If you can then please drop a review on the chapter and the story as a whole so that i know how you all are feeling about my first attempts at writing. Thanks !

Chapter 6

Hermione POV

She felt ready for the earth around her to spring up and swallow her whole as the worst Monday of her life dragged on. Wherever she went, whispers and accusations followed her and although she tried to ignore them, some of them did manage to get under her skin. Harry had been next to her as much as he could and he had tried to curb the more daring people from outright confronting her but he had had to stay behind for Professor Sinistra and people took their opportunity to raise their voice at her. Already a fifth year hufflepuff had looked her dead in the eye and called her a lying cheater, and she had stood there frozen, unable to come up with any response before the boy had sneered and gone on his way.

She could already feel her eyes getting wet as she sped up her walking to try and get somewhere that she could be without people coming after her. She didn't care where she was going, and fueled only by her desire to get away, she simply chose hallway after hallway that had less people in it. When she finally stopped to take notice of where she had ended up, she didn't know where she was. She knew that she was in the dungeons, having been aware of at least that while she ran away but she had no clue which part of the castle she was in. She took a bedraggled breath, of course the one day she needed a reprieve, she would get lost in Hogwarts like a first year.

The hallway looked like every other hallway in the dungeons, the only light illuminating it were the torches down the hallway. Looking around, she noticed that there weren't even any portraits nearby that she could ask for help with. She tried walking a little further but it seemed to be even more desolate and unfamiliar. She leaned against one side of the hallway and sank down to the floor, wanting to just sit for a second before she turned around and retraced her steps to somewhere she was familiar with. She wrapped her arms around her knees and just sat there. Harry was definitely going to make fun of her for getting lost at Hogwarts, she thought, grinning wryly. She sat there for a while, reveling in the comfort that the silence around her offered before she finally got up to make her way back. That was until she heard the one voice that she didn't want to.

"Well, well, well, look what the cat dragged in the boys. Potter's filthy mudblood seems to be a little lost.",

She cursed silently at having been caught unaware as she eyed Malfoy and Crabbe walk down the hallway towards her. How Malfoy had found her, and why he was in this random hallway, she did not know but it could not mean well for her.

"I see you still haven't learnt any more new words than those two. It's like listening to broken radio", she snapped back at Malfoy, unable to hold back her anger.

Malfoy simply smirked back at her, and something in his eyes scared her a little. He had always been annoying but she had never really considered him to be anything more than empty words, but today looking at his eyes at that moment, they seemed to hold more than simple belittling. She watched him pull out his wand and she immediately snapped hers out, not wanting to take any chances. Had she been able to process things a little better, she would've probably realized that it was unusual for Malfoy to only be with Crabbe and not Goyle as well but in her emotional state, she didn't even think about it. Until Goyle made himself know that is.

"Expelliarmus", came a voice behind her, and before she could react, her wand flew out of her hand and fell before Malfoy and Crabbe. Immediately she was roughly shoved aside as Goyle walked past her and stood alongside Malfoy.

For the first time in her life she felt a bone chilling fear run through her body. She was completely unarmed and at the mercy of one of her biggest tormentors. She couldn't use anything around her to protect herself or run anywhere and Harry wasn't even aware where she was. She could only look as Malfoy's smile turned ugly and he trained his wand at her.

The other two boys also had their wands at their sides, in case they were needed by their leader.

"You think I was going to let you hit me last year and simply let it slide, you whore. You will regret having ever touched a Malfoy with your disgusting hands. I will make sure those hands are capable of never doing anything after today", snarled Malfoy as he pointed his wand right at her head.

She finally saw Malfoy for what he was, and it was too late for her. She could very well die right now if the look Malfoy was giving her was anything to go by. It was not a way she wanted to go.

"You'll get in trouble, Malfoy. You will be expelled before the day is out.", she said, unable to hide the tremble in her voice.

Malfoy looked positively gleeful at her comment.

"There's no one around mudblood, and by the time anyone finds you, you will be in no state to implicate anyone, and I will be long gone with multiple alibis vouching I wasn't even here.", he said, his voice exhilarated at the success of his plans," You should be grateful, you get to die by my wand ".

She closed her eyes, if this was where she was going to die then she would die without staring at his evil face.

"Sectumsempra", shouted Malfoy, firing a spell she had never heard of before her.

