BLOOD AND CHOCOLATE - REMUS LUPIN

15 - "THE SNAKE MARAUDER"

"Well, that wasn't so hard, was it?" smiled Flitwick, brushing his hands together with satisfaction as he walked away to help his next student. 

Hollis stared down at the quill now as long as her forearm in slight shock. She had never been much good at Charms until recently, the talent suddenly deciding that after five years at school it was finally time to show up and put some work in. She didn't know whether to be annoyed or grateful.

Grateful, she decided, whispering a short thanks to the Charms class gods that had clearly answered her prayers.

Lily looked at her friend with a smile, her green eyes crinkling at the corners.

"You know, Hols, Charms are known to rely on emotion," Lily told her, making Hollis furrow her black brows slightly.

"What do you mean?" Rosier prompted, turning in her seat so she was facing the ginger.

"I mean that Charms is an art more than any other subject, and art relies on emotion. Generally, the happier you are, the better you perform," Lily said, placing a hand over Hollis's one resting on the shared wooden table.

Rosier looked down as she smiled.

Across the room, Remus was holding the piece of parchment with Hollis's handwriting under his table, tightly pulled between his hands. The yellow parchment was fraying on the edges slightly, probably due to the fact that Remus had been keeping it in his pocket with him since it landed in his lap.

"Oh, fuck off, Lestrange," her annoyed voice came from in front of him.

Remus looked up to see Hollis standing with one fist clenched and the other palm extended. Her thick, dark hair was pulled back into a bun. A few strands were loose, framing her chiseled face. Her emerald and silver Slytherin tie was undone around her neck, along with an untucked white shirt.

Roldolphus was holding Lily's bag, which he had clearly taken to provoke Rosier. 

She looks fierce, thought Remus, then instantly pushed it away. I think Marlene, Sirius, and James are having a bad influence on her, he realized. He had never seen her uniform so loose until she ditched the Slytherins for good a month ago.

A month ago when she ditched them, he thought in disbelief. I swear, we've known her for longer than since the Express this year. Three months? That can't be it. We have to have known her for forever with how we are now.

Maybe they did subconsciously from seeing her with Marlene and Lily all those years.

Whatever it was, James and Peter loved her, and Sirius already had admired her spirit from when he knew her as a child. It hadn't taken much for old and new relationships to start, and they were all clearly better and happier for it.

Ever since the Portkey prank, it felt wrong for them to do those kinds of things without her. After so many serious, heavy moments on full moons and Animagi sessions between them, the light ones had to be shared to balance the others out. 

Hollis had been jokingly referred to as "the snake Marauder" so many times now that it was starting to stick.

But even with all that clarity of her belonging, Remus didn't know how to feel. She scared him slightly, but she had also helped the four of them, especially him, so much. And she was clever, mischievous, kind. Funny. And her eyes were really pretty-

Stop, Remus.

And then there were her secrets. Most of Hollis's past was a mystery to him.

How she had become an Animagus without help, how she hid pain so well. Why she had been bleeding on the Express, what that howler and that letter really meant.

He found himself wanting to know what happened over the summer to change her for those first few months when she only saw them secretly, what had made her abandon Marlene and Lily in favor of the Slytherins. Hollis had found her way back to them, but even the short amount of time she spent with those boys was confusing and disturbing.

At least she was with real friends now. Marlene and Lily, Remus reminded himself. James, Sirius, Peter. The Marauders, a package deal. So then me too, obviously. Right? I mean, yeah. We're friends. And she sees me shirtless every month. That's just lovely, isn't it-

A loud shout snapped Remus out of his thoughts.

"That's it!" declared Flitwick, stepping in front of Hollis. "Detention tonight, for that dirty mouth of yours Miss Rosier," Flitwick reprimanded, placing his hand firmly on Hollis's neat desk.

Lestrange smirked, satisfied.

"He took Lily's bag and wasn't giving it back!" Rosier shouted, wildly gesturing her hands in defense. "And you know he doesn't listen to reason with that thick head of his, I had to use some kind of language to get through to him-"

"Enough," the professor snapped, and Hollis fell silent. She knew when not to push her luck any further. 

The room hushed as Flitwick slowly turned his wrinkled head, staring down every student. The atmosphere was tense, no one else wanted to get yelled at.

"Now, unless any of you would like to join Miss Rosier in detention, I would highly suggest for you to keep any foul language out of your mouth," Flitwick warned, stepping up on a stool so that everyone could see his short body. No matter their professor's height, his rare outbursts were intimidating.

Peter gulped, and no one said anything. The intense silence only lasted for a few seconds.

"Motherfucker," Remus whispered, usually at a tone not audible with the loud classroom.

Many heads turned his way, amused and surprised.

Hollis's eyes widened, and she had to bite her lip to keep from smiling.

"You dumb piece of shit," added on James, but much louder than Remus had said.

Hollis rolled her eyes as James shrugged at her. It was a not so silent, indirect apology that she begrudgingly accepted.

"Asshole!" came a shout to the left of Hollis where Sirius was sitting.

"Fuck!" screamed Peter as well, making the whole room come out of their paralyzed state and laugh.

Flitwick was absolutely done with the room of fifteen year olds.

"Fine!" he exclaimed, slamming his wand down on the mahogany wood. "You four may have detention with Miss Rosier! Now can we all get back to work?"

The five of them smiled.

Package deal.

forever a classic, forever a favorite. we miss you, stanley.

1.6k words