Unlikely Friends

Title: Unlikely Friends Part 4
Author: Shannon
Pairing: Draco/Hermione, Hermione/Snape (friendship)
Rating: R
Warning: Contains Rape, not graphic in this part or any other but it suggested.
Disclaimer: Not mine, If you recognize it, it belongs to J. K. Rowling
Distribution: Hermione’s Library (http://hl.shadesofgrey.us/efiction/viewstory.php?sid=29) Twisting the Hellmouth, Tainted Love, WLS
Spoilers: Going to say anything through OoTP to be safe. Probably nothing really specific.
Summary: Hermione’s attacked and can’t tell her usual friends and ends up finding support in unlikely places.
Author’s Notes: Takes place 6th year. I’m assuming all 6th years are roughly around 16.
**Draco and Snape are slightly OOC, but it is necessary for this to work.

Thanks to Meg, Victoria, and Bonnie for betaing this part for me.

Part 4

Hermione set the pensieve back on the table. She had followed Snape’s directions, and removed her memories of the day before, starting with just before she separated from Harry and Ron until the time Draco found her. She was feeling slightly better having removed the memories, she still knew what had happened but without the actual memory it wasn’t quite as painful. She had told Snape she would go with them into the pensieve. She hadn’t run scared from anything in her life and she wasn’t going to start with a memory.

Snape paced the room waiting for Hermione to finish. He didn’t think it was a good idea for her to enter the pensieve with them. She probably didn’t understand that it would be the same as reliving the events of yesterday. However, knowing that in the same position he would insist on going too, he wasn’t in a place to tell her to stay.

Draco was sitting on the couch, watching both of the rooms other occupants nervously. Snape was against him doing this, he knew that, but the chances were strong that he would recognize the. Sn. Snape knew most of the Death Eaters but he only attended meetings during school breaks. Voldemort was too interested in having a Death Eater in close contact with Dumbledore and Potter to risk ‘raising suspicion’ by forcing him to attend during the school term. Lucius had people constantly coming and going from the house all the time, so he had seen many of the younger, newer members of the Dark Lord’s army that Snape may not know. He wasn’t all that eager to do this either, enough of his allusions had been shattered in the past year without adding this too them. Although, just knowing what had happened to Granger had already accomplished the task quite nicely.

“I—that’s all of it,” Hermione motioned to the stone basin.

“You sure about this?” Draco asked as he and Snape moved to Hermione’s side.

“No,” she admitted, “But I’ve got to do it.”

Snape used his wand to swirl the contents of the pensieve and all three felt themselves falling into the basin. They found themselves standing in the Three Broomsticks behind a table holding Ron, Harry, and Hermione.

“We really need to get that homework done,” Hermione insisted to her friends.

“It’s early,” Harry pointed out, “And that essay isn’t even due until Wednesday.”

“We still haven’t even gone to Zonko’s,” Ron complained.

“And that’s more important than school?”

“I didn’t say that,” Ron started.

“Forget it, I’m going back,” she told them angrily, “You stay here if you want to.”

“Damn Granger,” Draco sneered as he watched the scene before him, “Not that I blame you for wanting to ditch them but for homework?”

“I don’t like leaving things until the last minute,” Hermione told the Slytherin.

He was about to retort when he saw the frown on Snape’s face and decided it was better to remain silent. He turned his attention back to the scene in front of them. Hermione was gathering her things and leaving the table.

Hermione watched quietly as she told her friends good-bye. It was really an odd feeling to be watching yourself, she thought, but being here wasn’t as bad as she had thought it would be. She was pulled out of her thoughts when she noticed the man in black robes follow her out of the building. She still couldn’t tell who it was but it answered the question of it was a planned or random attack.

They found themselves standing at the edge of the Forbidden Forest a few seconds after Hermione exited the inn. Snape looked around frowning, not sure why they were here, then followed Hermione’s gaze back toward Hogsmeade. He saw her quickly walking in their direction stuffing several small packages into her cloak, head down, and apparently unaware of the hooded man following several feet behind her.

“Granger you didn’t really…” Draco sneered, stopping when he saw the Hermione from the memory reach the edge of the forest, “You did.”

“Miss Granger, surely you know how dangerous,” Snape said scowling at the girl next to him, not noticing that she had began to shake again.

“Yes, I know it was stupid, but I wanted to get back quickly and—,” her words were cut off by the piercing scream coming from the forest. “That’s—“

Before she could finish speaking they found themselves standing in a small clearing in the trees. Hermione was struggling against the hooded man who was now holding her against his body. Trying to wrap one arm around her and pull his wand out with the other.

“Why is he--?” Draco began as he watched the man nearly lose his grip on the girl while trying to get his wand from his pocket.

“To apparate,” Snape said quietly, “someone could hear her scream this close to town.”

Both teen-agers looked up at the Potions Master not sure that they were at all comforted by his quick knowledge of what was happening. Hermione’s trembling had increased and Draco let a look of concern cross his face for a second. Perhaps Snape had been right and she should’ve stayed behind. He also wasn’t sure what he could do to help her, comfort wasn’t something he was used offering, and he still didn’t know how to handle a weakened Hermione Granger.

