In the Shadows (Hogwarts Years)

by CL-Avery

This is a story of a Slytherin tomboy with Death Eaters for family, huge crush on Sirius Black and little idea what to do about either. A story of the fine lines between a teenage rebellion and all out war against You-Know-Who, between school friends and mortal enemies, and eventually, between life and death. A slowburn romance with plenty of adventure. Complete.

42. Chapter 42 (Battle Lines Drawn) THE END

Battle Lines Drawn (Final chapter)

Madame Pomfrey relented and let visitors into the hospital wing the following day.

Sirius was first through the door, and when he saw Claudia was awake, he ran towards her bed. He was carrying a box, which he threw to the floor and then hugged his girlfriend with such force that he nearly knocked the wind out of her lungs.

"You're so reckless." He whispered and held her tight in his arms.

"That's rich coming from you." Claudia uttered into Sirius' chest.

"You're worse. You plan these things." Sirius moved one of his hands up towards the back of her neck and kissed her. "I only do stupid stuff on impulse."

Claudia continued to cling to Sirius' arm, unable to find the right words. She has never been more relieved to see him. To be held by him.

"I heard Snape talking last night." She began. "The weapon-"

"Hang on." Sirius grinned and stood up. "First things first. I know it's not for another day, but I thought your Birthday present might cheer you up." He closed the curtains, bent down, and dropped the box into Claudia's lap.

Claudia began to unpack it.

"You got me an old quaffle?" She asked and she run her fingertips over the slightly battered Quidditch ball that was inside.

Sirius put his finger across his lips and grinned.

"Turn it around." He whispered, still beaming.

She did just that, and a golden Hogwarts logo appeared in front of her. Her mouth wide open, Claudia stared right at it.

"It's the one you played your last game with." Sirius said and sat back down on the bed.

"Madame Hooch gave it to you?" Claudia asked.

"Not as such." Sirius chuckled.

"You stole it?" Claudia gasped. "Hooch will kill you if she finds out."

Sirius put his finger across his lips again.

"Do you like it?" He asked. "Despite its provenance?"

Claudia nodded. She did like it, just could not bring herself to say. It reminded her too much of Regulus and of what he did. Her eyes welled up. But before either of them could say anything else, the others burst through the curtains. Claudia welcomed the distraction, as she could quickly wipe her eyes dry.

"How are you feeling?" Remus was the first to speak after they all gave Claudia a hug.

"Alright." She mumbled, somewhat overwhelmed by the attention.

"You missed an almighty speech by Dumbledore." James smirked. "The school was going to shut if one more person got sick. He was going to call the aurors back to interrogate everyone. To search everyone's trunks."

"The school is safe. I overheard Snape talking to someone last night." Claudia smiled briefly and continued in a whisper. They all shuffled closer to her to make sure they could hear. "He said that he was going to tell my father that the thing didn't work."

"Who was he talking to?" James asked.

Claudia briefly looked at Sirius. His smile had frozen. He clearly knew what was coming.

"Regulus." She whispered, confirming his suspicion.

Sirius glared at her. Nobody else dared to say a word. "That little shit knew?" He finally whispered and made just the slightest of movements away from Claudia's bed. "He'll pay for this."

"He can't know that we know." Claudia reached out for his hand. She knew Sirius had been in denial over Regulus' true allegiance for over a year, and this was bound to have hit him hard.

"Why?" Sirius barked.

"Because it would get us killed." She whispered. "My father would do anything to shut us up."

Sirius frowned but said no more. Claudia was right and he knew it.

"Anything else he said?" She heard James say but did not look at him. Her eyes were still boring into her boyfriend.

"No." Claudia whispered and looked away. She just about convinced him not to find Regulus and punch his face out over being a Death Eater. There was no chance in hell she would be able to stop him if he found out it was his own brother who nearly killed her last year. "I need to write to Alice that we're all safe. She's bound to be worried. Can someone please get me parchment?" She quickly changed the subject.

The next two weeks were absolute hell. Claudia could not even look Sirius in the eye, let alone string a coherent sentence together when they were together. She knew she would have to tell him about Regulus eventually, but it would have to wait until after they were home. There was no way he could handle seeing Regulus every day, watching him laugh with his friends, and having Claudia spend time in the same common room. So she used her NEWTs as an excuse to avoid him.

Unfortunately, Claudia could not find a plausible excuse to skip the final Quidditch game of the season. It was going to be a nail biter, as both Ravenclaw and Gryffindor were going into it tied on points. That meant whoever won the game would have the cup. Under normal circumstances, she would not have missed that.

Claudia struggled to pay any attention to what was happening on the pitch. Her friends, however, were harder to ignore. Sirius was shouting on top of his lungs, his disdain for Quidditch seemingly forgotten. Lily was biting her fingernails and clutching onto Remus' hand. Peter was watching half the game from behind his fingers. But there was no need to be nervous, Gryffindor were smashing it.

The entire stand erupted when the Gryffindor seeker finally caught the snitch. The cup was theirs. And about time, as they had not won since they were all in their second year. Even Lily was shouting and jumping on top of her seat. Despite her woes, Claudia had to laugh a little. She would never have expected that from the unflappable Miss Evans.

"Finally!" Sirius yelled, dropped back to his seat and leaned in to kiss his girlfriend. It took Claudia by surprise and, instead of kissing him back, she froze.

"What's up?" Sirius asked as he let go of her.

"Nothing." Claudia mumbled and forced a smile.

