Hand Talk

Story Disclaimer: I legally own none of the recognizable characters in this fictional story. All recognizable (even if distorted) 'Harry Potter' characters are owned by their creator, Ms J.K. Rowling and her associated publishers and distributors.

Story Summary: Hermione is found bloodied and bruised, without her sight and hearing. Resorting to the only communication she knows, there is only one other who understands her. HG/SS

Rating: M (mature themes, violence, language, abuse, non-consensual sex, self-injury, mental health issues, physical disability)

This content notice has been updated as of 17/05/13, near 13 years after it was first published at the insistence of an offended reviewer. I hope this more comprehensive rating guide helps readers better select stories based on their content and covers all aspects relevant as I haven't read any of this work in 5years.

Walking along a darkened corridor of the upper floors of Hogwarts Castle, Prefect Hermione Granger made her rostered rounds of the castle in search of those out of bed after curfew. It had been a slow evening her only duty so far to shoo a couple of Ravenclaw second years dawdling back from the library to their common room a few minutes before curfew began. The time alone with only the sound of her footsteps and empty corridors, gave her time to think about things, like how she still had an Advanced Arithmancy assignment to complete, 2 feet worth. Checking the time for the second time in the last ten minutes Hermione sighed, dispelling the tempus charm, and beginning her last port of call. This last 600m or so stretch of corridors was notorious for late night wanderers and couples which was why she usually made a point of heading back to Gryffindor tower this way.

It was the faint sound of a swishing cloak behind her that snapped her from her thoughts of real and imaginary numbers in predictive line equations. Swiftly she turned on her heel, sending out three light orbs shooting from her outstretched wand.

"Show yourself this instant," she said to the empty hallway, wand drawn. The light spilled into the hallway, illuminating it brightly. But she found nothing other than the stone walls and floor. A whispering behind her snatched her wand from her grasp at the same time a hand clamped firmly over her mouth.

"I should think not," said a voice barley above a whisper to her ear. Vaguely in her panicked mind she registered her wand skidding to a stop on the stone floor some distance away. "However, once I am finished with you I doubt you will be in much of a state to recall the events about to take place." Strong arms held her tightly as she was dragged down the corridor. Frantically she thrashed about trying to break free, her legs kicking out in an attempt to make her attacker let go, her hands scratching his arms, her cries for help all but muffled against his hand. In through a doorway he took her. Seeing the wall she grabbed hold of it, her nails digging into the stone of the corridor. But he was too strong, easily pulling her way. Without warning he pushed her to the ground and raised his wand easily immobilising her.

"Don't worry my sweet," he said softly as he spelled the door closed. "You'll be screaming my name in no time." The last thing she saw was the glimpse of an outline, a tattoo illuminated by her dying orbs in the hallway as the door shut; the Dark Mark.

ooOOoo

It had been a good evening for Severus Snape he mused as he strolled along one of the lesser used corridors. He had caught two Hufflepuffs, and a Ravenclaw in the halls after curfew each earning their house a hefty loss, although there had been a Slytherin couple whom he had caught in a small recess. He had been obliged to take 10 points a piece from Slytherin for being careless enough to get caught. With a threat of what would happen if he caught them again he sent the two back to the Slytherin common room. He had been looking forward to catching Potter or one of his sidekicks tonight, after over hearing a plan involving a girls' bathroom and potion brewing but, after checking all of the girls' bathrooms throughout Hogwarts that he knew of, he had seen neither hide nor hair of any of them.

It seemed unusual for Potter, now that he thought about it, to not to be getting up to as much mischief as he had the previous year. Perhaps, by some stroke of luck, wonder boy was actually starting to grow up and realise that they were indeed at war and that not everything was about him. The same went for the youngest Weasley boy seeing as they were attached at the hip.

Through this term they had become marginally ... bearable, as far as Potter's and Weasley's went. And the Granger girl, she didn't seem to be as excitable as she once was, no longer bouncing around in her seat at the mere inkling of a question to prove her intelligence.

