ripped pages (r. lupin)

4. See ya later

First year

Third person POV:

The marauders all piled into the carriage and chatted all the way to cosy, Hogsmeade village, where the familiar train station, and the crimson train greeted them all. Lizzie hesitated to get onto the train, scared for what awaited her when she got off. Sirius being his carefree, clueless self, ran to the end on the train to secure their seats, not realising that his little sister was on the brink of a breakdown on the platform. The rest of the group but Remus and Lizzie had followed Sirius up the train, so they were all deep in conversation, too busy to notice.

Chest heaving, and with shaky, quick breaths she made her way down to a seat on the platform, put her head in her hands and began to sob. Remus quickly joined her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders.

"I can't go back- I-I just cant." She whispered between sniffles and muffled sobs.

"Then don't, don't go back. You and Sirius can come to my house, or James, or Peters, even Lily's if you want."

She went silent, almost considering it.

"I-I cant leave Reggie and Sirius. I wont. I'm going to have to go back." She slowly brought her breathing to a semi-normal pace, and rubbed her red eyes.

"Thank you Remus, really. But I don't have a lot of power in this situation. I must go back, for my brothers."

The two embraced for a few seconds before the train conductor made his final call to the remaining passengers. They silently made their way to the rest of the group and joined them.

"There you are Remus! James is trying to convince me that there is a 'secret swimming pool' in the prefects bathroom on the fifth floor. Tell him he's wrong. He IS wrong, isn't he?" Sirius said pleadingly.

"Its not a 'secret swimming pool', you idiot, its a bathtub. Minnie told me! " James backfired, and the two bickered until Lizzie yelled for them to shut up as they were giving her a headache. She closed her eyes and cuddled into her big sweater until she slowly fell asleep.

////

The train slowly pulled into kings cross station and she awoke from her deep sleep to Sirius and James yelling into her ears. She opened her mouth to yell something back at them but just ended up shutting it, deciding against starting an argument at this moment. When she opened her eyes she noticed the outstretched hand of Remus, offering to help her up, she took it graciously and stumbled up, and interlaced their fingers together. She held him back in the carriage after saying some short goodbyes to Peter and James and telling Sirius she would meet him outside. Remus pulled Lizzie into a tight hug, tangling his arms around her waist and slowly putting something the side pocket of her oversized, brown, corduroy pants. He pulled his head out of the crook of her neck and met her eyes.

"I'll write to you. At least once a week, promise" His voice whispered shakily.

"Please do. Please."

She bent in and placed a soft kiss to the side of his cheek, letting go of his hand and placing it back to his side. Both of their cheeks were flushing pink as they made their way out of the train and onto the platform. She waved goodbye to the boy and nervously found her way to Sirius and the Black family house elf; Kretcher. They reluctantly grabbed his hand and the trio apparated the living room in the house.

Her eyes scanned the room and were met by Regulus and Orion both seemingly transfixed by the prophet that Orion was gripping with white knuckles. Regulus was first to look up, practically bouncing up from his seat and jumping into his older brothers arms excitedly, Orion still looking tight-lipped as normal.

"Sirius! Sirius! Sirius! Oh how I've missed you!" The young boy cheered. "Liz! It has been so boring without you two around!" He pulled his two older siblings into a hug and only released when he heard his mother walk into the room.

Lizzie and her mother made harsh eye contact for at least ten seconds before she signalled for them to follow her into the dining room as dinner was beginning to appear on the long table.

////

The room was eerily quiet, and the only noise heard was the scraping of knives and forks against the plates as they ate in silence. The soup was cold by the time Lizzie finished it, because she was dreading what would happen once Sirius and Regulus got sent to bed after dinner. She continued to bite down her bread rolls as slow as humanly possible, the sound of her mother scoffing and the boys becoming impatient and leaving to go into the sitting room. Lizzies chair began to scrape against the floor as she made and effort to escape before her mother could reach her but as she felt a bony wrist grasp her chubbier one, she knew it was time. Walburga poked her head through the door of the sitting room and told the boys to go upstairs to their rooms. Walburga began to drag her into the room where the black family tapestry was held, only releasing her when they stood Infront of their branch of the tree. She aggressively pointed towards what remained of her daughters image, revealing to her that she had indeed burnt a hole in it. Tears slowly began to drip down her face as her mother pulled out her wand and pointed at the girl.

"Crucio" The red flash of light hit her and she dropped to the ground and began to howl in pain. Her mother began to walk out of the room and up the stairs but she turned around half way. " Five minutes. You have five minutes to collect your things and get out."

The effects of the curse began to wear off but the pain did not go away. She ran up the stairs with her teeth clenched and began to grab her already full trunk and her owl and went to the boys rooms. She went over to the boys and grabbed them both into tight hugs, trying not to wince when they tightly hugged her back.

"I will be gone for a while, and I don't know where I will go, but I love you, so, so much. I will write to you every few days, but please don't worry to much. Please be good and safe, especially you, Sirius. Goodbye." She grabbed both of their shoulders and pulled them both into a tight hug.

"Please don't go. Please." Sirius begged.

"I have no choice, I love you."

////

She put her things onto the muggle wooden bench Infront of her and shook her pockets out to see what money she had managed to collect before leaving. Instead of gallons being the first thing she saw, it was the note that Remus had slipped into her pant pockets earlier, it read;

'In case you change your mind;

19 Woolford Road, North London'

////

The blood from the curse began to soak through the sleeves of her sweater and her pants and she had become lightheaded and drowsy but she still managed to knock lightly on the door before she dropped to the ground and closed her eyes. A woman's voice rang out before all she could hear was ringing.

"REMUS, GO AND GET YOUR FATHER!"