Bruised

By: Penguiy At Your Service

Sirius Black ~ Hermione Granger

Rating: T

Genres: Angst&Romance

(A/N) Hey guys. This is my first fanfiction on this account. No, I will not tell you my other account—I have a good reason too. I want to be able to write on this by itself and not have to worry about repeat reviewers. Each chapter will be based off a song, I may skip some parts. Lyrics will be in italics.

Chapter 1

Song: Concrete Angel

Artist: Martina McBride

She walks to school with the lunch she packs; nobody knows what she's holding back.

Sirius Black watched the young girl walk to the muggle playground. Hermione Granger was her name, 13 years old—soon to be 14. She limped slightly, though her face was impassive. A growl tore through his animal throat when a yellow bruise appeared on her wrist as she pushed a piece of hair behind her ear—that wasn't there yesterday.

He sat in the shade of the old willow tree in his animagus form, his eyes following the young girl. At first it was because he thought she could lead him to Harry, who could lead him to Ron, who would lead him to Peter. He had read somewhere—was it in the Daily Prophet?—that they were best friends, the inseparable trio.

Hermione Granger was the easiest to find. She lived in the middle of muggle North London. She was known as the town's genius, the smart girl. Her name was legend.

He had followed her day after day, wondering when to approach her. Sometimes she would stop and pet him, or feed him some stale bread she had with her—was that all she got to eat?—after a while he started seeing things about her. The way one side of her face was larger than the other, or the way her eyes were rimmed with red, they were just the minor things. He also noticed the way she would wince if anyone touched her left arm and the way she limped from time to time. It just didn't add up, and the only solution was one he did not want to think of.

Wearing the same dress she wore yesterday, she hides the bruises with linen and lace.

Nobody except Sirius seemed to notice that her clothes were usually too big for her, or the way that she always wore long sleeves—it was summer for Merlin's sake!

She was wearing the same dress that she had worn yesterday—a worn, lightly stitched sundress, though with a gray jacket over top.

The teacher wonders but she doesn't ask, it's hard to see the pain behind the mask.

Sirius had seen some of the older people of the town eyes follow the girl. They had watched her limp to and fro, yet no one did anything.

It made Sirius see red. What had to happen before anyone would give a shit? Would she have to die?

There was something else fishy about little Granger. Sometimes, if he looked really hard, he could see cuts on her left arm—but that couldn't be right, could it?

She kept up a constant mask, never once letting it fall. The pain never seemed to shine through, but neither did the happiness—if there was any. Her eyes seemed dead; an endless pool of death and dirt, her dark eyes gave him the chills sometimes.

Bearing the burden of a secret storm, sometimes she wishes she were never born.

He followed her home once. She lived in a lovely yellow house, a large one too. She slept on the first floor and always kept her window open.

It was horrible. That night as he lay under the bush, directly under the window, he heard her cry for the first time.

She asked God why she was born—why her? She talked to a boy too. A boy named David.

She talked for hours, altering between anger and sorrow.

She asked David why he had to die, why he had to leave her. She asked him over and over again; tear, after fucking tear falling from her porcelain face and into the bush, lightly splashing Sirius's fur.

She cried out to David, apologizing for making him mad, for making him leave. She begged him…begged him to take her away from it all.

David never came.

As that night progressed she got more and more hysterical before finally falling asleep on her notebook. The next night—she did it all over again…

Through the wind and the rain she stands hard as a stone, in a world she can't rise above.

She liked rain. He found that out. She would always stand in it, just soaking it up.

She was cold, too. He once saw a boy bully her. She responded with word, coolly crafted. They sunk deep into the boy, tearing him apart. The boy even started to cry.

Little Granger didn't seem to give a fuck.

But her dreams gave her wings and she flies to a place where she's loved.

Sometimes, when she pets his fur, she'll tell him about Hogwarts, about how she's made fun of for being muggleborn, about how she only has Harry and Ron, sometimes she mentions a girl named Parvati.

She wants to become a social worker, to stop the 'things' as she calls them, that happens to her, to happen to other children. She described how Harry was also mistreated—she never asked questions though. Neville Longbottom too, apparently the year before he had asked her to wrap his ankle after his Uncle Algie decided to play 'Twister' with him.

Everyday before she went back to the big yellow house on Magnolia Street, she would kiss his head, telling him, 'Bye, Snuffles', before trekking back to hell.

Somebody cries in the middle of the night, the neighbors here but they turn out the light.

Sometimes, Sirius would see the neighbors look out the windows, they would spot little Granger crying, and they would just turn a blind eye. What could Dr. Granger do to his little princess, after all?

They heard every night, Sirius was sure they heard her talking too, but after all, she probably just broke a nail.

A fragile soul caught in the hands of fate, when morning comes, it will be too late.

Sirius had followed her home again.

She had left the door open, just a crack. Sirius had stuck his paw in it and opened the door, following her quietly.

Immediately, he smelled alcohol.

"You're late!" a gruff voice stopped Sirius in his tracks.

"Sorry, daddy." Hermione muttered, looking at the ground.

Dr. Granger slapped her across the face, "Look at me when you talk!"

Hermione bit back tears, "Sorry, Daddy."

Dr. Granger barred his teeth, "You will be." Granger picked up his daughter and through her against the wall. Sirius was pretty sure he heard a few ribs crack.

He growled. Granger took no notice.

He picked Hermione up by her hair, dragging her to a somewhat standing position.

"What do you say for yourself?" Granger sneered.

"Sorry, Daddy." She said meekly.

Granger slapped her once more, and then let her drop to the floor. He trodden on her stomach, but before anyone in the room knew what happened, Sirius had tackled Granger to the floor, snarling at him—even though it wasn't needed. Granger was knocked out by the fall.

Hermione's breath was labored, coming in swallow and loud. Her brown eyes filled with tears.

Sirius did the only thing he could think of—he turned back to human.

The young girl simply stared at him; she didn't scream or yell, but just stared. He realized with a start that her eyes were starting to glaze over, and her breath becoming harder. He bent over to pick her up—she scrambled back.

"I'm not going to hurt you." He said softly, his heart breaking when she stared up at him.

Gently, he picked her up; she barely was able to moan from the pain.

Turning in place, he apparated to the only place he could think of—the home of Remus J. Lupin.

"You!" Lupin yelled, pointing his wand at Sirius.

"Not now, Remmy." Sirius snapped, laying the young girl down on the rug. "You got to help her."

Lupin looked at the girl, then turned angrily to Sirius, "What did you do to her?"

Sirius glared at him, "I may be daft, but I'm not daft enough to bring someone I hurt to you. Besides, I could never hurt a child!"

Remus stood up to his tallest height, "You betrayed Lily and James!"

At that moment Hermione seemed to stop breathing. Sirius didn't even deny the accusation, just watched the young girl who was slowly dying. She spat up some blood, and then, once again, stopped moving.

"She's dying." He said softly. "Remus she's dying!"

Remus looked at the young girl, before looking back at Sirius, "You know where everything is."

Remus worked all night to save the young girl, three times almost losing her. Sirius silently watched, and when it was all over, he transformed into Padfoot and went to sleep right next to her head.

Remus wondered what sort of tale this strange duo would relay to him.

A statue stands in a shaded place,

An angel girl with an upturned face,

Her name is written on a polished rock,

A broken heart that the world forgot.

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