It's been awhile on this one. I haven't had much time to get anything done due to classes, but I managed to scrape up this. Hopefully it's to your liking, all. *Bows*

I am more of a beast than human,

more drunk than sober,

more of anarchy than order,

more of a scoundrel than a saint,

more of a fallen than an angel,

but she loved all of my darkness

and so I gave her what's left of my light.

–Daniel Saint

Hermione took notice as, over the weeks, her wife's normally fair skin was nearly translucent now. There were dark spots under her eyes, and some days, she did not eat.

Oh, she went to work, all tousled hair and tired movements. Nothing could stop her from doing that. Carina was determined to carry on and not let anyone know there was anything wrong with her, which Hermione did not approve of. Personally, she thought the woman needed bedrest.

"You promised you'd stop overworking yourself," Hermione reminded one night.

Carina did not speak, only continued scribbling fast on her paper.

"Teddy is worried."

Still silence.

"And, Rina, I miss you. We only see each other at night because of our schedules…"

Hermione waited a few moments, but again, there was nothing. She moved over to the desk, attempting to decipher Carina's narrow, slanted handwriting. Typically it was not hard, but tonight, it was almost completely beyond her understanding.

She had just caught the words help and portal before the paper was suddenly flipped over.

Carina swiveled in her chair, crossing one leg over the other.

"You don't need me," she snapped. "You have Weasley, remember?"

"Carina, what are you talking about?" Hermione frowned.

"I know you've been spending more time with him at the office lately," Carina's words were harsh. "What, regretting your choices now that you're stuck married to the dark vessel? If you want to leave, go. I won't stop you."

"I never said that," Hermione said sharply. "Harry and Ron are worried. They've noticed we've been fairly off lately...they want to know how things are going."

"Noticed how you've been off lately," the raven haired woman's lips twisted in obvious displeasure. "They never gave a damn about me. Don't think I haven't seen Weasley getting just a bit too close during breaks...and you, you're no better. If you looked at him any longer you'd be panting after him like a bitch in heat."

"Carina—"

"Personally, I don't see what's so appealing," Carina shrugged carelessly, and Hermione had a thought that something was very wrong right now. Her eyes were more focused, clearer than they had been in awhile. "Too many freckles. Too much fat. Too red of hair. And, let's not forget his broomstick, right? I'd have thought that would be a turn off. That is, unless your feelings never went away."

"Carina," Hermione forced herself to remain calm. Getting angry would do no good right now. "I have no feelings for Ron. Not anymore. I was a confused teenager and those have long past. In case you've forgotten, I fell in love with you. I married and had children with you. I'd appreciate if you didn't insult him, regardless, because he's still my friend."

Carina scoffed. She pressed her thumb down on the pen, clicking it over and over again. The repetitive sound was setting Hermione's teeth on edge.

"And I'd appreciate if you'd stop talking to the bastard, but that'll never happen, will it?"

"That's enough."

Carina looked positively delighted, lips curling into a smirk. "Or what, darling? You can't make me do anything."

Hermione purposefully ignored the remark and continuous clicking, instead snatching the paper from the desk.

Carina sprung into action immediately, moving quicker than Hermione had seen in awhile.

Hastily, the brunette jerked the paper out of reach and backed away, scanning over it. While she still could not read some, she still got bits and pieces.

—going mad, need help...portal, maybe…get those kids home, find Dad…

What's happening to me?

The paper was suddenly ripped away and burnt to ashes. Carina, pen snapping in her grip, advanced slowly, the pieces slipping through her fingers to the floor.

Her eyes were dark, and she continued to stalk Hermione, who backed away cautiously.

Hermione was not afraid, but when her back hit the wall, she had to admit she got a bit nervous. It was obvious something had happened to Carina, whose body was suddenly molding with hers.

A hand found its way to her neck and rested there.

"Never do that again," Carina whispered dangerously. "Or you'll never live long enough to regret it," there was a squeeze to Hermione's neck, just enough to get the point across. "Understood?"

Suddenly mute and mind whirling, Hermione nodded.

The raven haired woman suddenly leaned closer, nose brushing Hermione's jaw, and she inhaled sharply.

"I've missed this," she murmured, hand ghosting from Hermione's throat to her hair, other hand braced on the wall by her head. Carina leaned in further, and the brunette could not help but shudder when lips trailed down her neck.

They latched onto a particular spot just at her pulse point, and Hermione could feel Carina's grin against her skin as the woman worked at the spot there. After a few short moments, she bit down, and Hermione cried out.

"Carina," the brunette finally managed. "Stop. This isn't you."

"You're mine," growled Carina, heedless of her words.