"How stupid do you think I am?" Sirius frowned. "I know that's something bothering you. You barely speak. Haven't seen you eat in days."

"It's just the exams." Claudia lied. "I need to go finish something in the library." She added and got up from her seat.

"Claude, wait!" Sirius grabbed her arm.

"I'm fine, really." She said and run her hand through his hair. It was getting harder and harder to keep it from him. "You guys have fun at your party."

"Come and join us once you're done." Sirius whispered. Claudia nodded and vanished before she blurted everything out there and then.

Once in the library, she dropped into the seat furthest away from Madame Pince. She took out her books and began to revise, but nothing was going in. Keeping such an enormous secret from Sirius was eating her alive.

Claudia drew her knees towards her chest and began to cry. There was no way she was going to survive this for the rest of term.

"You have no choice." She mumbled to herself and wiped her tears. "You'll need to make it until you're home."

With that, she looked into her book again and made herself focus.

And so the days went by. Claudia was actively avoiding not only Sirius but also everyone else. And when she was alone, she alternated between being hyper-focused on her revision and crying silent tears in the corner of the library.

If that was not enough, she needed to deal with seeing Snape and Regulus every day. They made her blood boil every time. She nearly punctured the skin on her palms with her fingernails, trying to stop herself from reaching for her wand and hexing them both into oblivion. She counted down the days until she was out of the Slytherin common room, out of the Great Hall, out of Hogwarts.

On the evening before her first exam, she was sitting on Slytherin's bed, having a last look at her notes. She was exhausted, anxious, angry, and convinced she would never pass her NEWTs in this state. All her work had been for nothing. She was going to be unemployed and, unless she told Sirius her secret soon, also quite possibly homeless.

Just before curfew, Sirius turned up and collapsed next to her.

"I admit it." He sighed. "I'm not the smartest person in this school. I'm going to fail everything."

"You won't fail." Claudia whispered without lifting her head from the book.

"At least I'm still pretty. Can I be your trophy wife?" He laughed and slid his hand up Claudia's waist.

Her body tensed up. "Please stop. I can't." She whispered when his fingers slipped underneath her shirt, and pushed his hand away. "I'm sorry."

Sirius sat up bolt upright. "This is not just about the exams, is it?" He sighed. "You've been acting strange for weeks."

Claudia finally lifted her head and looked him in the eye. She could not do it anymore. It was going to kill her.

"No." She whispered. "It's about what I overheard in the hospital wing."

"Are they not dropping the weapon thing?" He asked. "You said –"

"They are." She interrupted him and brushed her palms with her fingers. They were sweaty again. "But there was something else."

"What?" He barked.

"I can't…" She whispered.

"Just tell me." Sirius pleaded with her. "Please."

Claudia had to take several deep breaths before she summoned enough courage. "I overheard someone confess to attacking me." She said. "That Marcus put them up to it. Told them to use a spell. Didn't tell them how dangerous it was." She managed to get out of her, unable to speak in complete sentences. "It didn't sound like they meant it."

"Who?" Sirius hissed. There was so much fire in his eyes that Claudia was pretty sure he knew the answer already.

She took another deep breath and whispered. "Regulus."

Sirius' face twisted in anger. He drew his wand, jumped off the bed and took few brisk steps towards the exit.

"Where are you going?" She shouted after him.

"Where do you think?" He barked without turning around.

"Stop!" She yelled.

"No." Sirius was through the door of Slytherin's bedroom.

"Sirius, please. Stop!" She struggled out of the soft bed and followed him.

Claudia ran into the other room, hot on Sirius' heels. He was fuming and did not look like he was about to stop. There was only one thing to do. Before he got to the door, she threw a curse to lock it. The same curse she used against her mother in the summer.

"Open the door!" Sirius barked as he yanked on the doorhandle, but it did not budge.

"No." Claudia said and folded her arms across her chest.

"Claude, I mean this." He was panting, the rage building up inside him.

"No." She whispered, trying to remember whether she had ever seen him like this. He looked like he would tear Regulus' head off with his bare hands, given half the chance.

Sirius mumbled something incomprehensible and threw a couple of counter curses at the door, but it held firm. "Have it your way." He hissed and pointed his wand at the bare wall next to the entrance. "Bombar-"

"Expelliarmus!" Claudia yelled, and Sirius' wand flew out of his hand.

"You-" He turned angrily towards his girlfriend. "Give me my wand back."

She shook her head.

"You're worse than Evans." Sirius sneered. "Expecting me to be a good lap dog and do as I'm told."

"Nice try." Claudia scoffed. "It's still a no."

"You can't expect me to let this go." Sirius growled. "This is not the time to skulk around in the shadows. To take the path of least resistance. We have to fight back! Take a stand!"

"You have to let it go. It's the only way we're safe." She replied, as calmly as she could. "You know full well what they'll do if they find out I've overheard their conversation in the hospital wing."

"I can protect you!" Sirius gestured wildly. He was clearly not going to calm down anytime soon.

"I don't need you to protect me!" She scoffed, trying desperately to keep her cool, but her frustration was building up. "I need you to listen."

"Right. You don't need me to protect you." Sirius barked. He was very nearly shouting again. "I saved your life twice already!"

"No one asked you to." Claudia hissed back, clenching their wands in her palms.

"That's not the point." Sirius yelled. "I want to protect you. That's what people do for the people they love!" He paused and glared at Claudia, his eyes flaming with fury. "Clearly, not something you'll ever understand!"

