Out of the Shadows [Book Three]

Chapter Five:

[[AN: totally said i wouldn't do an authors note during the chapters but this is super short bc i ran out of time and i'm super sorry!  ALSO this book isn't nearly as popular as the last two, so what do you think i could do to make it better?  leave some comments for me please! dedicated to JulietRichan for being awesome and supportive on this trilogy <3 ]]

Chapter Five:

Sore didn't quite cover how I felt the following morning, but I was also confused; highly confused about how I had gotten back to the Gryffindor dorm after having passed out in the Headmaster's office. 

My head pounded in time with my heart, I felt like my eyes could literally pop from my skull at any moment and my entire chest area felt raw and tender like someone had taken a cheese grater to it.  I lifted my shirt slightly, grimacing at the faint but thick scars that stretched from the top of my left breast to the bottom of the right side of my ribcage.  Hatred flooded my veins as i thought of the marks I would have for the rest of my life because of Amycus Carrow; I thought I hated Umbridge for the few faint scars on my hands but that was nothing compared to how I felt about the male Carrow at that moment. 

I wasn't the only one he was treating this way either, but without a doubt he was treating me a hundred times worse than he would any assumed muggle-born would be treated. 

"What is that?!"  The panicked voice of Ginny Weasley startled me, causing me to drop my shirt back over my abdomen before glancing over at her.  I'd assumed she was asleep or in class but hadn't bothered to check because I honestly didn't care much where she was or what she was doing. 

"Scars," I answered her, wondering if she was daft to not have known what they were. 

"No, I knew that, I meant where did they come from?  They weren't there yesterday morning when we were changing!" 

Rolling my eyes, I attempted to not snap at her for her idiocy; it couldn't be helped, she was a Weasley after all.  "I had detention with Amycus last night."  Ginny's flaming hair came closer to my bed, her blue eyes widening as she took in the rest of my appearance.  If I felt as bad as I looked, I wouldn't be surprised if I looked like the Bloody Baron. 

"Are you okay?  Have you seen Madam Pomfrey yet?" 

I nodded, lying to her but not caring in the least; if i knew Snape half as well as I thought I did (which I didn't) then I knew that he wouldn't help me again if I went around blabbing to everyone that the Headmaster did actually have a heart.  If the time came when a detention led to me needing intense medical help then I'd need to keep my mouth shut about Severus Snape. 

"What time is it," I queried, my eyes darting to the window only to notice that a few rays of sunshine were peeking through the clouds telling me that it was much later in the day than I'd originally guessed. 

"Nearly time to get up anyway, we can make it early for breakfast.  Also, you should tell Neville about what happened, he may know some plants that could help ease the scaring or pain."

My chest felt oddly at the idea of having a reason to actually speak to Neville, telling him about what had happened would cause sympathy for me, which isn't something I wanted nor needed but what I did want was to have a conversation with the boy.  I wanted that very badly. 

I shook my head in an affirmative, signifying that I agreed with her before I got up out of bed and began tossing my sleeping clothes off; I didn't care that Ginny was there to see every part of me because I wasn't ashamed of my  body and I would teach myself to not be ashamed of my scars either. 

"Well hurry up," I said, seeing her still staring at me with wide eyes, no doubt seeing the many other smaller scars that I had on my back (at least I assumed there were scars, Amycus worked just as long abusing my back as he did on the front side of me).

We left our dorm room together in silence, neither of us feeling the need to fill it. That was one of the very few things I actually liked about the youngest Weasley; she didn't babble incessantly like most of the other female population.

After a meager breakfast of a slice of toast (it was the only semi-appetizing thing on the Gryffindor table) I left. I told myself it was because I had better things to do than sit and watch others eat but truthfully I was a bit scared that if I stayed longer then one of the Carrows would show up.  I'd never properly been scared of someone since I was eleven years old and living with the Dursley's and honestly it made me angry at myself that I would be scared of two low-level Death Eaters like the Carrows.  If anything, I decided, they should be absolutely terrified of me; I had made the decision to kill them and I would not go against my own decision.  Whether or not it killed me, I would not stop until both Carrows and Umbridge were dead.   I made a promise to myself and I would keep it without a moments hesitation.  

*

"Dittany," Neville said, his eyes trailing over the scars along my midsection and back, angrily.  I knew he wasn't angry at me because he had absolutely no reason to be but rather irate at what had been done to me.  "Though if these just happened yesterday, Madam Pomfrey probably already used it on you and it's unlikely to be able to do much more, however it's worth a shot.  I think there are some dittany plants in the Herbology classroom.  I'll check after class."  

Smiling at him, I nodded before lowering my shirt with barely a wince at the pain I felt at the movement.  There was a good deal of damage but Snape had managed to do an amazing job at healing me and he would probably have to keep helping me until this week of detentions were over.  If last night was just the first out of five days of detention with Amycus Carrow, I hated to know what he had for the grand finale.  

I followed Ginny to our Muggle Studies class, making sure not to so much as glance at Alecto so that she couldn't have the satisfaction of seeing the slight fear I knew would show through in my eyes.  I wasn't as good as many others in hiding my emotions, I knew that first hand, so I couldn't risk it.  Neither Carrow would know how they affected me or my emotions, no matter the pain and suffering they put me through.  

I was stronger than that, I would have to be.