If I said that sshg's date was this chapter, I'm sorry. It's after the one that's after this. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, but I'll get it up quicker I promise!
"Hermione, how'd your date go?" Ron asked, cheerily as she entered the great hall.
"I'm going to kill the next person who asks me that," she said, sadly, tears glistening in her eyes.
"Geez, was it that bad?" Ron looked taken aback.
"No, it was just like dating you again," Hermione muttered.
"Ouch, 'Mione," Ron said, with mock hurt.
Harry looked at Hermione sadly. She avoided his pitying gaze like the plague. "Ah well Hermione, you can still be my sister-in-law right?" Ron said, excitedly. "Mum would love an addition to the family. Fleur won't thank you though, not that she can marry him anyways, being a pureblood save the vela in her," Ron added.
"He still is with Fleur? Did he even think to petition to have her considered a half-blood, which technically she is?" Hermione asked.
"He was too busy trying to help you, 'Mione. I don't know what the big deal is," Ron shrugged, shoving food into his mouth.
"Not a big deal? Ron, your brother has had to work harder than many of us in the order since… it happened," Hermione said, still sensitive over the subject of the first battle, in which they lost Kingsley and -.
"Hermione, he's doing this to help you! Can't you just get over your own feelings and accept help?" Ron snapped, going red in the face.
"My feelings! Ron, you don't have to be affected by this for a year, but rest assured you will be affected," Hermione snapped. "And when you do, don't expect any help from me," Hermione shouted at him, not caring who in the hall was listening, so basically everyone. "I'm going to go do my potions homework, if you'll excuse me for thinking about my own feelings," Hermione growled. "By the way, did you even consider your brother's feelings?" Hermione asked, before storming out of the hall. She fought back the tears.
She'd end up with Oliver most likely now, because she couldn't take poor Bill away from the girl he loved and wanted to marry, and she doubted Snape was too keen on the idea of marrying her.
She passed Draco in the corridor, who turned and started walking beside her, silently, turning when she turned, staying close by her side as she headed towards Professor McGonagall's office.
"Draco, what are you doing?" she finally snapped at him, about half way there. "I'm fine. No one's going to bloody kill me!" Hermione blew up at him.
"A muggle-born girl was attacked last night," Draco stated plainly. "She was raped and beaten."
"What? Who?" Hermione snapped.
"You wouldn't know her. She was only a fourth year," Draco said.
"Oh my god," Hermione said, before doing something completely unexpected. In the presence of Draco Malfoy, the boy she had hated and fought with for six years, she leaned against the corridor wall and slid to the ground in tears.
"Granger, come on, get up," Draco said, his eyes darting around.
"No, it's too much. It's better to jump off the astronomy tower than face this. That girl was my responsibility Draco. I was away on this stupid business because of the stupid ministry and now…" Hermione sobbed. Draco started at her use of his first name.
"You will do nothing as foolish as that, Miss Granger," a cool voice stated to her. "Draco, I'll handle this," the voice dismissed Draco. Draco looked up to the black eyes of his godfather, who just fixed him with a stern look, causing him to scurry off.
Snape moved towards Hermione after glancing around to make sure the hall was indeed abandoned, and it was.
"No, just don't!" Hermione snapped. Snape stepped back, quickly. "I don't deserve it! I should have been there. What am I supposed to do now? Am I to go about like every muggle-born here isn't in danger, like I can protect them!"
"Miss Granger, stop it," Snape snapped.
"I don't want to talk to you! Don't you get it? I hate you! I hate myself!" Hermione screamed at him, sobbing horribly.
"YOU DIDN'T DO IT, HERMIONE!" he shouted at her. She just turned her head to the side, tears streaming down her face.
"Since you hate me, would you like me to call Wood here?" he asked, sincerely, kneeling in front of her.
"Why? I'll be getting enough of him won't I? Bill's got Fleur, you don't want me, and Oliver is all that's left isn't he?" Hermione muttered.
"What are you on about I don't want you, you insolent little know-it-all? I petitioned for you did I not?" Snape snapped at her.
"Just because you followed the headmaster's orders, doesn't mean you care, professor; I'm not stupid," Hermione said, dejectedly.
