Sorry, I know that it's been ages since I updated last. I have 3 excuses, accept them if you will.

My old computer died, losing all my chapters and my Internet connection for a week. (New computer now so there is an upside)

Exams and coursework (if you're British you will understand the hell of GCSEs)

My friend has been going through a difficult time and I've been spending all my free time with her

Anyways, on with the fic.

Ginny pulled her knees closer to her chest and shivered in the darkness. She could feel the bruise starting to rise on her face and, judging by those on her arms and stomach, it would be quite a big one. Sam had been angry tonight. The warm tears felt soothing on her face but they made her realise the cold even more.

She slowly pushed herself up from the cold stone floor and opened a drawer to her left. Choosing a small steak knife she returned to her position in the far corner of the room. She looked at the knife and sighed. She missed the cool sharp steel of the knife that Hermione had taken from her, but she had learned since then.

She lifted up the bottom of her shirt and dragged the blade across her skin, the serrated edge ripping her flesh in a very different way from the clean slice her old knife used to make. She watched briefly as the blood oozed from the wound and smiled as she felt the heat and the pain of the cut she had made. She cut through the bruise Sam had left her, pain was her last bit of herself and she wouldn't let Sam take it from her.

Ginny sighed as her tears fell again. This was not what she wanted to feel. This was not what she wanted to be. She was a mess and she knew it. She just felt so helpless and broken and Sam just kept on breaking her. Curling up again, she tried to calm herself but it was no use. She had to cry out some of her pain.

Hermione crept down the stairs, trying to be quiet so as not to wake anyone. She was really really thirsty. She opened the kitchen door just enough so that she could get through it and closed it gently behind her. She shuffled over to the sink and, finding a glass, got a drink of water. Next, she walked over to the fridge, contemplating a midnight snack. She opened the door and a dim light was cast into the room. Just as she was reaching for ham, she noticed a shape in the corner. She twisted her head round sharply and tried to make out the form in the corner. The surprise of what she saw there made her drop her drink and her wand. The glass shattered loudly on the floor.

'Ginny?' Hermione asked, rushing over to the girl. 'Ginny, are you awake?'

Hermione knelt down and reached out a hand placing it on Ginny's shoulder. The girl still didn't stir. Shaking her vigorously, she tried again.

'Ginny, wake up. Ginny!'

Ginny groaned slightly but made no other response. On instinct, Hermione grabbed Ginny's wrists, looking for what she thought was the most obvious danger. Finding no fresh wounds there she calmed a little and the girl's pulse. It seemed weak but she still had no idea what was wrong. She soon found slightly sticky patch on Ginny's side. Wrenching up her top, she found the deep gash in the girl's flesh.

Hermione's actions now seemed automatic. She put one hand over the wound and pressed hard, while searching around her for her wand. She felt the shards of glass cutting into her hand but it didn't affect her. Finding it after what had seemed like an eternity, Hermione muttered the only spell that she knew could help.

'Sanguis influviam'

Hermione felt scorching heat beneath her hand and removed it from Ginny's skin. The spell had, she hoped, worked and Ginny would not loose any more blood. But that didn't really solve her problem. She didn't want to tell the Weasleys what had happened. She had promised to Ginny that she would never betray her trust but this situation seemed more than she could handle by herself. But she had to try.

She tore some strips out of her pyjamas and used the to bandage the wound. Then, she carefully moved the unconscious Ginny to the other side of the room where it was much warmer.

She sat down, leaning against the heater and still holding Ginny. She looked for signs of more cuts on the girl's torso but she could find none, and Ginny's pulse now stronger so she told herself that she should stop worrying. But the strange bruises on stomach and back made so little sense to Hermione. She couldn't understand why they were there. She just wished that Ginny could have talked to her about whatever problems she was having. She felt her tears flowing but it wasn't surprising really, after the state she had just seen Ginny in.

She wrapped herself and Ginny in her dressing gown and pulled the girl closer to her.