Showdown

The days immediately after the Wizengamot meeting made Claudia want to tear her hair out. She (and a dozen other Unspeakables were working overtime to try to build in a protective charm into a portkey to sound an alarm if one of Mr Weasley's goods was detected. So far, they managed to flag up if someone had a cursed item on them. That was helpful, of course, but it was not enough. And as if Claudia needed more work, Fudge had personally asked her for detailed report on some obscure magical objects he took an interest in. It was not exactly her area of expertise, and it all sounded rather frivolous, but she did enjoy the trust that Fudge had (for some unknown reason) placed in her. By Saturday evening, her brain was hurting so hard that she decided to walk home in an attempt to clear it.

Her walk took her by the entrance to the Leaky Cauldron. She just remembered that she needed to chase Bode about that cube, when she spotted a cloaked figure, throwing up in the gutter. It brought back some memories of her Auror Office days, when a quick pint after worked turned out to be a little too much for some of her colleagues to handle. When she walked past, careful to avoid the puddle of vomit, she realised that the casualty was someone who very much deserved this.

"Careful, now" she said with a smirk, "if you had this much to drink, everyone is going to look like Sirius."

For a drunk, Granville moved fast and, before Claudia could react, the weight of his body toppled her over and his hands were reaching for her throat.

"You'll pay for this, bitch…" he uttered and bared his yellowing teeth. The stench coming out of his mouth overpowered all of Claudia's senses.

She thrashed around but there was no shaking him off. Where the hell was her wand? Not in her sleeve… She tried to hit him, but her arms were barely long enough to punch his shoulder. Maybe she could hit his side-

But her fists were tiny compared to him. She hit him again, almost losing her strength, when she felt his wand, tucked into a pouch attached to his belt.

She whipped it out and blasted him off.

Then, she got to her feet, breathing heavily.

"Are you alright, Miss?" someone asked her, grabbing her by the shoulders. "We saw through the window."

The landlord of the Leaky Cauldron, and couple of his patrons, were all out on the pavement. "Let's get the Ministry people- They have to be notified," the landlord said.

"That's alright," Claudia said hoarsely and rubbed her neck. She threw the wand back at Granville's unconscious body. "Consider the Ministry notified." And she walked away before any of them could react.

This was nothing. It was not the first time she was attacked. Hell, it was not even the first time someone tried to strangle her. The moment Claudia got home, she took a shower and downed a large portion of sleeping draught to stop herself from tossing around in bed, having Granville's stench haunt her. He did not deserve her even thinking about it, let alone worrying about it. He deserved to lie in that road unconscious.

On Sunday morning, Claudia covered her emerging bruises with a turtleneck and set of for her pre-agreed tea with Moody. She waited and waited in the lively muggle tea shop, but Moody was a no show. She tried his house, but he was not there. Claudia left a note and went to visit Alice, trying not to worry. He may have just forgotten or was away on business.

When she still had not heard from Moody by Monday evening, she went straight to Oscar's office to see if he knew anything about their old boss' whereabouts.

"Have you heard from Moody?" she asked as she poked her head into Oscar's office.

Oscar lifted his head abruptly from the parchment he was reading, and a large frown had instantly appeared on his face. "Funny you should ask-"

"He didn't turn up for our tea," Claudia jumped in. "And I don't know if he's just forgotten or if-"

Oscar stood up. "He's in the holding cells, Claudia."

"Why?" she gasped.

"Why?" Oscar hissed. "Why do you think? Granville has allies at every level of the Auror Office. And those who don't like him are terrified of his cousin. You really picked the wrong person to piss off…" He walked up to her, arms folded across his chest. "And now Moody's suffering, just as I said he would. They're pulling him up on all kind of technicalities. He spent the last two nights in a cell. His artefact business is ruined."

"Oh, I didn't-" Claudia stuttered. Moody getting hurt was unthinkable.

"Yeah, didn't mean to…" Oscar finished her sentence bitterly. "He was finally building a life. He was happy. And you kicked him right back down- "

"But-"

"You're not to see him or talk to him, do you understand? It would just make everything a thousand times worse."

"Alright…" she uttered and turned to leave, trying not to cry. "I really never intended for Moody to get hurt. You have to believe me."

"What did you think was going to happen?" Oscar asked, his voice now a little softer. "Did you think Granville was going to go quietly?"

