The Quiet Kind Of Beauty -Marauder Era

Chapter 4

As Clara and Sirius ate dinner under the Great Hall, she noticed something different about him. Well, a couple of things really. The way his eyes sparkled when he laughed, or how he smelled mint and rain. Clara was surprised of how she hadn't noticed it before.

"Clara? Clara!" Sirius snapped his fingers in front of her nose, causing her to jerk out of her trance.

"W-What?" She asked, confused.

Sirius looked at her, "I was just asking if you wanted some ice cream."

"Oh," She said, recollecting herself, "sure." Sirius nodded and and gave the order to a house elf she disappeared in the crowd of the tiny elves.

"Are you okay?" Sirius asked, raising his eyebrows. His voice... smooth and deep. Clara's eyes widened and she mentally smacked herself. You're not supposed to think like that! You can't think like that! She thought urgently. It was stupid of her to even have such thoughts when she knew about how her father would say.

"I'm fine, just thinking is all." Clara replied distantly, twirling the tips of her hair.

"Look, if you're still worried about where you''ll stay, I've already told you-," Sirius began reassuringly.

"Oh! No, that's not what I'm thinking about, Sirius." Clara quickly said, shaking her head.

"Then what is it?" He arched an eyebrow.

Clara panicked slightly, "Um.. girl problems?" Her answer came out sounding more a like an answer.

"Oh," Sirius flushed, "I'm going to assume that its about a boy." Clara laughed.

"Your assumption was right." The words slipped out of her lips unknowingly and her face heated up soon after. Sirius' eyes darkened by a notch.

"Who is it?" He asked somewhat coldly, eyes narrowing slightly. Clara was thrown off by the question and his tone.

"Oh, um, you don't know him." She said hurriedly.

"Can't I just know his name then?" He asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Oh.. um.. His name.. His name is Elijah." Clara stammered. Turning around, she mentally cursed herself.

"Elijah.." Sirius murmured, furrowing his eyebrows. "He does he go here?"

"No, he goes to Durmstrang," Clara said, increasing the pile of lies she had said.

"What year?"

"Seventh."

"How long have you known him?"

"Two years. He's a family friend." And so it went on. Question after question. Lie after lie. A deep pit of regret buried itself in the depths of her stomach. Finally, a few minutes later, the questions stopped. Sirius' face was stoic.

Sirius' mind was cluttered with thoughts. How did he not know that Clara might like someone other than him? And he was a Durmstrang student too! A small -well actually a big- part of him was crumbling inside of him. How had he been so naive? How could Sirius think that she would like him back? Because, she's not like other girls, a voice in his head told me. She's special.

"How did you guys meet?" Sirius questioned again. She stared at him incredulously.

"Why are you so curious about my love life all of a sudden?" She asked, raising her eyebrow. Sirius forced himself to calm down.

"Since you have no brother, I have to take the protective brother role, duh." He said, rolling his eyes like it was obvious.

"Oh.'' Was the only thing Clara could utter. Popping out of nowhere, the minute house elf jumped in front of them, holding two bowls of ice cream; one chocolate mint, and one rocky road. Clara's hand immediately reached out to grab the rocky road the exact same time Sirius' shot out to grab the same one. Both of their hands were piled up on each other; Sirius' on top and Clara's on bottom.

They both flushed, and retracted their hands as if shocked by electricity.

"S-Sorry, here, you can take it." Sirius stuttered, taking the nutty bowl from the elf and holding it out to Clara. She smiled and took the ice cold bowl from his hands.

"Thanks, Sirius." She said, popping the spoon in her mouth. While she chewed on a chestnut, Sirius took the other bowl from the house elf, who apparated away.

"I really should start studying more.." She mumbled, trying to spark a conversation.

"You study every second of the day, Clara. One day your going to collapse because your brain is overloaded with facts and theories." Sirius said, taking a bite out of his ice cream.

"I will not." Clara rolled her eyes.

"You never know!" Sirius protested. "You're overdoing yourself, Clara." She just rolled her eyes again, finishing up her rocky road. After Sirius had finished his, they walked back to the Gryffindor common room.

"I'm going to take a shower, I'll be in my dorm if anyone needs me." Clara mumbled, carefully rubbing her eyes. Sirius sighed, but nodded. Clara gracefully bounded up the girls' dormitory staircase and into her own dorm that she shared with Lily. Walking to her bed, she lifted up her pillow, picking up a pair of glasses that was stuffed inside the pillow case. She also picked up the contacts case. Next, she rummaged through her drawers, pulling a t-shirt, pajama pants, and her undergarments. Stumbling into the bathroom, she locked the door and leaned over the sink so she was closer to the mirror. She carefully brought her finger up to her eye and brought it down so it touched her iris. When she pulled her hand back, a tiny contact clung to her finger. Her vision became odd, one side was clear, and the other one was blurred. She put her contacts into the case. Quickly, she removed the other one and blinked a few times, ridding some of the blurriness. She quickly stripped and turned the shower on, wasting no time in getting in while the water was still cold. She enjoyed the feeling of the cold water turn warmer and warmer until it was hot.

~~~

About half an hour later, Clara was in her bed, glasses on, furiously reviewing her old textbooks. The door opened and closed loudly, causing Clara to whip her glasses off her face. She looked up and saw a mass of bright red hair easily.

"Oh," She breathed a sigh of relief, "it's just you." She put on her glasses again.

"I don't know why you're so scared of letting other people see you in glasses, I think you look adorable." Lily said, plopping down her bed.

"I just don't want people seeing." Clara shrugged. Lily grinned a toothy smile.

"You mean you don't want Sirius to see you in glasses." She smirked. Clara flushed and chucked pillow at her face, missing by a millimeter.

"Shut up, Lily." She mumbled, looking down. But still, a small part of her fluttered. Was what Lily saying true?