Christmas Miracle
There was one more thing that Claudia had to do before going back home. She needed to go and see Alice.
They had lunch together, eating the soup that Frank left in the fridge, and Claudia updated her friend on everything that happened in Glasgow. But she got the distinct impression that Alice was not really listening. The soup seemed to have taken all of Alice's attention. She ate a small bite every now and then, but mostly just kept stirring it with a spoon. It must have been stone cold by now.
"Hang on," Alice said and slowly got up. She gripped the back of the chair to steady herself. "I got something for you," she added and shuffled out of the kitchen.
Soon, she was back, but there was no sign of whatever it was she was meaning to bring.
"What is it?" Claudia asked.
"What's what?"
"The thing…"
Alice was staring at Claudia with her mouth slightly ajar. "What thing?"
"You were going to pick something up for me." Claudia was getting ever so slightly worried. Alice was a mere shadow of her formal self, and there was only as much as she could explain away as shock.
"I forgot…" Alice mumbled, shut her eyes and sighed. "I can't remember what it was I was going to get you."
Alice dropped to the chair and yawned. "This happens to me a lot these days. I'm so tired all the time. I can't even imagine going to the office Christmas party. I'd fall asleep."
At three o'clock, Alice (true to her word) dozed off on the sofa. Claudia put the throw over her and went home. She hoped with all her heart that Alice was going to be fine. It was hard seeing her like this. Like she was here, but not really. Like her essence had disappeared.
The moment Claudia stepped through the door of her home, Sirius pointed at a pile of magazines on the coffee table. "I have catalogues from Flourish and Blotts, the joke shop, Madam Malkin's, Quality Quidditch Supplies-" he theatrically blew a raspberry –"Hate that game… Scribbulus Writing Instruments, and the sweet shop."
"I think that might be enough," Claudia smiled and drew in a deep breath. Sirius was in a jokey mood, the flat smelled like food. For a second, everything was good. "What are you cooking?"
"Just some sausages and mash. Couldn't be arsed doing anything more complicated."
While Sirius finished the food, Claudia collected the dirty clothes from the living room, took the rest of the used dishes into the kitchen and dropped them into the sink. They could deal with those after they ate. Then, she returned to the living room and waved her wand around long enough for the apartment to feel a little cleaner. She promised herself that one day, she would learn the household spells properly.
"Alice doesn't seem well at all," Claudia mumbled as she ate her sausages of the now clean dining table. "I'm worried about her."
Sirius reached across the table and held Claudia's hand. "I think being worried about people we love is the new norm," he mumbled.
They sat in silence for a while, neither of them quite able to say just how hard it was. They were barely out of their teens, worried about death on a daily basis.
After a while, Sirius grinned. "Let's forget all this crap for a bit and shop." As Claudia settled herself on the sofa and Sirius took their plates back to the kitchen, she heard him shout. "Oh, and there is something else I got in Diagon Alley – mulled wine!"
Within twenty minutes, the flat smelled like Christmas, and they were sitting on the sofa, a cup of mulled wine each.
"James first," Claudia said and reached for the Quality Quidditch Supplies catalogue.
"Really? Do we have to?" Sirius sighed. "He can't play anyway. Even the Auror Quidditch tournament got cancelled."
"I know," Claudia sighed. "I'd pay good money to be able to play just one game," she mumbled and flipped through the catalogue. "They have so much useless shit. He'll love it."
Claudia was now browsing the miscellaneous section. She had to laugh when she saw what they had on offer. Underwear covered in quaffles for both men and women. Bra with cups that were golden and carried the same markings as the snitch. They had every single conceivable Christmas decoration, candles that smelled like Quidditch changing rooms, and much more-
"Look, a miniature beater's bat!" Claudia exclaimed.
Sirius pulled the catalogue from her hands. "What is it for?"
"Decoration?" she shrugged.
"I can think of few other things…" he said suggestively.
"Should we get it for James?" She could feel the mulled wine rising to her head and started to giggle.
"No," Sirius interrupted her and threw the catalogue towards the direction of the rubbish bin. "We're going to be nice. Let's look at something else."
"They wouldn't use it anyway. They're prudes," Claudia smirked, and Sirius burst out laughing.
They drunk some more wine, and Sirius picked up the Madame Malkin's catalogue and started to flip through the pages. Claudia rested her head on his shoulder.
"I think this one would suit Remus," Sirius said and pointed at a cardigan.
