If Love is a Game...

Chapter Ten

You Can't Run From Your Past

Sara sat in her usual chair in the common room reading a book. Happily, it wasn't a textbook or study book; it was a Magical novel that she'd brought to Hogwarts with her from home. It wasn't that quiet though, but she didn't mind. She couldn't take the deathly silence; it almost frightened her.

Remus and Peter were playing a game of gobblestones. A sticky goop sprayed into Peter's face. Remus laughed loudly. Sara peered over her book and saw an expression of distaste on Peter's face. She smiled lightly and continued to read.

The portrait door swung open and a Second Year girl ran in crying. Sara immediately stopped reading, Remus quickly stopped laughing, and Peter abruptly looked up. Sara dropped her book when the girl tripped and fell to the ground. Remus began to stand up. Sara dashed to the girl.

"What's wrong?" Sara asked.

"Daniel Richards jumped Charlie! He started punching him! A whole bunch of other Slytherins ganged up on him and said they were going to dump him into the lake!" the girl sobbed. "They're going to hurt him!" She put her face in her hands and continued to cry.

"I told them to stop, but they wouldn't listen to me and one pushed me down the stairs!" the girl cried out. "Oh my gosh, I should've ran after them!" Remus snatched his jacket and put it on hurriedly. He grabbed his wand.

"What's your name?" Sara asked her softly.

"Kellie Bingham," the girl choked out. Sara sighed greatly. "You have to tell Bill!"

"Don't worry; I'll deal with this," Remus said firmly. Before Kellie could say anything, Remus had jogged out of the common room. Peter wiped off his face as best as he could while Sara comforted the girl. Then, Peter ran up to the boys' Fourth Year dormitory to get Bill Weasley.

~*~

"Let go of me!!" Charlie screamed. A few Fourth Year Slytherin boys were holding him in the air as he squirmed angrily in their grasp. They were all laughing. Charlie started cursing at them. They were outside, trailing through the newly fallen snow. It was still snowing. The lake water was below freezing temperature, but the ice wasn't over all of it yet.

"This is what you get, you little punk!" Jeremy Oden laughed. They all dropped him in the snow. He was just in his school robes and one of them had his wand. He was so cold and the snow on his hands felt like icicles prickling his skin almost. He struggled to stand up when one of them kicked him. He rolled back into the snow. He pulled his head out of the frozen snow and spit some of it out. His face was red. He coughed loudly.

"Get up, Weasel!" Mark Speth taunted. Charlie coughed again and stood up. Daniel Richards shoved him and he fell backwards into the snow again.

"C'mon, be brave, you stupid, little Gryffindor boy!" Daniel goaded. "You thought you were really brave on Halloween, but I don't see that Prefect around here to save you again! C'mon, use your own fists!"

"Give me my wand back!" Charlie yelled. He coughed again.

"Oh, you mean this twig?" Rodger Cunningham asked sarcastically. He was twirling Charlie's wand. Charlie growled angrily and stood up again. He was so cold and so irate.

"Give it to me now!" Charlie ordered.

"Heck no, you little dork," Rodger teased. "Come get it yourself." Charlie had that in mind. He charged after Mark and rammed into him. They both fell into the snow and Mark threw Charlie's wand in the air. Charlie scrambled to get up, but Mark shoved his face in the snow. Charlie screamed with his head in the snow.

"Eat snow, twerp!" Rodger shouted madly. Charlie banged his fists into the snow. He was getting tired; he suddenly felt himself slowing down and wanting to fall asleep. He was so cold. He stopped banging his fists and went still. Mark stopped and him and the other boys wretched Charlie into the air. They chanted and sang as they walked towards the lake.

"I hope you can swim," Daniel sniggered loudly.

"Yeah, and I hope you like cold water," Jeremy laughed.

"Real cold water!" Rodger snickered. They laughed. Charlie almost felt like crying, but didn't have to energy to do so.

"YOU GUYS ARE STUPID IDIOTS!!!" Charlie screamed with any remaining energy. They laughed and tossed him into the lake. It wasn't that deep; it was just freezing. Charlie pulled his head up out of the water and started coughing loudly. He struggled to touch the bottom; he was short. His head dipped under the water again and he popped up spitting out water.

Remus ran onto the dark grounds and saw what looked like every parent's nightmare. A boy--he couldn't tell who it was--was bobbing up and down in the lake water while four other boys--whoever they were--were rolling in the snow laughing loudly.

As Remus ran and got closer, he saw the red hair and knew immediately that Second Year Charlie Weasley was the one in the lake. He knew that the four other boys were Slytherin Fourth Years. Charlie dipped under the water again.

"CHARLIE!!" Remus screamed. The Slytherin boys stopped laughing and looked up. They saw Remus, a Seventh Year, making his way towards them. Immediately, they knew that they were in trouble.

