in which hollis rosier falls asleep in the wrong compartment
or the right one, depending on who you ask
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part one of two
editing closed, logged off wattpad (sorry only like half of it is edited, but its obviously still all good)
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song of the chapter - "happy pills" by the weathers
"mama prongs"
On January fifteenth of 1976, four animals could be spotted sneaking out of the castle. A bloodred, tiny fox led the way across the fallen pine needles with long, graceful strides. After her, a large stag with brown fuzzy antlers plodded with much less agility on the stone path adjacent to the fox, hooves clomping noisily. Next to the large stag, a tall black dog was sprinting with clumsy paws, stumbling over every rock he came across. A small, grey rat took up the rear.
All of them but the fox looked like they forgot how to move like an animal, which was a fair thing for these creatures to feel.
Because they weren't animals, they were Animagi.
Unseen to anyone watching the odd arrangement of four creatures, a breathless boy under an invisibility cloak ran next to them with a huge smile on his scarred face.
It had taken four years of attempting to become Animagi and five months with Hollis, but she had finally finished the process with them earlier that night.
After running for a few more minutes to a well-concealed location under a large oak tree that they had planned earlier, the fox stopped moving. The other three animals followed suit, and in the blink of an eye, five kids were standing in their place.
"That," said Sirius, out of breath. "Was amazing."
"Really, we would still be working on it if it wasn't for you," James grinned, fixing his rumpled hair. "How have you never told us how fun that is- how have you been doing that for years? We have quite a bit of time to make up for, don't we?"
Hollis just smiled, remembering feeling the exact same way on her first night.
"You three cannot run gracefully to save your life," laughed Remus. "You guys tripped over like every stone. You're lucky no one broke anything."
Hollis moved over to Remus and jokingly elbowed his arm. Lupin kept looking down at her for a second too long, but only Peter noticed.
"I wasn't very agile at first either," assured Hollis, making James give Remus an I told you so face. "You have nothing to worry about, it just takes a bit of getting used to."
A sharp, shooting pain sliced down her back, a sure sign that the cut was not agreeing with the running interrupting its delicate healing process. "Excuse me, one second," she excused herself hastily, knowing that if she spoke any longer, her voice would break.
Before any of the boys could reply, Hollis moved around to the other side of the thick oak trunk. With a slightly trembling hand, she reached her fingers up the back of her white sweater and brushed them against her back. Sticky, warm, blood made contact with her fingertips, and Hollis gritted her teeth.
She had resplit the cut.
Fuck, she thought, ready to cry. Of course I did.
When she pulled her hand out from her back, dark, almost black, blood was snaking down her fingers, tricking to her wrist like she had turned on her faucet and crimson paint had come out instead of water.
"Shit," she muttered, trying to wipe off the blood, but only succeeding in spreading it further down her brown skin.
"Hollis?" said Remus, coming around the corner of the tree with a concerned expression.
Hollis immediately threw her bloodied hand behind her back, then regretted the action as quickly as she had performed it.
That is literally the most suspicious thing you could have possibly done, she scolded herself. Where is your sense of discretion?
From the raise of his brows, Remus seemed to agree.
"What's wrong with your hand?" he asked, stepping closer to her across the brittle, frosted grass.
"Nothing," Hollis sputtered out quickly. It was partly the truth, she told herself. Nothing had happened to her hand.
Remus studied Hollis very carefully as she ran her not concealed hand through her hair. All of the signs that had been adding up for weeks, all of the signs that she was hurt. He couldn't keep his questions in any longer.
"Hollis," Remus said, his voice demanding in a way that Hollis had never heard before. "What is going on?" he asked, taking a final step closer to her. "And you have lied to me- us, so many times, stop the bullshit. What is going on?"
Hollis looked up at Remus breathlessly, but not from running like the shallow breaths going through Sirius's lungs had been caused by. This was an uneasiness, one that betrayed everything she knew about Remus, but also one that she simply couldn't help.
"What?" Remus cried, throwing out his hands to her. "Nothing is adding up here! You can't always sacrifice your own well-being for others' peace of mind, Hollis!" he shouted. "You're so good at concealing emotions and pain, but I'm begging you to drop the fucking act," Remus pleaded, voice raw. "I can't-"
"Stop it!" Hollis yelled, interrupting Remus with a start. "Goddammit Remus, just stop caring so fucking much! It would make all of this," Hollis gestured widely, "so much easier!"
"Well you don't watch out for yourself enough, Hollis!" Remus exclaimed with an equal amount of frustration, voice choking. "And because you don't, someone has to. What if one day, something so bad happens to you that you don't make it? What then?"
"You were fine without knowing all of this for months!" Hollis shouted. "What happened? We were perfectly good friends, and don't ruin that because you want answers! Nothing changed!"
"No, that's not true!" Remus cried, holding his hands in his hair and then out to her. "We both know that's not true! Things have changed, alright? That hug, and that day by the lake when you leaned on me, and- I thought-"
"Remus," Hollis cut him off, shaking her head. "Stop. Not now-"
"THEN FUCKING WHEN, HOL-"
"HEY!" a sudden shout came from around the tree. "I HAVE LISTENED TO THIS STUPID ARGUMENT FOR LONG ENOUGH, BUT THIS IS TOO FAR! Remus, lower your voice and watch your profanity when you're screaming at her. Hollis, go get some sleep, you clearly need it. Both of you will be able to discuss this tomorrow if you still feel the need to shout at one another after you've gotten some rest."
Lupin and Rosier blinked a few times in shock.
James wasn't having it.
He was angrier than either of them had seen him in a long time, and not the short, prideful kind. This was something much deeper, much more powerful that they had absolutely no desire to tap into again.
Hollis and Remus obediently followed his pointed arm, not so much as looking at one another as they split ways back up to the castle.
"Merlin, James," Sirius breathed, breath clouding in front of him. "What the hell was that- what's wrong?"
Potter's face had gone completely slack, slowly turning towards Black and Pettigrew in horror. He sat down heavily right onto the grass, adjusting his glasses and running a hand through his hair before speaking in a terror stricken voice.
"I think I just officially became my mum."
this is such a serious chapter and the title is literally the one funny thing but we're just gonna roll w/ it.
