Cottage Roads ° james potter

-xviii. death took

❛ I'll talk my dirty talk ❜

The day everything fell apart. Tuesday morning wasn't anything out of the ordinary. Riley and Hannah left for breakfast early leaving Claire to get ready all alone. It wasn't too much of a challenge. She just had to figure out what she was missing today all by herself.

She pushed the thought aside and trusted herself enough to get dressed properly and with no second thoughts, she walked out of her dormitory. Upon arrival in the Great Hall, everything seemed reasonably normal as well. The Marauders were seated where they usually kept, the staff table talked softly amongst themselves, and Riley and Hannah bickered. Nothing out of the ordinary at all.

When classes came, Claire was daydreaming and zoning out causing the day to go by fairly slow. All she could really remember was the function of some love potion she forgot the name of, so it wouldn't be of much use.

Flitwick did ask if she was alright at one point but she thought nothing of it. Until lunch came.

More often than not, Claire arrived at lunch rather late due to moseying around in the corridors in an attempt to wake up a bit more. She was never too much of a morning person, she must admit.

Again, I must've said this far too many times but, today was no different. She arrived after a majority of the students and was confused when she saw McGonagall talking to Riley and Hannah. She watched Riley nod over at Claire making the professor turn to look her.

She had a strange pitiful look in her eyes that Claire had never seen before. "Is everything alright, Minnie?" Claire asked.

"The Headmaster would like to see you," she answered, purposefully dodging the question. Claire frowned not remembering doing anything wrong.

As McGonagall led her out the Great Hall, she couldn't help but glance down at her uniform and ask, "Is this because I forgot my tie? I promise I'll wear it tomorrow."

"No, no. You're not in trouble," the woman confirmed.

It was the longest walk to Dumbledore's office ever. When she arrived, she felt as though she ran a marathon. The thought of something awful happening was hanging over her head making her anxious. McGonagall gave her a final look of sadness then muttered a password that Claire didn't quite catch.

"Go in and knock," she ordered. Claire stepped forward but halted as the woman spoke up again. "I'm here, Claire. Never forget that."

"I know, thank you, Minnie," Claire replied, with a smile that quickly faded away when she turned around and met the door. After two light knocks, she heard a calm 'come in' and proceeded to do just that.