American Teen [George Weasley Love Story]

the aftermath

***trigger warning: abusive relationship + self harm***

When I made it to the library with Andre, he didn't realize anything was wrong. Or maybe he did, but he knew me better than to comment. I excused myself early, saying that I needed to go see Madame Pomfrey. He believed me, so I started to walk towards Gryffindor Tower. That is until I saw George. And I ran.

Eventually I ran into someone. I had to blink away the fresh tears that were rolling down my face in order to see who it was-Cedric. 

"Oh Hi Cedric." I said, wiping the tears from my eyes. 

"Margaret, what's wrong?" 

"N nothing" God I hate when I stutter while crying. It's so annoying. But at this moment I couldn't help myself. I was weak. I couldn't hold back any longer as I started sobbing into Cedric's shoulder as the feeling of never being good enough began to resurface. I had buried them deep within me after last time. But the tears wiped all the dirt away and left them uncovered.

"Obviously something is wrong. Come over here, let's sit"

So I told him everything. I told him about the fight with George. Then I started to explain why it completely ruined me. I even told him things that didn't have to do with it. He made it so easy, so I practically told him my life story. 

***trigger warning coming up in the next few paragraphs.***

"I guess it all starts with my mom and dad. My dad is abusive. He hit my mom a lot. My father is a muggle and felt threatened by the fact I was also a witch. He hated my mom for hiding the fact that she was before she married him. He had taken her wand and locked it away so she couldn't use magic.When I was seven, I had my first bit of accidental magic. I was doing origami when it began to move. That was the first day he ever hit me. The day I got my letter was one of the worst I had ever seen. We both had to go to the emergency room. We claimed we were in a car accident. We tried to avoid hospitals as much as possible. We rotated the ones we went to so they couldn't figure out what was happening. My mom would send me to my friend's house as much as she could. That's why Rue and I are so close. When I got to Ilvermorny, I felt incredibly guilty at leaving my mom behind.  But at Ilvermorny I was free. Even better, Rue was there with me. I would spend summers at her lake house by my mom's request. My Mom just wanted to protect me. " More sobs escaped my mouth as I clung to Cedric's shirt. 

"In fifth year, I got my first boyfriend. At first, he was amazing. Incredibly charming and handsome. I thought I loved him. Then one day, I told him I didn't want to sleep with him, and he hit me. Stuff like this kept happening. Eventually he wanted more, so he forced me into it by threatening me. I told him I wouldn't. And he hit me. It escalated until he was using the cruciatus curse on me to convince me to do what he wanted. I was forced to put on a fake smile and pretend everything was fine, when I was dying inside. Eventually, my best friend Rue discovered my secret when she found me sobbing in the bathroom, too tired to cover up my bruises again. She brought me to a teacher who I confessed the whole story to. He got expelled. But he managed to create a narrative at the school that the bruises on my arms were just my was of getting attention, and that I was faking the whole thing. The school was divided-a quarter of people believed me, but a lot more thought that the star pupil, captain of the quidditch team, prefect could never do something like this."

 "I think when my mom saw me in such pain that she realized she had to leave her own relationship. She knew someone at Hogwarts, so I came here instead this year. She blames herself, saying if she had had the strength to leave my father earlier I might have never been in this mess. She claims that she showed me it's ok for someone to hit you as long as they say they love you, and that's why I never told anyone. She doesn't realize she's so strong, and that these situations are impossible. They mess with your head and your heart and make you believe they are the only one capable of loving you..." At this point I couldn't go on. I loved my mom more than anything in this life. When she told me she blamed herself, I couldn't stand it. She says I gave her the strength to leave, but what she doesn't know is she gave me the strength to live.