A Whole New Adventure

Part 15

The trio continued their nightly escapades under the curious eye of Remus who—bless his heart—turned a blind eye whenever one of the three sprouted yet another excuse for disappearing. They managed to go through an entire bookshelf in the Room of Requirement in the time they've been there, granted it was mostly Clarissa who did the heavy reading whilst the boys picked up a book here and there but mostly dueled each other.

Thankfully, their first Hogsmeade weekend was coming up and they deserved a break from their training. Clarissa was super excited to see the little village and was practically bursting with energy. Although the girls invited her to go around the village with them, she politely declined and opted to go with the Marauders instead, though they agreed to meet at the Three Broomsticks for lunch.

Clarissa naturally gravitated towards James, and by relation the rest of the Marauders. It made sense due to her predicament but she also spent plenty of time with her girl friends. She found herself studying with Lily and Em most of the time, and surprisingly with Remus and Peter as well.

The Ravenclaw observed how the latter interacted with their friends as they made their way down the path to the village. Contrary to popular belief, Peter Pettigrew was not a brainless buffoon who followed James and Sirius blindly. He was smart and witty in his own way, but unfortunately when you're standing in the shadows of people like James and Sirius and even Remus, it's hard to stand out. Perhaps it was the old part of Clarissa that expected Peter to be more resentful towards his friends, however from her memories of him and the little time she spent with the fourth marauder, he was more humble than anything. It seemed he didn't mind being on the sidelines and quietly cheered his friends on.

This made it difficult for Clarissa to determine what steps she needed to take when it came to Peter Pettigrew. She knew the outcome but not the trajectory and she did not want to wait too long to see what path he would take, especially if it was the one she was familiar with. But at what point does foreknowledge become baseless accusations that in turn could push him away rather than help?

Clarissa was pulled back from her thoughts when a loud laugh erupted from the four boys in front of her. Her heart warmed seeing them so happy and stress free, just enjoying the moment together. She shook her head slightly, trying not to think about what the future holds for the people in front of her; the gaunt cheeks of a wrongly committed convict, the heavy shoulders of the lone wolf, and the quivering state of the supposed traitor. Don't even get her started on the glazed, unseeing eyes of her lover.

For a second time in that moment, Clarissa was brought out from her thoughts but not because of a sound but by a familiar warm hand. Her body knew who it belonged to before her eyes could even look up. James gave her a curious look, an eyebrow raised with the wordless question she knew too well these days.

"I'm fine, hon," The brunette tells him with a soft reassuring smile.

The squeeze of his hand around hers felt grounding, remembering her mother's words that felt so long ago, about focusing on the present rather than what is to come. Finally out of her inner turmoil, Clarissa realized they finally arrived at the entrance of Hogsmeade Village. It was just as magical as the replica she knew of before being pulled into this world. Although there was no snow blanketing the roofs of the stores yet, it still looked very pretty with all the individual decorations of each store.

"So, where's our first stop lads?" Sirius asked the group, looking around the shops and taking in the other students and villagers milling around.

Remus also surveyed the village, "Well, I just used my last quill yesterday and I need to refill my ink well so I need to stop by Scrivenshafts at some point."

Clarissa nodded and mentioned she also needs some ink and she was interested in going to Tomes and Scrolls to see what books they have available for their special project. Knowing the boys, it was unlikely for James and Sirius to step foot into said book store unless it was Christmas and they needed to buy presents (for Remus, Lily, or Clarissa).