Chapter Six
Carina stayed in the Room of Requirement that night not only so that she would be unplottable, but also because she didn't know the password to the Gryffindor common room.
When she awoke, she found herself staring into the wide, silvery eyes of Luna Lovegood, whose blonde hair hung over her like a curtain; Carina was startled by her sudden appearance and jumped.
"Bloody hell, Luna!" exclaimed Carina, stopping herself just short of hitting heads with her friend. "What are you doing here?"
She did not ask how Luna found her, because it seemed that the other girl had a certain knack for these things and therefore there was no point in asking, knowing she would mention something along the lines of Nargles or Wrackspurts or something of the kind.
"I came to talk to you," the other girl replied simply. "Hermione has been looking everywhere for you, she said you weren't in the common room last night." Luna tilted her head to the side. "Why weren't you?"
"It's nothing, really." Carina glanced at the clock and could see that they still had over an hour before classes started. She sat up and ran a hand through her hair.
"I don't think it is." The blonde shifted back to perch on the edge of the bed that had been conjured by the room last night. "Would you mind sharing?"
The raven haired girl sighed. "Fine, alright. Hermione caught me on the way to the common room last night and drug me into a broom cupboard to talk about why I helped Harry. She just kept getting closer and closer and I just…"
"Couldn't handle it," finished Luna, nodding understandingly. The barest of frowns appeared on her face. "Is this because of your feelings for her?"
Carina hadn't told her about that, but yet again, it didn't surprise her that Luna knew, much like it hadn't surprised her that Luna knew how to find her.
Scowling slightly, she hopped out of the bed and began to smooth down her robes, knowing they would have to do for now. She did not meet her friend's eye. "You mean the feelings of betrayal and heartbreak?"
"Carina…" She heard Luna sigh lightly and felt hands on her shoulders; the blonde turned her around, and their eyes met. "It's alright to love her."
"I don't love her." Carina felt a growl rumbling in her chest, and she closed her eyes for a moment before opening them again. Her voice was calmer now, and she let out a breath. "I can't. After what they did to me—what she did to me…"
"I know." Luna smiled serenely, and it put the other witch at ease. "I didn't say you had to forgive her or anything else of that sort. I only want to help."
The gray eyed girl sighed and patted the hand that her friend had on her shoulder, not saying anymore. I know, Luna.
The blonde understood and smiled again, linking their arms together.
"Come on," she ordered. "Let's go to breakfast."
Carina dutifully followed along.
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Once in the Great Hall, they were both stared at by the greater amount of the student population, and Carina could hear so many whispers that she wasn't sure where they had all started.
"I know you might not want to talk to me," said Harry, who had appeared in front of them. "But I figured I'd warn you that Hermione has been looking everywhere for you and she should be coming in any moment now. Oh, and there's this." He handed her a copy of the Daily Prophet.
She stared down at the headline and felt Luna lean closer to read it.
CARINA BLACK UNSTABLE?
I myself witnessed the newly released Miss Black attacking one Ronald Weasley in the middle of Diagon Alley the other day, and this brings up one very important question—is she really stable?
Several students have their doubts, and they all came to me with their concerns.
"She's always been mad," informs Draco Malfoy. "Completely off her rocker. I don't think they should have released her from Azkaban at all, innocent or not."
"I think she has a thing for Loony—Luna—Lovegood," Zacharias Smith adds. "And for Granger, too. Not only is she disgusting, but she doesn't have very good taste."
Carina did not bother to read any more and abruptly tore the newspaper to pieces; just those two comments infuriated her to the point where she found herself looking over Harry's shoulder for Zacharias.
"She's very angry," informed Luna needlessly, if only to break the silence. "I'm fairly sure something is going to happen later, isn't it?"
The other girl merely nodded and glanced up at Hermione, who had suddenly appeared behind Harry.
"Carina!" she exclaimed. "I've been looking everywhere for you—where have you been?"
"Around," answered Carina shortly, and her eyes found themselves drawn to a boy walking past; without warning she lunged forward and seized him by the arm, slamming him against a wall just out of sight of the Great Hall and all the students. His face was pressed against the stones of the wall, and she leaned in close to his ear. "Bad taste, huh?"
He struggled against her hold, and for a moment there she almost lost him because he was stronger than her; an angry snarl rippled through her, and he froze.
"Skeeter's lying!" yelped Zacharias, letting out a squeak when she grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back at a very painful angle; now, if he tried to escape, he would leave with a dislocated or broken arm. "I-I would never say anything like that, I think you have excellent taste!"
"Stop lying to me," she growled lowly and rammed his head into the wall with some force, causing him to groan in pain. She leaned in even closer, and he could hear her words loud and clear. "Talk about me all you want, but leave them out of this. You got that?"
"Yeah, fine, whatever—" She applied pressure to his arm, and his voice grew higher. "Alright, I will, just stop!"
