Rise Above

Disclaimer: Hi, my name's J.K Rowling, and I'm a very rich British woman who owns Harry Potter. And I'm lying!

A/N: Okay, I have to thank Mimbulus a billion times for pointing out the stupidest mistake I have ever made! In the last chapter I made an allusion to the Greek myth about Orpheus and Eurydice, only I accidentally called them Odysseus and Euphrates! I have no idea how or why I made this mistake, considering that Euphrates is actually a river, and Odysseus is the ruler of Ithaca. The thing that really bugs me about this is that I can't plead ignorance…because I knew that the correct names were Orpheus and Eurydice, I just some how got mixed up. I guess I should stop writing fan fiction in the middle of the night! So, my apologies for my extremely silly mistakes, and many, many thanks to Mimbulus for correcting them!

"Merlin, Moony, what the hell is going on?" cried a bewildered James. Remus was bleeding profusely but seemed to disregard it completely. All his logic, and rationale was gone, but instead was replaced with a blindly wild determination.

"We have to go now, there's no time left to waste. Are you with me or not." Remus had pulled on his robes and was heading down the tunnel. "Madame Pomfrey should be coming to collect me any minute now. You take the Hogsmeade way back as usual, but meet me outside of Dumbledore's office. I don't think this is something we can do on our own." With that said, a very white Remus made his way down the tunnel to Hogwarts leaving three bewildered boys in his wake.

After Remus was part way down the tunnel he broke into a run. 'I have to find her, there's no time,' kept spinning through his head. His weakness made him dizzy, and his knees felt like they would give out from beneath him, but his sheer determination drove the pain to the back of his mind.

Just before reaching the Whomping Willow Remus met Madame Pomfrey. He slowed to a walk as he came towards her. He already knew what she was going to say, but she wasn't going to take him to the infirmary, no matter how hard she tried. "Remus, dear, what are you doing!? Your bleeding badly. You shouldn't have been running so. I was coming to get you dear. You need to come down with me to the infirmary straight away dear."

"I can't, I have to go see Dumbledore. It's extremely important." Remus began to run again. Behind him he could hear her telling him to turn around this minute, that he was going to hurt himself.

Tearing out of the Whomping Willow, Remus ran across the grounds, and into the castle. A few early rising students, shot him looks of utter confusion and dismay. It wasn't everyday you saw a quiet, well-mannered boy bolting through Hogwarts in blood-soaked robes. When he reached Dumbledore's office, he was relieved to find that James, and Sirius had already found Dumbledore, and were waiting for him.

"Your friends have alerted me that you feel there is something wrong with your fellow Gryffindor, Jan Lawrence." Dumbledore's voice was calm and steady.

"Jan, she left for the break to visit with her father. Things aren't that great between her and her dad, so she said she would owl me within three days to let me know she if she was ok. There's been no owl." Remus looked as if he was about to collapse. Sirius reached and steadied him with his hand. "Look, I know you probably won't take me seriously, but I just, I know there's something wrong."

"And I don't doubt your judgment Mr. Lupin." Remus breathed a sigh a relief. "I have already contacted officials from the ministry. There is not much else you boys can do, but I suggest that you go to the infirmary Mr. Lupin."

"No! No, we have to go. You don't understand Professor Dumbledore, we need to be there! I can't explain this, I just know…things will go wrong if we don't."

The wise wizard looked long and hard at Remus over his half moon spectacles. Finally, he spoke. "Then we'd best get going."

The buildings in London seemed to grow up around them as they flew down towards the ground. Remus dismounted from his broom and looked around. It was like Jan said, the house was easy to spot. It was a tall house, maybe three stories. It was painted black and dark curtains hung in every window. Pain and suffering seemed to crackle in the air.

Their arrival was almost simultaneous with the arrival of several ministry officials, including two Aurors. At first the officials were skeptical about the boys being there, but after a little persuasion from Dumbledore, they were allowed to stay. Remus held his breath as they beat on the door. Nobody answered. One of the Aurors unlocked the door with their wand and went inside. Obviously, Jan's father hadn't been expecting any visitors.

Broken glass, streaked with blood littered the floor. The stairs in the main hallway had blood trailing up them, and part of the railing was broken. Remus began to shake with anger, it was her blood. "Please don't let it be too late," he whispered hoarsely.

Remus could hear movement, then Jan's father appeared, in a drunken rage. He smashed a bottle of fire whisky onto the floor and drew his wand. In a fleeting second, Remus knew what to do. He didn't have time to waste. He bolted up the stairs, dodging a streak of red light from the man's wand. In the hallway at the top of the stairs he found himself walking towards the first door on his left. Somehow he knew where she was, he could almost feel her.

The doorknob was unlocked, and he easily stepped inside. What he saw, broke him into a million pieces. His eyes were filled with tears, and as he looked at Jan, they turned into a sob. Choking it back, he went to her side. She was curled into the fetal position. She was covered in cuts and bruises, and her robes were in shreds. One of her eyes was circled with a dark bruise, and there was blood oozing from the corner of her mouth. She was unconscious but Remus spoke anyway, "I'm so sorry. I broke my promise. Forgive me." Tears dripped off his face and onto hers. He gently touched her arm.

Slowly, her eyes opened. She reached out and grabbed his hand. "You came." Remus could only nod in response. "I knew you would come."

Remus carefully picked her up and held her to him. "I'm gonna get you out of here." Jan buried her face into his chest as he carried her down the stairs.

At the bottom of the stairs, the Aurors had managed to subdue Jan's father. His hands were tied behind his back, but that didn't stop his mouth. Strings of curse words were being shouted angrily at everyone around him. As Remus descended from the stairs, these became directed at him and Jan. Remus could feel his blood begin to boil. He wanted nothing more than to slit this man's throat. He wanted to make him suffer, just like he had made Jan suffer. He was about to turn around, to give this man what he deserved, but then he heard the words from his vision. "Lead me out, Orpheus. Don't look back." He was better than this man, he would rise above.

Remus continued forward, out the door, and he carried Jan out, into the morning sunshine. And he didn't look back.

A/N: I know this chapter's a little short but, this is where I felt it was right to end off for this chapter. Thanks for reading, and I would really appreciate a review. I would also like to apologize for any spelling mistakes I have made anywhere in this story. This isn't beta-ed so there maybe little errors.