Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling. I'm just playing with her world
Chapter 15: Broken Road
Hermione had gone down to breakfast ready to try and put what had happened last night as far out of her mind as possible. And it had started good, Ron was there to make his nice joke, and Harry was there to hold her. But then he had to come in.
When Severus came in and sat down at his usual seat he looked almost as bad as he did last night. The white jagged scar was still very prominent and he has holding his ribs tenderly and had a slight limp to his walk. But he entered the room proudly and sat down where he was expected. And for that Hermione loved him even more, if that was even possible.
Then she tuned back to what he friends had been saying and heard Harry, making those terrible remarks. She had never wanted to cause so much pain to one person in her entire life before. Ginny was gripping her hand, and Hermione was sure that she was cutting off circulation, but she didn't care, she needed something to hold her back from just outright killing Harry.
Ron soon noticed Ginny's pain and was about the talk to her about it but he noticed that she was on the verge of exploding. The next moment happened and Hermione wasn't sure if she was glad it happened or not. It definitely gave her the reasons so that she could justify beating Harry, but it was also such rude comments that she was sure if Severus had heard them, all four of them would have received a week's worth of detention.
Hermione left the table when she was brought into the conversation and dashed up the stairs to the Astronomy Tower were she could think about things. It was also a nice spot to hopefully get Harry alone to make him pay for her pain. She had had enough pain, enough hurt that was caused by him. The strong Hermione had taken a little vacation for a while as weak Hermione had been dating Harry, but not anymore. Strong Hermione was back with a vengeance and when strong Hermione saw what weak Hermione had allowed Harry to do to her, she knew that things had to change.
"Hermione, hey Hermione!" Harry called after her. He just turned to Ron for help.
"Don't look at me mate; I don't know what's going on with her." Ron said defensively. "But I wouldn't go after her, she looks beyond pissed."
Ginny, who had seen Hermione look back to Harry as an almost evil beg for him to follow, intervened. "No, Harry you should follow her, she looked mad but she looked back at you so that you could follow her. I think she is upset with something and she needs you to be there."
'There,' Ginny thought, 'that was the truth; Hermione does need Harry to be there so she could kick his arse from here to the States and back.
"I think your right Gin, but where did she go?" Harry pondered this as Ginny stared incredulously at him.
"Come on, Harry, your supposed to be her boyfriend. It's Hermione where do you think she went. Where do you think she has ever gone when she has gone off by herself to think?"
Harry thought for a second and came up with an answer so stupid even Ron had to smack him in the back of the head. "I dunno the library?" And there was the smack. "Ow, the hurt my skull, hor!"
Ginny was just shaking her head. "No, Harry. Hermione may love books but she's not that predictable. She went up to her spot on the Astronomy Tower."
Harry thought for just a minute longer with his mouth slightly open. "Oh…all the gods…would you just go up there!" Ginny shouted at him. This made the whole of the Great Hall look at them. But most importantly it made two people take great notice where Harry Potter was going.
Harry cringed as Ginny yelled at him and got up from his seat at the Gryffindor table rather quickly. But his composure was soon regained as he calmly walked from the Great Hall to find his girlfriend. His mind was so preoccupied that he didn't even notice a shadow following him.
Draco had heard the commotion and had heard mention of Hermione. But he just smirked regally as he always did and sent an insult to the 'Boy Wonder' that only the Slytherin table could hear. They laughed of course, but he bid them all farewell and left with a great panic in his heart to find Hermione before Harry did.
Hermione was up sitting on her spot. It was well secluded from the rest of the Tower and most didn't even know that it existed. But she had. Hermione had found this spot in her lonely days in the first year before she befriended Ron and Harry. She had wrapped her arms around her knees and hugged them to her chest. Her mind reeled with conflicting emotions, she had loved Harry but she still loved Severus. She could never hurt Harry but what he had done to her deserved so much more pain then what she wanted to give to him. But her mind had been made up; she would stop being weak, stop being quiet and shy. Hermione Granger was going to stand up to her abusive boyfriend and kick his arse.
