"Merlin!" Marlene huffed, sitting next to Clara at the Gryffindor Table for lunch. "We're not even taking our NEWTs until next year but, I swear, McGonagall is trying to kill us with all this homework.
"I know," Clara sighed. "Not to mention the Potions essay, the Defence essay and the chart for Astronomy."
"I don't know why we took astronomy," said Marlene.
"Because we didn't want to sit in the Divination Tower and suffocate to death with all the incense?" Marlene snorted as Lily sat opposite them.
"Well," the redhead said. "You could have taken Arithmancy."
"No thanks," Clara told her. "All those numbers make my brain hurt."
Lily rolled her eyes, scooping some salad onto her plate. "It's not that bad."
"What's not that bad?" James asked, plopping down on Clara's other side and kissing her cheek.
She smiled, "Lily's trying to convince us that we should have taken Arithmancy instead of Astronomy."
"Ew." James scrunched his nose up, adorably in Clara's opinion. "I much prefer Divination."
"Why?" Clara scoffed. "It's awfully hot in that room and it smells ridiculously sweet, so sweet it makes me feel ill."
"Plus, Professor Sinderby is mental," Marlene added.
James agreed. "But it's easy to get an O in Divination."
"Agreed!" piped in Sirius, as he and the other Marauders joined the group. "Sinderby falls for any prediction that sounds even remotely dramatic, especially if it involves a death."
Lily frowned at the idea of lying to get a high grade in a class. "You won't be able to do that for your NEWT exam next year. I'm sure the examiner won't be as gullible as Sinderby."
"Anyway," Clara interrupted. "Has anyone seen Mary?"
"Not since Transfiguration," said Marlene. "She said she was going back to the Common Room to get something but she hasn't come down yet."
"Maybe she's gone to her next class early?" suggested Remus.
"No," said Clara. "She's got Charms next, and we're all in that class except for Peter. She'd meet us here, I'm sure."
"Well, I wonder where she's got to," said Lily.
"Has she got a boyfriend?" asked Sirius. "Maybe she's met up with him."
"No, she hasn't got a boyfriend," Marlene told. "At least, not that she's told us."
"It's not like Mary to miss lunch, especially not when there's jam tarts."
"I know," said Clara. "Maybe she'll meet us in Charms, after all."
She didn't. She also didn't turn up to Potions, or dinner.
The group was sitting around the fire in the Common Room; Clara cuddled with James on the sofa while the others did homework or, in the case of Sirius, Peter and Marlene, played exploding snap. James was playing with Clara's hair, having tugged it out of its bun. She hummed happily, relaxing against him.
The peace was disturbed by a fifth year prefect, Johnny Danes, bursting through the portrait.
"Evans! Stone! McKinnon!" he yelled, sprinting over to them. "Come quickly! McGonagall wants you, in the Hospital Wing."
"What?" Clara sat up. "Why? What's happened?"
"Not quite sure," Danes puffed. "I think it's something to do with your friend, MacDonald?"
"Mary?" Lily gasped.
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Marlene dropped her playing cards and stood. "We're not going to find out sitting here!"
The three girls raced down to the Hospital Wing, the Marauders trailing after them. Professor McGonagall was waiting for them outside the closed doors to the Hospital.
"I'm afraid you gentlemen shall have to outside."
"Why, Professor?" Remus asked. "What's happened?"
"I'm afraid that Miss MacDonald has been attacked," McGonagall said solemnly, eliciting gasps from the students. She led the three girls into the Hospital, leaving the Marauders to wait in the corridor.
Clara felt her stomach fluttering nervously at the thought of what might have happened to Mary. Nothing could have prepared her for the truth.
The Hospital Wing was empty except for one bed in the far corner. Madam Pomfrey pulled back the curtains and Clara's heart dropped into her stomach. Mary lay on the bed, though she would have been unrecognisable to someone who had not seen her nearly every day for the last six years. Her face was swollen, dark bruises covering nearly every patch of Mary's usually tanned skin. Her left eye was swollen shut and her lips were bloody and ripped as though she had bitten them very harshly. Mary's right arm was in a sling, broken from the look of the Skelegrow on the bedside table. Clara couldn't see Mary's legs due to the covers, but from the looks of the rest of her friend, she wasn't sure she wanted to.
"Merlin," she breathed. Tears rolled down her cheeks at the sight of one of her dearest friends in such a terrible condition.
"What happened to her?" Lily cried. Clara turned to face the redhead and, seeing Lily's own tears, pulled her into a tight hug. Marlene hadn't spoken a word, just staring at Mary, her face pale.
"She was found by a couple of third year Hufflepuffs who were running late for a detention with Professor Slughorn."
"She was in the dungeons?" Clara asked.
"Yes," McGonagall answered. "She was… well…" The stricken Professor looked to Madam looked to Pomfrey, who cleared her throat.
"She was badly beaten. Whoever did this used a number of dark hexes and curses, including… the Cruciatus Curse, I'm afraid."
Lily burst into sobs, burying her face against Clara's shoulder.
"But who would do this?" Clara asked. "We're in Hogwarts."
"Does Professor Dumbledore know about this?" Marlene finally spoke.
"He does," McGonagall said. "He has been at the Ministry all day on business but he has undoubtedly received my owl by now."
Clara nodded, unable to speak any further. She tugged Marlene into the hug she was still in with Lily.
Eventually, Madam Pomfrey asked them to leave as Mary needed her rest. She wouldn't be awake for some time, as Madam Pomfrey was keeping her on sleeping potions until the worst had healed and they could get a Healer in from St. Mungo's to check for any damage left by the Cruciatus. The girls trailed out into the corridor, only to find James, Remus, Peter and Sirius sitting in the corridor.