"It's a bit dull," Claudia mumbled.
"Well, Remus is a bit dull," Sirius smirked.
Claudia sat up straight and snatched the catalogue from Sirius' hand. "Then, we need to buy him something that gets him out of his shell," she said and turned over few more pages. "Like this!" she shrieked and pointed at a dazzling set of robes that shimmered in all the colours of the rainbow."
"I cannot believe I'm the one saying this," Sirius laughed. "But that's a bit much…"
"Fine," Claudia threw that catalogue back on the table and drained her mug. "We can come back to Remus." She dropped back to the sofa. "I hate shopping."
"I think we need more mulled wine," Sirius said with a smirk, and filled up both of their mugs.
They drunk, laughed and flipped through the catalogues for the rest of the afternoon. By seven in the evening, they had drunk so much mulled wine that they could barely put together a coherent sentence, but still have no presents.
"You know what," Claudia giggled. "We should get Lily that Quidditch underwear."
"As a present for James?" Sirius laughed.
Claudia tore out an order form from the Quality Quidditch Supplies catalogue. "What's her size though?"
Sirius closed his eyes and scrunched his eyebrows together.
"You stop trying to picture Lily's bra size, or I'll kill you right now."
Sirius, his eyes still closed, burst out laughing. "I'm trying to picture what size she might be in few months, once the-" he laughed and trailed off. He froze, and blinked three times.
"What are you talking about?"
"Oh shit." Sirius' eyes were not only open now; they were wide open. "I wasn't supposed to say. They were going to tell everyone at Christmas."
"Tell what?"
"Oh come on, you can work it out-"
"Are they pregnant?"
"Yes," Sirius mumbled. "But Lily doesn't even know that I know, so act surprised when they tell us."
Claudia exhaled. "Oh shit, indeed… A baby?" she asked. "Really? Now?"
"It was sort of 'if it happens, it happens' scenario," he said. "Or so I'm told."
"James as a dad, that's going to be weird."
"Yeah."
Claudia paused, she was out of things to say. The idea that James Potter was going to have a baby was so ridiculous, her drunk brain could not make any sense of it. "Do we need to get them nicer gifts?"
Sirius laughed. "Nope. We can't let them grow up too much." But then, his face dropped. "I don't understand why they would give themselves even more to worry about," he mumbled in a much quieter voice. "If you could lose everything in minutes."
Claudia stared at Sirius. The thought that she could lose him haunted her. She still had nightmares about that mission when he stepped in front of the killing curse. She had no words to express how she felt about the possibility he would just… Not be there one day. So instead, she hugged him. "I love you," she whispered.
But they were too drunk to dwell on the war for too long. They filled out few more order forms, and giggling went to bed. As they were falling asleep in each other's arms, Claudia could not help but remember all the other evenings they spent together laughing and having a drink. These sorts of evenings had been sparce since Regulus died. But seeing Sirius cheerful again really was the best thing ever. The thought brought a smile to her face, and she fell asleep.
In the morning, Claudia's head was a little sore. She shuffled to the kitchen and held onto a coffee cup that Sirius poured for her with dear life.
"So glad we didn't send off those orders," she mumbled. "Did we really try to order a rat training wheel for Peter on top of everything else?"
Sirius bit his lip. "I have some bad news. The owl got back in the middle of the night, woke me up and I may have sent it all off."
"You did what?" Claudia straightened her back so suddenly, that some of the coffee spilled onto her t-shirt. "But we got Remus those glowing robes!"
"He'll cope," Sirius smirked and took sip of his own coffee.
"We need to get it all back!"
"And I think," Sirius paused and scratched his head. "I think I ordered it all to James' house because I didn't want to put down our address."
"Sirius! Get it back!"
"And I think I added the miniature beaters' bat too."
"Sirius!"
"I'll get them back," he giggled and gave Claudia a hug. She could not help but laugh with him.
But Sirius' good spirits did not last past the next day's Daily Prophet. Between reports of a dead auror, his mother appearing in the society pages, and news of a fresh attack on muggleborns, his mood was well and truly ruined even before he got out of bed. The previous day's cheerful shopping spree only served as a reminder of what their life together used to be like. The care-free life they no longer had.
Claudia watched him throw the papers on the floor and glanced at her watch on the nightstand. It may have been a miserable Saturday and almost Christmas, but it was time to go to work. "Don't forget we got the Auror Office Christmas Party tonight."
