Hold On

Chapter 15

I ran into their dorm, holding up the letter between my fingers, Sirius was holding a letter in his hands. He looked at me as I entered,
Remus said" What's yours say?" I walked to him, simply collapsing onto his lap as I handed him the letter. He read over it silently," Same as yours, Pads."
Sirius said" We're not going!"
James said" I think you don't have a choice."
" We always have a choice! And our choice is we're not bloody going!"
" Sirius, if they come here and drag you off, it'll be worse!"
" I'm not going back to that damn house!" He screamed, I flinched, and dug my face into Remus' neck, he just held me." And I'm not letting Nikkie get to-tortured right alongside me!"
" Sirius!"
" James! You have a loving family! We do not! My mother and his parents... they're torture us just to have fun! We'll be party tricks! Screaming and sobbing! They will destroy us once and for all."
" I don't know what to do. I'm sorry."
———
Sirius grabbed my arm as we began running,
I said" What's going on?!"
He said" They're here. Our parents. Run!" He gripped my arm, we turned down a corridor, we skidded to a stop as we saw Malfoy." Other way!" He turned us around and we ran again, then we ran into his mother. He brought out his wand, glaring, his arm wrapped around me, keeping me as close as possible.
His mother said" You're coming home, the both of you. We have a gala to attend."
" Never. Hogwarts is our home." Then my father walked up, I whimpered and gripped onto Sirius.
My father said" Come, Nicholas. Now." His voice was seething with anger, I started shaking,
" He's not going anywhere. And if you touch him, I'll kill you."
" Nicholas!" I jumped, Sirius' arm tightened around me," Home. Now." Then my father and his mother looked at each other. I heard Remus and James screaming, but they were too far away, then we were hit with a spell, we both screamed then everything started going black... I saw Remus at the end of the corridor,
He screamed" No, no, no-"

I woke up in my room, I started shaking and sobbing, then I screamed, my mother stormed in. I smirked, and screamed louder, she hit me with cruciatus, I screamed in pain, writhing on the ground.
I heard Sirius scream" What the hell are you doing to him?! Let him go! Nikkie! Nikkie!"
I screamed" Sirius!" Then she got me again, I screamed, my eyes rolled back-

I woke up to being shaken, I snapped up, breathing heavily,
Sirius said" Nikkie, Nikkie..." He hugged me, I hugged him back, wrapping my arms around his neck." Bloody hell, you're freezing." He lifted me up and sat me on his lap, wrapping his arms around me, he was shaking too.
I said" You are too."
" I have an immune system, unlike you." He sighed," They put me in here an hour ago, but I heard your screams- Cruciatus?" I nodded," Are you hurt?" I shook my head, he sighed," We gotta get out of here."
" How?"
" Go through it... it's only a party, we'll be back to our real family soon. We've just got to hold on, yeah? That's what Remus tells you, right?"
" Mm-hm."
" Good. Keep that on your mind, constantly."
" Okay, Pad."
" Yeah, Bean."
———
My mother and his came in,
His said" Get dressed." Sirius glared at her," Wipe that glare off, boy!" A spell hit him and he screamed, writhing,
I screamed" Stop! Stop!"
Mine said" Stop that yelling! Crucio!" I screamed, then everything was worse than the curse.
Sirius said" Stop, stop, stop!" She stopped, my body wouldn't stop shaking.
His said" Get dressed."
" Yes, ma'am." They walked out, Sirius pulled me up," Nikkie, Nikkie, hey..." He rubbed my hair," Get up, you've gotta get up."
I mumbled" Too tired.."
" I know, I know, but-but you've got to get up, okay? Huh? Marauders, right? Don't let anything stop us."
" No."
" Come on, please. I'm begging here, please get up."
" I can't..." My eyes started closing,
" No, no, hey!" He punched my shoulder, I yelped and jolted up," Sorry, sorry..." He hugged me, we started getting dressed, slowly.

We were down at the party, I was practically wrapped around Sirius' arm.
Sirius whispered" Hold on, okay?" I nodded against his arm, then I saw my father staring daggers into me.
I whimpered" Sirius..."
" It's okay, it's okay... come on, no one can stop you from eating here. People will grow suspicious." He led me to the table of food,
" I don't wanna eat."
" Eat for Remus, okay?" I nodded my head, he handed me finger sandwich, I began eating it slowly." Brilliant job, Nikkie."