Early morning had come again, far too soon for Clementine's liking. She had officially spent her first week living at Hogwarts since she was sixteen, and it was less weird than she thought it would be. She remembered all of the familiar sounds that lulled her to sleep like a lullaby. The sunlight pouring through her window was a warm wake-up call.
It was a Wednesday, Clementine's favorite day out of the work week. All of her classes were in the greenhouse today, meaning that the students were on their own to make sure that their plants were attended to and growing nicely. All Clementine had to do was show up, and sometimes she even chose to forego that responsibility unbeknownst to Neville and McGonagall.
Clementine was early to the Great Hall. One of the perks of living in the castle meant that she could get some of the better breakfast items before they were all gone, but everything tasted bitter like the emotions stewing inside of her.
No amount of beautiful linens and vases full of the finest flowers could make her feel less trapped. Was she even allowed to leave the castle grounds? She had yet to try, assuming that any attempt to leave would be thwarted.
The quiet hush of the early risers was disturbed by the doors of the Great Hall being shoved open. Draco Malfoy stormed in with McGonagall following close behind.
Clementine wished that she could read lips, watching Draco and McGonagall talking angrily back and forth. He pointed in her direction, and both of their gazes snapped to attention. Clementine knew that she had been caught staring and shoved her face so far into the morning paper that it might leave a mark as the ink smudged her nose.
Their arguing ceased, and the quiet hum of talking students resumed in the room. Clementine didn't dare to look up from her paper. She made herself busy pretending that Rita Skeeter's latest article, something about the Scamander family, was the most interesting piece of literature in the world.
"Apple?"
Clementine looked up to see Draco holding out the green fruit in his hand like a serpent offering her temptation in the garden of eden.
"So you're not mad at me anymore?" Clementine observed his pale features doubtfully as she declined the invitation. She watched as he bit into its flesh before settling in to the open chair next to her.
"I've decided that I shouldn't get mad at things that I cannot control." Draco explained coolly. "That includes you."
Clementine felt mesmerized by the way his pale fingers gently held the apple in his hand. Her eyes lifted up to his face to see him watching her with a wry smile on his lips. She cleared her throat before looking away.
"That's rather mature of you, actually." Clementine folded the Prophet in half before smoothing its edges, "Thank you."
"Yeah, it is very mature of me, Clementine. If you want to fuck every eligible man in this castle, then I can't stop you." Draco drawled purposefully before taking another bite. "And I'm completely fine with that. I can put in a good word with Filch for you if you're interested."
Clementine snapped her eyes back up to sneer at him, watching as a cheshire cat grin formed on his face. He was enjoying making her angry, just like he used to.
"You're a prick, you know that?" She huffed as she collected her things in a frenzy. Her hair whipped around her head as she shoved her things back into her bag and hiked it up on her shoulder. "I really can't stand you sometimes."
"Was that too far?" Draco feigned innocence as he stood up with her. He grabbed her book that she had forgotten on the table and followed after her, the smug smile never leaving his face.
"Yeah, just a little." Clementine stormed out of the great hall. She looked right before making the decision to walk the other way, "Would you stop following me?"
"Or what?" Draco laughed, a deep rumbling sound from within his chest. It was warm and inviting, despite the cruelness of his words. "Do you need an apology?"
"That would be a start." Clementine changed course again and walked out of the building.
The birds were chirping overhead enjoying the beautiful weather, all the while oblivious to the tempestuous conversation happening below.
"Alright. I'm waiting then." Draco moved to stand in front of her, blocking her path. "Apologize."
Clementine's mouth gaped as she watched him grin at her once more, "I have nothing to apologize for. I've been completely honest with you from the beginning about what I wanted to you, and to Theo. It's not my fault neither of you like to listen! I'm not the one here who is keeping secrets, and making everyone deal with my horrible mood swings."
"I beg to differ." Draco countered, his voice condescending. "Secrets and mood swings are your bread and butter."
"I'm not keeping any secrets!" Clementine burst. A few students on their way to class stopped to look at them and she lowered her voice as she pointed a finger towards Draco, "That doesn't count as a mood swing with you riling me up on purpose."
"Why are you here, Clementine?" Draco asked again. His grey eyes looked like glaciers at sunrise as he stared at her. Icy, with a warm glow.
She still didn't have an answer. Not one that she was willing to share with him.
"I'm here for me." Clementine admitted. Another half-truth she kept repeating to herself. She'd perfected the art of deflection, but Draco still saw right through it.
"Maybe if you were honest with me then I would be more inclined to be honest, too." Draco spoke sternly.
