This is a shameless filler chapter, and one that I just know will make some of you do the "cat from the Puss in Boots movie oooh" face and maybe, just maybe the surprised Pikachu face, though I do doubt that one lol. If you haven't, be sure to follow my new Instagram for memes, sneak previews, showcasing particular reviews I love, and posts for new chapters/stories.
Thanks to everyone who reviewed! Your comments always make me smile.
Special thanks to Richasa who pointed out something I had totally forgotten about. This whole section of the story I've been focusing on the tasks and Carina's relationship with Fred that I TOTALLY FORGOT ABOUT BARTY CROUCH JR. Thank you for reminding me!
As Carina came to quickly learn, the second task had been utterly boring to people watching in the stands, so the students traded gossip, rumors, and facts about what had happened beneath the surface of the lake. The friends of Carina, Krum, Fleur, and Harry had each heard their stories, and the real stories were spread along with the truth being stretched, hyperbolized, or completely dismissed.
By the time Carina's next Potions class rolled around in the first week of March, she was utterly exhausted by people. Cedric sat across from her in the class, and he greeted her with a grin when she walked into the classroom and sat on the stool across from him.
"Wonder what we're brewing today," Carina sassed as she readied her things and set up her cauldron.
"Hopefully something to get rid of that frown," Cedric replied, giving her a pointed look. "Who pissed in your oatmeal this morning?"
"Everyone." Carina was tempted to slouch on the table and put her head in her hands, but then Snape walked in and waved his wand at the blackboard. Instructions began writing themselves on the board.
"You all should have your wits about you today lest you be on the receiving end of one of the most dangerous potions known," Snape said in his usual doom-and-gloom voice. "Can anyone tell me what Amortentia is?"
Roger raised his hand. The Ravenclaw prefect sat across from the Gryffindor Kenneth Towler, the only Gryffindor in the Advanced Potions class as the other sixth years didn't want to be with Snape, like Fred and George, or didn't pass his ridiculously high standards to get in even with the skill, like Alicia and Lee.
"Mr. Davies," Snape called.
"Amortentia is the strongest love potion in the world," Roger answered.
"And what does it cause? Anyone?" Patricia raised her hand, sitting across from Mildred, Carina's roommate. "Miss Stimpson."
"It causes powerful infatuation or obsession from the drinker that is often mistaken for love, but it does not cause actual love," she answered.
"And how do you know when it has been brewed properly?" Carina raised her hand that time. Snape nodded at her. "Miss Lestrange."
"If brewed correctly, the potion should have a mother-of-pearl sheen and steam rising from it in characteristic spirals," Carina explained, reciting what she had read from the potion book. "The potion will also not have a single smell, as it will smell different to each person."
"Correct," Snape said. It was as close to praise as he would get. "Today, each of you will brew your own pot of Amortentia, bottle a portion of your result, and submit it when class is over for grading. Not even a single drop of the potion is allowed to leave this room, or you will be serving detention with me and spend your Saturday evening scrubbing cauldrons. The instructions are on the board. Get to it."
As sixth years, the class operated on a higher level of autonomy than the lower years, often spending their entire class time simply brewing potions that Snape had left instructions on the board for or brewing a few from memory. And no one was stupid enough to use their potions textbook during the class as anyone who paid attention knew Snape taught with his own corrections to the potions. The books were only used to teach the things that he didn't change, such as properties and potion laws.
The Potions Master milled about the classroom, watching the students ready the ingredients and begin brewing, as well as them copying the recipe from the board.
Amortentia was rather difficult to brew, but not because it took long. No, it was difficult because of the precision and constant attention required along with the necessary ingredients which included ashwinder eggs, powdered moonstone, and pearl dust. Otherwise, all of the students were finished with their potions, for better or worse, by the time the class ended.
