Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling does.
A/N: Okay, so for this story, we are going to completely disregard the 5th, 6th, and 7th book. It starts during the fifth book. Okay!
It was a rather chilly night, that night, a small, dainty girl, stood just yards away from a shabby little house. This girl looked so out of place here, standing in the middle of a vast country side. Her beauty glowed in the moonlight, yet a desolate look marred her face. Dark mahogany hair whipped around her pale heart shaped face, and large blue doe eyes regarded the house sadly. Behind her were various suitcases and bags, with one last sigh, she used the last of her courage for the night and dragged the bags to the old wooden door.
Raising a leather gloved fist, she rapped on the soft wood, and hoped some one would be awake at this hour. After a few moments, the door swung open, a small portly women stood in front of her, shock evident on her face.
"Hello, Auntie Molly." The young girl said, a sad smile on her face. Molly quickly moved away from the doorway and ushered the girl in.
"Carrie, dear, what brings you hear?" Molly said, shocked to see her best friend's daughter in her kitchen at around two in the morning. Carrie Lawrence was the daughter of Prudence and William Lawrence, Molly's best friend, and a family that was part of the family. Having her friend's daughter here so late made Molly worry, the Lawrence's were a very crucial part of the order, and nearly literally had a bounty glued to their heads.
Carrie looked up at Molly, tears sparkling in her eyes. "I need a place to stay for a while, Auntie Molly." Carrie mumbled.
"I hate to impose, but just maybe a week or so, I just need time to find a job, and then I can buy myself a flat." She choked as tears started streaming down her face.
"Darling, what happened?" Molly asked concerned.
"Voldemort," Carrie started, also unafraid to say his name, Molly flinched, "He paid my parents a little visit, completely destroyed the house, I was coming back from a summer trip in Italy with my friend, and I found it in ruins, with the Dark Mark over the lot, they were in the front yard, I was able to leave after the auror squad was done questioning me."
Molly sprang up to hug her, tears now streaming down her own face. "Don't you worry dear, you shall stay here until you turn seventeen, none of this nonsense of living by yourself, Ginny and the boys will be so happy your here, of course, I wish it were under different circumstances, but that's out of my control. I will write to Professor Dumbledore, and see if you can transfer to Hogwarts." Carrie had attended Beauxbaton's previously. "Now let's get you upstairs, you can stay in Ginny's room, and get you to bed, you poor dear, the ordeal that you were forced to go through must have made you so tired."
Carrie nodded, and followed Molly upstairs, her luggage floating behind her. When they reached Ginny's room, Molly slowly opened the door, so as not to wake anyone up, and let her in. With just the light of the candle, Carrie put her stuff against the wall on the right, furthest from Ginny's bed, and with a flick of Molly's wand, a comfy looking bed appeared next to Ginny's.
"Goodnight, dear, and if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask." Molly said softly. Carrie nodded numbly, and turned to her things, as the door shut. Quickly, she went through one of the smaller bags and pulled out a plaid pair of light green flannel pants that hung loosely around her waist, and a black tank top that she pulled over her head. She pulled her wavy hair into a pony tail, although some pieces fell loosely into her face.
Yawning lightly, she pulled the sheets back on her new bed, and climbed underneath them. She rolled over and stared at the wall, tears stinging her eyes for what seemed like the hundredth time that night. Annoyed at herself for being so weak, she furiously wiped the from her cheeks, and let sleep fog her mind.
That morning, Carrie woke up with the feeling of the sun stroking her face. She blinked, sleepily, and rolled over to lay on her back. For the first time, she took in Ginny's room, the ceiling slanted down to the side, the walls were a light blue, though they were littered with various posters of quidditch teams and bands. On Ginny's dresser, were a few pictures of Ginny and her brothers, some of her friends, Carrie smiled to herself when she saw that she was included in the pictures, for the first time since her parent's were killed she remembered that there were more people who loved her. Standing up, she stretched her arms, and gathered some clothes to change into, then walked to the shower, hoping no one else was using it.
Carrie sighed as the hot water beat against her back, showers always seemed to soothe her, and at the moment, she was just a bundle of nerves. As she got out, she could vaguely make out the somber look on her face, as she passed the mirror.
Her black pumas tapped lightly against the wood floor, as she walked down to the kitchen in a dark pair of jeans, and a black t-shirt that read 'I taught your boyfriend that thing you like'. When she entered the kitchen, six faces turned towards her. Ginny immediately stood up, and for a few seconds all any one could see was a red blur until she embraced Carrie tightly. Carrie smiled, and hugged her friend back, "Hey Gin, miss me much?" Sarcasm evident in her voice.
"Carrie," Molly's soft voice interrupted the moment, "I just finished telling them about what happened, I haven't told them the rest yet, though." Carrie nodded, and Molly continued what they must have been talking about before she entered the room.
