Mr and Mrs Longbottom
Christmas festivities were over, and Sirius and Claudia left the Potters' house well before daybreak to make sure Claudia was not late on her first day back at work after her suspension.
Sirius slowed down the motorbike as they approached the Ministry's entrance.
"Good grief," Claudia mumbled when she spotted who was standing right in front of it. Her father, talking to some foreign dignitary.
"Hang on," Sirius replied and sped up a little, right into a big puddle of sludge by the kerb, and accidentally splashed Frederick's robes.
"Cursed muggles," Frederick mumbled, and brushed the sludge off with his gloves. "Apologies, Your Excellency," he added with a slight bow.
Claudia jumped down from the bike, took her helmet off and kiss Sirius goodbye. "Morning, father!" she said with a smirk towards Frederick and rushed towards the Ministry's entrance.
"Was that your daughter?" She could just hear a faint voice coming from where her father was standing. There was a hint of an Italian accent. It must have been the dignitary speaking.
"I don't have a daughter," Frederick replied.
"You wish," Claudia muttered under her breath and sped up, so that she was out of earshot before Frederick said anything else, and hurried into the Ministry.
She rushed through the corridors in a huff, still fuming about the encounter with her father. She could not even remember the last time she saw him. Could it have been the altercation in the Minister's office? Nearly a year and a half ago?
"Welcome back!" Ewan beamed when he spotted her standing in the door.
"You have a motorbike?" Oscar asked, looking at the helmet she was still holding in her hand.
"Sirius does," Claudia replied and plonked it on the desk.
"He's way too cool for you," Oscar chuckled.
"I thought you were supposed to be nice to me now?" Claudia said with a smile.
Ewan laughed. "This is him being nice."
Before either Oscar or Claudia could respond, Barraclough emerged from Moody's office. "Enough chitchat," he said. "Avery, we've got a job to do. Let's go." And without another word, he walked out of the door.
Claudia trotted after him through one of the long Ministry corridors. "Where are we going?" she asked.
"To see Linda's flatmate."
"You waited for me?" she asked in amazement.
"It's good to have you back," Barraclough whispered, his normally harsh face breaking into a smile. "Although…" he paused, as if he was choosing his words carefully. "You have not been cleared for combat missions yet. Just desk work and witness interviews, not if they're a suspect though."
Claudia frowned. "So, I am being punished after all…" she growled.
"Anyway…" Barraclough was not going to legitimise Claudia's outburst with a response. "I did some digging while you were suspended. The flatmate's name is Olivia Reed, also a muggle-born, and she lives in Bayswater."
They were now in the Ministry's atrium. Barraclough outstretched his arm, Claudia grabbed it and soon, they found themselves standing among rubbish bins in a narrow alleyway behind some shops.
"Great place to apparate," Claudia scoffed and brushed the garbage off her clothes.
"This way," Barraclough said, walked out of the alleyway and towards the main road. "It's just down this way."
Few minutes later, they were walking up the stairs of Burnham Court, a big apartment block on Moscow Road. Barraclough stopped on the third floor and knocked on the door.
Soon, a young woman with dark skin and curly hair opened the door. "May I help you?" she asked.
"We're friends of Linda's," Barraclough said. "Are you Olivia Reed?"
The woman narrowed her eyes and frowned slightly. "You don't look like friends of Linda's to me. You look like a pair of aurors."
"We're reviewing her case."
A glimmer of hope appeared in her eyes. "Is there a chance she might get out?"
"We have a reason to believe that Linda has an alibi," Barraclough explained. "And we think you might be able to confirm it."
"How should I know?" Olivia scoffed. "No one told me anything. I don't even know what she was supposed to have done and when. How am I supposed to tell you if she has an alibi?" Her voice was rising. "God, you aurors are thick…"
Barraclough looked around to make sure their conversation was not being overheard. Talking about aurors was risky in the corridor of a muggle apartment block at the best of times. And especially when they were digging into a case like this. "It was the Friday before she was arrested," Barraclough said, keeping his own temper under control and his voice down. "We are interested in the time around eight o'clock in the evening."
"It was two years ago! How am I supposed to rem-" Olivia suddenly frozen. "Friday, you said? Before she was arrested?"
"Yes."
