black coffee | remus lupin [2]

47. happy halloween!

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"ARE YOU SURE THIS leads to Hogwarts?" Regulus asked as he walked through the secret passageway that went from the cellar of Honeydukes in Hogsmeade to the One-Eyed Witch statue that was placed inside Hogwarts.

He was there alongside Claudia, of course, and Nicolas, who had agreed to come along in case someone, specifically a teacher or a Slytherin student, would show up and make the mission they were now in the middle of far more difficult.

Now, let's go over the most recent events.

After Remus had left Claudia alone in his room, she had felt embarrassed, ashamed and sad due to how bad his reaction towards her taking the map had been. But, she had chosen not to do anything about it, so instead she had headed home and fallen asleep.

The next morning, she had woken up knowing just what was to come.

You see, the plan of the day, or more specially evening, was to find what Claudia was certain was Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem at Hogwarts. It was said to be somewhere in the castle, but no one had seen the object in about a few centuries or so, so it most certainly wouldn't be easy to find it.

However, Claudia had an old friend back at the castle. A person that would carry great importance that night. Well, maybe not really a person. Sort of a person.

A ghost.

You might recall how years ago, on an evening that Claudia would be reminded of more than once that night, the girl mentioned to the Marauders that she was quite friendly with Helena "the Grey Lady" Ravenclaw - Rowena's daughter.

Claudia was sure that if anyone could help them find the diadem, it would be Helena.

They just had to figure out how to make her talk.

"Yes," Claudia replied in a flat tone to Regulus as they continued to walk through the cold and dark passage. "I've been here a thousand times before. It leads straight to Hogwarts."

Regulus nodded, feeling awfully uncomfortable over the fact that he was stuck with Claudia, who sort of despised him, and Nicolas, who he hadn't spoken to since they had kissed.

He was, of course, not alone when it came to feeling that way. Nicolas was awfully uncomfortable, and Claudia for one was just quite moody that night.

And it definitely didn't help that the closer she got to Hogwarts, the more she thought about how badly she had messed up with Remus.

They walked through the wider part of the passage, and Claudia recalled that one night in fifth year during which she and the Marauders went to Honeydukes and stole some sweets, only to take a break from the walk back by sitting down in the middle of the passage.

It was cold and rather eerie, Claudia remembered, but she didn't mind at all, for she had friends to experience it with. And most of all, she had Remus to experience it with.