An object lying on the floor caught his attention, it was a wand. 'How careless,' he thought vehemently. A wand was really the only thing which made a witch or wizard any different from a common muggle. It was just like a student to leave such a valuable object simply lying around, and themselves completely unarmed. The Professor bent down and picked up the wand studying it. It seemed familiar, perhaps belonging to an older student then. That was even worse.

The slight creak of a door ahead caught his attention. 'Unlucky student number 6,' he thought, slipping into the shadows and pocketing the wand, 'perhaps even a couple.'

From time to time Professor Snape enjoyed following out of bounds students, stalking them for several minutes, letting them think they were home free before pouncing, deducting and assigning. Tonight was one of those times.

Slipping into through the shadows soundlessly he made his way in for the kill. The door in question was opened slightly as though it had been carelessly shut, not properly latched. Severus knew from memory that it led to a disused classroom, one with no other exits. Silently easing it open he stealthily moved in and edged along the wall. Most of the desks had been piled to one side or another, the disused chairs strewn about carelessly with a fine layer of dust covering most surfaces. The teacher's desk however, remained in its original position, due to several charms that no one had bothered to remove or possibly, couldn't remove. And there the unlucky student was, hiding behind it. It sounded like only one instead of a couple as he had hoped. Quietly he stepped up on the dais, completely unnoticed by the individual. While their head was turned away in the opposite direction, their robes allowed for identification; Gryffindor.

"Fifty points from Gryffindor," said Severus dramatically, at the same time lighting the room in an attempt to startle the perpetrator. "Get up now," he added. But the student made no move as to even have heard him.

"Twenty points from Gryffindor for disobeying a teacher. Get here NOW!" he thundered gesturing to the ground in front of him. Still there was no response, the student sat deathly still against the desk.

Irritation rising by the second he waited before finally having had enough. Stepping forward he grabbed the Gryffindor's collar and hoisting them to their feet.

It was Miss Hermione Gryffindor I-Know-It-All Granger. Before he could properly see her face the girl screamed and shrieked, pulling away from him. In her efforts she fell to the ground where she continued frantically clambering away from him. It was then he noticed her bare feet and from the way she was holding her robe so tightly it appeared that she was not in school uniform either let alone anything else.

"What are you doing here and why are you not dressed?" he demanded, but still the girl did not what he had asked, instead remained lying there on the stone floor. Her breathing was quick, shallow, the breathing of someone terrified. Good. "Miss Granger. On your feet now." Still she did not move from her place several feet in front of him.

Stalking forward he bent down to lift her to her feet once more but paused before he laid his hand upon her. Her face was turned slightly to the other side but through the loose hair he could tell that a good portion of her face was bruised and her lip split. Someone had laid into this girl with a heavy fist by the looks. There was also probably some spell damage of some sort. That was the way they usually went about things.

"On your feet, Miss Granger," he said, the edge from his voice gone. "To the Hospital wing with you now." He reached forward to help her to her feet but she shrieked again, pulling out of his grasp and trying to roll away from him. She rolled straight into the desk, her head knocking against the leg with a sickening thud before he could do anything. And then she was still.

'Oh, dear gods,' he thought, as he rolled her onto her back. She didn't move. "Miss Granger?" he asked, gently shaking her shoulder. No response. He placed a hand on her chest. She was still breathing. The stupid girl had knocked herself out.

Promptly he conjured a stretcher and levitated her limp body onto it before heading to the nearest floo two corridors down.

ooOOoo

"Madam Pomfrey," Snape called urgently as he stepped out of the large fireplace, the stretcher firmly in his grasp. "Poppy!"

"Who is making all that racket? This is a hospital, not a pub," replied the matron as she stepped out of her office. "Oh, it's you Professor Snape." With a flick of her wrist she illuminated the ward. "Oh, dear, who is this?" she asked blinking in the sudden change of light

"Miss Granger," replied Professor Snape, unaffected by the blazing light as he directed the stretcher away from the fireplace.

