Thank you guys for the reviews, chapter five is up!
Carina had no idea how she had been roped into sharing a compartment with these people; one moment she had been sitting in a compartment that she rather reluctantly shared with Neville—who she did not mind all that much—Harry and Luna at the blonde's request, and then the next thing she knew, she, Neville and Harry were getting invitations from some Professor Slughorn.
As she sat back in her chair, arms folded, she listened to the ridiculous new head of Slytherin and Potions professor introduce everyone.
"—and of course you know Miss Black here!" finished Slughorn to Neville and Harry, causing the three of them to wince in unison. "Isn't this pleasant? A chance to get to know you all a little better; here, take a napkin. I've packed my own lunch because the trolley is made up of licorice wands, and my digestive system couldn't handle such a thing….Pheasant, Belby?"
Belby accepted what Carina observed looked to be a half cold pheasant, and she scrunched her nose; why had she even accepted the invitation in the first place? Oh, right—her curiosity had gotten the better of her.
At some point during the conversation, Belby had began to choke in his haste to answer Slughorn; he was turning purple, and when it appeared that no one was going to do anything, Carina rolled her eyes and her wand slid out of the holster.
"Anapneo," said Carina clearly. The boy's airway cleared almost at once and he shot her a grateful look; she ignored it.
"Well done, my girl!" exclaimed Slughorn, clapping his hands in delight. "Very well done!"
She put her wand away and merely nodded in answer. She had not saved the boy because she particularly wanted to; she had done it to see if she had still retained any small measure of her previous magical ability, and it had worked.
He sobered. "Tell me, Carina, how does it feel to finally be free and cleared of all charges?"
She gritted her teeth, not liking this question.
"Fine, sir," she responded nevertheless. "Great."
"And have you and Harry reconciled?"
Carina let out a breath. "No."
The man seemed disappointed. "Oh, I see. I heard the two of you used to be the best of friends, much like your fathers had been, and I thought…"
Wrong, she inwardly scowled. You thought wrong.
"Your uncle Regulus was in my club in his years at Hogwarts," continued Slughorn. "As was Harry's mother, Lily…" He trailed off when he saw that she was not going to respond and moved onto Harry instead, seeming as though he were introducing Merlin himself. "And now, Harry Potter! Where to begin? I feel as though I barely scratched the surface when we met over the summer—the Chosen One, they're calling you!" Harry said nothing and Carina leaned back further in her seat, uninterested in the conversation; she had heard it all before.
Slughorn went on and on about something along the lines of greater power and prophecy before he finally realized the time and dismissed them, much to Carina's great relief. It had been hard to hold her tongue, especially when things at the ministry last year came up; it was something she wished he hadn't brought up, for now she found herself thinking back to that day.
"Avada Kedavra!"
Sirius was struck with the green curse, and his gray eyes became vacant, his body going limp; it was if time had slowed as he fell back into the veil, his body being sucked straight into the unknown.
"Sirius!" cried Harry, rushing forward, only to be caught by Remus, who held him tightly. This did not stop the boy from struggling furiously and letting out an agonizing scream.
"Dad!" shouted Carina, and she sprinted for the veil, lunging for it; she felt arms encircle her waist and a warm, soft body pressed against her own from behind. "Let me go—get off me—DAD!"
"He's gone, Carina," tried Hermione, gripping her tighter as she squirmed in her friend's hold. The bookworm sounded pained. "He's gone, we need to get out of here, please-"
No, how could he be gone?
Her heart pounded in her chest; how could the man she had just gotten to know, the father she had just gotten to know, really be no more? He had taken her in, and even in that wretched old house, together they were happier than they had ever been. She had helped face his demons and he had learned of hers, they had comforted each other when one woke up screaming; she had depended on him, grew to love him, and now….
Now it felt as though she were being torn to pieces inside.
Her anguished howl echoed through the atrium, and she sunk back into Hermione, whimpering. "It hurts, Mione."
Carefully, Hermione released her and took her hand. "I know. Now, come on, we have to get moving."
Forcing her limbs to cooperate, Carina followed.
She blinked and suddenly found herself stuck behind Ginny, Harry and Neville, who were all whispering about something, before the green eyed boy threw his invisibility cloak over himself and disappeared.
When had this happened? She must have still been moving on autopilot when she spaced out,
Carina paid them no mind and went off in search of Luna.
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It was just Carina's luck that she found Luna standing in an empty compartment, looking contemplative.
"What are you doing?" questioned Carina, brows furrowed.
"My friends lead me here," the blonde replied vaguely. "I feel as though I have to find something."
Oh, Carina had a perfectly good idea of what was going on now; Harry had run off in search of Malfoy to spy, and now….
Experimentally, she kicked the ground in front of their feet, and her boot came into contact with something solid; she reached down and swiftly grabbed at what seemed to be the air, and what she pulled away instead was the invisibility cloak. Underneath lay a petrified Harry Potter, nose crooked, swollen and bleeding steadily—it was disgusting.
"Here's what you were supposed to find." The older girl glance out the window at the stream of students approaching the castle and sighed. "Go on, I've got this."
"Are you sure? If you'd like, I could stay with you."
