Coming of Age
Bonus chapter on top of what I published yesterday, as UK Christmas basically just got cancelled. Which makes me sad. And this chapter makes me (mostly) happy. Happy Holidays!
UPDATE: I think I may have confused things slightly by publishing two chapters this week. If the last thing you read was Alphard's funeral, go one chapter back. If you've read about the end of the alchemy completion, keep going.
After classes on the second Monday in May, the day before Claudia's Birthday, Sirius run up to her in the corridor. Claudia could swear she never saw him smile quite this broadly.
"Come with me." He whispered, led her to the third floor and stopped abruptly in front of a statue of an old witch. He mumbled a spell and the statue opened revealing a short slide. "After you, m'lady." He smirked.
"Where are we going?" Claudia asked sceptically.
"I told you we'll celebrate your Birthday properly." Sirius smirked. "Can hardly do that here."
"Are we sneaking out of school?" Claudia's eyes widened. She was hardly a model student but had nothing on Sirius in terms of rule-breaking.
"Everything has been planned." Sirius reassured her. "Immaculately."
"Are you serious?" She gasped.
"Serious is my middle name. Actually, my first name." Sirius chuckled and extended his hand. Claudia began to reach out for it. "We'll be back before anyone notices. We both got a free period tomorrow morning."
"We'll be gone overnight?" Claudia drew her hand back and stepped away from the statue. "People will notice! My room mates will not cover for me…"
"They won't even know you're gone." Sirius smirked. "I told you. Everything has been planned immaculately."
"Your friends better not be Polyjuicing into me." Claudia frowned.
"It was suggested." Sirius chuckled. "But I vetoed it…"
"I have no spare clothes." Claudia found another thing to protest about.
"You do." Sirius pointed at his bag. "Even the laundry house-elves can be bribed." Claudia could not help but laugh. He really seemed to have thought of everything. "If we get caught, I'll say I've kidnapped you." Sirius added.
"Fine." Claudia giggled and grabbed Sirius' hand. "Lead the way." They slid down a slide and made their way down a tunnel. It took them a good hour before they emerged in the cellar of Huneydukes Sweetshop. They snuck out of the shop under the invisibility cloak and walked to the edge of the village.
"Hold on tight." Sirius squeezed her hand. Before Claudia could even ask why, the world around her swirled violently. She landed on her knees in an unfamiliar alleyway. Tall stone buildings were towering on either side of her. She had no idea where they were.
"Welcome to Edinburgh." Sirius whispered.
They bought some fish and chips, wrapped in an old newspaper, from a street vendor. That was what the muggles did, apparently.
"Let's go somewhere with a view." Sirius said and led Claudia up a hill overlooking the city. The view was indeed beautiful. Just as the sun began to set, they sat down on a blanket. They shared a bottle of wine that Sirius produced from the depth of his bag and ate their dinner. They may have had no table or chairs, no glasses, and were eating their food from old newspapers on the ground. But to Claudia, this was the most perfect Birthday dinner imaginable. They were together.
"What else do you have in there?" Claudia laughed when she noticed Sirius was rummaging through his bag again.
"I want us to be able to remember this." He whispered and took out a camera. "Forever."
They messed around taking pictures. Claudia was balancing on the edge of the hill, pretending she was flying over the city. Sirius was trying to see how many chips he managed to stick into his mouth at the same time. They tried to take a picture of themselves kissing. But it was nearly impossible, the wind was picking up and their hair was flying everywhere.
"I want to do magic already!" Claudia yelled at the top of her lungs. They were too far from anywhere. She was sure no one could hear or see them. It was liberating
"Three and a half hours is all you have to wait." Sirius said, glancing at his watch. It was getting late and chilly. Claudia shivered.
Sirius picked up his leather jacket.
"You'll be cold." She protested. "I'm fine."
"This is not up for discussion." Sirius whispered, wrapped his jacket around Claudia's shoulders and pulled her closer to him by the lapels. A kiss rarely tasted so sweet. Claudia had no idea how long they stayed up there making out. All she knew was that they finished the wine.
Suddenly, she felt a raid drop on her face. Then another.
"Please tell me we have somewhere to sleep." She whispered.
"Will you ever trust me?" Sirius laughed and began to pack up their things. "Of course, we have somewhere to sleep." They run down the hill. The more it rained, the faster they run. When they finally got back into town, Sirius dragged Claudia into a side street. He lifted a flowerpot in front of one of the houses and found a key.
