Chapter Two: Carina Can't Believe They Didn't Tell Her
September 1st 1993
(James' PoV)
"We are going to be late, girls!"
James gave an exasperated sigh at the sound of giggling coming in upstairs being the only response to his attempt to make them hurry up. Maybe this hadn't been the wisest idea. But Carina had wanted just one more girls night in with them, never mind that she'd be in a dormitory with three out of the four of them for nine straight months… "Merlin, girls, you can have your giggle fest on the train, but you're going to miss it if you don't hurry!"
More giggles. James rolled his eyes heavenward. He'd go up there and ask them to come down, but he'd learned his lesson at the first sleepover 'Rina had had. Moral of the story? Teenage girls were scary. Very scary. Even more scary than they'd been when he was a teenager as well.
And the train would leave Kings Cross in less than fifteen minutes. Okay, it was time for last resorts to be used, James thought, sending mental thank you's to Andromeda Tonks, Molly Weasley, and Jasmine Granger. "Elladora Regina Lestrange! Dorea Bellatrix Lestrange! Hermione Jasmine Granger! Ginevra Molly Weasley! Carina Rose Black! Hurry up NOW!"
This was met with a profound silence. Then there was a muffled slamming, followed by footsteps, and the five girls appearing at the top of the staircase, let by 'Rina, who did not look pleased.
What had he done this time? "Are you ready?" he asked, more than ready for them to get to Hogwarts so he could have just one moment of peace. Then again, knowing 'Rina, that wasn't likely to happen. Wonderful.
All of them nodded and it was all James could do not to jump up and down in relief. Now all that was left was to portkey them there and say goodbye. He could do that. Then he would take a nice, long nap, and wake up and savor the silence. Not that he didn't love 'Rina and all, but the noise of several thirteen year olds made him wish that they could use magic in the summers – he was supposed to be responsible, and silencing a room so he could ignore five teenage girls wasn't likely to be considered as such. If they did it, however…
CRBCRBCRBCRBCRBCRBCRB(Back to Carina's PoV)
"'Rina, come back here for a minute, will you?"
Carina groaned and told her friends she'd be back, jogging back over to where her godfather was still standing. "What's up, James?"
He stared at her, silent for a moment, and then said, "Be careful, okay?"
"I already said I would," Carina answered with a roll of her eyes. He hadn't really asked her to come back just to discuss what they'd already discussed a thousand times, had he? "Is that all?"
"No…" James answered, looking nervous. Carina raised an eyebrow.
"Don't hate me!" he blurted, and Carina blinked in confusion. "When you get to school, you're going to find out something I could have told you but didn't, please don't hate me!"
"…alright then," Carina said, eyeing James warily. "Is this thing something I need to know?"
"No, but you'll want to," James answered.
"I'll deal," she said dryly. "Can I go now?"
James hugged her and she returned it, mainly because she really wanted him to let go and stop embarrassing her before it got any worse. She could feel Malfoy's taunting haze on her back, and she was sure that Weasley would love to taunt her, too. "Have a good year."
"I will," Carina answered, running to the train, hoping to find her friends before they chose a compartment. But apparently they'd already done so.
With a sigh, Carina resigned herself to having to search the compartments to find them. It was a very annoyed Carina that opened the door to the one compartment she hadn't already checked, finding Ella, 'Rea, Mia, and Ginny all sitting together and whispering, and across from them was… Carina blinked and fought the urge to laugh. Was that what James had been worried about? "Fancy seeing you here, Remus," she said dryly.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you," he apologized. "I wanted to surprise you, but it probably wasn't the best plan, was it?"
Carina rolled her eyes. "You and James," she muttered. "I can't believe you didn't tell me, but I'm not angry about it! Merlin, you two seem to think I'm a two year old with your judgement of my maturity levels!"
This sent 'Rea into giggles. "They do have a point, though, 'Rina."
Carina glared. "Takes one to know one," she shot back.
Mia grinned and said mockingly, "What is this, preschool? I'm rubber, you're glue, whatever you say bounces off me and sticks to you!"
Carina snorted at the looks on the confused purebloods faces. "Muggle thing," she told Ella, 'Rea and Ginny, who all nodded and had expressions that were begging her not to explain. She gave Mia a wicked grin and said to the purebloods, "Should I clarify this one?"
"NO!" all three said in a rush, sending Carina and Hermione into a fit of laughter.
"Should I be scared?" Remus asked them dryly.
"Yes," Ginny said in a perfectly serious tone. "Because in a few minutes, we're going to bring out the make-up, and the hair spells."
