CLAUDIA WAS READING with her special quill in her hand. Inez was away practicing Quidditch, or something along the lines of that. Pandora was away doing god knows what, and Betty was to Claudia's surprise in the dorm with her.

But, the simple little fact that the blonde girl was too busy with applying pink lipstick than to notice her friend staring at her proved that she wasn't really there.

"Betty, can I talk to you about something?" Claudia asked. She was determined to once and for all rip the bandaid off and inform the girl of everything.

However, this determination was several weeks old at this point, and Claudia had her doubts that she once again wouldn't be able to tell her anything due to some sort of disturbance - such as Betty being late for something, that something being secret.

And, that ended up being the case on this very evening.

"I'm sorry Claudia, but I have somewhere to be," the girl said without even looking her way. "Can we talk later?"

"Where are you going?"

"Out," the girl shrugged as she fixed her hair.

"Where?"

"Doesn't matter."

"Okay," Claudia said with a small sigh, hoping to catch Betty's attention, but she didn't. "Is something wrong?"

"No," Betty said whilst she took some final looks in the mirror. "I'll see you later."

"But-"

"Later!"

Claudia sighed heavily this time around, doing so as she fell down on her bed completely.

The girl felt lonely. It almost reminded her of being at the manor, which was something that terrified her. Hogwarts had always been her escape away from everything, but now she was always left alone to her thoughts all the damn time, which exhausted her completely.

Sure, she had her boys and her homework and her books. But, she missed her girls. Spending time with the Marauders couldn't change that simple fact, despite how much they all tried.

She was confused and she felt almost abandoned. She had no idea why they were never in their dorm, why they barely spoke to her or each other or why they never told her anything anymore.

Claudia knew that with age often came drifting apart. It was simply a natural human force. But, she never thought that she would be in the position where she didn't understand why they were leaving. Why they slowly drifted away, and why they wouldn't let her fix it.

She also hated the fact that she seemed to be the only one to actually care about what was happening between the four.

It was a pattern in Claudia's life that people left. Her mum left, her aunt left, and with them left all of their family members. So now, as the girls slowly started to leave as well without a single reasoning, Claudia was experiencing her biggest fear.

Watching people disappear.

But, she was sick of moping and dwelling over it. Maybe it was just in her head, maybe they were all just incredibly busy with their own lives, so busy that it just became a little harder to talk and laugh again.

So, instead of staring at her ceiling and questioning what the hell was going on, she strutted down the stairs to the Ravenclaw common room, and there she found Mary Johnson, someone she hadn't spoken to in a long time.

"Watcha reading?" The brunette girl asked the smaller girl, who was seated in the couch leaned against the armrest with a book bigger than her head covering her face.

Mary merely peeked her eyes out from the top of the book, and then she made the decision to not answer her.

"Mary? Is something wrong?"

"No."

"Are you sure? Because-"

"I'm just surprised to find you talking to me is all," she shrugged as she placed the book down on her lap. "I thought you had stopped doing that."

"Oh," Claudia breathed as she sat down by Mary's feet. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah, you should be."

"It's just...I haven't really been talking to anyone," Claudia explained, not mentioning the boys who seemed to be a very exclusive exception. "I've been avoiding plenty of people, trust me."

"Why?" The twelve year old asked.

"It's confusing," Claudia sighed.

"Then explain. I've got time," Mary pressed. "And besides, I've missed you. A lot. You were like the big sister I never had."

Claudia softened at that. She missed Mary, she really did. She missed Lily too, and the small encounters she had had with Marlene made her miss her too. And her classmates in Ravenclaw who were muggleborns and halfbloods. Yeah, she missed them all.

She didn't understand herself sometimes. She had managed to find a way to spend time with the Marauders, so why couldn't she do it with anybody else?

The answer was that Claudia was terrified. The threat that the people she would associate herself with could end up like her mother terrified her every day. She still heard it coming out of Nolan's mouth whenever she heard James laugh, saw Peter eat candy, heard Sirius' favourite songs and saw Remus' gorgeous face.