They watched silently as she continued to struggle. She tried to kick at the man who now had managed to pin her hands to her sides with one arm, while still searching for his wand with the other. Draco smirked slightly when he saw her turn her head and bite the man near the shoulder, his smirk fading fast when the man temporarily stopped his search to punch the side of her face forcing another scream from lip lips. When the man finally located his wand and removed it from his pocket they found themselves in a new setting.

Draco frowned as he looked around, they were inside a building now, only he didn’t recognize it. It was mostly bare. He saw a small table and chair as well as a bed in the corner. Everything was dirty and the place looked abandoned. He glanced over at his two companions. Hermione was crying and Snape was scowling even more than usual.

“The Shrieking Shack,” Snape muttered, “I should have known.”

Draco shrugged, of course if he was going to let her go, he wouldn’t have gone to far. No one would pay attention to the noise coming from here. Everyone still believed it was haunted. The man, still holding the struggling Hermione, appeared in from of them with a loud pop.

The man pushed her toward the bed, laughing when she stumbled. Draco’s eyes widened when he heard the man, He shook his head deciding he had simply been hearing things. The man silently made his way around the room casting several charms and what Draco assumed were wards to keep other people away as well as Hermione from leaving.

Snape had also believed he recognized the laugh, but thought it best to wait and see if there was a more concrete identification before saying anything or taking them away. He had also been moving his attention from the man, who he was now sure was a Death Eater, to the Hermione on the bed, and then to the girl standing next to him. She should not have come with them. He wasn’t sure how much longer she could stay in here with them at all. She had already paled enough to make him seem ruddy skinned. She was shaking so badly he expected her to collapse any second.

Hermione was watching the scene before her in horror, it felt as if it were all happening again. Only this time she was watching from the outside and feeling even more helpless than she had yesterday. She was watching it happen and couldn’t do a single thing to prevent any of it. Some part of her mind had registered Malfoy’s momentaryck wck when the man had laughed at her, though if it had been the sound or her falling that had caused his shock she wasn’t sure.

Having finished with the silencing charms and wards the man had turned his attention back to Hermione. As he moved away from the door and closer to her she bolted for the door, only to be grabbed by the back of her robes and thrown back to the bed. As soon as she landed on the bed this time several ropes sprang from the mattress and wrapped around her arms and chest. The man laughed again as he watched her struggle against the bonds. He walked toward her again tossing his wand on the table as he passed it. She was restrained now and he didn’t seem to think he would need it.

When he reached the bed he leaned over her, grabbing her chin and forcing her to look at him. A smirk crossed Snape’s face as he noticed that the girls legs were not tied down and she was raising them slowly as them man moved closer.

Hermione watched as she stared straight into the man’s eyes when he turned her head. She remembered thinking she wonot not let him see her cry anymore. The man leaned even closer and she could feel his breath on her face coming from the small slit in the hood. A small smile crossed her face as she kicked her legs out, her feet connecting with his groin and he flew backwards knocking over the table and chair as he fell.

Draco let out a shout of laughter at the sight in front of him, not aware that Hermione’s shaking had increased and that she was now holding on to both him and Snape for balance, Tears flowing down her face.

“Nice shot Granger.”

“You little mudblood bitch,” The man shouted coming to his feet and grabbing his wand from the floor, “You’re going to pay for that.”

Draco stumbled backward at the voice coming from hooded face. It couldn’t be possible. He felt Snape reach out and grab his shoulder, keeping him on his feet.

He also had recognized the voice, and judging by Malfoy’s reaction he too knew who it belonged to. He looked down at the two children with him. He should have done this alone, Granger was seconds from passing out, and Draco was probably not far behind her at the moment. Both were now staring at Hermione, feet now secured to the bed, as the man’s fist connected again with her face this time she appeared to have passed out from the attack. Feeling sure that this was no where near the end of theory ory but knowing that nothing more would happen until the girl woke up he decided it was best to get them out now. They had the information they needed.

“I think we should leave,” he said reaching out again to pull them from the pensieve. Draco nodded silently, while Hermione continued cover her face and cry. They all felt themselves being pulled backwards out of the memory and quickly found themselves standing in Snape’s rooms again.

As soon as Snape released his grip on them, Hermione slid to the floor crying, and Draco collapsed back into the chair next to the desk. Snape paced the room for several minutes thinking over what they had just seen. He knew that Malfoy had questions, most likely a lot of them and he wasn’t sure he wanted to be the one to answer. The smart thing to do would be send him to the Headmaster’s office and let him take care of it. As for Miss Granger, he was clueless in how to help her, he desperately wished the girl would allow Minerva or Poppy to see her.

“Miss Granger, you’ve had a long day why don’t you turn in?” Snape suggested quietly.

