Hey guys just a warning this chapter takes quiet a dark turn so anyone whose not keen. It's pretty much shows the story behind how Hermione came to be her Animagus and goes into Hermione's kind of tipping point. There are certain some comparisons between particular characters within the show (I.e. Severus' and Hermione's uncles past experiences within women) that influence their behaviours.
M rated warnings for violence, abuse and neglect.
Chapter 3: Escapism
He hadn't let her out of the cellar for two weeks after the incident, claiming she was the devil before chaining her to the wall by her ankle. She had barely moved throughout the week unless to get a drink or food from the dogs bowls he had left her. Both containing the minimum amount needed to sustain her.
She would be left alone to her thoughts reciting old texts her parents had read to her, continuously counting the cracks of the blackened roof or crying until she fell asleep, shivering from the the cold.
Things began to go from bad to worse as the beatings picked up and her books and possessions were removed from her, apart from teddy. Hermione had remembered that day quiet well.
It was the first time Hermione had tried to go outside and get some fresh air. She figured her uncle wouldn't have minded if she stayed close to the house. With a book in her hand titled "Alice in Wonderland", she settled for a spot just outside of Bruce's kennel. Bruce was leaning with his head just outside and hadn't seemed to take much notice of the girl. She smiled as she sat down next to Bruce's head and gently pat him before opening her book and beginning to read.
An hour later, her uncle's truck pulled up on the drive. He owned a light blue 1980s Landrover Defender. It's muddied tires and overcoat of dirt indicated that he had been out off roading with his friends. He removed a newly bought 6 pack of been as he adjusted his coat before closing the door. He only had to take one look at his niece before his happiness had faded. Right. He owned a monster.
"You know you're not suppose to be outside" He grabbed her arm dragging her off the ground.
Hermione nodded her head, her body shaking from her uncle's tight grip.
"I wanted to see Buce. He's my friend"
"He's not your friend. You don't have friends" He shook his head pushing her inside and into the kitchen.
"Finish cooking. I'll see to your punishment after dinner"
She puffed her cheeks in anger before throwing her book down onto the table and opening the oven to check on the pork. It was done. She pulled it out and set it on the table before serving her uncle who was hunched over his taxes. She knew her uncle wasn't well off. Not compared to her parents. Hermione could only imagine that added more fuel to the fire as to the 101 reasons why her uncle hated her. She placed a knife and fork with the plate along with a luke-warm beer before running to the kitchen and kneeling down next to her bowl awaiting him. She had served up a lot more than usual tonight hoping that she could at least indulge herself in food.
She had noticed none of her clothes fitting anymore and had to resort to using the draw string to pull her shorts to fit.
"Hermione"
"Coming uncle"
She stood up running to her uncle and instantly noticing Bruce walk in through the door. She smiled at the dog happily wanting to pet him. Bruce was so calm with everyone.
"Give this to Bruce" He shoved his plate at her. She stared at it in shock noticing that there was no pork belly left.
"Um, uncle m-may I have some also, pweaze?" She tried to use her puppy dog eyes which seemed to always work on her father. Instead, he turned away in disgust.
"You know you're not suppose to ask for food. That's another punishment girl" Her eyes widened in shock as she instantly moved towards Bruce's bowl, giving him the rest of the food. He ate it within a second leaving her nothing to eat for the day. That marked the second day without food.
"U-Uncle, may I pweaze have something to eat. I'm starving" She begged him tears streaming down her face. She knew she'd get punished but she was extremely hungry and desperate enough to risk it
His grip on his knife tightened and Hermione instantly knew she had overdone it. She took small steps back from him gulping as he stood up. He lunged at her cutting diagonally down her just just underneath her collar bone. She screamed falling onto the floor trying to stop the bleeding with her hands but it was hopeless. He picked her up again shoving her to the cellar and ordering her to bring out her possessions. She did as he commanded grabbing her backpack full of books and most of her clothes before running upstairs to the living room and dropping onto her knees. Tears streamed down her face as she held her teddy sobbing into him as her uncle stood in front of the fire.
