A Victim's Rights

Disclaimer: I solemnly swear that I am up to no good. JK Rowling owns it all, but I promise to return her characters in 'like-new' condition when I am done with them.

Standing in the office of her superior, Tonks sighed as she took in the deep look of disappointment etched on the man's face. She'd been at this job long enough to have gone through two department heads, and she was secretly hoping that a third would be coming up soon.

"Why didn't you report this incident to me the very minute that it happened?" the man behind the desk asked.

"Quite frankly, sir, the incident occurred at a private party, and I did not feel it was my place to report the incident until after I had the chance to speak with all of the parties involved."

"And when were you planning on doing this, Tonks?" Gawain Robards asked. It was obvious by his narrowed eyes and sharp tone that he felt this task should have been performed immediately.

"Sir, you need to understand the dynamics. Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley have been best friends for nearly ten years. She was hurt by his actions, but she needed a chance to think about things. I spoke with Miss Weasley and Mr. Potter several times over the weekend, keeping tabs on Miss Granger's well-being. My intention was to speak with her later this morning and take her to lunch."

Mr. Robards' eyebrows rose quickly at her last statement. "Ms. Tonks, where in the protocol does it state that it's acceptable to take victims out to lunch when you are obtaining a statement?"

Tonks ground her teeth in exasperation before answering her boss' foolish question. "I was not anticipating taking a statement, sir. I really wouldn't have expected Hermione to press charges. If for some reason I thought that she was going to give a statement, I would've ensured that I brought her back here to do so!"

Gawain watched as the younger Auror's hair began to change from the bubblegum pink, which was typical for her, to white – obviously a sign of her anger. He flashed her a warning glare and sat back in his chair smugly when violet streaks began to appear in her hair. Slightly relieved, he spoke again, "Regardless, charges have been pressed by one of the victims. And the next time you witness such a heinous crime, I expect to be notified immediately. Especially if said crime is committed by one of our recruits!"

Tonks snorted. "Of course, sir," she replied dutifully.

"I expect I do not need to remind you of Auror ethics involving the theft of Ministry property for personal use, and an Auror breaking Ministry guidelines for the use of Veritaserum. The fact that you are personal friends with the Auror trainee makes no difference in your responsibility to report such actions. Indeed, you owe it to the public to help safeguard the standards of the Auror Department; we are not exempt from our own guidelines."

"Of course, sir," she replied, abashed.

The wizard nodded his head and waved his hand to dismiss her.

She left his office quickly and weaved her way through the cubicles to the lift.

Victims? Tonks wondered as she rode the lift to the sixth level. She racked her brain to try to figure out who else had fallen victim to Ron's idiocy that evening. No one else had consumed the wine laced with Veritaserum. Hermione had been with Ron, Harry, and Ginny when it happened. Of course, after Mrs. Weasley had kindly escorted Hermione to the house, Tonks had spent some time berating Ron, so she might have missed seeing something.

Tonks had to admit that she had a soft spot for the young man. She knew all the Weasleys. It had been solely on her recommendation that Ron had been admitted into the Auror program to begin with. His Hogwarts marks alone certainly didn't earn him the privilege. She had spent quite a bit of time defending young Mr. Weasley's job application, and told the recruiting board everything that she was allowed about what Ron had done up to that point in helping with Voldemort's downfall.

Stepping off of the lift at level six, Tonks walked quickly down the corridor. Reaching the end of the hall, she rounded the corner to the Portkey office, hastening her steps as she got closer. Tonks entered the office and found Hermione Granger, seated at the first desk, with her head resting against her hands as she massaged her temples.

"Hermione?" she asked tentatively.

Snapping her head up, Hermione spied the Auror. The look on her face began with uncertainty, but once Hermione was able to process exactly who was intruding on her privacy, anger became quickly evident.

"Tonks," the younger witch replied in a biting tone.

"What?" Tonks asked, trying not to sound defensive.

"How could you?" Hermione began. "I – you are supposed to be my friend." Her voice began rising with each word spoke.

