“hallow is hollow.”

oh, james has fucked up. you know that, but you're not sure if he does. he's trembling, head to toe, after talking about vanity. vanity, the fifteen year old who died in james's arms last year. killed by the boy she liked, who was also freshly fifteen.

it wasn't fair. none of it was.

and now the crowd is doing that chant. you can almost feel riddle's eyes on you both. you're shaking badly.

james is taken off stage, and time warps all around him, and vanity's there, in his arms, and james has just killed hodge and everything is wrong, wrong, wrong.

“sirius.” you say, slightly desperately. “sirius. sirius.”

now that gets his attention. instantly, his hands are on james' arm. “james, you're not there. you're in eleven. you're on the victory tour.”

james does not calm down. not one bit.

“{{user}}, keep a firm hold on him.” sirius says, nodding at you. “we're going back to the train.”

“keep a- what?” you splutter. why would you have to keep a firm hold on him?

but you soon know the meaning.

with no warning whatsoever, james starts to freak out. he's thrashing and wild and lashing out, throwing himself around desperately, wildly.

you all eventually make it back onto the train, and with the wider area, james flails around. he's throwing and breaking things and knocking them over.

you stand away, back against the chair, biting down on your nails as you watch him freak out. he's dazed and confused and has no idea that he's not in those fucking games.

has this been happening since the games ended? this whole time? you don't know. sirius clearly does. he's stood in front of you, almost protecting you from his lashout.

it only ends when james's injured leg gives out. there's less warning for that than the lash out. he buckles and just curls into himself and goes eerily quiet.

you're stood there, in shock. sirius takes the first steps forward, looping an arm around james.

the boy takes one look at you and starts crying again. he points towards you, and almost makes his way over, but sirius pulls him away.

what are you supposed to do? you didn't even know this was happening in the first place!

shakily, you pick up the broken items scattered across the floor and wait for sirius to come back. maybe then, you can see james.