Quid Pro Quo

Claudia was lying in bed, staring at the ceiling. Tomorrow was the first Quidditch game of the season. Slytherin was playing Gryffindor. She should have been excited. She should have been nervous. Instead, she could not stop thinking about the idea that her father might be in league with You-Know-Who.

Marcus did not seem to be up to much lately. She was pretty sure he was still searching the library for the necromancy book. What he did not know was that it was safely stowed in the hidden compartment of Claudia's trunk.

The fact that nobody else knew the full story did not help her sleep either, but she was not quite ready to admit that to herself. Anyway, who could she talk to about this?

Alice would discourage her from looking into it. She definitely would not skulk around the library with her.

Julius and Emmanuel were out of the question. She was too afraid to ask them where they really stood on the matter of You-Know-Who.

And she has only just met Sirius properly and had real trouble understanding why he was helping her.

She mostly new Sirius by reputation from Regulus. He was desperate for his big brother to like him but because he was failing at it miserably, he spent quite a lot of time venting about him – his brother was selfish, arrogant, stubborn, and always up to no good.

Claudia sort of saw where Regulus was coming from. Sirius and his friends seemed to spend a lot of their time torturing students they did not like, especially her fellow Slytherins. Even in class, Sirius was full of himself and never respectful of others' opinions or authority. She laughed to herself – that was a flaw that she could only criticise with levels of hypocrisy that no human was capable of.

There was also the small matter of Sirius being one of the most popular boys in school. There were literally dozens of girls lining up to spend time with him. And every boy wanted to be his friend. She knew at least three girls that were under the impression that he was their boyfriend, only to find him snogging someone else. The bathrooms were full of I *heart* Sirius Black graffiti. He was not exactly in need of company.

But she also saw a new side to him over the last few weeks. He was smart. He could be kind. But most importantly, she felt that he understood her. That there was some kind of unspoken bond between them.

But could she really trust him? How would he react if he found out what sort of company Claudia's father kept? Would he tell the whole school or perhaps…

Claudia's mind stopped racing. What if it all was just some elaborate prank to him? What if he was just helping her so that he and his friends can have a good laugh about it later?

No, for now, she was all alone in this and she was scared.

As she walked into the Great Hall the next morning, the Slytherin table cheered. With everything else on her mind, she Claudia had completely forgotten about all the little traditions of a Quidditch matchday.

There were seats reserved for the team at the very front of the table. There was an enormous stuffed snake lying in the middle of the table, enchanted to hiss at any passing Gryffindor. At least Claudia hoped it was enchanted, she hated snakes. The Sorting Hat must have had a great laugh putting her to Slytherin.

Some of her teammates were already at breakfast, all wearing matching sweaters. Julius was one of them. He waved at her and pointed at a free chair. It had a sweater hanging over the top of it, with Avery embroidered at the back just above a huge number six. That was Marcus' number too, Claudia thought to herself.

She looked around but could not see her brother anywhere. He must be seething. Quidditch was the only thing that he used to be better at than his little sister.

Parkinson handed her the Gryffindor starting line-up.

"They've gone with experience over talent this year. I really thought that they might give Potter a chance." He said, before adding. "Prove them wrong, Avery."

Claudia stomach took a turn. She was too busy thinking about You-Know-Who to really appreciate the enormity of what she was about to do.

She always liked flying and was a good chaser, she knew that. But she was a just a fourth year! Never even been a reserve player.

She was also uncomfortable with spotlight and flying in front of the whole school was daunting. And she knew that Marcus would be watching and cheering every minor mistake she made. Her stomach took another turn.

She must have gone quite pale, as Anthony Cameron – one of the beaters on the team – has put his arm around her.

"You OK?" He asked.

"I will be. Once we get out there." Claudia sighed.

She looked at Anthony and smiled. He was little older than Claudia and different from the other Slytherins. For a start, he was not in her brother's gang. But he was also friendly with everyone and kind. You could always see him encouraging those who needed it the most or helping his younger brother Chris with homework. He was also very handsome. People called him the 'Slytherin's resident Hufflepuff' – some of them even meant it as a compliment.

Claudia was not brought up to appreciate kindness but, in this instance, she was grateful for it.

