Author's Note: Disclaimer is in the prologue. I hate repeating myself. Thank for the favorites, the follows and the reviews! And of course thank you to those who had read the story! Let start by saying that I have made an error in Holly's age! She has in fact turned the age of eighteen!
Sharnorasian Empire: Hello again, my friend! Yes, I broke them up, I don't regret it. Don't worry, eventually they will be together again. When that will be though... will have to stay a mystery! And the reason I ended "Don't Hex me Remus!" was because I didn't believe in the story plot anymore. The muse was still there but the muse had matured, if that makes sense(?). My muse wanted to go to a different direction with the story.
Padfootette, Nataly SkyPot, wingedangel791: Thank you very much for the reviews! Muchos Gracias(for Nataly SkyPot) I appreciate you all very much! I will try to update every couple of days, but I can't make any promises.
Robert77833: I'll correct my story summary because that little ship is basically going to be..accidental. And I plan on making it feel absolutely wrong for both! Just you wait and see!
apy: Well, Remus and Holly are going to be a unique thing. You' guys will understand soon.
Chapter Three
Once again, Holly was thankful to have friends. Hermione, in particular. As soon as she had fled from her bedroom the first place she went to was Hermione's bedroom. The girl had packed her school trunk by hand. She was an incredibly gifted witch in most subjects, but when it came to household charms Hermione was confused.
She had practically launched herself into her best friend's arms and began bawling in the same instant. It had not even entered afternoon tea and so many things had gone down that left her in a tizzy. Her friend ship had ended with Ginny, and now her romantic relationship was over as well.
Holly had told Hermione everything that had happened from the moment Hermione had left her bedroom. Hermione listened intently without speaking a word, nodded when appropriately and said "that prick" when it was appreciated. God bless Dr. and Dr. Granger for birthing this beautiful woman.
Hermione had went up to her bedroom and packed Holly's things away on her own. She had then levitated the trunk down one floor to her bedroom and brought it to Holly herself.
"You're an angel sent down by the Gods," Holly praised tearfully. "Thank you, really. The last thing I want to do is see Sirius. I may hex his bollock off."
"I understand," Hermione said quietly. "Though, you may want to re-organize your trunk again. I had to use a household charm and everything is all crammed in there. I still can't figure out how to organise everything so..it's just one big pile. Sorry."
Holly shook her head. "That's okay. I can fix it later."
Hermione nodded and bit her lip. "I have a suggestion."
She had summoned a chair and sat down hard. "I had thought this for a couple of hours now. Maybe we should leave early."
Holly blinked and then smiled. It looked as if all the drama of the world . "You mean, leave before tomorrow morning? That's brilliant. We can leave this afternoon. Merlin, when Mrs. Weasley finds out we're leaving early she'll have a dementer!"
Hermione smoothed out her mini skirt primly with a wry grin. "Who says we have to tell her?"
The green-eyed girl gasped in delight. "You smart little tart! Quick, help me organise my trunk!"
They both sprung into action immediately. The organization of Holly's trunk was done quickly. It was shrunk and shoved into her clutch. She shoved her bare feet into flats and waited for Hermione to finish shoving books into her moleskin purse.
"I do need them!" Hermione insisted. "I'm thinking we won't be back here for a good long time!"
By the time all their belongings were shrunken and stowed away in their pockets. They began to make their way downstairs. It was closing in on noon and the first person they had to run into was none other than Mrs. Weasley. The older woman had a content look upon her face as she levitated a laundry basket behind herself. Holly had instantly recognised the clothes belonging to Sirius.
"Hello, girls!" Mrs. Weasley greeted pleasantly, before she turned to Holly with a concerned look. "Holly dear, I was just in your room and there weren't a dirty clothing waiting for me by the door like usual."
Holly sighed. She had no problem with walking out of Grimmauld without meeting a single resident, otherwise she would not have been able to lie. Especially not to Mrs. Weasley. The woman who had shown more love to Holly every Christmas time with her hand knitted green sweaters then Petunia Dursley had ever done in Holly's whole life. Holly couldn't even count on both her hands and toes how many times she had wished that Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had been her parents.
She opened her mouth to explain, but Mrs. Weasley lifted a hand to stop her. The older woman continued on.
"So, I decided to search for them. And to my surprise I discovered there was not a single piece of clothing left in your dresser or wardrobe. No underclothes, socks and most definitely no shoes. Your beauty products and feminine products were also gone!"
"Well," Holly said slowly. "I can explain that Mrs. Weasley.."
"You're leaving," Mrs. Weasley stated with a sad look.
