A//N:
Hello!
Sorry if I kind of disappeared again, I wanted to edit and post this chapter last night, but during the day I had to bring my brother to the E.R for a bad cut on his foot, and after that I was a bit frazzled.
This is a bit of a long one, I am probably going to come back to it and modify it a bit in the future, still, I hope you're going to enjoy it :)
16
Eagle
ONE GOOD THING came from the knowledge that she would be leaving Hogwarts for the very last time.
She could do whatever she pleased.
Not that Clementine didn't do that already - being classified as weird had never bothered her. But she was happy to take that to the next level.
In a way, Smith was also the reason she now felt free to hunt for wackspurts without fearing confused stares and laughs of disbelief. She could express her love for the smell of sunshine out loud, have conversations with her cat, spice up her boring black uniform with bright accessories. Numerous neon yellow hair clips now pushed her hair away from her face while a sparkly pink elastic tied the end of her plait. The bracelets peeking from underneath the cuffs of her sleeves formed a rainbow. Her earrings matched the colour of her eyes. She felt fierce. She felt like herself.
Numerous times she asked herself why Smith couldn't have started to leave her alone sooner. She tried not to pity herself though, she was enjoying herself, and was grateful for the unexpected turn of events.
Professor Snape gave her one of his hideous looks as her fingers expertly move to interwine flowers together. She should have used them to brew a potion, but why would she ruin pretty flowers for a class subject she loathed?
A while ago, the teacher would have shamed her in front of everyone for her bizzarre behaviour, but now he seemed to have accepted his defeat and merely gave her an exasperated and disapproving glare every now and then, so she wasn't scared of being her true self in his presence anymore.
She managed to finish her masterpiece with five minutes to spare. So she placed the flower crown on her head and admired her reflection on the still water sitting inside the unused cauldron. It was gorgeous. But it wasn't meant for her. White daisies were Luna's favourite flower, so she hoped the gesture would help them make amend.
It did not.
Luna saw her, holding the flower crown and smiling benevolently, and quickly spun on her heels, heading the opposite way.
"Frick," Clementine sighed, placing the flower crown back on her head.
Gloomily, she decided to do a pit stop to the common room before going to the Great Hall to eat. She intented to step outside right after even if the weather wasn't that great. She hadn't practiced her Patronus at all lately. And a promise was a promise.
Once into the common room she grabbed her mustard coat, spent five minutes forcing Zuni to spit whatever inedible knick knack was in her mouth, then returned downstairs.
A smile immediately popped on her face.
"You really love that spot, don't you?"
"Mm." Cedric said. Clearly he had work to do, and given the tension in his shoulder it was best not to disturb him, but she was just too curious.
"What are you doing?"
"Technically, Arythmancy."
"And realistically?"
"Losing my mind." He groaned. "This sh-... this crap," he corrected himself when her eyes grew wide, "is impossible."
"Poor you," Clementine cooed at him, and passed the flower crown onto his head. He posed with it and she laughed. "This was actually meant for Luna, but she walked away the second she saw me."
"Good, because I bet I look fabulous with it."
Cedric's words made a smile return on her face. She pulled one of the flowers out of the crown and clipped it in her hair.
"Pretty." Cedric said, Clementine's eyes brightened.
Her eyes then rolled down, on a picture Cedric had tucked in between the pages of his planner. In it, a lovely girl dressed in blue was self-consciously covering her face with a book. "I won't bother you for long. But there's something I want to ask you."
"What is it?" Cedric asked, mindlessly fidgeting with the crown that was still on his head.
Clementine pointed at the photo. "Your girlfriend is from Ravenclaw." Cedric nodded. "Do you know Jenna too?" He nodded again. "And her friends?"
"Them too."
Clementine smiled in anticipation. "What are their names?"
He huffed. "Roger Davies, Penelope Clearwater, Grayson Corner, Dawson Miller."
Clementine nodded "And who would you say is the best looking boy out of them?"
"Penelope Clearwater, definitely."
Clementine giggled. "With your hair like this I bet you have a shot for her title." She teased. "Other than her who do you think is the most good looking one?"
Cedric massaged the back of his head before he coughed in embarrassment. "Why?"
