The Ties that Lead to Trust

All I can say is sorry......

Chapter 33~ The Cost of Carelessness

Hermione watched in temporary shock as George crumpled to the ground. Jolting herself into action, she whipped around, groping for her wand. The fabric of her wand pocket caught on the handle and she couldn’t pull it out before hearing the cold, sneering voice call out, “Petrificus Totalus.”

As she stiffened and fell to the ground, she caught a glimpse of blonde hair and drew in a sharp breath through her nose. Her body fell to the ground with a heavy thud which made her see lights in the back of her eyes. Trapped in the full body bind, she remained conscious, her limbs stiff, her breathing restricted and her eyes forced to remain open. Laying on her back, the sun hurt her eyes, but she was unable to blink. Her eyes watered and she tried to look down and to the side to avoid the glaring light. The sound of grass moving under footfalls was soon followed by the looming shadow of Draco Malfoy entering her vision.

“Not so capable of defending yourself are you, Mudblood?” he sneered at her.

She tried to call out but the only sound that escaped her was a small choked grunt. Draco noticed this and chuckled darkly. “Oh, I’d like to hear you screaming, but there isn’t a reliable way to silence the area. We can’t have anyone coming across you too soon, now can we?”

The tip of his shoe connected sharply with her shoulder and she grunted quietly again. She could see his smirk widen as he placed more kicks to her ribs and legs. Unable to fight back or even close her eyes, Hermione watched in horror as he bent near her feet, took the hem of her robes and ripped it from ankle to neck. The air in the late morning sun was warm but her blood felt like ice as his eyes raked across her. They fixed on a small red mark at the base of her neck, which had been covered by the garment, and he looked amused. “Well, it seems that I underestimated our dear Potions professor. I think I shall see for myself how well he has broken you in.”

Hermione felt a rising sense of panic as Draco tore her knickers violently from her body and tossed them away. She had experienced the Petrificus curse before and was always unpleasantly reminded of her experience with the Basilisk. When the mandrake restorative had been administered, her consciousness had returned almost immediately and she would have spit out the vile tasting liquid if her body had been responsive. The first moments of awareness were terrifying as her last memory had been of seeing the giant snake in Penelope Clearwater’s pocket mirror. Every time she had practised the Petrificus Totalus curse since, she felt the same anxiety of being trapped and helpless.

Her anxiety was well justified now. Draco was using his wand to manipulate her legs which were screaming in protest because of the restrictions of the curse. She was glad he was having such a difficult time, but her legs felt as if they were about to snap as he bent them. Exposed and presented for him, Draco lifted his own robe and fumbled with his pants. His penis was only partially erect and he rubbed himself vigorously. Hermione tried to scream again, but once more the only sounds were choked whimpers. This obviously pleased him, because he sneered nastily and his erection stiffened. An overwhelming sense of helplessness seized her as she realised that no amount of struggle would stop what was about to happen. Draco Malfoy was going to rape her.

Now hard, Draco knelt between her legs and drove into her brutally. Another scream tried to escape her, but once more it died in her throat. As he pounded against her, he watched her face intently. Her skin began to burn and she could tell the welts created by the Adulterous charm were beginning to form. Draco spoke in a harsh, smug tone. “The dear Professor will be most disappointed when he learns you were unfaithful with a Weasley and the Ministry will punish you and the miserable pauper’s family. I thought I would only get to you, but it seems I have achieved more than I could have ever hoped for.”

Tears formed in her eyes, both from her inability to close them against the glaring sun and the pain being inflicted upon her. After a moment of malicious pride, Draco’s face fell and he pulled away as if burned. A deeper voice of cold anger sounded nearby. “Idiot boy. You just couldn’t wait, could you? Now you have gotten yourself into something out of your depth and I have my doubts that I can get you out of it.”

Lucius Malfoy stood just behind Hermione’s head and glared daggers at his son. Draco was standing now, and she noticed him glancing down at his genitals with a look of horror and pain. Though she didn’t want to look, she saw angry red boils forming on his penis and felt slightly vindicated. The blisters on her face were burning with pain, but Draco clearly hadn’t expected this side effect. His voice was slightly panicked. “What the hell is this!?!”

