Yes, I know this only happened in the movie and is not considered canon, but then again my story is rather AU in the first place despite the fact that it doesn't stray from too many events in the books and movies. Just wanted to put that out there, be sure to review!

Christmas Eve came and it was rather uneventful for Carina, who sat in the farthest corner and watched as Harry and Ginny stopped speaking at the abrupt and awkward arrival of Ron, who sat down between them with a tray of pies and cakes. He offered one to Harry, who hastily declined and shifted in his seat, clearly uncomfortable with the new development. Ginny did not look any happier, if the twitch of her eye was anything to go by.

"Hello," came a voice, and Carina was not all that startled as she glanced up and found Remus Lupin standing over her, looking haggard as ever. "May I sit?" Without speaking, she nodded, and he perched himself on the coffee table across from her. He clasped his hands between his knees and peered at her through weary—though nevertheless kind—amber eyes. He was paler than usual and his scars stood out, causing her to believe that all the stress was finally getting to him, judging by his gray flecked hair. "How are you?"

"Better," she answered carefully, regarding him warily.

"That's good," he nodded along, pausing for a moment. "I never expected to see you here, of all places, but it makes sense that you'd rather be here than…" He trailed off.

"Yeah." The girl let out a breath. She knew she should not be mad at Remus, for he was the only one who had not actually accused her of the murders and had always been a great professor and uncle of sorts to her. She had told him everything back then, and he had been more than happy to help Sirius look after her and visit when he could. He was a werewolf, so he could not have gotten her out of Azkaban without breaking her out, and that would have been drastic and sent her on the run like her father had been. Plus, he had probably been on missions and patrols as well because of Dumbledore. Carina cleared her throat. "Kreacher and Grandmother aren't pleasant company."

He leaned forward slightly, resting his elbows on his knees. "I'd imagine not. Even now I can still hear Walburga shouting insults after me." Indeed, she had done that quite often when disturbed in the summer, and Carina had attempted to set the portrait on fire, to no avail. He felt around in his pockets and carefully extracted a wide bracelet, a simple metal looking one of golden-like color, and handed it to her.

She furrowed her brows as she read the small print inside, ignoring the runes on the outside for now.

Carina,

You will never know how much I love you. I am so proud of who you've become.

—Dad

"Where did you get this?" Carina glanced up at Remus and clutched the bracelet tightly between her fingers.

"Sirius intended to give it to you before his death. Tonks and I were rummaging around in his room afterward and found it—I remembered him mentioning it and decided to give it to you." Remus offered her a small, sympathetic and knowing smile. "You're very much like him, Carina. I know he would be proud of you now as well—I am, and—" He scooted forward so that he could gently take her hands in his own, and she almost flinched away but stopped herself. He noticed, but only squeezed her hands lightly. "—I can never express how sorry I am to you. I should have tried harder to get you out of there."

He tried? Someone actually tried?

"You...you tried to get me out?" Her eyes searched his face for some kind of deceit, but found none.

"Yes," the werewolf confirmed solemnly. "I tried to appeal to Dumbledore, but he told me his hands were tied, so I went to the ministry. They laughed me out of the room and threatened me should I ever go back again on your behalf. I tried everything short of breaking you out."

"You could have been killed," Carina breathed, eyes widening.

"I know."

"Then why?"

"Because you're your father's daughter." Remus's voice was steady. "And I care for you very much. I didn't want you to suffer the same fate he did."

The raven haired girl swallowed hard, somehow feeling touched. One person had believed in her and tried to help her, and that person just so happened to be the one who had very little and had risked it all to make sure she did not suffer the same fate as her father. This man was proud of her, and cared for her, and hadn't betrayed her at all.

I can't believe it.

"Thank you." She found herself abruptly leaning forward to wrap her arms around him, and when his own encircled her, she felt at peace. A bit embarrassed, she pulled away with flushed cheeks and snapped the bracelet onto her wrist; it glowed faintly for a moment, before dimming. "What was that?"

"Protection runes." Remus offered her yet another smile, though a bit wider this time.

"Oh." She stared down at it and trailed her fingers across them. She did not ask what ones, trusting that her father knew what he was doing.

