"SO, WHAT ARE YOUR plans now that you're about to leave Hogwarts?" Claudia asked Henry as the two found each other walking towards the Ravenclaw tower after dinner one night. "Going to pursue Quidditch?"

"I'm not exactly sure," Henry shrugged, putting his hands in his front pockets as he walked. "I mean, don't get me wrong. I love Quidditch and I'm bloody brilliant at it, but I'm not sure if the lifestyle is for me."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know, really, but I just don't think all the travelling and stuff would be my kind of thing, I guess. And, honestly, I'd quite like to stay with Jia Li for a while."

"Oh," Claudia nodded with a smile, thinking about the sweet girl who was after all the drama finally Henry's girlfriend again. "What is she planning to do?"

"She wants to work at the ministry," he explained. "But she's not entirely sure which department yet. She's got an internship at the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, though. So that's a good start."

"That seems fun," Claudia said happily. "And what is Rosamund planning to do?"

"She's going to stick to becoming a potioneer," he said with a rather amused smile. "You ask about her an awful lot for being her mortal enemy."

"I wouldn't say mortal enemy," she chuckled. "If that's the case then it's definitely one-sided. But, I don't know honestly. I kind of just feel a little bad for her."

"You feel bad for her?" Henry asked, feeling clearly rather surprised.

"Well," she shrugged. "Everyone always talks behind her back and stuff, you know..."

"Oh, trust me, I know," Henry nodded. "They say she's weird and that she doesn't belong in Slytherin, bla bla. You know, I've served three detentions through my Hogwarts career, and all of them were because I injured someone who spoke ill of her."

Claudia smiled, "You're a good brother."

"I try."

"But you spoke to her after I told you to, right?"

"Yes," he nodded. "We're pretty much back to normal. But she still doesn't open up, of course. She did say that she was sorry though. For everything that happened last year."

Claudia stopped, and then she chuckled slightly. "She's sorry?"

"Yes."

"She said that?"

"Yes. She said that she would apologise to you if she could. Not sure what she meant by that, but."

Claudia frowned, "Well, I'm honestly not the one that she's supposed to apologise to. I think Inez, Sirius and Betty would be the more reasonable ones to go to."

Henry nodded, "I don't think she would do that."

Claudia nodded understandingly, and then she decided to change the subject back to the original one because old memories of last spring wasn't exactly the best thing to bring up.

"You've got time to figure it out, don't worry," she said. "The whole career and quidditch thing, I mean. And you were right, you are incredible at quidditch! I mean, no other captain could've gotten us so far that we beat Gryffindor!"

Henry smiled, thinking back to the memory of when Claudia caught the snitch a few weeks back at the final game of the season, and Ravenclaw beat Gryffindor despite the fact that everyone assumed that they wouldn't.

And, oh how the boy loved the looks on his friends the Prewett twins' faces, who were expecting to win their final game of their Hogwarts careers so much that they had done nothing but tease Henry for being a "future loser".

Oh, how he adored it.

Just as Claudia adored teasing a very upset James.

"Stop, you're gonna make me blush," said Henry. "You're the one who caught the snitch, so naturally it was all thanks you."

"Don't even try, Chang."

Henry smirked, "Okay, it was all me, wasn't it?"

Claudia rolled her eyes, "It was a team effort, but good try."

Henry laughed, a laughter that soon stifled as he entered the normal stage of melancholy every single seventh student were in most of the time.

And then, he hugged Claudia so tightly that she clearly couldn't breathe.

"Hey," she said in a weird voice that sounded far too much as if she was trying to push the words out to nearly no success. "This is a little...tight. Please...let...go."

"Oh!" The boy said, letting her loose and patting her on the head in a strange way, which only caused Claudia to laugh as she gave him a confused look. "I can't believe that I'm about to leave this place!"

"Me neither," Claudia said melodramatically. "Can't believe I've witnessed you grow old."

"I'm 18!"

"Yeah, you're old," Claudia said. "I've see you've even got grey hairs by now! Must be all the stress."

