Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling is a god among men

Rating: R…dun dun dun

(A/N): when something is in italics it means that it is someone's thoughts there is a section where Harry is thinking to himself while in class…..thanks for reading

Chapter 9

Draco smoothly placed Hermione down on a hospital bed. They were the only ones in the wing now. The silence was comforting to Draco . As he tucked the pillow under her head he let his hand travel down her broken arm and graze the dagger that was still secured there.

Draco let his fingers wrap around Hermione's hand, gripping the dagger through her loose hold.

The dagger could feel that the girl was losing her power, losing her strength. It was clear that the girl was no longer of any use - for she was dieing and what use is a dieing girl to an object of power.

Draco's hands held the dagger tighter and he could feel it begin to heat. The handle was vibrating almost calling to him. He felt it burning even through Hermione's fingers. He felt its power course through him. With a gentle pull the dagger fell from her right hand and lay innocently in his stiff palm.

Draco glanced at the door leading to the office of madam Pomfery, it was dark and locked. He glanced at the other beds that were neatly made but empty. He looked at the waste basket next to her bed side table. Slowly he picked up a piece of scrap parchment from it. With a small twist of his wand words appeared on the no longer blank paper. He turned and glanced one last time at Hermione and in a quick graceful movement he placed the paper onto the wooden table and threw the dagger, stabbing the note that he left behind for others to read.

He turned standing just beyond touch of Hermione's bed. Draco picked up a bottle from a shelf to his left and threw it against the stone wall opposite him. The glass shattered loudly on the stone and spread over the floor. The noise of the breaking glass and the ricocheting pieces covered up the sound of Draco returning to his room.

As an hour passed Madam Pomfery used each and every one of her well qualified skills to save Hermione's life. Eventually the Headmaster, Harry and Ron joined her in the hospital room. And the following morning many other Griffendors came to Hermione's bedside. Every one was eager to know what had happened to her, unfortunately only one man knew. And Draco was not very willing to come clean to a butch of Griffendors.

While Madam Pomfery tended to Hermione the note that Draco had left went unnoticed until Dumbeldore walked into the room. He of course, being who he was saw the dagger and the note immediately. He tore the note out from under the dagger, and then wrapped the blade in a pillow case from the bed next to him, never once touching the weapon itself.

He read the note to himself once and when he had had time to think it over a little he read it allowed to the small audience before him, meaning Harry, Ron, and Madam Pomfery. Dumbeldore cleared his throat and read:

Hide the dagger, it is something that he needs. But the girl, she is something that he wants, I know not which is worse but watch her, her nights will now be filled with him.

The message in the note was quite clear. Voldemort, all assumed he was the him that the note talked of, needed the dagger. Harry and Ron recognized the dagger from earlier that day. It was also clear that Voldemort wanted Hermione.

But the question that every one wanted to ask, but that had yet to be spoken was, why?

As the night passed on Harry and Ron never once left her bedside. Hermione's larger physical wounds were healed…well at least to an extent. But Madam Pomfery was still uncertain as to what exactly happened to Hermione. It was clear that she was suffering from dark magic….magic that had no cure and would not heal.

Hermione's face was pale and she still had a few cuts around her eyes and on her lip. Her arm and leg were lightly bandaged but would heal. The gash in her shoulder and side were of an entirely different nature. For her broken bones were caused from beatings and small curses but the two large gashes were caused by magic that Pomfery had never seen. Her side seemed to be healing due to Pomfery's work but at a very slow and apparently painful pace. Hermione's unconscious form was shaking and ever so often she would take a shaky breath and small tears would roll form her eyes.

But the gash on her collar bone was refusing to heal. It was glowing a light blue and keep bleeding lightly. Professor Dumbeldore recognized the type of magic that kept the curse from healing.

"It is a complex specialty," he was meet with confusion so he continued, "The curse that hit Hermione is known as a shredder curse, but it was done by a wizard that specializes in such curses, " The people listening to him looked a little less confused but still were not understanding, mostly Harry and Ron, again he continued. "The curs was made stronger by the someone whom preformed it, meaning it can not be cured by normal means because the caster modified the curs, making it his own. Do you see the blue light? Well that is his signature. No other wizard will cast the same spell, even if tired it would not emanate a blue light for that only belongs to the man that cursed Hermione."