"Just answer, please."
"I guess... Grayson?"
"Alright." Clementine grinned. "Thanks, Cedric, this was really useful."
"For what?" Cedric said, confused, but Clementine was already trotting out of the common room, headed towards the Great Hall.
Her feet automatically brought her to the Gryffindor's table, where she greeted Victoria by saying "Grayson Corner!"
Victoria jumped, then gave her a puzzled look.
"Oh," Clementine sat down. "I thought he was the boy you liked."
Her friend laughed as she brought her glass to her mouth. "I told you, you'll never find out."
"Roger Davies?"
"Not even."
"Dawson Miller."
"Nope."
"Penelope Clearwater!" Clementine screamed in exasperation, "why can't you tell me?"
"Why do you want to know so badly?" Victoria retorted.
"Because friends tell each other this sort of stuff." Clementine said, her voice whiny. Her eyes grew wicked, "How about I tell you who I fancy in return?"
"Zabini."
"This isn't fair," Clementine huffed after a moment of silence. "And how is it so obvious?"
"Please, you never stop talking about him," Victoria scoffed.
Those words rubbed Clementine the wrong way. Because if Victoria had noticed there was a good chance Blaise had too.
"I won't anymore," she murmured, "he doesn't want me around him anyway."
Victoria gave her a knowing look. She checked her watch. "Alright, let's see how long you last."
Luckily at that moment food appeared on the tables, giving Clementine the perfect opportunity to change the subject. "I think I'm going out after this, to practice my Patronus."
"How will you move past the trolls?"
"Oh yeah," Clementine awed, forgetting about all of the roasted chickens she was pushing away from her in disgust. "I guess I'll have to postpone it to tomorrow... Frick. I'd almost forgotten about Black."
"Is that even possible? With all of the dementors around." Victoria's shoulders trembled. "Imagine living in Hogsmeade right now, with all of those monsters roaming the streets at night."
"Is it fair to call them monsters though? It's not their fault if this is what they are." Clementine pondered.
"No," Victoria said, the hardness of her gaze matching her tone, "defend everything and everyone you want, but not Dementors."
"How are they different from a venomous snake or a pufferfish?" Clementine insisted, "if someone has to be blamed is Ekrizdis, for creating them."
"If you put it like that then the Ministry of Magic is also a culprit. They should have destroyed them instead of turning them into allies."
"Blaise told me that they tried, but every attempt failed."
Clementine plastered her hands over her mouth but it was too late. Victoria smirked as she checked her watch. "Less than five minutes," the ravenclaw mused, "I'll give you credit, I though you wouldn't last more than thirty seconds."
Clementine groaned. Even after he'd treated her like he had he was popping into her head. She wondered how it was possible, and a plausible answer immediately came to her. But she refused to accept it. She was young. The invisible thread around her pinky surely hadn't tightened to the point she'd already met the person on the other side of it. This was her first crush, she refused that possibility.
"I'll stop liking him before this year has come to an end." She declared, though the confidence in her voice didn't match how she felt.
"I wish, but you won't."
"Watch me."
"It's impossible."
"I won't even say his name again." Clementine insisted. "Blaise Zabini who? Never heard of him before."
"You just said it."
"Frick!"
***
Even in a normal setting she can cause a scene, how does she not realise it?
With the loud chattering spread around the vast room Blaise couldn't catch a single word Clementine was saying. Her arms were flaying in the air more skittishly than usual, and her kind gaze was ruined by a look of distress. The white flower in her hair swaying left and right. She was upset, unusually upset. He wondered why.
No. Blaise said sternly in his mind, and even shut his eyes before forcing his attention on Theo and Nina's bickering. Not that there was anything amusing with their continuous discussions, actually it was beginning to really irritate him but he knew they wouldn't stop anytime soon. Not until the Quidditch season had concluded.
This particular fight had started in the morning, when Theo had had the bad idea of taking a bite of Nina's croissant without her permission. As per usual Nina hissed and screamed, she punched tables and kicked chairs while Theo rarely lost that expression of smugness that was so typical of him. His words were rarely sharp and he never raised his voice that never lost a hint of amusement; he often made jokes even though they were clearly not well accepted by Nina. It may have looked as though Theo were trying to diffuse the situation, but Blaise reckoned Theo was very well aware that denying Nina the chance of truly getting into a screaming match was only riling her up more.
