The Ultimate Power

As we walk along our paths of Life,
we meet people every day.
Most are simply met by chance,
while others are sent our way.

These become the Special Friends,
whose bonds we cannot explain;
the ones who understand us,
and share our joy and pain.

Their love contains no boundaries,
so even when apart,
their spirits still embrace us,
with a warmth felt deep in the heart.

This love becomes a passageway,
where even the miles between disappear.
And the Special Friends
Life sends our way,
remain forever near.

-Sandra Lewis Pringle (Special Friends)

Special Friends

July 5, 1997

"Hello," he said, "I'm Remus Lupin."

Remus stared back through the door at the young woman who was standing there. She looked far too mature to be considered a girl.

Remus was shocked at how good looking she was. He remembered what the seventeen year-olds had looked like the year that he had taught at Hogwarts. Those kids had actually still looked like kids. The girls had all been self-conscious and tried too hard and the boys had not been too far better.

This seventeen year-old, however, looked to be completely secure and confident with herself. She had long dark brown hair that fell to her mid-back. She had a thin, oval-shaped face that was turning a pale bronze color from the sun. She stood about average height and had a very nice figure which she had dressed in a pair of blue jeans and a red tank top.

Remus' thoughts did not linger on these aspects for very long, however. What caught his attention the most were her eyes.

They were the most dazzling hazel-green color he had ever seen. Her eyes were truly that of an angel's. They glittered like stars when the sun hit them. Her stare seemed to penetrate through to his very soul as they gazed in shock at him through her front doorway.

Remus smiled slightly and asked, "Are you Holli Fallen or do I have the wrong address? I will not deny that it is very possible that I have made a mistake."

The person, who he presumed to be Holli, blinked quickly a couple of times and her mouth immediately curved into an embarrassed grin.

"Um...yes, I'm Holli. Well, as far as I know I am," she said as she held out her hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Lupin."

Remus gave a quiet chuckle as he accepted her hand and said, "It's nice to meet you too, Holli. Oh, and you can call me Remus if you like."

Holli smiled and gave a little nod.

"'Remus' it is then."

She stepped back from the door and said, "Come on in."

Remus stepped through the doorway into a small, square entry hall.

"My trunk and things are in my room upstairs," she said, leading him to the first door off of the stairway.

Holli opened the door and walked inside while Remus stood uncertainly in the doorway. From what he could tell from her room, Holli would make to be a very interesting person.

Holli's room did not seem to have any particular theme to it as he had heard of most teenage girls doing. There were things of many different colors. Her bedspread was black with pink pillow cases. She had a large brown armchair in the corner opposite her bed. There were blues, yellows, reds and greens. On her wall were two bulletin boards covered with pictures of people he assumed to be her friends. The one thing he did notice frequently, in just about every area of the room, were frogs. She had frog pillows, frog stuffed animals, frog figurines, frog blankets, even frog pictures.

Holli also had a small writing desk in the corner next to her bed and on the wall opposite the door stood a huge bookcase. The bookcase had six shelves and as far as Remus could tell, there was not an empty space left upon it.

Holli watched Remus as he gazed around the room. She smiled slightly and shrugged her shoulders as she said, "It's not much, but it's me, I'd guess is what you'd say."

"It's your room; your space. It should be you," Remus said, returning her smile.

Suddenly, Holli chuckled.

"You know," she said, "you can come in if you'd like. I won't bite, I promise."

Remus grinned. He had forgotten he was still standing at her door. He walked in and stood there with his hands in his pockets, still looking around. He was about to ask Holli if she was ready to leave, when he heard a thumping noise and felt something brush past him.

When Remus looked down, it was to find a rather large black dog running towards Holli. Remus felt a small pang in his chest when he saw it. That looks just like...

Holli's giggling broke Remus away from his thoughts and surprisingly, it eased the pain he had felt just a moment ago. The dog had finally made it across the room to Holli and was now standing on its hind legs with its front paws on her shoulders licking her face. Holli seemed to be trying her best to push the dog back down, but it didn't seem to want to budge. After several seconds and a mighty heave, Holli managed to place the dog back on all fours again.

Holli, still laughing, squatted down to eye level with the dog and started scratching it behind its ears. She looked up at Remus and said, "Remus, this is my dog, Isabelle; I call her 'Izzy' for short, though. As you can tell, she's nothing but a big baby. I hate to leave her, but my friend Janie is going to take her until I come back, so I suppose she'll be in good hands."

