maple syrup | remus lupin [1]

58. karma

CLAUDIA WOULDN'T DENY that she often thought about the concept of karma.

When her father and stepmother first had started to hurt her all she ever really thought about - in order to get through it - was that one day karma would eventually come and punch them in the gut.

But it hadn't so far, and it had been years.

At least she was now about to get some revenge on Nolan - and Claudia felt an immense amount of satisfaction because of it.

His little halfblooded stepsister had grown to know him like the back of her hand. Because Nolan Clarke, if anything, was not a mystery.

He was, unlike Nicolas, a completely open book.

He was as selfish as one could be for starters. Everything he did, he did because it benefited him in one way or another. Wether it was to get the approval of his mother and stepfather or his professors, or to make him gain power - it didn't really matter.

As long as everything he did benefited him, and only him.

Nolan wanted to be the future Minister for Magic. He wanted a wife that did everything he said, and he wanted Claudia to disappear or die so that he could be the one to inherit the Maple fortune and not her.

But, there was of course the obstacle of Margaret Maple, also known as the most confusing woman on the planet of earth.

Margaret's motto in life was "family is of utmost importance", and Claudia was family by blood - which meant that even though Margaret viewed her as a big mistake, she was still her granddaughter and the most appropriate person to inherit the fortune.

She was, after all, not going to give away her husband and his forefathers' fortune to the fool that was Nolan Clarke, or his quiet and private brother.

The Maple family actually had plenty of tragedies. Charles' brother, and Margaret's firstborn son, had passed away alongside his wife and his own unborn son.

And then, Charles' father and Margaret's husband passed away, by natural causes, leaving the fortune in the hands of Charles.

But, as already stated, Charles was terrified of his own mother - and he did just what she told him to do.

That was why Claudia lived in that house. That was why Claudia also wasn't dead, most likely.

And that was why she would inherit the money and hopefully convince her future husband to take her surname - considering Charles and Louisa for some bloody reason didn't have any kids of their own.

Maybe that was because Margaret hated Louisa so much, but she never really seemed to hate Anne. Maybe dislike, but never hate - because Anne had always been so kind.

Charles wasn't the only person who feared Margaret. So did Nolan, Louisa and most likely Nicolas as well.

But Claudia did not fear her, not at all. Because Claudia was the only person who could carry on her husband's legacy - and that's why it was so bloody easy to convince Margaret to help her out.