Thorns
The Marauders' Era
Chapter 10: Breaks & Bruises
"Theodora!" Remus frantically called, dropping to his knees to look under his four-poster bed in Gryffindor's boys' dorms. All that was under his bed was a few dust bunnies and Elvendork snoozing on a pile of stolen socks.
"Damn kneazle," Remus said, running a hand through his brown hair. He glanced out the window, noticing he had about an hour until sunset—which meant he had 30 minutes tops to get away before the full moon rose. He was grateful that spring was here and that meant he had more sunlight on days like today—a day in which it was Tessa's turn to care for Theodora, and the kneazle had gone missing.
Sirius and James sat on Sirius' bed, watching their frantic friend. Normally, Peter could be goaded in to helping Remus look, but he was serving detention for getting caught cheating at the last Charms exam.
"Don't worry, Remus," said Sirius. "Tess isn't going to be mad at you."
"She loves that creature," Remus reminded his friend, "so she might be a little mad. By the way, Elvendork and all of our socks are under my bed."
"I've been looking for my lucky quidditch socks," James exclaimed, jumping from the bed and looking under Remus' bed. He emerged with an armful of sleeping kneazle and socks.
"Maybe Elvendork ate Theodora," Remus eyed the brown kneazle kitten warily.
"Just because Elvendork was the largest kneazle in the litter and Theodora was the runt does not mean Elvendork has it out for her," Sirius defended his kneazle that yawned in James' arms. "Besides, Theodora would kill Elvendork." Sirius pulled up his sleeve to show scratches on his left arm—true to her word, Tessa and Remus' kneazle had an instant distrust of Sirius no matter how many treats he offered.
"Calm down, Remus," said James, with a laugh. "It's a kneazle. It's probably doing kneazle things in a corridor somewhere."
"But Tessa—"
"Tess will understand that her devil creature will be late because you need to take care of yourself," Sirius said firmly. "James and I will explore the castle grounds and we won't rest until we return Theodora to Tess. Never fear, furry friend!"
Remus offered a slight smile as Sirius slapped him on the back. Remus was always nervous when to making an impression on people—and he really liked Tessa; he didn't want to disappoint her.
"Remus," Sirius said, shaking his friend's shoulder lightly. "Really, mate, Tess will be fine. As much as she loves that ugly runt, she loves you a little more, and she would tell you to go take care of yourself."
"Okay," Remus said, still feeling terribly as Sirius pushed him to the entrance. "Tell Tessa I'm so sorry."
"Go, Remus," said James with a laugh. "It's just a kneazle!"
Remus collected his book bag and hurried out of Gryffindor tower, biting his lip. He was sure that Sirius and James would find Theodora somewhere, but he worried that Tessa would think him untrustworthy. Remus felt his cheeks go pink at the thought of Tessa.
Walking across the castle grounds, the chilly Spring air cleared Remus' head—Tessa was his best mate's girlfriend, and he would rather die than get between that. Remus managed to freeze the Whomping Willow's branches before he crawled into his secret space preparing for a long and painful night.
Still, even with his devotion to Sirius' happiness, Remus couldn't help but imagine Tessa's easy smile when they were together.
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"Remus," Tessa frowned, thinking of her friend who was having a bad night. "Of course I would have understood." Sirius had relayed the tale of the missing kneazle to Tessa over dinner in the Great Hall later that night.
"I told him that," said Sirius. "He just went on and on about being the scum of the earth because he lost your demon—"
Tessa swatted Sirius' arm. "And by demon, I meant sweet angel," Sirius laughed.
"Anyway," James interjected. "Sirius, Peter, and I will not rest tonight until we find your mischievous Theodora. Elvendork will help too."
"I can't believe you actually named your kneazle Elvendork," said Tessa, shaking her head.
"Watch it," said James, pointing a finger at Tessa. "Elvendork Black-Potter is more than just a kneazle."
