PERFECT // JAMES POTTER

8. Back to School

Scarlet sighed as she finally closed the clamp of her trunk. The Christmas holidays were over and what a ride she'd been on.

She smiled softly at the sight of her new kitten curled up on her bed, asleep. Then, all of her emotion came crashing down.

She was an orphan.

The stabbing in her chest that she had tried to ignore for so long broke free as she sank to the floor in a fit of tears. The fact that she could never see her father's loving smile or hear her mother's kind word again shocked and saddened her to the core. Cleo heard the girls sobs as she had jumped down from her spot on the bed and nuzzled up to her owner, trying to comfort the weeping girl. She had tried so hard to put on a brave face throughout all of Christmas. She didn't want to let her sad behavior effect the Potters or Sirius. So she stayed quiet, building her emotion up during the day and venting at night. She dreaded going back to Hogwarts because she was so scared that she would effect the girls she shared a dorm with. She was scared that she would wake them up if she started crying at night so she had to keep her emotions at bay during the whole term.

Wiping her eyes and sighing, she recomposed herself again, checking to she if her mascara had smudged at all. After fixing it, she sat down on her bed with her cat, stroking her gently.

"Sorry if I've been a nuisance these past few days." She whispered to the animal.

Cleo just looked up and her with loving and forgiving eyes and meowed. Then, she heard a knock at her door.

"Come in!" She shouted through the door, putting on a brave face.

James' head appeared.

"Come on! We're getting ready to leave. Are you all packed?" He said.

Scarlet nodded and picked up her trunk and Cleo.

"Let's go." She smiled.

She followed James out of the room and down the stairs, smiling. They went out of the door to meet Euphemia, Fleamont and Sirius while James locked the front door.

"Is everyone ready? Then, grab on!" Fleamont said.

The three teenagers placed a hand on their luggage while also making sure they were touching one of the two adults. In a flash, they appeared outside of Kings Cross Station. The entered the busy train station and ran through the barrier to be met with the nostalgic sight of the Hogwarts Express.

"Has everyone got everything?" Euphemia asked.

The children shook their heads.

"Well, if we find anything we'll send it to you by owl." The older woman said, pulling her son into a tight hug.

James wriggled from her grasp and fled to his father. Euphemia embraced Sirius for a few seconds before letting go. Then, she turned to Scarlet.

"Will you be okay?" She asked, cupping the girl's cheeks.

Scarlet nodded and smiled through the pain. Euphemia held the girl close in a very tight hug.

"If you feel like it gets too much, just go to Professor Dumbledore and send us an owl. We'll always take you in." She said, smiling a warm, loving smile.

"Thank you." Scarlet thanked her.

Mrs Potter planted a small kiss on the girl's forehead and sent them off. They boarded the Express and searched for their usual compartment. When they arrived, Remus and Peter were already there, waiting. As soon as Scarlet got  through the door, both boys swept her into a squeezing hug.

"Are you alright? I heard about what happened." Remus said, looking worriedly into Scarlet's eyes.

"I'm fine, really." Scarlet said with a fake smile that only Remus seemed to pick up on since her gave a suspicious and concerned glance.

They all sat down and the the train started to move. They discussed what they had done in the Winter break - Peter went skiing with his parents and Remus had a normal Christmas. The old trolley lady visited and James bought five licorice wands for each of them. After eating her wand, Scarlet yawned and stretched. She rested her head on the window and started to doze off. When the boys could hear her spaced out and relaxed breathing, they all shared looks.

"How's she been holding up?" Peter asked, genuinely concerned for the girl's well being.

"Well, she seems fine during the day. She usually jokes around with me and laughs. But during the first few days she was really quiet and depressed." Sirius said, leaning back.

"I don't think she would get over her parent's death in a couple of days." Remus observed, remembering how tired she looked when she got on the train.

"Same, sometimes, I think I can hear her crying at night." James said, his eyebrows knitted together in worry.

So, she's staying strong during the day but breaks down at night." Remus said, "We need to help her."

The boys nodded in agreement and their eyes traveled down to the sleeping girl next to James, blissfully unaware about the current conversation.

Suddenly. a small mew distracted them.

"What was that?" Peter asked, looking around.

"Oh yeah! Sirius and I got her a kitten for Christmas." James said, pointing out the small ball of grey fluff that had curled up o her owner's lap.

"Aww, what's she called?" Remus asked, letting the kitten sniff his fingers.

"She called her Cleo." Sirius said, watching the interaction.

"That's a nice name." Peter said, smiling.

"Yeah." James agreed, looking down at Cleo, who had decided to curl up and go to sleep on Scarlet's lap.

No words were exchanged for a few minutes as the four boys watched the sight before them, faint smiles painted on their lips.