Unforgivable Curse
This chapter contains major spoilers from the first story. If you ever had an intention to read that, now is the time. This chapter contains a description of canon-typical violence and recreational marijuana use.
"Listen up." Barraclough's voice echoed around the office. It was five thirty and Claudia was about to go home after a relatively uneventful day. "The boss wants to talk to Rosier. We've got an address in Holloway."
"Talk talk?" Dankworth asked. "Or 'question-under-caution' talk?"
"The latter," Barraclough smirked. "Let's go."
Barraclough, Adebayo, Fernsby, Dankworth and Claudia took the Floo network to one of the auror safe houses in North London, which was only about ten minutes' walk from Rosier's hide out. It was getting dark, and they set off to find it as inconspicuously as they could.
Claudia tried fighting it, but to no avail. The knot in her stomach was staying. Her first auror mission!
"We shouldn't all be going through this alleyway," said Barraclough. Pointing at a narrow path between fenced-off railway tracks and some industrial buildings. "You two," he gestured at Fernsby and Dankworth, "go on the main road, walk around and signal once you're at the other end of this path."
"It's twice as long," growled Dankworth. "That alleyway is barely fifty yards, and they don't know we're coming."
"Don't go all Moody on us, man," Fernsby added.
"Fine." Barraclough sighed. "But wands out," he added urgently, and walked into the alleyway first.
It was dark, and the path was barely lit.
"What was that?" Claudia whispered when she heard a something rustle.
"Calm down," Fernsby hissed. "It's just a tree. The wind is picking up."
Claudia took a deep breath. Her nerves were just getting to her.
The aurors made it about half-way down the alleyway when Claudia heard a different sound. A familiar loud hiss. Before she could quite recognise it, a black ball landed right among them.
In a split second, Claudia remembered. It was the same bomb Mundungus threw at her and Sirius when he panicked under their interrogation.
"Take cover!" she yelled, but it was too late. Before she knew it, a powerful force threw her against the wall.
Claudia had no idea how much time passed before she managed to open her eyes again. When she did, she saw her fellow aurors scattered on the ground.
None of them showed any sign of life.
Claudia began to fumble around for her wand. They better not be dead, she thought. But before she had a chance to check, a jet of green light hit the wall next to her.
"Fuck," she hissed. There was only one spell she knew that looked like that.
Claudia jumped out of the way of another spell. Something rolled under her feet, and she came crashing to the floor. It must have been her wand. She picked it up. It was.
"Expelliarmus! Stupefy!" she yelled in quick succession.
Another jet of green light shot from the end of the alleyway.
"Impedimenta!" she retaliated. Nothing.
The attacker cackled and shot another killing spell, this time in the direction of one of the lifeless bodies. He missed, just.
"Stop it!" she screamed. "Petrificius Totallus."
More cackling came out from the dark end of the alleyway. Then another green jet of light.
It was only a matter of time before he hit her.
She had nowhere to go. Nowhere to hide.
Claudia gripped her wand with everything she had. "Avada Kedavra!" she yelled, but nothing came out of the end of her wand.
She took a deep breath, remembering everything Miss Sachs on said on the first day of Auror training. 'Intent is key.'
She needed to kill him. It was either him or her.
"Avada Kedavra." A pathetic green cloud puffed out of the end of her wand.
She wanted to kill him.
The rage that has built up inside of her over the years was boiling over. She hated You-Know-Who. She hated the Death Eaters.
Rosier deserved to die.
"Avada Kedavra," she yelled again. This time a powerful jet shot from the end of Claudia's wand, and she heard a thud. The attacker was down.
Claudia fell on all four. Her whole body was hurting. She could see blood dripping on the floor. She must have got a cut when she was first thrown against the wall.
She crawled to the body nearest to her. It was Fernsby. He was still, his eyes were shut. He definitely looked dead.
Claudia put her hand on his chest. It took an age for it to rise, but it did. He was breathing. He was alive.
"Rennervate," she mumbled, and Fernsby's eyes began to open.
She heard a slight noise behind her and turned abruptly, ready to strike again. But it was just Adebayo, waking up. Together, they revived the others.
"Where did he go?" Barraclough, who was the last one to regain consciousness, barked.
"He's dead," Adebayo said from further away. Claudia turned and saw him standing over the corpse. "It's Rosier."
"How?" Barraclough asked. "What happened?"
No one replied. The wind had stopped. The alleyway was so silent you could hear a pin drop.
"Killing curse," Claudia whispered. "He was going to get us all."