The next thing she knew was the spell hitting her and she flew back a couple feet, landing hard on her back. Her head slammed onto the pavement and she felt herself go dizzy but that was nothing compared to her entire body as it flared up in agonizing pain and her vision went blurry with tears as she felt blood flow down her forehead. She could tell that she was screaming, but all she could hear was the blood pounding in her ears. She felt herself clutching her robes, trying to do anything to make the pain go away but she could do nothing but suffer, and as she lost consciousness, all she could think about was Harry and her parents. She had let them down, she hadn't even put up a fight. The last thing she saw was the dim glow of the hallway ceiling and she knew no more.

Harry POV

He took his leave from Sinistra's classroom and walked down the spiral steps of the tower. His mood growing sour as he heard people whisper behind his back about his best friend. He could only hope Hermione had gone back to the common room and was not having to listen to any more of this crap than they had all morning.

He decided he would go to the common room as well and put down his stuff before going to lunch. He walked down to the third floor and entered the common room which seemed to be weirdly empty and with no Hermione in sight. Thinking nothing of it, he went to his room and put down his stuff. He then went down to the common room with a book and decided he would read while he waited for Hermione so he got cozy in his usual seat and started reading. He had just gotten through a chapter in the book when the common room door swung open and a second year girl ran in, panting as she struggled to catch her breath.

"Professor Dumbledore wants you in the Hospital wing", said the girl, as soon as she spotted him.

He sprang up immediately, his mind rushing through a hundred thoughts as he ran out of the common room.

Hermione.

He ran even faster as he pushed past students and made his way to the hospital wing. The doors were closed shut but he pushed them open and dashed in.

The hospital wing was completely empty other than the far corner where there were two people next to a bed that had it's curtains drawn closed. He felt his heart drop to his stomach as he rushed over towards Dumbledore and McGonagall who were in a hushed frantic conversation, his arrival having gone unnoticed by both. It was only when he got closer that Dumbledore spotted him, his usually twinkling eyes, tense and angry. He immediately broke off from the other professor and approached him.

"Mr. Potter, you must be anxious so I will get right to the point. Ms. Granger was attacked in one of the dungeon hallways. She has lost a lot of blood and we are unable to identify what she was hit with, but I have called Severus in hopes that he can provide his expertise in…"

He tuned out Dumbledore as he ashenly walked past him and towards the curtains around the bed. He slowly pulled them aside and immediately his heart clenched at the sight before him.

He was barely aware of the presence of Madam Pomfrey beside the bed or the numerous spells she was constantly casting. He didn't hear any of her words when she spoke to him, or when she called his name. All he could process was Hermione's pale and bloody form on the bed. Her hair sprawled across the pillow with blood around her forehead where it had been sliced open and it continued to bleed, her torso torn open with numerous cuts running across her body and her robes completely soaked. She looked so very pale, almost ashy white , and her breathing was too slow. He didn't know when he had reached beside the bed or when he had taken her hand in his, but he knew he was crying because his vision got blurry and he had to furiously wipe them so he could watch Hermione breathe.

He just stood there staring, feeling utterly helpless at the fact that his best friend was lying before him so close to death and he could not do anything. Maybe if he had been more diligent in his studies, maybe if he had decided to pursue learning like she did, maybe if he had simply done more, he would have been able to do something.

He was jarred out of his inner thoughts when the curtains were flung open and Snape strode in on the other side of Hermione. Dumbledore and McGonagall also walked in behind him. Snape immediately started chanting as he waved his wand over Hermione's head and almost immediately the wound started closing.

He simply watched as Snape closed each wound, one after the other, daring not to breathe in case he interrupted something. After about ten minutes of constantly chanting, Snape had finished closing all the wounds and the man sat down heavily on the chair behind him. When the man looked up at him, he could see his brow covered in sweat, and for the first time it wasn't stuck in his permanent sneer. Madam Pomfrey, who had stood aside for Snape immediately stepped in as she started cleaning the wounds on Hermione.

"She'll live, but it was very close, another five minutes and she would have died", said Snape raspily, as he for some water from the bedside table.

He didn't want to think about the implications of what Snape had said. She would live and that's all that mattered to him.

"Severus may I speak to you", asked Dumbledore after a moment and Snape got up from his seat. The two men then walked out of the curtains.

McGonagall approached him and put a hand on his shoulder, giving it a firm squeeze.

"She'll be ok Potter", she said, her voice one of relief.

