Chapter 17
A/N: well that totally fucked up the whole story, didn't it? Don't worry, once Violet gets back to school, there'll be some nice romantic scenes. Yay for romance! But until then, nice mushy bonding moments and some action. YAAAAAYYY!
Sirius: YAY! I finally get my part! I got to act all dramatic and the ladies love it! (strikes pose) You betta love me!
Cierra: All right, Bighead. I brought you back to life, didn't I? Now act like you've got some manners.
Sirius: Hey! I don't recall you being the parent!
Cierra: Please? (makes big sparkly blue eyes and blinks)
Sirius: Hey. I thought you had brown eyes... oh well. It still looks totally pathetic. Oh, all right. I bought it!
Disclaimer: I own everything in the chapter except anyone/thing you've seen in the Potter books...duh!
Chapter 17
Over the next three days, Violet rarely left Sirius's side, likewise for Sirius. Only to go to bathroom did they stay more than five feet apart. At the moment, Sirius was sitting on the couch and Violet was laying down, using his lap as a pillow. Sirius was absentmindedly stroking her thick black hair.
Meanwhile, Remus was sitting in the recliner on the other side of the room, trying to ignore the jealousy coursing through him. He tried to tell himself that he was being selfish, that they deserved to spend some time together. Still, it hurt to see Violet clinging to Sirius like a favorite toy. Wasn't it he, Remus, that was there for her all summer when her uncle beat her up? Or when she needed a shoulder to cry on? Sirius was never there for her. He immediately felt a surge of guilt. Sirius couldn't be there, you twit! he thought. He was half dead, half living, fighting to escape from where he was at the time. He couldn't help that he hadn't been there for her. Still, it hurt.
Finally, he could take no more and got up to go to the gym. Of course, neither one of them acknowledged the fact that he'd left the room. The first thing he did was go straight for the punching bag, throwing a hard, perfect spiral that nearly snapped the chain that it hung on.
"What was that for!" the punching bag snapped, irritatedly. Remus paid no mind, his fists flying harder and faster than ever. Pretty soon, he was kicking too. With one last kick, he sent the punching bag flying across the room. "That wasn't necessary, you know!" It screeched indignantly.
Remus ignored it and grabbed one of the daggers on the floor. With all of his energy, he flung it, not caring where it hit. It bounced off the wall and snapped in two pieces. Finally, Remus collapsed on the spot, breathing hard. After he'd calmed down a bit, he managed to head back to the living room. Finally, Violet had moved. Not much, though. She was sitting next to Sirius, about an inch away from him. Finally, though, she looked up and smiled, "Hey."
Remus was surprised that she'd acknowledged his presence, and it lifted his spirits slightly. "Hey."
That was it. A simple hey, and it was though he'd vanished from the room again. Sirius had barely spoken to him since that night, too. It was getting annoying.
Neither Violet nor Sirius realized how badly they were hurting Remus. They were both so happy to see each other that they barely paid any attention to poor Moony.
They didn't even leave each other's side to go to bed. Violet would normally fall asleep with her head on Sirius's lap, and he would nod off on the couch.
One night, however, Violet awoke at about 1:00 a.m. to find that Sirius wasn't there. Before she could panic and assume that he was gone forever, she heard angry voices. She got up, stretching, and headed for the kitchen. She stopped when she made out the words.
"Well, I would certainly appreciate it if maybe you'd both acknowledge the fact that I exist!" snarled a very angry Remus.
"Whatever." Sirius muttered. "You're just jealous because she's spending all of her time with me and you're not the center of attention anymore."
Violet peeked in, and it looked to her like Remus was trying very hard to control himself. "Don't give me that." he hissed. "Were you there for her when she cried over you and Harry! Or when her uncle beat her!"
"What! Her uncle beat her!" Sirius yelled, but Remus paid no attention.
"I WAS THERE FOR HER, SIRIUS!" Remus screamed. "ME! NOT YOU!"
