Ginny could not believe what was happening to her. However, when she felt the fifth button on her blouse flip open and a foreign hand viciously squeezing at her breasts, her faculties returned; and she screamed. She screamed bloody murder and, with the quickening sounds of foot falls that could be heard nearby, it seemed that someone had her cry and was coming to save her. She just had to hang on a few more moments and all would be well.
She screamed again, as loud as she could, but was hastily cut off by fierce grip over her mouth. Harry had placed his left hand over her mouth and was practically strangling her to get her to be quiet. She tried to bite his hand, but he removed his hand from her mouth and grabbed her by the neck. He squeezed. She found that she could only make gurgling noises, no screams could erupt. Ginny began to pray that the feet she heard would come faster without her screams.
"Shut up, bitch," was all that Harry said, although it certainly did not sound like Harry. He frantically ripped the rest of her blouse and began working on the fastenings of her skirt. Just as he went to push her skirt down, he was torn from her, thrown to the floor and hexed into silence and stillness.
Ginny took a few heaving breaths. The breaths were partly to calm her, but also because her air had been partially cut off when he gripped her neck. When she felt that her breathing was almost normal, she looked up to see who had saved her. It was another shock to her system to see that her savior was none other than the Head of Slytherin, Professor Snape. He was looking at her with immense concern.
"Are you all right, Ginny? He didn't-," he asked with real concern in his voice, but was smart enough not to attempt to touch her.
She shook her head and assured him in a shaky voice, "No, he didn't, but- but he tried."
"Where is Draco? Did Harry knock him out? Is he all right?" Professor Snape inquired about his favorite student.
"Draco is just fine. I am sure he is asleep in our rooms." Ginny said with just a hint of anger in her voice.
"Draco is in your rooms? What is he doing there? I was under the impression that Professor Dumbledore informed you and Draco to be very vigilant around Mr. Potter. Am I wrong in that, Mrs. Malfoy?" he asked, while ending in his usual stern voice and sneer.
"No, sir," Ginny whispered as she slid to the floor.
"I'm sorry, Mrs. Malfoy, I did not catch that."
"No, sir, you are not wrong about that," Ginny said, "Professor Dumbledore was abundantly clear that we should be keeping an eye on Harry."
"Let's take this up later, Ginny. Right now, let's get you to Madame Pomfrey. I will go collect Mr. Malfoy, and we will meet you in the infirmary," with that said, Professor Snape withdrew his wand from his robes, placed it to Ginny's forehead and muttered the incantation to call for Madame Pomfrey.
As they waited for the medi-witch to arrive, Ginny self-consciously pulled the ragged remains of her shirt together.
A mere five minutes later, Madame Pomfrey had arrived followed very closely by Ginny's Head of House, Professor McGonagall.
"Sweet Merlin, what has happened here, Severus?" Professor McGonagall asked as she came upon the Head Girl in tattered clothes and the Boy Who Lived hexed on the floor.
"Mr. Potter, attacked Mrs. Malfoy," he coolly answered.
"And did Mr. Malfoy take it upon himself to attack Mr. Potter?" she snottily responded.
"No, Minerva, I had the pleasure," he assured her with a nasty grin on his face, "One would think that you would be a bit more worried about your Head Girl rather than the boy who attacked her."
Professor McGonagall gave a slight snort and bent to give Madame Pomfrey a hand in getting Ginny off the cold, stone floor. Once up, they began moving the shaking young woman to the infirmary. Professor Snape, after calling Professor Dumbledore to come collect Potter, began walking further into the dungeons to retrieve Mr. Malfoy.
***********************************************************
Professor Snape quickly found himself outside the Malfoys' rooms, muttering the Professor's entrance password and walking in the rooms. Draco, he saw, was not asleep in their bedroom, but was nervously tapping his foot on the floor. His head was clasped in his hands.
"Mr. Malfoy?"
Draco startled out of his thoughtful posture, and practically jumped out of the chair at Professor Snape's voice.
"Professor, I didn't hear you come in. What can I do for you?"
"Draco, we don't have time for the normal pleasantries. You need to accompany me to the infirmary."
"Shite! Is it Ginny, sir?"
"Yes, now follow me, Mr. Malfoy, your wife needs you."
Draco nodded and followed his Head of House out of the room.
"What happened, sir? Was it Potter?"
"This is not my story to tell, Mr. Malfoy. Come along; Mr. Malfoy, quickly!" Professor Snape snapped at his favorite Slytherin.
"Yes, sir," Draco responded and quickly hurried to the infirmary.
***********************************************************
"Here we are, Mrs. Malfoy."
"The first bed, Poppy?"
"Yes, let's help her gently sit down and then we can do a thorough examination and questioning."
"I am here, you know," Ginny assured the two women with a small smile on her face.
Madame Pomfrey responded by giving Ginny a comforting pat on her arm. Ginny sat gingerly on the side of the bed and waited for Madame Pomfrey to return with her necessary equipment.
"Here we are, Mrs. Malfoy…Ginny, we are going to need to write down everything that is spoken here, so I have brought a Dicto-Quill, all right?"
Ginny nodded her agreement.
"Where are you hurt?"
"I think I might have some bruising around my mouth, neck and chest. Other than that, I am fine."
"Fine?"
"Fine," Ginny assured them.
"Mrs. Malfoy, I am afraid I must ask this; were you raped?"
"NO!" Ginny practically yelled.
"Mrs. Malfoy, you can trust us," Professor McGonagall attempted to gain her trust.
"No, I was not raped. I was attacked, but Professor Snape arrived in time and saved me."
"Are you-," Madame Pomfrey began to ask again.