"Relax. It's a guesthouse and I've rented a room." Sirius chuckled, when he noticed the sceptical look on his girlfriend's face. "The owner said to take this key if we come after hours." He kissed her. Between the running and the wine, Claudia was feeling somewhat light-headed. The kissing did not make that any better. "If anyone asks, we're married." Sirius added and unlocked the door.
"What? Why?" Claudia asked as she followed him.
"Because otherwise, we're sleeping in the street." He chuckled. "Muggles are quite strict about these things." He added, grabbed her hand, and led her up the stairs to the top floor.
Claudia opened the door to their room. It was small, the décor was very dated, but it was adorable. She turned and saw Sirius lock the door behind him and lean against it. The streetlamp that was just outside of their window was illuminating him. Claudia noticed than that he was soaking wet. She watched him run his hand through his wet her. His clothes went sticking to him. He was impossible to resist at the best of times. This was unbearable.
Clumsily, they thrown off their wet clothes and collapsed on the bed, kissing.
"Can I try something?" Sirius grinned.
"Well, that rather depends on what 'it' is." Claudia whispered.
Sirius grinned even more broadly and kissed her. Then, he moved his lips to her neck. She could feel the trail that his breath left on her body. It was excruciating. He kissed her shoulder, her chest, her stomach. But he did not stop there.
Claudia bit her lip. Her back arched. Whatever it was Sirius was trying, she did not want him to stop. Ever.
Eventually, Claudia collapsed back into the pillow. Sirius emerged back from the duvet, looking incredibly pleased with himself. Claudia groaned and turned over onto her stomach. He run his fingers up her lower back, her spine, until he was on top of her. He squeezed her in his arms and kissed her neck.
"This is nice." Claudia whispered and arched her body into his.
"Is it?" Sirius quipped and slid his hand down to hold onto her hip.
"I like the angle." Claudia chuckled. The wine has clearly taken away any remaining inhibitions she had. And she did not have that many of them in the first place. At least when it came to this.
"Angle?" Sirius laughed. "Am I an astronomy project to you?" He muttered and continued to leave a trail of kisses on her shoulder and neck.
"Your stupid name ruined astronomy for me." Claudia whispered back. "Brightest star in the sky." She mocked him. "I haven't been able to concentrate in that class for the entirety of the fifth year. Had to drop it."
"I'm so not sorry." Sirius whispered in her ear, just before she felt him inside of her. "Distracting you is my favourite activity."
What followed was very distracting indeed. With every fibre of her body, Claudia could feel they were getting close. Sirius moved both of his hands onto her lower back and pinned her down. She never felt such intense pleasure in her life.
"I don't think I can ever move again." She uttered with difficulty, when Sirius crumpled on top of her, panting heavily. He did not even look like he was capable of a reply. He just groaned, rolled over and crashed into the bed next to her.
That, however, was a mistake. The bed creaked and with a bang, they rolled onto the ground. The leg of the bed must have broken off. Neither Sirius nor Claudia cared in the slightest. Instead, they broke down into a fit of laughter.
Suddenly, there was a loud knock on the door. Sirius managed to get on all fours, find his wand and restore the bed to its original state. Claudia managed to climb back under the duvet and watched him struggle to put his trousers on. They were clearly more drunk that either of them realised. There was another loud knock.
"Coming." Sirius growled towards the door. Claudia chuckled into the pillow.
"What's the commotion?" An angry voice asked. It must have been the owner, or a disgruntled guest whose sleep they interrupted. Claudia could not look. She pulled the duvet over her head. Anything to stop laughing.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Sirius replied sleepily.
"I heard a crash!" The angry man continued.
"Shush." Sirius implored him. "You'll wake up my wife."
"What is it, honey?" Claudia asked, pretending to yawn.
"Nothing. Apparently, someone's causing trouble." Sirius replied. "Goodnight." He added and shut the door into the man's face. Seconds later, he collapsed back into bed and hugged Claudia again. She was so comfortable, so warm, so tired. Her head was spinning.
"How much longer to midnight?" She whispered. "I want to stay up. Do some magic."
"Twenty minutes." Sirius replied. Claudia purred and shuffled herself even closer to Sirius' warm body. Just twenty minutes and she will be of age.
"Happy Birthday." She heard Sirius whisper in her ear.
