Claudia slowly opened her eyes. It was a beautiful, bright morning. The window above the bed was open and you could hear the bustle of the city coming in. She was going to miss it when they got to Hogwarts. The castle was always eerily quiet at night.
She could feel Sirius' naked body against her back. His arm was wrapped around her, and he was caressing her stomach with his fingers.
"Good morning." He whispered and kissed her neck. Claudia purred and arched her body into his. Every morning they woke up like this was a good one. She was going to miss this in Hogwarts too.
"Are you awake enough to consent to what we are about to do?" Sirius whispered and moved his hand down to Claudia's hip. She reached for it and nudged his fingers even further down and between her legs. "I take that as a yes." Sirius chuckled and kissed her again.
They made slow, sleepy love. Never moving more than an inch away from each other. It was like the sweetest dream. A dream that never ought to stop.
Claudia slowly opened her eyes again, not entirely sure whether she fell asleep after they made love, or if she imagined or dreamt the whole thing. She glanced at the clock to make sure.
"Shit!" Claudia shrieked and jumped up from bed. "It's ten thirty. The train leaves in half an hour!"
"I don't care." Sirius growled and pulled a pillow over his head. He had clearly fallen asleep too and was in no mood to face reality.
"Get up." Claudia pulled the blanket off him and run into the living room. She found some clothes and hastily threw them on. Then, she waved her wand, and half their things threw into one trunk. The other half into the other. They will need to sort out what belongs to whom once they got to school. There was no time now.
"We should take a cab." Sirius yawned, as he stumbled into the living room half-dressed. Minutes later, they grabbed a trunk each, locked the flat behind them and run to the main road.
"Oh no." Claudia whispered when she saw the traffic jam. The road was packed. "There must have been an accident somewhere. We're never going to make it."
"We might stand a chance, if we bewitch the trunks to be lighter." Sirius sighed. "And run."
They did just that and set off towards King's Cross Station as fast as they could.
"Four minutes." Claudia yelled as she sprinted through the entrance and towards platforms nine and ten. As she emerged on the other side of the wall, she saw the conductor bringing his whistle to his mouth. They jumped on the train and barely seconds later, it began to move.
Claudia's legs were so weak that the train's movement threw her against the wall. Sirius crashed on top of her.
"Never in doubt." He laughed and kissed her. "Let's find a compartment."
"I need to go to the prefects' carriage." Claudia grimaced.
"So, I'm supposed to spend the entire journey alone?" Sirius frowned.
"You've got Peter." Claudia said hopefully, but it only made Sirius growl. "Remus and I will have a word with the Head Boy, and he might let us off prefect duties."
"Do you really have to go?" Sirius pleaded with her. Clearly, the prospect of spending the journey with Peter was not especially appealing to him.
"Look." Claudia sighed. "I don't particularly want to go there and take orders from Potter and that ginger nightmare, but I don't have a choice."
"Can I come?" Sirius smirked. "Sounds like it might be fun to watch."
"Go find Peter." Claudia growled. "And don't kill him before one of us gets there."
"Not making any promises." Sirius mumbled and left, dragging his trunk behind him.
"Nice of you to join us, Avery." James laughed when Claudia finally made it to the prefects' carriage and dropped into a seat next to Remus.
"I see you didn't get my message that we wanted prefects in uniform this year." Lily added, her lips pressed together to form a line so thin that she could have been doing a McGonagall impression.
"I got your message." Claudia said, barely resisting an eye roll. "But I overslept."
"Your parents didn't wake you up?" Lily asked.
"Thankfully, no." Claudia smirked. "That would have been very awkward." Next to her, she could hear Remus snort. James began to laugh too but stopped when Lily shot him a look that could kill.
Lily said nothing, just stared at Claudia.
"Are you going to resume your speech?" Claudia asked.
"Are you going to go and change?" Lily barked back.
"I wouldn't want to miss any of the invaluable wisdom you're about to impart on me." Claudia replied sarcastically.
Lily folded her arms across her chest and looked towards James.
"Anyway." The Head Boy cleared his throat. "Evans and I will be here throughout to answer any questions you may have. I know that the responsibilities of being a prefect might sound like a lot right now, but I'm sure you'll all succeed."
"Potter and I are here to make sure you do." Lily added with a smile.
"Do you think that was a threat?" Claudia whispered to Remus.
"I'd go and make yourself look presentable." Remus chuckled. "Otherwise, you'll find out soon enough."
