The Crup

The following morning, Claudia was still pretty confused about what happened. She needed to talk to Alice to make some sense of it all. She caught her on the way to the library.

When she finished recounting the events of the previous night to her, Alice looked at Claudia sceptically.

"You kissed Julius?" She asked, as if to check that what she was hearing was really true.

"Well, he kissed me. He was really upset after the Quidditch game. One thing led to another…" Claudia replied, blushing a bit.

"Don't you think it's a bit… Soon?" Asked Alice.

"It was your idea!" Claudia said defensively.

"I said, 'go on a date'. I did not say, 'make out with him at the first opportunity'." Alice said sharply.

Claudia could swear that Alice wanted to add an 'again' at the end of that sentence but thought better of it. Claudia sped up. She did not like that their conversation was turning into an interrogation and knew Alice would have to stop when they got to the library.

But they were still a long way away and Alice was not letting this go.

"Do you even like him?" She asked. Claudia shrugged.

"I guess... He's nice. And the kiss was alright." She replied.

"Alright? That's a glittering review…" Alice said, rolling her eyes.

"It wasn't bad. It's just…" She said, suddenly sounding very solemn.

"Just what?" Asked Alice.

"Doesn't matter." Claudia shook her head. She could not bring herself to tell Alice the truth. That it was nothing like her kiss with Sirius. It was much better to stay quiet. Alice was not going to understand. There was a long pause.

"If you're sure…" Alice sighed. Claudia gave her a weak smile.

"You said it yourself. Got to start somewhere…" Claudia replied. Suddenly, she grinned. "Now… Could you please tell me what I am supposed to do on a date?" She asked.

"Don't tell me you are panicking." Alice replied.

"Of course, I'm panicking! I've never been on one. I don't even understand what they are for…" Claudia said, sounding ever so slightly nervous.

"Just be yourself." She replied, before pausing and clearly weighing her words carefully. "Maybe tone down the sarcasm a little. And little less irony wouldn't hurt either." She added. That made Claudia giggle.

"You know full well that once you strip the sarcasm and the irony, I have nothing left…" Claudia replied.

"You know that's not true." Alice said kindly.

"You're right." Claudia sighed. "There is still the total mess underneath…" She added. Alice rolled her eyes.

"I feel sorry for that boy already." Alice muttered. She was not wrong there, Claudia thought. They walked into the library chuckling.

Claudia did not have much time to panic over the date ahead of the Hogsmeade weekend. The study schedule was truly punishing. She barely got to see Julius, let alone got to spend any real time with him. It was a good thing too.

Claudia still did not quite understand why it was necessary for them to go on that date. They kissed already, which seemed to be pretty much the point of these things. She was bound to say something about the date that would hurt Julius' feelings. He was already upset that they were not going to that teashop. Claudia felt a bit bad for him, but not bad enough to change their mind. It was truly dreadful.

The weekend finally arrived. They met in the Three Broomsticks and sat down at a small table at the back of the pub. The conversation was flowing surprisingly easily. There was Quidditch to talk about, as well as the upcoming exams. After all, they had been friends for years. Claudia was very surprised that she was actually enjoying it. Julius leaned in and gave her a brief kiss. He looked around the pub and scratched his head.

"So… Are you my girlfriend now?" He whispered.

"I suppose." Claudia replied with a smile. She looked at her watch. "But also your team-mate. And we have Quidditch practice to get to." She added.

They walked back together and made their way straight to the pitch. As they walked into the Slytherin team's changing rooms, Parkinson was scowling at them.

"I don't like this." He muttered at them. Claudia leaned towards Julius.

"How does he even know? This quickly?" She whispered. Julius shrugged and shook his head. He did not know either.

"Don't like what?" Asked Regulus as he walked through the door.

"Them two… Dating." Parkinson said and gestured towards Claudia and Julius. "Better not break up before the Hufflepuff game. That's all I've got to say." He added and walked off. He really did not look very pleased.

Regulus narrowed his eyes and looked at them for a long time.

"Well, I knew you were in love with her…" He said in Julius' direction. Claudia rolled her eyes. Did everyone know but her?! Regulus turned to Claudia next.

"But I never saw you with a proper, pure-blood guy like him... It's not your usual choice of company." He smirked and went to change.