Tonks' eyes narrowed as Hermione's anger grew. "What are you talking about?" she asked carefully.

The younger witch grabbed the scroll on her desk and shoved it in the Auror's face. "This is what I'm talking about!"

Taking the scroll and skimming the contents, realization dawned on Tonks. "This is why I came to see you," she said carefully. "I didn't tell anyone about what happened at the party."

Hermione's lips formed a fine tight line. "Then who did?" she hissed.

"I was under the impression that it was you."

"Tonks, what would make you think that I would do such a thing to one of my best friends – regardless of what he did to me?"

"Trust me. I was rather surprised to hear that you'd do that, especially so soon after the incident. I've known you for a while, Hermione, and you usually don't make rash decisions," Tonks replied calmly.

"So tell me, if you didn't file a complaint against Ron and I didn't report it, then who else could have?" Hermione asked, her brows furrowed in thought. She couldn't think of anyone else who would interfere in her non-existent love life.

"I don't know. The only thing that Mr. Robards said was that the grievance was filed by one of the victims. I thought that meant you."

"Victims?" Hermione asked, standing from her chair. Suddenly, comprehension was evident on the younger witch's face. "Oh, my God," she muttered. "I'm going to hex him so fast..."

~ * ~

Severus sat in his office, his lips curled up in a close facsimile of a smile as he read over the scroll that the Ministry had thoughtfully sent him earlier that morning. The contents of the letter assured him that Mr. Weasley had received an owl bright and early Saturday morning suspending the boy from his foolish Auror training, and that Weasley had been summoned to appear at a formal inquiry for his actions against Hermione Granger.

His mock smile grew to a feral grin at the imagined look on the Headmistress' face. Minerva would have kittens when she found out what he'd done to one of her beloved cubs.

After Minerva had left his rooms on Friday evening, Severus had spent quite some time thinking of what the woman had said to him. The more he thought about it, the more he'd disliked it.

Leave Hermione be. The girl is young and innocent. You're the last thing that she needs.

Indeed!

It wasn't as if he'd ever had any designs on the young woman before that evening. He'd never stalked her or forced his attentions on her. However, Severus had to admit to himself that there was something about her that he'd been attracted to. He'd never intended on kissing her either, until he found himself standing so close to her in the entrance hall, trying to convince her that he didn't wish to take advantage of her situation.

That was a complete lie.

Of course he was taking advantage of the situation. That is what he did best. He was a Slytherin. But after Hermione had gone, and after Minerva had gone as well... he'd started to think that there was more truth infused within his words than he had initially thought.

Not to mention the fact that he found himself thinking that he truly did wish he'd been able to kiss Hermione. The idea of a willing witch, one that he didn't have to beg or pay, was too nice a novelty to wish to refuse. (Not that he'd begged any woman for favors since he was quite young, but the scar of that humiliation was as fresh as if it'd happened yesterday.)

Severus hated to admit that he was finding himself more and more attracted to the former bane of his existence.

It was this last realization, coupled with Minerva's damned arrogant remarks, which had led him to contact the Ministry's Department of Magical Law Enforcement. They, in turn, had Flooed Mr. Robards at home, and Severus had found himself speaking with the Head of the Auror Department less than an hour later.

"What the bloody hell did you think you were doing?" a woman yelled at him, pulling him from his thoughts.

Severus looked up to see a very angry Hermione Granger standing in front of his desk. Easily masking his surprise, he eyed her levelly and carefully formed his words. "Kindly tell me what you're going on about, woman."

Her eyes narrowed accusingly as she reached over and grabbed the parchment that he'd been holding in his hands. "This! Damn it, Severus. What gives you the right to get involved?" she railed.

"Why, you did, my dear – the moment you uttered my name as being the object of your affections."

Hermione's lips tightened further and her eyes flashed. "None of this had anything to do with you! And you know that! It was not your place to file charges against my friend. I may have allowed myself to be duped and been foolish enough to allow Molly Weasley to weasel information out of me, but that doesn't give you the right to take vengeance against my friends by using me!"

