A/N: I am so sorry for the long delay. I will try not to let that happen
again. I just got a job and I have physics and French and all this other
scholastic stuff I have to do and I really do apologize for the wait. Oh,
remember to eat at Wendy's. I think I will rant now. I have to do this some
times. Ok my manager is an asshole. I hate him. There is this really nice
guy and he is so cute, and damn it if he wasn't gay. I flirt with him any
way. Its ok thou he flirts back. I hate the smell of French fries and have
not been able to go to a fast food joint since I started working for
Wendy's. (Don't eat the chili) just kidding. For those of you who haven't
had physics that class is so much fun but it's a pain in the ass. My
teacher is cool and that is a good thing because I am not always there and
he is so good about helping me out. I think he thinks I am a ditz thou. But
that brings up another thing I hate those people who turn to you in U.S.
History and ask you were Florida is. Yes there are people like that. Ok,
well I guess I am done ranting now thank you for listening and if you just
skipped to the story that's ok to I will just right you back and tell you
mean things and give you a complex. Enjoy.
*^~^*
Hermione was given a dreamless sleep potion that had put her into a blissful night of nothing. No dreams no nightmares nothing could get into her thoughts right now. Her chest gently rose and she could no longer feel fell and the tiny pricks of pain. For a long time they feared this would yet be the last dreamless night she would have for a long time.
*^~^*
The battle that had been fought on his soul had ended. He was left defeated and tired. He wanted to know what this place was and no matter how hard he tried he was unable to escape from this terrible dream that he had entered. What right did they have to use his mind as a battlefield? A field to sodden with the blood of there brothers. He sat there in agony, waiting for something to happen, and nothing did for the longest time. And in that time no one would know him or be able to see him. Physically his body had been taken from its mortal place of being, and been placed in a purgatory. A place were he was bound to stay forever. Not being able to extricate himself from the torture of the daemons that had laid waste to his soul he sat there clinging to whatever warmth he could grasp at.
*^~^*
The morning of the next day none was even aware of what had happened except for the headmistress, Snape, Hagrid, and Pompfrey. But as every one came into breakfast that morning things were silent and foreboding. No one had a rumor for this mysterious behavior and no one wanted to start one either. They were all to interested in what could have happened. No it wasn't rumors that were being whispered it was questions. The foreboding looks on the teacher's faces could have meant several things. The dark lord could have executed a massive attack on a many number of things, or something very unpleasant could have happened to one of the faculty or to the student body. Every one was looking around trying to see who was missing at the teacher's tables or anywhere else. They looked around but they missed the only person that could have been missing. Harry and Ron noticed and there were very worried. They had been told by Ginny last night after she had followed her threw the hallways careful not to let anyone especially the man who had raped her to see her. She had been very relieved when that boy who had helped Hermione tackled the strange man, and even more relieved when Hagrid had come to help her. They had all then slipped under Harry's invisibility cloak and walked to were the boy slept in the Gryffindor rooms adjacent to there's. There was something about him that didn't seem human to him, but he has saved Hermione and that made him alright in their books.
A loud ting ting ting rang threw the hall as McGonnagal tapped the side of her glass with her fork. " students I have a very grave announcement to make." Their fears had been confirmed something bad had happened. " Now please, I want your full attention threw this and I want no interruptions." A long deafening silence followed her words as if she were trying to figure out how to complete them. " There.was an attack on a student last night. We don't know how this happened but I want you all to realize that this incident has hurt her most grievously and I want you all to remember that in no way are you to hound her about it as though this were a silly gossip pool." Her voice raised a little at the end and it was clear that she was trying to conceal her true feeling on the matter. This was not just a matter of principal but a matter of personal hurt. This was one f her very one students, some one that she had seen grow up into a beautiful young lady. She was a bright pupil and a hard worker. She her self had never needed to get on to her for bad behavior. It wasn't just her it was all of the teachers.
The teachers faces turned to each other and soon every one knew at the front table what had happened and who had been attacked. Several of them were crying, and the rest including Professor Snape had their heads in their hands in shear uncontrollable distress.
It was true that Snape had dismissed it rather quickly last night, but the looks on the other teacher's faces and the tears on most lead him to think about her. She was one of his smartest students and it did make him jealous that she was in Gryffindor rather than Slytherin. Who cared if she were muggle born a lot of wizards and witches were muggle born and it didn't stop them from achieving greatness.
He stopped. Had he just thought that to him self. He turned his face to McGonnagal who was staring right back at him. " I don't think you realize the seriousness of this situation Severus. I would like to know what you think is good in this that you should smile at It." Her tone would have hurt any other person but Severus was already used to such words.
