J A N U A R Y  1 9 7 7

.・。.・゜✭・.・✧・゜・。.

"SMILE!"

JAMES, CLARA, AND SIRIUS HAD just bid their farewells to Fleamont and Euphemia when a chipper blonde with wild curly hair seemed to appear out of nowhere. Marlene's sudden arrival occurred in the middle of Sirius and Clara bickering, as usual, over something that didn't really matter.

James had become quite talented at ignoring his sister and best friend's squabbles, so he was keenly aware of Marlene's intentions. The other two, however, were much too focused on each other to take a second to become aware of their surroundings. Before Clara could even fully register that Marlene was there, let alone what the blonde was holding in her hands, she felt her brother's arm wrap tightly around her shoulder.

James pulled both Sirius and Clara into the frame with a wide grin on his face as a sudden flash of light went off before them.

When Marlene pulled the Polaroid picture from the camera, a snort escaped from her as she watched her best friend go from angry, to confused, to shocked all in a matter of seconds. The scene replayed over and over and it seemed to be getting funnier each time based on her endless giggles. That reaction was enough to make Clara break away from James' grasp to peer over her shoulder and peek at the unflattering photo over herself.

Clara was keen to ask Marlene if she could keep the photo. Little did the blonde know that Clara's real intentions were to destroy any evidence of its existence the second she was alone. The last thing she wanted out in the world was an embarrassing polaroid of herself basically being put into a headlock by her younger brother while Sirius laughed.

One of the boys had other plans though.

"I'm keeping this." Sirius said with a chuckle as he quickly snatched the photo from Marlene's fingers and pocketed it.

Damn it.

Clara frowned at him, trying her best to hide how annoyed she was, "What for?"

"Memories, darling. And blackmail." he said wickedly.

She parted her lips, ready to throw the first insult she could conjure up in her mind at the boy, but the whistle of the train stopped her. That crooked grin never left his lips as Clara decided he wasn't worth the effort and left in a huff.

What a nightmare, she thought as she weaved her way through students still lingering in the narrow halls of the train carriages. However, all of her frustrations finally melted away when she found the boy she had been looking for. Their eyes met when Gideon caught sight of her and nodded his head in her direction forcing his twin to turn around.

"Hello, love. Have a nice holiday?" Fabian greeted as she approached them.

"It was... interesting."

"Oh? Now I'm intrigued." he said with a grin.

The entire reason her holiday was anything but ordinary was all because of Sirius. If he wasn't living with her family, he wouldn't have had any impact on her Christmas at all. She thought about Christmas morning, when he unexpectedly handed her a crudely wrapped gift with a folded square of parchment taped to it.

Sirius had decided to give her a record, a Led Zeppelin album to be specific. If she had to guess, he'd probably decided on what to give her after much discussion with Marlene. The fact that he had decided to give her a gift at all was a shock, and she couldn't deny the guilt that grew at the fact that she hadn't even thought to give him anything for Christmas.

But it was the handwritten note attached to the gift that had stuck with her;

'This is the first step on your journey to getting a better taste in music, because I'm honestly sick of listening to the same thing through the walls every single day.

Happy Christmas.

Your Friend,
Sirius'

Your friend. Had he written the note long before their discussion on the roof? Or had he written it hastily on Christmas morning? She had been too scared to ask in the moment, but the question lingered even now.

But she dismissed the thought. Sirius was the last person she wanted to think about at the moment. Instead, she tried to change the subject.

Looking back and forth between Fabian and Gideon for a moment, Clara tried to think of a new topic of discussion. Over the last several months, Clara had become acutely aware of the subtle differences between the twins, but she'd also been observant enough to see that Fabian's floppy auburn curls were more cropped than they had been weeks ago.

It was in that moment that she decided she liked the look of him with shorter hair, only because it let her see his blue-green eyes a bit easier as the thick curtains of his fringe had now disappeared – although she'd wait until they had a bit more privacy to give him that particular compliment.

For now, she decided that was a good enough transition for their conversation. Anything to not bring up Sirius.

"Your new haircut looks nice." she said as she cocked her head and smiled sweetly.

Fabian raised a brow at her inquisitively, as if he could sense that she was up to something but he smiled, "You think so? My mum and Molly basically forced it on me, they said I was beginning to look like a hippie."