"So, because of this unfortunate incident, Carrie will be living with us until she turns seventeen-"
She was cut of by the twins who said unanimously, "Excellent." Fred, George, and Carrie have always been very good friends, she often helped them with their prank ideas, and they were nearly always together when Carrie used to visit.
"-and will be transferred to Hogwarts, she's going to be in the same year as Ron, by the way dear, I got the letter from Dumbledore, so everything is cleared, he will be sending your list with everyone else's, which should be arriving sometime today." As if on cue, an owl soared through the window, carrying a rather large load of letters. While Molly started handing them out, Carrie sat down between Ginny and Fred, and helped herself to some eggs.
"So, Care-Bear," Fred started, calling her by her nickname the twins gave her when they discovered the muggle children's toy, "want to go flying out in the orchard?" He asked, while stuffing his face with bacon, while Molly looked on disapprovingly.
Carrie laughed, although it was still not as happy as it used to be, Fred noticed. "Of course!" She said excitedly, "Wait 'till I show you what my dad... got me..." She trailed off, tears prickling her eyes, remembering her dad. She blinked rapidly, while looking down at her plate. Before she left for Italy, her father gave her a departing gift, it was also meant as a birthday present, but who really needs specifics, and it was the broom she'd been coveting for months, the Firebolt. She looked up again, when she was sure that her eyes were dry, and smiled lightly, "He got me a Firebolt." She said gloatingly. It was at that moment, that she realized that she needed to pull through. Nobody wanted to hang around a cry baby, and she was stronger than this. "And while we go flying, you two goof balls can tell me what I've missed since I was last here." I said brightly. They nodded enthusiastically, their mouths still full of food.
Done with breakfast, Carrie jumped up enthusiastically to get her broom, she ran downstairs to see the twins and Ginny eagerly awaiting her. "So," she started, "what have I missed?" As the walked down to orchard, they told her all about the joke shop they were planning on opening, and about their products. "Brilliant, I've had this idea for a while now, but I haven't gotten around to tell you guys, how about a line of perfume and cologne to make various animals become attracted to a person and have them follow you everywhere. Imagine the look on your friend/enemy/significant other's face when they have a giant pack of squirrels, or worse skunks, following them around all day." Ginny grinned at the idea, and Fred and George high-fived each other.
"This leads us to something we've wanted to ask you since breakfast," Fred started.
George got down on one knee and took her hand, while Fred draped his arm around her shoulders, while George continued Fred's sentence, "Would you do us the honor, of being our WWW prank consultant and inspirer?" Carrie, laughed at them, fully aware of their tendency to dramatize everything, and went along with them.
"Oh Gred, Forge, I don't know what to say," She said in a weepy voice, as though she were about to cry, "I would love to, it's been my life long dream, ever since I met you. Now my life is complete." That was as far as she got before she cracked up and fell over laughing, Fred and George joining her soon after, while Ginny walked stood over them, shaking her head and muttering something along the lines of 'Bloody lunatics'.
After they had calmed down, they got back up, and kicked off, flying around. Soon, they started a game, Carrie and Ginny against Fred and George. Since it was only two on two, they just threw an old basketball around and the first to ten won. Carrie and George were the keepers while Ginny and Fred were the chasers. Eventually Carrie and Ginny won, although the twins protested that they let the girls win.
"Carrie, you're really good as keeper." George complimented, Carrie grinned and shrugged her shoulders in an offhand way.
"No really," Fred encouraged, "You should try out for the opening keeper position for Gryffindor."
"If I get into Gryffindor." Carrie reminded them.
"You will," Ginny stated, "with the way you act up, no other house will want you." Ginny and the twins burst out laughing while Carrie scowled at the comment, then she shrugged and laughed with them. As they walked in, Molly was in the kitchen fussing over the sink her wand flicking repeatedly at it with a cleaning spell.
"Whoa, Auntie Molly," Carrie started, "What's with all the cleaning?"
"Oh, sweetie, I forgot to tell you, Ron's friends, Harry and Hermione are coming to stay for the summer." Molly replied, looking rather frazzled. Carrie nodded, and grabbed and apple from off the table. Biting into it, she offered her help.
"No, deary, I'm fine, you go and have fun." Carrie smiled, and ran up to Ginny's room, her room now too, she mused, and gestured for Ginny to come follow her.
Plopping on her bed, she faced Ginny, "So, what's the deal with Harry and Hermione, who are they?" Carrie asked.
"Harry is Harry Potter," Carrie noticed that Ginny blushed a little at his name, and decided to bring it up later, "he and Ron have been best mates since their first year, Hermione too, and although Ron will never admit it, he's madly in love with her. Hermione loves him too, but nobody has acted on their feelings yet."
