Chapter 7: Recovery

Its 5:30 in the morning and Hermione lies in bed just staring at the wall. She can't believe what happened to her. Not only was she raped by someone who she was suppose to feel safe around and protect her; but then she tried to damage herself because of it. She knows it wasn't her fault, there was no way she could predict or explain what happened, but for some reason she couldn't help but feel ashamed. The worse thing is that she can't tell anyone. If she does, she knows he will come after her again; only this time it will be worse. She wants to tell Draco so badly, but she just can't. Telling him won't change what happened, it won't make her feel any better, it will just change the way he looks at her and bring her problems down upon him.

She drags herself out of bed and looks in the mirror. She looks horrible. He hair was disheveled, her face was stained with tears, and she was wearing the same nightgown she's been wearing for the past 3 days. She just can't get herself to do anything. All she wants to do is nothing. The only thing she looks forward to is her visits from Draco, Harry, Ron and Ginny. Harry and Ginny came to see her twice in the past 3 days, Ron saw her 3 times. Every time they came to visit they would ask the same thing, "What happened?" and "Why did you do it?" But they were always met with the same reply…silence. But Draco comes to see her about 4 times a day. He sees her before he leaves for class, he spends lunch with her, he stops by between potions and transfigurations, and then he spends all night with her. She loves it. Plus, he never asks those questions. He understands that she isn't ready to tell anyone, and he knows she won't answer a single question.

She strips off her nightgown and throws it in the laundry basket followed by her underwear. She slips on her robe and goes to the bathroom to take a bath.

She turns on the water and adds bubbles, salts, and milks before sliding into the boiling hot water. She lies there and just lets the unbearable heat overtake her. She lets it burn away the filth from her 3 days of rest, the unwanted sex, and the filth of him. She lets it wash it all away. She lies there until her skin prunes yet she still feels dirty. So, she crawls out of the tub and lets the water drain away. Then she gets in the shower. She turns the water on full blast heat and grabs the shampoo. She scrubs away at her hair until it begins to fall into her hands. Then, she grabs the loofa and pours on almost the entire bottle of soap and scrubs her skin until its raw.

She steps out of the shower and dries off with a soft white towel. When she pulls the towel away, it has traces of blood on it. She had scrubbed her skin until she bled. She looks down at the towel and honestly can't care less. She grabs her wand and quickly heals the wounds all over her skin, then pulls her robe over body. She sits down and tries to comb her hair the natural way, but soon realizes it's hopeless. She grabs her wand and untangles it with a simple spell, then leaves for her room. She slides on some deodorant and puts some lotion all over her body.

She to her closet and finds some suitable clothes. She's decided she's going to class today. She won't let this man ruin her entire life. She's worked too hard to throw it all away all because one man finds power in destroying young girls' lives. No, she will get through this and next time, she'll be prepared.

She finds a simple red T shirt and a pair of blue Levis with her tennis shoes. She puts her hair up in a high ponytail and doesn't even worry about her make-up. She walks out of her room and sees Draco sitting on the couch. He looks up as she walks in and stares at her with a happy shocked look on his face.

"Hermione, you're up!" He exclaims as he jumps to his feet to run to her and give her a big hug.

"Yah, I think I'm gonna go to class today." She says.

He pulls away from the hug, "are you sure? You can have one more day if you want."

She smiles. He's so sweet to her. "I'm sure, I really do need to get back to work."

"Alright, but I'm walking you to all of your classes whether your friends like it or not." He tells her.

"Of course."

Hermione goes down to the great hall and all the eyes follow her as she walks. She's well aware, but she doesn't care. She goes up to her friends and they all greet her with a hug.

"Hermione, how are you feeling?" Ron asks with concern and worry in his voice.

"I'm fine guys." She replies.

"Are you sure?" Harry asks.

"Of course." She answers a bit more irritably this time.

"Oh my God, I'm so glad your up!" Ginny squeals as she grabs Hermione by the hands and sits her down. "I have so much to catch you up with! OK, to start with you know the guy I like Nick well he like…

Hermione stands in the hall outside her arithmetic class waiting for Draco practically hyperventilating. Her next class is potions. She wants more than anything to just run away back up to her room. The last thing she wants to do is face her rapist all ready. It was just too soon.

Draco peers around the corner and sees Hermione waiting for him. He hurries up. Hermione sees him approaching her and she quickly calms herself down. She can't let Draco see her so upset.

"Hey, ready for potions?" He asks her casually.

"Yah," she says in a pretend calm voice.

They walk to class pretty silently; just having some small talk and they get to class. Hermione starts to shake as she sits down at her desk. Mr. Jackins stares at her the whole time. When she sits down, he approaches her with a smile on his face. Hermione feels like she could cry.

"Miss Granger, wonderful to see you again. I have your make-up assignments for you. Why don't you stop by after class and I'll give them to you and explain how to do it properly." She knows exactly what he means. He wants to hurt her again.

"No, I don't think so. I'm pretty tired all ready and I don't think I'll be up to it tonight." She replies quickly.

"Well…I could always have Ginny come down and get it for you." He implies. She can't put Ginny in danger of this monster.

"No, I'll come down and get it myself." She says weakly.

He smiles at her. "Good."

Hermione makes it through her other classes with tears lingering in her eyes. She keeps smiling, but all the color is drained from her face. All her friends keep asking her if something is wrong, but she just smiles sweetly and says she's just tired. She can't drag anyone else into her torture. He's already threatened Ginny for her refusal to willingly raped by him.

She can't handle this. She could barely handle being raped once, now he wants to make it a casual thing! Why couldn't she have just killed herself when she had the chance?

At least this way she was the only one being tortured. If she had killed herself, he would find some other girl to harm. She just can't understand why he would do this. There are plenty of girls who would willingly be dominated by this man, but he had to choose her.

She walks into the potions class with a look of fear and determination on her face. 'Maybe he really just wants to give me my assignments.' She thinks, but still walks in with her hand tightly clutching her wand inside her robe pocket.

"Hello Miss Granger, please have a seat." He brightly says.

She reluctantly sits down, her eyes never leaving his face.

"You're excused from the notes, but I want you to make these two potions by next week. You can bring them in to me after classes in vials." He says laying the papers on the table in front of her.

"Ok, I guess I'll be on my way," she says getting up very quickly.

"Exspelliomous"

Her wand flies out of her hand and pocket. He walks up close to her so they are face to face.

"Not so fast baby."

Hermione's heart stops. She knew this was what he wanted, but she hoped otherwise.

He runs his fingers through her hair and then grabs it hard in back causing Hermione to yelp and a tear to fall down her cheek. He smiles and kisses the tear away.

He throws her on the ground and drops on top of her. He kisses her hard on the lips leaving a bruise and she starts to cry again.

"Please don't." she cries.

He ignores her and pulls her school robes off and runs his hand up her shirt grabbing her left breast and she begs him to stop. He starts to undo her pants and pull them down her thighs. He was so caught up in the beauty before him and she was so busy crying, neither of them heard the door opening.

"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOUR DOING TO MY WIFE!!!"