Transfiguration class was as interesting as Clarissa hoped it would be. McGonagall started off by handing out sheets of parchment that contained their syllabus for the year and went over the important assignments and dates on it. She explained that the remainder of the week will be dedicated for reviewing the previous year's content, making Clarissa breathe a little easier that they were starting off relatively slow. She went over the main lessons of the year, briefly giving a short description of them, including more conjuring spells, pawns to queens, and human transfiguration (which made Clarissa snort, remembering what happened to Draco Malfoy). The transfiguration professor also encouraged them to start using nonverbal casting of spells, especially for the ones they have already learned from previous years to build up their strength and capabilities.
The 80 minutes of Transfiguration seemed a bit too short for Clarissa who was very engaged in casting the switching spell onto her quill and James' ink pot which was a hand's reach away from her. She wanted to stay here and continue practicing her newly acquired skills. James, on the other hand, could not be more disinterested in the spell work they were required to do. Being as talented as he was on the subject, he was utterly bored sitting at his desk, waving his wand towards Peter's desk to transfigure his gobstone into a skunk, much to the boy's dismay. James was quietly snickering as he watched the boy panic about which spell he needed to turn his stone back to normal. When McGonagall cleared her throat to get everyone's attention, James frantically waved his wand to turn Peter's stones back to normal and gave the stern Transfiguration professor a sheepish smile.
"That will be all for today, class," McGonagall spoke to the teens.
Everyone began to pack up and leave the classroom, ignoring McGonagall's request for them to review their past work so things would go smoothly for the rest of the week. James finished packing up his things and was waiting for Clarissa, along with their other friends.
"What class do you have next?" James asked as he handed her ink pot to her.
Clarissa thought for a second, "Arithmancy, I think. You?"
"Muggle studies with Sirius. Remus has Ancient Runes and Peter has a spare. Do you want me to walk you there?"
Somewhere in the back of Clarissa's mind remembered the layout of the entire grounds of Hogwarts, causing her to hold on to her chair as a small headache formed in her head. Her small hiss of pain garnered the attention of her friends, especially James who was closest to her. He put a hand on her shoulder to let her know that he was there for her. The pain subsided quickly and her mind cleared. Clarissa looked up to see the concerned faces of her friends and especially James and Sirius who knew more than they were letting on. Even Professor McGonagall was much closer to her than before, looking ready to step in if anything worse were to happen. Clarissa suspected the entire staff was informed of her new predicament and not just her head of house based on her reaction.
The Ravenclaw girl gave everyone around her a reassuring smile and told them she was alright and the pain has passed. She squeezed the hand that was still resting on her shoulder and looked into worried hazel eyes and hoped that James will believe what she said.
"I'll be okay hon, I don't want you to climb three flights of stairs when your class is just down the corridor. Em will be with me anyway," Clarissa told her boyfriend, going back to the previous topic at hand.
The Potter heir looked towards their other brunette friend as if asking if she was able to ensure Clarissa's safety while he was gone. A firm nod from her told him not to worry and that she'll be there if anything were to happen. Although James was still hesitant, Clarissa gave Sirius a pleading look to help her out. At first, Sirius playfully ignored her pleas but once Clarissa narrowed her eyes at him he gave in.
"C'mon Prongs, Clara said she's all better now and Em will be with her. We'll get detention from Sikander if we're late and I don't know about you, but I do not want to spend another detention with him. He'll make us fix more broken muggle things with him!" Sirius whined.
Clarissa wasn't sure if it was Sirius' assurance that convinced James to let her be or the threat of detention, but either way, she was glad. The couple parted ways with the promise of seeing each other during lunch period.
"If you need anything, you know how to reach me!" James called out to her as Sirius dragged him towards their classroom.
Clarissa nodded her head and waved goodbye before linking arms with Em and Lily who also has Arithmancy with them and made their way upstairs. The girls were walking in a comfortable silence until the red head broke it due to her curiosity.
"So… Are you sure you're okay Clar? We can make a quick stop at the Hospital Wing if you want. This is the second time I've seen that happen to you," Lily said.
Clarissa took a deep breath and tried to think about how she was going to proceed with this. Emmeline knew about her headaches already, but she didn't tell her about pretending to be a Seer. She looked up to the two girls in front of her and she knew that she could trust them. Both would join the Order in the future, and she knew both laid down their lives for Harry. Her own magic told her she could trust them. The only thing she doesn't want to do is tell them too much at once.
