**A/N** In this chapter we see what Bellatrix does when she forces Hermione to drink the potion Severus made. If you are triggered by sexual assault, I have flagged where the triggering content begins and ends and there is a summary at the bottom.
09 Jan 1999
Severus stared at Hermione as she slept in his bed. The antidote still had a few more hours left to mature and he hadn't had the heart to send her back to her dorms when he'd finished brewing the night before. Luckily the potion in the chocolates hadn't been changed so he didn't need to spend time creating a new antidote. Hermione seemed to be shifting between Death Eater Hermione and her unaffected self. He was beyond grateful that neither persona was afraid of or didn't trust him. He didn't enter her mind to find out for sure, but he could read it in her eyes.
He'd been pleased when she asked if she could stay with him instead of returning to her dorms the night before. Even with everything going on, it had been like heaven to fall asleep with her in his arms. She had wrapped around him like Devil's Snare and even though he didn't think he'd be able to sleep, he'd awoken well-rested a few hours later.
He placed the note he wrote her on his pillow so she'd find it right away and walked from his bedroom into his sitting room, shutting the door behind him.
"Dobby," he whispered.
A quiet crack filled the room and the house-elf appeared, bowing before him. "How can Dobby be helping the Potions' Master?"
"I teach Defence now, Dobby."
"Still be having Potions Mastery, sir."
Cheeky little shit. "True. Miss Granger is asleep in my bed." He ignored the way the elf's large eyes seemed to grow larger. He refused to be judged by anyone for his actions when they didn't know the whole story. "If she awakens whilst I'm gone, please tell her I have left a letter for her on my pillow. If she is distressed, you may give her one of the calming draughts I placed on the table. She may only have one and it may put her to sleep. If that happens, levitate her back to bed. Do you have any questions?"
"May Dobby be ables to talk to Harry Potter's friend when she is waking up, sir?"
"That is fine. If she is unable or unwilling to calm down, please fetch me from the Headmaster's office at once."
"Yes, sir."
Leaving the elf and Hermione behind, Snape walked out of his chambers and towards Dumbledore's office. He had no idea how his boss would react and he could only hope he wouldn't be punished too harshly. Watching Miss Granger struggle was hard enough. He couldn't imagine what it would feel like if he was fired and forced to not see her everyday.
Having to live with the fact that he had seen her at the Death Eater party in October and done nothing about it was bad enough. Granted, he hadn't known it was her, but he should have recognised her. Even from a distance and with her hair different. He had known her for over seven years.
A small voice in his head reminded him that he didn't recognise her because he hadn't been expecting her there so his mind wouldn't have been able to make the connection but he shut that side down. It was still his fault that he hadn't known and saved her three months prior.
He gave the gargoyles the password to the headmaster's office and stepped onto the moving staircase, hoping it wasn't for the last time.
Severus breathed a sigh of relief as he left Dumbledore's office and headed back to his chambers. It hadn't been easy telling his mentor everything that had transpired since the summer. He'd seen the shock and confusion on the old man's face and braced himself for the worst.
But it never came.
Dumbledore had reminded him that there were no laws broken because Hermione was overage — with or without the potion she had needed for her magical core — when their relationship had started. The Board might frown upon student-professor relationships when the student was at the N.E.W.T. level, but even then it wasn't forbidden. Because results were given by the Ministry and could not be influenced by the professor, there was no conflict of interest.
The school had been operating for more than a thousand years and Snape wasn't the first to have started a relationship with a student. Godric Gryffindor himself had married one of the women he had taught. And Hermione wasn't a young student. She was more than two years past becoming an adult and she had graduated from Hogwarts. As a university student, there were no rules on relationships between student and professor as long as it was consensual.
Severus thought back to the request that had been made of him.
"Severus," Dumbledore said, "you must help the girl heal."
"I don't know how," he admitted. "I have my own issues and can't deal with them. How am I supposed to help her?"
"You will need to watch her memories with her. It is the only way. The sooner she can see what happened and that it wasn't her fault, the quicker she can begin to heal. Pushing it aside or waiting will only make it worse for her."
