Chapter Text
The Dark Mark was burning. Again. Growling, he rubbed his left arm in an attempt to relieve the sting the branded mark on his skin was giving off. His Master was growing stronger, it seemed, and it did nothing but put Severus in a darker mood. Dumbledore had already told him off twice for taking his anger out on the students and as much as he hated to admit it, the old man was right. He had always been particularly nasty towards the students (except his own, of course) but the past week he had threatened practically everyone that had so much as glanced at him ('What are you looking at me for, Longbottom? Do you want to be thrown off the astronomy tower?!). And to add to it, Moody had been high on his tail the minute he had set foot at Hogwarts. What was Dumbledore thinking anyway, giving the DADA post to a mentally deranged fool? It was ever so cumbersome when the auror shadowed him constantly, taking away what little freedom he had in skulking around the castle. If he wasn't being followed, then he was being hounded in his office-apparently, Moody still hadn't taken Dumbledore's word of his reform. What Severus would give to hex his other leg or wri-
He froze as he approached the large beech tree by the lake. There was a figure lying below the tree, motionless in the dark. Fear gripped Severus first, all thoughts of murdering Moody vanishing instantly and was replaced with something else instead. Dread. His first sense told him to send for Dumbledore, the Yule Ball had ended by now surely and the headmaster was sure to be in his room. As he neared the figure, he saw that it was moving. Or shaking, more like. His wand drawn, Severus stepped closer.
"Lumos," he whispered, his thoughts fearing the worst.
And then--
"Miss Granger, what are you doing here?"
The girl looked up in shock. Obviously, she had not been expecting to be interrupted in what seemed to be a crying fest judging by the puffiness of her eyes. He rolled his eyes internally, something must have happened between her and the Weasley boy again. Severus was not one for addressing gossip, but he did attend staff meetings which consisted of the other professors sharing rumors and stories about their students. Weasley's and Granger's relationship had been quite the sensation for a while now though Severus did not bring himself to care for it.
The girl sniffed loudly and blinked rather stupidly at him.
"Why are you crying, girl?" he asked softly. Once again, he was met with silence. His lips curled as he sneered at her.
"Are you aware you've broken school rules? Curfew ended half an hour ago and yet here you are, when you should be in your dormitory, Granger. What's your excuse?" he berated, his smile growing nastier by the minute. He didn't hate Granger, not when she reminded him so much of his own self but she was a close friend of Potter's...
"Thought you were different from the rest of the students, did you, Granger? That if you were friends with Potter that you didn't need to heed the rules set by the school? Twenty points from Gryffindor!" he said, controlling the venom in his voice from seeping out too much. The girl was obviously hurt by something, after all, and he didn't want her crying in front of him. He despised it when someone showed their weaknesses to him. What was he supposed to do? Comfort her? He had to hold in a laugh at the thought. Granger would die from shock.
"I-I'm sorry, Professor. I'll l-leave now," she spoke finally, her voice shaking ever so slightly. She rubbed her eyes, trying to hide a fresh set of tears that spilled over her face. She turned to leave and it was in that instant, when half of her figure was illuminated by the steady glow from his wand did he catch it. Severus blinked. The girl had already turned to leave.
"Stop," he commanded, his voice just a whisper. It carried through the silent lake and she stopped, dead in her tracks. She turned to face him. He drew nearer, his wand moving away from her face to her shoulders. There was an ugly bruise there, and if he looked close enough he could see the shape of fingerprints etched onto her skin. Her dress was torn at the straps as though forcibly pulled. He moved the light to her arms where they were marked with more bruises. His eyes narrowed, and Granger's raised eyebrows told him that she could see how his hands were trembling.
"Who did this to you?" he asked again, softly. But there was nothing kind about his voice. If anything, it sounded more dangerous-as though he was trying hard to keep his anger closed to himself.
"N-no one, Professor. I j-just fell and h...hurt myself," she said too quickly.
Severus scoffed. How many times had he said the same thing to the school nurse? And how many of those times had he been telling the truth.
"Liar," he said and the girl's eyes widened. She was afraid. Of him? Perhaps but he did not care. He had to know what happened to her. His eyes narrowed again when he remembered how he had seen Weasley and her arguing after the dance earlier.