"You think I don't understand? You think I don't love you?" Claudia shouted back, her temper now out of control too. Sirius had crossed a line. "I'd rather die than watch you go to fucking Azkaban for murdering your own brother!"

Sirius looked at her blankly. His mouth was ajar. He was clearly lost for words.

"I have no one else." She added in a whisper and crumbled to the floor.

Sirius took few strides towards her.

"Not another step." Claudia growled and pointed her wand at him.

Sirius backed away towards the opposite wall and dropped to the floor too.

Claudia's mind was so blank with rage that she could not think, let alone speak. How dare he imply she did not love him? How dare he suggest this was easy for her? So, they scowled at each other in silence.

"My brother is a Death Eater." Sirius sighed after what felt like an age and leaned back until his head hit the wall.

"Been there. Done that. Got the t-shirt." Claudia scoffed. She was still mad at him but watching him torture himself over Regulus was making her anger subside a little.

"It's my fault." Sirius whispered.

"This is on Marcus." Claudia replied. "If Regulus didn't agree to attack me, he would've found someone else. Trust me, there would be plenty of volunteers."

"I still feel responsible." He said and drew his knees towards his chest.

"Don't be stupid -" Claudia began to say, but Sirius would not let her finish the sentence.

"Of course, it is." He jumped in. "You said it yourself. All he wanted was to be my friend. If I haven't ignored him, he wouldn't have turned out like this."

Claudia did not know what to say. It was true, when he was younger, all Regulus wanted was to be Sirius' friend. He was desperate, even. Would do anything for his brother to notice him.

"See?" Sirius spoke again. "Even you can't deny it."

"I was his friend, Sirius." Claudia whispered. "So was Emmanuel and Julius." Sirius growled at the mention of Julius' name. "But he wants more. He would have not been happy being just one of us, no matter how close you two were."

"But I could've talked some sense into him." He sighed.

"Your parents poisoned him against you." She replied. "So did Marcus, my father, Snape, You-Know-Who. You wouldn't stand a chance."

"I feel like I should've at least tried." He continued to blame himself.

"Maybe you'll get another chance." She tried to sound hopeful, despite knowing the Regulus she used to know was long gone. "Maybe you-"

"No. He's dead to me." Sirius jumped in and shook his head. "After what he did to you, he's dead to me."

Claudia gave her boyfriend a fleeting smile.

"Please give me my wand back." Sirius spoke again and jumped up to standing. "I hate feeling this helpless."

"Can you promise me you won't go after him?" Claudia asked.

Sirius said nothing, just made the slightest of movements to shake his head.

"Then sit back down." She added.

"What's your plan?" Sirius scoffed. "Are you going to keep me here for the rest of the year?

"If I have to." She replied.

They continued to scowl at each other for a while longer. Eventually, Claudia took out her Potions notebook and revised again. But it was late, and her eyes began to close. She pulled out one of the sleeping bags they had in the apartments and climbed into it. Clutching both of their wands against her chest, she pretended to read for a while longer and when she simply could not keep her eyes open anymore, she let the tiredness take her.

When she woke up, the first thing she glanced at was her watch. Her Potions NEWT was starting in forty minutes. Then she looked at Sirius, who was leaning against the wall and wearing same expression he had last night. He did not look like he slept at all. He was still handsome, but the ruggedness had taken over his features. He had large bags under his eyes and a tortured expression in his eyes. His normally clean-shaven face was covered in an irregular stubble.

"I wonder how you're planning to keep me here once you go to your exam." He grumbled hoarsely when he saw she was awake. Yesterday's shouting and lack of sleep must have done it for his voice.

"I don't care about my exam." Claudia hissed. "I'm not going anywhere."

"What?" Sirius sat up straight.

"It might surprise you, but I care more about you than I care about my marks." Claudia paused and examined his face. His features had softened. "I'd do anything to protect you." She added in a whisper. "Even if the thing you need protecting from is yourself."

Sirius did not immediately respond. He looked down and started playing with his shoelaces. "I'm not letting you miss that exam." He mumbled after a while. "I promise to keep my mouth shut."

"Do you mean it?" Claudia asked, her voice shaking slightly.

"I would never forgive myself if I was the reason you didn't get to be an auror." Sirius uttered.

She looked at him, trying to decide whether to believe him, to remember whether Sirius had ever lied to her. He had not. Sure, he hid things from her. He turned into an angry mess when he did not want to talk about things or admit how he really felt, but he would never lie to her face. Not about something like this.

Claudia gave him a faint smile, got up and pointed her wand at the door. It was time to get out of there.

Instead, however, she froze, and her eyes began to fill up with tears.

"What is it?" She heard Sirius whisper.

"I forgot the counter-curse." She replied, staring at the door. Her wand hand was still outstretched. "And the book's in my trunk."

Dejected, Claudia dropped back to the floor. Sirius crossed the room and extended his arm to pick her up.

"Come on." He said as she took his hand. "I have an idea." He dragged her to the neighbouring bedroom. "I'll stay here to clear everything up." He added. "You go."

"Go? How?" She uttered.

"Wand?" He smirked and outstretched his arm. Claudia hesitated for a fraction of a second but gave it back to him. She trusted him. She did not exactly know why, but she did.

Sirius nudged her to stand behind him.

"Bombarda Maxima." He said resolutely, pointing his wand at the already weakened floor in Slytherin's bedroom. There was a loud bang and dust filled the room. Once it settled, Claudia saw the ceiling had collapsed entirely. Sirius flicked his wand and conjured a ladder.

"Go." He urged her.

