Potter Manor was quiet as it was the early hours of Christmas morning, their party had ended a few hours prior.
Everyone was asleep except two who lay awake in the guest bedroom, Remus was resting his head on his boyfriend's chest as he played with his hair. For a moment Sirius stopped.
"What's wrong?" Remus asked, looking up.
"Nothing, just got a weird feeling." he replied, "You excited about tomorrow?"
"I assume you mean Christmas day and not the full moon?"
Sirius kissed Remus' head softly. "Yeah, I meant Christmas day-" he was cut off by a loud crack coming from downstairs. "The hell was that?"
"I'm sure it's just Worms dropping something in the kitchen." Remus said, rolling over. "He better be making me that cake."
"It didn't sound like it." Sirius said, he lifted up the covers and got out of the bed. "It sounded like someone apperated in."
"You're going down to check?"
"Are you coming with me?"
Remus sighed but nodded, the two made their way downstairs quietly, before they walked into the kitchen Sirius put his hand on Remus' chest to stop him.
He poked his head through the door, scanning the room, behind the kitchen island he saw a pool of dark red blood, he walked cautiously towards it, until he saw where it was coming from.
"Aries!" he shouted running towards her unconscious body, the blood covering her entire dress, half of her body, including her face was covered in splinch wounds. "Remus, get help!"
He nodded, running out of the kitchen to get Euphemia and Fleamont.
"Come on, Aries." Sirius whispered, he grabbed a tablecloth from the side and tried to stop the blood flow but there was too much, it seeped through onto his hands.
Euphemia rushed to his side, followed by Fleamont and Remus. "Sirius darling, you're doing a good job, keep pressure okay. Remus, honey I need you to grab the healer kit-"
Remus nodded and got the kit from one of the cupboards, he put it next to her as she searched through it. "Okay." she muttered, she took out a vial of dittany and sprayed it over the wounds, she cleaned the blood.
"What happened?" Fleamont asked Sirius.
He shook his head. "I don't know, Remus and I heard a noise- I think she apperated."
"I don't understand how, she's not seventeen yet." Remus said, his eyebrows furrowed. "They've not even started lessons for sixth year."
"She may have been in danger." Fleamont said. "If Aries thought hard enough she would have been able to do it, but without practice it's very dangerous."
"My parents must have done something. She wouldn't have left if nothing happened." Sirius said.
Euphemia pulled away and nodded. "She's going to be okay. The scars will take a while to fade but she's going to be okay."
"Let's get her upstairs, we've had a room for her since you arrived." Fleamont told Sirius, he picked her up and carried her to the room, Euphemia pulled a chair next to the bed for Sirius to sit in.
"We'll leave you, for now." Euphemia said, she cleaned off the blood from his robes with her wand, she then kissed his head motherly and walked out the room with Fleamont.
"Remus." Sirius spoke up. "Stay with me."
He nodded. "Of course."
☽☆☾
The morning was very quiet, Fleamont set the table with the usual Christmas morning breakfast, but only Peter and James were sat at the table.
Remus yawned as he walked into the dinning room taking his seat between the two.
"Is she not awake yet?" Fleamont asked.
James and Peter gave each other a confused look.
He shook his head. "No, Sirius is still with her."
"With who?" Peter asked.
"Aries."
"Aries is here?" James asked. "What happened?"
"We don't know yet, but she was in a bad shape when she got here." Fleamont told them.
"She's not hurt is she?" Peter asked, his voice quivered full of worry.
"She's a bit battered, but Effie said she'll be okay," he nodded.
Peter set down his cutlery beside his plate, "I'm gonna check on Sirius, just make sure he's fine." he said, leaving the room.
He made his way up to the landing, Euphemia walked out of one of the bedrooms, she gave him a soft smile. "They're in the room at the end."
He nodded and walked down the corridor and into the room, he saw Sirius sitting by her side. As he got closer he saw the fresh red scars leading from her right cheek down her neck.
Sirius turned when he heard footsteps.
"You alright, Pads?" Peter asked.
Sirius rubbed his tired eyes taking a deep breath. "I'm okay, but Air-" he shook his head. "I shouldn't have left her- I should have taken her with me when I left, this is my fault."
"Sirius you left two years ago, you shouldn't blame yourself." Peter consoled, he took a seat next to him.
"But if I hadn't then she would be okay, she would be fine."
"Or maybe she wouldn't, maybe this would have happened if you had stayed. There's no telling, and for you to blame yourself for something that wasn't your fault is unfair on you."
"It wouldn't have happened if I were there, I wouldn't have let them hurt her. I promised."
"I think she'll forgive you."
"What if she doesn't?"
"I don't think she's the type of person that wouldn't forgive." Peter said, he gave him a small smile.
Sirius nodded, "Yeah." his stomach made a loud growl.
"Do you wanna go get breakfast?"
