Phoebe- Okay heres another chapter for you guys.
Sadie- And please remember to review how are we supposed to know if you like it or not if you don't review!
Chapter 2
A couple weeks had gone by. Nikki had learned to stay away from the infamous Marauders. She had also learned that two of the Marauders had a crush on her two best friends. One named Frank liked Alice, and another named James liked Lily. One day she was walking down to the library thinking and laughing to herself at the irony of it all. She walked into the library, not noticing that she was being followed. She put her books down on a table near the bookshelves and walked into an aisle. She was taking in all the names, looking for just the right one that would help her with her potions essay. She had been down here before, but had been in a different section. She was scanning the shelves, her face screwed up in concentration when she felt someone come up behind her. She turned around and came face to face with a rather tall boy. He had very blond hair and dark, dangerous eyes. He was muscularly built and he was wearing Slytherin robes.
"Can I help you look for something?"
"Um, if you wouldn't mind. I need help looking for a book."
"I'm Lucius Malfoy," he said. "You need a book for the potions essay?"
"Nikki Summers. And actually yes."
"Nice to meet you." He looked at the shelf for a moment, and then picked out a book. He looked at it for a second, then he handed it to her. "This should do the job," he said. He took out his wand and pointed it at the shelves. "I'm just putting a silence barrier around, so we can talk regularly." He walked behind her and opened the book in her hands. Looking over her shoulder, he turned the pages, then he stopped. "This is where you should look for your information."
"Thank you," she said. She started to read a little of it when she noticed his pelvis pushing into her waist. She took a step forward and continued reading. He had stepped back behind her and put his hand on her waist. She turned around and looked him in the eyes. She was startled by the sight. His eyes had hunger in them. They looked dangerously at her. She dropped the book and slowly backed up. Soon, her back was up against the wall.
"What do you want?" she said with fear written all over her face.
"You," he replied.
"No! Stay away! Don't touch me!"
Still he kept coming.
"Help me!" she screamed.
He was now standing up against her, pressing her against the wall. "Remember the sound barrier I put up not too long ago?"
Her face showed the horror that she felt. He grabbed her waist. She balled up her fist and began to hit him in the chest. He caught up her wrists in one hand and held them above her head. He slipped his hand up her shirt. Tears were rolling down her cheeks as she tried to escape from her attacker.
"Stop! Please! HELP ME!"
"No use," he said. "Why do you wear such baggy clothes? Your body is great," he said with a wicked smile. He bent down and started to kiss her neck and upper chest, all the while, his hand was playing with her navel. Just then, he turned to look over his shoulder. There stood the four Marauders, just inside the barrier. They saw Nikki, with her face filled with fear and soaked with tears. Lucius had pulled out his wand and froze them in place. Then he replaced his wand and went back to Nikki.
"Please don't," she pleaded.
"No." He went on. Then, Nikki felt his hand work its way up to cup her breast. It stayed there for a few minutes, then started to explore her body. He moved his lips to her mouth. His pushed his tongue against her lips, but she refused to part them. He pressed his body harder against hers, making her cry out in pain, causing her mouth to open. His tongue slid into her mouth. She clamped her teeth down on his tongue and didn't let go. He cried out in pain and released her, bringing his fist up to connect with face. She released his tongue from the force of the punch, bringing her own hand up to cradle her stinging cheek. She had managed to stay on her feet and had backed up against the wall again.
"Bitch!" he said. He slapped her hard with his hand, causing her to fall down to the ground. She tried to get back up, but he kicked her in the stomach twice. She fell back to the ground. Again she tried to get up, and he helped her, but once she was on her feet, he slapped her hard, making her again fall to the ground. Her ribs hurt and her cheek stung. She was too weak to fight back now. He picked her up by her shirt.
"You want to play hard bitch? You little whore? You think you can get away with this, you little slut?" He slammed her against the wall, her feet off the floor and ripped her shirt. He crushed his mouth to her, careful not to put his tongue in her mouth. He started to feel her up against her struggling. She tried to fight back, but again, he just caught up both of her wrists in one hand and held them above her head. Before he could do anything else, they heard a voice behind him. He stopped, still leaving his hand on the breast, and looked over his shoulder. All four Marauders stood there.
One with a muscular build, long black hair and dark eyes pulled out his wand and pointed it at them.
"Expelliarmus," he bellowed. All of a sudden, Lucius' wand flew into his hand.
"Leave her alone," another one said. His voice sounded familiar, but Nikki was too scared to try and figure it out. He had a muscular build also, with short messy black hair and hazel eyes.