Harry walked up the long stairs to the Tower and felt such a sense of sorrow emanating from behind the door that it almost choked him. But he forced himself up the rest of the steps and was ready to speak with Hermione and then give her a good smack around to make sure that she knew his displeasure and how much he was worried about her. Harry entered the Tower and walked over to where Ginny said Hermione would be. Seeking her out would most definitely be the beginning of the end.
Hermione was waning now on her resolve to make Harry feel the pain that she had felt for so long. But once he came into view, strong Hermione took over and she was adamant that she wasn't going to let him get away unscathed.
"Hermione? Are you alright? You ran from the Hall so fast, what's wrong?" Harry called out to her timidly. But he gained his countenance as the man and a strong one at that as he saw Hermione's tiny frame rise from where she was sitting.
"No, Harry I am perfectly fine. I was just in a very big mental quandary. But not to worry, I have made it up." Hermione stood up from where she was sitting and with the spark of hatred and revenge in her eyes stalked over to Harry.
Harry had seen her walking to him, her movements fluid and graceful. He opened his arms to her but quickly brought them down as he felt the pure energy radiating off of Hermione and the look of enraged anger in her eyes.
He only got one word out before the attack was made. "Hermione…?" The sentence was distinctly stopped by the braking of his nose in one hit.
Hermione heard her name and this began her fist swinging. She felt in impact and the crackle of bones beneath her knuckles.
"HOLY FUCK, HERMIONE! What the hell was that for?" He gripped his nose painfully as the blood flowed seamlessly from it.
Hermione just surveyed him and tightened her fists once again. "Oh, Harry you have no idea how amazing that felt. But I'm sure you will soon."
She sprung at him. He stopped her fists this time but didn't have enough time to react to her well placed knee. It smartly smashed straight up into his crotch. This hit took his breath away as he fell to the floor in sheer agony. But Hermione didn't stop there. Her pleasure in all of this was just beginning.
The tears were flowing freely down his face as he was gasping for air like a fish out of water. Hermione walked up to him with such anger and resentment in her eyes. "Harry, you could have been my savior. The one that could have saved me from the darkness I was in. But you just dragged me down with you into the very throne of Hell." The word 'hell' was accented by a swift kick to his ribs and another after that. Her exhilaration was flying out of control.
"Hermione… please stop… you don't want to do this." His pleas for mercy were met with deaf ears as she continued with her revenge.
Another kick, but this time to his back, sent him reeling in pain. Then Hermione knelt down beside him. "Oh, Harry please don't beg. Pleading does not look good on you." Her fist connected with the side of his head. All of her control was lost and she was bound to the fiery will of her damaged self.
She then grabbed him by his hair and pummeled his face with blows. By then his cheeks were cut to shreds and his nose was a deep purple and red. Her reign of pain on his precious face, that face he had so loved and took great care of, lasted for no more then five minutes but her lithe hands did what they had intended to do.
Harry had fallen quiet after she dropped his head to the floor. It had made such a satisfying 'thunk' on the hard concrete. "Oh, great thanks Harry. Blood is such a bitch to get out of these robes. And trust me I know." She stood up and kicked him in the legs wanted, almost desperately needing, to feel the brake. Not hearing any groans, she spoke up once more. "Come on, speak to me. I know you're in there. Beg for my mercy." She kneeled next to him and placed a blow to his head, and a few more, which caused his scalp to split open, and also the rest of her knuckles to split open. Hermione stood once again and saw his unmoving form.
Panic seized her as she kicked him very hard in the stomach and ribs a few times. He twitched as her foot hit but spoke no more. "Come on, Harry, cry out." Another kick vented her rage. "CRY OUT GOD DAMN IT!"
Her foot again collided with his body and she felt his left arm and a few more ribs brake under her force. Tears were rolling down her cheeks. "Cry out, please" She was begging with him to make some sort of movement that he was there and suffering under her hand. "Please cry out" She was weeping a bit next to him as she punched him in the face, but not as hard as before.