"I'm wondering where you got the courage to talk back to me, girl. I think it's these books giving you the idea that you're a person" He stared at her Alice in Wonderland book before throwing it into the fire.
Hermione screamed in pain as he picked up another book before throwing it in. Hermione instantly ran up to the fire, ignoring all self-preservation she threw her hands into the fire trying to get her books out.
"What are you doing?" He instantly kicked her out saving the rest of the skin on her hands.
"You stupid girl" He spat at her grabbing her bloodied clothes and staring at the first and second degree burns. Those were definitely going to scar no matter what. He pulled her by the back of the shirt into kitchen and ran her hands under the taps.
"You're not human you don't get to own possessions" He spat at her as he held her hands under the water. She continued to sob wanting her parents before begging for her teddy.
"That can go too!" He informed her flicking the tap off after 20minutes before dragging her back to the sitting room.
She screamed at him grabbing her teddy off the ground and instantly curling him into her body. Her blood soaked the top of it's already dirtied head as her uncle threw the rest of her warm clothing into the fire along with her books. She sobbed into her teddy no longer able to watch him and knowing she was too small to do anything about it.
After completing his task he then walked over to the girl and grabbed her teddy's leg.
"NO!" She begged for mercy. He felt the house shaking again from her power. He gritted his teeth in anger at her denying him his right. He had eventually managed to remove the disgusting toy and brought it near the fire.
"Pweaze, it's the only thing left that I have from mommy"
He stopped in his tracks thinking of the beautiful woman who had left him at the alter. He wanting so much to throw it into the fire and curse his spawn for ever being the product of his brother and her traitorous ways.
But he couldn't do it. If the girl was correct, it was the only thing left that belonged to his ex-fiancee. He sighed in anger, throwing it at the girl. She pelted on the stuffed animal thanking as hot tears spilled down her face.
He watched his niece wrap her elbows and upper arms around the toy no longer trying to clasp the toy with her burnt hands and forearms.
He had let her keep her teddy bear only because it was given to her by her mother and was the only thing she had left of her. He couldn't deny her that.
He severely hated his brother and the woman who broke his heart and betrayed him.
He grabbed his drink on the table and walked upstairs to his room, listening to the sounds of whimpering that emerged from the girls throat.
Hermione had been left to rot in the cellar for another three weeks after that. Three weeks later, Hermione was back to her chores, though a lot slower than usual. She had only regained the use of her hands a few days ago after fighting off a mild infection which had deduced her with a fever for a few days. She had been left with a 10cm long keliod scar running medially from her collar bone to her xiphoid bone. Her body still seared in pain at every movement and she continued to struggle to breathe properly. Her back had knotted in spasms of pain from having to stand in such an awkward position in compensating for her right knee and sore ribs.
He had left her alone for a couple of days to at least heal from her injuries before he would be forced to take her to hospital. He had watched her with anger one day when she had accidentally dropped a glass on the floor shaking to the bone as he had been watching her every movement. He knew she was terrified of him. That was good. She deserved it after what her parents had caused him.
He did nothing but verbally abuse her that day as he sat with her picking out the glass from her foot and taping the wounds up. Every movement he made caused a whimper to escape her split and cracked lips. Needless to say, he had not been gentle when attempting to remove the glass.
"Anything else you want me to look at you little shit?" He asked.
Hermiones' fingers wiggled in hesitation beside her before she bit her bottom lip nodding. Tears spilled down her cheeks as she pulled the back of her shirt up revealing the infected wounds on her back from the whippings. Over 30 cuts whips to her back that were still open and had failed to close over the weeks. He sneered at her before walking over to the cupboard and pulling out a bottle of Tequila and opening it. He then walked back over, pulling her shirt over her head before and pouring the alcohol over the festering wounds.
Hermione bit her lip attempting not to scream but it hurt so badly. She whimpered into her shirt before he pulled her back and did the same to her feet. She screamed into her elbow as he did trying to cover up her high pitch shrieks which he so desperately hated.
"Done. Now you owe me $40 and a new glass, you worthless girl" He spat at her before moving off.
She got four more days off to recover before he was at it again. Beating her to near the point of unconsciousness for stupid muck-ups; sometimes just for looking into his eyes, other times for just being in the same room as him.
