It wasn't fair how fast something beautiful and pure could be destroyed to nothing but ashes. Claire stood in what had been the field of wildflowers that she shared with Leo, but there was nothing left. Not a single flower or sign of life, only ashes and a faint clap of thunder as a storm grew closer.
"I've missed you."
Claire gasped and ran into the strong arms that she had began to miss. Leo held her closer, placing a kiss on the top of her head. Neither teen released the other, both of them needing the comfort. Leo picked her up and spun her around, letting Claire give him a koala hug. Once he put her down, she immediately went into protective mode.
"Where have you been?" Claire asked worriedly, furrowing her eyebrows at the boy. She finally took in his worn down appearance and frowned. He was barely wearing any clothes and they were dirty and ripped. His hair had been roughly chopped into a buzzcut and he was covered in bruises. A large scar went across from his left temple to his eye, recent enough that it was still red.
"Emaline took me that night," Leo explained, sitting in the ashes. Claire followed suit, sitting across from him so that she didn't miss a single word. "She found me somehow and tortured me. When I wouldn't tell her where you were, she looked into my head and found it when I was too weak to fight her."
"I knew it wasn't your fault," Claire assured him, noticing the way his shoulders and jaw tensed up. He gave her a small smile in return, but she could see that he still blamed himself.
"She kept me locked up for months," Leo continued. "She would take my blood every week and drink it to gain more powers. Without my blood, she would look close to death. That's the only reason she didn't kill me."
"So she needs the blood of a Moon Child to live?" Claire gasped, feeling almost relieved by that. If her mother couldn't find a Moon Child, she might die and Claire would only have to worry about Voldemort.
"It seems that way," Leo sighed, running his hand through the ashes. "She knows where the pack lives now. I can't get in contact with anyone because I don't know where I am, so it might be too late."
"She made it seem like she was so powerful now," Claire muttered.
"She is still a threat," Leo said forcefully, his face intense. "She's still unnaturally strong and powerful, but she's reliant on blood now. She gains powers from whoever's blood she drinks, which means that she now knows where you are at any point in time. I'm so sorry, Claire."
"I don't blame you," Claire repeated, leaning forward so Leo would look her in the eyes. "None of this is your fault."
Leo scoffed and shook his head.
"I was charged with protecting you and I failed."
"Please, come home," Claire pleaded.
"I tried," Leo sighed, running his hand over his head. He frowned when he felt the short hair and Claire assumed that it wasn't his decision to give himself such a horrible haircut. "They have so many protective spells around the house that I couldn't even touch the property line. I apparated away and I've been gone ever since. I don't even know what country I'm in right now."
"I'll tell my dads," Claire decided.
"It's too late for me, Claire," Leo said softly. "I'll be back eventually, but I need to find my own way back."
"But I miss you. I need you," Claire argued, tears filling her eyes. Leo gave her his signature smirk, leaning forward to whisper in her ear.
"I'll always be in your dreams."
-------------------------------------
"What the fuck is an Aragog?"
"Honestly, Claire, we've been over this."
Hermione gave Claire a disappointed look that made the other girl cringe. The only other person who could make Claire feel that disappointed in herself was Professor McGonagall.
"Sorry, 'Mione. I've been distracted," Claire sighed. They were sitting by the Black Lake to study, but the secluded location allowed the two to talk in private. Unfortunately, Claire couldn't stop thinking about her meetup with Leo the night before. She was so confused and upset that she had been said hello to Draco, which left him terrified that he had done something wrong, when it was actually the opposite. After the Apparition test, which Hermione and Claire both somehow passed, they decided that they needed a break.
"Aragog was a giant spider that Hagrid had helped raise," Hermione explained. "Hagrid told Harry that he had died and asked Harry to come to the funeral. Harry took the Felix so that he could try to get information from Professor Slughorn."
"Why did he need to do that?" Claire asked sheepishly. While she had tried to keep up with everything that had been happening throughout the year with Harry, they had such a rough patch that she felt lost and confused. She knew that he was having private meetings with the headmaster, but she couldn't remember why.
"Because Slughorn had a memory that Professor Dumbledore needed that concerned You-Know-Who and Horcruxes," Hermione explained. Claire sent her a blank look and Hermione sighed and continued. "Harry ended up running into Slughorn and convinced him to come to the spider funeral. Hagrid and Slughorn got drunk and Harry was able to get the memory."
"That explained Horcruxes, whatever those are," Claire deduced, giving Hermione a proud smile that she had paid full attention.
"Exactly," Hermione nodded. "It turns out that Professor Slughorn told Tom Riddle, or You-Know-Who, about Horcruxes, which are items that contain part of your soul. You cannot die unless that item is destroyed as well. The worst part is that you have to kill in order to make a Horcrux. And Tom Riddle asked about making multiple."
A shiver ran through Claire's body, even though it was warm outside. Images were running through her head so fast that she couldn't decipher anything, and it was giving her a headache.
"So, in simple terms, we're fucked," Claire concluded.
"Well, I wouldn't put it that way, but yes," Hermione agreed. "It just seems like no matter what we do, we can't succeed. If you can, please, is there any chance that we win?"
Claire hesitated and sighed, looking down at the grass.
"I see so many different endings, all the time," Claire admitted. "Seeing the future isn't as clear as everyone thinks. A simple decision, a leaf blowing over, can change the course of the future. Short-term, I know that we're safe. Long-term, I have no idea. One day we win and the other we lose."
"I wish you didn't have to deal with that. It must be overwhelming," Hermione frowned.