The boy gasped, and then Claudia found herself standing alone in the hallway as he ran into the nearest boys' lavatory, checked his hair in the mirror and returned with an offended look on his face.

"Lying is a sin, Maple," he said. "You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

"Sorry!" Claudia laughed, receiving an eye roll from the boy who loved his hair nearly as much as Sirius.

Which definitely meant that he loved his hair a lot.

"Thank you for the pep talk, though," Henry smiled, picking up the pace again. "Maybe I'll consider a career in Quidditch after all."

"Brilliant!" Claudia exclaimed, and then she got to thinking. "You know, I was just wondering. Have you got any idea on who the next captain for the Ravenclaw team will be?"

"Why?" Henry asked with a mischievous look on his face. "Do you want to be the next one?"

"Merlin, no," Claudia said quickly, shivering slightly at the thought of another responsibility to have in addition to being prefect, a motivated student, a friend, a girlfriend and a stressed and anxious individual who honestly needed a break all at the same time.

"Good, becaus I was thinking that Harper could do it."

"Inez?!" Claudia questioned, and when she received a nod in response she jumped up and down at least ten times as she thanked him over and over.

"Oh, she's going to be so happy!"

"And she's going to be good at it," Henry nodded. "Flitwick told me that I could pick if I had a good idea, and honestly she felt like a natural choice."

"Oh, she's the only one who could do it! You'll come and watch our first game, won't you? That is if I'm still in the team!"

"Well, that depends," said Henry. "Rosamund and I have made plans to go to Hongkong and see our grandmother sometime soon this summer or autumn or possibly next year. But then again, that also depends on Dumbledore."

Claudia frowned, "Why does it depend on Dumbledore?"

Henry stopped walking again, and then he lowered his voice, "Have you heard about the Order of the Phoenix?"

Claudia nodded, gulping nervously at the thought of Henry joining what she believed to be a death trap to all of the members who had no actual experience of what it was like out there in the real world.

"You're joining?"

"I am," Henry said, smiling proudly. "That'll keep me occupied, I'm sure."

"But are you certain that you want to join?"

"Of course!"

Claudia sighed, "It's dangerous, Henry."

"Everything is, Claudia. There's a war out there. And I intend to fight in it."

"Even if it kills you?"

"Even if it kills me," he chuckled. "Which it won't."

Claudia sighed, and then she opened her mouth to say something, only to spot Ingannamorte walking down the corridor on the other side.

So, the girl did what had to be done, because she was in the state of avoiding the professor at all costs after the rather strange question about her father that she had asked her.

Claudia saw how Ingannamorte stopped to talk to a student that had asked her something, so the girl quickly threw her arms around Henry, gave him a hug and then took her farewell.

"Come say goodbye on the train, okay? I'll see you again, right?"

"Yes, well, you'll probably see me in the common room like tonight," the boy grinned. "But I'll come and say goodbye."

"Good," she smiled. "Don't go die on me now, okay? And try to think about joining the Order. You're still just a kid."

And with those words, Claudia took off in another direction, leaving the conversation that she intended to have with Henry for later on.

Instead of going to the Ravenclaw tower, as she originally intended, the girl opted for the Gryffindor tower, where she knew she would find Remus, who most likely was asleep in his bed as he awaited the full moon that was that very night.

And, with the simple little fact that the full moon was in a few hours time, Claudia began to prepare her mind for her first experience of it all.

"He's a bloody pain," was all Peter said as the girl entered the common room, and as always received confused looks and glares from students who found the way that the Ravenclaw girl and the Gryffindor boys walked to each other's common rooms and dorms as if they were allowed to to be absurd.

"Remus?"

"Remus," he nodded. "He's upstairs."

Claudia took off up the stairs to the boys' dormitory, and there she did indeed find Remus.

But, her expectation of him being asleep was quickly wronged as the boy groaned and buried his face in his pillow as soon as she opened the door into the dark and, honestly, rather smelly room.

"Please, go away!" He yelled, waving his hand towards her as he imagined James, Sirius or Peter standing there.