Carrie grinned mischievously, and Ginny looked at her warily, "What ever you're thinking, no."
"But Ginny," Carrie whined, "don't you want to help people find love, and be happy?"
Ginny sighed, "No."
"Fine, but I can't promise anything about you and Harry."
Ginny gasped, and threw a pillow at her.
"Hey, I was just pointing out a fact, no need to get violent." Carrie said, still grinning.
"I don't like Harry." Ginny denied instantly.
"Of course you don't," Ginny nodded in relief, "You love him." Ginny started nodding again, then stopped abruptly.
"What?"
"You heard me," then Carrie started singing teasingly, "You love him, you want to kiss him, you want to marry him, you want to fu-"
Carrie was cut off abruptly by Ginny's hand pressed up against her mouth. "Shut up." She hissed.
"Am I right?"
"Yes," Ginny nodded miserably, "But I've given up on him, he only sees me as his best mate's little sister."
Carrie nodded, a thoughtful look on her face, "Well, you may have given up on him, but that doesn't mean I can't girlify you."
Ginny looked at her in horror, "What?"
"Come on Ginny, you're gorgeous, but with six older brother's, you act more like a boy than a girl." Ginny shrugged, agreeing with her, although still looking a bit hesitant.
"Please, Ginny? I love make overs." Ginny sighed in defeat.
"Sure, but no trying to set up Harry and me." Carrie squealed with excitement, and pulled Ginny over to her suitcases, as Ginny didn't really have girly clothes. Picking up some ripped jeans, and a dark blue tank top, she threw them to Ginny.
"Put these on, we don't want to make it obvious what we're doing, but you need to show a little more cleavage." Carrie muttered to Ginny, as she rummaged through more of her things, looking for her wand.
"So, you never told me what Italy was like." Ginny said, while pulling on the jeans.
"It was amazing, and so beautiful. I met this guy there, and it was cool for a while, and then, I don't know, he started getting really weird. Finally, I ended the whole affair when he started bashing muggleborns, it was a rather nasty argument, I kicked his ass though. Threw a lamp at him, afterwards as well." Ginny could see in her eyes that she wasn't telling the whole story, but didn't press the issue.
Sitting down in front of Carrie, Ginny patiently waited for the rest of the make-over. However, when Carrie pulled out her wand, Ginny gave her a weird look.
"You're not aloud to do magic outside of school, the Ministry will catch you."
"Ginny, Ginny, Ginny," Carrie sighed, shaking her head, "Sweet, naïve, little Ginny, the Ministry can only detect that magic is being done, not who does it, so if I do this charm, they have to assume it was Auntie Molly, and will think nothing more of it." Ginny grinned at this piece of information, and Carrie could tell she was plotting.
"First thing, I'm going to make you're hair a bit darker, but not so dark, that anyone will notice anything." With a flick of Carrie's wand, Ginny's hair turned about two shades darker.
"Next, I'm going to make it naturally a bit curlier." Another flick, and Ginny's hair was a bit curly, but only at the ends.
"Ginny, you're eyes are gorgeous." Carrie complimented, as she flicked her wand again, and applied eyeliner, mascara, and a bit of light brown eye shadow. With one last flick, Carrie applied some rose colored lip stain, so her lips looked like they were naturally that color.
When Carrie finished, she covered Ginny's eyes, and pulled her over to her full length mirror. After Carrie removed her hands from Ginny's eyes Ginny gasped. "Is that me?" Carrie laughed then nodded.
"Yeah babe, that's you. Didn't I tell you? You're gorgeous." With that, Carrie left the room, off to find Ron.
Heading up to his room, Carrie smirked a little at her plan. It wasn't as if she loved to meddle. Okay it was, but she just liked to see people happy. At her old school, she was called the Matchmaker, but really, getting people together was something she did when she was upset.
Raising her fist, she knocked lightly on the door. A moment later, Ron stood in the doorway, confusion evident.
"Hey Ron!" She said brightly, striding into the room without invitation.
"What's up, Carrie?"
"I heard you're friends are coming in a bit." Carrie said vaguely, not letting on to why she was there.
"Yeah." Ron grunted, still completely confused.
"They seem nice." She said, picking up some random items, and inspecting them idly.
"Yeah."
"And you like Hermione."
"Yeah- What?" He exclaimed, taken by surprise.
"I knew it!" Carrie said exitedly.
"Carrie please don't meddle." He groaned, knowing what she was up to.
"Who said I was?" She asked mischievously.
"No one, but-"
"Then what proof do you have that I am?" Carrie grinned, and walked out, leaving Ron shaking his head in exasperation.
Making her way further up the stairs, Carrie made her last stop. Without even knocking, she barged into the twins' room.
"Hello my comrades of mischief making!" She exclaimed grinning. Fred and George looked up from their cauldron, that was smoking a pretty yet worrisome purple.