Holly blinked. "Erm y-yes, Ma'am... Why don't you look more..Angrier?"
"Because, dear," Mrs. Weasley explained calmly. "No matter how much I wish, no matter how much I have mothered you this past eight years..I'm not your biological mother. And though I do count myself as your mother-figure, you are of age. If I wasn't able to stop F-Fred and George from dropping out of Hogwarts to pursue their joke shop, I most certainly would not be able to stop you."
Holly's eyes filled with tears. She quickly swiped them away before they could fall and took a deep breath. Why was she crying again?! This had to be the third time today and it wasn't even afternoon tea!
"I love you, Mrs. Weasley," Holly was able to choke out without falling into a sobbing mess, "very much so."
Reaching out a gentle hand, Mrs. Weasley carressed her face with the back of her hand.
"I love you, too. Now, off with you. Before I change my mind. And you better owl. Frequently."
With the hood of her cloak placed securely over her head, Holly closed the front door of Grimmauld Place behind her. Hermione had already been waiting outside, looking nervously up and down the street. Holly knew exactly how she felt.
Even if the war was over and all the Death Eaters had been caught and imprisoned, there was still a feeling of anxiety. Anxiety of the unknown. And the anxiety had only shifted from Death Eaters to reporters.
"I was expecting her to put up more of a fight," Holly said in a low voice.
"Good thing she didn't," Hermione smiled. "Otherwise Mrs. Weasley's voice would have broken the sound barrier and alert every reporter magical and muggle to our location."
Holly laughed. They both clasped hands and Hermione apparated them away. They both screamed in fright as they fell in the middle of a cobbled stone street of Hogsmeade, and then they promptly began laughing hysterically. Hermione's clumsy apparation had landed her forward on her hands and knees, while Holly had fallen back on her bottom.
"Well," a familiar voice spoke loudly. "Would you look what we have here."
They both looked up at the impeccably dressed young man. Draco Malfoy's hair was loose around his ears, his robes were a black and silver ensemble with his tie being a green so dark it was almost black. There was a smile on his lips, and his eyes looked a soft grey. Draco's features were relaxed, joking even.
"Draco!" Hermione squealed with delight.
The chocolate haired girl pulled herself up from the ground and threw herself into the young man's arms. He caught her in his strong embrace. Hermione had put her whole body into her actions and Draco was still able to keep his position.
"Hullo, Mine," Draco greeted with a heated kiss.
Hermione rolled her eyes at the pet name Draco had given her. Holly smiled slightly at their show of affection. She had really never taken Draco Malfoy as being one to initiate public displays of affection. There was never an instant when he had shown PDA with his ex girlfriend Pansy. Thank goodness, no one wanted to see that pug mauling a man in public.
Holly pushed herself off of the ground, gathered her clutch and Hermione's moleskin purse. She approached them as slowly with a smile.
"Potter," Draco greeted with a mocking tilt of his head.
"Draco," Holly greeted back with the same tilt of her head.
All three of them laughed before they allowed Hermione to lead them down the cobbled street. They were led into the crowded Three Broomsticks. As soon as they entered heads turned and mouths gaped. The usual roar of voices and laughing dimmed slightly. Holly tried to not make any eye contact with anyone. She followed behind Hermione as Draco paused to allow her to walk in the door before him.
"This is pleasantly awkward," Draco said with a unfaised tone.
"Shush," Hermione admonished him.
As soon as they were sat at a booth the roar of voices rose back up to its usual volume. Unfortunately the same could not be said for the staring and head turning. Holly hunched over on one side of the booth while Draco and Hermione sat across from her.
"You would think they had never seen a scar before," Holly muttered with a weary look in her eye.
Draco snorted. "It's not the scar they're staring at, Potter. They are all wondering how a slip of a girl could have been the down fall of the Dark Lord."
"Many thanks," Holly said dryly, but smiled slightly as Hermione giggled at their antics.
Their "friendship" had not changed much from their younger years. Yes, they were less likely to throw jinxes at each other and their insults had little to no bite, but every one of their conversations almost always ended it sneering (on Draco's part) sarcasm. It had only been with the help of Hermione that Holly and Draco had become tentative friends.
Not even Holly speaking on behalf of Draco's parents to the Wizengamot was enough to warm him to her. Holly honestly was unfazed by it. Her mentality was that she could live her life with or without the friendship of one Draco Malfoy, but because of her friendship to Draco's girlfriend she had vowed to at least give it a try. Needless to say, Hermione acted as a buffer most of the time.
