He arrived in the pub, it was dusty and dark, but he managed to find the stairs up to a large room. James was chatting quietly with a nervous Peter. "You okay?" Sirius asked, worried over his friend's pallid skin.

"Y-yeah. Almost splinched."

"Glad you're okay, mate." Sirius clapped him on the shoulder before looking furtively for Hollow. His heart stopped when he saw her, he rushed to pull her into his arms. "'Low, I was worried." He spurted out.

"Just because I'm blind-" He cut her off with a quick kiss, shivering at the realization of how easy it would be for her to accidentally splinch.

Dumbledore arrived with a group of shivering, pale students. He proceeded to enchant the room with protective charms and asked everyone to pair up. Remus and James paired up, Peter and Lily, Dumbledore took Hollow, and Sirius was left with no one. He looked around until his eyes fell on Frank, who was also looking around.

He was surprised at how well the other boy could work his counter-charms. He found himself vibrating, laughing, frozen, upside-down, and babbling. James was giving Remus a hard time, but the lycan was doing extraordinarily well against James. It was Hollow, however, that gave him a surprise. Dumbledore gave her very little time in between spells, her eyebrows were furrowed, she stood very still, perched on the balls of her bare feet, a small smile resting on her face.

They ended practice, sweating and feeling strange. Sirius sat by Hollow, listening intently to everything Dumbledore said. "Voldemort's followers are becoming more and more aggressive. What started as following by fear has turned into killings of muggle born. I believe Voldemort is planning a mass extermination."

Sirius breathed out slowly, gripping Hollow's hand. As the ended, Dumbledore handed out different rings, some silver, some gold, some black, and some embellished with house colors. "These rings will be the new way of communicating. They will vibrate, the inside will be inscripted with the date, time, and meeting place. If you lose your ring, it will not work, come to me and request a new one."

He passed out the rings, Sirius' looked like a Black Family heirloom, it was a little bulky for his taste, but he assumed he would grow accustomed to it. Hollow's was a thinner, black ring that she placed on her thumb. "Braille." Dumbledore said as he passed it to her, silencing the questioning look on her face.

...oOo...oOo...

"Oh, JAMIE!" Sirius blinked at how loud Hollow was. He downed a potion provided to relieve his massive hangover.

Messy headed from "natural" causes James smirked at Hollow, "What could ever be the matter?"

"I have a dilemma."

"So do I."

"You first, then." Hollow grabbed Remus' cup (by accident or not, Sirius would never know) draining the chocolate look as Remus stared at her, clearly questioning how to take her action.

"I woke up this morning, and noticed something rather peculiar."

"What was it?" She was on the edge of her seat. Sirius grinned at how incredibly adorable she was. Her small frame was covered in baggy pajamas, black and white hair pulled into a bun, revealing the cigarette tucked behind her ear. She looked more herself this morning than she had since the attack.

"Well, I woke up, rolled over in a hungover daze and stared at Paddy and Moony spooning! I was so conflicted. I need to know, Holls, are you Pads cover up?"

Hollow screamed laughed. Sirius grimaced, remembering how thoroughly convinced she had been he was gay. "Merlin, I don't know myself." James laughed with Remus and Peter.

"Oh, haha."

"So what's up, Holls?" James asked, smirking at the blind girl.

"Okay, so in my muggle studies class there's this girl, she's in Raveclaw, her name's Mildred." Hollow paused her thousand word per minute spill to finish Remus' chocolate milk.

"Oh gracious," Remus sighed, "Mildred what a rotten name. Whatever are we to do?"

"Anyways," she stuck her tongue out, "she's making life very difficult for me. She moves my books around, and un-braille's my study guides, and she puts my bag in a different place if I have to stand up, and it's just, it's just," eyebrows furrowed, "it's pissing me off. I need you to help me make her life just a little more difficult."

It hit Sirius just how important things were for her to be in a certain spot. He had noticed, of course, that everything in her bags were given specific pouches, and that she always set her fork and spoons down in the same place. He ruffled her hair in realization of her frustration that things could be hidden from her in very plain sight, even a three inch difference could mess with her.

"Fear not, fair maiden. This is just the opportunity we needed. Sit back, relax, and I'll do the messy work."

"I'm pretending that it is not my responsibility to tell Lily that you're pranking someone." Still, Remus reached across the table to give her a confirming flick of the nose.

"I'm pretending I'm not Head Boy and that it is not my responsibility to tell on myself that I'm pranking someone."

"Siri," Hollow cooed, batting her eyelashes in his general direction.

"Hm?" he smiled and kissed her forehead, "what do you want?"

"Would you do me a big, big favor?"

"Probably not."

"Would you write me a letter to my Auntie Justice and tell her that in a thousand years I will never, ever be interested in marrying my cousin Jeremiah? Even if I would be forgiven by my family for, oh what was the word she used- 'rutting' with the blood traitor Black?"

Steaming red in the face, cheeks swollen, James shook with laughter. "Are you kidding me?" Sirius laughed, imagining the skull-splittingly tight bun on the top of a very large, brute fame of her Aunt Justice. The woman was nearly six-foot-five, weighing about two hundreds pound in just wiry muscle under paisley dresses. Her face was always red. "I mean, yeah, I'll do it."

"Oh, you're a sweetie." He adjusted his posture to aid her in the kissing of his cheek.

"RUTTING!" James screeched.

"What?" Lily stood behind him, a puzzled look on her pretty face.

"RUTTING!" He screamed again, attracting the looks of concerned teachers and students.

"Smoke break?" Hollow pipped, weaving her fingers in between his as he led the way to the fountain.

"Worried about tonight."

"It'll be okay, it's always okay in the end." Hollow looked a little sad as she blew a smoke ring into the morning air.

"I know, but you know Remus, he's always so scared."

"It breaks my heart." Her lips dropped into a sad pout. "I just wish it didn't hurt him. If it was anything but that. He could claw me all night, and I could accept that, I just hate to see him in pain. Remy doesn't deserve that." She muttered, taking a slow draw off her cigarette.

"He really is the best of us all." He found himself musing.