Chapter One
I hesitated before knocking on the door of Number 4 Privet Drive, wondering what I was going to say. When the door opened, a boy about my age, but twice as big as me, stood before me. Must be Harry's cousin, yes, Diddly or something.
"Good afternoon!" I greeted pleasantly, stifling a laugh as Diddly – or was it Dudley, yes I'm sure it was Dudley – scrunched up his face in confusion. "Is Harry Potter here?" I had to bite my tongue as Dudley's eyes bugged out, probably realizing what exactly I was. He nodded dumbly, eyes still bugging, as he ran up the stairs. I could faintly hear him stutter something about 'freak girlfriend.'
As Harry descended, I saw the look of mild confusion on his face. He was probably expecting to see the redheaded beauty, Ginny Weasley, or his muggleborn best friend, Hermione Granger, who had developed into a figure of beauty last summer.
Not that I'm ugly or repulsive like Pansy Parkinson or Millicent Bulstrode.
I stood at about five foot three, rather short for my age. I had straight, jet-black hair, layered a bit to the middle of my back. I wore pink, pentagonal eyeglasses over my almond-shaped eyes. My eyes are my only beauty, I think. They change color to accommodate my mood or emotions. Cedric always said that my eyes were literally the windows to my soul. After fourth year, my eyes were almost always a dark shade of blue, expressing my grief and pain for my lost love, though most people had assumed that it was from fear of the start of a second war.
But I'm getting off track a bit.
I nodded to him as a greeting. "Carmen Rodriguez, Hufflepuff." I introduced. I'm guessing my eyes had become a neutral shade of hazel. "I need to talk to you."
"Let's go to the park," he said in an even voice, after deciding I wasn't totally evil … yet.
When we settled ourselves on a bench, I heard him mutter a spell under his breath. For 'privacy' he said.
"You needed to talk to me," he stated.
"I know about the horcruxes and I want to help," I said, getting straight to the point.
"How do you know about the horcruxes?" he inquired.
"Just because I'm in Hufflepuff doesn't mean I'm not smart," I said tartly. Then I smiled slightly to let him know I didn't mean to take it as an insult. "After I found out that Voldemort was the reason I grew up without my real parents, and when he caused my boyfriend's death, it just pushed me off the edge. I want to help in the down fall of Tom Riddle."
"How do I know you're not some Death Eater in disguise?" Harry asked suspiciously.
I had had a feeling that Harry wouldn't be so trusting. I rolled up my sleeves, revealing that neither of my forearms had the Dark Mark. "No mark."
"So? There are tons of Death Eaters who don't have the Dark Mark. And you could be using Polyjuice potion," Harry stated.
"Look into my eyes then," I said earnestly, "I know you can see it. The pain, the grief, that can only be caused by the loss of a loved one." This statement must have gotten to him, for he stopped questioning my loyalty.
"What makes you think you can handle this?" Harry asked after a long silence.
"I was part of the D.A. in fifth year, and I've been training especially for the Defense Against the Dark Arts for the past two years. I even went through a social withdrawal for a while. I'm passionate about this cause. I'll go on alone if you don't want me to come with you. I was just thinking that five minds would be stronger than one, or three."
"Five?" he asked.
"The golden trio, plus the dynamic duo, me and my best friend Secret," I explained. "She was by my side the whole time, and I'm not doing this without her."
"Victoria 'Secret'? The school whore?" he asked.
"I'd appreciate it if you could refrain calling my best friend names in front of me," I snapped.
"Sorry," he apologized sheepishly. There was a silence. "I'll have to discuss this with Ron and Hermione, but I personally think that you and Ekmel would be a good asset to our team." Harry said, breaking the silence. He looked at me and jumped. "Your eyes! They're light blue now, but they were hazel just a second ago!"
"Oh that. My eyes change color with my mood," I explained.
"Doesn't blue usually mean sad though?" he asked.
"Dark blue does, but light blue means I'm really happy," I explained.
"Weren't your eyes dark blue since fifth year?"
"Yeah," I replied forlornly, looking down. He apologized. "It's okay. Well I guess I should get going now. When you're ready to contact me, I'm sure your owl will know where to go. Bye Harry Potter." And with that, I left.
