Breaking Down

Claudia sat down next to Sirius. The water from his overcoat, tinted with blood, was dripping on the hardwood floor.

"Are you hurt?" she mumbled.

Sirius shook his head and drunk some firewhiskey.

"Do you want to take your coat off? Shower? Eat something?"

Another shake of the head. Another sip of firewhiskey.

She took a deep breath. "Who's blood is it?"

Sirius did not raise his eyes from the floor. "The guy we were guarding," he whispered. " He tried to kill himself before they took him, but they got him alive."

"Who was it?"

"That prisoner we were supposed to get back in the autumn. Seems he really didn't want to go back."

Claudia bit her lip. That was the prisoner that knew about Linda. She stretched towards the coffee table and picked up a pack of cigarettes. She lit one but before she got to smoke any of it, Sirius took it out of her hand and brought it to his own lips.

She lit another one for herself and shuffled closer to him. She reached for his leg but froze mid-movement as Sirius drew away.

"I'm sorry," he uttered. "I'm all wet."

Claudia made another slight movement towards him. "I don't give a shit."

"Claude, please."

Her heart ever so slightly broken, Claudia moved back to give Sirius some space. He was still avoiding her eye contact, focusing on the firewhiskey he held in one hand, and the cigarette in the other.

She watched him with a huge lump in her throat. He was not well before this happened, blaming himself for Regulus' death, and dealing with his father's passing. The thought of what this might do to him was making her want to cry.

"I need to send Moody an owl, to tell him what happened."

"Can't it wait till the morning?" Sirius growled. "I don't want him barging in here right now." He drunk some more. "I could do without the bollocking."

What Sirius was asking her to do went against all of Claudia's training and common sense. The sooner they got on the trail of the kidnappers, the more chances they had finding the Azkaban guard. The longer there was a scene of a deadly duel, the more chances the muggles would find it.

"What about Tony's body?" she whispered.

"They blasted him to bits." Sirius brought the whiskey to his lips again. "I would've brough him back if there was anything left of him."

"Hey," Claudia whispered and slowly reached for the bottle. "I think you had quite enough of this."

But Sirius moved the bottle out of Claudia's reach. "Leave me be," he barked.

"At least give me a sip," she mumbled and extended her arm. This time, Sirius did pass her the bottle and their fingers briefly touched as he did. For a moment, she hoped he would let her hold his hand. That everything would be alright…

But Siris withdrew his hand, closed his eyes and wrapped himself even tighter in his bloodied coat. "It should've been me," he mumbled and dropped his head into his hands. "It should've been me."

"He's not the first person to die, and he won't be the last. You - we both - need to learn to live with that..."

"Thanks," Sirius grumbled. "That really cheered me up." The sarcasm was dripping from his voice.

They sat largely in silence and smoked until the sun started to rise. The firewhiskey bottle lay empty at their feet. Sirius was leaning against the wall and Claudia could see he was fighting sleep. His eyes kept closing and occasionally, his head would drop before he jerked awake again.

"Let's go to bed," she said.

"I don't want to."

Claudia took a deep breath. "Do you at least want to lie down here. You won't be able to stay awake forever."

He hesitated for a moment, but eventually lowered his body and rested his head on Claudia's lap. She sunk her fingers into his hair, which was all sticky. It did not take long for Claudia to understand why. Within seconds, her fingers were covered in a half-dried blood residue.

Tears started to roll down her cheeks just as Sirius' breath deepened and slowed down. He must have succumbed to sleep.

How did they get here? What have they ever done to deserve this? Sitting on the cold floor covered in someone else's blood!

Claudia used her forearm to wipe her eyes. She could not break down, not now. Sirius needed her. She dried his clothes with a spell and summoned a blanket to cover him up.

Claudia was in pain. The weight of Sirius' head was pressing against her ankle, and her back was hurting from being pushed up against the cold wall. But for an hour or so, she did not move for the fear of waking him up. At least the physical discomfort took her mind of the shitty situation they found themselves in.