"Is it midnight already?" Claudia yawned and opened her eyes.
"It's the morning." Sirius chuckled.
Claudia turned towards him and frowned. She really wanted to stay up past midnight.
"Don't you frown at me." Sirius laughed. "I tried waking you up three times at midnight and you told me to fuck off and let you sleep."
Claudia squinted and tried to remember. He may have been right. A snippet or two of that conversation was coming back to her.
Claudia extracted herself from Sirius' embrace and rummaged through the wet pile of clothes they left on the ground for her wand. She pointed it at a horrid vase.
"Wingardium Leviosa." Claudia muttered the incantation and the vase begin to float in mid-air. She grinned. It was a pathetic spell to try, but she could not think of anything else in the moment.
Suddenly, Claudia heard a click. She turned to Sirius, who was grinning at her from behind the camera. Claudia tried to snatch it from him. After all, she was barely covered in the duvet. But Sirius outstretched his arm to move the camera away and grabbed her with his other arm.
Claudia climbed on top of him and kissed him, hoping to distract him long enough to steal the camera and take some pictures of him in retaliation. But Sirius was on guard. He dropped the camera to the floor, wrapped his other arm around her and turned them both over. They made love again.
"I'm starving." Sirius sighed, as they were both resting in each other's arms. "Let's go for breakfast."
They just about managed to take a shower, dry their clothes, and make their way down to the dining room.
The moment they got to the doorway, everyone stopped eating and stared at them. Then, the chatter started.
"The youth these days…" Uttered an old woman in a hideous emerald dress.
"The whole hotel could hear them…" Her companion added.
"I bet you they aren't even married…" A tall gentleman pitched in from another table.
"Scandalous…" Added the waitress.
Claudia did not wait for any more chatter. She backed out of the dining room and dragged Sirius with her. She was horrified.
"Breakfast elsewhere?" Sirius said casually like nothing had happened.
"How does this not bother you?" Claudia blushed.
"I don't know these people. Will never see them again." Sirius shrugged. "Their gossip isn't going to stop me from doing what I want." He smirked, pinned her against the wall and kissed her passionately. Claudia could not help but envy his attitude.
They shared a breakfast in a tiny café and spent the morning walking around town. They held hands whenever they wanted. They kissed whenever they wanted. Despite the horrible weather, it was the most divine Birthday morning Claudia had ever experienced.
Just after eleven o'clock, it was time to go back, and they set off to find a quiet spot to apparate from. Just before they turned off from the busy street, Sirius' eyes have lit up.
"I've wanted this for years." He said, pointing manically towards a motorbike. "This model. It's old, but just beautiful." A shadow crossed his face. "But the stupid muggles will only sell it to me when I'm nineteen."
"Plenty of other ways for you to kill yourself until then." Claudia quipped. She loved Sirius very much but could not quite see him observing the rules of the road. Whatever the rules were.
Chuckling, they finally made it to a quiet side street. Claudia placed her hands on Sirius' chest.
"I don't want to go back." She whispered and her forehead on Sirius' chest. "This is too perfect."
"It's just few more weeks." Sirius replied and hugged her tight.
"And then what?" Claudia looked up at him.
"Then you can come live with me." Sirius smiled at her.
"What? At the Potters?" She smirked.
"Uncle Alphard's money has come through." He replied. "I'm going to get my own flat. Something small in London."
Claudia opened her mouth. She was about to list all the reasons why it was a bad idea. Why it would never work. But she just could not think of anything. Not in that moment. Then, a horrifying thought occurred to her.
"Can I just check." She uttered. "You aren't saying we should get married, are you?"
"No." Sirius laughed. "Can you imagine?" He added. Claudia really could not imagine that and struggled to keep a straight face. "Think about it. The living together. Not the getting married." Sirius whispered, still chuckling, and kissed her. "Ready?" He added and outstretched his arm.
"I'm doing this myself." Claudia grinned.
"Of course, you are." Sirius rolled his eyes.
He barely finished that sentence before Claudia could feel the world swirl around her again. And before she knew it, she landed on the outskirts of Hogsmeade. Within seconds, Sirius joined her. They snuck back into Honeydukes and to school.
Claudia had absolutely no idea what happened in the afternoon classes. She just about managed to recover some composure ahead of dinner. And right in time, because her friends prepared her a little celebration in the Great Hall. Eleanor made cake. Pauline spiked the pumpkin juice with firewhiskey.
