FOREVER FANTASY

Chapter 18: The Close Call

It was about a month later, when Pansy was sitting in the Slytherin common room, looking through the newest edition of ‘Temptation’ that some lower year student had left lying around. She looked at the cover, noticing that the guy looked familiar, but found it hard to tell as the guys face was buried in the girls neck and his hair covered part of his face. She opened the magazine and looked through the pages, it dawning on her who they were, even if the girl did have black hair and green eyes in the pictures. As she turned the pages, the corners of the magazine were crumpling in her fists, when she suddenly threw it across the room in shreds. She started to form a plan to get rid of the mudblood, once and for all.


Later that night, Draco came into the common room after quidditch practice, calling for Hermione, when he remembered this was a night when she had an extra class with Snape. He went to take a quick shower, then lay on the couch to read some of his book while he waited for Hermione to join him, as they both now slept on the couch at night holding each other. He slowly nodded off to sleep, as the book fell to the floor.


Hermione was feeling happy and gratified with the way her extra classes were going, and felt that she would be ready to write the potions entrance exam soon. Her session with Snape was done for the night and she was making her way up to her rooms . . . and Draco, her mind busy with all that she has learned the past couple of weeks, not noticing the two shadowing figures following her. All of a sudden, she felt an arm go around her neck, and a cloth go over her nose and mouth, and then there was nothing.


Hermione woke up with a start of shock as a bucket of cold water was splashed over her. Her hands tugged hard when she flinched from the shock. She then looked around her, noticing she was most probably in the dungeons. She felt the cold seep into her skin, then looked down and realized that she had been stripped down to her bra and panties. Her wrists were chained to the ceiling above her, and her ankles were attached to chains that were connected to the floor.

“Well, I’m glad you could join us mudblood,” said a voice from behind her. Pansy walked in front of Hermione. “Not so tough now, are you?” Hermione spat in her face, where she was then rewarded with a punch to her ribs from Millicent.

Pansy held up a whip with long thin strips of leather to which hung small metal balls at the tips. “You know what this is, slut?” Pansy sneered, pausing as Hermione glared back at her. “It’s your worst nightmare. You see, I saw the magazine, and saw right through the hair colour change. I warned you to stay away from ‘my Draco’, and for that you will pay. He will not want you after this,” she menacingly said as she walked a couple of feet behind Hermione.

Hermione was honestly scared for her life, but she would not let them see the fear. When the first strike hit hot across her back, she flinched and tugged at her restraints, holding in the cry of pain.

Pansy continued to pelt her with the whip. Hermione was beyond pain. She kept slipping into unconsciousness, where she would be then revived by Millicent with more cold water or punches to her body and face. She lost count after about twenty-six lashes.

Another Slytherin girl came barging into the door. “Someone’s coming.”

Pansy punched Hermione one last time and left the room, leaving the whip tossed to the side. ‘Draco, please help,’ she thought to herself, before slipping into unconsciousness again.


Draco bolted awake and noticed the full moon outside the window. He looked at the clock, noticing that it read 2:00 a.m.. He got up and called out for Hermione, looking in all the rooms, trying not to panic when he she was nowhere to be found.

He sent his owl to Harry’s dorm with a note telling him Hermione was missing, then quickly got dressed and hurried to get Blaise to help with the search. When Harry and Ron came out of the portrait, it was to find Blaise and Draco pacing in front of the portal.

“The note says she’s missing. What do you mean missing?” Harry asked.

“Missing . . . as in can’t find. She was due back hours ago from the extra potion’s class with Snape. I had fallen asleep waiting for her. When I woke up, she still wasn’t there. I need your help in finding her,” Draco said frantically.

Blaise put his hand on Draco’s shoulder and looked over at Harry. “Do you have that map of yours Harry?” He asked.

Harry nodded and held it up, touching his wand to the parchment. “I solemnly swear that I am up to no good,” he said, watching as the map of Hogwarts appeared on the paper. They saw the four dots with their names under them. “Where is Hermione Granger?” Harry asked the map. The map showed a dot that was fading in and out with Hermione’s name underneath. “She’s in the dungeons. We have to hurry.”

They quickly went down to the dungeons, looking down at the map as they went through concealed doorways and hallways, to finally come upon a closed door. They entered cautiously, noticing that there was just the one torch lit in the small room. They looked around the dim room, until their eyes found a girl chained to the ceiling. Blaise and Ron went around and lit more torches. When they turned around it was to see Hermione chained up, her back and legs dripping blood from the heavy gashes cut into her skin. Ron went to pick up the whip nearby when Blaise stopped him. “No, don’t touch it. They might be able to find out who did this to her,” Blaise said. “Is she . . . ”

Harry went around the front of her and touched her gently on her neck, and was relieved to find a pulse. “Yes, she’s alive. Ron, Blaise, go get Dumbledore and Pomfrey as fast as you can.”