Peter was asleep with his head back against the wall and his mouth open. Remus was reading. Sirius was lounging against the wall, fiddling with an unlit cigarette. James was sitting cross-legged, his head on his chest and his eyes closed, though he wasn't asleep.
"James…"
His head snapped up at Clara's voice and he stood quickly, rushing over to her.
"What happened?" he asked, as Sirius and Remus stood.
"M-Mary was found in the dungeons," Clara said tearfully. "She was attacked and they t-tortured her."
"Tortured her?" Sirius asked.
"The Cruciatus Curse," Lily muttered.
Sirius cursed, crushing the cigarette in his fist. Remus let out a heavy breath, running a hand through his hair in worry.
"Where's Dumbledore?" Sirius snapped. "He should be able to find out who did this!"
"He's been at the Ministry all day," Clara told him, leaning against James who had his arms around her. "McGonagall owled him."
"He's been away?" Remus frowned.
"If Dumbledore's been away, I bet you anything it was Slytherins!" Sirius was getting more and more wound up, pacing agitatedly.
"I assure you, Mr. Black, that I will do all I can do find those responsible for Miss. MacDonald's attack."
They all, except Peter who was still asleep, turned to see Professor Dumbledore striding towards them, his starry blue robes flaring out behind him as he walked. The Headmaster's usually kind blue eyes were hard behind his half-moon spectacles.
"Sir, I didn't mean-"
"I know what you meant, Mr. Black," said Dumbledore. "But we mustn't throw accusations without evidence."
"Mary was found in the dungeons!" Sirius scoffed. "Isn't that proof enough that it was a Slytherin?"
"No, Mr. Black, it is not." Dumbledore peered over the top of his spectacles. "Now, it is late, so I suggest that you all return to you dormitories. I'm sure Madam Pomfrey will let you visit Miss. MacDonald in the morning." He moved towards the doors to the Hospital Wing but paused before entering, "I trust one of you gentlemen will assist Mr. Pettigrew?" He disappeared through the dark wooden doors.
"Come on," said Remus. "We're not doing Mary any good standing out here. Let's get to bed and I'm sure they'll have more information in the morning. Sirius, will you help me with him?" Remus gestured towards Peter and the two boys hoisted the snoring boy up off the floor. Shaking him awake would do no good; Peter had a way of falling asleep anywhere and he was extremely to wake up.
"Couldn't we just levitate him?" Sirius asked.
"Not with your terrible aim," Remus joked.
Clara smiled a little. Lily and Marlene slowly followed the boys, their arms linked as Lily helped Marlene to stay steady on her feet.
"Come on, love," James said. He took Clara's hand and they followed the others up to Gryffindor Tower.
Once in the Common Room, Remus and Sirius hauled Peter up to boys' dorm. James turned to Clara, "Will you girls be alright tonight?"
Clara nodded. "Yeah," she said. "We'll be fine. Though, I am a bit worried about Mary; she's very pale and she hasn't spoken much."
"She's just shocked," James told her. "She might feel better after a good night's sleep."
"I'm not sure any of us will get a good night's sleep tonight," she murmured. "Do you think this could have been Slytherins?"
"Possibly," he said, thinking. "Some of the Slytherins, especially the upper years, seem to be very interested in his movements."
"You mean Voldemort?" Clara gasped and James nodded.
"The lads and I caught some of the sixth and seventh years looking awfully suspicious on the last Hogsmeade trip."
"What do you mean, 'suspicious'?"
"I'm not sure, exactly, but they were having some sort of gathering by the Shrieking Shack and there were a few there that graduated last year as well."
"Anyone we know?"
"Evan Rosier was there, do you remember him?"
"He was the Slytherin Quidditch Captain last year, wasn't he?" Clara frowned, trying to remember.
"Yeah," James said. "He also hexed a second year Hufflepuff so badly the boy got sent to St. Mungo's."
"Merlin," Clara's eyebrows raised. "Do you think you should tell Dumbledore?"
"Not yet. It's not exactly illegal to meet former students on Hogsmeade weekends."
"Well, at any rate, we'd better get to bed. I want to visit Mary before breakfast."
"You're right," James agreed. Clara hugged James tightly and he pressed a gentle kiss to her mouth before they went to their separate dormitories.
When Clara got upstairs, Marlene was already in bed and Lily was just coming out of the bathroom. "How is she?" she asked, gesturing to Marlene.
"Asleep," Lily sighed. "I had to cast a Calming Charm on her, but it won't as good as a Calming Draught or even a sleeping potion."
"As long as she gets some rest, at least." Clara quickly changed into her pyjamas and washed her face in the bathroom. She hadn't bothered to tie her hair back after James had undone it earlier that evening, so she just ran a brush through it and climbed into bed.
"Clara?" Lily asked from her own bed.
"Hmm?"
"Do you think Mary will be alright?"
Clara leaned up on her elbow. "Of course she will. Madam Pomfrey said there's a Healer from St. Mungo's coming tomorrow, remember? And Dumbledore will catch the bastards who did this to her and, hopefully, expel them. So they can't hurt any more students."
"I hope so." Lily bit her lip and pulled her covers up. "Night."
"Night Lily." Clara lay back down, pausing only to move Zemi off her pillow. The cat had sneaked onto it as soon as Clara had lifted her head. Putting Zemi comfortably at the end of her four-poster bed, Clara snuggled into her covers and hoped that she hadn't lied to Lily and that everything really would work out for Mary.