"But-"
"I'll stay here, if she wakes I'll tell you. Go on."
"Thanks Pete."
"Anytime."
☽☆☾
As the day drew to an end Aries still hadn't awoken, Remus walked into the room followed by Peter and James, Sirius still sat next to her.
"Is it time?" he asked.
"Yeah, got about two hours, we're going now, we're going to floo to the Hogs head. Then walk to the shack from there." Remus said.
"I'll get ready quickly."
Remus shook his head. "You should stay here, I can survive one moon without you."
"Remus-"
"Hey." he said softly as he touched Sirius' arm lightly. "You don't get to choose your family over me all the time, and if Aries wakes up she'll want to see you. That's why she apperated here."
Sirius hesitated, he'd not missed a single full moon since fifth year, he didn't want to leave him.
"I have James and Pete, I won't be alone."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, it's not like we're running out on full moons now are we? I'm sure you won't miss anymore of them."
Sirius nodded and embraced Remus in a hug. "I love you." he whispered into his ear.
"I love you too."
The Marauders left the room and Sirius resumed his usual place, and played the long game of waiting.
☽☆☾
Her arm burned.
She looked down, the mark was prominent against her skin, the snake tail twisted. She shook her head.
"No." she whispered, rubbing it vigorously until her skin turned red. A sound made her look up, in the corner she could see the hooded figure from that night watching her, their red gleaming eyes narrowed. She backed away as they stood, walking towards her.
They reached out their arm towards her, she closed her eyes tightly waiting for them to do something, but they didn't.
When Aries opened them again she was in a dark room she didn't recognise, the only light came from the bright full moon out of the window. She looked down at her arm, letting out a sigh of relief when she saw it was bare.
She turned to the side, her body hurt but she brushed it off. She saw Sirius asleep in the chair, he used his arm as a pillow, he looked extremely uncomfortable.
She rubbed sleep out of her eyes and felt her cheek was rough, she grazed down her neck and pulled her shirt forward, there were healed scars trailing all the way down her body, she breathed heavily as she got out of the bed walking fast paced towards the bathroom, turning on the light and looked into the mirror.
Her right side of her body was covered in scars, almost like flames. Some had started to turn white but the majority were scarlet red.
"Aries?"
She turned to face her brother, tears flooded her eyes. Sirius rushed towards her, gripping her into a hug.
"They tried to make me a death eater." she cried. "They- I think they made Regulus- I didn't know what to do- I left- I didn't think-"
"Aries, Aries, It's fine you're safe." Sirius said, "You're okay. You're free of them."
"I didn't mean to leave Regulus."
"It's okay, we'll get him. Don't worry about it." he said, calmly. "I'm just glad you got away."
☽☆☾
Aries struggled to sleep the rest of the night, afraid she would have the same dream again, the golden sun peaked in through the curtains, she yawned getting out of the bed.
Sirius had gone back to his room a few hours before, on the chair was a new set of robes for her to wear.
She walked into the bathroom turning on the shower, stepping in. The water burned the scars, she touched them tracing the outlines. She would never be able to get rid of them.
After she showered she made her way out of the room and down the corridor.
Potter manor was extremely different to Grimmauld place, the light shone in every corner of the house, there were flowers in the vase's which weren't dead and there were no severed house elf heads in sight.
She walked down the grand staircase, the carpet was a deep scarlett with yellow trims on the sides. The colours of Gryffindor were prominent across the household. By the end of the corridor was the dining room, she entered and saw Sirius, Fleamont and Euphemia sitting at the table.
"Morning darling." Euphemia smiled, nodding towards her. "Come and sit for breakfast."
Aries saw that the table was filled with fresh fruits, yogurts, cereals, and buttered toast in a stack; she didn't know where to start despite her stomach growling.
She took a seat next to Sirius, noticing that three chairs were empty.
"Where are the others?" she asked.
"They should be here soon-"
"ARIES! You're awake!" James shouted, running towards her and giving her a hug.
Peter and Remus walked in behind him, Remus looked rough, he almost fell into his seat next to Sirius, Peter took his seat next to Euphemia.
"Ouch, James that hurts." she winced.
"I'm sorry! I'm just happy you're awake." James said, pulling away.
"I was only out for-" she turned to Sirius. "How long was I out for?"
"Two days."
"Two days, that's like a lot of days, Sirius wouldn't leave your side, you even got Pete worried, he didn't even care when I dislocated my..." James continued talking.
Aries looked towards Peter, he glanced at her giving her a pressed smile then turned away. She slumped slightly. Why was he acting like this? She thought that they had had a good time after the Slugclub party, and now he wouldn't even look at her.
"Air?" James asked.
"Sorry, what?"
"I was just saying the scars are healing a bit, we've got a Moony 2.0." James said, nudging Remus.
Aries had always wondered where he had gotten the scars, he'd had them since before she went to Hogwarts, but she thought it best not to ask.
