Here's the new chapter up, don't forget to review!
She had no idea why she had allowed Luna to convince her to rejoin the Quidditch Team, but then again, Carina mused, being in the air again was freeing and it was actually quite amusing to frighten the younger years watching by standing on her broom or pulling some other stunt like that. She had actually missed it, the adrenaline rush she would get.
Currently she found herself walking through Hogsmeade alone, for Luna had had some homework to catch up on and insisted Carina get out and do something, so here she was.
It had been a while since she had last been here, not that it had changed any; it never did.
She glanced about and stuffed her hands into her pockets, rounding a corner to The Three Broomsticks so that she could possibly get a Butterbeer or something of that sort; however, she was stopped in her tracks by the sight of Harry Potter holding Mundungus Fletcher by the throat, and what happened next happened so fast that it was a blur.
When the man had apparated away, she could hear Harry swearing and raving, "He nicked Sirius's stuff! Nicked it!"
This made her jaw clench, for now she understood what had happened; he must have caught Mundungus with a stolen artifact from Grimmauld Place and went after him in a rage.
Tonks was there, but Carina ignored her cousin as she strode directly up to the boy that was her godbrother and looked him in the eye.
"He stole from my house?" she questioned quietly, a dangerous edge in her tone.
"Yes!" confirmed Harry furiously. "I found a goblet with the Black Crest on it among other things." He seemed glad that at least one person understood. "If Tonks hadn't have shown up, I'd have killed him by now!"
"You should have." She got why he was so angry; though they were not fond of the house itself or all the objects in it—including Kreacher—it was the last thing they had of Sirius and they had been the closest to him. "The arse would have deserved it, probably would've made a lot of people happy." Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Hermione watching her carefully while wrapping her arms around herself and turned her attention back to Harry, tone flat. "You do realize you're going to freeze standing out here."
"She's right," piped up Hermione, and she shivered as a cold gust of wind hit. "We're going to catch something out here."
Carina's sharp eyes caught the motion, and she suddenly grabbed the other girl by the arm—ignoring the small hitch of breath she received at the action and her own racing heart—and tugged her inside The Three Broomsticks, leading her to a table and forcing her to sit down.
"Don't," the raven haired girl cut in with a slight scowl, before Hermione had a chance to open her mouth. "Here." She turned to Rosmerta and requested a two butterbeers and handing her four sickles; once they were delivered, Carina snatched hers up and quickly made to go sit in the far corner.
"Carina," Hermione called, and the girl turned with an inward groan. Couldn't she just do this and be allowed to leave? She did not want to hang around any longer than she had to, especially when Ron and Harry were about to enter the pub. "Are you alright?"
"Just peachy." The sarcastic smile the bookworm received was not comforting. "Is that all?"
"Thank you."
Carina found that the longer those brown eyes were trained on her the more anxious she got, and she unconsciously shifted, averting her eyes. "Don't make a big deal of it." She took a large swig of butterbeer to calm her nerves, and then made to leave when her name was called again. "Yes?"
Hermione gestured to her upper lip. "You have something there, I just thought you should know."
Scrunching her nose, the other girl swiped at her lips with her sleeve, and then licked them; there was nothing there now. She did not say a word in response and turned on her heel to go find a seat in the corner of the room just as Harry and Ron strode in.
As Carina leaned back in her booth, nursing her butterbeer, she took another drink and thought back.
Harry, Ron, Hermione and Carina all sat at a table in The Three Broomsticks together, finishing off their butterbeer and laughing.
"That snowball fight was wicked," said Ron earnestly. The fourteen year old ginger was grinning from ear to ear. "I nailed Carina right in the face!"
"Yes, but do you not remember when she stuck a snowball down the front of your trousers?" shot back Harry, causing the other boy's ears to turn red. "You were hopping about like a rabbit."
"It was cold!"
"And also your fault," added Hermione, amused. "If you hadn't have declared a war against her—"
"—maybe you wouldn't have made a fool of yourself in front of the whole of Hogsmeade," finished Carina with a grin, laughing when Ron sunk down into his seat in embarrassment. She rubbed her nose a bit ruefully. "It still hurts, you know."
"You poor baby," the girl beside her teased, poking her nose and causing Carina to go cross eyed. "Do I need to kiss it better?"
The raven haired girl's cheeks flushed to match Ron's ears, and she hastily stood. "I think we should get back to the castle now," she announced rather loudly, and the others laughed as they exited the pub together.
Once outside in the cold, Hermione shivered as a gust of wind hit them; the others were not bothered, and Carina noticed.
"You alright, Hermione?" asked Carina, brows furrowing.
