Hello, I am also currently writing a Marauders' era piece for Remus. I have a newly found obsession with the characters and can't stop writing about them. I hope you a enjoy!
*TRIGGER WARNING* if you are triggered by rape, there is a slight scene in this chapter but not the entire book. The scene isn't graphic, it's barely even there, but I wanted to put this out there.
I pulled Venus' cage closer to me and ducked my head down as I hustled through the crowds in King's Cross with my best friend, Delaney. It was my first time without my parents and it felt both liberating and terrifying at the same time. There could be curses thrown in my direction or, worse, thrown at Lanie's parents because of me at any second. They put themselves in even more danger when they took me in (her father being a muggle and her mother a witch), but they reassured me there was no other option. When I Flooed to their place with a fractured orbital bone from a decanter of whisky thrown by my mother, Delaney's mother decided I was never going back.
Unfortunately, broken bones weren't an uncommon occurrence in the Whitewall family. Especially my broken bones, they tended to occur more and more since I was Sorted into Gryffindor instead of Slytherin like my entire family previously. They'd have preferred me be a Hufflepuff than a 'blood traitor' but that ship sailed before I was even at Hogwarts. Even with blood purist parents, I knew their view on life was severely warped. People were people, no matter their lineage.
As if she sensed my inner monologue, Delaney flashed me a reassuring smile and I felt my heartbeat slowing down. Her dad gave my shoulder a pat and the rest of my anxiety slowly faded. He was a muggle and her mum was a pureblood, something considered worse than blasphemy to the pureblood supremacists like my parents -just behind muggleborns of course. They threw a monstrous fit when they realized who my best friend was and I was on the receiving end of my mother's temper that resulted in a slap to the face so hard I tasted blood but was smart enough to not leave scars.
The only scar I have is a thin line stretching from my chin up to the edge of my left eye. When I was fourteen, I tried really hard to get back into my parents' good graces during a time when I'd lost my sense of self. I went to a gala with the boy they wanted me to marry when we were of age and I'd never seen my mother so proud. While we were at the gala, he seemed to think I was his possession and he could do whatever he wanted to me without complaint. Being a pureblood female meant being submissive to your husband and that just wasn't me.
He was very handsy all night, touching my bum and brushing "accidently" against my boobs as he reached for a drink off the tray. He was sixteen at the time and every move made me extremely uncomfortable. At one point, we were in a hallway alone, how I'm still a bit fuzzy on two years later. He was whispering in my ear as he held a crystalline wine glass in his free hand and the other stroked over the skin of my neck.
The hand on my neck eased down my throat slowly to take the edge of my sweetheart bodice in his fingers, yanking it away from my skin before I could stop him. As hard as I struggled to push him off, it ended fruitlessly. He had me pinned to the wall so hard, I found bruises later that night. He squeezed my breast too harshly and a whimper escaped me; my wand was in a sheath on my thigh -out of my reach -and my wandless magic was nonexistent at that time. He was going to rape me and there was nothing I could do about it
He pressed harsh kisses to the skin of my neck with too much teeth and I acted without thinking. I brought my knee up and hit him between his legs on a whim, causing him to relax his hold on me. I'd just gotten my dress pulled back up when I heard glass shatter. He'd broken the wine glass against the brick wall behind us and was pressing the jagged edge just under my chin, it pierced my skin and I felt a trickle of blood fall down my collarbone and stain my white dress.
"If you want to act ugly, I'll make you ugly," he hissed before dragging the glass up my skin to the corner of my eye and sending needles of pain through my body.
He left after that and I bawled my eyes out in the hallway by myself. Eventually, I gathered myself and went back to the Floo. I just wanted to go home.
My mother didn't care I was hurt, she just cared I'd ruined my chances of becoming a Nott. She refused to take me to a healer because of how it would look. She also told me I deserved the scar for being such an "ungrateful little bitch."
Absentmindedly, I reached up and rubbed my jaw as we continued making our way through the crowded station. It was a mindless gesture, but I was really glad the Kalums didn't see it. I really didn't want to talk about what I was thinking.