"Somehow I doubt that." Clementine scoffed. Her eyes flickered to her book still being grasped tightly in Draco's hands, "Can I have that back?"
Draco flipped over the cover in his hands, observing it for the first time since he started holding it, "Ancient Runes?"
"It's not mine. It's a student's." Clementine explained. "I was going to return it to her in class today."
"Which student?" Draco's curiosity was piqued. He seemed to notice how worn-out the book was.
"Vanessa Anderson." Clementine drawled. She attempted to snatch the book back herself, but Draco was too quick. He held it high above her head where she couldn't reach.
"Vanessa doesn't take Ancient Runes." Draco turned to look at the castle and then back at Clementine. He squinted in the bright sunlight. "You don't find that odd that she would have a book like this?"
"I don't have all of my student's schedules memorized." Clementine huffed as she tried to pull his arm down so she could snatch the book back. "Is that something you do to keep tabs on them?"
"Would you stop that?" Draco grabbed Clementine by the hip to keep her in place, tired of the way she was fighting against him. With the flourish of his hand the book disappeared.
"Give me the book back." Clementine seethed. "It's not yours!"
"By your own admission it's not yours either." Draco didn't react, but his hand raised to rest on her waist. "I'll give it back to Vanessa, myself. She and I need to have a little discussion."
"You can't possibly be suspicious of her for the murder of that muggle." Clementine huffed. "She's a child."
"Should I be concerned?" The thought hadn't seemed to have crossed his mind, but Draco seemed unsurprised, "I was simply going to have a discussion with her about sneaking into the potions classroom after hours with that boyfriend of hers. Maybe even suggest to her that she use Flitwick's classroom instead. It's less drafty if you recall."
"Boyfriend?" Clementine was confused. She'd never seen Vanessa take any interest in the boys of her year.
Draco tensed his jaw, frowning. "I know you're unfamiliar with the term, but when two people like each other typically they enter this thing called a relationship—"
"Sod off, Malfoy." Clementine pushed him away, finally getting free of his grasp. "Who is she dating?"
"Some lanky Gryffindor, I guess? I don't know his name." He sneered at the mention of his rival house, "I don't have time to keep up with the student gossip. It's all so trivial."
"But you have enough time to memorize their schedules." Clementine shook her head, "That makes sense."
"Maybe if you did your job more effectively then knowing your students' schedules would come naturally." Draco shrugged.
"I get enough lecturing from McGonagall I don't need it from you, too." Clementine snipped. Her eyes widened as she looked around, seeing that anyone who was around had now left. "Merlin, no I'm going to be late!"
"You already are late." Draco's shoulders shook as he held back his laughter. "Ten minutes to be exact, as well as another ten for the time it'll take you to get to the greenhouses."
She didn't have time to keep arguing. They would be there all day going back and forth like a muggle game of tennis. With one last frustrated huff, she turned on her heel and started on the trek around the campus towards the greenhouses.
"Hey, Beaumont." Draco called back to her. When she turned back around to look at him his features softened. "McGonagall is going to make an announcement about increased security measures sometime this week. Just a heads up."
"More rules." Clementine muttered to herself, pushing the strap of her bag back up to sit on her shoulder. "Rules are meant to be broken."
_______
Clementine couldn't wait for the day to be over. It was finally the night that Cristian had agreed to meet with her. She practically ran to his office on the third floor, stopping just outside the door to regain her composure.
She smoothed out her hair and ran her sweaty palms over the front of her dress before waltzing into the room as casually as she could muster.
"I was wondering when you were going to show up." Cristian smiled as she walked in the door.
"I wouldn't miss it." Clementine nodded as she sat in the chair opposite his desk. She crossed her legs and waited patiently for Cristian to say something, anything, about the letters.
"I suppose I won't make you wait any longer than you already have." He let out a hearty chuckle that showed off the whites of his teeth before opening a locked drawer in his desk.
Cristian pulled out the same envelope that he had sealed the last time they saw each other, opening its contents and placing them carefully on the desk. Clementine scrunched up her nose, recalling a much larger stack of letters before.
"Feel free to peruse as you wish." Cristian motioned to the stack of parchment. "Admittedly there isn't much there to read except for Rowena's personal drabbles and musings. I had hoped there might be more... perhaps there is something, but..."
He looked at Clementine, intensity brimming in his dark eyes as if he were sizing her up. She could tell he was deciding how much he could trust her with his discovery.
"Tell me." Clementine leaned forward, eager to hear what secret that he might divulge. The door creaked shut, closing with a soft click behind them.