“Part of the Adulterous spell is a tracking charm, boy. You didn’t think the Ministry wouldn’t want to know who was mucking about in their little project did you? You are too careless and quick to action. I told you I would meet you and we would take care of this together, but it seems you were too eager for your little vendetta. Just what were you thinking?” Lucius’ voice clearly contained disgust and anger, but from the freedom of his words, Hermione could tell he thought her stunned, not simply frozen and still conscious.

Draco looked abashed. “She was with one of the Weasleys,” he gestured to the crumpled figure behind him, “and I thought-”

“Clearly you didn’t think. If there is a perfectly capable person here, why are you doing the dirty work yourself. Is that not what Imperious is for?” Lucius interrupted.

“I-I was going to arrange them before I left so that they would be found together. You always said the thrill was in the sport.” His voice broke as his father bore down on him.

Lucius kicked Hermione’s shoulder forcefully in anger. “Fool. There isn’t time to fix your mistake now. Finish what you were going to do and leave. We shall have words about this later.”

Draco nodded contritely, and Lucius gave Hermione one more kick before turning on his heal and moving out of her line of vision. At that moment, several things happened. The back door to the Three Broomsticks banged open. An angry voice shouted, “What the bloody hell is going on?!”

The cracking sound of someone disapperating was quickly followed by a female shout of “Stupify.”

Hermione heard a heavy thump near her feet, quickly followed by a red headed individual entering her blurred vision. “Great Merlin, Hermione! What happened?”

Unable to move or respond in any way, Ginny picked up her hand and noticed its stiffness. She gasped and pulled out her wand again, “Mobilus.”

With her body free to move, Hermione rolled to her side, curled into a fetal position and let out a tearing sob. After what seemed like an eternity of frozen helplessness, it was all she could do. She vaguely heard Ginny tell someone to get Madam Rosemerta, but she didn’t know or care who was with her. Her body continued to convulse with the force of her sobs and she pulled her knees tighter to her chest. Even had her robes not been torn, she felt exposed and violated. Ginny knelt beside her and pulled the ripped edges of her robes about her. After a moment of quiet mumbling, she heard Ginny gasp and could tell she had seen her brother. The girl left her side and she heard, “Eneverate.”

George groaned then shouted suddenly, “Where’s Malfoy?”

Hermione heard some quiet mumbling and several hollow thumps below her feet. Ginny gasped, “George don’t! We have other problems. Kicking him to death won’t solve anything.”

The thumping stopped and she could sense someone was back beside her. Finally opening her eyes again, she saw George reaching out to touch her shoulder. Startled, she rolled away from him on impulse shouting, “Don’t touch me!”

Feeling unable to stand, she tried to crawl away but only moved a few feet and collapsed again, crying. Her body ached. Her left shoulder felt like it was about to fall off, her ribs pained her every time she breathed, her legs felt like they had been snapped in two and she could feel the burn of liquid seeping out of her vagina though she couldn’t tell if it was blood or some other fluid. To add insult to injury, the blisters on her face throbbed with the mark of her violation.

It was there, battered and bloodied, that Rosemerta found her. Ginny had restrained George from pulverizing Malfoy and was urging him away from where Hermione lay in tears. Rosemerta helped Hermione to a seated position and wrapped a cloak about her. She hugged the fabric to herself, slightly comforted by the security of the garment, and continued to cry quietly. Rosemerta put an arm around her shoulders and Hermione whimpered at the pain it caused. The woman pulled away slightly. “Oh, my dear girl. You need a healer. I have a few rooms upstairs and you can stay there until I can get someone here.”

Hermione shook her head, not caring for how much it hurt her to do so. “I don’t want anyone to see me.”

“Your shoulder looks like it has been dislocated and you may have some broken ribs. Poppy will have to treat those. Come now. At the very least, we need to get you inside. Do you still have your wand?” Rosemerta asked gently.

She sniffled and fumbled around beneath the cloak in the tatters of her robes. Soon she found the pocket she was looking for and pulled out her wand and showed it to Rosemerta. She nodded and gave her a weak smile. With a hand she pointed to a window on the second floor of her shop. “You see the second window from the left?”

Hermione nodded.

“We can apparate in there. It’s a private room. Do you think you can make it?” she asked with concern.

