"IF I'M GOING TO TALK to you two, we have to set out some ground rules," said Claudia to Evan and Nolan, who had followed her all the way to her bedroom and asked to speak with her after the dramatic end to Easter lunch.

And she wanted nothing more than to curse their guts out.

"What ground rules?"

"You have to stay this far away from me," she said, backing off even more so that Evan wouldn't be near her as her hands and legs immediately began shaking, along with her voice. "And you have to put your wands down."

The boys nodded slowly, and then they put their wands down on the ground.

"Aren't you going to get rid of yours?" Nolan asked.

"No," Claudia answered without missing a beat. "I'm going to keep it right here in my hands in case you two have some stupid idea. So, what is it that you want to talk about?"

"Remus Lupin," Evan grinned.

And that's when a sinking feeling came over the pit of Claudia's stomach.

But, she tried to stay calm.

"What about him?"

"Are you still with him?"

Claudia paused for a moment, and then she nodded slowly, "Yes."

Evan and Nolan chuckled slightly, grinning at one another as they did so, which only caused Claudia to tighten her grip around her wand.

"What is it?!" She asked angrily.

"Nothing much," Evan shrugged. "But I have a proposition for you."

"What proposition?" Claudia asked, speaking in a clear voice that caused both of the two boys to be certain that she could be yelling at them any moment now.

Stay calm, Claudia, stay calm, she thought to herself. You're only talking.

"Well, I don't know if we should call it a proposition exactly," said Nolan. "What's a better word for it, Evan? Yeah, right; threat."

"No," Claudia said, shaking her head as she glared at them. "Leave me alone!"

The girl tried to move past them, but they only picked up their wands, which caused her to back off again.

"Put. Them. Down," she said sternly, and so they did.

"You listen to us very carefully now, sunshine," said Evan. "You're going to marry me."

"Absolutely not!"

"Oh, shut up," he sighed as if he couldn't believe that she had the guts to interrupt him. "You're going to marry me."

"No," she said, her voice shaking because she wasn't stupid.

She knew where this was going.

She had only hoped that it would never happen.

"Yes, you are!"

"What happens if I don't?" She asked, knowing the answer already.

Evan smirked even more, because he could see the internal panic right through her.

"If you don't marry me, we will personally tell your father exactly who Remus Lupin is. We'll tell him all about your little fairytale relationship. We'll tell him who is friends are. Who is parents are. Where his parents work. Where they all live..."

"...and then," Nolan continued with a menacing
smirk that matched Evan's. "He'll kill him."

Evan chuckled, "And everyone he loves. Except for you, sunshine. He'll spare you, and then you'll be all alone again. No loverboy to hold your precious little hand. No friends to dry your tears. You'll be all alone."

"And you'll be forced to stay here, because you'll have nowhere else to go."

"And you'll marry me," Evan finished. "But, if you pick option one where he lives, you have to leave him and never see him again. So, what's it going to be, sunshine? Be my wife, leave your precious little prince and keep him alive, or be my wife and be the reason why he dies?"

Now, a million things could be said to describe just what Claudia was feeling after the boys finished with their little threat.

But, absolutely nothing could measure up to just what it felt like.

So, let's just summarise it in a few words:

It felt as if someone had twisted her insides, punched her in the gut and removed all the sunshine and air from the world.

And Claudia didn't even know what to do with herself as she stood there with shaky hands, an emotionless face and tears already rushing down her cheeks.

"Oh, screw you both!" She yelled.

Evan and Nolan shared a look, and then Evan nodded, which caused Nolan to pick up his wand and leave the two alone.

All alone.

And Claudia felt as if the world was closing in on her.

"You listen to me now, okay?!" Evan said in a threatening tone. "You're going to marry me. Either way. And you wanna know why? Because your father wouldn't spare him for even a second. So you can stop dreaming! And Lupin wouldn't be able to defend himself against all the people your father would send after him. He simply wouldn't."

"Shut up!"

"And you wanna know something? It was never going to end well either way. You knew that, right? You aren't good enough for him. You will never be enough. You can't make him hide and leave his whole life behind just for you. And I know that you couldn't ask him to do so, because you're too sweet to be selfish. He'll never have a proper future with you. And, if you tell him about this you'll be in great danger. I'll know it if you do. So, what's it gonna be?"

"Go! Please go!" Claudia begged.

"You're no good for him," Evan said, nearing her so much that she was standing against her wall and he was just mere centimetres from her face as she begged him to stop and leave him alone.

"Do him a favour and leave," Evan grinned as he spoke in a whisper. "Or else you'll be the reason he dies. You'll be the reason why everyone you love dies. Harper and Arnaud and Ollivander too. They'll all die, just like your poor little mummy did. And guess what? You'll be all alone, sunshine. All alone."

"Get off me!" Claudia yelled, pushing him away so that he backed off a few metres.

And then, she grew silent as Evan watched her.

And she got to thinking.

And she realised that no one could save Remus but her.

And she realised that she would have him killed if she didn't make her choice.

And she realised that he deserved so much more than what she could give him.

She realised that he deserved someone who was okay. Someone whose family was nice. Someone who wasn't cursed with misfortune and sadness just as she was.

He deserved someone who would tell the truth.

Someone who could love him fully and entirely without fear in the back of their mind all the damn time.

And she realised that she couldn't stop her father or Evan or Nolan from going after him.

She realised that she couldn't ask him to run away with her; because he had such a wonderful life left to live with the people he loved.

And she couldn't stop him from living it.

And, she also knew that she loved Remus Lupin far too much for her own good.

She loved him so much that she would do anything for him.

And Claudia Maple did stupid things when she was scared.

So, she looked up into Evan's eyes, and in a cold and tired voice she said:

"I'll marry you."

"Good," Evan grinned. "You can stay with loverboy until school ends. After that it's over. After that you're leaving him."

Until school ends.

"See you later, fiancée," Evan smiled as if he was pitying her, and then he left her all alone.

But, she wouldn't stay like that. She had to talk to someone. Ask someone for help.

Because what the hell was she supposed to do now that she had agreed to her worst possible fate?

So, she went searching for Regulus, because she knew that he would listen if the topic was as serious as it was.

Yet, once she found him and ran towards the boy who was drying his tears in an empty room, she couldn't talk.

Because he had pulled the sleeves of his shirt up.

And Claudia couldn't ignore the Dark Mark on his forearm.

Without saying anything that made sense, but instead sobbing out nonsense as she buried her face in her hands and wished that she could remove herself form that cursed body of hers that didn't seem to stop being put in horrible situations, Claudia had been pushed a little further towards the edge.

She had been pushed so much towards the edge that she ran out of there and didn't stop until someone said her name.

And then, without even thinking, she found herself in the arms of Nicolas, who was giving Rosamund a concerned look as he comforted his little sister.

END OF PART XIV
__________________________________

and so it goes - part xiv.

yeah...

whoops.

i may have just dropped like three bombs in 1.4 k words...

it's not over yet tho so don't jump to conclusions!!!

next part we're leaving Hogwarts...

IM CRYING RN I CANT

anyways love y'all so much <33333