"Did you find her?!" Lily called out as Alice rushed back to her. Alice shook her head, her eyes full of worry.

"I don't know where to look. I mean it's not like there will be a sign or anything to tell us-!" Alice began to say but was interrupted when a young woman all but flew past them, sobbing. The two girls looked at each other before bolting into the thicket. Knowing full well wherever that girl had been, Moria surely was.

"LITTLE BITCH!" a voice called out and before Moria could react a fist slammed into her cheek. She yelped slightly and would have fallen if they hadn't tied her hands above her head and tied them to a tree limb. She swung slightly, her head throbbing and she heard the drunken laughs of the men.

"She ain't so tough now is she?" one of them joked as she spat blood. She glared at them but kept her mouth shut.

"Aw….she looks pissed." Jack said walking up to her and lifting her chin up to where she was looking at him.

"Why don't you go rot in hell?" She growled out. Angry, he slammed his fist into her stomach and a gasp left her mouth. She coughed violently, but her glare didn't diminish. Now angry the three men advanced to her. The punches came violently and rained down her form, however the reaction they had been expecting never came. Her eyes were still cool, the look of defiance never leaving her.

"Damn…she's a cold hearted bitch isn't she?" one of them joked as they looked at her, lifting her head up with her chin. Her face was now black and blue more than tan. Blood dripping down her face and nose. Her clothes had tears in it, revealing small bruises on her body, her hair sticking out because of the blood. She was breathing heavily, one eye closed. She merely smirked.

"Expecting some type of reaction? Sucks to be you…" she whispered out. There was a loud curse and she felt Jake slam his leg into her stomach. She coughed violently and she felt her vision spinning.

"Wonder if I'm dying..." She thought, her vision swaying slightly. "So…this is what it feels like to die…I've been through worse." Moria thought weakly as one grabbed a handful of her hair and forced her head up. "Death would probably be a blessing now…"she thought meekly as Jack threw another punch into her face. Her vision began to darken.

Suddenly she heard the sounds of footsteps behind the rushing and pounding in her head. She then heard collective gasps.

She knew those voices.

Her head shot up in shock and her eyes finally showed emotion as her vision cleared. Lily and Alice stood at the corner of the opening, their faces pale and their eyes wide.

"Lily?...Alice?" she whispered out. She then heard a chuckle and her heartbeat skyrocketed as she saw the men advance towards the two girls.

"Leave them alone!" she snarled out, lurching slightly. Jack swung around and clipped her in the chin.

"Quiet. Get those two girls." He called out. She growled loudly a warning he paid no attention to listen. Within minutes both Lily and Alice were subdued. The other boys dragged the two girls to a tree and with rather scary ease tied to them to a tree.

"What should we do with them boss? Beat them up as well?" one of them asked after they had finished binding them.

"We can't let them go. Not after they saw this one like this. We go along with the rest of the plan. Just with two more. Make it look like an animal found them and devoured them." Jack said with chilling ease. A growl escaped Moria's mouth warning him to back off. He however took no heed and began to walk up towards the bound Lily and Alice. Alice looked fearful, while Lily, though still scared, looked at the attackers in defiance.

Moria began to breathe heavily, trying to free herself.

"Forget pain."

Moria blinked as Malcolm's voice rang in her head.

"Pain is a weakness leaving the body. Forget about it. Forget about the emotions that cloud you. And you shall succeed."

"Looks like Uncle Malcolm taught me something useful." Moria thought somewhat bitterly. She then began to pull down on the rope, forcing her elbows towards her chest, her sides, her waist. Burning pain returned with vengeance, and she could feel hot warm blood dripping down her wrists.

She ignored it once again. And slowly it felt nothing more than a mosquito bite, the pain her body was in was now completely vanished under the sight of her friends in danger. She thought of all the times that Malcolm had hit her, abused her, and concentrated inward. This pain was NOTHING compared to that pain. She gritted her teeth and then heard probably the most melodious sound. The sound of snapping wood.

"Back off." Lily hissed out as Jack walked up to her.

"Or you'll what?" he hissed out. He snapped his fingers and the other two began to walk up to them. However one suddenly fell forward.

"Brian?! The bloody hell?!"

"That was for touching my friends." A hollow voice called out. The boys spun around and were met with a rather scary sight.

Moria had managed to break the tree branch that had been holding her bindings. Her eyes were cold, with a slightly gold tint to them, her mouth in a monotone single line, nearly a frown, the rope still tied around her wrists, now red with the blood that had seeped out. With the added bruises, Moria looked like someone who had just come from hell.

"Heh. You…you honestly think you can scare us?" Jack stammered out as Brian stood up and charged at Moria. Moria dodged and before Brian could comprehend the thought of turning around, Moria swung her leg down, slamming her shin into the back of his neck. A short cry fell from his mouth and he fell in a rather ungraceful heap on the ground, with a loud thud. She glanced at him and then back at the now two men.

