[A/N this chapter contains a potentially upsetting scene that involves violence and non consensual sexual advances, if you are sensitive to this particular subject or it will cause you to become uncomfortable, I suggest skipping this chapter]

Chapter 25

"Why are you two hugging on my bed?" asked James as he walked through the door, eyeing the two curiously as he closed the door behind him. his eyes softened suddenly when Nora pulled away, seeing the tears streaming down her face he rushed to her, falling in front of her, his hands resting on her legs as he stared up at her, "are you alright? What happened? Oi Moony did you hurt her?!"

James was surprised to say the least when his eyes snapped angrily to Remus, only to have them widen when he realised that tears where watering in his eyes too, which he moved to wipe furiously, a puff of air falling from his lips as he shook his head.

"Remus didn't hurt me," Nora laughed softly, her hand caressing James' cheek, "I'm alright, love, I promise."

James frowned as he stood up, taking Nora's head in his hand, he swept his thumbs over her face to wipe her tears, pressing his lips to her forehead, "tell me what's wrong, baby, please?"

Nora nodded her head, turning to smile at Remus, "it's good news, James, I promise."

"Really?"

"Amazing news," Remus piped in, clutching the photograph of his mother tightly, watching Nora's smile widen as she nodded.

"What is it?" asked James, sitting on his bed and gesturing Nora to move closer to him, and soon as she did, did he wrap his arms around her tightly, pressing a kiss to her cheeks comfortingly.

"Nora and I were in the library," Remus started, his voice croaky from the dryness that the tears had left him with, a small smile on his lips as he recited what had happened from the library until moments ago when the two teenagers realised that they were related.

When Nora realised that she had a family, a cousin that loved her, a cousin who was her best friend, and who she knew would help her. She wanted to meet Hope, her aunt, Remus' mother, she longed to meet her. She didn't even know, she didn't think to look down the platform when at kings cross and think that she would see the woman that her mother left behind.

Just like herself.

"You're cousins?!" James gasped, clasping his hand over his mouth, his eyes wide as he looked between the two. It may have been the sandy coloured hair that they both shared or their eyes that where almost exactly the same, but there was an evident relation that James hadn't noticed before.

They didn't look like siblings, but some features the two shared where slightly similar, what Remus must have gotten from his father's side, of course, was his height, because Nora was more than a foot smaller than he was.

"Oh merlin, Nora Robinson you are full of surprises," James whispered, shaking his head, a laugh of disbelief tumbling from his lips, "you need to meet Hope, you need to meet Remus' mum, she's brilliant!"

"Thanks for the input, James," Remus scoffed, running a hand through his sandy brown hair when Nora did the same, "I'm going to write to mum, I'm going to tell her everything."

"You are?!" asked Nora, wide eyed as she turned to him suddenly, "but what if she doesn't want to meet me, what if she doesn't want you around me. My parents where horrible to your dad, Remus!"

"You are not your parents, Nora, you are nothing like what you say they are, you are my best friend, and bloody hell, now you're my cousin, she's going to love you!" Remus exclaimed, "I promise."

"But your dad," Nora whispered, "if they didn't like him, he probably hates my parents, he probably wants nothing to do with them, so why on earth would he want anything to do with me?!"

"My dad will understand that you are not your parents, Nora, and you never will be, they didn't like him because he was different and odd, but that sounds like a wizard to muggles, doesn't it? they didn't like him because he was a wizard? But you're a wizard, and my dad will love you, so will my mum, so much, you could come and live with us, you could have the happy family that you wanted, Nora, you wouldn't need to travel for so long, you wouldn't need to fend for yourself anymore," Remus whispered.

"You don't want to travel anymore?" asked James, his eyebrows knitted together as he looked at her, his arms dropping from her around her, "really? I thought you loved travelling?"

"I do-"

"Then why did Moony say that?" asked James, his eyes narrowed ever so slighty, and soon did he leave the room before Nora could even answer, leaving her wide eyed as she turned back to Remus, her mouth parting as though to speak but no words formed.

"I think I need to go talk to him" Nora whispered, her heart racing as she wondered if he was mad at her, for something she didn't know.

"I think you do," Remus nodded, "but Nora, you're my cousin, so don't think I approve."

Nora couldn't help but laugh softly, a small smile twitching onto her lips as she stared at the boy, moving to hug him tightly, "thank you, Remus," she whispered, "but let me remind you that you where the one that said you'd kill me if I hurt James."

"Yes, well, if he hurts you I'll kill him too," Remus shrugged, standing suddenly, "now go and see what's wrong with him before you lose your mind."

"Yes," Nora nodded, taking a deep breath as she shared a look with the boy, soon grabbing the hoodie sitting on James' bed and pulling it over head, "I'll see you later, Remus."

"See you later, cuz," he smirked, earning another laugh from Nora as she moved towards the door, sending him a wave as she closed the door behind her.

She hurried down the stairs from the boy's dormitory, her eyes scanning the common room for any sign of the boy. Her eyes caught Adria's, "do you know where James went?"

"No," Adria frowned, shaking her head as she turned her head, her eyebrows furrowed as she watched Remus bound the stairs from the boy's dormitory, "what happened?"

"I'll let Remus tell you everything," Nora smiled softly, bidding the them all a goodbye as she pushed herself quickly towards the portrait hole, a sigh tumbling from her lips as she hurried down the stairs, looking down each hallway for any sign of the boy.