They all turned to her and stared, with their mouth slightly ajar. One by one, their facial features hardened. They understood.
"You three stay here and clean up the scene. You come with me," Barraclough said and gripped Claudia's arm. "We need to get back. You're in so much fucking trouble." With those words, he apparated with Claudia in tow. Before she could reply, she landed hard on the tiled floor in the Ministry's atrium.
Barraclough dragged her through the corridors towards Moody's office.
"What do you mean?" she whispered.
"Later."
"I don't understand."
"Shut up," Barraclough hissed and gripped Claudia's arm even tighter. "Not another word before we get to the boss's office."
Claudia did not dare disobey. And soon enough they were through the door of Moody's office.
"What happened?" Moody barked when he saw them. "Where are the others?"
"They're fine," Barraclough replied. "Rosier isn't though. He's dead."
Moody's nostrils widened. "I told you not to kill anyone. I refuse to take part in Crouch's vendetta."
"We were ambushed-" Barraclough began to explain.
"It was self-defence." Claudia jumped in. "I was the only one conscious, and he was casting one killing curse after another."
Moody and Barraclough look at each other. A rather large vein has appeared on Moody's forehead. "It was you?"
"Crouch said it himself." Claudia continued to defend herself. "We are authorised-"
"You're a bloody trainee!" Moody yelled, interrupting her. "You're authorised to do fuck all!"
"But-" Claudia tried to protest, but Moody did not let her.
"Do you understand what's at stake here?" He shook his fist. "You'll go to Azkaban! For life!"
"Alastor-" Barraclough interjected just as Claudia's eyes were beginning to fill up. She remembered the slimy walls, the shrieking, the misery.
"Don't you Alastor me!" Moody barked at Barraclough, ignoring Claudia's tears.
But before Moody got to do any more yelling, Fernsby burst through the door, followed closely by Dankworth.
"Get out!" Moody shouted at them.
"No!" Fernsby said resolutely and stood right next to Claudia. "None of us would be here if it weren't for Claudia." Claudia looked up at him. She struggled to understand the words coming out of his mouth. He used her actual name. Was he on her side?
"We were dead, boss." Dankworth added and flanked Claudia from the other side. When she looked at him, he gave her an encouraging smile and squeezed her shoulder.
"I really had no choice." Claudia finally recovered her composure enough to mumble. "Send me to Azkaban if you want but I saved five lives today."
"We'll say it was me." Fernsby said. "I'm authorised to use Unforgivable Curses."
"No." Moody said after a long pause. He was still breathing heavily but had least stopped yelling. "Internal affairs would figure it out… Smiley's good."
Claudia swallowed. Azkaban, here we come.
"There would need to be a hearing first," Moody said. "If they found you guilty, then there would be a full criminal trial."
"If we get Crouch to chair the hearing, he will never punish her for this." Barraclough said calmly. "He's been trying to give us more powers. He'll use this to strengthen his case and Claudia will be free."
Moody stared at them all for a good minute.
"Fine," he finally growled and turned to Claudia again. "You're suspended until the hearing. You leave your wand here," Moody sighed and grabbed something from his desk, "I need to go talk to Crouch."
"What am I supposed to do?" Claudia whispered as she watched Moody walked out of the office.
"Go home. And stay there," Barraclough said before outstretching his arm. "Wand?"
"Is this really necessary?" Claudia sighed. But when Barraclough did not move, she relented and gave up her wand.
"Do you want us to walk you home?" Dankworth asked.
Claudia shook her head. "I'll be fine," she mumbled, desperately trying to keep the tears in. The relief of not being sent to Azkaban straight away was slowly wearing off, and the reality was hitting her. "My boyfriend is picking me up," she added, hoping that lie would stop any further discussion on the matter.
She walked out of the office and the building as fast as she could. Once on the street, she finally stopped to look around. The streets were deserted. It was dark, cold, and it started to rain.
She was finally alone. She could not keep it in any longer and began to cry.
Slowly, Claudia set off toward home, her mind swirling. She wondered what Moody might be saying to Crouch, how Crouch was going to react, what would the hearing look like. She saw the Wizengamot, sentencing her to life in Azkaban. She remembered the Dementors…
Claudia could not take her thoughts any longer and began to run. Her heart was pounding in her ears, pushing out her thoughts. The icy rain was hurting on painfully hitting her face. And finally, she crashed through the door.
"You aurors drink like fish…" Sirius' voice came from the kitchen. "Do you want me to heat you up dinner?"
