maple syrup | remus lupin [1]

68. i'll tell him

tw! mild mentions of sexual harassment!

CLAUDIA HAD NO idea what had caused her to walk down the large staircase of Maple manor at around midnight at the beginning of August - but that was exactly what she did.

She figured no one would be up and walking anyways - since both Louisa and Margaret were out of town, on different businesses of course, and the rest of the manor's inhabitants were most likely gone at the other end of the very large manor.

But, boy was she wrong.

The girl had been cooped up in her room all alone ever since the dinner with the Rosiers and the Blacks; hiding and hoping that she would be left alone after that dreadful night when she was so close to losing herself entirely.

During this time, Claudia had retired to drawing, reading (in hidden spaces), singing to herself, and - most frequently - daydreaming about a better life in which she had a different last name, the boy she loved hadn't been a complete git and her loved ones were alive.

And somehow that caused her to feel even worse.

Claudia was thinking too much. Earlier that summer that hadn't been just as big of a problem - because she had found herself forgetting to think.

She had almost been like a ghost; floating around as she slowly faded away.

But, after the visit from Remus and company, Claudia had been thinking too much.

She didn't know why he didn't hate her anymore - and why he even kissed her on the forehead. But, she was angry at him. In fact, Claudia was furious at him; and even the nicest of gestures and his pretty, pretty face couldn't change that.

Well, for the most part.

And, except for the overthinking and the boring activities, Claudia had of course faced some rough nights and some random angry moments from her father and stepmother - but that was, in Claudia Maple's world, "just another normal day".

Alongside her injuries, aches and mental pain - the girl was also starving. And it caused her to feel concerned as her clothes suddenly felt a little bigger and her face a little more hollow.

But, she wasn't going to jump to the conclusion that she really was starving, because there was a specific house elf with the name of Zooby that tried his very hardest to give her food whenever he could sneak some - but that wasn't exactly an everyday ordeal.

Due to all of this, the girl was practically limping down that staircase on that night, and that wasn't exactly abnormal either.

However, you may ask why she was leaving her "safety" and practically strutting down to the lion's den?

Well, she didn't know the answer to that either.

Maybe she just needed some air; because she somehow felt as if she couldn't breathe.