But with every passing minute, Claudia felt more and more guilty about keeping the fact Sirius' mission had failed from Moody. And at about seven-thirty, she could not take it anymore. She summoned a large sofa cushion, gently lifted Sirius' head and freed her leg. Then, she lowered him onto the cushion. He stirred but did not wake.

Claudia limped on her now dead leg to the dining table, where she found some parchment and scribbled a message to Moody. Then, she hobbled to the bedroom window, and attached it to that owl they had now basically adopted.

She washed the guard's blood off her shaking hands and went to the kitchen to brew some tea and made toast.

Twenty minutes barely passed since she sent that owl before Claudia heard loud steps on the stairs, followed by several deafening bangs on their front door.

"Open up," Moody's voice carried through the living room.

Sirius scrambled to his feet and steadied himself against the wall. "Shouldn't have drunk all that whiskey," he mumbled leaning over.

Claudia was convinced he was going to throw up, but somehow, he did not. "Moody's here," she whispered.

Sirius shot her an angry look. "Fucking hell. Why did you have to tell him?"

Claudia crossed the room to open the door. "Because I had to."

"Teacher's pet." Sirius just managed to utter before Moody burst through their font door.

"What the fuck's happened?" Moody barked. "Where is Tony? And the guard?"

"The guard's been kidnapped," Sirius said through gritted teeth. Before closing his eyes and dropping his voice to a barely audible whisper. "And Tony's dead."

"What happened?"

"We got outnumbered. They were everywhere."

"How?"

"I have no fucking clue!" Sirius barked. "I have nothing else to say. They knew we were there and now everyone's dead. That's all."

"But-"

"I'm going to the shower," Sirius interrupted him and stormed out.

Moody turned towards Claudia who had watched their previous exchange with a bated breath. "Did he tell you anything else?"

"Not much more than he told you," she mumbled.

"When did he get back?"

Claudia swallowed hard to prepare for the inevitable resumption in shouting. "Few hours ago."

"And you didn't-" Moody started in a raised voice, but Claudia jumped in.

"I thought he might tell you more if he had a chance to cool down," she gestured at Moody to keep quiet. "And there was no point looking for Tony's body. Apparently, they blasted him to bits."

"The guard?" Moody whispered.

"Tried to kill himself before they took him but did not quite manage it."

"Stay with him," Moody said, seemingly back to his rational self. "I need to go and see if any of this can be salvaged."

"Wait," Claudia exclaimed. "What does this mean for Linda?"

"We can only pray…"

"I don't pray," she mumbled. Religion was not something she grew up with.

"You might want to start."

Sirius did not emerge from the bathroom for a good hour. When he did come out, he wanted neither the tea nor the toast that Claudia made and went straight to bed. But Claudia could see he was not sleeping. He lay motionless, staring into space. Eventually, she got him to eat some eggs for lunch and drink some light sleeping draught.

Once he was asleep. Claudia crawled into the bed next to him. She tried her best to wrap him in his arms, but he was so much taller than her that her efforts were almost laughable, her feet came barely to Sirius' knees. But he purred like a cat when she hugged him and gripped her wrist to hold her hand close to his heart.

She could feel his heart beating in his chest. He seemed so fragile.

The idea that she was few missing beats of that heart away from losing him forever was just too much.

She gripped Sirius even tighter and could not quite get Moody's last words out of her head. Linda was not the only one who needed a prayer. For the first time in her life, Claudia wondered if there was any omnipotent being... Maybe Death? Or fate? Or that God muggles talked about… Anyone that she could plead with to keep him alive. In this moment, she would do anything to protect him. There was no line she would not have crossed.

The next few days were all identical. Sirius barely spoke, smoked like a chimney, and drunk. He spent most of the days in bed, staring into the ceiling, and refused to talk about the mission. All they managed was stupid small talk about who won the latest Quidditch match, what they were going to have for dinner, and most tragically the weather…

Through all of this, Sirius could barely look at her, let alone touch or kiss her. It was like living with a ghost. This half-existence was driving Claudia out of her mind. But she could tell Sirius was in shock and kept her mouth shut. She worried about how he would react if she asked him about the mission. She worried about him just walking away, and never coming back.

