ANOTHER TWO WEEKS had passed, which basically meant that the dreadfulness of having a Mandrake leaf in her mouth was finally over for Claudia, and now the only step left to become an Animagus was for a lighting storm to arrive so that she could drink the potion with the leaf in it and finally transform.
That was if everything would fold out according to plan, of course.
But, she was fairly certain that the brewing of the potion had been done correctly, considering how she had barely blinked in the process of making it in case she would miss one of the three boys making a mistake that eventually would put her into some sort of half-human half-animal body. And, with a correctly made potion, a daily reciting of the incantation Amato Animo Animato Animagus and plenty of other confusing yet easy steps, Claudia was almost convinced that she would succeed.
Almost.
"Clau- Ms. Maple!" The girl heard the familiar voice of Ingannamorte call after her as she walked down the hallways of the school, her next destination most likely being her dorm so that she could have an early night considering all the revising that she had been doing for hours, and the slightly strange phase she and Remus were in.
It's not that they were fighting, or even were officially upset with one another.
But, Claudia could tell that Remus had some sort of inner anger or something along the lines of that towards her because of the way she was so willing to put herself at risk for him.
Whenever the topic of her Animagus transformation came up, he went quiet as a deep frown appeared on his face. And it wasn't just Claudia who noticed this, the rest of the boys did too.
And, of course, they were all aware of just how against it the boy was considering the endless of conversations that Claudia and Remus had had about it, and the slightly angry outburst Remus had had at his friends after finding out that they were helping her.
So, in exchange for the inner anger Remus felt, he received inner anger back from Claudia, who honestly was sick of him being convinced that he would hurt her or do something even worse. And, she couldn't help but to feel angry at him for being angry at the same time.
Because when it came to the topic, Claudia was stone set on not letting him make the decisions for her.
And Remus was mostly okay with that. He just wished that he could change her mind and keep her out of everything that could cause her more harm than all the harm that the world already put her through.
"Wait up!" Ingannamorte yelled after Claudia, coming to a sprint in that very un-professor way as she sported another one of her infamous jumpsuits. This one was a beautiful coral colour, and Claudia found herself making a mental note to in the future ask the professor where she got all the jumpsuits from.
If that wasn't a weird thing to ask your professor, that was. Yet, Ingannamorte was slowly turning into Fayola for Claudia, there was no denying on that.
Ingannamorte really was trying her hardest to stay professional and not have such a bond with Claudia, but it was hard considering that being professional wasn't exactly a talent of hers, nor was not forming a bond with the daughter of her old best friend, who she had missed so dearly for 18 years.
"Is something wrong?" Claudia asked, expecting the worst since Ingannamorte seemed so adamant on talking to her.
"No!" Ingannamorte exclaimed. "Nothing's wrong! I just wanted to see how you were doing and such, since I've been away for a few days now, is all!"
Claudia smiled, nodding at the mention of her being away for a few days, which no one knew the explanation to why.
"I'm fine, thank you," she said. "Are you? I mean, why were you gone? Were you sick?"
Ingannamorte shook her head, "I just had to go and visit some family."
This, technically, wasn't a lie.
"Oh, but everything's fine?"
"Yes," Ingannamorte smiled. "You don't have to worry about your old professor!"
Claudia laughed, "You're not old!"
"That's very sweet of you to say, but you must be lying," Ingannamorte chuckled. "I'm practically ancient!"
Claudia rolled her eyes at the woman who was merely 38, continuing to walk down the corridor to where they eventually ended up in front of Ingannamorte's office.
"Well, bye then!"
"Actually, I was wondering if we could have a word?" Ingannamorte asked before Claudia got the chance to leave, a very serious look on her face because she was about to press on a matter that she definitely didn't wish to press on.
But she had to, because she had an offer to make.
"Uh..."
"There's nothing to worry about, I assure you," Ingannamorte said with an assuring smile, leading the way inside her office and then serving Claudia some tea and biscuits like she always did whenever Claudia went to her, well, to put it frankly, free therapy sessions.
"What's this about?" The girl asked, receiving a tight and clearly nervous smile from the professor who was sitting in front of her.