It seemed that finally Harry and Ron understood. Hermione's wound could not be cured by means of any medicine that the hospital wing could provide.

By the next morning Hermione was doing moderately better, her cuts were no longer bleeding, but she was still unconscious. Dumbeldore insisted that Harry and Ron go to their classes, with the reassurance that if Hermione's condition changed they would be the first to know. Meanwhile Dumbeldore went to talk to the sentars hidden in the forest.

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Harry sat in class not listening to what his teachers were saying. It was divination so it really didn't matter very much if he paid any attention or not. He would just have to ask Ron later and then make up his own death sentences for homework. Professor Twrelany was still obsessed with Harry dieing., even more so this year.

Why would Voldemort want her…..to get to me, well that makes sense. He has set traps to get me before. Harry's mind was running over the note in his head. her nights will now be filled with him. Now that had Harry stumped. how would her nights have Voldemort in them? Surely he wouldn't actually be at Hogwarts at night with Hermione? That was ridiculous…he would never come here. And now Hermione will be even more protected. But the note said that her nights would be filled with him….how?

Harry tore his gaze away from the window and looked around the class. the note….that was weird. Why would Hermione's savior keep his identity hidden? Why not tell everyone, they would get rewarded. But instead all that they found was the dagger and a note. This dagger…I have felt its power.

Harry remembered when he first saw the dagger down in the gardens after they first found Hermione. Even with just a small touch Harry had been able to tell that it was very powerful. The person who saved Hermione must have had to take on many death eaters….they would never leave Hermione alive. Why would someone able to take on death eaters not keep the dagger. Why not take it for himself? In Harry's mind nothing added up. Who was this person who had saved Hermione. He needed to know. It should have been me. I should have found her, its my job, I should have been able to protect her, I'm her best friend…. Who was it? I wonder if she knows?

Harry let his eyes scan all of the other students in his class. The Griffendors had almost all of their classes this year with the Slitherens. Harry's eyes glanced to the back of the room till they feel on Draco Malfoy. Harry and Malfoy had been enemies from the first day of school, but it seemed that this year he got …colder. Malfoy had stopped taunting Harry Ron and Hermione to a certain extent. He no longer went out of his way to laugh at them. No, this year he just smirked and watched. To Harry it seemed worse. To Harry Malfoy had become more evil. Quieter but perhaps more deadly.

He's just like his father, a death eater. HA and today, he looks awful. Harry smiled to himself. Malfoy always looked good but today he looked a little paler then usual and seemed more detached rather then just uninterested.

Thinking of Malfoy lead Harry to think about death eaters which lead Harry to think about Hermione and how she was lying unconscious in the hospital wing. I promised myself that none of them would ever get hurt again because of me. And Harry's mind began to wonder to Sirius and all of the times that he had had with him, and all of the times that he would never get to have with him , Harry remembered his fourth year. It was in this room that he had had his first real dreams of Voldemort. Dreams….of course what is wrong with me…..dreams. Voldemort would invade Hermione's dreams. Make her dream of him, and all of his evil plans. He would fill her mind with dreams.

It was as Harry was leaning over to tell his new discovery to Ron when the bell rang for lunch. Ron jumped up grabbed Harry's arm and pulled him out of the class room and up to the hospital wing to check on Hermione, as they had promised that they would.

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Hermione lay in the cool grass of the Hogsmead gardens. Her body was no longer able to move as the pain she felt from the many men around her began to beat with the same rhythm as her heart. The grass and wind blew coldly around her, sending chills running up her arms and legs. Her blood was warm as it began to cover her and spill around her. The laughing of the men's voices rang through her brain and bounced around causing her to writhe and shake. Their curses were absorbed by her blood and the more they sent at her the more her body took and the more she took the more they broke her.

She thought that she could feel nothing worse until a cold hard hand of a man gripped her upper arm. The feel of this man so close to her shot strings of fire through her skin. His hand burned her as he prodded his wand, pointing it repeatedly at her already broken wrist. It was then that she knew it could get worse, that what she was going to feel would be greater then what she already was.

