Claire brushed her fingers along the edges of her book, watching as they fell back into place after she gently lifted them.

No matter how hard she pushed them, they always fell back into place, and they were parchment. They were literally paper-thin.

She felt paper-thin most days, but she didn't think she would ever regain that ability to just bounce back with pressure applied.

But then, she mused as Lily continued to scribble an essay beside her, even parchment had its limits. It could be warped by water, burned away, even melted a little. It could even tear, leaving a broken almost-perfection in its place. You could put a bit of Spell-o-Tape on it, but it was never the same again.

She was even more fragile than paper, but not too much.

"Are you almost done with that?" she whispered, thoroughly depressed with the thoughts that were taking the brain power she should have been spending on her Charms assignment.

"Nearly," Lily muttered. "And you still haven't told me what you know about Sirius and Audrey. They're doing well?"

Claire snorted.

"He treats her like a princess," she replied. "And they snog when they think no one's looking. It's sort of hot, to be honest."

Lily smiled to herself, scribbling a bit more before putting her quill back and sitting back from her essay, stretching and rubbing her eyes.

"You know, that's a bit awkward," Lily said with a happy sort of groan. "You know, you thinking they're hot."

"Because he's my brother, you mean?" Claire replied, grinning. It was true, if James had ever seen the pair devouring each other's faces he would probably have freaked out in the worst possible way, maybe even destroying everything they'd all worked so hard for.

Lily laughed.

"More because he's your twin!"

Claire chuckled.

"Don't worry," she said, smirking, "I am neither a narcissist nor harboring lesbian lust for James's baby sister. That would be awkward on many, many levels. No, I just am a red-blooded human who happens to find two attractive people making out to be hot. I bet if you saw it you'd think it was hot too, or me and Remus." She paused. "Just don't take this as an invitation to watch Remus and me making out. You might get more than you'd bargained for."

Lily's nose scrunched up, disgusted.

"I wish you wouldn't...talk about things like that."

Claire raised her eyebrows. Could Lily Evans be a prude and...and a virgin?

"Sex?"

Yes, there was no mistaking it with the way the girl blushed and looked away with a stricken look. She was uncomfortable with the idea of sex. Maybe prude wasn't the right word, but she didn't seem to want to talk or think about it, at least with Claire.

"It's a bit vulgar," Lily offered by weak way of explanation.

"You...have talked about it with your mum, right?" Claire clarified. "I mean, it's not like you don't know the ins and outs?"

"Well, it's a bit different than having it!" Lily hissed, scandalized, eyes darting around to make sure they were well and truly alone.

Claire waved her wand to muffle their words, setting the redhead a bit more at ease.

"Obviously," she said dryly. "Look, Lily, there's nothing to be scared of. When both parties are consenting, sex is a wonderful, natural part of life."

"I know that," Lily snapped. "But we're practically, children, Claire-"

Claire snorted.

"We're far from being children and you know it," she countered. "I know I've certainly not been a child for years. There's a war out there, Lily. Wouldn't you expect we'd all grow up a bit faster than we should?"

Lily shrugged, but she couldn't deny it. The sorts of things they would see when they stepped out of those walls, the things they'd already seen... There was no way they could really be expected to hold on to any shreds of innocence in such a world.

"I guess I'm just nervous," Lily said slowly. "I mean, my parents grew up in a very different world. They waited for marriage. People aren't doing that anymore-"

"That's not true," Claire insisted with a laugh. "Plenty of people still wait for marriage." Lily raised her eyebrows. "No, really. Just because you don't see a lot of it, I'd be willing to bet James is waiting. And there are a lot of purebloods who do, because it changes a person's eligibility if they have a reputation. They marry young anyway."

Lily checked that her essay was dry before rolling it up.

"You think James is actually waiting?" she asked with a little smile. "Because he's a pureblood or-"

"Because he's that kind of guy," Claire explained with a shrug. "He's very old-fashioned, especially where it counts. You know, marrying before moving in, asking permission, making the first move, waiting for marriage. That sort of stuff." Claire decided to push this as far as she could make it go. "He's also progressive where it counts. He believes in equality. He would never treat me or Audrey or you or anyone else differently because we're female. His mother's a very strong woman, you see. She didn't work, but if she'd wanted to you can bet she would have done it. It just happened that her passion was in taking care of her kids. I'd say she did a pretty good job."

Lily nodded absently.

Claire smirked slightly, looking down at her hands to keep from being too obvious.

It was almost too easy, making Lily think about James in a positive light. The whole endeavor with Audrey had certainly made Lily look at him a bit differently, and he really had been behaving himself since being made Head Boy. Remus would be so surprised and pleased he wouldn't even know what to do with Claire.

"Well," Lily finally said with a sigh. "Shall we go to bed, then?"