"Did Weasley do this?"
Her eyes grew wide again as she shook her head weakly. Tears were forming in her eyes again.
"No! Ron wou-would never! He...he's my best friend!"
Severus racked his brains, trying to figure out who else had been with Granger. But hard as he tried, he couldn't remember who she was with. She hadn't been a priority-he had been too busy watching Karkaroff the entire time.
"Miss Granger, I don't need you to tell me what happened to you here. I have many means in which I can-ah-extract that information," Severus threatened and almost immediately regretted it. The girl cowered from him. A flash of guilt bubbled in his conscience. Don't frighten the girl, Severus. Help her you dolt, he thought to himself furiously. Allowing himself to sneer at herself again, he spoke.
"Follow me, girl," he spoke.
He began to walk towards the castle and when he realized that he couldn't hear another set of footsteps, he turned to see the girl rooted on the spot he had left her in. He circled back to her, repeatedly stabbing himself mentally for what he was being put through. He snapped at her rudely.
"Didn't you hear me? I said follow me!"
When he looked at her, he saw her expression and knew immediately what she was thinking.
"I'm not kidnapping you, Granger! I'm going to take you to the Hospital Wing, perhaps Poppy could be more help than I!"
Nodding, she followed his stride and they walked back to the castle under the moonlight accompanied by a dreadful silence. Severus slammed open the door to the Hospital Wing and took Poppy by complete surprise. He smirked when he saw her quickly stash the large Firewhiskey bottle under her table and hurried towards them.
"Severus, what are you doing-this time of the hour-Granger, what's happened?" Poppy seemed to have gone into shock at the scene before her eyes. Severus cast a side-way glance towards Granger and saw that she had her head down, as if ashamed.
"Granger, go wait over there. I need to discuss your..." he paused, thinking,"...situation with Madam Pomfrey."
With a sniff nod, she walked towards the bed that was farthest from him and Poppy. With the girl far off his view, Severus turned his attention to Poppy who was looking back and forth between him and Granger.
"I think," he said in a tired voice, "I'll have a little of that drink, Poppy."
A minute later, Severus had downed two glasses and was disappointed to see he was still sober.
"I found the girl by the lake, Poppy. She has bruise marks and her dress was torn. I asked her if it was Weasley ('Surely not him!' Poppy exclaimed) but she said it wasn't. I don't know who it is yet and I thought perhaps she might be more willing to share that piece of information with someone..."
"...less intimidating than you, I presume," Poppy finished smiling. He nodded curtly.
"Though I do believe there were many a times when you've intimidated even me, Poppy," he teased, his eyes glittering. The alcohol was working then, he figured, and felt a little of the anger dissipate.
"Well, you were a particularly difficult student to handle at times, Severus. Just hold on, I'll be right back," she said and left him standing there. At first, he thought to leave. Obviously Granger was safe now but curiosity tickled him. Who would hurt this girl? For a second, he wondered grimly if it had been Draco-the boy had been tormenting her just a few weeks ago. He felt ashamed, thinking back to when he had done nothing to defend her when Draco had hexed her and called her names. Minerva had told him just the other day what Draco had been calling the Muggleborns. He felt his skin flush and burn as he wondered what kind of man he really was. Had he not been just as foolish as Draco when he was a schoolboy? Wasn't this superiority complex that cost him his friendship with...her? Severus felt his mood shift as his thoughts began to drift towards another Muggleborn girl. What would she think of him praising Draco when he thought so little of her kind?
"It's no use thinking about her. She's dead," he muttered to himself darkly. He couldn't afford to lose his grip like this, not now. Granger may not be in his house but she was still his student and he had vowed to Dumbledore to ensure the safety of all the students. And someone had hurt her. He broke away from his thoughts when he heard footsteps nearing.
Granger was now dressed in school robes that seemed a little too big for her but it did hide the bruises. Granger stood a metre away as Poppy approached him.
"I've examined the girl and it seems that the extent of her injuries are only what you've observed yourself. The attacker, which she refuses to name, tried to...force himself on her and when she refused he resorted to physical violence. He might have finished what he planned had our Miss Granger not whipped out her wand and sent a hex flying at him. After that, he ran and not soon after, you came across her, Severus."
