RIVER LUPIN WAS a cat with her own mind. So, Remus chose to simply accept the fact that the cat, who had grown fairly but was still tiny, jumped off of his lap and took to strolling around the train instead of hanging out with the four Marauders.

Betty was just returning inside the compartment that she shared with Inez, Marlene, Lily and Pandora when the cat arrived, stroking herself against Betty's leg and then walking inside the compartment with her.

"Ah, look what the cat dragged in," said Inez with an amused smile on her face. "Literally."

"I wonder what she's doing here," said Betty, allowing the little cat to jump up in her lap as she sat down. However, River, as stated previously, had a mind of her own, so the next thing Betty knew the cat was walking back and forth between all of the girls.

"Where's Claudia?" Lily asked, receiving her fair share of cuddles from the little bundle of joy, who most certainly wanted both her mum back as well as some treats.

"No idea," Inez shrugged.

"I think she's with Remus," Pandora said, patting the cat on the head and giggling slightly because River looked quite funny as she did so.

"I just walked past their compartment," Marlene said with a frown. "I don't think she was in there."

"That's strange," Betty said. "Maybe we should go check for her and bring River back?"

"That we should," Inez said quickly, grabbing River from where she sat on Pandora's lap and heading out the door without another word.

"Is she alright?" Lily asked concernedly.

"She's worried," said Marlene. "For Claudia. Has been all Easter."

"She's not the only one," Betty said quietly, standing up and heading right after Inez.

Eventually, after a walk of both of them panicking internally wondering where Claudia was, they spotted the four boys sitting inside a compartment - three of them chatting and one of them bouncing his leg nervously.

Of course, this caused nothing but furthermore panic on the two girls, due to the fact that Claudia was indeed not in there.

"Where's Claudia?" Inez asked, opening the door abruptly and handing the cat to Peter immediately, who had no idea how to even hold one in the first place, bringing a stressed look over his face.

"She's not with you?" Asked Remus.

"No."

That was the only word the boy needed to hear before he stood up and walked out of the compartment in search for his girl, who had been responding but also doing so in a slightly concerning way.

He tried not to overthink it and assume that something was wrong. But it clearly was, and he knew it deep inside.

"I'll go help him," said James with a tight smile aimed at the two girls, standing up as well and heading in the other direction of the train.

Looking into each compartment through their tiny windows, both Remus and James were yet to spot Claudia.

Well, that was until James walked past a toilet and by simple luck heard a familiar quiet voice mumble calming words to herself.

"It's okay," the girl repeated to herself over and over, trying not to panic inside the small loo as she thought about how Evan was on that very train, and how much she thought her friends would hate her if they knew that she had lied.

And she also thought about how much Remus would hate her if he knew that someone else had touched her body.

Which, of course, didn't really make any sense since it was without her consent, but Claudia couldn't possibly do anything but blame herself for it all.

She hated herself for leaving that damn glass of champagne despite Regulus' warning. She hated herself for smoking that damn cigarette.

And she hated herself for not being strong enough to push Evan away.

Claudia felt as if she was drowning. It was like all the noise was drained out, at the same time as everything was as loud as it could be.

She went further and further down with no one, for now, to pull her back up except herself.

And she wasn't strong enough.

She was tired and there was almost comfort in drowning and going further down. At least, well there, she wouldn't be able to feel herself disappear any longer.

But at the surface, there was light.

And this time around it came in the living form of James Potter.

You see, Claudia had of course locked the door, but a simple charm did wonders and soon enough his kind and gentle voice called out to her from the other side.

"Claudia? Is that you?"

She didn't answer, but the abrupt stop of comforting words and the small sniffle that either came from the unfortunate cold that was creeping up on her or the emotional mess she was, caused James to know just who it was.

And, due to the calming words, the sniffle and the lack of answers, James knew that something had in fact gone wrong during Easter.

"I'm coming in, alright?" He said, opening the door despite Claudia telling him not to.

He was, as expected, met by the sight of the girl, but he knew instantly that she hadn't slept a wink in a long time, because her eyes were awfully tired and her face awfully dull from where she stood in the tiny loo. Her hair was looking both dry and greasy at the same time, and she was wearing dark clothes that covered every little bit of her body; the only skin showed was her hands and face because the red and purple marks on her skin made her feel nothing by disgusting.

"Merlin, you look like hell," said James, knowing that he could easily cheer her up by being his ignorant self. However, he dropped that sarcastic smile on his face as soon as she only gazed at him nervously, refusing to meet his eyes.

"You could say that," she said in an almost whisper-like voice. "I did just get back."

James frowned deeply, shifting his eyes from the girl to the handle of the door, and shutting it - an action that caused him to not notice the way Claudia was backing away so that she wouldn't be too close to him.

"What happened?" He asked simply, kneeling down in front of her as she sat down on the toilet.

