maple syrup | remus lupin [1]

66. dinner with the snakes

Because she had lost the boy she loved, and most of her friends as well. But, she still had them somehow - she could feel it inside of her.

That was pretty much the one thing that kept her going.

She finished getting ready by putting on a black dress with long sleeves, so that the guests couldn't see the bruises and the bandage-covered gash on her shoulder, and then she walked down with a fake smile on her face.

And, oh, how difficult it was for her to not fall over in the staircase, due to the fact that she had just two nights before been crucioed for being caught reading a muggle-book Pandora had gifted her.

But, half-ways down the staircase, she suddenly felt an arm wrap around her waist, causing her to let out a small gasp as she looked up and found Regulus standing there with a comforting smile on his face as he helped her walk by holding her up.

"What're you doing here?" She asked, clearly surprised, but she couldn't help but to smile back at her favourite Slytherin.

"Nicolas invited me," said Regulus. "And apparently our parents are taking us somewhere tonight, so my parents are here too."

"Do you know where they're taking us?" Claudia asked as they neared the end of the staircase.

"No idea," said Regulus, but something told Claudia that he seemed a little put off because of it. "Maybe it's an amusement park."

"Or the zoo," Claudia grinned.

"Maybe they're taking us to the circus," Regulus smiled as Claudia's father neared the two with a frown on his face.

"Hurry up, Claudia, our guests are already here," he said sternly. "You don't want to keep them waiting."

"Well, I am technically standing here with a guest already so I'm not really keeping them waiting now, am I?" Claudia asked with a small smirk.

"Don't say something you will regret," her father warned as he grabbed her arm with a firm grip and dragged her off to the Rosier's, who were standing by the door.

"Mr and Mrs. Rosier," Claudia said politely as she shook their hands. "How lovely to see you."

"The pleasure is ours, young girl," Evan's mother said kindly, but Claudia couldn't help but to notice the tone of disgust in her voice.

Eventually, after plenty of awkward greetings and snarky comments to Regulus from Evan - who still thought that Claudia and Regulus had some sort of relationship - the three families sat down by the table and ate; Claudia doing so whilst trying to hold in tears from how badly her body was aching and how much her gash on her shoulder was stinging against the fabric of her dress.

"So, Claudia is it?" Evan's father asked as they neared the end of the painfully awkward and long dinner.

Here we go, Claudia thought to herself.

"Yes, Mr. Rosier."

"Ah, well, I must tell you, Claudia, that my son has been talking very highly about you," he said. "He says that you are a very polite and smart young girl, is that correct?"

"Well, I wouldn't exactly call myself tha-"

"That's correct," Nolan interrupted with a smirk. "Right, Claudia? You're even being nice today out of all days."