this is the song playing in the background at potter manor -
Fleamont, Hope, Lyall, and Euphemia were all sitting down around a light oak wood coffee table by the fire drinking hot chocolate at Potter Manor. They had decided to wait for their sons here since all three of them were already planning on spending the night at James and Sirius's house anyway.
There was a record player on top of another wooden table placed on the soft, dark red, and brown carpet scratching out a vintage Elvis album released in the 50s playing in the background that Sirius had dragged James to buy from a muggle store earlier that year during the summer. This sound mingled with the sound of the fire crackling, creating a happy atmosphere along the four parents.
The warden threw a party in the county jail
The prison band was there, and they began to wail
"At this point, I feel a bit bad for the general population of Lolchant," Fleamont chuckled. "Our boys are probably disrupting quite a bit of the peace."
Hope took a sip of her hot chocolate and laughed softly.
"They're teenage boys, that's what they do," she pointed out with a grin. "When are they going to be back, speaking of which?"
Euphemia turned around in her brown, cushy leather chair to face the brass clock resting on the mantle above the amber fire.
"They left at around nine, and it's five," Euphemia told the group. "And it's getting dark, they should be back any moment now. They're going to freeze in the snow if they stay out much longer."
Just as they said this, the enormous, tall front doors of Potter Manor swung open with a gust of cold wind and three sixth year boys.
"We circled the manor for over two hours, there was no way possible we could get in!" James shouted with such irritation that Fleamont's eyes widened.
"One more lap we would have either gotten caught or knocked out from touching that barrier again!" Sirius added on, and the parents still couldn't attach any more than footsteps and voices to the boys.
"So what are we supposed to do now?" Remus fumed with a scratchy throat. "Would you like some hot chocolate, James? Maybe a cookie as well to calm your thoughts?"
There was a loud thud as James threw something down at Remus's patronizing tone.
Number forty-seven said to number three
"You're the cutest jailbird I ever did see"
"Stop acting so bloody mad!" Sirius shouted in reply. "Just because now you feel guilty because you literally haven't gone through shit for her-"
There were a few thuds and grunts, and Euphemia and Lyall got up out of their seats as Sirius stumbled into the room holding his face.
It was obvious that something was very wrong between the usually inseparable boys to make them fight and turn on each other like this.
"HEY!" Hope yelled, and the three boys turned to her.
The parents were finally able to get a good look at their boys, and what they saw was quite a bit concerning. All three of their eyes were tinged pink and red with tears, as well as narrowed in anger and guilt. They were walking a bit funny as if they had the wind knocked out of them a dozen times and still hadn't quite recovered. There was still snow dusted all along their numerous shades of dark hair, and it was freezing in a bit.
"Sit down like civilized human beings and tell us what is going on this instant!" Hope demanded.
The three boys were all a bit sheepish, but that small feeling was overwhelmed by anger and frustration with themselves that they were directing towards each other.
Remus sat down in a chair to the left of Fleamont, while James and Sirius went to opposite sides. The parents all noticed how they had formed a triangle to be as far away from each other as possible and became even more concerned.
There was no noise as the three boys glared at each other besides the song Jailhouse Rock playing in the background.
The warden said, "Hey, buddy, don't you be no square
"If you can't find a partner use a wooden chair"
"Now, what is going on?" Lyall asked, looking between the teenagers with his torse leaned forward.
Sirius turned to narrow his brown eyes at Remus only, now not him and James.
"What's going on is that your son is trying to take out his guilt on us and it's getting a bit bloody annoying," Sirius spat.
All four parent's eyebrows raised.
"Where did you go?" Euphemia asked, already knowing the answer in the back of her mind but hoping that she was wrong.
James was the first to answer.
"Rosier Manor."
Fleamont started coughing in shock, while Lyall slumped back in his chair and rubbed his eyes.
"Was she ok?" Lyall asked, remembering their bracelets tearing and the Black boy's letter.
There was silence once more among the boys.
Everybody in the whole cell block
Was dancin' to the Jailhouse Rock
"Her parents are fucking insane," Remus said slowly.
All three boys started to get over their rage for each other and started to feel a wave of crippling guilt wash over them even though there was nothing they could have possibly done to help Hollis against the powerful magic.
