Payback Time
Claudia woke up just as the sun began to set. Her stomach was grumbling, but she did not want to leave Sirius' side. She wanted to be there when he woke up. Madame Pomfrey took pity on her and got the house-elves to bring up some sandwiches from the kitchens. Claudia munched on her dinner and, spurred by the successful interview she just had, did her Herbology homework.
"Hey." There was a silent whisper.
Claudia got up so quickly her homework went crashing to the floor.
"How are you feeling?" She whispered back, oblivious to the mess around her.
"Water." Sirius mumbled hoarsely.
Claudia poured a glass from the jug on the side table and brought it to Sirius' lips. He held tightly onto her hand and drained it.
"Feeling alright." Sirius uttered once the glass was empty, and he propped himself up against the headboard.
Once Claudia put the glass back on the table, she jumped up to sit on Sirius' bed and took both of his hands in hers. She leaned so close to him that their foreheads were nearly touching.
"Don't you dare do anything that dumb again." She sighed.
"Don't tell me you were worried about me." He smirked.
"Of course, I was worried about you, you idiot." She whispered and squeezed his fingers even tighter.
Sirius freed one of his hands and brought it to the back of Claudia's head. She could feel his fingers in her hair, and a calming energy spreading through her body from where he touched her. She closed her eyes and exhaled.
"Thank you for looking out for me." He whispered and pulled her towards him and kissed her.
"I'm so happy you're ok." She uttered when they finally managed to let go of each other.
"Did it work?" Sirius asked, after helping himself to another glass of water.
"I don't know. I've either been here or at my interview." Claudia replied. "But the boys said that Snape looked miserable, so I think it may have."
"I forgot about your interview." Sirius said sheepishly.
"It's fine." Claudia smiled. "I passed."
"So proud of you." Sirius whispered and lifted himself to kiss her again. Instead, however, he winced with pain and fell back against the headboard.
"Lie back down." Claudia said. "Even with my healing abilities, I can tell you need to rest." Once Sirius complied, she kicked off her shoes and sunk into his embrace.
"You are always going to boss me around now you're an auror, aren't you?" Sirius chuckled.
"I still need to pass the exams." She sighed. "Which isn't going to be easy."
But before she could recount her fears about failing Herbology, the curtains flew open, and Madame Pomfrey appeared with a tray of potions.
"I'm glad you're awake, Mr Black." She frowned. "But this is still the hospital wing, and I would like you two to act that way."
Claudia mumbled an apology and slid down from the bed to sit in the armchair again.
Sirius took his potions and begged Claudia to go and get some proper sleep. She grudgingly agreed, but only on the promise that he would keep his two-way notebook with him and write to her every five minutes, so she knew he was still alright.
Claudia barely made it back to her dormitory. Exhausted, she fell into her bed and was asleep in minutes. Sirius could have written her a thousand messages that night. She would never have known.
Sirius was released from the hospital wing the following day. He turned up half an hour late to their afternoon potions class and still looked little pale, but he was standing on his own two feet and seemed back to his usual self.
"What did I miss?" He asked when he dropped into the chair next to Claudia.
She did not have time to respond. The whole classroom shook and was suddenly filled with dark smoke. Someone's cauldron had blown up.
"This is entirely predictable with Erumpent potion." Slughorn said and waved his wand to disperse the smoke. "Although, I would expect NETWs students to know not to touch this particular concoction without extreme care."
Claudia looked around to see who was foolish enough to make this mistake. She could hardly believe her eyes when she saw it was Snape. He was covered in soot and standing over a cauldron that has been torn in half by the force of the explosion.
"Mr Snape." Slughorn laughed. "Do I need to rewrite that recommendation I have done for you?" Snape did not say anything, but lowered his head to hide just how red his face had gotten.
Sirius and Claudia exchanged a look. Snape must have been really rattled to make this sort of mistake. It looked like Sirius' spontaneous gamble may have worked.
The next week or so was filled with studying, studying and more studying. They did not have time to eat, sleep or worry about Snape. Every minute of every day was filled with classes, essays and revision. Claudia would have paid good money to get even an hour break. Except she did not have any. She was broke.
"Claudia! Wait!" Someone shouted as she was trying to cross the Slytherin common room on her way to breakfast one Saturday. She turned and saw Julius and Emmanuel walking towards her, closely followed by Chris who had his hands on both of their shoulders and looked like he was nudging them along.
"We've been talking…" Chris began. "And we want you to come back to the team for the last game."