"You little bitch!" The other roared out and dashed towards her. He in comparison to Brian and Jack was considerably larger and definitely had the build of a former wrestler, and he must have prided himself again and again over his muscles, glossed them by going to the gym and flaunted them in front of countless women. It was too bad that Moria was going to take a direct hit to his pride and ego.

"It seems that what they said about brutes like you is true." She said as she caught his fist in her hand. In any other time she would have laughed at how the different the size of their hands were.

But she was in no mood for laughter.

"The bigger they are…the harder they fall." She said and with a gliding motion moved away. The sheer girth of the man had now made gravity his enemy. As now, with his balance off, he started to fall forward as he tried to regain his balance. He altogether gave up when Moria's knee slammed into his face. She felt the self-rewarding snap of his nose being broken and felt warm blood splatter onto her jeans, and heard his pained grunt being muffled by her leg. He started to fall back but she wasn't done with him. She grabbed his shirt and then hoisted herself up, and flung him like a ragdoll. He too fell into an ungraceful heap onto the forest floor. She stared at them for a minute before returning her gaze to now the lone man.

Jack.

"Now then…what was you said to me? That you would teach me a lesson?" Moria asked cracking her knuckles as she walked up to him. He was shaking now and she could see a stain now on his pants, and judging on the smell, she gathered he had peed himself.

"Now…I'm going to give you a chance. Leave. Grab your cronies and leave…never come back to this place." She said quietly, but even though it was quiet, there was still harshness involved in it. Jack nodded and rushed past her helping Brian up before they both grabbed the other man and dragged him away. It was silent for several minutes before Moria coughed violently, holding her arm. Blood dripped sickly down her arms and leg as she stumbled, then shook her head before limping to the tree that Lily and Alice were still tied to. After several unsuccessful attempts she managed to untie the knots. But she didn't look their way, now believing that they too would run away in fright.

However she blinked in shock as the two girls nearly plowed her over hugging her. Now unable to hold all of their weight up, Moria fell to the ground. She winced and hissed out in pain.

"Sorry!"

"Are you alright?!"

"Bloody hell Moria! Where the hell did you learn to fight like that!?" the girls questions flew in the air and Moria struggled to keep up with them and get her brain functioning again.

"It's okay. I'm fine, just bruised. When I lived with my uncle I learned to fight." She answered, her voice wavering. She didn't understand. She didn't understand at all. "Why aren't you scared of me?" she finally asked. Lily and Alice looked at her in shock.

"Why would we be afraid of you?! You're our friend!" Alice finally exclaimed.

"But my past…and what you just saw-!"

"So what? We want to go and beat him up. Not you. You were innocent in this. And you're fighting skills are wicked!" Lily concluded. Moria blinked in shock. No. She wasn't hearing this. She had to be imagining this.

"Moria..." Lily started and Moria finally looked at them. "Moria you're our friend. Since we met in our first year till whenever we all die as old ladies with our husbands, we will always be your friends. Your best friends." Lily said with an added huff from Alice.

"We better be her best friends. I mean we've gone through a lot with her." Alice added jokingly. Moria bit her lip then looked at her lap, her shoulder shaking. The two girls looked at each other in confusion and then heard soft laughing; Moria shook her head and looked up, a bright smile on her face.

"Bloody hell. You two are so odd." She called out softly and the other two laughed.

"Come on…let's help you get back to your family." Lily cooed softly and gripped one of Moria's arms, Alice picking up the other one and with gentle ease helped her stand. She winced and stumbled slightly but was helped by her friends. She smiled.

A little bit later Lily and Alice returned to the house, shocking Moria's family.

"Moria?! What happened?!"

"Some thugs. Don't worry, I took care of them." Moria said as she winced, taking the antiseptic to a cut on her arm as Mitchell bandaged her arm.

"When I get my hands on them-!"

"Uncle Monroe, it's okay. I took that liberty." Moria soothed her aunt and uncles as she sipped a cup of tea delicately, bandages wrapped around each of her hands, slightly speckled with drying blood. The others stared at her shocked. Never had she lashed out against another, though they said nothing as the other teens hovered around her. Mitchell glanced at Martin, and figured the same was crossing his siblings minds. The Moria that had arrived to them when she was 8 was no longer that girl.

She had changed.

Later that night Sirius turned his gaze to girls section watching the curtain that separated the room, a low glow of a lamp illuminating the sheet, he knew that Lily and Alice were already asleep, Moria still awake. She seemed to like staying awake longer than her friends. Maybe it was a habit she had grown used to. He then watched her silhouette stand and then grab a discarded shirt. He continued to watch her until her silhouette began to change and he quickly turned around. He could feel his face burning and he swallowed and he knew that he couldn't deny it any more.

He had probably been like that since they had first met and she had smiled at him but refused to move for him and James. He couldn't deny that he was particularly more protective over her well being, for the most part thinking it was just because she was his friend. But now he knew... he should have known when he felt like he wanted to attack Lucius and his gang after they harassed her.

He had feelings for her. Feelings that were more than just friends, more than just a bond that was sibling like...

But what could he do about those feelings? He didn't have a clue.