Remus walked over to where Holli and Izzy sat and started petting her also. He was smiling slightly, but he just couldn't get over how much this dog reminded him of...

Holli must have seen something in his eyes because she asked, "You all right?"

"Yes," he answered, "she just reminds me of someone, that's all."

"You mean Sirius?" Holli asked.

Remus looked up, startled.

"W-what?" he stuttered out.

Holli looked as though she could have smacked herself at that moment.

"Oh my God," she said. "I'm so sorry. I'm normally really good about thinking about what I say before I say it. Some things just slip out though, before I can stop myself. I'm sorry."

"No," Remus said, a little shakily, "it's not that. How do you know about Sirius?"

Holli looked confused for a minute, but then her eyes went wide and her mouth dropped open in realization.

"Remus?" she asked, "What all did McGonagall tell you when she asked you to pick me up?"

Remus looked at her for a moment before answering.

"She told me your name and where you lived. She gave me a brief overview of why you were coming to Hogwarts now instead of when you were eleven," he replied slowly. Then added, "And she said that I would probably have a few surprises over the next couple of months, particularly the first couple of days."

"Hmph. Surprises indeed," Holli scoffed, looking a little troubled.

She got up and walked over to her trunk setting by the door, Remus watching her all the while. She dug for a few seconds and when she returned to where he was still squatting on the floor, she was carrying six thick books.

"Flipping through these," she said, "probably won't explain everything. But they'll help you understand why I know so much about all of you."

"Wait," he said, a little more startled than he was before, "all of us? Know so much? You mean you know more than just Sirius' name?"

Holli smiled slightly and nodded, but said nothing more. She handed him the books and he accepted them hesitantly, as though they would explode at any second.

Remus stared at the cover of the first book in shock. It was Harry. Harry's name in huge gold letters. Even a very similar illustration of what he actually looked like.

Remus glanced back up at Holli who was seated on her bed. She had lost her smile and had regained her troubled look once more. He looked back down at the books and started to flip through the pages while Holli continued to watch him.

He couldn't believe it.

'Philosopher's Stone'...Quirrell.

'Chamber of Secrets'...Tom Riddle.

'Prisoner of Azkaban'...Sirius...

The list went on and on with each book and Remus steadily grew more amazed. There were so many things that no one could possibly know unless they had been there. So many things that even he didn't know. So many things that no one but Harry knew.

Remus shut the sixth book about halfway through it (he had avoided the ends of both the fifth and sixth books. He hadn't thought he could've taken it.). He sat there for a couple of minutes thinking about everything he had read while skimming through those books. Finally, Remus looked back up at Holli, who had sat waiting patiently on her bed the entire time.

Holli had stopped watching him, though. She didn't seem to be looking at anything really. She was lost in her own thoughts, but whatever those thoughts were, they were far from pleasant. The look on her face was a mix between fear and pain. Remus could not even think of a word to describe it. It looked out of place on her beautiful face, but not new by any means.

Remus was about to ask her if she was all right when she seemed to come back to reality. Holli looked at him, as though waiting for him to say something.

Remus pushed the thought to the back of his mind and asked, "So, how much do you know about our world and us? I mean obviously these tell you a lot from Harry's point of view, but hey couldn't possibly tell you an entire years worth day by day." I hope not anyhow, he thought.

Holli must have seen the worried look in his eyes because she said, "I know what you're afraid of, Remus. I guess you came here today worried about how you were going to hide it over the next two months. Especially since, according to McGonagall, I'm supposed to stay with or near you for the rest of the summer. I actually guess that from your view point, it was rather inconsiderate of her to ask you to do something like this. I can assure you that if you have the slightest problem with me knowing, I can continue on over the next couple of months as though I haven't the tiniest idea about your...er...'Furry Little Problem'."

Remus stared at her in silent shock and disbelief for a couple of seconds and then suddenly burst out laughing. Holli continued to smile at him all the while.

Finally, after a couple of seconds, Remus calmed down enough to become a little worried again. He looked at Holli skeptically and said, "So, you know? You know about...well about...," but his voice faltered and died away. Remus didn't know why, but he couldn't bring himself to say it. Never had been able to.

Holli gave him a smile that was more from her eyes than her mouth and said, "You mean your monthly walk on the wild side?"