Lucius smiled. "Oh I see, you guys want a piece of her. Well, I'm sorry to say, but I'm not done with her yet."
"Oh, I believe you are," said yet another one. He too had a muscular build, short brown hair and brown eyes.
Now Lucius' smile was gone. "Listen, no need to get cranky and spoil my fun. You can't have every new girl first. I got to her first, so that's just too bad for you."
"She doesn't want to be with you," said the last Marauder. He, like the rest, had a muscular build, short, sandy hair and light blue eyes.
"Sure she does." He turned to look at Nikki. "Don't you want to be with me?" He dug his nails into her skin and pulled his fingers down her side and curved onto her stomach. She cried out in pain. "See," he said over his shoulder with a smile. He turned back to her and continued. All of sudden, he was off her and she crumpled to the floor. All four had grabbed him and two were restraining him with their wands. The other two were advancing on her. She got up to her feet shakily. She pushed past all four boys and ran out of the section with tears streaming down her cheeks. She ran to her dorms and collapsed on her bed. She stayed there for a few minutes, and then she got up and took a shower, wincing at the stinging she felt on her stomach. She looked down at her stomach and saw four deep red marks going from under her arm, to her navel. She got out and toweled off. She found her two friends in the dorm when she got out, both clearly stressed about something. She decided that they had enough to deal with, so she put a smile on and continued on. They had decided to go get lunch. Nikki told them that she would meet them in the common room. She got dressed and a few minutes later, Lily called her down. She came down the stairs and met her friends, but they were already in a heated argument with none other than the four Marauders. The four looked up at her and their eyes widened at the site of her. Lily and Alice looked at Nikki and at the Marauders. Both of their faces showed concern when Nikki's face showed fear. They both took her hand and brought her out of the common room. They drilled her with questions. They brought her to the lake, where she let the whole story spill. Along with the story came the tears that she had kept in since the shower.
Lily and Alice drew her into a hug.
"I'm so sorry," Lily said soothingly.
"So that's they kept pestering us. We should've known something was up," Alice said. Nikki just shook her head.
"It's not your fault." She gave a weak laugh and looked down at herself. "Look at me. All teary- eyed and worked up." Lily and Alice released her.
"Well I should hope that's how your acting considering what happened to you," Lily said, her face screwing up with slight anger, slight confusion.
"And in front of the Marauders too," Alice continued with the same look on her face.
"Considering what? Nothing happened," she said wiping the tears away. She watched as comprehension crept on to their faces.
"You're right. I don't know what we were talking about," Lily said looking at Alice.
"Must have been dreaming again," she said. Nikki gave them a weak smile.
"Must have been," she said. They decided that they needed to get food, so they went into the Great Hall. They all sat down. Not too far from them, the Marauders took their seats and stared at Nikki, ignoring the glares from Lily and Alice. Nikki never looked up. She always avoided them, with the help of Lily and Alice. On the off chance that they saw her outside of classes, they kept trying to strike up a conversation with her, but then Lily or Alice would show up. She never looked at them or said anything to them; she just hugged her books closer to her chest and kept on walking. Occasionally, she would answer with, "I don't have the slightest clue what you're talking about." Classes were a different story. All four had moved to sit just behind her and either Lily or Alice. Of the classes where she was alone, they would sit with her in the middle of them. She never said anything and never looked up. She just took silent notes, despite anything they said to her. Once the class was over, she'd try to dart out ahead of them, but they would always catch up with her. They continued the usual routine until either Lily or Alice saved her.
"It's like they have some kind of plan or something," Sirius remarked one day. They all agreed with him on that point and kept trying to get her to talk to them. Sometimes Lily or Alice would come up to them and yell at them to leave her alone, but they wouldn't. James wrote to his father in order to get some background information about this new stranger. One day, during breakfast, James' owl pecked him on the head. He untied the letter and read it out loud.
"Dear James,
I did that background check you asked for. A Nikki Summers did you say? Well, she just moved to London with her dad. Her dad just joined us here at the ministry as an aurora. Minister says he's one of the best. Anyways, she's an only child and her mother died when she was five. Poor thing. She transferred to Hogwarts from Beauxbatons so she could be with her dad more, but so far that hasn't worked out. She's pretty much alone. Her dad's got loads of letters on his desk from her, but because he's always out, he hasn't seen them. Well, that's all I got, so, why did you want to know all this stuff? Is she in trouble? If she is, just tell me and I tell her dad. Write back.