This was the wonderful scene that Draco walked in on when he finally found her.
Draco had been searching throughout the castle for a good hour and a half. No one had seen or had any idea where Hermione or Harry may have gone. He kept looking though. He was walking past the stairs of the Astronomy Tower when he heard a feminine cry. His thoughts immediately went to Hermione as he dashed up the stairs. He reached the door and only soft sobs could be heard now.
He slowly opened the gigantic wood door and the sight that was before him was one that he would never forget. Hermione was sitting next to Harry with blood all over her hands and some splattered on her face. Her hair was flowing wildly around her. He noticed Harry wasn't moving and was so sure that he had come in to late to save Harry from Hermione's anger.
"Hermione? Are you OK?" Hermione looked up at him and eyed him oddly for a second before she realized who he was. The next instant she was in his arms crying.
"Draco, he won't cry out. I keep asking him and hitting him but he still wont cry out." She face had a look of terror and fear on it like he had never seen.
"Did you kill him?" Draco was so afraid to ask that question. If she had then Hermione would be sent to Azkaban, no trial, no nothing.
She glanced over to Harry's unmoving figure. "I don't know. He stopped moving a while ago but I think he is still alive."
Draco went to check on the badly beaten boy. As he got closer he really saw the damage that Hermione had caused. His face was in tatters. No inch of skin was left without a cut. His nose looked to be broken about five times over and his lips were so swollen and cut so badly that Draco couldn't even look at them. His eyes were closing in on themselves, making sure that even if Harry was awake he couldn't see. Lumps were forming on the side of his head and huge gashes were bleeding slightly from his scalp. Draco felt for a pulse and found one. It was weak but still very much there.
"Hermione come on. We need to get him to the Infirmary." Draco lifted Harry's body up with a simple spell and began walking down the steps.
Hermione rushed to his side. "No, Draco we can't they will ask questions and I can't lie to them. I will tell them and they won't believe me, no one would believe Harry Potter to be an abusive bastard." She laughed slightly at this but the laughter did not reach her eyes.
"Alright. We will leave him some where visible and make sure that someone will find him. Ok?" Hermione nodded her head as the plan quickly formed. They were going to leave him on the bottom of the stairs took the students down to the Great Hall. And in the morning they would have to be ready for the questions and prying of Headmaster Dumbledore.
So the two of them carefully headed down the stairs and through the hallways, it was still relatively early but most of the students were in their common rooms by now. They checked around corners and down long hallways, but saw no one. Hermione had walked backwards the entire time making sure no one was going to come up behind them but also to make sure that no blood had been dripping from the unmoving body floating along the corridors.
The trip had taken no more then ten minutes. Draco and Hermione laid Harry down on the bottom of the steps and ran for their lives.
The morning came all too fast. Hermione's hands were fixed. The blood in the Astronomy Tower and on her robes was far gone, with no way for them to be detected. But with the morning came the discovery which none of them wanted to deal with right now.
They made sure that they would be last to be in the Great Hall, taking their time. When they reached the Hall and sat down in their seats, Hermione feigned curiosity over where Harry was. But the announcement was soon to be made.
"Students were have some news that must be made start away." Dumbledore stood up and the kids in the Hall immediately quieted down. "Last night there was an attack here at Hogwarts. A student was beaten very badly and left outside the Great Hall." Questions buzzed about who it could be, but no one had the right answer. "Tonight, you are all to go from your final classes straight to your common rooms." This caused uproar. "Now, I know this is a Friday, but it is for your own safety. Now, eat your meals and don't be late for class."
The Hall was humming with talk and gossip about who it could be. But Hermione was humming for joy. They had not called her out of the crowd and blamed her for the attack and sent her off to Azkaban. She was still there alive and in the eyes of the people innocent as could be.
