Sirius was sitting on his bed, a sobbing Amy in his arms. He didn't try to talk, too
angry and tense to say anything right now. Remus followed him up, closing the
dorm door behind him. He looked between the two, a sympathetic look to his
eyes.
'I want him dead.' Sirius mouthed to his friends, pulling Amy a bit closer to him.
He thinks I can't feel how tense he is… I can…
James sighed, sitting down on the edge of his own bed, having expected that.
Remus crossed the room to his own, setting his bag down on his bed, taking a
seat on his trunk. He predicted this when Amy simply said he'd cheated on her,
but now...
"Alright, Amy, I want you to tell me what exactly happened..." James said softly.
"How long has he been doing this sort of thing?" Amy shook her head a bit, not
entirely certain as to how she should respond to that.
Well, do you really want me to tell you, James? Do you really want to know just
how easily you all accepted my cheerfulness, believed I was fine, that I was even
happy?
"Which part...?" She asked softly.
"When did things turn bad?" He countered.
"He... He's been cheating on me since... May... But I only found out a few weeks
ago... He'd been pressuring me to sleep with him right from the first week, and
getting angry whenever I'd refuse..." Amy whispered. Remus looked up, his
brows raised slightly, just listening. He obviously knew some of this already.
"When did the abuse start?" Sirius demanded.
Sirius, please... Don't yell... I can't handle it...
"After the first week…" She admitted quietly, curling up into Sirius more, terrified
he'd yell at her for being too weak to say something, to do something about it.
Sirius tensed, forcing himself to stay with Amy, when he wanted to go find Chris
and finish beating him to death. James cringed, shaking his head. Remus licked
his lips, his hand coming up and running through his hair.
Say something... Please, someone say something...
"It won't be the answer mate. Just stay here with her. She needs you." Remus
said, taking Sirius quite seriously about wanting to kill him.
"Moony's right, mate..." James added, keeping his eyes on Sirius. Sirius closed
his eyes, forcing himself to stay calm. Instead of responding, he pulled Amy
closer, kissing the top of her head. Remus pulled out his wand, conjuring a cold
cloth. Moving to Sirius' bed he got down on his knees, and cleaned up her lip
again, the blood having dried.
I can't believe how low I've been reduced... I'm sitting here, sobbing, with my
brother's best friend cleaning me up after a fight.
"Here... press this to your cheek, stop it from bruising farther." He told her gently.
She offered him an extremely weak smile, taking the cloth from him without a
word, holding it to her cheek obediently. Sirius looked between Amy and Remus,
almost impressed that Remus had gotten her to obey.
Don't give me that look, Sirius. I've caused enough problems already; I don't
need to fight with anyone else.
Remus pushed off from the floor, sitting back down on his trunk, leaning on one
of the posts. This certainly was an interesting situation. Sirius sighed, kissing the
top of her head again.
"Hey Ames, what do you say to me and Pad heading into Hogsmeade, getting
chocolate, butterbeer, and sugar quills, bringing them back here, then the four of
us just staying up here for the next day or two? C'mon, I promise to be an
obedient puppy, do your every command..." James pleaded. Amy laughed faintly,
but didn't respond.
Obedient puppy? Too bad I can't get a real dog... They're so much easier to talk
to than humans. Hell, even Padfoot's easier to talk to than Sirius. Not that that's
saying much, of course.
"Yeah, come on, chocolate cheers everyone up. You know you want to say
yes..." James was relentless. Finally, Amy nodded slowly. "Alright, good. Moony,
keep an eye on her."
Is this good or bad? Alone with Remus, up in the guy's dorm? Could be good...
But not this time. Definitely bad.
As reluctant as Sirius seemed, he let go of Amy before standing. Amy sat up,
wiping some of her tears away, running a hand through her hair. Remus checked
his pockets, tossing the Marauders Map to James.
"Here, mate." Remus glanced over at Amy and then up to Sirius. "She'll be
alright, I'll stand guard." Sirius nodded a bit, taking a deep breath.
"Yeah, I'm hoping the tunnel'll cool you off, Pad..." James muttered, shaking his
head, before the two guys started down the stairs. Amy bit down on her lip, silent.
Remus sighed, standing up, moving to Sirius' bed. Sitting down, he reached up to
take the cloth.
"Let me see?" He asked. She nodded, letting him pull the cloth away from her
cheek. Apparently he'd hit her more than once, as there was the start of a black
eye forming. People hadn't started crowding around until after the real abuse had
ended, and all they saw was the slap that drew blood. Remus sighed, his eyes
moving around her face before settling in her own.
