Hold On

Chapter 3

Remus' POV
It's hard trying to find a very unnoticeable 15 year old, we've all been searching for him, it's now Wednesday, last we seen him was Saturday. Didn't even see him any on Sunday. We ran up to Lily, she's closer to him than any of us,
James said" Have you seen Nikkie?"
Lily said" Who?"
Sirius said" Nicholas, Nikkie. Lanky, shaggy-haired, 15 year old."
" He's probably in his dorm."
Peter said" Nope. Already checked."
" Corner of the library?"
I said" Checked there too. You know him better than us."
" Uh, he likes the astronomy tower."
" Thank you!" We took off for the astronomy tower, hoping he'd be there or at least a clue.

We quickly and quietly took up the stairs and found him sitting on the railing. Staring off.
I said" Nicholas..." He gasped, and turned his head to us," What're you doing?" He went back to staring off,
Sirius said" Get down from there, Nikkie. Come on." We slowly made our way closer to him, he ignored us, he stood up on the railing, barely holding on." Nik!" I ran to him, wrapping my arms around his waist and pulling him down. We hit the ground, I kept my arms tightly around him, as he squirmed and sobbed. The boys blocked the rails from his view, I got him between my legs and in my arms, he squirmed more trying to get out.
" I'm not letting go of you, I'm gonna keep holding on, I'm not letting go." He just sobbed against my arms, stopping his attempts to get out.

After a while, he had calmed down, defeated in my arms.
Sirius said" What happened? Why would you want to do this?"
Peter said" Found this." He held up a letter, James grabbed it, his eyes scanning it.
He said" If you get any lower than perfect marks, I'll make you feel the worst pain in this damn world. You better be studying for your OWLs, and I better get a letter back with your latest assignment, it better be perfect or you'll see what happens during holiday break. Father."
Sirius said" Nicholas, what'd you get on your last assignment?" 
Nicholas said" N-Not perfect... I-I totally blasted- I totally blasted it..."
" And that's why..." He nodded quickly, sniffling,
James said" You're with us now, and we don't let anything bad happen to our friends. You can come over to mine during holiday break. My mum and dad won't care. They'll love it, in fact."
Nicholas said" N-No, t-they'll kill me, they will. I-I'm not allowed. I-I have to... I have to go home."
Sirius said" They'd just hunt him down, James. Make it worse for him. But we aren't letting you do that again, Nikkie. You're one of us now. Bet Remus can redo the assignment for you, James can mimic the teacher's writing. What class?"
" H-History."
Peter said" No wonder you failed it, Binns sucks, he's always asleep."
James said" Really, I'm surprised anyone can pass that class. It's not a problem. Come on, let's go to Honeyduke's."
Nicholas mumbled" I-I haven't any money."
" Didn't ask. Come on." I stood up, standing Nicholas up as well, he wobbled for a minute but gained his balance again. He just nodded quickly, I kept a hand on his waist, as we began walking, he blushed and kept his head down.

Nicholas' POV
We were in Honeyduke's, I was looking at everything with amazement, I've never really been to Hogsmeade.
James said" Here try this." Remus stopped him before he could hand me the candy.
Remus said" Don't even think about it."
" It'll-"
" No."
" Fine!" He walked away,
" Don't let James trick you into a pranking candy. Here." He handed me a piece of chocolate, he smiled at me, I began eating it." You don't eat a lot, do you?" I shook my head," Why is that?" I looked down, gulping," Okay, Nikkie. You don't have to tell us anything you're not comfortable with. It's okay." I looked at him, smiling a little, he smiled wider," Come on." He held my hand, leading me with him, I blushed deeply but looked down.
———
I was pacing the common room, trying to write an essay but it was impossible, I couldn't stop my mind from running about yesterday. I tried to... I- Ahh!
I heard James ask" What's wrong, Nik?" I shook my head, continuing to pace, he held my stomach to stop me." Explain, yeah?"
I mumbled" I've gotta write- I've got to write an essay, and-and I can't stop thinking... and I can't..." I went to crash, but he held me up,
" And you're done for now."
" N-No, I- No, I can't, Ja-" He dragged me up the steps," James, I've got to... I've got to write the essay."