She was terrified, and nothing could change that. All she could do was take baby steps. And maybe it was time for another step, because there were places were her last name and blood didn't matter.

"I've missed you too, Mary," Claudia said with a small smile. "You're like the little sister I never had."

"So, if you missed me...explain."

"All you gotta know is that I don't actually want to ignore you, it's just the way it is."

"But you're not ignoring me right now," Mary pointed out.

"I know...and that is because we're in my safe-zone."

"Your safe-zone?"

"Yeah," Claudia chuckled. "In here we can be best friends again if you want, but out there we can't. It doesn't make any sense, but it's better that it doesn't."

Mary looked puzzled for a few seconds, before her strangely stern face softened, and a small smile crept up on her lips.

That little girl was smarter than most twelve year olds.

"I'm still angry," Mary said at the same time as the childish smile on her face grew. "But I really need you to help me with my History of Magic homework, so we're sisters again."

"Sounds like you're using me for my knowledge," Claudia smiled.

"So what if I am? I'd do anything for good marks," Mary grinned mischievously.

"You should've been sorted into Slytherin with that mindset," Claudia chuckled.

"Well, thank god I wasn't," Mary said with a small shudder. "They would've eaten me alive."

"That's right, my tiny fragile little ladybug," the brunette girl teased.

"Oh, there you go again with the horrible nicknames," Mary sighed. "And I'm not fragile nor am I tiny!"

"You might not be fragile but you are tiny, and excuse me?! What did you mean about me coming up with horrible nicknames?!"

"Bets, Nessie, Cooking Pan," Mary listed. "I mean, Nessie sounds like a sweet name for the Loch Ness monster, which is also pretty bad, but Cooking Pan is the worst nickname ever!"

"I used Cooking Pan one time and I hugely regret it," Claudia said, embarrassed. "How in the world did you know that?"

"I know everything," Mary said with a sly grin. "Which reminds me, how's it going with Lupin?"

"What did you say?" Claudia asked out of disbelief. "How did you...how?"

"Oh, please. You two are practically snogging with your eyes at this point. You always take forever to finish your meals and he never listens to his friends because all you two do is stare at each other in the Great Hall. Like...longingly. Like you're undressing each other with your eyes too for that matter-"

"Mary you're twelve!"

"And I'm still less oblivious than you two," the girl protested. "So, how's it going? Are you two in love?"

"Mary..." Claudia warned, her cheeks flushing in the process.

"You're not denying it," Mary cooed.

"I...I d-don't-"

"Oh my god!" She squealed.

"I didn't say anything!"

•••

Later that evening Claudia ended up at the boys' dormitory once again. This time it was curtesy of Peter, who ever-so kindly threatened her into stealing her pancakes if she didn't come help him with his History of Magic homework.

This also meant that Claudia's Saturday night had pretty much just consisted of History of Magic.

"I just don't get why I need to know stuff like this," Peter complained as Claudia explained The International Warlock Convention of 1289. "Useless doesn't even cover it. Can I take a nap?"

"No," Claudia answered quickly. "Let's change subject, yeah? What else do you need to study?"

"I mean I have to study the Werewolf Code of Conduct thing," Peter shrugged. "But I think I know more about that."

"Well, let me quiz you then," Claudia said after a few quiet seconds.

"Are you alright?" Peter asked. "You look a little pale."

"I'm fine," Claudia assured. "Just a little tired is all."

"Do you want a drink?"

"Uh..."

"It's not actually a drink," Peter explained. "It's this weird juice thing Sirius came up with. It gives him energy."

"Sounds...not safe," Claudia noted.

"Well, he hasn't died yet has he?" Peter grinned.

"Sadly enough, no."

"Are you going to hate him forever?" Peter asked. "I know he messed up but..."

"He did mess up," Claudia sighed. "I might talk to him soon, I don't know, but-"

Claudia sighed as she was yet again unable to finish her sentence. That seemed to be a reoccurring problem in her life.