"He is our sweet and noble love child," Sirius added. "And Elvendork Potter-Black will follow in his fathers' footsteps, and he will deliver Theodora at midnight to her fair lady unscathed."
"I pray that you both marry very patient girls who happen to be very good at hexing spells," Tessa rolled her eyes. "Your children will be nightmares."
"Good thing Lily's going to marry me," said James.
"You're going to need a lot of help there, James," said Sirius, laughing at his best friend's unrequited crush. "I think she'd take her chances with a fire crab before she considers you."
In spite of himself, James laughed along with Sirius, ruffling his messy hair. Tessa smiled at the joke, and glanced at Sirius, noticing he gave her a curious look, in spite of his good humor, that made her shift uneasily.
"Anyway," Tessa continued, "midnight by the Slytherin dungeons. Good luck on your quest, noble knights."
"Of course, Princess," said James with a dramatic bow as Tessa exited the Great Hall. Sirius watched Tessa's chestnut hair swing behind her before he pushed away from the long table and chased after her.
"Tess, wait!"
Tessa turned to see Sirius jogging after her; his collar-length dark curls bouncing slightly with his movement.
"What is it," asked Tessa, when Sirius caught up with her. Tessa searched Sirius' grey eyes, still seeing that strange expression.
Instead, Sirius pulled Tessa close and kissed her once, much to the disappointment of two Ravenclaw girls that walked by.
Tessa smiled as Sirius wrapped the ends of her hair around his fingers. "What was that for?"
"You're my best girl," said Sirius with a lop-sided grin. Sirius' grey eyes took on a light of mischief before he kissed Tessa once more.
"And you're my best friend. You're strange, but still my best friend," said Tessa with a laugh.
Sirius smiled wider, his heart feeling lighter at Tessa's affirmation. It was now the end of March, and since the beginning of the school year Sirius had continued to feel the shift in Tessa's personality. She seemed more like the girls that Sirius had grown up around—proper and aristocratic. Therefore, every time Sirius could make Tessa laugh or get angry or blush he felt like he was with the girl who caught his attention two years ago.
"I'm off, fair princess," said Sirius with a deep bow. "I will return your noble Theodora."
"You really have to stop calling me princess," Tessa said with a laugh. During the qudditch match between Slytherin and Hufflepuff before Christmas holiday, Tessa found out that one of Hufflepuff's chasers had an interest in her—and she used it so much to her advantage that the commentator remarked that the Hufflepuff boy was like a pauper compared to the princess.
Since then…many people called her Princess, much to her annoyance.
"As you wish, m'lady," Sirius said with a wink before he left, running after James to begin the hunt for Theodora.
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Tessa waited just outside Slytherin's dungeons five minutes before midnight. In the distance, Tessa heard the sounds of a few male voices about to round the corner.
"Do you have Theodora," Tessa asked excitedly, waiting to see her ash grey runt.
"No? Tessa?"
"Edgar?" Tessa's eyes widened. "Severus? Evan?"
The three Slytherin boys were just as startled as Tessa to be meeting so late at night.
"What are you doing out here, Tessa," asked Evan.
"I could ask you the same thing, cousin," Tessa responded with narrowed eyes. Though she loved her cousin, he had started to scare her in his sudden disappearances with a small handful of other Slytherin students who were known to be very invested in the Dark Arts.
"We were just heading inside," said Evan, still annoyingly vague. "And you? What's a third year girl doing all by herself?"
"M'lady, the knights have returned with bountiful success from the mission!"
"Waiting for that," said Tessa, in response to Sirius' loud and playful voice rounding the corner.
Sirius, James, and Peter arrived at exactly midnight trailed by an energetic young Elvendork. In Sirius' arms was a tiny ash grey kneazle with very pointed ears and pudgy face—it was Tessa's and Remus' (but everyone knew it was really Tessa's) beloved Theodora.
"Oh, hello Snivellus," said Sirius. "Out for a romantic stroll with the boys, I see?"