Claudia shrugged, then thought for a second or two- "Well, I didn't expect him to jump at me from a dark alley and try to strangle me either," she muttered.

"What?" Oscar barked and blocked her path. "He did what?"

"He was drunk and there was an altercation…"

"When did that happen?"

"Friday. I'm fine, really-"

"Were there any witnesses?"

Claudia was not enjoying Oscar's sudden change from a friend, no matter how judgmental, to an interrogator. "It was just outside the Leaky Cauldron. Some people came out, but I left before-"

"Let's go-" he cut her off.

"Let's go where?"

"We're going to talk to the Head Auror." He reached for her hand and dragged her out of his office. "He breached the terms of his probation, and you have to report it."

"And what if I don't want to?"

"You have to-" he replied. When he noticed the frown on Claudia's face, he sighed. "It's the ammunition I need to get these charges against Moody dropped."

"Alright then…" she relented.

Silently, they walked through the corridor towards the Head Auror's office. Oscar knocked on the door.

"You alright?" he said, as he waited to be called in.

"Like you care," she sighed. "You made it pretty clear this is all my fault."

Oscar's mouth opened, but before he could reply...

"What is it Fernsby?" the Head Auror asked impatiently through a now ajar door.

Oscar nudged Claudia forward and she recounted the story.

"What did you say to him before the altercation happened?"

"Why does that matter?" Claudia asked.

"Answer the question!"

"I may have made a comment about him being a bit drunk," Claudia mumbled.

The Head Auror scoffed. "Of course you did."

"This is not her fault. Nothing should warrant an assault," Oscar chipped in. "Boss- I know you have trouble trusting Avery. But this is not about her. This is about one of ours becoming completely unhinged. Even if she did everything he said she did, this is no way to go about it. We cannot have a senior auror attacking people in the street when he's had too much to drink!"

The Head Auror turned away and began to pace.

Claudia looked to Oscar, who was staring his boss down and did not return her gesture.

The Head Auror finally turned back. "Were there any witnesses?"

"A couple people came out of the Leaky Cauldron. The landlord was one of them."

"Alright," the Head Auror said with a resigned sigh. "I'll find Granville. Get someone to bring the landlord in. And you-" he turned to Claudia. "Fernsby will get your written statement. And then, you lay low. Do you understand?"

"I understand."

Oscar then nudged her back towards his office and wrote down a detailed recollection of Claudia's encounter with Granville.

Once she signed it, they sat in silence for a while.

"Thanks for saying what you did in there…" she whispered.

"Are you going to be alright getting out of the Ministry?" Oscar asked. "The word might be out by now."

"Sure," she replied. "Don't want to be a burden."

"You aren't a burden- You're my family." Oscar mumbled and stood up. "Tonks!" he yelled through the closed door.

"It really isn't necessary," Claudia protested.

"Tonks will help you get out of here."

Claudia gave Oscar a brief hug and was on her way. As she walked side by side with the young auror, she could not shake a feeling that Tonks took a breath about five times to say something, only to change her mind every time. Claudia did not exactly blame her, but was beginning to find this annoying. "You can ask me whatever you want," she said when Tonks did it again.

"My cousin," Tonks mumbled, with uncharacteristic uncertainty. "Do you have an explanation for what happened? One that doesn't involve him being a Death Eater?"

"I do," Claudia replied. "My father, who is an actual Death Eater, set him up. But it doesn't matter. No one seems to care about my theory, and I have no proof…"

"I wish I could help you prove it."

Claudia stopped and attempted a smile. "Just leave it, for your sake. I only bring trouble to people who want to help me."

"My boss doesn't seem to think you're trouble," Tonks said cheekily.

Claudia had to laugh. "He very much does." With that remark, they were out of the Ministry, without incident. "Don't forget to mention to him that I didn't need babysitting."

"Do you mind if I don't?" Tonks said with an uneven smile. "He isn't one for jokes- He's a bit of a stickler if I'm honest."

"Stickler?" Claudia said with a chuckle. "The stories I could tell you… He was awful at following orders. This one time, he just went off after someone against the explicit instructions of the Head of DMLE. And did not even care."

"Did he?"

"Don't tell him I said that…"

Tonks grinned. "Were you two a thing?"