Mercifully, Claudia's nerves disappear the moment she got the quaffle in her hands for the first time. All her other troubles were forgotten too. Quidditch was a fast game, there was not time to focus on anything else.

She gave a decent performance. She made no major blunders and scored a couple of very decent goals too. Macmillan caught the snitch from under the Gryffindor seeker's nose and Slytherin had their first victory.

"Really solid debut, Avery." Said Parkinson as they left the field. "I took a bit of a risk on you, leaving Marcus off the team. But you did good."

Anthony gave her a thumbs up. "Well done." He said with a huge smile. Claudia beamed back at him. She had not been this happy for a long time.

At the party that evening, Claudia felt like a real part of Slytherin for the first time. People who never spoken to her were coming up to her with congratulations. All of her roommates' crushes were treating her like a friend. She even got a pat on the back from some of her brothers' old friends.

She experienced something she never felt before; she was enjoying the limelight. She was also enjoying her brother's misery. She was not exactly proud of herself for feeling like that, but she could not help it.

Claudia scanned the common room to see where Marcus was. She spotted him sitting in the corner of the common room, with two of his closest friends. Marcus' friends were engaging in what looked like an animated debate, but Marcus himself did not participate. He was leaning back in his armchair, staring into space.

Claudia noticed that something sudden caught Marcus' eye. She followed his gaze and saw Severus Snape leaving the common room. Severus was a weird boy from Claudia's year. He was always buried in some book about the dark arts or covered in the most bizarre of potions ingredients. As far as she could tell, he had no friends at all.

Marcus stood up and implored his friends to follow him. They all followed Severus out of the common room.

Claudia looked around. No one else seemed to have noticed them. She put down her drink, checked she had her wand and carefully went after them.

Marcus caught up with Severus before he had a chance to reach the steps up from the dungeon. Claudia hid in a dark alcove and listened carefully.

"What books are there on the inferiori, Severus?" Asked Marcus.

Severus stared at him, amused.

"Do you mean the inferi?" He replied in a snarky tone.

Marcus shifted uncomfortably and nodded. He was clearly desperate and needed Severus' help. Otherwise he would not have tolerated such disrespect.

"They don't come up till the seventh year. What are you up to?" Severus continued.

Marcus was struggling to control his temper.

"It's a special project. Now will you tell me or not?" He hissed.

Severus folded his arms and look defiantly at Marcus. He was staring at him for some time.

"I will help you." Severus said finally. "But I want in. On whatever special project you are working on."

Marcus looked knowingly at his cronies. Then, he looked again at Severus.

"Fine." He hissed. "Tell me about the book and I'll fill you in on the rest."

They looked like they were going to move back in the direction of the common room. Claudia did not dare loiter any longer.

She run back as fast as she could and went straight to bed. This was one of the most draining days she has ever had. She would have to think about Marcus tomorrow again.

She did not even manage to undress properly before passing out in her bed.

The next week was just a blur. Claudia had to catch up with all the schoolwork she missed when practices ramped up ahead of the Gryffindor game. She was also beginning to find the attention of her fellow Slytherins, and associated social interactions, quite tiring.

Before she knew it, the weekend has arrived and with it the first trip to Hogsmeade. As she sat down with Alice and Eleanor around a table in the Three Broomsticks, she finally felt like she could relax again.

The weather was miserable, and the pub was absolutely packed. Suddenly, Claudia saw Anthony's head emerged from the crowd.

"Can I grab the spare chair? I keep giving mine away and now have a cramp." He said with a smile.

"Sure." Replied Claudia, with a giggle.

Anthony picked up the chair and begin to disappear into the crowd.

"Bye." Said Claudia, giving him an awkward wave.

She turned back to the table, her cheeks burning. Alice looked like she was about to burst out laughing.

"Finally." Alice said, absolutely beaming.

"Finally what?" Asked Claudia, miffed.

"Finally, you have a crush on someone." Replied Alice. Finally, I can talk to my best friend about boys."

Claudia opened her mouth to deny it, but realised it was pointless. Alice was right. Instead, she buried her face in a glass of pumpkin juice.

Mercifully, Lucy joined them at that point. They spent the next hour talking about the latest exploits of their utterly hopeless Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher.

As they were about to head back to the castle, Claudia spotted Sirius at the bar waving her over.

