Chapter 11
As they approached the pitch, Sirius answered every question that Claire had about the game. Which was way more than he expected her to have, clearly her inquisitive nature did not stop when she left the classroom. By the time they had taken their places in the stands, he felt that she had a pretty good grasp on how the game worked. Even though she had seemed completely distracted by her conversation with Sirius, he still managed to get the four of them into the stands and keep himself between Remus and Claire without raising any red flags. Maybe this distance would put off what he felt was inevitable.
When the game began, Claire started to fidget with her bag and pulled out a large sign that had Go Gryffindor! written in her immaculate handwriting in bold red ink. She tapped the poster with her wand and quietly murmured to herself. The ink began to fade between red and gold and then back to red again. Sirius looked over at her and smirked.
"When did you make that?"
"When I was in my dormitory," Claire remarked, "What do you think took me so long?"
Even when Sirius felt that he had a handle on her personality and behaviors, Claire always seemed to do something that made him feel as though he didn't know her at all. That might prove to be a frustration to others, but Sirius liked that she kept him on his toes. Claire looked away from him and pointed in the direction of the pitch at James, she whooped as he flashed past one of the Ravenclaw beaters and hurtled in the direction of the hoops.
"He's starting off really strong," Remus said loudly so he could be heard over the crowd, Sirius nodded.
"Yeah, he's showing off early," Sirius commented with a smirk on his face, "If he wins this game today we might never hear the end of it."
"There he goes!" Peter yelled as James streaked down the second half of the pitch and suddenly flew in the opposite direction to confuse the Ravenclaw Keeper before aiming for the middle hoop. The Quaffle easily flew through it and Gryffindor scored their first goal. The stands erupted with cheering and Claire held her sign above her head and joined in chanting with the rest of the students.
Gryffindor scored four more goals before Ravenclaw scored their first. James was really in rare form today as he blew past the oppositions' Chasers as if they were rooted in place. Ravenclaw was not to be easily defeated though, and soon the Beaters picked up on some of James' patterns. As James went in for his third goal, the Ravenclaw Beater McMillan sent a Bludger hurtling his way. When James pulled back to wind up his throw, the Bludger slammed into his right arm and he dropped the Quaffle.
The Gryffindor fans groaned and watched as James pulled his arm into his chest and solely used his left arm to direct his broom back toward the opposite end of the field where Ravenclaw made their second goal of the game.
"His arm looks broken!" Claire said adjusting the binoculars she had stolen ("I'm just borrowing them!") from Peter. Sirius was now holding the sign that she had made.
"He's okay!" Sirius cheered loudly as Gryffindor got possession of the Quaffle again.
"He's hurt!" James had caught the Quaffle with his left hand and passed it to his teammate in a wobbly throw, his right arm still held against his body. Sirius shrugged.
"The game isn't over yet! He will be fine."
Claire glanced at Sirius apprehensively before pulling the binoculars back up to her eyes to not miss any more of the game. Since the Bludger hit James, the Gryffindor offense had seemed to lose some of their momentum and in the blink of an eye, Ravenclaw scored three more goals. James sped across the pitch once more, stopped directing his broom to catch the Quaffle with his uninjured arm, and hurled it at the goalpost scoring once more for Gryffindor.
Claire let out a yelp suddenly and pointed at the Gryffindor Seeker has she sped off across the pitch with the Ravenclaw Seeker not far behind. Gryffindor made a steep dive and very suddenly the game was over. Gryffindor had won 210 to 50. Claire jumped up and down and cheered loudly for James. Sirius could feel a smile creep onto his face while he watched her.
"Better than homework?" He leaned over so she could hear him over the crowd. She turned herself toward him and laughed, her bright eyes shining.
"Just a bit."
After spending some time hanging around the Quidditch pitch to see if they could catch James for a brief moment, they began to head back to the castle. Their enthusiasm for the win kept them warm as they walked back up the damp hill; the prospect of a hot meal made their steps brisker than usual. James had promised to meet them in the Great Hall after debriefing with the team and a short visit to the Hospital Wing, he had in fact broken his arm ("I told you, Sirius!").
Remus walked next to Claire again, he wondered for a moment if Sirius had intentionally separated them before. Sirius strolled contentedly beside them twirling his wand between his fingers. If he had, Remus couldn't really understand the logic behind it. Claire had always been close friends with him, her quiet nature usually meant she gravitated the most toward Remus. He decided that it was probably just a coincidence.
Claire recounted some of the more exciting aspects of the game, he was surprised how much she seemed to enjoy it. He also knew that once they got back into the castle she would remember the essay Sirius had stolen from her and the talk of Quidditch would completely cease. She had tried to give the knit hat and scarf back to Sirius, but he had insisted that she keep it. Remus suspected that he was so pleased she enjoyed herself and didn't talk about homework once, that he was using the items as some crude form of positive reinforcement.
"I do hope that Madam Pomfrey is able to patch James up quickly," Claire commented as she adjusted the bag on her shoulder, "I'm sure having a broken arm isn't terribly comfortable."
