Neville looked as though he wanted to say something, but thought better. Ginny, however, didn't hold back.
"What happened to you?" She said, staring at the right side of Remington's face, the blood covering her shirt.
Rem scowled at her, not answering as she walked past.
"Alvers. She asked you a question." Seamus called out from behind her. She noticed, with some annoyance, whenever she failed to respond, he was always the one to call her out on it.
Remington turned around to look at them. "And I'm at liberty to refuse to answer."
"If it was Malfoy-" Ginny began.
"Draco would never hurt me." Rem snapped, glaring at the girl.
"He obviously didn't stop that from happening." Seamus commented.
Remington sneered at him before heading to the girl's dormitory.
"She's nearly turned into a female Malfoy herself." She heard Neville remark.
As soon as she reached the dorm, she pulled the buttons free on her shirt and slid it down her arms, discarding it onto her bed on her way to the bathroom. She hardly glanced at the mirrors once she got there, next tugging her tanktop off, ignoring the pain that melted her shoulders and her spine, and the sharp stabs in her ribs and arms. She wasn't sure if it was all from being thrown back onto the floor, or merely the after-effects of the Cruciatus Curse. She unhooked her bra and turned her back to a mirror, the bruises were already dark and menacing, lining her entire spine, from the points of her shoulder blades, to the bottom of her ribcage and the bones in her hips, where there was normally little more than a pair of dimples, and disappearing under the waistband of her jeans.
Once she'd washed the remaining blood from her skin and hair, found a few more bruises and scrapes, and let the hot water soften her muscles and dull some of the pain, she went back to the dorm to find Fay on her respective bed.
"So it is as bad as Seamus said." The girl said softly.
Remington didn't even spare her a look as she tossed her dirty clothes into her trunk and started dragging her comb through her hair.
"Rem," The uncertainty in Fay's tone told her that she was in a more patient mood than the others had been previously. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"Alecto was upset with me." She replied shortly.
"And she dealt with you, I get that." Fay said, "But you're unusually pissy."
Rem glanced up at the brunette and set down her brush. She took a deep breath and climbed onto her own bed. "Draco was upset that I keep putting myself in bad situations."
"Upset." Fay repeated. "As in, he reprimanded you."
"Like I was some sort of child. Like I can't make my own decisions and take care of myself." She fumed. "What right-"
"He's been your boyfriend for a year now, Rem." Fay reminded her. "And it's kind of apparent that he's… more than that."
Remington gave her a look. "What do you mean?"
Fay merely eyed her for a moment, "Nevermind. But still, Rem, you're blowing this way-"
But she never got a chance to finish the thought before there was a knock and the door opened, a third year stood in the doorway, clearly anxious. "The headmaster wants to see you, Remington." She said, then added a bit more quietly, "He didn't sound very happy."
"When does he ever?" Fay mumbled.
Rem slid off her bed, starting to grow impatient with Snape's habit of sending underclassmen after her. As she went, she snatched up a robe and pulled it on. It was beginning to get chilly throughout the castle. November was nearly over. If she'd been back at Nexxford, she'd be celebrating Thanksgiving that week. But she was not at Nexxford, that was plain to see as she walked down dim stone corridors rather than the whitewashed, tiled halls of her old school.
The few people she encountered on the way to the Headmaster's tower kept their heads low and their eyes down, despite the fact they were older students. Hogwarts wasn't Hogwarts anymore – not really.
She eyed the gargoyles guarding the entrance to the Headmaster's office as she approached. "Dumbledore." She said softly and they leapt aside, revealing the staircase behind them.
Snape sat at his desk with the ever-apathetic look on his face, though Remington thought for a moment that he looked older, somehow. But then, it could have been the lighting. It must have been one of the first times she'd come for a meeting with him where he wasn't looking over papers or the like.
She sat in the chair positioned across the desk from him.
"Your mother will never forgive me." Snape remarked. "You realize this."
"I didn't ask for this." Rem returned.
"But you did." He insisted. She could see the fire behind his eyes. His tone remained flat, if not subtle like a sheathed knife, and his expression never wavered, but she could tell he was quite angry. "I am certainly not the first to tell you to keep your overlarge head down and your unrelenting mouth shut." Remington said nothing. Of course he wasn't the first, and he was surely not going to be the last. "It seems you might lack more sense than I gave you credit for."
"I'm not going to apologize if I'm not sorry, and I'm not going to make promises I can't keep. If that's all-" She went to stand up, but Snape held up his palm.
"I entreat you to write your mother." He told her.
"Alright." She said, hands on the armrests of the chair, anxious to leave.
He picked something off the desk in front of him. "An unidentified owl delivered this earlier today. Due to the fact it lacks a determined source, it was withheld." Snape held out a hand, a small bit of paper pinched between his index and center fingers. Rem leaned forward and reached out for the note.
She slowly unfolded the lined paper and took in the handwriting that she knew so well, the script that twisted her gut.
It's a hoax.
Snape watched as she blanched, frozen and staring at the paper.
"Thank you, for giving me this." She said tersely, her voice low as she folded the note back up and stood.
"Remington," He halted her before she could turn towards the door. "Need I tell you to give an explanation?"
She looked almost a bit like she was caught in the headlights. "To be honest, I'm not really sure myself."