She looked up at him, nodding slowly. She stood up and started toward the bedroom, when she reached the door she turned back to look at Snape who was once again pacing the room. She watched him for a second before speaking, it was odd how just two days ago watching her professor storming from one end of the room to the other, with that look on his face, would have frightened her; today, however, she found it oddly comforting.

“Professor?” She said quietly then when he stopped walking and raised an eyebrow, “Should I…” she gestured toward the pensieve.

“No, I would think you’ll sleep better leaving it there,” he replied before continuing his pacing. Thankful for his response she went into the room and closed the door behind her.

When Draco heard the door close he stood and began pacing as Snape walked over to his desk and pulled a bottle and a glass from a drawer. He poured the fire whiskey into the glass and turned his attention back to the younger Slytherin.

“That was—How did he—It’s not possible—He hates—,” Draco tried to form just one question but so many were rolling through his mind he was stumbling over his own thoughts trying to get them all out, “He’s in Azkaban.”

Snape waited patiently for the boy to finish rambling, he had no doubt he was confused and had to find a way to work through the information he’d received tonight. He found out things that no child should ever have to know, not to mention witness. He reached back into the drawer and pulled out a second glass quickly filling and handing it to Draco. He would worry about the consequences of giving an under age student alcohol later, he had no doubt the boy needed this as much as he did right now.

“The Dementors are no longer under Ministry control,” Snape said his voice low, “Keeping Wizards imprisoned now is difficult at best and one as powerful as…”

Draco stopped pacing and drained the glass Snape handed him in one drink. He knew Snape had recognized him too. He wanted Snape to tell him he was wrong, that it was someone else. He also knew that wasn’t going to happen, so all he could do was try to get him to help him understand why.

“He hates Mud—muggle-borns,” Draco said slowly, “Why would he want to—it doesn’t make any sense.”

“Because it’s about violence and hate,” Snape answered, “And she is Potter’s friend.”

“Exactly,” Draco said his anger risigaingain, “She’s sixteen Sir, she is the same age as I am. She could be his child.”

Snape almost smiled at the thought of how horrified Lucius would be at the thought of Hermione Granger, or any muggle-born being his child. “I can assure you Mr. Malfoy that Lucius would never have allowed the possibility of a child that was any less than pure-blood.”

“But he may have done just that right?” Draco sat in a chair and buried his head in his hands, “I mean he raped her, so I doubt he was concerned about birth control so she could be…”

Snape’s eyes widened, he hadn’t even thought of that possibility. Last night he had been so concerned with treating her injuries, pregnancy hadn’t crossed his mind at all. Draco was now staring at his Head of House.

“I need you to go to the hospital wing and tell Madam Pomfrey that you need a contraceptive potion for use at least twenty four hours after…”

“Is there such a thing?” Draco interrupted.

“Yes, it’s not something we teach here for obvious reasons so most students don’t know about it.”

“What is it called so I can tell her what—“

“As I said most students don’t know it, I’ll go myself,” Snape sighed, Poppy would probably question Draco about the reason he was asking anyway. “Stay with Miss Granger until I return.”

Draco nodded his agreement and watched as Snape swept out the door, his robes disappearing just as the door slammed closed. He understood what he had told him that rape was about violence and hate. His father had that in abundance, but he still couldn’t believe his father was capable of that kind of cruelty. He could’ve just killed her, but instead he chose to torture the girl. Now he understood why Granger seemed so broken, he had seen first hand, many times, what his father could do to someone when he wanted them to hurt. His father may not have physically hurt him but there were other ways of torturing people, ways his father excelled at, and he had no doubt that Granger had been subjected to that as well as the physical attack.

He was wandering the apartment lost in his thts hts when a scream ripped through the room. Pulling his wand Draco ran to the bedroom pushing the door open without thought. Stopping just inside the door he saw the room empty except for Hermione sitting straight up in the bed, staring at him.

“Granger what happened?” Draco said dropping his wand, reasonably sure there was no er. er.

“I-I’m sorry Malfoy,” Hermione muttered covering her face again, “I- it was a nightmare.”

Draco was silently thinking of all the painful curses he wanted to subject his father to right now. He knew he should say something to her. Something to make her feel better, but he had no idea what words could possibly do that right now.

“I saw a sleeping potion on the desk, do you want me to get it for you?” He asked, hoping it was for dreamless sleep, he really hadn’t paid that much attention.

“Please.”

Draco went into the other room and quickly retrieved the bottle and brought it back to her. Hermione opened the bottle and reached for the glass that Snape had left near the bed the night before, and poured the proper amount of the potion. After drinking it slowly she set the items back on the bedside table and looked at Draco cautiously.

“Will you,” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, “Will you sit here until I fall asleep?”

Draco nodded slowly and sat down on the wide bed where she had moved over to make room for him. Once he was seated his back resting against the headboard she laid back down and closed her eyes.

“Granger?”

“Yeah,” she said softly the potion already taking affect.

“You tell anyone that I was nice to you…”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” she smiled softly, “Would ruin both our reputations.”