"Oh, crap!" Jeremy yelled. They scrambled to their feet in the snow and split up in every direction. Remus didn't feel like making any rational decisions. Instead of running after them, he pointed his wand at them.

"Stupify!" Remus yelled. He said it three more times. Each Slytherin boy fell down in the snow, unable to move or speak. He'd stunned them.

Charlie bobbed up in the water again and then sunk under. He closed his eyes and stopped. Remus tore his coat off and dropped his wand on it. He ran in the water and dove right into it. In the bitter cold water, he moved his hands around in the dark.

Finally, he felt something and grabbed it. When he surfaced, Remus gasped for breath. He looked over and saw that he was holding a gasping Charlie Weasley. He felt the ground and walked to the bank. It was so cold and water was dripping from his hair.

Remus fell in the snow and pulled himself back up with Charlie in his arms. He grabbed his wand and picked up his coat. Charlie almost fell over; Remus pulled him back up. He wrapped his large coat over Charlie who was shivering like mad, his teeth chattered loudly. Remus shook his wet hair.

He pointed his wand at each boy and said the Reviving Spell. They each got up and stared at each other. They looked at Remus and got ready to dash away again. Remus swished his wand and they stopped.

"C'mon, Charlie, we're going to the Hospital Wing," Remus said as Charlie started closing his eyes. Remus was afraid that hypothermia would set in soon. They all started walking for the castle very quickly. All of a sudden, Charlie collapsed in the snow.

The four Slytherin boys looked at each other with terror in their eyes. What had they done? Remus freaked out. He forgot that he had a wand in his hand and picked up the small Second Year.

"Get going, now!" Remus shouted at the four boys. They scampered into the castle. Remus ran in after them. He had to get to the Hospital Wing.

Remus burst through the door of the Hospital Wing clumsily. The four Slytherin boys sat outside the doors, wondering if they'd really overdone it this time. Madam Pomfrey ran out to him.

"Now, really, some people are trying to sleep!" Madam Pomfrey screeched.

"Please, he needs help," Remus gasped. Madam Pomfrey took one glance at Charlie and shrieked. Remus thought that she might faint. She ran to a bed.

"Over here, put him over here, Lupin!" Madam Pomfrey told him quickly. A few students with the flu woke up and looked to see what was going on. Remus sat Charlie on the bed. Madam Pomfrey heated the bed, took his temperature, and checked his eyes. Charlie was a blue tinged color. The only thing not with a blue tinge was his flaming red hair. After a few minutes of chaos, Madam Pomfrey calmed down. She walked over to Remus who was sitting down. He stood up.

"Will he be okay? I wasn't too late, was I?" Remus questioned.

"He'll be fine," Madam Pomfrey replied wearily. "He'll need a lot of rest and some good food, but he'll be back to normal in no time. What happened?" Remus sighed.

"Four Slytherin Fourth Year boys decided that they'd get even with him, his older brother who is in their year, and a few other Gryffindors by picking on him outside and throwing him into a lake," Remus answered. Madam Pomfrey shook her head. "They pushed another First Year down the stairs for telling them to stop picking on the boy. She's fine though." Madam Pomfrey tutted.

"Children these days are so violent," she sighed grimly. "You deal with those boys and come right back here." Remus raised his eyebrows.

"What?" Remus asked quickly.

"You are to come straight back here for rest," Madam Pomfrey told him sternly. "You were in that lake without a coat too, Lupin. Don't expect me to forget about you. I'll tell anyone in your common room that you will not be coming back for the night." Remus sighed, but knew that he had no case to argue against her. She was right.

He nodded his head and walked out of the Hospital Wing to give the boys their punishment and send them back to their common room with a note for their Head of House, Lector, and a note for their Headmaster, Professor Dumbledore. His Christmas holiday had already started out with a big splash. He wondered if it would be this hectic the rest of his "vacation".

~*~

"Brandon, Nathan, no, get back here!" Lorena yelled at her two little brothers. She was at the Malfoy Manor, but it seemed more like home. Her parents had come over to greet her and then leave. They'd brought over her two five year-old twin brothers, Brandon and Nathan.

Nathan, the smaller one, tipped a vase over and snickered. Lorena caught it and sat it back up. She continued to pursue after them down the dark hall. They turned the corner.

"No, not down that way!" She groaned and shook her head. She sprinted faster and rounded the corner.

BAM.

Lorena hit something--or someone--and stumbled backwards awkwardly. She tripped and fell to the ground, smacking her head against the wall behind her. Her vision was blurry for a second, but it became clear after a few seconds. She rubbed her head.

"Damn..." Lorena murmured as the pain in the back of her head stung when she touched the bump. Brandon and Nathan ran at her feet, laughing their heads off.

