Copyright disclaimer: Any character you recognize obviously doesn't belong to me. Title is property of an Automatic Loveletter song.
Sirius Black closed his eyes and tried to suppress the rage coursing through his veins. He was confused and itching to fight someone. It was a little after two in the morning, his friends were all snoring peacefully. He had just snuck back into his dorm but the night's escapade refused to vanish from his brain, flashing vividly before his closed eyes.
Roughly half an hour ago, by complete accident, he was forced to deter on his way back into the dormitories; to hide in one of the dungeons after sneaking out of the Common Room for a late night snack. A teacher was patrolling relentlessly outside the Gryffindor Tower and he, exhausted after Quiddich practice and a mediocre day of lessons, found his feet leading him to a dungeon where he hoped to rest his eyes and feet before sneaking back into his dormitory. Instead of a quiet resting spot, he came across a sobbing Ravenclaw, almost naked, numerous unhealed scars and bruises all over her petite little body. She had stared up at him with terrified, bloodshot eyes, angry red handprints imprinted on her fragile neck. He noticed she had the palest and coldest blue eyes he'd ever seen. When he attempted to ask her what had happened, she hastily snatched up her robes and fled. He had stood rooted to the spot, stunned. If not for the custard cream tarts stuffed under his robe, he would've thought he'd been dreaming.
As Sirius tossed and turned, he tried desperately to put a name to the face he'd just seen. He was quite sure he'd seen the girl around the Castle a few times, never paid much attention to her. She wasn't pretty or ugly, just plain. She blended into the busy hustle and bustle of the students bursting through the corridors. He was in her Charms and Transfiguration class and deduced that she was a quiet, shy and obviously, smart student as she was in Ravenclaw.
No name came to mind.
Frustrated, he pounded his pillow, adrenaline violently building up in his system with no vent to release it.
Tomorrow, he decided. He would seek answers.
He didn't know why he was so obsessed over an almost naked, abused little Ravenclaw. His mind just wouldn't let him forget her. And so began Sirius Black's obsession with a nameless little damaged Ravenclaw.
He was moody. And that was the understatement of the year. He had gotten no less than four hours of sleep when Peter's alarm had shrilly started him out of his much needed slumber. He then tumbled out of bed and showered, half-asleep. As he stomped towards the Great Hall, yawning, he glanced around the tables and froze, recognition shocking his brain into alert mode.
She sat, in a corner, dwarfed by two chipper girls, staring at her plate of untouched toast. There were no visible signs of discolouration on her neck or face and her eyes were distant, slumped forwards as if trying to vanish into thin air.
"OI, PADFOOT!" A loud voice interrupted his staring," What's our first class?"
"Ask Moony," He snarled uncharacteristically, causing his friends and fellow Gryffindors to turn around and stare at an unusually, unhappy Sirius Black.
"Sorry," He muttered carelessly, seating himself down into a seat.
"Rough night?" James asked him, promptly stuffing large fork loads of buttered pancakes into his mouth.
"Something like that," Sirius muttered, frequently glancing at the Ravenclaw table.
"Man, who's the lucky girl?" James pestered. He had never seen his best friend so… quiet. And just what was he looking at. More precisely, who?
James Potter looked over to the Ravenclaw table, scanning the students, trying to figure out which girl had caught Sirius's eye this time. He frowned. All the beautiful ones haven't arrived yet. They were more than likely still pampering themselves for the day in the bathrooms. James looked at the direction of Sirius's gaze and found himself staring at a gloomy looking girl, nothing spectacular, and a pair of blondes that had too much energy and enthusiasm on a Monday morning. He shrugged. The Reynold twins weren't that bad looking. Sirius did have a weakness for blondes after all, and James decided that Sirius must have finally grown up, if only a little, and has decided to go after girls with substance, brains and looks. Satisfied, he started piling bacon and eggs onto his plate, eyes hooked to the Entrance for any signs red hair.
Across the table, Moony frowned. Sirius was not himself this morning. Before he could open his mouth, Sirius bolted up from his seat and ran over to the Ravenclaw table, where he found his friend snarling at Slytherin Beater Rabastan Lestrange.
Sirius didn't know what had taken over him. One minute, he was buttering his crumpet, the next, he saw a tall, dark haired boy saunter over to the nameless girl he saw the night before, watched her face pale and her body tremble as he spoke to her. Before his mind could register what was going on, he was across the room, one hand on his wand inside his robes, struggling not to instinctively curse the boy in front of him into microscopic little bits while harsh threats erupted from his mouth.
The boy in front of him coolly looked at him, shot a smirk to the cowering Ravenclaw, stated calmly," See you around Campbell," and sauntered off, leaving everyone in the Great Hall staring at an enraged Sirius Black, two astonished looking twins, and a petrified Ravenclaw girl he didn't know the name of
Sirius was feeling downright homicidal. Before he could speak, however, the bell rang. Abbey and Cat Reynold sized their stunned friend by the armpits and dragged her out of the hall, wondering what the hell just happened.
-
Mina Campbell numbly followed her friends out of the Hall, outside towards Greenhouse Seven, emotions overwhelming her capacity to feel.
Back in the Great Hall, Sirius Black was accosted by astonished and highly curious friends.