"Oi." Claudia protested and poked him with her elbow. "I look presentable!"
"Your t-shirt's inside out." Remus smirked. "And it's not even yours."
"Nobody else knows that." Claudia whispered with a wink.
Throughout the journey, Remus and Claudia took turns to spend time with Sirius and Peter. And just as well, Peter managed to beat Sirius in a game of wizard chess, and Sirius was not taking that well.
Claudia had to say goodbye to the others at the threshold of the Great Hall and went to sit at the Slytherin table. The only person from her house who even acknowledged she existed was Chris. How different it was from even three years ago, Claudia thought. Back then, Regulus, Julius and Emmanuel were her good friends. Now, they all hated her with a passion.
The seventh-year Slytherin dormitory was no different. When Claudia walked in, all the other girls continued to unpack their things, like she did not exist.
This was actually better than the alternative, Claudia thought, and opened her own trunk. Maybe no one would care about her and Sirius after all.
"Do you think they've done it yet?" Camille asked, seemingly towards no one in particular, but loud enough for Claudia to hear and understand who she was referring to. Claudia closed her eyes. Of course, they would not let it go.
"I doubt it." Penelope laughed. "Guys like Black are only after one thing, and once they get it, it's over."
"Don't rise to it." Claudia muttered to herself. She knew that whatever she said would just be turned against her and lead to more ridicule. That had been the drill for the last six years.
"Why would he want to sleep with her anyway?" Mirabelle pitched in. "He's spoilt for choice. Why scrape the bottom of the barrel?"
"I think it's a bet." Barbara shrieked and all the girls collapsed into a fit of laughter.
Claudia had enough. Without a word, she threw a hex at them. They all began to babble incomprehensible nonsense and gesture wildly. The hex made their tongues triple in size. Claudia climbed into bed and drowned out the noise with protective and silencing charms. She could not care less whether they knew the counter-spell or not.
The girls must have figured out how to counter the hex eventually, because their tongues seemed back to normal the following morning, when Claudia spotted them gossiping in the Great Hall the following morning.
At the same breakfast, Claudia received a note from Dumbledore, asking her to see him at her earliest convenience.
When she got to his office, Dumbledore did not bother with pleasantries. Even before she managed to sit down, he asked her to recount what she uncovered. Claudia told Dumbledore about the American talks, about the kidnapping, how her father was in charge and under suspicion, but how it was Linda who got arrested and shipped off to Azkaban.
"I spoke to the people who worked with her and they think it's very out of character." Claudia finished. "For Linda to have been involved with You-Know-Who."
"Do you know who it was they kidnapped?" Dumbledore asked. When Claudia shook her head, the Headmaster continued. "Or why?"
"No, sorry." Claudia sighed. She felt like a failure and hated it.
"Anything else of interest?" Dumbledore continued to inquire.
"My father and Linda…" Claudia paused, unsure whether she should be telling the Headmaster this. "They may have been involved."
"Involved." Dumbledore repeated. "As in romantically involved?"
"Apparently." Claudia nodded. "But I doubt it was for real. My father is not capable of loving anyone. I think he did it to frame her for the kidnapping."
"You have done well, Miss Avery." Dumbledore finally smiled. "This will certainly give me something to go on."
"Have I?" Claudia scoffed. "Done well?" The disappointment of missing out on becoming Head Girl was suddenly at the front of her mind again.
"Anything else on want to talk about? Dumbledore asked.
"No." Claudia grumbled. "I'm fine." She was, however, not convincing anyone.
"I think I know what is troubling you." The Headmaster smiled at her patiently. "I know that you are an ambitious student and that not being appointed Head Girl must have been disappointing."
Claudia swallowed dry. She did not want to admit that she cared, but could not quite bring herself to deny it either.
"But you are still a school prefect and there are certain standards that you have to uphold." Dumbledore continued, frowning at her slightly from behind his spectacles.
"Understood." Claudia mumbled and began to move toward the exit. Her pride was injured, and she did not need the Headmaster to be dwelling on her failures any longer.
"I do not want to see another report from Madame Pomfrey about the tongue-swelling hex." Dumbledore said curtly.
"Right." Claudia whispered sheepishly and vanished as fast as she could.
As she dragged her feet towards her Transfiguration lesson, she noticed people looking at her again. Some were whispering, some were poking their friends with their elbows to make sure they had a look too, and some were outright laughing. Clearly, her roommates were not the only ones who found entertainment in Claudia's love life.