"Miss Granger, I will take you as my wife not only because of Albus' orders but because I'm in the same situation as you are. Any wizard over eighteen has to petition for someone, just as any witch has to accept one. Who exactly do you propose I petition for, Lavender Brown?" Snape said, sardonically.
"Even if this does not work out and you choose Oliver or Bill, which would be of your own free will, it gives me more time before I have to make a petition for someone else. I can't honestly say that there are many witches out there that will accept my petition, but the ministry will make me try and try again," Snape said. Hermione didn't look at him, just sat there silently for a long time: with him crouched in front of her, looking at her waiting for a reply.
"Which fourth year was it?" Hermione asked, softly after a long while.
"Maria Johnson," Snape said, quietly.
"A Slytherin did it?" Hermione asked.
"Surprisingly no… it was a pure blood Ravenclaw who has already been sent to the Ministry," Snape told her.
"How bad is she?" Hermione asked.
"Come see for yourself if you're quite done feeling sorry for yourself," Snape told her, knowing that would get her up. She glared at him, angrily, but took his hand when he offered it to help her stand, resisting the strong urge to give a good pull so he fell on his face.
"Eyes," he told her. Hermione wiped her sleeve at her eyes, drying them.
"Robes," he stated. She straightened her robes.
"Pin," he said. She twisted her pin so it was positioned perfectly. He nodded to her, and began to lead the way to the Hospital Wing.
Hermione felt like chaos was running rampant in her mind and her stomach was twisted in knots. She had really believed by the way Snape approached her like she was a wild animal that he thought her the last choice for a wife, but he admitted in his round-about way that if it had to be one of his students, it would have been her, but… she had no illusion if given the choice to not have a student as a wife, he would have taken the not.
The Bill situations irked her a lot. How could he be so goddamned noble and self-righteous? He loved Fleur, she could recall several situations with them together. She had assumed that something had separated them, but not this law, not her. She couldn't bear the thought. It tore her up. If she could find love even in the smallest amount she would not want it broken up, and she was definitely not about to break up their love. She was going to help them in any way she could.
Maria Johnson… there was nothing special about the girl. She got average marks in all her classes save Potions which she struggled to pass. The girl was a calm-tempered young person. She didn't have any anger problems, didn't rise to threats, and she supposed she didn't have a chance when she was attacked. Tears came to Hermione's eyes new and fresh, but she held them back. She had cried far too much in front of Snape than she deemed an acceptable amount.
For being the only live person to know about her uncle, he still seemed oddly distant from her. She felt a soft of kinship due to his childhood, though she knew it must have been worse than hers, no matter how bad hers was. She looked over at him. His eyes were hooded, his emotions locked away with a key of hard silver, one that must have flown away long before she met him, with enchanted wings, like those that had once guarded the philosopher's stone so long ago. She shivered at the cold expression he threw some passing students, as she was able to see, through his eyes that worry and anxiety hung thick there. When he let one emotion shown, such as hatred or anger, he showed the others inadvertently.
"Prof… Severus, I'm sorry for all that I have done in the past six years that I've been here," Hermione said, softly, looking down at her toes. "I'm sorry for everything I did and said that…" Hermione trailed off.
"I'm sorry for the teeth comment," Snape muttered after looking calculatingly at her for a long time. Hermione giggled.
"They really were quite large even before then weren't they?" she asked.
"Quite," Snape nodded.
"Has anyone ever told you that you're a mean sarcastic bastard?" Hermione asked.
"Not to my face," Snape said, looking at her, appraisingly.
"Good, and they never should," Hermione said, giving him a small hug. He gaped at her in shock. Hermione only smiled back at him, pleasantly.
Damn it, Snape cursed himself. How does that little vixen keep doing that?
Hermione looked forward and the smile slipped from her face as the hospital wing came into their sight. She quickened her pace and entered the hospital wing fast enough to shock Madame Pomphrey. "Don't do that, dear. You'll give me a heart attack!"
"Sorry, where is she?" Hermione asked, quickly.
"Over there, dear, behind the curtain," Pomphrey nodded to a bed with a curtain around it.