"Lils, I'm fine, honest," Clarissa stressed out, "I don't need to go to the Hospital Wing but thank you for offering. It's not that bad and it may happen from time to time so I just want you both to know that it will pass on its own and if not then I'll need someone to call James or Sirius."
Lily wanted to ask more questions and Emmeline also looked curious, but Clarissa had to put a stop to it lest they be late for Arithmancy. With a promise to tell them more about it during lunch, the trio once again began their way to class. Arithmancy was exactly how she expected it to be, numbers and divination.
It was a cool concept to learn and thankfully Clarissa retained most of her memories regarding her school subjects. The concept of numbers having magical properties was very interesting, especially the numerology aspect of the subject. Thankfully it seemed most of the classes are doing the same as Transfiguration in which the remaining week will be dedicated to the review of last year's concepts.
Before she knew it 80 minutes have gone by and it was already time for lunch. Lily and Emmeline patiently waited for Clarissa to pack up and walked down to the Great Hall together. They were greeted by James and Sirius who were standing at the entrance most likely waiting for them. Clarissa saw James' eyes light up when he saw her and quickly walked over to the trio. His eyes scanned her person as if looking for a physical problem on her. Clarissa couldn't help but feel loved at his worry for her and gave him a reassuring smile that she was alright, and nothing happened while he was gone. The couple were the only ones left at the entrance as the rest of their friends went on ahead.
"Lily cornered me about my headaches earlier. Her and Em wouldn't have gone to class if I didn't promise to tell them about it," Clarissa told James as they moved to a more secluded area near the Hall.
James raised an eyebrow at her, "And..? What are you going to tell them?"
Clarissa shrugged her shoulders, "I'll tell them about my headaches, not the real reason why I get them. It might be better for them to know in case they don't fade as quick as they usually do so they can find you or Sirius."
The Gryffindor boy nodded his head, approving her plans. Although he or Sirius couldn't do much to help with the pain, James feels better knowing he can be there for her and at least the two knew more than their friends at the moment.
"Are you ever going to tell them? At least about what we told Dumbledore," James asked, actively avoiding the dreaded word in fear of being overheard.
The brunette girl twiddled with her hands; she was only reluctant because of one person if she was being honest. She wanted to give Peter a chance to prove himself worthy of knowing her secret. The rest of her friends already had her trust even though she's only really met them last night. Her magical intuition was a weird one. There's an internal war going on inside her when it came to Peter; on one side it's the knowledge she had from her own world and the other is the memories she had with him ever since she was eleven. She just needs more time.
"I will, eventually. I just…I need time to figure things out first. But don't worry hon, you'll be the first to know my entire story."
Content with her answer, James took her hand and led her to the Great Hall where the rest of their friends (along with Benjy and Cassie) were sitting at the Gryffindor table, patiently waiting for the couple to get back. It seemed Lily and Emmeline had told them that she'll be explaining her situation and everyone was eager to know. Right as she sat down she murmured Muffliato under her breath, which earned her odd looks from Lily making her wince internally. Clarissa forgot that she and Snape used to be friends but now aren't because of last year's incident. Lily probably knew of Snape's spell-making hobby and now she'll be curious as to how she knew one of his spells.
Putting that in the back of her mind, Clarissa told her friends about what happened to her during summer break. She explained that her headaches happened very recently and that she did go to St. Mungo's to be checked out, only to find nothing wrong with her. Her friends accepted her predicament and were very supportive after Clarissa emphasized that her headaches weren't too bad for the most part and that if they don't subside after a few minutes they were to find James and Sirius.
Clarissa's storytelling took up most of the lunch hour and she was glad that she had a free period right after along with Remus and Cassie. James and Sirius technically have a free period as well, however, James booked the quidditch pitch to get an early start for the season. He promised to only be out there for an hour or so, just to give those who want to try out a chance to practice a bit before doing the official tryouts. Clarissa told him not to worry and that she'll just be in the library doing a bit of light reading. James understood the secretive glance she gave him and patted Remus on the shoulder, mentally telling him to keep an eye out for her which the werewolf understood. Cassie on the other hand opted to take a nap, claiming that History of Magic bored her to sleepiness and told them she'll see them in DADA.
