The Quiet Kind Of Beauty -Marauder Era

Chapter 38

As Clara and Sirius drifted back into the living room, arms brushing, they found that someone had brought a stack of parchment paper and a quill over to the coffee table. As they found their places, conversations between the others fizzled out.

"First things first," Remus began, leaning against the wall in front of them all. "We need to figure out what this transmutation circle looks like. I know you and Aaron think that your father...," He trailed off, but the statement was finished in everyone's minds. 'I know you and Aaron think that your father is using Belial to bring your mother back.'

"Yeah," Clara confirmed weakly.

Remus took a deep breath. "We can't be sure until we crack the circle," He continued.

James nibbled on his bottom lip nervously. "I never took Ancient Runes at Hogwarts," He admitted. "How hard is it to figure out?"

"A circle is like a puzzle," Lily explained, tracing a circle onto the coffee table with her finger. "You can have all the pieces - runes, in this case -, but until you can figure out what the right combination is, you'll never form a picture. Every rune means something, and together they can tell a story about what the caster intends to do,"

Clara nodded along as Lily explained. "Deciphering a pre existing circle is relatively easy if the runes are well-known. The problem is, this is an ancient art and a lot of runes are missing from our textbooks. So there's a chance we may have to guess and fill in the blanks,"

The seven of them sat in a loose circle in the living room. Clara, tucked between Sirius and Lily on the biggest couch, James on the loveseat by himself, and Remus and Aaron leaning on opposite walls. Clara picked up the quill in her hands.

"Did you recognise the runes you saw in the study?" Sirius asked her. The others turned their gazes on her expectantly.

Clara nibbled on her lip. "I didn't have time to really analyze it. I only recognized one," She began and got up from her spot to kneel in front of the coffee table. Setting the parchment down, she began to draw the circle from her father's study. She knew the layout, but it had been so long since she took ancient runes, and without her textbooks she would have trouble recognising what it all meant. There was only one that stood out to her. "Othala," She said quietly, pointing to the hooked rune.

From across the room, Aaron stiffened. Clara's eyes felt drawn to the sharp reaction like a moth to a flame, curiosity and worry spiking immediately. Remus joined her to sit across her from the table and, with a steadying breath, Clara slid the parchment towards him. A line formed in between his brows as his eyes made its way around the paper.

"I'm going to need my textbooks," He admitted. "I know a couple but these ones," He pointed to three runes, set equidistant from each other. "I don't think I've ever seen before,"

At that, Lily moved towards the table as well, peering over Remus' shoulder. As her eyes traced the marks Clara had drawn on the parchment, a frown tugged at her lips. "Same here," She gestured to the three runes Remus had just pointed to. "These ones I know we weren't taught in school,"

Clara felt a flicker of worry. Deciphering transmutation circles was difficult by default, but without knowing the runes that made the circle, the task was made infinitely more challenging. Clara didn't know if they would be able to figure it out even with the aid of their textbooks.

"Is there anything else you can remember? Anything, even if it feels insignificant," Remus asked, looking up from the parchment paper to look at Clara.

Clara sifted through her memory, made hazy by the sadness of the summer, and tried to pick apart the interactions she had with her father. One instance stood out to her the most. "The day of the party," She started, eyebrows drawn in concentration. "Before the guests arrived my father came into my room. He was drinking. Not drunk, but I could tell there was something on his mind," She swallowed, feeling heavy with dread. "He said our blood was special. 'Our ancestors were great people, greater than you could ever...'" She trailed off. It felt as if she had stepped off a cliff, her stomach sinking as the realisation of their conversation took hold of her. "Imagine..." she finished faintly.