Her mind was racing, wondering why James was so upset, of course, she would never stop travelling, she loved it far too much, it was her escape from everything, not just her parents. She was sure her emotions where getting the better of her as she hurried down the hall in the direction of the one place she could think of.

Her eyes welled with tears, tears she didn't quite understand but still allowed to spill nonetheless. They weren't tears of sadness, well, not fully, she was feeling so much, Remus Lupin, the kind, Gryffindor boy who had always been nice to her was her cousin, her relatives, her blood relative, their mothers where siblings, sisters, it was overwhelming, but wonderful.

She had family.

It wasn't long since Nora reached the place she knew he would be, even though trekking through the dark forest wasn't something she was entirely keen on, she would do anything for James.

"James, I know you're in her- Caden?!" Nora gasped, wide eyed as she saw the boy, alone on the couch of the tree house.

"Nora!" Caden spoke, suddenly standing, his mouth parting ever so slightly as he stared at her, "what are you doing here?"

"What are you?" she asked, her eyes narrowed, "this is my treehouse."

"Mhmm," Caden tutted, walking around, he moved to the small window, "well you can come in."

"Don't tell me what I can and cannot do," Nora growled, a glare reaching her eyes thrown his way as she made her way into the tree house, wondering where James could possibly be if he wasn't here.

"So, you and James, huh?" asked Caden, his eyebrow raised as he turned to her, "bit of a shock."

"You're the only one to think so," Nora commented, eyeing him curiously, entirely wary of him alone with her.

She was scared, she couldn't help but feel the fear creep inside of her. She could take care of herself, she wasn't a weak little child that couldn't fend for herself, but she liked James with her, she felt safe with James beside her, especially knowing what Caden could do.

What he had been doing to the girl he was supposed to love, he was supposed to protect her, and she was supposed to protect him, but he wasn't doing that, he was the one hurting her, and every moment that Nora thought of that, thought of how he was so evidently hurting Lily was getting her angrier with each passing moment.

"I miss you, Nora," Caden whispered, turning to her suddenly, his eyes trailing over her body - not so subtly - his bottom lip between his teeth as he watched her turn to him, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "more than you know."

"You left us, Caden, you left me," Nora tutted, shaking her head, "we had a tradition, you changed, Caden you don't care about us anymore, me or Aubrey, you don't!"

"I do, Nora!" Caden exclaimed, punching the wall of the tree house angrily, which Nora was sure would have crumbled if she hadn't placed so many charms on it.

"Then why did you leave?!" she asked, her voice loud as she turned to him.

"I made a mistake," he whispered, taking a step towards her whilst she took one back, shaking her head, scoffing as she done so, "Nora, please, I need you."

"No, you don't," she whispered, "you need Lily, you love her, you should love her."

"She's not you."

"Don't you dare, Caden," Nora spoke harshly, "I have James, I don't know if I love James just yet but I'm on the fast track to it, he is who I want, he is who I have and I'm so happy with him, don't even try to ruin that for me."

"I thought you loved me, Nora?" Caden whispered, taking a step forward, "I thought you wanted me?"

"The fact that you knew that is so vile," Nora spat, shaking her head angrily, "I used to want you, Caden, but now I never will."

"Bullshit!" Caden screeched, his arms flailing around until he grabbed hold of her, pulling her into him whilst ignoring her frantic protests, "you wanted me, Nora Robinson, and you still do, you know what you are? You're just a slut who longs after people and cries when she doesn't get what she wants!"

"I have what I want, I have James, I don't want you, Caden, I never will," she growled, pushing him away whilst he gripped her tightly, guiding her out of the curtain that shielded the tree house from the outside, "stop it Caden, you're going to get us hurt!"

"Not until you admit that you want me, you want me, you think of me, don't you, Nora? You fantasize about us, don't you," his lips brushed her ear, placing kisses over her neck whilst she squirmed to get away from him, frantically pushing him away, "like I do, I fantasize about you all the time."

She was trying not to be sick as she pounded hard on his chest, she was strong, she tried her best, but he was taller, and a Quidditch player, and the more strength that he had was too much for her.

But not once did she stop fighting.

She was leaning against the ledge that stopped anyone from falling over when they arrived on the slight balcony of the tree house, fear creeping up her spine as she screamed her protests, "Caden, stop it!"

"Come on, I'm just having a bit of fun," he smirked, his lips attacking her neck as she screamed her protests, "like we both want."

"Caden get the fuck off of me!" Nora roared, one last push to get him away, and finally his grip loosened, but his eyes where dark, narrowed, filled with a sudden hatred that she wasn't giving him what she wanted.

"Get away from her!" she turned suddenly, her eyes wide as she saw a panting James close to them.

"Oh yeah, why doesn't she get away from me!" Caden roared with laughter, loud and aggressive, and suddenly, it happened.

He pushed her, roughly, almost throwing her off of the ledge of the tree house, allowing her to fall suddenly. Her mind was racing with thoughts as she caught glimpse of his face, caught sight of his scowl, his eyes darker than she had ever seen them before.

She tried to grip on, to him, to the fence, to stop herself from falling, but it was too late, she had tipped over the edge curtsey of him, of the boy that she used to trust, of the one she would have gave her life to, of the boy she used to be in love with.

Her screams cut off when she reached the ground with a large thump, a sudden quietness that engulfed the forest, nothing was heard, not one bird, not one creature that lurked. She was unconscious, lying there lifeless.

"No!"