"I think I agree with them." she laughed, "Shorter hair suits you."

As soon as the compliment left her lips, the train lurched forward, so they finally decided it was time to make their way into a compartment so the prefects doing their patrols wouldn't scold them about how dangerous it was to loiter in the corridors of the carriages.

The three of them joined the twins' friends from the Quidditch team, in a nearby compartment. As soon as they were seated, Clara's holidays quickly returned to the center of attention thanks to Gideon.

The second Fabian was reminded, both twins began practically begging for her to divulge every detail of Christmas time at Potter Manor. The harmonies of their identical voices echoed throughout the compartment in a flurry of 'go on tell us's and 'don't be shy's as their teammates sat by snickering.

With an exaggerated sigh, she finally gave in. Although, she did decide to leave out her midnight rooftop discussion with Sirius. Not because she felt guilty for spending time with him, or anything. Why would she? It was simply because the two had discussed details of Sirius' family and she felt it would be inappropriate to talk about that. That was all.

Besides, once she was back with Fabian and his friends, it was much easier to forget about that fleeting moment with Sirius anyway.

After a while, the focus fell off of her when the twins told her all about their own holiday at home. Most notably, they recounted a story about the massive prank they played on their older sister and her husband. Apparently they had even gotten the couple's young sons in on the prank as well which made Molly all the more furious with them.

"Oh! Hey, and thanks for the chess set, Lara. You didn't have to do that, y'know." Gideon mentioned in the middle of the somewhat unrelated story.

After watching endless games of Wizard's Chess between the twins and Peter, it seemed only fitting to get the boys a new set. There was nothing wrong with their old set, of course. It was a bit old, but it worked fine. Clara simply thought they deserved something a little nicer.

"It was no problem, I hope it's okay that I got both of you one gift, though. I'm sure it's annoying to be given gifts you're meant to share."

Fabian nudged her with his shoulder, "It's alright, we're more than used to it by now. Besides, it's not like you got us one pair of socks to share."

To Fabian's joy, that comment earned him a laugh from Clara who seemed to relax in her seat a bit more, "Well, I'm glad you both liked it."

"Pettigrew is toast now." Gideon snickered.

Clara raised a brow at the twin sitting across from her, "You do realize having new chess pieces doesn't make you a better player, right?"

"Ah, see, that's where you're wrong." he smiled brightly.

With a roll of her eyes she replied, "Whatever you say, Gideon."

Perhaps now wasn't the right time to tell them she had suggested to James that he should buy Peter a new set of his own for Christmas. But the thought brought a smile to her lips.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✧・゜・。.

Clara was glad to be back at Hogwarts, if only for the fact that she was excited to get some firsthand healing experience. Before the end of the Fall term, Clara had managed to persuade Madam Pomfrey to finally allow her to shadow her a bit during her free periods.

It took a lot to convince the healer to agree to the idea. The woman much preferred shooing students away rather than welcoming them in. But after the third or fourth time of Clara being a bit more annoying than she'd like to admit to, Madam Pomfrey finally caved.

The first Thursday in January fell on a crisp and clear day without a single cloud in the sky. It almost looked warm outside when glancing out the window but the deceit became most apparent while walking the grounds.

Each night that week had been just as clear, it almost felt like the English winter was tempting them all with the first signs of spring, but she tried to not get too hopeful. A sudden snow storm would feel much more heartbreaking, otherwise.

When Clara entered the Hospital Wing that morning, Madam Pomfrey looked a bit taken aback as she quickly pulled the curtain closed around the bed beside her. Whomever occupied it was a student Clara hadn't been able to catch a glimpse of.

"I wasn't expecting you until tomorrow, dear." she said politely, although the slight weariness in her voice hadn't gone unnoticed to Clara.

The healer continued her rounds on to the next bed which was occupied by a younger student who had somehow managed to injure their knee in some way during the first week back in the castle. With a simple wave of her wand, the bandages around their left knee were replaced.

With Clara's focus on what Madam Pomfrey was doing, she hadn't yet replied. It wasn't until the healer paused and peered up at the girl, beckoning for an explanation to her sudden intrusion, that she finally answered.

