A/N: None of these characters are mine except the obvious. The Harry Potter characters belong to the amazing J.K. Rowling. Please R & R!
Chapter 13: I Don't Need You
Rating has been moved up to 'R' because of a slight lemon.
Laura wrung her hands in anticipation and anxiety as she waited for her sister. She was in a vacated room down in the dungeons and was beginning to think it was a mistake as she shivered from the chill and dampness in the air.
All was forgotten, however, when the door swung open and Sam strolled in. She pushed the door a little harder than needed once she entered, thus sending the door to close in a swift slam. Sam appeared emotionless as she made her way around the table Laura was sitting at and sat across from her.
After a second or two of watching her sister fidget with her clothes, Laura began, "Sam, I'm so happy that you came to talk. By coming, I hope you realized that my apology was sincere when you read the owl that I sent you yesterday. I've been trying to tell you in person how I feel all week, but you kept ignoring me, so I thought it was the only way to get you to come here."
"I got the owl, but I didn't come here to say that I accept your apology," Sam replied as she stared into the darkness. Laura was too shocked to reply quickly, so Sam continued. "You've been keeping things from me for so long that I don't know what to believe anymore."
"You have to believe me when I tell you that I'm sorry, that I truly mean it! We're sisters, and sister's fight sometimes and say really stupid and hurtful things to each other, but they always reconcile because they're family in the end. You're all I have, Sam!"
Sam's eyes slanted with anger that she had been keeping bottled up for far too long when she said, "I don't know if I can ever forgive you! Since you refuse to tell me what happened to our parents, all I can figure is that you were somehow responsible for it. You're not worth their blood anyway."
"I'm 'not worth their blood'? What a truly awful thing to say!" Tears began to well in Laura's eyes, but she forced herself to take a deep breath and try to remain as calm as possible. "Sam, I loved mum and dad just as much as I love you, and I would never do anything to hurt you!"
"Bollocks!" Sam shouted. "You're always thinking about your bloody self! Did you ever think about my feelings? You love keeping me in the dark because you think I'll always look up to you and think of you as my 'only family'. Well, that's where you're wrong, Laura! The truth will come out whether you like it or not."
Laura stood and put her hands on Sam's shoulders. "Sam, I understand that you're upset, but I love you and I.."
Sam pushed away before she could finish. "Shut up! Just shut up!" she screamed. "You've hated me since our parents died, because I messed up your perfect life!"
"That's not true! It was just that I was young and.."
"It doesn't matter now, because I hate you too!" Sam's body was shaking as tears of anger poured down her face.
Sam ran to the door but stopped when Laura cried out, "Sam, I never hated you! I would have gladly died to save our parents had I been given the chance!"
Laura rushed to Sam when she noticed her hesitation and tried to hug her, but Sam quickly recoiled and tried to push her away. "Don't touch me!" she yelled when Laura grasped her arms to keep her from leaving.
"If you want to know what happened, I'll tell you, Sam! But you need time.." Laura was cut off when Sam swung her arms madly to try to free them from Laura's grasp, and her clenched fist ended up hitting Laura in the corner of her right eye. Laura's hands instantly went to her face and she stumbled to a nearby chair to steady herself.
Sam was surprised at what she had done. She watched her sister with concern for a moment or two before saying, "I don't need you to help or protect me anymore, Laura. I'm taking care of myself now." With that, Sam left the room and went to the Great Hall to be just in time for supper.
Laura left for the Great Hall a little later than Sam (and after casting a glamour on her eye). What Sam did hurt more than Laura thought it would have, but it was more emotionally than physically. She was torn up inside with her stomach constantly rolling, causing waves of nausea to wash over her.
When Laura took her seat next to McGonagall and Snape, she glanced at Remus, who looked a bit weary. His eyes were shadowed with dark hollows, and his usual smiling face was nothing but a vacant mask.