Though there was pain throbbing throughout her body, Hermione looked up at the window and figured she could make it there without splinching and tried to stand. Her legs screamed with pain as she wobbled in a vertical position, but ignored it and tried to muster her concentration. She leaned heavily on Rosemerta who was giving instructions to Harry, Ginny and George. They nodded their agreement to the instructions she wasn’t paying any attention to and disappeared into the building. Hermione lifted her wand, concentrated on the room she wanted to get to and disappeared with a crack.

Inside the room, she collapsed to the floor when her legs gave way beneath her. Rosemerta was at her side quickly and helped her onto the bed. She winced as she sat and rolled onto her side in search of comfort and security. She was still uncomfortable since her ribs had been kicked repeatedly, but curling around herself she ignored the soreness and closed her eyes to the world. Tears were stinging her eyes again and her nose was running. She sniffled and hiccoughed quietly into the fresh smelling duvet beneath her. The salt from her tears stung at the blisters on her face and her distress was rekindled as a fresh wave of memory from the attack came over her.

There was a small knock at the door and the sound of hushed voices. After a moment, she felt the mattress sink beside her and heard the door click closed. Cracking an eye open, she saw through the tears clinging to her lashes Ginny’s worried expression. She hugged herself tighter as Ginny spoke in a soft voice. “Harry flooed back to the school for Professor Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey. George is alright. Rosemerta has him in another room with a butterbeer, though I think he would prefer a bottle of Ogden’s instead. I managed to stun Malfoy. We locked him in another room so he isn’t going anywhere.”

Hermione sniffled loudly and tried to breathe deeply. She felt nauseous just thinking about Malfoy. Closing her eyes she said dully, “It doesn’t matter. Lucius got away.”

“Is that who we saw disapperating?” Ginny asked.

Hermione only nodded and buried her face beneath her arms. She felt a hand on her head gently stroking through her hair and tried not to flinch away from it. “I’d tell you it’s all over and everything is going to be fine now if I thought it would help, but I know it doesn’t. I don’t know what to say.”

“Nothing,” Hermione mumbled, “I just want to be alone.”

The hand continued to stroke her hair, ignoring the comment. “I know, but I’m afraid that I’m a bit more difficult to get rid of than that. Being alone may be what you want, but it doesn’t help.”
*********

Severus set down his quill after finishing the final inventory of the student store cupboard and drafting an order for ingredients the school was low on. “Last time,” he thought with contentment.

Looking around the Potions rooms he felt reasonably satisfied that everything was in order. He had promised to return for a few days to help ease the transition when the new professor arrived in August, but for the time being everything in his class seemed set in order. His private lab was also nearly packed, but there were a few potions for the hospital wing he still had brewing so he couldn’t pack up entirely just yet.

After informing Albus of his decision to leave the school, he agreed to aid in the search for a replacement. He had some concerns about several names on the list the Headmaster had created, but at least his input had been considered. The choice of Jacob Dykstra was sound. He was competent young man in his early thirties from Holland, well versed in the standard brewing procedures, new safety precautions and equipment standards. He had worked for several years with a commercial brewing company on the continent and thus was well versed in several languages and completely fluent in English. The only thing that was less than noteworthy about him was the lack of innovation he had shown. For all appearances, Jacob Dykstra had no interest in research and development, published no papers and in general accepted the status quo. In the end, though, Severus decided this wasn’t necessarily a bad thing in a prospective teacher. He had always felt limited in his own pursuits by the restrictions school life naturally placed on him and someone who didn’t have such interests would probably fit into the role of professor more easily.

He left his office, locking the door carefully even though it was nearly empty, and returned to his rooms. The school was quiet today and he had managed to take supervisory duties at the school rather than in Hogsmeade. Though most of the students were in the village, Hermione included, there were still those that remained and required supervision. By the clock on the mantle, he noted he had about a half hour before his pre-lunch patrol started and he was free to relax for a while. The school year and along with it his remaining time at Hogwarts were winding down, but he felt nothing but relief at the prospect. Teaching had never been natural for him and his time was never his own.

Now he knew that in the locked drawer across the sitting room were the final touches to the case against Lucius along with the deed to his new home and a signed contract with St Mungo’s Medical Research Program. The matter of Malfoy was the only thing standing in the way of a pleasant summer, a promising new career and a peaceful marriage. Well almost the only thing. He had received a letter from Greg Granger in apology for his angry outburst at their initial meeting and Severus knew that they would need to meet sometime to resolve their issues. That could wait until after his legal issues were dealt with. Kingsley and a few other law enforcement officials were prepared to arrest and charge Lucius when school ended in less than a week. Because of the name and the profile of the case, the trial date would likely be set with a modicum of efficiency and the whole sordid affair could be wrapped up before the house was even ready to live in.