"I'm used to it," Claire shrugged. That didn't make either girl feel better, causing them to lapse into a comfortable silence. More students were coming down to enjoy the nice weather since it was a rare day when the sun was out but a nice breeze kept it from getting too hot.
"Are you ready for the final match?" Hermione questioned when they caught sight of Harry and Ron sitting across the Black Lake, Harry catching a snitch repeatedly before it could fly away. It was officially Slytherin vs. Gryffindor, and even Claire wasn't sure who would win. Draco had just been cleared to play the day before, and practice had not gone well.
"I'm ready to lose," Claire complained, launching into an angry rant about her teammates and their lack of sportsmanship and intelligence.
"At least you don't have to deal with Ron," Hermione sighed. "All he can ever do is talk about quidditch. One minute he's the best player ever and the next he can't even remember the rules. It's so frustrating."
"You like him," Claire sang, noticing the red tint on her friend's cheeks.
"So what if I do?" Hermione huffed, staring longingly across the lake. "He's kind and smart when he tries. Plus, he just broke up with Lavender so he's available."
"There's nothing wrong with that, 'Mione," Claire said softly. She noticed the way that Hermione bit the inside of her lip and frowned. Claire placed her hand over the other girl's to make her look over. "Daphne would want you to move on. All she ever wanted was for you to be happy."
"I know," Hermione nodded, a sad smile on her face. "I just miss her and thinking about Ron like that makes me feel guilty. I never even got to see what I could be with her before they took her away."
"I know," Claire said sadly. "But 'Mione, you can't keep living in the past. Daphne always was looking at the future, and you have to as well. If Ron will make you happy, then go for it. I promise, I won't judge. I just want you to be happy."
"I think I will go for it," Hermione decided, a small smile filling her face. Claire grinned, glad that her friend was gaining the closure she needed.
------------------------
"Claire? My love, my darling, my light, the reason I wake up in the morning?"
Claire raised an eyebrow and put her book down to look at Draco's head as it lay in their lap. They were sitting in a secluded part of the Slytherin common room to relax before their overnight prefect shift. While Claire decided to read, Draco decided that he needed attention and a lot of it. He had started with running his hand up and down her thigh, but then put his head in her lap when that didn't work. He kept poking her face repeatedly, but he was unaware of just how annoying Harry was as a child and what Claire had learned to deal with.
"What do you want?" Claire huffed.
"The Room of Requirement," Draco smirked. Claire's breath caught for a second and she crossed her legs, making Draco almost fall onto the floor. They hadn't had much alone time since he had been released from the hospital wing, and they certainly hadn't done anything remotely sexual since then. Every time that they tried, Claire would see his scars and stop, too scared to hurt him.
"No," Claire said plainly, opening her book back up. Draco snatched it from her hands and closed it with a snap. "Draco, you lost my page!"
"You can find it later," Draco sighed, tossing the book into the corner of the room, making Claire slap his arm. "Relax, Claire. I'll get it for you when we come back."
"Where are we going?" Claire questioned, letting Draco guide her from her comfy seat and out of the common room. She knew that there was no point in arguing with him when he had his mind set.
"You'll see," Draco grinned. Claire rolled her eyes but moved so she could interlock their fingers, enjoying the quiet. Being away from the common room helped as well because there was always tension in the room since so many people were Death Eaters or wannabes.
"Why did you bring me here?" Claire sighed. Draco grinned and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer. Claire smiled and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, giving him a quick peck.
"Because I'm romantic," Draco said, trying to make his voice sound deeper. Claire laughed and moved to look out the windows. He had brought her to where they had their first kiss, and the way that he came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist told her that he wanted to recreate that moment.
"That's the Draco constellation," Claire pointed out.
"Oh, yeah?" Draco mumbled, his lips going down Claire's neck.
"Pay attention," Claire sighed, trying to ignore his teasing behavior. He sighed heavily, resting his chin on her shoulder.
"There's the Sirius star," Draco noticed.
"He's watching you," Claire teased, laughing when her boyfriend groaned and put his face in her shoulder.
"He wrote me a letter too, y'know?" Draco revealed. Claire gasped and turned around to better see him. The moonlight illuminated his features, casting shadows in just the right places. "I got threatened in ways that I didn't even know could happen."
"I'm sorry," Claire groaned, her cheeks red. "They're so embarrassing."
"At least you know they care," Draco whispered, his eyes going past her to look at the sky.
"Your mum cares," Claire said softly, making Draco look her in the eyes. "She loves you so much."
"I know," Draco nodded, a small smile filling his face. "Enough about that. Look at what I got you."
Draco ran over to a small crevice in the wall and pulled out a bouquet of roses. Claire gasped and happily accepted the flowers.
"Draco, you shouldn't have," Claire said happily, a bright smile on her face.
"I just thought you needed some cheering up," Draco shrugged. "And you've just been distant. I didn't want there to be something wrong, or something that I did."
"Oh, of course not," Claire assured him. He looked so nervous so Claire put the roses down and wrapped her arms around his middle. "I love you. You're stuck with me, whether you like it or not."
Draco grinned and connected their lips. He pulled away and looked at her, his eyes showing that he was completely serious.
"Claire, I promise you that I'm not hurting anymore. My cuts are healed and I've come to terms with what happened," Draco said softly. "I want to get back to normal."
Claire responded by connecting their lips once more, her hands slipping under his shirt. She could feel the scars and she hesitantly ran her hands over them.
"They don't hurt," Draco whispered, pulling away and leaning his forehead on hers.
"I know."
Draco pulled her closer again, both of them glad that something was getting back to normal.