Carina watched the smoke spiral up from her cauldron and grinned, readying a vial to bottle to potion. She ladled the potion into the vial then almost dropped it when she had caught a whiff of what it smelled like to her. She had been trying not to smell it, not wanting to know for fear of embarrassing herself. That hadn't worked out as she had planned.
"Y'alright, Car?" Cedric asked quietly as he bottled his own potion.
Carina quickly nodded, put a stopper in the vial, and put a label on it with her last name. She then used her wand to get rid of the rest of the potion in the cauldron. After turning her potion in, she returned to her station and began packing up her things.
Cedric smirked at her and said, "You smelled it, didn't you?"
"Bugger off."
Cedric laughed and finished packing up his own things. "That answers that question. Ready for lunch?"
"As long as it's not with you." She didn't know if she could take more of his teasing. Carina shouldered her bag as Cedric gave her a half-hearted glare.
"Ouch. Love you too, Car."
Together, the two walked out of the room and towards their respective common rooms to drop off their things. All the while, Carina couldn't stop thinking about the three things she had smelled. Chocolate, parchment, and. . . smoke.
Smoke that was so very Fred Weasley.
Many students went home for the Easter holiday, but Carina opted to stay at Hogwarts for the week so she could continue practicing her spellwork, specifically her dueling spells. If she had learned one thing during her research of past Triwizard Tournaments was that the contestants would face off against each other in almost every single one. She doubted this one would be any different.
She walked through the halls with Adrian, discussing the best dueling spells to have mastered as they would be the ones that could be done without thinking and likely save a life due to the muscle memory and quick thinking at a moment's notice. And it was mostly her over-talking.
"Expelliarmus has to be on the list because not only can it disarm your opponent, but if you miscast or your aim isn't perfect, it can still stun them," Carina said.
"You're thinking way too hard about this," Adrian told her with a shake of his head. "It's just a competition."
"It's not just a competition," she argued. "People have died in this."
"You're not going to die. You're the best witch in our year. You study constantly. You practice constantly. You know what you're good at and that should be enough." Adrian stopped walking and turned to Carina, and she followed suit. "Get out of your head."
She sighed and nodded. "You're right."
"Of course, I'm right. But if you're really doubting your dueling skills, I mean, both Fleur and Krum have an extra year on you, why don't you ask a professional for pointers? Like, I dunno, our Defense Against the Dark Arts professor?"
Carina raised an eyebrow. "Your snark is unappreciated."
Adrian then chuckled. "Seriously, though, just ask Professor Moody."
"Ask Professor Moody what?"
Both sixth-year Slytherins snapped their head down the hall where Professor Moody in all his glory was limping toward them with his wooden leg and strange magical eye. He stopped in front of the students and peered down at them with his good eye.
"Professor, we were-" Adrian started, but Moody cut him off.
"I think Miss Lestrange can answer the question." Both Moody's magical eye and real eye zeroed in on Carina.
While being caught in the gaze of both eyes made her uncomfortable as they rarely settled on the same subject, she refused to let it show. "We were discussing dueling spells, and Adrian recommended I ask you for pointers," she answered easily.
"Hmph." Moody straightened his back as best he could. "Suppose it was only a matter of time. You've quite the reputation for asking for extra lessons from professors. Snape, Lupin, McGonagall, many questions for Flitwick."
"There's nothing wrong with wanting to be well-versed in as many subjects as possible."
"No," Moody agreed in his growly voice, "but some might wonder how you plan to use that knowledge."
With a twitch of her eyebrows, Carina narrowed her eyes as she stared up at the ex-Auror. "Are you implying something, professor?"
A small smirk graced his scarred face. "No, Miss Lestrange. Only trying to determine whether you're like your mother. . . or your father."
An uncomfortable chill ran down her spine at his words. "Hopefully, I'm like neither as one is dead and the other in Azkaban."
"I'm well aware. I'm the one who put him there."
"I know."
Moody's wicked smirk only grew, though it did hinge on being a sneer. "Any advice for dueling would depend on whether it is an honorable duel or not. But one thing remains regardless: constant vigilance!"
