The markings scattered his back, interlocking and over-layering to weave a tapestry of anguish and indescribable pain.
As she opened her eyes, the comforting smell of coffee and parchment filled her nose. For the first time in 5 years she had opened...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Harper smiled. A genuine smile. Something that had been an unusually rare occurrence over the past week.
"You almost look happy," Sirius nudged her gently in the side. "Oh my hero!" Her smile grew slightly. "I mean I basically saved the day." He shrugged.
Remus' hand was firmly on Harper's knee as he gave it a reassuring squeeze. The two had been particularly inseparable since the news of last week.
"However would we survive without you?" She stared down at her plate. "I find myself wondering that sometimes. If it weren't for me you'd all be a bunch of misfits." "Aren't we all a bunch of misfits right now?" Remus raised an eyebrow. "I think you'll find that I made all of you cool." Sirius folded his arms and smirked proudly.
"You really are our saviour." Harper smiled. "No need to worry. Now if you could just pray to the ground I walk on, that'd be great."
As the owls bore down on the Great Hall, a small letter floated down into Harper's lap. She froze at the sight of it. The poor girl hadn't sent a letter back to her mother, nor did she want to.
"I can't open it." She held her hands up, not even wanting to touch the envelope. "What do you want us to do?" Sirius asked, "Shall we burn it?" "Read it." She stated, turning to Remus. "W-what? No, I can't." He stammered. "Please, I trust you to know if I want to hear what she says."
Reluctantly Remus plucked the letter from her lap and tore open the envelope. His eyes scanned the small letter before he let out a long breath.
"Bit of a slow reader or what?" Sirius piped up. "It's just about... Your... Er, pureblood family and this organisation for the purity of the Wizarding community." Remus stared hard at the paper in his hands.
"My life cannot get worse!" Harper groaned as she let her head fall onto the table.
"Hey, if it makes you feel better I'm going to spend Christmas listening to my fat uncle talk about how I'm a disgrace to the family," Sirius grinned, "And then I'm sure my mother will say something about how I'm not as good as Regulus..." He was almost laughing now, "Then I'll get shouted at and be obliterated from the family tree."
Harper couldn't help but giggle a little, "Thanks, does give my grey cloud a small silver lining."
They sat quietly together, neither knowing what to do to comfort any of the others. Sirius jokes about his impending exile from the family, but the idea of being alone in the world scared him more than anything. Harper held a burning hatred for her mother, which was only overcome by the sadness of her father's passing and his lack of a funeral. Remus was distraught over not being able to do anything to help his friends after they did so much for him.
"I'm going to find Lily and Marls, see you later." Harper left quietly.
"Okay," Sirius turned to face Remus, "You need to cheer her up ASAP. It's kind of killing my vibe having her dampen everything, everywhere she goes." "Killing your vibe?" "You know I'm joking." Sirius smirked, "It's the worst thing seeing her upset, I've never seen her like this before. Just, do something. You're almost as sad as she is."
Remus rolled his eyes, "What do you want me to do?" "Kiss the girl! It's not that hard!" Sirius threw his hands up, "I've been telling you this for five years!"
"I don't think me bombarding her with my desperate love will stop her being upset about her dad." Remus muttered.
"You know, for a werewolf you're a little bit of a wimp." Sirius chuckled quietly to himself, but Remus heard.
