And There Were Always Two... - oc x r. lupin & oc x s. black

- 33 -

Mavis strutted through the halls of Hogwarts completely alone. The girl had no friends, no acquaintances, and no one who was brave enough to talk to her. She hadn't talked to Ashley since that day in January back in 1976, it was May of 1977. Since then everything had changed.

Between Dorcas, Lily, and the posse and Ashley, Mavis couldn't stay in the dorm anymore. She directly contacted McGonagall and was moved into her own room at the top of the tower.

None of the Marauders would even look at her now and Sirius avoided her like she was vermin. Sitting through potions for the remainder of fifth year had been torture and no matter how hard she begged Slughorn would not let her switch spots. She skived off half the classes and almost failed the semester.

Over the summer she stayed with her father while Ashley stayed with her mother. Nobody objected. She had never felt so alone. Before she'd had Ashley she'd had James, but now both of them were gone. Mavis locked herself in her room and ate nothing for days.

Every time she'd think about something remotely related to her old life she'd start crying. Ice cream. Werewolves. Leather jackets. She cried herself to sleep, choking on self-pity.

I understand what it is to hate myself now, she'd think to herself, now I understand it Sirius.

But she returned for her sixth year a completely changed person. Appearance, personality, everything. She was unrecognisable. Her curls were dyed black and cut into a bob. The thick, black eyeliner she used to wear had worn out into a precise thin line paired with mascara. She shed her baggy hoodies and oversized carpenter's jeans. Plaid pencil skirt with fitted blazers made her look like a secretary, but she didn't mind it. Doc Martens was replaced with Mary Janes. Her bulky backpack was replaced with a leather satchel.

She even threw away her emergency pack of cigarettes.

Mavis threw herself into her studies. Her N.E.W.T. classes were outstanding. She'd talked herself into the ones who's O.W.L.s she'd failed. There was a shadowy corner of the library in which you could always find her studying behind a wall of books.

On the outside, she looked untouchable. She walked with her chin high and raised her hand in class to answer questions in a witty and slightly bitter manner. But inside, she felt like she was clawing at stone walls with her bare hands while winds of thoughts pushed her down.

From January of 1976 till the end of the school year she didn't allow herself to think about what had happened, how she'd reacted, because deep down she knew she was wrong. She'd been horrible. But if she admitted that herself while she was in school she was afraid she'd never come out of her dorm again. Carving herself up was already tempting, why play with fate?

But during the summer she'd let those thoughts she'd shoved deep down resurface. How could she have been so brutal? So utterly inhumane? She'd called Remus subhuman, for Merlin's sake. There was a reason for it of course, but not a fair one. As Ashley had tried to tell her, he was still the same person. It was all seated down in the abyss of her scarred memory.

July of 1971, her father had dropped her off at Diagon Alley to buy her things for her first year of Hogwarts. He'd had some business to take care of and even though young Mavis had been scared witless of venturing into the wizarding world alone for the first time, she hadn't told him.

She'd walked around for an hour before she mustered up the bravery to go into one of the stores. After that, it was a snowball effect. She got braver and braver, and after she got her wand she felt unstoppable.

That was her mistake.

She stumbled into Knockturn Alley. Some old hag tried to grope her within seconds, so she ran into the nearest store. She ran for the counter to ask for directions back when the customer standing there slowly turned around.