CHAPTER SEVENTY-FIVE
"the secrets aboard the hogwarts express"
Somehow, Hollis had managed to fall asleep in less than a minute in the Marauder's compartment that the rest hadn't yet arrived in, never fully caught up on her sleep. Her head was rested against the window displaying the passing mountains covered with pine trees and large, glittering lakes, a pleasant change of scenery from the darker side of Lolchant. These first few moments of the train rides were always a sort of peaceful sanctuary to Hollis. Always the start of either a new school year or a new year in general, they symbolized a fresh start.
However, even in her dreams, her thoughts wandered back to the boy she hadn't seen in ninety two days. Not that she had been counting. As if these thoughts had extended a silent lifeline, a voice came from the doorway of their compartment, a voice that was full and warm and sweet and strong all at once. A voice that Hollis hadn't heard anywhere but her memories and dreams for three months.
"Can I finally see that book now?"
Her eyes flew open as she practically apparated to the beaming boy leaning against the door frame. She was having a hard time processing that Remus was actually standing in front of her. After a quarter of a year of waiting, it seemed like she was going to snap out of this beautiful dream any second and be back at Rosier Manor, silently staring up at the ceiling.
But when two very real, sturdy yet somehow still soft arms wrapped around her waist, Hollis knew that she wasn't dreaming.
She was really away from that place, even if it was only for a few months.
Hollis buried her head in Remus's brown t-shirt that still smelled just like that laundry detergent, almost crying with relief at how familiar and steady this all was. The new scar on her shoulder, bloodroot that had been forced into her veins, the bruises, and cuts all over her body, and the hunger that she was still enduring were now all worth it, all the effort far from fruitless if it meant she could keep holding onto this boy.
While Remus was feeling just as much elation and relief at Hollis really being here with him, there was something unsettlingly alarming overpowering that ease. Her waist had gotten much, much thinner.
When he had initially wrapped his arms around her, he had been expecting for his forearms to hit muscle, but all they hit was empty air underneath the thick green fabric where there was normally skin. He could also feel her fingers against his back, hard and small, like all that was left was bone with an incredibly thin layer of skin.
Like a skeleton.
"Hollis?" came a voice from behind where Remus and her were entwined.
"James!"
The small girl and tall boy gripped each other tightly, James resting his chin on the top of Hollis's head with his eyes closed in relief. On the back of his eyelids, the image of her lying half dead in the bloodred sunlight on the black marble path of the garden at Rosier Manor painted itself vividly, a harsh reminder of the secret he was keeping.
James's eyes flew open to get rid of that devastating memory that he wish was only a nightmare. To his surprise, Sirius was looking right at James, knowing exactly what his friend had just been thinking of.
Unnoticed by Remus, Peter, or Hollis, the two boys both frowned at the awful secret they had been keeping for months.
After each of them had taken turning individually hugging each other, they settled down into their, the Marauder's, compartment. The five sixth years had come a long way since this time only a year ago.
All four Gryffindor boys had assumed that Hollis was some conceited Slytherin prick that was somehow best friends with Marlene and Lily, even Sirius not thinking much better of her until they found her in their compartment. For all he knew, everything could have changed since she had shoved him out of the way from that chair.
Hollis had thought that the only layer to James was him being an arrogant, shallow douchebag who was oddly obsessed with the Snitch.
Having seen Remus constantly followed around by girls asking him out and never once looking at one for too long, she had known him to be some asshole that thought he was too good for any girl. Granted, she had never made an effort to prove herself otherwise. To her, he was smart, and that was about as far as his positive qualities went.
Hollis had barely even known that Peter existed outside of his companionship from the other three. Sirius and her's history was solely based on the scar she had on her right arm right behind her elbow from when she had pushed him out of the way of a chair Orion had sent flying across the room.
In short, all of them despised each other's guts and reputations.
But then, after dozens of Animagus lessons, full moons, scars, Quidditch matches, study sessions, pranks, and hangovers, an unbreakable bond had been formed between the five students, one that had let them form into this tight bunch of kids that it would take something unforgivable to split apart.