To Claudia, he definitely looked like he knew something. But he could not have. Him and Sirius were not close. There is no way Sirius would have told him about their kiss.

"What's he talking about?" Asked Julius, the smallest of frowns appearing on his face.

"I think he's talking about my friends… Muggleborns." Claudia shrugged. She was not sure whether Julius bought it or not.

"Ah, that." He muttered and followed Regulus to the boys' side of the changing rooms.

Claudia went in the other direction. Telling people have been awkward for her. But everybody knew about her and Julius now, her friends, Quidditch team-mates. Marcus was bound to know by now and he would tell their parents. Claudia was glad, she as hell was not going to tell them herself.

Claudia remembered something and dropped to the bench with a sigh. Sirius probably did not know.

Claudia sat and sat in the changing rooms, completely motionless. She could not for the life of her figure out how she felt about it. She wanted Sirius to know. She desperately wanted him to care. To be jealous. But what if he was not? The thought scared her. Maybe it would be better if he never found out. That way, she could at least pretend he cared. Claudia groaned. She felt so stupid. How could she still care what Sirius thought? She just needed to get over it. It was so not worth it.

The Quidditch practice gave Claudia the opportunity to clear her head. As the team walked into the Great Hall afterwards, Claudia grabbed hold of Julius' hand. It felt good. She was more determined than ever to forget the whole Sirius affair. To move on.

The next few days were just nice and easy. Claudia found some time to hang out with Julius in between all the studying. It was beginning to feel almost natural having him around. Maybe there was nothing to be scared off. Dating was not anywhere near as hard as she expected it to be.

Few days passed and Claudia found herself in the library again. She spent more time in there these days than anywhere else in the castle. But she did not mind. She did not really need studying to distract her from her feelings anymore, but it was still enjoyable. Most of the time anyway.

Today was an unusually hot day. Claudia was sitting by an open window, desperately trying to catch some breeze. You could practically smell the rain in the air and in the distance, thunder was roaring. Claudia wished that the thunderstorm would arrive already and cool the whole place down. She needed to concentrate, and it was way too hot for that.

Julius dropped to the chair next to her and took out his books. It took Claudia a while to understand why he did that.

Then she remembered. That is what couples do, studying together.

Soon though, it became mildly irritating. Julius was fidgeting in his chair and sighing.

"What's up?" Claudia asked finally, trying not to sound too annoyed.

"It's just this runes translation…" He said. Claudia laughed.

"It's funny, isn't it?" She asked, remembering the homework they were set for ancient runes. Julius did not look like he understood what she was talking about. He was definitely not laughing with her. Claudia continued. "It's a riddle…" Julius was still staring blankly. "Only read every other symbol. And then when you're done, do the other ones." Claudia finished.

"Is the Professor joking? Setting us crap like that in OWLs year? I've spent hours on this." Julius said, angrily. Claudia shrugged.

"It wasn't that hard." She said. This seemed to have done nothing to improve Julius' foul mood. Claudia returned to her book. She did not know what else to do.

Mercifully, Emmanuel joined them soon after. He too, sat down with a sigh.

"I can't get my head around the potions essay… Jules, have you done it yet?" He said.

"Don't ask me. Ask Claudia. She knows everything." Julius replied grumpily and returned to his runes.

"Should I pretend I don't know things?" Claudia asked, chuckling. Julius did not find it funny. Clearly, Claudia had touched a nerve. He did not say anything and buried his face back in the essay.

You could at least pretend you don't think we are complete idiots…" Emmanuel muttered, grimacing. Claudia chuckled again.

"I don't think you're complete…" She began to say, but they both shot her an annoyed look. "Never mind." She added.

"I now remember why we stopped studying with you." Quipped Emmanuel. Claudia smirked, but her eyes were planted on Julius. He did not move an inch. She was so wrong before. This dating business is going to be a lot harder than she thought.

Few days later, she had a chance to prove to Julius that she did not think he was an idiot. They were sitting together in the corner of the common room. Claudia was reading her DADA textbook and Julius was wrestling with his History of Magic essay. He was desperately trying to find something in the textbook.

"Do you want help looking?" Asked Claudia quietly. Julius looked at her. It was clearly painful for his ego, but he nodded.

"I just need to find the precise date when the werewolves sacked that wizarding village in Devon… During the Goblin Rebellion. But I forgot which chapter it was in." He muttered and passed Claudia the textbook. She winced. She knew exactly when that village was sacked but felt that telling Julius from memory would not exactly help.