Claudia got on all fours and crawled towards the edge, gripped the top of the ladder, and climbed down a step or two. "I love you." She whispered, peering over the top of the ladder.

Sirius smiled and crawled towards the ladder too. "I love you too." He whispered back and kissed her. "Now, go!"

Claudia just about managed to change her clothes, grab some food in the Great Hall and make it to her Potions NEWT on time. She did not need to wait for the results. She knew she aced it.

Sirius was waiting for her in the Great Hall at lunch. Claudia practically ran towards him and hugged him with all her might. She did not realise until that point just how much she craved being with him over the last three weeks. She was so happy that there was no longer a need to keep her distance. The invisible barrier she built to keep them apart was gone. She felt so happy being in his arms again.

"Claude." He whispered, as they sat down to lunch and before the rest of their friends joined them. "Can we not tell anyone else until we're back home? I don't want to talk about it with any of them while he is still around."

"Sure." She replied and gently brushed his shoulder. "It's as much your secret as it is mine."

They kissed. For the first time in weeks, it did not feel rushed and awkward. "I missed this." Sirius mumbled and drew her even closer to him. The fact they were in the middle of the Great Hall was completely forgotten.

Someone cleared their throat. Claudia looked up and saw James standing over them.

"Sorry to interrupt." He smirked. "But I'm starving and you two are in the way."

They let go of each other just as the others arrived to eat too.

"Did you hear?" Peter mumbled, his eyes wide. "They discovered Slytherin's place. The floor had caved in. We're going to be in so much trouble. Our stuff was everywhere."

"Relax." Sirius stretched out his arms and wrapped one of them around his girlfriend's waist, clearly unable to keep his hands off her. "I cleared everything out before anyone else got there."

"How did you know it was getting discovered?" Remus asked, his eyes unusually narrow.

"We got locked in." Claudia jumped in. "And we had to blast ourselves out, or else I would have missed my potions NEWT."

"I don't want to know…" Remus shook his head. "Glad you two made up, though."

They all laughed. When Claudia noticed Sirius was not joining in, she looked up at him. He was staring towards the entrance to the Great Hall.

Regulus was just walking in.

"Forget about him." Claudia whispered in Sirius' ear and reached out for his hand. She winced when Sirius squeezed it. The strength of his grip nearly broke her fingers. It was taking everything he had to stay calm in the face of this.

"Slughorn wants to get it converted into apartments for the Head of Slytherin." Lily said. "There's a bedroom there as well."

"Bedroom?" James asked. "Where?"

"Slughorn said it was where the ceiling collapsed." Lily explained.

Everyone looked at Sirius and Claudia, their eyebrows raised.

"What?" They shrugged in unison, before collapsing in a fit of giggles.

They ate their lunch holding hands like two idiots, because neither of them wanted to let go.

"I don't think anyone is going to be in the dormitory this afternoon." Sirius whispered in Claudia's ear when they were about to leave the Great Hall.

"You said that last time." She blushed, remembering their last attempt at skulking around the Gryffindor boys' dormitory. "But I guess we've just blown up our only alternative."

They walked over to the Gryffindor Tower hand-in-hand. Everyone was seemingly in the library, so they managed to get through the common room unseen and stumbled into the dormitory kissing.

"I need to take a shower." Claudia uttered between kisses. "I'm covered in dust and potions fumes."

"Bathroom's through there." Sirius pointed towards a wooden door on the other side of the room. "I'll tidy the mess up in the meantime." He pointed at the piles of books and clothes on his bed.

Claudia switched on the taps and purred when the hot water hit her head. She could feel the dirt and stress being washed away and disappearing down the drain. It took all her determination to turn off the shower and get out. She borrowed Sirius' towel, ran it through her wet hair and wrapped herself in it.

"I see you've made yourself comfortable already." She chuckled when she walked back into the dormitory and saw Sirius laying on his bed in nothing but his boxer shorts. The duvet was only half covering him and he was clutching a pillow in his arms.

When Claudia got near the bed, she understood why she got no response. Sirius was fast asleep. He had not slept all night and must have been exhausted. She borrowed some of Sirius' clean clothes and climbed into the bed to join him. Sirius stirred and squeezed her in his arms. She brushed the side of his face. The dark circles under his eyes were still there, and so was his stubble. But his expression was peaceful again. It did not take her long to fall asleep cuddled up next to him.

When she woke up, Sirius was already wide awake and smiling at her. His fingers were dancing on the bare skin on her hip.

"Sorry about that." He whispered and slid his hand under the oversized t-shirt Claudia was wearing. This time, she did not freeze or pull away. Instead, she melted under his touch and within seconds, her shirt was on the floor. The rest of their clothes followed suite.

"I guess you'll need to be punished." Claudia chuckled.

"Punished? How?" Sirius laughed.

"I have a thought." She whispered in his ear and climbed on top of him.

She pressed her body against his and kissed him, teasing him at the same time. Again and again. It did not take long for Sirius to look like he was going to explode, so she put him out of his misery. She pinned his arms behind his head and began to move. She moved slowly, enjoying every second of them being back together.

After a while, Sirius started to move with her. First a little, just to get deeper. Then more, to make her go faster. It would have been so easy and satisfying to do that and to let him lead, but she stopped herself, she wanted to torment him a little more.

"Are you forgetting you're being punished?" She whispered into Sirius' ear.

"Please." He moaned. "I'm dying here. Let me have my hands back."

"No." Claudia chuckled, pinning his hands further back and slowing down even more. Sirius groaned and shut his eyes tight.