Dad"
All four looked down the table at Nikki. They saw her head down as usual and both Lily and Alice glaring at them. Then both Lily and Alice got up and walked up to them. They stopped just in front of them.
"Background check?" Lily said glaring at them. Alice snatched the paper from them and ripped it in little pieces.
"Now that you know, don't tell anyone. It's not like she has enough to go through already." Alice let the pieces flutter to the floor and they walked back to their seats. The four friends saw Nikki asked them something and then they watched both Lily and Alice assure her of something. After a few minutes, the three felt someone staring at them from behind. All three turned around and looked up into the face of Lucius Malfoy. He was smiling.
"We must meet up again. I did enjoy myself," he said laughing at the display of fear on Alice's face.
"You sick bastard," Lily said through gritted teeth.
He just laughed. Tears started to well up in Nikki's eyes, but she refused to let them fall. Just then The Marauders appeared behind him.
"I believe that you are blocking the isle," one said.
"I was just leaving," he said. He took her chin and kissed Nikki on the lips. "A little souvenir," he said with a smile and he left.
Nikki just looked at the floor, not allowing herself to cry. Her two friends hugged her and the four just stood there not knowing what to do. Nikki sat there for just a minute then she stood.
"Excuse me," she said to her friends. "I'll meet you in the dorm ok?" They both nodded and watched her walk from the Great Hall. Nikki walked out of the oak doors and stood in front of the lake, letting a few silent tears slide down her cheeks which she impatiently wiped away. She felt the wind caress her face, her trembling body. She wrapped her arms around herself and just stood looking out on the water, just watching it. She felt a presence next to her. She looked sideways and met the light blues eyes of one of the Marauders. She turned back to look at the water. He just stood there, looking at her.
"Can I help you?" she asked him quietly without taking her gaze from the water.
"I… I…, my names Remus," he said.
She didn't reply. They stayed quiet for a couple minutes.
"Listen, I… I'm really sorry about what happened to you. I… we…wanted to know if we could help you?"
"You can't."
"You mean you won't let us."
She stayed silent.
"Why not?"
She spoke quietly, but with a trembling voice. "You have no idea how embarrassing it is to be in a new school and almost be raped in front of four boys, let alone the most popular out of the school." She took a deep, ragged breath. "No, you can't help me."
"Well, I just wanted to let you know that if you want male help, we're here for you."
"Why are you being so nice to me?"
"Because no woman should have that done to them."
There was a moment of silence.
"Thank you," she said softly. They stood in silence for a while.
"It's getting pretty cold out here," Remus said.
"You go in. I'll stay here for a while longer."
"Ok. Are you sure you are alright out here by yourself? I'd feel better about this if you came inside with me."
"Your still afraid that Lucius will come out here aren't you?"
"Yes," Remus said reluctantly. Nikki turned to him. Her hazel eyes were sad and distant. Her auburn hair was flying in her face.
"I'll be fine," she said wrapping her arms tighter around herself. Then one single tear rolled silently down her cheek. She turned back to the water. Remus stood there for a moment longer. He longed to help her, to help with the pain, but she kept pushing him away. He turned and slowly walked back to the doors. He stood at the doors and settled himself just inside them, watching Nikki look out at the water. He felt his friends come up behind them. He felt Frank put a hand on his shoulder.
"What are you going to do Moony?"
"Wait here. Watch her. Protect her if I can."
"Moony, she keeps avoiding us. How can you protect her?"
"She's in most of my classes."
"Let her friends protect her. She'll be more open to them. C'mon." Remus let his friends lead him away from the door. They passed Alice and Lily running down the stairs. They ran out of the doors toward the lake. The four stopped walking and watched the girls run back inside, with Nikki in tow. James and Sirius stopped them.
"What's going on?" Sirius asked.
"Dorm," Alice said out of breath.
"What's wrong with the dorm?" James asked.
"Bed…Nikki's," Lily said out of breath too.
"What's wrong with it?" Frank pressed.
"I don't know how he got in," Lily said.
"Who?" James said.
"We got to get up there," Alice said dragging Nikki.
"I don't know what it is with girls," Sirius said throwing his hands up in the air. "It's impossible to get information from them."