"I don't really know how to put it," she chuckled, taking a sip from her tea. "It's just...I've got to thinking."
"Yeah? About what?"
"About you."
"About me?"
"Yes," Ingannamorte nodded. "About you."
"What about me?"
"You know, I really did mean it when I said that I would protect Anne's kids when I was young. And I want to keep that promise."
Claudia raised her eyebrows, giving her a questioning look. "What do you mean exactly?"
"Do you like your father, Claudia?"
The girl frowned, "What?"
"Do you like your father?"
"Why would you ask that?" Claudia questioned, her heartbeat picking up the pace slightly because just because Ingannamorte said that she could trust her didn't mean that she had proved to her that she could.
Ingannamorte paused for a moment, leaning back in her chair and looking at Claudia with an unreadable look. "I just had a thought whilst I was away visiting family. They made me realise something, I guess."
"They made you realise what?"
"That just because you're related by blood it doesn't mean that you're family deep inside," she said simply. "You may be family biologically, but not in any other way."
"What do you mean?"
"When I knew your father I never liked him," Ingannamorte said.
"Well, that's not a very strange opinion to have," Claudia said. "So what exactly are you trying to say here?"
"I'm asking you this, not as your professor but as the best friend of your mum," Ingannamorte finally said. "Does your father hurt you?"
What the fuck is going on?! Claudia asked to herself as the woman who was always so kind, understanding and funny suddenly "cornered" her like that and placed her in a position where she was forced to give her an answer.
"I..." Claudia began, her eyes flickering to everywhere but Ingannamorte as she wondered why the professor had such suspicions, why she was asking about it to her face and why she did it in such an uncomfortable way.
And that's when the loud rumble of lighting suddenly interrupted whatever sentence Claudia was about to form.
And now, she really did have to go.
"I'm sorry, I have somewhere to be!" The girl exclaimed, standing up from her chair and running out of the office without giving an answer or an open room for Ingannamorte to explain herself.
And then, she ran all the way to the Gryffindor tower, where she entered alongside a very confused Marlene and then found three of the Marauders already prepared to leave.
Because there was a lighting storm. And Claudia was about to commit to the final step of her Animagus transformation.
"Great!" Sirius exclaimed as she entered and immediately stormed their way. "You're here!"
"Are we going to do it?" Claudia asked without even so greeting them. "Is everything ready?"
"Everything's ready," James nodded. "We're going to do it."
Claudia nodded to herself, accepting the jumper Peter so kindly gave her and then discreetly checking if James indeed had brought everything that they required.
"Let's go then, I guess," she said, of course thinking about the missing boy who had refused to come along according to Sirius.
"Let's go," Peter said with an assuring smile as James ruffled her hair.
"Are you excited?"
"Honestly? I'm terrified," she confessed as they neared the exit and then walked out, leaving the students who were all curled up in blankets behind as the storm kept raging on outside.
"You're gonna be fine," Sirius said with that everlasting smile.
"Just try not to think about the possibilities of you turning into half animal or something worse happening, okay?" Said Peter as they almost arrived by the Room of Requirement, where they would start the transformation so that they wouldn't get caught.
"You're so good at calming people's nerves, Pete," Claudia said sarcastically.
"Sorry," the mousy boy said, blushing slightly as the large door appeared before them and they prepared to enter, that before looking around so that no one saw.
Which someone did.
"Remus?" Claudia questioned as the lengthy boy walked their way quickly with his eyes set on her. "What're you doing here? I thought you refused to come?"
Remus shared a look with a shrugging Sirius, and then he looked down at his girl again. "I don't want you to do this-"
"Remus-"
"I'm not finished," he sighed. "I really don't want you to do this. But since you're such a stubborn arse I know that I simply have to deal with it. And since you're my girl I have to support you. So, I'm here. I'm here in case something goes wrong and I'm here just for you."
Claudia smiled admiringly at him, and then she wasted no time on throwing her arms around his neck as the three Marauders rolled their eyes considering what was to come next.
"How is it you're so good to me even when you're mad?" She whispered to him.