Every now and then they'd stop arguing for a few wonderful minutes, but then start again, their insults getting worse, along with Blaise's mood. So he judged them the whole time. In his head of course, but once or twice he almost snapped. Knowing that if he did they'd postpone their annoyance towards eachother and rejoin in a chorus of 'mind your own business' and 'you are such a professor'.
Why do you insist on spending time together if you can't bloody stand each other? He wanted to yell at them as they made it to the common room to relax until class resumed. Because Theo and Nina weren't meant to get along at all. Blaise had thought about it a lot lately. Other than quidditch they had nothing in common: Nina hated pranks, Theo lived for them. He wouldn't be caught wearing a hoodie even if his life depended on it, Nina wore hers whenever she could. She loved the cold, his favourite season was summer. He loathed every subject other than Potions, Nina never stopped complaining while in front of a cauldron. Nothing, there was nothing that tied them together. She was fierce and he was mild. Clearly the opposites did not attract.
That last sentence was bouncing around Blaise's head particularly often, along with many other unpleasant ones.
Clementine will stop coming to Hogwarts. That's good. She's completely different from you. Her opinions, her personality. It's better this way.
"It was clearly a joke." Theo said as the mossy wall slid open, a slight hint of iciness in his eyes the only sign of anger in his unfased expression, "like you never make fun of me."
Nina was the first to step into the common room, walking backwards to glare at Theo. The flames in her fireplace reflected in her chestnut eye. Her teeth were bared. "So it wasn't a joke." She fervently said.
"It - oh bloody hell." Theo clucked her tongue and shook his head before lifting his eyes to the ceiling. He let out a small mocking laugh. Blaise saw Nina's nostril flare up. "Nina," Theo said, "since when do you care about girl stuff?"
"If you haven't noticed I am a girl!"
"I must admit this is a shocking revelation," Theo said jokingly, flinching slightly when Nina's fist lifted menacingly, "I do not think you're fat, alright?" He drawled, "I think you're annoying, rude, tomboyish, but not fat. I just wanted to eat some peanuts."
Blaise made his way to the couch that was furthest away form Theo and Nina. Before opening a book he observed the frustrated faces around the common room. They were all first years, they knew better than to saying anything by now. He started reading, sometimes glancing at his friends as he flicked the pages of his book, but seeing two dumb monkeys instead.
"Must we talk about all the times you punched me in the arm?" Theo's voice eventually registered into Blaise's brain, he tuned it off again, "do you ever see me complain?"
"Piss off," Nina barked, "two out of three times you open your mouth it is to fucking complain."
"Because everything you do bothers me."
"It's not my fault if you don't have a bloody sense of humour!"
"Great," Theo spat sarcastically, "and now Blaise's ears are buzzing."
Blaise raised his eyes from his read automatically, as you do when someone calls out your name. Theo and Nina turned to look his way, the first had a proud glint in his eyes. And then to Blaise's outmost surprise the anger of Nina's face simmered. Blaise saw her trying to look upset as she gave Theo a half-hearted punch on the arm but as she spoke her voice inevitable cracked into a laugh. "Stop doing this," she said, "I am pissed at you."
"You are always pissed at me," Theo shrugged as he walked with a renewed confidence in his steps towards where Blaise was sitting. Blaise squared him for a second then returned his eyes on his read. His hands were holding the book a little too tightly, for some odd reason he felt self conscious sitting next to Theo.
He tried to refocus on his read but his mind kept drifting off. He thought for sure the fight would end badly, that Theo and Nina of them would end up not speaking to each other for a few day. It had happened before after all. But now that he was thinking about it, Blaise realised this is how all of their fights ended: with Theo making a joke so stupid - in Blaise's opinion - that brought Nina to cool off as she looked at Theo with affectionate exasperation. Maybe he'd read Theo wrong.