"I was NOT raped."
"Right then, let's take a look at those bruises. Could you please take off your shirt?"
Ginny removed her hands from the pieces that she had pulled together to maintain a façade of modesty. She withdrew the ripped shirt from her shoulders just as Draco and Professor Snape arrived in the infirmary. Luckily, Madame Pomfrey had pulled the curtains around the area to prevent more uneasiness for Ginny.
Draco came running around the curtain and stopped dead when he saw the bruises on Ginny's face, neck and chest.
"Bloody Hell, Ginny, what happened?" he asked in shock.
"Mr. Malfoy, please leave until I finish her examination," Madame Pomfrey ordered.
"I am not going anywhere until someone tells me what the hell happened to my wife!" Draco shouted.
"Draco, please leave and let Madame Pomfrey finish the exam. Then we will talk, okay?" Ginny said in a quiet, but firm voice.
"But Ginny-," Draco began but quickly stopped at the look on his wife's face. He nodded and stepped back around the curtain to wait with Professor Snape.
Madame Pomfrey quickly did a thorough exam and determined that Ginny had not been raped, but had definitely been sexually assaulted. There were bruises not only on her face, neck and chest, but also on most of her back (from being slammed into the wall), hips and abdomen. Madame Pomfrey tried to use her magical charms to remove the bruises, but to no avail. At that point, she asked Professor Snape to try a few of his potions.
With the permission of Ginny, Professor Snape was allowed into the examination area and administered several different types of potions used by the Ministry of Magic to get Aurors back on their feet quickly. These did not work either. The bruises remained and seemed to be darkening by the minute.
During the medical discussion between Madame Pomfrey and Professor Snape, Professor McGonagall went and got Draco.
Draco walked into the area and just about fainted from the shock of seeing his wife's bruised body.
"Ginny, what in the hell happened?"
"Nothing," she replied.
"Don't give me that shite. Tell me what happened…now, Ginny," he demanded in a firm, 'Malfoy' manner.
"Draco, nothing happened," she repeated as she put on an infirmary gown to cover her body from his prying eyes.
Professor Snape, who had no choice but to overhear the conversation due to voice levels, extricated himself from the discussion with Madame Pomfrey and walked over to the young couple.
"Mrs. Malfoy…Ginny, you need to tell Draco what happened," Professor Snape intervened.
"No, I don't"
"Yes, you do. He has a right to know."
"Ginny, the way you look…were you…were you…raped?" the last word being whispered and barely audible by Draco.
"This…THIS is why you need to tell him, Ginny. He is only going to think the worse. Your not telling him is going to make his imagination run wild with possibilities. Tell him, if not for his sake, then for the sake of your marriage."
"No," she insisted.
"If you don't, Mrs. Malfoy, then I am afraid, for both your and Draco's sake, I will."
At that point, Professor Dumbledore arrived after being summoned by Madame Pomfrey. She and Professor Snape had thought it wise after the peculiar reaction of the bruises to alert Dumbledore.
Everyone responded to his entrance with a greeting of some type. He gave them a warm smile and a nod in return. He then asked them all to leave for a few moments so that he could speak to Mrs. Malfoy alone.
Everyone, some hesitantly, complied with his wishes.
"Mrs. Malfoy, you have had a rather harsh evening. Are you all right?" he asked with concern in his voice.
"I will be fine," she said with a firm tone.
"Are you sure? I cannot imagine being assaulted by someone I trust, let alone sexually assaulted by someone that I trusted. I can't imagine that I would be fine at all, not at all. So I am glad to hear that you are fine, my dear. I just finished speaking with Harry. HE is far from fine; he is devastated. He was so upset that he threw up all over my brand new rug. I shall have to replace it, but I digress. Harry is mortified and is afraid that you will never forgive him. He also claims that while he recalls the events of earlier this evening, he recalls them like a foggy memory, as if they were almost not his memories. What do you say to his claims?"
"That it was not the real Harry. His voice was not even the same. And I am speaking from experience when I say, that I know when someone is not acting of their own free will. He was not. That is why I don't want anyone to know what happened, especially Draco. He'll react first and think later. You know how he is. I don't want this to be a point of contention. We have to stick together if we want to win this war."
"Ahhh- but not at the sacrifice of yourself, Mrs. Malfoy, that is what you are suggesting, correct? To make yourself into a martyr?" Professor Snape asked as he came back into the infirmary.
"I believe that is a bit harsh, Severus, don't you?" Dumbledore asked his potion's professor.
"No harsher than Mrs. Malfoy leaving her concerned husband in the dark, Headmaster."
"Ahhh- a fine point, Severus, a fine point," Dumbledore remarked, "What are you going to say to Draco?"
"I was not going to say anything, but for the reasons I said earlier; not to make myself into a bloody martyr, as Professor Snape seems to think." Ginny sneered at her potion's professor.
"Mrs. Malfoy, mind your manners, please," Dumbledore chastised her in a kind way.
Yes, sir," she responded, "But it still does not change how I feel. I do not want this to go any further"
"My dear, your husband has already seen the bruises on your body. How do you plan on explaining them?" Dumbledore inquired.
"I'll think of something."
"That, my dear, is not good enough. As you said earlier, your husband tends to overreact when issues concern you. Therefore, I am afraid that I must ask you to inform your husband of your assault. I also am going to request that you do it with Professor Snape and me in the room. Severus, would you please go get Mr. Malfoy? Thank you."
Professor Dumbledore and Ginny sat in comfortable silence until Professor Snape returned with Draco.
Draco sat down beside Ginny on the bed, but did not touch her. He gave her a quizzical, but concerned look and waited for her to begin speaking.