Quirking an eyebrow at her accusations, Severus remained calm in the face of her fury. "Who ever said that my actions were simply an effort to seek revenge on your friends for what they did to me following the Dark Lord's demise? Am I not the subject of further disdain and mockery from your friends, following your confession? Is it not my responsibility as a citizen to report the misbehavior of an Auror employee? How do you know that I was not merely wishing to preserve your honor?"

She snorted. "Yes, and hell is freezing over as we speak."

"Oh, do spare me your histrionics, Hermione." Severus rose from his chair and leaned over his desk, finally allowing his disgust at her audacity for questioning his motives to seep into his speech. "You have no right to question the validity of my words. How do you know that the words I speak are false? What gives you the right to question my intentions? You're doing a fair job of showing exactly why I was not thrilled by your childish confession the other night." Standing tall and dropping his hands to his side, he lowered his voice, infusing it with as much cold venom as possible before giving his final, calculated blow. "Pity. And to think that I was just sitting here thinking that you'd grown into a lovely and mature young woman. I guess this proves even I can be wrong on occasion."

Severus took pleasure in watching the warring emotions flicker across her face as he finished his little speech, and he found himself having to fight to contain his amusement.

Apparently settling on fury, the fiery witch began shouting at him again. "Why you... you vile, arrogant, man!" she shouted. "You can take that vaunted ego and arrogance and shove them up your arse! You may have thought that I was easy to manipulate the other night, but I feel I must warn you that I'm not always inebriated and you will NOT take advantage of me so easily again!"

Hermione turned quickly and stormed out of his office, waving her wand and muttering something under her breath at the door as she left. The door slammed loudly, and just as Severus moved to sit down, the door opened again. Looking up to see what else the woman wished to say to him, he watched as the door slammed again... then again... and again.

Well, that didn't go as I had planned, Severus thought with disgust. He had planned on informing Hermione what her former Head of House had said, thus laying some of the blame on the old tabby. Although, this little spat did rid him of the gi...woman, just as Minerva wished.

He dropped back down in his chair, massaging his temples at the pain that had started the moment the witch had started yelling at him.

SLAM!

Reaching into his top drawer for a phial of Headache Relief, he downed the contents quickly. Next, he pulled his wand from his sleeve and waved it at the door to stop the incessant banging.

He settled into the blissful silence, and cursed when the tiny niggling of guilt began to approach the outer recesses of his brain, slowly creeping in. He was beginning to feel bad for the way he'd treated Hermione...

SLAM!

"Damn witch," he snarled.

"Really, Severus, one would think that you wouldn't say that about your employer."

Looking up, he growled as his eyes met the glare of the Headmistress. "To what do I do the honor this time, Minerva?"

"What on earth did you do to the girl to put her in such a snit? I was outside the staff room when I saw her leaving the castle. I've never seen the poor girl so upset, not even at the Weasleys' party."

"I merely did what you asked me to, Minerva. I believe that your words were to leave her be. Were they not? You made your meaning quite clear: I am the last thing she needs. Isn't that right, Headmistress? Well, you need not fear, because I don't believe that it will be an issue any longer," Severus replied, every word laced with venom.

"I didn't mean for you to hurt her," Minerva tsked.

Severus shrugged.

"You are an impossible man!" she snapped.

"Indeed. Now, if you don't mind, Minerva. I have a terrible headache and would like some peace and quiet. Oddly enough, neither peace nor quiet exist in the realm of your incessant nattering."

The witch shot him a deadly glare. She, too, stormed out of the room, ensuring that she slammed the door firmly behind her.

"Women!" Severus snarled at the closed door, wanting nothing more than to escape to the sanctuary of his private quarters. He waited until Minerva had time to be safely out of his dungeons before he left the room... careful to slam the door on his way out.

A/N: Hermione isn't nearly as weak or easy to manipulate as Severus thought. :)

Thanks to SnarkyRoxy and JuneW, betas extraordinaire!