Her Single Rose (Remus Lupin)

Sixty-Six

**Mentions of self-harm and violence**

__________

Aries felt rather proud of herself as she walked into the Great Hall and made direct eye contact with Sirius.

His hair was a deep green along with his green and black tie dye robes. James had the same thing going for himself. The two were grumbling about their attire while the rest of Gryffindor were giggling at them.

She took her seat beside Marlene and was rather surprised to see Mindy holding up a letter addressed to Aries Black.

"Who is this from?" Aries asked as she sat down and took the letter.

"From the parents." Marlene spoke out of a mouthful.

Without hesitation, she dropped the letter on the table as if it was a plague. She immediately straightened her body, her face becoming blank and her demeanor falling cold.

"Hey, at least it's not a howler." Marlene whispered, shaking her head slightly in memory of the last year.

Aries took a breath, ignoring the fact that this letter just ruined her day, and opened it.

Aries,

I have never been more disappointed in you, kissing a Lupin! When a marriage has already been arranged for you! You and Evan shall be wedded on the night of your seventeenth birthday. I don't need to remind you of all the hard work we have put in just to give you a perfect life.

There is no room for error with this marriage and with these expectations you need to be a perfect wife. You need to be perfect and in order to be perfect you need to put in work! Stop eating like a pig and stop getting more and more fat! I will not have you ruining our chances at continuing this pure blood line all because you cannot keep up with your looks!

You know the consequences, Aries. You know the punishments. You are aware of what I am capable of and you are aware of what you are capable of.

From Walburga

A knife fell out of the envelope, one with a black handle and tiny silver engraving on it.

Aries eyes widened when she realized why it looked so familiar, her heart began to beat faster as she stared at it in horror.

"A knife?" Marlene asked as she looked at it with Mindy.

"T-the same one..." Aries grabbed the knife with shaking hands and put it in her book bag and got up quickly, walking out of the Great Hall and ignoring her best friends calls.

She made her way out of the corridors and practically tripped up the steps to the Astronomy Tower.

Her heart was racing a mile a minute and her head was spinning so fast she could barely breath. In her book bag, was the exact same knife that she had been holding years ago.

The exact same knife that could've ended her life if Sirius hadn't stopped her, the same knife that her mother had given to her as a test.

Flashback

"I don't want to do this anymore! I'm so sick of you constantly saying I'm not good enough!" Aries yelled as the tears streamed down her face.

Walburga picked up a knife from a drawer, one with delicate carvings on the blade and a black handle with silver words,' A.M.B '.

Walburga handed the knife to her daughter, "If you can't handle this, if you don't understand that I'm trying to give you a perfect life and help you win and not lose, then end it. But ending it shows weakness and unstableness. Your choice."

End of Flashback

Aries took out the knife from her bag and went towards the cliff of the tower, ready to throw the knife off. But she hesitated, the weight from the memories bringing her to a stop.

Her body doing the actions before she could think about them. She backed away from the cliff, looking at the knife, remembering all the pain that little thing had put her through.

Aries furrowed her brows as her thoughts began to revolve around the bad things that had happened, Mindy trading information to her mother, the Ravenclaw boy trying to harass her, her mother's high expectations and old punishment methods.

It was becoming too much as she readied the blade on her wrist. The voices, the sounds, they were getting louder and louder as she pressed the blade.

"Meredith?" The voice of Lily Evans stopped Aries as she looked up.

Fear and tear stains had covered Aries face as she looked to a concerned one.

She saw the knife and the letter on the ground by her book bag, and placed her hands in her pockets. "I saw you come up here, thought you might want some company." Lily looked back at the knife, "or a distraction."

Aries dropped her wrist from under the blade and tossed the knife on the ground, before crumpling to her knees and letting more tears flow.

Honey was down with her in a heartbeat, keeping Aries close to her and making sure the knife wasn't close enough to be grabbed.

"I don't want to do this anymore. I don't want this life anymore." Aries cried into Lily's shoulder. "I can't be patient for much longer. I cant do it." Her voice was muffled as she spoke.

"Shhh, just cry right now, you don't have to say anything." Lily said. After a few moments of just Aries crying, Lily started to hum. Aries didn't know what she was humming but it gradually turned into words.

"Sweet sweet sweet girl, lean on my shoulder. Don't be in doubt, I'll be right over. Listen to my voice, for I'll be with you soon. Listen to my words, for you are my sweet sweet girl." Lily sang slowly, the words set off a switch in Aries.

Her sobs had started to become less frequent and her tears had slowed. Her body began to stop shaking and her mind had stopped pacing.

Lily waiting for Aries to speak as she continued to hum the small tune. The two just sitting on the ground of the Astronomy Tower as the minutes passed by.

"The letter, it was from my mother. She basically told me that she was disappointed in me and would punish me at home. She just sent me the knife to mock me and point out how weak I am." Aries sniffled.

"You're not weak, Aries. You're strong from not using the knife and you're amazing for not using it earlier. You're not a disappointment." Lily shook her head, "you're brave too, for dropping the knife." She added.

"I might just throw it over the side and get rid of it." Aries muttered as she glanced at it.

Suddenly, Sirius, James, Peter and Remus came into view. All of them being out of breath by the time they made it up to the top of the steps.

Sirius looked directly at the knife then glanced in Aries direction, looking over his twin to make sure there was no blood.

Without much thought, Sirius grabbed the knife from the ground and chucked it as hard as he could off the side of the Astronomy Tower.

"I could've done that too." Aries frowned as Remus and Peter both knelt on either side of the girls, seeing as Aries was practically balled into Lily's lap.

"Could you though?" James asked.

"Toerag." Aries muttered, earning a small giggle from Lily.