Bleeding Heart | REMUS LUPIN

Chapter Four

"I'm sorry," Ivory said to the boys, staring at the piece of chocolate in her hands.

"What for?" Peter asked. All four boys were confused by her apology.

"I'm probably really bringing you guys down, aren't I?" she asked, not looking at any of them. "I mean, I've just been crying for about fifteen hours straight... I must be depressing the hell out of all of you—"

They all began protesting.

"I just meant that I don't get why you're all so set on staying with me today. I don't reckon I'll be much fun."

"Who said we wanted fun?" Remus asked.

Ivory peered up at him through her curtain of auburn hair, trying not to grin, but suddenly, her smile got the better of her once again. The only problem was that she felt too guilty to laugh, too guilty to smile, too guilty to even feel a remote sense of joy, because she wasn't supposed to at a time like this.

"Lily, Alice and Marlene were asking about you at breakfast," James said to Ivory, running a hand through his hair nervously. "They, er... they were wondering why you never went back to the girls' dormitory last night."

"What did you tell them?" she asked quietly. She secretly hoped he hadn't told them because she felt she should probably talk to them herself eventually.

"Well, I didn't think it was fair for me to be the one to tell them... I only said that you'd tell them what happened yourself."

Ivory nodded, her eyes meeting James's for a brief moment as understanding passed between the two. James had a knack for being able to tell what people needed in moments of distress (as he had so often needed to take care of his friends) and he knew that Ivory needed to talk to people who cared about her. She needed to talk to not only he and the other three boys, but also to her best friends.

Ivory knew she had to talk to the girls eventually. Despite her believing that she was alone in the world, Lily, Alice and Marlene loved Ivory and she loved all of them as well. She needed Marlene's wise-cracks, Alice's sympathetic ear, Lily's hugs that could work wonders. Surely she would have to talk to them later, but for now... For now, she would let herself spend the day with these four boys, just to see if they would succeed in making her feel better, just as they were determined to do.

She finally bit into the chocolate that Remus had given her. She let it melt on her tongue, savouring the sweetness.

"So, what's the plan?" she asked them, clearing her throat.

It took a while for any of them to respond even though they knew exactly what they were going to do. They had discussed this while Ivory had still been sleeping, and they knew exactly what they were going to do to cheer her up. While they understood that nothing they did would ever reverse the deaths of her parents, the boys simply knew that what they had planned would at least make her crack a smile.

"You haven't, by any chance, come across any secret rooms or passages in this castle, have you?" Sirius asked with a grin.

"No, but let me guess... You have?"

"But of course," Remus replied, biting his lip. "So, what d'you say? Would you like to delve into some of the deepest secrets of the castle?"

Ivory sighed. "Why not?"

The boys exchanged glances.

"Just one thing first... I should probably take a shower. Class has already started, right? I don't really want to run into anyone in the girls' dormitory right now. Not in the mood to have to explain things to any of the girls at the moment."