Different

bleeding eyes

Claire was in trouble. Sirius talked with her once he decided it was safe to turn back into a human. They made a plan to help her and to make sure that the three of them were all in agreement with each other about everything. They avoided the fact that she called him dad, but he wanted to ask her about that.

Unbeknownst to her, Sirius and Remus had had that conversation a few times already. Sirius wanted to take more responsibility to help her, so he was the one who decided her punishment, although Remus had to approve first.

Which was why she was in charge of cleaning Buckbeak's room and she could only leave with Remus or Sirius. They were displeased that she met with Draco because they kept calling it a date, but they were just friends. Or at least that's what she's calling it.

"Do I have to do this?" Claire groaned, holding the bag of dead ferrets away from her body. Ron grimaced at the smell and the blood that was dripping onto the ground. 

"You lied to us, met with a boy that we've told you to stop talking to, and then ran away and climbed a tree," Remus reminded her. 

"And you made me lay on the cold ground," Sirius chimed in. Claire huffed and then whined. 

"I'm a Slytherin. What do you expect?" Claire asked as the three passed by the portrait of Walburga Black. 

"A Slytherin?" Walburga gasped, looking excited for the first time. "Well, at least one person in this house isn't a disgrace."

Claire and Remus both shut the curtains that they had put up, silencing the woman as best as they could. The portrait would usually open up if someone was too loud in the hallway, which usually came in the from of Nymphadora Tonks coming in and tripping. Claire enjoyed her company, but she was loud.

"She just gets better every time I see her," Claire said sarcastically. 

"Go feed the hippogriff before it gets angry," Remus instructed. 

"Oh, and I think he had an upset stomach last night. You should probably wear gloves," Sirius teased. Claire groaned and stomped up the steps. Buckbeak barely made her bow before almost tackling her for food. She giggled and dumped the bag out, trying not to touch the ferrets. After seeing Draco turn into a ferret, she kind of liked the animal. After Buckbeak had eaten and she had finished cleaning and then thoroughly washed her hands, Claire sat down and started throwing a ball for the animal to play with. 

Her mind kept going to Walburga's comments. She obviously didn't agree with the woman, but it did sometimes bother her that she was the only Slytherin in the house. She had spent so much time with the Gryffindors that she had picked up on some of their traits, which added to the way that most Slytherins disowned her. She knew that she had the basic Slytherin traits, even if her anxiety got the best of her. Sometimes even her dad would forget that she was a Slytherin, and she couldn't help but feel a little ashamed to have disappointed him by not being in Gryffindor. 

"Claire, you got a letter," Hermione said, shaking her out of her thoughts. Claire gave her a grateful nod and opened her letter while Ron and Hermione greeted Buckbeak. 

"Is it from Malfoy?" Ron asked. 

"Maybe," Claire responded. It was, in fact, from Draco as he asked her to meet him again the next day. 

"How does Leo feel about him writing to you?" Hermione asked. 

"Oh, I guess I haven't told you," Claire said bashfully. "I kinda broke up with him. We both just have too much on our plates right now. And he was just too protective. It made me a little uncomfortable."

"He was protective," Ron agreed, rubbing his nose where Leo punched him. Claire blushed at the memory. 

"You did deserve it," Hermione reminded him. Ron looked like he didn't agree. Claire smirked for a second as a plan came to her mind. Footsteps and the familiar voice of Mrs. Weasley alerted her that this would be the perfect time.