CHAPTER SEVENTY-FOUR
"marked"
Hollis wasn't paying any attention whatsoever to what Vindia and Mulstone were telling her about behaving and the consequences if she didn't. She already knew them well enough. Instead, she had just locked eyes with Regulus from where the Blacks were standing a few families away.
"Yeah, see you in a few months," she muttered dismissively, walking away from her parents while they were still in the middle of talking.
"Appoline, get back here!" hissed Vindia, her eyes glancing around the station anxiously to see if any other pureblood families had seen.
A raised middle finger and still turned back was Hollis's only response.
Regulus grinned as he left his parents hurriedly to meet her behind a rusty colored brick column in the corner of the station.
"You're so fucking stupid," he implored, although he was unable to keep the smile off his face at the sight of Hollis flipping off her parents. He raised an eyebrow as he noticed her hair and makeup. "I like the hair."
"Yea, I don't like yours," she laughed slightly, jokingly messing up the wavy black strands even after Regulus attempted to doge her hand with a chuckle of his own. Both of them were ridiculously happy to see one another outside of Rosier Manor, and it showed.
The few moments of stolen laughter before Hollis got the fake Dark Mark and their whole plan began faded.
Regulus took in a deep breath as he pulled his wand out of the inside of his coat. Glancing behind him and around the pillar to make sure no one could see them, Regulus caught eyes with James Potter and Remus Lupin, both of their arms crossed over their chests.
Oh hell no, he internally grumbled as he turned back around. Anyone but them.
"We need to get somewhere more private," he whispered to Hollis, gently wrapping a hand around the waist of her sweatshirt. "Come on."
Hollis didn't have to ask to know that Regulus had just seen someone that he didn't want to around the corner, and she trusted him enough to agree with his judgement. Nodding hastily, she followed him around the corner while glancing up at the painted glass clock.
They had fifteen minutes to do this and get back on the train.
The four Gryffindor Marauders watched as Regulus and Hollis gracefully snuck out of the main area of Platform 9 3/4 with a variety of thoughts.
The first of these being, Holy shit, thank God that she's back and something so bad didn't happen to her that she had to stay at Rosier Manor. The second, but what if something really bad did happen and she's just hiding stuff from us again? We all know it's more than possible.
The last, What the fuck is she doing sneaking off with Regulus?
Peter was the first to speak.
"At least we know that she's okay enough to be stealthy?" he halfheartedly suggested, shrugging his shoulders.
James and Sirius both didn't reply, their eyes narrowed and hands shoved in their pockets. Remus in particular had been focused on the way Regulus's grip was wrapped around Hollis's waist.
"Should we follow them?" Sirius asked, not enjoying Hollis spending so much time with his arrogant, intolerant brother.
"No," James said firmly and with a tinge of bitterness, making the other three boy's eyebrows shoot up in surprise. James was usually the most nosy of the group, this was unlike him. "If Hollis wants to run off with him first instead of finding us, then that's fine."
Remus slid his hand into his pocket to hide his slightly clenched fist at the way James was narrow-mindedly perceiving this. "I doubt she would be doing it if it weren't important," he retaliated, rubbing the wrapper between his two fingers. "We shouldn't jump to conclusions."
"You see too much good in my brother."
"You only see the worst."
Sirius scowled slightly and stepped closer to Remus.
"So you're telling me that you aren't at all concerned about the fact that Hollis spends so much time with Regulus, mate?" he prompted, annoyed with his friend for not suspecting more from his brother.
Furrowing his eyebrows and tilting his head slightly to the side, Remus spoke back as calmly as he could.
"Trying to provoke me here, Pads?" Peter's blue eyes darted anxiously between his two friends as he bit his thumbnail, not wanting any conflict before they even got of the train.
"All I'm saying is that if Marlene was running off with some guy that all the girls find attractive, I might be a bit suspicious."
Oh he's fucking screwed, thought James the moment these harsh, accusatory words came out of Sirius's mouth.
.｡*ﾟ+.*.｡ ﾟ+..｡*ﾟ+
Once they had successfully gotten underneath a beige stone staircase out of sight from the primary bustle of the staton, Hollis furrowed her eyebrows as she and Regulus stood closely together due to the limited space.
"Who did you see?" she asked, curious who Regulus had wanted to avoid seeing them in particular.
"No one, just saw how many people were here in general," he lied hastily as he pulled out his wand again. "You ready?"
Taking a deep breath in, Hollis pulled up the baggy sleeve of her emerald sweatshirt. Regulus's face instantly sunk into a deep frown as he saw how thin Hollis's arm was, the slim structure extending to her bony hands.
"When was the last time you ate, Hol?" he whispered, looking up at her with wide eyes. Swallowing hard, Hollis was quiet for a few moments.
"I think the day before yesterday?" she replied, biting the inside of her cheek so hard that she almost drew blood.
It was hard for Regulus to look at her after she said this. He tilted his head up and to the side slightly, biting his bottom lip with anguish for her herself and anger at her parents.
"I hate them," he declared after a few seconds, voice cracking slightly.
"Yea, me too dumbass," Hollis frowned, looking at the nearest clock. "But we have seven minutes until we have to get on the train."
Taking one last look at the unmarked, smooth skin of her arm, Hollis nodded in silent confirmation that she was ready to get the fake Dark Mark. Regulus pulled up his own sleeve for reference then deeply inhaled as he pressed the tip of his wand into her flesh. Slowly but surely, ink blossomed just below the surface of her skin. Like a plague infecting her veins, it twisted and turned until the pattern of a snake going through the dead, open jaw of a skeleton formed. And finally, the ink rose to the top.
As Regulus removed his wand, Hollis twisted her arm around slightly, viewing the Dark Mark from many angles. Glancing at Regulus's exposed forearm, her mark looked identical, not a single line or curve a degree out of place.
"We're fucking insane, Reg."
He looked down at the ground with a soft smile before letting his eyes pull back up to hers, a warm feeling spreading throughout his entire torso.
"I can think of no one else I would rather go absolutely mad with."
.｡*ﾟ+.*.｡ ﾟ+..｡*ﾟ+
Remus was internally just about ready to punch Sirius before Peter cleared his throat and tilted his head forwards to around the corner Regulus and Hollis had disappeared to.
The two arguing Gryffindor boys swiveled around on the balls of their feet to see Regulus pulling down the sleeve of his left forearm before leaning down to whisper something to Hollis.
That incredibly specific motion wasn't lost on any of the other Marauders.
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