Chapter 7
"Today we will be severing and mending," Professor Flitwick's squeaky voice carried over the group of students. Claire sat up straight in her seat to get a good look at his demonstration. She had been up much later than she should have been practicing these complementary spells before they began this lesson today. Sirius and James had said it was overkill to learn spells before they were taught, but Claire loved Charms the most out of all of her classes.
"You want to slowly rotate your wand while you move it from point A…" He trailed off while he demonstrated the movement, "... to point B."
Claire turned her gaze down to her parchment and began taking intricate notes about what she had observed. Sirius elbowed her and she gave him a frustrated look.
"Are you writing a novel over there?" Claire shook her head at him while continuing to write, "It's just a simple charm, you can't possibly have that much to write about."
"Something to add to the lesson Mr. Black?" Flitwick stopped demonstrating to look over at him. Peter let out a small laugh and James elbowed him in the ribs.
"No, Professor," Sirius said nonchalantly.
"Care to demonstrate?" Flitwick placed a piece of simple red fabric on Sirius' desk. James smirked over at Sirius while he rolled up the sleeves to his robes.
"Diffindo." The fabric severed in half and Sirius smiled proudly around the classroom of Gryffindor students.
"A good first try, Mr. Black." Flitwick picked up the fabric and examined it between his small fingers, "If you hadn't insisted on talking to Miss Ludgrove and paid more attention to the wand movement, you may have gotten a clean cut instead of a frayed one."
Sirius narrowed his eyes slightly and took a closer look at the fabric and saw fraying along the line that it had been cut. Claire had a content smile on her face as she continued to take notes. Sirius was a good wizard, she had to give him credit for that. However, he was far too interested in having fun to apply himself to be the great wizard he had the potential to be. The fact that he was relatively gifted meant he got away with a lot more misbehavior than he should have. James exactly the same. Flitwick was the least tolerant of their mischievous behavior.
"Well," Sirius said shrugging and chuckling slightly, "Good thing I'm not planning on becoming a tailor then."
A collective giggle spread around the room, but Claire sat in silence looking at a slightly irritated Professor Flitwick.
"Would you like to give it a go, Miss Ludgrove?" Flitwick placed the severed fabric on top of her parchment and gave her an encouraging smile.
"Reparo." Claire clearly stated the spell and moved her wand in the opposite manner that Flitwick had demonstrated and added a small flick at the end. The fabric lifted and slowly fused back together. Flitwick nodded at her and she took a breath. "Diffindo."
Quickly, as if there was an invisible knife, the fabric was sliced cleanly down the middle. Flitwick lifted it and held it between his fingers for the entire class to see the two perfectly even pieces.
"Well done." Sirius glared over at Claire who was beaming with pride, "Ten points to Gryffindor for impeccable magic. Another ten points if you can tell me the importance of learning to master the severing charm."
"If used improperly," Claire said while referring to the notes she had taken the night before, "You can cause death or injury."
"Twenty total points it is, then. Even the simplest of tailoring charms," Flitwick said pointedly with a flick of his wand to disseminate squares of fabric to every student in the classroom, "Can be dangerous if done in haste or with improper form. It's best to take it seriously."
Claire levitated her piece of fabric in front of her with ease and focused her attention at the center of it, picturing an invisible line where she would cut it. As she lifted her wand to start the spell, Sirius interrupted her.
"I thought James was the show off in our flying lessons," Sirius said while he lazily levitated his piece of fabric, "But then I endured Charms class with you and I realized it could be much worse."
"Is this how you do it?" Peter said sounding unsure of himself. He completed his spell and the fabric fell in front of him with a wobbly cut through it.
"Don't forget to rotate your wand, Peter. Also, I'm not showing off." Claire turned toward Sirius and said in a hurt tone. Her parents had always raised her to be modest, she had never been accused of showboating before. "I study really hard. I put in a lot of work before class so I can do it right."
"You're clearly Flitwick's favorite," James said while spinning his fabric in circles with his wand, "You could show up without studying and he'd still praise you."