"Linda's boyfriend came that evening," Olivia whispered. "I remember because we were supposed to go out, and we had an argument when she ditched me for him. I remember because that was the last time we really spoke." She paused and sighed. "Last time we spoke, we had a stupid fight," she added with her voice breaking. "Over some bloke."
"What do you know about him?" Claudia joined in with the interrogation.
"Nothing," Olivia shrugged. "I don't even know his name."
"Do you remember what he looked like?"
Olivia shut her eyes and twisted her face as if she was trying to remember something. "Older, light hair, always frowning."
"Would you recognise him?" Barraclough asked.
"That brooding old fox?" Olivia smirked. "Any time..."
Claudia's stomach turned. How could anyone see her father in that way was beyond her? Mercifully, a loud buzzer sounded from inside of the flat, so she was spared any further thoughts Olivia had on the subject.
"Excuse me," Olivia mumbled. "I need to take my breakfast out of the oven. You should come inside."
"Do you have a picture of him?" Barraclough whispered when they made it into the sitting room, and Olivia disappeared into the kitchen.
"No."
"Really?" Barraclough asked, somewhat deflated. "He's your father!"
"If you had a father like that you wouldn't have a picture of him either," Claudia scoffed. Then she paused and looked to the corner of the room, where she spotted a gigantic pile of old Daily Prophets. "Hang on," she added, and went to rummage through them. "He's bound to be here somewhere."
And she was right. Few minutes later, she was looking at a picture of Frederick Avery shaking the hand of the French Minister of Magic.
"What are you doing?" Olivia asked as she returned to the sitting room.
"Is this him?" Claudia shoved the paper under Olivia's nose.
"Yes," Olivia replied. "Who is it?"
"Frederick Avery," Barraclough interjected, clearly worried that Claudia was about to reveal more than was necessary. "A Ministry official. A married one."
"That explains the secrecy," Olivia said. "Do you want me to testify? Would Linda be free if I did?"
Claudia and Barraclough exchange a look.
"It's not that easy," Barraclough said.
"Why not? She could not have done it…" Olivia replied, her temper rising again. "Surely she could get a trial. I'm happy to testify!"
"You'd be dead before you set foot in the courtroom," Barraclough said. "It suits them Linda's in jail."
"Them?" Olivia whispered. There was no need to explain. Everyone in the room knew who 'them' were.
"Them…" Barraclough and Claudia muttered in unison.
"But what's going to happen to Linda?" Olivia was not easily deterred. "Is she going to stay in Azkaban forever? For something she couldn't have done?"
"We'll find a way," Barraclough said. "Thank you for your help. We won't disturb you for any longer." He added and nudged Claudia towards the front door.
"What now?" Claudia asked once they were out on the street. She could contain herself no longer. "Is that enough?"
"Let me talk to Moody," Barraclough said. "Alone might be better. He's more sensible without an audience."
"I want to come," Claudia protested.
"Trust me. It's better this way."
Grumpily, Claudia apparated back to the Ministry and sat in front of the door of Moody's office while Barraclough spoke to him. She hoped to overhear something, but they must have cast a spell to make sure they had privacy. An hour or so later, both Moody and Barraclough emerged from the office.
"So?" Claudia jumped up.
"Not enough," Moody said.
"So, you are just going to let an innocent woman rot in Azkaban?" she barked. "That's not-"
"Let me finish," Moody cut her off.
Claudia frowned and crossed her arms.
"It might be enough to free her," Moody explained. "But it's bloody not enough to get your father convicted. We won't be able to get her a trial either. No, that would be too dangerous. I'm going to talk to Crouch about it to see if there is anything else we could do."
With those words, Moody vanished down the corridor with Barraclough in tow. Claudia looked around the office. The others were gone, so she just dropped into the chair and waited.
She waited for twenty minutes, then forty. She looked at her watch. It was five thirty now, and she needed to get going if she wanted to make that Order meeting in time.
When she got to that day's venue (a disused factory of some kind), Moody was already there. He pulled Claudia aside just in front of the room where the meeting was just starting. "I've come straight from the meeting with Crouch."
Claudia swallowed dry. She still struggled to read him and had no idea what he was going to say. "And?"
"He agreed to release Linda, in secret. We will give her a new identity and move her overseas. That's the only way she'll stay safe."
"And my father?"
"Crouch buys they had an affair," Moody said. "I floated the possibility that he was corrupt or a Death Eater, but Crouch shut it down. Apparently, I'm paranoid and seeing Death Eaters everywhere. Would you believe it?"
