Well, it's been about a month since the first time Anthony hurt me. There have been about ten late night meetings at the R&R (room of requirement) and I have about five bruises in places that no one can see. Clever, clever, Anthony.

Sometimes I cry myself to sleep. The girls in my dorm all go into dreamland about two hours before I do, so no one hears me. It's something about their beauty sleep. I don't know what to do anymore. I can't tell anyone. He'll kill me.

Yes, I know that sounds a little dramatic. But Anthony is no regular, loyal, kind, hardworking Hufflepuff. The idiot belongs in Slytherin. I've been there when he has lengthy conversations with those gits, talking about how they 'can't wait to join the Dark Lord'. Anthony's already a Death Eater, apparently. I'm dating an abusive Death Eater who's two years older than I am.

I've always wanted to be in this situation.

I was tired and sad before this whole thing. Now, I'm exhausted and depressed. The stupid Marauders and Lily are beginning to notice, too. If they find out anything, they're dead, and I'm dead. Because I'm sure Anthony does not want to spend the rest of his life rotting in Azkaban, not only for abusing me, but for joining You Know Who.

They would find that out too, of course, because if he's already going to jail for abusing me, why not tell them about him being a Death Eater? But, whatever. The point is, I'm stuck. The only reason I'm not telling is because if I do, I'll get whoever I told killed. It's not really about me; I'm probably going to die soon anyways. Maybe not in the hands of Anthony, but in You Know Who's, or some other Death Eater.

I have such a massive headache right now; I shouldn't even be thinking about this. I'm at breakfast. I've barely touched my food. Lily is looking at me weirdly. She's starting to get suspicious.

I put on my fake smile and ask her how she is. She gives me an even weirder look. Best friends don't ask each other how they are. That's for acquaintances. She replies with a 'fine' and goes back to talking to James. That's what I love about our friendship. We can always sense when the other can just not talk about things.

I love that.

But maybe I need to be prodded. Maybe someone needs to ask me 'what's wrong?' and wait, but I don't answer, and they keep asking, until I break down and cry and tell them everything. Maybe...

Maybe it would be better if Anthony had not just whisked me from my friends and demanded that I sit with him. Maybe I wouldn't feel so sick if Lily and the Marauders hadn't just waved goodbye and winked at me as I left.

Maybe it would be better if I could think.

But I can't think straight. I don't know how.

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LILY'S POV

I think I'm starting to get over the fact that Layla's going out with Anthony. Anthony seems really happy to be with her. I think maybe he's finally found the right girl.

Layla's pretty out of it though. She's out of everything. I'm real worried about her. And I wish that James wouldn't hold me so softly that every little worry flies out of my head. Because then I stop worrying about Layla. And then I'll stop worrying about being able to help her. And I'm afraid something terrible will happen.

Layla has her hair down, covering her face, all the time now. She never used to do that. She rarely talks. She used to be a right chatter box. She doesn't smile much. And that's what worries me the most.

Layla almost busted a gut on Gertie's birthday. And now she's not even smiling. I want to know what the cause of this is, but it is evident that she doesn't want to talk.

So, until she tells me what's up, I'm just going to try and make her happy. I hope it works.

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Smack.

Layla felt at strong hand collide with her face. She closed her eyes as she felt hot tears pour down her face. She and Anthony weren't even in the R&R. They were in a hallway. A very dark, empty, hallway, nevertheless, but still a hallway, so Anthony didn't do anything else.

"How dare you say that to me," Anthony seethed.

Layla sucked in a breath.

"All I said," she started, trembling, "was that you are making a mistake with those Death Eaters. You can do so much better Anthony! No! Please listen!"

But Anthony didn't listen. He pushed her and left her in the middle of the corridor, alone.

Or so she thought.

As she sat against the wall, as silent tears fell down her face, as her ears rung loudly, she felt a hand close around her neck.

"Don't mess with Anthony, mudblood," an unrecognizable voice said, "Or you will pay."

And for the second time that night, she felt a hand slap her across her cheek, but this time with much more force. She fell against the floor, her head softly bleeding. There was no one there to help her when she whispered,

"Help."

A/N: Hey, I know it's been a pretty long time since I updated, but I wanted to see if I got at least ONE more review. I have eleven chapters and eight reviews, that's kinda sad. So this is what I'm gonna do...

I'm not gonna post the next chapter until I have AT LEAST 25 reviews. So review away! By the way, I won't count it if it's a review from the same person more than twice. All I want is twenty five reviews! REVIEW! The little button is right down there. There is no next chapter till I see the the number 25 on my review thingy.