All seven of them started toward the Gryffindor common room. From there, they preceded to the girls dorms. Lily said a spell that allowed the boys to follow them. They stepped inside the door. They all stopped. Nikki stepped forward and walked slowly over to her bed. There, lying on her bed was a piece of her shirt that he had ripped, along with a picture of her by the lake with Remus. Also on her bed was a single red rose. She stepped back slowly. Soon, she felt someone touch her arm. She whirled around and came face to face with Remus. He looked into her hazel eyes, but instead of seeing the sadness, her saw something else. Her eyes pleaded with him for help. They had fear in them. She pushed past him and ran down the stairs and out of the common room. Remus turned toward her bed and slowly walked up to it. He picked up the picture and the piece of cloth in one hand, and the red rose in the other. Subconsciously, he crushed the red rose and crumpled the picture. He dropped them onto the floor. He turned back to his friends, his eyes alit with rage. Both girls backed away from him as his friends tried to stop him from leaving the room. He pushed past them without any extra force. Still all three tried to restrain him.
"Damn the fucking werewolf strength in him," Sirius said through gritted teeth. Remus just kept walking forward and headed toward the dungeons. Finally, his friends let him go. He spotted Lucius.
"MALFOY," he roared. Lucius looked up and was startled to see Remus advancing on him.
"Ah, Lupin. How lovely to see you. I trust you've seen the present I left Summers?"
Remus picked him up by his shirt and slammed him hard against the wall. "Leave her alone," he said through gritted teeth.
"And if I don't?" he said with a smile.
"Touch her again, you die. That's a promise." He let him go, finally allowing his friends to lead him away from Lucius. They met Alice and Lily out in the hall.
"We can't find her," Lily said.
"We've looked everywhere," Alice added. Remus looked at his friends. They all started walking.
"Where have you looked?" Remus said, worry written on his face.
"The lake, the library, the dorms, the kitchen, the room of requirement, the great hall…" Lily was rattling off all the places she and Alice had looked.
"Have you asked Dumbledore?"
They looked at each other. "No, we didn't think of that."
They all ran to the gargoyle. "Shit, I don't know the password," Remus said.
"Lemon Tarts," Lily said. The gargoyle leapt to life and stepped aside. "Don't ask," she said when all six looked at her. They all walked into Dumbledore's office. He sat at his desk and across from him sat Nikki. She turned around at the intrusion and stood uneasily. On the desk was a pensive, its light blue water swirling. One look into her eyes was enough to make his heart break. Lily and Alice ran over to their friend and began to console her. Dumbledore took the four out of the office.
"I have already heard the story. Unfortunately, Lucius' father holds too much power in the ministry. There is nothing I can do except keep a close eye on him. I'm sorry." They all nodded. They all went back into the office. Lily and Alice stood on either side of Nikki, with their arms around her. She just looked down at her feet, too embarrassed to say anything. She thanked Dumbledore for his time and apologized for her behavior. They all started walking back to the common room. Lily and Alice had Nikki between them, with the boys in back of them. Just then a group of Slytherins walked past them. Nikki shrank away from them and stopped walking. The group stooped and sneered at her. Then Nikki felt someone step up behind her. All of a sudden, the group of Slytherins walked on. All three looked up and met the gazes of the four boys. They all walked back into the common room. Alice and Lily took Nikki up to the dorms. After a few minutes, they came back down.
"She's trying to sleep," Lily said sadly.
"Yeah, I'd give her about ten minutes before she wakes up in a cold sweat," Alice said, eyes downcast. All of a sudden, her head shot up and she clamped her hand to her mouth. "You didn't hear that," she said, muffled by her hand, eyes wide. Lily gave her a glare.
"Oh a big secret keeper you are," she said.
"Any more secrets we should hear," Sirius asked excitedly. He shrunk away hen he received a glare from both girls. "Just wondering," he mumbled.
"Is there anything we can do to help?" Remus asked.
"Not really. It's up to her. Me, I'm tired." Lily yawed. Alice followed.
"Contagious isn't it," Lily said laughing. Alice smiled. Then Sirius yawned.
"Damn, you gave it to me!" he said. Both girls laughed and went to the couch and lay down.
"Tell me if she wakes up, ok?" said a very sleepy Alice. They boys, not knowing what to do sat down by the fire. They sat there for about ten minutes when they heard something behind them. They looked over at the staircase and watched a puffy eyed Nikki creep down the stairs. She peered over at her friends and sadly smiled at them. Then she crept out of the common room. They decided to follow her. They watched her walk down to the library. She walked into a section and sat down, cross-legged in the middle of it with an open book in her lap. They watch her sit there when they heard someone come up behind them. They slowly turned around and met the steely gazes of Lily and Alice.
"So," said Lily icily. "What are we watching?"
"Uhhhhh… the grass grow?" Sirius said.
