Fire and Ice

Marcus had clearly decided that Claudia did not know anything and did his best to pretend she did not exist. Claudia saw him and Severus sneaking up to the Astronomy Tower like nothing had happened. She thought that he was probably too arrogant to admit that his little sister could beat him to the artefact. He must have thought that the book was just a coincidence.

And while Claudia caught Sirius glaring at Marcus furiously across the Great Hall, he seemed to have been keeping his promise of not punching Marcus' face out. For that, Claudia was grateful. She could finally start her fifth year like she planned, by focusing on her OWLs. Well, for the most part anyway. Sirius was still confusing her.

Most of the professors had already given them a lecture on how important it was to study properly this year. Now, it was Professor Sprout's turn.

"I know some of you think that Herbology is just pointless digging through dirt." She began. Claudia could swear Sprout was looking at her. She found herbology to be excruciatingly boring and did not spend a lot of time studying for it. And Sprout knew it. The Professor continued.

"But the Herbology OWL is very important. If you want to be an auror or work at St Mungo's, you will need a Herbology NEWT. And for that, I need an O or EE in your OWLs." Sprout adeed. Oh crap. Claudia thought to herself. She did not know that. It would have been awesome to be an auror, to catch dark wizard for a living. But O or EE in Herbology? That was unlikely. It did not seem fair at all. Why would an auror need to know about plants?

"Miss Avery. A word, please." Said Sprout at the end of the lesson. Claudia swallowed. Her first thought was that Sprout somehow found out about the stolen fluxweed. In reality, it was even worse.

"I would hate to fail you this year. But your last exam was not good. Not at all." Sprout said. Claudia could feel her blood rising to her cheeks.

"I know. It's just that…" She began to say but Sprout interrupted her.

"No excuses, please. We both know you can do it, if only you were to try little harder." Sprout was not wrong.

"I'll get onto it." Claudia replied through gritted teeth. There was no point prolonging this conversation. It was unlikely that she would be able to convince Sprout to change the Ministry's admission criteria. She will just need to suck it up and start finding these stupid plants interesting.

Claudia went straight to the library to work on her herbology essay. Despite her best efforts, she could not focus on it for more than thirty minutes. It was truly mind-numbing. Her mind started to wonder again.

She lifted her head from the textbook and spotted Sirius, who was sitting with his friends. He was not studying though. Instead, he was doodling something on a piece of parchment. Claudia wanted desperately to talk to him again and wrecked her brain about a possible excuse. She was having hard time coming to terms with her feeling for him and definitely did not want him to know about them. He would probably mock her mercilessly. Then it struck her, there was always the artefact. She was meaning to look for that book she saw in Flourish and Blotts! That was a plausible excuse.

It did not take Claudia long to find the book in the Defence against Dangerous Artefacts. As she was walking back to her desk, she saw Sirius looking at her. She waved the book discreetly at him and gestured towards the door of the library.

"Want to try some of the spells from here?" She whispered as they met by the door. Sirius grinned.

"Always. I'll go get it and see you on the fourth floor." He whispered. Claudia opened the door of the library, Sirius grabbed it high over her head and held it open. He did that all the time, often complaining that she would not let him open the door for her. Claudia never noticed how close they were when he did. She certainly noticed now. So painfully close.

They met again in the alcove on the fourth floor. They were sat next to each other, reading from the book. Claudia could practically feel Sirius' breath on her cheek. It was exactly like the dream. She could not pay any attention to what was in the book or to what Sirius was saying. Suddenly, he snapped his fingers in front of her eyes.

"Wake up." He laughed.

"Hmmm?" Asked Claudia, her train of thoughts interrupted.

"Are you alright?" Asked Sirius.

"Yeah, just a lot on. Herbology. Sprout said I might fail." Claudia said, with a slight nod.

"How can you be failing anything? You're the nerdiest person I know." Sirius said, looking rather baffled.

Claudia chucked. "Because it's boring… Anyway, what were you saying?" She asked.

"Should we try this one?" Sirius asked, pointing at a spell. "Should be a quiet one." He added. Claudia did not even know what he was pointing at. The only thing she could focus on was just how close his hand was to hers.

"Sure. Go ahead." Whispered Claudia. Sirius raised his wand and cast a protective charm.

"Just in case they are not that silent." He smirked. He tried the spell and then another.

After few minutes, Claudia had finally recovered enough composure to join him. They tried every spell in that book, but it led to nothing.

"The book's useless." Claudia sighed. She really hoped that something would work. After all, the book was the reason that Marcus was after her. Sirius squeezed her shoulder.

"We'll find something, I promise. Let's get down to dinner. I'm starving and you look like you haven't eaten in days." He said, got up and pulled Claudia up to standing.

Every time Sirius touched her, she felt as if a powerful spell had hit her right in the chest. It was overpowering. It never used to bother her. When they were under the cloak together, when he pretended to kiss her in the library so that Pince would leave them alone, when he hugged her to smell her dungbomb-ridden hair. She barely even noticed. She did the exact same thing to his shoulder in the summer. And felt nothing.