Eventually, Claudia had to return to work. She felt a little ashamed that she was actually looking forward to it... She needed to be somewhere, where she could speak her mind. James, Lily, Remus, and even Peter volunteered to pop in on Sirius while she was away to make sure he was not alone or drinking too much.

But work was not exactly keeping Claudia's mind busy, as she had another boring shift in St Mungo's guarding the International Cooperation official who was still in a coma. All day she had to sit at his bedside and cast all kinds of revealing charms on every healer who approached him to make sure they were not a Death Eater. The hardest thing about it was not falling asleep.

At the end of her shift, as she was walking through the deserted hospital corridors, she heard a familiar voice coming out of one of the rooms.

"It's going to be alright mum, just get some sleep."

Claudia stuck her head in there. "I didn't know you were visiting today. I've been here all day on guard duty."

Alice gave her best friend a feeble smile. "I just stopped by after work."

"How is she?" Claudia nodded towards Mrs Adler.

Alice sighed. "She's got so many potions inside of her, she barely knows who she is. She won't be up for hours now."

"Want to go get some coffee?"

"Can't drink coffee, remember?" Alice reminded her, with a hint of jealousy in her voice. "But I wouldn't mind a tea… Where should we go?"

"I'd say we could go to mine, but-" Claudia trailed off. "It's not a particularly cheerful place right now."

"Let's go to mine then."

Once settled in Alice's living room with mugs of tea in their hands, Alice gave Claudia the latest on her pregnancy. The baby was due at the end of July, and all was going well.

"How did Frank take it?" Claudia asked and sipped her tea.

"He took it well," Alice smiled. "Until his mother threatened to move in with us."

"Does he want that?"

"No, but he's too terrified of her to say no. So is his father. But between us," Alice paused and looked around. "I really don't want her here. She's terrible… Everything is just 'you need to be tough', 'the nausea is worse if you want to feel ill'. I genuinely want to kill her sometimes."

Claudia chuckled. "You shouldn't be telling an auror that."

Alice gave her a fleeting smile but then froze. "I really miss my mum… She always knew what to say, how to make everything better. I don't want to go through this without her."

Claudia looked away and bit her lip. She drank some more tea and avoided eye contact until Alice spoke again.

"I know it's uncomfortable for you to see her like that too."

Claudia shook her head. "That's not it." She could feel the tears coming into her eyes. "Sorry, I shouldn't have said anything. This is not about me."

"Claudia, please. I'm sick of being the basket case. Talk to me…"

Claudia drew in a deep breath. "The last few months have been hell. I have no one to turn to with Sirius the way he is…" She paused and wiped her eyes. "Hearing you say you miss you mum. That you wish she was here to help you, guide you… While mine-" The image of her mother flashed through Claudia's head, and all she could feel was disgust.

"You have me. You can always talk to me." Alice put her hand around her best friend's back. "After all, I have been your mother since you were eleven," she added in an attempt to lighten the mood.

"But compared to your problems, mine are so pathetic."

"You always do this," Alice whispered and rubbed Claudia's back. "Thinking everything is on you. I'm here to help. We are all here to help you. There is no shame in that."

"I don't want to worry you."

"Fine," Alice sighed. "But you will let me know if you need something, alright?"

Claudia nodded. "More tea would be nice."

"I'll make some more then."

Eventually, Claudia stopped crying, said goodbye to Alice and set off home. She relieved James from Sirius-duty and cooked some dinner. As ever, Sirius barely said a word and they went to sleep.

For a week or so, that had become their routine. Claudia would go to the office while one of their friends popped in on Sirius to keep him company. They all had same kind of luck getting him to talk; anyone who tried, got their head bitten off.

"Where is Peter?" Claudia asked as she came home from work one Friday in early February.

Sirius was lying on the sofa in the dark. The only thing that was illuminating the room was his lit cigarette. "Ran away like the coward he is…"

"What happened?"

"He kept annoying me."

Claudia took a deep breath. With Sirius in this mood, Peter never stood a chance. "Let's go to the Order meeting."

