ꜰɪʀᴇʙɪʀᴅ |ᴊᴀᴍᴇꜱ ᴘᴏᴛᴛᴇʀ

chapter 12 - bleeding out

James was walking through the corridor with his friends, discussing their latest prank revelation. He and his friends, except for Remus, had a habit of showing up late to class. Sirius was the one who really convinced James to do arrive late, and Peter followed the two boys around. He walked into class, listening to McGonagall lecture them for the 25th time this week. He walked to his usual seat beside Remus, who had saved his usual seat for his friend. 

James seemed to have a schedule in classes with Ember.

1. Walk in late so she notices me

2. Sit right behind her

3. Tease her mercilessly

4. Wait until she turns around to roll her beautiful eyes

5. Realize you're in love again

6. Send her notes professing his love

7. Rush after her once the class is over

But today was different. Ember wasn't here to roll her beautiful amber eyes at him. She wasn't here to give sarcastic comebacks. He was upset now. He then began to worry after she still hadn't shown up within the past 20 minutes. His mind raced, thinking of the worst scenarios possible. 'She could be dead, lost in the forest, attacked by a werewolf, attacked by death eaters.'

Little did James know, his love was laying on a couch in the room of requirement, bleeding out. 

His mind raced even more after that, realizing he couldn't even look for her because the map was in his dorm. Remus noticed his friends anxious habits, giving him a concerned look. Sirius, from across the room, also noticed his best friend feeling anxious, probably because he was staring at Remus Lupin, but who knows? Remus and Sirius began to try and communicate with each other, knowing that if they tried to talk to James, he would either deny it, or he would snap in anger. 

It finally dawned on Sirius as he looked around the room. Ember wasn't here. He then signaled to Remus. It was honestly a surprise McGonagall didn't scold them. Remus received the message, turning to his anxious friend. He placed a cautious hand on James's shoulder, squeezing it comfortingly, "Hey, James i'm sure she's fine. She's probably just not feeling well." James gave an unsure nod, feeling something in gut that didn't believe his friend as much as his brain wanted to. 

He spent the rest of the class worrying about his love. When McGonagall told the class they could go, he packed up his quill and his parchment quickly, running out of the classroom. The class watched him go, some gaped, some gave each other confused stares, but James payed no mind to them as he sprinted down the corridors, dodging students along the way. Once he finally reached the common room, he realized in a prefect meeting earlier this week, he was too busy admiring how perfect Ember's hair was to remember the password. He cursed at himself, sliding his back down the wall, placing his head on his kneesin defeat.

* * * *

Meanwhile, Ember had just woken up for a very painful nap. She moved to sit up when an agonizing pain shot up her spine, forcing her eyes wide open at the excruciating pain. Ember screamed in the pain, feeling the scorching heat radiating from her back. Her head throbbed in a dull pain, but as she tried to move again her vision went askew, throwing her into a barely conscious state. 

She now realized it was a bad idea to leave the scars alone and open. She decided that she couldn't do this on her own. So she needed to find the person who knew the most about scars. Remus. She had no idea where he was. But she actually had something to help her with that. 

Her very own map. She actually had no idea about the Marauder's map surprisingly. Even with her acute senses. It behaved in a similar way to the marauder's map, except better. Her's was connected to a small tattoo on her wrist. It was a small flame, signifying her name. Her tattoo connected her to her surroundings. It alerted her of bullies, people in a bad mood, people feeling down, and even specific people. I was honestly quite a feat for a small 13 year old. Yes she had created her map before the infamous marauders. 

She had also created a password for her map. To open her map, you needed to spell her initials, then say the phrase, "There is pain in the fire." Then people around hogwarts appeared, along with their warnings. Flames held their place, along with their initials. The small fires flickered as people walked about the corridors. She spotted Remus's flame on the 5th floor, walking about. She said the phrase, "but beauty in the ashes," tapping it once with her wand as is transfigured into a silver ring. 

She heaved herself up, trying to ignore the searing pain spreading throughout her body. She staggered out of the room of requirement, barely keeping herself upright. She stumbled over her feet, acciently ramming herself into walls along the way. She finally spotted Remus walking in the opposite direction. She tried to talk, her voice coming out as a whisper. She decided her voice wouldn't work, but her wand would.

She shot a expelliarmus at him. As the spell hit him, his wand flew into her hand, forcing the boy to turn around.

When Remus noticed her, he realized she wasn't well. There was blood staining her robes, her white shirt soaked in a dull red. Her usually bright amber eyes showed pain, severe pain. She was leaning against a wall, but not in a badass way. Like she was frail, shattered, scarred and she couldn't hold herself up. Remus took in her exhausted features, rushing over to her side. He picked her up as she passed out. He decided to take her into Myrtle's bathroom, seeing as nobody went in there. 

He walked briskly to the bathroom, avoiding prying stares from other students. When he reached the bathroom, he set her down on the floor. He took off her robes and shirt. Even though it felt wrong, her safety was more important. He used Aguamenti to clean the dried blood, along with the blood still spilling from her open wounds. Once the dried blood was removed, he could see what was engraved onto her arms, but not her back. 

Ember eyes fluttered open as she took in the bright light. She saw she was no longer bleeding, which was good. Her back was still in a dull pain, so she figured he just didn't give any care to it. She would take care of that one herself. But she saw Remus watching her intently, a looked over to him. 

Remus, who noticed the girl was finally awake, rushed over in front of her, sitting of the floor. He took her hand in his, rubbing his thumb over her knuckles comfortingly. Remus looked to her, whispering, "Ember, do you want to tell me what happened?" She took a deep breath, turning her gaze to the tile, explaining that she was attacked, but that she did not see the faces. 

She knew that if he knew the names of those people, hellfire would rain down on them. And as much as she disliked them, she didn't want them to do anything to Remus, Peter, James, or Sirius because of their retaliation. 

a/n - hey guys i'm back. sadly i've started school again. And I'm sorry about the inconsistency of the updates. Do you guys like the map? Also would you guys like some wolfstar in this or nah? Bye my loves and don't forget to vote!

- beep