"What does Regulus say about that?" Claudia smirked. She was glancing at Julius and Emmanuel, who were both avoiding her eye.
"Regulus stormed out of practice last week and hasn't spoken to any of us since." Chris frowned.
"I've been practicing seeker, but we are short of a chaser." Emmanuel whispered, still looking at his shoes. "We need you."
"Two chasers, actually." Julius mumbled and finally managed to look at his ex-girlfriend. "That idiotic friend of his said that if we ask Claudia back, he's resigning."
"Good riddance." Chris uttered. "He's useless."
"We should get Creusa in." Claudia replied. "She is good. We might stand a chance against Hufflepuff."
"Does it mean you're coming back?" Chris asked, a smile appearing on his face.
"I guess so." Claudia chuckled.
"Brilliant." Chris grinned. "I need to go now. Practice tomorrow night. Don't be late." He added cheekily and disappeared. Emmanuel followed him too until Claudia and Julius were left alone, standing in the common room in awkward silence.
"You really are ok with this?" Claudia asked Julius quietly.
"I can't take a third game of utter humiliation." Julius sighed.
Claudia stared at him, waiting to see if he was going to say any more.
"And I'm sorry about how I behaved." He continued. "Sorry about lashing out. Sorry about what I've said at Slughorn's party. I've been so mad, I temporarily forgot who I was." He paused and looked around to make sure no one was listening. "But I know what Regulus is up to and I can't be part of it. Manny saw sense too." He added in a whisper.
"Took him long enough." Claudia said with a fleeting smile. "And I'm sorry about how you found out. I really am."
"Water under the bridge." Julius smiled. "Anyway, I can hardly complain given who I'm seeing."
"Who?" Claudia asked.
"You don't know?" Julius gasped. "Then, why…?"
"Why what?" Claudia shrugged. "I still don't know who you're talking about."
"Eleanor." Julius scratched his head and blushed. "We thought you knew, and that's why you've been avoiding us both."
They stared at each other awkwardly. In truth, Claudia had been avoiding Eleanor because she was always so fun and carefree. It really did not feel right to be around someone who did not know of burden Claudia had been carrying.
"Good for you both." She uttered and forced a smile.
"I'll see you at practice, then." Julius added and run off towards the boy's dormitories.
Claudia practically skipped to her next class. Quidditch was the last thing she needed on top of her NEWTs revision and all the kerfuffle with the poison, but she could not resist the opportunity to get out on the pitch and clear her head.
For the first time in weeks, she even enjoyed her classes rather than spent their duration panicking about how much more she had to remember. She had an early dinner, making sure to seek out Eleanor and tell her she was fine with her dating Julius, and bumped into Sirius on her way out of the Great Hall. She was already dressed in her Quidditch robes and holding her broom in her hand.
"Come out with me to fly tonight. We've got practice tomorrow and I don't want to look like a fool." She said when she finished telling Sirius about her conversation with Chris and the others.
"I promised Remus I'll help him revise Charms." Sirius replied.
"That's the dumbest excuse I've ever heard." Claudia laughed. "But fine, I'll find someone else."
"Are you going flying?" Julius asked as he walk past them. "If you want someone to throw quaffles at, I could use the practice."
"What time did we say?" Sirius jumped in before she could reply. "Meet on the pitch at six?"
"Never mind." Julius mumbled and continued inside the Great Hall.
"What was that?" Claudia asked and frowned a little.
"Nothing." Sirius shrugged. "I've just remembered that Remus said tomorrow was better."
"You're jealous." She chuckled.
"I'm not." He replied defensively.
"Right." Claudia smirked, not believing him for a second. "Let's go then. By the time we'll get there, it'll be six."
"But I haven't had dinner." Sirius protested.
"You should have thought of that before you scared off Julius." Claudia smirked.
But she did take mercy on Sirius and let him grab a sandwich and eat it on the way to the pitch.
Either Claudia was rustier than she thought, or Sirius was rather better than he let on. Even though he was flying on one of the shoddy school brooms, she did actually have to give it her all to get the better of him and even after a relatively short session. She was exhausted.
"You're good, you know." She uttered when they were on their way back to the castle.
"James made me practice with him every day for the two summers I lived with them. It's the main reason why I wanted to move out." Sirius laughed. "He's even been trying to get me to play this year after one of the beaters got injured during the Slytherin game."
"And you said no?" Claudia asked.
