Her Single Rose (Remus Lupin)

Sixty-Nine

The onset panic of an anxiety attack rolled forward as Aries heart rate began to increase, her hands began to shake, chills ran up her spine as she stared at her mother.

"You were never good enough, you were never smart enough, never pretty enough, you are nothing but dead weight to the wizarding world, why do you think Sirius left you? You are worthless! You are nothing! You will NEVER be more than a simple blood traitor!" Walburga spat as her father stepped out of the broom closet with a belt.

"No." Aries whimpered as she felt herself go stiff, she had seen the belt once before and that punishment was the worst by far, excluding the whole knife thing.

"Remus never cared for you! Marlene never wanted you as a friend! She only wanted you hang out with you because of your blood purity! Fabian only wanted the action, he never liked you because of your personality! YOU WILL NEVER BE GOOD ENOUGH!" Orion barked as he handed Walburga the belt.

Aries starting hyperventilating as her body surged in and out with panic, "I-"

"YOU THOUGHT YOU WERE SO SMART, CREATING THAT MAP AND TRYING TO ESCAPE!! THERE IS NO ESCAPE!! YOU CANT LEAVE!! THERES NO WAY OUT!! NOT EVEN ANDROMEDA CAN HELP YOU!!" Walburga screamed as Aries released the tears.

Her body was balled as she sobbed into the wall she was backed into. Aries hardly registered the running steps or the sound of someone yelling a spell. She hadn't noticed the person, or rather, people kneeling around her and shaking her.

"I'm sorry...I'm so sorry...I can't do it...I'm sorry." Aries didn't know how long it took for the people around her to shake her out of her trance or how many times she repeated those words.

Though even when the three had her attention, her body was still shaking and her heart still felt like it was going to beat out of her chest.

"Hey, listen to me, it was just a boggart. Look at me, hey, hi. Listen to my voice, you're safe, you're with me." Aries recognized the voice of her younger brother, her body seeming to sense comfort as her shaking began to slow, her breathing was already coming back to its normal speed.

"Look at me, listen to my voice, breathe in from your nose and out through the mouth. There you go, keep looking at me, don't look at the ground, in through the nose and out through the mouth." Regulus was still not used to helping his sister through anxiety attacks, though he was glad it only took ten minutes to get her back this time instead of twenty.

Aries was still on edge as Regulus pulled her into a hug. If anything, Regulus was just glad he just happened to be walking around when Fabian and Gideon found Aries.

Aries felt her shaking cease and her breathing even as she stared into her brothers identical colored eyes.

"I-..I saw mo-mother and father. They h-had a-..a..th-"

"Shh, it was just a boggart." Regulus soothed as her hands twitched slightly, he took his one hand that wasn't holding hers and wiped her tears away, "They can't hurt you, they can't touch you here." Regulus told her.

He realize in that moment, just how brave Aries had been over the years without Sirius. He had noticed how afraid she was of a simple boggart at school when she had always kept such a blank face at home. Regulus then understood how much school meant for Aries, how she wasn't as stiff and emotionless here as she was at home.

He just didn't understand why she hadn't left yet. He didn't understand why Aries wouldn't have fled even if not with Sirius. Regulus couldn't wrap his head around the feeling that Aries was waiting for something, or rather hoping? For anything? A sign maybe to tell her to leave?