He nodded to her and she too stepped out. It was right then that he realized that the professors must be talking about what had happened and he knew they wouldn't outright tell him. He needed to know who did this to Hermione so he quietly stepped back, making sure Pomfrey was still busy with cleaning Hermione, and he drew back a tiny bit of the curtain. Immediately he could hear their voices, past the silencing ward around the bed, something he knew about from his frequent visits to the hospital wing.

The three professors were stood right outside, trusting that no one would be able to hear them with the curtains drawn shut.

".. laceration curse that causes blood loss and eventually death", said Snape.

"How did you know how to counter it?", asked McGonagall, eyeing Snape suspiciously.

"Because I created the curse and only I have the counter to it. I have only ever taught it to a few others; the dark lord, Lucius, and Antonin", said Snape, his voice monotone as ever. Unaffected by McGonagall's look.

Malfoy.

Malfoy tried to kill Hermione.

The world got eerily quiet as all his despair at Hermione's state was replaced with rage. Never had he felt so much anger, so much desire to kill within him, and his magic was responding with the same eagerness. He snapped his wand out as he threw the curtains back and put a pause to the conversation happening outside. He clenched his wand as all three professors immediately took their wands out. He was after blood and he would not be stopped, not after what Malfoy had done. He would pay, and he would pay by his wand.

"Harry, I can't let you go after Mr. Malfoy", said Dumbledore, as he trained his wand at him.

His wand sparked with overflowing magic as he felt a fire course through his veins.

"HE TRIED TO KILL HERMIONE"

He immediately saw Snape spring his hand up and cast a stunning spell towards him, and in his anger he simply raised his wand and let his magic answer the oncoming spell. Violent green magic left his wand and seemed to swallow the red stunning spell then continued on to hit the potions professor square in the chest, sending him flying back and rendering him unconscious.

He swung his wand at the other two professors, daring them to fire a spell as he lost all sense of clear thought.

"Harry, we will deal with Mr. Malfoy but not with violence. It will achieve nothing, and Lucius will get you expelled immediately. It is Mrs. Granger's word against Mr. Malfoy's and not many will side with her in court but I will do everything I can to make sure he is suitably punished.", said Dumbledore as he tried to calm him down.

"What will you do? Another slap on the wrist, a few points lost, and a couple detentions? That is what Hermione's life is worth to you?", he snarled at the old man.

"Harry we have no proof but we will try to find some way to implicate him."

"NO, I refuse to let this be dragged under the carpet like nothing ever happened. Every year we almost die and it gets thrown under like nothing ever happened.", his voice cracking as he screamed at Dumbledore.

Dumbledore gave him a sad smile and before he could let another scream he blacked out.

When he opened his eyes, he was in one of the hospital wing beds next to the one Hermione was in. It took him a second to remember how he had gotten here before he remembered about Hermione. He was about to jump off and go to the next bed to check on her when Madam Pomfrey walked out of her office and came over to him.

"Do you really have to make a habit of ending up in one of my beds, Potter", she admonished him as she quickly ran a scan through him with her wand.

"I don't even know how I got here", he protested, trying to think who must've stunned him since neither McGonagall or Dumbledore had stunned him.

He also winced when he remembered that he had thrown Snape against one of the walls after he had just saved Herminoe's life. It was the git's own spell that did the damage in the first place he supposed so he justified it with that. Still, he was sure the bat would enact some vengeance on him as soon as he could. Looking around he noticed that man wasn't in one of the beds so he must've already left.

"I stunned you Potter. I can't have you firing spells in close proximity to my patient," said the matron sternly before her face softened and she gave his arm a pat,"I am sorry for Ms. Granger, Potter. I know she means a lot to you".

"Can I see her now?" he asked, already anxious to be beside her.

"Yes you may, just know that she is recovering even if she isn't awake yet and she won't be for another day or so as her body replenishes all the blood she has lost. Her wounds have started healing but only time will tell if there will be any scarring."

He only nodded and got up from his bed before making his way beside Hermione. She looked much better now than she had when he first saw her, and he knew that image of her would haunt him for a long time. She was still very pale and cold to the touch but atleast her breathing had evened out, and her wounds were thin red jagged lines instead of wide open pouring blood.

He sat down next to her and tried to smooth her hair a little so it wasn't all over the place. He didn't know why she hated her hair, he personally thought it was one of her best features and he liked the way it looked on her.