"Mum and dad told you never to run in this house," Lorena scolded them. They rocked back and forth with their hands behind their back, snickering and grinning. "Not that I care or anything, but you can't mess around in this part of the house. Maybe I should let you loose in Malfoy's room..."

They knew who "Malfoy" was. Lucius Malfoy. She called only Lucius "Malfoy" because she called him that at school. The twins laughed.

"You should watch where you're running, Lorena," his voice mocked. "You know you're not allowed to play in this part of the house. But I guess it's Fawcett see; Fawcett do." Lorena looked up to see Marcus leaning against the wall at the corner. She'd run into him and fell down.

Marcus was tall and built like Samuel. He had piercing gray eyes and slicked back platinum blond hair like Lucius. A smirk was usually tugging at his mouth--and there was one on there now. He was a little pale. He was twenty-two, and engaged. He was very sadistic--but only Lorena knew that. Some of it flickered in his eyes as he looked down at her. He still hadn't forgotten that night with the Muggle lady in the alley. She knew she would never forget that. The memory was imprinted on her brain. She wondered if he would take Brandon and Nathan out for a night like that when they were old enough. She would never let him.

"You should watch where you're walking, Marcus," Lorena growled. "You could be seen and kill someone." Nathan and Brandon laughed. Lorena helped herself up. She looked at her little brothers and patted them on the heads.

"You two go find mummy and daddy," Lorena ordered them. They nodded their heads furiously and sniggered.

"Okay, 'Rena!" Nathan snickered. They took off running and Lorena rolled her eyes. She turned and began to walk down the hallway.

"Do the screams still haunt your dreams in the night?" Marcus hissed icily. The hallway turned cold and Lorena could've sworn that she saw her own breath. She froze in her footsteps.

~*~

"Please, please, have mercy on me! Have mercy on me! I'll give you anything you want! Just please stop this pain!" the Muggle woman pleaded in pain. She was hit with another curse and screamed, every muscle and bone in her body aching terribly. "Please, please, stop... I'll give you anything you want. Please just stop..." She screamed again when another hex hit her.

A twelve year-old Lorena stood right out of the alley, watching the scene and staring in horror as her two cousins and her older cousin's friends took turns hexing a helpless Muggle woman. The woman's clothes were torn and she was bleeding out. Lorena was sure that she had many broken bones.

She watched as Lucius, the youngest of her cousins in the alley, hex the women and another screech emitted from her. Her screams had been magically blocked out from any Muggle ears and the scene was not there to them. Lucius wouldn't even be caught for doing underage magic for some reason. She was totally helpless! Lorena just watched as they laughed and laughed and laughed brutally. She blinked, wishing that it wasn't true, but it was still there.

Every angry emotion was on the tip of her tongue--pushing itself out to view--throbbing in her head. She couldn't take it any longer. She almost started crying for the woman. She didn't deserve it; she was just a Muggle. Lucius spat an obscenity at her that she'd heard Marcus say many times--and it triggered. She just... exploded.

"STOP, STOP THAT RIGHT NOW, EVERY EFFING ONE OF YOU EFFING PRATS!!!" Lorena boomed, brandishing her wand. They stopped laughing and hexing the woman. They turned to stare at the feisty twelve year-old. Some of them were sixteen, some were seventeen, and Lucius was thirteen; she was the youngest, but she just didn't care anymore. The Muggle woman's heavy breathing was heard. She looked at the scene play out from the ground.

"Lorena, what are you doing here?" Marcus demanded quickly, surprised.

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!! OBVIOUSLY NOTHING, I SEE, YOU EFFING GITS!!" Lorena roared furiously. "HOW COULD YOU DO SUCH A TERRIBLE THING TO THIS POOR WOMAN?!! YOU ALL ARE PSYCHOTIC FREAKS!!"

"Lorena, now, just calm down," Marcus cautioned.

"CALM DOWN?! CALM DOWN?!! HOW CAN YOU TELL ME TO CALM DOWN WHEN YOU'RE OVER THERE HEXING THAT WOMAN?!! YOU SADISTIC NARK!!" Lorena screamed irately. "MY GODS, WHAT WERE YOU GOING TO DO AFTER THE FUN WORE OFF?!! WERE YOU JUST GOING TO KILL HER OR SOMETHING?!! I THOUGHT YOU WERE GOING TO KILL HER!! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU ALL, YOU EFFING IDIOTS!!!!"

Lorena was furious and irate. Samuel Melanie, Lorena's friend's older brother and Marcus's good friend, stepped towards her.

"Lorena, shut up!" Samuel yelled at her. "The shield doesn't keep your voice out; you weren't in on it!"

"People can hear you and see us and you!" William Carson added worriedly.