A student who had been walking nearby jumped in alarm, but Carina's gaze remained unwavering. He was testing her. She knew when she was being tested. She knew it quite well since Lucius spent most of his time testing her. But she couldn't tell what Moody was hoping for, so she remained silent. It was one of many times where she was glad she had taken Occlumency lessons with Snape. It helped steel her emotion both inside and out.
Moody continued when he didn't get a reaction. "It doesn't matter what spells you use as long as they're powerful and you're quick. Good luck during the third task, Miss Lestrange. You're going to need it."
It was the one day a year the twins threw all caution to the wind. They dared to break all the rules. They went above and beyond with their exploits. They were a force to be reckoned with. People either loved or hated that day. No one could stop Fred and George Weasley from celebrating their birthday with style.
It helped that they were born on April Fool's Day.
All-day people attempted to dodge pranks from the twins, anything ranging from fireworks to dungbombs to playful charms to joke products of their own design, such as their Canary Creams, Ton Tongue Toffees, and fake wands.
Everywhere Carina walked, it seemed someone got hit with something, especially since other students took advantage of April Fool's Day and it being the birthday of the Weasley Twins, and decided to play their own practical jokes on each other and join in on the fun. It was safe to say that Carina walked around with almost a constant shield up in case someone decided to attack her with something, and there were at least two who tried, plus a few she hadn't noticed.
People were also careful to not go overboard or be too obvious around the prefects and staff since it was technically against school rules. Once the authority figures were out of sight though, everything was fair game, unless the daring few who didn't care about getting detentions were trying to prank said authority figures, of course.
It was all fun and games and incredibly entertaining, but Carina just wanted the day to be over already since a few hours after dinner the twins were planning on meeting up with her in the kitchen. She had already spoken to Dobby, who had been happy to talk to her again now that he was working at Hogwarts under far better conditions, about him having a small chocolate cake ready for them when they got to the kitchens. He seemed very excited about helping with a birthday cake, especially for Fred and George.
So shortly before Fred and George were supposed to get to the kitchen, Carina arrived to check on Dobby and the cake.
"Miss Carina!" she heard the moment she walked into the kitchen. Dobby ran over to the girl with a wide smile. "Dobby has done what you asked. Come, come, miss." He waved for her to follow him. She followed him to the table that corresponded with the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall and he pointed to a cake on a silver platter. "For you and your Wheezy's, miss."
It took a second for Carina to realized he meant Weasley. She smiled at Dobby and said, "Thanks, Dobby. Can you get a knife and some forks and plates for us?"
"Of course, miss! Dobby will be right back!" Dobby ran off in search of the utensils and dishware.
Such a strange house-elf, Carina thought as she turned to the cake. It was about the size of her head and covered in red frosting swirled around it with yellow-dyed white chocolate shavings sprinkled on top and a few sparklers sticking out of the top middle, waiting to be lit. It wasn't anything fancy, but they always seemed to prefer practicality over extravagance when it came to food. Anything else though had to be extravagant and eye-catching.
Dobby came running back and set down the utensils and a stack of three small plates next to the cake. "Here you go, miss. Is there anything else Dobby can do for you?" he asked, his wide eyes staring up at her.
"No, thank you, Dobby," Carina said with a small smile. "It looks wonderful. And I like your jumper. The green matches your eyes."
He grinned and looked down, curling bashfully, and hugging his bright green jumper closer to his body. Ever since he had been freed, he loved collecting clothing, especially socks. "Thank you, miss."
Just then the door to the kitchen opened, prompting Carina and Dobby to turn to look at the entrance. In walked only one of the twins who Carina immediately recognized as Fred. He was slipping a piece of parchment into his back pocket.
Carina narrowed her eyes at him as he walked over with a large grin. A small smirk pulled at the corner of her mouth when she said, "Where's George?"