And what was it that interrupted her sentence? It was three boys coming through the door, one of which was having some sort of crisis.

"I just don't understand why she doesn't like me," James said sadly. "I'm perfect!"

"You are," Remus reassured, not noticing how Claudia was propped up on the floor just yet.

"And she keeps on rejecting me! I'm telling you, if she doesn't say yes within my next hundred attempts I will give up."

"Now I'm concerned," said Sirius. "You've never said something like that before. Are you sure you're okay?"

"Of course I'm not okay!" James said dramatically as he lunged himself onto his bed and wrapped himself up in his blanket. "I'm never leaving my bed ever again."

"Me neither," Peter said as he abandoned Claudia on the floor and threw himself onto his own bed, also forming his own burrito with his blanket. "And by that I mean that I'll never leave my own bed, Sirius. I already know a joke was coming."

"Peter, you're supposed to be studying!" Claudia scolded, causing the rest of the boys to finally notice her.

"Sorry, but sleeping is so much better than studying," Peter mumbled. "Actually, everything is better than studying."

Claudia sighed and shook her head as Remus helped her up from the floor at the same time as he greeted her.

"Hi, Claudia," James greeted from his bed, everything but his waving hand covered in blankets.

"Hi, Jamie," the girl said with empathy, already understanding that he had faced yet another Lily rejection.

At first Claudia hated James for always bothering Lily, but eventually she had learned that it wasn't just a teenage crush. The boy adored her to death, and all he really wanted was to be able to show that to her.

"Hi," Sirius greeted her with a small smile.

Silence.

"How are you feeling, Jamie?" Claudia eventually asked after having given Sirius an expressionless look, causing Sirius to feel defeated yet again.

"Horrible. Like, horrible horrible. Like, I want to die."

"I don't think you mean that," Claudia said as she patted him on his blanket-covered head. "Lily will come around."

"You think so?"

"I know her, and I really think that she will," Claudia said, suddenly thinking about how much she missed Lily too.

"Claudia?" Sirius interrupted. "Can we please talk?"

"No."

"Please," he persisted.

"Not now, Sirius."

"Eventually?" He asked with an hopeful glimt in his eyes.

"Maybe," Claudia shrugged, suddenly noticing the map that lay on James' nightstand.

"Okay, because-"

"If I tell you that I will talk to you will you let me do something real quick?" Claudia asked the boy as she picked up the map.

"Uh, yeah, sure," Sirius said with a giddy smile. "So, anyways, I was sitting there and this Ravenclaw was all like I swear I saw Filch making out with his cat and-"

The rest of the boys were seemingly very interested in Sirius weird story, so none of them but Remus watched as Claudia opened the map and said the words.

She had had enough.

She was tired of not getting any answers, tired of being ignored by her friends.

She knew she herself put them in that position over and over again, but she had never ever ignored them because of it.

She was supposed to be able to tell them jokes or study with them, instead of begging them to listen to her or asking them to hang out with her for just a little while.

So, she decided to figure things out for herself, because she was for sure not getting any answers from them.

What she saw first calmed her down. Pandora was hanging out with Mary in the Ravenclaw common room.

And what she saw second stung a little. Inez was nearby, in the exact same tower, hanging out with Lily, Marlene and some of their friends.

But, Claudia was barely able to even feel the sadness of missing out on things like that as she laid eyes on the names of two people who looked to be together in a broom closet.

Nolan Clarke and Betty Arnaud.

The end of part III.
__________________________________

and so it goes - part III.

let's figure some things out!

and let's test some people's loyalties...

until then...aka like tomorrow

did i reveal the first twist of many too soon?
yes.

am i panicking because it's been like eight hours and remus and claudia aren't together?
yes.

will they be soon?
*laughs*

wait and see besties ily

(is it even socially acceptable to still say besties???)

also...I decided to make mary a more recurring character, and I need a faceclaim for her so help pls!!! you might recognise the character from deathly hallows when the golden trio ended up at the ministry...

<3