"Right," Alice said. They looked past them into the section and saw Nikki. She had turned around at hearing the commotion. Her eyes danced with amusement. Lily and Alice pushed past the boys and went to Nikki. She stood up and laughed with Lily and Alice at something the boys couldn't figure out. They all walked over to Madame Pince and Nikki checked out the book she was reading. They followed the girls back up to the common room. Alice and Lily settled themselves on a couch and went back to bed. Nikki sat in a chair near the fire and continued to read. She finally fell asleep, her head resting on the arm of the chair. The boys had crept near them and were leaning against the wall, arms crossed across their chest. They sat there, watching the girls sleep and began to think. They were brought out of their dazes by someone talking to them.
"See something interesting?" Lily asked. Their faces turned a deep shade of red and immediately began to try and explain all at once. Both Lily and Alice laughed at them. The noise brought Nikki out of her sleep. She looked at Lily and Alice giggling. Then she looked up at the deep red faces of the boys. She too started to giggle.
"I guess I missed something, but the look on your faces tell me that you were caught doing something," she said giggling. Their mouths dropped. This made Alice and Lily laugh harder.
"Damn, you know everything," Sirius said. "Are you sure you were asleep?" he asked.
"Well, I was," she admitted. "Now I think I'll try to finish my book." She returned to her book.
"Aren't you hungry?" Sirius asked.
"Not really," she replied without looking up.
"You see Sirius, girls aren't always hungry during the periods of time between meals," Alice remarked. Sirius went a little red. Alice and Lily giggled. Once they finished, they returned their attention back to Nikki.
"We're going to go up to the dorm for a couple of minutes ok?" Lily asked. Nikki nodded her head. Alice and Lily got up and walked up the stairs. Frank and James looked longingly after them. They sighed and fell into the couch across from Nikki's chair.
"If you want to go out with, ask them," she said without looking up at them.
At first they were stunned, but then quickly recovered.
"How do you know all this stuff? Are you a mind reader?" Sirius asked eyeing her. Nikki smiled slightly.
"They'll never say yes," James said.
"Yeah, they hate us," Frank remarked.
"Yeah, sure they do," Nikki said. "That's why…" she stopped. She noticed how they had been hanging off of every word she was saying and smiled inwardly at herself. The plan was working.
"What?" James said eagerly.
"What do they do, or say, or something?" Frank said just as eagerly.
"Don't keep us in suspense," Sirius said excitedly. James hit him in back of his head. "Ouch! Touchy today?" he asked scowling at James and rubbing the back of his head. All of a sudden, Alice and Lily reappeared at the bottom of the stairs. They bounced over to Nikki's chair. As Nikki looked up, she saw that both James and Frank had returned to normal and pretended that nothing was going on.
"C'mon Nikki. We've got to tell you something," Lily said excitedly. She and Alice were tugging on Nikki's arms, standing her up. Nikki pretended to sigh and look bored. She put her book on the chair and without smiling let herself be pushed up the stairs. Once inside the dorms, she let a smile creep onto her face. Alice and Lily put a silence barrier on the door, and then they turned to Nikki.
"So?" Alice asked.
"What did they say?" Lily asked excitedly.
"Well," she said with an ear to ear smile on her face. "I had them hanging off every word. Your timing was impeccable. The last thing I said to them was 'that's why'. I left the ending off and then you guys showed up. They'll probably ask you after dinner or before. You guys owe sooo big!"
"Oh my God," Alice squealed. She and Lily danced around the room. Nikki sat there laughing at her friend's poor attempt to dance.
"Nikki, you're a life saver! I would have never been able to ask Potter out," Lily said as she hugged Nikki tightly.
"Me too," Alice said as she joined in.
"Can't…breathe," Nikki whispered. Both girls let go and they all laughed. All three quickly got their composure and went back downstairs. They looked over at the boys and saw James and Frank still on the couch, Sirius still up against the wall and Remus in Nikki's chair. He was holding Nikki's book in his hands and looking down at it.
"I think Remus likes you," Alice whispered to Nikki. She giggled at Nikki's face. Her eyes were soft as she gazed at Remus. A small smile crept over her face.
"Do you really think so?" she whispered back.
"Yeah," Lily said. "I think you should go out with him."
"Yeah," she said in a daze. "Wait what?" she asked as she snapped out of her daze. Both Lily and Alice started to laugh. Nikki turned red. The boys hearing the noise turned to look at them. Once the two girls stopped laughing, they straightened up.
