Clara POV
The days were going fast, but I missed Renee. It's not like anything had come between us, just that we didn't see each other as much these days. Of course we sat together in transfiguration, but Sandra, Tomasz, and Gill were always at the table too. I mean, not to say I wasn't happy that she was making friends, but we were drifting apart.
I heard about the flying incident, everyone did. The rumors flew. Rebecca said the only reason they hadn't made her a seeker was because of Draco Malfoy's father. Ernie, who claimed to have seen the whole thing from his herbology class, said she did flips in the air, trying to block the chain from getting damaged. Kaylee said that she had been going to give the chain back and thought flying would be the easiest way to do it, but nobody believed that.
Renee was also becoming friends with some Gryffindors other than Ginny as well. I was of course happy that Slytherin and Gryffindor were, for once, getting along, but I needed my best friend. I hoped that she would at least remember my birthday on Halloween.
Granted, it wasn't like we had much chance to talk. Being in none of the same classes really pulled us apart. I missed camp, but I had been taking in too much of Hogwarts to think about it. Of course I wrote Will and Annabeth occasionally, and sometimes even Clarisse. I wrote my Muggle mortal family as well.
But I was happy here. That wasn't as much the case for Renee. Sometimes, though, I did get the feeling that she was ignoring me, or at least ignoring Ginny. She never came to Hufflepuff unless it was just the two of us. When I asked her about it, she would blame it on Quidditch practice or studying, but I thought there was probably more to it. She was, she had always been, an enigma to me. I never understood her and her ways.
It was hard to believe we had been here for two months, and that we had known we were wizards for three. The weather got colder and we often came upon the great hall ceiling as swirling leaves. I really loved fall. I only wished I could ride horses and go apple picking, like I did with Jade and Renee and the Bradleys when we were little. I hadn't written Jade in a while, so I decided to send her a letter.
Dear Jade or Juniper or whatever,
I miss you. Did anyone stay at camp for the year or did they all leave? How is Grover?
Hey, Did you ever get periods where Renee wouldn't talk to you? I mean, before the demigod thing? She's really weird whenever our friend Ginny is around. Ginny doesn't generally notice, but I do. Let me know.
Love always,
Clara Jeanne Bradley.
Renee POV
It was getting to be Halloween, and I needed a well-deserved break. I loved coming into the Great hall and sipping hot cocoa as the leaves swirled around me.
I knew Clara was getting suspicious about the way I didn't like to be there when Ginny was around. And as much as I blamed it on Quidditch and homework, she seemed to figure out that it was something else. I hoped she didn't think I was jealous, because that wasn't the case at all. It was just that I did not for a minute trust Ginny's magical diary. There was something that seemed off about it, and I didn't want to get hurt. As Clara and Ginny spilled their hearts out to it, and it gave advice about their crushes, homework, and family lives, I did some research of my own.
I spent a lot of my free time in the library looking at books like, Modern Magic Apparatuses, The Things Muggles Dream Up: A Guide to Performing Spells on Normal Objects, and Charm your Dreams! with no luck. I couldn't see anything about magical diaries that talked back, and I wished that was enough proof for me, but I couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong about the diary. I did realize that it mostly wanted to talk about Ginny's Harry Potter, which to her seemed very generous, but to me, it looked dangerous. Why would a diary that was hers want to know more about a person who was out of the equation completely?
I decided to write to Annabeth and see if she had any knowledge about it. Clara had been right to get an owl, Princess just purred and was almost useless. I had to go to the owlery whenever I wanted to use one, and the school owls were tired creatures. Sometimes, I asked Clara to let me borrow Dusk, but for this, I couldn't risk it.
Dear Annabeth,
Are you at camp, or did you decide to go back? Have you made amends with your father? I really hope you have.
Anyway, I need to know something. Here at Hogwarts, my friend Ginny has a magic diary that talks back to her. She loves this very much, and Clara uses it too. However, I have some misgivings about it. I've been looking in the library, and….nothing. I haven't found anything to suggest that this kind of book could be bad, but I need your advice. Could using this type of thing be ultimately hurting Clara and Ginny? Please let me know what you think.
XOXO
Renee Andromeda Sanderson
I was planning a grand surprise for Clara's birthday. I remembered her elaborate Halloween costumes when we were little, the fairy princess wings she made from cardboard and painted gold and purple. Now that I had magic, money, and charmspeak, I could really do something amazing. I wished Jade (or Juniper, whatever) could be here. I'd need to get my hands on some of that potion to make the photos move, and then I could send them to her.