Dumbledore levitated his Pensieve from across the room and Snape took it along with the solution for it. He hesitated for a moment then gathered his strength to ask the question he wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer to, even if he needed it.
"Her soul?" he asked. "Is it torn?"
Dumbledore was quiet for a few moments before answering. "You won't know for sure until you watch the memories, but I think not, Severus. If the potion works the way you designed, she didn't willingly kill anyone. She'll need you to remind her of that after each trip into the Pensieve. Especially after that one night."
Severus thought about the night Dumbledore had been referring to as he walked down the final hallway to his chamber entrance. Hermione had shown up in the Malfoy ballroom covered in blood and holding a bag of severed flesh. He had been in the back, but even from where he stood it looked like she and Lucius had killed a large number of Muggles.
His poor witch. Forced to kill the Muggles she wanted to protect. Bellatrix Lestrange was going to die for what she'd done to Hermione.
And he was going to be the one to do it.
Hermione was still asleep when he returned and he changed back into his pyjamas and pulled her towards him. It was still relatively early on a Saturday morning and they had time to have a lie-in before they needed to face reality. Who knew when she would be in his arms again?
"Good morning," Severus greeted Hermione as he woke up.
"Morning," she grumbled. She was yawning and he had to assume that she had just woken up as well. "Tea, breakfast, and then we can talk? I can't think before tea."
"Whatever you want. I went to see Dumbledore this morning and he said he would notify Potter and Weasley that you were gone for the weekend so they won't look for you. You're welcome to stay in my rooms until Monday morning."
She gave him a smile and a quick kiss on the cheek before she got out of the bed and walked into his bathroom. He admired the way she looked in nothing but her knickers and one of his old shirts. He was grateful that she seemed to be acting like her normal self. He hadn't been sure what to expect.
"Dobby."
The elf appeared before him instantly. "Yes, sir?"
"Can you please bring tea and breakfast? Miss Granger is still here if you know what she prefers."
"Dobby be bringing Harry Potter's friend her favourite foods."
He popped out of the room and Snape rolled his eyes at the way the elf addressed Hermione. He quickly changed his clothes and made his way into his sitting room where Dobby was just setting down the final plate of food. He also set a pile of Hermione's clothes on the coffee table that he assumed the elf had retrieved from her room.
"Thank you, Dobby."
"It is being a pleasure to serve the Potion's Master, sir."
He had just left with a crack when Hermione entered the room.
"Was that Dobby?" she asked.
"It was. I asked him to bring your favourite breakfast foods."
He motioned towards the table and they sat down to eat together. Hermione didn't mention the events of the night before so he stayed quiet about it, letting her direct the conversation. She asked him all about his challenges teaching Defence after so many incompetent professors and he enjoyed the ability to talk openly about the struggles had faced over the last two and a half years teaching the subject. They had just finished eating when she sighed.
"I'm craving that damn chocolate," she growled out. "How long will that last?"
He cleared his throat, stood up, took her hand and led her to the sofa. He told her about his chat with Dumbledore and how the Headmaster thought it would be wise to go through her memories and try to process everything as quickly as possible. She said she thought it was a good idea but had never used a Pensieve before. The antidote was ready for her, but he thought it might be a good idea to start with a memory that wasn't connected with her experience to get the hang of it.
He instructed her as she pulled out the memory of her first Potion's class. She held his hand as they watched it play out and she giggled as he gave his start of the year speech. He rolled his eyes at her but squeezed her hand before pulling them out of the memory and showing her how to replace them.
They had talked so long that it was lunchtime and he had Dobby bring them sandwiches and they continued their earlier chat about Defence as well as how he became a Potion's Master. Hermione had been fascinated with the idea of Mastery classes and he agreed with her when she said she might like getting a Charms Mastery.
When lunch was over, Severus summoned the phial of the antidote, and handed it to her. She took a deep breath and looked at him before drinking it in one go. Severus wasn't sure if one phial would be enough since she was doused with the potion daily for six months, but was hopeful once was all it would take. He had more portioned out for her, just in case though.
"What memories should I pull?" she asked quietly.
"Up to when you were Marked, I think," he told her. She had said it happened a few days after she returned home from school so he didn't think there would be much to watch.
