What Happened In The Past

Chapter 21- Hogsmeade With The Boys

Silver and the marauders passed Professor McGonagall with wide smiles as they pushed and shoved each other. Minerva glanced at them disapprovingly for a second before continuing to check the students off the list. Albus really needed to get another staff member to do the task.

"You know what I barely realized," Sirius told the other four.

"What?" James asked.

"Silver had to get permission to go to Hogsmeade again," Sirius replied.

"That's because I was stuck in the hospital wing for nearly a month," Silver began to explain. "They thought it would be too much on me or that someone might and try attacking me again-" at the sight of worry on the four, Silver stopped in her tracks. The four boys looked at her, each as if considering heading back to the castle instead. "I'm fine," she clarified. "Besides, last time I had loads of necessities to purchase. How was I supposed to live without a bloody toothbrush?"

The boys all exchanged confused expressions. Remus finally decided to change the topic in hopes of distracting the others from the unsolved mystery of who exactly attacked their friend.

"So, Christmas Holidays are coming up soon. Three weeks to be exact," he said.

The boys continued the conversation, but Silver remained silent throughout the entire time. Her eyes watched the empty grounds, bitten by frost, and the dead leaves that the cold breeze was blowing along. They all noticed this, yet they decided that she would come to them when she was ready. But there was a specific person who wasn't going to let that slide.

"Hey," he said quietly as the other three boys walked to the shop with a sign that read, 'Zonko's.'

"Hello," Silver said softly.

"Would you like to join me on a small stroll?" he questioned politely.

"Blimey, since when do you say stroll, Peter?" Silver asked.

He shrugged offering to lead the way. Silver nodded and, so it was that Peter took them both to his favorite spot in Hogsmeade.

"What's wrong?" Peter asked.

"What do you mean?" Silver said as she sat down on a frozen log.

"You stopped talking, I and we all know how much you love talking," Peter stated, a teasing lilt to his tone.

Silver stared at the stale ground, brows knitted together in fustration. Her pink lips pressed tightly together in a firm line. Her face was flushed from the cold, her translucent and brown hair falling beside her in waves, the last few inches struggling to remain blonde. Her brown eyes hardened and softened, seeming to be deciding on whether to tell Peter the truth.

Peter stood politely in front of her.

"Do I seem happy to you?" Silver asked suddenly.

"Huh?"

"Do I seem happy here? At Hogwarts?" Silver repeated.

"Uh, yeah?" Peter answered.

"Well I am," Silver confirmed. "For the first time in forever, I'm actually happy."

Peter stayed silent, not exactly sure what to do.

"Back at my house, there's hardly ever a moment of peace for me," Silver spoke with hard eyes. Her jaw clenched for a second. "At home, I'm either being yelled at by my brother or strange men my mother has brought over for the night. I'm being harassed, over and over again. Then at school, I'm receiving punishment after punishment and scoldings for doing my work wrong or not doing my work at all. I have ragged clothes that barely keep me warm. I don't get fed, unless I manage to sneak something or at school. I don't even have a room, Peter."