Christmas came quickly that year. Everyone was so busy studying that they hadn't even noticed how quickly the term had passed.

Hermione wasn't all that upset. Her birthday and Halloween had come and went without much fanfare, even though she received many presents for her birthday. But now it was Christmas at Hogwarts and with it came the memories of the Yule Ball from her fourth year at Hogwarts.

She'd considered going home during the holidays, but her parents had gone to Greece to visit her aunt and uncle. That wasn't such a bad thing as she still had friends staying at Hogwarts.

Ginny was doing her job pretty well. She was respected by everyone and things couldn't have been better between her and Harry.

The Christmas feast was delicious, as usual. Hermione's favorite part – chocolate pudding for desert. She didn't know why, but chocolate always seemed to cheer her up.

She should have been over Viktor by now. It'd been about four months since they'd separated and he was still on her mind. With a heavy heart, she wondered how he was spending Christmas this year. Did he have a new girlfriend? Was he thinking of her?

The only problem was after the Christmas feast, when Harry, Ron and Hermione were on their way to the Gryffindor common room. They had had the misfortune of coming upon Malfoy and his gang of Slytherins in the hallway. And this was their least favorite part.

For the second time, Malfoy aimed a curse at Harry in the hallway, which, for the second time, affected Hermione instead. She felt a strange feeling in her legs, as if someone were deflating them. Within seconds, she found herself falling in Ron's arms.

"Hermione!" Ron caught her. "Are you all right?"

There was much commotion and the Slytherins took their chance to slip away. They almost succeeded.

"And what is all this noise about?" it was Snape's soft, malevolent voice and as he loomed over them like a dangerous vampire bat, the expression in his fathomless black eyes let them know what they were in big trouble.

Just like the last time, he asked Malfoy to explain – who told a bunch of outrageous lies:

"Potter and his friends took me by surprise, sir. He attacked me…"

"Liar!" yelled Potter and Ron would have lunged at Malfoy if Hermione had been able to stand on her own right then.

"In self-defense, I brought out my wand…" Draco continued.

"You dishonest bastard!" Ron glared angrily at the blond Slytherin.

Snape's eyes fell on Hermione; for a moment, he looked shocked and concerned (was she dreaming?). He then turned to Harry and Ron. "Ten points from Gryffindor," he said coldly. "For causing commotion in the hallway. Now take Miss Granger to the hospital wing."

As Harry and Ron carried Hermione to the hospital wing, she did something she had never done before – she insulted a teacher.

"I hate that bastard," she said under her breath.

"Tell me about it," grumbled Harry.

"I can't believe he bought Malfoy's story!" Ron fumed. "Absolutely typical of Snape. I mean, what else can you expect from the greasy-haired slimeball?"

* * *

Severus Snape disliked Christmas. That was probably because he didn't have any family to spend it with.

He hadn't seen his mother ever since he'd graduated from Hogwarts and his father had died when he was five. His mother had been with many men since then but right now, he didn't even want to think of it – it brought back too many memories…

This won't hurt, baby.

No, stop! Please!

Snape shook his head to clear it. It's all right now, he told himself mentally. He can't touch you..

He was only seven when it had happened but the awful memories were still fresh, even thirty years later.

As he entered his apartment, he realized that he had a terrible headache. It was all their fault.

And Hermione! What had Malfoy done to her? To be honest, Snape hadn't really bought Malfoy's story; he knew that Draco had started it all and he had half a mind to punish the boy when he'd seen Hermione slumping in Ron's arms.

Then again, he had a reputation to maintain.

Poor Hermione! He sincerely hoped that nothing serious had happened to her. And what was Draco thinking when he picked a fight with Slytherin's heir? To be honest, Snape himself was afraid of Harry these days! Especially when he'd heard about the boy's powers which Black and Lupin had discussed during a staff meeting.

Snape longed to go and see Hermione at the hospital wing but he didn't have the courage – or rather, he didn't want to do something that was totally unlike him. He'd never involved himself in the lives of his students and he wasn't going to change that now.

Hang Harry Potter! He thought angrily. He decided to whip up a potion to get rid of his headache. He quickly went to his potions lab and gathered the necessary ingredients.

While the potion boiled in the cauldron, Snape took a seat near the fire.

Hermione. If only he could see how she was now. He trusted that Madam Pomfrey was taking proper care of his beloved and he assumed that Malfoy had removed the bones from her legs; he made a silent vow that sooner or later, he would punish the boy somehow.

The potion was nearly done and he stood up to add some lemon juice. He always kept some lemon juice in a small glass vial since it was a necessary ingredient in many of the potions he usually prepared.

When the potion was finally ready, he took some in a goblet and gulped it down after a short while.

He stood still for a moment; there was a funny feeling in his stomach. He frowned at this.

Then he found himself walking towards the hospital wing.