"You guys going down to lunch?" Lily said with a smile. They smiled back and stood. They all walked down to the Great Hall. James and Frank stopped Alice and Lily just outside the doors. They told Sirius, Nikki and Remus to go in ahead of them. Sirius pouted and walked in. As Remus and Nikki walked past, the two girls smiled at Nikki. They sat down at the table and watched the door.
"You know what's going on, don't you?" Remus asked Nikki with a smile. She turned to him with a look of horror.
"Me? Plot? Never." Then she couldn't help it anymore and started to laugh.
"The whole conversation…" Remus said and he too started to laugh.
"What's so funny? I don't get it," Sirius whined.
"Of course you don't," Remus said.
Sirius looked confused for a second and scratched his head. "Hey! That wasn't very nice," he said. Nikki and Remus laughed.
"Took you long enough," he said. Sirius was about to protest when they saw their four friends walk through the door with big smiles on their faces. James had his arm around Lily and Frank had his arm around Alice. They came over and both James and Frank looked at Remus and Nikki. Lily and Alice smiled broadly at their friend.
"Does this have anything to do with what was happening before they walked in? I mean when you guys were talking and I didn't get it. And then you laughed at me, which by the way hurt my insides a lot. It's going to take me at least a month to get over this whole traumatizing event and everything," he said posing dramatically. All six looked at him.
"What?" James asked. Sirius paused for a moment and scratched his head.
"Um… good question," he said. They all laughed and started eating. More like dodging the food Sirius was unable to keep in his mouth. They had a wonderful lunch filled with laughter and talk, until they were interrupted by a group of Slytherins.
"Well, look who's having fun," Lucius said. They all turned around. The smiles disappeared from all of their faces, and fear crept into Nikki's eyes. He laughed at her. Remus slid his arm around her shoulders and hugged her to him.
"Oooooh. Look who's being the big boy now?" Lucius said laughing. His friends laughed with him.
"At least I don't need my friends to make me feel safe. Too afraid to come over here by yourself?" Remus said. Lucius sneered at him.
"Ohwoaoo," Sirius said. Unfortunately, his mouth was full of food.
"Try swallowing your food next time Black. You're just making me nauseas." Sirius grinned a mashed potato grin at him.
"Ohwahogon," he said. Lucius made a disgusted face at him and looked down at Nikki.
"We'll meet up again," he said. "That's a promise." He walked away. Remus looked down at Nikki. She looked up at him, then looked down at her lap. She got up and started to walk from the Great Hall. Remus tried to follow her, but then her friends caught his arm and told him to give her some time. They got up and started out of the Great Hall themselves. The boys just sat there and made small talk. Then they got up and went to the dorms. Remus went over to window expecting o see Nikki by the lake. Instead, he saw a group of Slytherins encircle Lily and Alice and throw them into the lake.
"Shit," he said. "James, Frank, get over here." They came over and once they saw, they started to run. As they were running out, they saw the Nikki's back go out through the painting. Nikki reached the lake first. She stood there not knowing what to do, as her two friends struggled to keep their heads above water. Just then, the boys showed up beside her.
"What do we do?" asked James.
"All I do is doggy paddle (hehe)," Sirius said.
"Fat lot of help we are," said Frank.
"I am not fat," Sirius said indignantly.
"Shut up Sirius! We've got to do something," Remus replied frantically. Just then, Nikki ran into the water, fully clothed and started to swim towards her friends. The water was freezing and started to seep into Nikki's skin, taking all the heat from her body. It was hard to swim with her huge school shirt blowing up around her. The wet shirt was almost twice her size and he gigantic skirt swelled up around her, making it hard to kick. Both garments kept weighing her down. Her hair would float into her face and stick to it, making her wipe it away constantly. She got to Lily first. She swam Lily back to the shore and released her into the arms of James, and then she turned back for Alice. Just before she got to her, Alice went under the water. Nikki took a deep breath, and then submerged herself. She swam until she made contact with Alice and hauled her up to the surface. She swam with Alice struggling in her arms, toward the shore. Alice was trying to help, but was also panicking. This made it especially difficult for Nikki to swim her in. She released Alice into the arms of Frank, but she didn't have enough strength to pull herself out of the water. Remus and Sirius were too busy helping with Lily and Alice that they didn't notice her. She let herself fall back into the water, closing her eyes. Her breathing was ragged, and she was getting colder by the second. She was starting to float away from the shore, but still no one noticed. She could feel her body temperature dropping and as a result, her teeth started to chatter. She could hear the voices of her two friends screaming at her, but they were distant. She felt her body slowly go numb, starting from her toes and fingertips and expanding to her legs and arms. Soon she would go unconscious. She was starting to go underwater and didn't have enough strength to keep herself at the surface. Her face had just slipped under the surface when all of a sudden, she felt a pair of strong arms encircle her limp body and lift it from the water. She felt the strong and warm muscular chest of Remus against her freezing body. He put her on the ground and sat her up against him. He wrapped his cloak around both of them, hugging her to himself. He watched both James and Frank do the same. Sirius had gone to get Dumbledore. They sat there for a few minutes. Remus was getting worried. Nikki didn't seem to be getting any warmer. He could still feel her body trembling. All of a sudden, her head fell forward and her body went still. He looked down at her. He unwrapped her and laid her out the grass. Her eyes were closed and her lips were a deep blue which contrasted with her white skin. Her skirt and shirt stuck to her body. Both garments were twice the size of her and showed off her true size, which slightly surprised the boys. Remus started to shake her and call out her name, but got no response. All of a sudden, he felt Dumbledore kneel down next to him. He touched her hand and shivered. He immediately picked her up and started back into the school. Remus stared helplessly after them watching Nikki's head loll about. He and the rest of the group followed them to the hospital wing. Madame Pomfrey set aside a bed for Nikki and gave something to Lily and Alice to drink. It immediately warmed them up. They watched her take Nikki's wrist and time her pulse. She looked down at Nikki gravely and shook her head.