"Nothing," said Claudia, still refusing to meet his eyes.

James chuckled, "You really expect me to believe that?"

"Dunno," Claudia shrugged, crossing her arms and keeping herself at the furthest distance from the boy as she could. "Why don't you?"

"Because I know that you aren't fine and that something happened," James sighed. "A person doesn't look that miserable for no reason. So, tell me what's going on."

"No."

James chuckled yet again, "It would be easier for the both of us if you just told me, because I think we both know that you will do so one way or another. But if you're willing to put up with me tormenting you for the rest of the journey back, the carriage ride, dinner and then for every waking minute afterwards, that's fine."

Claudia finally looked up into his eyes, and for a moment she considered telling him everything, but then she decided against it just as he gained some hope that she would.

"It's nothing," she said again, breaking their eye contact and hearing a loud sigh come from James.

"Alright then," the boy said, standing up again. "Then I guess I'll go get Remus."

Knowing just what buttons to push, James turned around, and just as he had presumed, the next word came from Claudia.

"No!" She yelled. "Don't get him!"

"I won't if you tell me what's going on," James said, turning back around to face her and giving her a look that only made her sigh as well.

"I..."

"You...?"

"I smoked for the first time."

James blinked.

"You smoked for the first time?"

"I smoked for the first time," Claudia nodded.

"Oh, okay," James said. "What else?"

"What do you mean what else?"

"Well, I don't think smoking a cigarette can stress a person out this much. Even if that person is you. So, what else?"

"I...had a lot of champagne."

"Interesting. What else?"

Claudia paused for a moment, trying to find some air, and then she gave up. "Would you just stop asking questions like these?!"

"Why?"

"Because!"

"Because why?"

"Please just leave me alone!" She yelled. "I don't want to talk!"

James looked taken aback by hearing the usually soft spoken girl actually yell at him, so much that he took a step back and decided to take a different approach.

However, before he could apologise for pushing her so much, the girl slipped past him without even so nudging against him, and then she was out the door,  slamming it against James' nose.

The boy knew there was no way that he would just let her leave that easily, so he opened it and went after her straight away, only to find her standing with Nicolas and Regulus in the hallway, having clearly bumped into them just as she left.

It was clear to James that the two Slytherins were in fact trying to calm Claudia down, not letting her walk past the two.

"What's going on?" James asked, his voice softer and more understanding this time around. "Claudia?"

"I thought that I made it clear that I don't want to talk," she said, her tired eyes growing more exhausted by the second.

But then, before James could even attempt to prove his worried state, Nicolas grabbed Claudia's arm and led her into their shared compartment.

"Don't touch me," James could hear Claudia snap at Nicolas as Regulus held the door up for him.

James walked inside, confused and slightly put off due to him being in the same compartment as Sirius' brother, and then he sat down in front of Claudia and Nicolas, Regulus sitting down next to him.

"Claudia, you're going to have to tell someone," said Regulus calmly. "Potter doesn't seem like such a bad place to start, right?"

•••

"Where the hell are they?" Remus asked for the millionth time as he sat in the Great Hall with Sirius and Peter, his leg bouncing up and down.

"Maybe you should chill out," Sirius suggested, but the glare he received from his friend told him that he definitely shouldn't have said that.

"You've been searching like a mad man," said Peter. "There's no use when James has the map. Just try and eat something, okay? Claudia and James would both want that."

"Merlin," Sirius chuckled. "Now you're talking about them like they're dead."

Remus glared yet again, receiving an apologetic smile from Sirius.

"Why aren't you two worried?" Remus asked in an annoyed tone. "Why is no one worried?!"

"Of course we're worried," Sirius said with an almost pitying smile. "But Lily did tell us that she saw them leave the train, so they're obviously fine! Maybe they're just off snogging or something?"

Remus didn't even have the energy to glare at Sirius this time around, because now he finally spotted James walking into the hall with a deep frown on his face.

However, unlike what Remus had expected, James did not walk towards them. Instead, the boy opted for the blue and bronze table.

All three remaining Marauders watched as James spoke quietly with Betty, Inez and Pandora, and then they watched as all four of them looked straight at Remus.

And then they stood up and walked out of the hall.

Tired of waiting and being left out of something that clearly was going on with Claudia, Remus stood up so fast that Sirius and Peter had no chance to stop him, which was something that they had been told to do after their conversation with Lily, who was the one person James trusted in keeping Remus away for as long as Claudia wanted to.

But, Sirius and Peter had failed, and soon enough he had sneaked into the Ravenclaw tower and up the stairs into Claudia's dorm.

And inside, three girls were having together having a one-sided conversation as Claudia stared out of the window and James sat in a corner, nervously biting his fingernails.

"What's going on?" Remus asked, startling everyone but Claudia, who had been expecting this and only shut her eyes as she tried to not fall apart in front of him.