"Straight to the bed," directed the matron, indicating to the nearest cot. "What happened?"

"She was found in an abandoned classroom in the west wing. Knocked herself unconscious on a desk but has other injuries," said Severus stiffly as he levitated the girl onto the crisp linen sheets. Madam Pomfrey nodded and drew her wand reciting several diagnostic charms as Severus banished the stretcher. Different coloured lights and objects began spinning around her body some sticking to certain regions others whizzing all around in what appeared to be random patterns.

"Oh dear," she muttered. "Oh dearie, dear." With a flick of her wand towards the storage area she sent three carts floating their way at an almost neck breaking speed. The bottles clattered and rattled as each came to a halt at the end of the bed, one of the carts setting itself on another. "Pull the screens will you Severus."

"Concussion, abrasions, lacerations," listed off Poppy to herself as she read the different results around the girl, "five fractures, a partial Transverse, two Greenstick's and a complete Spiral, minimal internal bleeding, optical interference, neurological sensory blocking. Very bad, very bad indeed."

Severus listened carefully as the medi-witch listed the girl's injuries, spotting each as they were named. "And a heavy after effects of Dark Magic," added the Potions Professor indicating to a dark patch near the girls hip. What had been done to her? Who had done this?

The matron nodded. "Firecall Minerva," directed the witch as she began spelling out different potions that she needed from the trolleys.

"Right away," replied Severus. Miss Granger's injuries were not so severe that they required the double efforts of the schools resident medical officer and Potions Professor. Stepping back over to the fireplace he threw in a pinch of floo powder from the mantel. "Professor McGonagall, Private Quarters." The low fire flared green and he stuck his head into the flames.

"Minerva," he call, as a bell rang somewhere in her rooms, signalling a floo call. Several seconds later the Transfiguration Professor emerged from a doorway, clad in her dressing gown.

"What is it Severus?" she asked, her eyes squinting tiredly in the low light. "It is nearly midnight."

"There has been an incident. Poppy requires you in the infirmary immediately," he said shortly.

Tiredness seemed to evaporate from the Gryffindor. "Who?" she asked.

"Miss Granger."

"I'll be through in a moment," she answered, disappearing back into the room from which she came.

Severus pulled out of the fire and true to her word Minerva stepped through several moments later, this time dressed in her robes, her hair pulled back into its customary bun. Before the fire had even turned red once more, the Head of Gryffindor was at Miss Granger's bedside.

"What happened?" she asked, her voice a little strained.

"I found her in the western wing, one of the upper floors," he explained, as he summoned a blood replenishing potion to where he stood near the head of the bed. "She was non-responsive to questioning and touched on the shoulder reacted so violently she knocked herself unconscious with blunt force trauma to the head."

Minerva's brow creased with worry. "Other injuries?" she asked. Poppy began pointing out injuries that were still present and those that she had healed. Clearly his fellow professor was not as well versed in medicinal-magic has himself. Carefully lifting the girls head he manually fed her the potion and a pain relief draught before proceeding to mend her fractured collar bone.

After he had finished the matron spelled the girl in to a standard issue set of pyjamas and tucked her under the blankets.

"I'm going to leave the girl until she wakes before doing any neurological magic," said Poppy, more to the transfiguration professor than himself. It was a sensible option. With the girl being unconscious and having recently suffered a concussion, it was dangerous to attempt any manipulation of the brain, but for now the girl was stable.

"You know where I am if you require my assistance," said Severus to the matron. She nodded. Many times before she had called him to ask for his aid in treating complicated injuries.

"Good Evening."

"Thank-you, Severus," added Minerva.

Severus tilted his head to her as she pulled the screen back around the three of them, blocking them from his view. For a moment he watched their silhouettes against the screen before turning on his heel and disappearing back into the darkness, the infirmary doors closing quietly behind him.