𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 | Marauders

⁴⁵, Healing friendships

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭

chapter forty-five; healing friendships
"-I was more than happy to figure out that I could get rid of my failure."

Lucy Reese Collins

"WE ARE GATHERED HERE TODAY FOR THE TRIAL OF XAVIER ALEXANDER COLLINS, who is possibly guilty of the murder on the Murphy family, Keith and Johnson Merriweather,...-" I've stopped listening and now I am looking at the girl I call my best friend. Tears pool in my eyes when I see the shocked expression on her face. She won't forgive me. "Bring the prisoner forward." He comes up in a cage and I have never seen my dad like this. I stand trying to stare at him longer but both Bella and Theodore push me down again. They are here for support. I keep staring at the man I am supposed to call my dad when his eyes meet mine all I see is hate and somehow that breaks my heart. We start with a small summary of the crimes he committed and to be honest I can't believe my dad did all this. "We will call forward the first witness. Lucy Collins." I know I should get up now, but I can't. I don't know why but I am frozen in my place. "Miss Collins, are you sure you are up for this?" I don't know where to look while I start to panic. Jo moves closer and whispers. "If you don't want to do it, then don't. You have to do what feels right." I smile a bit to her and get up after.

My dad looks at me and I can't see anything about the dad I had years ago. I sit down on the chair and look at the man. "Miss Collins if you could please explain to me what mister Collins did to you... Try to speak clearly." I close my eyes for a moment and sigh. "The abuse started years ago... Every time I did something wrong when I broke something or tried to get in touch with my friends he hit me or started to throw things to my head. Only after I turned 13 the punishment would get more serious. One time, when my mom wasn't home he used the Crusiatus curse on me because I accidentally broke a plate... When my mom found out she was furious but he didn't care... Last year when I tried to get out he caught me when I freed our elf. He tortured me and carved the words failure on my arm because he- I don't know why- I just-" "You want to know why?" He suddenly interrupts me coldly while staring deeply into my eyes. "The moment I got on the right sight of the war, I got an assignment to kill all those who can be more powerful than the dark lord, including the Everleighs. At Lucille's funeral I found out you are one too and I was more than happy to figure out that I could get rid of my failure." It feels like the oxygen gets stuck in my throat and for a moment I can't breathe. I bite on my cheek trying not to cry. "Does that hurt? That I would kill my own daughter? I would do everything for the cause, I would even poison my own wife knowing she was one of them-" "Can someone shut him up?!" Says the judge as he looks at the guards. One of the guards walks up to him and gags him. "Miss Collins?" But I can't move. Bella quickly walks up to me and helps me back to my seat. My emotions are all over the place and I can't think straight. We sit down and Jo comes closer. "I am so sorry, Luce. I-" "Just hug me," I whisper with a clear vibration in my voice. She quickly pulls me in and it takes all my energy not to start crying. "It's okay to cry... I love you, Luce." "I love you too, Jo."

~

We are back at Hogwarts and the daily prophet couldn't wait to put an article about my dad in their paper. Currently, everyone from Hogwarts is reading how they caught one of You-know-who's followers and how that person is Xavier Collins. People stare at me in the hallway and I am trying to ignore it. I walk outside and see some of my friends, but not the boy I am looking for. "Luce?" I at the boy in front of me. "Are you okay?" I slowly shake my head and hug him tight. He seems surprised for a moment but he quickly hugs me back. "He killed them all, Nathaniel. He even killed my mom. He wanted to kill me-" I break down in his arms and his grip tightens. "Sst I am here for you, Luce... It will be fine." He whispers in my ear while ignoring all the people who stare at us.

Josephine Lyla Merriweather

WHILE STILL HOLDING MY BESTFRIEND STEADY IN MY ARMS, the minister states the verdict. "Now that we've collected all the evidence against Xavier Collins, he will be condemned with a life sentence in Azkaban." And he slams the hammer on the table. That's the moment that people start leaving the room. I can feel how Lucy is frozen. "Luce?" I whisper. Silence. I get a bit startled when I feel a hand on my shoulder. Hudson and behind him stands August. "We should get going, Jo." He speaks. I turn back to Lucy to take her hand and gently pull her up. I take her in another hug before slowly letting go and looking in her eyes. "Listen to me, I'm not going to lie to you, I don't know how it feels, but I know this is hard for you. And I just want you to know that I care about you, and I don't want you to go through this alone, so please talk to me when you're ready." She slowly nods hugging me once more.

Bellatrix lays her arm around Lucy, slowly walking her to the exit. Just as I want to walk behind them I stop and turn around. I can see not only the guy I want to talk to but also Theodore, the person I'm trying to avoid. "Hudson." He looks at me and stands still before me. "Mhm?" I stay silent and open my hands showing him a small flower, he glances at it for a moment before giving me a sweet smile, one that I know all to well. "Will you accept this flower as a peace offering?" This was the kind of flower that started our friendship somewhere at the beginning of our first year.

"Hey!" I turn around a bit startled by the boy's voice, his hand rests on my shoulder while his piercing brown eyes stare at me. He gets up straight and holds out the flower, I was wearing in my hair just a minute ago. "You dropped this. Wouldn't want you to go without it today." He smiles. Summer had almost come to an end, soon the flowers would die out and the leaves would turn a different colour. "Thank you,-" "Hudson. My name is Hudson." He smiles. "Nice to meet you, Hudson, I'm Josephine, but my friends call me Jo." I smile at him. "Let me put this back in place." He says stepping closer and putting the flower back in my hair.

"That was an easier time wasn't?" He states, knowing I also was thinking back to that specific moment in time. "Can we start being friends again? I miss your stupid jokes." But I actually enjoyed his stupid jokes very much. It brightened my day every time. He always knew how to put a smile on my face, but I lost that by breaking him and myself in the process. "You're still wearing my bracelet?" He states. "I never took it off." I nonchalantly confess. Only for him to give me a simple caring smile. And then the unexpected happens, something I needed without knowing, he pulls me into a hug. Making me feel save again.

And at that moment I can feel everything flooding over me. My feelings and opinions about all of this. I know he can see it in my eyes when pulling back. I want to be alone, but I can't because I have other things to worry about. I need to take care of Lucy, I can ignore my feeling for a little bit longer. I turn around and start walking again, Hudson following up real quick. "How are you?" I ask quietly. "I- I'm fine, you?" "Just fine." I lie, I haven't been fine for a long time. But I won't say that out loud because then it is going to be a problem that I can no longer ignore.

That night we're back home, or at least the house that is now my mothers home. Hogwarts is my home, Lucy's home, my friends home. I didn't grow up here, this is a house where new memories will be made. Lucy's room is on the other side of the house, my mother's room is downstairs. There is no trace of Keith or Dad in this house. No spots that I hide whenever we played hide and seek. It's now a place where I stay for a couple of days or weeks before returning home. As always I don't fall asleep easily. So many thoughts on my mind. But eventually, I doze off into the darkness of the night.