Even though Clara hadn't felt completely welcomed back to Hogwarts, there was always something about the Hufflepuff Common Room that was always warm and inviting. Passing through the barrel, she found herself surrounded by the warmth of a nice fire and the plants that hung all over the place. She smiled to herself as she went to walk to the girl's dorm leaving little Abby to listen to the prefect speech that all first years had to go through.
She headed up the stairs and found her belongings already placed in front of her bed. Unfortunately for her, she also found some of her former friends in front of their beds getting adjusted. Everything instantly became awkward.
Clara didn't dare greet them first, she hadn't spoken with them since she received the letters from the girls claiming that they thought it was best if they didn't hang out anymore. She had met Rebecca Robinson and Sadie Braxton back in first year. She had met Rebecca on the Hogwarts Express on the train ride to the school and once they three had been sorted into Hufflepuff it cemented their friendship.
Or so Clara thought.
When she walked into the dorms, Sadie was the one who saw her first and immediately looked away. It hurt, Clara couldn't even deny that, but she expected it. She opened her trunk and began to pull out her clothing while Sadie nudged Rebecca and nodded in Clara's direction. Rebecca frowned slightly before setting down the robes in her hands on her bed and walking over to Clara.
"Uh, hi Clara."
Clara turned around briefly before turning back to what she was doing.
"Hello Rebecca...hey Sadie." she added the last part causing Sadie to look down at her shoes.
"I hope you're not mad at us." Rebecca said. "We didn't want to hurt your feelings or anything, Clara."
Clara's hand gripped onto the shirt in her hands tightly as she clenched her jaw to refrain from saying anything nasty to the two. She took a deep breath and sighed.
"No, I completely understand where the two of you are coming from." she said softly.
"Really?" Sadie said surprised.
"Yes," Clara said turning to them, she could see them wince at the sight of her scars, " I wouldn't want to burden you two with my appearance because who wants to walk around and be seen with something like this?" She pointed to her face before looking away.
"We're so sorry, Clara!" Rebecca told her walking closer to her. "It's just...every time we see it...we...we're reminded of...you know..."
Clara lost her temper, something she was never known for.
"What exactly did you lose in the battle, Rebecca? Or what about you Sadie? What did you lose in the battle? Because it's not like you guys lost anyone and you came out of the battle without a scratch! Please tell me what you're reminded of, because I'm pretty sure every time you guys close your eyes to fall asleep you don't see a filthy werewolf trying to claw you to death!"
It fell silent in the room as other girls walked through to get to where they were going and peeked at the girls having their arguments.
"I thought we were friends until the end...not friends until we don't like what one another looks like. But if you don't like what you see here's a little advice, look the other way."
Draco found his transition back into the Slytherin dorms slightly easier than Clara did. No one made their way to speak with him, the majority just watched him or ignored him. Some were curious about him, others avoided him like the plague. Wanting to avoid any confrontation, Draco just carried himself up to the dorms where he found his belongings.
Returning to his bed, he sat down and glanced over at the two empty beds that resided near his. They were once occupied by his friends and known goonies Crabbe and Goyle. An unpleasant shiver ran down Draco's spine as he thought of the two. Crabbe was dead, dying at his own hand after using the Fiendfyre enchantment in the Room of Requirement back when they had been pursuing Ron, Hermione and Harry. The haunting reminder of Crabbe being consumed by the magical inferno was enough to make Draco nearly sick to his stomach. He wasn't claiming Crabbe to be a good person, even he had fallen to the Dark Arts, but it was still a horrid way to go.
Goyle had his life spared in the fiasco that took place in the Room of Requirement as Ron and Hermione had so graciously spared his life, even though he had attempted to kill them. Unlike Draco and his family that broke away from Voldemort last minute, Goyle's family met a rather dark fate. Goyle's father was killed after coming face to face with a dragon that arrived to the Battle at the castle, and Goyle was left to spend the rest of his life in Azkaban for following the Dark Arts.
Perhaps that was another reason why Draco carried so much guilt, he had escaped with a mere slap on the wrist, while his friends met such horrible endings and he had done far much worse than Crabbe and Goyle.
The dungeon dorm seemed extra chilly that evening, whether it was the drafts entering the castle or Draco feeling the cold on his own, he didn't waste much time changing into more comfortable clothing before climbing into his bed and covering himself completely under his covers.
A/N: Yes, this book follows the timeline of Tightly Knit. So you will definitely see some references to it :)
And thank you for the lovely artwork from @RulerOfCats I love the artwork of Clara!