TW! MORE EXPLICIT MENTIONS OF ABUSE !!!!!!!!!!! INCLUDING BLOOD!

WANT TO KNOW a fun fact about Louisa Maple? She created her own spells. She was quite the talented which, who created both curses and simple spells.

So, Claudia was not surprised when Louisa followed along after her father dragged her up to the second floor.

They pulled down the curtains, casted a silencing charm and locked the door as Claudia stood and watched with fear in her eyes.

"First you fraternised with people we have specifically informed you to not speak with," Charles began as he paced back and forth, Louisa standing in the corner with a smug look on her face.

"Then you assaulted your own brother," he continued, causing Claudia to roll her eyes. "And then you disarmed your own father."

"I didn't assault him," she retorted. "I only punched him. And as for you, I was just making sure you didn't cause any unnecessary harm on a boy from such a noble family as the Blacks. Wouldn't want a bad reputation now, would w-"

"ENOUGH!" Charles snapped as he walked towards her and stared her right in the eyes. "Do you realise how lucky you are?! To be apart of this family?! To carry my name?!"

"It's my name too," Claudia replied with narrowed eyes. "Just get on with what you're about to do, no need to waste your time."

And suddenly, Louisa did just what Claudia had told them to do.

A red light came out of her wand without her even uttering a single word, hitting Claudia right in the gut.

She fell to the floor as her skin broke open, small splatters of blood coming through her originally white dress. She let out a tiny shriek due to the excruciating pain, and clutched her hand to her bleeding stomach.

It felt like a hole had been left in her gut. Almost as if a black hole was consuming her entire body as she tried to stand; but failed.

"Shit," was the only thing she said in a whisper as she fell back down and saw just how much blood she had already lost.

She looked like a newlywedded bride in a horror film as her dress turned red.

Then, she was hit by the curse yet again in the same place, doubling it all up and causing more blood to seep through her skin.

She screamed this time. An eerie, ferocious scream that would sound like nails against a chalkboard to any other person than the two standing in that room watching everything go down.

Claudia found herself wishing that she could just go unconscious so she wouldn't be forced to go through it as it became worse.

It hurt as if someone was stabbing her repeatedly with a pointed knife, doing it relentlessly.

Louisa was doing it relentlessly. And she didn't stop.

She continuously threw the curses on Claudia, all over her body. She was bleeding from her stomach, her thigh, and her chest as she wriggled around on the floor like a bird without its wings - because there was no way that she was going to be able to get away.

She didn't even beg her to stop. She just screamed and cried - but she didn't once tell her to stop. There wasn't a reason to do so, because Louisa wouldn't stop no matter what she said.

Her father wouldn't have done it either. But, he was more of a coward than Louisa had ever been. That's why he only stood and watched his daughter practically bleed to death. He didn't do anything because he wanted to help Claudia, he actually didn't do anything because he wanted to help Louisa.

Claudia simply just tolerated it. She tolerated the pain, the bleeding, and the tears rushing down her cheeks.

That was the saddest part of it all - she allowed it to happen. She almost accepted it.

Another light came out of Louisa's wand. This one was a streak of black. Claudia had never seen that colour of magic before.

And that's when she knew this was a new spell.

Claudia wondered if Louisa created her own spells just to torture Claudia. That, and for other inhuman reasonings. It didn't seem unlikely at all, since she most definitely felt joy out of every second Claudia was suffering.

Louisa saw Claudia's suffering as a fun little project.

This curse hit Claudia as if every single bit of pain she had felt in her body was reappearing at once.

It had hit her back, and it burnt as if she was on fire. It even smelt as if she was on fire. At least, she could have sworn she smelt her skin slowly turning into a burning flesh. It was like she was laying down on a burning bed.

She screamed as if she was dying. Which she, for the record, probably wasn't that far from doing. But then, Louisa stopped.

Claudia lay on the marbled floor that was no longer white as pools of crimson red blood started to form.

She didn't know how to breathe normally as she practically hyperventilated.

She thought of Remus, who he would have helped her with that. Somehow that made her forget what was going on, just for a second.

But then, she remembered what was going on and who was, once again, aiming their wand towards her. Tears were rushing down her cheeks as she waited for it to continue - but it didn't.

The door slammed open, and Claudia couldn't see who it was at first due to her blurred vision. But, she didn't need her eyes in order to know who it was as the person slowly spoke:

"Let my granddaughter be," the stern voice of Margaret Maple spoke, causing Claudia to feel a small tinge of comfort and also confusion at the same time.

"Mother-"

"I believe it is quite rude to leave your guests alone to deal with a teenage boy's mischief, don't you think, dear?" Margaret interrupted Charles sweetly, discreetly telling him to piss off, which he did alongside Louisa.