Sirius groaned. "Do we have to go?"
"I have to go," Claudia said. "And it would be so much more bearable if you came with me."
"I don't feel like it."
"That's alright," Claudia said and slid her legs down from the bed. It was not like Sirius to avoid socialising. "Just message me if you change your mind."
"Are you going somewhere?" Sirius growled.
"I might have to go-"
"Into the office…" Sirius interrupted and finished her sentence with a groan.
"It's either this or I sleep there on Sunday night. I got a meeting with the people prosecuting the Mulciber case on Monday morning."
"Fine," Sirius sighed and pulled the duvet up until it covered half his face.
"Please don't give me a hard time about this," Claudia sighed.
"I can't help how I feel."
"I thought you felt a little better."
Sirius shrugged. "Just go. I'll be fine." He grabbed the packet of cigarettes on the nightstand and lit one.
Claudia got dressed, packed some nicer clothes for the party, and set off.
She spent the day in front of a huge whiteboard building a timeline of the Mulciber case and piecing together everything they had. Then, writing it down immaculately on a very long roll scroll of parchment.
At five, she got interrupted by a knock on the door.
"Come in!"
She turned around to see that it was Sirius, and he was wearing a tie!
"You changed your mind!" she exclaimed.
"I know I'll regret it," he grumbled but eventually forced a small smile. "Shall we?"
Soon enough, Claudia and Sirius were standing on the threshold of one of the ceremonial rooms of the Ministry that had been turned into a party venue for the night. Several huge Christmas trees, tall windows (although everyone knew that was not a real scenery outside), chandeliers, music, waiters in formal robes. The war suddenly felt million miles away.
They fought through the crowd until they found Claudia's colleagues in the corner. They were all sitting around a tiny table with a couple of bottles of champagne, at least one of which was empty. Tracey was laughing as her fingers were resting on Ewan's arm.
"Wasn't expecting the party to escalate this quickly," Claudia mumbled, pointing at the empty bottle, and sat down on one of the empty chairs next to Oscar. She also raised her eyebrow and made a slight movement of her head towards Ewan and Tracey who were still laughing manically.
"Don't even," Oscar whispered, but then gestured towards the champagne bottles, and spoke in a much louder voice. "The bartender insisted we drink by the glass, but we found a way…"
Sirius laughed, which made Claudia's heart jump with joy. She was so much more aware of his mood these days and noticed every single laugh. "This is a party I might be able to survive," he said and took the other chair.
"Still cannot believe you are here," Ewan pulled away from Tracey and gestured theatrically towards Sirius. "Moody wouldn't let me bring a girlfriend…"
"You have a girlfriend?" Tracey asked, her voice unusually high-pitched. Claudia had to try very hard to supress an eye roll. She did not think much of Tracey since their row the other month, and this rather obvious crush on Ewan made Claudia dislike her even more. How could she not know what Ewan was like?
"I could've had a girlfriend if Moody allowed me to bring one to this bloody party," Ewan replied nonchalantly.
That made Oscar laugh. "And you wonder why he isn't letting you… You're a security risk!"
A bit of an awkward silence ensued, and Sirius turned to Tracey in an attempt to break it. "Don't think we met."
"Tracey Holt," she said in a slightly bitter tone, and extended her hand. "My sister says hi."
Ewan and Oscar both grinned. "Oh, yes, we heard about that… He dated your sister, didn't he?"
Sirius was spared further blushes by the Head Auror taking the stage to give a toast.
"This isn't over," Ewan whispered in Sirius' direction but was swiftly shushed by everyone else.
"They say that Christmas is the season to be jolly," the Head Auror began and then took a solemn pause. "Never before did these words sound hollower that this year. We lost too many valued colleagues."
"Neville Adler, Alabaster Dovetail, Lavender Fledgling, Ernest Horn, Susan Ironwood, Willow Mallard, Marshall Silverberry, and Shelly Sweetleaf. I want us to take a moment to remember them all."
He lowered his head and closed his eyes, which brought the room to a complete standstill. There was stone cold silence, and no one dared to move.
"Thank you," the Head Auror finally mumbled, struggling to control his voice. "Many others were also injured, some permanently. Many of you are carrying scars that cannot be seen-"
Sirius leaned over to Claudia. "Is Alice here?" he whispered.
"No, she's not. Not feeling up to it."