"Greedy, Rina. One twin isn't enough?" Fred asked with an exaggerated pout.
"Not when it's supposed to be a celebration for the both of you."
"He's distracted by Angelina and told me to come without him," Fred explained, reaching forward to grab Carina's hand. "But I'm pretty sure he just didn't want to be a third wheel which means I get you all to myself."
"And like ten house-elves."
Fred glanced around the kitchen looking at a few house-elves cleaning nearby and the lone house-elf that was drowning her sorrows with butterbeer. "Knew I forgot something."
Carina lightly chuckled. "Anyway, happy birthday." She gestured to the cake on the table beside them. "I asked Dobby to make it." And said house-elf had disappeared the moment Fred walked over so the two could be alone.
"Please tell me those are sparklers."
"They're sparklers."
"Yes! It's not a good birthday unless I get to set something on fire." Fred placed a quick kiss on her cheek before sitting on the bench and dragging Carina down to sit next to him. He pulled out his wand and paused, thinking briefly about what he wanted to wish for, then used the wand to light the sparklers.
"What'd you wish for?" Carina asked as they watched the sparklers burn and, well, spark.
"Well, I can't tell you, now can I?" he answered, raising an eyebrow at her. "Then it won't come true."
"Or you can tell me, and I'll help you make it come true." She gave him a grin then picked up the knife so she could cut the cake as the sparklers slowly burnt out.
Fred raised his hands in surrender. "Whoa, love, alright, I'll tell you."
"Oi, hush." Carina elbowed him in the arm with a quick roll of her eyes. She plucked the burnt-out sparklers from the cake and set them aside then cut the cake in half.
"So, this is my piece and that's yours, right?" Fred pointed to both halves of the cake.
She ignored him but couldn't help the smile as she continued cutting the cake. She put a piece on a plate for him and handed it over with a fork before getting her own piece and pushing the rest of the platter to the center of the table, so it was out of the way.
"Thanks for this, love," Fred said quietly.
Carina shook her head as she stabbed into her own slice of cake. "Dobby did all the work."
"You make it hard to compliment you."
"How are your products coming along?" she asked to change the conversation.
Fred looked at her unimpressed but answered her question anyway. "Brilliantly. We're making quite a bit off them. George and I have come up with a few more ideas, but we haven't started working on them yet since we've been so focused on production, sales, causing general havoc, and bugging Bagman." He looked incredibly proud of himself with the last two points.
"I think you're best at explosions and large spectacles," Carina told him after swallowing a bite of the cake. "Try expanding on your fireworks. Have you thought of them forming more than basic shapes?"
"What do you mean?" he asked, picking at the frosting on his cake as he looked at her.
"There are plenty of spells that send things to attack people or transform into different objects. Remember the dancing leprechaun firework at the World Cup? Try having your fireworks do something more than just look pretty."
A small smile pulled at his lips. "Are our fireworks the only thing you find pretty?"
Carina's deadpan expression didn't change. "No comment."
His grin spread from ear to ear. "I'm taking that as a yes, love. Any more ideas wracking that gorgeous brain of yours?"
"I think you need something to heal the bruise I'm about to give you."
Fred shook his head at her, his eyes sparkling. "So violent, yet so beautiful. What am I going to do with you?"
"I can think of a few things." She smirked lightly at him.
Fred dramatically gasped, lifting a hand to his chest and leaning back. "Trying to corrupt me on my birthday? Blasphemy!" She simply nodded at him, just listening to his antics. "Absolutely outrageous. Can't believe you'd ever think I'd do that. Especially in the kitchen. What would the house-elves think? You know what? Just for that, no more cake for you." He grabbed the edge of her plate and slid it away from her, placing it on the other side of him.
"Fred!" Carina gently slapped his upper arm while smiling.