Sirius was intensely staring at the carpet between his feet.
"I thought that my parents were bad, well most Sacred Twenty-eight ones are, but hers are so much worse than I could have ever imagined," Sirius muttered, now looking up at Fleamont and Mia. "Think of how I was when I came here, Hollis is probably much worse."
None of them liked that image.
"What did they do to that poor girl?" Euphemia asked, looking at Remus for an answer.
"We don't exactly know except for a few things," Remus murmured, shutting his eyes briefly. "We had to climb up to see her, and we were on the windowsill when her dad came in."
James swallowed hard.
"All we could do was hear what was happening," he told his mother in a choked up tone.
The band was jumpin', and the joint began to swing
You should've heard them knocked out jailbirds sing
"Which was?" Lyall asked, becoming incredibly worried at how the normally talkative boys were alarmingly silent.
"A few crashes, cries, thuds," Sirius said in a low tone, returning his gaze to the carpet. "And Hollis doesn't let pain get to her easily."
There was the last thing that none of them wanted to say. Saying it would make the fact that it had actually happened more real.
"And a Severing Charm," Remus choked out, his eyes watering as he stared into the fire. "On skin."
All four parent's eyes widened and faces drained.
"B-but, that's not mean as a weapon, that's just meant for practical uses," Fleamont stammered in horror. "That's a child, they can't just hurt their own daughter like that."
Remus let out a long breath. This was the very last thing that he had to let out. The last, most tragic piece of the puzzle. The one that had been wracking him with a devastating amount of guilt.
"Her father threatened us," he told his mother and father, looking at them each in turn. "He said 'It won't just be you who gets hurt anymore.'"
Lyall hugged his wife in slightly closer to him.
"And how do you know she meant us?" he asked with narrowed eyes.
"Because Hollis knew," James said, picking up when he realized Remus had choked up too much to continue. "It definitely wasn't the first time."
"And she said 'Do whatever you want to me, just don't you dare touch the Lupins,'" Sirius finished in a low tone to Lyall and Hope.
Spider Murphy played the tenor saxophone
Little Joe was blowin' on the slide trombone
"Can someone please turn that off?" James asked, and Euphemia flicked her wand in the direction of the record player so that the song came to a screeching halt.
"But she doesn't even know us," Hope said, her forest green eyes just like her sons watering. "Why would she go through so much?"
"Because she's the most stubbornly selfless person you'll ever meet," Sirius said. "As long as it's not anyone else getting her, it's Hollis."
"Why the hell did you leave?" Hope asked, starting to become angry at the three boys. "That girl was probably bleeding and bruised, how could you just leave her there?"
Remus had an honest reason, well, all three of them did. But James and Sirius applied this question to the past, and it hurt like hell.
"Because there was a barrier put up right after we fell off the windowsill," James said. "It repelled us with a shit ton of force, and it goes all the way around the manor."
This calmed Hope, but only for a moment.
"Did you just say fell off the windowsill?" she whispered in awe.
Sirius smiled wryly.
"Hollis has a particular talent for wandless magic, and she knew we were still there and wanted us to get out safely. She knew the snow would cushion us, even if it was from the fourth floor."
The story was getting progressively worse for the four parents.
"How large is this place?" Fleamont asked, focused on the fourth floor part.
"Six floors, dozens of courtyards, all made of black marble," James drawled.
"I wanted to get her so bad," Remus said in a low tone, speaking for the first time in a bit. "I've never heard someone scream like that before."
Hope and Lyall exchanged a sad look.
"We couldn't have done anything, mate," Sirius tried to comfort. "We care about her, too-"
For some reason, this triggered Remus.
"No, you don't!" Remus cried standing up. "You don't understand, I love her, and-"
There was total silence in the room as the four parents and three boys all realized what Remus had just said.
Merlin, I love her, Remus thought, sitting back down heavily. I love her so much.
Despite the circumstances, the other six members of the emotional conversation exchanged a small smile.
"It's about bloody time, mate."
this chapter was so freaking fun to write i loved it so much
the irony of the song i cant
1.7k words - long chapter
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