"Maybe if I hadn't been stuck in that HELL for six months, I could have been there for her! Like you said, Remus, you were there for her! Now it's my turn! I haven't seen my goddaughter since June, and now that I'm spending time with her, you want to get jealous!"
Remus's face turned redder than ever, and Violet stepped into the room. "Guys, stop, please!"
"STAY OUT OF IT, VIOLET!" Remus suddenly shouted at her, his eyes blazing. Not only did it surprise the hell out of her, but it scared her a little, causing her to back up a few steps.
Sirius was livid. "DON'T YOU DARE YELL AT HER!" he exploded.
"I'LL YELL AT HER IF PLEASE, SIRIUS! I'VE BEEN MORE OF A PARENT TO HER THAN YOU EVER COULD!"
Sirius looked like he could kill Remus, then a grin flitted onto his thin face. "Yes, well, you're not her guardian anymore, are you, Moony?" he whispered.
"Sirius!" Violet gasped, stunned.
Remus's eyes widened with anger and hurt, and without warning, he hurled himself at Sirius.
Sirius, who was rather weak and scrawny and rather rusty, didn't have time to block Remus. One hit in the nose knocked him to the floor.
"REMUS!" Violet screamed, launching forward and grabbing his shoulders.
Remus turned around and shoved her so hard she fell to the ground hard immediately. Violet felt her eyes widening with shock and hurt, but Remus didn't seem to notice. "GET OUT OF HERE, VIOLET!" He shouted. When he turned around, he was met with a punch to the eye and kick to the stomach.
"YOU DON'T EVER LAY A HAND ON HER LIKE THAT AGAIN!" Sirius roared. Now that he'd gotten in a couple of good hits, he was dominating the fight, until Remus caught his arm, twisted it behind his back, and dragged him to the floor. He then climbed on top of Sirius and began hitting him hard. Sirius struggled to get away, but Remus's knees had his upper arms pinned to the ground, and let's face it, he was weak anyway.
"REMUS, NO!" Violet shreiked, seizing Remus under the arms and pulling him off of Sirius, sending them both flying backwards, Remus landing halfway on Violet. Violet seized handfuls of Remus's robes, only to have them rip as Remus yanked away. Sirius was ready this time, though. He threw Remus off of him, sending him crashing into a wall and onto the floor. Sirius swung his leg back, and kicked him in the jaw, sending blood spewing out of his mouth.
"SIRIUS, STOP!" Violet pleaded, grabbing his arms. He struggled to pull away, but Violet held his left arm behind his back with one arm, hooked her other arm under his right arm, and wrapped her arm around his throat. Remus staggered up and headed for Sirius, but Violet released him and threw herself in the middle of them. By that time, Remus had already thrown a fast, perfect punch, and it hit Violet in the eye.
They all froze. Remus had hit Violet before, but with charmed gloves, and while they were training. He'd never hit her like this. Even Sirius was too stunned to jump on Remus. Violet just stared at Remus.
"Violet... I..." He said desparately, reaching for her, but not touching her, as if he felt unworthy. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"
Violet shook her head and backed out of the room, locking herself in her bedroom and throwing herself onto her bed, where she gave way to heartwrenching sobs of despair. She didn't even have time to think; it just happened. Once she'd cried herself into exhaustion, it came to her. Remus had hit her. And it wasn't in training, either. Remus, the man who had promised her that she would be safe with him. She started to think that Sirius coming back wasn't a good thing. It's totally messed everything up, she thought.
She knew what she had to do. She had to leave. She couldn't stay with Remus if he was going to hit her. She couldn't stay here living in fear of someone she loved. She'd been through that enough with her relatives. She didn't want to leave Sirius, but she had no choice. She found her bag from in her trunk, dumped out her books, and sifted through her clothes for a few things to pack. She stuffed her camoflage pants, a couple of pairs of jeans, several baggy black tee-shirts, and the usual underwear in the bag. After strapping on her boots, she stuck the knife she'd gotten from Sirius two Christmas's ago in the side of the right boot. She shoved her journal, which had a quill that would never run out of ink, in the bag, along with the photograph of Ron, Hermione, and herself, the small photo album of the Marauders, and the Train Yourself book.
