CHAPTER 1
It was late.
All was quiet in the castle. The time was 1 in the morning & everyone was asleep.
Except for a certain know-it-all seventh year lurking in the dungeons, carefully concealed under her invisibility cloak.
Hermione Granger inconspicuously worked her way into the potion's store room. She had been doing this for about two years.
Since she had been dating Ronald Weasley.
Now the truth of the matter was Hermione loved Ron and vice-versa, yet whenever Ron was upset, Mione became his personal puching bag.
As Hermione gathered the ingredients she needed, for the glamour potion she used to hide her various scars and bruises, she didn't notice when the door opened and a dark shadow swept into the room.
"Well, Miss Granger. I certainly wasn't expecting you to be the rat that has been stealing from my stores."
Professor Severus Snape's icy drawl had surprised Hermione, but she couldn't face him. She could feel the potion wearing off and the glamour charm disappearing.
"Miss Granger, I demand that you face me at once! Why are you here?" Snape said, on the verge of losing his temper.
About to answer him, Hermione opened her mouth and emitted a sharp gasp and doubled over in pain.
The potion faded completely and Hermione could feel her recent accumulation of cuts and bruises form all over her body.
Feeling as if she was about to collapse, her legs suddenly gave way and she landed with a thud on the cold, stone floor.
Hermione was trying to figure out how to make use of her legs when a blinding light flooded her vision.
Snape had lit torches and put them in brackets on the walls to light the store room.
"Ms. Granger, " Professor Snape said, his voice held a hint of concern, "what is the meaning of this?"
When Hermione looked up at him, he winced.
Severus took inventory of her injuries: a black eye, a shallow gash across her cheek that was poorly healed, bruises on her neck & what looked like fingerprint impresions on her wrists.
'I wonder what else shes hiding' Snape thought to himself. How long had she been like this?
His internal inquiry was cut short by a whimper as Hermione tried to get up.
"Miss Granger, who did this to you?" her professor asked, going over to help her up.
"Please don't hurt me." Hermione whispered as she withdrew against the wall, watching him approach.
Snape ceased his movements as he saw her recoil.
"Miss Granger, you need to go to the hospital wing. You need help." He said trying to reason with her, but this was apparently the last thing she wanted to hear.
Her eyes widened considerably and she tried to shake her head but was in too much pain.
"Will you at least tell me who did this to you? I can help you. I want to help you. Tell me, Hermione." Severus said, again trying to get her to confess how she came about her injuries.
Hermione eyed her professor warily. She saw his mouth moving but all she heard was her pulse pounding in her ears. She was so tired. She closed her eyes and fell blissfully into unconsiousness.