The usual disclaimer applies. I own nothing and make nothing, and everything you recognise belongs to the very talented J K Rowling.

Chapter 8

Three weeks had passed since Hermione had a visitor. Or maybe it was four- she really had a hard time keeping track now that most of her markers for the passage of time had been taken from her. She had not seen anyone now that Marietta was tampering with her life, and the weather had kept her from visiting Severus in the courtyard. It was snowing and blustery the past few times she would have been allowed in the courtyard, and well below freezing. Typical December weather, she mused to herself. Or at least she thought it was now December, since she had no way to keep track of the days anymore. She wondered how close it was to Christmas, then shook her head when she realised it didn't matter. Christmas would be just like any other day here, and that thought brought a few tears to her eyes. She closed her eyes to go to sleep, but she knew sleep would be hard to come by, just like it had been the past few weeks.

She woke early the next day, shivering as she noticed her thin blanket had been kicked off the bed during the night. She had just thrown on a second robe when a guard knocked loudly on her door. "Visitor, Princess. You have five minutes to be ready to go."

Although the guard was rude, Hermione couldn't hide the big grin on her face. Somehow, either her visitation dates had been changed, or she no longer had Marietta as a guard. Either way, she would get to talk to someone today. She quickly put on a second pair of socks and her shoes, and pulled her fingers through her hair to look more presentable.

As she walked down the corridor towards the visitors' area, she wondered whether it would be Harry or Minerva. No one else had tried to visit her while she was here, but she did not want to dwell on that thought.

She sat down and waited for her visitor to enter the room, ignoring the guards that were putting binding spells on her hands and feet. She couldn't help but shout "Harry" as he came into the room. "I've missed you so much, Harry," she managed to cry out, despite the tears of joy running down her face.

"Hermione, I've missed you, too." He smiled and spoke tenderly as he sat down across from her. "Did you get any visitors on Christmas or Boxing Day? I'm sorry I didn't try to come by, but I wasn't certain you were allowed visitors, and it was so busy."

Her expression turned sour as she realised she had missed Christmas, and not even the guards had mentioned the day to her. "When was Christmas? We-we aren't told what day it is by the guards."

Harry blanched as he noticed his faux paux. "Oh, I'm so sorry Hermione. I didn't know, I just thought-," He raked his hands though his hair, and sighed deeply. "It was three days ago. I should have tried to come by."

She forced a smile, and tried to steer the conversation in a more positive direction. "No matter. You are here now, and that is what counts. How were you able to visit me, though? I'm sure Minerva told you about Marietta, and she has been able to keep me from seeing visitors for a while now."

"Professor McGonagall told me about that. I've tried the past few weeks to get her reassigned, but apparently everyone around here loves her, and they don't want her to go elsewhere. They believe her word, and won't listen to anything we have to say. The other inmates really like her, and apparently you are the only one she torments." He sighed, and then once again ran his fingers through his hair. "For now, we were able to change your visitation day. And once she figures that out, we will try to get it changed again. The guards and staff here may like her, but I do have enough clout with the Ministry to pull a few strings when necessary."

Hermione started to ask a question, but halted as one of the guards started to walk toward her. "Thank you, Harry. I have missed you so much."

Harry started to head towards the door, but then walked back to her as he suddenly remembered something. "Oh, I almost forgot. Professor McGonagall gave this to me to give to you. She said you would understand." He pulled a book from his robes and handed it to her before he started heading out the door.

Hermione looked down at the book, and couldn't stifle the small chuckle that escaped. It was a very warn out copy of Orwell's 1984. She understood, and apparently Minerva McGonagall did as well.

-ooOOoo-

The next couple of weeks passed more quickly for Hermione, despite the fact that Marietta had been her main guard for several of those days. On those days, she usually was too afraid to touch her food, but other than that and the taunting, she thought she was dealing with it fairly well. And Marietta must have figured out that the visitation day had been changed, because she hadn't had a visitor since Harry had come by the last time.

Once again, she had lost track of the days and had started passing the time by reading the latest book. She was almost halfway through 1984, and had pulled the blanket around her tighter since the cell was very cold. Her concentration was broken when she heard the distinct girlish voice of Marietta call into her cell.

"Oh, Princess- I think the weather is good enough today for a visit to the courtyard. This is the first day in weeks that it isn't snowing or much below freezing. Get your winter robes and shoes on and come on."

Although Hermione was quite suspicious of Marietta's motives, she really wanted to see Severus since it had been several weeks. She followed Marietta to the courtyard, and then walked to the spot that she usually met Severus. It wasn't snowing, but it was still quite cold and she pulled her robes tightly around her for warmth. Pulling the book out of her robes, she slowly started to read.

She looked up after reading several pages, and then knew that Severus would not be showing up. Marietta must have set me up, she thought as she got up and started to walk towards the door. She looked around the courtyard, and noticed that the guards were not outside watching her as usual. Even though it was suspicious, Hermione did not give it much thought to it as she continued on towards the building. As she reached towards the door, it was pushed open and she gasped at who had just come through to the courtyard.

"Well, well...what's the rush Miss Granger? I just came out to see you, you can't leave just yet."

Hermione paled as the large man walked towards her, as she tried to back away from the door. "Dolohov," she mumbled under her breath as she stepped back. "You- you're not supposed to be out here. Only low risk inmates-," but he covered her mouth before she could continue.

"But you see, I've been on my best behavior. Miss Edgecomb told me I had earned this. And that isn't the only thing she told me." He continued walking towards her, and she had backed herself into a wall in an attempt to get away from him. "I believe she told me that you and your friends were the ones I should thank for my first stay here...after the incident in the Department of Mysteries."

She now was pushed uncomfortably against the stone wall, and as she looked around, she noticed there were still no guards to help her. "Wh-what are you going to do to me?" The terror she was feeling was evident in her shaking voice.

He stared at her momentarily, then gave a harsh laugh. "Not that," he spoke with venom as he looked her body up and down. "I wouldn't soil myself with a Mudblood. But since I am here for life, and nothing I do will change that, I might as well give you what you deserve."

She was pinned against the wall, so there was nothing she could do as she saw his fist coming towards her stomach. Black spots floated in front of her eyes as she both heard and felt one of her ribs crack. Another punch hit her square in the abdomen, and she started gagging as the bile and blood started to come up. As she started to slide down the wall, she vaguely heard her name called just as his fist made contact with her face. Unconsciousness overtook her, but she swore she saw Severus before everything turned black.

A/N...I apologise profusely for the delay in getting this chapter up. Between sick kids, writer's block, and well...life in general, I just wasn't able to get anything up until now.

I'm sure there will be comments about how a Death Eater was able to go to the courtyard and the lack of guards, and that will hopefully be explained to satisfaction in the next chapter.

This hasn't been betaed, and really all I have done is spell check. So all the errors are totally mine.