Chapter 16: Bloody Violence

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author.

Many thanks go to VIVAvivacious for her help as my beta.

--

The wall was crumbling, dust scattering everywhere as bits of plaster sprayed around the room.

Hermione felt as though a speeding train had hit her. She coughed, pulling herself up and out of the broken plastered wall she had just been thrown into with a ridiculous amount of force. She'd some broken ribs, for sure. Rubbing an arm across her face to clear the dust and blood that was coming from a cut on her forehead, she stared at the half-man half-beast across the room from her. Greyback's sharp teeth were all bared, and his fingers had half-transformed into the wolf claws. Sucking in a sharp breath, she tightened the grip on her wand, steadying herself on her feet.

'You had me fooled for a moment, Mudblood,' Fenrir growled, allowing his jaw to return to its human form. 'But you forget who you're dealing with. I can smell you.' He paused, considering the thought for a moment. 'Or rather, the problem would be that I couldn't smell you.' He leered at Hermione as her eyes widened when she realized what he meant. 'You will not be leaving this house alive tonight... or in one piece.'

Hermione felt a shiver run through her for a moment. She could taste blood in her mouth and felt that her left shoulder was dislocated. If he managed to get a hold of her to throw her like that again, she doubted she would be able to survive it a second time. She tried to raise her wand arm, but she gasped when she felt her side throb. She glanced down just a little to see there was a piece of wood roughly the length of her wand, but twice as thick, jutting out from her side.

Gritting her teeth, she grabbed it and yanked it free, tossing it to the ground before raising her wand once more. Greyback growled, transforming his face once more into that of a wolf, snapping his teeth at her menacingly before making his way towards her, his movements heavy and deliberate. Feeling a little trapped, Hermione managed to dodge to one side as he made to launch towards her; his teeth snapped shut on the empty space she had just been occupying.

He whipped around, his long arm soaring through the air and aiming right at her head, but she ducked out of the way and escaped the blow, dodging the heavy hand. She launched herself in the direction of the lounge, ducking to crouch behind it and pressing fingers to her side. She lifted her fingers to look at them and saw they were coated in her own blood. Swearing under her breath, she was about to move along when she felt the lounge shift and was surprised when Greyback lifted it up and tossed it aside as though it weighed nothing.

Exposed, Hermione stood up and tried to make a run for it, but it was too late. His powerful arms caught her up and pressed her against the wall beside the fireplace. She could feel his claws piercing into her flesh, making her bleed even more. He growled, taking her wand from her and tossing it aside before transforming his head back to its human form. She could see a vicious glint in his eyes and his feral, bloody smile.

'You chose the wrong wolf to mess with, Mudblood,' he said, leaning in and forcing his mouth on hers again, yelping in pain when she bit his lip hard. 'Little bitch!'

'Hurry up and kill me, you worthless excuse for a human being,' she said, spitting bloody saliva directly at his face.

Greyback growled loudly at this, his hands going around her throat tightly, holding her a foot above the ground. Hermione struggled, her fingers clawing at the hairy claws as she violently thrashed about, attempting to free herself. He stared at her, his expression a pleased one as she gasped for breath, choking and beginning to turn a little blue in the face. She could feel tears leaking down her cheeks.

She dropped one hand from the ones clenched around her throat and pointed her fingertips towards her leg, willing her magic into her fingertips. She had one last chance to get this right. Stretching her arm as far down as she could reach, she looked Greyback in the eyes before allowing her blue lips to curve into something that vaguely resembled a wicked grin.

'Ac-accio knife,' she croaked, just loud enough for the spell to activate.

The knife that was strapped to her shin flew into her right hand, tearing the leg of her trousers as it did so. Greyback's eyes went wide suddenly in shock as she dropped her other hand to the handle of the knife and pushed it right into his chest. The blood was everywhere, spraying from his chest and soaking into her clothes and hair. If she hadn't got his heart, she was certain she at least hit a major artery. She looked up then, just in time to see Snape run into the room.

The hands around her throat released her, and she fell to the floor along with him, coughing and wheezing, gasping for breath.

She stared beside her where Greyback was clawing at the knife in his chest with his human hands, attempting to tug it from himself. Blood was dribbling out of his mouth and his legs were jerking in all directions as he struggled. Hermione didn't try to stop him as he ripped the knife from his chest. The blood spewed forth even faster, pooling on the ground surrounding him, and in a few moments, his legs grew still and the gargling sound ceased. All that was left was the blood that was slowly spreading all over the carpeted floor.

She looked back up at Snape to see him staring at the scene with shock and disbelief written all over his features. She coughed and wrapped her arms around herself as pain coursed through her at the simple action. A second later he was kneeling on the ground beside her, gathering her bloody form into his arms and cradling her as he stood at his full height. She accepted this without a word; for she feared if she spoke, she would surely lose the capacity to breath.

'Hermione...' was the last thing she heard before the darkness consumed her.