Now the pair was sitting on the two armchairs in front of Blaise and talking like the past hours hadn't actually occurred. Nina was scheduling her next private training sessions, saying the promise of rain would not make her postpone any of them, and Theo was agreeing wholeheartedly. And then Theo was telling her he intended to check out Zonko's joke shop that weekend because it had some new props in store, and Nina was offering to go with him.
"What day is it?"
"Thursday," Nina answered.
Blaise shot up from his chair and stormed out of the common room fast. He glanced at his watch as he walked. He had thirty minutes before class started. For now, it would be enough.
That was, if being a person of habits was the one thing he and Clementine had in common.
***
The second Clementine reached the boat cabin the sky opened, and rain poured to the ground so thickly she could barely see outside. Nature's strength never ceased to amaze her. She focused hard on the feeling of wonder and yelling over the sound of rain she took her first attempt. The Patronus came out feeble, just a string of silvery light that vanished the second it appeared. With a groan, she moved her fingers on her temples to massage them, as if that would somehow double her skills. Her second try was no better than the first, and the third was even worse somehow.
"Focus, Clementine," she willed herself, and in a way it helped, for she was able to keep the spell going for longer. Though it did not decrease her disappointment. It was still nothing but a luminous light. She wanted more.
She opted to take a break to calm herself. She sat on the ledge, her feet dangling over the tumultuous waters of the lake. She thought of how Potter, brave, smart, loved, perfect. While she didn't desire greatness she hoped that one day she could manage to cast a patronus as bright as the one he'd cast. Although, she was leaving Hogwarts forever at the end of June, she didn't think she could succeed.
Clementine awed in despair, that turned into a scared gasp when Blaise stormed inside. The scare sprung her to her feet, and before she could remember to be angry with him she gave him a confused look. "Blaise," and then she remembered, "You. What are you doing here?"
Blaise passed his hands on his face to shoo away the water. He looked irritated, his brows furrowed into a frown. The water pooled between them to then roll down his nose. Clementine supposed he was here for the way she'd yelled at him in the middle of the hallway the other day. Her arms widened slightly, her heels lifting from the ground ever so slightly, she was ready to stand her ground, but again, his actions threw her off.
"Are you still going to Hagrid's hut on Wednesdays and Saturdays?" He extracted a notepad out of his drenched bag after he'd said so and looked at her expectantly. But Clementine merely gaped at him until he rolled his eyes. "When are you free?"
"Uh, I... Tuesday and Sunday."
Blaise nodded and scribbled it down. "Be here on Sunday at twelve." He ordered. "Bring your books, and for Merlin's sake, get here in time for once in your life."
"You want to tutor me again?" Clementine knew it was a stupid question, but it was all happening so fast she needed to make sure.
Blaise scoffed. "No, we're having tea. Ob-"
She didn't allow him to finish. With a jump she wrapped her arms around his neck. He'd been focusing or stuffing his notepad back in his bag and stumbled, barely managing to stay on his two feet.
"Thank you, Blaise Zabini," Clementine weeped against his shoulder. Even now that he was drenched with rain he smelled like pine needles.
"Get off me before I change my mind." Blaise growled.
"Just a second longer," Clementine pleaded, and tightened her hold when he started to push her off.
"Clementine, move."
"Accept my appreciation!"
"It's hard to do that when you're strangling me."
"My bad." Chuckling, she slid off of him and treated him with a big smile. "I was beginning to accept my faith. But now..." Her eyes widened with happiness. "I don't have to give Hogwarts up!"
She was temped to hug him again, but thought against it. Instead, she turned around and wielded her wand. I'm coming back to Hogwarts next year, she thought. And the light that shone out of her wand so bright it threatened to blind her. Still no corporeal Patronus though, but a big step forward nevertheless. And what was best, she got to see Blaise looking impressed for the very first time.
***
When they saw each other again that Sunday, Blaise had come up with a goal to achieve before Easter. It was highly ambitious. Easter was just a few weeks away. But Clementine wouldn't have expected any less from him. He wanted her to higher all of her grades from Troll or Acceptable, to Exceeded Expectations.
"Even potions."
"Why do you keep specifying that?"
Blaise was quiet for a moment. "Because," he then said, "professor Snape's very strict, and he's not above punishing students he doesn't like despite their success. And from what I've gathered you're on his bad list."