But since the dream, every single touch, or even an anticipation of it, gave her a powerful jolt. It was torture. Her crush on Anthony just seemed so pathetic in comparison.

Sirius got intercepted by James on the way to the Great Hall and Claudia continued by herself. She did not mind. She was so confused about him and needed to think.

On one hand, she remembered all the things Sirius told her before. That he would trust her around love potion ingredients. That she was not like other girls. That he could have a conversation with her. Claudia sighed. He just saw her as a friend. There was nothing more to it. And no wonder, she was not his type. All the girls he usually dated were different. Definitely much prettier. It was a miracle he noticed that she was a girl at all.

But then again... There were the things he did, helping her with the artefact. He must have gone to a lot of trouble to get those Felix ingredients and the notebooks. He came to see her this summer. Would he have done that if he did not enjoy her company? And he was furious when he found out what Marcus did to her. She did not expect him to get quite so protective of her. She could tell it was still bothering him. The easiest explanation for all of this was that he cared for her.

Claudia just had no idea what to do. She was eating dinner by herself and could not help but keep glancing in Sirius' direction. She still was not sure whether it was just a crush, or whether she liked him for real. And even if she was sure that she liked him, what were the chances that he liked her too? And would they really date? Claudia did not like attention and if there was one thing that would make her the centre of all school gossip, it was dating Sirius Black. They would really make the most unlikely couple. Claudia could not help but chuckle to herself.

They could not be more different. Claudia was a prefect. Sirius was the school's chief troublemaker.

She was nerdy. He was smart but could not care less about studying.

She was socially awkward and bad with people. He was, well, not that.

But they were also remarkable similar. They had similar upbringing and were both clearly equally scarred by it.

They were both witty and enjoyed a good argument.

But above all, they were both extremely stubborn and forever convinced they were in the right.

Claudia chuckled again. What a recipe for disaster that was. Although the idea of dating Sirius was a ridiculous, it still made her feel warm on the inside.

She glanced at Sirius again and noticed the girl from the train also arriving to dinner. She sat down next to Sirius and they began chatting. Claudia surprised herself. She did not like it one bit. He said he hoped they broke up, but it certainly did not look like it. They were laughing. The girl then leaned close to Sirius and whispered something in his ear. Sirius turned towards her and they kissed.

It was as if someone kicked Claudia in the stomach. All the stuff he said in the summer was just bullshit. She should have known better. She felt so stupid for even contemplating her feelings for him.

Over the next few days, Claudia's resolve not to fall in love with Sirius has strengthened. She simply could not let that happen and, therefore, decided to dedicate all her attention to studying and finding a way of destroying the artefact. And if she could do the latter without Sirius, she would.

Even between her classes, she was reading her textbooks to make sure she did not have a spare moment to think about him. She was on her way to the Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson, her nose buried in a textbook, when she tripped over her foot and stumbled into a pillar. A couple of second years burst out laughing and made fun of her.

"Two points from each of you. Now, scram!" She yelled after them.

"You can't do that. They haven't done anything wrong." She heard a voice from behind her. It was that Lily girl again.

"I don't care. Give them the points back, if you must." Claudia barked backed at her and stormed off.

Claudia made it to the classroom sat down next to Eleanor.

"Why are you bleeding?" Eleanor asked, pointing at Claudia's head.

"Am I?" Claudia sighed and wiped her forehead clean with her sleeve. It was not too bad. In any case, she really could not care less at that point.

The new Dark Arts teacher began mumbling something about firestorms. Claudia was usually one of the few people who were paying attention, but even she could swear this teacher was getting worse and worse with every lesson he took. She was staring out of the window, still furious. She could not look either at Sirius or at Lily. Otherwise, she would explode.

"Of course, firestorms should not be confused with cursed fire. They are not anywhere as destructive…" Claudia half-heard the teacher say. Destructive? Claudia's hand was suddenly high up in the air.

"Could you tell us more about the cursed fire?" She asked. The professor looked around uncertainly.

"I really should not…" He said. But he was clearly enjoying that someone was paying attention in that class, so he went on. "It's called Fiendfyre. It produces enchanted flames, capable of destroying nearly anything in its path. It's dark very magic, of course." The teacher trailed off.

Claudia could not help but glance at Sirius now. He was looking at her from across the classroom, frowning. She shrugged at him and turn back to look out of the window. It was worth a trip to the library.

She was on her way there, when Sirius caught up with her and dragged her into an empty classroom.

"You can't be serious." He said the moment he shut the door behind them.

"I know it's dangerous. Must be really tricky to control." She replied, trying to sound casual. Controlling her temper was proving quite hard these days. Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Tricky to control?! That's not the bloody point. It's dark magic. Really dark magic." He was also becoming quite agitated now.

"What choice do I have? I need to get rid of it." She replied, her voice rising.

