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Message in a Bottle

Chapter 3

Hermione was laying in her room, trying to stay away from him for as long as possible. He had come again, right after she wrote the letter. He had been angry that she had left the house and the bruised all over her body were proof of that anger. It hurt to move and she wasn't breathing regularly. She knew that in his last fit of fury, he had broken at least two ribs.

Quietly, she rummaged through her school trunk, looking for something. When she found it, she tried to smile in delight but found that it hurt too much. It was a battle of skelegrow. She had borrowed some from Madame Pomfrey in sixth year when Harry had broken his arm in a fight he had gotten into with Malfoy. She had forgotten to return it and by accident, brought it home with her.

She laid down on her bed and raised her shirt, assessing all of the bruises. "Fuck," she cursed under her breath. Apparently, he had been so violent with her that one of the bones was breaking through the skin. She drank the potion quickly due to its awful taste. It burned as it slithered down her throat. "I hate magical potions."

Suddenly, an owl flew in through her open window. She knew it wasn't Harry or Ron because the owl was large and black. It flew to her side and appeared as though it was sniffing out her scent, trying to match it with something. IT must have found it because it then held out its leg to her for her to take the letter. She did so and began to read:

Dear Stranded,

I know exactly how you feel. My father beats me as well. I'd never tell anyone outright either. Too embarrassing. But I get what you were saying about superman and all. It would be wonderful to fly off into the sunset with a girl I truly loved.

I'm glad that I found your letter. It's nice to know that someone else is going through some of the same problems, even though I would not wish it upon anyone, even my arch nemesis. I'm sorry to hear about your mother. I can't really say I know much about losing a parent but sometimes it feels as though I have. My mom is just a shell of a woman that once was vivacious and beautiful. Now she just exists. My dad beats her real bad. Most of the time, I try to take the heat off of her by making him mad at me but I'm not around during the year so I can't save her then. Only during the summer and on holidays. I go to a boarding school. It's the only place I feel safe. Do you have someplace like that, where you can go and feel protected?

Your new friend,

Beaten Dragon

Her thoughts were racing. It was obvious through his means of transportation of the letter that he was a wizard. It was quite possible that he went to Hogwarts but she didn't really want to know that yet. She was just glad to have a friend, someone who understood her.

The owl brought her parchment, a quill, and an ink bottle, sensing that she could not get up. "Oh thank you," she said while patting its head. It hooted in response, apparently enjoying the attention.

Dear Beaten Dragon,

I'm so sorry to hear that someone knows how I feel. I would not wish that upon anyone. I'm glad that you wrote back. I'd like it very much if we could become pen pals. Yes, I feel safe at my best friends house. He had many brothers and a younger sister and they all live in this one really tiny house that can hardly fit them all in. You can't go anywhere in that place without running into somebody. It's quite enjoyable, really. I don't be going there this summer, though.

Does your mum really allow your father to abuse you both like that? That's just awful. My stepfather never laid a hand on me until my mum was gone, even as I was growing up and needed to be 'punished' he would only ground me. I used to think he was my real dad. Now that was a laugh. I always argued with him as a child and now that I'm grown, things have yet to change. He never approves of anything that I do, in fact, everything that I do aggravates him. That's when we argue. But now that my mum is gone, he doesn't use his words to argue his point. I don't think I'll ever really be able to say exactly what he does, but I think you get what I mean.

That's odd. The phone just rang. I would pick it up but I'm not allowed. It doesn't matter because my friends don't use the telephone and even if they did, they wouldn't call me. We write to each other though I have yet to receive a single letter from them all summer. I suspect he has something to do with that. The phone stopped ringing now. He must have answered it. I hope it didn't wake him up. He's always angry when he gets woken up.

Anyway, when my mum left us, he told me he wasn't my real dad and that he had adopted me at birth. He told me that he had always hated my real father and I don't blame him. When he told me who my father was, I nearly died in shock and fright. I had met him before, once or twice. Gods he's just awful. He doesn't know I'm his daughter though. No one does. He doesn't know who my mum is. I met him through a friend of mine. My friend and he are what you would call enemies and they have had many, what's the word I'm looking for... disputes. Yes, they've had disputes. So I defended my friend. That's the only reason my dad knows who I am. But he still has no idea that he is my father. I took my stepfathers last name.

Moving on to a subject I care more about... are you a wizard? If not, that question will seem odd but I'm guessing you are because you owled me. By the way, what's your owls name? He is absolutely beautiful. My best friend has this gorgeous white owl that I used to think was the most amazing creature in the world but now I know that was a lie. Your owl surpasses his by far.

Um... I hear footsteps coming which is never a good thing. I'd better go. Please write back.

Your new friend,

Stranded

Hurriedly, she tied the letter to the owls leg, gave him a small snack to eat and then sent him off. She rolled over onto her stomach, despite the pain, and pretended to be asleep. A few seconds later, she heard the door creaking open and the footsteps coming closer.

"You asleep, girl?" he asked. She could literally smell the alcohol on his breath and knew instantly that he was intoxicated. He was only a few feet from her and she prayed that he would just leave. He pushed her over onto her back. No such luck, she thought in horror. "Wake up, girl!" he commanded while shaking her brutally. It was a good thing that the skelegrow had kicked in. She slowly opened her eyes, making it seem as though she had just woken up. "I got a phone call a few minutes ago, from one of your friends. Harry Potter. I told you that you weren't allowed to talk to anyone over the summer."

"I...I..." she stumbled for the words to get her out of a punishment. "I told him not to call. HONEST! Please don't hurt me." She was near crying now but he didn't care. He just climbed on top of her, straddling her waist.

"You know how I hate being disrupted from whatever I'm doing. That phone call woke me up!"

"Well if I could just talk to them, remind them not to call maybe..."

"No!" he said, slapping her across the face. "No phone for you! But now that your friend has woken me up..." he said with an evil grin. "I need something to make me tired again." Fiercely, he stripped off her shirt and attacked her breasts with his teeth. She yelped out in pain which annoyed him greatly. He ripped off a piece of her already torn shirt and gagged her. Then he tied her wrists to the bed posts. "No I can have my fun," he snickered. She just closed her eyes and let it happen, trying not to cry or scream out from the hurt she felt every time he thrust himself further and further into her. He was brutal, the way he grabbed her, the way he bit through the soft flesh of her breasts. She passed out halfway through.

A/N... i never in a million years expected the response i got. You guys were just great. I really enjoyed hearing all of your reviews. I hope this chapter lives up to your expectations. I really took my time writing it, trying to make it good for you. Please review for this one. I would really appreciate it.

Chapter 4 coming soon to a computer near you. (i felt like being really weird. idk why.)