The Quiet Kind Of Beauty -Marauder Era

Chapter 32

Lily let out a great breath. "Then what are they?"

Clara sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. Why was she so careless?

"Remember that one Charms class where I left suddenly to go to the bathroom?"

Lily nodded slowly.

Hesitantly, she allowed herself to open. "I hadn't been feeling good that entire day. I felt sick, so I ran into the bathroom and waited for it to pass. Except, it got worse and," Clara took a deep breath. "And my shoulder blades started to burn, except I didn't know why. That night, when I was about to take a shower, I saw them."

Lily bit her lip. "Do you know how they got there?"

"No," Clara shook her head. "I thought it was another one of James' and Sirius' pranks, but when I asked Sirius he said it wasn't them. I poured over, like, a hundred textbooks and none of them explain anything remotely similar this."

A look passed through her bright eyes, before she blinked it out. "Maybe Aaron might know something?"

Clara wished she wasn't so perceptive. Guilt pinched her insides. "I am not telling him anything,"

"Why not?" She pressed. She stopped when she saw Clara bristle defensively, then continued in a gentler tone. "He's trying, Clara,"

Very suddenly, fatigue pulled on Clara's mind. This is not what she wanted to talk about right now. "I'm going to change." She said instead, forcing her feet to move towards the door.

She raised her hand and turned the knob, creaking the door open slightly. Voices flooded from the kitchen, her ears picking up the sound of James and Sirius joking around with each other. Domestic, her mind whispered.

Is this what I've been missing? She whispered back. Waking up to the sound of laughter instead of silence was fulfilling, fitting pieces into Clara's being that she hadn't noticed were missing.

Clara took a deep breath and stepped out of the room, her bare feet hitting the cool hardwood. There was a bathroom at the end of the hall, which she made her way towards quietly.

Shutting the bathroom door behind her, she set her clothing down on the counter and took a good look at herself in the mirror. Lily had been kind to mention everything else but the obvious. Her hair was knotted and wild, curly tendrils sticking up in odd places, and her makeup had smeared around her eyes.

Long story short, she looked like a disaster.

~*~*~

Once she was bathed, she felt slightly better. Her wet hair was wrapped in a towel, the change of clothes soothing her irritated skin and gave her something akin to a breath of fresh air.

Lily was waiting for her when she got back to her room, laying down on Clara's bed with her feet dangling over the side. Upon her arrival, Lily sat up.

"Doesn't that feel better?" She tsked.

"You were right," Clara agreed honestly. "I feel much better,"

She walked over to her wardrobe, and began hanging her dress up.

"I've got to ask though, what were you doing up so early?"

Lily watched Clara carefully. "I wanted to make sure you were alright," She said. "You weren't speaking much and... things got pretty intense back at the manor..." Lily struggled to formulate the words. "I wanted to make sure you were okay." She said again, but she meant I was scared and I don't even want to begin to imagine what you were feeling. Were you scared? Are you still scared?