In spite of himself, Remus chuckled.

"Yeah," he said, "that thing."

Holli gave a small nod and said, "Yeah, Remus. I know."

Then she gave him a look that he had never been given before, not even from his own mother. It was another of those indescribable looks. There were a thousand feelings behind those eyes: sympathy, pain, understanding -- even a little heartbreak. What surprised Remus, though, was that out of all the feelings battling behind her eyes, the one emotion he didn't see, was fear.

The silence that stretched between them seemed to go on a little to long. Holli realized this, smiled and said, "But if you think that matter is going to affect the fact that you are the only friend I'm going to have over the next two months - and who knows, maybe the entire school year - you are sadly mistaken, my dear Mr. Lupin."

Remus laughed as he stood up and said, "Well Holli, I get the feeling that this is going to be a very interesting two months. Fun, but interesting nonetheless."

Holli smiled and said, "So do I, Remus. So do I." And then she gave him another one of those looks he just couldn't explain. This will be interesting, he thought.

Holli picked up the stack of books and carried them back across the room to her trunk. After packing them away, she stood up and looked at Remus.

"Well...er, I guess we should probably get going," Remus said. "I'm sure Tom will probably be holding the rooms for us."

"You mean 'The Leaky Cauldron' Tom?" Holli asked excitedly.

Remus smiled and answered, "Yes. That would be the Tom in which I speak of."

"Ha ha! God, this just keeps getting better and better," Holli said enthusiastically.

Remus began to pull out his wand to lift Holli's trunk to the front door when she suddenly cried out, "No, Remus, wait! I want to try! I haven't tried lifting anything that heavy yet."

Remus looked at her a though she had gone mad.

"Uh...Holli," he said, "I didn't think you had a wand."

"I don't," she answered simply, as though it made all the sense in the world.

Remus waited for her to explain, but that was all she said. Finally he asked, "Is it me, or do I just continue to get more lost by the second today?"

Holli returned his look of questionable madness for a moment then rolled her eyes up to the ceiling. She let off something between a sigh and a growl and said, "Damn you, McGonagall!" Then she looked back at Remus and her cheeks turned a pale red.

"Sorry," she said, "I tend to get a little over excited at times."

Remus gave her an amused smile and said, "No kidding." After a moment's pause he continued, "So, do you think you can explain to me what all of that was about?"

Holli bit her lip and looked down at the trunk. After a moment of two she glanced back at Remus and said, "Maybe I should just show you."

"Show me?" Remus asked confused.

"Mm-hm," Holli said, nodding her head.

Remus was about to laugh and ask her if she had gone off the deep end until he saw her face. She was completely serious. Holli looked as though she was focusing all of her concentration on her trunk for reasons in which he had no idea. She placed her hand out in mid-air and held it as still as possible. Holli took a deep breath and then, ever so slowly, started to raise her hand higher.

Remus kept watching her, thinking that Minerva really had left a few important things out. Important things such as just how in tact this girls mind actually was. Remus was more than a little worried about her. Especially since she was smiling so proudly about nothing....

"What the --," he exclaimed, startled when he saw the huge trunk float by Holli.

Holli was still smiling as she turned to follow her trunk out of her bedroom. Remus followed her out still utterly confused. Holli levitated it to the front door where she set it down with the ease of a weightless feather.

When she turned back to him, she had a careful smile on her face as though she was hesitant of what he might say.

Remus just stared at her with his mouth open like a fish.

"How did you...?" he asked, not exactly sure how to phrase the end.

Holli shrugged. "I have no idea. I don't need a wand, or incantations, or any of that stuff. Just concentration. From what McGonagall told me, they haven't found anyone like me in the entire history of wizard-kind. Sort of like a criminal in a world of saints."

"You make it sound like being different is a bad thing," he said.

Holli gave him a sad smile and said, "No, Remus, but sometimes, being different gets old."

There was silence for a few moments after that, neither really knowing what to say.

Finally Remus asked, "So what all can you do, exactly?"

"Well," she replied, "basically, I can do just about everything that you can do with a wand."

"Everything?" Remus asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes," she said, then added, "Well...I mean, I'm assuming so. Obviously, I haven't tried everything. Not by far.

"Oh yeah! I can do this, too," she said suddenly.

