N O V E M B E R   1 9 7 6

.・。.・゜✭・.・✧・゜・。.

AS FAR AS CLARA was concerned, Herbology was by far the worst class offered at Hogwarts. Though that may not be objectively true, the girl was convinced she had a mysterious curse that caused her to kill anything grown inside those specific greenhouses on the castle grounds. If high marks in Herbology weren't required for the career she'd chosen, she wouldn't even willingly be enrolled in the class.

But alas, she found herself spending an otherwise lovely Saturday making her way to said greenhouses to work on some extra credit. Even though she had somehow managed to get an acceptable mark on her first big assignment of the term, Professor Sprout still expected more from her. Though she was a young and relatively new teacher at the school, the plump and cheerful woman had a strong work ethic that she ideally wanted to be reflected on all her students.

Despite her disdain for the course, she'd rather spend her weekend inside the humid greenhouses rather than her own common room. Apparently Professor McGonagall had caught wind of an alleged Halloween party that Gryffindor was planning to hold. It took no time at all for their Head of House quickly put an end to those plans. However, for some reason, Clara's brother and his friends had convinced themselves that she was the informant even though that was not the case at all, thank you very much. Just because she didn't want to attend didn't mean Clara was automatically going to report it to McGonagall.

The ensuing argument between the Potter siblings did not earn her any favours with the rest of Marauders, so she vowed to keep her distance from Gryffindor tower until things died down.

On any other day, she'd normally be joined by Lily or Marlene. But the young redhead was off somewhere else, likely studying in the library or attending to her prefect duties, while Marlene had – according to James – begun spending more time with Sirius again. It was all in the name of improving her Transfiguration grades this term, apparently. But Clara couldn't even imagine what Sirius could possibly teach Marlene that she didn't already know. The girl practically had a photographic memory, she need only open any given book in the library and absorb the information with minimal effort.

Clara's hazel eyes were shining a bit more green these days as a twinge of jealousy entered her mind when she thought of them spending time together. Though she couldn't place whether it was for her envy of the girl's natural intelligence or the fact that the person she liked least in the entire world had been taking up far too much of her best friend's time.

It couldn't be anything more than she simply missed Marlene, that's all.

A sigh fell from her lips as she pushed her way through the crowd of students walking the opposite direction of her. Having just reached the main staircase of the Entrance Hall, she heard a pair of footsteps growing louder behind her. As if by magic, a tall set of twins quickly caught up with her. Their large strides made it quite easy for them to fall in step with the much shorter girl.

"Where're you off to, Potter?" Gideon asked as the twins walked on either side of her.

Suddenly feeling caged in by their stature, she clutched her book tighter and frowned, "What does it matter to you two?"

"Oi, no need to be so snippy, we thought you could use some company." Fabian spoke up from her right.

"Why would you think that?"

"Well you're off with McCurly all the time," Fabian mused, "I thought you'd get bored of her and all the rest of those dull Ravenclaws."

"McCurly?" Clara replied with a snort, "Merlin, you're awful at nicknames."

"Don't suppose that means you want to hear what we call you?" Gideon piped up from her left.

She quickly shook her head, "Not particularly, no."

"Maybe we'll tell you someday." Fabian grinned, that sing-song tone in his voice that Clara had come to hear quite often returning in full force, "So, are you going to tell us where you're headed?"

"Will it make you stop following me?"

"You hear that, Gideon? She thinks we're following her."

"Little does she know we were just on our way to the Quidditch pitch for practice."

"A little narcissistic, this one."

"I couldn't agree more, Fabian."

Clara stopped in her tracks and spun around to face the boys. A sea of students flowed past them, but Clara held strong in her stance – ready to tell them off for their banter at her expense. Instead, she merely looked between the two of them and blurted out a question that would probably come to regret later.

"Did my brother say anything to you two?"

The twins simultaneously raised their eyebrows before looking at each other with cheeky grins.

"What makes you ask that?" Gideon and Fabian asked at the same time as they brought their attention back to her.

"Sirius' birthday is coming up and they think I'm the one who told McGonagall about the Halloween party that got cancelled - which I didn't, mind you. They were probably planning the whole thing for him and I–" Clara suddenly stopped herself and shook her head, "I don't even know why I'm telling you all this."

"Don't you worry your pretty little head," Fabian reassured as he ruffled up her hair, "Potter didn't put us up to anything, though we'll be sure to ask him about it at practice."

Clara swatted his hand away with a frown, "I'd prefer it if you didn't."

"Are you really that worried? I didn't peg you as much of a party animal. There will be more parties, it doesn't really matter that McGonagall killed this one." Gideon replied.

"I don't care that it was cancelled I– oh, just forget it." she huffed as she quickly turned over her shoulder and started her way down the hill towards the greenhouses.

"Oi, come back!" one of the twins called after her.

Clara didn't bother to see which of the boys was trying to get her attention, she really didn't care anymore. If she could simply not look at anyone with a red and gold tie on until Sirius' birthday passed, then she'd be quite content. So instead, Clara headed straight for the glass door, ready to spend yet another miserable afternoon alone in her least favourite place at Hogwarts. But her path was quickly blocked off by a tall boy with broad shoulders and auburn hair who rushed to put himself between her and the greenhouse.

A sympathetic look was in Fabian's eyes as he inhaled deeply to catch his breath. The boy was quite athletic but he'd also just bolted straight down the hill to catch Clara before she could get away, and she could admit that was no easy feat.