They chatted about nothing and laughed like seventeen years old should. At the end of the evening, it was just Alice and Claudia left at the table.
"What did you get from your boyfriend?" Alice chuckled.
"Nothing much." Claudia blushed. "But it was perfect." She added in a barely audible whisper. She told Alice about the trip. About their picnic dinner. About their aimless strolling through Edinburgh.
"I don't recognise you." Alice smirked.
"I know I should know better than break rules like this, being a prefect and all." Claudia sighed. "But he just makes it so easy."
"Not what I meant." Alice replied. "You just seem so happy." She tried to smile but her face was telling a different story.
"Are you ok?" Claudia asked.
"I don't want to ruin your party with my sorrows." Alice replied.
"Don't be ridiculous." Claudia poked Alice with her elbow. "Remember how much misery I dumped on you over the last two years?"
"Fine." Alice could not help but chuckle. "I think Joseph might be thinking about proposing to me in the summer."
"You don't look like you want him to." Claudia said, studying her best friend's face.
"I barely know him." Alice sighed. "We haven't even…" She began to say but could not even finish that sentence. "How am I supposed to make that decision?"
"You have to be sure, Alice. You can't agree to marry someone if you aren't sure you love them." Claudia whispered. "And I know that sex isn't everything, but the closeness it can bring. With the right person…"
"What do you mean?" Alice asked.
"When I was with Julius." Claudia paused. She had never spoke about this to anyone. And for a good reason, it was excruciatingly embarrassing. "It was so awkward, you just kind of wait for it to be over so that you can get on with your day. But now, when we are just laying in bed afterwards. It's the most beautiful feeling in the world and you just never want that moment to end."
"Do you think you and Sirius will get married?" Alice smiled.
"No." Claudia chuckled and shook her head. "But that's just because I'm never getting married. Can you even imagine me being someone's wife?" She asked with visible distain on her face.
"You and Sirius are perfect for each other. I don't really understand how. But you just are." Alice whispered. "I want something like that in my life."
"And you will find it." Claudia said and put her arm around Alice. "Maybe not with Joseph, but you will find it."
"What should I do about him?" Alice sighed.
"If there is anything, I learned from this whole Julius fiasco." Claudia began. "It is not to drag it out. If you don't want to be with him, then break it off."
"You're right." Alice sighed.
"This is weird, isn't it?" Claudia chuckled. "Me giving you relationship advice."
"A little." Alice laughed. "What has my life come to?" Claudia hugged her best friend and they laughed together. Soon after, the caretaker chucked them out of the Great Hall, and they went their separate ways.
When Claudia got back to her dormitory, she found a small package on her bed. She tore open the wrapping. It was a small album with all the pictures they took in Edinburgh. Claudia barely recognised herself. Alice was right. She looked truly happy. And so did Sirius.
The following morning, Claudia was still dazed when she walked into the Great Hall. Within seconds though, she knew that something was terribly wrong. Alice run to meet her by the door, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Eleanor and Lucy are both in the hospital wing." She sobbed. "Unconscious. They collapsed last night."
Claudia followed Alice to the hospital wing as fast as she could. Deep-down, she hoped that Alice was exaggerating, and Eleanor and Lucy were going to be fine. But when she saw there pale, lifeless bodies lying in their hospital beds, she began to cry too.
"It's just like the two Hufflepuffs in February, Albus." They heard Madame Pomfrey's voice. "And the Gryffindor few weeks back. Same symptoms. No obvious cause."
Claudia could not hear anything else, just faint whispers. Not a minute later, Madame Pomfrey strolled in to join them by Eleanor's bed.
"You were with them last night, weren't you?" Madame Pomfrey asked. Alice and Claudia nodded in unison. "Tell me everything." The matron added.
"We all ate and drank the same things." Alice began. "And then we all went back to our common rooms at about eight-thirty."
"Did you eat or drink anything unusual?" Madame Pomfrey narrowed her eyes. Claudia knew where this was heading.
"There may have been some firewhiskey in the pumpkin juice." She whispered, avoiding the matron's eye. "It was my Birthday."
"I'll deal with that later." Madame Pomfrey frowned. "Now, get out of here. I need to look after my patients. They should be fine. I've started them on some complex antidotes."
They walked out of the hospital wing, but Claudia did not make it far. She leaned against the wall and slit down to sit. Her legs betrayed her and she was in tears again.
