This chapter feels a little short... sorry 'bout that. Anyway, thanks to lightbabe, xXMizzAlecVolturiXx, Carina (squees!), and zoeyzoeyg for reviewing. I'm so excited to explore more of Carina's wolfishness in coming chapters. She's currently my favourite protag to write.

CARINA

When the train got to Hogsmeade, all anyone could talk about was the dementors. It wasn't just Carina who'd been affected. Most people mentioned a cold feeling in the pit of their stomach, like they'd just swallowed ice. Carina's reaction wasn't really an isolated event, it had just been worse than most. Word had spread, about her screaming in her compartment, and only bolstered the rumours that she was crazy. Thankfully for Carina, most people were more interested in Harry Potter.

As Carina hurried off the train, avoiding meeting anyone's eye, she heard her brother talking loudly about how Potter had fainted. His voice was both malicious and delighted, and Carina looked over at him with a flash of disapproval in her eyes. He didn't notice her, too caught up in the attention. His friends were laughing at every taunt he threw, hanging on every word.

Carina wanted to say or do something, but she hadn't the right to scold Draco anymore. She never really had. Growing up, Draco had virtually been allowed to get away with murder, while Carina had to answer for every mistake she made. It made her blood burn. There were deep reserves of fury within her, which she'd never touched before being turned. Lately they seemed to overflow with something hotter than magma, something vicious within Carina that must've been the wolf.

Her eyes narrowed and she made a step towards her brother, intending to drag him away from his friends, or say something that would shut him up. She never got there. Adrian and Peregrine intercepted her, Perry grasping her arm in his gentle grip. Despite his tenderness, she flinched at his touch.

"Are you okay?" Perry asked lowly. "We heard about what happened. A dementor tried to give you the kiss?"

Carina shook her head. "No, that's not true," she spat. "I'm fine, Peregrine. Let go of me."

Perry looked her in the face for a long moment before he released her arm. Adrian rolled his eyes at Perry, as though by obeying her he was giving up too easily. "Are you done being antisocial yet?" he asked her with a cheeky smirk. "We miss you, Rina."

"This isn't a joke," Carina mumbled, her face heating up with frustration. "Just leave me alone, guys."

She shoved past them, pushing Adrian so hard he stumbled backwards. His eyes got wide and he looked to Perry for help.

"We're worried about you," Perry said, following on Carina's heels as she tried to navigate the crowded platform. The noise of students talking, laughing, and calling to their friends seemed to roll over Carina, reminding her of just how disconnected she'd become from them all. And there were her old friends, at her side, trying to get her to connect again.

Adrian and Perry shadowed her as they walked to the carriages with the other students. Carina could only ignore them when they tried to involve her in their idle conversation. She'd been friends with them since they were first years, and to treat them like they were nothing to her was painful.

Not for the first time Carina wondered what they thought about her giving them the cold shoulder. It had been sudden, during their fifth year. Perry seemed to think they'd done or said something wrong, while Adrian was convinced Carina's parents had forbidden her from being friends with them. Lucian and Miles were different; they didn't try to guess, or insist that Carina explain herself. She wished Perry and Adrian would be more like them. It'd be easier on her.

"Sit with us, Rina," Adrian said, offering his hand to Carina when they came to a carriage. Carina clasped her hands together just so she wouldn't be tempted to accept his kind hand. "Come on, please? We miss you."

Carina shook her head. "No," she said firmly, even though she felt like she might cry. Why wouldn't they give up? "No, and stop asking."

She turned and hurried away, following the rest of the crowd up the hill. Perry called out to her, but Carina ducked behind a tall Hufflepuff and her friends lost sight of her. Carina got on one of the last carriages and found herself sitting with a few younger Slytherins. They stared at her like she was something they'd never seen before, some strange animal in a zoo.

Carina narrowed her eyes. Her irritation flared up and began to burn beneath her skin. She was tired of people staring at her like that. "What are you looking at?" she snapped harshly. All of the girls jumped in surprise, and one of them made a strange squeaking sound. It reminded Carina that she was a Malfoy, of a bloodline old and pure and respected. She conjured all the superiority and arrogance that she saw in her parents, and in her brother, and directed it at the younger girls.

She sat in imperious silence, casting a pall over the others in the carriage. They didn't speak, not even to each other, until the carriage arrived at the castle. Carina laughed under her breath when they scurried out of the carriage, tripping out like frightened little mice under the gaze of a snake.

Instantly a sense of guilt washed over her. Being who others expected her to be had become too easy. Greyback's bite had made her into the kind of person her father always wanted her to be. If only he didn't see her as a stain upon their family name. She sighed and climbed slowly out of the carriage, looking around for any familiar faces she might have to avoid.

She only saw her brother, up ahead, with his friends. Carina tried to blend in with the crowd as they walked into the castle, but when a hand fell on her shoulder she expected to see Perry or Adrian again. After she'd instinctively ducked from beneath the hand, she was surprised to see Oliver Wood beside her. He was as unexpected as everything else that had happened that day.

"Carina," he said. Her name sounded strange in his accent. Like it wasn't actually her name. "Are you doing alright?"

"Why do you care?" Carina asked, frowning at the ground as she tried to edge away from Oliver.

"Oh, um..." Oliver gave her a strange look, a lopsided smile pulling at the corner of his mouth. "Is it a crime to care? I wanted to know if you're okay, after the whole Dementor thing. Kind of threw everyone for a loop.

Carina felt her hackles rising. She'd so hoped to get through her final year at school without incident. Not even one day gone and her hopes were dashed. "Look, I'm fine. You don't have to project some masculine instinct to protect a damsel in distress on me. Because that's not what I am."

Completely taken aback, Oliver's eyes widened and a few long moments of stunned silence went by. "Wow... okay, I'm sorry. I'll bugger off, if I'm bothering you." He stopped walking and Carina carried on for a few paces before she heaved a sigh and turned back to Oliver.

"You're not bothering me," she said sullenly. "I'm just having a bad day."

Oliver's crooked smile came back, gentler this time. "Well, a dementor did try to suck your soul out. You're allowed to be feeling a bit..."

"Cranky?" Carina suggested with a snort. "That's just my personality."

It took a while for Carina to feel comfortable, walking through the castle doors alongside Oliver. This was the longest conversation she'd had with one of her peers in a long time. It didn't make her want to run away, so that was something. Usually she would've bolted by now.

"I don't think it is," Oliver said, shooting her a thoughtful look. "Are you going to be on the Slytherin team this year?"

"No." Carina's response was instant. "I don't play anymore."

"That's a shame." Oliver shook his head. When they entered the Great Hall, a handful of Gryffindors greeted Oliver with shouts and waves. She couldn't figure out why he was talking to her. He'd helped her on the train, she knew that much, but Oliver was just that kind of guy. Everyone who knew him seemed to adore him. "I should sit down. You're sure you're okay?"

Carina looked at him from beneath her eyelashes, feeling his concern like a spear through her chest. "Yes," she said, working the word past the lump in her throat. "I'm okay."