"Now, that would be oversharing-" Claudia said. "Goodnight, Tonks-"

"Night," the auror replied and Claudia apparated home.

Claudia had not heard anything reliable about Granville for the next few days, as the Head Auror seemed to have held his cards close to his chest. She was still in the dark about his likely fate on the day she set off to meet Sirius in Hogsmeade.

He left instructions in the notebook on where she should go, and Claudia got to the forest clearing first. She pitched up the tent she bought for the World Cup and waited. Once Sirius appeared, blood rushing through his pale cheeks from walking up the hill, she gave him a brief kiss and cast every defensive enchantment she knew.

"That should do it," she mumbled once she was done and went to give him a proper hug. He was in his prison robes this time, and smelled a little like a mixture of tree sap and moss, with a bit of dog thrown in.

"What's this?" he asked nodding towards the tent.

"I bought it for the Quidditch World Cup. Didn't really get the chance to explore what's in it. Want to take a tour together?"

Sirius let out a loud whistle the moment he stepped foot into the tent's lavishly decorated sitting room. "Nice," he mumbled and stuck his head through one of the curtains. "Why did I bath in that fucking freezing lake? You have a spa in here!"

Claudia looked inside too, chuckled and wrapped her arms around Sirius' waist from behind. "Reminds me of the Prefects' bathroom…" she whispered.

"Does it?" Sirius spun her around with a grin. "I think I agree-"

"You remember?"

"Oh, yes… I remember the Prefect's bathroom." Sirius grabbed the shoulders of Claudia's cardigan between his fingers. "I'm dying to take a real bath, and I wouldn't mind some company," he whispered into her ear.

There were no protestations from Claudia. She was sweaty from the walk too, and- Sirius hand that was now making its way under the side of her t-shirt was suddenly all that her brain could think about. That and his lips hovering over her ear.

Clothes off, they climbed into the pool which had quickly filled up with bubbly water that smelled of something sweet. Claudia did not know flowers well enough to place the fragrance, but what was certain was that it was making her rather dizzy. Once they both washed, she reached for the tap, intending to change the smell into something less sickly, when- "Ouch," she hissed.

"What's wrong?" he whispered.

"Nothing, just a twinge in my back," she sighed, trying to reach it. "Happens if I stare at parchment all day."

Sirius shuffled until Claudia had his back to him. "Let me." His fingers sunk into the muscle around Claudia's shoulder blade.

"You don't have to."

"Just shut up and relax."

Claudia dropped her head forward. Then, hissed at the pain Sirius' fingers were causing her. This was not the pleasant, sensual massage she was hoping for. This was torment.

"Why are you so tense?"

She sighed. "I think I may have fucked up. This auror who's been onto me since you escaped, turns out has more allies at the Ministry than I realised. Very high up allies. And I made a fool of him-" She winced with pain as Sirius continued the torture that was supposed to be relaxing. "Now, he's punishing me by getting Moody arrested and launching himself at me in the street." She could feel Sirius' hands go rigid. "Don't worry, he came out of the encounter much worse than I did."

"You did the right thing. Bullies only respond to show of strength…"

"You would know."

Sirius chuckled. "I would. And you cannot hide from types like this."

"Not even the types who have the power to send me to Azkaban? I haven't always exactly followed the law. And if-" she trailed off.

"I know you well enough to know you haven't left any evidence."

"I haven't."

Sirius sunk his thumbs deeper into Claudia's shoulder. It was beginning to feel nice. "And you say Fudge is on your side."

"Yes."

"Then, I wouldn't worry."

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, surrendering to the pain. "How are you this calm about this?"

Sirius paused and planted a brief kiss on Claudia's shoulder. "Because right now, I'm finding your recklessness very attractive. I'll lecture you tomorrow…"

Claudia laughed and gave in. Sirius was running his fingers across her skin. It was as if every worry, every negative emotion was leaving her body with every stroke. She decided not to panic about any of it either. Her eyes closed; her breathing slowed down.

He kissed her neck, again and again, sending lightning bolts running through her body. She turned towards him and pressed her face against his. Strands of wet hair were sticking to her face, but she did not care. Nothing was going to stop her from acting like a silly teenager again.

"This thing has a bed, right?" Sirius uttered, holding her close.

