D E C E M B E R 1 9 7 6

.・。.・゜✭・.・✧・゜・。.

IF THERE WAS ONE THING that Clara had been feeling quite cranky about on that mid-December evening, it was the fact that her entire house had planned a Christmas party of their own. The weekend before end-of-term exams, no less.

Somehow, the mysterious masterminds behind the festivities – aka, her younger brother and his friends – had managed to be much more tight lipped this time to prevent Professor McGonagall from finding out. This meant Clara also had no idea it was even happening until she returned from the greenhouses that Saturday, already in a sour mood – because Herbology was a subject invented solely to torment her.

Despite the party throwing a wrench in her entire evening, she decided she was better off closed away in her dorm anyway. Surrounded by books attempting to study, the muffled sound of some muggle rock band's music playing on the floor below rattled her jar of ink as the bass boomed through the floorboards.

As annoyed as she was, she had to wonder exactly how many silencing charms had to be done throughout Gryffindor tower to make sure no staff or prefects could hear the commotion from the corridor outside of the Fat Lady's portrait. If she knew her housemates well enough, she safely assumed that the thought of getting caught was cast aside once the party truly kicked off.

As the music continued to echo throughout the Gryffindor Tower, Clara considered going to Marlene's dorm instead. Ravenclaw wasn't known for their partying ways, unlike her house. And the password riddles weren't too difficult for her to figure out – despite the suspicious look the Eagle door knocker gave her every time she went to visit Marlene on her own.

Despite being a stickler for the rules, not being allowed in other houses' common rooms seemed so silly to Clara. From the beginning, she never followed that particular guideline.

However, what stopped Clara from venturing to Ravenclaw Tower was knowing that Marlene was most likely downstairs in the Gryffindor common room. Continuing to blur the lines between Clara and her brother's friends by hanging around Sirius.

As she attempted to focus on her Charms textbook, the sudden sound of a knock on her door nearly caused Clara to topple over her jar of burgundy ink all over the parchment she was taking notes on. With a groan, Clara scooted her chair away from the desk and padded across the room. Her dorm mates never bothered knocking before entering, so she doubted it was one of them. Then the sudden thought of it being a random couple looking for a private room to snog made Clara grimace.

When she finally turned the handle, she was met with the sight of her curly haired best friend who was wearing her signature red lipstick, as usual. The only new thing about her was the faded Led Zeppelin t-shirt that she was practically swimming in. It was clearly borrowed, or perhaps a stolen item from Sirius.

"Hey, Mar." Clara greeted with relief as she began to retreat to her desk.

Marlene skipped across the dorm and plopped down onto Clara's bed as her blonde curls splayed around her head like rays of sunshine. The girl already seemed quite giddy, having likely been more than a few butterbeers in by now.

"Fabian's looking for you." Marlene said with a hiccup.

"I'm not in the mood to go down there." Clara dismissed as she returned to her notes.

Marlene sat up on the bed and reached over to pull the quill out of Clara's hand, "And I'm not in the mood for you to sit up here alone all night. Just come down for a bit."

Clara frowned at her friend before letting out a sigh of defeat, there truly was no one more persistent than Marlene McKinnon, "Fine, but just for a bit."

Marlene's crimson lips curled up mischievously as she grabbed her friend by the hand and practically dragged her to the door before stopping suddenly, causing the brunette to crash straight into her back.

"A little warning next time you do that would be nice." Clara muttered as she stumbled backwards.

Marlene ignored her friends complaints before making a bee-line to Clara's dresser, digging through the brunette's clothes with no sense of respect for her privacy.

"Can I help you find something?" Clara asked, her voice glazed in sarcasm.

"Well, you can't go down there wearing that. I wish I had brought you some of my clothes."

Clara glanced down at her outfit with a frown before bringing her eyes back up to her friend, "Gee, thanks Mar."

Eventually, the blonde dug out a pair of black bell bottoms and a red turtleneck jumper, deeming it a worthy ensemble as she threw both articles of clothing at Clara with no warning.

With a roll of her eyes, Clara changed out of the clothes Marlene had disapproved of and into the new outfit she had curated. All the while, Marlene was undoing the plait Clara had her hair in over the last two days, letting the dark frizzy waves cascade down her shoulders. The blonde buried her fingers in her friend's hair and tossled it around slightly before taking a step back and inspecting her work.

