"WHERE'S INEZ?" Claudia asked Betty as the blonde sat down next to her on a random Friday morning at breakfast.

Actually, it wasn't really a "random Friday morning". It was January 30th, also known as the birthday of both Lily Evans and Claudia Maple.

Claudia was officially 16 years old.

"She said she was coming soon," Betty shrugged. "Oh! I told her, by the way."

What did she tell her you may ask? Well, let's just say that Betty and Sirius' relationship had...escalated.

'I love you's' were exchanged and other things as well, things Claudia was trying to avoid thinking about as she ate her pancakes.

Claudia, Betty and Pandora spent the breakfast eating and chatting happily. It was just how Claudia wanted her birthday to be:

Like it wasn't actually her birthday.

She never received anything from her father. Her grandmother would usually send her a card, but she didn't this year. She felt the big hole of her mother more every year, and that was what made her despise the day so much.

Because every year Claudia got older, but her mum stayed 34. Time went on, but never for her mum. She was just...gone.

"I'll go check where Inez is," Claudia eventually said as she finished her pancakes. "See you in Defence."

"Bye, birthday girl!" Betty called after her, laughing as Claudia rolled her eyes.

"Did you hear that?!" James said excitedly to Remus, who was too busy looking at Claudia.

Since they had seen her gash, the four boys had repeatedly tried to talk to her, much to her dismay. Sirius had made sure it was done safely by checking the map whenever they came up to her to make sure her brothers weren't around.

And that got him thinking.

He had been consistent on not telling them anything, weirdly enough. He didn't know what to say or how to say it, but in a way he thought they knew.

Remus was the only one he had talked to about it, and it was clear that he understood just how bad it was. He had seen her in the Prefects' carriage after, and her shaky hands and the fact that she was the only one sitting straight up showed that whatever he had seen on her back was hurting her in plenty of ways.

Still, Sirius had not told a single soul of what happened that day almost six years before the moment on the train.

"Hear what?" Remus asked as Claudia finally left the Great Hall.

"It's Claudia's birthday!" James exclaimed.

"I know," Remus said without thinking, causing James to smirk.

"How do you know?"

"Because Betty just yelled it?" Remus replied confusedly.

"Right. Well, anyways, do you know that it's also Lily's birthday?" He asked.

"How could we forget," Peter said under his breath.

"Well, I've got quite the idea," James said with a grin. "Oi, Evans!

•••

As Claudia stepped into the dormitory, she was faced by the last thing she was expecting.

Inez was still in her bed, curled up in a ball. And that wasn't what surprised Claudia.

What surprised Claudia was that Inez was crying.

In a room filled with wrapping paper and sweets on the floor - Inez Harper, the girl who Claudia had never seen crying, was doing just that.

"Oh, Inez," Claudia said worriedly as she immediately walked over to the crying girl, who started to sob even more the moment she saw her friend.

Claudia wasted no time on pulling her into a hug, gently rubbing circles on Inez's back.

It didn't matter that it hurt like a bitch when Inez wrapped her arms around her back, because she wanted to comfort her friend, and a stupid gash wasn't going to ruin that.

A stupid gash that had basically covered half her back at this point. It was black, wet and absolutely disgusting. Claudia didn't know what to do, but she knew she needed to do something before it covered the rest of her body.

Because it started to affect her whole body. Her back was aching like she was carrying the weight of the world, and she swore something was going to effect her blood if she didn't somehow get rid off it.

Claudia knew she needed to make a visit to Madam Pomfrey. She just needed a good excuse.

The only thing she could think of was the explanation that she had a random curse thrown at her during a visit in Knockturn Alley. It seemed believable enough, she figured.

"What's going on, sweetie?" Claudia asked Inez, who continued to sob onto Claudia's sweater.

"Nothing," the girl lied.

Oh.

"It's alright," Claudia said comfortingly as she continued to rub circles on her friend's back. "You can tell me."

"It's nothing, really,"Inez said with a waver of her voice.

"Inez, you never cry," Claudia reminded her. "Which is concerning, by the way."

"Claudia, you never cry either," Inez replied in an attempt at changing the subject.

"Oh, please, I do all the time," Claudia sighed. "But that's not the topic here, tell me what's wrong."

"I just...I, uhm, I finished that book you recommended me. The one about small women."

"Little women," Claudia corrected.

"Yeah, the little women. And it was very sad," Inez said. "Why did the nicest of them all have to die?"

"Oh," Claudia chuckled. "Because Louisa May Alcott decided so, that's why. I hated it too when I read it, cried for what felt like a week. So just try not to think too much about it, okay Nessie?"

"Don't call me that," Inez said with a chuckle. "Or I'll call you Claude."

"I'd like to see you try," Claudia said sternly, causing Inez to let out another chuckle. "Is that my favourite smile I see?!" Claudia said with a big smile, poking Inez on the cheek so that her smile grew, but then it dropped as quickly as it came.

"I'm ruining your birthday, aren't I?" Inez said in an almost panicked voice as she straightened herself up.