She continued to serve him over the next two weeks. Though it began to get a lot more difficult as he had been coming home more and more early as of late, likely skipping work to drink and gamble.
After the last time his friends had come round to play poker, the older man had only said five words to her before ignoring her the rest of the evening.
He had grabbed her by the arm as she served drinks to them quietly. Her uncle had gone to the bathroom giving him the opportunity to finally speak to the girl without her being caused further pain.
"You're looking worse for wear" He had noted her broken nose, split lips and eyebrows along with heavy blackened eyes and small skinny form. She nodded her head staring at the ground not wanting to look into his eyes and be beaten. He took a quick glance down at the rest of her body as if inspecting her. She was very skinny, almost anemic, her once white clothes hung loosely off her small frame. From the last time he had seen her, she was at least wearing a jacket, now all she wore was a once white long sleeved shirt covered in holes and blood and track pants that seemed to be held in place with a cable. No doubt making it easier for her uncle to punish her if need be. He stared up at her hair noticing the rats nest that had accumulated. Her sunken eyes stared at the floor, no longer the once innocent, joyful eyes he had once seen in her a while ago.
He sighed before looking at the drink of beer in her hands. Almost triangular like scarring lashed over her hands from where the flames had licked her skin. As his friend had informed him, they ran all the way up her forearms.
He leaned over the table placing a two rectangular forms into her pocket. His hand had lingered for a second inside the pocket before he removed it and gently throwed a smile at her. She quickly moved off. Her uncle had returned moments later, zipping his trousers up as he opened the door and sitting back down into his spot.
"Didn't touch my cards boys" Her uncle eyed them suspiciously before continuing on with the game.
Hermione had sat on the stairs to the cellar that night removing the items he had placed into her pocket. One being a work card and the other a chocolate bar. She ate the bar slowly savouring the taste before she stared down at the work card.
Miles Row
Pig farmer
91 Stochhelm Rd, Presley Drive
A Pigfarmer!
Hermione had stared at the card for a while as she ate. Her father had told her to watch out for strangers when she was little and began attending school. He dad was very protective of his little girl; she knew that and a man had just placed his home address into her pocket.
She took another bite of his pocket thinking.
If she ran away to the man's home she could be saved. But she didn't know how to navigate and the area surrounding her uncle's home was sparse. It was take her hours, if not days to find the man's home. The second issue was that he was not familiar to her. A friend of her uncles. That was even worse due to the fact that her uncle had continued to beat her for weeks after the first gambling session and he had not stepped in once to assist her. In fact, both of his friends had not bothered to call the authorities over her appearance. So, that was the third strike.
She took another bite of her chocolate bar before staring at it in contemplation. Her father had also not to take candy from strangers. Her eyes widened in shock. She was so hungry that she had ignored her father's lessons for food. Tears leaked down her pale cheeks as she fisted her hair. Strike four.
Hermione had deduced that the man only had bad intentions for her.
She had finished off the rest of the chocolate bar despite her father's lesson in stranger danger and proceded to clean up the kitchen. An hour later his friends left. The older man had gently smiled and winked at the small girl as he was leaving. It didn't go passed her uncle's notice considering that he had not drunken that much alcohol that evening. He turned to her as she sat down on the floor in consideration that her uncle was likely going to interrogate her and beat her.
"Did you talk to him?"
She shook her head.
"H-He spoke to me and g-gave me his c-card" She pulled out the card from her pocket and offered it to her uncle. He glared at her before staring down at the work card reading it.
Instantly, he had scrunched his face in disgust and walked over to the bin tearing up the card.
"Bloody pedophile" He muttered under his breathe before grabbing a tin of fruit out of the cupboard and pouring it into her dog bowl. Hermione's eyes lit up in wonder at the food. She didn't know what a pedophile was but she knew she did something right by telling her uncle the truth. He put the dish down next to her knowing that she wasn't allowed on any of the furniture.
He grabbed her chin tightly before she could eat the food.
"You are not to go near him from now on. If he touches you or tells you anything. You tell me. Got it" She nodded quickly before he loosened his hold on her jaw and allowed her to eat.