What're you thinking...? I know I was foolish, I know I deserved it... But please,
just say something...
"I'm sorry..." He said, grabbing his wand, conjuring a new cold cloth. She shook
her head a bit, offering him another weak smile.
"It's not your fault... And like I said, it's nothing new..." Her voice was still soft,
weak. Folding the cloth into a square he moved closer to her, a hand moving to
the back of her head, the other holding the cloth still.
"This might sting." He said, pressing it gently to her eye. "And no, it's nothing
new, but if I'd known... I wouldn't have told you to break up with him. Rather, I'd
have said to have your brother or James with you..." She flinched in pain at the
cloth over her eye, though she didn't try to pull away. Part of her was cursing
James for leaving her alone with Remus, but the vast majority was thankful for it.
"I sent James for help..." She was trying to convince herself she'd done the right
thing at some point, albeit a very weak attempt at convincing herself. He tilted his
head slightly.
"Yes, I just realized he came running out onto the grounds. Still... it shouldn't
have happened to you." He said, suddenly realizing he was the one holding the
cloth, wondering if she was going to take it from him. She was too distracted by
the pain, both physical and emotional, to think of taking the cloth from him. She
smiled weakly, bitterly.
"But it did..." He shook his head at her words.
"Promise me... you'll never let anyone hit you like that again? Tell someone... I
refuse to just let you get battered around like this." His voice was soft, though
strangely determined. She shook her head with a soft sigh.
I can't make empty promises, especially not to you...
"No one would have believed me... Chris is smart, funny, popular, a Quidditch
star... He's not the type to get abusive..."
"I would have." He said, his eyes studying hers.
I wish I could believe that, I really do...
"I was too scared..." She admitted quietly, biting her lip. "I couldn't admit that
something like this could happen to me... I kept telling myself he loved me, that
he never meant to hurt me..." Remus shook his head, pulling down the cold cloth,
turning it over to press the cooler side to her eye.
"You deserve so much better, Ames... so much better."
I deserve to die, to have Chris have followed through on his threats...
"I'm never going through that again..."
"I'm very glad to hear it." He said with something of a sad smile. She shook her
head a bit.
You don't understand, Rem...
"None of it... The abuse, the cheating... Not even dating..." She seemed dead
serious about this too. "None of it... Ever..." Her voice was soft, and fresh tears
were threatening to flow. He shook his head as well, his hand coming down.
"Don't shut yourself off from the world because of him. You deserve to be
happy... you deserve what he couldn't give you."
"I can't risk it again... He seemed so... perfect... And then things just started
going so wrong..." As badly as she wanted to keep from crying any more, she
couldn't help it. Remus sighed, cooling the cloth down, then placing it on her
cheek.
"You can't let this one experience ruin your life, Amy. People make mistakes, I'm
not saying you brought this on yourself, but now you know what to look for..." His
voice remained soft and gentle. She forced another weak smile, making an
attempt at cheerfulness.
I know what I want, but he's not interested in me, so I may as well give up
anyways...
"Well, at least there's one good thing out of this... I think I got every guy at this
school to not want to come within 100 feet of me..." Even that was more bitter
than she had hoped for. Remus raised a brow.
"Oh? And just how do you believe you accomplished this?"
"What guy wants to spend time with a girl who's been abused? She'd be
suspicious, jealous, clingy; terrified of losing the people she cares about... Too
much hassle for any guy to get near her..." The bitterness only continued in her
voice. Remus licked his lips, pulling the cloth down again. He opened his mouth
to say something, but changed it at the last second.
"Someone will... I promise you that..." He said. She shook her head with a soft
sigh, hugging her knees.
"I doubt it..." Amy whispered, her voice barely audible. Remus sighed, his hand
going up to her shoulder.
"Don't doubt what you don't know."
"Some people just aren't meant to find love... Maybe I'm just one of them..." For
what she'd been through, Amy was doing almost well with the depression and
self-pity.
"You'd be surprised at what you could find right in front of you." He said, his hand
coming down, placing the cold cloth against her hand for her to take. She took
the cloth from him, remaining silent as she watched him, trying to decide how to
take that statement.
You want to know what I see right in front of me? Someone I trust, someone I
care about, someone who may actually be able to help me... But I also see my
brother's best friend who deserves better than I could offer him, and therefore will
never look at me as anything but his best friend's little sister.
Remus stood, moving over onto his own bed, lying down. He was silently wishing
James and Sirius would return, so he'd stop making an ass out of himself.