"They'll be fine. You've heard Madame Pomfrey." Alice tried to reassure her.
"I know." Claudia sighed. Still, she felt overwhelming guilt. Not because of the firewhiskey. What if Snape, or whoever made an attempt on her life earlier, was trying to get to her again and messed up. It was one thing putting herself in danger. But another thing entirely to do that to her friends.
"You need some fresh air." Alice lifted Claudia off the floor, put her arms around her shoulders and steered her friend toward the courtyard.
Just as they got to the first floor, they stumbled upon a commotion. Green was shouting insults and throwing hexes in the direction of James Potter.
"Just. Stop. It." James kept shouting as he deflected each hex. "I don't understand what your problem is." He was, however, not hexing Green back. It almost looked like as if he was trying to defuse situation.
When Green saw Claudia, he threw one last hex at James and disappeared down the corridor.
"I keep forgetting that I'm a prefect." Claudia sighed. "Can someone please remind me to give him detention later"? James chuckled. "Very mature of you, by the way. Not rising to this." She added.
"Just taking your advice, Avery." James smirked.
Claudia gave him a brief smile and then her eyes landed on Sirius. He was certainly not smiling.
"Let's go." Alice whispered, grabbed James by the arm and led him away. Claudia and Sirius were left alone. They stepped into an alcove to get away from the bustle of the corridor. Sirius squeezed Claudia in his arms the moment they were out of sight.
"I knew something like this would happen again." He hissed.
"Nothing happened." Claudia sighed. Sirius let go of her, brushed her hair away from her face and looked straight into Claudia's eyes.
"Two of your friends are unconscious in the hospital wing, Claude." He whispered.
"You don't know for sure it was Snape." She replied, half-heartedly.
"You're just saying that to try to keep me calm." Sirius scoffed. "And it's not working."
Claudia took a deep breath.
"Do you think that's what Snape has been brewing?" She said, in a barely audible whisper. "Some poison?"
"If he is…" Sirius frowned, his face was full of hatred again.
"Let's steal some of it." Claudia jumped in. "Find out for sure. Before jumping to conclusions."
Sirius stared at her face, his head and his heart were clearly engaged in a fight about what to say and do.
"Fine." He said finally. The head had won.
So, they watched Snape on the map until finally, in early June, he disappeared into the void again. They squeezed themselves into a gap between some pillars and waited. Claudia rested her head on Sirius' chest. But instead of holding her or kissing her hair like he always did, he winced with pain. Tiny drops of blood began appearing through his shirt. Without a word, Claudia unbuttoned it. There was a massive gash on his chest.
"What happened?" She asked, running her fingers around the wound. It was very fresh.
"James made me practice Quidditch with him, and got carried away." Sirius replied.
"How stupid do you think I am?" Claudia frowned. "I play the bloody game. No way you got this playing Quidditch, unless you were up against a team of werewolves."
"Fine." Sirius sighed, looking rather uncomfortable. "We snuck into the forest and got into a bit of trouble."
Claudia did not get a chance to ask any more questions. They heard the door open. Snape must have been leaving the cupboard. They waited for him to vanish in absolute silence. Claudia was not sure what to make of Sirius' excuse. She hated the idea that he would have secrets from her. Especially, because she told him all of hers.
"Looks like we got lucky." Sirius ysaid, when they got to the cupboard, and pointed towards a self-stirring cauldron that was standing in the corner.
Claudia took out a couple of vials and filled them with Snape's concoction.
"We need to make it look like an accident." She said when she was done. "He'd know some if it was missing."
"Let's blame it on Filch's bastard cat." Sirius hissed, walked up to the cauldron and tipped it over. He then submerged his fingers into the spillage and made very convincing trail of cat paw marks leading towards the door.
"That should do it." Claudia could not help but chuckle. "Let's get out of here."
Once they were safely in Slytherin's apartments, Claudia sniffed the mixture.
"It's not a poison I recognise." She whispered.
"Can you reverse-engineer it?" Sirius asked. "Work out what it's made of?"
"That's basically impossible." Claudia began to say. "Unless you have…"
They looked at each other.
"The alkahest." They said at the same time.
They spent the rest of the afternoon hatching a plan on how to make the alkahest, using Flamel's instructions. It was not going to be easy – their project was over and any out of hours use of the alchemy lab would be suspicious. And they only had few weeks till the end of term. This was going to be impossible.