"Get out of here, Black," Severus seethed, his pale face getting red.
"Please don't," Tessa said through gritted teeth as she took Theodora into her arms. She noticed that Sirius' hands had scratches on them that looked like the handiwork of Theodora.
"Where's your other friend," asked Edgar. "The one with the scars on his face?"
"Being a better person than the lot of us, I'd say," said Sirius, arrogantly raising his chin.
"Well thank you kind sirs for delivering Theodora, but I think it's time you go," said Tessa, pushing at Sirius' shoulder, but he refused to budge.
"No," said James, a challenge in his voice, "this is much more fun."
"You're a long way from Gryffindor tower," said Evan, the oldest out of everyone there. "Listen to Tessa, it's best if you run along."
Both Sirius and Tessa cringed at Evan's tone. Tessa hated the way Evan attempted to control Sirius by using her name. Sirius hated that he was being spoken to the same way his mother spoke—as nothing more than a disappointment and nuisance.
"If memory serves right," said James, breaking the silence, "last time we met outside of class, you said not to mess with you, Snivellus. That turned out to be fun for us." James smirked maliciously at the memory of a snowball busting Severus' lip. I think it's time to not mess with you again. What do you say?"
In a flurry of motion, Severus drew his wand in response. "Locomotor Mortis!"
James jumped out of the way and the curse flew down the hallway.
Simultaneously James directed his wand at Severus, just as Edgar pointed his wand at James, and both boys shouted, "Impedimenta!" Both James and Severus flew back at the force of the jinxes.
Sirius' eyes narrowed at the attack on James, and immediately he cursed Edgar, sending Edgar flying backward in a spiral motion, crashing into a wall.
"Levicorpus!" Evan attacked Sirius, but Sirius moved out of the way, and instead the spell hit Peter. Peter lifted from the ground as if being held by his ankle.
"Stop!" Tessa dropped Theodora to the ground. B
Both Theodora and Elvendork scampered into a corner, angrily hissing, but unwilling to leave their wizards and witch. Tessa drew her wand and muttered a spell under her breath. Soon the hall was lit in blue light as she created a ring of blue fireballs.
"The next person who moves, I swear I will hit you with one of these. Evan, drop Peter."
Tessa's eyes narrowed as she glared at her cousin. She noticed the sleeve on his wand arm was rolled up and there was a strange skull and snake tattoo on his forearm. Evan caught Tessa's look and rolled down his sleeve.
"Drop. Him." Tessa demanded with more courage than she felt. She directed one of the fireballs at Evan as it hovered dangerously close to his stomach.
"This is a mistake, Tessa," said Evan, flicking his wand so that Peter dropped to the ground in a heap. "I'm not your enemy."
Tessa moved her arm to retract the blue flame from Evan. "Everyone just—"
"Sectum Sempra!"
"AHH!"
"Tessa!"
James and Severus had started feeling movement in their limbs after the same curses were placed on them, and Severus wasted no time in attacking Sirius, but due to the effects of the curse, Severus' aim was off, and instead, it hit a wall and rebounded, hitting the right side of Tessa's body.
Blood spurted from the deep slices that appeared on Tessa's body, and she dropped her wand in a pool of her own blood. For a moment, everyone took cover as the blue fireballs went haywire until Evan used a counterspell to disperse them.
"Tess!" Sirius ran over to Tessa, his hands immediately drenched in her blood as he gingerly touched her, trying to figure out how to stop the bleeding.
"N-no don't," Tess protested with a sob—it hurt too much to move.
"Severus, fix this," Edgar demanded, rushing to Tessa's other side. Both boys glanced at each other, clear blue eyes meeting grey. For this moment in time, the boys decided on a momentary truce for their hatred.
"No, I will not let him touch her," Sirius said, his grey eyes wild with anger. "We're taking her to the infirmary!"
"Do you want to explain to staff why there was a duel in the hallway," asked Evan.