Selecting a volume of short stories from his collection, Severus settled into his old, leather chair for a brief bit of reading before his scheduled pre-lunch rounds. He had only just finished the first page when his fireplace flared green and Albus’ head appeared within it.

“Is there a problem, Albus?” he asked, closing his book with a sigh, not really looking at the man in the flames.

The Headmaster’s voice cracked slightly and sounded older than he could remember. “I’m afraid there is Severus. There’s been an incident in Hogsmeade. I would suggest you come up to my office right away.”

The tone of the older man’s voice caused a small shiver to run down the back of his neck and Severus looked up sharply. “What’s happened?”

“There’s been an attack. Hermione’s been hurt.”
*********

“I’ve relocated your shoulder, but it will be a bit stiff for a day or two. The same is true of your ribs. I am impressed you could even hold yourself upright with seven cracked ribs. Your legs are a different story though. There were stress fractures in both legs but the biggest trouble is that the ligaments at your knees were torn. I’ve fixed them as best I can for now, but you will need to exercise or they will seize up and lock. If they do, I will have to sever and reset them and you will be back to the beginning. Easy walking should be enough and I should be able to set them in a few days.” Poppy Pomfrey sat beside the bed in the Three Broomsticks and lectured Hermione about her injuries.

Hermione, who had received half a dozen potions and some rather intimate poking and prodding, had given up fighting and lay back complacently. She no longer cared what the woman did to her. It didn’t matter anymore. Her voice was dull when she spoke. “Yes Madam Pomfrey.”

The woman’s hard look softened and her voice was gentle. “I’ve done what I can for the vaginal bleeding, Hermione. Some tissue was torn, but I have set that right. It will still be tender, though, so be careful. If there is any blood in your urine, tell me straight away. A good long soak in the tub will go a long way to easing the soreness. I have some things you can add to the water in my stores. I will send some down to you after we get back.”

“Thank you,” she responded automatically.

“There isn’t really anything I can do about the blisters, dear. I have an ointment you can use to relieve the pain, but there isn’t anything I can do to remove them. I’m so sorry, Hermione. You shouldn’t have to worry about such things at a time like this. I wish there was something I could do,” Poppy took her hand and squeezed it.

Hermione only closed her eyes and turned her face away from the woman. “It doesn’t matter.”

“I brought a spare set of robes from the castle. I’ll just leave them here for you. Rosemerta has a private floo we can use to go back to the castle and the Headmaster will need to have a statement from you. I know it’s difficult to face so much right now, but it is necessary,” the mediwitch’s tone was apologetic as she stood to leave Hermione some privacy.

The voice that responded was the same expressionless tone of defeat. “It doesn’t matter.”
*********

Severus hurried up the stairs towards the Headmaster’s office two at a time, paying no mind to the occasional startled squeaks of the students he brushed past. He strode down the hall towards the gargoyle door guard and snapped, “Coconut Cream.”

He didn’t wait for the stair to move for him, and charged up the winding staircase in a flurry of robes. Flinging open the door to the office, he saw the head of Madam Pomfrey in the fireplace and Albus pacing in front of her. The mediwitch glanced up at him and stopped talking. Severus scowled at her, but controlled the outburst that was slowly rising to the surface. Albus stopped his pacing and looked between the two for a moment before closing his eyes and letting out a sad sigh. “I won’t tell you to sit down, Severus, because I know you won’t. I suppose I shall just come to the matter at hand then.” Albus opened his eyes and gave Severus a moment of unveiled emotions. “I’m afraid that young Mister Malfoy hexed your wife, beat her and raped her.”

The unsettling feeling of emotions roiling beneath the surface that Severus usually kept well suppressed and in check began rising in him, much like a volcano under too much pressure. After a brief moment to fully process the words, an intense fury like he had never experienced rose to the surface and exploded out of him. In a flash of uncontrolled magic, every window in the Headmaster’s study shattered. Without thinking, or noticing how it happened, Severus drew his wand and began hurling curses at whatever was at hand. He incinerated a few odd gadgets and a chair before a flash of light caught his eye. And then he duelled. His opponent was irrelevant. The location made no difference. All that mattered was sending a barrage of spells in the direction of the ones thrown at him. He didn’t notice the terrified look on the face of the woman in the fire. He couldn’t see the concerned expression on Dumbledore’s face as he blocked curse after curse.