He smiled in return, leaning closer to her, and lowering his voice. "But, uh, just between you and me, I'd let you handle my wand any day." She gaped at him before looking away, a blush creeping up her neck as she shook her head. She didn't know how to respond to that. Fred leaned in further, his breath tickling her ear. "Got something on your mind, love? Anything you'd like to share?"
"Bugger off," Carina muttered, not meeting his eyes as she reached over him to grab her plate of cake.
Fred wrapped his arms around her torso. "Never."
He held her in his arms as she ate her slice of cake until finally, Fred had a question. A more serious one. One that had been at the back of his mind for ages but had never gotten around to asking.
"Hey, Rina?" Fred said quietly.
Carina looked away from her own plate, turning her head to meet his eyes. "Yeah?" While she loved how close their faces were, he didn't often let the seriousness show unless he deemed it important.
"How. . . how can you tell me and George apart? You've been able to tell since you first met us. Even our family gets it wrong."
"Maybe because you intentionally try to trip them up." Carina raised an eyebrow as she gave him a playful smile.
He laughed quietly. "Alright, I'll give you that one, but really, how can you?"
Carina turned to face him, though he did keep his arms around her as she moved. "Aside from a few differing marks. . ." She brought a hand up to his mouth, touching the freckle right below it that did not match the placement of George's. ". . . you two act very differently." He opened his mouth to speak, but she didn't let him. "And I don't mean with me. I mean, you're louder, more talkative, crass. The instigator. George mellows you out while you get him moving. There's nothing wrong with either approach, but other people can't usually tell because you don't let them. But for some reason, you've always let me." She moved a strand of his hair behind his ear.
Fred moved closer, setting his forehead on hers. "Because you cared from the beginning, even if you were taking a risk."
"I still am."
"And I'll be right here with you." His lips met hers in a warm, gentle kiss.
Fred and Carina sat at the table for a few hours, even as the house-elves dwindled in numbers, going off to clean parts of the castle or retiring for the night to sleep. They ate almost the whole cake as they sat there and bantered and messed around.
But when Carina yawned, they decided to turn in for the night.
They spelled away what little remained of the cake, magically cleaned the dishes, then Fred pulled out a piece of parchment from his back pocket as they went to the door of the kitchen.
Fred pulled out his wand, pointed it at the parchment, and said, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." As the map appeared on the parchment, Fred noticed her looking oddly at him. "I asked Harry if I could borrow it for the night. I'll gladly let myself be caught, but there's no way I'm risking getting you caught with me, love."
"Such a gentleman," she teased as she sidled up next to him.
"Now, don't go telling anyone. I've got a reputation to keep." He scanned the map for any staff or prefects patrolling around the kitchens while putting his wand in his pocket.
"But I thought Gryffindors were all about chivalry?"
Fred shot her a grin. "Only for you, love. Coast is clear. Let me escort you to your common room." He held out his hand for her to take, and she slid her hand into his, letting him guide her out of the room and into the halls.
Of course, the halls were dark, only scarcely lit by the occasional torch lining the walls. The people in the portraits were sleeping, so no one paid the two students any mind as they walked past holding hands.
Fred glanced down at the map a few times while they walked, and about halfway between the kitchen and the Slytherin common room, a dot began nearing their own.
"Gotta hide, love," he whispered.
Fred's hand squeezed hers as he pulled her to the nearest hidden alcove behind a tapestry. The two were plunged into complete darkness once hidden.
"Suppose after fighting a dragon or rescuing Malfoy from a cold lake, this is boring," Fred said quietly, wrapping an arm around her waist after putting away the map.
"It's not so bad," Carina replied at the same level. "There are far worse things than being with you."
He liked the sound of that and shifted himself to face her even if he couldn't definitively see her with the absence of light. "Glad you think so, love. There's nowhere else I'd rather be." Fred ran a hand through her hair and cupped the back of her neck before leaning down to kiss her.
For anyone who likes smut, this part will be expanded upon in a one-shot, so keep an eye out for it or follow my Insta (jedi_olympian) to be told when it's on here.