"Madam Pomfrey will fix him up in a jiffy," Peter added, "I've seen plenty of Quidditch players head to the hospital with much worse injuries and they're all mended really quickly."
Remus listened as Claire and Peter continued to talk about the frequency of Quidditch injuries. He looked over at Sirius and noticed him peering up ahead of them on the path, they had closed the gap between them and the other students. Immediately he recognized the auburn hair; he was surprised he didn't know that Lily had any interest in Quidditch matches. Next to her was none other than Severus Snape, Remus' stomach dropped. Silence had spread through their small group and Claire's mouth had become a tight line as she looked over and noticed the gears turning in Sirius' head.
"Leave him be," Claire said quickly before Sirius could develop even an inkling of a plan, "He's just walking."
"I wasn't going to do anything," Sirius began to twirl his wand faster, he avoided eye contact with Claire.
"Yes, you were," Claire looked at Remus for support but he stayed silent, "I've seen that look one too many times."
"What look?"
"The one where you are hatching some kind of scheme," Claire attempted to snatch his wand from him, but his reflexes were too fast.
"Oh, come on Claire," Sirius responded jovially, "I just wanted to help him get into the spirit. He's not dressed to celebrate Gryffindor winning, I thought he could use a splash of color so he's not walking around like he's attending a funeral all of the time."
"No," Claire shook her head at him, "He hasn't even provoked you, he doesn't even know you're walking behind him."
"That's what would make it such a pleasant surprise," A mischievous glint shined behind Sirius' eyes. The more Claire tried to talk him out of it, the more excited at the prospect of a good hex he seemed to become.
"Sirius, please," Claire begged, "We have had such a good day, can't we just go back to the castle and enjoy dinner without-"
Sirius didn't hear the second half of Claire's sentence, he raised his wand and with a flick and a mutter turned Severus' hair bright red. Severus stopped dead in his tracks and turned around to notice Sirius snickering a few feet behind him; he raised his wand to cast a spell but Sirius disarmed him before he could even open his mouth. Lily picked up Severus' wand from the ground and he took it angrily before storming back up to the castle. Lily glared at the group and shook her head at Claire before turning on her heel and marching off after Severus.
"Lily, wait!" Claire shouted and began to sprint after her. Lily snapped the castle door behind her and Claire stood there for a moment in stunned silence before looking over her shoulder at Sirius with severe disappointment in her eyes.
"Did you really have to?" Remus muttered quietly to Sirius.
"Come on," Sirius said in response, "If you heard some of the things that Snivellus and his friends said when Claire wasn't around, you'd want to do the same."
Remus knew enough about the wizarding world to know that not everyone agreed about the admissions process of Hogwarts. There were some, like the Slytherins that Severus was surrounded with and the Black family, who believed that students like Claire shouldn't be allowed to attend. Although he had never heard Snape say anything like this about Claire, he knew that some of his fellow Slytherins could possibly have.
"Regardless," Remus tried to reason with him, "She lives with Lily. You and James continually hexing Snape doesn't make things easy for her in her dormitory." Sirius seemed to consider this point for a moment.
"You think she's angry?" Peter asked quietly.
Claire opened the door to the castle and slammed it shut behind her.
Dinner at the Great Hall tasted even more delicious than usual, Sirius was sure that the Gryffindor win had seriously impacted the quality of their food. When he, Remus, and Peter arrived, they looked around their usual spot for Claire. She was nowhere to be seen. He shrugged it off and took his seat. She really seemed to have the flare for the dramatic sometimes.
Thankfully, Remus kept quiet during the dinner; Sirius didn't want to hear about how he shouldn't have hexed Snape. Yes, he wasn't provoked today but he had been provoked plenty of times before. In his opinion, Snape deserved every hex that was thrown his way. He couldn't understand how Remus was always so keen to side with Claire. James bounded into the Great Hall not too long after them, took a seat to the right of Sirius, and filled his plate up with some roast chicken and mashed potatoes.
"Where's Claire?" He asked as he stuffed some food into his mouth, "I thought she had been with you all at the match?"
"Long story," Sirius muttered, wishing to change the subject before Remus could chime in. "How's your arm?"
James filled them in with details from the game and his short visit to see Madam Pomfrey. Although they had all seen the game together, it was fun to replay the most exciting moments from James' perspective. He didn't hesitate to elaborate excessively when talking about the goals he scored. Peter hung onto his every word and Sirius rolled his eyes slightly at some of the more obvious embellishments.
After stuffing themselves full of delicious food, they walked back to the Common Room together hoping to play a couple round of chess. As Sirius climbed through the portrait hole he half expected to see Claire sitting on a squat armchair by the fire reading a book in a huff of anger, but she was nowhere to be seen in the Common Room. He was content to not see her for the rest of the evening and enjoy playing games with James and Peter.
The next morning, he didn't spot Claire at breakfast and didn't think much of it until Remus mentioned that he hadn't seen her in the library either. James and Sirius spent most of the morning combing the school grounds at her usual spots to see if she was at a desk writing furiously or reading in an empty classroom. In a desperate moment, Sirius approached a fifth-year girl to check and see if Claire was alright. He sent her up with Claire's essay in the hopes that the reminder Sirius had stolen it would pry her from her room.
