A Certain Amount of Sense

Chapter 11

“Hey Ginny, have you seen Hermione?” asked Ron, with Harry in tow. The two of them sat down at the dining table across from Ginny, who had already started in on her lunch.

“No. Didn’t you just have Charms with her?”

“She didn’t show, and when we asked Flitwick where she was, he just said she was excused from the class. And we checked the library on the way here, so she’s not there either.” Ginny glanced up at the head table and saw the empty seat. She looked at Harry, who in turn indicated by rolling eyes at Ron that he didn’t want to say anything while her brother was still there. They weren’t quick enough however, and Ron caught the looks.

“What is it? You two have been hiding something from me haven’t you? Well, give.”

“It’s nothing Ron. Don’t worry about it.”

“No, Hermione’s gone missing, and you two know something about it.”

“Actually, Ron, we don’t. But I do know how to find out where Hermione is.” Both boys looked at each other for a second before Ron’s eyes widened in realization.

“Right, the Marauder’s Map! Come on, let’s go get it!” They took off for their tower with Ginny running to catch up. When they got to the Fat Lady’s portrait, Ron gave the password and scrambled in first. Before Harry could follow, Ginny grabbed his robes.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“What do you mean?”

“What if the map shows Hermione…?” She raised her eyebrows for emphasis.

“Aw, come on. There’s no way the map will show anything that has to do with that note. I’m sure she’s just with the Headmaster or something.” He flashed her a grin. It was meant to charm her, and it almost worked. She let go of him, but she still had a bad feeling about this.

***

“I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.” As the lines and dots appeared on the parchment, all three pairs of eyes started to scan it for their friend’s name. Harry and Ginny found it first because, although they didn’t want to admit it, their first thought was to look at the lower right hand corner, where the dungeon rooms were drawn.

“She’s not on here! Where could…oh wait. What’s this? What’s she doing down there?” He pointed at the still dot occupying the space next to the one labeled “S. Snape.” “Why that greasy git. Come on, let’s go see what he’s got her down there for. He’s probably trying to pin her down for some sort of detention or other.” At his words, Harry had a visual which he tried to shake off immediately.

“Hold on, Ron. I just remembered. She’s there to, um, start her Occlumency lessons with him. Don’t you remember?” He quickly elbowed Ginny.

“Um, yeah. That’s right. I forgot, too. Occlumency lessons. What he said.” Bugger. She was usually a bit faster than that. But the thought of Snape on top of Hermione combined with being this close to Harry had caused her to zone out for a bit.

Ron looked at the two of them suspiciously. He might be bad at thinking before speaking, but he wasn’t a master at Wizard’s chess for nothing. Fine, if that’s the way they were going to play….

“I see,” he said contritely. “Well then, let’s go back and eat. I’m starving!” The two comrades in deception exhaled with relief as they followed him back down the staircase. That had been close. Tonight, they would definitely have to have their talk with Hermione. What was she doing down there with Snape? As they walked back to the Great Hall, both were perhaps too preoccupied to wonder at the ease in which the third had accepted their misdirection.

***

“Occlumency lessons. How thick to they think I am?” thought Ron as he made his way back to his bedroom. He had told his friend and his sister that he had forgotten his books for his next class so that he had an excuse to leave the dining table early. When he got to his rooms, he immediately went for the map. Upon activation, he saw that Hermione was still in the same spot, although Professor Snape’s dot had moved. There was definitely something wrong about this. He looked again in Harry’s chest and fished out his Invisibility Cloak, telling himself that he was only borrowing it. He had grown much taller in the past year and needed to crouch almost all the way down to completely cover himself. As an afterthought, he swiped the map too. It had been four years since he had last been down to that part of the dungeons, and he wanted to make sure that he didn’t lose his way.

It was a good thing that he did, he thought later, as the Confundus charm hit him. But he knew enough of the slimy Slytherins’ ways to know that he was better off trusting the map to his own eyes. He continued walking straight as the map told him to, even though all he saw was a turn in the corridors. “It’ll be all right, mate. Just keep walking. You do this every year to get to Platform 9 ¾.”

His persistence paid off as he walked through the wall and found himself in a straight hallway. Only a little further to the entrance to Snape’s rooms. Suddenly, he heard footsteps and the sound of Malfoy’s drawling voice. He pressed himself against the wall and held his breath. Malfoy knew about the Invisibility Cloak, and if he heard anything, it wouldn’t take him long to suspect that something was afoot.

“You should have seen her. All trembling and scared…. Damn, that Mudblood was delicious!”

“So you….” It was either Crabbe or Goyle’s thick voice. He still couldn’t tell which.

“What do you think?” There was a moment of silence. Although he couldn’t see them, Ron could picture their faces as they tried to do what their ringleader had just told them to do. Apparently, Draco didn’t really expect them to either and answered anyways. “Of course I did. Why do you think I was late to class?”

“Uh….”

“And here’s the best part. Our dear old Snape took her off my hands. He was probably watching, that old fool. Waiting for his chance with the chit. After all those years of having her act like a know-it-all in his classes, I’m sure he had a few things he wanted to teach her.” In the laughter that followed, Ron almost gave himself away. He clenched his fists in fury as the adrenaline rushed through him. “I knew there was something wrong! I knew it!” His only consolation was that Harry and Ginny must not have been keeping anything from him; if they knew about this, there was no way in Hades they would have carried on as they had.

He waited until he heard the footsteps and voices disappear into the Slytherin common room. Enough of this. He tore off the cloak, ran to Snape’s doors, and pounded on them loud enough to wake the dead.

