CURSES AND CANDIES - REMUS LUPIN

𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑟𝑡𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑢𝑟.

Even though the three boys had now not slept for over forty eight hours, the trio was still very much awake from the desire to be let into Hollis's room that they had been kept out of upon arriving. They had watched many patients come and go, as well as shifts being exchanged. Small leaks of buttery light coming through the few and small windows alerted the Gryffindors of how long they had been there, but the sun shining on the tile floors seemed out of place in such a dark mindset all of them had buried themselves in.

Remus hadn't been able to sit still for more than five minutes the entire night, standing up and pacing every second he could, as if this would make the time move faster.  At first, the healers and attendants around him had been mildly annoyed but then gotten used to the sparatic rhythm. The bags under his eyes had deepened from yet another night of sleep lost, as well as the stress of having the girl he loved being so close to him, yet he was unable to reach her.

On the contrary, Sirius had just been frozen. The black haired boy had been sitting with a hunched back and hands pressed between his knees for hours on end, so much that his muscles were starting to tense up. He was still in shock that his brother had killed someone, and that he had just watched. Not that he would have wanted to save Evans, Merlin no. But something about it just felt wrong.

Much to the staff's delight, James had been helping around the hospital with smalls tasks no one else wanted to do like making teas and sorting papers as a coping mechanism. When he couldn't help Hollis, it was comforting to him to know that he could be helping someone.

Remus had been asking the blonde woman, that they now knew whose name was Millie since she had been near them the whole night after checking them in originally, if they could see Hollis every time she went in and out of the Rosier's room. Millie had gotten used to it, and before Remus even opened his mouth, she just shook her head.

This time, however, as she shut the wooden door behind her, the woman nodded at Remus.

"You can see her now," she stated with a small smile. "But she's in a very delicate state of mind, I would advise not asking her anything too intense."

The Gryffindors were already inside the room, James dropping the mug of tea he was making directly onto the floor without even looking back. When they walked through the doorway, though, the boys all momentarily froze.

Hollis had a white bandage placed on her cheek, and a bit of blood was already soaking through it from the cut that they assumed had been inflicted on her by Theodore. Her right wrist was wrapped tightly with more of the cloth strips, holding it in place but still giving her fingers full range. 

The more alarming thing, though, was that Hollis had her wand tightly gripped in the hand without the bandages even in her half asleep state, still feeling unsafe even at the hospital.

None of them could blame her, but it still broke their hearts.

Remus looked at her for a few moments, trying to take in her peaceful state. He had no idea what state of distress she would be in when she woke up, but it was stomach turning to think of.

"Hollis?" Sirius asked hesitantly, seeming to have snapped out of his trance like haze. 

At the sound of his voice, Hollis felt herself wake up fully. And for the first time in a long time, it wasn't with a veil she had to fight through. Her thoughts were all her own. Hollis had control again.

"Pads, you have to stop sounding like you're going to cry half the time," she muttered, the memories from the curse still persistently present. "It's going to make me depressed."

Remus, James, and Sirius all laughed at Hollis's comment, their eyes watering slightly. Not from sadness like they had been too much lately, but with pure happiness that the girl they knew was back.