"Of course I am," Clementine chirped, "everyone is, that man hates everybody," she paused, deep in thought, "someone should ask him if he's okay."
"We're trying to keep you in this school," Blaise murmured, "not get you expelled on the spot."
"But - " Blaise shot her a look. "Fine," Clementine huffed in disappointment, and tried to be patient as Blaise read his potions volume. Unlike with every other subjects he relied on it quite a bit. And Clementine discovered why fairly soon.
He was not made for potions.
It surprised her. Blaise was meticulous, organised and had great memory. And yet he was constantly mistaking names. He didn't seem to hold potions in high regards, so she supposed his loathe for the subject tampered with his will to get good at it, despite how much it clearly frustrated him. It was sort of a relief for her, at least now she had proof he was human. She shared that thought with him and he did not take it kindly. Being mischievous by nature she couldn't help but bring it up ever once in a while, just to annoy him a bit.
Still, Blaise managed to help her make some improvements. From a T, her grade switched to an A. Blaise did not look thrilled about it, but to Clementine it was a miracle, and she made sure to thank him at any given chance.
When Easter came, it was with excitement, not dread, that she boarded the Hogwarts Express. And once she was home she did not fight against her parents when they offered to celebrate her success, she'd worked hard after all and loved to be appreciated. And once they asked for details, Clementine's face held no remorse or wickedness as she said "Blaise Zabini is helping me again. I didn't even have to ask! After he found out you wanted me to be homeschool he came to me, despite our divergences, and told me to meet with him on Tuesday. Isn't he the sweetest?"
Her father did not react. She figured that he didn't want to ruin the jolly mood. But his fake smile was a give away sign that he was not happy she and Blaise were talking again. She could have added that she all this time she'd been in the right, and that Blaise was a good person after all, but why ruin a joyous occasion by being petty?
And it was understandable, honestly, that her father had some concerns. After all, she and Blaise still had to touch on the topic that made them so different. It was as if they'd reached a silent understanding to never speak about blood. So far it had worked, and she'd bit her tongue whenever his eyes filled with loathe at the mention of anything that could remotely remind him of Granger and her kind. But Clementine knew she wouldn't be able to keep quiet for that much longer. Not when most of her family fit in the category Blaise loathed so much.
Now that she was on holiday and had free time she began to dwell on the issue. To her, Blaise was like a hedgehog: if she scared him by being upfront he'd close in on himself. What she needed was to be smart and figure out a delicate way to start the argument. For days she rehearsed it, and was always dissatisfied with the results. Eventually she asked her mother for advice, making the woman promise they'd keep this between them. How could she make him understand he was wrong once and for all?
"Birdie, it shouldn't be your duty to educate that boy," Ylva told her. The soft breeze coming through the window and Ylva's gently strokes down Clementine's arms did wonders to calm her spirit. "And forcing him to change thirteen years of solid beliefs at your pace won't do any good. You can encourage him, but in the end he has to decide what he wants to believe. Don't be disappointed if he chooses you're wrong."
Clementine almost wanted to laugh at that. Her mother made it easy: the boy you like hates your family? Get over it. No, it wasn't Clementine's nature to be patient.
On the day scheduled for the last match of the Quidditch season, two days after Clementine had returned to Hogwarts, Blaise insisted the two of them saw each other before the match began. Clementine supposed he wanted to get away from his friends, for he'd let it slip before how annoyingly tense they both were. It was fine with her, because she couldn't hold it in any longer.
"Do you still feel the same way about Muggles and Muggle-borns as you did before meeting me?"
"Yes." Blaise said, eyes still on her essay. Clementine had to give it to McGonagall on Monday, and was pretty sure that right now it deserved a T. Because Blaise was scribbling on every other sentence. As she'd expected Blaise's posture stiffened. Clementine mentally kicked herself, she knew he'd close in. With a disappointed sigh she moved her gaze to the ground, and jumped a little when Blaise grazed her ear.
He scooted back, the pen she had tucked behind her ear now in his hand. "This is handy, though." He said, and resumed what he was doing.