Draco stepped in front of Hermione, noticing the welts and gashes across the front of her legs, and the rest of her body where the whip curled around her. Her face was bloody and bruised, blood seeping from the open cuts on her cheek, eyebrow, and lip. Draco reached down and unchained her legs. “Harry, help me with her hands,” he quietly choked out. They both carefully unchained her wrists, where Hermione slumped into Draco’s arms, still unconscious.

Draco slid down against the wall, holding her. “Please don’t die, I need you,” he cried as he kissed the top of her head, his tears falling freely.

Snape came in first, as he was the closest. When he saw the gashes on Hermione’s back, it sickened him. “We found her chained to the ceiling, and the floor. There is a pulse, but it’s faint. Ron and Blaise went to get Dumbledore and Madame Pomfrey,” Harry hoarsely said.

Snape took off his robe and gingerly placed it over her, to ward off the damp chill of the dungeons. Dumbledore and McGonagall came in next, followed closely by Madame Pomfrey.

Madame Pomfrey carefully raised the robe to look at the injuries. “Oh my. Who would do such a thing?” She asked quietly, scanning Hermione’s body with her wand. “We need to quickly get her to the infirmary.” Dumbledore levitated a stretcher, where Snape, Harry, and Draco laid her down on her stomach.

As Hermione was on her way to the infirmary, followed closely by Draco, Harry, Ron and Blaise, Dumbledore levitated the bloody whip and murmured a spell. A scene magically appeared in front of them showing Hermione’s torture at the hands of Pansy Parkinson and Millicent Bulstrode. At each crack of the whip, Snape had mentally flinched.

“I think we’ve seen enough. Severus, I think we will need to contact the Ministry and the girls parents straight away. Also, we need to make sure that the two girls do not go anywhere until the Ministry gets here,” Dumbledore instructed.

Professor Snape nodded. “I will alert the authorities right away,” he said, as he left the room to go to his office. Dumbledore then magically sealed the room for the authorities to check over, then went to see how Miss Granger was doing.

Dumbledore came to the door of the infirmary where Draco, Harry, Blaise and Ron were waiting. Draco stopped his pacing and went to Dumbledore. “She kicked us out, wouldn’t let us see her. We want to know how she is,” Draco ordered.

Dumbledore put his hand on his shoulder. “I will see how she is and talk to Madame Pomfrey about her having visitors. For now, please try to calm down. I will try to come out as quick as I can.”

The four of them waited, and waited, and waited. First thing in the morning Ginny and Lavender joined in the vigilance. Draco was pacing the hall; Blaise was sitting leaning against the wall; Ron and Lavender were holding hands as they sat in the conjured chairs; same as Harry and Ginny, all watching Draco pace. “What the fuck is taking him so long?” Draco yelled impatiently.

After about two hours, Dumbledore came out and closed the door behind him. He was looking very grave indeed. They all got up and crowded around him, waiting expectantly.

“How is she? Can we see her?” Draco asked.

Dumbledore took off his half-moon spectacles to wipe them on his robe, then placed them back on his nose. “Miss Granger is in critical condition. We will have to keep a close eye on her injuries and her progress.”

“Is she gonna die?” Ron asked with a lump in his throat.

“Do you know what happened Professor Dumbledore? Will she heal?” Harry added.

Dumbledore looked at all the concerned faces and sighed. “We don’t really know if Miss Granger will make it or not. She sustained serious injuries.”

“What kind of injuries?” Draco asked.

“There are a number of things. First, she has multiple bruising on her back, stomach and face. Madame Pomfrey has reduced the swelling, but was not able to diminish the bruises completely. She has three broken ribs which Madame Pomfrey will have to use a healing charm on a couple of times a day to mend them. From her being chained up by her wrists, she has sustained a broken left arm and a dislocated shoulder, which we have healed for her. The cuts to her face we have healed, but the slashes to her body, mostly her back, we cannot heal as they are too deep and are growing infected from the dirt of the dungeons. Professor Snape is mixing a healing potion to help heal the gashes. We would be able to heal her faster if she was able to drink the potions, but as of yet . . . ” Dumbledore stated.

“How many slashed are there?” Harry asked.

Dumbledore looked at Harry. “We counted 56,” he quietly replied.

Ginny and Lavender gasped in surprise, imagining the pain Hermione went through.

“Is she awake yet?” Draco asked.

