Scars

Chapter Eleven-Catching Up

Naturally, Lily brings every bit of work I've missed to breakfast and briefs me on it while the boys pretend to fall asleep. It is a lot of work especially given how many advanced classes I'm in. I'm staring at the pile as Lily tells me twelve inches of parchment is due on how to identify a Wolfsbane potion when she realizes I've been silent.

"Arell? Hey, it'll be alright. It's a Friday, so we'll have a lot of free time today to work on it as well as the weekend!"

"And we'll all help you get it done fast. You'll be done by Sunday at the latest." James chimes in merrily across the table with a spare glance to Lily as if to impress her with his studiousness.

"And don't forget to eat," Peter says and puts another few piles of protein on my plate. Smiling, I shake my head.

"Okay, okay. It's just a lot all at once. Thank you so much for putting so much into this." I turn to Lily and she nods once.

"You'd do the same for me." She answers and my expression turns a little sheepish.

"No one takes as many notes as you, Red, but the intention would no doubt be the same." Sirius comments with a smile tossed our way. Lily rolls her eyes before concernedly looking to Remus who has been working on something all breakfast and neglecting his food.

"Remus, your food will get cold." She says and the line is so motherly I nearly smile.

"I'm nearly finished, ah!" There's a little spark of blue that skitters over his scarred hands before he grins. He lifts the quill in his hands and gifts it to me. "This'll help. It'll write whatever you say since you can't write by hand for a while." I take the long, speckled feather gratefully.

"Thank you. This is perfect. If you were closer, I'd kiss your cheek." He blushes slightly, but the color deepens when Sirius pecks his cheek in my stead.

"I've no clue why I continue to be around any of you." He sighs and gets up, walking out of the hall with a heavy sigh.

"Mm, the rest of us should be going too. Care of Magical Creatures is up." Sirius says and shoves the last of his eggs in his mouth as Lily shoves all my stuff in my never-ending bag. My stomach drops at his words.

"Oh god. The tree! Our group project! I'm so-"

"If you say sorry, love, I'll be forced to slap you." Sirius bids as we all walk out of the hall. "Fenway and I have managed not to murder one another, clearly." He goes on while my eyes roll.

"I'm thankful for that at least, but that isn't my only worry. Bowtruckles are fiendishly protective-"

"As we've learned. They've pelted me with bark!" James interrupts before I grab Sirius' sleeve to stop him while the rest move on. I continue with a pleading look to Sirius.

"My point is that they won't know me. I'll be all but a stranger to them and when I try to help, they'll pelt me with branches and I'll cause us to fail!" Sirius' hand smooths onto my good arm soothingly.

"Calm down, Mane. Whatever happens, this is a group project and we will figure it out as a group. Okay?" His hand moves up and brushes my hair back from my face as I take a deep breath.

"Right. Okay." I breathe and his blue eyes soften at my acceptance.

"You worry too much." He bids and my eyes roll as we start walking again.

"Uh-huh. It's not like I have anyone after me or bad stuff ever done to me. I have absolutely no reason to be worried about anything. Strange, isn't it?" I tease and now he rolls his eyes with a hand carding through his hair.

"Well, you don't have to be a smartass about it. We've got enough of that in this group." We both laugh softly as we look ahead and see our friends heading down the hill towards the edge of the woods. Lily punches James in the shoulder and my grin widens at the sight. "Arell." Sirius uses my name and my eyes snap to his clear blue. His brows are furrowed while his eyes stare at the ground and his teeth are working over his bottom lip. "In the store beside the CD's, you said you trusted me to watch your back." He says before his eyes look back to mine. "Did you mean it?"