A/N: Sorry it took so long, guys. My parents came into town, I moved, school started and life was a mess. And on top of it all, I lost Chapter 8 the first time I wrote it due to an accidental deletion by a friend who was using my computer.
McGonagall and Dumbledore stood at the front gate to Hogwarts School and waited. Hermione had not been seen since she left her parents house for the ceremony, but there was very little they could do, because the locator spells refused to recognize Hermione's wand. At the same time, Dumbledore knew that Snape had been called, and that he too had yet to return. Both were afraid that the two events were linked, and there was little chance that the reason was good.
Despite the fact that they were waiting for Snape to return, both Dumbledore and McGonagall were startled when Snape popped back into existence with Hermione bundled up in his arms, unconscious. The sight of the Potions Master with concern written all over his face caused McGonagall to tremble. "Severus, what has happened to her? Where have you been? Is she alive?"
"She is alive, Minerva, but I am not sure she can survive long enough for me to answer your questions. I am taking her to Poppy, unless you particularly find the death of your student appealing."
With that, McGonagall stepped aside and Snape swept past her and the silent Headmaster, and headed toward the door to the castle. The sight of Snape carrying a bundle of what had to be a woman down the halls, and the Headmaster and Transfiguration Professor trailing behind him, caused the few students who saw it to return to their beds, hoping that they were, in fact, still dreaming. Ron saw them just as he stepped out of the portrait hole, and yelped.
Running back up to their dorm room, Ron cried out, "Harry! Get up! Snape is carrying Hermione down the hall, and Dumbledore and McGonagall are following them. I think something happened, they're headed for the hospital wing!"
At this, Harry jumped out of bed and started toward the door, forgetting to grab his glasses. In his rush, he tripped over the trunk at the foot of his bed, knocking said spectacles off the top of it, and fell flat on the floor. "Ouch, Ron, can you hand me my glasses?"
Picking them up, Ron cast a quick "Oculus Reparo!" and handed them to his friend. Then the two of them ran toward the infirmary, but they couldn't get in. The doors had been warded shut. Realizing that they could not get in, and recognizing the wards as Dumbledore's they settled in the hallway to wait for word that Hermione was okay.
The moment Severus Snape kicked open the doors to the infirmary, he called Poppy out of her office. Thankfully, no patients had been present, or they would have been startled at the sight of their fearsome Potions Master with a look of concern on his face, and his white shirt covered in blood.
"Oh, dear, Severus, what has happened to her?" Poppy asked, as she gestured him toward a partitioned off bed. "Set her down there, and tell me what happened to the poor girl. Are you hurt as well? Is it her blood or yours that you are covered in?"
Snape carefully laid Hermione down on the bed, and hesitated before starting. "Her torturer carved designs on her from the base of her neck to her toes, but only on her front side, Poppy. I don't know what else has been done to her. The cuts on her wrists are from the handcuffs that he used to chain her to the ceiling." Saying this, he carefully pealed back his heavy robe from her body, displaying her to the medi-witch. "I am afraid he might have raped her, as well."
Poppy gasped at the blood-soaked girl in front of her. She had seen and treated many children over her tenure at Hogwarts, but never had she seen someone so maliciously disfigured. She nodded to Snape in understanding, and looked over Snape's shoulder, fixing her gaze on the Headmaster. "Albus, I need you and Severus to leave, as Miss Granger needs as much modesty as she can have at the moment. Minerva, I will call you as soon as she wakes up. I think she will probably need you then. Now, go sit across the room." At the look of hesitation on Severus' face to leave Hermione, she added in a commanding tone, "OUT! NOW!"
Her voice seemed to sink into Snape's mind finally, and the three professors backed away from Hermione's bedside, and Poppy closed the curtains around Hermione and herself. Immediately, she began casting diagnostic spells.
Snape sat on a bed directly across the room from the enclosure, and cast a worried glance at it. Dumbledore and McGonagall sat across from him, on another of the beds, and waited for Severus to begin his tale.
"The meeting I was called to last night was tame compared to most. Voldemort did not disclose any plans or plan any raids, although he did give out the Cruciatus like candy. In the end he dismissed us saying that he would call us back at the beginning of the next moon cycle to discuss events. Once people started to leave, I found that I was unable to Apperate away. I waited until I was the last one there, and Voldemort called me to him. He asked me to create a potion that would allow him to strip a witch or wizard of their powers, allowing him to absorb their magic and become stronger. He had just finished explaining his desire for the potion when a knock was heard at the door. Voldemort dismissed me into an antechamber, to wait. I could hear the voices of both Malfoy men, as they explained about walking up, and seeing the end of some sort of ritual Miss Granger was performing, and something about a wand. I could not hear most of the conversation, but Voldemort gave Miss Granger to them to be prepared as a gift to Potter. I was called in a moment later, and informed that I was to find a way for him to access the power in this wand, so that he could make use of it. As it is, he can not use it." Saying this he handed Hermione's wand, which had fallen to the floor in her faint earlier, to Dumbledore. Ignoring the look of wonder on the old wizard's face, Snape continued to explain how he had come into the Malfoy's residence and how he had found her.
