Fear of a Name

Chapter Eighteen: Scars

"I have come to express concerns about the wellbeing of one of the students, Headmaster," Lupin said, eyeing my right jumper sleeve again.
"Indeed?" Dumbledore asked, looking at me suspiciously.
I sighed. Evidently he was not as accepting of the fact I was not like my parents as the other Professors and most of the students were.

Lupin motioned for me to pull up my sleeve, which I did, revealing the many scars and the word scum, which was still bleeding. I winced as I looked at it; it looked worse in the bright light of the office than it had in the relatively dark carriage.
Dumbledore's eyebrows raised in shock, but he quickly returned his face back to a calm expression and said, "Let me have a look."
I walked over to him, trying not to show how much pain I was in, and he took my arm lightly.

"This has been done by your mother, I presume?"
I nodded slowly, looking anywhere except at my arm.
"I'm afraid we can't heal this," he continued.
I nodded again.
"I know, sir," I said quietly, thinking about all the healing spells I'd tried to use on my other cuts.

"Show me your other arm, Miss Riddle," he said suddenly.
I quickly rolled up my other sleeve, revealing yet more scars, and the words Property of Lord Voldemort.
"I forgot about that," I muttered, stroking the words with my finger a little sadly.

Lupin looked shocked, far more shocked than he had been when I had returned to Hogsmeade. Dumbledore just looked angry, though at whom, I didn't know.
"How could you forget you had that cut into your arm?" Lupin asked me, his voice betraying the emotions I could tell he was trying to hide.
I shrugged my shoulders and said nothing, not wanting to admit that I had grown used to the constant pain that came with having a body covered in scars; not wanting to admit that I was so used to being cut, I'd lost track of what scars I had and where they were.

I felt someone trying to go into my head and quickly used occlumency to keep them out. Looking up, I saw Dumbledore had fixed his shocked eyes on me again. I knew in an instant it had been him.
"Decided you can't trust me, sir?" I asked in a quiet voice, trying to stay calm.

Suddenly, I felt a rush of pain go through my body, a type of pain that I had come to know well. It only happened when my father was at his angriest. I closed my eyes and focused completely in forcing the pain out of me, pushing my skill at occlumency to its limit. It took about ten seconds to work, and I opened my eyes again when the pain had stopped. The first thing I saw was Dumbledore looking at me worriedly.
"Are you ok, Miss Riddle?" he asked.
I didn't reply, still trying to keep the pain out. It was easier to stop the pain entering my body when I wasn't being affected by it, but it was still exhausting to use such a difficult branch of magic.

It seemed to go on for hours. When my father had finally calmed down, I tentatively reduced the amount of occlumency power I was using, then removed my defences altogether, letting out a quiet, shaky breath as I did so.
"Ivory? Are you ok?" Lupin said, sounding worried.
I nodded and put my left arm into my purse, trying to find a Draught of Peace.
What if they come to find me?!
As my fingers closed on the potion and I pulled it out, I saw Dumbledore and Lupin's confusion increase. I quickly checked the label on the vial to make sure it was the right potion, which it was, then drunk it down, instantly feeling less anxious.
"That's better," I said quietly, putting the empty vial back into my purse. Then, on seeing Dumbledore and Lupin's expressions, I hurriedly said, "Draught of Peace."

I felt blood dripping from my arm onto my jumper; looking down at my two new scars, I saw they were both still bleeding.
"How much do you have in that purse, Miss Riddle?" Dumbledore asked.
"Quite a lot, sir..." I replied awkwardly, putting my hand into the purse again and pulling out some bandages, which I wrapped around my right arm a little haphazardly.
"We'll have to get you a Blood-Replenishing potion, Ivory," said Professor Lupin, looking at the huge bloodstains on my sleeves.
I quickly pulled one out and put it on Dumbledore's desk, then I sighed as an almighty crash! came from inside the purse.

"What was that, Miss Riddle?" Dumbledore asked, sounding slightly shocked.
"I think it was the potions, sir." I said, peering into the purse and groaning. "It was... and the shelves as well, that'll take me ages to clear up..."
"Miss Riddle, please drink that Blood-Replenishing potion and then go to see Madam Pomfrey in the hospital wing," Dumbledore instructed, shaking his head slightly. "Professor Lupin, you stay here. I want a word."
Lupin and I both nodded. I quickly drunk the potion, then stuffed my purse into my pocket and walked up to the hospital wing.

(A/n: Sorry this chapter's so short, it somehow took me 2 days to write it because I kept getting distracted)