" Professor if only I could tell you without you thinking me mad. But I do think that you would smile to if you knew what I had just thought. Yes I can see the seriousness but there are things right now I need to rejoice upon." Minerva just stared at him. No matter what he had just said the smile on his face convinced her that he was a raving lunatic. She had never seen him smile like that in many years and laughing was even more out of the question, but he had just done it.
" Threw a little discussion between me and the other teachers we have decided not to enclose you with the full details just yet. I am sure that you will find out sooner or later any way." She scanned the room with her eyes. " As it is Miss Granger is not to be disturbed, unless given permission from me.
*^~^*
Later that afternoon Snape would see Hermione in the hospital wing. He watched her as she lay there resting with her eyes closed. He had been silent when he entered and was sure that she hadn't heard him. He walked silently up to her bed and sat on her bed next to her. She stirred slightly and a lock of her honey gold hair fell across her face. He could remember when her hair had been frizzy and somewhat out of control, but now it was sleek and beautiful. Many times before thou he had not realized it him self until after he had done it he had watched her threw the windows as she walked across the grounds. The sun would shine on her hair and it would remind him of sparkling amber and then his attention would be caught be an unwelcome intrusion and he would be obliged to tend to it.
He brushed the stray lock back and noticed a bruise on her forehead. With a slight murmur of a word and a quick tap from his wand the bruise disappeared and her skin was left and perfect and as smooth as before all this unpleasantness happened. Such smooth skin. It radiated in the light of the hospital lamps and he couldn't help but touch it. God, it was so soft and so delicate. A sudden wave of anger sank into him. If he ever found the daemon who had done this than he would put them were they belonged. It takes some one of great evil to harm such a lovely person as this. He only hoped that this did not damage her too much.
He bent to kiss her. Her softness felt like heaven against his lips and it was all he could do to stop himself from pressing his lips to hers. He almost hadn't succeeded. It was then that he heard the footsteps of two or three people walking into the hospital did he lift himself out of his reverie and back into his stern unmovable stance he bore so meticulously.
He vowed to himself right then and there that he would talk to her. And he would but not for many years. After this experience he would be a different man, but not for the better. He would sink deeper into his self-loathing because it was people like him who had done these terrible things to her. He swore that he would reconcile all the horrible things he had done, and protect this innocent girl who had grown to be a tough and compelling woman.
As he walked out of the room he nodded his head to the entering teachers and left them to talk to Hermione. He stopped at the doorway and listened to what they said. He envied them for they could talk out right to their students and see them and talk to them civilly. He could not do this and it pained him.
*^~^*
Later that evening he sat in his office refusing to speak to anyone. He wrote and scribbled on a piece of parchment leaving the test papers on the side of his desk with no intention to grade them. Now was a good time he thought to begin reconciling his past and he would start with the most difficult. talking to potter. He was her friend and he needed for Potter he made a mental note to try and call him Harry when not in public to trust him if he was ever going to be able to do anything towards protecting Hermione. Something clicked in his brain. Since when had he called her Hermione even in his thoughts. He had never known another Hermione and when he had first heard the name he thought it rather absurd, and to tell himself the truth he still did. He continued writing his list of people to talk to and things to do, and as he looked down at it he realized he had rather a long list.
*^~^*
It had been Snape who stopped most of the wild rumors that had gone around about what had happened that night and she had taken NEWTS with all the perfection that every one knew she would take them with. She graduated with the highest honors and was invited to teach at Hogwarts. She had accepted and with much gratitude, because Snape's worst fear had been made real. She had been hurt tremendously and she was afraid to go anywhere else. When she had come back after Christmas break that year she was not the same person and she never told anyone what had happened to her.
It was not long after she had joined the Hogwarts staff than she was made head of Gryffindor since none of the other staff wanted the position and there had to be some one due to the fact that Minerva had been bumped up to Headmistress.
*^~^*
Five years later a gray-stripped tabby sat on one of the bare tables steadily gazing at a blue box that had materialized in the Hall.
*^~^*
Why did it have to be Hogwarts. Nothing could have prepared him for this. One horrible image after another horrible image kept going threw his mind. It took so long for the memories of this day to erase them selves from his mind. After all he had seen threw in his many lives this was the most heart breaking. He has lost almost everything that he loved here and he hated the fact that some one else had won. They had won, evil had won, and now all he could do was sit back and listen to the awful screeching laughter in his head echoing.
He started as he felt a touch on his shoulder. He turned his head up to look into the face of his nephew. He had such a innocent face. " Yes Mathew." He said solemnly. Mathew had never known such gravity in his uncle's voice. His voice was low and ominous. Something that really scared him.