Holli held her hand out, palm up. She closed it slowly, and kept it like that for about two seconds. Then she popped it back open like a piece of popcorn, and lying in her palm was a small, square piece of chocolate.

"For you," she said, with a huge grin.

Remus merely stared at her for a few moments, completely lost for words. Then he chuckled and accepted the chocolate graciously. He had to admit, this girl was something else not of this earth.

"Thanks," he said, "but you know, I think maybe I should probably wait a little while before I ask anymore questions."

Holli smiled and said, "Yeah, that might be a good idea."

Remus looked around for a moment and then said, "So...um...are we ready?"

Holli bit her lip and thought for a second.

"I think so," she answered.

"All right then," he said. "The alley around the corner is where I apparated to. We should be able to disapparate just as well."

"Disapparate?" Holli asked hesitantly.

Remus looked down at her and smiled.

"Don't worry," he said, "I'll help you until you learn."

Holli's face brightened considerably.

"Learn? You mean I get to do it too?" she asked.

Remus chuckled and said, "Well, I would assume so. I mean, you are seventeen, after all."

"Wow," she said. Remus chuckled once more before turning to her trunk and levitating it off of the floor.

"Er...Remus," Holli said. "You know, if I looked out of my window one day, and saw someone walking down the street with a trunk floating behind them, I'd love it. But, you see, most people in my neighborhood aren't exactly like me."

Remus smiled and turned back to the floating trunk. He waved his wand over it and muttered a couple of words. He watched as it slowly disappeared, then turned back to Holli.

"Disillusionment charm," he answered the puzzled look on her face. Then he held open the door and said, "Shall we?"

"Um...sure," she said and walked though the door.

They walked down the street in silence, neither really knowing what to say. When they turned into the alley they kept walking until they reached the center of it.

Remus turned to Holli and said, "All right, basically, all you have to do right now is grip tight and don't let go. I'll do the rest this time. Sound good?"

"Sounds great," Holli said.

"All right," Remus said as he held out his arm, "hold tight."

Holli wrapped her hands around his elbow in a firm grip. He smiled down at her, spun sideways...and the next thing he knew, they were inside the Leaky Cauldron.

Remus took a quick look around to gather his surroundings, and then looked down at Holli, who was still gripping his elbow tightly. Her face looked as though she was battling between complete shock and the biggest smile he had ever seen. She looked purely amazed.

"Ah, Mr. Lupin," Remus heard a voice say behind them. "I see you and your guest have arrived safely."

Holli turned around faster than a spell could fly to face Tom. Decent reflexes, Remus thought. She'll be happy to have those one day.

"You're Tom, aren't you?" Holli asked, smiling happily.

Tom regarded Holli with a strange look before answering.

"Yes, I am. May I ask your name, Miss?"

"I'm Holli," she said and stuck out her hand.

"It is a pleasure," Tom said, as he took her offered hand. "Would the lovely Miss Holli happen to have a surname in which she could be referred to?"

Holli smiled and said, "It's 'Fallen' but you can just call me Holli. Last names are just so...formal, that I hate using them in everyday conversation."

Tom glanced at Remus, smiling.

"You have selected an excellent guest, Mr. Lupin. Very delightful." Then he turned back to Holli and said, "Anything you need or I can do to make your stay more comfortable, please, do not hesitate to ask me."

"Thanks, Tom," Holli said grinning.

"Shall I show you to your rooms now?" Tom asked.

"Oh, yes, please," Holli said smiling.

"Right this way, then," Tom said and took off towards the right.

They followed him up a flight of stairs and down a couple of corridors until they stopped in front of two doors.

"Ah, here we are. Rooms 368 and 369," Tom said.

"Thank you, Tom," Remus said.

Tom bowed and after a replying 'enjoy' left back the way they had come.

"Hmm," Holli said once Tom was out of earshot, "you know, I think I like him. Very interesting little man, he is."

Remus chuckled.

"So," he said, "Shall we." He motioned his hands towards the two doors.

"We shall."

"Do you have a preference?" he asked courteously.

Holli smiled up at him and said, "No, not me. You?"

"Not at all," Remus replied.

"All right then," Holli said, "here's how I think we should do this. We both walk straight ahead, and whichever door we hit is ours. Of course, if I walk straight ahead, I'll hit a wall, but I think if I side-step to the right a bit, then there should be a doorknob somewhere in the vicinity of this big piece of wood here."