"GOOD, I HOPE PEOPLE DO COME OVER HERE AND ARREST YOU!! I HATE YOU ALL!!" Lorena shrieked hotly. "YOU'RE TERRIBLE!! YOU ALL ARE EFFING, BIG HEADED, STUPID, PSYCHOTIC, SADISTIC, SMUG, IDIOTIC, EVIL BA--"

"Lorena, shut the hell up!" Odin Lawson roared. He grabbed her by her shoulders and began shaking her violently. She started screaming at him and grabbed his wrists.

"STOP IT!! STOP IT!! STOP IT!!" Lorena screamed hatefully.

"SHUT UP!!" Odin yelled at her. He threw her on the ground and her head slammed into the brick wall. Blood trickled down the back of her neck, but she didn't notice. She started screaming at him and he yelled back at her. Suddenly, Odin was over top of Lorena with his hands around her neck and Lorena was losing her voice.

"Odin, stop!" Samuel shouted. Lorena's hits were getting softer and softer. She couldn't breathe. She needed air. Marcus pushed Odin off of his little cousin. He let go of her neck. She gasped for air and sat up, her hands around her neck softly. Lucius backed into the dark corner.

"Oh my--you almost killed me!" Lorena shrieked, staring at Odin wildly. He was shouting obscenities at her. She was shaking so violently that she couldn't see straight. She put her fingers in her hair and covered her ears. Her lips were trembling; her eyes were full of fear. Marcus shoved Odin into the wall and suddenly rounded back to Lorena. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her to her feet. Her screams were turning into sobs.

"What are you doing here, Lorena?!" Marcus questioned her.

"I had a bad feeling so I followed you," Lorena sobbed. She looked him in the eyes. His gray eyes were cold and had a malicious glint; her eyes were livid and had a fearful glint. "And I was right, wasn't I?! You almost murdered this poor woman!!"

"We weren't going to kill her!" Odin shouted from the wall.

"Shut up, Odin!" Samuel commanded. "You've shaken her up enough already. Do you want her screaming like a maniac? People might think we're mugging her or something more brutal and sadistic!" Odin shook his head.

"Maybe we should do something sadistic to her," Odin muttered.

"Oh, you want me to snuff it right here, right now, eh?!" Lorena shrieked.

"Yeah, I do want that!" Odin yelled.

"Odin, stop it! Lorena, be quiet!" William shouted fearfully. "We're going to be caught! This is bad. This is really, really bad." He didn't want to get in trouble--not in this way. He hadn't done anything. All he had done was follow Marcus, Samuel, and Odin. It was their faults! He was innocent... sort of.

"YOU'LL HAVE TO KILL ME THEN!!" Lorena screamed.

"I'll be glad to put you out of your damn misery!" Odin yelled, advancing on her. Samuel pushed him back to the wall. "Samuel, who's side are you on?!"

"My side; personally, I don't want to get busted for Muggle torturing and put on trial for the murder or beating of my best friend's little cousin!" Samuel growled heatedly.

"If you say anything about any of this to anyone, I swear, Lorena, I will kill you!" Marcus hissed caustically. She trembled in his grip, and she hated showing the fear to him. She hated him more than anything at that moment. He glared at her and then let go of her wrist. She fell on the ground. He turned to Lucius. "That goes the same for you, Lucius."

"Not a word, Marcus," Lucius simply said. Lorena stayed on the ground as the tears poured out of her eyes. She hated showing weakness--she hated being vulnerable. It was the worst possible feeling she could have. Through her blurry vision, she caught the Muggle woman looking at her from the ground. They locked eyes and Lorena mouthed an apology. The woman closed her eyes and Lorena was afraid that she was dead, but she saw her chest rising and falling still. Lucius pulled Lorena to her feet. She jerked her wrist out of his hand. "Lorena..."

"Shut your trap, Malfoy, and don't speak to me," Lorena snarled crossly. Lucius shut his mouth. Marcus pushed Lorena forward.

"One word, Lorena..." he hissed in her ear.

"One word..." Lorena murmured. She looked back at the alley. The screams of the Muggle woman still fresh in her mind, going over and over again.

~*~

"Every night, Marcus," Lorena murmured. "I hear them every night." Marcus grinned nastily.

"Have you spoken a word yet?" Marcus questioned with a smirk. She turned to face him. She was not the same girl she had been in the alley. She was much stronger, much angrier, and much smarter. She glared at him.

"Not a word," Lorena muttered. He didn't seem to catch on. She turned back around and headed for the living room where she would say goodbye to her parents.

She hated even talking to him. She'd had nightmares for years after that, each one different; each one changed. She'd told Remus, Sirius, and Krystyna about it, but they didn't know some of the parts. They didn't know what she said to them and what happened. They didn't know what it felt like.