There was a grim silence. So the girl was alright, for the most part. A vindictive part of him reveled at the fact that she had attacked him back. That was good, and whoever he was must have been a coward to flee like that. He looked back at her and saw that she was wincing slightly.
"It seems taking away house points will not be enough to remind you not to break school rules, Miss Granger. You will serve detention with me."
"Severus, the girl was just attacked!" Poppy protested and he jeered at her.
"Be that as it may, she still needs to learn her lesson. If you have a problem with how I handle things at the school, take it to Dumbledore!" he snapped and turned on his heel. Just as he reached the door, he turned to look at the girl.
"Well, what are you standing there for? Would you like to be brought to detention on a stretcher, Granger?"
Poppy threw her hands up in frustration and pressed what was no doubt chocolate into the younger girl's hands before cursing him under her breath. He smirked and allowed Granger to step out of the room before following her. They reached the dungeon and he took her into the classroom they frequently occupied. Where in the day, the room would be filled with the sound of potions hissing and cauldrons crackling under the fire, now it was still and silent and quite ominous.
"Sit," he ordered, pointing to a table by the front. She did so, looking around bewildered. Shaking his head, he stalked off into his office.
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Hermione was trying desperately to hold back her tears as she waited in the potions classroom. She could hear Snape rummaging through something in his office, no doubt some punishment he would set on her for being outside the school grounds way past curfew. The bruises on her body seemed to be pulsing and she couldn't help but wince. Her thoughts were wandering to what had happened but she steeled herself back to the present. She couldn't dwell on it, not now. Not in front of Snape. She had already cried so much in front of him, he had been so annoyed-no-angry with her. She could feel anger boiling in herself. Why did he have to be so horrible all the time? She had just been attacked! She could feel some of Harry's loathing of the man set in her.
Snape strode towards her, almost like a robot. He was expressionless as if his thoughts were far away from her. He set a rag and a bowl in front of her filled with a dark liquid. He pointed to it.
"Murtlap essence," he said, and watched her with his cold, black eyes. She simply stared at him. She watched his brows cross and an ugly frown form in his face. He looked impatient and pinched the bridge of his nose before speaking.
"You use it to relieve wounds, Granger. Use it to salve your bruises for heaven's sake! Can you do manage to muster it yourself or would you prefer I do it for you?" he snapped horribly.
Not wanting Snape anywhere near her again after the entire ordeal, she nodded quickly and pulled up her sleeves to expose the bruises. She noticed how he looked away as though the bruises had offended him personally. She dabbed the liquid using the rag he'd provided and lightly wiped it against her skin.
"Do it in circular motion, it'll help," he said softly. Hermione thought she had caught just a slight tone of concern in his voice. He could be kind if he wanted to, she brooded. The liquid seemed to shine off her skin and a second later, she could feel how it was healing her. The pain faded into a tingling sensation, leaving behind a faded scar on her right arm. This was...amazing! She needed to research on this potion, it would definitely come in handy.
"I assume you know how it works? Take this," as he spoke, he conjured a vial and magicked the essence into it, "and use it twice daily until your bruises disappear. Poppy would have given you the same thing but it would have required you to be hospitalized for several days and I know how you hate (she could feel his sneering remark) to miss a class.The potion is fairly simple to make, and I expect it will come in handy in the future-given the fact that Potter is almost always involved in a near-death experience."
Hermione could hear the malice in his voice whenever he spoke of Harry. She took the vial from him.
"You may leave, Miss Granger," he muttered, turning his back to look out the window. Hermione didn't need to be told twice. As she reached the door, she turned to look back at him. His gaze was still glued to the sky outside. She hesitated for a second. He had helped her tonight, found her by the lake and took her to Madam Pomfrey, given her Murtlap essence to be taken anytime instead of wasting away at the hospital wing...perhaps she had read it wrong. Maybe he hadn't been angry, maybe it had been concern hidden beneath layers of fury. But at whom? Surely he didn't care about a Gryffindor student? She took a huge breath.
"Professor?" she called, her voice echoing. He still hadn't turned.
"Thank you," she murmured. She saw him straighten a little.
"It was Viktor Krum."
This time Snape turned and she could see a dangerous glint in his eyes.
"Duly noted, Granger. Now leave before I take anymore points from Gryffindor."