"Oh, you're even worse than me when I'm sick," the girl said in an amused tone, causing his head to shoot up. "I simply thought that it was impossible!"

He rolled his eyes, but the way his eyes softened and a small smile came over his lips as he saw her told her that he didn't really mind having her there.

"Come here," he said, and she did just as told, crawling underneath the covers with him and caressing his cheek as he closed his eyes and sighed contently.

"Don't come tonight," he said suddenly, still keeping his shut as he hoped that she immediately would agree to his request.

"Remus..."

"Please," he pouted, opening his eyes this time around and almost making her obey to his request due to how adorable he looked.

"I'm coming," she said. "Okay?"

"Please don't," he urged, but she merely placed her index finger on his lips and hushed him.

"Let's compromise, okay? I come tonight and if I get hurt I won't come again."

He looked at her for a moment, as if trying to consider his choices, and then he sighed audibly. "What kind of hurt will count?"

"Are you trying to hurt me now?" Claudia asked amusedly, causing Remus to roll his eyes yet again.

"No! I just...there's always going to be some sort of scratch. That's just the way it is."

"And I can handle minor scratches and cuts," she said. "If it's too much we decide together what happens next, okay? But for now I really want you to give me the chance to help you out. Please."

"Okay," he nodded, bringing her closer to him by wrapping his arms around her waist and burying his face in the crook of her neck. "If you're there when I wake up tomorrow."

"I'll always be there when you wake up," she said. "You know that."

"I know," he replied. "But I still need your promise."

"How about a pinky promise?"

"Sure," he said, and then they linked their pinkies before he fell asleep in her arms.

•••

A few hours later, it was time for the full moon to arrive. Remus had been led to the Shrieking Shack with the help of Madam Pomfrey, who had no idea that just moments after she left a stag, a dog, a rat and a raven arrived and entered the shack as well.

At first, when she saw him, Claudia felt completely torn apart. He had not transformed yet, but instead he was on the floor as he screamed in agony and pain and wirled around on the floor.

And Claudia remembered that she had been there.

And she remembered that there was no pain worse than the one where it felt as if something or someone else was taking over your body and removing you from yourself as you try to fight it.

And, soon enough, after moments of cries, tears and screams, there was no longer a boy in front of them.

No, there was a werewolf.

And Claudia remembered that her mum had been killed by someone like that.

And she remembered what it was like to look him in the eyes.

What it was like to see her mum all torn into pieces.

What it was like to witness her final breath.

Her final tear.

Her final blink.

And her final heartbeat.

And suddenly, she felt afraid. She wasn't sure if it was the wolf in front of her or the mere thought of the one who had killed her mum that scared her.

But she was afraid.

And, as the bird she was, she sat in the distance for a while, watching as the three boys distracted the wolf from all sorts of things that could go wrong.

And she witnessed them help the boy inside out as she sat there and did nothing but feel fearful.

But, as the wolf neared the rat after having struck both the dog and the stag quite a bit, Claudia was suddenly off in another world as she sat in a corner on a piece of old furniture in her Animagus form.

She was thinking about the boy who wasn't far gone. The boy who had the most wonderful smile, the most wonderful heart and the most wonderful soul.

The boy who had saved her life over and over again.

And, somehow, that changed things.

She flew forward and immediately took to distracting the wolf from hurting the scared rat - who immediately ran away from the scene to gather his thoughts - and then the raven and the wolf played together.

The raven flew over the wolf's head, and around in circles so that the wolf stayed entertained, happy and distracted.

So, if there was one thing Claudia could note about that night, it was that she had been right all along. The raven and the wolf had a natural bond - but it wasn't clear if that was just Remus and Claudia or the raven and the wolf.

But it didn't exactly make a difference, because after a long night of playing with the wolf and the other animals, Claudia found herself with only a mere few scratches and cuts as she met eyes with a sleepy boy with brown eyes who immediately smiled at the sight of her.

And, the raven and the wolf were suddenly just Claudia and Remus.

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