"I'm not going…"

"You can't stay in this room forever."

"Watch me."

"Sirius, please…" she sighed. "It'd do you good to see everyone. Besides, Moody might know what happened at your mission by now. You would find out how they knew you were coming."

"What good is that going to do?" Sirius growled. "Just leave me be." He got up and walked towards the bedroom. "And stop asking the others to babysit me. I'm neither a child, nor an invalid."

"Fine. But I'm going to the meeting."

"Do whatever you want," Sirius hissed. "You always do anyway."

Without another word, Claudia slammed the apartment door behind her. She felt sorry for Sirius and was worried about him. But she was sick and tired of being the person he took out his frustrations on. The distraction of the meeting was going to do her good. Or so she thought...

"Where is Sirius?" Remus asked the moment she found her friends at the Order meeting.

"Is he doing better?" Lily added.

"Did you manage to get anything out of him about the mission?" James said, without giving her the opportunity to respond to the others.

Claudia took a deep breath and gestured at them all to shut up. "He's not coming."

"I'll go and try convince him to come," Remus said.

"You think you can convince him if I can't?" Claudia barked.

"I didn't mean…"

"Whatever," Claudia hissed and crossed the room away from them all. "Anyone sitting here?" she mumbled but dropped to the seat between Benjy and Fabian even before either of them had a chance to respond.

The reprieve that gave her was temporary.

"Where's Black?" was the first thing that came out of Moody's mouth.

"He's not coming," Claudia said through gritted teeth.

"What do you mean he isn't coming?" the old auror barked.

"Well, he's not coming."

"But we can't go on without him! We need to talk about the mission."

"I know as much as anyone about what happen, you can pretend I'm him if that helps."

"Remind me to fire you tomorrow," Moody grumbled but got on with the meeting. No one had any new information about what happened. No one knew how the Death Eaters new where the safehouse was. No one knew where the Azkaban guard was taken.

Claudia barely paid attention to what happened for the rest of the meeting. She kept glancing around the room. James, Lily, Remus and Peter were all looking at her like she had lost her mind.

After the meeting was over, James and Lily took another opportunity to have a go at her.

"Claudia, we've seen him like this before," Lily began. "We have to do something."

"He's fine," Claudia sighed unconvincingly, too tired to pretend she actually believed it. "He just needs time, ok?"

Lily and James exchanged a look.

"He's clearly not well. We think someone needs to talk to him about all this properly," James was the first to speak.

"We think he'd feel better if he got things off his chest," Lily pitched in.

Claudia had had enough. "Give him a break. He just seen someone die in front of his eyes. Neither of you have any idea what it feels like!" she barked and stormed out.

Once in the street, she heard footsteps behind her. She turned to see Remus trying to catch up with her. "Don't you start as well," she hissed.

"They're just worried about him."

"They're out of line."

"They don't really get it."

"Get what?"

"What it's like to be a tortured soul."

"No, they don't."

"I do though. And I'm here to help. I'm not going to judge you or him."

Claudia took a deep breath, which seems to have dissolved some of her rage. She sat down on the kerb, and Remus joined her.

"The thing is," she whispered. "I would love to talk to him, but-"

"But he's not letting you."

She shook her head. "No, he's not."

"Listen to me, Claudia. We both know that if there is one person he listens to, the one person that can help him, it's you."

"I know, which is why it's so hard…" She paused and started to draw circles in the dirt of the kerb with the tip of her finger. "I feel like a failure-"

"That's not what I meant," Remus patiently explained. "It's not on you if he isn't talking, or getting better. It doesn't say anything about you as a person, or about the love he has for you."

Claudia swallowed dry. "How could it not? What good is love if I can't help him?"

"I don't know-"

"Well, thanks for the pep talk."

Remus smiled. "I know it sucks. And that none of us chose this…"

"No… We didn't."

"I'm not going to interfere. Just whatever you need, ask, alright? I trust your judgement completely."

Claudia tilted her head towards Remus. "Thank you," she whispered. "You're the only one."

"Do you want to go get a drink?"

Claudia shook her head. "I'm going to head home."

