In a private break room that had been cleared out for the headmaster's purposes, five Gryffindors, three students and two professors, sat with anxiety written all over their faces. McGonagall and Dumbledore were quite sure that their pupils had not let any information go, even if they themselves had no idea what was going on.
The trio of boys had not trusted the Ministry to divulge their information, but they knew that McGonagall, if not Dumbledore, would not immediately jump to punishment as the government would. The two adults would at least hear them out before skipping to any conclusions. They were very intelligent, having gained their high positions for a reason.
James rocked back and forth slightly in his chair, and McGonagall couldn't let the tension build any longer.
"Would you three mind explaining what is going on here?" she asked, starting in a low tone that quickly started to gain fierceness. "We wake up this morning and Nott is beaten half to death and six students missing without a single bit of knowledge from any of your classmates on why this could be happening."
The frown lines around her thin mouth deepened.
"I would hope you know that not only is this dangerous, but also an incredibly hard burden to place on a professor," she continued, trying not to let too much emotion leak into her voice. "You could have been killed."
Well, one of us was, Sirius thought sourly.
"So can you please tell me where the older brothers in your group are?" McGonagall finished, wringing her hands together at what she might hear.
As easily as they could lie and conceal information from the cold-hearted Ministry officials, they simply couldn't do the same for their beloved professor.
"Regulus is gone," Remus said truthfully with a vaguely remorseful tone. "We don't know where he went."
Seeing how McGonagall was about to open her mouth to reply to Remus, Sirius deftly cut in.
"He's fine, he can apparate and has his broom," he said reassuringly. "He'll be able to hide just-"
Remus dragged his fingers across his eyes in exasperation. Sometimes Sirius could be so damn careless and now was the absolute worst time to let that trait show. Next to the green eyed boy, James let out a deep sigh and slumped down in his chair.
None of them were being subtle about the fact that Sirius had just revealed something they had been trying to keep confidential.
"Why does Mr. Black need to hide?" Dumbledore asked calmly, having just observed the conversation until now.
The answer clicked with both professors as soon as the old man said this.
"I believe that it is quite possible Rosier's body might be in the grounds somewhere," James muttered. "Might want to clean that up before some first year finds it."
Remus felt highly guilty for finding James's comment about the death of another student amusing.
McGonagall on the other hand, had four fingers pressed against her mouth with both horror and shock. The idea that Regulus Black had killed Evans Rosier was something she had never expected from a teenager.
Although Sirius's older brother had always been a stereotypical pureblood Slytherin, McGonagall never pinned him as the type to commit cold-blooded murder, so there must have been some unknown motive, most likely related to the reason Hollis was in the hospital.
"And why might this be?" McGonagall asked, not hesitating to voice her question. "Why did you bring Hollis here?"
These questions were linked, and all five of them knew it.
"Evans put Hollis under the Imperius Curse as a test mission for Voldemort, and after she broke the curse last night, Regulus killed him," Sirius said bluntly.
Neither of the other two boys could have put it better themselves, no matter how mental it still sounded to them even after the curse being their and Hollis's reality for months.
The professors were hit by another wave of shock at one of their students being cursed by their own blood, along with guilt at how they had not noticed and a bunch of teenagers had done so and helped her break the curse before them.
If anything, it just testified to the deep bond of the chosen family found within the five Marauders.
To McGonagall, the knowledge of Hollis being under the Imperius Curse clicked together several pieces of the puzzle building since Valentine's Day. From the way her pupil had defended Theodore Nott to how she had stood up to avoid the Gryffindors in her office, the Transfiguration professor was beginning to wonder how she hadn't figured out the sighs earlier.
"And why did you not tell a professor the instant you discovered that she had been cursed?" Dumbledore asked, his tone struggling now a bit more to remain tranquil.
James, Sirius, and Remus exchanged a three way glance at both this question and how well the two adults were taking the news of a death and disappearance right under their seemingly careful watch.
"With all due respect," Remus said in a quiet yet strong tone. "Some things are left better without a bunch of overly cryptic riddles about love and friendship added to the mix."
Hollis would have laughed.
