CURSES AND CANDIES - REMUS LUPIN

𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑟𝑡𝑦 𝑡𝑤𝑜.

"Is he dead?" James asked, numb of any emotion towards the Rosier boy's death whatsoever. "Did the fall kill him?" 

A thestral soaring above him answered the Potter's question.

Regulus was starting to realize what he had done. Not with regret, but with fear for himself. If he got caught, he was going to Azkaban, there was no doubt about it.

"You need to get out of here," Remus said urgently, turning to Regulus with wide eyes. "Now, somewhere where no one will find you."

The Slytherin's eyes were focused on Hollis, who had fallen asleep or just passed out against his older brother.

"But Hollis-"

James stepped between Sirius and Regulus.

"We got her," he said with reassurance, but not forgetting that the seventh year's wand had been buried in his ribcage only ten minutes earlier. "Go while you still can, Regulus."

Taking one last look at Hollis, Regulus nodded.

He had no idea if he would ever see her again.

"It's been a pleasure working with you," he said sarcastically to Remus, who smiled sourly. "But I hope I never see you again."

And with that, Regulus summoned his broom and was gone. Sirius had stood up, carrying a very limp Hollis in his arms. 

None of them knew what to do about the dead body somewhere in the woods below them, so they focused on what they could.

"We need to get her to the hospital wing," Sirius said urgently, starting to walked back towards the castle before Remus shook his head and block his friend from continuing.

"I don't think Pomfrey's ever dealt with something like this before," Remus said. "Being under the Imperius Curse is something a lot deeper than a Mandrake bite."

Sirius stoped walking.

"So what are you saying, St. Mungo's, then?" James asked, and Remus nodded.

"The Knight Bus, it's the fastest way," the black haired boy said, nodding his head to the opposite side of the bridge. "We can call it from the station, c'mon."

Remus paused and looked at Hollis.

"Can I carry her?" he asked softly, wanting to keep her as safe as possible.

It wasn't that he didn't trust Sirius, just that Remus had never felt more desperate to be close to Hollis in his life. 

"Yea, of course," Sirius muttered, gently reaching his arms out for Remus to take her in his warm, strong ones. "Let's go."

The crunching of the pine needles broke the silent night air as the boys raced as quickly as they could through the forest without tripping and falling, wanting to get Hollis to help as rapidly as physically possible.

The trees seemed to stretch on for much longer than usual, as if nature herself was teasing them with a long passage. None of them had any idea where Regulus had gone in the plethora of mountains and lakes, but it was probably better that way.

They couldn't be responsible for his capture if they didn't know where he had disappeared to.

The Gryffindors rounded a final corner after what felt like miles of running, reaching the stone platform that the Hogwarts express arrived in to either drop the students off or pick them up for on of their two breaks.

The torches came to life with amber flames as they magically sensed the quartet's presence, lighting up the clearing around them with eerie, flickering flames.