"I don't know. Haven't made it that far-"

He reached for a couple of towels and pulled Claudia out of the pool. They wrapped themselves in them, and stumbled through the tent to another curtain that presumably led to a-

"Holy crap," Sirius laughed when they went through the curtain.

"It does have a bed," Claudia chuckled when her eyes landed on the huge four poster bed carved out of black wood.

"It will do-" Sirius smirked and gently but decisively pushed her over.

Claudia landed between the plush pillows. She closed her eyes and took it all in – the bed smelled like lavender, it was warm and soft. And Sirius… His hands were gently stroking her torso. Surely this was a dream. She could not help but laugh… But that laugh was interrupted by a deep kiss.

She tried to wrap her legs around him, but Sirius pressed them both into the covers. "I remembered some things," he whispered in her ear. "Things that will hopefully make this last a little longer than last time…"

And it did. So much so that it made Claudia lose any willingness to move and made her instantly sleepy. "Please don't let me fall asleep," she mumbled when she folded herself into an even tighter space between Sirius' arms. "We don't have much time and I don't want to miss a second of it. There is some food in the bag-"

Sirius, who was drawing circles on her hip until then, nudged her away. "Alright then," he said and sat up (making Claudia instantly regret her request), "I'll get us the food."

Grudgingly, Claudia sat up too and pulled the duvet up to her chest.

"How's Pettigrew?" she said when Sirius got back, rubbing her eyes in an attempt to banish her tiredness.

"He spooked when I got into the Gryffindor Tower," Sirius replied, before he stuffed a small pie in his mouth. "Then he went to hide into the kitchens. But I have an ally in the castle, who found him and flushed him out," he added with his mouth full.

"Ally? Remus?"

"No, a cat… A half-kneazle, actually. Crookshanks. He's the one who got me passwords to the Gryffindor Tower. Been really quite helpful..."

"Did you have to take the passwords off Neville? Do you know how much trouble he got into?"

"I didn't know they were Neville's."

"If you knew Nev, you would've guessed…" Claudia sighed and picked up a piece of bread and munched on it. "Where is Peter now?"

"In the school grounds somewhere… Crookshanks got me a cloth from the pile that Wormtail used to sleep in. I've been getting his scent in places. Now he's out of the castle, I'll find him soon enough."

"Is there anything else I could do? His mother turned out to be a dead end, and I feel so useless. If I wasn't on such a thin ice with Fudge, then-"

"Give me till the end of the school year. I'll get him. And if not, I can think of something else." When Sirius saw Claudia's frown, he added hastily: "We can think of something, together."

"Alright." She stretched. There was a chill in the air. It may have been May, but it was still Scotland… Claudia lifted her wand and lit the fireplace. Dozens of candles lit up with it.

"I could get used to this tent," Sirius whispered.

"Well maybe-" Claudia paused and smiled at him. "Maybe you could come with me to the World Cup if you're cleared by then."

"Do you really think that after twelve years in Azkaban," he could barely get the words out, he was snickering that much, "my first act as a free man would be to go see a bloody Quidditch match?"

"It's the World Cup Final!"

Sirius burst out laughing. "I cannot believe we are still having this conversation…" He rolled over and squeezed her in his arms. "But I love you anyway," he whispered.

"I love you too-" She caressed his chest.

"I'm still not going."

Claudia laughed and placed her chin on Sirius' shoulder. "What will your first act be?"

Sirius closed his eyes and hummed. "Come home, cook us something delicious and eat it in bed. Or-" he opened his eyes and they lit up. "My family has this farmhouse. It's on this untraceable piece of rock off the Guernsey island, impossible to get to. But it has a veranda overlooking the ocean, an orchard with apricot trees, figs, lemons... You can go fishing in the ocean. That would be a nice place for dinner. No prying eyes anywhere, it's completely impenetrable."

"You never told me your family had a house in Guernsey-"

"It's easier to talk about my family now they're all dead…" he said with a grin, and then sighed. "Guernsey is the one place they had that I don't hate. We used to go spend some of the summer holiday there when I was little. My mother hated it and never stayed longer than a few days. I'd spend weeks on the beach, swimming, watched over by a governess that was too easily fooled."

"Sounds nice-"

Sirius was now sitting up, smiling broadly. "I think we should move there. It's peaceful. It's pure." He wrapped his arms around Claudia's naked body and kissed her – "and it's got a ton of space if we ever wanted kids."

