The Love Of A Wizard

CHAPTER 30
The Box


“I won’t do it Claudia.” Remus said. He backed away and stood erect. “I can not do it, it is too dangerous.”
“Are you really that weak now Moore!” Nick fumed. “Get a grip on yourself! So…you made a bad decision about a man. We all trusted him. He knows us, this house and what we can do. But is this a reason to sit in your gloom and doom?” Claudia turned from Nick and lit another cigarette. Tonks sat down and put her head in her hands. Her voice was muffled when she spoke,.
“Claudia, I know what you must be feeling. No…I can only guess. I know how much you loved him. But you can not let him get away with this.” Tonks raised her head to look at her friend’s back. Claudia just stood there, puffing on her smoke.
“Moore, you have to knock this off.” Came the reply from behind them all. They turned and saw Bones walking toward her, anger seeping from his every pore. Claudia gave him her back once again.
“Claudia, this is a war…in war, people are traitors. It is the game we play. You, above all people, should know this. Greater people than you have been fooled by a good roll in the bedroom. Give yourself some credit, we believed along side you he was a good man. But WE made the mistake. Now is the time to do something about it.” Antonio said wisely.
“And what would you have me do?” Claudia asked. She had lost all desire to have this conversation. She turned to face the people who cared about her and realized, she missed him more now than she ever did.
“First,” Nick scowled. “You need to shower, change clothes and tend to your daughter. Who, by the way, is in my room watching cartoons. You didn’t even inquire as to where she was. Then we will get our things together and meet these good people in London. From there, I do not know. But you must grow a pair…and do it quickly! We have always thought you to be above such nonsense. Be a part of this team again. For awhile now, you have not been. Your mind has always been on your own affairs. We came here to help you and help we will. But now…no more of this. From now on, things must be different Claud.” Claudia felt tears sting her eyes and she nodded. He was right. She was being weak and useless. How could she have ever thought of giving up? “And another thing…put that damn cigarette out!” He yelled. Claudia nodded and tossed it into the yard.

Two days can do wonders for a person who needs to put their thoughts in order. The best way Claudia could figure, was that Severus, sometime in the past year, decided he was on the wrong side. He never said he was not loyal to Voldemort. He told her he was “in the middle.” Had she not been wrapped up in her own thoughts and been so selfish, she could have noticed something wasn’t right. She could have listened to Sirius too.
What she realized was that meeting Severus in secret for such a long time had become normal to her. In fact, it was anything but. She felt he was grooming her to be his little puppet and he played on every thought and desire Claudia had. Claudia thought back to the warnings Sirius gave her so long ago and she shuddered. She could have listened to him, had she been stronger. But Claudia still couldn’t shake the other thoughts that came into her head. What if something happened that no one knew about? What if Dumbledore wasn’t really dead after all? He was a great wizard. Claudia shook those thoughts from her head and named them nonsense. Her heart was taken for a ride, and there was not another explanation for it.
The day before they were to leave for London, Claudia slipped out into the back yard after dinner. Emma had known something was wrong with her mother for days now. After repeatedly asking what it was, Claudia finally told her she was sad. Emma seemed satisfied with this answer and attempted to be as good as possible. Claudia told her they were going to London for awhile and Emma was excited at the prospect. Claudia still hadn’t found the time or the way to tell her Sirius was dead. She just couldn’t do it to her. So she told her Sirius was gone and that she wasn’t sure he was coming back anytime soon. Emma was not happy about it, but seemed cheered by the thought of spending time with Molly.
So Claudia went out into the darkness and found herself following the path that lead to the cottage. Her heart was in her throat as she walked to the door. All was black inside and she relived many memories of the time she spent inside of it with Severus. She walked in and turned on the light. It was just as they had left it the last time they were here. The throw blanket they used to cover themselves was draped over the arm of the chair. Ashes were in the fireplace.
Claudia sat down on the chair and covered herself with the blanket. It wasn’t cold outside, in fact it was quite warm. But she was chilled anyway to see her own stupidity played out right in front of her. The tears came with a rush and she let them flow. She had been fighting them off for a few days now, in an attempt to show her strength. But sitting here, and seeing the place where they proclaimed their love for one another was too much. She sat and thought about everything and decided she was wrong and Sirius was right. She did find he was evil in the end. Isn’t that what he said to her? She decided that this was the last time she would ever allow herself to cry over her mistake. She would get revenge for Sirius’s death. For Dumbledore’s death and for her own broken heart. But she would wait…until the time was right.

Until the time was right…

Claudia stood up and went over to the bookcase that she had, not long ago, hidden something Severus gave to her.
“Keep it until the time is right.” He said. “You will know when.” She remembered that night vividly. It was the last ‘normal’ night they shared together. She pulled out two books and behind them was a small wooden box. She held it in her hand and felt something roll around inside it. She sat down on the ground and opened the box.
Inside was a glass vial. It glowed bright white light. It looked light water…no…gas…no…it didn’t look like anything. She held it up to the light and looked at it for the longest time. She had no idea what it was. But she decided their were no more secrets to be kept any longer. She pocketed the vial that was replaced in it’s box and left the cottage. She swore to herself, when all this I over, she was tearing the cottage down and leveling the place where it stood. Tomorrow, she was going to London. She would bring this, whatever it was of Severus’s , with her and show it to all that would see it.


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A/N: ohhhhh...what is it? has anyone guessed yet? And, BTW, this story is already written. I wrote it a while ago. SO it is finished, and will be posted 100%...promise. *lol*