Claudia was still laying on the floor, unable to make a sound or move as she slowly felt herself drifting off.

She wondered how close she was to dying this time. The one thing she knew was that this was the closest she had ever been.

And suddenly, the presence of her normally cold grandmother grasped her attention.

"I'm going to try and heal you," the old woman said.

Her grandmother wasn't exactly a person who was skilled at comforting, so she didn't say a word as Claudia let out another tiny shriek. All she did was to heal her wounds on her stomach, thigh and chest.

"This might be sore for a few days," Margaret informed as she slowly helped Claudia to turn around so she could heal her back.

"How did you know how to heal that?" Claudia asked in a weak whisper, surprising herself with how she even managed to speak.

"I've never liked that woman," Margaret simply said as she tore Claudia's dress so she could see, what she expected was to be a wound. "I have my ways."

What in the bloody hell does that mean? Claudia asked herself. But, she wasn't one to ask since Margaret really did have her ways. If she wanted something, she managed to get it. If she wanted to fix something, she managed to fix it.

Like with what she told people about her mother lying about her blood-status.

Which wasn't true. Charles never asked, he merely assumed since she had the last name of a pureblooded British family. But Claudia's mum actually carried the last name of her American father.

As Margaret finished tearing up a hole in Claudia's dress, she was surprised to not see a bloody gash.

What she saw was something she had never seen.

Her back had been burnt as if she was on fire. It was a gash, sure, but it was almost smokey and it was big. It was dark, somehow. It didn't look like a regular burn, it was sticky and almost red like a fine wine.

And what confused her even more was the black veins that had come upon her skin.

"Oh dear," Margaret said under her breath as she tried to heal it, but nothing happened.

"I don't think I know how to heal this, dear," she said. "I need to do some research first."

Claudia felt herself growing a little nervous.Was she going to be forced to walk around with whatever it was on her back that hurt so bad?

"Okay," she replied in an attempt to not seem scared.

And then, Charles returned.

"May I have a word, mother?"

Margaret agreed to that, and left Claudia alone to figure out how to make her way back to her bedroom, and how to stop the pain.

•••

It was New Year's Eve. Claudia had escaped her bedroom and gone to the big ballroom of the manor.

The rest of the family were away at some celebration Claudia wasn't allowed to come to due to her state. Her eye bags were practically black due to lack of sleep, her skin practically white as snow and her back completely messed up.

She looked like shit.

So, she stayed home and they said she was sick. Which, she sort of was in a way.

The burn on Claudia's back had gotten worse. With no help from her grandmother, Claudia was left to bandage it, clean it and hope for the best.

And boy did it hurt like a bitch.

She figured it would heal. It had gone darker, almost black, so she assumed that maybe that was a good sign.

Claudia was standing by a windowsill with an envelope in her hand.

Remus' letter.

She had managed to make her way outside the very same night of the ball. There, under a layer of snow, she had found it. It was a bit ruined, the ink a little unreadable, but Claudia managed to figure it out anyway. It read:

Dear Claudia,

Hi. So I assume you've talked to Sirius about everything. I'm not sure if what I saw was real or not, but you did look scared and I won't deny that I am worried for you.

I hope you're alright.

But, I also thought I would try to cheer you up in case you aren't alright. I'm owling this to Sirius soon. I reckon you'll get this on December 24th, so I wanted to wish you a happy Christmas!

So far this holiday I haven't done much. I've been spending time with my parents, my mum is actually watching me write this right now.

And it's kind of creeping me out in all honesty.

She says hi. I told her about you, I don't know if that's weird? I don't even know if you consider me a friend, since you said you didn't, but I think I consider you a friend to me if that's alright?

You're good to talk to, if that makes sense. Everything you say sounds like what my brain is thinking. I like that about you, a lot.

Anyway, tomorrow I'm going to James' house so that should be fun. We're without Sirius this year though, and that sucks but at least he'll be with you.

I really can't wait to see you again, Claudia.

Love,

R.L (your undoubtedly favourite god-complexed Gryffindor).

When Claudia had read the letter, she felt happier. Remus was almost too good to be true, and she wanted to think of him as much as possible. He was a perfect distraction from the living hell that was her life.

She must have re-read that letter at least ten times. And, she was on her eleventh time as she stood by the windowsill, absentmindedly tracing her fingers along the white wooden window jamb.

That's when she noticed a crack in the wood.

She realised that it was a hidden cupboard.

She was mere seconds away from looking at what was inside of the dark cupboard as a bang came out of nowhere, causing her to jump.

Fireworks.

"Happy fucking 1976," she chuckled to herself as she quickly closed the cupboard and ran upstairs since her family would be retuning home any second.

"May you bring some light in the darkness."

And some light in the darkness was for sure going to arrive - in the form of a group of boys.

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