"Ten points for being present!" Sirius said doing his best Flitwick impression and flourishing his wand around. James laughed and attempted to cut the fabric in half. Peter's fabric was flopping around on his desk, not mending itself back together. Flitwick was busy congratulating Lily on a spell well completed.
"Just because you're okay not caring," Claire spat at Sirius while cutting her fabric into three pieces and then rearranging them to create a new pattern before mending it, "Doesn't mean I have to be."
"What a goody two-shoes," Sirius muttered while rolling his eyes. Claire glared at him.
Sirius pushed his way through the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom door and breathed in the fresh cool air of the Hogwarts corridor. Although Defense was his favorite class, it was always exciting when the professor dismissed the students and they had a few minutes of freedom before their next class began. James walked beside him, running his hands through the back of his hair which caused it to stand up on its ends. Peter brought up the caboose, as he always did, his robes haphazardly hanging off of his shoulders and parchment falling out of his textbooks.
"Ten minutes to double Potions." James groaned throwing his bag filled with books over his shoulder, "What do you want to do until then?"
"Ten minutes is just enough time to make it to the dungeons and get seated," Claire chimed in pushing her way through the throng of students to keep up with them, "There isn't much time for more than that."
"If he had suggested we go to the Library," Sirius scoffed at her, "I'm sure you wouldn't have any objections to that."
"The Library is on the complete opposite side of the castle-"
"I wish you'd lighten up," James said picking up his pace. Sirius continued to walk and scanned the corridor for anything that peaked his interest.
"If you're not careful, Ludgrove," Sirius said slyly, "You're going to go this whole academic year and not even attempt to have any fun."
"I have loads of fun!" Claire objected while rearranging the books in her arms to get a better hold on them, she also picked up some papers that Peter had dropped and handed them to him, "I've spent plenty of evenings playing Exploding Snap and Wizard's Chess with both of you."
"Not on a weeknight."
They had reached a crossroads on their path. To their left was the stairs heading down to the dungeons and straight ahead was a corridor that led toward the kitchens. James and Sirius stopped and took in their surroundings to make a decision about which direction they would head. Sirius almost wished they had lost Claire in the crowd of students before.
On the weekend, spending time with Claire was great. She had a good sense of humor and she fit in nicely with their group. However, during the week she was almost unbearable to be around. She spent most of her time doing homework, reminding Sirius that he should do his homework, telling James he was doing the wrong homework assignment, letting them know they shouldn't be wandering around the halls past curfew, chiding them for stealing food from the Great Hall. Quite honestly, it was a miracle that he hadn't stunned her into oblivion yet.
The only thing that made it easier was Remus. With Remus around, she had someone to study with and talk to about spellwork. He seemed to function as a buffer for her most annoying characteristics, leaving James and Sirius unscathed for the school week and able to enjoy her presence on the weekends. Unfortunately, Remus was out of school the rest of this week. Something about a family member being sick and having to spend a few days at home. Why did he have to be gone this week? She was driving him absolutely bonkers.
"I don't see why it matters what days I choose to have fun." Claire huffed at him with a stern look on her face.
"Of course you don't," James said. Sirius looked down the stairs toward the dungeons and noticed a flash of auburn hair and some greasy black hair next to it.
Snape. Sirius locked eyes with James and then tilted his head in the direction of the stairs. James looked down the stairwell and got a mischievous smile on his face. They both turned simultaneously and started down the stairs toward the dungeons. Peter scurried along behind them, leaving Claire alone at the top of the landing.
"Oi, Snivellus," James yelled as he walked down the stairs, "Heading off to the dungeons, I see. Giving your family a quick visit before class?"
Snape turned around and glared at James while Lily tugged on the sleeve on his robe to encourage him to continue walking. Sirius smirked at James and picked up his pace to get closer to Snape.
"It's funny running into you like this Snivellus," Sirius walked directly behind him and quickly started balling up small pieces of parchment to throw at his head, "I was just thinking about you before."