"Carina!" Hermione shoved against her wife hard, and Carina pulled back, if only barely.

Hermione wasn't sure what she could do to snap Carina out of this daze, short of using magic. She hadn't been open to the idea at first, but talking, it seemed, was no longer working.

Force was the only way.

Hermione drew her wand, and just as quickly, stunned Carina, who had seen it coming and was just raising her own to block it. That brief moment of surprise, however, was what caused her to crumple to the floor, unconscious.

The brunette winced at the impact and levitated her wife to the bed.

"I'm sorry," she murmured. "I'll be back soon."

She swept from the room to check on the children, closing the door behind her.

~~~xxx~~~

When Hermione returned, Carina was awake, huddled against the headboard of the bed.

"I don't know what happened," she whispered, sounding, for the first time in a very, very long time, terrified. "I was writing, and then…" her eyes cut up to Hermione. "I don't remember."

"Nothing," Hermione lied, moving to sit at the edge of the bed. "You were just a bit off, is all."

"Hermione," Carina's voice wavered, but her jaw clenched. "Don't do that do me. Tell me."

Hermione sighed. "You got nasty with me. You brought up Ron, like you were in some sort of jealous rage...you said I was another look away from panting after him like a bitch in heat."

"Bloody hell…"

"We argued about it, and then I grabbed your paper. You burned it and backed me into the wall," Hermione hesitated. "Then, you put your hand on my throat and told me never to do that again, and that I was yours. It wasn't like normal, it was too...too possessive. Like I was an object. Just before that," she tilted her chin up to reveal the dark hickey she had discovered minutes before. "you left this. I stunned you."

"Bloody hell," Carina moaned, and hit her head back hard. "No, no, no...I had control, I've had it…" she hit her head again.

Hastily, Hermione reached for her hands. Carina flinched back, but then carefully allowed her trembling hands to be encased in Hermione's own.

"Did I scare you?"

"No," Hermione told her softly, truthfully. "But it was unnerving."

"I'm so sorry," the other woman swallowed. "I don't know how it happened. I've had control for weeks…"

"It had to happen eventually, I suppose. Think about it, Carina. You've been exhausted, and anyone who is tired will be moody. With that multiplying it tenfold, it escalated things until your shields were broken down."

"Makes sense," her wife mumbled, before sliding from the bed.

Hermione hastily made to block her way to the door, but Carina slipped nimbly out of the way. The brunette had no choice but to hurry down the hall and halt her at the stairs, instead.

"What are you doing?"

Carina stared down at her with weary eyes. She sighed.

"Going to sleep on the couch."

"You don't have to, Carina," Hermione reached out and carefully took her wife's hand. "Come back to bed. It will be fine when you get some rest, and we both know you don't sleep well alone. Not now."

Carina only shook her head, hand slipping away. She leaned heavily against the railing. "I'll only hurt you. Or worse. I don't want to do that, Hermione."

Hermione. Not Mione, not love, not anything. Just Hermione.

It actually managed to upset the Minister, who felt tear sting her eyes. "For better or for worse, don't you remember? I swore to spend my life with you, Carina. Over a hundred years, given how long magicals live. If you give up now…"

The raven haired woman studied her, not moving as tears finally slid down Hermione's face. Furiously, she made to wipe them away.

Her arms were pushed down, and gentle hands brushed away the tears, before cupping her cheeks.

"I am not giving up on us," said Carina quietly, ducking her head to meet Hermione's eyes. "Do you understand? Whatever is happening to me...I want to be careful. Do you remember what Luna said, about being the best vessel, of my own innate darkness being increased?"

"Yes," Hermione hesitated. "You want to hurt me?"

"No," Carina shook her head, thumbs ghosting the brunette's cheeks. Her words were light. "Never. Not now. But before...when I returned from Azkaban, I repressed a lot of things. I thought it would do no good to exact my revenge on the world, not when I wanted to keep living in it. I wanted Voldemort gone more than I ever wanted any of you hurt...cooperation was the best thing, until I started to feel again. Then it got complicated. The repressed parts of me, from so long ago…it could get bad very quickly. From what you told me of how I acted, it will turn to abuse. That's why I need to be downstairs, regardless of how much sleep I get."

"I wouldn't let you do that, Carina," Hermione told her softly. "I stunned you earlier, before you got too terrible."

"But I almost got you, didn't I?" Hermione went quiet, and Carina gave her a knowing look, pulling away. "Exactly. You're an amazing witch in your own right, but I have the most power between us. Unless you outsmart me, you're at a disadvantage."

"Come to bed," the brunette repeated, straightening. "I'm not stupid, Carina. I know the risks, and I'll take it. You won't sleep well down there, and if you're up here, there's more of a chance of you getting some rest. You can take a dreamless sleep, you haven't had any in a long while yet. If you start to use them more occasionally, you should be able to get more rest and make your shields stronger."

"If I go to bed with you," said Carina finally, after a few moments' hesitation. "I'll have a dreamless sleep, alright. But you have to petrify me as well, or bind me."

"Carina—"

"No," came the sharp answer. "You restrain me, or nothing."

Hermione swallowed, conceding, "Alright. Come on."

Silently, Carina followed her to their room and climbed onto the bed, stretching her arms above her head. Hermione, after a slight hesitation, drew her wand and bound her wife's wrists with rope to the bedpost.

"There," she murmured, moving to get into bed herself. "You won't be very comfortable."

"I'm with you."

"Like that changes things…" Hermione sighed.

"Mione, hey," Carina spoke softly, tilting her head. "I'm not going to take the chance of harming the children, not when they're just down the hall. You...you're stubborn. You're a lost cause and I'm positive something will happen eventually, but not right now if I can help it. I need that dreamless sleep potion, alright?"

Hermione rummaged through a pouch under the bed, finally coming up with the correct vial, and uncorked it.

"I love you," the brunette whispered.

"I would not wish any companion in the world but you."

Hermione smiled slightly, and did not deign to cry until after her wife had taken the potion and slumped over, unconscious.