"What's wrong?" Lily asked with a worried look at Nikki.
"There's not much I can do," she replied with a sad look.
"What! You have to do something. What about this?" Alice said shoving the liquid at Madame Pomfrey. She, like Lily was still shivering.
"How is it going to get in her? She's unconscious. There's only so much I can do. Now tell me exactly what happened." They told the story. Once they were done, she looked sadly at them. "I'm afraid that because she spent so much time in the water, there's only one thing I can do. I have to keep her warm." She looked at Nikki.
"Is there anything else?" Remus asked.
"Your friend did a very noble thing which may have in turn cost her, her own life. It's not anybodies fault. However, right now, it's down to her own will to live that will save her." Madame Pomfrey shooed out the boys, and drew the curtain around Nikki's bed. She undressed her, with the help of Alice and Lily. They changed her into dry robes. Each time they made contact with her cold flesh, they cringed. They tucked many blankets around her small figure and then the two friends sat at the bedside. A few minuets later, the boys reappeared. Remus took her small hand in his. He cringed at the coldness of her skin. Lily and Alice started to cry.
"It's all our fault. If we had just stayed with you guys, then she would be fine," Lily sobbed.
"Don't die Nikki. We need you! I'm so sorry," Alice wailed. James and Frank tried to console them, but nothing could stop the waves of guilt and sadness. Soon, both girls had cried themselves to sleep on the side of the bed. James and Frank had carried the two up to the dorms. Dumbledore and come by to visit and met only Remus and Sirius there. Both were looking very tired. He smiled down at them.
"Don't you two look tired," he said with a chuckle. Startled, they jumped slightly. They looked up at him and gave him a weak smile.
"I'll stay with her," he said. "You two go up to the common room and rest." When they started to protest, he held up a hand. "I'm perfectly capable of staying up with her. You have classes tomorrow. You need to rest." He watched them slowly get up and walked out the door. He took Remus' recently vacated seat and caught up Nikki's cold hand in his, noticing how cold it was. He smiled down at her.
"You know, there are a lot of people here who care for you. They want you to pull through and so do I. That was a very noble thing you did," he said, looking down at her white face. "Saving your two friends. There are not a lot of people who would risk their lives for their friends. It would be a shame for you give in. You're a very strong girl Nikki. Don't give up." He watched her lips slowly get pinker and her skin regain more color. "That's my girl," he said with a smile. He skin was still cold, but it was getting warmer than it had been. He watched her eyes slowly flutter open. She turned her head to look at him. Her lips formed a smile and her hazel eyes filled with happiness. He smiled back at her. He helped her into a sitting position on the bed.
"So, how are we feeling?" he asked.
"A little tired," she admitted. "But otherwise, I'm fine. Thank you."
"You stay Amos, I'm just going to check on another patient," they heard Madame Pomfrey say. She turned and saw Nikki sitting up. Her mouth dropped. Then she smiled at her. "Miracles do happen," she said. She handed Nikki a glass of the warming liquid she had given to Lily and Alice. Nikki sipped it and felt it warm her. She handed it back to Madame Pomfrey with a smile.
