𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡.

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^our observant queen

When Hollis sat down in a study hall to get ahead on her Charms essay, she didn't even notice Lily, Marlene, and the other Marauders at the table across from her. But they most certainly did.

She was shortly followed by Bellatrix, then Lucius, and then Theodore. Lily watched with a sour expression as they all filled in around her. The redhead felt replaced, and that was a feeling no one should ever have to go through.

Next to her, Remus was incredibly on edge after Theodore's threat yesterday. He knew nothing had happened between the two of them, it was a gut instinct. However painful it was to watch Hollis be surrounded by the people he hated, Remus knew that at least she was safe. For now.

"Someone's staring again," Bellatrix whispered slyly, leaning into Hollis. "I think loverboy over there misses you."

Looking up from her textbook, A Guide to Complex Charms: Edition Three, Hollis's gaze fixed on Remus from across the quiet room. The green eyed boy could feel when Hollis was looking at him, and right when he was about to pull his stare down, Remus moved his eyes back upwards.

For the first time in almost two weeks, Hollis and Remus made eye contact.

And this simple action made resistance bubble in Hollis's mind more than anything. More than breaking the ice around an innocent girl, calling her best friend a mudblood, or making one of her the boys she considered a brother feel worse about himself than he ever had about himself.

To Remus's surprise, even from several yards away, he could see what Regulus had been talking about. That bit of warmth in Hollis's eyes was returning. Maybe if we can just prolong that reaction. And that gave Remus the hope to not break the stare. Next to him, Sirius noticed this change in Hollis's expression as well.

Meanwhile, Hollis felt like she was drowning in that lifeless happiness, and Remus was the hand trying to pull her out of the water. Through everything, he was the one who gave her the most strength. And Hollis needed that now more than ever.

Get out of my head, why am I here, I need to go to them, I need to be with him-

From a few benches down, Evans slammed shut his Transfiguration textbook to look at his little sister with anger. It was impossible to focus on his homework for McGonagall when there was a force prodding at his head that took an immense amount of concentration to suppress and get Hollis back in line.

Unfortunately for the eldest Rosier child, Marlene and James both noticed the way he was frustrated seemingly out of nowhere when Hollis and Remus locked eyes.

Then, several tiny things happened at once.

First, Evans mentally tightened his grip on Hollis's mind, narrowing his eyes slightly to do so. Then, Hollis broke Remus's stare first. At the same time, Remus noticed how the bit of warmth Hollis's eyes, replaced only by the cold. Finally, Marlene and James exchanged a concerned glance at how Evans was glaring at his younger sister.

The clues seem obvious from our perspective, but it was going to take a little more than the simple actions occurring for the Gryffindors to decipher what was going on here.

"Did you see that?" James asked the rest of the table quietly, as to not anger Flitwick, who was watching over the study hall. "Rosier, the way he looked at Hollis?"

Marlene nodded, while Peter and Lily looked confused. Remus, meanwhile, was too busy trying to preserve that moment of recognition in his mind to hear James. At this point, he was holding on to anything he could. Next to him, Sirius was begrudgingly realizing that his brother was right.

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