CARINA

Everyone returned from Hogsmeade in good spirits, laden with sweets from Honeydukes. Perry handed Carina the Sugar Quills he'd bought for her and she sat sucking on one of them as the others described their day to her. Security in the village was extremely tight since Sirius Black's escape from Azkaban; they'd seen Dementors patrolling the streets like ghoulish soldiers and expected that if Black knew what was good for him, he'd be as far away from there as he could get.

The Halloween feast, for Carina, was the liveliest it had been since fourth year. She'd spent the last two utterly alone amongst hundreds of students; it was a shock to have friends again, to be out of her self-enforced solitude.

She laughed at Lucian's jokes, talked about homework with Miles, and listened to Adrian go on about Quidditch strategy, all while sitting comfortably beside Perry. Everybody else seemed to be enjoying their evening; there was a lot of laughter and talk from the other house tables and an air of excitement, likely brought on by too many sweets. Carina couldn't contain her smiles until the feast was over.

Carina held Perry's arm as they walked back to the common room with the rest of Slytherin house. They made a beeline for the best seats in front of the big marble fireplace, but had barely settled in before Professor Snape came marching into the room.

He called for silence in his sharp, crisp voice and waited until everyone was looking at him, conversations halted. Carina glanced at her friends, as though they had any explanations to offer.

"There's been an incident," the professor began, sounding so calm it was as if he was talking about the weather, but Carina thought there was a slight tremor in his pale, claw-like hands. "The whole school must return to the Great Hall. Now. Follow me."

He turned and everyone scrambled to follow him from the common room. Snape sent some prefects back to rout people from their dormitories, and soon the whole of Slytherin house was filing into the Great Hall. The dining tables had been removed from the room, leaving a cavernous space currently being filled up by the other houses trudging in.

"What's going on?" Adrian asked lowly, looking around for someone to answer his question. Carina just shook her head, noticing the teachers talking in a huddle at the front of the room. Some of the students had already changed into their pajamas, and some – the Gryffindors particularly – looked pale and frightened. There was whispering all around, a sound like leaves rustling in the wind. It grew in volume when several of the professors left the room in a rush, their wands drawn. Flitwick and McGonagall closed all the doors with grim looks on their faces.

"Something's happened," Carina said, mostly to herself. She saw the Potter boy standing with his friends, talking in furious whispers, his face as white as a sheet.

"Attention everyone," the Headmaster finally said, his eyes grave as they swept over the faces of the students. "The teachers and I need to conduct a thorough search of the castle. I'm afraid that for your own safety, you'll have to spend the night here." Dumbledore gave orders to prefects and teachers alike, who all hurried to do his bidding.

The room was suddenly filled with plush sleeping bags, so many it looked like the entire stone floor was carpeted in purple. Slowly, the news circulated throughout the hall, shared by frightened Gryffindors.

"Sirius Black was here! In the castle!" someone said, and Carina frowned as she pushed forwards into a group of talking students. The Weasley twins were holding court, describing the scene and the attack on the Fat Lady's portrait. Penelope Clearwater looked incredulous, as though what they were saying was impossible.

"The castle is a fortress," she argued. "And how did he slip by all those Dementors?"

"The same way he slipped by when he escaped Azkaban, I guess," one of the twins said with a shrug. "He's wily, right? Dangerous? Don't know why he'd go after the Fat Lady, though. She's a right sweetheart, when she's not trying to sing in F Major."

"Maybe she did try to sing for him," the other twin commented, grinning at his identical brother. Penelope rolled her eyes and glanced over at Percy Weasley as he started corralling the Gryffindors, his brothers included, with sharp commands.

The crowd thinned. Carina was left standing with Penelope and Adrian; the latter was looking at the blonde girl with a curious light in his eyes. The corner of his mouth twitched into a smile when Penelope caught his eye.

"Alright?" he asked her. "Not scared, are you?"

"I'm allowed to be," Penelope said firmly. "There's a murderer potentially gallivanting around the castle."

"I'm not sure that Sirius Black gallivants," Adrian said. "He'd skulk, or slink, or maybe sneak."

Penelope continued the sharp-edged banter and Carina, seeing that this would carry on for a while, silently ducked away from Adrian and the object of his fascination. The rest of her friends had disappeared amongst the crowd of students settling into sleeping bags, so she set off in search of them.

"Carina," someone called out to her as she was walking by.

She turned to see Oliver getting up off the floor, shoving his hands into the pockets of his flannel pajama pants. "Hey," Carina said slowly, embarrassed that she suddenly noticed he was wearing a t-shirt that clung flatteringly to his shoulders. They were big and broad, typical of a dedicated Quidditch player.

"Have you found a spot to sleep yet?" he asked.

"What? No, not yet," Carina said, flustered and trying not to be. "Perry will save me a spot, I guess."

"Right, of course. You guys are friends again, huh? I thought you'd had a fallin' out."

"Not a falling out... more of a running away." Oliver gave her a bemused smile, and Carina knew he was going to ask what she meant. She decided to beat him to the punch. "I tried to shut them out, but they refused to get the message."

"I think that's a good thing," he said. "It isn't right letting a friend cut and run, at least not without a fight."

She thought about that for a moment. "You have a point, but I only gave in because their nosiness was getting on my nerves." Carina smiled fondly, because the boys were nosy and they were a pain to deal with sometimes, but they were wonderful all the same.

"So you did yourself a favour," Oliver said. "It's, uh, nice to see you smile."

"Do I not smile?" Carina asked, lifting a brow. Oliver blushed, the tips of his ears turning pink, and it was strangely pleasing to Carina.

"Not that I've noticed," Oliver said. "Not like that, at least. Your face is made for a smile, I reckon."

Carina felt like, maybe, that had been a compliment. Her brow furrowed as she tried to decide whether to take it as one. "Thank you?" she said, laughing softly. "No one's ever told me that before."

Oliver nodded and grinned, his brown eyes softening as he looked at her, growing warm and bright. Carina felt warm, too. She smiled back, now a little self-conscious, but the moment was broken when Lucian came barreling over. "There you are," he exclaimed, grabbing Carina by the arm. "Come on, we've saved you a sleeping bag. Where's Adrian? Oh, never mind. I see him. He's really got to drop his obsession with Clearwater."

Lucian dragged Carina away, talking a mile a minute, oblivious to the way his friend looked back at Oliver and waved goodbye, a look of pining on her face. She'd enjoyed talking to Oliver; enjoyed his attention, and his compliments. There was something about feeling like a normal teenage girl that was... exhilarating. Carina pulled her arm free from Lucian's grip and smacked him lightly on the back of the head.

"Hey!" he yelped. "What- what was that for?"

"For bursting my bubble," she muttered darkly, ignoring the confused look on Lucian's face.