"Remus," Pandora said. "I think you should leave-"

"Why should I leave?" The boy asked confusedly. "What's going on?"

"You really should leave, mate-"

"Why?!" Remus exclaimed. "Whatever it is that's going on, I do think that I have the right to at least talk to my girlfriend!"

"Remus..." Inez warned, but the shaky intake of breath from next to her interrupted whatever she was about to say next.

"Go," Claudia said. "I can talk to him."

"Claudia-"

"Go," the girl repeated sternly, because she had already made up her mind. "Now."

The group all shared weary glances, and then they reluctantly headed towards the door.

"We'll be right outside," said Betty. "You're gonna be fine."

Remus frowned at those words, because what could possibly cause her to not be fine around him? What could possibly cause them all to feel the need to protect her from her own boyfriend?

Well, Remus was soon to know why.

"What's going on?" He asked for what felt like the milliont time, standing right by her this time around and grabbing her hand, only for her to remove herself from it.

"I'm sorry," she apologised.

"Did I do something wrong?"

"No," she replied. "You've done nothing wrong. It's just...I made a mistake."

"You made a mistake?"

"I did," she nodded. "It's, uh. It's hard to say."

"You don't have to," Remus said assuringly, but the worried look on his face told the girl otherwise.

"There was an Easter ball," she began. "A few days ago. And, uh, I just...I had a lot of champagne."

"What happened?"

"I...I didn't mean to let him do it, I swear," Claudia said, her face turning into one of nothing but remorse and stress. "I couldn't get him off of me."

"Get who off of you?" Remus asked, panicking inside. "Claudia, who?"

"Evan."

And just like that, Remus' heart broke just as the glass of champagne had done as Claudia made her way to the bathroom the very night it all had gone down.

Remus couldn't breathe. And he was sure that Claudia couldn't either as the tears that had bottled up began to spill and her throat closed up.

"What?" Was the first thing he said, wishing that it was all a dream.

"E-Evan drugged me, and I...I was in the bathroom and then he came inside and...I'm so sorry, Remus," she croaked out. "I-I just couldn't...I should've made him go. And I didn't! I let him touch me and I just...he kept touching me and he tried to...he was about to, Remus. And he had his fingers...inside of me and I just...I'm so sorry!"

Remus knelt down before her, still unable to breathe yet not focusing on anything but her, because that was just what he was supposed to do.

"Why are you apologising?"

She met his sad eyes with her tired ones, "Because you probably hate me now. I let him do it, Remus. I didn't-"

"You didn't let him do anything," Remus said sternly. "Do not ever say that you're sorry because this is not your fault and you are not to blame."

"But I-"

"Don't," Remus said, him too shedding a small tear because he hated what the world was doing to her. "You haven't done anything wrong."

"You're not angry with me?"

"No! I'm not angry with you, my love. I never could be. You haven't down anything wrong."

And by those words, Claudia cried even more. However, the ice had melted a little and Remus knew that there was a small tinge of relief inside her right now.

But, Remus could not think straight. Getting her concerned thoughts out of the way, the boy saw nothing but a broken girl who had been hurt and used so many times, over and over, to the point of near destruction.

He saw his girl, who just a week ago had been so full of light and now seemed to be drained of all of it.

So, he found himself feeling a million things. But, one emotion took the upper hand.

Anger.

So, without knowing what to say, the boy stood up and declared that he needed to find Rosier and, well, murder him.

But, Claudia wouldn't have that, so before he could leave, she surprised both of them by taking his hand.

"Don't go," she pleaded, the tears continuing to pour. "I need you here. Don't go."

Remus' face softened immediately, and he knelt down before her again, still holding onto her hand.

It was a funny thing, the way Claudia assumed that even so touching him again would feel like burning herself blue, but it felt nothing like that.

It was still hot, sure, but it wasn't a feeling of hurt or pain. It wasn't Evan Rosier's touch.

It was Remus Lupin's touch, and even if she didn't wish to be touched, that was the one person who could make it feel a little less unbearable for just a moment of two hands intertwined.

She wasn't going to stay like that. No, she would soon let go and fall asleep in her bed as he kept a careful eye on her - but there was fire inside of her and she wasn't going to let Evan ruin the best thing she knew.

She wasn't going to let him put out her fires.

She needed her time to heal, and she needed her time to understand herself again and gain the safety back that she had felt before.

But she was so loved. And maybe it wouldn't be impossible.

However, as she continued to sleep dreamlessly, Remus couldn't do anything but to go over the more detailed descriptions of what had happened in his mind.

And, next thing he knew, he was walking straight towards Evan with his fists clenched and his eyes narrowed.

"Rosier!" He yelled, startling the boy with an everlasting smirk so.

And then, before Evan could even comprehend that the Lupin boy was right before him, Remus punched him square in the face.

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