When she was sure Sirius could not take much more, she finally let go of his hands. In an instant, he was gripping Claudia's hips and bending her entire body to his will. They let the passion consume them.

"And I missed this." Claudia mumbled once they finished. She was lying on top of Sirius, her head resting on his chest. She was breathing heavily, and their sweaty bodies were sticking to each other. Sirius was gently running his fingers up and down her spine. It was like being in heaven again. She loved when they took turns being in charge, like true equals.

Suddenly, he stopped stroking her spine and instead rested his palm on the scar that still marked her shoulder. The scar they now knew to be Regulus' doing. "I'm so sorry about this." He uttered.

She looked him in the eyes and saw they were a little damp. "Please tell me you aren't blaming yourself." She said and cupped his face in her hands.

"How can I not?" Sirius whispered and closed his eyes shut. Anything to stop himself from crying.

"Please." Claudia replied. "I'm only here because of you."

"Don't…" Sirius closed his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. She did not get to see whether he was in tears. She certainly was.

After another nap and another trip to the shower, Sirius dug out the invisibility cloak from James' trunk, and snuck Claudia out of the Gryffindor Tower. They walked back to the dungeons in an embrace, stopping every two minutes to share another kiss. All was momentarily good in the world again.

Mercifully, the rest of Claudia's NEWTs happened in a less dramatic fashion. The last one to take place was Herbology. She had to laugh when she saw one of the essay questions. 'Discuss properties of naturally occurring poisons.' If she did not know how to answer that, there was no hope for her in Herbology. Remus' flashcards proved to be an absolute life saver too. Maybe there was hope after all.

The exams were done. Claudia was lying in the grass outside, her head resting in Sirius' lap. He was playing with her hair, the warm breeze was stroking her face, and the tree under which they were sitting was dancing in the wind, creating a new pattern every second. Claudia stared at it, mesmerised.

With nothing more to study, she felt empty. All she could do was wait. She had weeks before she knew whether she passed her NEWTs and whether she would get to be an auror.

There was only one more thing she had to do while she was still at Hogwarts. She needed to tell Dumbledore about the weapon. He needed to know that the school was safe, so that he knew to call the aurors off. But most importantly, he needed to keep an eye on Regulus next year. Who knew what his test was going to be?

The trouble was, however, that Claudia did not know how to tell Dumbledore everything that happened without getting expelled. She was not even sure if her NEWTs would still count if she was.

"What are you thinking about?" Sirius interrupted her train of thoughts.

"Closure." She mumbled and continued to stare into the tree. "We've only got three days left here."

"I know." He grimaced. "And we haven't yet come up with the perfect goodbye prank."

Claudia sat up and look at them all, perplexed.

"You're thinking about pranks?" She scoffed. "I thought you grew out of that."

"Hear. Hear." Lily chuckled.

"It's gotta be spectacular." James sighed. "The problem is that nothing seems quite good enough. I want the school to still talk about it in years."

"I want people shake with fear when they hear our names." Sirius laughed.

"And I don't want to get expelled." Remus shrugged. "It's a miracle we're all still here."

"Hmmm." Lily mumbled. "So, you're after a legacy?"

"Exactly!" James exclaimed.

"You want something that will hang over the school?" Claudia asked.

They all nodded enthusiastically.

"You don't need a prank for that." Lily chuckled. Claudia knew exactly where Lily was heading with this.

"Precisely." She replied. "All you need is people to think you've planned something huge."

"Really big it up." Lily continued. "Make everyone think it's going to be the prank to end all pranks."

"And when nothing happens before the end of term." Claudia said. "Everyone will forever live in fear that the prank could go off any minute of any day. For the rest of time."

"What she said." Lily laughed. "That would be the perfect-"

"Legacy." The boys said in unison.

Claudia and Lily looked at each other and laughed.

"I'm impressed." Sirius nodded along.

"I'm terrified." James chuckled. "But also quite impressed."

"Where have you two been all these years?" Remus laughed.

Peter said nothing. He was still a little jumpy around Claudia, following the argument they had in front of the Slytherin's apartments the night that Sirius took the poison.

The rumours of the Marauders' final prank spread through the school like wildfire. Already the next day, people that Claudia did not even know were coming up to her and asking if she knew what it was. Even McGonagall tried to get it out of her.

It was now the morning of their last full day at Hogwarts. Tomorrow, they would all leave here forever. Claudia was packing her things, squarely ignoring her roommates who were chattering about something trivial as usual. She was out of time. If she wanted to tell Dumbledore, it had to be now.

But Claudia was not sure. Her mind was running through all the scenarios, especially the ones where she kept her mouth shut. But all of these scenarios ended in Regulus running a riot next year. Who knew how many people would be hurt in the process? What new weapon would You-Know-Who acquire?

With a sigh, Claudia set off towards the Headmaster's office. The decision was made. There was absolutely no way she could keep this to herself. Her legs felt like they were made of lead. As she was turning the final corner, she saw Sirius sitting on the floor next to the gargoyle that was guarding the entrance. Once she rounded the corner fully, the rest of them came into view too. There were all there. James and Lily, Remus, and even Peter.

"What's going on?" Claudia asked. "Hope you aren't here to stop me. I need to do this."

"We aren't letting you take the fall for this alone." Sirius replied.

"But it's my fight. I was the one who poisoned them." Claudia protested.

"I'm hardly innocent." Sirius laughed. "I bought the poison."

"And I told you to do it." James shrugged.