Anyway, I had prayed to my mother for a simple black dress, telling her what I wanted to do. Of course, she gave it to me.
I asked around, trying to see if anyone knew of a good artist who could keep a secret. It turned out that Gill was. I asked him to cut the dress into a badger shape, and he agreed. I didn't even need charmspeak! I was starting to get the feeling that Gill could become a better friend to me than even Sandra. Never Clara, though.
After it was cut as a badger, I painted some yellow swirls and some special words: Kindness, Sunbeam, Friendship, Family, Andromeda Jeanne. I charmed the dress to be a little thicker, and on the night before Halloween, I was ready.
Clara POV
It was Halloween, and my twelfth birthday. Dusk was very busy and had already brought me three cards from Annabeth, Percy, and Will. She'd then flew out again and a few hours later, brought me a response from Jade.
Dear Clara,
So good to hear from you! Most people have left, but Clarisse and a few others are here. How is wizard school? I hope you and Renee are having lots of fun!
As for our Rennie, give her time. She's just adjusting and you know how she is. I only remember one time with Allison and Melissa where she got mad at me for seemingly no reason. It was when they were teasing you about your brothers, and she got really upset with me, because I was the one who kept them around. But I think she can be irrational when thinking of her friends. I think she trusts her gut too much sometimes. Just give her time and make sure she knows you're not leaving her.
I miss you! Happy birthday!
Hugs,
Juniper (Jade)
Well, that made sense, I guess. I had gotten up early for my birthday, and now it was finally breakfast time. I didn't realize how hungry I had been. Dusk must have been out all night and early morning getting my letters. She was such a loyal owl.
I ran down the stairs, hoping that they'd be serving my favorite breakfast, pancakes with jelly. It was delicious, and I used to eat it all the time at home and at camp.
Most students were just walking in when I got there. Kat and Rebecca waved me over and handed me cards.
"Happy birthday, Clara!"
"Thanks, Ernie!"
Justin Finch-Fletchley handed me a box. I opened it, and it was full of Bertie Bott's beans, which had become my favorite candy in the wizard world. From the looks of it, all my Hufflepuff friends had pooled a little money to buy me the package. I hugged Ernie, Justin, Hannah Abbott, Susan Bones, Kat, and Rebecca.
Ginny came over and gave me a card. I scanned the room for Renee.
I spotted her almost immediately. She was carrying something that looked heavy. I ran to her.
"Renee! You remembered!"
"Obviously!" she said in a voice that reminded me of Snape. "Take a look."
It was a dress. Not just any dress, but a beautiful black one that must have been from her mother. At a closer look, it was a badger. There were glowing golden words, too.
"Friendship, Kindness, Sunbeam, Family, Andromeda Jeanne," I read. "Renee, you are the best friend ever! Come to Hufflepuff with me and help me put this on! Right now!"
Renee laughed.
"Classes in half an hour," Kat called after us.
Ginny quickly caught up with us, and I raised my eyebrows at Renee. She gave a tiny shake of her head.
When we reached the common room, I made to tap out "Helga Hufflepuff" like always, but Renee stopped me. "It's your birthday. I'll do it." I just nodded.
Renee tapped the rhythm in a much angrier manner than any Hufflepuff ever could, and I was surprised we weren't locked out.
"What's up?" I whispered so Ginny couldn't hear. By this time, though, I could tell she knew something.
Renee POV
Clara and Ginny were both staring at me, and I decided I needed to just come out with it.
"I'm worried about you. Both of you."
"Why?" Ginny asked.
"It's that diary! I don't trust it."
"What's not to like? We're….witches, Renee, anything's possible."
I was so worried that Clara was going to slip what else we were as well, and I knew she had almost been about to. I gave a sigh of relief before saying, "It just makes me nervous. I don't really know why, to be honest. I just don't get it, it doesn't seem safe."
"Renee, stop. We'll be fine."
"As long as you're sure." I rolled my eyes.
The day passed slowly with my worrying about Clara and Ginny, as well as anticipating the feast. When the last bell rang after herbology, I raced out to go get ready. It wasn't until I was halfway to the castle that I realized I'd forgotten my bag. I walked back to the greenhouses and met Luna halfway. She had my bag.
"I dropped a gurdyroot in it for good luck, Renee."
I looked at her. "Oh. Thanks. Walk with me a bit?"
