Remus wasn't sure what he expected as he walked through the Halls late that night but he sure wasn't expecting to see a small wee lass pressed up into an Alcove at 1 a.m. in the morning. Upon closer inspection he saw it was Emily Carter. This 6 year girl was so small she could have been mistaken for a second year which is what he originally thought.
The Hufflepuff in question was probably the most hated girl in Hogwarts thanks to her family history and with the looming tension of the war she pretty much made herself enemy simply by existing.
Everyone was surprised when a Carter was sorted into Hufflepuff. Remus, a year older, could remember the terror in the girl and the absolute hatred that followed her to the normally happy table, and it seemed to follower her everywhere. It didn't escape his notice that the Slytherins took swift action to punish her for shaming their families. The other houses hadn't been much better. Instead of stopping the Slytherins like they would have normally done, the other three houses almost seemed to encourage it.
It was common knowledge that you could pretty much do whatever you wanted to the girl and to her credit she never spoke out to a teacher, he wasn't so sure they would have helped her out either way, and never complained. She took whatever was dished out to her and then smiled afterwards.
Remus never bullied the girl, and while he certainly didn't like her family, he could find no ill will towards the girl so for the most part he left her alone. Which is exactly what he was going to do tonight until he noticed the blood.
Or rather he smelt it, being a werewolf did have its perks and superior senses were one of them.
His head snapped to the girl who could have been asleep, an arm hung limply at her side and the other across her stomach. Remus could see in the dim light the bright red stain forming under her hand. A closer inspection revealed the purple bruise forming under three perfect scratches on her face, a busted lip and 5 neat finger prints on her neck.
He felt a chill run through him, he knew she was bullied but wondered when it escalated to physical violence. It also made him wonder what he couldn't see.
He took several steps in her direction, fully aware that he wouldn't be able to sleep soundly of he didn't at least check on the girl.
If he hadn't been already watching her he would have missed her whole body seized up at his approach. "please." her voice cracked, sounding so weak and small in that moment he felt a pang of pity for the tiny girl. "please don't hurt me, I …. CANT…."
"I am not going to hurt you." he said appalled at the suggestion.
She cracked her eyes open and squinted, trying to see his face in the poor light. He stepped closer so she could see him better. "Remus? What are you doing out at this hour?" she asked in a whisper and a sigh of relief.
"Are you okay?" he asked right to the point.
She hesitated before plastering that small sad smile she always had, it looked even more pathetic now. "yeah of course."
"you're covered in blood." he called her out on the obvious lie.
She cracked a sarcastic grin, almost chuckling at some private joke before asking "where?"
"everywhere." he replied dryly.
"she scoffed again before shrugging with only one shoulder. He noted that she had yet to move from her position on the floor.
"why are you out after hours, bleeding in the corridor?" he asked, it was a reasonable question he thought. He was a prefect after all.
She frowned, her sarcastic expression gone and replaced with one of trepidation. "Are you going to give me detention?"
"I should, you are out after hours." he said but he really didn't want to the girl detention, he wanted to know why she choose to go here rather than the infirmary.
"Well you're not wrong." she sighed.
It was catching as Remus sighed too, "look, let me take you to Poppy so you can get healed up and not get into trouble." he looked around for her bag but couldn't find it.
"Naw, it's alright Remus. I'll be fine, besides I don't think madam Pomfrey will do anything anyway. I'll be fine, really, it's not the first time I have spent the night in the corridor. Honestly."
The trace of panic was not lost on him, his frown deepened. He didn't like the idea of her staying in the corridor, 'why didn't she go back to the common room?'
Then it all clicked, the Hufflepuffs, they locked her out. That's why she didn't have her bag, they must have jumped her in their common room and threw her out for the night. Remus was appalled, he expected this form Slytherins but not from their he Hufflepuffs, especially not from her own house. She really had nowhere to go to escape the torment.
A thought occurred to him, he knew where she could go. Making his choice, "can you stand?" he asked.
She nodded skeptically and used the wall to brace herself up, wincing the whole way.
"good. Follow me I have something to show you." he said and started down the hall confident that she would follow.
Slowly they made their way to a T intersection and he told her to wait right there for him as he paced by the wall three times. She needs a place to hide, a comfortable place to be at.
Upon the third pass a door appeared, and she jumped. "what?"she began to ask.
"it is called the room of requirement. It appears when the Passer has great need of it. Whenever you get locked out of your dormitory, you can come here to stay so you won't get into trouble. I am almost certain that most people don't know about it." he explained.
"wow…. Just wow, I can't believe that this has been here this whole time." she whispered her voice cracking.
"all you have to do is pass by three times thinking about what you need and it will appear." he told her eyeing the shoulder that still hung limply at her side.
"why are you doing this? You know I can't give you anything in return." she said eyebrows furrowed together.
"just don't lie In the corridor bleeding anymore so I won't have to give you detention. That will be thanks enough."he said cheekily.
She smiled, a true smile, genuine and warm. It startled him, it transformed her face into something he wasn't expecting.
"thank you Remus." she said.
"um yeah, no problem." he turned to leave but then turned back to her. "you should get your shoulder looked at. A dislocated shoulder is no joke when you don't get it put back in right." he explained knowing first hand how painful they could be.
"oh yeah don't worry I know." she still smiled.
"okay, good. Uh… see you around." he quickly stalked off away from her but didn't leave the area until he heard the door shut. Despite helping her he still felt the uncomfortable tug of guilt that chase him all the way into his dreams.