"Not like this. You can't do this." Sirius barked back. Claudia did not like being told what to do. Especially not by him. And definitely not now.

"What do you think I should do?" She scoffed and folded her arms.

"I don't know. Whatever. Chuck it in the Black Lake. Just not this." Sirius said, with a laugh. It was the laugh that made Claudia lose her temper completely.

"I knew you were never serious about this... It is all just a big joke to you... Just go and play a stupid prank on someone... It's all you care about." She yelled. She knew that was not entirely fair but did not care. She just wanted to yell at him.

"I'm not serious?" Sirius' voice was now raised too. "What more do you want from me? I've done everything for you. I've been lying to my friends for you! Hiding things from them." He growled.

"Like that's hard…" Claudia muttered and reached for the door to open it.

"It's hard for me. I'm not a psychopath." Sirius barked. She was really mad at him now. For calling her a psychopath. For not taking her seriously. For still dating that girl from the train. For ever coming into her life. Claudia opened the door. But Sirius was not done.

"Should have expected this from a daughter of a Dea…" He hissed.

Claudia stopped in her tracks and turned back slowly.

"Say it!" She said, in a menacing voice.

Sirius shook his head. He crossed a line and he knew it. It was written all over his face.

"Daughter of a Death Eater…." Claudia finished the sentence for him.

"I didn't mean… But this is how is starts. You don't know what using dark magic will do to you." Sirius said.

"Trust me. If something is going to rip my soul in pieces, it will not be this!" Claudia snapped and began walking away.

"You're being an idiot!" She heard him shout after her. But she did not stop. She was more determined than ever to find a way to create that cursed fire. Anything to prove him wrong. And she really did not care if she took half the school with her.

Claudia was still seething when she got to dinner.

"What happened to you?" Asked Alice, when she saw Claudia's face. Claudia threw her jumper on the table, buried her face in it and screamed.

"Better? Said Alice when Claudia resurfaced. She was biting her lip, trying not to laugh.

"He's so infuriating. Why does he have to argue with me all the time?" Claudia sighed.

"Pot, Kettle, Black." Alice said. She could not help but laugh openly now. Claudia shot her an annoyed look. "You aren't even dating and already you are like an old married couple." Alice added. Claudia was not amused. She turned to her dinner, sulking.

"What did you argue about?" Alice asked. Claudia shook her head.

"Doesn't even matter." She whispered. If Sirius thought she was being reckless, she did not dare think what Alice would say. "And have you seen him with that girl? He said they broke up!" Added Claudia. Alice raised an eyebrow.

"Ah." She said, significantly. Claudia buried her face in the jumper again and screamed some more.

Claudia spent the next couple of weeks avoiding Sirius at all cost and keeping busy with herbology. Even though trying to catch-up on four years of the most boring subject of all times was not her idea of fun, it was much preferable to trying to understand her feelings towards the most annoying person on the planet. But at least she finally had a plan for making progress on the artefact. She could not get to the restricted section to research the cursed fire without Sirius and the cloak, so she decided to try her luck in the Tomes and Scrolls bookshop in Hogsmeade. It was a longshot, but she had nothing better.

Claudia shook off her friends in front of Honeyduke's and sneaked into the bookshop. She managed to find some old advanced textbook for Defence against Dark Arts, which had a very brief description of the cursed fire.

She found a quiet corner of the shop. Her eyes flicked across the page. "The fire possessed a sentience of its own and a continuous desire to pursue nearby lifeforms." Claudia scratched her head. It did not sound fun. She continued. "Capable of incinerating anything though mere contact… Takes for of gigantic fiery beasts… Most casters would have major difficulty controlling the fire…" Claudia shut the book and grimaced. Sirius was right. It would have been idiotic to try to create it. But she could never admit it, not to him anyway.

She was at her wits' end and on a verge of tears. Felix Felicis was not going to be ready for few more weeks and she needed to keep going. Who knew when Marcus was going to get bored of the Astronomy Tower and go after her again? The artefact must be gone by then.

She threw the book into a corner in anger but regretted it instantly. The book did not deserve that. She bent down to pick it up and spotted a small, dusty volume in the gap between the wall and the bookshelf. It looked like it was lost there for years. She used her wand to pry it out, brushed off the spider webs, and opened it carefully.

The pages looked like they might crumble at a mere touch. The book was full of old spells, some of which looked like they were definitely in the grey area between charms and curses.

Claudia looked around to make sure no one was watching and slipped the book into her bag. She was not going to be seen buying this. They would probably arrest her. It was not really stealing. She would return it the next time she was in Hogsmeade.

She went straight back to the castle, looking through the book for any destructive spells as she walked. And then she found a spell that could work - Protero Cumulates.

The wand movement looked exceedingly complicated. But it was worth a try.

The book said that the caster needed to have the deepest desire, bordering on rage, for destruction in order for the spell to work. Claudia smirked. That was not going to be a problem.

Now she just needs the artefact. Claudia sighed. She did not have the artefact. Sirius did. She could avoid him no longer.