This was soon to change though, as she was called out of her first hour class by Dumbledore, himself. The note was received and her eyes went wide at the announcement. Hermione walked from the room, up and down the hallway until she reached the Gargoyle that hid the staircase leading to the Headmaster's office.
She knocked softly on the door and heard an "Enter". She was scared out of her mind and was even more terrified when she saw Draco sitting in a chair also. "Now, Miss Granger, Mr. Malfoy, you are aware of the attack last night, yes?" They both nodded their heads in agreement. "Well, the victim of this attack was Mr. Potter." The Headmaster paused to let the news sink in and Hermione started shaking out of fear. 'They found me out; I will never see the light of day again.' She thought as Draco tried to console her as best he could. "Now, Miss. Granger I know this comes as a terrible shock to you, but I need to ask you a few questions about last night. Alright?"
Hermione nodded her head and awaited the interrogation. "Did you see anything last night on your rounds?"
"No, Headmaster, not a thing."
"Did you speak with Mr. Potter last night after you left the Great Hall last night? Did he find you anytime last night?"
Hermione fidgeted a bit but still shook her head. "No, Headmaster I was up in the Astronomy Tower by myself. I was there until about midnight."
"Alright, thank you very much. Harry has not awakened yet but you will be called out of class the minute he does." Dumbledore shook his head in sorrow. He also had the feeling of a headache coming on.
As the questioning was going on, he had looked in her mind to see if she was telling the truth. Image after image was shoved in his mind as if she didn't want them. The blood everywhere, the pain she had caused and received, and the plan and cleaning that had taken place afterwards.
He in turn questioned Draco the same but couldn't get past the block in Draco's mind.
"Thank you so much. And tonight you two will need to patrol together. I don't want either of you hurt and there will be less of a chance if you are together. Now go back to your classes and please try to have a good day." The two of them stood and walked out of the room in a haze. Neither of them had been found out and they were jumping around in joy.
They decided that this called for celebration. The rest of their classes for that day would be missed and they would do what they wanted.
Draco and Hermione were walking around the back side of the lake, taking in the scenery.
"Hermione, you're Ok, right?" Draco took her hand.
Hermione looked over at her friend, squeezed his hand, and smiled. "Yes, I'm just fine. I will be better when this is over. But for now, I'm just fine."
But this peace didn't last long as Hermione dropped to the ground unexpectedly. "Hermione? Hermione, can you hear me? What happened?" Draco cried out to her bent down on his knees to try and wake her up.
But a cry of "Stupefy" came out of somewhere and Draco too dropped to the ground and into unconsciousness.
Hermione woke up with her head pounded and her eyes not yet adjusted to the darkness that surrounded her. She tried to move her arms and legs but found them tied down with thick rope.
As she looked around a figure was seen moving around in the darkness. Hermione let her fear take over and tried to rip of the binds. But she had no such luck. The pain shot through her as she cried out. The figure was becoming clearer.
The imposing black figure glided over to her. Who was it, Voldemort, one of his lackeys? The figure, which she had decided was a man, became clearer. It was now only just barely fuzzy.
"Ah, Hermione, my love, I see you are awake. If you hadn't awakened in a few minutes I was going to have to revive you myself." The man was now standing in front of her. He was as clear as day.
"Oh, God." The sentence came out in a whisper. Hermione again pulled at the ropes that were wrapped around her wrists.
"No, Hermione, God cannot help you now." He laughed as his glasses glinted in the candle light. His emerald eyes shown with fury and the black hair, still as messy as ever, covered up the most famous scar in the world.
"No, my dear, nothing can help you now." Harry laughed as Hermione still struggled.
A/N: Ah my longest chapter yet. I hope you guys enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. I can't really remember but I think this is my first big cliffy. How exciting for me.
Thank you so much for the reviews of my last chapter, and I hope you review lots with this chapter too. I need the feedback on how I did on my first attack scene.
So review and watch the Super Bowl tonight. I hate the Patriots so GO EAGLES! Have fun tonight BYE!