~~~xxx~~~

Carina stared down at the scroll in her hand, and then back up at Riggs.

"It will work," he reassured quietly. "We've done all the necessary research...well, what little of it we had to do. The rest, while only a guess, should turn out alright. You need to have faith."

"Faith," scoffed Carina, before moving to run the knife over her palm. She paid the gash no attention and dripped blood onto the parchment. "Of course it will work. We didn't spend a month of nonstop spellcasting and researching for nothing. "

"Don't you think you should tell the Minister?" Riggs frowned at her. "She's your wife."

"No," the woman shook her head, clenching her fingers around the knife. She gazed down at the blood splattered scroll, strode forward, and tossed it into the portal.

It flickered briefly, but was fine in less than a moment. That was to be expected, for the scroll was small, no matter how powerful.

She and Riggs had spent countless hours on what had been a normal piece of parchment. Carina had, first, written a letter explaining the current situation and just how dire it was. Then, they had cast many different spells upon it; protection spells, locator spells...the easy things. They had done many more complicated ones to keep the scroll intact, and blood magic, the last step, was how it would make it to the right dimension and the right Sirius Black (well, along with a lock of hair from Callidora, who had no idea, of course).

It was iffy, however. There was a slim chance what they wanted to happen might not at all.

Carina chose not to dwell on that fact.

"Not yet," she told Riggs firmly. "I want to be sure it will work. She doesn't need false hope."

"Look, Black," Riggs threw up his hands. "She's the Minister of Magic, our boss, not just your wife! She's higher up than us and we should be reporting to her."

Carina felt her chest rumble and stepped forward, staring up at him with dark eyes. "Do it. I dare you."

Riggs gazed back, brows furrowing, before he sighed. "Yeah, alright. Whatever you say."

"Good," the woman glanced at the portal, and then at the door. "Tell me if anything changes. I need to get to a meeting."

"And by meeting, you mean having tea with your little blonde friend."