When his out of control rage was spent, the red haze that had filled his vision faded and Severus was able to see the room around him once more. There were several broken items of furniture and substantially fewer gadgets than had been there previously, but the duel had claimed most of his attention and little other damage was done to the room. Albus was watching him closely, worry etched on his face. Taking a shaky breath, Severus met his ancient eyes again. “I’m-”

“-It doesn’t matter Severus. I understand.”

Suddenly, as though his legs had ceased to function, Severus sat heavily in a purple armchair that had appeared behind him. His anger was drained and he felt a wave of another emotion fighting its way to the surface. Closing his eyes, he attempted to calm his mind enough to function and address the matter at hand. The study was silent for several moments as he collected himself once more. “How bad is it, Poppy?”

She hesitated a moment, then said, “Seven cracked ribs, a dislocated shoulder, a cracked knee cap and some stress fractures in the femur and tibia and both knees have several torn ligaments. There is potential for extensive bruising. She also had some...” Poppy’s voice dropped in volume, “vaginal bleeding. I’ve done what I can for now, but there are some things I cannot deal with just yet. I’ve repaired the tears to the ligaments, but I cannot repair all the damage before they’ve had the chance to do some natural healing. I should be able to stabilize her knees in a few days with proper exercise.”

Severus nodded. “Where is she?”

“We’re upstairs at Rosemerta’s just now. We should be ready to floo everyone involved back to the castle shortly.” she answered in a manner much calmer than she looked.

Albus cut in. “I took the liberty of contacting Kingsley. I believe he has already arrived and is taking care of the legal details.”

“Thank you, Albus. If you would be so kind as to move Poppy, I will floo over myself.” Severus rose more steadily from the chair than he had sat down in it and moved towards the fireplace. Poppy’s head vanished and he reached for a handful of floo powder.

Before he stepped into the flames, Albus stopped him for a moment. “It is always best to let your emotions out in the proper venue. I can clean up this,” he gestured to the study, “easily enough. You aren’t the first person to blow out these windows either. We shall reconvene here in a half hour to forty-five minutes to make an official school report as well.”
*********

By the time Hermione made it back to her rooms, she felt beyond exhausted and weak. She had flooed back to the Headmaster’s office with the aid of Severus, but she couldn’t bear to look him in the eye. Her emotional detachment had only lasted a few minutes when a fresh wave of horror and disgust washed over her. The meeting lasted nearly an hour, and her body was in a fair bit of pain. Though most of her injuries had been healed, her muscles were stiff, her legs ached and sitting was more uncomfortable than she could imagine. In the end, it was Severus who recognized her physical discomfort and insisted that it was time to call an end to the discussion for the day.

He led her down seldom used hallways so as not to be on display to the rest of the school, but her knees trembled as they descended the staircases. She winced and tried to pull away when he offered his shoulder for support, but in the end had to allow him to assist, lest she tumble headlong down several flights of stairs. She was greatly relieved when the hippogriff painting came into sight and she was able to stumble into her private sanctuary. Still supporting her by the shoulder, Severus steered her into the bedroom and eased her onto the bed. Hermione sat heavily, tucked up her feet and curled on her side, facing away from him.

“Shall I run a bath for you?” he asked. Had she been in a better state of mind, she would have noticed his voice was tentative, a tone she had not often heard from him.

“No,” her voice was muffled by the arm covering her face.

The bed shifted beside her. “What can I do?”

“Let me be alone. I just want to be by myself,” her voice was quivering.

He reached to touch her shoulder, but she edged herself away from him. Her voice was strained and desperate. “Please, just let me be. Please.”

“Rest then. I will come back later,” a hand gently skimmed her arm and disappeared. “I’m so sorry this happened. I want to help you, Hermione. I love you.”

She could tell he wasn’t waiting for any response as the bed shifted again and footsteps quickly left her room. Moments later she heard the sound of a door closing and she was alone. With what little was left of her energy, she kicked off her shoes and crawled under the covers, seeking the oblivion of sleep.
*********
Once again... I\'m so sorry!