"Yes," Claire said happily, gathering up her things. "Let's."

The two girls went to bed, each with their minds turning over the conversation they'd had.

The following day, Remus and Claire spent their free period together, first doing homework, finishing up the last of their essays and the like.

"So," he said in a low voice, growling in her ear, "shall we go upstairs?"

"Yes," she said with a smile, "there's something I wanted to discuss with you."

His face fell marginally, but he said, "Of course, dear," and led her upstairs anyway. He knew that if he was a good listener he might even get what he'd been angling for.

She had him so well trained.

They sat down on Remus's bed, chastely curling their legs under themselves and regarding each other, smiling, but both waiting for the other to give some sign. Finally, Claire decided he was listening and she said, "I think Lily's very, very interested in James."

Remus smiled at her almost patronizingly.

"What makes you think this? And don't be like James and say something like 'She's breathing,' because we both know that's bollocks."

"Give me more credit," Claire said, smirking, leaning back against his headboard. "No, she and I had a little chat last night. Would you like to hear about it, or are you going to keep teasing me?"

Remus assured her happily that he'd love to hear about it, and then Claire expounded upon her tale, telling him all about the conversation she'd had with Lily, as well as her interpretations of it, which Remus listened to politely, an appropriately interactive sort of audience. At the end, he raised his eyebrows.

"So you're saying you think Lily might be interested in James because of how she reacted to your incredible bizarre strain of conversation?" he finally said.

Claire clicked her tongue, throwing his pillow at him, which his excellent reflexes allowed him to catch easily.

"It was not bizarre!" she snapped. "Sometimes conversations just need to take place, and I'm pretty sure this one was necessary because-"

"Because Lily is somehow secretly in love with James and is only discovering her deep-seated affections because you, oh wise Claire, have discussed sex with her?"

Part of her didn't appreciate that he was making the situation into a joke, but part of her really enjoyed the lightness with which he was taking the whole scenario.

"So," he said, teasingly running his fingers through her hair when she moved toward him, "what do you propose we do, darling?"

Plotting had long been one of Claire's favorite activities. She and Sirius had grown up plotting constantly, and she'd loved attaching herself to the Marauders and joining in on their plotting. But this, plotting with Remus, had been her favorite way to plot for a while. Since he'd become prefect he had toned down his part in Marauder plots, and Claire had quite forgotten how good he could be at the activity. She would try not to underestimate him again.

They spent about an hour making their plans before they just got too distracted with each other to think about Lily and James anymore.

When they finally separated, cleaned up, and went about their business, Claire was feeling a bit lighter about the whole thing. She'd never really thought that she'd made James a promise she couldn't keep, but it had been a fairly daunting sort of promise to try to keep. After all, the boy had been trying for years and years to get Lily's attention. Granted, he'd never listened to good advice before, but still.

Now, though, with Remus's approval and a plan ready to set in motion, Claire felt like the whole thing wasn't impossible after all.

"You know," Remus said thoughtfully, "you never did say exactly when we were going to do this. That's sort of important."

"True," Claire sighed, thinking over her schedule, as well as the sections of the library. "I'm thinking give me at least a day or two to find all the spells we need and then we'll have it all worked out. Mundungus-"

"I still don't like that bit," Remus said darkly, but Claire waved him off.

"Mundungus will take a day or two to teach," she admitted. "But he can hide like no one else, and I won't have him do anything too terribly tricky."

"I still think you should go for someone better with a wand," he said nervously.

Claire raised her eyebrow at him.

"Who?" she demanded. "Peter? He's hardly better. And I can't ask you or Sirius. Neither of you would ever use magic against me, even for the greater good. Mundungus owes me, so he's got to get it right or I make sure he lands himself in jail for half his life."

Remus just sighed, muttering to himself that she was missing the point, but Claire hardly paid any attention.

She knew he didn't like her using Mundungus like that, and she also knew that he didn't like that she wouldn't just let him turn in the law-breaking scum, but he had his uses, and she was also fairly certain that Dumbledore knew everything and wasn't telling anyone as well.

"He doesn't know everything," Remus countered when they'd discussed it earlier. "He doesn't know about your being an Animagus."

Claire shrugged.

"Maybe he does."

"But it's illegal."

She gave Remus an icy look and said, "So's raping your children, but I'm pretty sure he knew about that and did nothing."

There was silence between them as they stared at each other for a moment, their faces softening at the same slow pace. Remus wrapped an arm around her and let her rest her head on his shoulder.

She didn't cry about it, not anymore, but it still hurt to think about, even when she was the one to bring it up. Claire only hoped that someday she could talk about her family without feeling that bitter, all-consuming hatred and pain in the pit of her stomach that made her feel so sick. She didn't want to be angry and broken for the rest of her life.

