Raven

Raven
Chapter 3

Raven trotted after Remus as he walked into the huge castle. She stayed close to him, her eyes wide as she looked around. It was VERY big, and she might get lost there, if she.... She hurried to catch up with Remus, she'd started falling behind. He paused, and looked back, waiting for her, and picking her up after she caught up, carrying her as he walked towards a large stone creature.

Raven buried her face in his shoulder, afraid the thing was going to hurt her. But after a few moments, nothing had happened, and she looked up again. They were going up stairs, and into a round room. In one corner, there was a pretty bird. A very pretty bird. Raven slid down, and slowly approached the bird, one finger loosely between her front teeth.

Remus watched as Raven approached Fawkes, wondering what the phoenix's reaction would be. Or Raven's. Bird and child remained still, staring at each other, for several minutes before Raven came back over to Remus to climb back up in his lap.

Dumbledore was watching the girl with an expression of bemusement on his face. "So this is the child you wrote to me about earlier this week." He smiled, and held out a box of lemon drops to Raven. "Lemon drop, my dear?"

Raven regarded him curiously a moment, then looked to Remus. He smiled, and nodded, and she reached out to take a handful of the sweets, shoving one into her mouth, content to munch on them as Remus and Dumbledore talked about how they were going to work out making sure Raven was always with someone she trusted when Remus had to teach classes.

Raven looked around at the adults who sat at the table for dinner, her eyes wide and curious. There was the lady in green who looked like she had been sucking on a lemon. She frowned, shaking her head. There was a face in her past like that, not a nice one.

There was the old man who had the pretty bird. He reminded her of the vague memory she had of her mummy's dad. He'd read her stories when she was very little. She hadn't seen him since she turned three.

There was the funny woman, with the heavy perfume. Raven had sneezed when she came near, and run to hide behind Remus. She didn't like that woman. She smelled funny.

And the short man, with the funny face. Raven wasn't sure what to make of him, but she stayed away from him. She didn't want to be near him.

She looked up as the door opened again, letting in a tall, black haired man. Her eyes widened, and she scrambled into Remus's lap. The man looked scary, like a bad ghost. She whimpered, and hid her face in Remus's shirt.

Remus looked up to see what, or who, had scared Raven this time. Snape was looking at the child with his customary cold expression, and Remus sighed. The man had the same frightening effect on most first-years that he did on Raven. "Severus, would you do me a favor, and not actively try to frighten Raven?"

Snape raised an eyebrow. "If she doesn't disturb my classes, or my lab, what reason would I have to frighten the child?"

Remus shook his head, annoyed at Snape's attitude, before picking up Raven, and stalking out of the great hall.

Raven stared at the hall that night, wondering what was happening. There were a lot of lights, and Remus was heading for the big table up front. But they didn't sit up there. She tugged at Remus's hand, giving him a questioning look.

"There are going to be more people at dinner tonight, Raven. Other people are going to be sitting there." Remus smiled, and scooped her up, carrying her to the big table. There was a little chair for her beside Remus, and the lady in green was on her other side.

Raven grinned, scrambling up in the chair. She could see everything from there. And the lady in green was nicer than she looked.

"How are you this evening, Raven?" She smiled at the girl, who grinned back, bouncing slightly in her chair.

When more people started coming in, Raven calmed down slightly, her eyes staring at them all. She saw the rabbit-eyed girl and the two boys with her, and waved at them. Her eyes continued to rove the incoming students until they rested on one blond boy. She shrieked, her eyes widening, and bolted from the chair, which rattled on the floor, and fled the room.

Minerva watched Raven flee the room in shock, the students frozen in their tracks, everyone staring after the tiny girl who'd run out. Gathering up her robes, she followed Raven, close on Remus's heels, out of the hall, and back to the rooms the little girl shared with the DADA professor.

Remus was trying to coax Raven out of his wardrobe when Minerva came into the room, the door having been left wide open. From inside it they could hear Raven's sobs, and interspersed with them, words.

"No. Mummy said to run. Bad man, bad man, bad man...."

Minerva knelt next to the slightly open door. "Raven? Who's the 'bad man'?"

"Bad man hurts mummy, and he hurts Raven. Mummy said to run from the bad man."

Raven heard the lady in green outside, and Remus, but she stayed curled in the corner of the closet. If she came out, the bad man would find her, and then.... she shook her head, whimpering, trying to curl into a tighter ball.

"Bad man find Raven. No want the bad man to find Raven. He hurt Raven, he hurt mummy." She was barely aware that she was rocking back and forth, and her thumb found its way into her mouth. Tears were streaming down her cheeks, and her eyes were wide with fright. She remembered the last time she'd seen the bad man.

"Don't you touch Catherine! She's just a little girl!" Her mummy was between her and the bad man, trembling.

"She's my daughter, and I'll do what I please to her!" The bad man came after her mummy, his fist raised to crash into her face. "Don't you ever tell me what I can and can't do, woman!"

"Run, Catherine! Run!" Her mummy turned her back to the bad man, shoving Raven out the door, and Raven could hear her scream as the bad man punched her again. She ran, like her mummy told her.

"COME BACK HERE, BRAT!" She heard the bad man's roar behind her, and she tried to run faster.

"Don't you dare!"

Raven shrieked when someone reached into the closet to pull her out, and fought, clawing at the hand, and it pulled back, out of the closet.

Remus nursed his scratched and bleeding hand a moment, worry for Raven clearly written on his face. He had to find out what was wrong, what had frightened her so much that she fled, not to hide behind him, but to hide in the corner of his wardrobe. She'd cried out for her mother a moment ago, as if afraid of something happening to her.

"What's wrong with Raven?" Harry, Hermione, and Ron all arrived in his doorway, slightly out of breath.

"I don't know." Remus tried to open the door of the wardrobe further, and Raven whimpered again.

"No... Mummy, make the bad man go away!" She didn't seem to be aware that she was safe, among friends. He looked up when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Let me try?" Harry was standing there, and with a start, Remus realized that Minerva had followed him back as well, though she seemed to be at a loss for what to do to help the little girl.

Remus nodded helplessly, wondering how Harry could help.