Part I, chapter 11
Chapter 11 of 28
averygoodunThe need to survive is ingrained within the human psyche, but where does self-preservation end and self-destruction begin? Hermione is captured by Death Eaters and is held hostage by Snape and Pettigrew, but she comes up with a plan to escape. Not a romance.
ReviewedAN: Sorry for the delay. Thank you, Southern!
She woke to Snape's hand on her shoulder, shaking her.
“Wake up, Granger.”
She sat up immediately, staring bleary-eyed around the room. She had not slept well; her stomach kept protesting throughout the night. It was still upset, but now she just felt ill, rather than hungry.
Snape must have thought so as well, as he stepped back from her with a look of distaste, as if expecting her to vomit on him. She wished she could.
“You need to bathe today,” he said.
She felt her shoulders collapse in defeat at the promised humiliation. So far she'd escaped being completely nude around Snape, to her knowledge. She still wasn't sure what had happened when he'd knocked her out, but that seemed so long ago, she barely took that into account.
“Yes, sir,” she said as clearly as she could, but unable to look him in the eye. She chose to focus on his chin.
His mouth thinned, and he stepped back again, gesturing for her to make her way to the bathroom.
She sluggishly got up, finding that she felt weak and slightly dizzy. Snape must have noticed, for he stepped forward and took hold of her elbow, gently supporting her.
“Thank you,” she mumbled and tried not to lean into him.
He filled the tub with a wave of his wand and then let go of her. She stared blankly at the water for a moment before an impatient noise from Snape reminded her that she was supposed to be in the water. She slowly started taking off her clothes, keeping her back to Snape for as long as possible.
She lifted her leg to get into the tub, and the world started to tilt. The room was spinning around her, and she couldn't tell which way was up.
Suddenly, a hand gripped her arm firmly, stabilizing her until she regained her balance. She clenched her teeth together at the feeling of his hand on her, but couldn't help being grateful. She nodded her head in thanks, still refusing to look at him.
He guided her into the tub of warm water, and she sighed in appreciation as she sat down. He let go of her arm then, and backed away.
Her first thought was to lie back and relax into the warmth and had started to do so when she remembered that Snape was watching her. That realization woke her up. She sat up, trying to twist away from him and cover herself at the same time, even though she knew it was pointless. She looked around for the soap and found it was on a shelf just out of reach.
Snape reached around her and handed her the soap. She took it, still refusing to look at him.
She was able to wash most of her front before she started fumbling the soap. The third time the soap slipped from her hands and plunked into the water by her feet, she heard Snape sigh in exasperation. She cringed, not knowing what he would do if she continued to let the soap slip through her fingers.
She was surprised when his bare arm reached into the water to retrieve the soap.
Looking at him fearfully, she was relieved to find that only his shirt was missing. His trousers were still in place, and it seemed he had no intention of losing them.
“Lean forward,” he ordered gruffly. Tensing, she complied and was surprised when he gently started soaping her back, using his hand to spread the lather around her back. She found herself relaxing into the luxury of his touch, although she kept waiting for him to do something unpleasant.
“Are you hypoglycemic?” he asked as he started scooping water onto her back to rinse her off.
“Not that I've been diagnosed.”
“Hmm,” was all he said in reply until he finished rinsing her.
“Can you stand?”
She nodded and started getting up, but soon found the room spinning around her again. Once more, Snape came to the rescue, grabbing her arms till she was steady, then offering his hand for support as she got out of the tub.
Once she was standing on the tile, dripping everywhere, he opened a towel for her. After a moment of hesitation, she walked into it and then took the ends from him, wrapping it around herself snuggly.
He stepped back and motioned for her to go to the bedroom. She looked at her clothes for a moment and swallowed, not sure what to expect. He motioned for her to sit on his bed, which she did while nervously keeping an eye on him. He went to the wardrobe and pulled out a ragged robe of his and handed it to her.
“This is yours until you've laundered your clothes sufficiently.”
She took the robe, grateful once more for his generosity. She slipped it over her head and did up the clasps to the neck. The hem dragged about her feet, and the sleeves covered her hands past her fingertips, but it was clean.
“Thank you.”
“See that you don't ruin it. And now for breakfast. It seems I need to find another consequence for your impertinence, as it's obvious you will be more of a hindrance without food.”
He then swept out the door, assuming she would follow him, which she did.
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I think I will cook the next few meals for her. I will blindfold her once we are in the kitchen after she's seen the array of potions by the stove and force her to eat everything I prepare.
A mild poison here and there will just add spice to the mix. The fact that Wormtail will suffer as well is just something I'll have to learn to live with.
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Latest 25 Reviews for Traitor
307 Reviews | 7.44/10 Average
this is such a brave and daring story! i had read it before but i couldn't remember where it was posted so i searched through various sites and finally got lucky. this time i will add it to favourites without delay. thanks again for that jewell!
This was GRIPPING.
Wow! I am utterly and deeply moved. It took me quite a while to figure out what you were aiming at and that was a pleasant surprise in itself. There are not many stories out, where the end is not obvious from the beginning.I also liked to have Wormtail described as a human being and actually getting more than a few crucios out of his actions.Thank you for the wonderful story!
