─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
Clara remained within the confines of the Burrow's garden over the next few weeks. She spent most of her days watching a two-a-side Quidditch in the Weasleys' orchard and her evenings eating everything Mrs. Weasley put in front of her. Every morning she would wake up extra early to meet Harry in secret, and every night she read anything she could grab. The Weasley's had a small bookshelf in the living room, and by her second week Clara had already finished each book on it. It would have been a happy, peaceful holiday had it not been for the stories of disappearances, odd accidents, even of deaths now appearing almost daily in the Prophet. Sometimes Bill and Mr. Weasley brought home news before it even reached the paper.
When the time came to travel to Diagon Alley for school supplies, Mrs. Weasley was a frantic mess. And when the group actually arrived, she was no calmer. She spent the first twenty minutes counting and recounting to make sure each child had stayed with her throughout the journey. Once Mrs. Weasley's nerves were finally back to normal, the group was able to enter the lovely street.
Diagon Alley had changed, and it was not quite as lovely as Clara had remembered. The colorful, glittering window displays of spellbooks, potion ingredients, and cauldrons were lost to view, hidden behind the large Ministry of Magic posters that had been pasted over them. Most of these somber purple posters carried blown-up versions of the security advice on the Ministry pamphlets that had been sent out over the summer, but others bore moving black-and-white photographs of Death Eaters known to be on the loose. Bellatrix Lestrange was sneering from the front of the nearest apothecary.
A few windows were boarded up, including those of Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor. On the other hand, a number of shabby-looking stalls had sprung up along the street. The nearest one, which had been erected outside Flourish and Blotts, under a striped, stained awning, had a cardboard sign pinned to its front: AMULETS Effective Against Werewolves, Dementors, and Inferi!
A seedy-looking little wizard was rattling armfuls of silver symbols on chains at passersby.
"One for your little girl, madam?" he called at Mrs. Weasley as they passed, leering at Ginny. "Protect her pretty neck?"
"If I were on duty..." said Mr. Weasley, glaring angrily at the amulet seller.
Ginny and Clara rushed to the pet store quickly as the others went into Madam Malkin's shop. They admired the creatures inside before hustling out the door to join the others. The bell on the door chimed as the girls walked in, but it could barely be heard over the raised voices coming from inside the shop.
"I see that being Dumbledore's favorite has given you a false sense of security, Harry Potter. But Dumbledore won't always be there to protect you."
The voice of Narcissa Malfoy echoed in Clara's ears, and she and Ginny walked towards the arguing group.
Harry looked mockingly all around the shop. "Wow... look at that... he's not here now! So why not have a go? They might be able to find you a double cell in Azkaban with your loser of a husband!"
Malfoy made an angry movement toward Harry, but stumbled over his overlong robe. Ron laughed loudly. Clara elbowed him, hard. The laughing stopped immediately.
"Don't you dare talk to my mother like that, Potter!" Malfoy snarled.
"It's all right, Draco," said Narcissa, restraining him with her thin white fingers upon his shoulder. "I expect Potter will be reunited with dear Sirius before I am reunited with Lucius."
Harry raised his wand at her.
"Harry, no!" said Clara, grabbing his arm and attempting to push it down by his side. "Don't be an idiot." Madam Malkin dithered for a moment on the spot, then seemed to decide to act as though nothing was happening in the hope that it wouldn't. She bent toward Malfoy, who was still glaring at Harry.
"I think this left sleeve could come up a little bit more, dear, let me just..."
"Ouch!" bellowed Malfoy, slapping her hand away. "Watch where you're putting your pins, woman! Mother, I don't think I want these anymore." He pulled the robes over his head and threw them onto the floor at Madam Malkin's feet.
"You're right, Draco," said Narcissa, with a contemptuous glance at Clara, "now I know the kind of scum that shops here...We'll do better at Twilfitt and Tatting's."
And with that the two strode out of the shop. Clara slapped Harry on the back of the head lightly.
"Idiot."
"Only for you." Harry whispered, making sure none of the others heard his remark.
A tiny blush crept onto Clara's face. She quickly forced herself to stay calm and walked out of the shop. The rest of the group followed closely behind.