But when she got there, Sirius was out.

Still in her coat, she dropped to the sofa and just sat there. All alone in the dark and cold flat.

And then, completely out of the blue, it just became too much, and Claudia started to sob.

Finally, she did not have to pretend he was ok, or that she was strong. Finally, she could just let it all out. The one person. The only person she ever loved was crumbling in front of her eyes. And it was all her fault. She should have been able to help him.

Around midnight, Claudia heard a key in the door and jumped up from the sofa.

"Where have you been?"

"Fresh air," he mumbled as he walked through the door. But he marched right into the doorframe and stumbled.

"Fresh air in the pub?" She bit her lip. Maybe that was too sharp.

"What's the big deal." Sirius shrugged. "I went to the pub."

"No one knows anything new about the mission," Claudia attempted to change the conversation."

"I don't care."

"Everyone was wondering where you were."

"I don't care about that either." Sirius tried to take his coat off but let out a sharp scream when he touched his chest.

"What happened?" Claudia gasped. "Are you ok?"

Sirius slowly undid his shirt to reveal a fresh tattoo just above where his heart was. It was a grim reaper.

"Does it hurt?" Claudia asked. It was the best she could come up with. The tattoo may have been beautifully done but it was horrifying. A grim reaper, what was he thinking?

"Probably less painful than dying."

Claudia paused. She had to ask. She could not keep it in any longer. "Is this about Tony?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Please. I want to hear it. I want to help you."

"You can't help me. No one can. No one would understand…" Sirius mumbled, transformed into Padfoot and slunk into the bedroom.

Claudia took a deep breath and slumped back into the sofa. She tried and she failed. She had to give him space, that was what her gut was telling her. So far, he had always come around. He was bound to this time too.

As she stared into space, she noticed a scorched book on the edge of the fireplace. She forced herself to get up and push it back in to avoid it spreading a fire. It was just about possible to make out the cover of the book. It was their guide to Italy, the one she gave him for Christmas.

There was nothing that Claudia could have done to stop the fresh wave of sobs that brought on. She crawled back to the sofa and pulled a throw over her and lied down.

Despite everything that had happened, there was only one thing she wanted in that moment, for Sirius to come out of their bedroom and talk to her. To tell her whatever was on his mind. To hug her. To kiss her. But he did not and eventually, she cried herself to sleep.

She had no choice but to go into the bedroom as she got ready for work the following day. Sirius was still Padfoot and lied motionless on the floor.

"Can you transform back for a bit, please?" she whispered.

Sirius did but stayed sitting by the foot of the bed and avoiding her eye contact.

"We're supposed to be going to Italy next week, but-" she took a deep breath that shook a little. "But I found the travel guide. So I was wondering-"

"I can't go," Sirius mumbled, his eyes still planted on the floor.

She walked over to him and crunched down. "I think it would be really good for you," she whispered. "I think it would be really good for both of us. To get away from things. Forget-"

"Do you think I can forget?" he barked. "Do you think I can ever enjoy myself again?"

"Think about it." She reached for his hand, but he snatched it away.

"I don't have to think about it. I'm not going."

"Fine," Claudia mumbled and stood up again. She knew it was much more likely for Sirius to change his mind if she let him stew on it, rather than push him. He never did what he was told. Normally, she loved that about him. She loved he knew his own mind, the strength of his personality… But right now, she wished he was capable of taking advice.

"Feel free to go without me. I'm sure you'd find someone to go with you," he added bitterly.

Claudia bit her tongue to stop herself from saying something ungenerous and, feeling rather helpless, left for work.

Work was not bringing her any joy either. The Anderson case was stalling. The witness interviews brought nothing, the junior official from the Department of International Magical Cooperation was still in a coma. Moody's team even got kicked out of the Operations Room, and all the surge staff they had helping on the case left. Even the number of Division B agents running around Geneva looking for information dwindled. It was very much starting to feel like the deaths would remain unsolved.

Claudia hated the idea they would never find Mr Adler's killer. Or rather, confirm her worst fears. She really did not want to add Alice to the list of people she let down.