"I'm sorry. It's just that Professor Slughorn ended class early today, so I thought I would stop in if you weren't too busy. I can go, though."

The healer's already thin lips pressed into an even thinner line as she contemplated whether or not to ask Clara to leave the Hospital Wing. After what felt like an eternity, she finally found her answer.

"You can stay."

Clara smiled and thanked her but Madam Pomfrey didn't say anything more to her, she merely finished her rounds, only calling the young girl over if she needed her to hold a vial of potion or a washcloth as she cared for the sick and injured. Still, Clara was quite curious about whomever was lying in the bed closest to Madam Pomfrey's office, concealed by old beige curtains.

"You need not concern yourself, Miss Potter." the healer said curtly as she followed Clara's gaze.

Perhaps the student was so badly injured, Madam Pomfrey thought that Clara couldn't stomach the sight. The notion offended her slightly. Of course she could handle it. The medical textbooks she had studied religiously never censored even the most gruesome of injuries. Still, Clara knew better than to object, it was a miracle in itself that the healer allowed her in her presence to simply observe. Pushing her luck wasn't on Clara's agenda.

When the hour finally came to a close, Clara helped Madam Pomfrey clean a few empty vials and fold up freshly cleaned sheets before she was to head to her next lesson.

Her first day of shadowing was quite uneventful, but she still learned a thing or two. Like how to Scourgify multiple vials at once, preventing her from having to sanitize each individually. So it wasn't entirely a waste.

"Thank you, Madam Pomfrey." Clara said as she swung her bag over her shoulder.

"Of course, dear." she replied before looking at her more intently, "Do try to let me know next time if you plan to come in on days we hadn't initially planned. A quick owl would do the trick. Better yet, simply stick to the schedule."

"Yes, ma'am." she replied apologetically.

As Clara turned over her shoulder to leave the hospital wing, a familiar mop of dark hair burst into the room carrying a chocolate tart and a goblet of pumpkin juice that he had clearly nicked from the Great Hall. When their eyes fell on each other, both froze. It was like looking in a mirror. The reflection of hazel eyes and frizzy hair was certainly not what Clara expected to see in this particular area of the castle.

"James? Are you feeling ill?" she asked with concern until her eyes fell to his hands, "Did you steal that? You know once lunch is over it'll vanish, don't you?"

"Is it stealing if it's free?" he smirked before he remembered his time truly was limited and determination returned to his eyes, "And I know it will vanish, that's why I'm in a bit of a hurry here."

Confusion painted Clara's face as she stared bewildered at her younger brother. It was only when James glanced towards the bed that had been hidden from view did Clara begin to try and piece things together.

Someone he knew was behind that curtain, but who? She tried to hypothesize as she gazed into the set of hazel eyes that matched her own.

It couldn't be Lily, he'd be much more frantic if it was her. Perhaps Sirius? Probably not. Based on her own experience, the boy avoided the Hospital Wing if he could help it. Peter seemed plausible, but she had just seen the boy that morning talking with the twins in the common room.

The only person unaccounted for that seemed possible was Remus. She had seen him look a bit sickly every now and then, but why would Madam Pomfrey have hidden him from her view?

Perhaps it was a conflict of interest in the healer's mind. It was well known that Remus and her brother were glued at the hip. Clara only ever exchanged pleasantries with the boy, they were acquaintances at most. It wasn't like her relationship with Sirius. The venn diagram of their social circle only overlapped so much. It wasn't like seeing Remus poorly would have reduced her to tears or anything.

Her brows furrowed in thought. If it truly was Remus behind the curtain, Clara would simply have to assure Madam Pomfrey that seeing him ill wouldn't cause any issues with her shadowing.

James seemed to notice the look of realization in his older sister's eyes and he parted his lips to object to her conclusion, but Madam Pomfrey interrupted him before he had even inhaled the breath.

"Out you two, off to your next lessons." she shooed, "And Mr. Potter, you may come back during visiting hours, you know the rules."

"But I brought–" the tart and goblet he had just been holding suddenly vanished from his hands as the lunch hour had come to a close.

Clara suppressed a snicker as she watched one of her brother's 'fool-proof' plans disappear before his very eyes.

A sigh of defeat escaped James's lips as he mumbled, "Never mind."