" Uncle, are you alright. You seem ill or something." With a quick swipe of his hand the Doctor brushed his hair aback from his face. His long blond locks of hair that was so different from his predecessors showed no more solace and protection to Mathew from the terrible look in the Doctor's eyes than a pane of glass.
" I am fine Mathew" he saw the pained expression on Mathew's face and quickly added, " really, I will be all right in a minute." This didn't seem to sooth him any. Mathew hated seeing his uncle like this.
He remembered when he was little and he would sit on his lap while he told him stories about his adventures in space. His mother would look at them playing and just smile. Cliff used to tell Mathews mother not to fill the boys head with useless stories about adventurers when he had more important things to worry about. Mathew had always favored The Doctor over Cliff. The Doctor was far more paternal and caring. Cliff had never sat him down on his knee and told him wonderful stories about his travels, or taken him places other that inside England. He remembered the time when his uncle had taken him to France with him and taught him how to speak French so that he wouldn't feel that he didn't fit in to terribly. That was one of the most exciting experiences of his life.
After they had gotten home for that he over heard his uncle and Cliff arguing.
" You were to baby-sit him not take him to some foreign country."
" All I was doing was feeding a little culture into his mind. At least one of us gives him a chance to enjoy himself."
" He's nine years old he can enjoy himself later now he needs to go to school and make sure that he gets the grades to get into college." The conversation had become silent then. " I don't want you to ever go near Mathew again." At first he thought that his uncle wouldn't comply but after a few months it finally sunk in that he would wouldn't see his uncle for a long time. He had cried all night and finally he had fallen to sleep. It hadn't been till one of his mothers friends had informed his uncle that his mother had gotten custody of him in their divorce case did Mathew got to see his beloved uncle again. He had been fourteen years old and in his fourth year at Hogwarts. Christmas was a wonderful time of the year for him again and his uncle had gotten him the most wonderful Christmas present he had ever gotten. He had taken Mathews wand and embedded a jewel in its hilt. When his mother had gone to sleep he had explained the significance of it.
The Doctor had brought with him a book on pre-ancient Time-Lord mythology. He had opened the pages to a section labeled Souls: The Passing of Ones self. It explained that when you gave a bit of your soul to some one you were giving them a bit of their power and it meant a great deal to the ancient Time-Lords to give a bit of your soul to some one. It meant love beyond comparison.
After his uncle had given him the book he told that now he would be able to come when he needed him. With that he had fallen asleep on the couch and Mathew right next to him.
*^~^*
A/N: my goodness that took a long time to right. Actually it was only 4 hours of strait sitting. I think that this is the longest chap that I have ever written. I really hope that you appreciate this. gets up and has taco body. I have to go soak my butt. Be right back to start work on my next chap.
*^~^*
Hermione was given a dreamless sleep potion that had put her into a blissful night of nothing. No dreams no nightmares nothing could get into her thoughts right now. Her chest gently rose and she could no longer feel fell and the tiny pricks of pain. For a long time they feared this would yet be the last dreamless night she would have for a long time.
*^~^*
The battle that had been fought on his soul had ended. He was left defeated and tired. He wanted to know what this place was and no matter how hard he tried he was unable to escape from this terrible dream that he had entered. What right did they have to use his mind as a battlefield? A field to sodden with the blood of there brothers. He sat there in agony, waiting for something to happen, and nothing did for the longest time. And in that time no one would know him or be able to see him. Physically his body had been taken from its mortal place of being, and been placed in a purgatory. A place were he was bound to stay forever. Not being able to extricate himself from the torture of the daemons that had laid waste to his soul he sat there clinging to whatever warmth he could grasp at.
*^~^*
The morning of the next day none was even aware of what had happened except for the headmistress, Snape, Hagrid, and Pompfrey. But as every one came into breakfast that morning things were silent and foreboding. No one had a rumor for this mysterious behavior and no one wanted to start one either. They were all to interested in what could have happened. No it wasn't rumors that were being whispered it was questions. The foreboding looks on the teacher's faces could have meant several things. The dark lord could have executed a massive attack on a many number of things, or something very unpleasant could have happened to one of the faculty or to the student body. Every one was looking around trying to see who was missing at the teacher's tables or anywhere else. They looked around but they missed the only person that could have been missing. Harry and Ron noticed and there were very worried. They had been told by Ginny last night after she had followed her threw the hallways careful not to let anyone especially the man who had raped her to see her. She had been very relieved when that boy who had helped Hermione tackled the strange man, and even more relieved when Hagrid had come to help her. They had all then slipped under Harry's invisibility cloak and walked to were the boy slept in the Gryffindor rooms adjacent to there's. There was something about him that didn't seem human to him, but he has saved Hermione and that made him alright in their books.
