you are loved. - r.lupin (ft. THE s.black)

unexpected christmas

Caroline expected to sleep in during Christmas day because her parents had work today. They'd get off of work and be back by 6, which would leave Caroline and Peter with tons of free time. That plan was thrown aside when someone harshly shook her awake at 9 in the morning.

Her deep blue eyes snapped open in alarm and she smacked the intruder. He doubled over in pain and fell back harshly even though her hit wasn't that hard. Once Caroline realized who it was, she scrambled out of bed and helped the boy on the floor.

"Reggie, as much as I love seeing you, you really should give me a heads-up," Caroline said in a worried tone. She cupped Regulus' face gently and her eyes widened again when they landed on the bruises and cuts. "Merlin, are you okay?"

"I didn't know where to go," Regulus cried desperately. "Care, you're my only friend who isn't a Slytherin and I really needed to get away from my house today, just to get away from all the prejudice and stupid blood shit. I just Flooed in and I found your room and I feel like that's trespassing so I'm really sorry."

"No, you're fine. You can stay here as long as you want," the blonde assured. "Hold on." Caroline gently let go of him and rushed to the bathroom, where she frantically went through the small drawers and grabbed some medical supplies.

She came back into her bedroom and made sure to lock the doors behind her. Caroline placed all of the supplies around and used a wet cloth to gently clean the bloody areas. She dabbed the areas in silence and then applied ointment and creams to them. "Do you want to tell me what happened?" Caroline asked quietly.

"Ever since Sirius left the house, there's been no one to take my parent's anger out on. So you can guess it's been pretty shit for me. Ouch, Care, it hurts," Regulus whimpered softly.

"What hurts?" Caroline cooed. Regulus lifted his soaked shirt, revealing a large cut. Caroline hadn't realized that he was bleeding because his shirt was black, so she assumed it was probably water. "Reggie, we need to get you to a hospital."

"Please don't," Regulus begged. "My parents are going to come and I'm just going to be in more trouble. You can treat it though, right?"

"What?" Caroline spluttered.

"Caroline, I really can't be going to the hospital right now," Regulus sighed. "Please."

Caroline pursed her lips together and grabbed the alcohol bottle. "Okay, but it's going to hurt," she warned.

"Just do it."

Caroline poured the alcohol onto the cloth and dabbed it onto the open wound. Regulus hissed in pain and grabbed her arm tightly. "Reggie, we should really get you-"

"I'm fine," he assured through gritted teeth. "Just finish it."

The Pettigrew girl let out a sigh and continued cleaning up his wound. After she finished, Caroline covered the cut with a gauze pad and attempted to smile at her friend. "Are you feeling any better?" she asked hopefully.

"Honestly, not that great," Regulus chuckled, "but I'll be better soon. Sorry to bother you on Christmas."

"No, you're not being a bother at all, trust me. This is much better than spending Christmas alone," Caroline replied softly. "Let me go get myself cleaned up and then we can make some breakfast, yeah?"

"Yeah, that sounds nice." Regulus managed to flash a happy smile, causing Caroline to grin even wider. Caroline got up from the floor and grabbed the bloody alcohol-covered towel to put in the wash.

She left her bedroom and walked down the stairs silently so she wouldn't wake Peter. She wanted to go to the kitchen because she didn't want to get her bathroom sink all bloody. The blonde crept into the living room, not expecting to see anyone.