"I have a proposition for you." They grinned, they always loved Carrie's propositions.
"As you may have noticed, we will soon have two lovesick and completely clueless couples." They nodded.
"I propose that we start Operation: Matchmaking. Our goal? Get together Ron and Hermione, and Harry and Ginny. Are you with me?" They grinned.
"While we are a bit disturbed at setting up our siblings-" George started.
"And we're not sure if we actually want are sister to be dating-" Fred said.
"We agree to help-" George said.
"Because we're secretly romantics." Fred said.
Carrie snorted, "Romantics, my arse."
"And what a nice arse it is too." Fred smirked.
"You too just like to sneak around, although that is why I came to you for help." Carrie said, ignoring the arse comment, although her blushing cheeks gave her away. For several hours, Carrie sat with her two best friends, planning to meddle like they've never meddled before. As the day started getting dark, Molly called up to them to come downstairs.
Bounding down to the living room with Fred and George behind her, Carrie caught sight of a rather lean muscled boy with ridiculously messy hair, and a pretty looking girl with light chocolate curls.
"Hello all, I'm Carrie." She said with an exuberance, that could only be matched by a young child on Christmas day.
"Harry." Said the boy, casually sticking his hand out.
"Pleasure, I'm sure. I'm Hermione Granger." The girl said with a light air of arrogance. Carrie had to restrain herself from rolling her eyes. She wasn't exactly sure why Ron fancied this girl, she seemed a bit stuck up.
Leaning on Fred, Carrie eyed the room. The awkwardness was rather uncomfortable, so she excused herself.
"As much fun as this is, I'm going to head up, I have this plan I need to finish." Fred and George grinned, and followed behind her. When the were back up to her room, she rummaged through her things to find the book she was looking for.
"Well that was awkward." Carrie finally said.
"Yeah, well Hermione always was kind of snooty," George said.
"Really, I hadn't noticed." Sarcasm was evident in her voice.
"Don't worry, once she gets to know you, she'll love you." Fred said, draping a comfortable arm over her shoulders.
"Okay, but for know, I think I'm going to go down and read a bit." Carrie said with a grin on her face, the twins just rolled their eyes, and followed her.
Downstairs, Carrie curled up on the large suede armchair by the fire. She propped her arms up on the sides, and soon she was absorbed in her book.
"What are you reading?" Carrie looked up to see Hermione looking at her with interest.
"Sense and Sensibility." Carrie answered shortly.
"Really? I thought you were a pureblood." Hermione stated.
Carrie narrowed her eyes, "Just because I'm a pureblood doesn't me I can't enjoy muggle literature." Feeling a little miffed, she stood up and went to the kitchen to help Molly with the dinner.
While she was walking away, she could faintly hear Hermione scoff, "Why I never..."
Turning towards Molly, Harry, and Ron, she asked politely, "Hello Auntie Molly, would you mind if I helped? There's nothing else to do."
"Of course not dear, why don't you help Ron and Harry peel the potatoes?" She said sweetly, although rather distractedly, as she was stirring the stew. Carrie sat down next to them, and picked up a potato, and a knife. Furiously, she dragged the blade across the rough skin, grumbling about annoying know-it-alls, and the stupid ignoramuses of the world.
"Whoa, Carrie," Carrie looked up, to see Harry grinning lightly, "Make sure there's some potato left for the dinner."
"Oops," She grinned, "Must have been lost in my thoughts."
"I'll say," Ron grumbled, "You probably have the second biggest vocabulary out of everyone I know."
"Who's the first?" Carrie just had to ask.
Harry and Ron glanced at each other, then said unanimously, "Hermione."
Carrie stiffened, then smiled, "Yes, I suppose so."
If she wanted this plan to work, she would have to get to be friends with Hermione. The conversation, quieted then, both of them seeing you were lost in your thoughts. Finally when you were done, dinner was ready, and every one was called in. Sitting in a chair, with Fred and George next to her, Carrie observed the couples. Harry was staring at Ginny for a good while, before blushing and focusing on his food. Ron, who was sitting next to Hermione, was arguing with her, Carrie leaned in to see what it was about.
"I can not always let you copy off of me, it's not my fault you didn't do your summer homework." Hermione ground out, trying her best not to start yelling.
"She's right, you know," Carrie jumped in, "If you never do your own homework, you'll never learn anything."
Hermione turned to you, a rather icy glare left you flabbergasted, as she said, "Thank you, but I do believe this conversation is between Ronald and I, and no one asked your opinion."
Carrie just muttered her apology, and looked down at her plate, and speared the chicken viciously with her fork. She was quiet for the rest of dinner.
A/N: So that's the first chapter, tell me what you think! Also, I have a picture of what Carrie looks like on my profile.