A loud ting ting ting rang threw the hall as McGonnagal tapped the side of her glass with her fork. " students I have a very grave announcement to make." Their fears had been confirmed something bad had happened. " Now please, I want your full attention threw this and I want no interruptions." A long deafening silence followed her words as if she were trying to figure out how to complete them. " There.was an attack on a student last night. We don't know how this happened but I want you all to realize that this incident has hurt her most grievously and I want you all to remember that in no way are you to hound her about it as though this were a silly gossip pool." Her voice raised a little at the end and it was clear that she was trying to conceal her true feeling on the matter. This was not just a matter of principal but a matter of personal hurt. This was one f her very one students, some one that she had seen grow up into a beautiful young lady. She was a bright pupil and a hard worker. She her self had never needed to get on to her for bad behavior. It wasn't just her it was all of the teachers.
The teachers faces turned to each other and soon every one knew at the front table what had happened and who had been attacked. Several of them were crying, and the rest including Professor Snape had their heads in their hands in shear uncontrollable distress.
It was true that Snape had dismissed it rather quickly last night, but the looks on the other teacher's faces and the tears on most lead him to think about her. She was one of his smartest students and it did make him jealous that she was in Gryffindor rather than Slytherin. Who cared if she were muggle born a lot of wizards and witches were muggle born and it didn't stop them from achieving greatness.
He stopped. Had he just thought that to him self. He turned his face to McGonnagal who was staring right back at him. " I don't think you realize the seriousness of this situation Severus. I would like to know what you think is good in this that you should smile at It." Her tone would have hurt any other person but Severus was already used to such words.
" Professor if only I could tell you without you thinking me mad. But I do think that you would smile to if you knew what I had just thought. Yes I can see the seriousness but there are things right now I need to rejoice upon." Minerva just stared at him. No matter what he had just said the smile on his face convinced her that he was a raving lunatic. She had never seen him smile like that in many years and laughing was even more out of the question, but he had just done it.
" Threw a little discussion between me and the other teachers we have decided not to enclose you with the full details just yet. I am sure that you will find out sooner or later any way." She scanned the room with her eyes. " As it is Miss Granger is not to be disturbed, unless given permission from me.
*^~^*
Later that afternoon Snape would see Hermione in the hospital wing. He watched her as she lay there resting with her eyes closed. He had been silent when he entered and was sure that she hadn't heard him. He walked silently up to her bed and sat on her bed next to her. She stirred slightly and a lock of her honey gold hair fell across her face. He could remember when her hair had been frizzy and somewhat out of control, but now it was sleek and beautiful. Many times before thou he had not realized it him self until after he had done it he had watched her threw the windows as she walked across the grounds. The sun would shine on her hair and it would remind him of sparkling amber and then his attention would be caught be an unwelcome intrusion and he would be obliged to tend to it.
He brushed the stray lock back and noticed a bruise on her forehead. With a slight murmur of a word and a quick tap from his wand the bruise disappeared and her skin was left and perfect and as smooth as before all this unpleasantness happened. Such smooth skin. It radiated in the light of the hospital lamps and he couldn't help but touch it. God, it was so soft and so delicate. A sudden wave of anger sank into him. If he ever found the daemon who had done this than he would put them were they belonged. It takes some one of great evil to harm such a lovely person as this. He only hoped that this did not damage her too much.
He bent to kiss her. Her softness felt like heaven against his lips and it was all he could do to stop himself from pressing his lips to hers. He almost hadn't succeeded. It was then that he heard the footsteps of two or three people walking into the hospital did he lift himself out of his reverie and back into his stern unmovable stance he bore so meticulously.
He vowed to himself right then and there that he would talk to her. And he would but not for many years. After this experience he would be a different man, but not for the better. He would sink deeper into his self-loathing because it was people like him who had done these terrible things to her. He swore that he would reconcile all the horrible things he had done, and protect this innocent girl who had grown to be a tough and compelling woman.
As he walked out of the room he nodded his head to the entering teachers and left them to talk to Hermione. He stopped at the doorway and listened to what they said. He envied them for they could talk out right to their students and see them and talk to them civilly. He could not do this and it pained him.