Claudia started to listen to the Head Auror again. "I would also like to pay tribute to your spouses and loved ones. As many of you will know, my wife is an auror too. I know what it is like to sit at home in the middle of the night and worry if the person you love is ever coming home again."
Claudia could feel Sirius' hand placed around her shoulders to grip her a little tighter.
"You want to be proud of them," the Head Auror continued. "You are proud of them. But you are also scared."
Claudia glanced at Sirius, but his eyes were planted firmly on the speaker.
The Head Auror gripped the glass of champagne that someone had passed him. "I'm not asking you to forget about our fallen colleagues tonight. I'm not asking you to forget about the war. But everyone deserves a little bit of respite. So, please, do enjoy yourself. You have all worked incredibly hard this year, putting your lives on the line every day. And I, and the rest of the wizarding population of this country, are very grateful." He raised his glass. "Cheers… Oh, and Merry Christmas!"
"Cheers," the whole room said in unison, and everyone took a sip or two of their champagne.
"Well, that was depressing," Oscar mumbled, picked up for the bottle, and filled up everyone's glass.
"Has it always been like this?" Sirius asked and reached into his jacket to light a cigarette.
"This is the most deaths we've had since I've been here." Ewan mumbled.
"Hey, hey, hey-" Oscar interrupted. "You heard the boss. This is supposed to be a party." He looked at Sirius, who opened his mouth as if to ask more questions, and then spoke in a more serious voice. "Look, try not to worry. We care about this one." He gestured towards Claudia and, taking her by surprise, pulled her into a hug. "We wouldn't ever let anything happen to her."
Claudia chuckled. "Careful, people might think you care."
"Or worse, that he's in looooove." Ewan roared, which made everyone laugh.
"Right, that would be a first." Claudia smirked.
"Don't worry, brother," Oscar said to Ewan. "Our deal still stands. Single until our last breaths!"
Tracey cleared her throat. "So-" she mumbled and looked at Ewan. "You don't have a girlfriend either?" she asked and the noise levels at the table dropped considerably.
"No," Ewan said.
Claudia exchanged a look with Oscar, who finally released her from the hug and filled up everyone's glasses again. "New subject – I want to know about your mission to Glasgow, Avery."
"Have you not read my report?"
"I have… It's thrilling," he snorted. "But I want to know what's not in that report. How did you get access to the hospital to talk to that landlady?"
"Power of persuasion-" Claudia paused and chuckled. "And a slight tweak to the name on my muggle passport to convinced them I was her daughter."
"Is that allowed?" Tracey asked sharply.
"Who cares," Ewan chuckled. "What I want to know is how you did it! Sounds exceedingly useful…"
"I know a skilled forger," Claudia said with a smile and a side-glance at Sirius.
"I knew it! There was no way you were leaving that mission with a clean conscience." Oscar laughed and playfully punched her upper arm.
"You didn't say that's why you needed to know that spell," Sirius briefly leaned in to mumble in Claudia's ear. His hand lingered on her shoulder.
"Anything else you didn't like in that report?" she asked cheekily of Oscar, and leant against Sirius, who had hugged her so tightly, his arm was now falling over Claudia's shoulder and across her chest.
"Nor for now. But I'm sure it will come to me," Oscar said.
"In all seriousness though," Ewan said. "We were all well impressed. Even Moody, and he doesn't say that often."
"Thanks," Claudia said and could feel the blood rising to her cheeks. She was not used to praise.
"I don't know if you realise, being a civilian," Oscar said toward Sirius, "but your girlfriend is awesome. Tracking a Death Eater like that. More experienced aurors would –"
"Of course I realise!" Sirius snapped, interrupting him. "It's not like I sit on my arse at home all day."
"Oh, you mean your little club?" Oscar smirked.
"Fuck off," Sirius growled and straightened up his posture. Every muscle Claudia could feel because she was leaning on him had tensed up.
Claudia looked at her boyfriend and rested her hand on his leg. He seemed to loosen a little. For a moment, Oscar looked like he was contemplating responding but thought better of it and poured another round of drinks.
"He's just jealous," Ewan spoke to diffuse the tension. "He's been trying to join since the start, but Moody won't let him."
Join what?" Tracey asked.
"Nothing," they all mumbled in unison.
Sirius took out another cigarette and lit it.
