Hold On

Chapter 4

I woke up to voices,
James said" Bloody hell, he's adorable."
Sirius said" Not kidding!"
Peter said" Shh! You're gonna wake him up." My nose scrunched up a bit,
Remus said" You already woke him up, idiot."
Sirius said" Sorry, sorry. Morning, Bean!" I squeezed my eyes shut, he chuckled, and rubbed my arm," Come on, up you get! Gotta get dressed for class. You two already missed breakfast. But we grabbed apples and toast." Remus sat up,
" Come on, Nikkie." I sat up, opening my eyes, incredibly tired, but felt a little better than usual.

I fell onto the couch as soon as I got back to the common room, I failed a test, I can't even retake it. I heard laughter as the marauders walked in,
I heard James say" Uh-oh, something's happened."
Sirius said" Hello, Nikkie? You there?" I shook my head," Hm? Well, we can't exactly help you if you don't tell us what's wrong." I shook my head,
Peter said" Can you write it down?" I shook my head, tears slid down my face, he sighed," He's crying."
" Well, we can go get Remus, but he's in the library."
James said" We'll just have to wait, he won't be long."

Remus said" What's wrong with-"
Sirius said" Get him to talk! He's been there for four hours!"
" Nikkie?" I turned my head to face him, he crouched next to me," What's wrong, Nikkie?"
I whispered" I-I failed a test, can-can't retake it... he's going to hit me till I-I can't get up, she-she'll..." I stopped as I realized I was about to say my mother uses an unforgivable curse o me.
" What, Bean?"
Sirius said" She'll crucio him."
James, Peter and Remus said" What?!" I flinched, then looked at Sirius,
" Sorry, but they need to know." He sighed," It's easy to spot after awhile of being the victim. How many times has she hit you with that terrible curse?"
I whispered" I-I lost count."
" Yeah."
" I-I have to send him the test..."
" No, you don't."
" He-He'll come to the school, S-Sirius, please..."
" He'll hurt you." I nodded quickly, he sighed," You don't have to send that owl."
" Y-Yes, I do... I have to. Or I'll still get hit. It won't make a difference."
" Fine." Remus hugged me, I flinched then started crying.

An owl dropped a letter in front of me at dinner, I gulped and stared at the howler, I looked at Remus with fear.
Sirius said" Open it."
I said" If he sends a howler, I-I have to be alone."
" Come on, then."

I opened the howler, we were in their dorm,
My father said" Hello, son... I got your letter, you failed a test... you should be ashamed of yourself! Missing such easy questions! You better not be slacking off! I want you to study every day for eight hours! Oh, when you get home on break... you better accept your punishment with pride or I will make it twenty-times worse! Maybe I'll kill you earlier than I believed I'd have to! How would you like that, you disgraceful little git!" I started shaking, crying," You should be punished now! In fact... You will skip meals for the next five days! If you don't and you've gained more than 6 pounds, I'll starve you all break!" I whimpered, then it ripped itself up, they looked at me, Remus reached out to me, I dodged his touch and ran out.

I ran into the astronomy tower, I knew Remus was chasing after me, I climbed onto the railing.
Remus said" Get down from there." I shook my head,
I said" He wants to- He wants me dead, might as well make it- Make it easy for him."
" No. Hold onto me, okay?" I looked at him, he was right behind me," Come on, hold on..." I wrapped my arms around his neck, he held onto my waist and pulled me off. He put me down, I breathed heavily, the room spun," I know what you'll be going home to, but you're not home right now, so... let's have some fun while we can, yeah?" I nodded quickly, gulping," Yeah, okay. You know, Nikkie, you're interesting, your quiet and shy, and somehow friends with the most loud group of gits there ever was. You started interesting me last year, when you borrowed a book from Lily, she told me she didn't know much about you, but you loved muggle books. I tried to get to know you better, but you were slightly impossible to find. Then come this year, Sirius takes interest, a different kind of interest, into you, and now you're apart of my life. And I know a bit more about you, and I really like that." He kissed me, I froze up, he pulled away, chuckling at me, I blushed deeply." I really like you too, of course." My eyes widened,
" H-H... H-How..." He chuckled and caressed the side of my face with his thumb.
" Because you're genuine. Come on, we better get back to the boys, they'll grow worried. They've kinda pulled you in as a little brother of sorts. Me... I'm kinda too in love with you to see you as that." I blushed even more if that's even remotely possible," Come on." He moved away, my arms dropped by my sides, he chuckled and took my hand, leading me.

I was still in shock as we got back to his dorm,
He said" Found him, boys."
Sirius said" Where was he?"
" Astronomy tower. Got him down, though, it's okay."
" All right. You okay, Nikkie?"
James said" What'd you- Did you finally kiss him?!"
Peter said" Did you?!" Remus laughed, nodding his head,
Sirius said" Bloody hell! You've shocked him!"
Remus said" Yeah, I know. Think he likes me back?"
" Definitely. Nikkie? Ya little Bean, you all right?" He snapped his fingers in front of me, I gulped," Hey?"
I said" Y-You like me? Y-Y-You?" They all chuckled,
Remus said" Definitely, Nikkie."
" W-Whoa."
" Want me to prove it... again?" I nodded quickly, he chuckled, then kissed me again, this time holding my face in his hand. I kissed back, the best I could, he guided my lips easily. James, Sirius and Peter hollered around us, he pulled away, and smirked. I made a noise, he chuckled and rubbed my cheek with his thumb, I blushed deeply." Better?" I nodded quickly," Good. Believe me now?"
" Uh-huh." He chuckled,
Sirius said" He's red, Remus!" He laughed and looked at me," Is he all right? You okay, Nikkie?"
" Uh-huh." He chuckled,
" Ya sure?"
" Nuh-uh."
" That's what I thought. Come'er, let's shake you out of your thoughts." He started gently shaking me, I whined loudly, he stopped." There we go! Good?" I nodded quickly.