26 June 1998
Hermione stepped off the train and walked with Ron and Harry through the barrier between platforms nine and ten. She spotted her parents talking with Arthur, who was asking for more details on how dishwashers worked and gave them a half-hearted smile. She was happy to see her parents — Merlin did she miss them when she was at school — but she also knew she would have to have some hard talks with them over the next couple of days.
Her parents received the Daily Prophet and there was no way they wouldn't have seen the news of her involvement during the skirmish with Death Eaters during the last Hogsmeade trip. It had been two weeks before, right before they sat their N.E.W.T.s. She'd come away from it unharmed, but a picture of her, Harry, and Ron dueling Death Eaters had made the front page. And because of who she was, who her friends were, her parents were going to be targeted now that Voldemort was increasing his reign of terror.
And the Order wasn't doing anything to protect them. Harry had round-the-clock guards even though no one could touch him at his home; Ron had Order members coming in and out of the Burrow at all times, not to mention the fact that everyone there could do magic. Ginny might only be sixteen, but she would come of age in six weeks and the trace would be gone. But her perfectly Muggle parents, who couldn't even own anything more deadly than a cricket bat, were left defenceless. A fat lot of good that would be against a Death Eater.
"Hermione!" her mother called, pulling her into a hug. "I'm so glad you're home."
"Hi, mum," she said, then turned to hug her dad. "Hi, dad."
"How did your exams go, pumpkin?" her dad asked.
"If you call me that in public again, I'll never tell you. And I'll sneak candy into the house."
He laughed at her threat. "I forget, my darling. But they went well?"
"You know Hermione, dear," her mother said, "probably thinks she failed but did brilliantly."
"That sounds like her."
Hermione rolled her eyes at her parents. It's not like she got her desire to be the top of her class from the neighbours. Her mum and dad had met in dental school and had fought for the top spot since the first day. Beating her husband's grade by one point was her mother's greatest achievement.
"If you two are done teasing me, we can head home," she huffed. When they didn't move, she smiled. "I won't get the results for a few weeks, but they went better than I expected and I am a Hogwarts School graduate."
"I can't believe my little pumpkin is now a uni student," her dad said and she was surprised to see tears in his eyes.
She gave him another hug and promised him that, adult or not, she would always be his little pumpkin, making sure to whisper it so her friends didn't hear.
As they were getting ready to leave, she saw Mr Weasley confronting Harry's family and she excused herself from her parents to go support Harry. She promised him they'd get him away from his family as soon as possible and she meant it. She didn't care if she had to go kidnap him herself; there was no way she was leaving Harry in Surrey all summer.
Why Dumbledore insisted Harry lived with the Dursley's still was something she still didn't understand. He was an adult but was still treated like a first year by the Headmaster. And no matter how much Molly begged Dumbledore to let Harry move in with them, he always said no.
"So, young lady," her dad addressed her as soon as they were in the car and on their way home. "Would you like to tell us what happened two weeks ago?"
"If I say no, will you drop it?" she asked, already knowing the answer.
"Not a chance, Hermione," her mother answered. "Tell us."
"Okay."
Hermione told them everything they needed to know as they made their way through London traffic. She held nothing back, and her mum had cried when Hermione told them that she thought it would only get worse going forward. She told them that Voldemort was getting more powerful, beginning to be more active again.
They asked about a few crimes that had happened in England recently and she confirmed that they were most likely Death Eater attacks and that the country was becoming less safe every day. It wasn't like they didn't know anything about Voldemort; they'd seen the scar she'd come home with after the Department of Mysteries after all.
They stopped talking as they pulled into their garage but as soon as they were in the house, they questioned her again.
"Hermione, I want you to answer us honestly." Her father took her by the hand as he led her to sit on the sofa. "Will we be targeted because you're our daughter?"
"Yes, you will."
"And if we leave the country, will you come with us?"
"No, I won't. It's my world and I intend to fight for it."
Her parents exchanged a look.
"We thought you'd say that," her mother said. "Can we ask your advice on something?"
"Of course you can, mum."
"Do you remember our friend Wendell?" she asked.
"The guy who worked at the surgery and then moved to Australia?"
