Friday was cold and windy, a drastic change from the day before. The waves thrashed against the dormitory windows as the girls quietly readied themselves for the day. Clara pulled her green and silver scarf out of her trunk and wrapped it loosely around her neck before sitting on Pansy Parkinson's bed.

"I can't believe there's not a charm for that," she noted as she watched her friend apply a generous amount of makeup.

"Oh, there is. Several, actually. I just enjoy it," Pansy shrugged. Clara never ventured outside of her simple eyeliner and mascara routine.

"We should leave soon, I need breakfast."

Pansy nodded and replaced her supplies in the small purple bag on her nightstand.

The girls stood and left the dormitory. The Common Room was crowded with students finishing last minute assignments.

"Hogsmeade trip next weekend," Daphne Greengrass informed the girls as she joined them.

Draco Malfoy was standing by the door.

"Do you want to wait 'till he's gone?" Clara asked her friend, who just smiled and shook her head. The three girls exited the Common Room without so much as a glance from Draco.

"What happened to him?" Clara was in awe.

"You saw most of it," Pansy shrugged, "I saw him in the Library last night and he said he'd leave me alone."

They arrived at the Great Hall and took their places at the Slytherin table. Clara immediately loaded her plate.

"Hungry, aren't we?" Pansy laughed.

"Well, I have detention tonight, so I know I'll probably be too nervous to eat anything else today," Clara spoke after finishing a bite of scrambled egg. Daphne was busy working on her Herbology assignment with Tracey.

"Clara, don't think I'm too awful…" Pansy started, biting her lip.

"Alright?"

"Now that Draco's ignoring me, I sort of feel bad," she looked down the table to where he was sitting with Crabbe and Goyle.

"Are you serious? You've been complaining about him for three days. He's a git, he's not worth your time," Clara was shaking her head. Pansy sighed and nodded, returning to her cereal. Suddenly, dozens of owls flew in through the high windows, dropping letters and packages to the students. A barn owl flew over Clara and she caught the letter.

"Who's it from?" Pansy asked.

"Just dad, who else?" Clara opened the envelope and read the letter quickly.

Dear Clara,

You will be pleased to know that I went out to dinner with Jim and two other men from the office. They may be dull muggles, but it was a good time. I hope you are getting all of your assignments done. How is the new Dark Arts Professor? Hopefully better than last year's! You are missed here. The house seems very empty. I love to hear from you, but school comes first! Get those papers done and then you can write me.

I love you.

Dad

Clara folded the letter up and stuck it in her bag. She would have to tell him about Professor Lisney, but it seemed too big to just say in a letter. Although unless she waited until the Holiday break, it would have to be done that way. She sighed.

"Class starts soon, we should go," Pansy had finished her cereal. Clara nodded and stood before slinging her bag over her shoulder.

Classes were difficult and detailed. The day was passing too quickly for Clara. Her detention with Professor Lisney - her mother - was at 7, and her anxiety was getting out of control.

"You're twitching," Pansy told her at lunch.

Clara apologized as she absentmindedly picked the crust off of her sandwich.

"Are you going to eat?" Pansy was worried about her best friend. Not even a week into the school year and she had already been through enough. Clara opened her sandwich and starting picking out bits of turkey.

"Close enough," Pansy sighed.

"I wish you could come," Clara said through bites of turkey.

"Me too, darling. But you'll be fine. You'll probably just have to write lines or something boring."

"I hope so. If she wants to talk, I don't know what I'll do."

Pansy reached across the table and took Clara's hand, "You'll be okay. You can ignore her. I know you can't ignore actual school stuff, but if she tries to get you to talk about personal things, you are allowed to ignore her."

"I'm not good at ignoring people. Or things. Or anything," Clara stared at the remains of the now destroyed sandwich.

"I believe in you," Pansy smiled, "We still have classes to go to, then dinner. If you want to skip dinner we can just go sit by ourselves."

Clara nodded and smiled, "That might be nice. Thanks."

After her last class, Clara went straight to the dormitory. She worked on her Potions essay on the dangers of love potions to pass the time. Pansy had been going to check them out a few library books that were needed for the other assignments. The dormitory was empty. Most students lingered in the hallways and common room until dinner. Clara was thankful for the silence. The only sounds were those of the water lapping at the windows and her quill scratching on the parchment.

After an hour, Clara had finished her essay and Pansy had never returned. Curious, she walked out to the common room to look for her friend. She stopped as soon as she reached her destination, because Pansy was in front of her, on the leather sofa, snogging Draco. He was on top of her, his hand creeping up her leg. Clara coughed awkwardly. The couple looked at her, Draco smug and Pansy embarrassed.