She would have hexed them all or at least give out detentions, but Dumbledore's words about the standards she was meant to uphold as a prefect were still ringing in her ears. She used to respect the Headmaster, revere him even, but the only think she could feel now was a sense of betrayal.
"I hate everyone." She whispered as slumped to the seat next to Eleanor. "Why does the whole school feel like they have the right to comment on my private life?"
"What did you expect?" Eleanor chuckled. "That you could date the Sirius Black and people would just skip past it?"
"I don't see why not?" Claudia mumbled. After all, she barely paid any attention to who was dating whom, or any other school gossip.
"Because they're dying of jealousy." Eleanor laughed. "That's why they're making up all these rumours."
"Rumours?" Claudia growled. "What rumours?"
"I shouldn't have said anything." Eleanor mumbled.
"Eleanor, tell me!" Claudia hissed. "I'm going to find out anyway."
"Alright." Eleanor sighed. "One of the two I've heard is that he's dating you to steal Quidditch secrets for James." That was to be expected, and what James initially thought too.
"And the other one?" Claudia frowned.
"The other one is that you gave him love potion." Eleanor uttered.
"That's just great." Claudia folded her arms and stared at the blackboard. Mercifully, Professor McGonagall appeared shortly and began the lesson.
Afterwards, Eleanor and Claudia headed to lunch. Sirius soon joined them.
"You look miserable." He said. "Did the meeting with Dumbledore not go great?"
"Honestly, could have been better." Claudia replied. "But that's not it. I'm just getting sick of everyone looking at me and gossiping about us."
"What gossip did you hear?" Sirius' face lit up.
"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" Claudia frowned and rolled her eyes when Sirius nodded excitedly. In some respects, their personalities were similar. Possibly the biggest difference between them, however, was that Sirius enjoyed the limelight and Claudia did not. In fact, she was easily embarrassed and hated it. "Eleanor just told me that either we are dating so you can sabotage the Slytherin team, or because of a love potion. And my roommates think it's for a bet."
"Boring." Sirius chuckled. "I've heard that you got me under the Imperius Curse."
"If there is anyone in our year, who could use the Imperious Curse to get a boyfriend, it's you." Eleanor pitched in, laughing uncontrollably. Sirius joined her.
"Well, I'm glad you two are having fun." Claudia growled. "I'm off to the library."
"Want some company?" Sirius asked.
"Are you planning to study?" Claudia asked him instead of replying.
"Not really…" Sirius chuckled.
"Then no." Claudia sneered and began to get up. "I need to concentrate." But before she could stand up and leave, Sirius put his hand on her shoulder.
"Please remember that I'm with you because I love you." He whispered. "And what these idiots think doesn't matter."
"I know." She tried to smile and kissed him. "It's just annoying."
"You can always hex some more people to let off steam." Sirius laughed.
"You know about that?" Claudia blushed. It was not her finest hour, and she was hoping that no one other than her roommates and the Headmaster knew.
"Everybody knows about that." Sirius replied, looking almost proud of her.
Once in the library, Claudia tried to study, but it was basically impossible. Everyone was still whispering and giving her strange looks. But she was no longer sure whether it was because of Sirius or the hex.
Claudia packed up her books and found a desk in the corner of the potions section. If she could not study, at least she could look for a poison that would be made of echinacea, lovage and a weird spikey plant. She had gone through a couple of books on common poisons and found nothing.
"Let's try herbology." She mumbled and walked over to the other corner of the library in search for books about poisonous plans. Again, without finding anything of use.
Claudia came back next day and the day after that. It made her forget all the jibes and rumours. At the end of the week, she finally stumbled onto something promising in a volume entitled "Invasive Species and How to Fight Them". There was a drawing of a plant which included a seed capsule virtually identical to what they found in Snape's concoction. Claudia scanned the page.
"In European witchcraft, Jimsonweed was often responsible for the hallucinogenic effects of magical or lycanthropic salves and potions."
"This could be it." Claudia mumbled, grabbed the book under her arm and run out of the Herbology isle and out of the library. "I need that stupid map of his." She sighed when she realised that she had no clue where to look for Sirius. Eventually, she found him in the courtyard.
"Does this look familiar to you?" She shoved the book in front of his face.
"I don't blame him." Sirius laughed and pointed at the same sentence that caught Claudia's eye. The one about Jimsonweed's hallucinogenic effects. "If I was that much of a loser, I'd look for ways to escape the reality too."