Carina snorted in amusement. This was referring to a prank they had pulled on Remus, James and Keith this summer, after the three men had made fun of them. Actually, it had been James and Keith that had made fun of them, they just included Remus on principle.
"I can take points now," Remus warned jokingly.
"Oh, now we're scared," Ginny replied sarcastically.
"Yes, we are," Hermione interrupted her. "So do stop threatening our newest teacher."
"Why?"
Remus looked incredibly amused at this turn of conversation, and mentally, Carina cursed her friends for their inability to see when it was NOT a good time to discuss something.
"Well, you can have at it, Gryffindor losing points really doesn't bother me, but I don't want to lose points from Ravenclaw," Hermione retorted.
"It's not like you couldn't earn them back," Ginny said obviously.
"Do you think we could trade heads of houses?" 'Rea asked thoughtfully.
"Wouldn't count on it," Carina responded, reluctantly feeling amused as well. "Don't think McGonagall could deal with people who think before they act, it would confuse the hell out of her."
Hermione muffled a snort of agreement.
"Not to mention," Carina continued, "The stupidity that is so abundant in the Gryffindor dorms would drive Flitwick to insanity. I honestly believe he thinks that being unintelligent is the worst thing that anyone could ever be. Oh, and don't forget, even if you are unintelligent, showing that in front of other houses ruins our reputation," she finished, rolling her eyes.
"Yeah," Ella spoke up. "But do you think McGonagall would have given you points for hexing two people in the halls?"
Carina grinned, "I did not HEX them, I transfigured them. There is a difference. And if you subtract the points he gave from the points he took, we still lost five points."
"How on earth do you remember things like that?" Ginny asked in shock.
"It's a gift," Carina said smugly, earning laughter from everyone in the compartment, until the train stopped, causing confusion. "What on earth?" Carina wondered out loud. "We can't possibly be at Hogwarts yet…"
Remus had his wand out and was looking around carefully, as if trying to spot a disturbance.
Carina sucked in a breath. Suddenly it was cold, far too cold to be natural. She could hear voices echoing, but from the looks on the others' faces, she knew they weren't hearing them. In fact, they were all looking at her worried. "Cold," she gasped out.
Remus' eyes widened, and surprising all of them, he cursed.
The cold got stronger and stronger, and Carina could hear a shout of run, Lily, protect our daughter, and this was followed by a woman's pleading voice, please not 'Rina, please not 'Rina, take me instead, and mixed in, she could hear some of her worse moments at the Dursley's. She slid off her seat, leaning against it and burying her head in her hands, when she heard Remus' voice shout, "Expecto Patronum!"
Slowly, the cold went away, but feeling of desperation, sadness, and fear did not fade with it. Remus was looking around with worry apparent on his face. "Are you girls okay?"
Carina saw her friends nod shakily, and forced herself to do the same. "What was that?" Hermione asked, sounding horrified.
"That was a guard of Azkaban, a dementor," Remus said grimly.
Carina knew what the answer would be before Remus said it, but the confirmation, that that was what her godfather had suffered for ten years, made her feel even worse. "Ten years," she breathed under her breath, causing everyone to turn and face her. "Never mind," she mumbled.
"But what did they do?" Hermione pressed for answers. "I mean, it got cold, and dark, and I felt as if I'd never be happy again, but what is that they are doing?"
Before Remus could answer, Carina did, in a rather mechanical voice, "Dementors are often referred to as preying on your happy memories, but rather than that, they bring your darkest, most horrifying memories to the front of your mind, and they feed off of the despair. Happiness is unbearable to them, that's why a Patronous drives them off."
Remus looked at her in surprise.
"Research," she mumbled in response.
"Not many people ever take the time to find out that it is despair they feed on, not happiness," Remus said sadly. "I wish you hadn't had the reason to."
"Me too," Carina agreed sadly.
"What do you mean?" Hermione asked, looking like she half-understood, which was not enough for her overactive sense of curiosity.
"They don't just guard Azkaban from afar," Carina answered her best friend. "They patrol the halls, they linger in front of cells… in high security, they don't ever leave."
Hermione's eyes widened in horror and understanding.
Remus was breaking apart chocolate now, giving a piece to each girl, and a rather larger one to Carina herself. She looked at it dubiously, knowing it was reputed to help, but feeling rather ill at the thought of eating anything at this point.
"It will help," Remus promised.
"I know," Carina said reluctantly, taking a tiny bite off of it and ignoring Remus' amused expression.