"I'll find it. You write the rest of it." She said and opened the book.

Claudia was going to pretend to read the book for a while and then tell Julius the answer. But her plan was scuppered. From the corner of her eye, she spotted Marcus and Severus leaving the common room. It was nearly curfew and they looked like they did not want to be seen. This must have been it! She needed to follow them.

"Eighteen of March, seventeen-fifty-two." Claudia said hastily, threw the book into Julius' lap, and jumped up to follow her brother.

"Where are you going?" Julius asked. Claudia barely turned back to speak to him.

"I just need to check something. Library…" She whispered absentmindedly and disappeared out of the common room, hot on Marcus' heels.

She trailed Marcus and Severus across the Hogwarts grounds and to the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Claudia watched disappear into the trees. It was getting dark. She hated being there. Every second of it. She was scared and regretted not asking Alice to come with her. But her curiosity and desire to beat Marcus to whatever he was trying to do was stronger. So, she followed them, hiding in the shadows of the trees.

The deeper they went, the darker it was. After ten minutes or so, Claudia could no longer see where she was going. She stepped on something and her a loud crack.

Her heart started to race.

Marcus and Severus stopped in their tracks and turned around. Severus disappeared somewhere. Claudia had no idea where he went. Must have gone to investigate the source of the noise.

She squeezed her wand tight and started to slowly back away. She needed to get out of there and fast!

She could not have taken more than few steps before she could feel someone put a hand over her mouth and throw something over her head.

That was it. She was dead.

She tried to free herself but to no avail.

"Stop moving, you idiot. It's me." She heard her captive whisper. She recognised the voice instantly. It was Sirius and they were under his invisibility cloak. Claudia stopped struggling. Sirius let her go just enough so that she could turn to look at him.

"What are you doing here?" Claudia hissed at him. Sirius put his finger across his lips. Claudia was not deterred. "Are you following me?" She added. Sirius looked nervously around.

"Just shut up for a minute. They aren't deaf." He hissed back at her.

Claudia folded her arms and glared at Sirius. They waited. Severus re-appeared from the shadows and him and Marcus began moving again.

Claudia and Sirius followed them under the cloak. There was barely an inch between them. It was, yet again, completely unbearable. Claudia was so angry at herself. How could she still feel like this around him? After what he had done to her? Remember he broke your heart, she thought to herself. And your boyfriend. Remember your boyfriend. A nice, sensible boyfriend.

Walking under the cloak in the dark would have been hard, even without Sirius' annoying presence. Claudia tripped over some roots, but Sirius caught her again. He chuckled at her clumsiness. "Stop rescuing me." Claudia said angrily, trying to free herself. "Please. Just shut up!" Sirius implored her again.

Barely a minute later, Marcus and Severus suddenly stopped next to a pile of large stones. Sirius and Claudia sat down behind a wall of thick bushes and watched them, still under the cloak. Claudia moved as far away as possible from Sirius. But it was not far enough.

She could still hear his breathing. She could smell his cologne. His hand was barely three inches from hers. Claudia frowned and made herself focus on her brother. She could not let herself be distracted. She was about to find out what he was up to.

Severus took out his wand and pointed it at the pile. The stones rose into the air, moved a yard or so away and then dropped back to the ground. To her huge disappointment, all Claudia could see was a hole in the forest floor. She stretched her neck as high as she could, but it was pointless. She could not see anything.

Marcus took out a piece of parchment, pointed his wand at the hole and cast a spell. Claudia could not hear what he said. Nothing happened.

But Marcus was not giving up. He did it again and again. Still nothing.

Severus tried to take the parchment from him, but Marcus would not allow it. He looked desperate to do it himself.

So, he tried again. This time, Claudia could hear a growl. There was some scratching and barking for a minute or so and then it stopped. Marcus gestured at Severus, who moved the stones back over the hole and they began walking back to the castle. Marcus looked extremely pleased with himself.

Claudia waited for few minutes until Marcus and Severus were gone. She threw the invisibility cloak off her.

"You can go back now. I'll be fine." She said. She did not really mean it. She was terrified. Of the dark. Of the forest. Of what was in that hole. But she was too proud to admit it. Especially to Sirius. Mercifully, he just laughed.