"I'm fine." Hermione wrapped her arms around herself, but the other girl was having none of it and slung her cloak around her friend's shoulders; the shivering ceased immediately, and as Hermione pulled it tighter around herself, she glanced at Carina. "Won't you be cold as well?"
The truth was, she could already feel the chill setting in, not that she would tell Hermione that. They were almost at the castle anyway, so she merely smiled and shook her head.
By now, the butterbeer was already gone and Carina stood, making her way toward the door; on her way, she warred with herself over whether or not she should do one more kind act; really, should she?
Yes, the smaller part of her whispered.
No. Carina found her hand twitching anyway, and she willed it to stop. I can't keep doing this, she isn't worth it. None of them are. I don't need them to toss me away again once they're done playing me. That's the whole reason I want to avoid them.
You don't REALLY want to be seen as a monster, do you? She could almost hear her past self accuse. And besides, you love her.
That's besides the point. By this time, Carina realized that talking to herself was making her seem more off her rocker than she already was, and she found herself inwardly sighing in exasperation. Great, just great. She stopped at the door just out of sight of the trio and paused, making sure no one was watching.
She took off her cloak and drew her wand; holding the cloak in her free hand, she leveled her wand at it and murmured, "Wingardium Leviosa."
The cloak floated in front of her, and she peered around the corner and carefully directed it to hover just beside Hermione; Ron pointed at it, and Harry furrowed his brows.
She could see the knowing spark in the bookworm's eyes from here as she glanced about, obviously searching for Carina, who was happy that she was unable to be spotted; she did not want another confrontation.
She flicked her wand, and the cloak bumped into Hermione, who finally gingerly plucked it from the air and placed it on her lap.
Satisfied, Carina returned her wand to its holster and ducked out the door, the barest of smiles on her lips.
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That night after dinner, Carina sat on the floor by herself in the common room, staring at the fire and imagining her father's head poking out, speaking in hushed tones to four clueless teenagers who had no idea what was in store for them.
She wished that she could see such a thing again, but she knew that she couldn't and would never be able to again; Bellatrix had killed him, and though she had accepted that her father was gone it did nothing to ease the pain.
The pain was still fresh, the Dementors in Azkaban had made sure of that.
She sighed and leaned back against the couch, contemplating.
What had she become? First she had been a frightened and scarred child, then a carefree and charming young teenager, and now...this. She was not a monster, for she had seen monsters and knew that she herself was not one and could never be; she felt things strongly, and by now she had realized that Luna was right about that.
She might...possibly...have some feelings left for Hermione Granger, but while one part of her wanted to act on them, she felt as though if she succumbed to such feelings she would become weak and be betrayed again; she did not want that to happen.
Carina wanted to hold a grudge against Hermione for the rest of their lives, but she simply couldn't; it did not mean she liked it, but the odds had been stacked against her and whoever had framed her had done a good job of it. They had made sure it seemed as though she went insane with grief after her father's death—or for no reason, according to the prophet she had succumbed to the inner Black madness and joined the dark side—and destroyed everything and everyone in her path.
Hermione had been grieving and Carina could allow for that, but…
She didn't fight for me. She didn't even think…
The raven haired witch shook her head to rid herself of those thoughts, for she did not want to go too deeply into that. She had a temper as of late, but then again that was nothing new, for she had always been a hothead.
"Carina," interrupted Ginny, causing the girl to look up, forgetting to put on her mask of indifference. The redhead noticed immediately and frowned. "Are you alright?"
"Fine," murmured Carina, turning her attention back to the fire.
"Hermione tells me a cloak was mysteriously floating by her in The Three Broomsticks today," the younger girl glanced over at her, brows raising. "Any idea about that?"
"Not the slightest."
"Oh? So it isn't the cloak I saw you leave in this morning and then come back without before dinner?"
Carina raised a brow at her and gray eyes flickered over to meet brown, though not the shade she wanted to see. "You must be hallucinating, I didn't leave with a cloak."
"If you say so." Ginny shrugged and dropped the subject, before getting to her feet. "I came down here to tell you that Hermione said it's time to head to the dorms."
"Little miss prefect giving orders already?" The older witch offered a wry smile that slowly faded as she glanced back at the fire. "I'm staying down here a little longer." She shifted to sit on the couch instead and before the footsteps had completely disappeared, she called, "Wait."
Ginny looked over her shoulder. "Yeah?"
"Tell Hermione to keep the cloak." Feeling as though she had been a bit too nice, she couldn't resist adding, "It's already got her germs on it, anyway."
"Alright."
That was all that was said before the redhead disappeared up the stairs, leaving Carina alone to with her thoughts and the crackling of the fire.