“She still has not regained consciousness, and frankly, that might be a blessing to her right now while we are healing most of her wounds. She would be in a great deal of pain,” Dumbledore said, then looked over at Harry. “Harry we will need your assistance. We have managed to stop the bleeding, but she has lost a lot of blood, and as you being her relative, we need to ask you . . . ”

“I’ll give her some, as much as you need,” he immediately replied, without hesitation.

Dumbledore clutched Harry’s shoulder in response. “Good. Draco you may come in too, to see her, she will need you even if she doesn’t know you are there for her.”

Draco and Harry walked into the infirmary to see her still laying on her stomach. Her hands were outstretched on either side of her head, one of them wrapped in a magical tensor bandage to help the healing process. The blood had been cleaned away from her, leaving dark red welts and cuts where the blanket didn’t cover.

“Come Harry, lay on the bed beside her. Draco you can sit by her side here,” Dumbledore said as he pointed to the chair facing Hermione.

“Potter, give me your hand,” Pomfrey instructed. Harry reached his hand out where she put Hermione’s hand in his. Harry held on tight, while the bandage was being wrapped around their joined hands. She touched their hands and mumbled a spell. Harry felt a cold tingling feeling from his shoulder, going down to the tips of his fingers.

After a few minutes, Harry’s arm felt quite numb and weak. Pomfrey then slowly unwrapped the bandage. “There, that should be sufficient, hopefully for now. You have magically transferred some of your blood to Miss Granger. I’d like you to stay there for a while until you get your strength back.”

Draco grasped Hermione’s hand and felt the warmth from the transference. He bent and kissed her knuckles of her hand tenderly.

Snape walked in carrying a jar of a green gel substance. He handed it to Madame Pomfrey who nodded, as he stepped back. “Mr. Malfoy, I will need you to leave while we apply this to her wounds,” she said.

Draco glared at her with a very determined look. “I’m staying. I am not leaving her side.”

Pomfrey looked over at Dumbledore who nodded. “Let him stay.”

“Very well, if he insists on not leaving, he will help . . . ” Pomfrey reluctantly stated.

Draco stood up still clutching Hermione’s hand, “Anything. What do I need to do?”

“This gel needs to be applied every four hours. If you wish, you may want to get a few friends to help, as she will need to be levitated to turn her over to apply the gel on her front,” she instructed. “Severus come here, we’ll show him what needs to be done.”

Snape pointed his wand at Hermione. “Wingardium Leviosa,” he said as Hermione’s body floated up from the bed. He twitched the wand slowly where she turned facing up, her hair hanging down. Pomfrey covered Hermione’s breasts and her pelvic region for modesty sake.

Draco’s cheeks were wet from the tears falling unchecked. The long gashes stood out starkly against the paleness of her skin. Pomfrey liberally dabbed a large swab and applied it to the gashes. “You must lay this on thick where it will dry on contact sealing the cut. The gel will penetrate into her tissue to mend it faster. It must be done four times a day. If my instructions are followed to the letter, she will have no physical evidence, no scars of any kind. Make sure you get all of them along her chest, neck, stomach and legs. Once you have completed her front, you will need to do her back. She then must be lowered carefully as to not disrupt the healing spell on her ribs,” she said, as she was going through the motions as she explained them.

Harry watched and listened carefully, as he was going to be one of the people to help with it, if Draco liked it or not. ‘The people who did this will regret this day,’ he vowed to himself.

As Draco sat with Hermione later, Harry put his hand on his shoulder. “I’ll go let the others know how she’s doing. You need anything?”

“Yeah, I need for her to come back to me,” Draco replied.

Harry went out the door, on rubbery legs, still a bit weak from the blood loss. As Harry came through the door, Ron grabbed his arm. “Harry, come on. I just saw Dumbledore go down to the dungeons with Cornelius Fudge, and some other men from the Ministry.”

“They won’t let us in Ron,” Harry said as he looked at Ron in a bit of a daze.

“You are probably right,” Ron said as he held up Harry’s invisibility cloak. “That’s why I ran to get this. Now come on, I want to hear what’s going on.”

Ron and Harry, under the protection of the cloak, snuck in the door of the room where they found Hermione, and went to stand by the wall, out of the way. They noticed Snape was there also with his wand out, pointing it to three Slytherin girls. Two of them Harry recognized right away, Pansy Parkinson and Millicent Bulstrode. The other girl he knew her by sight, but couldn’t remember her name.

“What is the meaning of this Albus? Surely you don’t suspect these three girls? Where is your evidence?” Fudge asked.

Dumbledore levitated the whip where the blood was now dry. “This would be my evidence.”

