Live To Tell
Chapter Two-"I Fell Down"
Sirius, James and Peter rolled with laughter when they pranked a unsuspecting first year by magically tying their shoelaces together so when the kid went to take a walk, he fell flat on his face.
Remus just kept his nose in the book, totally ignoring them.
Once they had their fill of pranking, they headed off to bed. Remus grew tired as well and closed the book he was reading. He slipped it into his bag and headed into the boys' dorm. He changed into a pair of flannel navy plaid pajama pants and a white tee shirt. He climbed under the covers and laid on his side. He shut his eyes and eventually dozed off into a deep sleep.
In the morning, Remus woke up to warm sunshine on his face, and someone poking him in the ribs.
"Get up, Mooney," Sirius' voice taunted. "Or else I'll lean in and kiss you."
Remus moaned and grabbed the pillow, placing it over his head.
"Come on," Sirius said as he still continued to poke him. "It's time to get num nums."
Remus snorted into the underside of the pillow and finally took the pillow off his head. He sat up. Sirius was sitting on the edge of the bed.
Remus stretched and finally got up.
"If you ever kiss me," Remus said grinning. "Remind me to take my own wand and poke my eyes out. Not to mention sanitizing myself."
Sirius gave him a cross eyed expression causing Remus to burst out laughing. Remus pulled on his robe and uniform. In pulling on his robe, the butterfly clip fell out of his pocket and landed on the floor. Sirius saw it and bent down picking it up. James and Peter had already headed down to breakfast.
"I thought you gave this back to Roselyn?" Sirius asked.
"I did," Remus said. "When we passed the compartment I found it on the floor. It was crushed as though someone had stepped on it. I picked it up and repaired it last night."
"You told us you thought it was a galleon," Sirius smirked knowingly at him.
"It's no big deal," Remus insisted.
"Relax," Sirius chuckled. "I won't tell James or Peter."
"You won't tell them what exactly?"
"That you've got the hots for Roselyn," Sirius answered simply and bluntly.
"I don't!" Remus protested. "I just simply fixed her hairclip! God Sirius you read too much into simple things."
"Yeah," Sirius said coyly. "But sometimes it's the simple things that lead to more."
"Ugh," Remus said as he snatched the clip from Sirius' hand and put it back into his pocket. "I'm going to return the clip to her and that's it okay?"
He headed out of the dorm room and headed down to the Great Hall. Sirius watched him leave with a smug expression before he too, followed Remus down to breakfast. Remus took a seat next to Peter and began helping himself to some crumpets and porridge. Sirius took a seat across from him and also began helping himself to food.
Their first class didn't begin until 9:00, so that left about 45 minutes for Remus to nab Roselyn and return the clip.
She was already sitting at the Ravenclaw table, talking to a girl with shoulder length dark brown hair and azure blue eyes
Roselyn had remembered the concerned look on Remus Lupin's face when he'd returned the clip on the train. Ryan had naturally been rude to him and slammed the compartment door in his face and been furious with her for sitting with them in the first place.
Roselyn didn't think the Marauders were all that bad. Remus certainly seemed sweet to return a hair clip like that. Roselyn had been dating Ryan for 3 years now. There were times when he'd get angry at her, but some times it was her own fault. But yesterday sitting with the Marauders, Roselyn didn't think much of it and that he might've over-reacted.
Sure they've been known to prank other houses as well as members from their own, but they never intentionally harmed anyone. Her best friend, Alex Rivers talked non-stop about the Marauders and how handsome they were. She was good friends with Lily Evans and got to spend some time around them. She thought Sirius was 'hot'.
Roselyn had caught Remus watching her last night and she'd given him a watery smile, incase Ryan was watching. Remus had smiled back then turned his attention onto his meal.
Alex saw this and decided to ask her about it now.
"So," Alex said grinning at Roselyn, her azure blue eyes twinkling. Her shoulder length dark brown hair was pulled into a ponytail. "I saw Remus Lupin was watching you last night."
"Yeah so?" Roselyn said shrugging as she helped herself to some crumpets. "He returned my hair clip to me yesterday on the train as it fell from my bag."
Alex continued to grin.
"I think he's hot," she said dreamily as her gaze shifted to the Gryffindor table. The Marauders were talking amongst themselves.
"You also think Sirius is hot," Roselyn pointed out.
