maple syrup | remus lupin [1]

87. at the end of the day

"HUFFLEPUFF'S SEEKER CATCHES the snitch!" The commentator of the Ravenclaw-Hufflepuff game that Claudia was in the middle playing called out. "However, it seems that Ravenclaw wins! Yes, indeed, the game lands on 250-200 to Ravenclaw!"

Claudia took a deep breath out of pure frustration with herself for not catching the snitch, but also out of pure relief that Ravenclaw had managed to win despite her terrible focus.

Why was Claudia so unfocused you may ask? Well, she had searched the stands a million times with her eyes and then she had come to the conclusion that Remus was not there.

He was not next to James, Sirius and Peter, nor was he next to Lily, Marlene and Inez or even Betty and Pandora.

Remus was not there - and Claudia couldn't deny that despite the amount of pain that she had caused him, it did make her feel sick to her stomach to think that maybe the boy had finally given up on her.

Maybe she had gotten her way, but maybe that was not what she really wanted.

The girl landed on the ground as her teammates hugged each other and cheered over the win, but Claudia found herself feeling rather keen on the idea of going to the library, grabbing a book and simply just staying in bed for the rest of the day.

But, the universe sure had different plans for her that day.

"Claudia!" She heard Henry call after her as he ran up to her. "Are you gonna celebrate with us later?"

"I don't think so," she said with a guilty smile. "I don't feel well."

"Oh, is something specific wrong?"

"No, not really," she said, turning around to head to the showers, only for Henry to turn her back around by her shoulder.

"If you're sad about not catching the snitch, don't worry about it," Henry said assuringly. "You're a fantastic seeker. And it's your first game, so it really doesn't matter."

"Thank you, Henry," she said. "I'm sure I'll get over it."

"You better," he winked, giving her shoulder a friendly squeeze and then running back to the team.

Claudia then took a shower - doing so without even greeting her friends beforehand - and then she got ready and headed to the library to get a new book.

She walked solemnly into the library, walking with only Remus and books in her mind - only to make the worst possible discovery.

A discovery that could make everything break as it fell right from Claudia's fragile hands.

The books were gone.

Like, they weren't physically there. Not a single muggle book in sight. The shelf was completely empty - no Pride and Prejudice, no Dracula and no Romeo and Juliet.