She had slept on the t-v room floor that night comforted by the fire and dark carpeted floor.
She remembered that being the kindest gesture her uncle had given her, that and allowing her to keep her teddy bear.
Her and her uncle's relationship had started to get somewhat better from there. After the incident he had allowed her to read his book collection which his mother had given him after she passed away.
Sometimes he would allow her upstairs to sleep by the fire with her teddy if the nights were beyond freezing. He told her it was so he wouldn't have to drag her sorry ass to hospital.
Not that he would take her. He had resorted to giving her pain medication or cough syrup if she was in an intensive bout of pain. Other than that he would leave her alone for a few days.
Another month passed by, Hermione had began to develop night terrors. Her screaming would pierce the hollow house alerting her uncle at around 3am in the morning most nights. At first he decided to beat her into an exhaustive state. The second time she had screamed and sobbed, he had pelted down the stairs and gagged the girl. His loss of sleep had ended with her being on the ruler end of every small inconvenience in his life. He had begun to hate her again.
She had ended every night begging and pleading for the night terrors to go away, for her uncle to not harm her in her sleep. Somehow, her magic seemed to click in the times of severe stress and to cast a wordless silencio around the room as to be not be heard at night.
It had paid off in terms of her uncle's no longer tired demeanor but she continued to lose sleep; dreaming of her uncle grabbing her and torturing her for doing nothing wrong. She cried into her teddy one night, no longer able to escape the torment in her dreams.
Another two weeks passed by and her uncle continued to berate her. She tried to ignore him the best she could and continued on with her chores but all he did was abuse her, drink and play with his guard dog, Bruce; a Dobberman. She would watch them interact like a happy family all the time. Playing outside, where she was only allowed to go for bath time. She sometimes caught the pair just casually sitting watching television together.
She wished she could be like that.
That she and her uncle had that sort of relationship even but alas, he avoided any time she would seek comfort over having a nightmare or needing a cuddle.
As the same as any other day, Hermione would walk into the lounge room to serve her uncle his third beer of the day. Like a waitress she balanced the fine glass on a board before moving over to him, placing the beer onto the coffee table and being careful to avoid his line of view to the television.
She noticed Bruce by the side of him, today looking particularly at rest. His lazy eyes resting as his master's hand massaged the dogs scalp. Bruce was a lazy guard dog. He barely noticed anything around him. He looked quiet old so she had assumed she had been with her uncle for a long time. Her uncle always commented on the dogs loyalty, often spitting at her that she was the polar opposite of the dog. A traitorous, undeserving wrench just like her parents. It made Hermione think what she had to do to be treated like the dog. Bruce was never abused, he was given the finest food, which mainly included most of hers and he was comforted if he ever needed it from his master.
Heavy tears rolled down her face as she continued to kneel on the ground watching the dog. Bruce sat next to him on the couch, where she was never permitted to ever sit. As her uncle had informed her many of times, due to her 'deformity' (i.e. powers) she did not classify as a human and was lesser than an animal itself.
She stared at the dog for only moments in wonder as he curled his fingers continued through the short fur. She knew better than to think that way but she wished she could be comforted like that as she didn't deserve such treatment but she couldn't help but wonder if she was a dog would her uncle treat her better.
"GIRL!" Her eyes widened in fear as her uncle glared at her angrily.
"Why are you still here? you have chores to attend too"
"Yes Uncle" She stood up taking one last glimpse at the dog. She so desperately wanted to touch him. She wanted comfort just as much as he had.
"U-Uncle, m-may I p-pweaze pet Bu-Buce?"
He slapped her. She fell to the ground attempting to ignore the pain.
"Why would I want your filthy hands touch my dog. You'll probably infect him and end up killing him; just like your parents" He hissed.
Tears poured down her face as she stared at him in shock. He was right. She was a monster; a freak. She wasn't a person. She was less than an animal at best of times.
She stood up sobbing and running out of the room as he returned to his leisure.
Yes, so this chapters quiet long compared to the other ones. I was going to make it longer up to the point where Hermione escapes but I decided to cut it at this point.
As always I appreciate the reviews to this.