"It's a dumb game." Sirius whispered and put his arms around his girlfriend.
"You said no for my sake, didn't you?" Claudia whispered. "You knew I would've hated if you got to play, and I didn't."
"How many times do I have to say I hate Quidditch before you believe me?" Sirius chuckled.
"Thank you." She whispered and hugged him back.
"What for?" He smirked.
"You know what for." She replied and stood on her tiptoes to kiss him.
"I'll do anything for you." He whispered as their lips parted. They intertwined their fingers and began walking to the castle again.
"You know you have nothing to worry about with Julius." Claudia said when they were nearly through the door.
"That's not it." Sirius sighed. "I trust you. He's just a constant reminder of how stupid I've been."
"Neither of us have covered ourselves in glory that year." Claudia tried to make him feel better, remembering that fateful game against Hufflepuff when she lost her head and cost Slytherin the cup.
It was now mid-April, and no one got any time for anything other than studying and, in the case of James and Claudia, the occasional Quidditch practice. One evening, Remus, Claudia and Lily were together in the library revising Potions. It was Claudia's way of returning Remus' favour for his help with Herbology, as he was truly dreadful at them.
"When was the last time the three of you ate?" James asked as he arrived to join them.
"I'm not hungry." Remus mumbled. Neither Claudia nor Lily even lifted their heads to acknowledge him.
"At least get some sleep. You all look awful." James implored them.
"Stop mothering us." Claudia growled.
"I'm not mothering you." James protested. "Come on, Lily. You're the most sensible one."
"James, I love you." Lily whispered without looking up from her essay. "But go away."
"Can you three please get your heads out of your revision?" Sirius mumbled when he and Peter turned up.
"What now?" Remus snapped. "I was finally getting this rubbish."
"We just saw Snape sneaking a barrel of pumpkin juice from the kitchens." Sirius whispered, looking around to make sure no one was close enough to hear.
"What do we do?" Remus asked, his revision seemingly forgotten in an instant.
"The antidote has been in the orange juice for weeks now. Lily and I have been brewing more and smuggling it in everyday." James uttered. "It would get to more people. I say, we give it one more chance."
"What do you two think?" Remus asked in Claudia's and Sirius' direction. They exchanged a look.
"A single person gets sick." Claudia hissed. "And we're doing it our way."
"I do think the antidote is going to work." Lily said.
"Then you should have no problem agreeing to my plan." Claudia replied and crossed her arms against her chest.
Lily was frowning, her face full of concentration. "Fine." She finally said through gritted teeth.
"Are we done here?" Claudia asked, picking up her quill again and restarting her essay.
Sirius sat down on the chair next to her and gently placed his arm around Claudia's shoulders.
"You should go to bed." He whispered. Claudia did not know why but Sirius' presence, the smell of his hair, the warm touch of his hand were suddenly making her very sleepy.
"Fine." She sighed.
"Him you listen to." James growled.
"He is more persuasive." Claudia smirked and threw her books into her bag.
"Do you really think it's going to work?" Sirius asked when they were halfway down to the dungeons.
"No." Claudia shook her head.
"Do I need to take that wild rosemary away from you again?" Sirius asked. He was not laughing though. He meant it.
"We can't do it behind their backs." Claudia sighed. "I know that now. No matter how much easier it would be."
"Are you going soft in your old age?" Sirius was smiling broadly.
"Shut up." Claudia chuckled.
"Thank you." Sirius whispered and kissed her.
Next days' classes went in a blur. The whole gang was looking anxiously around at dinner, searching for any sign that someone was falling ill. Claudia was beginning to relax as all seemed in order.
"I don't feel so good." Lily said suddenly. She was pale and clutching the end of the table to keep herself steady.
"It can't be it, can it?" James whispered and placed his hand gently on her forehead. "The vitamins…"
"Maybe we were wrong about them." Remus added.
"You weren't." Lily uttered between her laboured breaths. "I stopped taking them."
"Why would you do that?" James asked urgently.
"Because I wanted to prove that the antidote was working." Lily winced. "And it seems I've proved the exact opposite."
"You should have told me." James sighed.
"You would have stopped me." Lily whispered. Claudia could not help but feel a little proud of her.
"Let's get you to the hospital wing." James said and helped his girlfriend up. "It still could be something else."
Claudia did not believe that for a second. Their antidote was rubbish, and this was the final proof.
Lily managed two steps before she crumbled to the floor.