Marlene narrowed her eyes as she looked Clara up and down before walking back up to the girl and shoving the hem of the jumper into the waistline of her friend's trousers.

"Marlene! Merlin, I can do it myself thank you." Clara exclaimed as she took a step away from her friend and finished tucking her shirt into her own trousers.

"Sorry, it just looks nicer tucked in. That way Fab can actually see your figure for once since you're always hiding it." she said with a wink.

"I'm already regretting this." Clara muttered as Marlene walked to the door and held it open for her friend.

The brunette glanced at the textbook she had been reading before Marlene had barged in and grabbed it before walking towards the door only to be stopped by her blonde friend who looked at her rather disapprovingly, "I'm begging you to not bring a book to the party."

"You're lucky you're getting me out of this room at all. The book is coming with me." Clara said sternly.

Marlene let out an exaggerated groan as she closed the door behind her studious best friend. Clara had the book clutched tightly to her chest as the two of them descended the stairs into the common room. Without missing a beat, it seemed as though Marlene had considered her mission accomplished as she left Clara's side to join Sirius, James, and – most surprisingly – Lily over by the fireplace.

The festive decorations adorning every inch of the room only served to remind Clara that the holidays were only one short week away. Which meant exams were only that much closer. Thirty six hours, twenty eight minutes, and forty three seconds to be exact.

Instant regret washed over Clara. She should be upstairs studying, not down here drinking room temperature butterbeer and forcing herself to socialize. Maybe she could slip away and return to her dorm without Marlene noticing. But before she could hope to escape without being seen, Fabian had already spotted her from across the room where he and Gideon were chatting with Peter and Remus. The towering redhead, who was somehow ever so slightly shorter than Remus, waved to her over the crowd.

Worry melted away and like being drawn to a magnet, Clara made her way through the crowd treating Fabian's smile like a beacon. When she finally got to him, the boy wrapped an arm over her shoulder and pressed a quick kiss to her temple while slipping the textbook from her arms and setting it off somewhere behind her without any objection from the girl.

"Now it's a party." Gideon teased from her right as he ruffled her hair.

Clara frowned at him and swatted his hand away before gazing up at Fabian who looked rather amused.

"What finally brought you down from your dorm?" Fabian asked with a smirk.

"Marlene said you were looking for me, so don't act like you had no part in this."

The boy threw his arms up defensively as he took a step back, although his charming grin never wavered. Clara bit back a smile as she leaned into him and his arm returned to its rightful place on her shoulder. Her attention was soon drawn to the two Marauders who had graced the twins with their presence rather than completing their usual quartet of mischief.

"Any reason you two aren't with James and Sirius?" she asked the boys.

"What? So we can sit there and witness James try and fail to sweep Lily off her feet for the eightieth time this month? I'll pass on that." Remus remarked sarcastically.

"If I didn't know any better I'd say you were a bit jealous, Lupin. Don't worry, I'm sure we can find you a holiday sweetheart before the end of the night." the brunette teased.

As she brought her eyes to Peter, hoping he'd chime in on teasing his friend but instead she caught him glancing away. There was a distant look in the boys eye, one that troubled Clara. As if sensing her gaze, Peter's eyes met her own. Fear, or maybe surprised was written on his face, as if he was scared that Clara could somehow read his thoughts. Raising a brow at him, Peter quickly diverted his gaze once more and scanned the room.

"Uh... pumpkin juice!" he exclaimed suddenly before clearing his throat, "I mean, uh, does anyone want pumpkin juice? I'm a bit thirsty."

"Sure I'll take one, thanks Pete." Gideon responded with a smile.

"I'll go with you." Clara offered before turning to Fabian, "Want anything?"

"I'm alright for now."

She nodded before following Peter, pausing as she passed Remus, "And for you, Rem?"

He furrowed his brows at her sudden kindness and familiarity towards him, "Nah, 'm alright. Thanks Clara."

In her slight hesitation, Peter had already made his way across the common room towards the drinks table. His hands shook slightly as he nervously poured out two cups of pumpkin juice for himself and Gideon.