"Go back without me." She said to Alice and the others.

"You two are friends?" Asked Alice, who also spotted Sirius, with a hint of surprise in her voice. Even though she was a year above Claudia, she was in Gryffindor and knew full well what Sirius was like.

"Just a muggle studies project." Replied Claudia. "And I need to pop into Spintwitches for broom clippers anyway." She added when Alice did not look convinced. That seemed to have done the trick.

"Fancy another butterbeer?" Sirius asked as Claudia managed to fight her way to the bar.

"Hate that stuff." Claudia shook her head. "Way too sweet."

She looked around. "How come you're here alone? Isn't there normally a line of girls dying to keep you company?" She asked tongue-in-cheek.

"Well…" Sirius ruffled his hair. "As a matter of fact, my date just went to the bathroom." He said looking mildly embarrassed. "I was kind of hoping that you'll help me get rid of her." He added.

"You've got to be joking. No way." She whispered.

People were not her area of expertise.

"Come on Avery. You owe me one." Sirius whispered back.

"Fine." Claudia sighed. "What do you want me to do?" She asked.

Sirius shrugged. "Your lot are supposed to be the resourceful ones. Figure something out." He said quickly, looking somewhat anxiously towards the bathroom door.

Claudia looked too. A pretty girl was approaching them. Claudia did not recognise her. She looked older.

"I've heard so much about you. You must be Nina." Claudia smiled at the girl, extending her arm. The girl froze and frowned.

"Stella, actually." She replied, giving Claudia a nasty look.

"Really sorry, it's bit hard for me to keep up sometimes." Claudia giggled, pretended to be embarrassed. "It's like a revolving door…" Claudia added.

Stella didn't look reassured. "And you are?" She asked sharply.

"I'm Claudia. His friend." Claudia said, nodding towards Sirius.

"Ah good. I was worried for a minute you were his girlfriend." Stella said and laughed nervously.

Claudia burst into laughter.

"What's so funny?" Stella barked.

Claudia looked at Sirius and smirked.

"I know too well what he's like to ever date him." She said, still laughing.

Stella too was now looking at Sirius. He was struggling to keep a straight face.

"Maybe I should head back to the castle." She said, clearly very annoyed.

"Maybe." Replied Sirius and casually picked up his butterbeer.

Stella turned on her heel and run out of the pub.

"Cheers. That was genius." Said Sirius, grinning and raising his glass.

"Not really. It was mean. She seemed perfectly nice!" Claudia said, frowning.

"She was boring. Kept talking about her cat. I could never date someone who spends so much talking about cats." Sirius replied.

"That's your call. But next time be a grown up and just tell them." Claudia said.

"Maybe." Sirius shrugged. "You didn't have to be quite so convincing, you know. I'm hurt." He added.

They look at each other and burst into laughter.

"Anyway." Said Claudia once they managed to stop giggling. "I better head off. Need to stop by Spintwitches."

Sirius picked up his jacked. "I'll come with you. James is probably there anyway."

They walked out of the pub together. "Have you told anyone about the book?" Claudia asked, as they walked down the high street.

"I got the sense I wasn't supposed to." Sirius replied.

Claudia took a deep breath of the crisp air. If she wanted to tell him about what she saw, now was her chance.

"Marcus knows what book to look for. He recruited Snape to his little gang. He's bound to have told him by now." She said avoiding eye contact.

"Snape." Sirius scoffed. "Sneaky little slimeball. Of course, he would know how to raise the dead. His only chance of getting some friends."

But Claudia was not in a mood to joke about this.

"What happens when they find out the book isn't there?" She asked.

Sirius' eyes narrowed. "You aren't saying that we should give it back, are you?" He said, suddenly very serious.

"Well, I don't want to draw attention to the fact I know that he is up to something." Replied Claudia.

Sirius was mulling it over. It struck her that caution did not come naturally to him.

"You have some time to decide what to do. I'd say keep it over Christmas and see what happens." He said finally, as he opened the door to Spintwitches. Claudia did not even have a chance to reply.

"Sirius! Come and look at this!" James Potter shouted the moment they stepped into the shop. Sirius rolled his eyes.

"This will take a while. See you later." He sighed and went to join his friend.