"No." James cried out and dropped to his knees next to her. "Lily please. Wake up!"
Chaos in the Great Hall ensued. People were standing on chairs to see who had collapsed.
"It's Evans!" Someone yelled.
Claudia looked towards the door of the Great Hall. Snape stood there, pale and rooted to the spot. Before long, James spotted him too.
"You'll pay for this." He hissed in Snape's direction and jumped to his feet.
Claudia and Remus just managed to grab James by the arms and stop him before Snape noticed.
"Get Lily to the hospital wing." Claudia whispered. "If he gets a whiff that we know this was him, all the work we have done would be worthless."
"I'll kill him." James growled through gritted teeth.
"Later. No one's going to blame you if you hex the shit out of him once this is over. Although…" Claudia paused and smirked. "I suspect your girlfriend might beat you to it."
James could not help but smile a little.
"She's going to be ok, James." Claudia added, squeezing his shoulder.
"Do whatever you need to do." He whispered. "Poison them all if that's what it takes." And with those words, he lifted Lily in his arms and set off for the hospital wing.
"I need to –" Sirius began to say, but Claudia jumped in.
"Go with him. He needs you." Se said. "I know what to do."
Claudia went straight to Slytherin's apartments. She poured all the wild rosemary into a cauldron and mixed in the nausea medicine. She looked around to see if they had anything she could mix it with, something that she could easily get her fellow Slytherin's to drink. That was the surest way to get the purebloods ill. Slytherin was full of them. Then, she spotted a nearly full bottle of fire whiskey.
"Perfect." She mumbled to herself and carefully emptied the content of the cauldron into the bottle and went to hide it in her trunk. Now, she just needed to wait for the right moment.
Two days later or so, at dinner, Claudia could not help but to look towards Dumbledore. Even from a distance, Claudia could tell that his usual relaxed demeanour was gone. He looked stressed.
And he was not the only one. Lily had just been released from the hospital wing and kept glaring towards the Slytherin table and gripping her cutlery with such force that her knuckles were completely white.
"I know you're mad, Lils." James whispered. The Hall was loud, and they were sitting far from anyone else. "But you said it yourself. We must keep our cool."
"Stop reminding me what I said." Lily barked back. "You have no idea how this makes me feel. I used to make excuses for him…"
"He did try to protect you." Remus said. "Maybe there –"
"Don't you see that's worse?" Lily growled.
Claudia agreed with Lily. It would make her feel worse too, almost guilty, if she was in the same situation. But before anyone could say anything else, Dumbledore stood up to address the school.
"Following the latest incident, the Auror Office will conduct an initial investigation. There should be here any minute and you are all obliged to cooperate with them." The Headmaster said. "If you have any information, you must pass it on. If the aurors ask you a question, you must answer it. Is that clear?"
There was nodding and a murmur of agreement in the Hall.
"He looks pissed." Sirius whispered.
"Wouldn't you be?" Lily scoffed, channelling her anger at a new target. "The school's a mess. And I bet you anything it wasn't his idea to get the aurors involved."
Just at that moment, the door to the Great Hall had opened and a handful of man in black robes entered.
"The aurors." Peter whispered.
"Fuck." Claudia uttered when she noticed the auror who entered the Hall last. "Alice is here."
"Isn't that good?" Someone asked. Claudia did not even register who it was. Her brain was travelling a million miles per hour trying to figure out how to get out of this one.
"She can tell when I'm lying." She mumbled, still unable to take her eyes of her friend.
Alice came to join them after dinner.
"Sitting with the Gryffindors, I see." Alice chuckled as she hugged Claudia. "Let's talk." She added and dragged her friend out of the Great Hall.
"How are you?" Alice asked when they sat down in the courtyard.
"Busy." Claudia smiled. "NEWTs are ridiculous. Especially now I know that I've passed the interview."
"Are you coping alright?" Alice asked.
"Don't worry." Claudia smirked. "Sirius's been following your instructions and looking after me."
"He wasn't supposed to tell you." Alice said sheepishly. "But I'm glad he is."
"He's scared of you." Claudia explained with a chuckle.
"Good." Alice laughed. "He should be."
The two friends looked into each other's eyes and the smiles were instantly wiped from both of their faces.
"What do you know?" Alice asked. "Don't deny it. There is no way you would leave something this big alone." She added when Claudia looked like she wanted to protest.
"Are you asking me as my friend, or as an auror?" Claudia answered with a different question.
"It shouldn't make a difference." Alice whispered.