"Oh, Dad, I was wondering if we could do the fireworks tonight?" James asked his father.
"Why tonight?" Fleamont asked, lowering his glasses.
"Well because... I invited a friend."
"A friend?" Fleamont asked, looking around the table. "You have more?"
"A girl friend."
Sirius gasped excitedly. "Lily?!"
"No way Lily said yes." Remus laughed.
James blushed red.
"Oh my god, she said yes?"
"What is going on right now?" Aries asked.
"Well you see our favourite- second- third favourite Potter here." Sirius started before getting a funny glare from Fleamont and Euphemia. "Has been crushing on Lily Evans for years now."
"Oh right." Aries nodded.
"And she said yes to a date?" Remus asked James.
"Well not exactly."
"What does that mean?" Peter asked.
"Well, she's said yes to a date... several dates."
The three boys gaped at James.
"You've been on a date with Lily?"
James hesitated then looked at Sirius. "You can't get mad at me."
"Oh no, everyone take cover." Remus smirked.
"What did you do?" Sirius deadpanned.
"We've been dating since your birthday."
"YOU WHAT?"
"I TOLD YOU NOT TO GET MAD AT ME!"
"We love a quiet peaceful morning, don't we, my love." Euphemia smiled at Fleamont like nothing was happening.
"ON MY SPECIAL DAY?"
"Say, did you hear about the goblin strike at Gringotts bank, dear?" Fleamont asked Euphemia, he turned the newspaper towards her.
"IT'S NOT MY FAULT WE THROW REALLY GOOD PARTIES AND I ENDED WITH A DATE AT THE END OF IT."
"So Aries, how's N.E.W.T.s going?" Remus asked her as he took two pieces of toast, she went to reply before her voice was disturbed by her brothers.
"YOU COULD HAVE DONE ANY DAY! ANY DAY BUT MY BIRTHDAY IS YOUR ANNIVERSARY?"
"Oh, have some fruits before they go rotten." Euphemia said, scooping out bowls of fruits and handing them out.
"UM EXCUSE ME, DID YOU NOT GET WITH REMUS ON MY BIRTHDAY? HIS IS SEVENTEEN DAYS BEFORE MINE! WHY DIDN'T YOU DO IT THEN?"
"BECAUSE... BECAUSE- I DON'T KNOW! ARE WE EVEN?"
"YEAH!"
"OKAY!"
"OKAY! So can we do the fireworks tonight, and I can get Lily to come?" James said, lowing his voice.
"Sure." Fleamont said, nodding his head.
Aries blinked.
Remus laughed. "I would say you get used to it but... you don't."
☽☆☾
"Fireworks will be up in ten!" Fleamont called over.
Lily had arrived earlier that afternoon and had to listen to Sirius drone on about how her and James betrayed him.
"Pads, it's been seven hours, please stop." Remus sighed a laugh.
"But-" Sirius started but Remus shook his head. "Ugh."
"Come on let's go outside, we can help set up the fireworks- oh I need to get the marshmallows for the hot chocolates." Euphemia said turning around.
"Oh I'll get them." Aries said, she walked back towards the kitchen as she did, she saw Peter standing by the kitchen island cutting up brownies he had just made into squares. She gave him a small smile as he looked up at her. "Um, I've been sent here for marshmallows."
"Should be in the top cupboard." he pointed up at the cabinets.
She nodded and opened the door peering at the shelves, she looked up and tried to reach them from the top shelf but was unable to get them. Just as she was about to climb up onto the side a hand grabbed them and handed them to her.
"Thanks." she said, taking the bag.
"It's fine," Peter muttered, there was a pause between them Aries wanted to ask why he was acting so weird around her but he spoke before she could. "Is Benjy not coming?"
"Benjy? No I don't think so, he usually spends Christmas with his Mother because he spends the summer with his Father, and I think Cas is busy with Marls." she replied.
"Oh, I thought he would have come because of what happened the other night." Peter said.
Aries shook her head. "I mean I sent them both a letter but I don't expect them to drop everything to see me."
Peter knitted his eyebrows. "But aren't you and-"
"You two come on, my Dad is about to light them! Ooh brownies!" James said, running into the kitchen he picked up a square and put it in his mouth.
"Prongs, they're still hot."
"It's fine." he said, breathing in cold air and fanning his tongue, from the garden they heard a loud bang. "Quick! Pete bring the brownies, Aries bring yourself, we're going to miss them!"
He ran back out of the kitchen, Aries chuckled at how his energy matched an excited puppy, they followed him out into the garden, Euphemia handed them each a cup of hot chocolate with the marshmallows Aries had brought out and they watched the bright colours in the sky.
She felt eyes on her, she looked towards Peter who quickly looked away, she rolled her eyes and walked next to Remus and Lily to watch the rest of the fireworks.
_________________
Chapter Seven!!!
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