And none of it would have happened if Hollis hadn't subconsciously chosen their compartment to fall asleep in.
There was an obvious question to ask as the five Marauders sat in silence for a few moments.
How was your summer?
Peter didn't ask it because he didn't want to do something wrong by being the first to speak. James and Sirius remained silent because they thought they would just about break out of guilt from leaving Hollis at Rosier Manor barely alive if they got an even partially honest response from one of their best friends. Remus didn't disrupt the silence with the question because he was genuinely terrified of what he was going to hear.
So, Hollis was the one to talk first after a few seconds of tense silence.
"Who has the map?"
James leaned forwards slightly with his hands pressed between his legs. "I was going to mention the new makeup first," he grinned slyly, and Sirius let out a high-pitched giggle that in turn made the other four laugh.
Remus carefully observed her face, taking a good look for the first time in a long time. Beyond the black around her eyes and heavy mascara, there was something else. Deep bags pressed into her skin from months of buildup, a new definition in her cheekbones that increased the slender appearance of a skeleton she was building. He swallowed forcefully, looking down at his hands and wondering why she had clearly lost so much weight.
Hollis smiled softly, shaking her head slightly. "It's less about the actual style and more for reminding my mother and father that..." she trailed off, her already small grin fading. "Nevermind."
Right as Remus was about to push what Hollis had been about to ask, two blurs moving as fast as lighting shot their way into the compartment with loud squeals of joy. James and Sirius both flattened themselves against their blue plaid bench as Lily and Marlene practically tackled Hollis with completely unbridled force, clearly knocking the wind out of Rosier.
"LILS- OUCH MARLENE, GOD!" she cried after she caught her breath, holding them at shoulders length after hugging for a few seconds.
"God, we missed you so much," Mckinnon exclaimed, embracing Hollis again briefly.
"And we have so much to tell you about-" Lily started breathlessly before abruptly realizing that there were still four teenage boys among them. Gesturing down a few compartments with a jab of her thumb, she grabbed Hollis's hand. "Yea, maybe I should tell you when these gits aren't here."
"Don't steal her from us the whole ride!" called Remus down the hallway as the three best friends walked away in a fit of giggles.
"Yea, she's our best friend too!" added James as loudly as he could, sticking his head outside the glass compartment door.
These cries only made the trio laugh harder as they turned the corner. However, the instant Hollis was both out of their view and earshot, all four boy's smiles dropped.
"Did you see the bags under her eyes?" James exclaimed, running his fingers through his dark hair before making a motion under his own.
"Nevermind that, her hands look like they belong to an actual skeleton," pointed out Remus with a frown. "And her neck, her face.. everything we could see looked way too thin."
"I hope she eats a lot at the feast," Peter muttered, mostly to himself. "D'you suppose Regulus had anything to with all this?" questioned Sirius, ever suspicious of his Slytherin brother.
There were a few moments of silence between the four Gryffindors.
"If something happened, she'll tell us when she's ready," said Peter confidently, and the other three boys tried to believe him.
"Or we'll find out the hard way," Remus contradicted, thinking of that snowy Quidditch match that had changed everything. James and Sirius were both silent, Hollis's violent argument with her father roaring in their ears.
Every second that they kept the truth from Remus and Peter, the worse Sirius and James felt.
"Prongs, Pads?" Peter asked tentatively. Remus and he had both noticed how the two boys had gone completely silent, a very unnatural state for the loud duo.
At this particular start of the year, the Hogwarts Express was host to dozens of secrets.
Some of these were to be revealed willingly or unwillingly by their carriers, while others would take their dark knowledge to the grave. A few of them were incredibly dangerous to expose, even risking death to those who knew. Others had the possibility to tear apart friendships, families, and relationships, shred lives to pieces.
Yet all of them had something in common.
More specifically, someone.
OK ITS SURVEY TIME BC IM CURIOUS
who is ur fave character that is NOT reg, hol, or remus?
do u read this on phone or computer?
do u have any questions for me?
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