"But it does." Claudia lowered her eyes. She sensed Alice began to move, so she grabbed her arm. "Wait." She added.
"I can't wait for how you'll explain this one." Alice said through gritted teeth. She was towering over Claudia, who was still holding onto her arm.
"I want to tell you." Claudia began. "I really do. But I don't want you to have to choose between your job and me. It wouldn't be fair."
"Are you scared I'd choose my job?" Alice asked abruptly. "Do you have that little trust in me?" She added when Claudia nodded.
"It's because I trust you that I know you would tell the others." Claudia paused before continuing even more quietly. "Even I would tell the others."
Alice glared at her friend. Then she sighed and sat down next to Claudia again.
"Is it that bad?" She whispered.
"It's bad." Claudia replied. "We're so close to making it go away. So very close. But if anyone gets a whiff of what's really happening, it will be all over. And the consequences, just…"
"Are you sure we can't help?" Alice asked. "I don't want you to take it badly, but you and Sirius aren't exactly –"
"It's not just me and Sirius." Claudia interrupted. "Remus, James, Peter. They all think this is the only way. Even Lily."
"Your new friends." Alice mumbled bitterly.
"Oh, come on." Claudia exclaimed and hugged her. "Pigs will fly before Evans and I are friends."
"Please be careful." Alice whispered, as Claudia finally let go off her. "I don't want to watch Pomfrey trying to revive your lifeless body again. Once was plenty."
"Two weeks, Alice." Claudia whispered back. "That's all we need. Then, I'll tell you everything."
"Fine." Alice sighed. "I'll tell the others that you know nothing. But they will want to talk to Sirius and Lily since they were both sick."
"That'll be alright." Claudia said. "Can you make sure they don't question Peter, though? He'd crumble."
The aurors spent a few days looking around the school and interrogating students, but seemingly to no avail. Both Sirius and Lily got questioned as Alice suggested they would, but both managed to avoid saying anything incriminating. Sirius even looked like he enjoyed putting on a show and was boasting that the auror interviewing him called him a 'cocky bastard' at the end of it. By the weekend, the aurors were gone as suddenly as they appeared.
After months of exam revision and Snape-induced stress, it was finally time for Claudia to have some fun. Slytherin's game against Hufflepuff was here. Claudia woke up with million butterflies in her stomach. She was going to play her last Quidditch game in Slytherin colours. She enjoyed every pre-game ritual as much, if not more, as she did the first time she played. Her broom handle had never been so shiny, for all the polishing she did the night before.
When she kicked off the ground, tears filled her eyes, and it was not because of the wind or the pollen in the air. She missed this.
Creusa was amazing. Chris and Rupert were on fire. Julius played like he never played before. Even Emmanuel outdid himself as the backup seeker and caught the snitch right under the Hufflepuff seeker's nose.
Every single muscle in Claudia's body was aching when she touched down on the ground. But she was happy. The team left the field together, arms around each other and ready to celebrate.
"Oh, crap." Claudia whispered as they were climbing up the path to the castle. I've left my shoes in the changing room. "I'll catch up with you."
She run back down to the pitch and barged into the Slytherin's changing rooms. What she saw made her freeze. Chris and Rupert, the two Slytherin beaters, were standing in the middle of the room, sharing a tender kiss.
They jumped away from each other when they realised they were not alone.
"Claudia, please don't tell anyone." Chris mumbled. His eyes were wide and cheeks burning.
"Why would I?" Claudia shrugged and went to pick up her shoes. "It's no one's business."
Chris smiled at her.
"Are you coming back to the castle?" Claudia asked. "Or do you want me to give you more privacy?"
"We're coming with you." Rupert chuckled.
"You really are ok with this? Chris asked as they were walking up the path.
"I think you're cute together." Claudia laughed and playfully punched Chris' arm.
As they approached the Slytherin common room, they run into Snape. He was trying to sneak back into the kitchens and was concealing something large under his cloak. Claudia's heart jumped into her throat. This was it. This was the moment.
"Snape!" She shouted at him, forcing her voice to sound casual. "Good thinking. We need this for the party!"
Snape looked at Claudia, then at Chris and Rupert towering behind her. He knew he was outnumbered.
"Exactly my thought." He replied slowly.
"Give the barrel to Chris and Rupert." Claudia said. "They'll take it to the common room."