A waitress finally came by their table to take their orders, her starstruck eyes stayed glued to Holly, even when Draco and Hermione ordered their lunch. After completing the order the woman scurried away presumably to the kitchens.
"The upside to all this attention surely has to be the service," Draco commented while digging into his lunch. "Quite the speedy service."
Holly grunted. "Probably so she can get back behind the bar with her mates to continue gossiping about who knows what.."
"Well," Hermione murmured into her butterbeer as she peered toward the bar. "Your right about that."
Draco and Holly turned and peered at their waitress. The waitress was surrounded by four other girls in the same grey waitress robes of The Three Broomsticks. They giggled together with wide eyes and pinked cheeks, listening on as their waitress twittered on about something or the other.
"A bet a galleon on who the main topic of their conversation would be.."
Holly rolled her eyes before taking a bite of her corned beef sandwich. It was good, but not as good as Mrs. Weasley's homemade corned beef.
"That's not fair," Hermione remarked, her eyes returning to their lunch as well. "I mean, all three of us know exactly who they're talking about. I mean, come on, Draco.."
"Fool's bet," Holly commented as she gave Draco the stink eye.
The blond-haired male chuckled and he laid his hand over Hermione's on the table. Holly glanced away from their show of affection, her chest twinging. The last thing she had wanted to see today was a happy couple when her own relationship had just ended. As soon as she looked away her eyes were drawn to another couple, their lips locked in a passionate kiss. And of course, just a couple of tables away was a couple with their arms wrapped around each other.
Holly looked back to her sandwich with a sigh. All the happy couples were going to give her a migraine. She couldn't help but think that those happy couples would have been her and Sirius in a few years. If he hadn't of ended the relationship. Her lower lip trembled and Holly could now feel the welling of tears in her eyes. How dare that man make her cry!
"That prick."
"Excuse me," Draco raised his eyebrow in her direction. "What did I do?"
"Not you," Holly grumbled, wiping at her burning eyes. "I just broke up with my boyfriend..Actually, he broke up with me."
"No!" Draco gasped. "The dunce broke up with you?!..Do you snore?"
"No!" Holly exclaimed as Hermione snickered at the comment. "That's not even funny.."
"I'm sorry," apologised Hermione as soon as she smothered her laugher.
She slapped Draco's arm. "No joking, love. This is a serious situation.."
"Really, Hermione?!" Holly exclaimed again. "A serious situation?!"
Hermione gasped and covered her mouth in shock. "Oh, I'm so sorry! I didn't even realise I said that!"
The Slytherin among them looked between them in confusion. "Okay, I'm lost. Someone explain this situation to me. Now. I demand to be privy to the inside jokes of this situation."
Holly sighed as Hermione looked at her in question. She then shrugged at her bookworm friend and then stood up from the booth. Hermione immediately leaned sideways into her boyfriend and began to whisper so softly that not even Holly could here.
"Going to the lavatory," she grumbled.
Holly refrained from stomping the way to the lavatory. The roar of voices once more dimmed and multiple eyes followed her to the bathroom. She pushed open the door and was surprised to find it somewhat deserted. There was one girl at the sink washing her hands, there was a sort of scarf wrapped around her neck and it was partly covering the lower portion of her face.
She smiled at the unknown girl slightly and then stood in front of a sink. She washed her face and used a simple drying charm on her face. The girl staring back at her in the mirror almost looked unrecognisable from this morning. Her braided, jet black hair was still immaculate, but her face seemed a little too pale. Her emerald-green eyes looked tired, compared to this morning's shining emerald jewels as Sirius made love to her in his shower.
Holly cringed. She most certainly did not feel up to thinking about her now ex-lover. She could feel herself bottling her emotions into a tight ball. Holly really could not understand why Sirius had allowed Remus of all people to talk him out of their relationship. As far as Holly knew, Remus and Tonk's relationship was not going as smoothly as possible. Apparently, even with a newborn child, Remus was still fighting the relationship.
The knuckles on both of her fists were turning white. Her fists were clenching so hard she could feel her nails digging into her flesh. Oh, how she would like to get her hands on that man and given him a piece of her mind. Remus would have no idea what would have hit him.
"Are you alright, Holly?" the unknown girl asked.
Holly blinked, her fists loosening. The girl's voice sounded very familiar, almost like...
"Lavender?"
The scarf was slowly lowered and the lower half of Lavender Brown's face appeared. The white scars on her once pretty face were noticeable without the cover of the scarf. They were a horrific reminder to what Fenrir Greyback had done to her. And a reminder to what the horrible werewolf would have done to her if he had not been killed by Bill Weasley. With the way the girl's clothing had been ripped from her body, there was no doubt about what horrors the monster had in mind.
