CHAPTER NINETY-TWO
"please get remus"
The burst of red light from Theodore's wand shot upwards towards the tunnel's rooted roof and collided in an instant. The dueling between the three trios came to an abrupt halt as they realized what Theodore had done. Like lighting had struck the ceiling, the dark earth poured down from the ground.
Right onto Hollis and Regulus.
Unfortunately for them, it wasn't just fine dust coming from above. There were also heavy, sharp rocks let loose mingled with thick chunks of rusty dirt that could easily suffocate someone.
The only thing that Hollis could see among the mess was a waterfall of dark brown and greys in front of her eyes, every other sensation was blinded by the roar in her ears that made it sound like the earth itself was shaking. A cloud of dust billowed into her eyes, making them tear up so badly that an actual sob came out as well as the salty liquid.
She thought that the downpour of ground would have stopped after a few seconds, but no such thing happened. Over the defeating sound all around her ears, she could barely hear what was going on outside of her earth prison.
"You fucking idiot!"
Muffled shouts.
"The whole tunnel is going to bloody collapse, we have to get out of here!"
"Are you mental? We can't just leave Hollis!"
The dirt began to take over all her senses. It was making a thin film on her tongue, was all over her skin, and filling her eyes with its powdery light gray plumes. She felt like she was drowning, drowning in a tornado of rock and dust.
But right as she couldn't take in another breath, a hand grabbed hers from the dirt and squeezed tightly.
It was Regulus.
"If we go backward, then we should be able to get out of here in time!" he shouted as loud as he could over the dirt. "Now, come on!"
She couldn't attach a face to his hand from how bad the visibility was, but she stumbled over the chunks of the earth as best as she could to get the hell out of there.
Hollis had almost gotten to see some light before a huge chunk of rock fell on her leg.
She screamed so loudly and with such rawness that everyone on the other side of the cascade could hear her. She could feel the blood pouring down her leg, along with a horrible, empty feeling when a tiny piece of flesh should have been. The wound was filled with dust and thick dirt, making it hurt so badly that her leg gave out.
But then Regulus's hand yanked her's as hard as he could, and Hollis got free from the pile with one last tug.
Falling on her stomach on the hard earth, she let out a strangled sob of pain from being nearly suffocated and the gash on her calf. She wanted to just lie on the ground forever, her cheek pressed against the dust.
Regulus knelt by her, two filthy hands extended to try and help her up.
Hollis shut her eyes and pressed up with two scarred palms on the ground with a loud groan of pain. After trying for a few seconds on her own, she realized that she couldn't rise. She still took Regulus's hands though, finding comfort in them. With a delicate pull, he managed to sit Hollis up so that she could see more than the dust coating her inky black eyelashes.
Where they had been standing only a few seconds before, there was now an enormous pile of dirt that had previously been the ceiling before Theodore idiotically cursed it. Scooting a tiny bit closer, Hollis examined the pile with narrowed eyes. In it were several large chunks of rock, a dozen thick, gnarled roots, and dense, damp hunks of rust colored dirt.
If they had been trapped in the downpour for a few seconds longer, they might have died from lungs full of dirt or a heavy rock pinning them down.
"Oh Merlin, your leg," Regulus whispered with horror. "No, no, no."
Hollis squeezed out a few tears.
"Yea, I noticed that, too."
There was only a terrifying silence.
"Regulus?" Hollis whispered, her voice breaking.
"Yes?" he asked hopefully.
"Please get Remus."
It broke his heart.
.｡*ﾟ+.*.｡ ﾟ+..｡*ﾟ+
Lucius, Roldolphus, Theodore, Peter, Sirius, James, and Remus stared at the pile of dust and rock with horror. All seven of them were exhausted, although for very different reasons.
Remus was the first to break the tense silence. With a sudden movement, he slammed Theodore against the tunnel wall, his muscular forearm pressed against the Slytherin's neck.
"Normally I would fucking kill you, Nott," Remus said in a lethally low tone, still staring at the mound of dirt. Leaning his body forward slightly, he applied even more pressure to Theodore's throat, making him gasp for air slightly. "Lucky for you, there are more important things than your pathetic ass right now."
And with that, Remus exited the tunnel as quickly as he could. Theodore crumpled to the dirt floor the second Lupin released him, taking in large gulps of air. Sirius and Peter quickly followed behind the aubrin haired boy, but James stayed behind for a moment, looking at the piece of parchment sticking out of Lucius's pocket. Snatching their Map back, James gave the pale boy a very, very hard punch in the face.
"That's for the Map."
He then turned to Theodore and gave him a hard kick in the stomach.
"That's for laying a disgusting finger on Hollis."
Finally, he turned to Roldolphus and twisted his arm painfully.
"And you're just a right foul git, Lestrange," James said with a sneer.
The hazel eyed boy followed behind the others, leaving all of the Slytherins in much less pain than they deserved.
.｡*ﾟ+.*.｡ ﾟ+..｡*ﾟ+
Regulus ran out of the tunnel covered in dirt, almost none of his pale skin visible. He sprinted throughout nearly the entire Shack before finding an exit to the rickety building and racing out of it. The frigid dawn air hit his face like a slap, but it was a relief from the hot, stuffy tunnel.
Luckily for Regulus, he didn't have to look much farther for the other Marauders.
The four Gryffindors were already running towards the Shack as fast as they could, the sun rising with a coral brush against the sky behind them. Remus was the fastest and first to get to Regulus, and he grabbed the Slytherin's shoulders.
"Where the bloody hell is she?" Remus asked, furious at Regulus for leaving Hollis alone in the still unstable tunnel. "WHERE IS SHE?"
"She asked me to come find you, Lupin," Regulus replied coldly. "I didn't want to leave her either."
"You're telling me she's still in there?!" Sirius shouted, mad beyond belief at his brother. "How thick can you get?"
"I didn't want to leave her!"
"Then why did you?" Remus shouted, his eyes wide and furious.
"Merlin, Lupin, you're not the only one who-" Regulus replied, before cutting himself off.
"Come on, just go!" James cried, running to the Shack as fast as he could.
The five boys all scrambled through the narrow, rickety doorway with desperation, Peter falling behind slightly. Remus was once again the first to reach the entrance within the Shack that led to the tunnels.
He paused slightly, nervous to see what state he would find Hollis in once he entered the rooty tunnel.
Taking a step downhill, he part slid part walked down into the hidden passage. It didn't take much more running for him to find her.
The Slytherin had her back pressed against the curved wall, one leg hugged to her chest and the other halfway extended on the dirt. There was a horrifying red gash on her leg, the crimson blood soaking through her sweatpants where a rock must have fallen down on her. Hollis's dusty eyelids were shut, and for a moment Remus realized that she looked like she could be dead.
"Shit," he muttered, kneeling down next to her. "Your leg."
Somehow, Hollis gave him a dry smile.
"I've been told."
Sirius and James couldn't see her like this. It was all just too similar to that summer night. They both had to turn away, and Regulus and Peter looked at them curiously.
Remus and Hollis were too busy trying to comfort each other to notice.
"For a second when it collapsed and you screamed, I thought," Remus trailed off, his eyes glittering. "You know what I thought."
Still not moving her leg, Hollis just pressed her forehead against his.
Her calf was on fire and stinging so horribly that it could have fallen off, and Remus's chest had dried blood all over it, only partially his own, but that wasn't what either was focused on.
"I'm here."
"So am I."
A small stream of the sunrise peeked through where the earth around them had collapsed. The pinkish orange beam of light hit both right in their faces, basking them in a peaceful glow.
Regulus had to look away.
the gif of reggie at the top fits too well right after she says that oml
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