"No need." Snape said calmly. But Claudia noticed that his grip on the barrel had firmed up. She needed to stay calm. If she was too insistent, he would know something was up. She was so painfully close. Must not mess it up now.
"Come join us, then." Chris smirked.
To Claudia's slight surprise, Snape obliged. She could see the hatred in his eyes. A batch of his precious concoction wasted on some pureblood Quidditch heads.
Once in the common room, Claudia left the barrel under Chris' watchful eye and run up to her dormitory to get the bottle of firewhiskey.
"Black's been a bad influence on you!" Chris laughed when she got back and emptied the bottle into the now open barrel of pumpkin juice.
He got out a stack of cups, filled them to the brim and began handing them around. When he held the last two in his hand, he smiled and handed one to Claudia.
"Cheers." He said and knocked his cup against hers. "To the best Quidditch captain I've ever had."
"It's not much of a competition." Claudia forced a laugh, gripping her cup firmly. She watched Chris down it.
"Are you not going to drink it?" He asked when he saw she was still clutching the full cup in her hand.
Claudia did not want to. She would happily watch the rest of Slytherin in agony. But she had no choice. It was her firewhiskey, and not drinking it would raise unnecessary suspicion.
She took a deep breath and drained her cup. There was no going back now.
For the rest of the party, Claudia tried her best pretending like nothing had happened. When people talked, their words were going over her head. When people laughed, it sounded hollow. It was as if she was a ghost, watching them all from the outside of her body.
She excused herself as early as she feasibly could and went to bed. Between the firewhiskey and the Quidditch, she was exhausted.
"Tell James it's done."
Her hand trembled as she wrote these words in her two-way notebook.
She never got the read the response. The moment her head hit the pillow, Claudia was asleep.
She woke up hearing voices. There were men. She could not have been in her dormitory anymore.
Despite the dark, she recognised the bed. She was in the hospital wing again. The only explanation was that she passed out in her sleep.
It took her a while before she found her bearings and recognised these voices. It was Snape and Regulus.
She did not dare open her eyes for the fear they would see she was awake.
"Cannot believe Pomfrey is keeping most of Slytherin here under lock and key as a precaution." Regulus mumbled. "The beds are so uncomfortable, and I despise these chamber pots."
"Your brother made quite the scene." Snape smirked. "Didn't want to leave his precious girlfriend here alone."
"Speaking of…" Regulus spoke again. "What are we going to tell old Avery about his treasured invention?"
"Be quiet." Snape hissed.
"Relax." Regulus replied. "I've just walked around, and everyone is out."
There was a long pause. Claudia bit her lip, waiting for a response.
"We'll tell him the truth." Snape finally replied. "That it doesn't work. And unless he wants to kill half the purebloods in England, he'll need to find another way to get rid of the infestation, as he likes to call it."
Claudia clenched her fists. It worked. Her crazy, dangerous plan worked. The weapon was neutralised.
"Sometimes I wonder whether all of it is necessary." Regulus replied in a barely audible whisper.
"What's the alternative?" Snape scoffed. "Do you want to work at the Ministry? Live out your life in the shadow of people like precious Potter and your brother? You know what he said. This is our chance to be great."
"I suppose." Regulus uttered.
"This is not the first time you're having second thoughts, is it?" Snape whispered.
"How do you know?" Regulus' voice shook a little.
"Marcus said." Snape explained.
"Don't talk to me about Marcus." Regulus sighed. "He said that the spell was just going to hurt her. Never mentioned she might bleed to death."
Claudia's body tensed up. He could not have meant that.
She must still be confused.
She must be misunderstanding him.
"Don't tell me you're still regretting it." Snape sneered.
"I'm not." Regulus replied defensively. "Not anymore, anyway. Sometimes I even wish I actually killed her. If nothing else, just to see my brother suffer."
"You've heard the Dark Lord." Snape whispered. "Bloodtraitors like them will get what they deserve. We just need to be patient."
It took all of Claudia's energy not to scream. It was Regulus, not Snape, who nearly killed her last year.
Her old friend Regulus. The boy she had played Quidditch with since they were ten.
Silent, angry tears rolled down her face.
"Shush." Snape hissed. "Someone's coming. Get back to bed."
AN – If you want to growl at me for this plot twist in comments/reviews, grateful if you could do it in a way that does not spoil the surprise or other readers that might be newer to this story.
Also, next week's chapter will be the last. It's almost eight thousand words long, which hopefully makes up for it somewhat. And I'm already working on the sequel covering the First Wizarding War.