Chapter 26: ──twenty three

twenty three.

OLIVIA KINSLEY HAS NEVER FELT ANGERS WORSE THAN SHE DID NOW AS SHE SAW THE CONDITION LUCAS IS IN. The little boy, so frail and tiny and clearly lacking the nutrition he needs growing up, sobbed so violently his whole body began to shake. He cradles his arm to his chest, his coat ripped and wet and his hand clutching broken glass, causing blood to drip from his palm. Gushes covers his face, a deep wound by his eyebrow and his lips.

It angers her. It angers her so much to see the little boy who brought nothing but sunshine in this cruel word so bruised and broken. It makes her ball her fist so tightly, they begin to turn white.

"What happened?" She asked him, taking a deep breath to calm herself enough to tend to his needs. "Who did this to you, Lucas?"

The boy said nothing as he kept sobbing, holding on to her arm as blood fell the same time his tears did.

"You have to tell me what happened, love," she says again as she forces his palm to open.

There lies the glasses Healer Helen had made him wear to fix his dyslexia. They're squared, like James' as Olivia figured he'd be much more motivated to wear them that way. However, now it's nothing but broken glass and plastic, the shards digging to his skin.

"I-I'm sorry!" Lucas cries out as he sobs in Olivia's arms, his face buried on her neck.

"Who did this to you, Love?" She asks again, softly this time as she pulls him closer to her.

"I didn't mean it," he sobs on her shoulder, his hands tightly clenched around Olivia's shirt. "They-They tied me to the bed and kept throwing cold water at me and I-I couldn't breath then they started floating and I didn't mean it, Olivia. I swear I didn't mean to h-hurt them."

With his words, her anger only seems to spread throughout her body and her eyes start to darken, her mind going to places it will never return from.

"We know, baby prongs, we know you didn't," Sirius, whom Olivia hadn't noticed was even in the room, reassured the little boy.

"T-Then they called me a freak," Lucas continues to cry. "They said they're going to burn me like they did to witches before. I-I broke the rope but one of the girls held me back and t-they started burning my clothes and it was so hot!"

Euphemia only then realized the blood that covers the boy's arms, dry and causing his clothes to cling to the wound. With horror, she realized they were burns.

"They started c-cutting my hair and my face and it hurt so bad," he cries, his entire body shaking. "Why would they do that, Olivia? I never did anything to them. Why did they hurt me?"

Olivia's hold on the boy only tightens as hot, angry tears fall from her eyes. In that moment, she only sees red and she only hears Lucas' cries. "We'll make them pay, Lucas. I promise. We'll hurt them just as bad."

James Potter thought he had seen Olivia Kinsley mad before, but he's proving to be wrong. Her eyes only darken more and more as Euphemia finally starts treating Lucas' wounds. Her fist stays clenched as Lucas tells them how he was picked up by the knight bus, leaving all of his stuff in that horrible orphanage, including his wand. Her body remains rigid as Lucas eventually falls asleep crying.

James then realized that this is the calm before the storm. A hurricane hides behind her eyes and they're begging to be set free.

He kneels in front of her, placing himself between her legs as he takes her hands in his, gently tugging on them to gain her attention.

When Olivia finally meets his eyes, they're almost unrecognizable. It's nothing like the striking grey ones he had gotten so attached to. Instead, they're dark and smoky, hooded and terrifying. They hold no emotion apart from anger.

"Please, my love," he says softly. "I need you to calm down. This is bad for the babies."

"I want to hurt them," she admits quietly. "I want to hurt them badly, stab them slowly and hear their screams."

James swallows, not familiar with the danger that comes with her voice.

"Why am I thinking like this, James?" She asks him and he sees a glint of fear in her eyes. "I sound like my parents."

"You're angry," he tries to explain softly. "It's normal. I'm angry, too."

She shakes her head, her gaze dropping to their entwined hands. "You don't understand. I want to do so many bad things. I want to burn that place to the ground."

I want to see their bodies burning.

Not knowing what else to do, James places his lips against her forehead. "I love you, Olivia Kinsley, and you are better than them."

Yet as her eyes land back on Lucas' sleeping form, the urge to hurt the muggles who had done this only grows stronger.

⋅•⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅•⋅

EVERYONE IS QUIET THE NEXT MORNING AS THEY ALL PILED IN THE POTTERS' CAR.

Sirius sat on the back with Lucas squished between Olivia and James, his head placed on Olivia's shoulder. All his wounds have been taken cared of and his tummy full, yet his eyes remain dull as they stare ahead.