Carina narrowed her eyes and shoved his arm up his back, twisting painfully; there was a sickening crunch followed by a snap. When he screamed, she released him and shoved him to the floor; it was just his luck that he landed on his hurt arm.
Her smile was cold and frightening as she stared down at him. "Don't forget to tell your friends who's off limits." Gray eyes flickered to his arm. "You may want to get that checked."
When Zacharias scrambled to his feet and ran away, she watched him go with her arms crossed.
That won't hold him off for long. I'll probably be ambushed in a hallway later or something.
She uncrossed her arms and stuck them in her pockets, rounding the corner to find Luna standing there and talking with Harry and Hermione.
"That was Zacharias, wasn't it?" questioned Hermione with furrowed brows. "What did you do?"
"He took a trip to the hospital wing," the raven haired girl replied vaguely, staring at a spot just past Hermione's ear as the corners of her lips quirked slightly. "He fell, how about that? I was just walking over and he...fell. Broke his arm or something of that sort."
"Carina, what did you do?"
The smirk on the other girl's lips did not mean anything good, and she was actually satisfied with the damage she had done; it was certainly a good way to get her anger out, and the boy had definitely infuriated her enough. She did not care about hurting people, especially if she felt they deserved it, and after Azkaban she was not going to let anyone walk over her. Though with these different yet familiar feelings creeping up on her at every turn, she would have to learn to handle herself, she knew.
"Broke his arm or something of that sort," she repeated, finally meeting Hermione's eyes, which were filled with frustration and worry.
"Why?" The bushy haired girl frowned.
"I'm unstable." Her heart raced, but Carina did not look away.
"We both know that's not true."
"Do we?"
"Yes, we do. Why did you run off last night?"
Carina bit the inside of her cheek, and on the inside she was grimacing. Bad question, very bad question.
On the outside, she merely shrugged. "Got claustrophobic?"
Hermione seemed to sense that something was off, but let it go, and Carina finally averted her eyes and turned her gaze to the floor. She couldn't handle the intense stare anymore, and Luna and Harry both seemed to notice, for each grabbed an arm and drug both girl's away.
Sitting at the Ravenclaw table, Carina pushed her food around on her plate, thinking back on a time when she could have met those eyes and never looked away.
Fourteen year old Carina walked alongside Hermione by the lake, watching the Giant Squid splash about; they both sat down and leaned against a tree.
At the moment, all Carina could think about was how their thighs were touching, so she didn't notice that Hermione was speaking until she felt a nudge to the side and jumped.
"Huh?" questioned Carina, smiling sheepishly when the brunette rolled her eyes.
"I said that I can't keep being Harry and Ron's messenger," repeated Hermione. "I feel like an owl."
"Then say no."
"It's not that simple!" The other witch threw up her hands. "I don't want them to think I'm choosing sides and make this worse!"
Carina raised her own in defense. "I did choose a side, so I can't really help you there. Ron shouldn't be acting the way he is if it isn't Harry's fault."
"He's jealous." Hermione sighed. "I just don't know what to do, Carina."
"I don't either." The raven haired girl turned her head at the same time Hermione did, causing their noses to brush and their faces to be at least an inch apart. This made Carina's heart pound even more, and Hermione laughed and pulled back slightly so that she could see her friend better.
"I'm sorry, that was an accident."
Carina swallowed. "That's okay." She flashed the bookworm a wide grin and met beautiful brown eyes. "Great minds think alike though, huh?"
"Yes, I suppose they do." Her eyes did not once stray from the other girl's. "Thank you for cheering me up, at least."
"That's what I'm here for." Carina made a funny face, and Hermione was soon smiling widely, watching her friend stick her tongue out and cross her eyes. "See? I'm hilarious!"
Hermione laughed again, and the grin on Carina's face grew. "Definitely." She stood and held out her hand. "We should probably get back to the castle."
The raven haired girl accepted the offered hand and got to her feet, complaining playfully, "Ah, Mione, I wanted to stay out here!"
"Too bad." The bushy haired girl elbowed her in the side, but the only thing Carina could concentrate on was how they were still holding hands as they walked along.
With a frustrated groan, Carina let her forehead fall onto the table with a thunk. What was wrong with her? One minute she was almost normal—or as normal as one could be after what she had been through—and then the next she was confused and angry and feeling so many things at once.
She did not like it one bit. It was driving her insane, not knowing what to do with this.
With her.
Ignoring the problem would only work for so long, and she knew it.
"Are you alright, Carina?" inquired Luna, ducking her head so that she could partially see her friend's face.
"Just peachy," grumbled Carina, and when she lifted her eyes briefly and caught Hermione watching her, plonked her forehead back on the table and threw her arms over her head.
This was starting to give her a headache—peachy indeed.