"You're aware of the legend of the Chamber of Secrets, are you not?" Cristian's voice came out in a low whisper.
"Aware of it?" Clementine snorted, "I went to school here when it was opened. It was absolutely terrifying as a twelve year old. My friend Justin was one of the unlucky to get petrified."
Cristian's eyes lit up, "That's right. You were in Potter's year then, weren't you? Have you ever been inside the chamber?"
"Merlin, no! Nor would I ever want to." Clementine laughed at the idea of her crawling around in the sewers, "Have you?"
"I've gotten a tour of it." Cristian admitted, his mind elsewhere as he shuffled through the letters searching for something. "For historical purposes. We did some surveying and took photographs for some records. There isn't much down there that hasn't turned to ruin, but it's fascinating nonetheless."
"So why are you bringing this up?" Clementine leaned in closer, desperate for a glimpse of what could be hidden in these letters. "What's this got to do with Rowena's letters?"
Cristian presented a letter, placing it directly in front of Clementine on the table. He leaned forward, pointing to a specific paragraph of noted interest. She let her eyes scan the page absorbing every drop of ink into her retinas, memorizing the way Rowena's handwriting looped and sprawled across the parchment.
We all have our secret rooms here in the castle, some more hidden than others. As for mine, anyone can find it, but only those most clever would be able to uncover its true secrets.
"So you're assuming that there's three more secret rooms yet to be uncovered?" Clementine blinked as she tried to process what Rowena's words meant.
"Exactly." Cristian beamed, "I've been trying to figure out more, but this is as far as I've gotten in my research. I've hit a bit of a wall, so to speak."
"Have you tried talking to Helena Ravenclaw? The Grey Lady?" Clementine asked. Her mind was racing as she thought of all the possibilities. "She would have some sort of insight. She must know something, given it's her mother."
"Tried, yes." Cristian sighed. "Helena doesn't speak much to the living these days."
"You must not be a Ravenclaw because she'll give anyone from her house a few minutes of her time." Clementine ran her tongue over her teeth and smirked, "That surprises me, given how swotty you are."
"I'm surprised you are a Ravenclaw." Cristian teased, "Given your aversion to historical data, and attraction to Slytherins."
"The sorting hat takes many things into consideration." Clementine spoke wistfully as she remembered her very first day at Hogwarts. "I think it knows people better than they know themselves. What house were you sorted into, by the way?"
"Oh, I never went to school here." Cristian frowned as he reread some of Rowena's scribblings, "I went to Beauxbatons. It's the closest Wizarding School to Spain where I grew up."
"I went to Beauxbatons! Well... My father had me transferred." Clementine explained, excited to meet another alumnus. "Did you know Madam Maxime?"
"She wasn't there during my tenure." Cristian smiled softly, but it failed to reach his eyes, "I'm a bit older than you if you recall."
"Did you know my father, then?" Clementine prodded, "Hugo Beaumont?"
"The seeker for L'Équipe du Feu at Beauxbatons? Yeah, I'm familiar." Cristian laughed, "He was a bit older than me, but I knew him. I immediately noticed the resemblance between the two of you when we first met."
"I'll have to tell him I know you, then." Clementine beamed, proud to have made her own esteemed connections without her father's interference. "It's a small world."
"I'm surprised he let you attend Hogwarts, given his family connections to Beauxbatons." Cristian said with a suddenly rapt attention.
"It was what my mother wanted." Clementine explained, "If my father had his way I would have never gone to school here. But when she died, he wanted nothing more than to fulfill her last wish."
"I'm sorry about your mother." Cristian's eyes sparkled sympathetically, "That must be really hard for you."
"Not so much anymore." Clementine shrugged, "She died when I was a baby, so I never really got to know her enough to miss her. But the feeling... There's an emptiness sometimes, almost like I don't know who I am. I've always wanted to talk to her." She let out a rueful laugh, "Sometimes I do, but she doesn't talk back."
Cristian didn't really know what to say. He looked at her with sad, kind eyes, and shook his head. "I wish I could give you some sort of advice, but losing a loved one is never easy. In fact it's one of the hardest things you'll ever experience. I'm sure your mother would love the woman you turned out to be."
Clementine wiped away a hot tear that escaped from her eyes and stood up quickly, "I keep using you as my therapist. I'm sorry. I feel like this was enough for tonight. Maybe I can look at the rest of those letters another time?"
"They'll be here." Cristian nodded in understanding as he swept the parchment into a neat pile, "And Clementine?"
She looked up at him through her damp lashes as she turned to leave.
"Don't apologize so much."