"What?" she exclaimed with an uncertain laugh.

"Children, little people we would get to raise, feed, look after. You've heard of them, right?" He was grinning from ear to ear.

"Do you want to go back to Azkaban?" she said with a smirk. "Because it can be arranged."

Sirius chuckled. "Would it be quite so bad? An actual human that's half me and half you?"

"Would be great if you're trying to destroy the world." Claudia paused. "Besides, they wouldn't just be half me and half you. They'll be your father, your mother, my mother and my father combined!"

"Yikes – don't put it like that!" Sirius' face twisted in a grimace. But-" he smiled again and kissed her on the cheek. "-there is some hope. We turned out alright…"

"Did we?"

"Well, we did turn out better than our parents."

"I guess that's true," Claudia uttered and closed her eyes. She took a deep breath and let her body collapse even deeper into Sirius' embrace. It was heavenly.

Tiredness had really snuck up on her and she found it impossible to open her eyes again. But there was a smile on Claudia's face as she fell asleep. She never really thought about having kids before. That was her mother's life, not Claudia's. But this picture Sirius was painting of their life together was now stuck in her head and would not leave. She could not help but imagine him holding a baby of his own. To picture a couple of curly-haired kids with Sirius' mischievous smiles practicing Quidditch in the middle of an orchard. And if they ended up in Slytherin- she could not help but chuckle out loud - it would kill Sirius. It was worth having kids just to see that happen.

"What are you laughing about?" he mumbled into his pillow.

"Nothing," she replied and buried her face deeper in his chest. "Nothing at all."

When Claudia woke up, the sun was already up, and Sirius was sitting in bed next to her.

"Did you sleep at all?" she asked him, as she rubbed her eyes open.

"No," he sighed. "Can't sleep unless I'm Padfoot."

"You could've transformed."

"It's alright." He looked deep into her eyes. "Claude…"

"Ah, the lecture begins," she tried to make light of it.

"No lecture. I just-"

She placed her hand gently on his chest. "Don't worry. I'll be more careful. And I mean it this time. It's just-" she laughed – "I'm not used to having anything to live for."

"We will get a life after all this-" he whispered and kissed her. "I promise you."

Claudia sighed. "Please don't get caught."

Sirius hugged her and they sat on the bed in silence for what felt like an age. Claudia would give anything for this not to be a goodbye. What they had over the last twelve hours or so was everything she remembered her life to be before it all went to shit. And now she tasted it again, she knew that if he got arrested or died… She would not make it out of that hole again. She knew she did not have it in her.

But eventually, they managed to say their goodbyes, packed up the tent, and Claudia left for London. But that did not stop the daydreaming. For the next few weeks, Claudia's mind was plagued by those visions of the future that Sirius had planted in her head.

When she woke up each morning, for that one sweet moment before she opened her eyes, she imagined that he was lying next to her, smiling. She imagined waking up in Guernsey, to the song of the sea, walking on the beach, drinking lemonade made from fresh lemons picked from the orchard.

But every time she opened her eyes, she found herself alone. The sky was grey and instead of the sea, she could hear the heavy London traffic and the rain tapping on her window. As she sipped her coffee, looking out into the street, the daydreaming had been replaced by worry. It was nearly the end of term, and Sirius has made no progress. He stopped writing to her. Looking into the jewel only revealed that he was lying low in the Hogwarts grounds, presumably waiting on his chance. Every day, every hour, the time was running out.

It was now early June and Claudia was on her way to a very late meeting with Crouch about the latest World Cup mishap. She was just wondering what could possibly warrant a meeting well past business hours, when she bumped into Oscar. He too was clearly burning the midnight oil.

"I got some news for you," he said when they entered the Ministry lift together. "Granville got demoted to a law enforcement officer."

"He still wasn't fired?"

"Never underestimate the power of Dolores Umbridge…" Oscar sighed. "And they gave me his job," he added in a rather tired tone.

"They made you Head of Division?"

"Yes-"

"Congratulations," Claudia beamed, her annoyance at Granville's longevity long forgotten. "Sounds like my recklessness worked out for everyone."

Oscar snickered. "You're infuriating."