Claudia did not get a chance to say anything before Sirius' head appeared in the doorframe.
"Why are you covered in blood?" he barked and run towards her.
"Rosier attacked us," she began, and crashed into the armchair.
"Are you ok?" Sirius kneeled in front of her and helped her out of the soaking wet coat. Claudia was grateful. She could barely move.
She shook her head. "I got suspended."
"What that has to do with Rosier?"
"I killed him." She whispered and averted her gaze. "If I hadn't, I wouldn't be here…"
Sirius squeezed the top of her shoulders. His mouth was slightly ajar and eyes full of dread.
"There's going to be a hearing," she mumbled. "Moody mentioned Azkaban." Just mentioning that name made Claudia tremble.
"That'd be ridiculous." Sirius whispered and hugged her. The warmth of his body, the closeness between them. It almost made things ok again. "It was clearly self-defence!"
"I hope you're right," she mumbled into Sirius' chest.
Claudia did not move for the rest of the evening. She explained what happened and then just laid down on Sirius' lap and stared into the fire. She could not pay attention to what he was saying. Her mind kept jumping around – the alleyway, the unconscious bodies, Moody's threats. Eventually, she dozed off while Sirius played with her hair.
When she woke up the following morning, she found Alice already sitting at the dining table.
"I'm so glad you're safe," Alice whispered, and pulled Claudia into a tight hug. "Moody told Frank what happened."
They drank tea and chatted. Claudia did not really know what or for how long. Her body was aching, and her mind was numb. All she wanted was to crawl into bed, pull the duvet over her head, and pretend the world did not exist.
"At least I'll make it into the history books," Claudia smirked as they were saying their goodbyes. "The shortest auror career in history of the Ministry."
"The hearing will be fine." Alice attempted a meek smile. "Moody's got your back, you say you regret it, it's going to be fine."
"Yeah…" Claudia sighed.
"I can come back tomorrow afternoon," Alice said. "I need some help with the seating chart. That would keep your mind off things."
"Sure," Claudia whispered absentmindedly as she shut the door behind Alice.
"Do you want anything to eat?" Sirius asked.
Claudia shook her head.
"Coffee?"
"No," she sighed. "I'm going back to bed."
The rest of the day was just a blur. Claudia felt nauseous. All she managed to get down was a bland toast and some tea. Sirius tried his best to keep her spirits up, but all his efforts were in vain. Nothing could distract her from her thoughts.
She was still in a foul mood when there was a knock on the door the following afternoon. She looked at her watch. Alice was not supposed to come for another hour.
Claudia got up from the sofa and slowly made her way towards the door. She opened it and came face-to-face with Alice, who was pale as a piece of parchment.
"I'm sorry," she mouthed.
"Sorry for-" Claudia began to ask but Alice jumped in.
"This is Mrs Longbottom," she said and pointed towards the stairs, where a tall, thin, and bony witch just emerged from behind the railings. "Frank's mother. She came to help with the planning."
"Are you going to offer me some tea, dear?" Mrs Longbottom asked sternly when Claudia showed her to the sofa and took her coat.
"A moment," Claudia said, grabbed Alice by the arm and dragged her into the kitchen. "What is she doing here?"
"I'm so so so sorry," Alice whispered. "She insisted on coming. Wouldn't take no for an answer."
"This is the last thing I need right now."
"I know, I know. I'm so sorry."
Claudia turned around to make the tea, but before she even filled the kettle with water, she heard a scream coming from the living room.
"Intruder!"
Both girls run back.
Mrs Longbottom was towering over the sofa, her wand drawn. She was pointing it towards the door to the bedroom, ready to strike.
Claudia could not help but snort when she saw what startled Mrs Longbottom. Sirius was standing on the threshold of the room, wrapped only in a towel. His hands were raised in the air, signalling surrender.
"Will someone please tell me what the fuck is going on?" he barked.
Claudia glanced at Alice. She stood frozen in the middle of the room and was no longer pale. Instead, she was bright red. No wonder. Sirius was still wet, drops of water were travelling down his body. The only things that disrupted his perfect ivory skin was a thin line of body hair travelling down from his belly button.
"Mrs Longbottom." Claudia jumped in to save her friend. "This is Sirius."
"Alice didn't mention you were married." Mrs Longbottom frowned.
"They are-" Alice was clearly panicking in front of her soon to be mother-in-law.
"Living together-" Claudia cut her off before she uttered such an unsustainable lie. She was certainly not going to get married for the sake of Frank's mother. "We're living together."