"I was waiting for you," Clara said matter-of-factly.

"Sorry. Got held up. Excuse me, Draco, I need to do my homework."

She clumsily stood and straightened her skirt before following Clara back into the dormitory.

"What the hell was that?" Clara asked her as soon as the door had shut. Pansy blushed and looked at her feet.

"Sorry."

"You don't have to apologize, I'm just wondering what changed in an hour."

"Well…" Pansy walked to her bed and sat down, "I went to the library. Draco was there, in the same section I needed, so I just decided to face it."

Clara sat next to her on the bed and waited for her to continue.

"And… well, he apologized. He told me how it's hard for him here, how his friends expect a certain Draco, how he wants to try to be better but they would abandon him."

"So he's willing to be a twat to fit in with the rest of them?" Clara scoffed.

"I know you don't like him. It's terrible, honestly. I love you, I think I love him. And you hate each other. I know you don't want to get to know him, because I know the Draco you see is a complete git and I wouldn't have fallen in love with this Draco. Clearly, I mean I did ignore him for five years. But I'm telling you, he isn't a bad person," Pansy clearly felt strongly. Her eyes were wide, her voice pleading.

"Pansy, you know I love you. You're my sister," Clara sighed, "So, for you, and only for you, I will give him a shot."

Pansy jumped up and wrapped Clara in a tight hug, "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you. I promise, you'll see, he's really a good guy."

"I have my doubts. But alright. If you ever doubt that I love you to death, just remember this moment," Clara laughed.

Pansy beamed, before he face went suddenly serious, "Oh, my God. You have detention."

"Yeah. I do."

"Clara, oh my God, I'm so sorry! I can't believe I forgot!" Pansy looked distraught.

"It's okay. It'll be fine," Clara gave a small smile.

"Are you sure? I can go get you some dinner if you want, or we can just sit here, or we can have crazy wild hot lesbian sex."

"You know, one day I'm gonna decide you're not kidding when you say that," Clara laughed.

"Maybe Draco has some competition," Pansy winked and pulled the library books out of her bag. Clara looked at the clock above the door and sighed.

"Come here," Pansy moved over and patted the spot next to her.

"See, you joke about lesbian sex and then you invite me into your bed. People are going to talk."

Pansy raised an eyebrow and started pulling her skirt up slowly.

"Pansy!" Clara was laughing.

"Just get your cute butt over here and sit down," Pansy grinned. They laid side by side on the bed until it was time for Clara to leave for detention.

"Do you want me to walk with you?" Pansy asked, standing.

"No, that's alright. It'll give me time to think."

"If by think you mean 'dwell-on-the-situation-until-you're-horribly-depressed, then I think I should come," Pansy told her friend sternly.

"I don't, but thank you," Clara smiled and hugged her.

"Don't get expelled!" Pansy called, before Clara countered with, "Don't get pregnant!"

The walk to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom seemed to be neverending. Clara's footsteps echoed through the empty halls as she thought about what the next hour and a half would hold. She was hopeful that all Professor Lisney would want her to do would be sit at a desk and write lines, but she expected that she would have to actually speak to the woman. Potential conversations ran through her head, ranging from, "How's your dad?" to "If I locked you in my office, no one would hear you scream". Finally, Clara was climbing the stairs to the classroom. She paused at the top, took a deep breath, and knocked.

"Come in," she heard the light voice she remembered from her childhood say. She pushed on the wooden door and entered.

"Clara, hello. I have to say, I'm surprised to see you," Professor Lisney smiled, almost sadly.

"Well, dentention usually isn't optional," Clara smirked as she took a seat.

"That doesn't stop some students. I definitely skipped some detentions in my day," her brown eyes sparkled, "I'd like to say I see some of myself in you, but you seem to be a much more dedicated student than I ever was. When you're not calling Professors names, of course."

"I'm not apologizing," Clara snapped.

"I didn't ask you to. As your Professor, I should advise you not to do it again. But as… well, as I am who I am, I understand."

Clara looked at the woman standing a few feet away. It was almost strange how alike they looked. Save for the grey eyes that Clara had inherited from her father, there were no drastic differences; the same long brunette hair, the square face, the small and straight nose. It was like looking in a mirror that showed you in 20 years.

"I won't make you speak to me. But can I speak to you?"

Clara nodded stiffly.

"Don't think that I don't regret leaving. It was the hardest thing I have ever done."

"Then why did you do it?" Clara asked. Her mother frowned and carefully sat on the edge of her desk.

"I did it for you and your father."