"Eeerhh…" Claudia had no idea what to say. Even Moody's own team, who adored him otherwise, thought he was paranoid.
"That's a joke, Avery," he snarled. "Get used to it."
"Phew," Claudia smirked, and theatrically brushed her forehead with her palm.
Moody let out the most terrifying laugh Claudia had ever heard. "Now," he said and his face dropped again. "Take this file and hide it at home. He cannot get a whiff that we are onto him. Anything to do with the Avery investigation is off the books."
"Thank you."
"Thank me once he's in Azkaban," he sighed. "Now, meeting time."
They walked into the meeting side by side.
"Who's that?" Claudia indicated towards a man that was speaking. He was middle-aged, with greying short hair, and enormous glasses that covered half his face.
"Edgar Bones," Moody replied. "Been an Order member for years. He's the Head of Department of Magical Transportation. Useful guy."
Claudia's eyes travelled to a young woman sitting next to Edgar. A young woman she instantly recognised.
"And this is our new recruit," Bones said. "My very able private secretary, Marlene McKinnon."
Marlene gave everyone a fleeting smile, but Claudia could not help but notice that it did not seem particularly earnest. Marlene also glanced towards where Lily was sitting, and her brows immediately came together in a frown.
Claudia tiptoed towards a free chair behind Lily and sat down.
"Why's Marlene glaring at you?" she whispered when there was a brief interruption in the proceedings while they waited for some late arrivals before moving onto the next topic.
"Because I didn't tell her about the Order," Lily sighed. "I should've, really. She's my best friend."
"She'll get over it."
"She quit as my chief bridesmaid," Lily whispered.
The eagerly awaited Order members arrived, and Dumbledore moved the meeting on, so Claudia did not really get a chance to reply properly to Lily. "Drink on Friday?" she mumbled.
Lily initially nodded, but suddenly stopped. "Oh wait… I'm working late on Friday."
"Pick you up from work?" Claudia whispered to Lily's apparent delight.
Time flew until Friday and before Claudia knew it, she found herself walking down Diagon Alley towards the apothecary, where Lily was serving her potions apprenticeship. She was passing a group of women standing in front of Madam Malkin's when she heard someone mention a familiar name. A name that made her jump.
"Cassandra, isn't that your daughter?"
Claudia closed her eyes and sped up. The last thing she wanted to do was to talk to her mother. But she did not manage to get away in time.
"Yes!" Cassandra exclaimed. "Come here, dear."
Claudia felt a hand on her arm and was dragged to stand with the group of her mother's friends. As ever, her mother's touch made her skin crawl.
"Didn't you say she was staying with Frederick's aunt in Germany again?" one of them asked in Cassandra's direction.
"No, that was earlier." Cassandra said with a smile. She was a good liar. Claudia had to give her that. Pretending like everything was fine. But Claudia also noticed Cassandra drawing her gaze from her daughter's face to her feet and back. The oversized t-shirt, shorts and half-torn trainers. It was not what Cassandra wanted to see.
"I heard you are dating Walburga's boy," the same friend asked Claudia. "A little bird told me you were living together."
"They are not!" Cassandra laughed heartily, but her eyes were narrow and glaring at Claudia, who knew instantly her mother wanted her to behave. But she was not that little girl anymore. Her mother had no power over her.
"Yes, we are living together. And before you ask… No, we are not getting married," she said to audible gasps from her mother's friends.
"Such a shame. You are both from such good families…" another woman pitched in. "If we don't keep up the traditions, who will?"
"If you mean pureblood families, say it," Claudia hissed.
"You're quite the little radical, aren't you?" one of the women chuckled. "We'll leave you to talk," she added with a look of pity towards Cassandra, who was now openly seething.
"Do you see what you are doing to our family's reputation?" Her mother said when her friends were safely out of earshot.
Claudia could not believe her ears. "Reputation?"
Her mother continued. "Being with someone like that. Living with him, unmarried."
Claudia sniggered. "Do you know what's bad for the family's reputation? Your husband and son being Death Eaters." When she saw the shock on her mother's face, she continued with a smirk. "And don't pretend you don't know. Even you aren't that stupid."
"You don't know what you're talking about."
"Pathetic," Claudia scoffed and began walking away.
"I just think about your future. Someone has to!"