"I don't care, Tessa's hurt! Snivellus, how do I stop this damned bleeding?!"
All eyes turn on him, and it was painfully quiet between Tessa's attempts to control her cries of pain.
"I-I don't know," said Severus, his forehead shiny with sweat from the adrenaline. "I haven't created one yet."
"Damn it," Sirius swore again. "James, Peter, help me!"
"Can you walk," Sirius asked Tessa, hooking her left arm over his shoulders to steady her balance. From beyond her white-hot pain she could hear Sirius using the same gentle tones on her that he used with his beloved creatures.
"Y-yes," Tessa said through gritted teeth as the smallest of steps added to the sword-like gashes that marked from her shoulder to her leg.
"No you can't," said Sirius. "You'll pass out before we even get there."
"Peter, go ahead and wake Madam Pomfrey, tell her there's been an accident," ordered Sirius, and Peter nodded and scurried away.
"James, we'll need to move her by magic. Evan, give me your robes."
Evan quickly took of his robe and tossed it at Sirius who tightened it around Tessa's body to soak up the blood and act as a sloppy tourniquet for larger wounds.
"Tess, this is going to be uncomfortable," Sirius continued in his gentle voice. "But it's the only way."
Tessa nodded, noticing the fear in Sirius' eyes. When she was ready, Sirius and James pointed their wands at her and used the levitation charm. Tessa felt her body lift from and become horizontal to the ground as the boys expertly directed her to the infirmary.
"Edgar, go with them," Evan demanded. "Severus and I will clean up this mess," Evan waved his wand at the blood on the ground using a simple cleaning spell, and the blood slowly seemed to evaporate without leaving a stain. Edgar nodded and followed after Tessa.
Madam Pomfrey let out a small gasp as she noted the boys carrying a floating girl with blood soaked robed. "Put her on the bed," the old witch instructed, and James and Sirius skillfully did as told.
"When Mr. Pettigrew came running in I expected it was one of you rowdy boys, not this sweet girl," Pomfrey clucked, forcibly pulling the curtains around Tessa's bed shut as she disrobed the girl.
"Sirius," Evan called from the entrance of the hospital wing, having just arrived, "a word." Evan turned on his heel, not waiting to see if Sirius followed.
Sirius hovered between Tessa's bed and following her cousin.
"Go," said James. "I'll wait here."
"So will I," said Edgar, not helping Sirius' decision. Sirius glared, shoulder-checking Edgar as he left.
"Rosier." Sirius' eyes narrowed as Evan Rosier pushed Sirius roughly against the wall, grabbing him by the front of his jumper.
"This is your fault, Black," Evan said angrily.
"I wasn't the one who hit her with the curse," Siris shot back, pushing Evan off of him.
"But Tessa wouldn't have gotten hurt if you listened and left—"
"No. Tessa wouldn't have been hurt if you and your friends weren't so obsessed with dark magic—"
"Watch it, Black!" Evan glanced around and lowered his voice. "You have no idea what you're talking about."
"I have clear ideas," said Sirius, matching Evan's dangerous tone. "You forget I am the eldest son of the House of Black." Sirius hated the way he used his family name to get a reaction from Evan Rosier.
"So it's true," said Evan with a hallow laugh. "You're nothing more than a filthy blood-traitor!"
"Better a filthy blood-traitor than a coward who slinks in the shadows—Ugf!"
Sirius doubled over as Evan Rosier punched a fist into Sirius' stomach, winding him.
"Think about it, Sirius," said Evan, meeting Sirius' stormy grey eyes with his arrogant brown gaze, "the longer you distract Tessa the more likely she is to continuously get hurt in the crossfire." Evan slapped Sirius roughly on the back before he started to retreat.
"Think about it," he repeated, leaving Sirius seething.