"Ha ha." Claudia said sarcastically. "As far as I know, Lucy and Eleanor did not have any hallucinations. But this got to be it. I haven't found anything else that looked this similar."
"I can't quite believe I'm the one saying this." James mumbled. "But have you thought about the possibility that your friends getting sick was just a coincidence? And Snape had nothing to do with that?"
"You've been spending too much time with Evans, mate." Sirius smirked.
"I'm just saying." James frowned, but his face now matched the colour of his Gryffindor Quidditch jumper. "He might not have been the one who hurt them. And if we keep focusing on that, we'll never find the right answer."
"Someone still hurt them." Claudia whispered. "And he's the best suspect we have."
"I'm with Claude." Sirius nodded towards his girlfriend.
"Let's divide efforts." Remus finally spoke. "You two can keep looking into poisons, and James and I will think of what else it could be."
"What about me?" Peter asked quietly.
"We could both use your help." Remus replied, with a significant look towards his other two friends. Claudia got the distinct impression that Remus was the one in charge of making sure that Peter did not feel too left out.
"Just pick whoever you think is right." Sirius chuckled.
Peter looked at Sirius, then at James, and back to Sirius.
"I don't know." He whispered. If Claudia did not know better, she would have thought his voice was trembling with fear.
"Typical." Sirius laughed. "Just go with James. I won't be offended."
"I'm going back to the library." Claudia said, cutting Peter off before he could respond. There was no time for this sort of drama.
"Wait up." Sirius said and began packing his things. "Last chance, Wormtail."
Peter did not move an inch, so Claudia and Sirius made their way to the library alone.
"Wormtail?" Claudia inquired.
"His rat nickname." Sirius explained. "James is Prongs." He continued, making little antlers on his head with his fingers. "I'm Padfoot, like the..."
"The death omen." Claudia rolled her eyes. "Great nickname."
"And Remus is Moony, for obvious reasons." Sirius finished, chuckling.
"You four are such dorks." Claudia shook her head.
"We might be dorks." Sirius whispered and pulled her closer to him. "But you love it. Admit it."
"Never." Claudia laughed. But he was right. She did love it.
Claudia, Sirius and his friends spent the next week in the library looking for anything that would include echinacea, lovage and Jimsonweed and found absolutely nothing. Not even close. Thankfully for Claudia's sanity, the third weekend in September meant Quidditch try-outs and a break from the library.
In previous years, she may have felt a mixture of excitement and nervousness. But this time, she woke up on the day absolutely dreading what was coming. She had not spoken to Regulus since her parents' party, and to Julius since he tried to kiss her at the end of last year. But she was still the Slytherin captain, and she could not avoid either of them any longer.
When she was leaving for the pitch to get everything ready, she spotted Julius sitting in the common room, reading a book. That in itself would have been unusual, but today, it was especially weird. He was not even wearing his Quidditch robes.
"Are you not trying out for the team?" Claudia asked as nonchalantly as she could.
"Is that all you have to say to me?" Julius scoffed and shut the book.
"I'm sorry." Claudia replied tentatively.
"You don't look that sorry. I've been so stupid, thinking we might have another chance." Julius growled. "At the party… I really thought." He barely managed to add.
"I should have told you first." Was all Claudia could say. "I really didn't want you to find out from Regulus."
"Doesn't matter how I found out." Julius frowned. "You've been in love with him all along, haven't you?"
Claudia could not bring herself to lie. Julius was right, she knew that now. So, she just stood there, staring at him.
"Right. Find another Quidditch lackey." Julius snapped and crashed back into the armchair.
Claudia grabbed a toast from the Great Hall, gave Sirius a quick kiss, and made her way to the pitch. She spent the next hour pacing around the captain's office, the changing rooms, and the field. Finally, Chris poked his head through the door.
"How are we doing this, boss?" He asked cheerfully.
"Well, I thought that Regulus might stab me in the back and the rest of you can then dance on my grave." Claudia sighed, which only made Chris burst out laughing.
"Yeah. I've noticed both him and Julius have been taking the news that you're dating Black rather well." He said, still chuckling. "But I'm sure they'll get over it for Quidditch."
"Julius isn't trying out." Claudia whispered. "He just told me."
"A keeper should be quite easy to find." Chris replied. He tried to sound encouraging, but Claudia noticed that the smile was gone from his face. They needed a new keeper, a new beater to replace Anthony, and a new chaser to replace Rowle. This was not going to be easy.
