Chapter Four

Professor Flitwick and Professor Sprout both entered the teacher's lounge in discussion. They sat down in two chairs and talking. They didn't even notice Snape sleeping in the chair nearby.

"So its no just my class?" Professor Sprout said, "She hasn't been the same lately. Her work has been less than her normal standards"

"Her attention hasn't been there in class" Professor Flitwick said, "I wish Dumbledore would tell us what is going on sometimes"

"I know exactly what you mean!" Professor Sprout agreed, "I'm trying to be understanding, but when we don't even know what happened to her, I don't really understand where she's coming from"

Snape looked up exhausted at the two professors who still didn't acknowledge his presence. He could hear their conversation clearly though figured they were talking about  Hermione.

"Whatever happened, I hope its over soon!" Professor Sprout continued, "The poor girl looks ready to drop any moment, like just now when she came running down the hall crying! I doubt she even realized how many people she almost ran over!"

Snape looked up in surprise edging closer to the conversation trying to see where it was heading.

"I don't think anyone could have stopped her though. She looked terribly upset!" Professor Flitwick said.

Snape stood up quickly and the two teachers finally noticed him standing there.
            "Professor Snape! We didn't realize you were resting in here" Professor Sprout said.

"Yes, by any chance do you two know where Hermione was heading when she was heading down the hall" Snape asked. The two professors gave him a funny look.

            "You wouldn't know anything about her accident at Hogsmeade, would you?" Professor Flitwick asked curiously. Snape groaned in frustration. Judging by the earlier conversation he had a feeling Hermione was in trouble.

"Perhaps I do!" Snape snapped, "But do you know where Hermione went or not?"

Professor Sprout gave him another look, "I believe she was going outside. Probably to get away from everyone!" she said, "Poor thing! Looked like the world just ended because of her"

"Now what do you know?" Professor Flitwick asked, but Snape had already run from the room running frantically, slamming into a Ravenclaw as he went. He scrambled to his feet and bolted out of the doors to the school.

Once outside he searched the area quickly trying to figure out where Hermione went. He knew he didn't have a lot of time, but desparate. Swearing, he ran near the edge of Hagrid's hut and the forest.  He wasn't going to let anyone hurt Hermione, least of all, herself.

As he turned the corner, he saw Hermione several feet away with a knife in her hand, barely touching her neck. Knowing he would never get there in time, he pulled out his wand, "Accio!" he yelled. The blade spun out of Hermione's hand and into Snape's hands.

Hermione turned to look at him, the colour draining from her face as she saw him running towards her.

"Hermione Granger! What on earth do you think you are bloody doing?" he yelled. His face was red and flushed in fury. Hermione brushed the tears from her eyes and looked away.

"Have you lost your mind? Do you know what you almost did?"

            Hermione whipped around angrily, "Yes, I do!" she cried, "I was trying to get away from this! Everything here! I don't want to live like this! Scared of everything! Not being able to trust anyone!"

            Snape took a deep breath, "Hermione, I know you're scared and everything seems painful and wrong" he said slowly, "But if you kill yourself, you'll be letting whoever did this to you win! You let that person defeat you. Their intention could have only been to bring pain and destruction! Do you truly want this person to be victorious over you?" Their eyes were locked in each other as Snape spoke to her slowly and seriously. Hermione could see pain and tears swarming in him as he spoke.

            "You're stronger than this, Hermione!" he said, "Do you really think he should win? Is that what you really want?" He held out the knife to her, "The choice is yours, Hermione"

            Hermione stared at the knife momentarily. Her hand reached out and took it from her hand. Staring at it blankly she shoved into the ground.

=====================================================================

"Hermione Granger! I am truly at a loss for words!" Professor Mcgonagall said, "Despite your situation, it by no means excuses your actions for tonight!"

Hermione nodded, 'I know! It was a stupid thing to do" she said.

"Yes, it was!" Professor Mcgonagall said sternly, "I shudder to think what would have happened had Professor Snape not come along! I don't understand! What brought you to such drastic measures?"

Hermione took a deep breath and tried to answer, "I got it a fight with someone, he found out and got angry" she said, "I didn't want to face everyone when they found out what happened"

Professor Mcgonagall sighed shaking her head and dismissed Hermione. Once Hermione had turned down the hall she turned around to face Snape who had kept silent throughout all of this. "Thankyou" she said staring at him.

        Snape noticed in potions the next day that Ron seemed to be avoiding Hermione at all costs. Remember what Hermione had told Professor Mcgonagall before, he asked Ron to stay after class. Ron only confirmed what he thought with his response.

         "I didn't do anything to Malfoy today, so whatever you think I did, I didn't do it" he said shortly. Snape could see Ron expected to lose about 30 house points and get a detention for that comment, but Snape surprised him by responding calmly.

            "No, Mr. Weasley, I have no intentions of punishing you" Snape said, "I merely wanted to point out how inconsiderate your behavior towards Hermione is, considering her situation."

            Ron glared at Snape, "This is any of your business!" he snapped rudely, and walked out not waiting for a response from Snape.

            Snape shook his head sadly as Ron disappeared, "Unfortunatly it is my business" he said before returning to his work.

            Hermione had taken to walking long paths to class to avoid Ron and everybody else. She didn't think anyone noticed, so she was shocked to hear someone yelling after her.