Hermione had a vague memory of the young dentist who had started working with her parents the year after she started at Hogwarts. He was a free-spirited man and when an opportunity to work at a dental office in a beach town in Australia had come up three years later, he'd left as soon as he was able.
"Yes," her father answered. "It turns out that the person running the surgery he works at is looking to sell and your mother and I have been talking about going. We had hoped we could convince you to go with us. We know you won't, but the offer is there."
"When would you leave?" she asked.
"We have tickets for the first. We have one for you, but we can cancel it. Would you reconsider? Or just come with us for the summer? The return ticket is for the middle of August."
Hermione thought about it for a minute. The idea of running away, living in a small house by the water and letting Voldemort do whatever he was going to do was tempting. But then she thought about Harry and the promise she had made to him. He was stuck with his horrible family and had the weight of the wizarding world on his shoulders and she was contemplating leaving him.
Harry was smart. Smarter than anyone gave him credit for. He didn't need her brains to win the fight against Voldemort, but he did need her friendship. He had been alone for the ten years between when his parents died and when he came to Hogwarts. He needed her to remind him that he was strong enough to fight. To make sure he kept going when he wanted to give up.
"I'm glad you guys will be safe, but I'm sorry. I won't be going with you."
Her parents exchanged that look that married people had when they communicated silently before her mum turned to her.
"We understand and thought you'd feel that way. Will you be staying here or going to the Weasley's?" she asked.
"I think I'll stay here until you leave, then head to the Burrow," she told them. "Will you guys be selling the house?"
"No," her father answered. "We have a realtor who will help us rent it out starting in September. It's a good thing you're over seventeen now. You can use magic to help us pack everything up."
Hermione laughed at her father. He'd accepted her status as a witch as soon as she'd found out she was magical and was always happy for any excuse to watch his daughter perform spells. He'd been beyond impressed the first time he watched her pack her school trunk with magic and had admitted that he was jealous of her skills.
"I'll be happy to help you, dad. I'll even forget to pack the shoes you hate so much that mum bought you."
"You are the most talented person in the entire world and your mother and I are proud to call you our daughter."
She bit back tears as she hugged her dad tightly. "I love you, dad."
"I love you too, pumpkin. And as soon as you win the war, we'll be together again."
01 July 1998
Hermione hugged her parents one last time then waved to them as they got into their taxi and headed towards the airport. She was glad they were leaving the country and would be safe, but she already missed them. Even though she didn't see them often, they had owled every few days. Now with them moving to the other side of the world, she wouldn't be able to talk to them unless she used a Muggle telephone. They had given her the number to the dental surgery they would be working at and she already committed it to memory, not wanting to risk it being found and her parents tracked down.
She was turning back towards her house when a Petrificus Totalus hit her in the middle of the back and she heard Bellatrix Lestrange's cackle. Fear ripped through her body and she tried to wandlessly and non-verbally reverse the spell but it wasn't working. She threw up her Occlumency shields, hoping against all hope that Bellatrix wouldn't find the information about her parents.
She had started learning the difficult skill over the last few years after Harry had told her what it was. Researching mind magicks in the library, she knew that she needed to learn it. Her brain was her strongest asset and there was no way she was risking it when there were things she could do to protect it. Plus, it helped with certain spells and she would do anything she could do to avoid ever being placed under the Imperio again. The few minutes she had been controlled by Barty Crouch Jr as he pretended to be her professor had been horrible. After more than two years practicing, her mental shields were powerful.
"Well, well, well," Bellatrix cooed in her sing-song voice, "what do we have here? Potter's little Mudblood pet all on her own."
Fuck, fuck, fuck! Hermione thought. What do I do? She had her DA Galleon in her pocket, they'd all made a vow to keep it on them at all times, but she couldn't reach it to send a message. And even if she could, who would come for her? None of her friends even knew where she lived since owls found people based on magical signatures and not addresses. Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall knew where she lived, but she had no way to reach them either.
"Let's get you in your house and have a little girl time."
She didn't hear the spell Bellatrix muttered but against her wishes, and she began to move towards her house without fight, though her mind tried desperately to slow her steps. The older witch looked around as they made their way inside, clearly making sure they hadn't been seen. Not that Hermione's Muggle neighbours would know what to do anyway.