"Are you alright?" Lavender asked again, her voice was soft and almost a whisper. "You seem upset."
"I am upset," Holly admitted. "But I'll be okay, maybe..How are you, Lav?"
Her former Gryffindor room-mate smiled slightly, the white scars stretching, making her smile seem uncomfortable. "Alright, considering..just getting ready for the school year. Ron and I are just getting some last minutes things for me."
Holly's eyes widened. "What? Ron is here?"
Lavender froze. "Er, yes. Is that going to be a problem? A-aren't you both like family?"
Holly nodded. "Yep, his mother and father have acted as my parents since I got that first Weasley sweater at Christmas..But, eh..Draco is here with Hermione, so there might be a bit of a problem."
Wrapping her scarf around her neck a few times, Lavender raised it over her head and partially masked her face. She rushed out of the restroom and Holly was right on her heels behind her. Holly sucked in a breath as they both witness Draco and Ron nose to nose. Both Lavender and Holly could practically see the flames of hatred in their eyes.
Hermione was trying with all her weak muscled might to squeeze between them and give them at least a couple of feet of distance, but they both held their ground. She might as well have tried to push between two statues, it was almost comical. Holly would have to speak to Draco about getting Hermione on a routine because no matter how much those humongous, brick sized books weighed they were obviously not doing anything for her muscle tone.
"Won Won!" Lavender squeaked, fearfully.
Holly and Hermione both fought off grimaces. Lavender and Ron had been together since their fifth year at Hogwarts, and the pet names had begun almost immediately. Out of respect for their fellow, female Gryffindor - they all strived to keep straight faces.
"We should go, Ron!" Lavender begged, "Please?"
The youngest Weasley male sighed and nodded, his hand held out for his girlfriend. "Come on, we'll go to the Hog's Head."
"No!" Hermione interrupted suddenly. "We just leaving!"
She gave a meaningful stink eye at Draco. "We just finished our lunch and were on our way out!"
"Fine," Draco replied through clenched teeth. "Weasley."
"Malfoy," Ron answered thru his teeth.
"Bye Holly, see you later!" "Later, Potter!"
Holly waved with a sigh, "Bye, guys!"
She took her seat at the both. It looked as if the waitress had cleared out Draco's and Hermione's plates, while her's was still there half-finished with a freshly filled glass of pumpkin juice. Holly was relieved to see Ron and Lavender moving into her booth.
"Hope you don't mind if we join you," Ron grumbled. "We can't exactly ..match the pompous arse-ness of the arsehole."
Holly rolled her eyes and Lavender sighed.
"There's no such word as "arse-ness", Ronnie," Lavender's eyes lit up in amusement.
"Are you sure about that though, Ron?" Holly asked dryly, with a slight grin.
Ron glared. "I don't need to take this."
Holly rolled her eyes again. "Don't get your knickers in a twist! I'm only joking."
"She was only joking, Won Won!..Sit tight, I didn't finish my make-up."
Lavender giggled before she slipped out of the booth again. She smoothed out her robes and re-adjusted her scarf. Both Ron and Holly watched as she walked back to the restroom before they turned back to each other.
"You better not have said anything to her face about.." Ron stopped in the middle of his comment, allowing his glare to say everything else.
"Really?" Holly asked incredulously. "Me?! Have you ever heard me insult anyone in Gryffindor before?!"
"Well," Ron grumbled. "No. And I better not hear anything in the future, either. I get enough shit from Ginny and I don't need anymore shit from anyone else in my family."
She flashed a toothy grin his way. "Aww, Ron, is this your way of saying that you think I'm apart of your family?"
Ron grunted and the wattage of her smile became brighter. The waitress had made her way back and began taking Ron's order. After she walked away they resumed their conversation.
"What have you been up to lately?" Holly asked, "Other than helping George with the shop."
"Ehh," Ron grimaced. "Nothing exciting. Planning a vacation with George. He's thinking he might want to see the rest of Europe."
Ron watched as Holly took a long pull from her glass of ice-cold pumpkin juice before he said lowly. "But I hear your activities have been quite exciting.. What with sleeping with Sirius all Summer Holidays and all.
Holly did a spit take, drawing the attention toward her.
A/N: Oh, now more people are finding out. Who else is next? If you see any mistakes, and if you see any misspellings, please tell me! I'm working with a beta here! Thanks guys.