Chapter Thirty-Six – Cara

The Split Between Sisters

I ran, pulling Remus with me, my tears streaming. How could she think that? I would never betray her, neither would Remus. I hadn't believed it was Sirius, yet she doubted me in an instant. It hurt me more than anything; the others doubting me I could forgive, but my own sister? That was something else entirely. She would believe a boy we'd known a few weeks over me, her own bloody twin. We reached the school, both shaking with anger at the injustice of it. How dare she call me a traitor? Who was it that rescued her? Who was it that tried to protect her from him? Who looked after her when she ran? Who is that has always been there for her? Yet she shoves me away, calling me a traitor to defend him. I never doubted her or Sirius, and even if I had I would have listened to them not push them away as traitors.

"I'm sorry, Ca; this is my fault," Remus said, stopping to face me.

"NO! This is their fault; they chose not to believe us. This is not your fault, okay?" I nearly screamed at him. They had done this and now he felt guilty for it; it was just wrong. Remus didn't reply, instead, he turned at the sound of footsteps. I turned, my long hair whirling around me. It was Rose, closely followed by Sirius, James, Lily and Mary Jane. Peter was nowhere to be seen, but I didn't care. My eyes were focused on Rose. I wasn't staying here to be accused of things I'd never do. I turned, pulling Remus with me. "Come on, I'm not in the mood for this," I said as we walked back to the castle.

"Cara! Wait!" Rose yelled. I paused. "Please, I just want to talk." What the hell? Ten minutes ago she had called me a traitor and now she wanted to talk. Really, well, that wasn't happening. I'd had enough. I carried on as she shouted from behind, calling for me to stop, to wait, to listen. She ran up when the shouting failed. She got right in front of us, determined to speak to me. I gave in – I would stop but I wasn't going to make it easy for her.

"WHAT? HAVEN'T YOU DONE ENOUGH?" I screamed at her, my anger at her finally boiling over. "WHY COME OVER? DIDN'T YOU HURT ME ENOUGH EARLIER?"

"Ca I just wanted to tell you-" she started but I interrupted.

"JUST WANTED TO TELL ME WHAT? THAT I'M A TRAITOR, A LIAR, OR WAS THERE SOMETHING ELSE? COME ON THEN, WHAT'S SO IMPORTANT THAT YOU HAD TO TALK TO THE TRAITOR?"

"Ca, I'm sorry! You're not the traitor-"

"I KNOW THAT!"

"I realised as soon as you left that I got it wrong. It wasn't you, or Remus. The Rat will be first to run, Peter. He was the traitor. I'm so sorry I blamed you."

"WHAT! NOW YOU THINK THAT MADE A DIFFERENCE? YOU STILL THOUGHT I WOULD DO THAT! AFTER EVERYTHING I'VE DONE FOR YOU, YOU STILL BELIEVED I COULD DO THAT! WELL I'M DONE! I CAN'T STAY WHERE I'M NOT TRUSTED." With that I turned on my heel and ran back to the castle. Remus had stayed, unsure; he wanted to comfort me but at the same time he wanted to hear about Peter. He wanted to make up – they were his friends; he could forgive them. In fact, I forgave the others, but Rose, I couldn't forgive her. She was my sister. The one person who should have been on my side was the one suspecting me. After a few moments hesitation, he followed me and together we walked towards the castle. It was still early, so most people were still in Hogsmeade and the halls were silent. It was nice to be somewhere quiet after that. We walked back to the common room, choosing to sit in an armchair in the corner. We sat there in silence for a while, just holding each other. I may have lost my sister, the one person I counted on always being there, but I had Remus, who loved me more it would seem.

"Ca, are you okay?" Remus asked me softly, kissing the top of my head.

"I'm okay now; it just hurt to have her turn from me."

"It's going to be alright we'll sort it out with them all. I promise."

"I'm not mad at the others, only Rose. She's my sister. She was meant to be on my side, but she wasn't. It hurt me and I don't know if I can forgive her," I admitted, before moving closer, letting the tears I had held in fall.

I don't know how long we stayed like that, but it felt safe and we had no intention of moving. Well, that was until she came in. Rose headed straight for us, trying to explain once more, but I was up and gone before she reached us. I rushed up the stairs, up to my secret place. I felt bad for leaving Remus behind, but he wanted to hear them out anyway.

I heard Rose on the stairs, searching the dormitory for me. Part of me wanted to go down, to tell her it was okay, but I couldn't – not after this. Instead, I sat, looking out. It was nearly dinner time, so I headed down.

Remus smiled when he saw me. The others were sat in our usual spot, minus Rose. I walked over as he stood, getting ready to leave. I wrapped an arm around his waist and we set off together.

"Ca, do you want to go to the shack so you don't have to see Rose?" Remus asked as we headed to the hall for dinner. I smiled as I agreed; I was touched he'd sleep in the place he hated to make me happy.

We ate slowly, not wanting to see the others. When we finally got back to the common room they were gone, so we curled up together until everyone else had and only then did we head down to the shack. When we reached it, Remus shuddered, having to force himself not to turn around, before walking in, holding my hand. We reached the bedroom and crashed on the bed. I hadn't slept last night and I was exhausted, so I curled up with Remus and fell asleep almost immediately.

When I woke, early the next morning, Remus' arms were still around me and I could see the sun rising through the dirty window. I smiled down at my sleeping boyfriend and gently kissed him. He woke up with a smile on his face. I slipped out of bed and padded over to the window.

"Waking up to you is waking up in heaven," Remus said, coming up behind me and wrapping me up in a tight hug.

"I know. I wish we could wake up like that every day," I replied. "Anyway, we should go back before they notice we're gone." We didn't leave then, instead spending a little time in each other's arms, but a few minutes later we did, if a little grudgingly. We managed to reach the common room without seeing anyone (so far so good). We had one last kiss and parted for the dormitories. When I reached the dormitory, though, I was faced with Rose, Lily and Mary Jane.