Sleep did not overtake her as easily as Clarissa hoped it did. Since she slept earlier than usual, Clarissa woke up just past midnight after getting a measly two hours of sleep. She tossed and turned, trying to get back to sleep but gave up eventually. Not knowing what to do, Clarissa sat up and rummaged through her dresser to fish out the mirror James told her about, hoping the messy haired boy was still awake. Quickly casting a silencing charm around her bed to not wake up her roommates, she recalled how James called Sirius with his own mirror and mimicked the action. Clarissa watched as the mirror ripple for a while and to her relief, James' face popped up rather than her reflection.
"James," Clarissa breathed out, a soft smile forming on her face as she gazed upon his.
"Hey Clar, can't sleep?" James asked her with a knowing grin.
She shook her head, "I didn't wake you, did I?"
"No, you're all good love. The lads and I are still messing around playing Exploding Snap."
Right as he said that Clarissa heard a shout from his end of the mirror, meaning someone lost the game being played. She got a great view of James' sharp jawline as he turned away from the mirror to look at who lost the game and was dealing with the harsh burns of the cards. Clarissa wondered when she found herself so attached to this boy that was fictional to her only weeks ago, but now is craving to be in his presence after not being in it for a couple hours. Although they spent only a week or so together, Clarissa definitely gravitated towards him, whether it be because he was the first person she saw in this new world, or because of the attraction the other Clarissa held for him.
James looked back at Clarissa and interpreted the soft gaze she was giving him as sleepiness.
"Are you having trouble sleeping? Do you want me to come there?" He asked her, concernedly.
Clarissa opened her mouth ready to decline once again but decided against it, missing the hazel-eyed boy more than she thought she would. Added on to the fact that she was in a new environment, she wanted something familiar with her at the moment. Turning back to the mirror, Clarissa sheepishly nodded her head and watched as the Potter boy's mouth widened to a smile. She was glad that the thought of spending the night with her brought him so much joy.
"Give me 5 minutes, love. I'll let the lads know where I'm going. Oh, don't forget to open your window!"
Before she could ask why she would open her window, James winked at her and the mirror rippled again, leaving her to stare at her befuddled reflection. Clarissa did as what James asked and opened the window by her bed. She stared at the vast dark sky that was littered with stars, she's never seen this many stars out before considering she lived in the city. One of stars seemed to be getting closer and Clarissa felt like Harry during the second film. The star turned out to be James on his broomstick with his wand out casting the Lumos spell to help him navigate in the dark.
Clarissa couldn't believe she didn't put two and two together when James asked her to open the window. The window wasn't small per se, but it definitely was not large enough for James to fly through with his broom. He hovered next to the window and used one arm to grab onto the windowsill and the other to quickly pass his broom to the brunette girl. Clarissa did not have much care for the broom and threw it on her bed before rushing over to grab the hands of the chaser.
"Are you insane?!" Clarissa hissed at him as she helped him through the window.
James grunted as he pulled himself through and gave her a cheeky grin, "You know you love me."
The girl rolled her eyes and her heartbeat only slowed once both of James' feet were on the ground.
"I thought you were going to walk here with the cloak and map, not fly your broom across the castle grounds. And isn't your broom supposed to be in the broom shed?" She asked quietly, keeping in mind her sleeping roommates.
James propped his broom by her dresser and joined her in bed, closing the curtains behind him and casting a silencing charm around them. The couple lied in bed similar to how they slept in James' room, her head on his chest and his fingers running through her hair.
"I was too lazy to walk down to the pitch earlier, so I kept it in my room. It worked out for us didn't it? I got here much quicker."
Clarissa closed her eyes and hummed, basking in the soothing feeling of James' touch. The sound of his heartbeat was like a metronome, helping her fall asleep.
"Are you nervous for tomorrow? Is that why you couldn't sleep?" James murmured.
She gave a big sigh, "It's not that. Well, maybe it is, but it's not the only thing."
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"Well, you know how much I've dreamt of coming here and doing magic and whatnot, and after finally seeing the castle—seeing our friends—I just thought... Wow. This is amazing and I want nothing to ruin this for me. Then I remembered what's beyond these walls, the killings, the war and I was thinking how selfish I was to not want to fight in that war; a war I know I can prevent but I don't want to because I'm scared."
James didn't say anything, so Clarissa continued speaking her thoughts.
"You know, before we left, mum told me to not think about the horcruxes whilst I'm here and all I could think was how could I not think about it you know? It's practically the reason why I want to learn so much, so I'm able to defeat Him. But once we got here all those thoughts flew right out of my head."
James embraced Clarissa tighter in his arms, "I don't think it's selfish of you Clar. We're barely adults for Merlin's sake. We shouldn't even be dragged in this mess but here we both are, still trying to fight in it."