"Everyone all right?" said Mrs. Weasley as the group left the shop, the bell ringing behind them. "Got your robes? Right then, we can pop in at the Apothecary and Eeylops on the way to Fred and George's...stick close, now..."
Neither Harry nor Ron bought any ingredients at the Apothecary, seeing that they were no longer studying Potions, but both bought large boxes of owl nuts for Hedwig and Pigwidgeon at Eeylops Owl Emporium. Hermione, Ginny, and Clara all bought large amounts of ingredients, and Clara was very thankful she had brought an extra bag with her. Then, with Mrs. Weasley checking her watch every minute or so, they headed farther along the street in search of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, the joke shop run by Fred and George.
"We really haven't got too long," Mrs. Weasley said. "So we'll just have a quick look around and then back to the car. We must be close, that's number ninety-two...ninety-four..."
"Whoa," said Ron, stopping in his tracks. Set against the dull, poster-muffled shop Fronts around them, Fred and George's windows hit the eye like a firework display. Casual passersby were looking back over their shoulders at the windows, and a few rather stunned-looking people had actually come to a halt, transfixed. The left-hand window was dazzlingly full of an assortment of goods that revolved, popped, flashed, bounced, and shrieked.
The right-hand window was covered with a gigantic poster, purple like those of the Ministry, but emblazoned with flashing yellow letters:
WHY ARE YOU WORRYING ABOUT YOU-KNOW-WHO?
YOU SHOULD BE WORRYING ABOUT U-NO-POO —
THE CONSTIPATION SENSATION
THAT'S GRIPPING THE NATION!
Harry started to laugh. So did the rest of the group, it was a hilarious message, despite the clear idiocy surrounding it. Clara heard a weak sort of moan beside her and looked around to see Mrs.Weasley gazing, dumbfounded, at the poster. Her lips moved silently, mouthing the name "U-No Poo."
"They'll be murdered in their beds!" she whispered.
"No they won't!" said Ron, who, like Harry, was laughing. "This is brilliant!"
And he and Harry led the way into the shop. It was packed with customers; Clara could not even get near the shelves. She stared around, looking up at the boxes piled to the ceiling: Here were the Skiving Snackboxes that the twins had perfected during their last, unfinished year at Hogwarts; Clara noticed that the Nosebleed Nougat was most popular, with only one battered box left on the shelf. There were bins full of trick wands, the cheapest merely turning into rubber chickens or pairs of briefs.
Clara was quickly rushed by Hermione to a section of the shop that held Patented Daydream Charms. Hermione and Ginny were very impressed with the charms, which promised a full thirty minutes of vivid daydreaming.
"Haven't you girls found our special WonderWitch products yet?" asked Fred. "Follow me, ladies..."
Near the window was an array of violently pink products around which a cluster of excited girls was giggling enthusiastically. Hermione and Ginny both hung back, looking wary. Clara followed closely behind Fred, expecting a prank of some sort, but instead he led her to the display and smiled.
"There you go," said Fred proudly. "Best range of love potions you'll find anywhere."
Ginny raised an eyebrow skeptically. "Do they work?" she asked.
"Certainly they work, for up to twenty-four hours at a time depending on the weight of the boy in question..."
"...and the attractiveness of the girl," said George, reappearing suddenly at their side.
"But we're not selling them to our sister," he added, becoming suddenly stern.
"Don't need it anyway." said Ginny calmly, leaning forward to take a small pink pot off the shelf.
"What's this?" Hermione asked, looking over Ginny's shoulder.
"Guaranteed ten-second pimple vanisher," said Fred. "Excellent on everything from boils to blackheads."
"What are those?" She was pointing at a number of round balls of fluff in shades of pink and purple, all rolling around the bottom of a cage and emitting high-pitched squeaks. "Pygmy Puffs," said George. "Miniature puffskeins, we can't breed them fast enough."
"They're adorable!"
The twins eventually retreated as the girls admired the tiny creatures. Clara hadn't even noticed when Hermione disappeared from her side, leaving her and Ginny alone with the Puffs.
After a while Mrs. Weasley ushered the kids back to the car and brought them back to the Burrow.
"That was such fun! The shop really looks amazing." Clara said, entering Ron's room.
