When the three of them arrived at the hospital, Harry and Hermione were both relieved. It took a great deal of energy to get Matilda through the woods and into safety. Matilda wasn't feeling the safety at the moment.
"I need to leave." She whisperedd in a panicked voice, "there are too many people here… I can't be here… I gotta go."
Hermione looked to Harry who sighed. He had wondered briefly if the amount of people would cause a problem to the girl who hadn't had much human contact and was worried that Blake was right around the corner.
"Matilda, calm down for a minute." Harry said is a soft voice, "I may know of a place that isn't crowded and can help you."
She looked from Hermione to Harry and back again, "Blake will find me… He will take me back no matter where I am."
"He wont and I can promise you that." Harry stated firmly, "I just want your word that you will stay here with Hermione while I go check to see if he can take you in."
"H-He?" she asked with wide eyes.
Hermione raised an eyebrow at Harry, "Who?"
Harry sighed, "Severus Snape."
"Can I talk to you for a second?" She asked sweetly
"I'll stand right here just don't leave me." Matilda stated.
Harry nodded and walked away slightly, Hermione hot on his heels.
"You can't possibly be serious, Harry, Snape?"
"He helped you when you arrived at my place… I also suspect he is the reason Blake hasn't been seen since."
"Meaning?"
Harry sighed again, "I floo'd snape when you arrived at my place. You were in such bad shape that I knew I couldn't do it on my own…. Snape will protect her and has the proper potions and such to get her better."
"But Snape?"
"Is not as cold hearted as he seems. He was ready to kill Blake at the sight of you and I believe he is a firm enough person to make sure she eats properly and gains her weight back. He has also had a hard enough life to where I feel he will be able to understand her better then anyone in this crowded hospital."
Hermione nodded, Harry was right, they just needed to convince Snape.
They walked back over to Matilda, who visibly relaxed when they got closer to her. She felt vulnerable and exposed without them next to her.
"I am going to talk to Severus. I will be back shortly." Harry said as he gave Hermione a kiss on the cheek.
Hermione nodded and walked Matilda over to a bench where she could rest while Harry was gone.
Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
"Have you lost your mind?" Snape almost yelled
"You are the only one that can help her." Harry replied
"The hospital can patch her up."
"But she is afraid to be there. There are people everywhere and she is scared that Blake will take her back to the cave."
"Tell her he wont… I made sure of that."
"Not going to work." Harry replied with a shake of the head, "But speaking of it, What exactly did you do to Blake?"
"I didn't kill him – but I'm sure he wishes I had." Severus chuckled
"What did you do?"
"I dropped Blake off at an island of Amazons – he is currently the slave boy of about thirty, very, very large women."
Harry had to laugh at that, only Snape would think of that.
"Well it makes me feel better that he wont be coming after Hermione or Matilda… but Matilda needs you, she needs a strong wizard to make her feel safe and make sure she regains her health."
Severus sighed, He was a solitary person but he did get lonely at times and having someone around might not be so bad.
"I'll allow her to stay here but if she gets to difficult to deal with, I will drop her off at your flat." He warned.
"Fair enough" Harry replied, "I'll be back with her in a few minutes."
Severus nodded and as soon as Harry left, he went to the cluttered guest bedroom to clear it out. He never had guest so the room was used for storage. He shrank everything down and moved it all into a closet.
"Dobby" He called out.
"You called for Dobby, sir?" The elf asked immediately.
"Yes I did. I will be having a guest here for a while and I need you to bring a bed, clean sheets, and anything else a young woman would possibly need."
"Yes, sir, I will do it immediately."
Dobby winked out and Severus made his way back to his living room. What had he gotten himself into?
Oooooooooooooooo
Getting Matilda to stay with Snape was easier then Harry thought it would be. Severus had fixed up a guestroom, showed Matilda around briefly and shortly afterwards, started dosing the young woman with healing potions and food.
Harry couldn't help but laugh as Severus looked like a mother duck, tending to his young.
Harry and Hermione went back to his flat, considering the job they set out to do done and started to get back to life as usual. Both showered, ate a large dinner, and went to sleep as they were both exhausted.
Harry placed his arm around Hermione in a protective manner and whispered 'I love you' before falling into a sound sleep – Hermione wasn't that lucky.
It took almost an hour for her to finally doze off and it seemed that the instant her eyes closed, Blakes face popped into view.
She tried to wake herself up but her body was too tired and continued to sleep. The nightmare was not going to be a mild one, she knew it.
"You think you have it all figured out, don't you?" Blake asked"I didn't mean anything by it, Blake, I swear… you just misunderstood me." She pleaded, backing away from him.
"I don't think I misunderstood anything. What I saw was my wife making me look like an idiot in front of people."
"I didn't, I was just adding to the conversation… I didn't mean to contradict you." She sobbed, not taking her eyes off of his balled up fist.
"Well, You are going to learn right now why women are supposed to just stand there and look pretty."
Hermione backed away quickly but not quick enough to get away from him. He grabbed her by the hair and pulled her through their flat, banging her into the wall as hard as he could in the process.
They finally reached the bathroom and bent her over the sink. He cave her a bar of soap and demanded she eat it, the entire thing.
"This is what some parents do when their child says a bad word, You will do it to learn to keep your mouth shut."
She sobbed as he forced the bar of soap into her mouth, tearing the corner of her mouth with the force he was shoving the bar it. She screamed as he pulled her hair tighter to make sure she ate it all. Once the bar was compleely inside her stomach, she couldn't help it as her body rejected the foul tasting soap and sent her into violent vomiting attacks.
The taste the second time was worse, making her gag continually. Blake grew angrier that she had thrown up her punishment and slammed her head down into the faucet, splitting the skin on her forehead and cracking her skull.
She fell to the ground, unconscious as her body continued to expel the soap. Blake laughed and walked away – she wouldn't do that again.
Harry felt Hermione shaking and tossing violently. He glanced over to see her struggle, her hands over her face and a look of sheer panic etched into her normally relaxed expression.
"Hermione, luv, wake up" he said softly, shaking her gently.
She hadn't had one of these in weeks and he was sure dealing with Matilda had brought things up that she would rather forget.
"I won't speak to anyone again, Blake, I swear." She shouted, "Please don't make me…please."
Harry shook her a little harder and after a few minutes, her eyes opened and she instantly started to throw up over the side of the bed.
Harry had never wanted to kill anyone so much, not even Voldemort, as bad as he wanted to kill Blake at this very second. He reached over to hold her hair from her face but as soon as his hand made contact, she flipped herself off the bed and scooted away in fear, still gagging and not caring that she had fallen into her own vomit.
"Hermione, it's just me… It's Harry, not Blake."
She seemed to ignore him but a few seconds later her eyes widened and she started to sob, apologizing to Harry over and over again.
He walked over to her and scooped her up, vomit and all, and took her to the shower so she could clean up. He stripped down with her and stepped into the shower behind her where she turned and pulled him into a hug, holding him as if her life depended on it
A/N: Sorry for any mistakes you might find. I want to get this posted quickly since it's been so long.