Criminal Ravishment

Your reviews have been encouraging. I know a lot of you are concerned about Lucius getting his and don’t worry. That bastard will pay!

A special thanks to my betas and to SnapesFlower for previewing this story!
Hugs to all!

Corazon

~*~*~*~

Chapter 6

“Severus, I am glad you could join us. Please have a seat,” Albus said as Severus entered his office and sat down in one of the worn, leather chairs. Minerva was already there, sitting in the other leather chair. “I am very concerned about Hermione. Although I do not have experience in this area, I know we have a serious problem,” Albus spoke to both of his most trusted professors.

“Dear Merlin, I am at a loss too, Albus,” said Minerva in a worried voice, “We need to help her, but I do not even know what Lucius did to Hermione. Did he cast a spell on her?”

“He brainwashed her,” Severus said, “Lucius was a very good Death Eater and we each had our specialty; his was brainwashing.” Minerva looked at him in disbelief.

“Why do you think the Ministry of Magic is so supportive of having him here?” Severus raisedeyebeyebrow as he stated the obvious.

“What do we do Severus?” asked Albus.

“We need to deprogram her, but it will not work until she wants our help. You need to first understand what Lucius did to her. With the death of Hermione’s parents, she had a need to fill that loss and Lucius falsely gave her this, making her believe that her life was insignificant without him. He reminded her day in and day out that only he would want her and she began to believe it. Hermione shows signs of anxiety by her inability to sleep. This will lead to depression and ultimately suicide if she does not receive the help she needs.” Minerva cringed at hearing Severus’ words. “Once she asks for help, we need to pull her out of her everyday environment and place her in neutral setting that has no relevance to school or the wizarding world.”

“Are you saying we place her in the Muggle world?” Minerva asked.

“No, nothing that drastic. I believe that if we relocated her to the Priapusum Tower, we will be able to accommodate her needs,” said Severus.

“It would be an ideal location,” said Albus, “since she would still be here at school, yet she would be in her own private environment so she can begin to heal. I like the suggestion Severus, but who would oversee her recovery?”

“It would have to be a dominating authority figure; someone she would feel the need to obey or at least listen to - ” Albus and Minerva were both smiling at Severus, “What are you two grinning at?”

“Minerva, I believe we just found the person to bring back our Hermione,” smiled Albus as Minerva nodded in agreement.

“Oh hell no, I do not think so,” Severus hissed.

“Severus, you have more knowledge about this than we do and according to the description of the person who can help her, you just described yourself,” smiled Albus. “Besides, you physically assaulted Lucius in front of her, so she knows that you are stronger than him.”

Severus glared at the Headmaster as he continued, Think of it this way Severus, the Ministry of Magic wants to me to place you on a leave of absence for assaulting Lucius, so” Albus winked at Minerva, “Severus Snape, you are officially on leave of absence from your teaching position here at Hogwarts and are required to adjourn to the Priapusum Tower with Hermione Granger for the duration of her recovery.”

“Who in Merlin’s name will be teaching my classes?” he hissed.

“I will,” said Albus with a twinkle in his eye.

“You will turn it into a cooking class. They will be brewing lemon drops and pumpkin pasties!” growled Severus.

“Severus, if you leave lesson plans, I promise I will follow them,” Albus winked at Minerva, “most of the time,” he muttered and Severus shot him a look.

“Severus,” said Albus in a serious voice, “Hermione is an innocent victim that has the potential to achieve great things in life. We owe it to her.”

“I agree Albus and I will do my best to help her, but I cannot promise you that we will ever get Miss Granger back,” Severus said before he left.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

In order to heal her, Severus had to know what Lucius had done to her. He decided the best thing would be to play a game to get the answers he needed. He placed a pensieve just under her bed and waved his wand to place a few charms on Hermione.

When Hermione awoke, she saw Snape sitting at her side and said, “I want to see Lucius.”

“He is special to you, isn’t he Hermione?” Severus asked without the normal harshness in his voice, trying to bait her. She regarded his words for a moment, trying to decide if she could trust him or not, but she was so desperate to explain why she had to see him, that she began to talk.

“He loves me and I love him,” she said, waiting for him to react, but he didn’t.

“Go on,” he said.

“Nobody understands me or thinks that I am beautiful, but oes oes and he appreciates my intelligence.”

“Why does he hit you Hermione?”

“Lucius does not - ”

“Hermione, I have seen the bruises.”

“It was my fault; he was just punishing me.”

“Why would you need to be punished?”

“Because I made him mad - ” her words trailed off as she recalled one of several times he had hit her and she flinched at the pain he caused.