“Snape! You bastard! Open up!” In a matter of moments, the doors did indeed open and Ron was pulled inside so quickly he almost lost his balance. The momentum of his fall was directed by two strong arms so that he was spun around and thrown against the back of the door. One of the said arms was shoved against his windpipe while the other held a wand directed at his face. He tried to move but the forearm only pressed tighter, and something told him if he struggled any more he would most likely lose whatever consciousness he still had.

“Geroff!”

“Mister Weasley. If you have any ounce of self-preservation you will do exactly as I tell you to.” Ron tried to nod his head. “Now I’m going to take your wand and then step away. If you move or shout I will stun you and then we’ll see exactly how much your Gryffindor courage will be of help when you are lying unconscious on my floor.” Ron didn’t move, but when Snape searched his robes for his wand, he also did not try to stop him. Slowly, he felt the pressure lift from his throat until at last he was able to breathe again. He doubled over and coughed. Oh, why hadn’t he brought Harry with him?

Snape seemed to have read his mind as his next words were, “It’s a good thing you came alone, Mister Weasley, or else I’m sure half of Slytherin would have heard your combined clamors. As it is, I’m surprised it took this long for one of you to come. But I forget, you’re Gryffindors.”

Ron was still hunched over, but he looked up and said with steel in his voice, “Where is she? What have you done with her?”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk, Mr. Weasley. That’s no way to talk to one of your professors. Especially if he has you at a disadvantage.”

Ron took the time to scan the room. It was dark, and it took a moment for his eyes to adjust, but eventually he saw her. She was lying on a chaise in the corner, apparently unconscious.

“Why you….” He rushed over to her, but Snape was faster.

“Petrificus Totalus!” At once, he found he couldn’t move and fell over, stiff as a board. His face was in the ground, but he heard Snape walk calmly over.

“As I was saying, you are in my territory now and you will do as I say. Mobilicorpus.” He levitated Ron over against the wall next to where Hermione lay. Then he cast the same spell he had used to bind Lupin in the Shrieking Shack on him and for good measure, a silencing charm. “As you will see, your friend is merely sleeping, not dead. I don’t know what you thought you would find here, but you may be assured, she is safe.” Ron glared at Snape but eventually looked over at Hermione. It seemed that what he said was true, and he realized that someone had even taken the time to tuck the blankets about her. It assured him, somewhat.

“But Malfoy….” he mouthed. He turned his attention to his professor and tried to calm down. Severus saw that had he managed to strike some sense into the boy and relented, taking off the silencing charm.

“You may speak, but please do not wake her.” Ron nodded and tested his voice.

“Malfoy. I heard Malfoy outside. Talking to Crabbe and Goyle. He said…he said he had….” Ron struggled to find the right word to say and at the same time remain in control. “That he had taken Hermione. And that you….” He colored as he suddenly realized what he was accusing the man in front of him of.

“I see. And you believed him. About me,” he said bitterly.

“You mean, you mean it’s true? Not about you, but about what he did?” A change occurred in Snape’s eyes, and Ron was surprised by the amount of emotion that was conveyed in them. The man looked at him squarely, as if deciding whether he could be trusted with the information. He breathed deeply before replying.

“Yes,” he finally said, softly. He had averted his eyes when he said it and looked over to the girl. To Ron, it looked a lot like guilt and he would have reacted accordingly except that Snape was speaking again. “Yes, Miss Granger was unfortunately assaulted by Mister Malfoy earlier this morning.”

“Unfortunately?! You call….” A swift glare from Snape quieted him again.

“Yes, it was most unfortunate, Mr. Weasley. And it would have been worse, except apparently Mr. Malfoy came prematurely, and there was no actual intercourse. No penetration.”

“Stop it. I don’t want to hear this. Stop it!”

“You wanted to know, Mr. Weasley. Well now you know. I found them too late. Although I suppose even if I had gotten there sooner it would still have been too late for Mr. Malfoy. And Miss Granger.” Ron wanted more than anything to have the use of his arms back. So he could cover his ears. Or attack his teacher. Anything rather than have to stand there and listening to him talk about Hermione this way.

“Regardless, she will still bear the mental and emotional scars of that encounter for quite a while. Mr. Weasley, are you prepared to help her through this?” His voice had suddenly become much more urgent. Demanding, even.

“Of course. She’s my friend. My best friend. How could you expect me to just…abandon her?”

“It will be hard, Mr. Weasley. She will be different. She may not trust you or Harry right away.”

“But….”

“It’s not your fault; it’s not because of anything you’ve done. It’s because you’re a male. And she may see anything male as a threat.”

“So what is she doing here? Why isn’t she in the hospital wing? Or with Professor McGonagall? Why is she still here?”

“That’s a good question, my child. And the answer is that I asked him to keep her here, for the time being,” replied a third voice from the fireplace.

“Headmaster!”

“Hello Severus, Mr. Weasley. I’m sorry if I interrupted you, but it seems that Madam Pomfrey has managed to clear the hospital wing finally. I think it is time to remove Miss Granger from your rooms, Severus.”

“As you see fit, Headmaster.”

“Good, good. I’ve connected your fireplace to the one in the hospital wing. Poppy will be waiting on the other side. And Severus, perhaps it might be prudent to release young Mister Weasley from the full body bind.”

“As you wish.” Dumbledore’s head disappeared, but the fire remained green. Severus muttered the counter curse at Ron, who was able to move again, though he was still bound by the magical ropes. He then walked over to the chaise, and picked Hermione up, blankets and all. He shifted her higher into his arms and made to walk through the fire.

“Professor, sir. You forgot about the ropes.”

“Pity, Dumbledore forgot to mention them also. Try not to ruin anything while I’m gone, will you?” He stepped through the fire and disappeared with Hermione.

“That git! When I get my hands on him, why, I’ll….” Ron continued to curse and swear at the Potions Master long after he was gone.