maple syrup | remus lupin [1]

52. the potioneer

CLAUDIA WAS IN the middle of the worst day ever. Well, it wasn't actually the worst day ever, considering just how miserable her life was, but still.

First, she had woken up at three am due to an awful nightmare, that was bad to the point were she decided to not sleep again so she could avoid seeing that familiar bloody face over and over again.

So, the girl was running on four hours of sleep, which was never a good thing when it came to her.

Second, she had received a letter from her grandmother telling her to try to not kill Evan for his wonderful action of telling the media that they were dating, because Margaret was concerned that she would hurt the family's reputation. Because Margaret believed that family was of outmost importance.

Third, she had received another bloody invite to one of Slughorn's Slug Club dinners, something she tried to avoid as much as possible due to three Slytherin boys who would guard her like she was a prisoner. She had attended two dinners in total, and been "sick" all the other times, including the Christmas party.

Fourth, she had an awful headache. She had also gotten her period and she had accidentally cut her finger up in potions.

And finally, everything just seemed to go horribly wrong. She dropped all her books in the hallway and bumped into a very moody Severus Snape. And it definitely didn't help that the entire school kept talking about the fact that her best friend and brother had been found snogging in a broom closet.

It was definitely not her day.

Oh! And she was of course all alone, with the exception of Pandora, who was pretty much the greatest person on earth at this point.

Claudia was furious at Betty, and when it came to Inez she was simply just really not in the mood to deal with her.

So, yeah, to say that Claudia wanted to crawl into a hole and never return on that day would be an understatement.

She entered the library after dinner that evening with the determination to get some homework done, hopefully without having a stroke or something in the process.

And, as she walked through the door, she ended up getting stuck in the handle with the strap of her bag, causing her to be dragged backwards, drop her book and curse uncontrollably, as well as hit the handle several times out of pure fury.

"Uh, are you alright Maple?" Somebody suddenly asked, and Claudia looked up to find Henry Chang standing there, a fellow Ravenclaw who was in year six.

"Yeah," she said with an awkward smile as she attempted to walk, but then she realised that she was still stuck, which caused her to be pulled backwards again. "Oh, for fuck's sake!"

"Need any help?" The boy, who for the record was extremely handsome, asked with an amused smile.

"No, thank you," Claudia said with a sigh as she unhooked the strap of her bag from the handle, and then leaned down to pick up the book, only to find Henry doing just that.