"We've got wedding planning to do and need to get cracking." Claudia said as she walked over to Sirius and began ushering him to the bedroom. "Please put some clothes on," she whispered, unable to resist a little chuckle.
"I'm glad this amuses you." Sirius smirked, allowed Claudia to push him through the door to the bedroom and to shut the door behind him.
"Alice," Claudia turned to her friend, who was still completely static. "Feel free to set up the seating chart on the coffee table over there," she pointed towards the table in front of the fireplace, "and I'll finish the tea."
"Yes," Alice whispered and cleared her throat. "Of course."
Sirius hid in the bedroom, and Claudia and Alice spent the afternoon talking about which aunt did not get on with which uncle.
"Again," Alice said as she was closing the door behind her. "I'm so sorry."
"You know what," Claudia smiled. "It did help take my mind off things."
And just like that, the worst of the fog had lifted. Claudia finally managed to eat a whole dinner and fall asleep before her train of thought made it all the way to Azkaban. "The hearing was going to be fine," she kept repeating to herself. "It was self-defence. Moody has my back."
The days dragged on, one as monotonous as the next. Without work and unable to leave her flat, Claudia soon ran out of things to do. The fact that chores took her twice as long because she could not use magic did not make up for that in the slightest. If anything, it made it worse.
On the morning of the third of November, Claudia opened her eyes to see Sirius was already awake and smiling at her.
"Happy Birthday," she whispered and kissed him. "Though, I didn't manage to get you anything before I got trapped here."
"I don't care about presents," he smiled and brushed the side of her face.
"I was going to make you a cake."
"I do care about cake."
Claudia could not help but laugh a little. She slid her hand down Sirius' back and under the waist of his boxer shorts.
"Are you sure?" he whispered. "We don't have to."
"Shush," she uttered, and kissed him again. This was the longest they went without having sex, and Claudia was burning up on the inside.
As they were laying tired and naked in bed, Claudia sighed. "I'll miss this in Azkaban."
Sirius raised himself on his elbow. "Listen to me," he began with unusual steeliness in his voice. "I'll never let that happen. Do you understand?"
"What can you do?" Claudia attempted a feeble smile.
"We'll live on the run. We'll go underground." Sirius began. "I'll go anywhere in the world to keep you safe. Even that Japanese cat island."
"What island?"
"Remus mentioned. Doesn't matter." He paused and kissed her again. "Say a word and we can leave now."
"I think I'll take my chances on the hearing." Claudia wiped her eyes, that were rapidly filling up with tears. "But thank you."
"I love you."
"I love you too," she whispered, and kissed him back. "But now you need to get out of here. I want the cake to at least be a surprise."
"I'll be in the garage," Sirius said with a chuckle and rolled off the bed.
"Obviously." Claudia laughed and pulled him back for another kiss.
It took them a while yet to get out of bed. Sirius went down to work on his motorbike and Claudia went to the kitchen and opened the cookbook.
"First time for everything," she sighed, remembering her missing wand, and began reading the instructions.
An hour and a half later, the kitchen looked like it had been the scene of one of those explosives that people seemed to enjoy throwing at Claudia. But there was a cake. It had a sponge, filling, icing. It was perfect. Happy with the morning's work, Claudia went down to the garage.
What she saw surprised her. There was no longer a pile of unrecognisable metal. It now looked like a bike. Sirius was leaning over a workbench, scrubbing something.
"What are you doing?" she asked and walked across the garage to peak over his shoulder.
"Wet sanding the tank," Sirius sighed. "It's taking hours."
"Can I help?"
"Sure." He smiled and gave her a brief kiss. "You smell like chocolate," he whispered, and kissed her again. This time for longer.
"The bike…" Claudia chuckled and pushed him gently away.
"Right… Take this," he passed her a piece of rough paper, "and rub it on the bodywork until it all looks like this." He added and pointed at a smooth, grey circle amid a sea of dark grey paint that was all cracked and rusting.
Claudia took the sandpaper out of his hand and began. It was fun for about five minutes before it became monotonous, and her arm started to ache. But Sirius was organising some pins, which looked even less fun, so she continued.
At one o'clock, she finally managed to pry him away on the promise they would have the cake for lunch. Soon after, they started cooking for the little birthday party they were hosting that evening.
One by one James, Lily, Remus and Peter trickled in.
"Is Mary coming?" Claudia whispered in Sirius' ear when Remus walked in alone.
"I wouldn't know," Sirius whispered back. "Every time I bring her up, he tells me to mind my own business."