"So, how have things been going, Dear?" McGonagall asked, pulling Laura from her thoughts.
"Well, better than I anticipated, I suppose," Laura answered, helping herself to the steaming pot of potato soup.
"I hope you haven't had any trouble," McGonagall said, sounding worried as she set her spoon down.
"Oh no, nothing of the kind. The students were very well behaved." As Laura said this, Snape scoffed, making Laura turn her attention to him.
"May I ask how your day went, Professor Snape?" Laura asked, painfully sweet.
"The entire lot of them are mindless imbeciles," he calmly answered while buttering a roll.
"Really, Professor Snape? They couldn't be that bad." Laura raised a skeptic eyebrow.
"And what, may I ask, have you been teaching the little ingrates?" he asked.
"Well, if you must know, we've gone over the rubric for the year, I answered questions the first years had since they weren't sure why Potions was a mandatory course and why it's important, and, with the older classes, we've been reviewing their previous knowledge of potions."
"You mean to tell me you that you haven't taught them anything?"
"On the contrary, Professor Snape, it seems to me they learned quite a bit. Why, I hear Mr. Longbottom couldn't tell the difference between fluxweed and knotgrass when we started out, but, by the end of class, he was making up for all the points he had lost."
Snape opened his mouth to say something, but Laura interrupted. "Now, if you'll excuse me." She stood from her chair and said, "Good evening Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape," before exiting.
When Laura was back in her rooms, she removed the glamour, took a quick shower, and dressed in her pajamas with a dressing robe over them. When she turned around to go into the living room, she caught sight of herself in the lavatory mirror.
No one could possibly miss the purple and yellow tinged bruise that surrounded her right eye and part of her eyebrow and bridge of her nose. Laura knew she had to do more than cover it up or it could spread to her other eye. She rummaged through her potion supplies finding the salve she needed and applied it to her eye. The salve had to sit and no magic could be applied, otherwise the effects could be altered and she could be stuck with more than a bruise. Suddenly, a knock was heard and she went to see who it was.
"Who is it?"
"Remus, I need to talk to you."
Laura opened the door and allowed him to come inside.
"Remus, how are you?" she asked curiously.
"I'm-" Remus looked up into her eyes. "What happened to you?" he asked in a shocked tone.
"Oh-uh, you see, I was um-writing an owl and um I dropped my quill, and when I went to pick it up, I hit the corner of the desk."
"Well, you must have hit it pretty good to get a bruise like that! Are you all right? Have you seen Poppy?" he asked as he sat on a nearby sofa.
"No, I just put a salve that will heal it up in no time," she told him, wanting to change the subject. "What was it you wanted to talk about?" she asked, sitting across from him.
"Well, I wanted to apologize for the way I've been acting toward you, and I wanted to give you these-" Remus raised his wand and said, "Orchideous." An arrangement of Phal Belline Orchids and flame Calla Lilies appeared in his open hand.
"Oh, Remus! They're beautiful!" she said excitedly while sniffing the flowers and taking in their fresh sweet fragrance. "Thank you."
"I'm glad you like them," Remus said smiling and then he became very serious. "Laura, I know you're not wanting a relationship right now, but..I still have feelings for you, and if you ever decide to return those feelings, I'll be waiting."
"That's very kind Remus, and I appreciate your honesty," Laura said sincerely.
"Well, I had better be going." Remus gave her a quick, gentle peck on the cheek before going to the door.
"Good night, Remus." Laura walked over to the door and watched him leave down the dark hallway.
Laura stepped back as he stepped closer to her, his eyes traveling over her body. She took another step back and found that she was against the wall. He placed both his hands on either side of her against the wall, blocking her in.
His lips came crashing down on hers, kissing her savagely. His hands roamed her body as he pulled her closer to him. He moved his lips to her neck and chest, biting and sucking as he went until she let out a moan of pleasure. He picked her up and carried her over to his desk, where he cleaned it off by raking his arm across, sending everything to the floor before sitting her on top.