"They're all hot," Alex corrected her. "I'd love to be on a date with either of them."
"Well, forget James," Roselyn replied. "He fancies Lily. That leaves Peter, Remus or Sirius but you're dreaming. They would never ask girls like us out. They want pretty, dumb girls. Not ugly, smart girls like us. Besides, I'm already taken. I've got a boyfriend remember?"
"Hey," Alex protested. "I'm not ugly and neither are you and no I hadn't forgotten."
Her tone hardened at the last four words and Roselyn looked at her startled.
"Rose, Ryan's a good guy, I'll give you that…but there are times when he gets angry that he takes it out on you," she said softly and quietly studying Roselyn with concern and worry.
"Sometimes it's my fault," Roselyn said. "I get him angry."
Alex went to reply, but the bell rang and Roselyn gathered her things up and told Alex quickly that she was heading to the library and she hurried out of the Hall.
She entered the library and took a seat at one of the tables next to the window. The window was opened slightly and a cool September breeze blew in ruffling her auburn hair and the edges of the parchment that she was taking notes on. She had pinned some of the hair back with a barrette and some of the shorter strands had come loose and hung down against her shoulders. Her coffee colored eyes roamed over the paragraphs of the Transfiguration textbook that lye opened in front of her on the desk. She crossed her legs under the table and was completely immersed in the book, not realizing that Remus Lupin had also entered the library.
Remus spied Roselyn sitting at one of the tables near an opened window. He cleared his throat and gathered up the courage, cursing the nervousness he felt whenever he had to talk to a girl. He headed over to her and he stood next to the table. He placed one hand palm down on the table and reached into his pocket with his other hand and placed the butterfly clip directly at the top of the Transfiguration textbook.
Roselyn raised her eyes to the clip, then to him.
"Where'd you get that?" she asked quietly.
"I-I found it in your compartment," Remus stammered. "I-It looked crushed so I fixed it for you."
Roselyn's eyes filled with gratitude and shock.
"Thank you," she said quietly. "You didn't have to do that."
Remus just shrugged as if to say 'No big deal'.
Roselyn had to admit she was deeply touched at Remus' gesture and never in a million years expected something like that to come from one of the Marauders. But then again, Alex always said Remus was different from Sirius, James and Peter. Alex told her about this one girl that had gone out with Remus in their 5th year, last year. The girl wanted to take the relationship to the next level, but Remus hadn't been ready so the girl dumped him and went out with a Slytherin.
"Sit," Roselyn said gesturing to the empty chair across from her. She closed the textbook and slipped it back into her bag then she gave Remus her undivided attention.
"So," she said brightly. "Are you sad to see Hogwarts go at the end of this year?"
She was also in her 6th year and knew she'd miss Hogwarts terribly next year when she graduated.
Remus nodded.
"Yeah," he admitted. "But I'm thinking of becoming a teacher, maybe teach Defense Against the Dark Arts here."
"That's great," Roselyn said eagerly. "I'm not sure what I want to do yet. I'm still deciding."
Remus smiled. "You've got a bit to go yet. I'm sure you'll come up with something,"
Roselyn flashed him a grin before picking up the butterfly clip and putting it into her bag.
When she raised her eyes again, the color drained from her face as her eyes were locked on the library entrance.
Remus picked up on this and followed her gaze. Ryan was standing there. He strolled into the library and roughly grabbed Remus by the arm and yanked him from the seat.
"I told you to stay away from her," Ryan snarled his eyes flashing angrily.
"I can talk to her if I want," Remus said coldly. "There's no law against talking is there?"
"Leave," Ryan spat as he shoved Remus.
"Ryan don't…" Roselyn protested standing up.
"Shut up," Ryan rasped to her.
"Don't talk to her like that," Remus said sharply as Ryan pushed him toward the entrance again. "And stop shoving me."
"I can talk to her anyway I want," Ryan said icily. "It's none of your fucking business."
With that, Ryan managed to shove Remus completely out of the library before turning to Roselyn.
"I thought I told you to stay away from them!" Ryan shouted to her.
"He was just returning something," Roselyn said.
Ryan grabbed Roselyn's arm and bent it back, causing her to cry out in pain.
"STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM THEM!" he snarled as he finally released her arm and stormed from the library.
Roselyn's body was shaking as she looked at her arm. A bruise had formed again. She sighed and gathered up her things as the bell rang, signaling the start of class.