Claudia closed her eyes. There was no point engaging with this. None at all. But she could not help it and turned back. "And by future, I presume you mean a good husband, big house, and a flock of pureblood children." Cassandra did not have to answer. That was exactly what she wanted for her daughter. "Has it ever occurred to you that I don't want that?" Claudia added, now nearly shouting.
"One day you will, and it will be too late." Cassandra recovered her composure somewhat.
Claudia rolled her eyes, turned on her heel, and walked off. There was really no point continuing that conversation.
Still furious, Claudia burst into the apothecary. "Ready to go?"
Lily nodded and began undoing her apron.
"Not so quickly. I need to talk to you," an old wizard said, walked over to Lily, and put his hand on her shoulder. "Lily, sweetheart. I've been thinking that it'll be better if from Monday you just stay in the back. I don't know whether I want you interacting with customers anymore," he paused and moved his face even closer to Lily's. "We've had more complaints about… Well, you know what about."
"Fine," Lily growled, took off her apron and threw it on the counter. "Claudia, let's go," she added and marched out of the shop. "I can't take it anymore," she nearly screamed once they were on the street. "He's a bigoted, misogynistic idiot. It's unacceptable. I should quit."
"You should," Claudia nodded vigorously, now outraged by both the interaction with her mother and what she had just seen.
Lily stopped in her tracks. "You really think that?" she said much more quietly.
"Is there anyone who does not think that?"
A tentative smile appeared on Lily's face. "I'll be right back." She turned and ran back to the store.
Within minutes, Lily was back and beaming, and led Claudia towards the Leaky Caldron.
"What are you going to do?" Claudia asked once they were sitting down. "Look for another job?"
Lily shook her head. "You know what. I think I'll do more Order stuff like the boys. I was getting sick of mixing potions anyway while you all do your bit." Suddenly, a shadow crossed Lily's face. "Bloody Order..." she whispered.
"What's up?"
"Marlene is still really mad. I need a new chief bridesmaid."
Claudia's eyes widened a little, but Lily paid no attention to that. She was on a roll.
"You're shorter than Marlene. But the dress can be easily altered to fit you."
"What dress?"
Lily rummaged through her bag and took out a polaroid photograph. "This dress. The one for the chief bridesmaid," she said. "Madam Malkin's are making it to order." The dress was long, blue with a white lace trim and very girly neckline.
"That's a lot of dress," Claudia uttered.
"It's the same material and colour as James' and Sirius' ties and pocket squares. I want everything to match."
"I really think you should talk to Marlene," Claudia whispered.
"You just don't want to wear the dress, do you?"
"Come on, Lily. You'll regret it if you don't," Claudia said. But Lily was right, she did not want to wear that dress.
Lily sighed, "You're right. I just hope she can forgive me."
"I'm sure she can."
Lily looked a little embarrassed. "Enough about me… How was your day?"
"Fine," Claudia began to lie, but stopped abruptly. There was no reason to do that anymore, not with Lily. "I bumped into my mother. Got told I need to get married. The usual."
"I'm sure she'll come around," Lily said. "My mum did about the whole living together thing. Now, she's helping me to pick out furniture."
"I don't want her to come around," Claudia said and run her finger around the rim of her glass. "I want her out of my life." She looked at Lily, who was slowly opening her mouth as if to speak. "I mean it. I never want to see her again."
"Claudia, that is quite –" Lily began to say.
Claudia lowered her head and cut Lily off. "She used to belittle and manipulate me every day. And when I wouldn't let her, she'd beat the crap out of me." Tears were falling down Claudia's cheeks. Every time she even mentioned this, it happened. She had no control over her emotions.
When Claudia finally looked up at Lily, she saw her eyes were filling up too. "I'm so sorry," Lily whispered, and put her hand on Claudia's shoulder. "And so happy you managed to put that behind you and become the good person you are. Not everyone I know was quite that strong."
Claudia had no idea what Lily was talking about. And she must have looked it because Lily continued.
"Snape's father was abusive. And we all know how he turned out."
Claudia stared at Lily with her mouth slightly ajar. Suddenly, a lot of things about Snape made sense. The need to make himself feel worthy, the need to fit in with the strong crowd. It was all a little too close to home for comfort.
"We aren't all that different, Snape and I," Claudia whispered finally. "We both rebelled against the people who hurt us. If my family weren't Death Eaters, who knows who I'd be fighting for right now."
