She locked herself in the bathroom, wincing every time she had to move her wrist. She trembled in agony, clutching herself in pain. The soreness was unbearable! He wanted her to scream; he had said so. And now, she was thinking of screaming…
The Accio spell worked nicely. She ran her fingers over the pages feverishly, fearing that someone had noticed a book flying across the house in the middle of the night. Once she got to the right chapter, her eyes started moving so fast that she started feeling dizzy…
The mindtraps made the victims think they or someone close to them was suffering and that there was no way out. The cases that had been accurately 'diagnosed' were well under fifty in the last century. There was a list of hexes that people could be inclined to think they were under and Hermione found both memory charms and the Cruciatus curse in it. She clucked her tongue at herself: she had been mistaken once more. Nothing happened to Ginny or to her for that matter. Remus, Voldemort, Ron and Sirius were all innocent, too. Although, come to think about it, Voldemort's innocence was a matter of personal opinion…
Who had cast the mindtrap on her? Sadly, it was practically untraceable. It could be lifted, but she didn't know who to ask. She had pushed everyone away. Who could she turn to? She then remembered Dumbledore. He said he'd defend her and he'd surely be willing to help her with this. She knew she'd agree to anything at this point, because this had to stop before she went mad…
A floorboard creaked outside of her door. The person soon moved away. She sighed. How would she get to Dumbledore if they were guarding her room? But, for now, the most important thing was putting the book back before Sirius noticed she had taken it.
Hermione didn't know how she managed to escape without being detected, but that didn't matter much. She had traveled by Floo to the Gryffindor Common Room and stepped out of it to go to the Headmaster's office. By now, she had memorized the way, and her spirits couldn't have been higher.
She didn't count on walking into Severus Snape.
He loomed over her, with that sneering smirk of his, and asked her what she was doing in Hogwarts, in the middle of summer, at three o'clock in the morning, strutting about. She slapped herself on the forehead internally. Damn this man and his impeccable timing! All Dumbledore had asked her was to help herself – and she was sure she couldn't have done better in this department, though it did have bad consequences for those involved – and avoid Snape. What did she do? She ran right into the aforementioned Potions Master.
By the look on his face, he didn't like her silence, but the 'insufferable know-it-all' kept her mouth shut, glaring at him with all her might. He wasn't backing down. Before she could roll her eyes and walk around him, he aimed his wand at her.
"Legilimens!"
The images raced through her mind, so fast that it was like watching a movie: Someone opened the door. She could only see the silhouette, not daring to open her eyes more without being discovered… Still looking at Remus, Dumbledore bellowed her name and she walked to his side, trembling like a leaf, like she was going to her own execution… She had harmed Ron, her best friend, when he hadn't done anything wrong!… Hermione scrubbed her wand arm until it was raw and blood trickled down from the gashes… Harry and Ron were playing Wizard's chess, and Hermione sat by Ron, trying to distract him, so Harry could win…She was flipping the pages of a book, her eyes moving so fast she was starting to get dizzy…Someone peeled her covers slowly, tugging on her pajamas…
'No! No! You're not watching that!' – Hermione thought desperately, needing Dumbledore now more than ever, and she caught a glimpse of Professor Snape before the images started racing through her mind again.
Dumbledore looked at her calmly, something flickering in his eyes, as she promised that no one else would know about it… Her insides burnt, but she didn't dare move, and she kept her eyes shut as she whimpered when he continued viciously… She trembled in agony, clutching herself in pain. The soreness was unbearable!… She felt sick. She had to tell Dumbledore somehow, but she feared what he'd do. She sighed, knowing that she didn't feel safe at all… She shuddered, although the water was boiling hot. She couldn't get it off her. She had almost skinned herself, but it wouldn't go away! She sat on the shower's floor, hugging her knees, and cried… Dumbledore look at her calmly, like nothing had happened… Her last night at Hogwarts, she thought bewildered, and he couldn't help himself?!… Dumbledore's calm voice interrupted her train of thoughts. "And I need your promise that you'll stay away from Professor Snape." She had already thought about avoiding him. After all, it did seem at times like the Potions Master could read her mind…
Her knees and hands ached terribly; she knew she was on all fours before she opened her eyes. Snape was looking at her with disgust and hatred drawn all over his face.
"Get up!" – He said sharply. – "Get up!"
She did so, feeling lightheaded from standing up so fast. She tried to raise her wand to him, scolding herself for not attacking him before, but he was faster.
"Obliviate!"
Hermione was lying on her bed at the Burrow, fast asleep.