Before Claudia could reply, Regulus and Emmanuel walked in. They greeted Chris but squarely ignored Claudia. Soon, about thirty to forty Slytherins were assembled on the pitch, eagerly awaiting the beginning of the session. Claudia and Chris, who volunteered to help her run the try-outs in Julius' absence, took down all their names and the positions they were interested in.
"Which position are you interested in, Regulus?" Claudia heard Chris asked jokingly, as she was taking down the names of some eager second years.
"Captain". Regulus smirked.
"Asshole." Chris muttered and moved on.
Claudia could feel her temper rising. Mercifully, before it boiled over, it was time for everyone to get on their brooms and start flying. Regulus, Emmanuel and Chris all flew well, and Claudia had no choice but to keep them. In a way, she was glad. Regulus in particular would probably be easier to manage if he was on the team. There was this muggle saying that Eleanor taught her. Better to have him inside the tent pissing out, than outside the tent pissing in. Or something like that.
All the keepers were pretty rubbish. Claudia finally settled on a huge fourth year, called Emilius Bulstrode, who at least managed to stay on the broom for the duration of the try-outs. The same could not have been said about the others, that's how bad the field was.
For a chaser, Claudia picked Creusa Greengrass. Creusa was the girl who Claudia wanted on the team last year, but Julius convinced her to keep Rowle. The second contender was Rowle's cousin, and you could definitely tell they were related. Claudia would rather eat her arm than have someone like him on the team again.
Lastly, she picked a sixth year, Rupert Abbott, as a beater. He was pretty decent and, importantly, Chris' friend. Which meant that he was probably not going to be a huge pain in her backside, unlike the others.
Claudia could barely distinguish between the days following the Quidditch try-outs. The NEWT coursework was beyond challenging, and every time she felt like giving up, all she needed to do was to think back to her sixth-year exam results. And every minute she was not studying, she was spending in the library with Sirius researching rare poisons.
At least they could do that now. Be together in the open. One evening, Claudia found herself having dinner with Sirius, Remus and Peter.
"I know I'm going to regret asking." She said. "But where is James?"
"He's not having dinner with us." Sirius smirked. "He's eating with his girlfriend."
"Good grief." Claudia sighed. "Are you saying that she finally agreed to go out with him?"
"Indeed." Remus mumbled. "It's been twenty-four hours, and he had not shut up about it. To be frank, it's quite nice to get a break from it all."
Claudia looked around the Great Hall and spotted them sitting at the very corner of the room, holding hands across the table. She wondered how long it would take before Lily started to hang out with them, and which of Claudia's flaws she would pick on first. She did not have to wait long to find out, as Lily caught her after classes the following day.
"So, I guess you've heard about James and me." Lily began with a sweet smile.
"Yeah. Congratulations." Claudia said with significantly less warmth in her voice. "Or good luck, rather."
"I know we aren't exactly friends." Lily continued.
"Understatement of the year." Claudia mumbled under her breath.
"But I think we should try harder to get on." Lily ignored her. "I want to get to know you and Sirius better."
"What do you want to do?" Claudia asked. "Go shopping together? Get a make-over?"
"I was thinking more like a double date in Hogsmeade, but shopping could…" Lily began hopefully.
"I was joking." Claudia jumped in. She hated shopping.
"So, a double date it is." Lily said with another smile. A smile which appeared somewhat stiffer and steelier than the first one.
"Sirius and I aren't exactly date sort of people." Claudia protested. She would rather clean Filch's office than spend an afternoon in that horrifying tea shop with James and Lily.
"I'm sure it will come." Lily tried to reassure her. "Dating can be hard at the beginning."
"Sirius and I have been together for nine months." Claudia smirked. "I don't think our attitude to dates is going to change any time soon."
"Really? I didn't know." Lily said earnestly. There was something odd about her tone of voice. It was weirdly high-pitched.
"No one did. That's kind of the point of dating in secret…" Claudia frowned. Lily's body language was making her uncomfortable. "Why do you sound so surprised?"
"Well..." Lily whispered. "I always thought he would calm down a bit once he was with the right person."
Claudia's frown had deepened even further. The words 'right person' were ringing in her ears. When she did not say a thing in response, Lily continued.
"If James can change, I'm sure Sirius can too." She said sweetly and placed her hand on Claudia's shoulder. "It might just take him little bit of time."
"I don't want Sirius to change." Claudia hissed and removed Lily's hand. "I like him just as he is."