He shook his head of the dangerous thoughts and went back to smoothing her hair. She had gotten hurt, in school, again. Not for the first time he wondered about the irony of Hogwarts being the safest place in Britain when in the last 4 years, at least one person had almost died every year. But this was the last straw, he needed to learn more about the magical world, and how it operates, how he could play it to his needs, and how he could protect the people around him, because he wouldn't leave it to chance anymore. He had heard about the Wizengamot and had an extremely basic idea of how it operated but that wouldn't be enough. Malfoy would get what he deserved one way or the other, perhaps a page out of the Marauder's book wouldn't hurt either. He needed to write to Sirius, the dog would help him because he already knew Dumbledore would not.

Almost two days had passed and Hermione had yet to come to consciousness although according to Pomfrey she was close. He had barely left her side in the past two days, only leaving to eat, shower, and get some books to keep himself occupied as he kept vigil over Hermione. McGonagall had tried to force him go to his classes but he had simply stared at her unimpressively as she went on to threaten house points and weeks of detention but after seeing that he didn't care she had simply huffed and left, neither taking off points or assigning detention. He knew she was simply trying to do her duty as a professor but points and detentions meant nothing to him right now.

That is not to say he had been idle as he sat beside Hermione. She would be proud of how much he had tried to find about the Wizengamot from the Hogwarts library but tried had been the key word there. He had found very little about the wizarding government, surprisingly little. All he had found after going through 3 books was that the Wizengamot was the highest governing body in Britain and that it constituted of about fifty numbers although that number fluctuated with the status of each seat. Those fifty seats were constituted of the houses that were part of the original families that had governed wizarding Britain and some members of the Minister's counsel. He was frustrated to say the least, and he had hoped to be able to go to the chamber to see if there was any more useful information there but he doubted it considering that the Wizengamot was probably not around when Salazar Slytherin was around. He would just have to hope that Sirius comes through with some good information.

He sighed as he stretched and looked at Hermione's face for the one hundredth time in the past two days. She looked like she was simply sleeping now, her skin no longer pale and the scar on her forehead was simply a thin red line. He hoped it would go away completely, because although the scar was barely visible, he knew Hermione would be upset over it. She was already self conscious about her looks and that would not help anything.

He had just leaned back on his chair when he saw Herminoe's hand twitch and he jumped up.

He sat by her on the bed as she softly groaned and she blearily opened her eyes, trying to get an idea of where she was. He could have jumped for joy when she saw him and gave him a small smile but that smile immediately vanished when she burst crying as her memories of what had happened to her flooded in. She jerked upright, threw herself against him as she cried on his shoulder, and he simply held her to him, trying not to let his rage resurface again. Right now she needed him, Malfoy could wait, he wasn't going anywhere.

He didn't know how long she cried against his shoulder, but at some point he had started rubbing her back to soothe her as he rocked her back and forth. They had to separate when Madam Pomfrey walked over to them and asked if he could let her go for a second while she ran some checks over her.

The matron ran her wand around Hermione before declaring her in good health but to take it easy for the next week so as not to strain any of her recovered muscles. He took that to mean that he was to not let her strain herself, and with the upcoming knowledge bowl trial the day after tomorrow, he knew she was going to disregard all care for her own health.

When they were finally alone again, Hermione finally spoke, her voice trembling and raspy as she tried to fight through her tears. .

"I wasn't being careful Harry and I took some hallway I didn't recognize.. he got me in a trap. Goyle disarmed me from behind and..and Malfoy cursed me",

She broke down into tears again and he just held her. He didn't say a word as she told him everything that had happened and in the process she burst into tears over and over again. He felt a few tears go down his own cheeks as he let her spill everything and slowly she cried herself to sleep on his shoulder. He carefully put her head back on her pillow and tucked her in, then he cast a silencing charm around his head before he screamed bloody murder into the air.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

It felt good to simply scream out his frustrations sometimes. It was painful to see Hermione in such a state. He didn't know if he could even hold himself back from killing Malfoy. If that shit stain was even close to him, he felt like he would disregard all thought of magic and wring his neck with his own bare hands. Crabbe and Goyle would get what was coming to them too but they were brainless buffoons who could barely zip their own pants on their own so he didn't even direct much anger towards them right now.

