Heart Scars ||| Remus Lupin

Fifteen

"Bye Remus." Adhara hugged the tall boy as they stood in an empty compartment together. They had just arrived at Kings Cross station, and they had snuck off to bid each other farewell.

Remus held her tightly, afraid to let her go back to them, to that house, to the awful things they could do to her. The awful things she would allow them to do because she loved them.

Remus may not have had a family, but he knew that a family wasn't supposed to treat you the way Adhara's family treated her. No one should treat anyone the way her parents treated her.

"I need to go." She whispers in his ear, but he just shakes his head and holds her tighter.

"Not yet." He breathes in the scent he had come to love so much, that scent of apples and a sweet rose perfume.

"I have to go, my mother will lose it soon. I have to go, goodbye." She hastily kisses his cheek and pulls away.

"Bye Ara." He says sadly. She grins at him, and then walks away.

Her parents were easy to spot. The Black's and the Lestrange's were standing together, clad in black robes with hoods covering their faces. They were scary, and they liked it that way. No one dared to approach them.

"Mother." She greets the woman who looks at her with a sour expression.

"You've gained a few pounds, you'll be skipping meals for a few days." And then she seized Adhara's arm and apparated them back to the Black House.

Regulus arrived a few minutes later with their father, his face ashy and his eyes wide. Adhara went to ask what was wrong with him when her mother spoke up.

"Regulus, go upstairs. Adhara, there's tea in the kitchen waiting for us." Her voice was cold, colder than a voice should be when speaking to their children. It sent a shiver up Adhara's spine.

"Yes mother." Her and Regulus replied in unison, before going in separate directions. Her parents followed her into the kitchen.

They sat down at the long table, silence taking over them. Kreacher served them tea. Adhara sipped hers, expecting it to be very bland, but she smirked slightly when she realized Kreacher had slipped in some sugar for her.

"I'm sure as you know, Alecto Carrow was given a choice regarding her future." Her father says, and Adhara goes rigid in her seat, that part of her brain prickling again and whispering for her to run.

"She mentioned it." Adhara's voice remains even and cold, just like her mother had trained her. Don't let off any emotion, especially when you're afraid.

"You will not be offered the same liberties. You and Regulus will take the mark in three days time, and your mother will have an arranged marriage set for you by the time you graduate Hogwarts." Her father says, and she slams her cup down.

"I won't." She stands hastily, her fingers playing with the charm bracelet Sirius had given her. Her father slams his fist on the table, expecting her to flinch. She didn't, there wasn't much he could do anymore that would scare her.

Growing up in an abusive household had not made Adhara weak, it had made her strong. It had taken the fear that she should have felt and turned it into anger.

"You will do as you're told." Her mother snaps, but Adhara just shakes her head.

The smack resonates throughout the kitchen. Adhara's mother had moved so fast that she had barely processed it, and her hand was raised from the slap.

"I'm not afraid of you, mother." She goes to step away, but her mother seizes her wrist.

Adhara didn't know why whose five words made Walburga Black so angry, but they did. They went in through her ears and settled in her core like a virus. And Adhara was going to pay the price for saying them.

The plate smashed against her skull and shattered, falling to the floor in different pieces. Adhara was sure it was some old family relic, but her mother didn't seem to care in that moment.

Adhara looked to her father, but if she expected help, she was surely mistaken. He just slid off his belt and offered it to his wife.

Surprisingly, the woman shook her head, and pulled out her wand. Adhara's mother looked down at her body, which had crumbled pathetically to the ground.

"That method is, as we've seen, ineffective. I've got a better solution."

Fear gripped onto Adhara, and it would not let go.

///

Hours later and Adhara was laying in the floor. Her mother had dragged her into the living room, in the same spot she had hit Sirius with the belt. Adhara only wished her mother would swing the belt at her like she had her twin.

Crucio was an unforgivable curse for a reason. It felt like red hot knives were being pierced into Adhara's skin repeatedly, it felt like someone had covered her in gasoline and threw a match on her.

She wished she'd die as her mother cast crucio on her over and over again. She wished that the pain would stop, even if it meant that she would never open her eyes again.

There was blood leaking from her mouth from Adhara biting her lip, cheek, and tongue to prevent herself from screaming. She didn't want to scare Regulus.

She wondered how a mother could do this to their child. She vowed that if she ever had children, she would never raise a hand to them, let alone her wand. She wouldn't have wished this on her worst enemy.

"Adhara? Are you listening dear? Are we on the same page now?" Her mother asked as she walked around Adhara, like a lion circling its prey. Except Adhara's mother was no lion, she was a snake, a cowardice snake that preyed on people who she deemed weaker than herself.

Adhara went to mumble a response, but all that came out was a pained moan. Her head was crusty from dried blood, and her hair was matted.

"This seems to be ineffective. Maybe I shall fetch Regulus." Her mother turns to walk up the stairs, but her words have finally given Adhara the push she needed.

"Stop," she whimpers, "I'll do it."

Her mother looked down at her, a sick and twisted grin on her face. A triumphant look in her eyes.

And then once more for good measure, she cast the cruciatus curse on Adhara once more, just to remind the young girl of one thing.

Walburga Black didn't lose.