X
Tessa woke the next morning and gingerly sat up wincing. Pulling open the curtain from around her hospital bed she was surprised to see Sirius sleeping in the bed next to hers, Elvendork and Theodora curled against him.
Sirius stirred at the sound of movement. "Tess?"
"Morning," said Tessa as Sirius sat up. Immediately Sirius handed over Theodora as he rubbed the sleep from his own eyes.
"How are you feeling?"
"Like I got into a nasty flying accident," said Tessa, burying her face in Theodora's soft fur. "Madam Pomfrey cleaned up the wounds and repaired the deeper cuts, but I'll have a couple scars for a long time she said."
"Tess…" Sirius' eyes immediately clouded with anger. "This wouldn't have happened if Snivellus and those bloody Slytherins—"
"Merlin's beard," Tessa swore, "Sirius stop! You forget that I'm a Slytherin, and it's a big part of who I am! I'm tired of listening to you insult my house every chance you get."
"It's not like that, Tess—"
"Of course it is," Tessa said angrily. "You think you're so clever whenever you say something against Slytherins, and every time you do, it feels like you insult me a little. And if you had walked away last night like I asked, we wouldn't be in this mess! Do you know Madam Pomfrey is telling Dumbledore later today about last night?"
"Nothing I can't fix," said Sirius.
"That's not the point! I can fix it too," said Tessa, sitting up straight. "The point is—" Tessa took a breath, "the point is, is that you try to make me something I'm not. You poke fun of things that are important to me, and you expect me to always tolerate everything about you. Any time I tell you your ideas are terrible you push me away."
"Tess," said Sirius, watching as Tessa took in a ragged breath, like she held those words for such a long time. "What are you saying?"
"I think we're done for a while, Sirius," said Tessa, her voice steely, her chin jutted in the way Sirius often saw his mother and his cousins do whenever they spoke to people beneath them—a cold and arrogant beauty that he had come to despise.
"Tess—"
"I thank you for bringing Theodora to me unharmed. You can go and play with your Gryffindor friends now."
Sirius blinked a couple of times, completely thrown.
"Fine," said Sirius, scooping Elvendork into his arms. "I always thought you were different Tess. When we first met at Bellatrix's wedding before our first year, I thought you were like all the other families my family associated themselves with, then I realized you weren't. I believed you had a brain that thought for itself, but I guess I was wrong. It seems like maybe you're nothing more than a common Slytherin."
"And you're nothing more than an arrogant arse," Tessa fired back, refusing to show Sirius how much his words stung.
Sirius chuckled at Tessa's insult before he brought two fingers to his forehead and saluted her a farewell. "See you around, princess."
Tessa watched as Sirius left, and when she was alone, Tessa hugged Theodora tighter to her, letting tears fall. "It's better this way," she whispered.
Last night when Sirius thought Tessa was asleep she listened as he told James everything that happened with Evan. Tessa knew how stubborn Sirius was and she knew he wouldn't leave—and she knew that would hurt him, or even possibly kill him, and Tessa would never forgive herself knowing that Sirius got hurt because of her.
Tessa would never be able to live with herself if she knew she hadn't done everything in her power to keep Sirius safe. So instead, she said goodbye to her best friend.
Lying back down on the narrow hospital bed, Tessa placed Theodora's warm body beside her, soothed by the kneazle's gentle purring. Tessa wasn't sure what hurt more, her body as it tried to heal, or her heart now that it was without Sirius.
Author's note: So, weekends will generally be my update times for this story-however, this weekend I am going on a short little holiday as one of my really good friends is getting married, so you'll get this a little earlier! :)
Author's Note 2: The next chapter will have a bigger time jump-this chapter is their third year in March, the next chapter will be end of summer before 4th year. And I DO have a little prompt for you:
Tell me what you lovely readers think thus far of this story! How's it going, what are your concerns and thoughts! Also, do you want a very short mini-chapter written from Sirius' perspective? If you do? You gotta review! :)
Have a lovely weekend, readers and friends! :)
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