaking.

"Miss Granger, I hate to ask but that night...were you a virgin?" he asked trying not to cringe.

She nodded slowly and then she was lost in her own mind, remembering that night and how it would be burned into her memories as her first time, her introduction to sex. She recalled how painful, and traumatic, the experience was, and how she never wanted to do it again.

Severus was watching her, and guessed her line of thinking. He was really not qualified to handle this, and definitely no better at giving advice for it, but she needed someone.

"Miss Granger, I hope you know that sex is not meant to be like that. It's meant to be something beautiful, and something that makes you feel complete bliss. What you have experienced is not sex, at least not in the way it's meant to be done, it should be gentle and slow and full of love; not some painful, degrading process. Do you understand?" He hoped he didn't sound like too much like a pansy, but he needed to make it clear to the girl that sex is not something she should be afraid of and that it should never have been like that.

"Yes sir" she said.

"Good, will you sleep alright now, if I leave? We will leave early tomorrow and get you examined, as that is most important. If you could get up for about eight, if there is no indication that you are awake, I will come in and get you up myself" he said in a matter of fact tone.

She just nodded again, already looking sleepy again.

"If you need me just knock on my door, don't be afraid, I won't be angry. Goodnight Miss Granger" he said and he left the room. He looked back on the girl to see that she had already drifted off.

Severus went into his room and closed the door. He cast the strongest silencing charm he could and then he let out his rage.

He was angry, so angry, and he couldn't help but let his anger out. If he didn't do it this way, he would go and kill the mutt himself.

Severus threw things, smashed things, broke things, tore things, and kicked things. After he was done his room looked as if a hurricane had swept through it. There was splintered wood everywhere; smashed glass, broken books and he couldn't have helped it if he had tried.

He sat on the floor, his back against the wall and his head in his hands. He was breathing quickly and deeply, trying to get a handle on his emotions and trying to calm down.

Without any warning he burst into tears. He cried for the girls lost innocence, he cried for his failure as a teacher and someone whose primary responsibility was to protect his ward. He shed tears for the unfairness of the world. He had no idea how long he sat there, but eventually recovered and regained control. He even felt slightly embarrassed that he had sat and cried like a girl, and set about repairing all the damage he had done to the room.

He felt emotionally refreshed, but exhausted at the same time, and after a while he got into bed. He had to be up early in the morning after all.

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Hermione awoke to her bedroom door being thrown open, and immediately panicked. It scared her so badly, that she flung herself off her bed and onto the floor and then proceeded to try and get under it to hide.

"I apologise Miss Granger, I had no intention of scaring you like that, I just came to wake you, it's just gone eight" she heard the voice of her professor, and immediately relaxed.

She climbed out from the bed and stood up, looking rather sheepish about her display.

Severus smirked at her.

"And you hide under the bed?" he said, trying not to laugh.

She started laughing at her actions, and couldn't stop. She couldn't remember the last time she felt like laughing this hard, let alone actually laughing like this.

Severus grinned at her, at least she was laughing. But he had to focus, today was going to be an intense day, and he wanted her to be relaxed but he also needed her to focus.

"We leave in an hour" he said and left the room.

Once they were both ready, they left the house and headed towards the nearest hospital.

Hermione was so glad to get out of the house for a while, even if it was to go and do something rather unpleasant, but at least she was away from that place. It felt odd to be going on an outing with her potions professor, and she wondered how he was in a social setting. She was about to find out.

When they reached the hospital, they went to the reception desk where her professor used some subtle Confundus charms, in order to get an appointment within fifteen minutes of waiting.

'This is why I love magic' Hermione thought.

A few minutes later, and Hermione was called by a nurse and made a move to follow her into a corridor of rooms.

"One moment dear, is that your guardian over there?" she asked pointing to Severus, who was looking at the two women wondering why they were talking about him.

Hermione nodded at the nurses question, and the nurse raised her hand and made a 'come here' gesture with her finger at Severus.

Severus, surprised, followed the woman towards the room which she had been leading his student to. Both Severus and Hermione were confused as to why they were both being ushered into the room.

The nurse explained as she began getting the instruments ready and putting on gloves.

"She's under age, and needs to have a parent or guardian present for an invasive exam such as this" she said.

The pair froze and the atmosphere immediately turned uncomfortable. Hermione looked at Severus for any indication on how to proceed.

The nurse closed the partition, around the bed, and then she asked Hermione to go and strip waist down and get onto the bed ready for her examination.

Once Hermione was ready, she told the nurse and the examination began.

Severus was sat on the other side of the partition whilst the exam was being conducted, and he was listening in on the conversation that was taking place between the nurse and Miss Granger as questions were asked and answered.

"Right dear you will need to have some stitches as you have some tearing in there, I will do this now as it won't take too long. These stitches will dissolve on their own once the wound has sealed. You might have some scar tissue after, but it will not affect or harm you in any way" the nurse explained clinically.

Severus grimaced, how had she not said anything? How had he not noticed anything? The girl must have been in agony, she should have said something. He knew he wasn't the most approachable person, but surely something like this would override that.

Once the exam had finished, and Hermione was dressed, she came out from behind the curtains, and was asked to sit next to Snape at the desk so she could have a consultation.

"You have some bruising but there is nothing I can do about that, it will heal naturally on its own, and the stitches that you have had will dissolve once the wound has healed. Now while the stitches heal, it shouldn't take any longer than a week, don't do any exercise that involves tightening your pelvic and cervical muscles such as sit ups, lunges, that sort of thing. But casual walking is ok, light jogging is fine, and you can carry on as you normally would ok?" The nurse told her.

Hermione thanked the nurse for her help, and then she was discharged, she and her potions professor left the hospital.

"Miss Granger, I want to apologise, I had no idea that it was this bad" Severus said apologetically.

"It's ok, I didn't want anyone to know, and I would have said something otherwise" she reassured.

Severus regarded her for a moment and nodded.

"I suppose we are going to be heading back now" Hermione said, starting to walk in the direction of the apparition point.

Severus grabbed her arm and began pulling her in the opposite direction.

"Actually Miss Granger, I thought we could go and do something else" he said mysteriously.

Hermione looked at him before letting him drag her off, in the direction of central London.