Violet grabbed her broom, placed her Gringotts key in her pocket, slipped her wand in her belt, and buttoned up her cloak. She reached for her broom, then pulled back, and grabbed a piece of parchment that laid on the floor and a quill, and scribbled a note to Remus and Sirius.
With tears in her eyes, she hoisted her bag over her shoulders, opened her window, and after taking a deep breath, flew off into the night.
Meanwhile, Remus and Sirius still sat on the floor. "Nice going, Lupin." Sirius said coolly.
"Fuck you, Sirius." Remus snapped. "If you hadn't said all that shit we wouldn't have this problem."
"I can't believe you hit her, Rem. That was just messed up." Sirius shook his head.
"Shut up." Remus snarled, before slouching down miserably. "I screwed up so bad. What am I going to do?"
"I don't know, Remus." Sirius shook his head. "I'll go talk to her." He headed for Violet's room and knocked softly. "Violet? Come on, love. It's Sirius, open up."
After another minute, he said, "Fine then. You leave me no choice." He pulled out his wand and muttered, "Alohomora." A few seconds later, he screeched, "REMUS!"
Remus jumped up and raced down the hallway, skidding into Violet's room, where Sirius was clutching a wrinkled piece of parchment in one shaking hand. He shoved it into Remus's hand. "Read it."
Dear Remus and Sirius, it began.
I'm sorry for causing so much trouble. But I have to go. I can't stay here. I've been hit enough by my uncle, and I can't take it from you, Remus. Oh, I know I can defend myself, but unlike you, I don't have the heart to hit someone I love, not that you love me. I see now that it was all a big lie. I don't think you'll ever see me again. I'm sorry.
Love, Violet.
"Holy shit." Remus uttered. "Oh, God."
"We've got to go look for her, Remus." Sirius said. "She can't have gone far."
"I know. I know!" Remus snapped, before sighing. "Look. I'm sorry. I just feel so guilty. I mean it's my fault she ran off in the first place, and if something happens to her, it'll be in my hands. I love her so much..." He blinked tears out of his eyes.
Sirius sighed and ran a hand through his messy hair. "Look, mate. I'm sorry for everything. I'm sorry for ignoring you and especially for saying what I did. I'm just glad to be spending some time with her."
"And I was being selfish... friends?" Remus asked tentatively, holding out a hand.
"Friends." Sirius slapped his hand. "We've got to find Violet. You contact everyone you know of, as most people don't know I'm alive or innocent, and I'll try to find out where she could be.
"All right." Sirius immediately began searching the house for clues of anywhere she might be, while Remus contacted the Weasleys, Hogwarts, Hogsmeade, and Diagon Alley. None had seen her yet, but promised to look out for her.
Over the next three days, they'd formed a search party. Poor Remus was a nervous wreck. Not only was he scared to death for Violet, but he blamed himself. "If something happens to her it's my fault." That was something about Remus and Sirius. They always said, "If something happens." They never said, "If she dies or gets killed."
Sirius didn't know what to do with himself. Since he wasn't cleared yet and only a few people knew he was alive, he couldn't go out and help Remus search for her every day. The most he could do was wait around for word from Dumbledore or Remus and that was nerve-wracking, not to mention boring. Remus would come home around 1:00 a.m. every night exhausted, his eyes red and bloodshot, barely able to make it to his room where he would collapse on the bed and cry himself to sleep.
