Claire had ridden with the twins on the carriages for the first time, curious as to what was pulling the cart. When she asked, Fred was the one to answer. With a shrug, he said, "Nobody knows. It's always been like that."
The blonde stared at the spot the horse should be, squinting to see if anything was there. Nothing came up, so she looked for a little longer. "Don't strain your eyes, kid," Fred told her, pulling her back against the seat. "Nothing's there."
Something pulled at her chest that begged to differ, but Claire dropped it and looked at Fred. "I'm not a kid."
"Sure you are. We all are."
"You'll be a kid for a long time," George piped in.
But being a kid doesn't last for long, especially when you lived in the time Claire did. A time where it seemed like everything was okay, where evil lurked where no one could see it, and where happiness was in the shelter of a magical house. Except Claire didn't know that yet; no, she wouldn't realize it until it was thrust upon her, where she found it deep within her heart that she was no longer a child. But that wasn't for some time, and for now the focus will be on the twins and pure happiness.
The ceremony for the First Years passed without incident, and Gryffindor received some new additions, including Ron and Harry Potter, along with many others, all of whom were a mixture of happiness and confusion. She held a small conversation with a frizzy hair First Year she saw on the train looking for a toad, whose name was Hermione and who talked about a lot of things, including the books she read over the summer upon reading her acceptance letter.
When the girl was done babbling, she looked at Nathan, something eating her up in the inside about him. They didn't speak until dessert, and even then it was clipped and about idle things.
"How are you?" That was Nathan.
"Good. I'm excited for this year. I can try out for a spot on the Quidditch team finally. How was your summer?" She repeated her question from earlier, curious about how he was and everything.
"I went to my grandmother's while my dad had to work, so it wasn't that exciting. What'd you do?"
"I..." She paused, glancing at the twins from the corner of her eye who were talking to Harry and Ron. "My aunt came to stay for a few weeks and then I went to Fred and George's house for the last week."
A laugh billowed from one of the four tables, but Claire didn't move her eyes from Nathan. He just simply nodded, a look different from the general interest he held moments before, and they spoke about other things, like the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher they had, but it died down quickly.
When the feast was over, she found her way upstairs, and she was hit with something inside of her. It was worry, and, in all honesty, she worried about Nathan, worried that he was angry at her for hanging out with the twins more than she did with him. Worry about him nagged at the back of her mind as she walked up to the Common Room with Fred and George, but she didn't speak up. No, it was her place to ask about it but not to the people who didn't like Nathan. Claire knew the twins; they'd tell her to leave him alone completely and never speak to him again.
Claire didn't want any of that. Nathan was her first friend, and she felt bad about leaving him in the dust of her adventure. She glanced over her shoulder and down the stairs, thinking she could see his brown hair in the great mass of Gryffindors. The blonde didn't see a hint of the boy and continued her trudge up the staircase.
Once in the round room, surrounded by new children, she told the twins, "I'll see you two at breakfast. I'm tired."
George didn't believe her; a look from his eye told her that. He was sitting next to her at the feast, and Claire knew he'd overheard some of the conversation, probably guessing why she was so quiet on the walk while the two of them chatted about some prank.
Fred didn't see any of it, though, and she could tell by the way he wished her good night. It was happy and easy, leaving no room for question, and she disappeared up the staircase, turning until she came to the dormitory. She searched for a few moments, looking for her blue trunk with her name written on a tag sticking out of it. She found it quickly, seated at the end of a bed near one of the many windows.
Claire opened it, briefly checking to see if anything had fallen from its place. Deciding nothing had, she grabbed a pair of pajama pants and changed in the darkness of the dorm. No one was up here this early, most inspecting the Common Room and catching up with friends they hadn't talked to in awhile, so she climbed into her bed, slipped under the sheets, and stared at the top of her bed for some time.
Tomorrow would be the start of her second year and she couldn't sleep. No, Nathan bothered her mind too much, along with thoughts of the twins and their pranks and Harry Potter and her father and the chatter climbing the stairs along with laughter. The laughter was the loudest, and, for some reason, the twelve year old felt it in her heart. She felt her own laughter deep inside her along with others that mingled together, though she had no idea why.
Claire fell asleep clinging to that laughter.
In the morning she was still tired, the laughter dead and long forgotten, replaced by a dream she tried to grasp but was unable to. Claire stood, stretched, and looked around. Most of the girls were already awake, some half dressed and others already gone.
She made her bed, sweeping away the creases and then dressing quickly. The robe was familiar against her skin, smooth and tailored to fit her, and she smiled to herself because of the warmth it gave her.
The Common Room was relatively quiet, everyone already gone to breakfast, which was where she was headed. Claire was surprised that the twins weren't still here. Then again, they hardly ever waited for her in the Common Room to eat breakfast together.
Claire turned the final corner to the Common Room, making a beeline to the back of the Fat Lady portrait with her stomach rumbling. Before she could get very far, though, someone grabbed her sides, screeching words that she couldn't tell. Claire jumped around, wand flicking out and Petrificus Totalus on her tongue. The blonde paused mid-spell, seeing who the attackers were, and composed herself.
George and Fred were currently laughing up a storm, effectively waking anyone who wasn't already up. Slowly, Claire lowered her wand, placing it back within her robe, and then stood taller. The witch stepped toward the closest twin, guessing it to be Fred, and punched him in the arm. Hard.
"Aw!" he yelped, causing both their laughter to stop. "What was that for?" he whined, rubbing his shoulder.
"Scaring me." She only said that before turning and walking down the stairs, Fred and George running down the stairs to catch her on the sixth floor.