Carina only raised a brow, turned, and walked out the door.

~~~xxx~~~

Carina had been, admittedly, considerably worried about Luna since her letter a week before. The blonde had been in another country at the time, hunting for something or another with her husband Rolf, when the letter had came saying that there was news.

Carina was happy she had been able to strengthen her shields again, though the sleeping arrangements had upset Hermione. This way, she could see Luna without worry.

When she entered her home, the raven haired woman was actually quite surprised to see her entire dining room filled with people. There were various Weasleys and their children, the Potters and their children, Hermione and their children…

"The bloody hell is going on here?" Carina shouted amidst the chaos.

Immediately, the room fell silent, and the great Carina Black was overrun by children.

Not one, not two, not five. Thirteen.

Carina stumbled and fell, hitting the floor hard as several excited young children and toddlers all but pounced upon her, babbling.

The Potter children, the younger Weasley children, her own children…only Evan and Callidora hung back, unsure, eyes darting about.

"Bloody hell," she repeated in a low mutter, as Teddy and Victoire took seats on either side of her. Carina raised her voice. "Am I going to be told why I'm being assaulted in my own home, or not?"

There was a snap, and then another, and five more following it. Carina blinked at the flash, before scowling when she saw Ginny taking pictures.

"Carina!" came a happy cry from behind the crowd, and through it came Luna, bright eyed and smiling. "You'll never believe it!"

Carina, detangling herself from the children, stood just in time to catch the blonde in her arms. "Believe what?"

"I'm pregnant!"

The raven haired woman stopped, unsure if she had heard correctly. "Pardon?"

"I'm pregnant!" Luna grinned at her. "Twins, two little boys!"

Carina, mind whirling, cast her eyes upon Rolf, who smiled at her rather sheepishly and ducked his head as the other men clapped him on the back and congratulated him.

"You," the raven haired woman started with a growl, before cutting herself off abruptly when she noticed Hermione's worried gaze and Luna's faltering grin. "Are one lucky man," she finished instead.

I'll have a chat with him later, Carina decided, smiling at Luna and the children's enthusiasm despite herself. Just like at their wedding.

She'd nearly scared the pants off the poor man, though they were alright friends now and she had never hated him in the first place. She was simply, as always, looking out for Luna.

Oh, Rolf would never hurt her. He was too head over heels for it, completely smitten, but it didn't mean Carina couldn't try to have a little fun with it.

With the Weasleys present (Carina noticed that Ron Weasley himself, his wife, and their son Hugo were also there), it was inevitable that there would be a party whether Carina liked it or not. Hermione had already apparently organized a celebration, and there was no stopping the brunette when she put her mind to something.

Luna danced about the room, laughing alongside everyone else as the children weaved in and out of the adults, playing tag. It was complete and utter chaos, and to be honest, Carina had never felt better.

Or, well, not since the darkness entered. But, still rather good.

"Mumma!" cried Rigel, rushing over to hug her around the leg. "You okay now?"

"We haven't seen you in ages!" Caelum flung his arms out exaggeratedly, joining his brother on her other leg.

Something hit her back, and instinctively, taking her hands from her boys' heads, Carina grabbed the legs of Rose. Chubby little arms wrapped around her neck, nearly choking her, but she paid it no mind.

"Hi, Mumma," giggled Rose.

"We miss you!"

"Are you and Mummy fighting?"

"Why haven't you played with us?"

"Why are you always gone, Mumma?"

Carefully, Carina crouched down and let Rose slide off her back and join her brothers. Her children, all wide eyed and innocent, stared at her.

Carina almost wanted to tell them the truth, but they were too young. Her head clear, she instead smiled and said, "I'll take a vacation, how about that? Then, I can spend more time with you all and Mummy."

Her research and work were done for now. She had time.

Rigel, Caelum, and Rose all cheered loudly, bouncing off to inform anyone and everyone that, "Mumma is havin' a 'cation!"

Hermione beckoned her, and Carina obediently slunk through the crowd and to the corner of the room.

"Taking a 'cation, are you?" her wife questioned.

"I can afford to," Carina said softly, leaning against the wall to stare at Hermione. She had not noticed, but the stress of having to carry everything like this was getting to the brunette.

To anyone else, she would have looked mildly ruffled. To Carina, she looked completely frazzled.

The poor woman was taking on so much. She deserved a break.

"You are, too."

"What?" Hermione looked startled.

"Taking a vacation."

"Carina, I'm the Minister, I can't just—"

"Kingsley is vice minister for this exact reason," Carina reminded, and lightly tugged at Hermione's arm.

Absently, Hermione followed, arguing all the way. "There's still so much to do, you don't understand! I have conferences, court cases, interviews, paperwork, I need to meet with the French Minister and then have a meeting with McGonagall and do some research on interdimensional travel and then—"

Carina leaned down to kiss her.

Hermione stopped speaking, and Carina pulled back, fondly shaking her head.

"Calm down, love," she murmured.

"Carina, there are people watching—"

The raven haired woman shook her head again, unable to stop the soft laughter from escaping her as she leaned down to plant kisses down her wife's neck.

"I doubt they'll see anything," Carina trailed her hands expertly from Hermione's sides to the small of her back, tugging her closer. "Perhaps if you paid better attention…" she planted a kiss to the brunette's jaw.

As lips ghosted over the shell of her ear, Hermione let out a quiet gasp and gripped at Carina's hips. "How did you…"

"You were distracted," Carina flicked her fingers at the door, which closed. The lock clicked. She lifted Hermione up against the wall.

Even as the kisses resumed, slowly moving from her jaw, to her neck, to just above her breasts, Hermione managed to speak.

"I thought...y-your mind…"

"Clear," Carina sucked at Hermione's pulse point, just above where she had left the last mark a week ago. "For once." She growled low in her throat. "Why not enjoy it while we can?"

Any response Hermione had was lost when Carina kissed her lips hard, one of the hands on her rear slipping to another spot entirely.

Their absence would later be noticed, though not questioned, and they would not emerge until after the party had ended.