They had their food, drank, and gave Sirius their presents. It was freezing, so they lit the fireplace and sat around it. James and Lily were sitting on the sofa. Peter occupied one of the armchair. Claudia and Sirius were sitting on the floor next to each other, leaning against the other armchair. Remus was also on the floor, wedged between the sofa and Peter's chair. A bottle of fire whiskey was going around.
"The last time we were all sitting like this, we were in our dormitory on the last night in Hogwarts," Remus said with a smile. "Wondering what life outside of school was going to be like."
"I thought the Order missions would be more exciting," Sirius sighed.
"I know," Remus replied. "I thought it would feel like having a job. Instead, I'm stuck at home all the time, waiting to get a message to go wait somewhere else. And nothing ever happens."
"You could come and help me in my dad's shop." Peter piped up.
"That sounds truly exhilarating," Sirius scoffed.
"I would love to," Remus replied, shooting Sirius an annoyed look.
"We can't pay you, though," Peter whispered and looked away. "I don't even get enough money to move out of my parents' house."
"Tell us about it," Lily sighed. "We've been looking for a place to live and it's a lost cause. They only place we liked was this cottage in Godric's Hollow and it was way too expensive."
"Too expensive?" Sirius chuckled. "Aren't you marrying him for his money?"
"We don't want to be relying on our parents," Lily said with a slight frown. "Not that they would give us the money anyway. They hate the idea."
"I thought I would have a Quidditch contract by now," James interrupted the awkwardness. "I was only offered a second try-out by the Canons and had to miss that because I got stuck on an Order mission."
"Dodged a bullet there, mate," Claudia said. "The Canons are awful."
All James managed was a feeble smile back. "I hate being unemployed."
"Well, at least you don't have to go to work every day and face your bigoted boss who tells all the customers you're a muggleborn." Lily whispered.
"Does he, really?" Peter asked. "That's awful."
"There was a woman this week who refused to buy the potion I made. She was worried it might explode, because of how unstable muggleborn magic is."
"Bloody Daily Prophet…" Sirius mumbled.
"I'm sorry, Lily." Remus said and touched her knee.
Mercifully, the fire whiskey arrived again, and Claudia took a large swig.
"Could be worse," Lily whispered.
There was a long silence.
Claudia stopped drinking and looked at her friends. There were all staring at her, quietly.
"How are you holding up?" Lily finally spoke.
"I'm fine," Claudia hurled out without thinking and then paused. "Actually, I'm not fine." She squeezed the top of her nose between her fingers and felt Sirius' hand on her shoulder. "Being an auror was my dream."
"I don't even imagine what it would be like," Remus whispered. "Having to make a decision like that in a split second."
"Wasn't hard," Claudia mumbled. "This is hard. Not having my wand, not being able to go anywhere. Having Azkaban hang over me."
"You must feel a little conflicted about it," Lily whispered.
"Why?" Claudia barked. "You all know what these people are capable of. Even in school, they proved they're capable of murder."
"I forgot about what Severus did to you," Lily said meekly. "I'm sorry."
Claudia briefly looked at Sirius, who sighed, closed his eyes and gave Claudia a barely noticeable nod.
"It wasn't Snape," Claudia whispered. "I found out at the end of last year."
"Why didn't you say anything?" James jumped in.
"To give me time to process who did do it," Sirius whispered. It was Claudia's turn to put her hand on his shoulder. But Siris did not say any more.
"Regulus," she said instead of him. "On my brother's orders."
Nobody spoke.
Sirius looked up. "Surprise!" he said, with a mixture of sarcasm and pain in his voice.
"I'm s-" Lily began to say.
"Yeah, sorry. I know," Sirius growled. "Can we please not talk about it?"
There was more awkward silence.
"Pads-" James began.
"Please," Sirius sighed. "Not tonight."
"Fine," James said, and shot Lily a weird look. "I wasn't going to give this to you in the end, but I feel like we all deserve some fun," he added, and threw a small plastic bag on the coffee table.
"What's that?" Peter asked, and picked it up.
"Weed," James said. "You smoke it, and it does things to you," he added when Peter looked none wiser.
"Happy Birthday to me," Sirius grinned and snatched the bag out of Peter's hand. He kneeled in front of the coffee table, and James dropped to the floor to join him.
James produced some filters and cigarette paper from his pocket, and they got to work.
"You two look like you've done this before," Claudia smirked after watching them for a minute or so.
"What goes on in the Gryffindor dormitory, stays in the Gryffindor dormitory," James said and licked the cigarette paper. His joint was done.