An indefinite time later, Hermione felt herself begin to stir. It was pitch black, but she realised she had yet to even attempt opening her eyes. Carefully, she allowed one eye to squint open and was struck by a sudden pain in her head. She snapped both eyes shut tightly but was forced to relax when she realised the effort to press her eyelids together was what caused the pain to flare up again. She groaned softly when she lifted her arm to rub her eyes, wincing once more when she realised her shoulder, too, was in a severe amount of pain.

'Don't move around so much, Hermione,' said a soft, familiar female voice from beside her.

She couldn't open her eyes, but Hermione would know that voice anywhere. 'Luna?' she croaked.

Her hands flew to her throat, which was as sore on the outside as it was inside. Gentle hands reached and covered hers, prying them away from her neck and easing them back down by her sides. She felt a warm, damp towel pass over her face and neck, cleansing her of what she assumed was blood, dirt and plaster.

'What are you doing here?' Hermione croaked out again, needing to know. 'Where are we right now?'

'We're in Professor Snape's cottage in the bedroom you've been staying in,' she answered, gently cleaning away as much of the dried blood as she could. 'You really shouldn't be talking right now. The professor is downstairs in the lab brewing some potions to heal your neck and throat, and I'm up here to watch over you and clean you before he is finished.'

Hermione nodded, warily beginning to open her eyes. The lighting of the room was not so hard this time, and she barely flinched. Allowing her eyes to dart around, she saw the dishevelled blonde locks and the teary-eyed face of Luna Lovegood. Hermione offered her a small, tired smile before closing her eyes again and feeling herself drift back into unconsciousness.

The pattern continued throughout the rest of the night and early morning.

Hermione would wake up and open her eyes to look around and see what was happening around her for a while, asking what potions she was being given by Snape whenever he was in the room during her lucid moments. She knew her dislocated shoulder had been popped back into place, and the ribs that had been broken were all mended. The last potion Snape was working on was one to help inflate her lungs back to their regular capacity before Greyback had thrown her against a wall the first time.

She remembered snippets of conversation she had exchanged with Luna vaguely, and she knew her body was likely to be sore for many days to come. She had been foolish and so extremely lucky she had not gotten herself killed. Maybe Snape had been right, but it was of no consequence any more. Greyback was dead and she was hurt, and Snape, with Luna's help, was attempting to fix what she had broken. Her eyes stung with hot tears. If she had died, she would have broken so many promises.

She wouldn't have been able to keep her promise to Snape to stay alive.

Eventually, the man himself returned to the room to give her the last potion she would need. Luna left the room to make some tea downstairs, leaving her alone with Snape. He sat on the bed beside her, having needed to be there when he fed her the potion, his back to her and head tilted forward so his hair obscured his face from view. Hermione reached a hand out to him, lightly touching his shoulder.

He looked over his shoulder at her then, then began to turn and face her when she reached a hand out to touch one of his hands beside her on the duvet. His long fingers wrapped around her thin ones, and he simply held it.

'You played a very dangerous game with your life yesterday, Hermione,' he told her, saying her name aloud to her for the first time willingly. He couldn't call her Miss Granger any more – not when she had nearly died in his arms.

'I'm sorry,' she whispered, her throat still a little raw despite the potions. Some things just needed to heal themselves naturally.

'I know you are,' he murmured. 'I'm sorry, too.'

'Whatever for?' she asked, her eyes growing wearier by the second as the Dreamless Sleep Potion he had given her began to kick in.

'You asked me not to follow you,' he said simply. 'I knew something bad would happen. I am only sorry I didn't arrive sooner. Had I not hesitated, I might have been able to spare you some pain.'

Hermione's chuckle was husky, sounding painful to his ears. 'It was all self-inflicted,' she said, her voice beginning to sound a little more strained.

'Rest now,' he instructed, releasing her hand and drawing the duvet up to sit beneath her chin. 'Later in the morning I will send Miss Lovegood up with some broth and some pain potions.'

She nodded in response, and she watched as he walked out of the room and closed the door quietly behind him. She stared at the closed door for a little while, wondering about Snape's lack of anger towards her. He had been forced, yet again, to step in and essentially solve her problems – problems she had created herself. What had happened to the snarky, cranky professor who had once taught her potions and used to turn his acid tongue on her and her friends so often in class?

Blinking, she let her head roll up to face the ceiling, staring at the plain white paint.

She was more messed up than she had ever been, and this time she had literal blood on her hands. All over her clothing, body, and hair, in fact. A sick feeling crept through her, settling in the pit of her stomach. At the same time however, her magic and the darkness within her was singing its triumph. Her bloodlust and vengeance was satisfied for the time being. She dreaded the thought that it was not totally sated and that she would be driven to seek revenge on others, also. On Lucius Malfoy for his unprecedented, blind prejudice. On Bellatrix Lestrange, for torturing her – on Albus Dumbledore, for turning nearly everyone she had ever cared for against her.

Hermione let her eyes drift closed then, grateful that Snape had given her the Dreamless Sleep. She hated to think of what nightmares she would have had without it.

--

A/N – And so we reach a small peak in Hermione's tale of woe.