"The Dark Lord and I have plans for you, Mudblood. You should be honoured that even with your dirty blood we want to work with you."
Hermione was screaming in her head, telling the bitch to fuck off and that she'd never help her or Voldemort. But nothing left her lips. All the curses she cried in her mind stayed in her body.
She watched as Bellatrix pulled one of her black curls from her head and tugged, coming away with a strand of hair and putting it into a potion phial she pulled out of her pockets.
"Now, I just need you to drink this and you'll take a nice nap," she said. "I'll pack up all your things and when you wake up at my house, you'll be all mine. Your mind, and your body."
Frozen in place, Hermione watched in horror as Bellatrix moved closer to her. Her cold hands grasped her face and forced her jaw open. There was nothing she could do, no way to resist the liquid that was poured into her mouth and ran down her throat. Within seconds, her vision started to fade and she knew no more.
02 July 1998
Nothing was making sense.
Hermione was in a bright room that was richly decorated. It reminded her of the large estates she used to tour with her mum when she was younger. But if she was on a tour, why was she laying on a bed? She looked down. And why was she in her pyjamas? And why did everything in her body hurt? It felt worse than when she'd had the flu when she was ten and didn't know about potions that healed instantly.
The door to the room opened and she turned her head to see Bellatrix Lestrange walk in. Her heart began to pound and she broke out into a cold sweat. Fear rippled through her body, pushing out all thoughts of pain and fatigue, as the events of the last few minutes rushed back to her and she struggled to move but was restrained to the bed by invisible ropes.
"Good morning, my little pet," Bellatrix half spoke, half sang to her. "I trust you had a nice sleep and that your mind is ready for me to play with."
"No! Leave me alone!" Hermione cried, struggling against the magical restraints.
"Why would I do that when I can control you, mould you to be my perfect little toy? You are going to love it, pet."
"Fuck you, bitch! I'll never let you control–"
Her words were cut off as Bellatrix slashed her wand, silencing her.
"You will speak to me with respect, Mudblood. If not now, you will by the time I'm done with you."
**** Beginning of Triggering Content ****
Bellatrix waved her wand again and Hermione silently gasped as her pyjamas vanished, leaving her naked in the large bed. The older witch moved closer, coming to sit next to her hip. Her hand hovered over Hermione's breast before she ran her long-nailed finger around the nipple, making it harden.
"I gave you two special little potions yesterday, pet," Bellatrix said as she started to tweak the nipple. "The first one is what is making you feel like shit. Just need to age you up a bit, but don't worry, twenty-one is still young. The second one breaks down all the pesky little walls people have around their minds, even Occlumency shields. And it's time for your second dose."
Hermione tried to keep her mouth closed, but Bellatrix forced it open, dumping the phial into her mouth. She tried to spit it out, but she couldn't move and Bellatrix rubbed her throat until she had no choice but to swallow.
Bellatrix's hand moved from her neck to her breasts, then down her body to run her fingers up and down her slit. "And now I'm going to break your mind, Mudblood." She muttered a lubrication spell and pushed a finger into her pussy. "And then I'll give you pretty new memories. You'll be my little pet. My own little spy to tell me every move the Potter brat makes."
Hermione didn't want to like the way it felt when Bellatrix slipped another finger into her. She wanted to scream, punch the witch, hex her, or just slice her throat open. Instead, her own body betrayed her as it started to enjoy the way she was moving in and out of her.
It wasn't the first time she had been touched. She'd slept with Viktor when she'd visited the summer before. And they had used their hands on each other multiple times when they were dating. He'd given her her first orgasm just days after he'd asked her to the Yule Ball when she'd joined him in an abandoned classroom and he'd fingered her until she came then licked his fingers clean.
But as much as she loved that moment, as good as it had felt to have him touch her every time, Bellatrix was better. She was skilled and touched places inside Hermione that she didn't know were pleasurable. It was horrifying that she couldn't stop the way it felt.
She could feel and hear her body responding to the way she was being touched, the sound of Bellatrix's fingers pumping in and out loud in the quiet room.