"And I don't have the best record of stopping my friends doing dumb things." Remus whispered. "But this time, I don't regret it."

"And what about you two?" Claudia turned to Lily and Peter.

"I agree with them." Peter whispered, avoiding her eye.

Everyone looked at Lily.

"You didn't have to do any of this." Lily uttered. "You would have been safe. But you risked everything to save people like me. People you were told all your life didn't matter."

Claudia gave Lily a brief smile. They were treating her like some sort of hero. She just did what she had to do. What anyone would have done.

"Shall we?" Sirius asked rhetorically and knocked on the gargoyle.

The statue opened and revealed a circular stone staircase. They stepped on it and began to move up to the floor that housed the Headmaster's study.

"How did you know I was about to do this?" Claudia leaned towards Sirius and whispered. "I wasn't sure myself."

"I clearly know you better than you know yourself." He chuckled.

The staircase reached the top, and Claudia walked into Dumbledore's study first.

"Miss Avery, what can I do for you?" Dumbledore looked up from beneath his spectacles and put aside his quill. "Merlin's beard. We will be needing more chairs." He added, clearly not expecting such delegation, and waved his wand to conjure chairs for everyone to sit on.

"The Head Boy, the Head Girl, two prefects…" The Headmaster continued. "Who is going to tell me what is going on here?"

"You asked if anyone had any information about the mysterious sickness." Claudia uttered. Her throat was closing, and her mouth was dry.

"I did." Dumbledore frowned. "In September, if I remember correctly."

Claudia took a deep breath and reached into her pocket where she was keeping the crumbled Ministry memo transfigured into a chewing gum wrapper.

"Someone from the Ministry sent this to me after I left there." She placed it on the desk and pointed her wand at it. Once it was transfigured back to its original state, Dumbledore picked it up and began to read.

"Not everyone affected was a muggleborn, though." Dumbledore said, the frown slowly disappearing from his forehead. "I seem to remember both yourself and Mr Black ended up in the hospital wing. As well as half of the Slytherin House."

"Indeed." Claudia muttered in response. "Wild rosemary is very good at imitating the symptoms."

"What are you saying, Miss Avery?" Dumbledore asked. His eyebrows now firmly back together in the middle of his face.

"I poisoned the purebloods." Claudia whispered.

"We poisoned them." Sirius jumped in. "To make it seem like You-Know-Who's weapon wasn't working. He was testing it at Hogwarts, you see."

"Voldemort was testing this weapon in Hogwarts?" Dumbledore asked. Voldemort must have been another of You-Know-Who's nicknames. "I don't seem to remember seeing him around."

"He had Snape test it." Sirius clarified.

"Mr Black." Dumbledore replied. "I thought I was clear about this. You were to leave Mr Snape alone."

"It's true." Lily uttered. "Claudia and Sirius stole some of the concoction from him, saw him take pumpkin juice from the kitchens to spike it. I didn't want to believe it either, Headmaster, but it's all true."

"But how?" The Headmaster asked. "How would Voldemort even get this to Mr Snape?"

"That's where my father comes in." Claudia spoke again." He was the one who was behind the kidnapping of the potioneer. Presumably, he was the one who made him produce it. He knows Snape through Marcus."

"Why would Snape agree?" Dumbledore inquired.

"It's a test." Claudia explained. "He wants to join the Death Eaters. Marcus' test was to find the artefact and make the inferi. Snape's test was to test this weapon, here in Hogwarts." Claudia paused and glanced at Sirius. "Regulus is next."

"Why did you not tell me any of this before?" Dumbledore said. He was frowning again.

"I thought -" Claudia began, but Remus interrupted her.

"We all thought that if we told you, you would feel obliged to intervene." He said. "If Snape was caught, we feared that You-Know-Who would deploy the weapon anyway. We thought that a better strategy was to sabotage the testing so that they think it doesn't work."

"And did that work?" Dumbledore asked.

"It did." Claudia said. "I overheard Snape saying just that to Regulus. He was going to tell my father the weapon was useless."

"That is quite the cunning plan." Dumbledore said and glanced at Claudia. Despite Remus' gallant intervention, she was sure Dumbledore knew whose idea it really was. "I really ought to punish you all for keeping this to yourselves despite my instructions to the contrary."

Claudia looked to the floor. This was it. She was going to get expelled.

"Tell me again what your plans are for after Hogwarts?" Dumbledore asked. Claudia had no idea why he was prolonging the pain.

"I'm going to try out for professional Quidditch contracts." James spoke first.

"I know little about Quidditch, but Professor McGonagall tells me you are quite skilled." Dumbledore replied and turned to Lily.

"I've got a potioneer apprenticeship." Lily whispered.

"They would be lucky to have you, Miss Evans." Dumbledore smiled. "Mr Pettigrew?"

"My dad runs a shop." Peter uttered. "It's always been the plan that I take over."

"Family businesses are the cornerstone of wizarding society. Nothing to be ashamed of." Dumbledore smiled encouragingly before moving his gaze to Sirius.

Sirius did not say anything, just shrugged.

"And I know you are going to be an auror." Dumbledore finally turned to Claudia and smiled again.

"Well, that depends on my exam results." She whispered. "And whether or not you're going to expel us."

"I have seen your exam results and I would not worry." Dumbledore said. "And as for expelling you, I do not see how that would be fair."

Claudia's heart jumped with joy, and she grinned. First at Dumbledore, then at Sirius. She was going to be an auror. It had been her dream for three years and it was finally real!