Remus laughed in spite of the stupidity of the entire statement. Holli glance up, winked at him, stepped to the right and opened her door.

Remus opened his, and was about to go inside when he noticed Holli was still standing there, staring at her door.

"Holli," Remus asked, "everything all right?"

"Strange," she said.

"What is?" he asked, puzzled.

"The doors. They aren't locked, and Tom didn't give us a key to lock them when we leave."

"Oh, that," Remus said smiling. "Magic."

Holli looked up. "Huh?" she said, looking confused.

"Magic. That's the key," Remus replied. "From the second Tom gives you permission to enter your room, the key switches from him to the person who first touches the doorknob. When the door closes, it automatically locks. No one but you can enter unless they have verbal permission from you inside the room or unless you physically open the door for them."

Holli stared at him for a minute. "Oh," she said finally. Then, "Pretty cool," and walked into her room.

Remus raised his eyebrows after her, then walked into his own room, chuckling and shaking his head.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Some twenty minutes later he knocked on her door.

"Come in," Holli said in a sing song voice.

He walked in to find Holli lying on her bed, staring at the ceiling.

"You know," she said, when she glanced up and saw that it was him. "I always knew there was something lacking in my door at home."

Remus laughed and said, "So, I take it that you have gotten yourself settled in all right, then?"

Holli stood up, walked over to the dresser on the other side of the room and pulled out the middle drawer, which revealed perfectly folded clothes.

"Yes, I have," she said pushing the drawer back in to place, "and do you want to know what I discovered throughout this entire time?"

"What's that?" he asked.

"The mirror in the bathroom is much nicer than the mirror in here," she said, then added, "Which I suppose is a good thing, seeing as that's where the shower is." She then glanced towards the bathroom with a worried expression on her face.

Remus laughed again and asked, "Now why exactly would you say that?"

"It called me conceited," she exclaimed.

"What purpose does it have to do that?" he asked, successfully stifling a laugh.

"I have no bloody clue," she said exasperatedly.

"Holli," Remus sighed, "what did you do to the mirror?"

"Nothing! All I did was walk in and start unpacking my things. I noticed the mirror on the wall and remembered how, in the wizarding world, they can talk. So I walked over to it and politely asked it if it could have a real conversation like you and I can do. It told me that it could but that first I had to get it started by talking to it like I would actually talk to a mirror if I ever had. Which, obviously, I haven't...I don't think. Anyways," she said, shaking her head, "so I asked it one of the most - probably - common questions to ask a mirror. I asked it if I looked okay. Now, honestly, I couldn't have cared less what it said. It could have said that I looked like shit; I wouldn't have cared. I just wanted to talk to the damn thing. I thought it would be awesome to talk to a mirror and actually have it respond. Never really happened to me before, amazingly enough. But then it said that I was stuck up and conceited and then laughed. I still can't believe it. The mirror, Remus, laughed in my face. The MIRROR!"

Remus tried, unsuccessfully this time, to stifle his laughter.

"Oh, I see," Holli said, playfully rolling her eyes, "you think it's funny that while you're next door with a nice, happy, polite mirror-friend, I'm stuck over here with this mean, snooty, crack-pot thing."

"Yes, Holli, that's exactly what I think is so funny," Remus chuckled out sarcastically. "It's just, you do not have to speak to a mirror for them to be able to talk. They can start a conversation without the slightest bit of acknowledgment from you. Bloody hell, they can have full conversations with themselves and be perfectly happy."

"Oh, so my mirror is not only mean, it's vindictive," Holli exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air.

"Ah, we have a genius among us," came an unusual voice on the opposite wall.

Holli spun on her heels and walked towards the mirror with her finger pointed.

"Listen here you - you stupid piece of glass in an ugly frame. I have to spend two months with you and somewhere in that time, I'm going to forget about that whole seven years bad luck deal. And when I do," Holli gave the mirror an evil grin, "it'll be bye-bye mirror."

Holli started to move closer to the mirror but Remus came up behind her, grabbed her shoulders and pulled her back.

"What do you say we head on down and explore Diagon Alley for a bit, yeah? Maybe even try to get a few of your school things while we're at it?" Remus said.

Holli shot the mirror one more evil glare, then turned back to Remus.

"Sounds great," she replied.

Remus steered her away from the mirror and out of the room as fast as he could.

As they made their way down the corridor, Remus noticed Holli studying the doors.