Not wanting to push her too much, he decided to ask a different question. “Why do you think he was angry when he saw you in the dungeons serving detention with me?”

“He expects me to be in his room every night after dinner, but when I did not show up, he was worried about me. I did not have a chance to tell him, so he came looking for me.”

“When I left you in my dungeons, he came back to get you. What did he do to you Hermione?” Severus asked, carefully watching her reaction. Closing her eyes, he could see the tears starting to form in the corners of her eyes. Not speaking anymore, Hermione only cried as the tears flowed down her cheeks. Severus observed her, allowing her time to recall every detail of what happened that night.

After about thirty minutes, Hermione wiped her face and regained her composure while Severus remained at her side.

“I want to see Lucius, Professor Snape,” her voice was stronger.

“You cannot see him Hermione,” he replied in his own silky voice.

“Please Professor Snape, I want to make sure he is okay and - and I need to speak with him,” she pleaded.

“Hermione, the man tried to kill you,” he said.

Defensively she said, “No, he was just - ”

“Just what Hermione? Teaching you a lesson?” he raised an eyebrow, waiting for her reaction, but she stopped speaking. Even though Severus was right, she could not bring herself to admit it to herself or him, at least not yet.

“Hermione, if you are thinking about going to him, it will not happen,” his words were harsh. “You are magically bound to this room and are physically unable to leave it. Your wand has been taken from you until the Headmaster sees fit. Hermione, you can justify it any way you want, but the man tried to kill you.”

She closed her eyes as the tears rolled down her face, knowing what Lucius had done to her was wrong, but she still loved him.

“Professor,” she whispered, “help me.”

“I will help you if you do something for me first,” he said.

“What?”

He leaned over and revealed the pensieve, showing it to her. “I have magically captured all of your memories of what happened between you and Lucius. If you give me permission, I can turn this over to the Ministry of Magic and the Governors. Together they can remove Lucius from Hogwarts,” he said.

Closing her eyes, she cringed at the thought of hurting Lucius, but she had to do it. “Okay,” she said in a small voice.

~*~*~*~*~

Severus entered Albus’ office, and, without saying a word, handed the pensieve to the Headmaster.

“This contains Hermione’s memories?” Albus asked.

“Yes sir.”

“Did you force them from her?”

“I magically induced her memories,” he sneered.

“Why?” asked Albus as he put the pensieve away. “You know forced memories cannot be submitted as evidence.”

“I know that,” hissed Severus, “but she has consented to their submission to the Ministry of Magic and the Board of Governors.”

Albus smiled, pleased at the progress Severus had made. “Lucius will be out of here tomorrow. Have you seen her memories, Severus?”

“No. I think it best that I learn what he did to her as she decides to share. If I know too much up front I may force a step in her recovery that she is not ready for,” Severus said in a calmer voice.

“Good. When do you want to begin?”

“Tonight. It will give me enough time to make the appropriate preparations.”

“With this evidence, you will be reinstated as the Potions Master,” said Albus.

“No, I need to help Miss Granger first,” he said.

“Anything you need Severus, it is yours,” Albus nodded reassuringly at his Potions Master.

“Thank you, sir,” Severus said before he left.

~*~*~*~*~

Ron and Harry quietly walked into Hermione’s room where they found her in bed, restless.

“Hello Hermione,” said Harry softly. She turned toward the voice and saw her two best friends, but she could only stare at them, afraid of what they thought.

“We’ve missed you Hermione,” said Ron as they both moved closer to the bed. Hermione still did not answer. Professor Dumbledore had explained to Harry and Ron that she would probably not want to see them, but they needed to show her their support.

“When you return to class, we will help you catch up on the homework that you missed,” Harry said as he smiled.

“I brought you some flowers for your room,” said Ron as he laid them on her table. Hermione did not respond to either of them. Even though she wanted to, she just felt so much shame over her actions that she couldn’t.

“We will let you get some rest Hermione,” said Ron as he gestured Harry toward the door.

“But we will visit you tomorrow,” said Harry and they both left as a tear fell down Hermione’s cheek.

~*~*~*~*~

After Severus finished making all of the arrangements for his absence, he went back to the infirmary to be with Hermione. Since she was not sleeping, he wanted her to be watched at all times. Madam Pomfrey informed him that Hermione was refusing to eat and she had been very restless all day, confirming his suspicions. Severus knew first hand that sleep deprivation was a classic and very effective form of torture. It appeared that Hermione was indirectly doing this to her own body and mind and this could eventually cause her to succumb to the pain by ending her own life. In just a few short hours, the Priapusum Tower would be ready and he would take Hermione there to begin her recovery.