"By the time you wake up tomorrow, you'll be as Dark as I am. You'll be loyal to the Dark Lord." Bellatrix picked up the pace of her thrusting and pressed her thumb against Hermione's clit. Still silenced, the moan of pleasure never made a sound as she bucked her hips into the hand that was caressing her. "And just because I can, I'm going to make you into a slag. You'll be begging for Death Eaters to fuck you non-stop."
She didn't know why Bellatrix was doing this. She was a Muggleborn. Why would Voldemort or any of his followers want her to become a Death Eater? She was everything they claimed to hate. They wanted to eradicate her kind from the world. Yet they wanted her to spy on her best friend? She struggled against the restraints again even as her hips continued to fuck Bellatrix's fingers.
"I want to break you, Mudblood. I want you to know that nothing you held dear is sacred anymore."
She wanted it all to end. Instead, white lights flashed before her eyes as wave after wave of ecstasy crashed over her. She was still coming when Bellatrix pointed her wand at her face.
"Legilimens!"
**** End of triggering content ****
09 Jan 1999
As the memories had played, Severus had started off by holding Hermione's hand. She'd smiled fondly as she saw her parents and he had taken in their home as it played around them. She'd begun to cry as she said goodbye to them and he had held her tight, her back against his chest as they watched Bellatrix take advantage of her. The memories continued to play and he never let go of her.
He'd been shocked when short flashes showed not only Bellatrix, but the Dark Lord asking her to seduce him. No wonder she had tried so aggressively to get him to sleep with her. He'd been so focused on saying no to her that he hadn't really stopped to wonder what her motivation was. She wasn't the first student to approach him over the years, but she had been the most aggressive.
She was still in his arms as they exited the Pensieve and he turned her around and held her as tight as possible. He was glad they had only watched her first few memories. He wasn't sure she would have been able to watch more right away without breaking down completely.
"It was all my fault," she choked out. "I was so busy watching my parents leave I didn't even look around me."
"It was not your fault," he growled. "Nothing that happened to you was because of anything you did wrong. You were upset because your parents were leaving and Bellatrix, that fucking cunt, took advantage of the situation and you."
"What must you think of me?"
"I think that you were very smart and very brave to encourage your parents to go away. The Dark Lord won't touch them if he thinks you're still loyal to him. But they were targets before."
"Not about that. About allowing Bellatrix to capture me. I didn't even fight her. Then you saw how I reacted when she touched me."
Severus hugged her tighter for a moment then stepped back a half step so he could look into her eyes. He needed her to understand him, to really listen to what he was about to tell her.
"Hermione, my little witch." He pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear. "You are a strong fighter, but she caught you when you were vulnerable. That is nothing to be ashamed of. As for how you reacted… I'm sure you've read about the body's response to stimuli. It is a natural reaction to touch, to friction. It does not mean that you wanted it, that you deserved it, or even that you asked for it. Would you think less of me if you had seen me get an erection from Bellatrix touching my cock?"
"No," she told him.
"What would you say to me?"
"That it wasn't your fault. That she is to blame for her actions and you aren't responsible for what happened. Not in the memories we saw, or anything that you did whilst you were under the influence of that potion."
He leaned down and kissed her forehead and she moved towards him, wrapping herself around him again. He led her to the sofa and sat down, pulling her onto his lap so she was tucked tight against his chest. He looked at the clock. It wasn't too late, but watching her memories had taken them well past dinner. He asked if she was hungry and she shook her head.
"I just want to go to sleep," she said. "Can I stay here?"
"I would like that very much," he told her.
Holding her hand as he made his way to the bedroom, he made a vow with himself that he would gut Bellatrix like a fucking fish and let her die a slow and painful death for what she had done to Hermione.
**** Triggering Content Summary ****
Bellatrix sexually assaults Hermione whilst forcing her to drink the second dose of a potion. The potion breaks down the walls people have around their minds, making them malleable. Bellatrix tells her she will be adding new memories and will make Hermione into a spy. She makes her become more sexually active, just to be cruel. Hermione struggles against the potion and is upset that her body reacts pleasurably to the assault.