Twenty minutes later she was sitting with Victoria and Ginny on the stands, a never ending smile on her face. Call her hopelessly positive, but she now knew all her efforts hadn't gone in vain. The end of the year was still far. There was still time.
Victoria rubbed her hand expectantly. She too was smiling, but her eyes were eager. Eager to get this match over, Clementine reckoned. Ginny's expression wasn't that different from the other Gryffindor, red and golden paint adorned Ginny's freckled cheeks cheeks. The gold was slightly shimmery, and sparkles reflected under the sunlight, and made her eyes shine with anticipation.
The game began. Clementine had never made it through one, but she knew that this was a special match, Victoria had explained it to her. Harry Potter had a Firebolt, the fastest broom ever created, so there was a great chance Slytherin was going to lose the Quidditch Cup. It saddened Clementine to see the full Quidditch pitch coloured with red and gold. She decided she'd root for the underdogs.
The players entered the field and flew in the air. Before Madame Hooch could blow her whistle Clementine had already lost interest. In her mind Quidditch was just like soccer, and as she'd never gotten into it despite her dad's attempt she knew she was never going to enjoy or even understand Quidditch. All she knew was that the golden little ball meant the end of the game, and so she prayed Malfoy caught it soon. But it didn't look like that would be the case.
"Why are these seats so tiny?" She whined, feeling trapped for the lack of personal space.
Victoria hastily hushed her. Her face was contorted as she looked at her team, when she roared with anger Ginny followed, and said something Clementine would never dare to repeat.
"What happened?" She asked, yelling over the angry whistles and cheers.
"The Slytherins have the quaffle." Ginny growled.
"Is that bad?"
"Of course it is!" Victoria screamed in disdain, "they're going to score!"
"Oh... Oh!" Clementine's jaw dropped in awe as one of the players dressed in green dove a bare inch from the ground, grabbed the Quaffle and shot back up. The player passed the quaffle to the left, zigzagging past three Gryffindors, and then caught it again. Clementine's hair were blown back as the player flew past her. She could swear she'd gotten a whiff of cinnamon. A large nine was one the back of the player's uniform. She'd asked Blaise Nina Selwyn's number before entering the pitch. And now she watched in awe as Nina flew across the field with the dexterity of an eagle. She'd sort of wanted to meet the girl before, but not now. Now she felt too intimidated by her.
Thanks to Nina Slytherin scored, and the students on the stands sprung to their feet, celebrating their first one hundred points. Clementine's hears started buzzing. She squinted her eyes and covered her ears to better focus on the match. The Gryffindors were trying to get a hold of the Quaffle again but Nina's unpredictability was making her untouchable. It was only when two black balls were thrown her way by the Weasley twins that she had to let go of the quaffle. Gryffindor caught it. In a matter of minutes they scored once, twice. When they scored a third time Clementine accepted that she was now deaf to her left ear.
"YES! COME ON, JOHNSON!" Victoria and Ginny shrilled once more. Clementine whined in pain.
According to two boys sitting behind Clementine, Slytherin was now losing on every front. They were losing the match, and they would lose the Cup too if they didn't score at least three times. Her thoughts went to Blaise, sitting on the stands with a bitter expression on his face. But she smiled for Ginny and especially Victoria, whom she'd never seen acting so crazed.
"Selwyn catches the quaffle..." yelled Lee Jordan from a distance, "She's going for the middle ring... She scores again!"
"Come on, just score two more times."
"What?!"
"Someone has to root for Slytherin." Clementine said.
Victoria faced forward again, and then gasped. Clementine followed her gaze just in time to see a member of the Gryffindor team slam against a player dressed in green. Clementine remember the smell of cinnamon as the players flew across one of the rings. It all happened too fast, one second they had collided against each other and the next second they were on the ground, laying still.
"That was brutal," Victoria muttered, as Nina and the Gryffindor player were brought away on stretchers.
Once the game resumed Clementine did not try to celebrate again, she felt sick and freezing, and she would have liked to leave immediately hadn't her legs felt too weak to sustain her weight. When Gryffindor won it came as a great relief. And whilst Victoria and Ginny walked into the pitch to congratulate the team, Clementine headed towards the castle, to hug her cat and have a quick cry before focusing on someone else's well being.