CURSES AND CANDIES - REMUS LUPIN

𝑜𝑛𝑒 ℎ𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑖𝑥.

None of Hollis's senses felt right.

For some reason, the collision of her head against the cold, hard stone felt like barely more than a brush against her hair, and the cuts all over her body seemed to buzz for a few moments like there were minuscule, writhing insects crawling inside of the open flesh before going completely numb.

Even though she knew somewhere in the back of her mind that it was supposed to be dark outside, whenever she tried to open her eyes, the stars in the clear, inky sky seemed to blind her with searing white beams and make her head pound with the pulsing light even more than it already was.

She was vaguely aware of voices all around her, yet it seemed like a dozen warm, chocolate smelling sweaters were placed on her ears to muffle any shouts that were trying to get her attention.

Everything hurt, from that disgusted feeling in her stomach that was intensifying by the second to the throbbing of her temples, like a hammer was pounding from the inside, trying to break through her skull with solid metal and sheer force.

She felt a warm, familiar hand roll her onto her back on the ground so that her face was looking up at the sky, but not really seeing anything.

Hollis could hear voices calling her name, yet she wasn't sure if they were in her head chanting as if from a nightmare or if they were really coming from the people next to her.

The people next to me, she thought hazily. Them, I should... I should...

The stone that she was laying on suddenly seemed to be as comfortable as a feather mattress with a soft duvet and dozens of plush pillows that she could sink into and sleep on for hours, maybe even days. She didn't have enough energy to adjust herself, but how she was already seemed to be just fine.

I'll talk to them when I wake up, she told herself, thoughts sinking deeper into black. Maybe then I'll stop hurting.

And so for Hollis, everything faded to a numb, velvety black.

The same could not be said for the five people around her.

Lily, James, Sirius, and Peter simply didn't have time to be mad at Remus, they were too focused on both nearly sobbing with relief that Hollis was alive and then sobbing for the whole different reason that she might not be.

"She just went totally limp," Sirius said with alarm. "Why did she go completely limp?"

Remus rolled up her bloody sleeve, not even caring as the crimson liquid smeared over his own skin and held to fingers to her wrist.

"There's a pulse, but barely," he said urgently, not even feeling his own injuries. "She's in critical condition."

"She would know what to do," James said, tears cutting clean paths in the dirt on his filthy cheeks. "She would know how to heal herself."

"We need to get out of here before any of those werewolves wake up," Sirius whispered, looking behind him nervously.

"And we need to get her to Mia, now," Lily cut in. "She's the second best healer any of us know."

"She's saved Hollis's life before," Peter said, knowing from their stories of the summer when she had run away to Lupin Cottage. "So she can do it again, right?"

"Let's hope so," Remus said, gripping her hand as if that would bring her back to consciousness. 

And then, the cliff was empty.

The five friends heavily wished they had paid more attention to Hollis when she was healing Remus because they felt completely useless as they looked at the boxes and drawers of healing herbs, potions, and pastes that they knew could help her if they were only smart enough.