That night at dinner, Claire was surprised to find her younger brother, Regulus, sitting down across from her with nervous eyes.

"What do you want?" Sirius snapped.

"Sirius," Regulus said softly, still looking at Claire as if she was the only person at the table. "I...I need to talk to Claire."

Her heart pounded.

"Privately," he whispered, and she knew that whatever he had to say to her was going to make her feel sick.

"No," Sirius said firmly.

"Father is dead," Regulus rasped. "Sirius can be present too, but I do need to talk to Claire, and I don't think you want to discuss this in the Great Hall."

The twins exchanged nervous looks.

Claire had to admit, she was curious what Regulus was going to say to her. Sirius appeared to be against the whole thing, but he could tell that she was going to go, and so he nodded, following her as she followed Regulus out of the Great Hall.

The three of them entered the empty first floor classroom that was used for first years to ready themselves until the feast was ready for them at the start of every year.

"Speak," Sirius demanded.

He wanted it over with quickly, and Regulus just nodded for a moment before sitting down.

"Father wasn't well after you left," he said softly. "He kept getting more and sicker, although Mother would never tell me specifically what was wrong. She just insisted that you broke his heart with your choices."

Sirius snorted. Claire put a hand on his arm to calm him. It might have all been lies, but she wanted to hear Regulus out anyway.

"Go on," she whispered.

"He died this week," Regulus said, rubbing the heels of his hands into his forehead. "He... Mother asked me if I would speak to you because..."

"Because what, Reg?" Claire whispered.

"Because if I don't have one or both of you come back and take your place in the family," he said softly, "then they're going to make me join..."

"Regulus," Claire said, grabbing his hands and holding them tightly. "Regulus, you don't have to do this."

"Please," he whispered. "I don't know what Father did to you, but Mother... Claire, I can't leave like you did. It would kill her."

"If miracles do happen," Sirius grumbled. Claire glared at him. She wouldn't have minded her mother dying, either, but Regulus was distraught.

"Claire, please," he whined.

"You were planning to join anyway, Regulus," Sirius said coldly, putting his hand on Claire's shoulder. "Why are you trying to weasel out of it now by ruining her life?"

Regulus shook his head.

"It's not that I wouldn't join someday," he said softly, "but they want me to do it in school, and I can't... I mean, right under the nose of Dumbledore? I'm not mad, Sirius. I do want to live."

"Then why join the Death Eaters?" Sirius snarled, and Claire took a step back from Regulus.

Sirius was right. She had hoped that because of this pressure Regulus would be having second thoughts, but his fear was not joining Voldemort, it was doing it while in school. She felt sick to her stomach.

"Sirius, please," Regulus said softly. "If you don't want to join, then maybe Claire could marry Rabastan and-"

"No," Claire hissed. "I'm not marrying that awful man."

"Well," Regulus said slowly, "perhaps there's someone else-"

"If I'm getting married," she said coldly, "it'll be to Remus Lupin. And Sirius would rather jump off a building than join the Death Eaters. If you had any sense, Reg, you'd feel the same."

But he just looked at her sadly. Maybe he thought there was no other way, or maybe he really did believe in all of the pureblood supremacy that was being spouted by everyone around him, but Claire wasn't going to baby him anymore. She'd made her choice when she let Sirius take her away from home. She wasn't about to put herself back in the snake pit because Regulus had never learned to grow up.

"We're done here," Sirius said coldly. "C'mon, baby."

She spared one last look for her little brother and his dead eyes before letting Sirius lead her back to the Great Hall.

"What was that all about?" Remus asked softly.

"Nothing," Sirius said dully. "We'll talk about it later. Just eat your peas."

Remus raised his eyebrows, lowering his fork and glancing at Claire, who just shrugged sullenly, kissed his cheek and said, "How are the peas, Remus?"

"They're peas," he said simply. "How do you expect them to be? They're green, round, and a bit overcooked."

Everyone sitting there was tense, but especially Sirius. It was a good thing he had his back to the Slytherin table, or Claire was convinced that he would have been unable to fight the urge to curse their brother.

The meal was eaten largely in silence from that point on. Claire knew she would have to talk to Remus later, that Sirius would be too angry to speak about the whole thing for quite a while. Still, part of her just wanted to curl under something and not come out for days. The food in front of her made her feel sick to her stomach. And the knowledge that her mother was still trying to manipulate her life... Well, there was nothing that made her hate the woman more.

Still, despite the fact that Regulus had chosen his path and Claire had chosen hers, she couldn't help but feel that perhaps there was still some way, something she could do to save him from his surroundings. Try as she might to think of it, though, nothing came to her, and she found herself going to bed that night wondering how soon they would actually make him join the ranks of the Death Eaters, how soon he would have to sign his life away to an unrelenting monster.