Remus' POV
I shoved my hands in the pockets of robes and sighed as I walked back to the castle. James, Peter, and Sirius had just left and I'd decided to see them off as they made their way back to their homes for the Christmas holiday. Brenna was still asleep when I'd come to see if she'd like to come with us, so I didn't bother trying to wake her up, knowing it would be impossible. I wandered around the nearly deserted castle for about half an hour before I got bored and gave in to the urge to see Brenna, if she was awake yet, that is.
"Brenna?" I called as I crept slowly into the girls dormitory. I had to have a little help answering the riddle from a short Ravenclaw second year boy to get in the commonroom, but I eventually got it. A loud snore sounded from behind one of the drawn bed drapes and I had to press my hand over my mouth to keep from laughing. I tiptoed closer and drew back the satin curtains slowly. Brenna was tangled in the sheets with the head on her elbow. Her already messy hair was messier than usual and her nightgown had ridden up slightly over mid thigh to reveal a long, jagged scar the disappeared under the lace trim. I reached out traced the scar with my finger as gently as possible.
"Hey!" Brenna shouted, jumping awake with her wand pointed at me. I held my hands up in surrender, but she didn't lower her wand. She grabbed the hem of her nightgown and pulled it down angrily.
"What do you think you're doing?" She snapped.
"I was coming to see if you were awake," I muttered.
"Well I am now," She growled.
"How did you get the scar?" I asked.
"None of your business," She snarled.
"I have the right to know."
"And what gives you that right, huh?"
"Please," I pleaded. "I need to know."
"Why are you so worried about it?" She sighed. "It was a long time ago."
"If it's so insignificant, why won't you tell me?"
"Because," She replied quietly, "I know how you'll react."
I raised an eyebrow at her and she groaned, throwing a pillow at me.
"Let me change first and then I'll explain." I shrugged and watched her as she grabbed a large pale blue sweater and a pair of grey stockings. She stood behind a curtain and changed quickly, careful not to stumble into my view.
"Okay," Brenna sighed, curling up beside me in her bed. "What do you want to know first?"
"How long have you had it?"
"Since I was eight."
"How did you get it?"
"My dad."
I stared at her in disbelief for a moment before she continued.
"When I was a little girl, my dad was abusive. He would come home late at night, drunk and angry, and he'd hit my mom. One night I got tired of watching and I tried to do something about it. My father stood over my mother with a broken bottle in hand. I jumped in front of her as he brought it down."
I jumped to my feet, pacing back and forth at the foot of her bed.
"Does he still live with you, your dad?" I asked furiously.
"Yes, but he's not like that anymore. He got better."
"Are there any more?"
"Any more what?"
"Scars, Brenna. Do you have any more?"
The look in her eye answered me before she did.
"Show me," I growled.
"Remus-"
"Show me!"
Brenna reluctantly crawled to the edge of her bed and faced opposite of me. She lift the back of her sweater up and I stared blankly. Her lower back and shoulder blades were covered in jagged scars of all different sizes and textures.
"Brenna," I whispered.
"I would have told you sooner, I really would have, but you always had that goofy smile on you face whenever I talked to you," She whimpered as she lowered her sweater and faced me again, tears welling in her eyes. I crawled up beside her and wrapped my arms around her, petting her tangled black hair.
"It's better now," She said quietly. "The last time it happened was when I was eleven. After I got my Hogwarts letter, my mother and I had taken my father to get help. It seemed to have really helped him because the moment I stepped off the train that summer, he fell to his knees in tears, hugging me and telling me how sorry he was."
"That doesn't make it any better."
"It does to me," She snapped. "It takes a strong man to get help, but it takes a much stronger man to apologize for beating his own wife and child."
"If you've forgiven him, why don't you go home for Christmas?"
"Sydney lives with muggle foster parents. They think she goes to a boarding school in America. I stay with her so she doesn't get lonely. My parents tried to convince her to come and stay with us over the holiday, but she insisted that she was fine. Didn't want to be a bother. A true Hufflepuff, don't you agree?"
"As modest as they get," I laughed. "Why don't we go get her and have some lunch?"
"Lunch? I just woke up!"
"Time still passes while you sleep, sleeping beauty," I snorted. "It's half past noon."
Having my laptop back has been helpful and detrimental to my writing. It's easier to get chapters written but there are other distractions (ANIME) that keep me from actually writing them (YOUTUBE). I'll try to put those aside (NETFLIX) the best I can! Sorry for the wait!