"Why's that Sirius?" James joined in with tossing parchment. Snape was actively ignoring them at this point. Lily glanced over her shoulder to glare at them.
"While in Defense Against the Dark Arts," Sirius hit Severus directly in the back of the head with a large wad of parchment, "Someone brought up Dementors, and I realized if I ever met one I'd have to relive each time I have a Potions class with you."
"Leave him be." Lily spat at them as they reached the classroom door.
"Well now I know why he wasn't sorted into Gryffindor," James chuckled, "He can't even stand up for himself, he has to have Evans do it for him."
Snape gritted his teeth and stared at the ground while Lily stood next to him waiting for the door to the classroom to open.
"You must be right James," Sirius stood directly in front of Severus and threw one last crumpled piece of parchment at him, hitting him directly in between the eyes, "He's not smart enough for Ravenclaw, definitely not brave enough for Gryffindor… Hell, I don't even think Hufflepuff would want him. He got stuck in Slytherin where he gets to hide underground like the rat that he is."
"Stop it." Sirius turned and saw Claire standing at the bottom of the stairs.
"Oh piss off, Ludgrove." Sirius barked at her, "No one asked for your input."
"He didn't do anything to you." Sirius began to twirl his wand between his fingers and glanced at James who rolled his eyes. Peter stood quietly leaning up against the wall.
"He exists."
"You've been encouraging us to study more," James messed with his hair while speaking, "I'd really like to test out that instant scalping hex we read about. What do you think, Sirius?"
"We'd honestly be doing him a favor," Sirius said pointing his wand at Snape, "Getting rid of that greasy mop he calls hair."
Snape dropped his books and pulled his wand from his robes and pointed it squarely at Sirius' chest. James quickly stood next to Sirius and drew his wand.
"Go ahead, hex me," Snape growled gripping his wand tightly.
"Abiit capillium!" Sirius shouted and began to give a flick with his wand.
"Expelliarmus!" Wands flew from the hands of Sirius and James and clattered on the ground. Claire stood with her wand clutched in her hand. Sirius would have been impressed by her ability to disarm them both if he wasn't so irritated at her incessant need to interfere.
"What in the world is going on out here?" Slughorn opened the door to the dungeon partially out of breath. Sirius could only assume that he heard the commotion and came running across the classroom to see what had happened. Sirius and James picked up their wands and shot an angry look over at Claire. "Miss Ludgrove, were you doing magic in the hallway?"
"Yes, sir." Claire looked down at the ground in shame.
"You know that students are not to do magic in the hallways," Slughorn reprimanded her and glanced around at the rest of the students, "Ten points from Gryffindor. Now, I expect you all to behave for the next couple of minutes while I finish setting up for today's lesson. Not a peep out of any of you. Understood? And clean this mess up… there is parchment everywhere"
He locked eyes with each of them and then slowly closed the door leaving it open a crack just to keep an eye on things.
"I didn't ask for your help!" Snape said angrily at Claire. Claire bent down to begin picking up the parchment on the floor.
"You didn't ask for it," Claire said quietly while tucking the last piece of parchment into the pocket of her robes, "You certainly needed it."
"Meddlesome shrew," Snape muttered.
"Don't you talk to her like that," Sirius glared at him, "She just rescued you from certain humiliation, you should be thanking her for even considering sparing you."
"I want to make one thing clear, Snivellus," James said in a low voice approaching him slowly, "I don't like you and I can guarantee you that Claire isn't always going to be here to save you. Watch your back."
Slughorn opened the classroom door and Snape turned on his heel to head through the doorway and sit at his desk. Lily glared at Sirius and James before heading after him. Peter took the awkward moment to head into the classroom, rushing through the door to claim their usual desks.
"You two are quite the bullies, you know that?" Claire glared at them. She pushed past them and into the classroom.
Ugh. Why in the hell did Remus have to be gone today of all days? And how many seconds until he came back?
