IMAGINE ｡ SIRIUS BLACK

15. SCARS

chapter fifteen; scars

TEMPEST THATCHER HATED WAKING UP IN THE HOSPITAL WING. As soon as her eyes flickered open and she saw Madame Pomfrey staring down at her, she knew full well where she was. Her body was aching, but her face was the most painful of all. Her heart was thudding in her ears and she felt like she was going to be sick, but that was the least of her problems.

"Morning, Pest," she heard the voice of Sirius Black beside her, and she sighed. She shifted around in her bed and glanced down, seeing that he was holding her hand. James and Peter were hanging behind him, watching her in concern. She blinked a few times before groaning, unsure why should hardly see out of her left eye.

"What happened?" She inquired, trying not to focus on the agonising pain in her cheek. "The last thing I remember is the Whomping Willow."

"That's what Madame Pomfrey told you?" James asked, to which she nodded. James scratched the back of his head. "She thinks you had gone down this morning for a walk and got caught by one of the branches. It took a bit of convincing, but we lied and said we had seen you leave, and when we went to find you when we woke up, you were on the ground unconscious."

"What really happened?" She pressed on, before looking behind the boys, realising that someone was missing. "Where's Remus? Is he okay? Did he get hurt?"

"No, but he...hurt you," Sirius replied softly, his gaze flickering over to her cheek before back to meet her eyes. "He's been crying up in the dorms for the last few hours, no one's been able to get him to come outside."

"I need to talk to him," Tempest insisted, trying to get up from her bed, only to have the boys push her back down. Tempest tried to frown but it was too painful to do so, yet she still resisted. "What are you doing? Let me go!"

"He's not in a good position to talk, Pest," James shook his head, walking to the other side of the girl and resting his hand on her shoulder. "You aren't either. Pomfrey needs to finish cleaning your cut before she closes it. Unfortunately you're gonna have a scar for a while, werewolf scratches tend to last."

"Oh," she mumbled, reaching up to touch her face, but Sirius used his free arm to stop her. She sighed, resting her head against the bed frame. "So how did I get it? The scratch, I mean."

"Remus scratched you when he transformed," Peter explained quietly, taking a wary step forward. "Sirius came up to help you while James held off Snivellus downstairs."

"Severus was there?!" Tempest gasped, her eyes widening considerably. James' grasp on her tightened a little to try and settle her down. "What?! Did he see anything? Did you stop him?"

"He tried to follow us, but I saw him coming through the Whomping Willow entrance on the map and stopped him when he made it to the trap door," the spectacled boy tried to respond in a relaxed fashion, but the story was anything but. "If he'd come a minute later, he'd probably be dead, and he knew it. He'd best not poke around in any of our business, if I say so myself."