Would you guys be okay if I skipped a year in the story and went straight to the Deathly Hallows once this school year ends? I'll write a chapter summarising what happens in that year so you're not completely lost, but it's just it'll take so long to get to when the important stuff starts happening. Let me know what you think by posting a review of sending a PM if you want. We're still quite a few chapters away from that, but I'm just asking in advance :)
Chapter 36 - John
Clara was slowly improving, and after a week she was sleeping properly again without the aid of a sleeping potion. Eating was still a bit off, but steadily John was able to encourage her to eat at least something at every meal.
She began smiling more often too, properly smiling and enjoying conversations with him again. It was little things like her smile and her dimples that made him truly happy. Seeing the recovery of his girlfriend was the most satisfying thing he could ever see.
She didn't play in the Quidditch Final in the end, but it was only for the best. It had only been a couple of days since she'd began to recover, so they thought it wise to keep her away from the pressure. Ravenclaw lost to Gryffindor in the end, but none of them were really suprised with two of their best players out.
By the end of the next week John was out of his sling, and his elbow was almost healed. He still kept a bandage around it, but he was able to move it with only a small amount of pain.
After his sling was taken off with the permission of Madame Pomfrey, John returned to the common room and sat down next to Clara who had kept him a seat.
"Is it feeling better?" She asked him as he sat down.
"Yeah, definitely. Look, I can use it for stuff now," he said excitedly. He picked up a random quill which was lying on a table next to them and held it in front of her face. Then he stroked it along her nose.
"Hey, that tickles," Clara said, with a small laugh. It still wasn't completely like the old days where she would be in hysterics about such small things, but it was definitely getting there. He appreciated the laughs that he got. It was like falling love all over again.
"Anyway, we better get to work because you may not believe it, but our first OWL exam is on Monday," John said, trying to grab his Potions textbook with his injured arm, but failing and dropping it on the floor with a thump. He bent over and picked it up, with his good arm before placing it on his lap.
"Right... Potions. My absolute favourite," Clara said sarcastically. Although she sounded miserable, John was taking sarcasm as another good sign.
John chuckled. "Okay, so Strengthen Solution. We got some extra info on it last lesson, coz Snape's Snape and he does bigger all until it's too late. It has one side effect which is often overlooked by the drinker. It was proven several years ago that it can increase blood pressure. But that's not a huge problem because you can just use a Circulatory Neutralization Potion to clear that up," he read from the note he made in his textbook.
"Woah, okay." Clara scribbled that into her own textbook. "So is that all we need to know for Strengthening? Turquoise liquid, contains salamander blood and powdered Griffin claw..."
"Gives drinker extra strength," John cut in.
"Well, yeah. Obviously," Clara said.
They revised until half past ten that evening, but finished when Clara begin to yawn regularly. Thankfully it was her who noticed it first for once.
"I'm going to call it a night, I think," Clara said, after a long yawn. She stretched out her arms, before getting up.
"Good idea. I think I'll join you. But not literally unfortunately, haha," John said.
Clara smiled. They'd refrained from the boyfriend-girlfriend thing for a while, and that's what hurt John the most out of it all. He hadn't kissed her in a long time now, and it was always such a struggle to say goodnight to her without at least a peck on the lips.
They looked at each other for a while, before Clara said "Well, goodnight then," before retreating to her dorm. John watched her every step, longing for her touch. But he knew it wasn't going to happen just yet. It was too soon.
So he made his way up to his own dorm, where her got dressed and fell asleep with her on his mind. He knew it was going to be quite a while until she was the same Clara, but he couldn't wait. It was killing him.
The next day was a Saturday, and it was the last weekend before their OWL exams. John and Clara had planned to study in the Great Hall, since there was the most space in there.
"How did you sleep?" John asked Clara as they walked to the Great Hall, bags on their backs.
"Okay. Not as good as the night before because it took me a couple of hours to finally fall asleep. But I'm alright," she said.
"That's good to hear," John said encouragingly, giving her a smile. He was about to put his arm around her, but he refrained quickly when he remembered not to.
"Hey, look. I'm sorry about this. Truth is, I don't want to stop interactions between us," Clara said, stopping suddenly. "You can put your arm around me. Let's just take it slow from here."
John grinned at her. "You know I love you?" He said, before putting his arm around her and they resumed their walking. It felt so good to hold her again.
"Yes, I definitely do. You could have dumped me there and then when things got hard, but you didn't. I love you too, by the way. More than anything," Clara said, gazing up at him.
They entered the Great Hall together, ready to revise again. John never thought he'd enjoy studying more.