"I'd have you checked in St. Mungo's if you aren't scared if I'm being honest. Godric, I'm scared. I'm terrified shitless; for my parents, for Sirius, for you. Especially for you."
The reminder of her new fate made the atmosphere between the two even more somber. The two teens were scared for each other for two different reasons; for Clarissa it was his outcome, for James it was her. Just her. The knowledge she holds was too much for a single person to bear.
"I'll tell you everything, I promise. Someday, just not today," She told him, looking up to meet his eyes.
"I already know my fate; how worse can it get?" James tried to jest.
The thoughts of Sirius Black—the same Sirius she got to know this summer—in Azkaban flittered through her mind. The same Peter Pettigrew, who she remembers helping to finish his class work for the past five years, being cornered by Sirius and Remus in the Shrieking Shack demanding an explanation as to why he would betray someone they all considered a brother to Voldemort and ultimately leading him to his death.
The glassy look in Clarissa's eyes told James he said the wrong thing. Tucking her into his chest, he murmured soft apologies in her ear and consoled her. He suggested that they stop talking about the subject, that it can wait for another day. Clarissa wholeheartedly agreed.
"I didn't mean to bring down the mood. It's just the thoughts in my head get too much sometimes and I can't—"
"I understand, love. Never feel bad for needing to let out how you feel, especially with me. Now, close your eyes. We need to get to sleep if we want to be awake for classes tomorrow."
Clarissa followed James' instructions and let herself be calmed by his presence and actions. When Clarissa woke up the next day, she was still wrapped around the messy boy's arms. Godric, she wished for the days when she could wake up next to him every day. Grabbing her wand, she cast a quick Tempus charm and saw that it was a quarter to eight in the morning. Clarissa gently woke up James from his sleep so that he could go back to his own common room to get ready for the day.
"James, honey, you have to get up. We have just over an hour before class starts."
The boy groaned in annoyance but still sat up from the bed. Pleased that he did as he was told, he earned himself a peck on the cheek from the brunette. Clarissa opened her curtains, relieved that Em and Pandora were still asleep, and that Cassie and Millicent were off in the showers.
"Are you okay to fly?" She asked him, worried that he'd crash because of his tiredness.
James nodded, rubbing sleep out of his eyes, "I'll be fine Clar. I'll see you in the Great Hall, just follow Cassie and Em."
With that, he jumped out of the window and sped away on his broom towards Gryffindor Tower. Just as Clarissa finished collecting her toiletries to take a quick shower, Cassie and Millicent arrived back from their own with their hairs still damp. Cassie took a look around as if looking for something which made Clarissa raise an eyebrow at her.
"James leave already?" She asked casually while brushing her hair.
Clarissa's eyes widened slightly, not knowing how the blonde knew that he was here.
Cassie chuckled at her friend's expression, "I saw his broom this morning, Clar. Besides, it's not like he's never slept over before."
"Right," Clarissa said with a nervous laugh.
She forgot that James mentioned he snuck in her dorm sometimes.
"It's just, I'm no longer a prefect and technically having someone over, especially a guy is against the rules," Clarissa cast a side eye look at Millicent.
Said girl shrugged her shoulders, meaning she could care less about what happened last night.
"We're used to it. Besides, we all trust you Clara. If anything were to go down, I doubt it'd happen in our bedroom."
Clarissa blushed at what the other brunette was implying and changed the subject before she got more embarrassed. Telling them to wake the rest of the girls up or else they'll be late; she ventured down to the common bathroom and took a quick shower. By the time she finished, Em and Pandora were both dressed and ready for the day, choosing to shower later in the evening. The five girls left their dorm together and walked to the Great Hall.
It was different seeing the castle bathed in the morning light, it looked more ethereal than last night. There were already a fair amount of people sitting in the Hall for breakfast, the chatter just above a murmur between the students. The five girls walked straight to the Great Table to retrieve their schedules from the Charms Professor, though Clarissa's own was in her bag. Since they all did well in their O.W.L.'s, none of them had to talk to Professor Flitwick about changing their schedules for classes they can't take. After exchanging schedules to see who has classes with whom, Millicent and Pandora left to sit with their other friends and the three remaining girls found a spot in the middle of the hall to eat their breakfast.
There was an array of breakfast foods spread in front of the brunette. Piles of sausage, eggs, bacon, and toast; there were platters of fruits and muffins as well. Clarissa grabbed a few pieces of sausages and a slice of toast and dug in. The two girls with her did the same but were still concentrated on their schedule. Clarissa thankfully had classes with both of them, although Defence Against the Dark Arts and Charms were the only ones all three had together.