The rest of the party went about the same. They talked about work, the war. Ewan and Tracey were inching closer and closer to each other. Barraclough came to have one drink with them before disappearing again. Moody was too busy to turn up at all.
"I think it's time to go home," Claudia uttered when the music stopped, and the lights were turned up. It was not the most subtle sign that the Christmas party was over.
Claudia hugged all of her colleagues, got a kiss on the cheek from Oscar, and she and Sirius were on their way.
"You all seem very close," Sirius said as they were walking through the empty Ministry corridors, his hand firmly around Claudia's waist.
"We spend a lot of time together."
"Yeah," Sirius hissed. "Didn't quite know kissing was part of the job description."
Claudia stopped abruptly and a broad smile appeared on her face. "Good grief," she chuckled. "You are jealous!"
"I'm not jealous," Sirius protested with a slight frown.
"You know there is no reason to be…" Claudia said and placed her hands on his chest. "You're the only person I ever wanted to be with."
"I know that…" He paused and his frown deepened. "Does Oscar though?"
"What are you talking about?" Claudia said with a slight chuckle.
"He had his hands all over you all night. Both laughing at each other's dumb jokes!"
"We're friends!"
"Right…"
Claudia could not help but laugh again.
"Are you laughing at me?" Sirius seemed really annoyed now. There were now at the Ministry lifts, and he was angrily jabbing the button to call it.
"Yes, I am. You're being ridiculous."
The lift had arrived, and they stepped into it in silence.
"Do you trust me?" Claudia asked slowly. "Because if you don't after everything we've been through..." she trailed off.
Sirius sighed. "Of course, I trust you. I trust you with my life."
"Then, why are you this jealous?"
"I know I'm being ridiculous…" he mumbled. "But we haven't really seen each other all that much lately, and-"
"I know. I'm sorry," Claudia said and run her finger on the side of his face. "I shouldn't have." All the guilt about the Glasgow mission came flooding back.
Sirius brushed Claudia's hair. "You have nothing to be sorry about. It's your job…" he whispered and kissed her. "And your boss was right. I really am proud of you."
She lifted herself on her tiptoes and kissed him. "I love you."
Sirius slid his hands down Claudia's back and hooked his thumbs on the back of her trousers. "I love you too," he mumbled and pulled her into another kiss. This time longer.
"Should we get home?" she whispered and tugged on his tie.
Once in their flat, they stumbled towards the bedroom. By the time they got there, half their clothes were already gone. They fell into the covers, and expertly got rid of the rest of them, while never quite letting each other's lips be.
"I have an idea-" Sirius said with a broad grin before sliding both of his hands in between Claudia's legs. She had no idea what he did with those long fingers of his. She only knew that it nearly made her loose her senses. Repeatedly. She lost count how many times, before Sirius slowed down and kissed her again. Claudia found enough strength to wrap her legs around him, and they joined to peak again, this time together.
"This was just-" she whispered when they finished, barely able to catch her breath.
Sirius kissed her again, stroking her side so gently it almost tickled.
"Just unbelievable," she finished the thought. "Maybe you can get a little jealous more often."
Sirius buried his face in the crook of Claudia's neck and laughed. "I promise I'll try."
After a Sunday spent in a haze caused by the slight hangover, and tiredness from their late-night love making, Claudia found herself back in her office almost unreasonably early on Monday morning.
Oscar was there too, brewing some coffee.
"Don't they have coffee in the Operations Room?" she hissed, perhaps a little more icily than she intended to. Sirius' jealousy may have been ridiculous, but Oscar did not exactly help. He was all too aware of how to push Sirius' buttons.
"They do. But it's disgusting…" he smirked.
Claudia kept frowning.
"What?"
"Did you really have to be such an arse to Sirius?"
"I wasn't –" he began but stopped abruptly when he saw the expression on Claudia's face. "Fine. I'm sorry. Nothing personal, you know what I'm like…"
"Yeah. Wouldn't kill you to be nicer sometimes."
"Noted… Anyway," he said with a grin. "You missed quite the end to the party."
"What happened?"
"Moody found Ewan and our esteemed trainee in a compromising position in his office."
Claudia was not surprised. It was clear that was where it was heading. "How compromising?"
"Compromising enough to get Tracey reassigned and Ewan suspended for two weeks. The boss is furious."
"Does it mean you need more help on the Anderson investigation?" Claudia asked.
