One and Only 3 ; George Weasley

260

"I don't know if I can do this." I said, shaking my hands which was something I had always done when I was nervous. Today was the day of the trial. It was early February and I hadn't seen Luke since he beat the absolute shit out of me in his house. My face was still scarred from it. Some of the cuts hadn't completed healed yet. He had done so much damage and now I had to see him again, see him and see how long he'll get in Azkaban.

"If he looks at you, I'll beat him up." Uncle Fred said, trying to make me laugh but it didn't work. All I could think about was that Luke was somewhere inside of this building.

"That'll only get you thrown in Azkaban as well." My dad told his brother before turning to me. "He won't be able to hurt you, Vivi. We will be right by your side and he'll be locked inside that cage the whole time."

"I know." I nodded slowly. "But it's just the fact that he's there. I haven't seen him since that night and he's so fucking scary."

"Language." Mum told me as she hugged me from the side.

"As if you've never cursed." Uncle Fred said. "Actually, you did curse a lot. All you ever did."

"Fred. That's not... not the right time." Mum said with a sigh as she rubbed my arms. "Luke will get what he deserves. He won't ever lay a hand on you again."

"You can go take a seat now." one of the men who worked in the building told us as he held the door open that led to the courtroom. I looked up at mum who kept her arm around me as we walked out of the door. Dad and Uncle Fred stayed behind us both both made sure to stay close in a way to support me.

I didn't look up when we entered the courtroom. I knew Luke was already here. He was sitting on a chair in the middle of the room, the centre of the room. 

We were led to a side where we had to sit. Luke's mother had to sit there too but mum chose to sit between her and I so I didn't have to sit right next to her. She might not have done anything to me but her son did so I didn't want to sit near her. Dad sat down next to me on the other side and then Uncle Fred sat on his other side.

I wasn't going to testify. Kingsley Shacklebolt who's the current minister for magic had promised I wouldn't be asked to testify.

Then I looked. As soon as I sat down, I looked at Luke. Sitting in that chair, wrists and ankles handcuffed to the chair. His hair had grown out a little. It was still short, yet long enough for a strand or two to hang loosely in front of his face. He had a single bandage over the bridge of his nose. It hadn't completely healed from when Uncle Fred broke it. He looked like shit. Good.

He lifted his chin and his eyes scanned the room before they landed on me. A small smirk spread on his lips as he made eye contact and I didn't break it. My lips were pressed together and I was just staring back at his eyes without showing one single emotion.

All the memories of our ten month long relationship flashes by my eyes. I remembered it all. From when he was this charming sixth year that wanted my help with homework, to the day he almost killed me. The time he kissed me passionately after we just said 'I love you' for the first time. The time I made him laugh 'till pumpkin juice came pouring out of his nose and that only made the both of us laugh even louder.

The room of requirement was our place. Where we'd meet up in secret because no one could know. It was always either a room with a sofa or a bad so we had somewhere to talk and laugh. Then he started becoming controlling but I didn't think it was a big deal because he loved me. That's what he told me. Before summer started last year, he had threatened to hit me if I didn't stop looking at Simon so when we came back to school in September, I was a bit frightened by him. Then he started hitting me, manipulating me, raping me, convincing me to become anorexic so I could be perfect for him.

I felt so stupid. So ashamed, disgusting. How could I let myself fall for him, for someone like that? How could I not see the person he was? See that he was this disgusting asshole. He was just... he was beautiful and I thought he was everything I wanted in a boyfriend. I thought he was perfect, though he still thought something was missing for me to be perfect. I wasn't thin enough and now I'm too thin and have to work so hard to get back to what I love. I was exhausted. Wanted to forget it all, but I couldn't. It would always haunt me and that's what I hated the most about this entire situation.