❗️TW: SA, blood, fighting❗️
During the summer break, Stephanie spent every waking moment writing in her journal. The diaries were an amazing idea by her as the four teenagers wouldn't stop talking to each other. Everything was great.
Until it wasn't.
It was late July of 1976 when the communicating between the four teenagers stopped.
She wrote to them every hour of every day but never received a reply. She was worried that something had happened to them.
The first thought was that maybe Regulus and Pandora's parents found out about the diaries. But that was almost instantly discarded as Barty's parents knew they were friends and didn't care, he should at least be to answer her.
But he didn't.
She wrote to them as group and individually, but never received a respond. It wasn't until almost a week later that she finally got a reply.
'Sirius has been disowned.
R.A.B.'
She wrote back to him day and night but he never replied again, neither did Pandora or Barty.
Chris, who had been over at the Potter's the day Sirius ran away, hadn't told her what had happened. Which is why she found out through Regulus. In his words, 'it has nothing to do with you.'
She spent the rest of the summer depressed. She was worried about Reggie. Every time she would think about what could happen to him now that Sirius was no longer the heir, she would feel sick to her stomach.
By the end of the break, she had lost weight. She was pale, had dark circles under her eyes and was skinnier from all the times she was sick and from of the lose of appetite.
By the time September 1st rolled around, it looked like she had been through hell.
She still looked beautiful. Her dark brown haired that reached the bottom of her back, her front bangs that laid delicately on her face, her dark brown eyes that looked like pools of honey while in the sun.
Even with the lose of weight, her body had matured over the summer - many people had already commented to her. She had lost any remaining baby fat from her face, her breasts had gotten bigger, her hips had gotten wider, her thighs had gotten thicker and she had gotten taller - she was now 5'8".
She had already said her goodbyes to her parents before boarding the train with her three brothers and her friends. Lorenzo and Matthew were starting their seventh year, Chris was starting his sixth year and she was starting her fifth year, alongside Harry, Luke, Hermione and Ron.
Even though she desperately wanted to see Regulus, Pandora and Barty already, she was nervous. She didn't know if something else had happened that she wasn't aware of. She was scared that maybe she had unintentionally done something to offend them.
So she spent the majority of the train ride in her usual compartment with Luke, Hermione, Harry and Ron. She only left the compartment to get changed into her robes and when she had to go to the prefects meeting with Harry.
They could tell that she was anxious - if her bouncing leg, her bitting her bottom lip and picking and her cuticles was anything to go off of.
They talked about everything and anything, with Stephanie barely adding in on the conversation, before receiving a visit.
It was Lily, Marlene, Alice and Mary.
They greeted everyone before sitting down, albeit it was a bit of a tight fit but they made it work, and continuing the conversation.
She was so deep in thought while looking out the window that she didn't hear them calling her. She feels Luke, who was sitting to her right, nudge her.
"What?" She softly says to him.
"They're calling you." He replies.
She looks up and see them all staring at her, alongside their new visitors that she hadn't noticed.
The marauders stood by the compartment door, all them crammed together by the door to be able to look into the compartment.
"Congratulations on making prefect!" Alice excitedly told her.
"Thank you." She replies with a weak smile.
"Are you ok?" Lily asks with a worried look.
"She's fine, probably still worried about her boyfriend." Chris says while sitting down.
Hermione had charmed the compartment to be able to also fit the rest of the boys.
"He's not my boyfriend." She tells him after rolling her eyes.
He had been like that during the entire summer. He, along with the rest of the marauders, never liked Slytherins. He only liked their brothers and their mom because they're 'the good kind of Slytherins'.
He also wasn't very happy with the fact that she was friends with Slytherins but never voiced his opinion much as he knew she wouldn't hesitate to tell their mom. Last time that happened, he had been grounded for a month and received an embarrassing howler.
But after Sirius ran away, he immediately began badmouthing his entire family, including Regulus, so Chris and James joined in.
Remus and Peter hadn't been at the Potter Manor when Sirius arrived, and they also didn't hate every single Slytherin like the other boys, so they mostly kept quiet when they would go on their rants.