"Apart from our future auror here." Dumbledore spoke again. "Any of you thought about continuing the fight against Voldemort?"

"I want to fight." Sirius jumped in, barely letting Dumbledore finish the question.

"Because I might be able to help -" The Headmaster said slowly.

"I'll do anything." Sirius interrupted him.

"There is an organisation that might be of interest to you, then." Dumbledore said with a soft smile. "It's dangerous business, of course, but they are always looking for talented people, with the right kind of convictions."

"Where do I sign?" Sirius laughed.

"Do they hire werewolves?" Remus asked in his typical self-depreciating tone before Dumbledore could answer. It never occurred to Claudia, but no one was going to hire him because of his condition. That must have been why Dumbledore spared him the interrogation earlier. He must have known.

"They do indeed, Mr Lupin." Dumbledore replied. "And Quidditch players, shopkeepers, trainee potioneers, as well as Ministry officials."

Nobody said anything. But when Claudia glanced at her friends, it was clear that they were all in. Sirius was grinning so widely that there was a real risk of him dislocating his jaw. James and Lily were holding hands and exchanging encouraging glances. Remus looked as if he was about to melt with relief. Peter looked happy too.

"Go home, settle into your new lives and I will be in touch." Dumbledore continued. "Now, off you go and remember, school rules still apply. Even if this is your last day here."

"Of course, Sir." James said.

"Would not have it any other way, Sir." Sirius added with a slight bow.

Dumbledore laughed and shook his head. "This school will not forget you two in a hurry."

"That's the plan." Sirius smirked as they walked back towards the staircase leading out of the Headmaster's office.

After the feast, the Gryffindors dragged Claudia to their common room for one last party. Barely an hour in, Sirius and James were standing on one of the tables giving a raucous speech, bottles of drink in their hands.

Remus and Claudia were lurking at the edge of the room. Lily was with her friends and Peter was still hiding somewhere.

"Shout out to your favourite prank!" James bellowed through the roaring of the crowd.

"Sticking charm on all classroom doors!" Someone shouted.

"Babbling beverage in the staff's tea pots!" Some else yelled out.

"Apple pie that tasted like dung!" A girl standing close to Claudia, whose stomach has turned, yelled. She remembered the dung pies.

The crowd cheered and began to chant.

"One more prank."

"One more prank."

"They used to be such idiots." Remus shook his head.

"Used to be?" Claudia laughed.

"Fine." He chuckled. "Still are."

"One more prank."

"Now." Sirius' voice carried across the common room and everyone went quiet. "None of these pranks come even close to what we have prepared."

"The prank to end all pranks." James added.

"What is it?" Someone in the crowd heckled.

"A surprise!" Sirius shouted.

"When with it happen?" Someone yelled.

"What kind of surprise would that be?" Sirius laughed and jumped down from the table. "You'll need to wait and see."

Not long after the speech was over, they all found themselves sitting on the floor of the boys' dormitory, leaning against the beds and passing around a couple of bottles of firewhiskey. Lily and Peter joined them too. The noise of the common room was still audible in the distance.

"Want some pumpkin juice with this?" James asked in Claudia's direction.

"I rather not." She laughed. "Terrible memories."

"I can't believe this is it." Sirius said. "It feels like yesterday that we were getting on that train for the first time."

"It does not." Claudia sneered. "Do you even remember what you said to me that day?"

"What?" Sirius sat up straight. "We met on the train?"

"You really don't remember?" Claudia chuckled. "I walked into your compartment and you said you didn't have any interest sitting with someone like me. Without as much as a hello. You didn't even let me introduce myself!"

Sirius' sheepish apology got drowned out by the sound of James' laughter.

"I don't know why you're laughing." Lily scoffed. "Remember what you did on the train?"

"That was just a frank exchange of views with Snivellus." James laughed. "And I turned out to be right about him!"

"Right." Lily frowned and moved her hand away from her boyfriend's.

"I didn't mean…" He whispered. "I'm sorry. I know it's hard for you."

"He used to be my friend. I would never think him capable of targeting muggleborns in this way." Lily replied. "I don't understand how I didn't see it. It makes me so angry."

"Regulus used to be my friend." Claudia jumped in.

"Regulus used to be my brother." Sirius uttered.

"Enough of this." James groaned. "Tonight was supposed to be fun. No more talk of the war!"

"We're out of drink." Sirius said after taking a rather long sip of the firewhiskey.

"I think it's time to give the good old invisibility cloak one last spin. What do you say, Pads?" James gave his best friend a cheeky smile. "Which of the teachers has the best booze?"

"Slughorn." Claudia and Lily said in unison.

James dug out the invisibility cloak from his trunk and run out of the dormitory with Sirius in tow.

"I'll miss this." Peter said nostalgically and looked around the room.

"I won't miss their shenanigans. But I am going to miss spending all of my time with people that accept me." Remus sighed. "I almost forgot what it feels like to face all the stigma. Not being able to find a place to live, to get a job."

"You will always have us, Remus." Lily smiled. "You don't have to face it alone."

"But things are going to change." Peter mumbled. "Everyone will make new friends. It's never going to be just the four of us again. I'll miss that."

"Four of you?" Claudia could not help but smirk. "Thanks for that."

"Peter doesn't mean you two." Remus chuckled. "You are both an excellent addition to our little group."

Claudia glanced at Peter, who was staring at his shoes. He may have not meant Lily, but he definitely still looked like he would prefer if Claudia disappeared from the face of the Earth.

After about twenty minutes, James and Sirius were back with few more bottles. There was wine, sherry and more firewhiskey.