"I wasn't mad," he said, breaking the hug and looking into her emerald eyes with a very serious look on his face. "I wasn't mad at all. I just don't want you to get hurt."
"And I get that," Claudia said. "But you worry too much. Things are going to turn out alright."
He nodded and then he looked to all of them and asked, "So, have you figured everything out?"
"Yes, so let's go inside," said Sirius with an impatient look on his face. "I wanna see what she'll turn into, and we really don't have all day, so let's get started, yeah? Or are you two gonna stand and make love eyes at one another for the rest of the night?"
Claudia chuckled, heading inside the Room of Requirement first and then picking out the disgusting potion she soon would have to drink as the rest of the boys gathered around her.
"So...I say the incantation and then I simply just drink it, right?"
"Right," James nodded, smiling encouragingly. "You've got this, Claudia."
"If Wormtail could do it you definitely can," said Sirius, receiving a slap on the arm from a very offended Peter. "Ow!"
"If you turn into something that can help me get revenge, Claudia, please do help," said Peter as the girl wearily glanced at Remus, who was trying his hardest to hold back a frown.
"Will do," she nodded as Sirius scoffed, and then she took of the cap of the vial of the potion, clutched tightly to her wand and spoke.
"Amato Animo Animato Animagus."
And then, she downed the entire potion, gagging slightly as she swallowed and a bloody weird feeling came over her body and made her feel weirdly out of place.
"What the fuck," she said to herself.
"What?" Remus asked concernedly. "What is it?"
"Don't worry, Moony, it's normal," said Peter, having to calm him down more than the girl who was just staring straight ahead as she felt...weird.
"Yeah, it's all apart of the process," James nodded. "Any minute now..."
"What happens any minute now?" Remus asked worriedly.
"She should feel normal again," Sirius explained. "Any minute..."
"That was so fucking weird," said Claudia as she clearly returned back to normal. "I hated that."
"What?" Remus questioned.
James chuckled, "You'll never know. Anyway, try to transform, okay?"
"And how do I do that?"
"Just...picture it, I guess?"
"Aren't you a professional at this?" Claudia asked sarcastically as she miserably tried to imagine transforming into whatever she was going to turn into. "Here I was, expecting help from some sort of expert and then-"
And then, before them was a raven.
"How the hell did she do that?!" Peter questioned, nearly toppling over since it was quite the jumpscare to witness Claudia going from rambling to turning into a bird out of nowhere.
"She's a bloody natural!" Sirius exclaimed. "It's not fair! Why is it that she is so good at everything?!"
James chuckled as he prepared to say something stupid to Sirius, but then his quick thoughts were interrupted by the boy next to him, who had started yelling like a little girl as Claudia, in her Animagus form, flew over his head and messed up his hair, keeping her promise to Peter.
"No!" Sirius cried. "Not the hair, please! PLEASE!"
James and Peter started laughing like crazy as Sirius ran around the Room of Requirement with Claudia flying after him, and then the boy eventually fell to his knees as he clutched his head with his hands and begged for forgiveness.
Eventually, Claudia transformed back, and when she did she already fell into a stage of giggles as Sirius cursed her name.
"I can't believe that I can fly without a broom!" She exclaimed through her giggles. "That was fucking great!"
"No, that was fucking brilliant!" James exclaimed as Sirius rose to his feet and glared at the girl, causing laughter to come over all of them again.
And by all of them, it really was all of them.
"You find this rather funny, don't you?" Claudia whispered in Remus' ear.
He rolled his eyes, yet still smiling as she came face to face to him.
"See? The worst part is over," she smiled.
"If you say so," the boy said, accepting the hug he got from his girl, and then groaning as the rest of the boys joined in.
"So," James said happily. "Now that you're basically a bird, how about-"
"I will not race you whilst you're on your broom, if that's what you're trying to ask," Claudia said sternly.
"You're such a bore, Maple!"
"Yeah, what's life without a little risk?" Sirius asked.
"Still a no!"
"Merlin, it's like you're morphing into Remus!"
"Well, in that case," she said, causing hope to wash over James and Sirius. "No."
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