On the morning of Christmas Eve in 1976, Lolchant Forest was covered in snow consistently drifting down from the dark grey clouds in what seemed like a never ending stream of titanium white specks. So it was a good thing Remus Lupin, James Potter, and Sirius Black all had mothers and fathers who made them wear just about every type of winter clothing possible.
It had been quite the ordeal to get Euphemia and Fleamont to agree to the winter hike, especially after their sons returned so late last time they had left the house for the woods. But after the point was made that they had already enchanted their clothes with a modified heating charm, the Potter parents agreed to the hike.
The agreement had been much easier for Remus, since his parents knew that he was much more well versed in the knowledge of the rocky, mountainous pine forest around them and would therefore be much safer. So at nine in the morning, the three boys had met at Lupin Cottage once more.
Slipping out of the arched wooden doorframe, Remus met his two friends in on the snow on top of where the mossy cobblestone path leading to the front door usually was. All three of them had heavily packed backpacks, of which consisted food, water, and extra clothes in case they got too cold.
However, Remus had also brought the marked map of where Rosier Manor was located. Glancing behind him, Remus greeted James and Sirius.
The three of them had been planning on how to see Hollis for days on end.
After they had received that letter from Regulus and their bracelets had split, there was an air of panic surrounding even the thought of Hollis. Sometimes Remus would find himself just staring at the dark brown leather band on his wrist, waiting for a message from Hollis that was never going to come.
The whole planning process had been incredibly difficult for James and Sirius. The two boys had to act like they didn't know anything about Rosier Manor, which was very wrong. A few times, James had gotten the urge to tell Remus everything, but Sirius could always tell when James was thinking this and would give him a glare to remind his friend of that day when he had been pulled aside by James in the corridor. Once, Remus had caught this glance exchanged between the two and felt like there was something he didn't know.
Remus trusted his friends, though, and knew they wouldn't lie to him.
As the three of them set off towards the general direction of Rosier Manor, they talked about what to do in the worst case scenario.
"What do we do if one of her parents, or brother, comes in?" James asked, genuinely not knowing what to do.
When Sirius and he had knocked out Mulstone, it was a very spur of the moment thing. The two boys had been very lucky that the blow had been from behind so that he didn't see either of the Gryffindor's faces. Now it was a plan that they needed to make solid.
"Well, we shouldn't get too deep into her room no matter what," Sirius said, and the other two nodded. "And I'm assuming that we would get in through a window in the first place."
Remus nodded again, but then frowned.
"If she's even in her room, that is," Remus pointed out as he stepped over a snowy log carefully. "She could be attending a ball or some pureblood bullshit like that."
James and Sirius both almost tripped over the same piece of fallen wood Remus had gracefully stepped over as their tall friend made this point.
"Well, then we'll just leave," Sirius said, and both James and Remus stopped in their tracks.
Turning his head around slowly, James just stared at his black haired friend.
"We're not risking all this for nothing," James demanded firmly. "We are going to see Hollis."
Both Sirius's and Remus's eyed widened at how fierce James sounded.
"Well that settles it then," Remus told Sirius, who reluctantly nodded after a few seconds.
The boys resumed their pace in the snow silently, the decision still unmade as they thought.
"If she isn't there, then we can just wait," Sirius said, trying to redeem himself. "No way she won't be back in her room by ten or so."
"Ten or so?" James repeated in a questioning tone as he ducked under the low down branch of a pine tree. "Mia and Lyall would kill us."
"Yea, and it's gonna kill me if I don't see her," Remus retaliated sharply. "I'd wait for three days if that's how long it took."
Sirius was still insistent on voicing the flaws in their plan.
"She was at Grimmauld Place at the beginning of break," Sirius said with an equally sharp tone. "Who says she won't be there now?"
"What's your issue here, Pads?" Remus snapped, turning his head again to glare at Sirius. "Why are you so determined for this not to work?"
Only the crunching of snow and chrip of robins could be heard as Sirius didn't reply.
"I'm not determined for this not to work," Sirius said in a lower tone. "You just don't know how Sacred Twenty-eight parents are. They're fucking mad."
Remus took in a sharp breath of the icy air.
"And I left before the worst of it even got started," Sirius continued. "Before all of the betrothals and future careers go involved. And look at Hollis. She wants to be an auror, and she's dating a half blood Gryffindor. I'm thinking of the shit I went through, and I know that it's ten times worse for Hollis."
James's eyed widened as Sirius said this. The Black boy had never told even James this much before. And if Sirius didn't even know all of the things that had happened to Hollis and he still knew that it was worse then him, then they were risking way more here than James had previously thought.
"We should be there in a few hours."
.｡*ﾟ+.*.｡ ﾟ+..｡*ﾟ+
It had been one week since Hollis had discovered the pensieve, and she was still locked in her room. She had always hated the place, but now Hollis noticed every single detail that increased that hatred.
Within the seams of the large black marble squares, there were still minuscule droplets of dried crimson blood so dark that it almost blended into the stone. Every time Hollis looked at the floor now, all she could see was that tiny detail.
When Hollis's eyes grazed across her tall wooden bedposts, she saw the tiny chips that she had never noticed before. And where those chips had come from. And the bruise on her back that was evidence.
It was slowly becoming torture the longer that Hollis was locked in, so much so that now the letter opener was completely dull from being hurtled into the door so often. There were hundreds of cracks in the inky black paint from these throws. They were scattered around the edges, but condensed in the very center of the black rectangle.
Hollis's aim had gotten better before the sharpness ran out.
The very last throw was still embedded in the door, right above where Hollis spent most of her time sitting down with her back against the wall.
The week until she would be back at Hogwarts seemed like it was years and years away.
All Hollis wished for was a little bit of warmth. Because the cold was freezing her to the bone.
Little did she know, three boys were trudging through the snow as she shut her eyes and pressed the back of her head against the door to make that wish come true.
omg whats gonna happen?
sirius is just so cynical
1.3k words
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