Just then, the door swung open, and in came Lily and Alice, followed by the four boys. They looked like they were trying to stop Lily and Alice. Once they spotted Nikki sitting up, they all froze. Then Lily and Alice ran over to Nikki with smiles on their faces. They wrapped their arms around Nikki and started to laugh. The boys appeared next to them not too long after. Frank, James and Sirius pulled Lily and Alice off of Nikki, while Remus helped Nikki out of the bed.
"My turn," Sirius said jumping into the bed and pulling the covers over him. Madame Pomfrey shooed him out of the bed. They all laughed. Nikki gave Dumbledore a hug and thanked him again for his kindness. They walked to the common room in silence. Remus stopped Nikki outside the door. He told his friends to go ahead inside. He turned her to face him and placed one hand on each of her arms and held her at arms length. She looked up at him, her curly hair falling into her eyes. Remus brushed it away, tucking it behind her ear.
"I'm never going to let him hurt you ever again. I'm going to try my personal best to prevent that."
She weakly smiled up at him. "Thank you," she said.
"Oh, and… I can't take it any longer. Look, I know that this is a bad time and all, and I understand if you don't want to. I know that you're under a lot of stress with this whole issue, and you may not have gotten over this whole thing. I know that…" but he was interrupted by Nikki. She put her hand up to his mouth.
"Remus, calm down. Breathe. I would love to go out with you. Are you still breathing ok?" She watched a smile spread over his face. She started to laugh.
"Yes!" he exclaimed. "I'm ok now." They hugged. Then, Remus led her into the common room with his arm around her shoulders. They settled on a couch. Lily and Alice had fallen asleep on the couch across from them, with the arms of Frank and James around them. Shortly, Nikki also fell asleep in Remus' arms, the safest she had ever felt. The boys however just looked at Nikki. They had become the protectors of three girls. Thinking of Lucius, they had tightened their grips on the girls in their arms. Remus had tightened his hold on Nikki's side, making her wake up and cried out in pain.
Remus looked down at her. She looked up at him, then back down to her side. "Sorry, did I hurt you?"
"Um… no, its nothing."
"Get some more rest," he said gently. He waited until she was settled back down. He felt for her breathing to slow down. When he was sure that she was asleep, he moved her hand from her side. Frank, James and Sirius watched him lift her shirt up slightly. Their mouths opened at what Remus had uncovered. Four dark red scratch marks. They trailed from under her arm to her smooth, flat stomach. All four boys stared at the marks for a few moments. Both Alice and Lily had stirred and woke. They too stared at the marks on their friend. Nikki, feeling the cool air on her skin awoke too. She saw everybody staring at her. She looked at her side and saw the four marks. She looked up at Remus. Then she looked at Lily and Alice. Feeling ashamed of herself, she looked at the floor.
"What are those from?" Sirius asked.
"From Lucius," answered Alice.
"My God Nikki. You told us that he scratched you, but…," Lily said.
Nikki looked down at her lap. "What did you expect?" she said quietly. She got up off the couch, and walked out of the common room. Remus got up too.
"Don't," Alice said.
"She needs time to herself," Lily added.
"I'm so fucking stupid. I just should have let her sleep. God." He kicked over a chair. Sirius and James leapt off the couch and restrained their friend.
"Yes you are, but then again so am I. Look how I turned out. You'll be just fine," Sirius said.
"Not… helping," James said through gritted teeth.
"Get the fuck off of me! I've got to go get her. What happens if Lucius spots her alone?" He got himself free from their grip and ran out of the common room. They didn't follow. Remus ran to the lake first. She wasn't there. Something told him to go to the library. He went and in the potions section stood Nikki. He stepped into the section. She looked up at him. He put his hand out for her, but instead, she walked past him, trying to get out of the section. He grabbed her wrist. She tried to wretch it free, but Remus held on. She tried to pull away, but he pulled her to him. She started to hit his chest with her balled fists, letting a few stray tears slip out. Still he held her to him. Finally, she collapsed against him.
"I'm so sorry. I should have kept to myself," he said softly. "Please don't go."
"I won't," she mumbled. "I feel safer in your arms than anywhere else." He hugged her tighter to him. Once she was settled, they stood up.
"We should eat something," he said. She nodded and they walked to the Great Hall, his arm around her. They met their friends at the table.
"Starting without us?" Remus said smiling. Nikki smiled too, though her eyes still were sad. They sat and ate. Once they were done, they all went back into the common room and spent the night on the couches and in the chairs.
There you go! Like it? Hate it? Tell us what we need to change or what you liked best about it!
Phoebe and Sadie