He kissed her ferociously while they ripped at each other's clothes. She ran her hands along his pale, bare chest and back as he kissed her flesh that was quickly becoming exposed. She closed her eyes and gasped as the rest of her clothes were pulled off, and he laid her down on his desk as he crawled on top of her and let his mouth and hands do work their magic. When he positioned himself between her thighs, she prepared herself for him as their eyes locked..and then..darkness.
Laura woke with a start, her limbs tangled in the covers and her body covered with sweat.
"Where on earth did that come from?" she thought, a bit shocked that her brain came up with such a scene, but she was also a bit disappointed that it was interrupted. She crawled out of bed and jumped in the shower before she could think about it any further.
Laura walked briskly to the Great Hall and took her seat. She poured herself a cup of hazelnut coffee and treated herself to a warm cherry turnover while looking around at the students. When she caught sight of Sam, she took in a sharp breath and set her mug down. Her sister had just walked in with a group of Slytherin, and they seemed to be in deep conversation while glaring at Laura.
Sam continued to glare up at the head table as she found a seat – especially when she noticed Laura watching her intently. Laura felt even worse then before, and she shifted uncomfortably in her chair as she felt her sister's eyes burning a hole through her. Laura couldn't take it, and, as she stood and turned around to leave, she ran into Remus.
"Oh! Sorry, Laura," Remus apologized.
"It's ok, Remus, it was my fault," Laura replied, glancing over her shoulder to see that Sam was no longer watching.
"Uh, Severus, do you have my potion ready?" he asked, just above a whisper.
"Yes, you can go down and get it whenever you want," Severus growled.
"Remus," Laura started as she reached around him to get her coffee mug, "I've been wanting to ask you, are you feeling well? I mean, you look like you could use a good night's rest." Laura's face showed great concern as she studied his weary features.
Snape raised an eyebrow. 'So, he hasn't told her he's a werewolf,' he thought, slightly amused yet annoyed.
Remus shifted uncomfortably. "Believe me, Laura, if I could, I would."
Snape entered his private potions lab with Remus behind him, talking his ear off to no end.
"When were you planning on tell her?" Snape interrupted when he heard Remus mention something about Laura seeming edgy at breakfast.
"About what?" Remus questioned.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about," Snape snapped irritably, handing him a goblet.
"I know," Remus sighed. " I just don't want her to think of me differently. It's hard enough getting friends that won't judge me." He downed the glass, making a face at the vile liquid. "Why are you suddenly so concerned?" he asked.
"Well, I particularly don't want to prepare two doses of Wolfsbane every full moon," Snape shot back.
Remus hung his head. "You're right, Severus. I should tell her," he sighed. Remus then watched Severus pull a large book off a shelf, sit down, and begin to flip to the page he had bookmarked. "You know what you need to do, Severus?" Remus asked.
Severus sighed heavily with annoyance. "Teach you how to make your own potion?" When Remus didn't respond, he asked "What?"
"You need to get out more. Look at you! You're basically spending all your free-time reading books that could otherwise be called dictionaries! You need to go out and have some fun. Tell you what," Severus started to push Remus out the door as he continued, "when I get back, I was wanting to ask the professors to join me at the Three Broomsticks for a nice get-together. That would be the perfect time for you to get out!"
"Go away, Lupin, I have more important things to do," Snape snapped as he shut the door.
A/N: Hello Everyone,
I hope you liked this chapter and I hope you will review and tell me what you think. Chapter 14 coming up soon…I hope.
Thank you to my Beta (Kim) and to my reviewers Fury's Grace, Jade Ann Merlin, EmeraldsDragonEyedDagger, Yoshi, MissVolde, bluepearldrops, Lady Gothia, JadedRoses,
Ella TheCoolPerson, recycled plot eater, H-chan, Kirjava Deamon, Schu no ko
P.S Check out my new story A World Without You.