A/N: Well, I guess I lied about the updating twice in one day, but here's the next chapter. I got distracted. Sorry. Now time for responses.

nerdysunny: ok. drawing a blank here. passive voice? I'm really not that experienced a writer, and hate taking English, so excuse my lack of knowledge. Also, I know my vocabulary isn't all that extensive, but please keep in mind I'm only 15. But thanks for the review! I appreciate all your feedback.

Chapter 3

Drifting Away

When I stepped onto the Platform the first day of second year, I was immediately enveloped from behind in a hug from my best friend.

"James!" I laughed, "Let me put me stuff down first!"

I pushed my trolley over towards the train, making sure I had makeup on all my bruises, and turned around. The first sound out of my mouth was a gasp.

"Wow! James you look really good!" I exclaimed. He'd lost weight over the summer. A lot of weight. Now, I was sure, he wouldn't be teased the other boys in his dorm. First year he'd been subject to teasing from one boy, and all the rest had just ignored him. I'd always felt bad that I didn't know which one was teasing him. Luckily, the girls in my dorm were friendly, but understood that I knew James best and James knew me best.

Later that year, James started spending more time with three of the boys in his dorm and less time with me. We drifted apart, but the girls in my dorm didn't become better friends. I think they believed that I'd been spending most of my time with James when I'd really been in the library a lot. In consequence, they stayed mere acquaintances.

By the end of the year, I think James had realized that he could relate better with the boys than me, and assumed I was spending my time with the other girls in our year. Again, most of that time was really being spent in the library, transforming me into the class nerd.

Despite how close James and I had been at the beginning of the year, but June I was mad at him for deserting me. Him turning into a prankster didn't help either. He, Sirius, Remus and a little boy they took pity on, Peter, had even adopted a nickname for their group. They had 'officially' become The Marauders.

(A/N: now wouldn't this be a mean and SHORT place to leave it off…don't worry. I'm not that evil)

I couldn't stand that my ex-best friend had deserted me for those self-assured assholes, and I resolved to hate all the Marauders. Especially James. James the non-loyal. James the asshole. I convinced myself that his were much worse than they really were, and began to loathe him. It was hate for sure, until seventh year, when I realized that there's a very thin line between love and hate.

Now I'm getting ahead of myself. Back to Second Year. They boys didn't announce themselves to the school until the last feat of the year, but I'd figured it out and started hating them by Easter. We hadn't spoken since before Christmas break, and by Easter I'd realized it wasn't because he was busy. He'd forgotten about me, just like most of the girls in my dorm had. I was then invisible, and believe me, it wasn't always fun.

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That Christmas, Jon couldn't do much because Ma had the entire two weeks off, but he did find ways to make me 'innocently' fall or twist my ankle. Because they were 'accidents', he would always apologize profusely, but I knew it never was, not after the previous summer. Ma never noticed, and I found it discouraging that she was blind to my suffering. She had probably come to see me as a klutz. It saddened me that Jon could get away with all that, and I started to despise myself because I couldn't seem to tell Ma what was going on.

The rare occasions during the two breaks that Ma did end up going shopping or out to lunch with friends, Jon took advantage of. This encouraged me to tiptoe around when Ma was gone, but if I tried to disappear to my room, Jon would come to get me. He would claim I hadn't finished up my chores to his satisfaction or that I'd forgotten to do something and was rewarded with a headache-inducing cuff to the head and a kick in the stomach after I'd crumpled to the floor. Once he even locked me in a closed to 'teach me a lesson'.

Needless to say, I was very afraid and disappointed as I stepped off the train that summer. Not only had the beatings gotten worse over Easter, but also I had no friends to turn to, so I couldn't possibly escape from the house for more than two-hour periods for a walk to the park or some other such activity. If I wasn't back within two hours, Jon would come looking for me. Later on, once Ma had gone to bed, Jon would come into my room and beat me unconscious. My self-esteem definitely wasn't helped by these punishments. The few times I lost track of time I was punished so badly that I refused to come out of my room the next day. I'd lock my door and claim to be sick. Jon had the only other key, so Ma could never get in. She asked me if I wanted to get checked by a doctor quite often, but I always refused.

Flashback

I tiptoed down the stairs trying to see if I'd actually make it into the kitchen tonight to get some food. Hugging the wall so I wouldn't make as much noise on the stairs, I would creep a few feet then pause to listen for the slightest rustle. I made it to just inside the kitchen door before I heard his growl.

"Lils, you didn't finish sweeping the front hall." Was his excuse this time. He just had to use the nickname. Later on, that nickname is what scared me the most. He only used it when he was about to beat me up, but never otherwise. It would honestly scare the shit out of me.

I tired to protest, ("But I did finish Jon!") however he must have knocked a plant over because I heard a crash.

"I see dirt on the floor!" He hollered from, I can only assume, the front hall.

I got a glimpse of the pottery and dirt on the floor as he came into the kitchen, red-faced. "Always finish your chores young lady!" He said as he came towards me. I was slowly backing away, but knew that I would hit the counter at any time. When I did he kept coming until he was inches away. Then he smacked me in the side of the head, making me fall to the ground in a daze. Then he proceeded to drag me upstairs. Once he got to my room he proceeded to kick me in the stomach until I dry-retched. Then he punched me in the head once to knock me unconscious. The last thing that registered was him closing my door before the blackness took over.

Three hours later, I groggily came to on the floor of my room. Checking the clock I realized it was 1:00 AM. I painfully pulled myself into bed, making sure no bones had been broken. That hadn't happened yet, but I didn't have high hopes for it staying that way. I'd already looked up spells to hide the bruising, and was making my way through a book on healing, just in case anything a bit more serious happened.

End Flashback

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By the end of that summer every single scar and bruise had been hidden under a charm. My skin seemed flawless, but I knew it was far from that. The only setback about the spell I'd found was that the bruises took longer to heal. I had to try to not bump them in fear of crying out in pain because of something that shouldn't have hurt.

No one could know how bad I looked because Jon had finally convinced me that everyone would know it was my own fault and would look at me as a weakling. So, when I finally went back to Hogwarts as a third year, no one who remotely regarded me as a friend would be able to tell. I couldn't let anyone think I was weak because then I could face the same problem at Hogwarts that I had at the house most people would call a home. That wasn't true for me, because Hogwarts was where I truly felt at home. It was one place I didn't feel threatened. Unfortunately that feeling wouldn't stay for long.