Their rants being about how all Slytherins were trash, they're all evil and will all end up being death eaters.
"What are you talking about?" Marlene asks Chris.
"She's worried about Regulus." He replied with a disgust look on his face. "Has been for the majority of the summer."
"Can you stop?" She tells him.
"Why would she be worried about Regulus?"
"Something about him not replying to her love letters or something like that."
"They're not love letters." She glares at him. "And if you just came here to talk bad about my friends, then you can leave."
"But we just got here." He replies with a mocking frown causing Sirius and James to laugh.
"Remus and Peter are welcomed to stay, you three can leave." She says while glaring at the three laughing boys.
"I think I'll stay. I'm quite comfortable here." He says with a cocky smirk.
"Don't be an asshole." Remus says while looking at her brother.
"Who cares about that stupid Slytherin," James starts, not noticing how Sirius' grin slightly fell at his words. "When you got me."
She glares at him as he stares back at her with a cocky grin. He looks her up and down, checking her out. She noticed how his eyes lingered on her chest.
"I think I'd rather be with that 'stupid Slytherin' than be around you." She replies before walking out the compartment.
"Wait, darling!"
"Ooo." Sirius, Chris, Marlene, Mary and Alice say, making fun of James.
She noticed it wouldn't be long before they would arrive at Hogsmeade Station causing her to hurry. She wanted to speak to them before they had to leave the train.
She soon finds them sitting in a compartment together. Regulus and Pandora sitting on the left bench while Barty sat on the right bench.
"Reggie, Panda, Barty!" She exclaims while closing the door and pulling down the blindes, not noticing the look they shared with one another.
They stayed sitting down, they would always stand up and hug her tightly, and just stared at her. Pandora had a weak smile on her face - though Stephanie could tell that it was forced - while Regulus and Barty had a serious look on their face.
She knew that look. It was the look they wore in public. When they were around others so that they wouldn't talk to them. They had never once had that look when she was with them. But now they did.
She wanted to hug them but knew it would only make things more awkward so she sat down next to Barty instead.
She picked at her fingers as the awkward silence filled the compartment. No one saying a single word. It seemed as though they weren't even breathing from how quiet they were.
"I'm sorry about what happened, Reggie." She says after a while. "If I could have, I would've gone over to make sure you wer-"
"I'm fine." He replied sternly.
"Right, sorry." She quietly murmurs while looking down at her lap. "You guys didn't come over."
It was tradition. Ever summer break, since first year, they would go over to the Thornhart Manor for about a week or so. There hadn't been a single summer where they hadn't gone over.
Except this summer.
They didn't say anything. Pandora looked around the compartment, not wanting to make eye contact with anyone, while Regulus and Barty stared at each other, as if they were silently communicating.
"Why didn't any of you reply to me?" She quietly says. "Did I do something? Or did I say something mean to one of you? What- What did I do? Why won't you talk to me?"
Again, she was met with silence.
"Was it because I called you 'Bartemius', Barty? Because if it was, I won't do it again. I swear I only said it as a jo-"
"We don't want to be friends with you anymore." Regulus says while staring at her with a serious look on his face.
She felt her heart drop. Her best friend - her little brother - was looking at her as if she was an annoying stranger that was sat too close to him. He just told her that he didn't want anything to do with her, after they pinky promised each other to always be best friends in their first year.
She felt her heart break, she actually physically felt pain in her chest. Her ears started ringing before her stomach started turning, as if she was going to barf.
"What?"
"We don't want to be friends with you anymore." He repeats with the same look on his face causing her to start tearing up.
"Wh- what? Why?" She says as the first couple of tears start to roll down her cheeks. "Did I do something? I mean, what did I do? I'm sorry - I don't know what I did but-"
"We didn't answer you because we didn't want to." He replies while looking her in the eye.
Pandora was looking down at her lap and Barty was looking out the window. Neither of them looked surprised or opposed to what Regulus was saying.
"What?" She asks with a hurt tone.
"We figured you would get the hint and save yourself the embarrassment," He says while staring at her with a judging look. "But I guess not."