Desperate to find anything that was missed, Claudia was browsing through the witness statements. So far, she had been through them six times and found nothing.

"I brought you some coffee," she heard Oscar mumble. Once she looked up, he passed her a steaming mug and perched himself up on her desk.

"Why are you nice to me?" she smirked and took a sip.

"You look like crap."

Claudia chuckled. "And he's back… I was worried you wanted something."

"Shut up and drink your coffee."

Claudia took another sip and resumed looking through the witness statements. But Oscar was still hovering over her.

"You'd tell me if something was wrong, wouldn't you?"

She looked up at him again, wondering for a moment whether to come clean or not. "I'm alright… Just tired."

"Get some rest." He squeezed her shoulder and hopped down from the desk. "You do have the look of someone who's about to burn out."

Claudia smiled to herself and opened the stationary drawer of her desk. She needed to file these worthless witness statements and get them out of her sight before she lost her patience and tore them to pieces.

But she did not get to it, there was a little envelope laying on top of the filing forms with her name on it. She looked around to make sure no one was watching and ripped it open. Her eyes landed on a note.

"I need to talk to you. Pick time and place. Marcus"

Claudia felt as if her heart had stopped. She stared at the note, wondering why she had not ripped it into pieces and threw it in the bin.

Her brother was a cruel thug. He was a Death Eater. He did order Regulus to kill her, to actually kill her. She still had the scars to prove he nearly succeeded.

But, then again… The last time she saw him, he was crying! Genuinely crying. She had never seen him express any kind of remorse, let alone cry. What if he needed help?

No, she shook her head in silence. It would be stupid thing to do… Marcus did not need her help. He did not deserve it. Then, she froze.

The Anderson case was stalling. Claudia was still convinced her father was responsible, and Marcus might know something.

Was that worth the risk?

Slowly, she picked up her quill and a spare piece of parchment. She needed to pick a public place, that had to be the safest way of doing it. And she could hide for a while to see if he was coming alone.

"I'll meet you in the Potions aisle of Flourish and Blotts at twelve-thirty today."

She folded the note into a small paper airplane and enchanted it to fly out of her office and land on Marcus' desk in the Department of International Magical Cooperation.

As the minutes ticked over and Claudia's lunchbreak was edging close, she began to wonder whether she should tell someone about this. She glanced towards Oscar's desk. If she should tell anyone here, it would be him. He would be the most likely to go along with it.

But even Oscar's benevolence had its limits. And no one else saw Marcus the other day. If Claudia had not seen him with her own eyes, she would not have gone along with this plan either. Anyone she told would tell her it was a terrible idea. Everyone would try to stop her.

At twelve o'clock, she casually announced she was going to run an errand over her lunchbreak and set off for Diagon Alley. Once there, she slipped into Amanuensis Quills, just opposite Flourish and Blotts, and stood by the shop window, pretending to look at some quills.

"Anything I can help you with, love?" asked the old wizard who run the place.

"Just browsing," Claudia mumbled and continued looking at the front door of the bookshop.

"Fancy seeing you-" she heard someone else behind her.

"I said I was just brows-" she trailed off as the person speaking came into view. Her stomach did a summersault. "Remus, what are you doing here?"

"Shopping… You okay?"

"Ah," Claudia stuttered, her eyes darting towards the window every second to make sure she did not miss Marcus. "Yes, of course… I'm shopping too. For work."

"Don't take this the wrong way," Remus whispered. "But I don't believe for a second that you're shopping. What are you up to?"

Claudia looked around and dropped her voice to the quietest whisper she could manage. "Fine, someone got in touch with me. Confidential informant if you want to call him that, and I'm meeting them at the bookshop. Waiting here until they come in."

"Who is it?" Remus mumbled, but there was no need to answer. Claudia saw the unmistakeable figure of her brother crossing the street and disappearing into Flourish and Blotts.

Remus sighed, he must have seen him too. "Please tell me you don't mean him."

"I know it's hard to believe. But I think he can be turned."

"Does Moody know about this?"

Claudia grimaced. "Technically it's not work…"

"Sirius?"

