The Scorch || Marvel/HP

11 - Bruises

Evan snapped out of his surprise and immediately went to aid Regulus. "Why did you do that?" Evan hissed frantically as he helped his friend.

"That was my weak punch." Harlow stated, "The two of you have to toughen up if you want to continue learning from me. I can't have you complaining about sore knuckles during our sessions. You can't be acting like little boys." Harlow bluntly uttered, "It will do you good."

"You promise?" Evan snarked back as he returned his wand to its place.

Harlow glared right at the attitude filled boy,  "I never make a promise. And I'm really starting to wish I punched you." She writhed and moved threateningly towards him.

"Me too." Regulus mumbled as he felt around his slightly swollen cheek. "You suck at healing spells." He cursed at Evan and winced slightly when he pressed closer to his eye.

Harlow glanced over to Regulus and a small pit of guilt and sympathy bubbled in her stomach. She sighed heavily and gestured for him to come over. "Come on, punch me." She prompted him.

"I don't-"

"Look I'm telling you to punch me." Harlow laid out, "I don't know why you can't get it through your thick head. But you do as I say during these sessions, so punch me." Harlow insisted and watched as Regulus brought his hands up into their retrospective places.

Regulus tried to the best of his ability to throw a punch how she wanted. He didn't want to inflict pain into her, but he also did. He just wanted to finally live up to what someone wants of him.

He swelled with pride when Harlow patted his shoulder in approval of his punch. He watched as she scrunched her face up and moved it in her own way to ease the pain.

"Much better than last time." She announced to him and gave him yet another pat on the back.

Regulus was feeling victorious.

"Don't I get to punch you?" Evan asked, secretly wanting the same praise Regulus just got. He would never under any circumstances admit that. He lived to pretend he didn't give a fuck about what others thought, but he was really the opposite.

Harlow turned to face him and nodded. "Go on then. Aim for the nose, we'll see if you can make it bleed." And it did in fact bleed, only a small dribble.

Evan, like Regulus, was a little unsure of what to feel. His eyes were locked on Harlow's nose that was slowly dripping with blood. But eventually he caved to the pride he was feeling. A wide beam covered his face. It was by far the biggest smile Harlow had ever seen on the boys face, Regulus could agree.

Harlow gestured them to leave, which they were both hesitant to do. After all she was still bleeding. But one look at her told the boys there was no room to argue so they did as told.

As soon as she was alone she plopped herself onto the ground. Her back was leant against a wall and her legs stretched out in front of her. Harlow slowly raised her hand to her nose and wiped just one time. The blood smeared under her nose and onto her pointer finger.

Harlow watched her bloodied finger closely. She hadn't seen her own blood in a while. She stared at the colour and texture. It was the exact same as anyone else's. Sure it may take more to make her bleed, especially substantially.

Evans hit made her nose bleed only a little. And it was more due to the last time her nose was broken rather than his punch. If you looked close enough at her nose, you would have notice it wasn't quite straight.

The last time it was broken Harlow never took the time to set it. It just healed slightly squint. So she figured it would be a good time to fix it. She brought both of her hands up to her nose and clamped it tightly. She took a deep breath in as she breathed out, she forced it back to its natural position.

Pain shot through her nose and forehead as the loud click pierced her ears. She slowly removed her hands and wiped the trickle of blood once again. Her nose was agony, but Harlow was used to that feeling. For three years it was apart of her everyday life and surprisingly she wasn't opposed to it. It became a regular occurrence and without it she felt lost.

Sadly, without Russia she felt so very lost. No one at Hogwarts understood her and it was something she was very aware of in every moment. So, in some deluded way she missed it. On occasion she missed the killing when her mind puts her on a murderous rampage. But never the captivity. Apart from her twisted soldier, she really fucking missed him.

Her nose was slightly swollen and she knew it would end up bruising. Stupidly she left her wand back in her room meaning her training had to be cut short so she could stop the bruising. The last thing she needed was more questions.

It was surprisingly a lot later than Harlow originally beloved it to be. It turned out the training session wasn't really cut that short. It was one in the morning meaning Harlow only had to watch out for Filch and his grim cat.

But surprising her more than the time was the people who were still awake and lounging in the common room. She of course took immediate notice of them but tried her best to sneak away and up the girls stairs.

"Busted!" James whisper yelled and pointed an accusing finger directly at her. His words made the other two boys, Peter having fallen asleep on the couch, snap their heads to look at her.

"Okay." Harlow drawled out slight confused and nodded her head and went to continue.

"Come here." Sirius called out. He jumped up and off the sofa and practically skipped over to her. Like an idiot, he attempted to pull Harlow over knowing she wouldn't join them willingly.

The arm the grabbed her wrist was quickly removed in an unsuspectingly gentle way. Sirius grinned believing that he made progress, it was wiped away when he felt a harsh kick to the shin.

"I thought I told you not to fucking touch me." Harlow spat and shoved Sirius back, he tripped slightly and grabbed Harlow for support.

Sirius managed to stable himself and made sure to remove his arms. He offered an awkward grin that morphed into a frown. "What happened to your nose?" He asked, his voice laced with concern. His hand reach up to her face, Harlow reacted straight away and quickly wacked it out of its course.

A deep scowl was rested on her face as her eyes narrowed on Sirius. "For someone trying so hard to get me to like you, you sure as hell don't respect my boundaries." She spoke through gritted teeth. Harlow moved her gaze to the other two awake boys on the couch and her face visibly softened. "I'm only going to say this once. I understand you're trying and it might not seem like it, but I am too. You just gotta give me some time."

Remus' eyes widened as he nodded profusely. "Yeah we can do that." He agreed and nudged James with his elbow.

"Respect your boundaries, got it." James nodded along very enthusiastically and a giant shit-eating grin formed on his face. "Join us, just for a little?" He asked with big hopeful eyes.

Harlow knew she had to try, she was always right. She cautiously walked over to the couch and sat the furthest she could away from them. Looking around the room it still didn't feel like home. But it wasn't nearly as daunting as the first time she stepped in it. The sights of her own blood poured and smeared over the walls no longer flashed in her mind, only playing in the background. It was a small step but a positive one.

"So boundaries?" Sirius questioned as he rejoined the group on the couch.

"Yeah. Let me initiate stuff." She explained, "And if I get angry leave me alone." She added with a hidden grimace, her mind knowing how close she was to attacking Remus recently.

So Harlow's slowly starting to make progress with the boys but unfortunately not the girls from Gryffindor. Also heads up a holidays starting soon so there will probably be more updates next week.

Question of the day: What are your opinions on piercings?

Thank you all for reading and interacting xx