"But- We're best friends, Reggie!" She says with her voice cracking. "We all are! Panda, Barty, you guys can't be serious. Is this some sort of sick joke?"
"It's not a joke." Regulus says while rolling his eyes, now looking annoyed.
The train had stopped, she hadn't noticed when, and they could hear the commotion outside the compartment as everyone left the train.
"But I didn't do anything!" She says with a chocked sob. "Reggie, please. I didn't do-"
"Don't call me that." He says while glaring at her.
"I've always called you Reggie." She states with a look of hurt and confusion.
Everyone had left the train by now, the aisle outside was quiet. They were most likely the only ones on the train now.
Before Regulus could reply, Barty beats him to it.
"It's not that big of a deal. We don't want to be friends with you anymore. It's that simple." He says while groaning before standing up and grabbing his belongings.
He waits on the aisle, waiting for Pandora and Regulus who were doing the same he just did.
"Panda, come on. We're best friends! We have been since first year." She says as more tears streamed down her face.
"Sorry." Pandora murmurs while shrugging before walking away with Barty.
"Reggie, please." She begs, now getting desperate that she was going to lose her best friends.
"I already told you to not call me that." He glares at her before walking out the compartment.
"But-"
"We're not friends, Thornhart. We never were." He replied before slamming the compartment door shut.
Thornhart.
He called her, Thornhart.
Her best friends just told her that they didn't want to be friends anymore and her best friend called her by her last name.
It didn't matter if they were arguing or if he was annoyed or in a bad mood, he had never once called her by her last name.
She now knew that they were being serious. She wanted to believe that they were playing a sick prank on her, that she would open the compartment door and they would be waiting for her before they would all burst out laughing. But they weren't.
She walked down the aisle of the quiet and abandoned train while sobbing. She didn't care about wiping her tears away or being quiet, no one was there. She thought that no one would see her or hear her.
But she was wrong.
"Awww. Is the little princess hurt?" A voice mockingly says behind her as a loud and annoying laugh is heard.
She turns around to find the two most annoying Slytherins that have ever existed, Mulciber and Avery.
She turns back around, trying to get off the train as she didn't want to start any problems. Avery, who saw what she was trying to do, quickly ran in front of her.
"Leaving so soon?" He mockingly asks
"I just want to get off the train." She replies while wiping away her tears. "I don't want to start any trouble."
"Oh, she doesn't want to start any trouble?" Avery asks as they both laugh. "Well, princess, what if we do want to start some trouble?"
She immediately knew she was fucked.
She had left her wand in the compartment and hadn't grabbed it when she left to go talk to Regulus, Barty and Pandora. She knew Hermione, or one of her other friends, would get her wand for her but she needed it now.
"I just want to get off the train." She repeats.
"What's the magic word?"
She sighs, "Please."
"Mmh, no. I think we should have some fun instead." Avery says while tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. "Don't you think?"
Stephanie took a deep breath as he touched her cheek. She knew she had to get out of there before things took a turn for the worse.
She could see the exit to the train, it was about fifteen to twenty feet away from where she was standing. She tried to think of a plan on how to get out of this situation but she came up short handed. The only thing she could do was run away.
So that's what she did.
She pushed Avery out of the way before booking it towards the exit. She wasn't able to get far before she was pulled back by her hair.
Mulciber had a tight grip on her hair and pulled it back harshly before slamming her to the wall. She groans as her back and her head harshly hits the wall.
"Thought you could get away?" He mockingly asked before gripping her neck.
She desperately clawed at his hand as he tightened his grip. She felt the air leaving her lungs and grew more desperate the longer he held his grip.
"Why don't we take her to a compartment and have so fun with her before she's back on her way to King's Cross?" He asks Avery with a huge grin.
Her eyes widened at the realization of what he was referring to. She felt more tears roll down her cheeks, terrified of what could happen to her.
She didn't know what to do, her mind blank of any spells or hexes that she could without her wand.
The only thing that popped into her mind was the saying her mom always told her since she was a little girl.
'If you're ever in trouble because a boy is trying to hurt you, kick him in the nuts as hard as you can and run.'
She quickly brought her knee up and hit him in the groin before taking a deep breath. He fell to his knees holding on to his crotch.