"I know." Claudia smirked. The lift reached Level Five. "This is me," she added and, smiling, walked the rest of the way to Crouch's meeting. When she opened the door to his office, however, her jaw dropped slightly at the sight of Dolores Umbridge sitting at the head of the table. Claudia's good mood was well and truly ruined.

"I am pleased you found time in your busy schedule to join us," Umbridge said with her lips so narrow they were barely visible.

Claudia sat down next to Crouch. "What is she doing here?" she whispered.

But before Crouch had a chance to respond, Umbridge cleared her throat- "The Minister is concerned that there are too many unresolved issues and that the World Cup preparations are behind schedule."

"Dolores," Crouch said with a hint of frustration in his voice. "I've told you many times and I told the Minister that we will be ready on time. The portkeys with enhanced security are nearly done-" he turned to Claudia- "aren't they?" The desperation in his voice was palpable.

"In fact," Claudia said with a forced smile. "We just completed the testing today. They are done. We're now getting ready for deploy-"

Umbridge cut Claudia off and began to list dozen other issues that the Minister was supposedly concerned about.

Crouch ignored her and began to scribble something on a piece of parchment. Then, he slid it towards Claudia.

"Is the portkeys issue really resolved?"

Claudia picked up her own quill and replied-

"No. But I wasn't going to tell her that."

Crouch gave her a feeble smile, crumbled the paper and put it in his pocket. It was staggering how easily Umbridge's presence turned Claudia and Crouch into allies. Although, she would have been lying if she did not enjoy watching Crouch being tormented like this-

As Dolores turned on the screws, Claudia shivered. Should have brought a jumper, she thought for a second before she realised that the cold was in fact emanating from her arm. "Excuse me," she mumbled, trying not to panic. This have after all happened before. "I've got to-"

"I am not quite finished," Umbridge replied sternly.

"And I'm sure you'll still be going when I'm back," Claudia hissed.

"Avery- I'm ordering you to stay-"

Claudia scoffed. "I don't answer to you. And this isn't even your meeting." But talking back to Umbridge took all of Claudia's strength and she barely made it to the bathroom. She splashed water on her face to try regaining some composure but it was no use.

The chill in her arm gave way to numbness, which in turn gave way to pain. Pain that kept growing and growing. Pain that was in fact worse than anything Claudia could remember – it was so strong that it felt like her flesh was being ripped out of her arm.

She peeled her sleeve back and froze-

Her hand flew to her face to muffle a desperate scream.

The Sirius star on her forearm... The only thing that made sure that even in her darkest moments, she found the strength to keep going. The thing that meant that Sirius' heart was still beating. It was fading.

Claudia dropped to her knees. She wanted to scream, but there was just a thin door separating her from where Crouch's new secretary was sitting – so she bit into her arm to muffle the sobs. But there was still the prophecy, she needed a chance!

She forced herself to take a few deep breaths and rummaged through her pockets for the jewel, only to realise that it was in her office. She wiped her eyes, collected herself from the floor and walked there so quickly she nearly broke into a run.

But as she strode towards her office, the pain lessened. She was feeling more like herself. Once in the lift, she summoned enough courage to peel off her sleeve and take another look. Another look that could confirm the worst.

Claudia blinked a few times to make sure she was not seeing things. She touched her arm to make sure she was not dreaming. But she was not, the star was back.

She hurried the rest of the way to her office and, with shaking hands, took the jewel out of the safe. But it was dark, all she could see were silhouettes. One of them could have been Sirius, but it was hard to tell.

Claudia got torn out of her trance by the faintest knock on the door. She had no idea how much time had passed.

Her heart still racing at a million miles per hour, Claudia opened the door.

"I was just in Fudge's private office," Auberon mumbled sheepishly. "And I know they wouldn't want me telling you. But-"

"What is it?"

"Black got captured. There was some talk about administering the Dementor's kiss."

One minute, Claudia was staring at him, trying to process what she just heard. The next minute, she was throwing Floo Powder into one of the Ministry's fireplaces.

"Three Broomsticks."

She run up towards the Hogwarts Castle, the prophecy ringing in her ears. It had to be her. She needed to get there in time to save him. There was no one else.

As she got closer to the castle, she saw that some aurors were waiting on the bridge… She couldn't beat them all in a duel, she was rusty and not that good in the first place. She had to talk her way in. They will search her… If they found the jewel on her- She reached into her pocket, dropped it on the floor and watched it roll down and into the water… In a blink of an eye, it was gone-

Claudia took a deep breath and approached the aurors.