"We just saw Peeves heading towards McGonagall's office." James said. "I wonder what he's up to."

"I won't miss that creature." Lily scowled. "Stupid pranks."

"Excuse me." Sirius chuckled. "Pranks are not stupid. In fact, pranks are some of the best things I've accomplished in this school."

"Here we go again…" Remus mumbled.

"My favourite one was when we enchanted all of McGonagall's paintings to move when she wasn't looking. She spent weeks aligning them before she realised." Sirius beamed.

"She did look at the end of her tether." Remus said. "I'll give you that."

"That prank was everything." Sirius laughed. "It was subtle, it was personal, it was brilliant."

"My favourite is still the one with the Slytherin common room -" James roared but abruptly stopped mid-sentence and looked at Claudia.

"Don't you think I know that was you?" She smirked. "I brew that bloody Polyjuice Potion! With my own hands!"

"And you didn't rat on us?" James gasped. He clearly had no clue.

"I can never be mad at him." Claudia smiled and looked at Sirius, who grinned and gave her a brief kiss.

"You gave it pretty good go in fifth year." He uttered as their lips parted.

"Really?" Claudia smirked. "Do you really want to go there?"

"He never told us what happened with you two." Remus said.

"Please, no." Sirius whimpered. "I take it back."

"He kissed me and broke up with me the next day. Through a note!" Claudia replied somewhat theatrically. "Because his mother approved of me. Not that he told me that was the reason. No. No. No." She shook her head. "I had to wait eleven months for an explanation!"

"Sirius!" Lily shrieked. "That's terrible."

"Because you never felt confused by your own feelings!" Sirius scoffed. "Love him, hate him, love him, hate him…" He imitated Lily's mannerism. She reached for James' pillow and threw it at Sirius with all the force she could muster.

They all laughed.

Claudia turned to Sirius. He was grinning at her, his face barely an inch away from hers. She buried her fingers in his hair and kissed him. Her head was spinning at a million miles per hour.

"Get a room!" James shouted. In the corner of her eye, Claudia saw Sirius make a rude gesture. He did not, however, stop kissing her.

The rest of the evening was just a blur full of laugher and drink. Claudia finally crashed into Sirius' bed in the early hours of the morning. The whole room was swirling around her.

She did not even know how she got through breakfast, feeling more ill that morning than she did after the wild rosemary. The rest of her friends were not any better. Even Lily looked like she may have overdone it.

"Well done on your exams, Miss Avery." Slughorn caught her on the way out of the Great Hall. "I understand from the Headmaster that you're going to be an auror."

"Apparently." Claudia mumbled, trying hard to keep the content of her stomach inside of her.

"We should keep in touch." Slughorn said. "I keep in touch with all my students who embark on great careers at the Ministry."

"Does that include my father?" Claudia smirked, loosing any sense of what was appropriate. Slughorn did nothing to help her throughout her time at Hogwarts. She was not going to forget in a hurry the Alchemy award that Lily got for nothing, how he never supported her as Quidditch captain, and how qualified his recommendation for her Ministry interview was.

"You father was a special case." Slughorn uttered. "Anyway, best of luck." He added abruptly and vanished into the crowd.

Claudia winced. Maybe she should have held her tongue with her head of House. But then again, her hangover was making her grumpy and there was no point pretending otherwise. She was not likely to see him ever again.

With that cheerful thought, she went to find Sirius and the others so that they could make their way to Hogsmeade together.

As the group of them got to the platform at Hogsmeade station, they all froze. Right in front of them, Regulus and Snape were boarding the train.

"Do you think we'll ever see them again?" Lily mumbled.

"I'm sure we will." Sirius growled. "In battle."

"Come on, let's get on the train." James uttered and patted Sirius' back. Clearly, he was too hangover to deal with his best friend's dramatics and a pat was all he could manage. "The prefects' carriage awaits."

"In your dreams, Potter." Claudia mumbled. "I resign."

"I'm with Claudia." Remus whispered. "Forget it, Prongs."

"Have it your way." James sighed, grabbed Lily's hand and dragged her towards the train.

Instead of following James and the others onto the train, Claudia turned around to take one last look at the castle. Her brain was slow, but images flashed before her eyes anyway. Becoming friends with Alice, wining the Quidditch cup, falling in love with Sirius, destroying the artefact, Snape, Marcus, Regulus… All of this was now in the past.

She felt sick to her stomach, not entirely sure whether it was the hangover or the reality of what her life was about to turn into.

"We have to go." Sirius placed his hand on her shoulder. "The train's about to leave."

"I don't want to get on it." Claudia sighed. "Once we do, it's just war and nothing else."

Sirius closed his arms around her.

"You've been fighting that war for years, Claude." He whispered. "And we have each other. Our love and our friends will help us through this. It's going to be alright."

"You make it sound so poetic." Claudia sneered. "The truth is, we're just a couple of fucked up kids, who ran out of options a while ago."

"That's the spirit..." Sirius chuckled. "Let's go. I need to sit down before I throw up all over this bloody platform."

THE END

This is it. I hope you enjoyed reading the story as much as I enjoyed writing it.

I am working on a sequel covering the first wizarding war, focusing on the workings of the auror office and the Order. And, of course, more romance. I am going to post a short bonus scene here once the sequel is ready, so please follow this story if you would like to know.

'We Weren't Born to Follow' by Bon Jovi is currently blasting from my speaker. It's a true Marauders anthem and *the* perfect mood for the end of this story.