"Give yourself some credit," Lily smiled and squeezed Claudia's shoulder. "You'd still be on our side."
"Thank you for saying that," Claudia whispered and picked up her glass. "Another drink?"
The rest of the evening was somewhat hazy. Lily and Claudia chatted about work, what it was like living with a boyfriend, and Lily's wedding planning. When Claudia finally made it home that night and was falling asleep, she had to laugh. Even a year ago, she would never have thought that Lily and Claudia could be friends. But they were. Good friends.
On Sunday, the event that Claudia had been looking forward to had finally arrived -Alice's and Frank's wedding. Full of anticipation, she apparated to the little hotel near the village that Alice grew up in. The plan was to have an intimate ceremony in the garden, followed by a small reception. Alice spent most of her childhood among muggles (and her mum was a muggleborn), so it was no surprise that she decided to mostly have a very muggle wedding.
Alice was nearly ready. She was wearing a beautiful knee-length dress made entirely of lace. It was the same dress her mum got married in.
"How are you feeling?" Claudia asked and gave her a hug.
"Honestly?" Alice said with a smile. "I thought I would be nervous. But I have never been calmer in my life. I'm so ready for this."
"Frank is one lucky guy."
"Frank is the love of my life," Alice beamed. "I can't believe I still have an hour and a half to wait before we get married!"
Claudia had to smile. It made her so happy seeing Alice like this.
"Chop, chop." Alice chuckled. "Get changed."
"You said we have an hour and a half," Claudia protested.
"I have that long," Alice replied. "You need to go check on the cake and then meet with the registrar to make sure he has all the necessary documents."
"Fine," Claudia said through gritted teeth. "But I thought we should chat, reminisce, talk about your old boyfriends." She paused and grinned. "Remember Joseph?"
"Oh, my god!" Alice exclaimed but could not help but laugh. "Why would you bring him up? You're a terrible person!"
"Not as terrible as he was," Claudia mumbled and began to change.
"One word for you, sweetie," Alice smirked. "Julius!"
"Alright, alright." Claudia giggled. "Let's call a truce. I'll do as I'm told."
An hour later, she was done checking on the cake and was just waiting in one of the side rooms for the registrar to arrive when a young man walked into the room to join her.
"I'm Henry," he said. "Frank's best man."
"Claudia, chief bridesmaid."
Henry's eyes widened a little. "Are you a trainee auror by any chance?"
"Yes," Claudia replied slowly, unsure as to why he was asking that.
"Are you that Claudia?" Henry asked. "The one that 'avada kedavra'ed' that Death Eater?"
"How do you know that?" Claudia barked. The hearing was supposed to be held in secret. No one other than Crouch, Smiley and Moody's team were supposed to know.
Henry smiled, and Claudia realised immediately she should have denied everything. Pretend she was a muggle or something. Instead, she just confirmed his suspicion.
"I heard it from Newton, my trainee," Henry replied. "Apparently, the trainees figured it out when you suddenly stopped showing up at auror training."
"Whatever." Claudia tried to brush it off, but it bugged her to no end. She hated being a centre of attention at the best of times, and certainly did not want to be the target of jibes about one of the worst things that ever happened to her.
"Not how I imagined you," Henry smirked. "Thought you'd be taller."
Claudia shot Henry an annoyed look. But before she could send him to hell, he lifted his arms above his head, signalling surrender.
"Fuck off," Claudia hissed.
"Come on, I'm just messing." Henry said and extended his arm as if he wanted to touch her shoulder.
"Don't care." She said and took a step back to avoid any physical contact. Just at that moment, the registrar turned up and began talking them through the ceremony. Not ten minutes later, it was time to get into positions. The ceremony was about to begin.
Claudia could hardly concentrate on what was happening. She thought that this whole thing was behind her, but she was wrong. This gossip was going to spread like wildfire. Everyone was going to know, including her father! What was he going to do? Him and Rosier were bound to have been close. She needed to think, but there was no time. There was a wedding ceremony in progress! And once it was over, everyone wanted to talk to her!
It was not until after the reception when Claudia managed to catch a minute of quiet in the corner and breathe. What calmed her down was the realisation she was not in this alone. She was going to speak to Moody and Barraclough on Monday to see what could be done. And if she got her hands on Newton… He was going to pay.