Midway through breakfast, another Ravenclaw, albeit a boy, with dirty blonde hair and blue eyes joined the three, sitting next to Clarissa and greeting her with a side hug. Something in her mind told her that this was Benjy Fenwick, the one she knew would be blown to smithereens in his later future. She reprimanded herself for always thinking of how others would die whenever she meets them, it was not very uplifting. Returning the hug with her own, she went back to her toast and allowed him to rest his arm around her shoulder.
"So, mind telling me why I was surprised with Millie as my partner during the prefect meeting on the train when you owled me this summer saying we would be together again?" He asked her while plucking a grape from the table.
"Right," the brunette began, "I completely forgot to owl you. I had a family emergency near the end of summer, nothing too serious, but enough for Dumbledore to suggest I take it a bit easy this year."
Benjy's eyes scanned over her person as if expecting to see what caused the emergency to appear on her body, "You're okay though right? I don't have to confess my undying love for you anytime soon do I?"
Even though Clarissa was not entirely sure how her relationship with Benjy is like outside of their prefect partnership, she could tell that despite his humor, he genuinely was worried for and cares for her. Before she could tell him that she was fine, the loud thud from her other side startled her.
Turning her head to the side, Clarissa saw James standing there with narrowing eyes directed towards Benjy. He swatted the Ravenclaw boy's arm off of Clarissa and pulled her closer towards him, practically enveloping her in his strong arms. Once Clarissa realized what James was doing, she shook her head and rolled her eyes. Benjy didn't look the least bit upset at James' action so the girl assumed that this was a usual occurrence to provoke the Gryffindor boy.
"Sorry Benjy boy, but Clarissa's fine so I'll save you the heartbreak," James told the dirty blond sarcastically.
"It's okay Benjy. Clar told us everything's all good. Now let me see your schedule," Cassie spoke, making a grabbing motion with her hand.
Benjy accepted their answers and gave Cassie his own timetable and listed off which classes they had together. Clarissa took this time to give James a proper good morning by pressing a kiss to the side of his jaw.
"I see you arrived at your dorm in one piece," She commented.
The hazel-eyed boy sparkled with pride, "They didn't make me Quidditch captain for no reason, love."
Clarissa grabbed the timetable in front of her boyfriend to see which classes they shared and to her delight, majority of them were together with the exception of Arithmancy and Astronomy, classes that only Clarissa has taken.
"So, you were able to take all your classes then?" She clarified with James as she read over his schedule.
"Of course, Minnie owled those who needed to meet with her today before term started. Peter got a letter. He probably can't take Potions with us, but he had a feeling already," James reminded her gently, glad she remembered some aspect of how the school worked.
Their first class was Transfiguration, which she shared with James, Em, and she assumed the rest of her Gryffindor friends. Unfortunately, Cassie and Benjy did not sign up for Transfiguration and has History of Magic and Divination respectively. There was roughly 15 minutes until class started so their group wrapped up their breakfast and made their way to class. Benjy separated from them, his class being at the opposite side of the castle, with a promise of meeting up later while Cassie left for her own class a few corridors down from the Transfiguration class.
Clarissa could see the remaining Marauders, Lily, and Marlene were already waiting by the doors along with the other students. She felt herself slowing down her pace in order to collect herself for her very first magical class. James noticed her hesitation and stayed back and although Emmeline noticed as well, the black-haired girl left the couple alone and went to greet their friends knowing James would be able to handle the situation better than she could at the moment.
"You doing alright Clar?" James asked her quietly, pulling her to the side of the corridor for more privacy.
Clarissa nodded and flashed him a weak smile, "Just got nervous is all. Once I go in there, I'm officially a student at Hogwarts... It's just surreal."
James understood to an extent how life-changing this must be to Clarissa, having listened to her talk about it for the remaining of their summer. To her, studying at Hogwarts and doing magic was an unattainable dream, but now that it's come true... Well, James could see why it'd be hard to digest.
"If it gets too much for you or if you get a headache just let me know. I'll have the boys create a distraction and we can sneak out," He reassured her.
Clarissa gave him an amused look, "And why, exactly, are the boys prepared to cause a distraction so easily when we barely got back to school?"
James gave her a devilish look, his hazel eyes sparkling with mischief, "You know us love, we're nothing if not prepared."
Clarissa shook her head lovingly at him. The couple broke apart their stare when they heard someone whistle to get their attention. They looked to see Sirius with a raised eyebrow directed to them and gestured to the now open Transfiguration classroom doors before heading inside himself.
The Ravenclaw girl grabbed his arm and walked towards the classroom, "C'mon, let's go see if I can keep you and Sirius out of trouble."
"Good luck with that love, you know it's not going to happen."