Caradoc Alexander Dearborn.
His eyes have always been bright and that is the first thing his mother notices about him when he is born. His curiosity is present right from the beginning and everyone takes notices of his perception, his eagerness. He grins and his cheeks light up.
As a baby, he is cherished.
He is eight years old when Allison is born and he had longed for a sister for forever. She is tiny and he can hold her because he is old enough to know how precious she is. She looks up at him and she knows who he is and he likes this because now, he is important.
When the time comes for him to go to school, he is sad because this means he will have to be away from Allie, as he calls her, for extended periods of time. Who will teach her how to count to twenty? Who will sing her to sleep? Who will show her the best hiding spots when playing hide and go seek? These are things that he should be doing. But he has to go to school and he thinks he hears her whimper when he gets on the train.
He is smart but he is modest and though he is brave and loyal, he belongs to Ravenclaw where he meets a boy named Edgar Bones who talks about his little sister and how much she wants to be with him. Caradoc tells Edgar he knows how he feels and he thinks that he has made a friend.
As a boy, he is excited.
Caradoc is studying for his Charms final to no avail when Edgar suggests that Amelia, who has always been good at Charms, give him a hand. Caradoc does not want to admit that he needs help but Edgar insists.
Amelia is shorter than he is but her personality makes her stand a foot taller. She is smart and she is happy and she has eyes unlike anything he has seen before and it makes him think of the bottoms of the ocean.
He is sixteen when he kisses her for the first time and takes her by surprise because she is looking for a library book on dangerous magical creatures. He is brave and tells her that he'd like to go to Hogsmeade with her and she tells him that she'd like that.
As an adolescent, he is proud.
Caradoc is on his way home from Hogwarts for the last time because he has graduated when he sees Alastor Moody walking down the trail that leads to the Dearborn's from door. They have all been killed. All of them.
Caradoc falls to his knees, hyperventilating. His father who caught him when he fell from the top of their oak tree, his mother who was always gentle and expecting another baby, and Allie, sweet Allie who would be going to Hogwarts next year, gone. They were all gone.
Caradoc knows that he shouldn't go out in such a state, but he can't stay in that house. Not that house. So he goes to a party because he knows Amelia is going to be there. And she holds him and tells him that it will be okay and he believes her.
When he is welcomed into the Auror department, he throws everything he has into training and being the best at what he does because he wants to – need to – avenge his losses. He comes home with broken bones and wounds that are deep but not deeper then his pain.
When Amelia graduates the following year, they buy a house together and talk about the future. They agree to not get married and he is okay with that, because it is another event that his family would have taken place in. Amelia somehow knows this and laces her fingers through his before kissing his temple.
As a man, he is loved.
He is on his way home from the Ministry when he sees the Dark Mark lighting up the sky and he knows that it is happening. The hooded figures seem to appear from no where and he isn't ready for the attack.
Caradoc had hoped that his death would have been more heroic and the he would have had time to actually put up a fight, but he didn't. His only defense was to close his eyes so that he couldn't see it coming, but in so many ways, he did.
Ashley1008