A/N: I got such a strong, positive response from the last chapter from you all...I'm ever so thankful! I hope you all had an amazing New Year, here's to 2017! Hope you enjoy this chapter! Thank you my lovelies! :)
A/N: Chapter Warnings – Mentions of sexual assault and bad language
Chapter 30: Severus, Ron and an Empty Room
"Mr Weasley, I did not give you permission to enter my classroom" Severus said as he noted the ginger settled down in his usual class seat.
The boy hadn't responded to Severus and Severus felt his patience slowly snapping.
"Do not ignore me Weasley! Now answer me, what are you doing in my classroom without permission?" Severus demanded.
Ron looked at the professor defiantly, and Severus took this opportunity to use Legilimency on the boy. Severus knew that doing this was wrong, but if the boy was going to be volatile for potions class then Severus would rather rid of the boy before he let his emotions get in the way and destroy the classroom.
Severus looked into the boys mind and found the typical things one would expect to see in a young male mind. There were vague images of nude women in a magazine, and a dirty dream or two. There was badly written homework, scribbled down on paper the night before it was due in. There were snapshots of parties, underage drinking, and just general larking about with friends and then, there was a snapshot of Hermione.
Severus quickly latched onto this image and found that there was a lot of anger surrounding this memory. Looking deeper, Severus gained a bit of an understanding about what had happened.
It seemed that Hermione had taken Severus' advice and delicately informed Ron about what had been going on and it appeared that the Weasley boy had got upset over it all.
The Weasley boy seemed angry that Hermione had been hurt in the first place. He was seething that it was Sirius Black that had done it. He was spitting feathers that nothing had been done about it. But what pissed him off the most was that Ron had offered Hermione support, he had promised that he would protect her and cherish her, he had asked her to consider if they could more than friends and Hermione had refused him. Ron being Ron, had naturally taken this rejection hard and had lashed out at his friend and had said some things that were maybe uncalled for and Hermione had taken off extremely upset and he had not seen her for the rest of the night. Severus couldn't quite access the whole memory, some parts were blurred and there was something about the sheer look of horror on Hermione's face that he was unsure about.
Ron had been brooding ever since and had a right mind to talk about what had happened regardless of the fact that he had promised Hermione that he wouldn't say anything.
The boy was angry that he had been left out of the loop again and he was frustrated that his friends were keeping secrets from him as if he were untrustworthy.
Severus sighed, he knew something had been wrong with Hermione when she had come to his rooms the night before.
Severus retreated from Ron's mind, he had only been in there for about ten seconds, but that has enough time to gain an understanding about what had been going on. Now, Severus was faced with another problem. Ronald Weasley was now practically a ticking bomb and nobody could predict when he would explode. Severus knew he had to do something before classes started, for the sake of his students, for the safety of his classroom, for his Hermione, and for his own sanity.
"Did you just look at my thoughts?" Ron asked angrily, his fists clenched and teeth gritted.
Severus raised an eyebrow and just stared at the boy, there were too many valuable potions in here and now was not the time for an episode of explosive, accidental magic.
"Follow me Weasley" he said
Ron looked confused but Severus had already turned and walked towards his rooms leaving no room for argument. Ron followed without complaint.
Ron walked behind Severus and didn't really have much time to take in the potions masters rooms and eventually, Severus came to a halt in front of a locked door.
Severus opened the door and stepped inside the room. Ron looked around and noticed the room was completely empty.
"Why'd you bring me in here?" He asked his professor.
Severus stared at him and sighed.
"I did look into your mind Mr Weasley and I saw what was going on with Miss Granger. I just thought you needed to 'let off some steam' as it were and I cannot take the risk of that occurring in my classroom. So, go ahead, this is an empty room, shout, scream, swear, say some hexes, do what you want" Severus shrugged as he relaxed.
Ron hesitated, this was obviously a trap and Ron wasn't going to fall for it. So Ron kept his cool.
"She said you knew about it all and had done since day one" Ron stated to his potions master calmly but bitterly.
"That is correct" Severus responded equally calm.
"Why didn't you do anything? How cruel and low do you have to be to not help her in any way?" Ron said with a tinge of anger laced in his voice.
'Hermione forgive me' he thought to himself, it was the only way he could help Ron.
"Why would I do something for a know-it-all chit who couldn't accept that life isn't fair?" Severus asked him, raising his eyebrow.
Ron snapped.
"HOW FUCKING DARE YOU! SHE IS YOUR STUDENT, YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR HER" Ron spat, he was displaying accidental magic and sparks were flying from his wand which was now clasped tightly in his hand.
Severus had anticipated this and was holding up a shielding charm just in case.
"Why should I care about someone so insignificant? A nuisance really." Severus commented.