*^~^*
Later that evening he sat in his office refusing to speak to anyone. He wrote and scribbled on a piece of parchment leaving the test papers on the side of his desk with no intention to grade them. Now was a good time he thought to begin reconciling his past and he would start with the most difficult. talking to potter. He was her friend and he needed for Potter he made a mental note to try and call him Harry when not in public to trust him if he was ever going to be able to do anything towards protecting Hermione. Something clicked in his brain. Since when had he called her Hermione even in his thoughts. He had never known another Hermione and when he had first heard the name he thought it rather absurd, and to tell himself the truth he still did. He continued writing his list of people to talk to and things to do, and as he looked down at it he realized he had rather a long list.
*^~^*
It had been Snape who stopped most of the wild rumors that had gone around about what had happened that night and she had taken NEWTS with all the perfection that every one knew she would take them with. She graduated with the highest honors and was invited to teach at Hogwarts. She had accepted and with much gratitude, because Snape's worst fear had been made real. She had been hurt tremendously and she was afraid to go anywhere else. When she had come back after Christmas break that year she was not the same person and she never told anyone what had happened to her.
It was not long after she had joined the Hogwarts staff than she was made head of Gryffindor since none of the other staff wanted the position and there had to be some one due to the fact that Minerva had been bumped up to Headmistress.
*^~^*
Five years later a gray-stripped tabby sat on one of the bare tables steadily gazing at a blue box that had materialized in the Hall.
*^~^*
Why did it have to be Hogwarts. Nothing could have prepared him for this. One horrible image after another horrible image kept going threw his mind. It took so long for the memories of this day to erase them selves from his mind. After all he had seen threw in his many lives this was the most heart breaking. He has lost almost everything that he loved here and he hated the fact that some one else had won. They had won, evil had won, and now all he could do was sit back and listen to the awful screeching laughter in his head echoing.
He started as he felt a touch on his shoulder. He turned his head up to look into the face of his nephew. He had such a innocent face. " Yes Mathew." He said solemnly. Mathew had never known such gravity in his uncle's voice. His voice was low and ominous. Something that really scared him.
" Uncle, are you alright. You seem ill or something." With a quick swipe of his hand the Doctor brushed his hair aback from his face. His long blond locks of hair that was so different from his predecessors showed no more solace and protection to Mathew from the terrible look in the Doctor's eyes than a pane of glass.
" I am fine Mathew" he saw the pained expression on Mathew's face and quickly added, " really, I will be all right in a minute." This didn't seem to sooth him any. Mathew hated seeing his uncle like this.
He remembered when he was little and he would sit on his lap while he told him stories about his adventures in space. His mother would look at them playing and just smile. Cliff used to tell Mathews mother not to fill the boys head with useless stories about adventurers when he had more important things to worry about. Mathew had always favored The Doctor over Cliff. The Doctor was far more paternal and caring. Cliff had never sat him down on his knee and told him wonderful stories about his travels, or taken him places other that inside England. He remembered the time when his uncle had taken him to France with him and taught him how to speak French so that he wouldn't feel that he didn't fit in to terribly. That was one of the most exciting experiences of his life.
After they had gotten home for that he over heard his uncle and Cliff arguing.
" You were to baby-sit him not take him to some foreign country."
" All I was doing was feeding a little culture into his mind. At least one of us gives him a chance to enjoy himself."
" He's nine years old he can enjoy himself later now he needs to go to school and make sure that he gets the grades to get into college." The conversation had become silent then. " I don't want you to ever go near Mathew again." At first he thought that his uncle wouldn't comply but after a few months it finally sunk in that he would wouldn't see his uncle for a long time. He had cried all night and finally he had fallen to sleep. It hadn't been till one of his mothers friends had informed his uncle that his mother had gotten custody of him in their divorce case did Mathew got to see his beloved uncle again. He had been fourteen years old and in his fourth year at Hogwarts. Christmas was a wonderful time of the year for him again and his uncle had gotten him the most wonderful Christmas present he had ever gotten. He had taken Mathews wand and embedded a jewel in its hilt. When his mother had gone to sleep he had explained the significance of it.
The Doctor had brought with him a book on pre-ancient Time-Lord mythology. He had opened the pages to a section labeled Souls: The Passing of Ones self. It explained that when you gave a bit of your soul to some one you were giving them a bit of their power and it meant a great deal to the ancient Time-Lords to give a bit of your soul to some one. It meant love beyond comparison.
After his uncle had given him the book he told that now he would be able to come when he needed him. With that he had fallen asleep on the couch and Mathew right next to him.
*^~^*
A/N: my goodness that took a long time to right. Actually it was only 4 hours of strait sitting. I think that this is the longest chap that I have ever written. I really hope that you appreciate this. gets up and has taco body. I have to go soak my butt. Be right back to start work on my next chap.