Oscar smirked. "Oh no, Oscar," he said in a voice clearly designed to imitate Claudia's. "That's terrible for both of them. Poor Tracey, having to do the rest of her traineeship in the admin division."
"Yeah, yeah… Whatever," Claudia said with a slight eye-roll. "She'll be fine."
"Didn't you try telling me not five minutes ago I should be nicer?" Oscar roared.
"Shut up. The Anderson case?"
"Talk to Barraclough about it."
"Will do," she sighed. "But now, I have to meet my prosecutors."
"You'll be fine," he said and patted her on the shoulder. "Just keep your cool and don't yell at them."
"Why would I yell at them?"
"You'll see…" Oscar smirked and slid out of the door.
Claudia watched him leave. He was smart and funny. He was confident. He was tall. But Sirius was being ridiculous. They were just colleagues, and friends. That was all. He did not feel that way about her. With that thought, Claudia collected all her papers and slowly made her way to the meeting.
Huge pile of documents in her arms, she walked into the room to find two people sitting there. A middle-aged woman with narrow glasses and a high bun, and a younger man with a fresh roll of parchment in front of him.
"Good morning," she said through the huge lump in her throat. Her nerves had finally caught up with her. "I'm Claudia Avery, the auror on the Mulciber case."
"I'm Romilda Goldhorn," the woman said and pointed at her colleague. "And this is Cyrus Mallard. Take a seat, we'll begin."
Claudia run both of the prosecutors through the timeline of the case. Mallard wrote down everything she said, while Goldhorn asked the questions.
Five minutes in, Goldhorn raised her hand to indicate she wanted Claudia to stop, just as Claudia was getting to the bit when she travelled up to Scotland. "How did you find out the address?" she asked.
"A confidential informant told me."
"Did you pay them for that information?"
"Yes."
Goldhorn frowned. "I understand that sometimes this is necessary, but I need you to tell me exactly what they told you in exchange for the money."
"He told me Mulciber's address in Glasgow. I have no idea how he got it. But it was the right address-"
Goldhorn raised her hand again. "Did you tell this informant why you were after Mulciber?"
"No."
"Did you encourage him to provide a false testimony?"
"No!" Claudia barked. Her blood was rising now. "Of course not!"
"Very well," Goldhorn said. "Keep going." She let Claudia continue until Mulciber's arrest before jumping in again. "What do you mean he was out of it?"
"I don't know. It was just way too easy. He didn't fight back, he didn't try to hide anything. He just stood there and confessed."
"Remember at the trial you will be under oath."
"And?" Claudia barked, fully expecting another lecture.
"Think of this as practice… Did you, or did you not give any substances to Mulciber? Or-" she gestured at Claudia, who had opened her mouth to protest, to keep quiet. "Meddled with his mind in any other way? Modified his memory or the Imperius Curse, for instance?"
"I did nothing of that sort! I have not yet learned how to modify memories, and I'm not authorised to use the Unforgiveable Curses."
"That did not stop you before." You could hear the pin drop in the meeting room.
"I did that in self-defence!" Claudia's voice was raised again, but she remembered Oscar's advice not to yell at the prosecutors. "And I was cleared!" she added as calmly as she could.
Luckily, Goldhorn chose to ignore Claudia's outburst and leaned closer to Mallard. "Let's get a healer to look at him before the trial starts. The defence will surely exploit this."
"Anything else?" Claudia said through gritted teeth.
"You tell us," Goldhorn said significantly. "Is there anything else the defence could use against you?"
Claudia hesitated for a moment, remembering Oscar's teasing from the party earlier. "I forged a muggle passport to get access to the hospital when I questioned Mulciber's landlady."
"Typical aurors," Goldhorn mumbled. "Nothing we had not dealt with before." Then she pushed the pile of Claudia's evidence in front of Mallard and adjusted her glasses. "Now, there are few more things I need you to do," she continued. "First of all, I need you to write down your own account of what happened. Something along the lines of what you said earlier would do. But please try to use more precise language."
Goldhorn's tone made Claudia scrunch the tip of her nose.
"Secondly, you will be called as a witness. I do not suppose you've done that before."
"I have not."
"Ask Barraclough, he knows how to do it. Do not ask Moody. We don't need him leading by example, yelling at anyone who dares to ask a question."
"Understood."
Goldhorn nodded, then looked at Mallard and gestured at him to collect the papers. "We will be in touch with questions," she added and floated out of the room. Mallard followed her like a puppy.