That morning she had Charms with the Gryffindors. She entered the classroom and took a seat next to Alex. Across from them, the Marauders were whispering to Remus, who was angry.
Alex saw the bruise.
"Again?" she asked quietly.
"Huh? Oh no," Roselyn said quickly as she took out her supplies. "I fell down in the library."
Alex regarded her skeptically but shook her head nonetheless. Professor Carin entered and the lesson began.
"He shoved me out of the library and you should've seen the way he talked to Roselyn!" Remus was hissing at James, Sirius and Peter.
"What a git," Sirius said shaking his head. "A nice girl like Roselyn doesn't deserve to be treated that way."
"Remus, I'm beginning to think that you're right about him," James said gravely turning his blue eyes onto Remus. They had a sullen and shocked look behind the thin black-rimmed glasses.
Remus sighed.
"I'm also beginning to think that he did hit her in the compartment," he said seriously. "Remember I thought I heard a noise like a 'slap'."
James looked up.
"You didn't tell us that! Why not?" he asked sounding surprised, but not accusing.
"Because I didn't want to say anything incase I was wrong," Remus said reasonably. "I still don't know if I'm right."
"Well, from the way you described Ryan's behavior today in the library, I certainly wouldn't be shocked," Sirius replied.
Remus just sighed and took out his supplies, placing them on the desk. He dipped his quill into the ink bottle and wrote his name at the top of the parchment. He raised his eyes to the Ravenclaw side. They had class with them first, then the Slytherins.
Roselyn was whispering to the girl with the dark hair. Remus thought her name was Alex. She was best friends with Lily and hung around the Marauders a few times, but Remus had naturally been busy reading and didn't really pay much attention. Alex caught him watching and gave him a big grin.
Remus smiled back but moved his eyes back onto Roselyn.
"Remus Lupin is looking at you," Alex said as she gave him another grin.
Remus just lowered his eyes to the parchment.
"He seems sweet," Roselyn said as she too took out her supplies. "But Ryan doesn't want me talking to them."
"Is Ryan your boss?" Alex demanded. "He doesn't have a right to dictate to you who you speak to."
"It's not that," Roselyn said sighing. "I don't want him to get angry."
"Right," Alex said bitterly. "He could 'accidentally' throw you down the stairs."
Roselyn went to reply but the teacher came in and began the lesson.
Once class was over, Roselyn headed out before the Marauders. Alex saw Remus and the rest of the Marauders hanging back, slowly packing their belongings. She hoped she was doing the right thing but she was worried about her best friend.
She cleared her throat and headed over to them.
"Hey guys,"
"Hey Alex," Sirius said flashing a flirty grin to her.
"Hi Alex," James said softly. "What's up? How's Lily doing?"
Alex grinned. "Lily's fine," she said. "But I need to talk to you guys. It's about Roselyn."
Her expression and tone turned serious.
At that, Remus' head shot up and his ears pricked up.
"What about Roselyn?" he asked keeping his eyes on Alex.
Alex exhaled. "I'm sure you're all familiar with Ryan right?"
They nodded.
"Well," Alex said slowly. "First, promise me you won't say anything. To Roselyn OR Ryan."
"We promise," The Marauders said in unison, Sirius holding up two fingers as if "Scouts Honor".
Alex nodded. "Well, whenever Ryan gets angry, he takes it out on Roselyn,"
"You mean verbally right?" James asked, as they all hoped for that reply to be yes, but then again their guts were nagging them.
"Both," Alex said seriously. "He hits her and he verbally says mean things to her."
They exchanged looks of horror and anger.
"So he did hit her on the compartment," Remus said quietly.
Alex nodded. "Probably," she said. "I've tried to get her to leave him, but she's terrified because she doesn't know what he'll do to her. I'm afraid that one day he's going to go over the edge and wind up hurting her or…"
Alex's voice trailed off.
Sirius could see Alex was genuinely concerned. He stepped forward and put a hand on her shoulder.
"Don't worry," Sirius said earnestly. "We'll help her. She seems to have taken a liking to Remus so we can probably get her to open up to him."
Alex smiled gratefully. "Thanks guys," she said relieved and left the classroom.
Remus was completely stunned. He looked to James, Sirius and Peter. They too, had an expression like they were blown away. Remus finished putting his things away and they headed out of the classroom.