My Precious Rose

Chapter 3: Fate

 Months Later...

Hermione tried to act as though nothing happened that horrible night, but it was proving to be a difficult task. Her peers thought she was fine, but those close to her knew better. She handed in her assignments and fulfilled her duties on time; however, there was something off. For one, she hated it when boys got too comfortable with her. It was evident that she could no longer tolerate close proximity with men. Harry tried to give her a hug last Halloween, she got shivers as he drew closer. She couldn't even hug Ron anymore out of fear, and he was her boyfriend! Aside from this, she also had trouble expressing herself and became closed off from those around her. While she did still talk to people, she would ignore what they said or walk away from the scene whenever things got too personal.

It wasn't that Hermione hadn't tried to solve these issues; she did, but it had been very challenging. She had tried several to explain the events of the horrible night but couldn't bring herself to do so every time!

~ Flashback ~

A Few Days Later

Hermione stepped into the Gryffindor common room. She hadn't stepped inside since she had been assigned Head Girl, and thought that it was a great time to revisit. She had trouble coping with the memory of that night, and found herself in need of someone to talk to. 

After staying and looking for someone in the room, she found Ginny.

 

'Perfect.' she thought. She tapped on her shoulder and asked if they could talk in a more secluded area, to which Ginny agreed. 

Walking up the stairs, they entered Ginny's dorm. Luckily, it was just the two of them. 

"Ginny, I have something to say to you." Hermione began. Ginny nodded. "These past few days have been stressful for me. There was something horrible that happened while I was patrolling the halls one night."

"And that was?" Ginny asked.

"I've been-" something was preventing Hermione from saying it. Was that fear? Maybe it was. "I had been treated in suc-" There it was again. Hermione kept trying to say it, but she couldn't. It felt like someone stuffed a cotton ball in her throat every time she tried to mention her rape. 

Ginny had been standing there dumbfounded. She couldn't understand why her friend was bumbling like an idiot.

Hermione kept trying to say those damned words to explain her situation. It wasn't working. Each time she tried to mention it, the prevention got stronger. It felt like she had a cotton ball in her mouth to someone choking her neck. Hard.

"Maybe try writing it." Ginny offered. She gave a pencil and a piece of paper to Hermione, who gladly took it and tried to write. Despite her best efforts, it was still difficult. She tried to write the word, "rape", but ended up scribbling on the paper. She did not intend to do so, but it felt as if she had been possessed. 

Hermione sighed. She tried to reword it, explaining the whole situation, but was stopped by a sudden head-splitting headache. She had enough and wanted to scream. What was stopping her from trying say her wretched problem?