"Peter." Clara said by way of greeting. Still, the sound of his name was enough to make the poor boy jump and spill a bit of the sweet beverage on the table.

"Oh, Clara," he chuckled awkwardly, "Pumpkin juice?"

All Clara did was smile kindly at the nervous boy as she grabbed a bottle of butterbeer instead, "I'm more of a butterbeer girl, myself."

Peter gave a half-hearted smile at her response while diverting his eyes away from her once more.

"How are you?" she asked in a more serious tone as she watched him fumble a bit with the lid of the bottle.

The boy let out a bit of a sigh as he glanced up at her, "I'm okay, just a bit stressed... you know, with exams coming up..."

The boy trailed off as his brows furrowed a bit. Whatever was on his mind was certainly doing a number on his mood. But the last thing Clara wanted to do was make any assumptions or do anything to make him feel pressured to confide in her about whatever it what was bothering him. Instead, she decided to offer an ear to listen and a safe space to divulge any secrets that were burdening him – if he so chose to.

"I'm an excellent listener, you know." she said vaguely.

The boy's brows knit into a frown as he watched her take a sip of her drink.

"If you ever wanted to talk to anyone who... isn't my brother or your other friends, for instance." she clarified with a smile.

"Maybe." he squeaked out nervously.

"You really don't have to ever tell me anything you don't want to. I'm just putting it out there."

Peter nodded at her weakly as he grabbed both cups, "Thanks Clara."

"It's really no problem, Pete. My brother loves you, which means I care about you as well. But if you ever tell anyone I said that, I'll deny it." she smiled at him kindly.

This had finally earned herself a full grin from the boy – endearingly crooked teeth and all. Peter seemed to relax by the time they had returned to the twins and Remus. As all the boys dove into discussing their favorite Quidditch players and teams, even Clara was enjoying herself. But that was mostly because of the sparkle of excitement that shined in Fabian's blue eyes when he talked about his favourite sport.

"That's when Hudson dove into a Sloth Grip Roll to avoid Cochran's Bludger. A bloody brilliant move, it saved the game I reckon! Merlin, I'll never forget that day."

"Neither will we, you tell that story about six times a year." Gideon taunted his brother, earning a chorus of laughs from the rest of the group.

It was nice to see James's friends getting along so well with Fabian. Especially when it felt like her brother and Sirius were less than thrilled about the pairing. She could excuse James's attitude to an extent, he was always rather protective over her, despite being younger. Sirius, however, still perplexed her.

Unless Marlene was around to bridge the gap, it seemed like Sirius wanted nothing to do with Clara as of late. To say it didn't upset her a bit would have been a lie. Who Sirius was in Potter Manor seemed to suddenly vanish when she and Fabian began spending more time together. The beginning of their friendship, or whatever it was, dissolved within months of returning to Hogwarts.

Which meant it was a surprise to Clara when Sirius came sauntering up to the group a moment later without Marlene at his side. Maybe the blonde had finally convinced him to start playing nice again.

"Evening, lads." he said with a charming smile before glancing at Clara, "Potter."

Clara didn't even acknowledge him, instead she poured all of her attention into Remus and Fabian's discussion. The boys were now in the midst of a debate about the best candy at Honeydukes, of all arguments to have. Besides, Sugar Quills was the obvious answer.

Clara felt a nudge against her shoulder and finally glanced over to see Sirius holding a cup of something towards her.

Her face twisted into a skeptical frown as she glanced at the contents, "What is it? Laughing Potion? Wanting to have me make a fool of myself in front of everyone?"

He shook his head with a chuckle, "No, but that would have been hilarious. I'll keep that in mind for next time."

Ignoring the potential of another diabolical plot against her social status, she instead focused on the mystery drink, "What is it then?"

Sirius glanced down at the cup with a frown before looking back at her with a laugh, "Honestly, I've got no idea. Marlene's been mixing my drinks all night."

"If you don't even know, what makes you think I'm going to drink it?"

"Don't trust me?"

"Absolutely not."

"Sirius! Get your arse over here!" a familiar voice called from across the common room.