"Will you take me back there?" He whispered to Olivia's shoulder, making the adults turn to him.

Olivia was quick to shake her head, her eyes meeting James' above the little boy's head. "No, love, of course not. You're staying with us. We just need to do some things and get your stuff."

"Do you promise?"

James wrapped an arm around the boy's shoulder, kissing the top of his head. "We promise, Luc. You're never going back there, alright?"

The boy nods slowly before placing his head back on Olivia's shoulder.

From the shotgun, Euphemia watches the three, finally realizing just how much the little boy matters to the two teenagers.

Not long, the group arrives at the orphanage. It's brown, dull walls with the chirping wallpapers made Olivia's skin crawl. She held onto Lucas' hand firmly.

"What do we have here?" someone hisses at her ear, causing Olivia to quickly turn to the side to see a rattlesnake hiding under the untrimmed grass.

Lucas seems to see the snake as well, causing him to quickly switch to Olivia's other side, also taking James' hand.

The group ignores the snake and continues on.

"Lucas, darling, we've been looking everywhere for you," a nun immediately greets enthusiastically, causing Lucas to bury himself behind James' leg.

The nun tries to grab Lucas but both James and Olivia were quick to step in front of him.

"We're here to pick up his stuff," Fleamont says, stepping in front of his son.

The nun turns to the older man. "Pardon me? You can't just take a child. That's against the law. There is a process to follow for these things."

"I'm pretty sure child abuse is also againts the law," Olivia speaks up, her hold on Lucas tightening.

The nun seems scandalized upon hearing Olivia's words. "Excuse me? This is a house of God. We don't tolerate any misdeed here."

"Apparently you tolerate bullying," Euphemia says.

Sirius raises an eyebrow, his fingers fiddling with an unlit cigarette. "A house of God yet you can't teach the children here basic human decency?"

The nun straightens. "I'm sorry, but I don't think you know what you're talking about. I'm gonna need you to leave. Lucas, go back to your room."

"We're adopting him," Euphemia says, placing a comforting hand on Lucas' shoulder, her voice firm and powerful.

Olivia realized that this is the Euphemia James spoke of. This is Euphemia Potter, countess of London, auror and strong woman always willing to make actions.

"There is a process for this, ma'am," the nun repeats again. "You can't just take him."

"Confundo," Fleamont mutters under his breath and almost instantly, the nun's body seems to relax, her eyes becoming glazed. "Now go get whatever we have to sign and we'll be out of your hair."

"I'm pretty sure that's illegal, dad," Sirius says, but the smirk on his lips tells everyone he doesn't really care.

Fleamont shrugs.

James kneels in front of Lucas. "Why don't you tell us where your things are so we can get out of here."

Lucas nods timidly as he starts to pull James and Olivia to a hallway and onto a room.

Inside are four boys, all of them smirking as soon as they saw Lucas. James was quick to grab Olivia's now clenched hand. "Don't."

Olivia's jaw clenched, but she nodded nonetheless. "Lucas, get your things."

The little boy followed her orders, ignoring the other children's smug smiles. Lucas worked quickly as he shoved all his stuff in his trunk, pocketing his wand and closing it shut.

"The freak's leaving?" One of the boys laughs, making Olivia's head snapped to him. Immediately, the smile drops from his face.

As the group of three returns to the main area, Euphemia gives Lucas a big smile. "Hey, Lucas Potter. Welcome to the family."

⋅•⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅•⋅

AS THEY WALK BACK TO THE CAR, JAMES ONCE AGAIN SEES THE SNAKE. It's looking at them as if watching their every move.

His dad starts the car with Sirius and Euphemia helps Lucas fix his seat belt while James puts his things in the trunk.

By the pathway leading to the front door, Olivia crouches in front of the snake. There's three of them now, all of them hissing and looking at her as if they understood what she's saying.

"Baby," James calls, walking over to her and taking her hands in his. At the corner of his eyes, he sees the snakes slithering towards the orphanage.

When he looked back to see, Olivia was dragging him away.

"You ready to start your life, love?" Euphemia asks the little boy from the front seat.

"You can call me mum, by the way. Or Euphemia. Whichever you're comfortable with."

Lucas gives a shy smile and a nod of his head. "Yes... mum."

As the group drove away with smiles on their faces, the screams from the orphanage started.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

This is so bad oml. I wanted

this to be better written but

idk what happened.

But anyway, here's the

chapter we've all been waiting

for and I hope you still enjoyed

it no matter the writing.

-- lexie