Hermione closed her books. She was finally finished with her homework. They had returned from Hagrid's at midnight and she had been working on homework for 2½ hours. Her roommates had fallen asleep hours ago. It would have been so easy to have laid back on her bed and fallen asleep but she couldn't.
Hermione headed to Ron and Harry's room, she wasn't going to the bathroom by herself tonight.
Harry was finally comfortable in his bed and had just closed his eyes when he heard a knock at his door. He tried to ignore it, but Ron woke up and answered the door. It wasn't really a surprise of who had come to visit.
"Hermione? What are you doing here?" Ron asked half asleep.
Now Harry sat up and put his glasses on.
"Will one of you two please walk down to the bathroom with me?" Hermione asked timidly.
Ron looked at Harry who came over to the door.
"Please! I don't want to go alone." she pleaded. They could see in her eyes that she desperately wanted one of them to escort her, just in case something happened.
"Fine, I'll go with you." Harry volunteered, walking out the door and using Hermione's arm to turn her to leave with him. Ron stood still for a minute.
"Wait, I'm coming too!" He called after them.
"Thank you." Hermione said as they approached the girls' bathroom.
"No problem." Harry replied.
As they reached the door, they heard muffled crying. They looked at each other and all three entered in. In the furthest most corner a 16 year- old girl with long red hair was crying. She looked up, it was Ginny Weasley. Ron rushed over to her with a mortified look on his face.
"Ginny!"
Her nightdress was torn and she had bruises on her arms as well as fingernail marks on her wrists.
"What happened?" Harry asked as he and Hermione went over to her.
"I came in the bathroom and a boy was here-- " she started with gasping breaths.
Ron looked at Harry and Hermione.
"I turned to leave and he-- he attacked me-- and--"
Hermione finished Ginny's sentence for her.
"He raped you?"
Ginny nodded and Ron hugged her comfortingly.
"Malfoy! I'm going to get him back for this!" Ron growled with rage.
"We have to report it this time." Harry said. Hermione agreed, knowing that she'd have to tell her story as well.
"Ron, Harry, I'll take care of Ginny. You go back to you dorm so you won't get into trouble." said Hermione
"No, Ginny's my sist--"
"Go." Hermione insisted sternly.
The boys hesitated for a moment then left. Hermione knew that Ginny need to be with someone who shared her ineffable experience. The girls sat there for a while on the bathroom floor then they walk back to their tower together.