How ironic, Sirius thought to himself. Just my luck. After grilling Moony non-stop and picking Prongs's brains, he had learned that her name was Mina Campbell; a sixth year Ravenclaw, pureblood parents absent her entire life, adopted by a widowed, eccentric and wealthy Squib at the age of two. Trivial titbits of information, like the fact that Mina was allergic to blueberries, deathly afraid of dogs, clowns and heights and intensely fond of cats, vanilla fudge and Potions class heightened his thirst for knowledge about the silent modest Ravenclaw.
Through the grapevine, Sirius had also discovered that Rabastan Lestrange had been pursuing Mina for unknown reasons, since the end of her fourth year. Though he did not know the accuracy of this information, Sirius suspected that Lestrange was the one behind the mystery of Mina's injuries. It didn't take a genius to figure out the link between Lestrange's smug face he wanted to punch the lights out of and Mina's bloodless one earlier on that morning. However, he was puzzled. If Lestrange was harassing Mina, why hasn't her friends intervened or reported him? It didn't make sense. However, he knew that his cousin Bellatrix and her boyfriend, Rodolphus Lestrange, twin brother of Rabastan Lestrange, were rumoured to be involved with a Dark Lord who calls himself Voldemort. Voldemort was obsessed with riding the magical community of 'mudbloods' or muggle-borns capable of magic. Perhaps Rabastan Lestrange was under orders to claim Mina as a pureblood bride? Sirius's fists clenched at the thought. Still, something didn't add up. Convinced that he wasn't seeing the full picture, Sirius reached for his Transfiguration essay, frantically seeking a distraction from his racing thoughts.
"Merlin's balls! Padfoot's doing homework!" James Potter's voice echoed throughout the Common Room," What in the name of Snivellus's pants happened to you mate?"
"I'll see you later," Sirius growled to his dumbfounded friends, storming out of the Common Room in search of a mousy Ravenclaw with ice blue eyes.
-
Mina Campbell scanned the library shelves, heaving heavy books from their places, telling herself she needed to work on her upper body strength. She was in the remote part of the library where no one goes, browsing books about nonsense, such as 101 Things to Eat with Sugared Quills. This was her haven. Rabastan never came here. He wouldn't risk damaging his pride or reputation by being seen in the library, especially in this section. This was the only place in the entire Castle she felt relatively safe, however temporary.
Someone cleared their throat, causing Mina to jump from fright. Out of pure reflex and experience, she closed her eyes and raised her twig-like arms to defend herself, waiting for the inevitable blow. It didn't come.
After plucking up courage to lower her guard, she glanced cautiously up at a very handsome but grim looking Sirius Black.
"We need to talk."
Mina blinked.
She couldn't think of one single reason Sirius Black needed to talk to her.
He wasn't failing any classes.
He had a girlfriend, at least, from what she had last heard.
She didn't have any drop-dead gorgeous friends he needed the 411 on.
What was he doing here? And how did he find her?
"BLACK!" A loud screech interrupted her pattern thought," YOU ARE BANNED FROM THE LIBRARY! HOW DARE YOU COME BACK HERE…"
Grabbing the mute Ravenclaw's hand, Sirius Black sprinted out of the library, alarmed at how cold and bony Mina's wrist felt in his grip.
"In here!"
Mina found herself shoved into a broom closed and hysteria gripped her.
"Shh, shh, I won't hurt you! Lumos!"
She cursed herself for doing what she always did when she was scared out of her mind. She froze, paralyzed to the ground, staring at the self-proclaimed Sex God of Hogwarts with pleading eyes screaming.
"Please don't hurt me."
Sirius couldn't help it. He rolled his eyes. He'd never imagined himself as a hero rescuing a damsel in distress. Merlin, he wasn't even attracted to the girl! Just intrigued… He preferred to be the knight in black armour ravaging princesses. But there he was, in a broom cupboard with a girl he had never talked to prior five minutes ago.
Mina could've kicked herself for her stupidity. Hasn't she said those exact words, time and time again, to Rabastan, only to be laughed at, completely ignored and beaten up? Shouldn't she have learned by now that words hold no true power? Shouldn't she have realized by now that unless she mastered wandless magic, words weren't going to do a damn thing to protect her from someone else?
"What were you doing in the dungeons last night?" Sirius blurted out.
Mina blinked.
A terse silence descended, as Mina fidgeted nervously and Sirius cursed himself, trying to find more elegant words to phrase what he wanted to know.
"Where did you get the bruises? Who hurt you?" Despite the voice inside his head screaming at his own idiocy, Sirius continued hurling questions at a passive Mina, who did nothing but blink at him with fear evident in her big blue eyes.
Say something, Mina thought desperately, anything to break the silence…
Her stomach rumbled.
Loudly.
She blushed.
"When was the last time you've eaten?" Sirius demanded.
Mina blinked.
Again.
"Come on, we're going to dinner…" He said, kicking the door open, only to find himself staring at a large group of Hufflepuff fourth years, startled and gazing at him, and his company, with flabbergasted eyes.
"Shit!"
He swallowed, head pounding. He just hoped that whatever the rumours that travel around tomorrow won't be too bad…
Behind, Mina stiffened.
Her was life now truly over.
Your thoughts? Feel free to point out my spelling or grammar mistakes. Please do note that I'm not American, therefore, I use British spelling so don't hassle me for spelling colour with a 'u'.