Then she saw Remus approaching with a glass in his hand. He too looked exhausted by all the social interactions and sat down next to his equally introverted friend.
"Still no Mary?" Claudia asked, desperately trying to keep the conversation focused on him rather than herself.
"We broke up," Remus whispered. "And she went to stay with her aunt in America."
"Not because you told her, surely?" she whispered. "About you know what."
"No," Remus shook his head. "I couldn't. It's for the better anyway." Claudia just about managed to open her mouth before Remus continued. "Don't you yell at me. Lily already did."
"I wasn't going to yell at you."
"Really?" he asked, sounding somewhat surprised. "You don't think I need to realise people love me for who I am? That I need to open up? Give them a chance to prove they want to be around me?"
"Look, I get it," Claudia shrugged. "Do you remember when I was dating Julius?"
"I remember Sirius growling a lot."
Claudia had to chuckle. Neither of them had covered themselves in glory over those ten months or so. "I thought he should've known how I felt, and what I wanted. And I got frustrated when he didn't. Never thought to give him a chance and tell him."
"Are you saying that I should've given Mary a chance?"
"I'm saying it doesn't have to be that hard," she replied with an unintentional glance and smile toward Sirius, who was laughing with James and Lily on the other side of the function room. "With the right person… Maybe Mary was your Julius."
"How did you know Sirius was the right one?"
Claudia thought about it for a moment. "Because I never have to watch what I say, what I do. Never have to explain or pretend anything."
"Really?"
"Well, I had to pretend for a while that I wasn't in love with him," she said with a laugh. "And that was hard."
Remus laughed with her and then put his hand on Claudia's shoulder. "Thank you."
"What for?"
"For not yelling at me."
At that moment, Claudia spotted Mr Adler. He was making his way towards them and looked a little unsteady on his feet.
"There you are!" he exclaimed, and hugged Claudia. "I've been meaning to tell you. I'm so glad you hadn't quit. We need aurors like you."
"Why would I quit?"
"I've had a friend who went through the same thing," Mr Adler ignored her question entirely. "He couldn't cope with the guilt. He quit and went to work in Flourish and Blotts."
"I don't feel –" Claudia began to defend herself.
"Timothy!" Mr Adler shouted across the room. "Excuse me," he added in a mumble and vanished into the crowd.
Claudia looked awkwardly at Remus. "I'll find you later," she whispered. "I'm going to get some air."
She walked out of the reception, walked through the garden and sat down on a low stone wall that run around the hotel. First Henry and now Mr Adler. She would never be able to shake it off. Claudia sighed and dropped her head until her face rested in her hands.
Few minutes of sulking later, she felt a hand on her shoulder and a whiff of a very familiar cologne.
"Hiding from people again?" Sirius whispered as he sat down on the wall next to her. His eyes were twinkling, and the corner of his mouth was twitching. Oh, how he liked to make fun of his girlfriend's quirks.
Claudia sighed. "Just frustrated. First, they take me off combat missions at work-"
"Is that a bad thing?" Sirius asked tentatively, all the mischief gone out of his eyes in an instant.
Claudia shot him an annoyed look. Of course, it was a bad thing. It meant she was not a proper auror. "Don't start…" she mumbled. "And everyone keeps banging on about Rosier." She paused and started playing with the hem of her dress. "I'm not like you. I don't like the limelight. And besides –" she stopped suddenly.
"Besides what?" He reached out for her hand and squeezed it.
"They're sort of implying I did something wrong. Like I should be feeling guilty."
"That's rubbish."
"Is it?" she whispered and fought back the tears that started to appear in her eyes. "I killed someone…"
"Claude, listen to me," Sirius said firmly, grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her towards him. "You would've been dead otherwise."
"I suppose."
But before either of them could say any more, and to Claudia's great annoyance, James run out of the hotel too. "There you are," he said, sounding totally out of breath. "Lily and I have to go. Her parents were in a car crash."
"Is it bad?" Sirius jumped up.
"Yeah." James sighed in response. "We don't have much detail. Lily's sister just left a message at the local post office. We got lucky the postie was still there."
"I'll come with you," Sirius said, before pausing and turning to Claudia. "Do you mind?" He gently touched her shoulder, clearly torn between helping James and continuing the conversation they just had.
"No," she said, shaking her head. "Go. I'll help Alice sort everything out and see you at home."