maple syrup | remus lupin [1]

79. hide & seek

"SO I WAS THINKING that we should do like last year and combine Sirius' birthday party with a party for the team when we win," said James as the four Marauders walked up the stairs to their dorm.

"But what if you don't win the game, Prongs?" Peter questioned as Remus slowly opened the door.

"That won't happen," James scoffed. "Because I have brought together the most-"

James stopped talking the moment the four boys entered the room, because Claudia was sitting on Remus' bed, reading a book as if everything was back to normal.

"I can't be the only one who's getting a real case of déjà vu right now," Sirius said quietly as they all stared at the girl, who finally, due to Sirius speaking, had noticed that they had arrived.

"Oh, hi," she said as she closed her book and allowed her eyes to wander over their separate faces. "I thought it was time we'd have that conversation. All of us."

The four boys shared confused glances as Remus realised why she was there.

She had gotten the letter.

And suddenly he felt even more nervous.

The girl leaned her head back against the headboard of the bed as three out of four boys sat down on Peter's bed, since his was next to Remus'. Remus sat down by the foot of his.

"I...I don't really know how to say all of this," Claudia confessed. "There's kind of a lot. So, I just wanted to say beforehand that if you hate me completely after this I don't blame you. Not at all. Okay?"

They shared another confused look, and then Peter nodded comfortingly at her, telling her silently that she could start talking.

"I was seven," she began. "And I couldn't sleep. So I went downstairs to the kitchen, only to find my mum and aunt sitting there talking about something. My aunt had just gotten out of school and my grandparents had passed away so she was living with us."

"Anyways, they were both really sad about losing their parents, of course. And they were talking a lot about that, and about how much of my childhood my grandparents would miss. And then my mum started talking about how much she silently wished that I would never grow up."

Remus noticed how immediately when Claudia spoke of her mum, a both sad and at the same time happy smile came over her face.

"She said that she wished that we would play hide and seek together until the day that she died," she went on, and at this point the smile had disappeared.