Hermione approached the bed, slowly, and gently pulled back the curtain, after glancing back at the grave-faced Potion's Master, who just sat on the bed across from her, out of sight of the girl behind the curtain. Hermione offered the girl a weak smile, but was met with blank eyes.
"Hey Maria, I'm the head girl, Hermione, you remember me?" Hermione asked softly, coming to sit beside the bed.
"I know what happened to you, Maria, and I can't tell you everything will be all right, but I guarantee you that no one is about to hurt you again.
"All I have is a few years, right? Until I have to take a part in that marriage law… how many do you think this has happened to?" Maria asked, her voice eerily mimicking Luna Lovegood's.
Hermione flinched, not expecting to speak about that of all things to come up in their conversation. When she has first seen the girl, she had thought the girl wouldn't even respond at all, let alone with something that would hit so close to home.
"No, Maria, I won't let that happen to you. You are going to marry someone who will take care of you. If this marriage law comes for you with something horrible, I'll personally see to it that you get taken care of," Hermione said.
"Don't fool yourself. You're the head girl, right? You are the genius friend of Harry Potter, taking out five death eaters in the second battle. You never noticed or cared about me, why would you now?" Maria turned away.
"My god Maria, do you understand why that horrible-why he did this to you? He is a pureblood! He doesn't deserve to get away with this. Purebloods are no better than anyone else!" Hermione snapped.
"Bollocks," Maria snapped. "You all get away with whatever the hell you want and when you want to."
"You all?" Hermione said. "I'm a muggle-born, Maria. I am considering Professor Snape as a betrothed. If you had known that, maybe you would not assume I am a pureblood," Hermione said. "I won't tell you that I've been impressed by anything you've done in your time here, Maria, but I will tell you that what has happened to you scares me as much as the next muggleborn girl."
"You're muggleborn?" Maria frowned, looking at Hermione.
"Why do you think I've always worked so hard to prove myself, especially to Professor Snape, one of the all pureblood staff, and the only member who doesn't adore me," Hermione laughed, humorlessly. "There are social classes in the wizarding world, which you and I know well and we have started at the bottom. I like to think I've worked myself up to the middle, and you will to. You cannot let what is happening to you dissuade you from proving that he can't stop you from living," Hermione said.
"I-I ache all over… I can't get the feel of his hands on me off. I can hear his sickening voice," Maria murmured.
"I can't relate, but I have been in the same situation as you once, luckily Professor Snape was there to pull him away. You didn't have that, and you'll never feel okay about what happened. I hate to try to parallel myself to you, Maria. I can't. I won't. I haven't been through this, but you are my responsibility and I won't let you be hurt again," Hermione said, softly, looking at the girl, closely. The girl was altogether too pale and sickly-looking. Her eyes were misted over, but there was no evidence of previous tears, which startled Hermione, who saw all the pent-up emotion behind those brown eyes.
Hermione stood from the chair and sat on the edge of the bed beside Maria. Maria flinched when Hermione wrapped an arm around her, but Hermione kept a firm hold on her and pulled her into a tight hug, patting the girl's hair soothingly. The girl burst into tears and Hermione just rocked her, tenderly, her heart going out to this girl.
Hermione couldn't help but think of how easily it could have been her. Even with all her Auror Training from the Order, she felt useless and terrified. She felt completely dependant on the little stick of wand in her pocket even with her special power as a wandless witch. She felt alone as well, even as she held the broken and scared girl in her arms. The girl who had bottled everything inside, just as Hermione was sure she did quite often. Hermione felt a tear slide down her cheek and saw the curtain was drawn back and Poppy come through with a potion for Maria.
"Dreamless Sleep Draught dear," Poppy said. Hermione took it from Poppy and held it to Maria, helping her drink it, making sure she had it all. Hermione gave the girl an extra squeeze as she drifted off and lay her down on the bed, covering her completely with the blanket, a strong urge coming over her to kill the pureblood who laid a hand on Maria, to tear him limb from limb.
She walked out past the curtain and continued walking, ignoring Snape shadowing her. She was so angry. She just needed to get to her room and get at that punching bag.