"Merlin, no," Claudia chuckled. "I'm sorry, but this just makes me feel a little less insane over crying over books all the time. And all that matters to me is that you smile, dry your tears and go to class so we can come back here and eat unhealthy amounts of chocolate as we listen to that Bill Withers record you gave me. And then we can also discuss that book."

"That does sound like a good idea," Inez said.

"It does, doesn't it!" Claudia said cheeringly. "Been there done that with the whole "Beth-thing". I might not be a therapist, but I do have a very good sweater to cry on and a very nice face that can make you smile at the sight of it."

"I'm so pathetic," Inez chuckled.

"No you're not," Claudia replied sternly.

Because, truth be told, Claudia wasn't completely sure that Inez was telling her the truth. She wondered if she really was crying over a book.

"Like Pandora says, you're just as sane as I am, Inez."

"That's comforting," Inez replied sarcastically.

"Hey, that's mean!"

"Thank you."

Claudia rolled her eyes with a chuckle. "Oh! Before we get to class you have to answer a question!"

"What?" Inez asked, and Claudia swore she looked a little nervous.

"Who did Laurie belong with?" Claudia asked with a grin.

"Uh....Amy?" Inez said insecurely.

"Good, that means that I won't have to kill you," Claudia said. "Now, come on!"

"What would the world be without Claudia Maple?" Inez asked with a smile as the girls headed towards the door.

"A very, very horrible place," Claudia responded with a fake shiver.

•••

"Ms. Maple!" McGonagall's voice boomed as Claudia found herself lost in another worried trance, thinking about how badly her back hurt.

"I'd like it if you payed attention," the woman said sternly.

"Sorry, Professor," Claudia mumbled as she glued her eyes to McGonagall and attempted to listen for the remaining ten minutes of the class.

The class was eventually dismissed, without Claudia listening to a single word as she tried to think as little about the pain as possible.

"Ms. Maple?" McGonagall called after the girl as she headed towards the door. "May I have a word?"

"Yes, Professor," she said as she waved goodbye to Pandora and walked up to McGonagall. "Is something going on?"

"No," the woman simply replied. "It was just caught to my attention that you were very distracted today. Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong," Claudia lied.

For just a split second, Claudia considered asking McGonagall for help, since she was going to go to Madam Pomfrey anyways. But, that thought was interrupted as the door opened.

In came some random Hufflepuff.

"Excuse me, Professor, but Maple has a visitor," he said hurriedly.

"Who?" Claudia asked curiously.

Please don't be my father. Please don't be my father.

"Uh, your grandmother I think?"

Oh.

"Thank you," Claudia replied as she nodded politely to McGonagall and left the classroom.

And just like implied, Margaret Maple stood outside of the door wearing black robes and carrying a small vial in her hand.

"Grandmother," Claudia said with a polite nod.

"Happy birthday, Claudia," Margaret said with a small twitch of her lips.

Claudia could've sworn she seemed almost a little happy to see her.

"So, I assume you're still...dealing with the situation on your back," Margaret said quietly.

"Yeah," Claudia replied. Margaret then handed her the vial quickly and spoke:

"Apply three times a day, it should heal soon. I have business to attend to now."

And just like that, her grandmother walked away and left Claudia alone with a small vial of hope.

"God, that woman is weird," she said under her breath as she headed towards the nearest bathroom. Claudia then applied the serum, winced from the pain, and saw it slowly turn a little smaller, and a little less disgusting.

It was still hurting just as badly, but at least it was going to heal.

She walked towards the Ravenclaw Tower with a smile on her face, finally feeling as if things were going her way for the first time in a month.

And then suddenly, a hand grabbed her wrist and she was pulled into a dark place she had never been in before.

Claudia was not going to ignore the fact that she was panicking in the small few seconds she went without understanding where she was or who she was with, but she quickly came out of that mindset as a single word was uttered.

"Lumos," Remus said and suddenly Claudia saw his warm eyes and his comforting smile.

"Remus," she sighed out of relief, and then her face quickly turned into a rather sharp one. "You nearly scared me to death!" She whisper-shouted as she lightly shoved him.

"Sorry!" He laughed, causing her to laugh a little as well as she crossed her arms and shook her head.

"What are we doing here?" She asked, referring to the dark hallway they were in. "Actually, where are we?"

"A secret passageway," Remus replied with a grin. "And we are here because-"

"I don't want to talk about it," Claudia said as she figured he was going to ask her about what he had seen.

"No!" Remus exclaimed as he repeatedly shook his head, sort of panicking as Claudia looked ready to leave.

"Then...?"

"Happy birthday," he said simply as he pulled out a small envelope.

Claudia looked at him confusedly as he smiled warmly at her and gestured for her to take the envelope.

"Uh, thank you but you didn't have t-"

"I know I didn't," he said with a chuckle. "Doesn't mean I didn't want to."

"Thank you," she smiled.

"You're welcome. Now, are you up for a surprise?"

__________________________________

a/n:

claudia's the definition of an aquarius!!!

who's ur favourite character so far?

i hate this chapter sorry it sucks<3