"I bloody well hope so," Claudia mumbled, remembering the few times Sirius smuggled her into the dorm. And he clearly remembered too, as he gave her a devilish grin.
Sirius found a lighter in his bag and was the first one to take a puff. And then another. "I bet you anything the Death Eaters don't get to do this."
"Can you imagine?" Claudia chuckled as he passed her the joint. "You-Know-Who and my father, just smoking some weed." She put the joint in her mouth. It felt just like any other cigarette. Except it smelled different.
They smoked and waited. Claudia was not quite sure what was meant to be happening, or how she was supposed to be feeling.
"You-Know-Who is such a dumb name," James said after he blew out a rather thick cloud of smoke out of his mouth and gave his joint to Peter. "What was it that Dumbledore called him?"
"Voldemort," Remus mumbled. "Can I have some too?"
Claudia took another drag and then leaned over the table to pass the joint to Remus. "Voldemort is also a dumb nickname."
"Is that not his real name?" Remus asked.
"No." Claudia shook her head. "His real name is Tom Mar-", she could not help but giggle a little, "Marvolo Riddle."
"Marvolo?" Sirius roared, the joint back in his hand. "You're messing with us!"
"I'm not! Alice told me." Claudia defended herself. "And I saw it in Hogwarts' records with my own eyes."
"With a name like that," Sirius said, laughing. "No wonder", more giggles, "he's got such delusions of gran-", Sirius stopped abruptly. "Gran-"
"Grandeur?" Remus smirked. He too was now red in the face and unable to hide a grin.
"That's the one!" Sirius roared and pointed at his friend. "Ten points to Gryffindor!"
"I bet you he has a small knob too," James shrieked.
Claudia began to laugh uncontrollably, and so did the others.
"Oh my god," Lily sighed. "Give me some of that," she added and took the join out of Peter's hand. When she saw James' face, eyes wide and mouth slightly open, she scoffed and took a drag. "You said we all deserved it."
That made Claudia laugh. "Lily Evans smoking weed. Who would have thought?" Giggles came at her from all directions.
"They drove me to it!" Lily gestured at the boys. "They and the size of You-Know-Who's," she took a deep breath and whispered, "knob." Everyone laughed but her. "I don't think this is working. I don't feel anything," she mumbled, turning the joint in her hand.
"I don't get it," Peter uttered. "Why would the size has anything to do with-?"
"Of course, you don't," Sirius cut him off and smirked into the bottle of fire whiskey.
Lily shrieked with laughter and immediately put her hand on her mouth. "Sorry, Peter," she mumbled.
"The weed isn't working, you said?" James chuckled.
Claudia glanced at Peter. He was red in the face and looked like he wanted to die. She did not care. He deserved it after the awful things he said to her. Claudia slid down to rest her head on Sirius' lap. Everyone's words were slipping away from her. All she could hear was laughter. All she could feel were Sirius' fingers in her hair. All she could see was Sirius' face leaning over her. He was smiling. The lamp was shining from behind him, making it look like he had an aura.
When Claudia woke up in the morning, she was in her bed, still wearing yesterday's clothes and having no idea how she got there. Sirius, as ever, was sleeping next to her with his arm over her body. Normally, it made her feel safe. But today, it made her sweat and worsened her nausea. She tried to move Sirius further away but could not. When she sat up, she understood why. Remus was sprawled on the bed on the other side of him.
"Coffee," she uttered to herself, and made her way to the kitchen. In the living room, James and Lily were sleeping on the sofa and Peter was on the floor, covered in his overcoat.
Before she finished making the coffee (it took forever without her wand), Remus and the living room gang were also up. Claudia poured them all a cup. They all sipped it in silence, unable to speak.
"I better get going," Remus mumbled and put his empty cup down. "I've got that Order mission tonight."
"I need to go sleep somewhere more comfortable," James said and stretched his back. "Give our regards to the birthday boy." he added, as he and Lily put their coats on.
Peter was still sitting in the armchair with a half-full mug in his hands. He looked green and not at all like he could move.
"You're welcomed to stay," Claudia uttered as the other three left the flat.
Peter did not even look at her. He downed the coffee and jumped up from the chair. "Wait for me!" He shrieked and was out of the door too.
"Can't believe he's still scared of me," Claudia whispered to herself.
She climbed back into bed and noticed that Sirius' eyes were opening. "Do you want some coffee?" she asked.
"Just let me die in peace," Sirius growled and turned over.