Scars ˚✧˳✧ Remus Lupin

eight

See you at Christmas,
Mother.

Harper's breath hitched in her throat.
It was almost as if everything was crashing down around her. The only thing that kept Harper going was the thought of making her dad proud and reuniting with him once she'd escaped her mother.

That was no longer possible.
Her mother didn't even seem to care.

"Harp?" Remus whispered quietly, holding out his hand.
She almost flinched as he neared her, quickly withdrawing away. Staggering to her feet, she briskly headed towards the doors to leave when she walked into Lucius Malfoy.

"Watch it Brooke." He snarled but she didn't even bother to retaliate. In all honesty she didn't really see him, let alone hear what he said.

Remus watched as the distraught girl vanished from sight. What should he do?
He heard James asking Sirius what was in the letter. For a brief second Remus watched as Sirius just shook his head silently. That was all he needed to know.

Remus bounded to his feet and stormed towards Malfoy who was picking up a letter off the floor.

"Seems your little crush dropped this. Shall I read it?" Malfoy snarled, holding the letter up in front of him.

It was like something snapped in his head.

Remus grabbed Malfoy by the scruff of the neck and slammed him against the wall.
"First, you give me that letter. Second, you shut the hell up or I'll hex you into oblivion." Remus was almost shouting as his fists clenched tightly, turning his knuckles white.

Malfoy was evidently startled and dropped the letter in his hand. With that, Remus released the boy and ran from the hall in an attempt to chase after Harper.

If it were a sunnier day he was almost certain she'd have gone down to the lake. However the weather was so dark and vicious that only left one place - the common room. He sprinted up the stairs and ran as fast as he could towards the painting door. Once inside the common room itself he didn't dare stop for breath as he continued up to the girl's dormitory.

"H...H-Harp," He panted, bursting through the door.

The sight that befell him broke his heart. Scratch that. His heart shattered.

Harper Brooke, the girl with the obnoxiously loud laugh, a smile always plastered on her face, and a joke always on her lips, was shaking uncontrollably as she cried on her bed.

"Harp," Remus cautiously stepped forward.

She looked up for a second, tears stained her cheeks. For a brief moment their eyes connected and she stopped crying.
Harper opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out as the tears started to fall again.

He climbed onto her bed and pulled the sobbing girl into a tight embrace. Remus held her so close, almost afraid that if he let her go, he'd never get her back. His arms wrapped around her body as her legs curled up in his lap. She couldn't try to contain the overwhelming sadness anymore as she wailed into his chest. Remus could feel her tears soaking through his shirt.

"Harp, it's okay. Whatever it is I'll help." He soothed as he rubbed small circles on her back with his hand.
"You're.. All... I-I have left," Harper whispered, balling up the fabric of Remus' shirt in her hand.
Remus furrowed his eyebrows briefly, "What about your da-" He stopped himself.

Even at the mention of part of the word Harper burst into hysterics again. Suddenly he understood what had happened. Remus rested his face in Harper's hair as she panted and tried to contain her sobs.

After a few minutes the door of the dormitory slowly creaked open and Lily poked her head around the door.

"Harper?" Lily asked quietly.

The door swung open more revealing James, Sirius, and Peter. They each wore matching expressions of concern.

"Are you alright?" James questioned.
Harper took a deep breath, her face still buried in Remus' chest, before replying "Just peachy."

James awkwardly ran his hand through his hair and looked at the others for what to do next.

"I don't want to leave you here but lessons are going to start. I'll stay with you," Lily sat on the edge of the bed and watched Harper curled up in Remus' arms.
"You go." Was all Harper responded with.

Lily looked up at Remus but he didn't return to look. Sighing, she stood up and led the other boys out of the dormitory. Once the door had closed behind them, Harper sat up a little.

"You should go." She kept her eyes glued to the floor despite still holding onto Remus.
"I would never leave you." He replied.

The hours passed as the two sat in each other's arms. Few words were spoken between the two but they couldn't have been more content with just the company.

"Are you going to come down to dinner?" Lily returned with a pile of books in her arms. "I also copied out the work from today's lessons again so you can have your own copy." She placed a small stack of parchment down on Harper's beside table.

"I'm not hungry." Harper leant her head against Remus' chest.
"Come on Harp, it'll be good." Remus pleaded, "Do it for me."
"Okay."

Harper let out a sigh and reluctantly clambered to her feet. Remus grasped her hand, rubbing his thumb gently over the back of her hand as the three of them headed down to the Great Hall.

Eventually Harper was happy she'd gone down to get something to eat. The constant joking between James and Sirius followed by the harmless arguing between James and Lily was a much-needed distraction.

"Are you not going to eat anything?" Remus murmured, watching the girl push the food around on her plate.
"I'm not hungry."