Violet looked around the cave she'd been in for three days and started wondering how long she would have to stay here before she starved to death. She hadn't had anything to eat and little water since the day before she came to the cave. She started to regret running away, but then thought of the anger on Remus's face as he punched her. She knew he hadn't meant it, but what about when he shoved her? That had certainly been intentional. She examined the cuts all over her arms and face in the small hand mirror she'd gotten out of the trash can. Ow. The huge gash on her cheek from slipping on some sharp rocks really stung, as well as well as her broken ribs and the fading bruise around her eye, she winced slightly, wishing she knew some good healing charms. Then again, she was so weak, she doubted if she could have done a simple Lumos. She curled up in her blood-stained cloak and warmed herself up enough to settle into unconciousness.
hfq
at the house
It was 3:00 a.m. on the eighth day she'd been gone and still Moony hadn't returned. Sirius didn't know whether to be hopeful or afraid. What if they'd found her? What if they hadn't found her? Or worse, what if they'd found her dead?
Finally, the door opened and his friend hauled himself into the house, soaking wet and shivering. He took one step and collapsed on the floor in tears. Sirius immediately sprung up and onto the floor to help Remus. He put a gentle hand on Moony's shoulder and said softly, "Moony, you're being too hard on yourself."
Finally, Remus looked up, his bloodshot eyes shining with tears. "Sirius, how can you say that! I'm responsible for all of this! If I hadn't hit her, she wouldn't have felt the need to run away. Not only did I hurt her, but I scared her! I scared Violet into thinking she had no other option but to run! And where ever she is now, she's probably scared, cold, and hungry. And I can't find her! And while I'm crying myself to sleep in a warm bed every night, she could be sleeping in the street or in a cave... or--"
Sirius suddenly murmered aloud, "A cave..." He looked over at Remus, who was bawling. "Rem! I've got it! Quit crying for a minute and help me!"
"What can I do?" he said hopelessly, looking down at the floor, the tears on his face now.
"I think I know where she might be!" Sirius said, his voice rising in hope. "Get Dumbledore NOW!"
Although he had no energy, he staggered to the fire and after pouring Floo Powder in, stuck his head in, and shouted, "Headmaster's office!"
Dumbledore turned slowly when Remus's head popped out of the fire. "Ah, Remus, my boy, not now. You need sleep."
"No. No. Listen, Albus, Sirius thinks he might know where Violet is! Come quickly to my house!" No sooner had he pulled his head out of the fire than he had to stumble backward as Dumbledore entered the kitchen through Remus's fireplace.
"Where do you think she might be, Sirius?" He said calmly, though his eyes were glittering.
"Do you remember the cave that I stayed in two years ago?" Sirius said quietly.
Dumbledore's eyes widened with understanding. "I'll alert everyone immediately and we'll go there. Remus, do you think you're up to the trip?"
"Of course I am!" Remus wiped his eyes indignantly, standing up weakly. Sirius shoved a cup of coffee into his hand.
"Extra caffeine." He put in. Remus cracked a slight smile, then chugged it down.
After a moment, Remus looked a bit perked up. "Let's go, Dumbledore!" he said urgently. "We've got to find her!"
"Calm down, Remus." Dumbledore put a restraintive hand on Moony's shoulder. "I've got to get the rest of the search party formed."
"No! I need to find her!" Remus said disbelievingly. "We've got to go!"
"Remus." Dumbledore said simply. "As soon as Arthur, Bill, Minerva, Severus, and Hagrid get here, we can look for her."
Remus looked like a kid waiting for Christmas, only a lot more desparate and not halfway as happy.
After what seemed like hours, but was only minutes, they showed up. Everyone filed in and exchanged polite hellos or nods. Until Snape came in. He looked like he would sooner have drunk a liter of bubotuber pus than show up. Sirius was tensed and ready for a fight.
"Don't even think about it, you two." Dumbledore said threateningly.
They rolled their eyes and cast one more glare simultaneously.
"Let's go!" Remus said urgently. "Before we're too late!"
"Easy, Lupin." Snape said leisurely. "Don't get your knickers in a bunch."
Remus flipped Snape off, agitated.
"We'll go now." Dumbledore said loudly, drowning out Snape's latest comeback. "Sirius. You know what to do?"
"Yes." he said sadly, flopping down on the couch. "Wait for information."