"What do you want?" she asked when she met his eyes, not only annoyed by his intrusion but confused by his expression.

"Is everything okay?"

"Yes, Fabian." she replied impatiently, rolling her eyes as she pushed him aside with surprisingly no resistance on his part.

A hint of a smile formed on the boy's lips, though it had gone unnoticed to the brunette who had caused it. Every time Clara correctly identified the twins, it filled Fabian with that familiar warm feeling he got when his crush on her first started all the way when they were just thirteen. In all these years, she had never mistaken him for Gideon.

Perhaps that was what sparked his fondness for her all that time ago, that she was one of the few people in the school who actually saw them as two different people. Though he couldn't help but wonder if it was all thanks to pure luck or she had really taken the time to note all of their subtle differences. He liked to believe it was the latter.

Setting down her textbook on the dirty workbench, Clara made her way over to pick up the plant pot in the corner that had been marked with her name several class periods ago. With a frown on her face, she checked up on the Sneezewort which looked quite pathetic if she was being honest with herself. She could easily recite every single potion the flower was an ingredient in and exactly how to brew them to perfection. But keeping the plant itself alive? That would be a miracle for her.

The sound of the glass door closing in the greenhouse gathered her attention and when she looked up she was surprised and a bit peeved that Fabian had decided to follow her inside, "Don't you have practice?"

"Gideon will cover for me."

Clara let out an exasperated sigh, "What do you want?"

"You seem upset. I just want to make sure you're okay."

Fabian made his way across the greenhouse, only glancing at the near dead flower in her arms once before focusing his attention back on her eyes. Clara set down the pot on the table between them, fully ready to tell him to mind his own business and leave her alone. But when she gazed back up at him she abandoned that plan entirely.

Something about Fabian made her feel safe in this moment, like he wouldn't judge her is dismiss her worries. Why she felt this way, she didn't know for sure. Something inside her was telling her to trust him. Maybe it was just because he hadn't blown up any of their potions since being partnered up together earlier in the month. Or maybe it was the uncharacteristically gentle look in his eyes.

"I hate fighting with James." she said quietly, "I hate that I'm being blamed for something I didn't do. I hate that Marlene seems too busy for me lately. And I hate that all of this seems to lead right back to Sirius."

With a look of understanding in his eyes, Fabian listened and nodded. The boy she'd written off as a class-clown didn't utter so much as a single sarcastic quip or jab at her. Instead, with a kind smile, he said "It's just a bad week. Next week will be better."

Despite herself, her pessimism wasn't so easily dissuaded, "You don't know that."

"Of course I do."

"And how is that?"

When he saw her reaction he simply shook his head with a wicked grin, "You just have to trust me. You worry too much, Lara-love."

"Ignoring the fact that you just called me that, what do you mean I worry too much?"

"You're creating too many scenarios in your head. I promise James and the rest of his lot have already forgotten about the party. And I bet you anything McCurly will be waiting for you right outside the portrait hole, just like she always does before dinner every evening."

Clara narrowed her eyes at the boy, clearly not fully believing him, or not wanting to. As if it was simply easier to live inside her anxiety.

"I wouldn't lie to you, potions partners need to trust each other don't they? I think I heard that from someone before. Anyway, I really do need to get to practice," he said as he made his way back towards the door before pausing to look back at her, "Sneezewort needs a lot of sun, by the way. You should move your pot over there."

Clara looked over to where Fabian was pointing to before quickly looking back towards him, not quite sure how he knew that or if it was even correct.

A slight smile formed on her lips as her brows furrowed in confusion, "Thanks, I think?"

"Trust me. See you later, Lara-love." he winked before shutting the door to the greenhouse and jogging up the dirt path.

She watched as the boy in his crimson jumper disappeared over the crest of the hill towards the Quidditch pitch. Only when he was fully out of view did she finally pull her eyes back to the pot of dirt in front of her. What little information she knew about Sneezewort had quickly been abandoned. Her mind was still on Fabian.

Why was her mind still on Fabian?

She shook her head and grabbed the Herbology textbook she'd set off to the side when she first entered the greenhouse. Quickly brushing away the dirt on the work table, she then opened the book to the correct page, raking her eyes over the parchment trying to focus on the words instead of the redheaded boy who was invading her thoughts.

Sneezewort - scientifically known as Achillea ptarmica - is a wildflower of the daisy family that is native to Europe. The white flower can be seen blooming in the wild from July to August and while it is a hardy plant, it prefers full sun and moist but well drained soil.

It prefers full sun. How in Merlin's name did Fabian know that? Clara knew for a fact that he wasn't in NEWT level Herbology, although he obviously could be if he wanted to. Fabian had yet again proved that he was much smarter than he appeared.

The boy was an utter mystery. Clara couldn't help but wonder what else could possibly be hiding beneath the well manufactured façade that he and his twin had clearly worked so hard to construct.

It was obvious to her now that he wasn't a brainless jock. Fabian was modestly intelligent, secretly sympathetic, gregariously mischievous - but never at anyone else's expense (unlike four particular boys that came to mind). There was so much about him that Clara had yet to discover. It was fair to say she was endlessly curious.

That is, until a strange new wave of anxiety suddenly washed over her. Followed closely behind by immediate denial, the realisation hit her like a train. She shook her head, almost as though she was physically trying to will the thought out of her mind as quickly as it formed. But it was no use.

She was becoming rather fond of Fabian Prewett.