I Will Always Find You

Chapter 3. Summoned

Hermione took the potion offered to her by professor Snape and sighed. She\'d have to begin telling her tale as soon as Snape was finished telling the Headmaster what he had seen and done.

They fininshed talking and looked at her expectantly. When she didn\'t begin immediately Dumbledore prompted her.


\"Well Miss Granger, go on dear, tell us what happened.\"

She took a breath and began. \"I was down at Hagrids. There was an injured owl in the owlry when I went to send a letter to my parents, so I took it down to him. I was helping him care for it when he noticed how late it was becoming and sent me back up to the castle. I was walking back up when I was hit from behind with a stunner. I was trying to get up and run when he hit me here.\" She indicated the bruise on her cheek.


\"He hit me pretty hard, and I couldn\'t see anything. When my sight cleared he was kneeling in front of me....\" she trailed off remembering it.


\"And he raped you, Miss Granger?\" Asked Dumbledore gently.


\"Yes sir. He did.\" He cheeks were burning with shame, and Dumbledore in a rare display of affection, put his arms around her and hugged her.


\"Miss Granger, this is not your fault. And I promise it will be kept quiet if you wish it.\"

Hermione sagged against him in relief. \"Thank you! Oh thank you Professor! That\'s just what I want.\"


He hugged her for a few more seconds and she realized he smelled like lemon drops. When he released her, she was smiling.


\"There\'s a girl,\" Dumbledore told her, patting her shoulder. \"Now, I shall have to tell the minister that you have been attacked.\" He said.


\"Yes sir that\'s fine,\" she nodded, taking yet another potion from Professor Snape.

\"Miss Granger,\" began Snape. \"Did the man say anything to you?\"


Her eyes widened. \"Yes he did. He said he was making an example of me,\" she breathed. \"He said that Dumbledore wasn\'t all powerful if he couldn\'t protect a student on his own grounds.\"


Snape and Dumbledore shared a look. Hermoine knew what it meant. The death eaters were testing Hogwarts.

\"Stay with her Severus, if you can, that is. I\'ll alert the other teachers.\"

Snape nodded. Dumbledore was gone in an instant and Hermione turned to Professor Snape. \"Sir, do you think that You-Know-Who sent that death eater?\" Normally Hermione would have said his name; but she knew that Snape hated it.


\"No,\" he said thoughtfully. \"I don\'t. It was an extremely stupid thing to do. Now we\'re alerted to what\'s going on. I think that whoever has done this to you may well be punished this very night.\"


She knew what he meant. Voldemort wouldn\'t be so out in the open yet. He was building an attack, and someone had just clued them in to what he was doing. She felt a small sense of triumph knowing that most likely the man would be crucioed into madness.

Snape gave her her final potion. She was feeling much better and drank it down with a grimace.

\"Now Miss Granger,\" he started; but then stopped and clutched his arm, grimacing.


\"I must go.\"


She knew what he meant.


\"You may use my floo powder to go to your rooms. Miss Granger.\" He looked her in the eye. \"Please go to the hospital wing when you have cleaned up.\"


She nodded and watched him retreat into another room. She realized he was getting his death eater robes. Having no wish to see him in them, she went to the fireplace and flooed to her rooms.


Crookshanks was at her side in an instant, meowing.


\"Hi Crooks,\" she said softly, and then sat on the floor. Her cat climbed into her lap and she began to sob, hugging him.


Half an hour had passed since Snape had been called to Voldemorts\' side. He and the other death eaters were waiting silently. Not everyone had arrived yet.

Voldemort was looking murderous in his chair, and Snape for once knew the cause of his anger. A death eater was on the ground in front of him, moaning. Snape knew it had to be the man that had raped the head girl.

Snape was tightly controlling himself. He was glad Dumbledore had given him use of his pensieve. Any memories he had to the contrary of faithful service to the Dark Lord would not be there to find if Voldemort were to search for them.

Finally the last two death eaters hurried into place and apologised for being late.


\"See that it does not happen again,\" Voldemort hissed angrily. Nagini and Wormtail were by his side. Fortunately for the late parties, Voldemort was too angry with the snivelling man in front of him to crucio them.


\"Is anyone besides myself and the man in front of me aware why we are here?\"


\"Yes my lord.\" Snape answered.


Voldemort turned to him. \"She was found, Severus?\"


\"Yes my lord,\" Snape replied, keeping his head bowed.


\"Alive?\"


\"Yes. I found her, my lord.\"


Voldemort was silent. Then he said, \"I assume she told you everything?\"


\"Yes, my lord. She trusts me as her teacher.\"

Voldemort looked around the assembled death eaters. \"This scum you see before you took it upon himself to go to Hogwarts. While he was there he happened upon a student returning to the castle and saw fit to attack her.\"


The other death eaters were mumbling. Snape knew most of them didn\'t understand what was wrong with this. It made his blood boil.


\"He tells me that he only meant to test the wards. To see just how easy it would be to gain access to Hogwarts grounds. Had this been the only thing he had done, I might have been pleased with him. But he attacked one of Albus Dumbledores\' students and left her alive to tell about it.\" He glared around the circle. \"You can rest assured that when we are ready to take Hogwarts it will not be so easy.\"


He turned back to Snape. \"Severus, what did the old fool do?\"


\"After he questioned the girl, he left to alert the new Minister of Magic, my lord,\" Snape replied. \"The rape is being kept quiet; but the attack is not.\"


Voldemort nodded. \"Thank you Severus, come and honor me and you may go. I want you to try and trip up the old fool.\"


Snape stepped forward and kneeled before Voldemort. A bony hand was placed in front of him and he kissed the large silver, dark mark shaped ring on Voldemorts\' finger.

\"Go now Severus, and see what you can do for us about the wards.\"


\"I will, Lord. Thank you.\"


Snape went back to the appparition point, listening to the screams of the death eater fallen from grace.


AN: I hope Voldemort was written okay. I didn\'t want to dwell too much on the meeting.