"Are you mental? Dad's been a mess ever since that day. I remember it. I remember having a nightmare and waking up and needing, more than anything, a hug from my mum. I ran to the bedroom, and you weren't there, so I checked everywhere. I looked in the kitchen, in the bathroom, in the closets, in the garden… and you were gone. And I remember screaming for dad, and I remember his face when I told him you were gone. Do you know that in these years, I have never been able to forget the sounds he made when he read your bloody note? He sobbed. He sobbed and he wailed and I swear to God I thought I would lose him, too. And I missed you. I missed you a hell of a lot. But I saw how you made him feel, how you made him act for years afterwards, and I decided that I didn't miss you so much. Not if you were the kind of terrible woman who would abandon her husband and child," Clara finished, suddenly realizing that she was crying. Her mother sat in front of her, eyes wide and glistening from tears she wouldn't release.

"Clara," the woman started, letting a few tears fall before steadying herself, "Do you have any idea why I left?"

Clara shook her head, "But I look forward to hearing what kind of rubbish excuse you've thought up."

"I thought you were powerless. I knew your dad had struggled, knowing about me and trying to live as a normal Muggle still."

Clara watched her say the words she had read just a week ago. Somehow, even reading it written in her mother's handwriting, she had one tiny bit of hope that it hadn't been true, that it had been a lie concocted to cover up the fact that she had run away with another man or something. Hearing it just confirmed that it really was Clara's fault.

"I needed to be in this world, Clara. The Muggle world isn't my home, it's not where I belong. Out there, I was just odd, the mental girl. Here, I'm powerful. I'm a really great witch. My potential couldn't be reached if I had stayed in London."

"How do you know?" Clara asked.

"How do I know what?"

"How do you know that dad wouldn't have gone with you? Do you realize how in love he is with this world? The first time we went to Diagon Alley together, when I was getting my school things for my first year here, he was a kid in a candy shop. In the summers, we go every other weekend. He always has to stop at Florean Fortiscue's, because we always get free ice cream and he gets to talk to his friend. Florean taught me all about this world. He told me about Hogwarts, and about Diagon Alley, and Hogsmeade, and the war, and Harry Potter, and all of these things that you should have been there to teach me!" Clara was almost shouting now. Her tears had dried and now she was just angry.

"Lewis is a Muggle. That's all there is to it. He might enjoy the novelty of it every other week, but do you think he could thrive in a village full of witches and wizards?"

"If Muggles are so terrible, then why the hell did you marry him?" Clara asked. Her mother took a moment to answer.

"I fell in love," she replied simply.

"So… you fell in love, and you loved him enough to marry him, and you loved him enough to raise a child with him for eight bloody years, but you didn't love us enough to not abandon us?"

"Clara, I've told you-""Yes, Professor, you've told me, and I am not afraid to tell you that your reasons are complete and utter bullshit."

"As your Professor, I must ask you not to use language in my classroom."

"Oh, oh, okay. Yes, Professor. Whatever you say, Professor."

They looked at each other. Clara glared daggers straight through the woman's heart.

"Miss Rowley," Professor Lisney said sternly, "I have told you my side. Whether or not you choose to accept it is not my responsibility. You are excused from this detention."

Clara stood immediately and snatched her bag from the floor. She began to storm out, but stopped and turned before opening the door.

"You can tell me you why left for us all you want. You can tell me that you wanted us to live a nice, normal Muggle life. But you need to hear me, too. I've lived these years not knowing if you were dead or alive. I dreamed of you showing up again, being so sorry and us being apprehensive but still welcoming you back because we are a family. I dreamed of coming downstairs in the morning and kissing my mum on the cheek, or getting a goodnight hug from my mum. God, I just wanted someone to call mum. But now that you're here, you know what I've realized?"

"What, Clara?"

"I don't have a mum. I will never have a mum."

Clara turned on the last syllable and threw open the door. Immediately, the tears starting flowing uncontrollably. She held her sobs as best she could while struggling for air. Without even thinking about where she was going, she had made it to the dungeons and into the common room. Pansy was waiting for her on one of the leather sofas.

"Oh, darling," she ran over to wrap her arms around her best friend, "It's okay, everything's okay."

Clara cried into the girl's shoulder for a few minutes before being guided to the sofa. Pansy watched as her friend collapsed in on herself, and pulled her into her lap.

"Clara, I love you, it's alright, let it out," she wrapped her arms around Clara and buried her face in her hair.

"God, Clara, I swear. That woman will pay for everything she has done to hurt you. I swear, I swear," she whispered into Clara's hair.

At some point during the night, once Clara had finally calmed enough for them to make it into the dormitory, the two girls curled up together under the green sheets on Pansy's bed.