Heart Scars

Thirty

They talked about thestrals in care of magical creatures. Kettleburn stood away from the creature, eyeing it warily, almost like he was afraid of the skeletal creature.

He asked who could see it. Adhara and Remus put their hands up, along with a few Slytherins and two Gryffindors.

The class was eerily quiet. No one joked or laughed or even spoke. She was sure half of them were hardly breathing. It was an awful thing to see a human lose their life.

Even worse to be the one who took their life.

Adhara was quick to rush off after class, sickness rising in her throat. She dropped down to her knees in the girls bathroom and emptied the contents of her stomach.

"Ara, are you in here?" It was James' voice.

He appeared behind her in the stall, and quickly gathered up her hair and pulled it behind her head. She vomited again. He began rubbing her back with his free hand.

After she had finished throwing up, James wetted a cloth and wiped her face. He patted some water around her face, and then pulled her to her feet. He hugged her. It was a hug that was so warm that she just wanted to melt into it and stay there forever. But she couldn't.

"Students always snogging in front of my toilet. Just to rub it in that I've never been snogged." A high pitched voice bellows, and both James and Adhara jump.

"We weren't snogging, Myrtle." James sighs.

"That's what they all say! We weren't snogging Myrtle, go away Myrtle, no you can't watch Myrtle!" She shrieks, and then she splashed into the toilet that Adhara had just vomited in. Adhara and James watch as she slowly pops her head back out.

"And next time you wish to throw up, pick a different toilet." And then she slowly sinks back down.

James and Adhara share a look before quickly rushing out of the bathroom.

///

The letter came on the last day of September.

Adhara Black's presence has been requested on Friday, the 6th of October at Lestrange Manor. Come alone.

It wasn't signed, but she knew who it was from. The dark lord.

He had never requested her alone.

She had always had Severus or Regulus by her side, except for the one time he had spoken to her in private. Even then Regulus and Severus had stood outside the door, ready to defend her if necessary.

She felt chilled to her core, and she fought to keep the sickness down.

She sat by the window of the common room nearly all night, her eyes turning bloodshot and her lip nearly chewed apart. Her mother would have a fit if she knew Adhara was showing signs of anxiety.

"Ara?" Her head turned lazily to the side, feeling heavier than normal. It was Regulus. Of course it was Regulus, her little brother always knew when she needed someone.

"You okay?" He settles himself on the bay window across from her, their legs entangling. She was reminded of when they were children, and her, Sirius, and Regulus had all tried to fit on the same branch of a tree at Lestrange Manor. Adhara had fallen and broken her wrist. Her parents refused to mend it as punishment for ripping her new stockings.

She thrusts the letter into his lap for him to read.

"And there were no other details?" He asks. She could see his Adam's apple bob in his throat. His voice was calm, but his eyes gave away how worried he really was. She shakes her head.