Claudia soon followed and went to the Operations Room to find Barraclough.
"How were the prosecutors?" he asked nonchalantly once she finally found him hiding in a cubicle, looking through staff profiles.
"Alright," Claudia mumbled. "But it doesn't seem like they need so much more from me. Do you want any help with those?" she added, pointing at the pile of paperwork.
"No," he said resolutely. "I know you want to be on the case, but I need you focusing on the Mulciber trial. I don't want him slipping through our fingers now."
"Fine." The disappointment was apparent in Claudia's voice. "Goldhorn also wants you to tell me how to be a good witness."
"Be factual, don't make any assumption," he began. "Do not express an opinion or get angry under questioning. Worst thing you can do is to get angry."
"Anything else?" Claudia sighed.
"That's it," Barraclough said and picked up one of the staff reports. "And I really need to get back into this."
Claudia left him there, muttering under her breath. She could have handled both cases. They were all just too blind to see it.
Exhausted, Claudia went to bed almost as soon as she got home. It was Christmas Eve. The following morning, it took both her and Sirius ages to get out of bed.
Claudia used her auror training to disguise herself and pop into Diagon Alley for some very last-minute Christmas shopping. Most shops were shut but she managed to get some books for Remus and Peter, Quidditch-themed Christmas decorations for James, and a beautiful quill for Lily.
When they got to James' and Lily's house, Claudia found Alice standing in the hallway.
"What are you doing here?" Claudia said with a smile and gave her a hug. She was so happy to see Alice out an about. Her face looked fuller than last time.
"Lily invited us. Mum is still in St Mungo's, so we thought it would be nice to be with you guys."
"Are you feeling any better?"
"Not really," Alice sighed. "I'm still tired all the time. Can barely look at food. The stress is just…" she paused. "Dad's case is either getting nowhere, or they aren't telling us."
"I am trying to get myself on that investigation."
"Don't you have that Mulciber trial?"
Claudia nodded. "But that will be over soon."
"It's a lot of work, trial and an investigation like that."
"Come on, I need to do something to help you, and this is the best way I can help," Claudia protested. "You know how useless I get saying the right things, comforting you-"
Alice gave Claudia a hug. "You're my best friend. I know you miss my dad too-" she paused. "But you don't have to kill yourself at work over it."
"It's ok-"
But Alice interrupted her again. "These few months really showed me what's important. Please remember that you don't have to prove anything to us. We all love you anyway."
"I-" Claudia stuttered. "But I want to do this."
At that point, they all got called in. The lunch was starting.
"We all love you anyway," Alice repeated in a whisper as they walked into the dining room.
Before James carved the turkey, he squeezed Lily's hand and whispered something in her ear. She nodded and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.
"We have a bit of an announcement," James mumbled uncertainly. Then he looked at his wife again and smiled. "Lily and I are going to have a baby."
Claudia pretended that she did not know and congratulated them as heartily as everyone else. Except Sirius, who was sitting with his arms crossed and staring at the bottom of his glass. Gradually, everyone fell silent and looked at him.
"Sorry… I'm really happy for you both," he mumbled. "Just don't have the energy to pretend I haven't known for weeks."
"How?" Lily asked, her eye so narrow she looked like Professor McGonagall again.
Claudia could see James looking daggers at Sirius.
Lily clearly spotted this. "You told him?" she hissed.
But James did not have to defend himself as Sirius got up from the table and mumbled. "Going for a smoke."
"Is he smoking again?" Remus asked in Claudia's direction, the judgement dripping from his voice.
"Clearly," Claudia sighed. Everyone was looking at her and it was making her uncomfortable. "How are you feeling, Lily?" she asked in an attempt to deflect.
Lily hesitated for a moment, as if she was weighing up whether to move the conversation on. "So tired," she said finally. "I need to have a nap at three o'clock every day. Two days ago, I didn't wake up till the morning. And 'morning sickness'? It's not just the morning. It's constant nausea, all day long."
They chatted about pregnancy symptoms for a while yet, and Sirius finally came back to the table and poured himself another glass of wine.
"Any weird cravings?" Frank asked.
"No!" Lily shook her head. "Just lot of food that turns my stomach. I can't even look at a fish."
"Excuse me," Alice said suddenly. "Bathroom." She got up from the table and walked out into the hallway. Through the gap in the door, Claudia could see her best friend gesturing her over.