Pansy’s face looked stricken. “That doesn’t prove anything, we were in our beds sleeping. Wait until our parents find out what you are accusing us of,” she shouted as she stood up to go.
Snape hauled her back and forcefully sat her down.

Dumbledore looked at Pansy. “Oh, I assure you Miss Parkinson, your father will hear of this,” he said, then murmured a spell where before them all, a crystal clear picture showed the smooth skin of Hermione’s back as she was chained up.

It showed Hermione getting the cold water splashed over her to revive her, then of Hermione spitting in Pansy’s face. It showed the whip slashing out at Hermione’s back where the metal balls on the tips gouged into her skin. It showed Millicent and Pansy hitting, punching and kicking Hermione to revive her when she slipped in unconsciousness. It also showed every slash the whip made, and heard Pansy’s final words. “Your dead mudblood!” She sneered as she dropped the whip and left the room.

Harry and Ron looked at each other under the cloak. Both of their faces pale. To actually see the torture that Hermione was put through, made them sick to their stomachs.

Pansy and Millicent were silent as Fudge looked over at the girls in disgust. “This is all we will need for evidence Dumbledore. We will take these girls to the Ministry dungeons to await a trial where hopefully they will get what’s coming to them.” They all ignored Pansy and Millicent whimpering.

“How is she Dumbledore?” Fudge asked.

“Miss Granger is a strong-willed person, and has the love and support from good friends. She is still critical, the next couple of days we’ll know for sure,” Dumbledore replied.

Fudge turned to face the girls. “You are under arrest for the attempted murder of a Miss Hermione Granger. You will have your wands taken from you and never again be allowed to use magic. You will await your trial where you may spend the rest of your days in Azkaban prison for wizards. Guards, please take these girls out of my sight,” Fudge ordered.

Harry and Ron watched the guards take them away, then crept to the main hall where they took the cloak off. “I think I’m going to be sick,” Ron said as he doubled over.

Harry patted Ron on his back. “It’s going to be hard to get those images out of my head.” Ron nodded in agreement as they walked back to the infirmary. “Whatever we do, I don’t think we should share what we witnessed to Malfoy,” Harry added.

The next couple of days were spent at Hermione’s bedside, where every four hours, Draco would spread the gel on the cuts of her skin, with the help of a few close friends. Harry, Ron, Lavender, Ginny and Blaise were happy to aid him. They all took turns, but always it was Draco who never left her bedside and applied the gel.

One day Professor Snape came in to bring Draco a tray of food and pumpkin juice. Draco looked up, his skin pale, with dark shadows under his eyes. “I’m not hungry,” he said dejectedly.

Snape put the tray in front of Draco. “You will eat, even if I have to force feed you myself Malfoy. You have barely touched the food that was brought up to you, and when’s the last time you slept?” Snape asked. At Draco’s shrug he pointed at the food. “Eat. Now!”

Draco glared up at Snape, but started eating his food. Snape stood there while he ate everything on the plate. “Drink,” Snape said, as he pointed to the glass of pumpkin juice.

Draco downed the juice then slammed the glass down. “There, you happy now?” He angrily asked, suddenly feeling groggy as his head fell forwards on the bed.

“Yes. Very happy now Malfoy,” Snape smirked.

Professor McGonagall came in. “Did it work Severus?”

“Yes, the sleeping draught went in effect almost immediately. He should be out for a while. Pomfrey set up a bed across from Miss Grangers,” he said as he lifted Draco up and placed him on the bed where McGonagall covered him with a blanket. Snape looked at the clock. “It’s almost time for her next gel treatment. We’ll take care of it this time.”

Snape slowly levitated Hermione while McGonagall applied the gel. She was happy to see the gashes slowly drawing in. There were three more treatments where Ginny and Harry took a turn, then Lavender and Ron, and then Blaise and Ginny. They were silent as they worked.

Draco came to, disorientated, where he noticed Ginny was sitting beside him reading. “What happened? I feel like I’ve been hit by a bludger.” He looked over at Hermione where Harry was sitting beside her, holding her hand. “How long have I been out?”

Ginny put her book down. “The professors were all worried about you as you were not taking care of yourself, so they slipped a sleeping draught into your pumpkin juice. You will need to be strong for Hermione,” she scolded. “And you have been asleep for about sixteen hours.”

Draco got up scowling, then looked over at the still form on the bed across from him. “How is she?”

“She still hasn’t woken up yet,” Ginny quietly said.

Draco stepped over to the bed and kissed Hermione’s temple, then held her hand that Harry had recently been holding. Harry and Ginny stood behind him.

“You love her, don’t you?” Harry asked bluntly.


~*~

(re-edited Nov. 2/05)