            "Hermione! Wait for me!" Harry came flying down the hall to catch up with her.

            "Harry!" Hermione said, "I didn't realize you were still talking to me"

            Harry shook his head, "I'm not going to hate you for something that isn't your fault." Harry said supportively.

            Hermione got this look on her face which Harry read quickly, "Don't worry!" he reassured her, "The only person Ron told was me! I convinced him to keep it between us"

            Hermione sighed with relief, 'Thankyou so much Harry!" she said, 'If others found out, I don't know what I'd do!"

            By the end of the day, Hermione felt much better. Mostly because of Harry treating her the same as he always did. It helped her forget for a little while. Harry was trying to help Hermione catch up with the class on Charms.

            "I never thought I'd see the day you were helping me with schoolwork" Hermione said.

            "Neither did I" Harry said.

            They were interrupted by the arrival of Malfoy, "So mudblood, you're keeping it a secret?" he sneered, "What would you do if everyone knew?"

            Harry stepped forward quickly, "Get lost, Malfoy"

            "Or what?" Malfoy challenged, standing face to face with hatred they drew their wands.

            "If you tell anyone, anything!" Harry warned.

            "Who's gonna stop me?" Malfoy dared.

            "I am!" Hermione said, "If you tell anyone, people are going to wonder how you know! Pretty soon people are going to realize that your dad must have been involved somehow! You wouldn't want to be the one to get daddy into Azkaban?"

            Malfoy seemed to think about this one, before concluding that Hermione was correct, "Better watch it mudblood!" he muttered, "They're watching you!"

            When he had gone, Harry and Hermione quickly ran to Dumbledore's office where he seemed to be waiting for them.

            "I think Lucius Malfoy was involved somehow!" Hermione blurted out quickly.

            Dumbledore glanced curiously at her, "And what brought you to this conclusion"

            "Malfoy knew about it, so that must mean his father knew something about it to tell Malfoy about it!" Harry explained.

            Dumbledore nodded, "This is a difficult situation, Hermione!" he said, "If we try to bring anything up against Lucius Malfoy, he will make a commotion with it! And the entire magic community will hear about it!"

            Hermione paused, "Maybe we could wait until we have more information" she suggested hesitantly.

            Dumbledore nodded, "An excellent decision"  he said.

            As Hermione and Harry disappeared, Professor Mcgonagall came up behind him, "When do we tell her the truth" she asked, "It can't stay a secret forever"
            Dumbledore turned to her, "I have faith in Hermione and Severus! I believe she will know when she is ready to know"

            "Here's the work I missed, Professor" Hermione said handing Snape about half a dozen parchments.

            "I didn't expect you to turn any of this in" he said taking it.

            "I know" Hermione said softly, "but I also wanted to thank you for savi-"

            "Don't say it!" Snape interrupted sharply. He turned his attention to correcting the work she presented him, to avoid telling her anything.

            Hermione stared at him weakly, "You saved my life!"

            "More like ruined it" Snape muttered under his breath.

            "I'll never forget that" Hermione said.

            Snape felt his hand tremble as he quickly turned and tore out of the room, leaving Hermione very confused. As he sank into his private quarters he felt himself overtaken with the unbearable guilt and knowledge. Closing his eyes painfully he tried not to forget the sincere words Hermione had spoken.

Authors Note: Sorry, it took so long to get this chapter up! Just so people know, I will only be updating on weekends, because weekdays are very busy! But I wanted to thank everyone for their reviews. I e-mailed most of you! I apoligize if I didn't e-mail you, but I think I have everyone listed below! So thanks! And I'm hoping to attempt to finish typing chapter 5 by tonight.

Jamie-Thanks for the reviews! And I'll be upping the rating just to be safe! Thanks for pointing that out though!

Vampire Kid Kara- Thanks so much! I'm glad the end of Chapter 3 kept someone hanging! Maybe it'll hold enough that you'll continue to read!

Aries-Yeah, The story does kinda move fast. I'm not good at keeping things paced! I always want to rush out with the action! I already have the ending for this thing written! The reason hermione didn't use a wand was for effect and because I forgot that she had that option!

Hermione-Snape- Well I hope you like this chapter. Sorry about the wait!

Bertie Wooster- If only it could be that simple! ::sigh:: oh well! Thanks so much for reviewing!

Hellsong-thanks for the review. I have never read that story, I might have to do that if I ever find spare time.

Kat097-Oh dear! I'm sorry for the wait! Here's the next chapter! Hopefully you'll like it!

Aemos- Thanks for the compliment! Yup this is my first story, but definitely not my last!

Enfleurage-I want to thank you for posting what you did in your review. That is an excellent point. Rape is definitely a degrading and horrible experience that no person should ever had to go through. And my sympathy goes to anyone who has gone through it. I by no means intend to offend anyone.

 SparklySilverNoodlez-Thanks for the encouragement! It's really nice to know that people like what you are writing.

Spike-Lover- You bring up a very intelligent point! Why didn't Snape kill Malfoy? Ugh! Wasn't thinking properly I guess. The plot was inspired by several various stories, but the ending is completely my own. Or at least I think it is. The ending I came up with on my own, but maybe someone else had the same idea.

Nightskye- I hope you like where the story is going!