Ron was fully enraged and he let out a series of hexes and colourful vocabulary, he was holding strong for about ten minutes before he exhausted himself and stopped the onslaught.
Severus, who had not a scratch on him waited patiently.
"Why didn't she just come to me? She could've told me! She knows she can tell me anything" Ron muttered, voice thick with raw emotion.
Severus sighed.
"Maybe if you had been there for her this summer instead of alienating her and making her feel like she was shit on your shoe, perhaps she would've trusted you" Severus commented.
"Merlin, every time Harry or I needed her, she was there. The one time she needed us and we turn her away" Ron whispered, he sat on the floor distraught at the extra emotional pain that he had caused his friend. Ronald Weasley found himself crying in a cold, empty room and embarrassingly in front of his most hated professor.
'Finally' Severus thought to himself.
Ron had clearly needed to unleash hell and get rid of the negative emotions that he had been harbouring. Now all that was left was the nostalgia, the 'what should've been'.
"Class is about to begin Mr Weasley, you will sort yourself out and come to my lesson or leave. I don't care as long as you are out of my rooms in five minutes" Severus warned him, he hung around long enough to see the boy nod in agreement and Severus left the room allowing the boy to have a few moments in private to compose himself.
Severus headed towards his classroom and waited for the students to arrive for the first lesson of the day.
The students flocked in and he noticed his Hermione looked pale, and she and looked under malnourished again, Severus knew she hadn't been eating properly even though he tried to ply her with food as much as he could. He had also overheard rumours from the girls that she shared a dormitory with, that she had been having nightmares again. Apparently, she had been screaming out in her sleep and it had startled the other girls and had taken them a while to get Hermione back.
Whilst the students were brewing their assignment for the lesson, Severus mulled over his Hermione. That would make sense for one of the reasons why Hermione had come down to his rooms. He knew that whenever she felt like she was being a nuisance to the other girls and knew that Severus would be able to help her, she would always seek sanctuary in his rooms. The trouble was, what had triggered her to be suffering nightmares again and what were they about?
He knew that her argument with Mr Weasley may have also contributed to her distress. He decided that he would talk to her after class was over.
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.
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"Miss Granger stay behind" Severus called out to her as everyone began to filter out of the classroom.
Once everyone had gone he locked and warded the classroom door and placed a silencing charm around the room. He stared at her for a few moments.
"Right, what's going on?" He asked her.
"Nothing, I'm fine Severus" she said smiling at him; she was always blown away by how much he cared about her.
"That's bullshit Hermione. You've not been eating, you're pale and you haven't been sleeping well. I've heard the other girls in your dormitory talk about your nightmares and on top of all of that, I've had a Mr Weasley in my rooms this morning and allowed him to vent out his frustrations in an empty room. The boy broke down crying and from what I can tell, it's because of a conversation that took place between to two of you last night. So, out with it, what is wrong Hermione?" He asked her gently.
Hermione sighed and sat down in one of the chairs in the classroom.
"Alright, you win. It's just, with everybody finding out and more people getting involved, I keep thinking about it and then when I go to sleep, I keep seeing what happened over and over again. Then when I wake up I naturally don't feel like eating anything because the dreams make me feel sick. Then last night when you told me that you all plan on confronting Sirius, I freaked out and broke down in the common room in front of Ron and Harry and that was when Ron knew something was wrong so I told him and he was so mad at me. He told me that he had planned to ask me out on a date but that now I was 'damaged goods' I would obviously not want to. Before I could explain myself he went up to his room. Harry stayed with me, not really knowing what to say and that was when I left to come down here, I just wanted to feel safe and peaceful. I'm sorry I intruded" she finished her explanation.
Severus practically exploded.
"That little shit!" Severus snapped, making Hermione jump.
"Severus, it's alright. I've learned over the years that the problem with Ron is that he speaks before he thinks about it. I don't think he meant it quite like that. He meant that because it had happened, I wouldn't want to be touched now. I think he was angrier about the fact that lots of people knew and he being one of my best friends didn't. I think he felt that we didn't trust him and was purposely keeping him out of the loop. Please don't be mad at him, or do anything, he will come round but he does need some time. I don't think he will say anything to anyone but it's always worse when he's upset so thank you for allowing him a therapy session to let out his emotions" she told Severus.
"A man should never speak to a woman like that" Severus said, voice slightly strained as if he were restraining himself from going to find the boy.
"Please Severus, honestly, it will be fine" Hermione said gently.
Severus sighed.
"Alright, but if you change your mind or if I catch him speaking to you in such a way, he will suffer consequences" Severus told her.
"Deal" Hermione said smiling at him.