She cried and bit down on her lip trying to hold her screams in. But as the pain grew she bit harder on her lip.

The men were all laughing egging the man standing over her to just do it. They clapped and cheered, their voices were steal and fire in one. They sang the same song, they sang of the joy that Hermione's pain was giving them. They cheered because they knew that she could no longer fight them, they cheered because she knew it too.

Pain had nothing on her, and as her body tensed, waiting for the man to strike, she looked into his eyes. What she saw was a world that she had only feared. They were startling green, the same color as Harry's. But they had nothing in common with Harry. This man's eyes burned with a fire that could only be caused by this mans corrupted joy in others. What she saw were all of her nightmares all of her childhood fears reflected in his eyes. Never had she seen vulgarity shine so bright, and never had she been more afraid.

And then the cold hand was gone and a cry of agony rang out, but this time it was not her who was screaming. It was the men around her. Hermione felt the rush of apparation and then the warmth of a fire. Was she safe? Where was she and who was she with. Hermione struggled against the arms that held her. Lifting her head, she needed to get to Harry and Ron. Why would this man not left her go?

As she fought against she felt his arms tighten around her. " Granger, for once don't fight me."

His voice was clam and deep, so she didn't. She let her self relax in his arms. And it was then that she felt their warmth and strength. She was safe, with this man she would always be safe.

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Dumbeldore had been to the forbidden forest. He had talked to the centars and with their help he had found a cure for Hermione's shoulder. The centars had given Hermione a type of root that only grew in their part of the forest.

It had been a risk asking the centars for help but ever since Voldemort had taken to killing centars they were willing to help Dumbeldore and his cause.

After the root had treated Hermione's shoulder she began to gain some of her color back. But she was haunted with nightmares that caused her scream out and cry.

A full week went by before she woke from her coma like state. When she did she was quite and won't really talk to everyone too much, but she needed them to be with her, talking to her, acting as though she wasn't scared.

In time she began to talk again but not with the enthusiasm that used to string her words together. With in two weeks she was able to catch up on some of her homework, but Madam Pomfery never let her work to hard. Harry, Ron and Ginny never really left her side except when they were forced to go to classes. For the first few weeks Ron and Ginny slept by her side. But as Hermione began to get better they went back to their rooms during the night.

But Harry stayed. He knew what it was like to dream your worst fears. So he stayed and when she woke from one of her dreams he was always there to hold her and tell her she was fine. Harry was the only person that knew she dreamed each night. She never told him what he dreams were about or even that it was Voldemort that haunted her when she slept, but he knew, he knew what it was like so stayed and didn't ask questions.

Not only was Hermione plagued with dreams that made her relive her night with the death eaters but as promised, Voldemort began to visit her dreams personally.

Hermione's dreams forced her to talk to Voldemort about killings and watch him as he murdered children and men and women.

But they always got worse, he made her watch her family and friends be murdered in cold blood by Voldemort while he made her stand and laugh. Voldemort forced Hermione to watch herself join in as he burned Harry and tortured her mother.

Even with Harry there beside her she knew that the next time she closed her eyes she would just see him again.

Dreamless Sleep potions no longer worked as Voldemort quite easily had found a way to get through them. She couldn't escape him and that more then anything scared her the most.

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Draco knew that Harry slept with Hermione every night. He saw him each morning at breakfast right before classes, he would come in and tell all of their Griffindor friends about Hermione's condition.

So through their looks and expressions Draco was able to keep a tab on Hermione and how she was getting on. He of course knew about her dreams and how Voldemort forced her to see her loved ones die. Voldemort took great sport in telling Draco details of how he was conquering Hermione's mind.

(a/n): thank you so much for reading and please, please review. I want to know what you think about it….but if its mean then im sorry but I don't want to know about it.

By the way does anyone know a way to get rid of mosquito bites fast im dieing on of the blasted bug took a chunk of my leg and I'm struggling with no having enough will power. Please help.

p.s. who would you rather have sex with INDIANA JONES or HAN SOLO?

profet