She excused herself too and followed Alice out of the dining room. "What's going on?" she asked, once they were both in the hallway and out of earshot.
"I'm pregnant."
"What?"
"These symptoms Lily's describing." Alice's voice shook as she spoke. "I've been feeling just like that. I haven't had my period in ages. I thought it was just the stress. But come to think of it…"
Claudia supressed a grimace. "Were you trying to get pregnant?"
"Of course not. Not now," Alice mumbled. "I thought we were being careful…"
"I need to know which potion you were using," Claudia uttered. She had no idea what to say to Alice, who was clearly in shock. They both were.
Alice sighed. "Just how much are you judging me right now?"
"Trust me," Claudia smiled awkwardly and put her hand on her best friend's shoulder. "I would be judging you a lot more if I thought you did it on purpose."
That made Alice chuckle through the tears that had now formed themselves on her lower eye lids. "What am I going to do?" she whispered.
"You'll go to St Mungo's first, ok?" Claudia replied. "To make sure it's actually true. You can panic after that."
"What do you think Frank will say?"
"Frank?" Claudia said with a smile. "Frank is going to be there for you. Frank would be there for you if you turned into Voldemort."
Alice smiled, her tears now flowing freely down her cheeks. She hugged Claudia. "I need my mum," she whispered. Claudia did not know what to say. She could fell her whole body tensing up at the thought that anyone would want to talk to their mother about something like this.
Alice was a little subdued for the rest of the lunch, and they exchanged a look every time someone mentioned Lily's pregnancy.
After the delicious food, everyone sat around the Christmas tree while Claudia tried to explain the rushed presents she bought earlier, and why there were a few more delivery boxes that were to remain unopened.
"You did do-over presents? James laughed. "I'm opening the original ones right now."
"No!" Claudia laughed. "We were very drunk."
"They can't be that bad!"
"We got you a miniature beater's bat," Claudia sniggered. "It was very suggestive." She laughed and her eyes darted towards Sirius.
He was sat like a statue, staring at the wall. "Sorry, I need a glass of water," he mumbled and promptly left the room again.
Everyone felt silent and looked at Claudia again. She could just imagine what they were all thinking. What they were all going to say. They were worried about him. Something had to be done. They would all probably have fifteen different, and equally useless, suggestions for how Claudia should be handling all of this. She could not take their judgement, stood up and followed him.
She found him pouring a large glass of firewhiskey in the kitchen. It was eerily quiet, bar the faint sound of Christmas music coming from the living room.
"Sorry…" Sirius mumbled the moment she walked through the door.
"Are you ok?"
"I don't feel like celebrating," he sighed and took a sip from his glass. "Came here to think…"
"What are you thinking about?" Claudia took another glass from the cupboard and poured herself some whiskey too.
"Regulus…" Sirius whispered and reached into his back pocket for a cigarette.
"Lily wouldn't want us to smoke here."
"True…" Sirius opened the back door and went to sit on the stairs that led down to the garden. Claudia sat down next to him and took a cigarette too.
"The last Christmas I spent with Regulus," Sirius began slowly and quietly. "He told my parents about us. It still makes me mad-"
"He wasn't entirely to blame for what happened then, was he?"
"I guess not," Sirius chuckled a little.
They smoked in silence for a while.
"How do you think it would've turned out?" Claudia asked. "If Regulus hadn't told them. If we didn't break up."
Sirius shrugged. "I think I needed to make that mistake, to realise just how much I love you."
"Every cloud…" Claudia smiled and leaned in to kiss him.
But Sirius turned away. "I don't even have a present for you."
"I don't mind-"
Sirius kept avoiding her eye and fiddled with the cigarette in his hand. "Just couldn't find anything that would make you happy. I've been to so many shops… Nothing was good enough."
"Oh, come on," Claudia whispered and reached out for his hand. "Who cares about a fucking Christmas. You are the only thing that matters to me."
Sirius wrapped his arm around Claudia, and she dropped her head on his shoulder.
"Besides," she whispered. "I got a present for both of us." She reached into her sleeve and took out her wand to summon Sirius' gift. "Merry Christmas," she mumbled when the present landed in her hand.
Sirius unwrapped it to reveal a travel guide to Italy.
"Let's reschedule that trip."
He smiled squeezed Claudia so firmly in his arms he nearly crushed her. "I love you so much," he whispered into her hair.