"Right, let me give you a note for your next class as you are obviously late to your lesson" Severus said as he reached for some parchment and began to write a note on it.
He passed it to her and she thanked him and she turned to leave the classroom.
"Oh, also I expect to see you in the great hall for lunch and dinner. You will have a full plate at both meals and you will eat it all. If you don't then I will ask Madame Pompfrey to place me on monitoring your food intake. Is that clear?" He warned her.
Hermione nodded at him, she knew not to take offence and that he wasn't trying to treat her like a child. He was just worried about her and it touched her that he cared that much about her.
She walked back across the classroom and gave him a kiss on the lips.
"Thank you Severus. For everything" she told him.
"You're welcome" he told her.
They smiled at each other and Hermione left the room, and Severus waited a few moments before exiting the classroom behind her.
Both of them failed to notice someone watching them from behind the blackboard in the classroom.
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Hermione went through the rest of the day feeling slightly uplifted, Severus always made her smile. She had stuck to her promise and had eaten at meals under the watchful eye of Severus and was now heading to the library to get some reading and homework done before curfew.
In the library she heard footsteps approaching her from behind and she got her wand prepared just in case. She felt a silencing charm going up around her and knew that Severus was approaching her.
Well, that's what she thought until Ron sat down opposite her. Hermione looked startled for a moment and then smiled uncertainly at him, she had wanted to talk to him all day but didn't want to overwhelm him and so she had given him his space.
"Hermione, I wanted to apologise about what I said to you last night, I wasn't thinking, I was upset that you felt you couldn't confide in me and I just sort of lost it. I'm a brute and I am impulsive and unpredictable when it comes to emotions. I can see now why you were hesitant to tell me" he told her.
She looked at him.
"I know, that's why I gave you some space because I knew you didn't mean it the way you said it. But are you alright?" She asked him.
Ron nodded and then flushed bright red. He remembered another thing that he had said to her last night that he hadn't meant to.
"I uh, also said about the whole wanting to ask you out thing" Ron started.
"It's alright Ron don't worry about it, I told you that I didn't mind, I knew it was emotions talking" she smiled at him.
Ron frowned at her.
"No, I meant what I said about that. I think I've had a crush on you for a while now and I was going to ask you to be my girlfriend at Christmas but there is no pressure. I understand your situation now, although I wish you hadn't told me who done it, I actually liked Sirius." He informed her.
Hermione cringed internally; this wasn't going to be pretty. She reached out and gently took Ron's hand.
"Ron, I'm really not in a place to be dating right now, you deserve someone who is going to be committed to you, that's not me. Not right now anyway" she half lied to him, hoping that she wouldn't hurt him.
Ron nodded in acceptance.
"Thanks Hermione, I'm sorry for what I said and I'm sorry what happened to you. If you need to talk to me, I promise you can talk to me" he told her.
She grinned at him and the two of them shared a hug, Ron left her to her work and went to find Harry.
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.
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Ron was slightly miffed, he never did handle rejection well and it was angering him that Hermione had turned him down, regardless of the situation.
He decided not to go and find Harry and instead spent some time to himself, just thinking about what he could do to get Hermione to eventually change her mind about him.
After a while he grinned like a Cheshire cat, he knew exactly what he would do to win her over.
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Hermione had finished her work and she knew it was near curfew so she headed back towards the common room which, because of how late it was, was empty, except for Ron who was sat in one of the chairs.
"Hey Ron, are you alright? Can't sleep?" She asked him with a smile.
He nodded at her and grinned.
Hermione stepped back; there was something that she didn't like, a dark look in his eyes.
"I want you to do something for me" he whispered to her.
She gulped, something was wrong, Hermione was starting to sweat and her pulse began to speed up.
"I just want one thing Hermione" he told her.
She just stared at him.
"I want a kiss Hermione, just one kiss and that will be all" he told her.
Hermione blinked at him.
"What? Ron, where has this come from? I told you, I'm not ready for this. I'm sorry but I can't" Hermione told him on the verge of tears. She was begging him to drop it.
"You will give me what I ask for Hermione, you owe it to me in exchange of keeping your secret" he told her, walking towards her.
"Ron, please don't hold that against me, I don't want anyone else to know about what happened. I just want to let the adults deal with it like they said they are going to do at Christmas. Please Ron, don't make me do this or you will be just as bad as him in my mind" she begged him, tears spelling down her cheeks.
How dare he use her assault against her to take cheap shots!
Ron chuckled darkly and shook his head.
"That's not exactly what I meant" he told her grinning viciously.
Hermione frowned in confusion. What was he going on about?
Ron put her out of her misery and told her.
"If you can kiss the greasy git of the dungeons then you can sure as hell kiss me" he informed her.