Luna smiled brightly. "Thanks for what you did that first day. I haven't forgotten, you know. There's something about you, Renee. You, well, you're different. I see something in your aura."
Luna was strange, but there was something that made me like her.
The lucid, ugly decorations in the Great Hall could only have been there for one reason. Lockhart. I was lucky enough to meet up with Clara to go in. The badger dress was beautiful, and I was so glad that I had done that for my best friend. We laughed at the decorations, which were awful. I glanced at the professors, noticing that the only one who seemed at all happy about the circumstances was, of course, our dumb Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.
If the opening meal was good, the Halloween feast was amazing. Mostly, we had a lot of sugar, similar to Halloween in America. There was hot chocolate with pumpkin spice, which was absolutely delicious. There were also pumpkin pasties and pastries with different creme fillings. I stuffed myself. I could see my friends doing the same things at their tables.
"Renee, you've gotta cut him some slack, really. I heard you laughing with Clara about these decorations, but they're really quite brilliant. And besides, look at all the things he's done. I can lend you a copy of his book, Holidays with Hags."
"Sandra, I have the book. Everyone does. It was on our supply list!"
"Well, have you read it? It's totally my favorite of his!"
I rolled my eyes. Gill gave me a small smile, and tried to pull me into his own conversation, which was thankfully not about Lockhart.
"So, what's your Muggle world like? I mean, what do you do for fun? And, like, what's America like?"
I was really starting to notice him more. He was a small, Black kid, kind of skinny, and bald. He had an amazing smile and when he saw me, his happiness showed.
"America is pretty cool. I mean, I've always been a Muggle until this year"-not true, of course, but why did he need to know that?- "and I've never known anything else. I would just go to Clara's house all the time with our friends and her five brothers. I wonder how they're doing. I'll need to ask her." I was rambling again. "We both lived in New York and went to the same school and everything."
"Did you go to the Empire State Building?"
I had to force myself not to laugh and to stay calm. That was, after all, where Mount Olympus was.
"Once or twice, I guess."
"What about Coney Island?"
"Every summer, with Clara's family and our other friend, Jade. This year we were finally allowed to go off by ourselves." Or, we would have been if we weren't on the Andromeda Jeanne. Again, more things that Gill didn't need to know.
"That's so cool! So, how long have you known Clara?"
"Quite a while, really. Maybe four years. I guess we were both friends with Jade, and then we all just started hanging out."
"What about your family?"
Well, I had lived on the streets my entire childhood. I felt somehow older when I first realized I was homeless, when I was maybe five or six. I remembered a man who used to take care of me before that, but he left. And a lot of noise from when I was an infant. I had to decide what to say, because I really hated lying.
"Well, I was an orphan. I lived at an orphanage. I was treated kindly and always welcomed at Clara's or Jade's." Mostly Clara's, Jade didn't really have a place of her own. But again, that didn't need to be known.
"What will you do this summer? Now that you know, I mean?"
"Oh, I'll probably just spend the summer at Clara's to be honest." Yeah, not being honest at all. I'd be at Camp Half-Blood, training and maybe going on another quest. So much for not lying.
Suddenly, we heard a scream, coming from another part of the castle. Sandra grabbed my hand and we stood up. The rest of the Hall was getting up and looking around as well.
Dumbledore rose from his seat. "Students, to your dormitories, please. Staff, please come with me to investigate.
I looked around for Clara, Ginny, and Luna. I spotted Clara's white-blonde hair easily, and Luna's flamboyant clothing was hard to miss. But looking at the Gryffindor table, I counted three redheads where there should have been five. I didn't see Harry's jet-black hair or Hermione's curls, either, and I realized that the Hall had no ghosts tonight.
"I repeat, all students to your dormitories! Now!" Dumbledore was usually calm, but he was panicking now.
We left the room in a hurry, but were blocked by a huge crowd that had gathered outside the girls' bathroom nearest to the staircase.
There was water all over the floor, and a horrible shadow on the wall. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were near the front of the crowd, staring at the shadow.
I stepped forward to have a closer look. It wasn't just a shadow, as I had originally thought. Stepping closer, I realized it was a cat. Mrs. Norris, the caretaker's cat. There was red writing on the wall as well.
The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir, beware.
A/N: So, how did you like it? I am making Renee into the cautious one, while Clara is kind of carefree. Renee really has an issue with the diary, which will probably turn out to be a good thing. Meanwhile, Clara and Ginny are getting themselves immersed in it.
How do you like my character development so far? Am I doing well with it? Please let me know. And as always, please review!