"She's up there," The girl said when she came back down the stairs, "She said she doesn't want to speak with anyone."
"Right, thanks," James raised his eyebrows and glanced at Sirius.
"She will have to come out tomorrow," Sirius said rubbing the back of his head absentmindedly, "We have classes in the morning."
Remus stood tight-lipped and sighed. Sirius knew without Remus' palpable worry that this was serious. Claire had been angry with him before, but she had never locked herself up in her room for an entire twenty-four hours. He still felt that she was overreacting to the situation; by this time Severus had probably reversed the hex and was going about his day skulking around the dungeons. Nothing about the hex he had performed had been damaging or permanent.
Uncharacteristically, Sirius woke early the next morning and walked down to breakfast alone. He hoped to be able to catch Claire before their first class started. He would swallow his pride and apologize so that they could put this whole thing behind them. The Great Hall was quieter than it usually was and only a few students sat at their respective house tables munching on bits of toast and slurping on tea.
Claire sat at the very end of the Gryffindor table, far from where she usually sat. Her long hair fell slightly damp at her shoulders and she sat hunched over a book. As Sirius approached her, she looked up and then quickly turned her body away from him. Clearly, she wasn't going to make this apology easy, he sighed heavily.
Sirius sat down next to her and reached over to her plate and stole some buttered toast. She glared at him out of the corner of her eye as he took a large bite out of the toast and grinned at her.
"Fancy seeing you here," His apology skills were rusty. Claire lifted her book up in front of her face so she wouldn't have to look at him. "Oh come on!"
She dramatically turned the page of her book and pushed the rest of her toast over to him, clearly not wanting anything to do with food he had touched. He sighed and shoved the rest of the toast in his mouth. Maybe he didn't want to apologize at all at this point. She could go on ignoring him for the next five years if she wanted.
"I'm sorry," Sirius blurted out much louder than he had intended. Claire flipped another page of her book and continued to refuse to look at him. "I'm actually apologizing, the least you can do is look at me."
For a moment he thought that she was beyond reason, but then she lowered the book and closed it. He got a good look at her face and noticed that her eyes were bloodshot. Sirius had prepared himself for her to glare at him, but she just looked exhausted and sad.
"That's the best apology you can muster?" Claire sighed and looked around at the other students who had become curious and were listening in on their conversation, "I get a half-hearted 'I'm sorry' and you steal my breakfast… Apology accepted, clearly."
"I didn't realize you were going to react this way," Sirius felt genuine regret creep into his voice.
"Why are you apologizing?" Claire snapped at him.
"I'm apologizing because I didn't mean to make things more difficult for you," Sirius reached over and grabbed some toast and buttered it before placing it on her plate and sliding it over to her in a peace offering, "Lily is your roommate, she's friends with Snape, I should have realized that hexing him - no matter how warranted it might be- puts you in an awkward position."
She sighed and shook her head at him.
"That's not why I stayed in my room all day yesterday," Sirius stared at her dumbfounded, "Yes, you hexing Severus does make things tense in my dorm, but that's not why I'm upset.
"Before I came to Hogwarts," Claire continued while lazily playing with the toast Sirius had offered her, "I went to a school close to my home. Believe it or not, the students there were less of a fan of my interest in reading than you and James are. I wore different clothes than they did, I read different books, I didn't watch the cartoons they watched on the weekends. I was different, but not in a good way.
"They teased me," Claire looked down sadly, "Relentlessly. They pulled my hair and called me names. They would imitate me behind our teachers back."
"Claire-"
"Snape did nothing to you," Claire stopped him and looked over with teary eyes, "He was just walking along with his friend, and you targeted him for no reason other than the fact that he's different from you. I know exactly what that feels like, Sirius."
"I didn't realize- I'm sorry," Sirius stuttered, he didn't know that she would respond so negatively to the fun that he and James had at Snape's expense. He simultaneously wished he could express to her the concerns he had about the attitudes being bred in Slytherin. Sirius knew, better than any of his friends, the beliefs that some of the Slytherin students had about blood status and Muggles attending Hogwarts. He wanted to shield her from all of that.
As if she could read his mind she looked over at him and said, "I'm not a fool. I know the types of things that some of the Slytherins say about me."
"Who- Tell me who said something to you, I will hex them-"
"It doesn't matter," Claire interrupted him.
"It does!" Sirius exclaimed and Claire sighed.
"You are a Gryffindor," Claire said emphatically, "There is nothing brave in hexing someone with their backed turned on you. Be the person who I met on the train and helped me with my trunk without being asked, the person who taught me everything I know about the wizarding world, the one who agreed to do something risky if it meant helping a friend. Don't be like the bullies I knew in school, be better."
"I'm sorry."
"I know," Claire took a bite of toast and offered Sirius the other half. He smiled at her and accepted it. They sat in silence eating their breakfast, the air thick with the unsaid worries that both of them had.
