Blood Traitor Lestrange (James Potter Love Story)

Chapter four

James yawned loudly and stretched his arms out over his head. He then sighed contentedly and placed his hands on his stomach, smiling sleepily as he said, "That was good."

"That it was, my dear Prongsie," Betty replied with a small, crooked smile. The Welcoming Feast had ended and the five teens were now lying in their beds, Betty laying next to James. (It was a tradition that she would sneak into their dorms the first, and last day of Hogwarts) getting ready to call it a night. Now safely in the boy's dormitory, Betty could feel the tension that had built up in her body slowing leaking away. Darkness was slowly seeping protectively around her, luring her to sleep. She rolled over so she was on her side facing James, and she closed her eyes as she sighed softly.

James studied his best friend carefully, concern showing plainly in his eyes as they raked over every feature of his best friend's face. Her usually glowing skin and lightly flushed cheeks were now unnaturally pale, contrasting starkly with the dark circles under her eyes. Her normally petite yet curvy body looked thinner- too thin, and James knew that under her shirt her torso was probably scattered with multi-colored bruises. The differences were subtle, but to someone who knew her as well as James did, they were painstakingly obvious.

James sighed sadly and glanced around, making sure Remus, Sirius, and Peter had their hangings shut before crawling gently nudging her shoulder.

"Silks" he whispered.

"Mhmm?" his friend mumbled back, eyes still closed.

James hesitated slightly before saying, "Is there any way I can get you to go see Madam Pomfrey?"

Betty's eyes flickered open and she sat up, looking at James' face. She opened her mouth to ask why, but before she could say anything James interrupted her and said, "Don't ask why, Bets, you know why."

Betty looked at him sheepishly and abruptly snapped her mouth shut. She then sat up, James doing the same, the two staring at each other, "I don't need to go see her, James. It's not that bad, really."

James sat down and gave her a calculating look, saying, "If it's not that bad...then let me see."

"What?" She asked him incredulously. "James, it's only my cheek-"

"It's not only your cheek, Silkflop, and you know it." James said sternly. His expression then turned pleading. "Please?" he whispered. When he saw Betty hesitate, he spoke again. "please, let me help you."

Betty looked sadly at him and said, "I don't think you can, James."

James turned away, a pained look on his face. He closed his eyes, feeling miserable, angry, and hurt. He heard Betty suck in a breath, but he still didn't look at her as he said, "Fine, Betty, fine." He stood up and made to walk back to ask Sirius if he could share his bed, but a hand shot out and grabbed his wrist. James turned and looked into Betty's face, which wasn't looking at him, but her arm was pulling him back down onto the bed. James pulled the hangings shut before sitting back down and casting a silencing charm. He then looked at Betty, waiting patiently for her to continue.

Betty looked up at him hesitantly, not meeting his eyes. "If I show you, will you stop worrying about me?"

James shook his head and said, "No, I'll still worry, but... I'll stop nagging you to go see Madam Pomfrey, as long as you let me heal anything I can."

Betty nodded and stared blankly at her duvet for a moment before slowly tugging her shirt over her head. She had several small bruises dotting the right side of her collar bone, and further down her torso, her entire left side was a nasty shade of purple, turning an ugly blue and yellow around one rib, in particular, the ones she couldn't cover up with the concealment charm.