Holy mother of gods. That was just the best story I have read in a long time. I have stayed up till 2am reading this because I could NOT put it down... Your torture of her. The food. The sadistic/masochist tones... my god. Just brilliant. BRILLIANT.I have never read a story with wormtail in this character. I was almost sympathitic toward him.And when Snape finally had her! Why was that sOOOO hot to me? Shell
Wow. Brilliant I would rate this much more than 5...
Like a punch in the guts. Wow. I am breathless, horrified, amazed, marveled, disgusted, touched, numb, exhilarated. Thank you for believing in yourself and sharing your story with us!
How hard for Hermione, to feel that she is using Wormtail. You really depicted that so well. Sigh.
*melted to a puddle on the floor"*GASP!*Oh, Severus, you naughty boy!
Catching up with the story after a loooooong time (RL sucks!). Nice "intermission' chapter!
I don't know if I like thinking of Hermione being genuinely upset about Wormtail or Snape's letter acting like he tried to save Wormtail for her.... I jsut don't know what to think of it all... but regardless, the writing was good :)
It really is quite squicky to think of Peter and Hermione. I keep reminding myself that it is to ensure her escape but she seems to actually have concern for Peter at this point. Not caring but concern. And the fact that Snape doesn't seem to care is icky as well. Peter is so gross I'm surprised Snape didn't rip her off of him jsut out of disgust LOL
ugh... wormtail is soooo creepy. And knowing that HErmione is doing him often is just sickening. I hope she either gains what she's after or comes to her senses and ... I don't even know... jsut stops sleeping with Wormtail LOL
I was recced this... I like dark fics.. but that's a brutal way to start out. Well written and I can't say I'm looking forward to what's to come but I'm... interested??
I ended up reading this whole story in one piece, I just couldn't stop reading! :P I just love the way you writes Snape, he is completely believable in this story and so is the other characters. I think you should be very proud of this story, it was a joy reading it (except from the icky wormtail/hermione parts)!
Wow. I thought I wouldn't be able to go past the squicky parts, but... you got me reading for one hour non-stop. Excellent writing.
:x
I'm wondering if she's pregnant . . .
Wonderful story. I read it in about two hours. Just gobbled it up, really. I especially loved your portrayal of Pettigrew, and the way you ended the whole piece.
Long story short: this is amazing. Short story long: anything by Dickens.
Response from averygoodun (Author of Traitor)
Thank you!
This was a wonderful story - but I might be just dim here when I ask you this question, but my Snape-fangirl-love wants to know who sent the letter? Did Snape truly defect from the Order, or was he happy that she escaped, wanting her to get away all along? Sorry if my Snape-love kept me blinded from any obvious hints you might have left in the story...
Response from averygoodun (Author of Traitor)
Thank you. Snape sent the letter. For answers to the rest, I suggest you read "Closure." It's a little less vague. ;-)
It was the only way what? He wanted her to use Wormtail to escape?
Response from averygoodun (Author of Traitor)
That is the question. What was the only way? How? Why? And, most of all, who?
Response from KarenDetroit (Reviewer)
ARRRGGG!Don't you repect the Geneva Convetions on Torture????
Response from averygoodun (Author of Traitor)
*giggle* Is there such a thing in fiction?
That said, there will be a companion piece called, very appropriately, "Closure" coming up pretty soon. A lot of questions will be answered in there (though it's still vague-ish on that one).
Yowza. The sex with Peter/Wormtail was just so icky. And you got the ick factor just right - along with the reality that it wasn't, of all the things Hermione had to endure, really so awful in the grand scheme of things. And then when Snape watched -well, that was wrong and right and actually quite hot. And through it all you never lost the complexity of the emotions involved, the grey-ness of all the protagonists. Thanks so much for a thought-provoking and entertaining read.
Response from averygoodun (Author of Traitor)
Thank you!!! I... Thank you.
Very well written story the whole way through. I really enjoyed it and was thankfull for the quick updates. The way you ended it was very exciting. Well done job all the way around.
Response from averygoodun (Author of Traitor)
Thank you!
Hi Avery. Now that I have completed Shades (at least on SH and FF), I finally got the courage to read this story from start to finish. Actually, I started reading when you first began posting chapters, but I only got to chapter 5 before I stopped. To be honest, I found it extremely difficult reading. The words painful and profoundly distrubing come to mind. But I suppose that was the effect you were looking for. Don't get me wrong--your writing itself is excellent. Very descriptive, good characterization and not too wordy (unlike me...). I also applaud your emphasis on a strong theme as I think too many fanfiction writers just want to write something fluffy that will be 'popular'. It takes courage to do something like this. What I found most amazing is that my story could inspire such a piece. It is ironic that your Hermione essentilly makes the polar opposite choice from mine. She compromises nearly all her morals and principles in order to survive, making her a traitor not to Harry or the Light, but to herself. It was a weighty piece of work. Good job.Cheers and best wishes,
Response from averygoodun (Author of Traitor)
Response from averygoodun (Author of Traitor)
Hey. Well, thank you for reading it! You're right, I was attempting to write something very painful and disturbing. I've read Stockholm Syndrome stories that really, really romanticize the situation and don't take into account that it is a disorder; the victim is ILL, and it is not a healthy, romantic situation.
What I wanted to explore as much as that, though, is that survival really can outweigh morals when it comes right down to it, and Hermione has not proven herself to be as strong as Harry is under pressure. Hermione will have a hard time of it because she knows she did betray herself, even if the trip to the betrayal was almost invisible.
Thank you both for the inspiration (amazing story, btw!), and for your thoughts!