"As always, Sirius Black is trying his best to not be caught staring at you longingly," Delaney whispered to me with a salacious grin. "He is so fit, Pops, I don't understand why you haven't gone after him."
"He's beautiful but unattainable to a girl like me," I replied, keeping my voice down so her parents wouldn't hear our conversation. "He and I have never even spoken to each other, he probably just wants to know where I got my scar."
That was a joke, but Delaney didn't laugh. "Why don't you believe me when I say you're gorgeous?"
I was self-conscious about my looks, my parents insured I'd be that way growing up. No boy worth anything wanted a girl who was full of herself. I also knew people didn't fancy girls with facial scarring, another thing drilled into my head by my doting mother. I was a walking case mummy issues.
"I'm nothing special, Lanie," I replied, my face heating up uncomfortably. "I'm not a looker like you."
Just like I knew she would, she flushed bright red and started spluttering. "We're not talking about me, Poppy, we're talking about you."
"Whatever you say," I conceded, stopping once we were at the scarlet engine. I turned to her parents and felt a smile fall into place on my lips. "Thank you so much for taking me in. I appreciate it more than you'll ever know."
Her mom pulled me into a tight hug before passing me to her father and telling me, "You don't need to thank us, dear. You've been ours since you defended Delaney first year."
We were getting off the train when I heard someone ridiculing Delaney over her blood status and braces. She and I were sort of friends, but I didn't really let people get close to me easily. The last thing I wanted was to have other people hurt me or be disappointed in me. But there was no way I could let those kids be mean to her while we were still technically on Hogwarts' grounds and I could use magic. She was shy and would never use magic against another wizard, but I had no reservations for defended people. I put my body in front of hers and wielded my wand at the four older boys in green robes, shocker. Me defending her took us from barely friends to inseparable in an instant.
"It was nothing, Mrs. Kalum," I reassured her, stepping out of Mr. Kalum's embrace.
"Regardless, we're thankful for you and we love you," Mr. Kalum told me. "And call us Henry and Izzie, please."
I chuckled and nodded my head, promising to do as instructed. I gave Delaney some alone time with her parents and headed to the train. I floated my trunk off the cart and held the crate with Venus, my cat, in my hand as I boarded. Mine and Delaney's usual car had voices coming out of it, making my eyebrows raise in confusion. With my trunk still floating beside me, I opened the door and found the Marauders inside.
"Poppy! How are you?" James greeted as if we were all the best of friends.
"Confused," I replied, lowering my trunk to the ground and sitting Venus' cage on top. "Is there a reason you're in mine and Delaney's car?"
"Oh, wow, we're sorry," Remus replied, but the smirk on his face told me he wasn't being genuine. "We weren't aware we could own cars."
I snorted despite my annoyance and said, "Yeah, it's this new thing Dumbledore's trying. That way there's less altercation over the best cars. There is a war brewing after all, the less casualties the better."
He smiled and surrendered, holding up his hands to prove his point. "Fair enough, who I am to argue with Dumbledore's orders?"
"We can leave if you want," Sirius said suddenly, making all our eyes flash over to him in surprise.
"Hey, what's happening? Why are we not in our car?" Delaney asked, standing on her tiptoes to look over my shoulder and see what was inside. "Oh, it's full of Marauders. That's a good reason."
I was still surprised by Sirius' sudden outburst, it was very out of character for him. He was always so collected and his tongue was sharp as a blade. It was reassuring that his friends also thought his stiff reaction was odd and I wasn't reading too much into things.
The only reason I was so comfortable teasing Remus was because we'd talked a couple times before. I was always better around people I'd had previous encounters with. He was smart and funny, the two of us feeding off each other until our sides were aching with laughter.
"The two of you are welcome to join us, if you'd like," James offered, eyeing Sirius and waggling his brows. "Isn't that right, Padfoot?"
"Oh, yeah, definitely," he replied a few beats later.
