BURN FOR YOU, sirius black

02. heroic villian

Lily, Marlene and Mary didn't speak to Claudia again after that night. If anything, it only proved Claudia right; there was no one out there for her. Not romantically, not platonically, not even in a family sense. Claudia allowed herself to be optimistic and open for less than three hours, and was quickly shown everyone's true colors, something she didn't want to see, but something she had to see. She was alone.

The weeks following the "Welcome Feast Fiasco," as she liked to call it, were filled with nothing but violence for Claudia. Her knuckles were constantly torn open, her face bruised from opponents who dared to fight back, all of which who were only meant with more angered punches. Quite a few of her victims were Slytherins, who always had it out for the half-blood girl, more specifically blood supremacists who dared to cross her path.

It was always easy to tell which students were unlucky enough to find themselves in the presence of Claudia. The rings she bore on her finger left unique scars on her prey's skin, almost as if she were signing pieces artwork with a signature. Her silver rings occasionally wore spots of crimson on their ingravings, a specific ring usually finding itself more tainted thant the rest. It sat on her left index finger, and had the letters "L.C" dug into the metal. She would get especially livid whenever she dirtied that ring, always rushing to cleanse it before it stained too badly.

It was this ring she fiddled with as she sat in her favorite and most familiar office in the school. "Ms. Cyprus it is merely the fourth week of the year and you've managed to send over ten students to the infirmary." Mcgonagall stated in a matter-of-factly manner as she sank in her seat across from the brooding blonde, who bore a smug smirk on her pale face.

Claudia sighed dramatically, raising her eyebrows as her shoulders slumped. "What can I say? It's like I attract defenseless dullards. I have been told I'm a magnet for trouble," She winked playfully as the grey haired woman in front of her pinched the bridge of her nose in annoyance. Seeing her beloved Minnie in such an agitated state always made Claudia laugh a bit, something she didn't do often. "Don't worry for me too much, Minnie. I can assure you I'm protected by the utmost strongest person I know."

Mcgonagall raised her eyebrows, playing into the girl's sarcastic statement knowingly. "Who would be this impeccably secure person?" The woman questioned, setting her hands down onto her lap with a soft sigh.

"Myself, of course. Why would I trust anyone else with such a precious soul that is my own?" Claudia asked rhetorically, cocking her head to the side as she flicked her wrist, as if the answer was obvious. Her accent was fading slowly, the gently Italian accent withering away with every day she spent in both Scotland and London. Still, a soft accent remained, her voice completely contrasting her brooding personality and appearance.

Minerva pursed her lips at the obvious trust issues the girl found herself with, issues that very obvious stemmed from her situation at home that both the professor and the headmaster were aware of. It was hard to live in ignorance of the abuse she faced when the pink scars on her stomach had been practically crying for help since the day she first walked into the building as a first year who had endured enough trauma for a grown adult. The moment Minerva caught wind of Claudia's unfortunate situation, she took the girl under her protective wing while she was in the building, doing her best to keep the child from danger, a task that was proven difficult due to Claudia's homicidal tendencies. After all, it was hard to help someone who didn't want to be helped. "May I ask how you ended up here in my office this time?"

Claudia scoffed in false offense as she pressed a hand to her chest, her mouth hanging open. "Do you not enjoy my presence Minnie?" The girl gasped, gaping at the woman in front of her who swallowed down a laugh at her student's theatrics. "Here I am thinking we had something special!" The blonde exclaimed, wiping away fake tears from her rosy cheeks as she fanned herseld dramatically. Claudia's face dropped into a deadpan when she realized her preformance wasn't being appreciated. What a waste. "Just some playful blood prejudice ridden bickering, nothing out of the ordinary." She spoke nonchalantly, shrugging her shoulders as she continued to mess with the ingraved ring.