Snape smirked in satisfaction at seeing Sirius so miserable, but at the look on Dumbledore's face, he swept out of the door, followed shortly by Remus and everyone else.
After a lot of traveling and a couple of Portkeys, they arrived at the edge of the mountains by Hogsmeade. Remus looked at Dumbledore warily. "Do you know where that cave is?"
"Yes. But, I'm afraid I will have to miss this trip. It's a rather difficult climb. Severus knows where the cave is, and he will lead you all." Dumbledore nodded, and Snape headed up the side of the mountain, followed closely by Remus, Mr. Weasley, Bill, and Hagrid.
As it was dark and raining, it took about two hours to get to the cave, Snape and Bill in the lead. They were covered in mud and completely exausted, but Snape and Bill had entered the mouth of the cave. "Lumos!" they muttered simulaneously, and searched the cave. Finally, their wands dropped on a trembling lump on the floor.
Bill reached out and pulled the bloody cloak off of the figure just enough to see the face. He gasped and Snape could be heard cursing dimly.
"Jesus Christ." Bill muttered, wiping blood off of Violet's cheek.
Snape looked up. "Weasley, meet Lupin and Hagrid before they get here. Under no circumstances should you let Lupin see Potter yet. He might lose his head." Although Snape had to admit it was a pleasant thought, he crouched down and sat Violet up.
She looked horrible. She had to have lost twenty pounds in the eight days she'd been gone. She had infected cuts all over her face, her cheekbones and chin stuck out sharply. He removed the filthy cloak from her thin form, and started to heal the more minor wounds. She must have fallen or something, because she had a broken rib and a deep cut in her stomach. Snape began to feel sorry for the girl that he'd made his mission to make miserable. After doing all he could, he lifted the seemingly weightless girl in his arms, and carried her carefully down the side of the mountain.
He could see Hagrid easily restraining the werewolf below. Lupin was struggling uselessly, and rather stupidly, as he was certainly no match for Hagrid. Snape couldn't help but smirk.
When Remus caught sight of Snape carrying something down the side of a mountain, and he thougth his worst fears had been confirmed. "Oh my God!" he struggled harder. "VIOLET! OH MY GOD! SHE'S DEAD! SHE'S DEAD!"
"She's not dead, Lupin!" barked Snape. "But she's pretty damn close to it and if you want to help her, back off!"
All of a sudden, Remus stopped struggling, stunned. Snape cast him one more annoyed glare, before heading off to Hogwarts with Violet cradled in his arms.
As the castle grew nearer, Snape felt himself growing concerned, which was very unlike him. He hated Violet but he never wished something like this on the girl.
He hadn't even gotten tired before he got to the castle, still carrying her carefully. He kicked open the door to the hospital wing, laid her on a bed, and stormed into Madam Pomfrey's office.
"Sorry to be so rude, but this is an emergency." Snape said shortly. "Come with me. It's Violet."
"Oh dear, what's that child gotten into now?" Madam Pomfrey muttered. "Has she gone off in search of You-Know-Who again?"
"No, no... nothing like that!" Snape assured her. This woman could be so annoying sometimes. "I'll explain later, but right now, she really needs your help."
Madam Pomfrey followed Snape to Violet, and gasped at the sight of Violet's unconcious form. "Oh my God..." she whispered in disbelief. "How did she get like this?"
"She ran away from home about nine days ago and we just now found her in a mountainside cave outside the village of Hogsmeade. She needs immediate care." Snape wondered suddenly when in the world he had started to care about Violet.
Madam Pomfrey continued to stare at Violet as if in a daze, before she finally sprung into action. "Have one of the house-elves bring food and lots of it. I can heal her wounds in a snap, but she's suffering from malnutrition, which is the more serious problem."
"All right." Snape headed to the school kitchens, while Madam Pomfrey forced potions down Violet's throat, and Remus, who had entered the room minutes ago, watched on sadly and helplessly.
Yes I know that was a bit of a cliffhanger, but it was getting too long. Sorry! I'll update soon!