I looked over at Delaney and saw her shrug. We never really shared our car with people, mostly because no one tried to share with us. Being in a car with the Marauders seemed like an interesting way to spend the time between London and Hogwarts.
I shrank mine and Lanie's trunks before hefting them up onto the luggage rack with the others. She sat beside Remus quickly, leaving the spot beside Sirius open for me. The group of them didn't pick up on what she was doing, but I knew very well. She was trying to get proof of Sirius' 'infatuation' with me I knew didn't exist and not being very subtle about it.
"Do you mind if I let Venus out?" I asked, her crate sitting on my lap. "She's lazy and will more than likely just sleep on my lap the entire ride."
They all agreed and I unlatched the lock, allowing Venus to crawl out. I put her crate up with our trunks and allowed her to explore her surroundings. She wound around Delaney's ankles before sniffing Remus, jumping up into his lap and eyeing him skeptically before moving on to Peter. She just huffed and jumped straight to James, making Peter's face scrunch up in displeasure.
"She's a bit finnicky when it comes to new people," I explained, trying to ease his displeasure.
"Wonder where she got that from," Delaney teased, making me roll my eyes.
Like she'd heard me, Venus left James a couple seconds later to land on Sirius and freeze. Then the hair on her back stood on end and she hissed defensively, her tail bristling. I felt my eyes widen in surprise before I reached over and stroked behind her ears to try and soothe her before she hurt him.
"Venus, love, it's okay," I whispered quietly to her. "Come over to me, don't shred Sirius to bits."
He raised his hand slowly and allowed her to sniff him, making her hair slowly lay back down. She nuzzled into his palm and purred happily a few seconds later. My eyebrows knitted together, she wasn't like this unless she was around other animals… how strange.
By the time she made her way to my lap and curled up to nap, we'd been on the train for about half an hour. Delaney was also eyeing the white cat on my thighs, knowing she was never this way with humans. We didn't see her for a couple days over the summer and found her sleeping on the couch in Delaney's attic, her preferred location to sleep to avoid being interrupted by pesky humans. The only human's she interacted with were me and Delaney, she avoided everyone else. Oddly enough, she got on very well with the Kalum family's dog though.
"So, how was your summer?" James asked the two of us.
Mine was horrendous and I had a broken orbital bone, but I really didn't want to tell them about it. Delaney knew what I was thinking and immediately picked up the slack, telling them about the time we spent at the beach. Her mum had connections with the Ministry and they basically paid for our trip to Greece if she did some research on muggle relations there.
I ran my fingers over Venus's soft fur as I studied the scuffed toes of my Converse instead of the conversation. When James directed a question to me, I looked up in confusion. I probably should've been paying more attention.
"Sorry, I wasn't listening," I admitted sheepishly. "Can you repeat the question?"
"And how you're doing better than me in Potions I'll never understand," Remus quipped from across the car.
"I tend to stay conscious, it makes learning easier," I retorted easily.
Delaney snorted and Remus' laughter soon followed, making pride fill me. I wasn't trying to be awkward, it was just a character trait at this point. Lanie had this theory that I did it as a protection mechanism, a way to keep myself separated from other people and I didn't disagree.
"It's not my fault Potions makes me want a lobotomy," he told me after his laughter died down. My confusion must've been clear on my face because he quickly explained, "It's a dated muggle surgery used to treat mental illness where you shove an ice pick into the brain. It's very unpleasant and doesn't work, it's considered unethical and is banned."
I just nodded, but I was still confused. Being a pureblood made muggle things hard to grasp sometimes, it was why I'd taken Muggle Studies religiously since it was offered. It wasn't necessary to become a Healer, but I couldn't find it in me to drop the course.
Conversation flowed amongst us easily after that, but I noticed one person being peculiarly silent. I glanced over at Sirius and saw him already looking at me. Instead of smirking like I'd seen him do with many other girls, he looked away fast and I think I caught a glance of flushed cheeks before his hair blocked my view.
There was no way Delaney was right… was there?
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