𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐲 / James Potter x Reader

Ch28 ★ Beat and Bruised

chapter song:
The Night We Met - Lord Huron

The rest of the two weeks were nothing short of a nightmare for y/n. The warmth and joy she had briefly experienced at the Potter mansion seemed like a distant memory, years away, a cruel illusion now replaced by the harsh reality of her life at Gray Manor.

The days blurred together in a haze of hunger and isolation. Meals were sparse, often just thin soups that did little to satisfy her hunger. Her stomach growled constantly, a painful reminder of her punishment.

Her room became both a prison and a refuge, the only place where she could let her guard down, away from the critical eyes of her parents. The bruises on her body were a testament to their cruelty, each mark a reminder of her disobedience in their eyes.

Occasionally, she was forced to leave the confines of her room to attend gatherings of the elite pureblood families. These events were a grotesque masquerade, where she was expected to smile and socialize, hiding the pain and fear that simmered beneath the surface. Standing beside her parents and Regulus, she played the part of the dutiful daughter, masking her bruises with spells and her anguish with a practiced smile. Only so much could hide the bruises. Proof of physical pain is removed easily, but the pain of cursed and spells is not reversed easily. The sad but true fact was that this was normal for every child who attended the idiotic gatherings.

Regulus's visits were the only bright spots in her otherwise bleak existence. He was her sole comfort, the only one who understood the true extent of her suffering. Their conversations were whispered, cautious, but they provided a small measure of solace.

But despite his presence, the longing for her true home never faded. Hogwarts was where she belonged, where she could be herself without fear. The cold, unfeeling walls of Gray Manor felt like they were closing in on her, each day more suffocating than the last.

She counted down the days until she could return to Hogwarts, clinging to the hope that soon, she would be back in the warm embrace of her friends. The letters from James were a lifeline, each one a promise of a better future, even if it was a future they couldn't share openly.

She just wanted to go back to her real home. Hogwarts. Not the cold confines of the walls in her house. She wanted to go back to the night she met the real James, or even back to the night filled with terror, when angry tears filled her eyes. As long as she could go back and be with James.