A Soulmate's Love

Chapter 26 - Vulnerable

*This chapter

Elise Perspective

My date with Cedric was amazing, it felt like every time I saw him, I fell in love all over again.

He finally asked me to be his girlfriend, which was obvious since we were soulmates, but it was still a big thing. I walked with a skip in my step to our dorm when I saw a running twin come towards me - I still couldn't really tell who was who.

"Elise, it's Althea." He said, slightly out of breath. "She told us she would leave for 10 minutes and come back, and she came 30 minutes later. She's not ok El, she's cold, she- she's shaking, and she won't- she won't let us near her."

We ran to my dorm and I figured that this was Fred considering that George was her soulmate and probably wouldn't leave her.

I opened the door to see Althea looking out the window, and to others, her expression might seem neutral, but I knew that she didn't want the twins to see her in a bad state, and was just pretending. I met the gaze of the twins, ushering them to leave which they did, not without stealing a glance at the distracted girl on my bed.

When they completely left Althea turned to me, "El..." She whispered.

I ran to her and gave her a reassuring hug, knowing that she needed it. "What happened, babe?"

"I went to the Slytherin common room, you know just to tell the boys that the twins had apologized and that I was happy. Everything was good and I started going back to our dorm and Pucey," My heart stopped. The last time she had mentioned Pucey was when he had cornered her on the train and when Higgs hurt her, he said it was because of Pucey. "He shoved me into a wall and I was stuck in his arms, and he put his hand- he put his hand on my mouth to silence me. Elise he was going to rape me." I shivered at her words, feeling terrible that all this had happened and I wasn't there. "He touched me, everywhere and I did what Andrew taught me. I defended myself and knocked him out, but now I don't know what he's going to do. I don't know what to do."

Her voice was shaky while she said all of this and I felt her hands begin to tremble so I held them in mine. "I'm sorry Althea, you don't have to see him again. We're going to make sure he's expelled. Do you want to stay here today?" I knew that she probably just needed some space from others today, "We can watch Pride and Prejudice?"

She nodded silently, and we both settled underneath the covers, playing the movie.

When lunch approached, I promised Althea we would just get some food from the kitchens, and I left her in our dorm to go get it. The twins were waiting there as if they knew where I'd be going which I found strange, but I didn't have time to think too much of it before they began harassing me with questions.

"What happened?"

"Is she alright?"

"Where is she?"

I didn't know if I should tell them, but they loved her, and not knowing wouldn't help either of them. "She got sexually assaulted." My words were direct, and they felt weird coming out of my mouth, but I had to be honest. "That's why she wouldn't let you touch her; she can't be touched without thinking of him." Just thinking of him brought a bitter taste to my mouth.

I looked up to see them both with a shocked expression, their faces paling.

"Who was it?" George's voice had deepened multiple octaves, and if I hadn't known him, I would've been scared. Menace seeped from his words, and I knew he wouldn't hold himself back, neither would Fred for that matter.