McGonagall occasionally tutted and gasped as Snape described the scene, too distracted by the welfare of her pupil to notice the wand when Snape turned it over. There was silence for a moment after the story was finished, as both McGonagall and Dumbledore sought to digest the knowledge. Then she found her reverie broken by Dumbledore's whisper, "The Key, but how? Nothing like this has ever occurred to a witch or wizard. Perhaps there is some use in it…"
Abruptly, Dumbledore trailed off and looked up, suddenly himself again, exuding the knowledge and control the two teachers had come to expect from him. "Well, this explains why we could not locate Hermione's wand, although I was not expecting Hermione's bond with the Key to become this strong."
"'The Key,' Albus?" McGonagall asked, confused. "What Key?"
"Take a good look at the girl's wand, Minerva," Dumbledore said, handing it to her. "Notice the handle? That is the 'Key of Circe'. Hermione left yesterday evening in order to consecrate it with her Grandmother. It seems that Hermione's bond with the Key extends not only to her physical and mental aspects, but also to her magic. That girl is quite formidable." Dumbledore smiled at that thought. He had always seen a great strength in Hermione beyond that of her mind. Now, it seems, she was ready to acknowledge it herself.
At that moment, Poppy opened the curtains and strode toward them, a look of confusion on her face. "It seems that the only injuries are those we can see. They were not caused by a physical weapon, Albus. The cuts have already scarred over, however, I can not remove the scars. I'm afraid Hermione will live with them for the remainder of her life. Other than those, she is whole. The cur did not tamper with her in any other way. Mentally, I don't know. She won't wake up."
"Perhaps the Key will assist her, Poppy? If the bond between the two is as strong as I believe it to be, it should restore her to us. That is the nature of the Key's protection. If it can not stop an attack, it will heal what damage it can."
"We can try it, Headmaster. If it does not, she will probably not wake up for some time."
At this, Minerva handed the wand to Dumbledore and all four adults crossed the room to Hermione's side. Pale and scarred, Hermione (now dressed in a sleeveless gown) lay quietly, with her hands folded over her stomach, right over left. Dumbledore reached over to set the wand on Hermione's chest when it shot out of his hand, and came to rest in the air above the girl's body. As if being moved by the most skillful of sorcerers, the wand traced the designs of the wheat stalks on Hermione's arm. They burned gold, silver, and bronze. Finally, the Tanzanite stone shown brightly and came to rest on the head of wheat in her hand. Hermione gasped and sat up, grasping the wand tightly. Then, seeing that she was safe, she fell back into the welcome embrace of the bedcovers.
"Hello, Professors. How long have I been asleep? What happened?"
"How much do you remember, my dear?" McGonagall asked her.
"Well, I remember being attacked outside Hogsmead, and I remember being frozen in front of Voldemort. It was almost like I was dreaming, and I would have believed it to be a dream, had it not been for waking later to find myself chained and bleeding. I remember calling for my wand and it not obeying. I called for a key, and while I expected the key for the handcuffs, I guess my wand only responds to being called a key." Hermione thought about that for a moment. "Voldemort was talking about my wand. I think he wanted to use it himself. I don't think that's possible, but he doesn't know that. He'll probably try and get a hold of it again." Just then, Hermione yawned.
That immediately snapped Madam Pomfrey back into her normal, mothering self. "Listen to that, she's tired out. Now, all of you, leave her be. She should be able to go to dinner tonight, but I expect her to be left alone for the remainder of the day. That goes for her friends, who are no doubt waiting outside, as well."
As soon as the teachers and headmaster backed away from Hermione's bed, Madam Pomfrey flicked her wand toward the curtains, leaving Hermione to rest. Following the medi-witch's directions, Dumbledore began to lead Snape and McGonagall toward his office. As soon as he lowered the wards on the doors, Harry and Ron threw them open and ran into the room, only to be halted by the look in Dumbledore's eyes. "She is sleeping, boys. She will be able to eat dinner with you tonight in the Great Hall. Please leave her be until then." Dumbledore's easy manner and the strict look in his eyes caused Harry and Ron to nod, and return to the Common Room, although they planned to sneak back in after classes.
After arriving at the Headmaster's office, Dumbledore sat in his chair, suddenly looking as if his age was catching up with him. McGonagall sat in an armchair conjured for her, and Snape, although offered the same comfort, began to pace. "What are we to do, Headmaster? I can not go to the next meeting without news of the wand, but I do not wish to endanger Miss Granger further."
Dumbledore nodded, and looked over his spectacles at his Deputy Headmistress. "Minerva, her parents must be told of the attack, and we must see that she is protected. The Key is powerful, but I do not know the extent of its power, nor do I know its weaknesses. Perhaps the Grangers will be willing to ask Circe for a suggestion. She is the only one, other than Hermione, that has access to it, and she is the only one who knows how its powers can be accessed."
"Of course, Albus. I will go immediately."
"No, Minerva, I think it would be best if I went myself. Will you take on my duties while I am gone?"
"Certainly, Albus. Severus and I will guard the castle until your return."