➪ CINNABAR ➪

"UM, WHAT'S HAPPENING?"

Loki looked over to Nicolas and frowned in confusion. She winced slightly, the bruises on her face aching slightly from the movement.

Having been out of classes for a few days to recuperate from the events, Loki was extremely confused as soon as she stepped into the Great Hall. When she arrived, a usual group appeared to have split.

Her eyes wandered up the Gryffindor table, coming to rest on Remus, James and Peter sitting near their usual places. She noticed the gap and frowned until her gaze found Sirius. The typical grin he had in the morning was replaced with a deep-set frown, and his happy aura she'd grown familiar with seemed to have disappeared.

Instead of going to Sirius or the group, Loki went to the Hufflepuff table. Despite most of her bruises being hidden, she still felt as though the whole hall could see them. She bent her head as she walked, wanting to crawl into a hoke and never return.

"Sirius and the boys had a big fight yesterday apparently," Nicolas replied. He, too, stared intensely at the group.

Loki looked around at the other students. Many of them were looking from Sirius to the trio, pointing and whispering to their friends. This annoyed her. She knew the boys were popular, but she didn't like the gossip about them.

"Do you know what it was about?" Loki queried.

Nicolas shook his head in response. She sighed, resting her head on her hand as she wondered what could have happened between them. She picked up a piece of toast, taking a bite out of it, and frowned.

"Oh," Nicolas spoke up, "Lily said Remus heard about what happened, and that he was freaking out slightly about whether you were okay."

"Oh," Loki looked to where Remus sat. She wished for him to notice her, but at the same time didn't want him to know she was there at all. "Did you say anything back?"

"I just told Lily to tell him you were recovering and you'd be back soon," Nicolas told her.

"Thanks, Nic," she smiled. She winced, however.

"Are you sure you're okay enough to be back?" The boy frowned in worry. He leant forward, his eyes examining the marks on her skin.

"I'll be fine," Loki waved him off. "As long as I don't run into Marcel or his goons."

She hesitated slightly on his name. Her hand she used to rest her head on moved to her throat, gingerly touching the bruised area. Loki let out a soft sigh.

"I should get going to class," Loki murmured, grabbing her belongings. "I have Care for Magical Creatures first." Her eyes drifted to Remus, already anxious about their first encounter in days. "I'll see you at lunch."

➪

"LOKI. YOU'RE BACK."

Remus was hesitant to sit beside Loki. His hands fiddled with the straps of his bag as he stared in surprise at her. He felt slightly tense being near her. He couldn't help but wonder if it was because of the full moon or not.

"Remus? Are you okay?" Remus noticed her voice was quieter than usual. "Are you going to sit down?"

Remus felt sick with himself, looking at her. He felt nausea roll through him at the sight of her bruises. Remus had half a mind to run right out of the classroom. He couldn't face her, not after what happened.

Loki lowered her gaze to the table. Remus noticed her worsened mood and swiftly sat in the spot beside her, keeping himself to the edge of the chair. He wanted to keep as much distance between himself and her as possible. Remus didn't like it, but the idea of her getting too close scared him. He didn't want her to get hurt because of his actions. Or because of something he couldn't control due to what he was. Remus hated knowing it was a possibility.

I don't want to hurt you, Remus thought as he kept his gaze away from her.

Loki noticed the gap he'd created and stared at it for a few seconds. She turned away, feeling deflated. She wondered if she'd done something. Then she pondered if it was something she hadn't done. She couldn't help but contemplate whether Remus didn't like her anymore. Maybe it was because of the hideous bruises on her.

Her thoughts made her tug up her school collar, watching the teacher stride in. He began to teach the class per usual, happily speaking about the creature they would be learning that lesson.

Loki, who adored the subject, found it hard to concentrate. Knowing Remus was beside her and ignoring her didn't help her stay focused. Every small movement from him made her stare. Loki hated the fact that she couldn't find the rights words to speak with him. Her throat felt clogged. So, all she could do was sit, stare, and listen.

The lesson went on torturously slow. Loki felt as though her senses were overflowing. She could hear the teacher's clock tick and the scratching of everyone's quills. In the end, she listened to every single scrape of the chairs. Never before had Loki felt so lonely. And when their professor dismissed the class, Remus seemed to be the first one to go.

Loki headed to the Great Hall for lunch, ready to cry. She was used to holding back tears, but this time she struggled. It seemed like the whole world was against her, and no one cared. She felt lucky, though, when she ran into Peter and James, with the latter happily swinging his arm over the girl's shoulder.

"Hey there, Loki!" James greeted, with a joy that seemed too odd for the kind if day Loki was having.

"Hi, James. Hello, Peter," she forced a half-smile, hiding any signs of pain on her face. "How are you both?"

Peter frowned. "Not good, really."

"I heard you guys fought with Sirius," Loki sighed. "I'm sorry."

"Why are you apologising?" James frowned. "You should be the last one apologising." He leered down at the girl. "How are you feeling, Lok?"

"I—" she paused. She couldn't say she was 'fine' when it was apparent she wasn't. "I'm not doing too well, either."

"Really?" James prompted.

Loki let out a sigh, finding it harder to hold back her tears. "I—I'm doing terrible," she replied, her lower lip trembling slightly.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Peter queried.

"Not right now, Peter," Loki smiled softly, "but thank you. Right now, I want to eat. Food always makes me feel better."

"Come eat with us, then," James offered.

Loki frowned, her mind quickly moving to Remus. It would be awkward; she could already feel it.

Noticing her hesitation, Peter smiled. "You can bring Nicolas if you want."

"Yeah!" James cheered. "The more the merrier, right? So, what do you say?"

Despite her anxieties, Loki couldn't turn down their offer. The boys grinned, thanking her for accepting.

Perhaps people really did care about her.

➪ AUTHOR'S NOTE ➪

i had a creative burst becomes i am so sleep deprived it's not funny, and i really wanted to get this out. this is literally the part i have been dreading while writing this fic. no Sirius interaction now, but possibly next chapter??? We'll see.

um, btw, i really want to be able to do something with y'all, to interact more and stuff, but i literally have no idea. I love reading and responding to ur comments, but i feel like i could do more. Sooo... is there anything u think would be good to do?

Anyway, thank you for reading :) i hope you enjoyed. Have a good day, and I'll see you next time :)