The rest of her companions looked slightly less thrilled than her as they took seats around the room. Clara received a grunt of acknowledgement from Ron, but Harry and Hermione stayed silent.
"Ok, hello! What's wrong with you guys?"
"Malfoy's shopping for something grim in Borgin and Burkes."
"Mate!"
Harry threw a shoe at Ron, but missed and hit the wall. The shoe came flying back and hit Harry in the shoulder.
"And how would you know this?"
"We followed him under the invisibility cloak."
"Hermione!"
"Don't you dare throw that shoe at me, Harry!"
Clara snapped her fingers at the group. They turned their attention back to her.
"You went spying without me?"
"We thought you might get upset..." said Ron, "We know you think there's something salvageable left in Malfoy."
"There is! But you should've taken me with you anyways, what's he buying?"
The group filled Clara in on their information, which wasn't exactly much. Most of it was just Harry's conspiracies, which were ridiculous rants filled with utter stupidity. Clara quickly dismissed Harry's claims, there was no way Draco would do something without force. After reassuring the group of this, and really reassuring herself, everyone went off to bed.
The next morning they boarded the train to Hogwarts. Joy rushed through Clara's veins as she stepped into the familiar red vehicle. She made her way to the Prefect's carriage with Hermione and Ron as soon as she arrived. They went over rules and patrolling areas, same as last year, and the three were soon on their way to find Harry.
They found him in a carriage with Neville and Luna, who Clara greeted with a large hug. She hadn't seen her best friend in so long, and having the small blonde in her arms again felt so familiar. Comfort washed over Clara as she sat next to Luna and listened to her read the Quibbler. Instead of judging like they had last year, the group listened intently to Luna's articles. Clara watched as Harry looked at Luna with bright eyes, hanging onto her every word. A smile overcame her face, everyone she needed now was with her, and better yet, they all got along. There was no more struggle between her father's opinion and her friendships. The approval of her father was a thing of the past, and Clara felt lighter in some way because of it.
Luna set down the Quibbler and the group stayed in comfortable silence. This serenity was soon interrupted by a group of girls knocking on the compartment door.
"Hi, Harry, I'm Romilda, Romilda Vane," she said loudly and confidently. "Why don't you join us in our compartment? You don't have to sit with them," she added in a stage whisper, indicating to the rest of the group.
"They're friends of mine," said Harry coldly.
"Oh," said the girl, looking very surprised. "Oh. Okay."
"Bye, Romilda." said Clara with a sly smile.
And the girl withdrew, sliding the door closed behind her.
"People expect you to have cooler friends than us," said Luna, once again displaying her knack for embarrassing honesty.
"You are cool," said Harry shortly. "None of them were at the Ministry. They didn't fight with me."
"That's a very nice thing to say," beamed Luna. Then she pushed her Spectrespecs farther up her nose.
"We didn't face him, though," said Neville, "You did. You should hear my gran talk about you. 'That Harry Potter's got more backbone than the whole Ministry of Magic put together!' She'd give anything to have you as a grandson..."
Harry laughed uncomfortably and changed the subject to O.W.L results. While Neville recited his grades and wondered aloud whether he would be allowed to take aTransfiguration NEWT, with only an "Acceptable," Clara watched him without really listening.
Her mind only wandered back into the conversation when another girl, younger this time, came to the door. The girl's cheeks were deeply flushed and she held three envelopes in her hands.
"I'm supposed to deliver these to Clara Dupont, Neville Longbottom, and Harry P-Potter." the girl said, flushing even more as she met Harry's eyes.
Clara rolled her eyes and grabbed the envelopes from the girl. The second Clara looked down at her the girl ran away from the compartment. Clara gripped the handle to the compartment and closed it. She distributed the envelopes quickly and began to open hers.
"What is it?" Ron demanded.
"An invitation." said Clara, handing him the letter she had received. He studied it quickly before handing it back to her.
Clara,
I would be delighted if you would join me for a bite of lunch in compartment C.
Sincerely, Professor H. E. F. Slughorn
"But what does he want me for?" asked Neville nervously, as though he was expecting detention.
"No idea," said Harry. "But, it would be rude to keep him waiting, let's go."