Both he and Clara glanced over to see James bellowing for his friend, with his tie wrapped around his head and his glasses sitting askew on his face while jumping on the sofa. Behind him, Marlene and Lily could be seen rolling over with laughter at the boy's antics. Clara couldn't help but wonder how many butterbeers it took for Lily to find any humor in her 'toerag' of a brother. The sight of it was almost too much for Clara herself, who covered her mouth to stifle her own fit of giggles.

Some days, she wished she was more like James in that he was always unabashedly himself without a care for how anyone saw him. That mindset just wasn't in the cards for Clara.

She was much too cautious and in her head far too often. Although hanging out with Fabian was admittedly helping her loosen up a bit more. Sometimes she would wait until the second to last day to finish an assignment instead of working on it from the moment it was assigned. It certainly wasn't a revolutionary act of rebellion but in her mind, it was progress.

Sirius shot back whatever was in the cup he had just offered to Clara before reaching behind her for something, "You're still a stick in the mud, you know." Sirius teased with a smirk as he took a step away from her with one hand behind his back.

"And you're still an unbearable git." she smiled at him innocently.

"Never change, Potter." he said with a wink before finally turning over his shoulder and returning to James.

While the night was still young, Clara was quickly feeling drained as her introverted nature never did very well with large social gatherings. That, and being around Sirius for any amount of time always seemed to exhaust her.

She tugged on the sleeve of Fabian's jumper, trying to pull his attention away from Remus. When the boy looked down at her, a smile quickly grew on his lips, "Yes, love?"

"I'm going to bed."

Although he seemed a bit disappointed, he didn't argue with her wishes. Instead, he placed a gentle hand on the side of her face and placed a quick peck on her lips, "Good night, sweetheart."

"Yeah, sleep tight, darling." Gideon teased from next to his brother, earning his a sharp elbow in the stomach from Fabian.

"Stay out of trouble," she paused as she looked over the group, "all of you."

"Yes ma'am." the twins said in unison while Remus merely scoffed at the suggestion. Peter, however, gave her a weak, yet promising smile as he nodded to her.

The girl had been so wiped out that she didn't even remember that she had left her book sitting somewhere in the common room. While panic would inevitably set in at day break when she decided to resume her obsessive studying, the only thing on her mind at that moment was changing out of the clothes Marlene had chosen for her and climbing into bed.

As she ascended the stone stairs, she heard a loud set of footsteps following her. On the landing between the steps to the boys' and girls' dorms was when she finally heard someone calling out for her.

"Hold on, Potter."

Immediately a groan escaped from her lips as she recognized the voice. She turned over her shoulder to see Sirius emerging from the archway.

Maybe it was because she hadn't really been looking at him when he'd come over to talk to her while she was standing beside Fabian, but now that it was just the two of them she couldn't help but notice how tangled his hair was as well as the rosy tint on his lips. It was no doubt transferred from some poor girl's lips to his own in a drunken make out session during the party. But it wasn't until she spotted a lipstick mark on his neck that she felt quite uncomfortable and had to divert her eyes away from him.

"You left this." Sirius said as he held out a Charms textbook towards her.

Immediately her brows furrowed as she glanced down at the book before looking into his eyes, reading them like a lie detector, "I left it, or you took it?"

"Nothing gets past you, Potter." he smirked as she took it from his hands.

"Did you just want an excuse to chase after me or something?"

"Did you want me to chase after you?"

The girl frowned at him, "That makes no sense, Sirius. You're the one who took my book."

"Maybe you left the book lying around hoping I'd be the one to find it and return it to you."

"Maybe you're completely mental."

"But it worked, didn't it?" he replied with a smug grin.

Clara let out an impatient huff, "What do you want?"

Sirius hesitated for a moment before a devilish grin grew on his red tinted lips, "Just to tell you that you look nice tonight. Mar's got good taste, you should follow her advice more."

The brunette stood there completely bewildered. Was he flirting with her? Surely not. It was obvious just by looking at him that he'd had more than a few drinks that night. But still.

"Go back to the party, Sirius." she said sternly, refusing to thank him for the compliment, whether he meant it or not.

"Yes, dear." he replied sarcastically with a chuckle before turning around to descend the stairs, stumbling a bit on the first step.

Clara let out a sigh once he was out of sight, already knowing that she would ruminate on his comment no matter how much she didn't want to.

She was right all along, it would have been much better for her to stay in her dorm that night.