Avery quickly lunges at her, punching her in the nose. She loudly groans as she feels blood gushing out of her nose before punching him back.
She immediately turns around and runs towards the exit before he grabs her from behind. He had his arm around her neck, trying to choke her.
In her desperation, she reaches behind her as scratches his face. He loosens his hold on her causing her to bring her head back and headbutt him in the face.
He lets her go, holding on to his noise that was bleeding. Mulciber had gotten up and punched her in the face, knocking her down to the ground.
She laid on the floor groaning in pain while holding her nose, that was throbbing in pain and wouldn't stop bleeding. She sees Mulciber and Avery walking towards her with the same grin on their faces before freezing.
"Don't touch her!"
"Come on, mate. We weren't doing anything." Avery says as they both hold their hands up.
"Leave." A voice says. "Or i'll hex you."
Both boys shared annoyed looks with each other, silently agreeing it wasn't worth it as they were without their wands, before leaving the train.
She sits up while groaning in pain before looking up to see the person that saved her.
Standing in front of her, with a worried look on his face while clutching his wand, was Xenophilius Lovegood.
"Are you alright?" He asks while holding his hand out to help her up.
"Yeah," She loudly groans while standing up with his help. "Thank you. I don't know what would've happened if you hadn't saved me."
"I didn't save you, I was just helpin-"
"You did. You did save me." She says with a grateful smile. "Trust me, from what they said, they didn't have good intentions."
He nods with a soft smile before they walk out the train together. They start walking towards the trail, where the carriages would always be waiting, before finding it empty. Mulciber and Avery weren't there so she could only assume that they took the last carriage to the castle.
They continue walking down the trail, that leads straight to the front gates of Hogwarts, before she finally speaks up.
"I'm sorry I made you miss the carriages, by the way." She says guiltily.
"That's alright." He replies with a reassuring smile. "Besides I like to walk."
"Oh! I didn't even introduce myself." She says before sticking her hand out. "I'm Steph-"
"Stephanie Thornhart. Yes, I know." He says while shaking her hand. "I'm Xeno-"
"Xenophilius Lovegood."
"You know my name?" He asks in surprise.
"Of course I do. We're in the same year but you're in Ravenclaw. We've had classes together since first year."
"Oh." He says in realization.
Stephanie continues holding her nose in her hands, trying to stop the bleeding. She hisses in pain, immediately knowing that her nose was broken.
"Would you like me to fix it for you?"
"Um- Have you ever fixed a nose before?"
"No but I've done several toes," He starts before slightly shrugging. "And how different are they really?"
"Um- Ok, yeah." She replies while nodding. "Give it a go."
She stands still as he points his wand at her. "Episkey." She loudly groans in pain while staggering backwards and holding on to her nose. She takes a deep breath as the pain starts fading away before facing him.
"How- how do I look?"
"Exceptionally ordinary."
"Brilliant." She nods. "Thank you again, Xenophilius."
They continue walking down the trail while talking about their mutual love for magical creatures.
"Bowtruckles are lovely, I've always wanted one since I was a child." She excitedly says.
"Yes, they are quite lovely creatures. I've written about them in The Quibbler."
"The Quibbler? What is that?"
"It's a tabloid newspaper. I'm the editor."
"Really? What do you write about?" She asks in intrigue.
"Mostly conspiracy theories and magical creatures."
"Where can I buy it?"
"You want to buy it?" He asks in surprise.
"Of course, it sounds interesting." She replies as they arrive at the front gates.
"Here." He hands her a magazine after taking it out of his bag.
"How much do I owe you?"
"Nothing." He replies with a smile.
Before she can respond, a voice interrupts their conversation.
"Where have you been? I've been waiting for the two of you." Professor Flitwick says.
"Sorry, Professor. We missed the carriages." She responds with an apologetic smile.
"Very well, you should get to the Great Hall. The feast should be starting soon."
"Yes, Professor." She nods before they head to Great Hall.
"I hope there's pudding." Xenophilius says as they near the entrance to the Great Hall.
They part ways, with Stephanie thanking him again, as she heads to the Gryffindor table and he heads to the Ravenclaw table.