"No one is allowed in the castle," the auror in charge growled. "Especially not you…"

Claudia put her hands on her hips. "You will let me through-"

The auror laughed. "Over my dead body-"

"Can be arranged-" she reached into her robes. And within a second, the aurors had their wands drawn also.

But before anything went down, and Claudia made a fool of herself, Dumbledore appeared out of thin air. "Miss Avery is here upon my invitation," he said to Claudia's surprise.

"We still have to search her," the auror growled.

Dumbledore looked towards Claudia, who nodded, counting her blessings that she had enough wits about her to get rid of the jewel.

"And she'll have to surrender her wand-"

"Surely that is not necessary…" Dumbledore insisted.

"On your head be it."

Once the aurors let her through and they were out of earshot- "Where is he?" Claudia hissed. "I have to see him."

Dumbledore placed his hand on her shoulder. "I have a plan. All will be well, but I cannot let you interfere."

"Interfere?" she hissed and threw his hand off. "I have to save him." She did not exactly have a plan on how to do that. But she was prepared to stupefy, or worse, anyone who would try to stop her.

"Dark times are coming. And where you are needed is the Ministry. You cannot risk your standing over this."

"I don't care," she replied rather forcefully. Stupefying Dumbledore was beginning to look like a very tempting option right about now.

"He will be safe. You have to trust me."

"I don't trust you," she barked. "How could I?"

"I have to insist."

"So do I," she replied and tried to move past him.

But instead, the world around her became just that little bit hazy… Ethereal music began to play. A scent of sweet flowers…

When Claudia opened her eyes, she was in a room she had never seen. The windows still looked like those of the Hogwarts castle. But the sun was streaming through them-

It took her a second to remember why she was at the school. And how she ended up unconscious. That was no accident. It was a spell.

"Sirius is okay…" she heard a faint voice.

She sat up and looked around, ready to scream at Dumbledore- but instead found herself staring right at the face of Remus Lupin. He was greyer and paler than when she saw him last. And looked like he had a particularly bad night. Was it the full moon?

Claudia had no interest hearing what Remus had to say, so she jumped to her feet. But her knees were not cooperating, and she fell straight back onto the sofa. When she landed, Remus was gripping her arm.

"Don't touch me," Claudia barked and shook him off.

"He's alright, Claudia" her old friend spoke again. "In a typically dramatic fashion, he escaped on the back of a Hippogriff. Peter got away though, so Sirius is back in hiding."

Claudia said nothing, just stared at him. She still needed more details but the knot in her stomach had dissolved a little. If only she was not too proud to ask Remus for the detail.

"He didn't ask about how you were-" Remus said. "Which-"

"Way to twist in the knife," she interrupted. "Again…"

"What I meant," Remus stuttered, looking at his feet. "The only reason why he wouldn't ask about you would be because he knew exactly how you were." He gave her a feeble smile. "I'm glad you two found a way to talk- And I'm sorry for what I said, for not believing you-"

"I'm not the one who you owe your apology to."

"I know."

"How could you even have thought he would give up James? James!" she hissed and, when she saw Remus open his mouth, she added: "And don't you dare repeat that crap to me again, Remus."

"I'm sorry."

"That's great. Makes up for everything." She got up, this time successfully.

"You should rest."

"Leave me alone."

"Claudia-"

"What do you want from me?" she barked. "Forgiveness? Because you aren't getting that any time soon-"

"Don't you want to know what happened?"

"Not from you."

"Well, Dumb-"

"And certainly not from Dumbledore." She pre-empted Remus' suggestion and marched towards the door. Furious what Dumbledore did, furious at Remus, furious she lost the jewel. But before she quite managed to walk out of that door, her path was yet again blocked by the Headmaster.

"I was the one who was supposed to save him!" she raged.

"You did," Dumbledore replied with a smile. "The time-turner that you authorised for Miss Granger was integral part of my plan. Without that Sirius would not have escaped-"

"And is that supposed to make me feel better?" The smugness in Dumbledore's voice made her want to punch him in a face. "Being part of a plan that no one told me about? I am not that kid anymore-" She pushed past Dumbledore and walked away, quite determined never to lay eyes on either of them again.