"Right," Claudia scoffed. "Because he's in a state to have a rational conversation about something like this."

"You need to tell him."

"Yeah, yeah, I will when I get home…" she said absentmindedly, her eyes firmly planted on the street. Marcus seemed to have been alone. "I'm going in. You can either stay here and keep watch or try to stop me and get stunned."

Remus rolled his eyes. "I don't understand how someone as smart as you can be this stupid."

"Sure you do," Claudia said with the smallest of grins. "You've been friends with James and Sirius for years." With those words, she slipped out of the quill shop, quickly crossed the street and found the familiar potions aisle in Flourish and Blotts.

Marcus was already standing there, his wand drawn but not raised. She drew her own wand and waved it around. Marcus flinched.

"Relax, just a silencing charm," she explained, and lowered her wand again.

They stared at in each other in silence for a considerable amount of time. He looked exactly the same – tall, strong, his eyebrows furrowed. Claudia was trying to work out when was the last time she saw him. And she could not even remember…

Marcus shuffled uncomfortably under Claudia's intense gaze. "Any of your friends expecting a kid?" he mumbled, and his eyes travelled towards Claudia's stomach. "Or you?"

That was the weirdest attempt at small talk Claudia had ever witnessed. "Why?" she mumbled.

"I heard something," he began. "I heard them talking about a baby that-" he paused and swallowed dry, "that needs to be hunted down. I just wanted to make sure that-"

"That it wasn't mine?"

"Yeah."

Claudia's brows were now just as furrowed as her brother's. "Why the hell do you care?"

"I-" Marcus sighed. "Never mind…"

"Look," Claudia hissed. "You cannot send me a note out of the blue and then expect me to trust you. After everything that you-"

"This was a mistake…" He looked like he was about to turn around and leave.

"Marcus… Stop!" she exclaimed. "Why the hell do you care about some dumb baby?"

There was a long pause. Claudia could feel her heart pounding in her chest.

"You don't know this," he mumbled finally. "But in my final year in Hogwarts, I got a girl pregnant. I would've married her, but she disappeared."

Claudia's jaw dropped. "What? Who?" she stuttered.

"She was a year older than me. You won't remember her."

"What happened to her?"

"All I got was a letter. The baby has been put up for adoption, and she moved to Russia or somewhere. She could not bear the scandal…"

"You think father had a hand in it?" Claudia was reaching. But if she wanted to get Marcus on the subject of their father, this was her chance.

"I did not until Archie," Marcus sighed. "Father would do anything, eliminate anyone if the plan dictates it. She was not part of the plan, and neither was Archie anymore. Or Reg…"

Claudia forced a smile. "Well, I'm not pregnant." There was a long pause while she contemplated what to say next. "And I'm sorry about the girl, and-" she trailed off.

"It was a boy. Apparently, she named him after me."

Claudia paused, measuring up her brother. "Why are you telling me this?"

"I don't know," he sighed. "I guess, I know you'd believe me. Everyone else would either tell on me, or think I've lost my mind to paranoia."

Claudia chuckled.

"Why are you laughing?" Marcus hissed, with a hint of his usual threatening demeanour.

"I cannot believe it took you twenty-two years to figure this out."

"Everyone always said you were much faster learner than me…" he whispered.

"Even our tutor?"

"Especially our tutor," Marcus smirked. "I hated you so much. You have no idea what it was like to have a younger sister that found a solution to every problem, before I even understood what question I was meant to be answering."

They both smiled awkwardly.

Marcus glanced at his watch. "I have to go. Just be careful, okay? And warn anyone who's expecting a baby."

"Do you know why they're after this baby?"

"No idea. But it won't be good." With those words, Marcus turned on the spot and disappeared as fast as he came.

Claudia stood in the bookshop for a while longer, trying to process what just happened. Was he genuine? Or was he playing the same game she was? And the baby? Why would the Death Eaters be after a baby?

It was too much information and talking to someone would probably help. She was glad Remus had caught her earlier. None of her other friends would ever understand.

And she was sure as hell that she was not telling Sirius about any of this. Not while he was like this.