Once all of their friends left for their respective classes, Clarissa and Remus began their trek to the library. They made small talk as they walked, mindlessly talking about what each did over the break. Clarissa really enjoyed Remus' presence, finding him very calming. No one would think the person beside her turns into a mindless beast once a month. She paused in her tracks as she remembered that the Wolfsbane potion probably is still in the works at this point in time and cursed herself for not doing research the past week regarding that, too caught up on the horcruxes.
Remus stopped alongside her and held her arm out of concern, "What's wrong Clar?"
Blue-green eyes connected with warm brown ones. As Clarissa took in his appearance, she could make out the faint scars on his face along with wrinkles a sixteen year old boy shouldn't have. Her heart ached for him. Clarissa made a mental note to get in touch with Damocles Belby and perhaps make suggestions to speed up the process of the potion while doing her own research as well.
"It's nothing. I just remembered the full moon is coming up."
Remus gave her a weak smile, "Yeah. The boys and I started planning for it last night."
Since they reached the library, they lowered their voices even more. Although the endless shelves of books provided decent privacy, they didn't want to take any chances. Clarissa led the way towards the back of the library, closer to where the Restricted Section and the dark arts books were.
"I'm sorry I wasn't with you the last two moons. James wouldn't let me go with him even though I promised to at least stay at the house," Clarissa pouted, remembering the memory she saw the first time she met Remus on the train.
Remus waved a hand at her, "I feel better knowing you were out of harm's way, but I appreciate the thought."
Before they reached an empty table, Clarissa saw a familiar head of black curls. Knowing Sirius was out at the pitch, she knew it could only be one other person. She approached his table, ignoring Remus' call of her name but could hear that he was following her.
"Regulus, fancy seeing you here," Clarissa greeted the younger Black brother.
Upon hearing her quiet voice, Regulus looked up from his parchment to greet her, only to narrow his eyes when he saw Remus.
"Clarissa, I didn't realize you had a free period at this time as well."
Glancing between the two lads, Clarissa introduced them to each other—which was very unnecessary considering they very much knew each other although choose not to acknowledge the fact.
"Regulus, you remember my friend Remus, don't you?"
The black-haired teen nodded curtly at Remus, who all but returned the gesture. Clarissa figured that was as good as it's going to get.
"Well, it's good to know that we share a free period, it'd be much easier to set up study times together if you are still open to that. I'm not exaggerating when I say that OWLs are tough." Clarissa told the young Slytherin.
"Thank you, I'd appreciate the help. Cissa gave me her old material, but I figured it would be better to get it from someone who just took it and is one of the top students," replied Regulus, giving his full attention to her.
"Wonderful!" exclaimed Clarissa, "I'll find you during this period or owl you for potential dates. Perhaps Remus can join our study sessions as well seeing as he is also top of our class."
The sudden invitation caused both parties to frown. As much as Remus would love nothing more than to avoid Regulus Black at all costs, he doesn't want to leave Clarissa alone with him. Regulus shared the same feelings as Remus, although his Slytherin traits are shining through, wanting to take this opportunity to prove some of his theories regarding his brother and his friends. Being able to study with another top student was just a bonus for him.
Reluctantly, both guys agreed at the prospect of their study group which elated Clarissa. With the promise of setting up their first study date, the two 6th years bid Regulus goodbye and quickly found a table. While Remus sat and read his Ancient Runes text to get ahead in his class, Clarissa perused the shelves for books about fiendfyre. The excuse she gave her werewolf companion when she came back with a book at hand was that Damon had to do training that involved the deadly spell, and she became intrigued.
An hour or so passed with not much conversation between the two bookworms, only the scratches of their quills was the only sound between them. As Clarissa expected, there weren't many books about fiendfyre in the school library, let alone any books about horcruxes. She remembered from her world that Tom Riddle read about horcruxes from a book in the school library but since then the book has been removed by Dumbledore. Even though Clarissa wants to read about it, she promised her mum that she wasn't going to make horcruxes the center of her universe whilst at school.
Clarissa went back to the book in her hands, trying to think of where to find more information about fiendfyre, or anything that can be helpful to her. It dawned on her a place she has yet to check out in the castle, the Room of Requirements. Looking at Remus, she hesitated on telling him about the secret room. Although James and Sirius know about it, they might find it odd if she told Remus but wish to exclude Peter. Saying a silent apology to Remus in her head, Clarissa hastily packed her items, startling the Gryffindor prefect in the process and told him she needed to do something before class. Before Remus could even object, Clarissa left him alone in their table without so much as a goodbye and dashed through the halls to the 7th floor.