He sat back down on his chair and took out parchment so he could plan what were some next steps for them. First and foremost was helping Hermione deal with what she had been through, and that included focusing more on her Occlumnecy and organizing her mind. This would allow her to go through the trauma slowly and without letting it affect her all the time. Next he would need to talk to McGonagall to ensure that Malfoy wasn't in any of Hermione's classes anymore, while he knew Hermione was strong, he didn't want her to face her attacker everytime she went to class. Finding more about the wizarding laws and government would have to be a pretty high priority. Then there is also the stupid tournament that Hermione had been thrown into, not to mention the knowledge bowl for her, quidditch for him and possibly dueling for both.

He wrote down some of those plans and then tried to break it down into manageable steps before he could no longer think of anything more. He put down his quill as he tried not to get overwhelmed by how much they had to do and how little time they had for some of it. He just had to believe that it would be enough.

He got up from his chair and decided that now would be a better time than any to go talk to McGonagall. Dinner should have just ended so she should be in her office right now. He gave Hermione one last glance to make sure she was indeed sleeping then he walked out of the hospital wing.

He made his way to McGonagall's office and when he got there he gave a soft knock on the door. He heard a short Enter from inside so he opened the door and stepped in.

McGonagall was sitting at her desk grading through some papers before she had been bothered and put her quill down. She gave him a questioning glance when she saw him and beckoned him over to an empty chair on the other side of her desk.

"What can I do for you Potter?", asked the Gryffindor head.

"I would like to request a change of schedules for Hermione and I so she does not have to be in close proximity to someone who tried to kill her." he said, his face neutral as he stared at McGonagall's face.

McGonagall winced at his words, and turned her eyes down, not meeting his. She reached a hand to her temples and rubbed them before leaning back on her chair.

"We tried to figure out how it all went down with Potter but it was well executed. Multiple students in the slytherin common room as well as portraits that are loyal to Hogwarts, vouched for him, reiterating that he, Mr. Crabbe, and Mr. Goyle were all in the common room at the time. If it wasn't for the fact that I know Mrs. Granger to be who she is, I would not believe that it was Mr. Malfoy at all. "

"Polyjuice", he whispered, when he realized how Malfoy was at two places at the same time.

McGonagall nodded,"Our suspicions are also the same. ensured that the hallway he picked had no portraits that could claim he had been the one to commit the crime. While we are unsure if the timing was perfectly planned or simply one of opportunity, we do believe the act was planned beforehand to some extent.

"So he's going to get off without any repercussions", he said, clenching his teeth, his voice soft but clearly showing his frustration.

McGonagall too seemed extremely aggravated at the thought but she simply nodded.

His rage that was just under the surface threatened to let go but he quashed it, it wasn't McGonagall's fault and being angry at the woman would accomplish nothing.

"Harry", said McGonagall gently, "I can only imagine the anger you feel and I know they are deserved. I will never claim to have said this, but Mrs. Granger and you have been some of my favorite students over the years and to see you both have to go through what you have makes me feel like I have failed as an educator. James and Lily would be appalled at what their son has gone through and I share some of the blame for that. I know I may have been a little lax with everything going around the castle the last couple years but I want to let you know that from now I will make sure that I do everything in my power to do the most to protect my lions and the rest of Hogwarts. I want you to come directly to me if anything happens or you hear anything concerning, and I will deal with it with the necessary steps, even if that means I have to go directly against Dumbledore's orders".

Maybe he should have felt elated that someone was finally trying to change but his past had proven that people in power could rarely be trusted and while McGonagall had done some things right, she could have certainly done more. Only time would tell if her words were simply those or she would stick to her promise.

"What of Hermione's classes?", he asked her,

"Mrs. Granger is exempted from attending classes due to her status as a champion so for this year it will simply be easier for her to do that. Champions are also allowed to declare a few people they wish to help them in the tournament, to be exempted from school responsibilities. I will put down your name as part of her aid so that you too are exempted from attending classes. Now, while you do not have to attend class, I will offer tutoring by myself and a few other professors after hours that you are mandated to attend so that we can ensure you are not slacking in your work ethic. I have seen a good improvement in you this year Potter so do not let that slip."

He was honestly shocked at how much McGonagall had offered, maybe she was being honest about her words earlier.

"Thank you Professor, I will not slack off, I cannot afford to. Also I will just give you a heads up right now, the Marauder's may be making a comeback at Hogwarts", he said getting up from his seat. He then bid her a good night and headed back towards the hospital wing. McGonagall had simply stared at him, her eyes suspiciously watery as he headed out the door.