Different

panic attacks

"Ok, but how did people think before there was language? Or was there always language? Like, how did that work? How did language come to be?"

Draco raised an eyebrow at Claire as they sat in a small clearing in the woods. The Forbidden Forest wasn't as scary now that they were older, and it was often the only place to get some peace and quiet. They had decided to skip History of Magic and sit in the forest since Professor Binns never seemed to take attendance and neither of them cared about the class. Plus, they were both smart enough to pass the tests without studying. Claire was laying on her back and watching the clouds while Draco was sitting next to her, lazily leaning back and letting the sun wash over him, glad that he knew a spell to keep from getting sunburns.

"Don't think that hard," Draco finally replied, having heard her wonder about language for at least five minutes. 

"But isn't that crazy?" Claire asked, sitting up to look Draco in the eye, glad to see the small smile on his face. He lazily brushed a strand of hair away from her face without even thinking, but his smile widened as she blushed. Neither teen had opened up about how they felt, leading to a lot of looks and touches that made both of their stomachs erupt with butterflies that neither would admit were happening. 

"What's crazy is that we've been out here for over an hour and yet haven't told me anything about you being gone," Draco told her seriously. Claire frowned and moved to lay back down with a huff.

"I was asleep most of the time with mono," Claire said truthfully, although it wasn't the full truth.

"But why over a month?" Draco asked, plucking a small flower from the ground and putting it in the braid that Hermione had done to Claire's hair.

"I guess I get sick easily and it gets bad," Claire lied, picking her own flower and sitting up long enough to put it behind Draco's ear. She did, in fact, get sick easy and she had spent many nights when she was a kid sneaking into Harry's room so he would be able to help her since Evan and Millicent never would. 

"Why did you never write back?" Draco asked.

"I was too tired."

Claire didn't want to lie to Draco, but she had to. Plus, she read all the letters that she had gotten, and Draco hadn't sent her any, but she assumed that Remus and Sirius had something to do with that.

"I still can't believe you're back," Draco admitted, his voice soft. Claire sat up in front of him and they both crossed their legs, their knees touching. "I was so worried."

"I was fine," Claire assured him. "My dad and Sirius both made sure of that."

Her eyes widened in shock as soon as she realized what she said. Draco sent her a confused look as he processed the sentence before he realized what she said. She tried not to get offended when he stood up, which she hurried to follow.

"I meant my grandfather," Claire lied, her eyes wide. Draco's eyes were somehow wider, and he looked almost scared. It was almost ironic seeing as he had basically admitted to her that his dad was a Death Eater.

"Sirius? Sirius Black? The mass murderer?" Draco asked, his voice shaky with shock.

"Yes and no," Claire sighed. "I'll tell you everything but you have to promise not to tell anyone. Not Crabbe or Goyle or Pansy, not even Blaise and Theo. And definitely not your parents. You have to promise."

Draco didn't look very convinced. He looked like he wanted to tell everyone what she said, and she knew that he was debating what his father taught him to do: blackmail and bully as soon as he gets any information.

"I promise," Draco said surely. Claire hesitated but held her hand up.

"Pinky promise?"

"I have no idea what that is," Draco said, a blank look on his face that made Claire laugh.