At Dumbledore's mildly surprised face and McGonagall's pursed lips, it was very difficult for James and Sirius to keep straight faces at Remus's incredibly brash yet very accurate words to their headmaster.
As the silence built though, James sensed that he needed to break up the tension before someone snapped. It was rather frustrating that this burden was being placed on the students instead of the adults handling it, but they were all used to that sort of pressure by this point.
"Well, to be fair, I think we handled things fairly well to give Rosier what he deserved without an adult's help," he muttered.
McGonagall's already severe expression intensified, and James realized he fucked up.
"A student is dead, Mr. Potter," she whispered. "I would not define that as fairly well."
She was trying to hide the fact that she silently agreed with James.
"And the world's better for it," Remus added on. "He did that to his own sister. He got what was coming for him."
There were a few moments of tense silence that followed Remus's, once again, brash words that came with one of the defining traits that had placed him in Gryffindor; boldness that was sometimes a bit hard to control.
McGonagall and Dumbledore exchanged a loaded look before seemingly agreeing upon the same conclusion.
"Just don't tell the Ministry those opinions," Dumbledore said. "None of us want you getting blamed, and voicing that you're glad Mr. Rosier is dead is just the way to do so."
Despite the morbid conversation he was taking part in, Remus let a small, satisfied grin tug at the corners of his mouth.
"We will need to notify his parents," McGonagall said with a mildly stressed tone. "They will want to know what happened to their son."
Remus's grin was wiped away in an instant. There was no way in hell this was going to go well for Hollis when her parents heard the news.
"But what about Hollis?" Remus asked, his eyes becoming wide with worry as he leaned forward in his seat. "They're going to take out their anger on her, she's going to get hurt-"
He was cut off by a highly intentional cough from Dumbledore.
"Miss Rosier will stay in St. Mungo's until her parents have time to sort out their initial frantic stages of grief," he said at a slow pace. "By the time she gets out in a few weeks, they will have gotten over the fury of their loss."
Remus wasn't taking any of it. All of Dumbledore's titles seemed to melt away as he stood up from his chair in anger.
"You have no idea how ignorant you sound right now!" he exclaimed, pointing a finger and his headmaster.
"Mr. Lupin!" McGonagall shouted, but Remus ignored her for the first time in his life.
"They are going to hurt her, even after a bloody decade of 'recovering from their grief' or whatever bullshit you're trying to sell here!" he continued, his tone only rising.
James and Sirius swallowed deeply. When Remus got like this about Hollis, he said only the truth with no exaggerations. But sometimes that honesty was terrifying.
"Let her go back with them, and you might not have any Rosiers at your school next year!"
Dumbledore blinked several times.
"Mr. Lupin-" he started, trying the same tactic as McGonagall, but he failed just like his coworker had.
"You see too much good in people," Remus said in a strong voice. "And that doesn't only affect you, professor."
The other four Gryffindors were in pure shock at the student verbally battering the head of his school as he slammed the door behind him.
Seething, Remus started to walk down the hallway, uncharacteristically not even bothering to apologize to any patients or healers he knocked into on his way to Hollis's room. Once he reached the door, he took in a deep breath and tried to compose himself.
There was just this urge for him to see the girl he loved whenever he was feeling any negative emotions that was simply impossible to erase after how long it had been building.
And as soon as he opened the wooden door and saw Hollis sleeping peacefully, Remus felt calm again.
He had no idea how long he leaned in the metal lined doorframe just taking in the fact that Hollis was here and safe and still his.
Time seemed to do that around her, Remus thought with a tiny smile as Hollis's fingers moved slightly against her cheek in her sleep. Skip so fast you barely see it or slow down during all the good moments.
He had no idea that McGonagall was standing a few yards behind him will a soft smile at how obviously in love her students were.
how do we feel at this chapter? - bc idek man
ok a thought occurred - what if one of u guys goes to my school and neither of us have any idea
@ the like 80 ppl who have messaged me asking for smut - im like 90% sure i would die if i actually published my drafts
1.8k words
what do u wanna see?
VOTE! - it rly helps