"Something wrong?" he asked her.

She glanced up at him.

"Not really," she replied, "it's just, does Tom normally have a lot of guests at on time?"

Remus was puzzled by the question but answered, "Not really. I mean, he gets loads of business, but not really all at one time. People just sort of drift in, for the most part. Why do you want to know?"

"No reason really. I just thought it was weird how he put us so far back, you know."

Remus nodded in understanding and said, "I think when Tom starts to get a little slow, he tends to cycle his rooms so that some aren't more used than the others."

"Oh," Holli said, while nodding her head, "makes perfect sense."

Remus chuckled and said, "Yes, well, I always thought so."

They continued the rest of the way to the courtyard in silence. When they reached it, Remus reached into his robe pocket and pulled out his wand. He found the right brick on the wall, tapped it three times and stepped back, pulling Holli along with him.

Remus smiled as he saw the look of amazement appear on Holli's face when the archway developed in front of them.

"Wow," was all that she said.

They set off down the twisted, cobbled street slowly. Holli kept stopping at various shops to glance inside the windows. There were two shops, though, that she couldn't seem to make herself walk away from. The Astronomy shop and Flourish and Blotts.

"Do I need school things from here?" Holli asked at the Astronomy shop.

"Yes," Remus replied.

"Good," Holli said and smiled.

When they reached Flourish and Blotts, Remus joined Holli at the window. He couldn't help but smile at the look on her face. It reminded him of the look he'd had the first time he had see Flourish and Blotts when he was eleven-years-old.

"We going in there?" Holli asked, glancing sideways at Remus.

Remus continued to smile as he replied, "As far as I'm concerned, it's the only place to buy your schoolbooks."

Holli grinned at his answer.

"Remus?" Holli said as they walked away.

"Hmm-mm?"

"I just thought of something," she said.

"What's that?" he asked, looking down at her.

"Well," she said, looking slightly worried and playing with her fingers, "how am I supposed to get my school stuff? I don't exactly have any wizard money - or even Muggle money for that matter."

Remus smiled slightly at her and said, "That's not something you should be worrying about right now, Holli."

"But, I--," Holli started.

Remus cut her off by saying, with a small chuckle, "Come on," and then he started walking ahead of her.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"Gringotts," Remus yelled back over his shoulder to where she was still standing.

When she finally caught up with him, Remus glanced sideways at her. She looked confused and frazzled. Remus couldn't help thinking that confusion did not suit this girl in the slightest.

When they reached Gringotts, they walked up the steps and Remus had started through the first set of doors when he turned back after hearing Holli's cry. Apparently, she hadn't noticed the goblin standing next to the door.

Remus chuckled as he hooked his hand around Holli's arm and walked with her through the door.

"Don't worry," he said, "I had the same reaction the first time that I saw them."

"Yeah, but you were eleven, not seventeen," she replied.

"True," Remus said, smiling down at her.

"Remus," Holli exclaimed, but laughed all the same.

As they passed through the second door and past the second goblin, Holli stretched herself up to his ear and whispered, "You know, it's horrible to have to say, but that really isn't the ugliest thing that I've ever seen."

Remus laughed at this, but stifled it when a goblin that was walking past them glared at him. Holli giggled.

Remus led Holli over to the counter, where a stern looking goblin sat.

"Good afternoon," Remus said, "we're here to take some money out of Ms. Holli Fallen's vault."

The goblin surveyed Holli and Remus for a moment before asking, "Do you have her key, Sir?"

Remus turned to Holli with a smile and said, "McGonagall said that you should have your key."

Holli stared at Remus in confusion for a few moments before realization struck her. She closed her hand, concentrated and opened it back up to reveal the intricately detailed birthday gift she had received from her father just two short weeks ago. Holli gave Remus a small smile and handed the key to the goblin behind the counter. The goblin examined the key before nodding and calling over another goblin to lead them down to Holli's vault.

As they followed the goblin towards one of the many doors, Remus noticed that Holli couldn't stop smiling.

They continued to follow the goblin until they reached the track. The goblin whistled and a small cart pulled up in front of them. Holli approached the cart hesitantly.

Remus offered his hand to Holli to help her climb inside the cart. She accepted it, but turned back to him and asked, "Are you sure this thing is safe?"

"Well, I've never had any trouble out of it before," he replied with a grin, as Holli swung her leg over the side of the cart.