"Why are you covered in blood?" Harry and Luke ask in unison.
She sat beside them, Luke in between the two, while Hermione and Ron sat across from them. Much to her dismay, as she knew they wouldn't stop asking questions, the marauders and the girls were sitting next to them.
James sat next to Harry while Sirius and Chris sat next to his right, Remus and Peter sat across from them, next to Ron. Lily sat to Stephanie's left, with Alice to her left, while Mary and Marlene sat across from them, next to Hermione.
"What happened to y-" Lily is cut off by James.
He stood up from his seat before cramming into the spot to her left, making Lily move farther down to give him room, much to her annoyance.
"Who did this to you?"
She was surprised at his eerily calm tone, she was sure he was going to cause a big scene. But she hadn't notice the hidden anger in his voice, something all their friends immediately noticed.
He grabbed a cloth napkin before delicately grabbing her face and softly wiping the blood away.
She stared at him, almost as if she was in a daze, as he focused on cleaning her face. His furrowed brows, something he always did when concentrating and his blue eyes that now stared back at her.
His left hand delicately held her face as his right stopped cleaning her face. He stared back at her, as if he was silently asking her if she was okay.
"Holy shit!" One of them exclaims causing her to snap out it.
She turns to look at them, only to find them staring towards the entrance of the Great Hall. She turns and sees Mulciber and Avery walk in.
Mulciber had scratches all over his face, scratches she hadn't even realized she made while he was choking her, and Avery had a broken and bloody nose with a long and deep scratch on his face that went from the right side of his forehead down to his right cheek.
They seemed to have noticed the big group staring at them as they glared at them - most importantly, glared at her.
Her group of friends noticed this and immediately began asking questions after glaring back at them.
"Did you jump them?" Marlene jokingly asks.
"More like, they jumped me." She replies while wiping the blood that kept pouring from her nose.
"They jumped you?!" They all ask in shock at the same time.
"Yeah." She groans while getting another napkin, the other being full of blood already.
"Why?"
"I don't know." She shrugs.
"I thought you went to go talk to Regulus? Was he in on it too?" Lily asks.
At the mention of Regulus, she looks up towards the Slytherin table. She looks around trying to find him, only to find him and Barty staring back at her already. They stare at her for a few seconds before looking away.
"He was in on it?" Sirius asks with a tone of disgust while glaring at his brother.
"No. He didn't know. We sort of had an argument."
"An argument? You two never argue." Chris states.
And it was true. In their five years of friendship they hardly ever argued, so much so that they could probably count in one hand the amount of times they ever fought.
"Well we did this time." She snaps at him.
Stephanie was usually very calm and patient, she was the most patient out of all of them, so her snapping at him made it very clear that she didn't want to talk about it.
"So what happened with Mulciber and Avery?"
She sighs before explaining what took place after her 'argument' with Regulus. She obviously left out the part where they said what they planned on doing to her, not wanting to cause anymore problems and not really feeling comfortable enough to speak about it.
All of them were obviously left seething in anger after she finished explaining the story. They all wanted to go over to them and hex them nonstop.
"I'm fine, it's not that big of a deal."
"Not that big of a deal?" James finally snaps. "They beat you up for no reason and you say it's not that big of a deal?"
"I'm fine-"
"You're injured!"
"I'll heal. It's just a bit of blood and a few bruises." She says while shrugging.
"A bit of blood is what they'll lose after we're done with them." Chris says while glaring at them. "Come on, prongs."
"Where are you going?" She asks them after James stands up.
"We're going to get them back for what they did to you." James says angrily. "Padfoot, you coming?"
James and Chris start walking away before they're quickly joined by Sirius. All three boys already talking about what they're going to do to the two Slytherins.
"But you haven't eaten dinner!" She exclaims.
"That's not important right now, love." James says while walking back and pressing a kiss on her cheek. "You are."
A/N: So I posted a bit of a longer chapter for not updating the last few days. Sorry about that, and hopefully you enjoy!!
Please comment and vote!!
I hope you all enjoy!
Ok, bye!!
NOT EDITED