"Miss Granger," Snape said, softly, behind her as they neared the Head Common Room. She didn't reply, but continued walking, trying furiously to picture the pain she could inflict upon Maria's attacker.
"Hermione," Snape repeated in the same tone, but she still didn't slow or respond at all.
"Hermione!" he said, grabbing her arm, gently. She turned, quickly, startled by his touch, pulled from her thoughts.
"Hermione," was all he said, looking down into her skittish eyes. He stepped closer to her, and she pushed away, but he would have none of it; he pulled her close, ignoring her struggles and held her in his arms. Her fighting became weaker and weaker until it turned into hot, painful tears.
"It's going to be all right, Hermione. I won't let them hurt you too," he whispered and Hermione continued to sob, as she realized that she was selfishly afraid, afraid for herself, not the student that had been under her care that had been attacked, no she was scared that she would be next and no one would be able to protect her. She remembered Lucius' hands on her. She remembered and she was scared, and Snape was protecting her. God, how quickly the world was changing…
Celi: okay, you can have him, I suppose, but you have to give him back to JKR.
Tina: I really like your story. You should continue it. It's sad to see a good story like that just lying there like it's dead. Sniffsniff. Sad… dead story.
Nova Viper: Ya the dates won't be coming for a while, but patience, my friend. After this chapter I can't just pop up the dates with everything all right.
Miss Serena: You can have Oliver next, after Celi
Lady Urquentha: Okay, here you go!
Starlightdreamer: I can't tell you who Death and Uncomfortable is until the end of the story, but I think a lot of people are figuring it out. I won't tell you if you are one of them or not.
Damia: so it does leave him, so it does. Hehe thanks for your review.
MagicalWonder: I'm sorry, but it's going to be a while yet before Snape's date and then Bills.
Innogen: I'm glad you found it. It's great to have another reviewer.
Juliana: Did I really write restraint? OMG I'm such an idiot.
Sonja: Well, due to the challenge, they're all purebloods, but ya, I thought it seemed like an oliver thing to do, so hey. Date, date, date, seems to close but is so far… haha!
Rebelangel: uh, I'm shocked are you trying to rush this relationship? In time young grasshopper in time. Jkjk
SeverusSnape'sLove: Really love? That's such a strong word. Just kidding. This isn't soon, but it is an update. Fifty percent right?
C Jazz: sorry, not next chapter, but within the next two updates I swear!
Grangerhermione: I'm sorry, not snape date yet, I'm sorry, but I can't go from where this is to Snape's date. That was the original plan, but I can't. I'm sorry I'm sorry.
Sexy severus: ya, I love the ferret though. I wrote him nice and now I want him bad for the story, but sighs it's my fault and I'll write around my mistake. Draco is nice… nicenicenice
Didi: cool! I can speak some latin! Isn't that cool? But only like a little bit, so, ya, so, hi French didi!
Q-BriarXJade-Q: Cool, half an hour on my story? That's great! I love reviewers that are cool like that!
Gizmama: they're coming!
Ashley: ya, I agree
Tigerfanfry: Ya, that's my stupidity I'm sorry. I don't remember who it was who was supposed to have died, but in my outline Tonks was alive in the last chapter and that's just what happened when I wrote it. I'll fix it when I get a chance.
Baily's Irish Cream: Who would say no to Wood? Ya, so, ya. Thanks for the review!
Verity Brown: Ya, I went out with a guy a few months ago, who I quickly dumped. He followed me around the school and it was scary. It took a bunch of my friends telling him to back off to make him. So creepy. Stick with marriage, it's gotta be better.
Nevermind: Ya, I fixed it, yaya, Kate's stupid, Kate's dumb, buries head in the ground.
Natsuyori: Ya he's next, but after what I've done in this chapter, I have to wait until after the next chap to write it, but soon I'll have it all taken care off and posted.
Acila: really? I tried to show that he was uncomfortable because those losers who read as close as possible, lurking until they can stab an author in the back with a knife labled OOC wreathed in FLAMES! Hehe, like my imagery?
Krissygirl: Thanks for reviewing
G2G kids! Bye!