"In your dreams..." Sirius said and began walking towards the stone pile. Claudia let Sirius move the stones away. She did not want to see what was in there.

And she was right to be scared. There was a dead crup lying at the bottom of the hole. It was hairless and its ribs were sticking out from under the skin that was practically translucent. There were scars all across its body, like someone had been conducting experiments on it.

This must have been it, Claudia thought. Marcus' test subject. And it looked like he succeeded it in reanimating it. He had mastered the inferi spell…

Claudia could not bear to look at the dead crup anymore. She turned away and leant against a tree. Suddenly, she felt sick. She was vaguely aware that Sirius replaced the stones and walked up to her.

"Let's get back." He whispered, placing his hand on Claudia's shoulder. She did not mind his presence anymore. She was in shock and needed that.

Claudia summoned enough energy to take a few steps and they began walking back through the forest towards the castle.

"He's practicing the inferi spell, isn't he?" Sirius asked. Claudia nodded.

"Are you ok?" Sirius added. Claudia nodded again. That was a big lie. What she just saw shook her to the core. Her brother was a murderer. And he was unlikely to stop at crups.

"You don't have to pretend that you're ok, you know. Not with me." Sirius whispered.

"I'm ok." Claudia replied, trying her best to sound convincing. She did not want to break down in front of him again.

"The door will be shut by now." Claudia said in an attempt to change the conversation.

"Don't worry. I know a way." Sirius smirked. He took out a massive piece of parchment and studied it. Sirius was holding it up high and she was not quite tall enough to see. It looked like a map. Claudia wanted to know what it was but did not want to ask. She was regaining her composure and was yet again fully aware of why she was not speaking to Sirius.

Just as they got to the edge of the forest, he put the parchment back in his pocket and took out the cloak again.

"Time to hide." He whispered. They did not go to the main entrance. Sirius steered them both towards the foot of the North Tower, pointed his wand to the ground and a trapdoor appeared. Things like this did not surprise Claudia anymore. Not around Sirius.

They walked through the secret passage in silence. The closer they got to the safety of the castle, the angrier Claudia became with Sirius again. He had no business rescuing her. Not after what he did at Christmas.

They must have been nearly inside the castle when Claudia heard Sirius' voice from behind her.

"I really thought you'd forgive me, you know. And we'd be friends again." He said. Claudia stopped and turned towards him. She looked at him defiantly.

"Really? How could I?" She asked. It was really a rhetorical question. Claudia did not stop and her voice was rising. "After months of flirting… You kiss me. You ditch me the next day. And then immediately sleep with Daisy. And I'm just supposed to be ok with that?!" She finished. Her eyes were flaming with fury.

"You know about that?" Sirius whispered. He looked taken aback.

"Yeah. She told everyone on the train back." Claudia said, folding her arms across her chest. "I don't know what to say." Sirius whispered, lowering his eyes.

"That's a first." Claudia said, icily. She turned on her heel and began walking up the passage again. She turned a corner and could finally see a door. That must be the entrance to the castle. Finally!

"It didn't exactly take you long to get over me! Did it?!" Sirius barked after her. She did not turn back.

"Go to hell." She said just loud enough for him to hear. She flung the door of the passage open and stormed off.

She had no idea where she was. It took her good ten minutes to find a corridor she recognised. She slipped back to the Slytherin common room and saw Julius sitting on the sofa. He was holding a book in his arms but was fast asleep. He must have been waiting for her to get back.

Claudia smiled. He was far nicer than she deserved. She sat down on the sofa next to him, lowered her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. She could not face going back to bed and being alone. It was impossible to get the picture of the dead crup out of her head. She could not stop thinking about what her brother was truly capable of. It was horrifying. Julius stirred and wrapped his arm around her.

"When did you get back?" He asked sleepily.

"Late." Claudia replied.

"And did you find what you were looking for?" Julius continued, with a yawn. Claudia nodded and shuffled closer to him.

"We should go to bed." Said Julius and began to get up.

"I don't want to." Claudia sighed. Julius, who was now standing, held out his hand and pulled her up.

"Come on. You don't want to sleep here." He muttered.

Claudia did not have it in her to protest any further. She was just too exhausted. She let Julius walked her to the dormitory and kiss her. She smiled at him. He was nice. This whole thing was good for her. And Claudia was sure that the spark would come one day.