"Oh, well, now I feel much better," Holli said, while Remus climbed in as well.

"Oh, God," she exclaimed when the cart started off down the track.

Holli clung to the side tightly and after a few curves, she scooted close to Remus and pressed her side up against his. Then she said, "I think I'll just stay over here next to you," while she eyed the sides fearfully.

Remus decided not to tell her that there was no way that she could possibly fall out.

Finally, the cart came to a stop in front of a small door. They all three clambered out and the goblin unlocked the vault door.

"Whoa," Holli said when she saw what was inside. "Dad really out did himself."

Remus had to admit, there was a decent amount of money inside of her vault. He walked inside with her and explained the amount and value of each coin while she filled her bag with Galleons, Sickles and Knuts.

When Holli was done, they all climbed back inside the cart. This time, though, Holli made sure that she was by Remus' side before it started moving.

Once they were back at the beginning of the track and Holli was safely out of the cart and had made sure that all of her body parts were in their rightful place, they left Gringotts.

"So, where to first?" Holli asked once they were both back outside.

"Well, I figured today we'd just cover the basics. You know, books, robes," he replied, then added, "and it probably wouldn't hurt to go ahead and get your wand so that you can be practicing with that as well. But, other than that, I figure if we're still feeling a tad frisky, we could wonder around and see what all you could find."

Holli grinned and said, "Sounds good."

"Well, here's Madam Malkin's. What'd you say we go ahead and get your robe fitting over with?"

"I say that would be wonderful," Holli said and they entered the little shop.

"Hello dears! What can I do for you today?" Madam Malkin asked them.

"Well, Holli here needs a few pairs of robes," Remus responded.

"What kind?" she asked Holli.

"Hogwarts."

"Hogwarts?" Madam Malkin questioned while looking Holli up and down, slightly shocked. "Seventh year, I would assume?"

"Yes," Holli answered with a small smile playing on her lips.

"Well, come along then. Let's take you back and get you fitted right up," Madam Malkin said as she grabbed Holli by the elbow and started to pull her toward the back. Holli gave Remus one last look that said 'Are you sure about this woman?' before being pulled behind the racks of robes. Remus chuckled.

Remus had been waiting about fifteen minutes when he heard someone walking up behind him. He turned around from where he had been looking out the window and almost lost his breath.

Holli was standing there, with her lips pulling into a slight smile on one side, in her solid black Hogwarts robes. Remus had seen plenty of people, both boy and girls, in those robes, but there was something about seeing Holli in them that was different. The blackness of the robes gave Holli an almost sinister look but in a - as bad as Remus didn't want to think this - but in a sort of sexy way.

"So," she said, holding out her arms and spinning around, "what do you think? How do I look?"

Remus looked her up and down before smiling and saying, "You look like a Hogwarts student."

Holli grinned and said, "That's exactly the look I was going for."

After that, Holli paid for the robes and they left the shop.

Next they stopped to get Holli's wand. They had yet to find Olivander, so they had to settle for a shop called Whipping Wands. Remus decided after only a few moments of being in the shop, that he didn't much care for the owner, a man named Randolf Gluts. He was extremely frantic and constantly hustling and bustling about. Holli, however, seemed very amused.

After Gluts had finally found Holli's right wand (Holly and Unicorn hair, 10 inches long) and she had paid and left, Holli said, "Well that was...hectic, shall I say."

Remus chuckled, but agreed.

Next they ventured into Flourish and Blotts. Remus suggested that they go ahead and grab a few of the books that Holli would need to study to catch up with the rest of her seventh year classmates. What was meant to be a fifteen minute trip, however, turned into a hour. Remus had no idea that Holli enjoyed books as much as he did. Even him, Remus Lupin, lover of all books and book related subjects, began to get a little restless after awhile.

After Remus had finally managed to practically shove Holli out of the shop, it was nearly dark. He suggested they head back to the Leaky Cauldron and have some dinner. Holli thought that was a wonderful idea.

Once there, they found a table near the back in a sort of corner and ordered their food. They ate fairly quietly, making mostly small talk. When they were done, they gathered their things, went to their rooms, said goodnight and went to bed, both with full stomachs and exhausted bodies.

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A/N: The poem I used was found on a website made by a woman who has many more interesting poems there. If you would like to check these out click here: http://www.grtgsfmtheheartandsoul.net/