Carina shook her head, raising her eyes to the ceiling because of what she was about to do. "No, go on. You should get to the feast while you still can."
Luna did not question her again, merely nodded. "I'll warn the professors the two of you will be coming along."
The other girl did not answer, but her friend knew that she had heard and exited the compartment.
"This is why you shouldn't stalk people, Potter," Carina told him with a roll of her eyes. "They eventually notice." She crouched down beside him, wand sliding out of its holster. "Finite." The boy seemed to spring to life and sat up, clutching his nose. The girl felt the train begin to move and cursed. "We have to jump, come on."
He hastily got to his feet and followed, wiping blood blood from his nose with the back of his hand as they hurried down the corridor; she flung open the door and leapt from the train without hesitation, rolling across the ground.
Quickly, Harry followed, landing far less gracefully, and they both got to their feet.
"Thank you," said Harry, voice sounding rather strange as he spoke.
"Whatever." Carina did not care for his thanks, and she leaned closer to inspect his nose with shrewd eyes. "Looks broken-I'll have to fix it before we head up or they'll think I attacked you." She leveled her wand at his nose and he crossed his eyes, taking a nervous step back.
"What are you—"
"Hold still!" she snapped, irritated. "Merlin, I'm not going to kill you, you bloody idiot!" This time Harry did not back away, though he shifted nervously and closed his eyes. "Episkey."
There was a loud crack and he cried out in pain as his nose was snapped back into place; his eyes flew open, and he gingerly touched it. It felt fine.
"How do I look?"
"No worse than you always do." She gave him a sarcastic smile and turned away. "Come on, we need to get to the castle."
"No, wait!"
She stopped moving and slowly turned to face him, groaning loudly. "What?"
Harry furrowed his brows in confusion. "Why did you help me?"
"So Luna wouldn't get in trouble for being caught out like this with you." Carina quirked a brow, her frustration rising. She shoved it down and forced herself to calm. "Anything else?" He shook his head, and she tossed him his invisibility cloak. "Then let's go."
Dutifully, he followed behind her until they reached the castle, where they were escorted inside after a chewing out from Snape.
Once inside, they sat with their respective friends and as Carina piled her plate as high as she knew she would be able to eat at the Ravenclaw table, she glanced over and met the eyes of Hermione, who had just finished fretting over Harry and had been staring at her for awhile now.
Carina realized that the other girl was trying to puzzle her out and was unable to help raising a challenging brow.
Hermione frowned, brows drawn together in that familiar way that meant she was deep in thought; Carina quickly averted her eyes and took in a mouthful of mashed potatoes.
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When the feast was over, Carina strolled along behind the crowd of other Gryffiindors making their way to the common room; she was just rounding a corner when she was grabbed and pulled into a broom cupboard.
She reacted instinctively and was about to strike, but when she found herself face to face with Hermione Granger, slowly lowered her wand.
"I want to know why you helped Harry," began Hermione, tone obviously meaning that neither of them were leaving until she got her answers.
Inwardly, Carina sighed. Why can't they just leave me alone?
She had done one simple thing to save Luna the trouble and now, everyone was questioning her motives when they were actually very clear.
"And I want to go to sleep," replied Carina with a sardonic smile. "So I guess neither of us are getting what we want."
There was a time when she would never have talked to the bookworm this way, but at the moment she just couldn't stop herself.
"You could have left him on that train and went on your way." Hermione studied her, not phased by the other girl's attitude at all. "But you didn't. All I want to know is why."
Carina shrugged, stuffing her hands in her pockets as she leaned against the wall. "I didn't want Luna to face the wrath of Snape."
The bushy haired girl stepped closer, and suddenly, Carina's heart began to race. "But that's not all, is it? That isn't the only reason."
The other witch inwardly cursed, trying to will her pounding heart to still. "Actually, it is."
Another step closer. "Carina."
The broom cupboard was small, so that last step had left them standing mere inches from each other; Carina swallowed, her emotions a mix between anxiousness, fear and anger.
"I acted on impulse," she defended quickly, forcing her voice to stay even and cool.
Despite her efforts, there was still a hitch in her breath.
Hermione's eyes gleamed, and all Carina could think was about how she needed to get out of there.
Too close, too close—
Her hand found the door handle and she flung the door open, storming out at the most steady pace she could possibly manage; once she was out of sight, she took off at a sprint and finally found the place she was looking for.
She passed by the wall three times, and when the door appeared she entered through it, sagging against the wall.
Why was she feeling this way? She had thought that her feelings for Hermione had evaporated after she had betrayed her, but now….what had just happened?
I freaked out, that's what happened. Carina ran a hand through her hair and let out a breath. She was just so close, I couldn't handle it….
After she had been thrown in Azkaban, she had spent the most time she could in her animagus form to block out the effects of the dementors until she was too weak to phase, and when she had been freed she had worked on building her occlumency shields and the first thing she had locked away were her feelings for the bushy haired bookworm.
But now, all the feelings she had locked away came flooding back and she sank to the floor, burying her head between her knees; she closed her eyes tightly.
The one thing that bothered her the most was how her heart ached.