They were interrupted by frantic yelling and a scorching heat; Remus leapt to his feet, grabbed Carina, and yanked her through the door just as the Burrow went up in flames.

Through the ring around the house, she could make out Bellatrix Lestrange standing among them, and her cousin grinned wickedly before dashing away.

Carina locked eyes with Harry, and it the intensity in his eyes matched her own; it seemed that they were both thinking only one thing as they leapt through the flames—get her.

Vaguely, she could hear both Ginny and Hermione call after them, but she kept sprinting through the field, following the taunting yells of Bellatrix, "I killed Sirius Black, I killed Sirius Black!"

Anger coursed through her, and Carina shifted as she ran so that she would get there faster; it seemed that she had almost made it when she found herself standing in the middle of the field, no one in sight. She heard another shout and spun in a wild circle, ears pricking up, and Harry came crashing through with Ginny and Hermione directly behind him, wands out.

Hermione slid forward, and Carina shifted just in time to go skidding through the mud on her back, grunting when the older witch slammed into her. She swiftly stood and without a word extended her free hand to Hermione, drawing her wand with the other as she pulled the bookworm to her feet.

"You coming to get me?" She whirled furiously, a snarl on her lips, only to be faced with nothing. It seemed as though Bellatrix's voice was echoing from all directions. "You gonna get me?"

In her rage, Carina began to shake, confronted with the image of her father falling through that veil over and over again, and surged forward in the direction of the voice, only to be stopped by a loud howl a short distance away. She stopped herself short, nostrils flaring; there was a werewolf here, and it definitely wasn't Remus.

As if summoned, he and Tonks came bursting through the weeds and joined the circle, so that they were all back to back with their wands out.

"Greyback is here," spoke Remus urgently. "I smell him. I heard him."

"We did too," replied Carina roughly, attempting to keep her wand arm steady as she trembled. She felt Hermione's hand grab her free hand and squeeze tightly, but neither gave any outward sign that they were fully conscious of it.

There was a rustling around them, and everyone shot off spells at once; one came flying back toward Hermione, and Carina tackled her to the ground on instinct, the green light narrowly avoiding her head as they both crashed to the ground. Remus and Tonks circled the teens, wands out and wary, but after a few moments, there were two distinct pops and they slowly lowered their wands.

"They're gone," informed Tonks, and her younger cousin stood and helped Hermione to her feet.

"No, they're standing next to you."

Tonk shot Carina a look, and the teen made a face back.

"Let's get back."

When they finally got back to where the others were waiting, Mr. Weasley had his wife in his arms as they watched their home burn; Bill and Fleur were in a similar position, while Harry, Ron, Ginny, Fred and George all gathered together as well.

Carina stood there beside Hermione, their hands still clasped together.

"I wanted to kill her," she murmured, watching the flames engulf the house.

"I know," replied Hermione quietly, and Carina finally turned to face her, noticing that though her face and body were streaked with mud and her hair was a mess, she was still beautiful. "I think your reaction was justified." She studied the other girl, letting out a weak chuckle. "You're a mess." She reached up and, with the clean edge of her sleeve, wiped the mud from Carina's face, gently gripping her chin to hold her in place. "There. Thank you for catching me."

"No problem," Carina's heart skipped a beat, and she reached out on impulse to brush Hermione's wild hair from her eyes, picking grass from it and then rubbing the mud from the bookworm's cheeks with her own sleeve.

"Is it all gone?"

"Almost." The raven haired girl offered her the barest of a smile, and then flushed when Hermione pressed a kiss to her cheek, dangerously close to her lips.

She stilled for a moment, before carefully pushing the brunette back as the flames spread and the adults finally began to put it out, their initial shock wearing off.

"What will we do now?" The hand found hers again, and over his shoulder Remus cast Carina a knowing look, and inwardly she groaned, knowing what that meant. "I've got nowhere else to go, and now neither have they at the moment…"

"I guess," she offered up reluctantly. "They can stay at my house. They're still using it as headquarters anyway."

Harry had given them permission when she had been in Azkaban, and she did not feel like picking a fight with Dumbledore of all people over it.

"Are you sure?"

Carina sighed. "Positive."

"That's nice of you." Hermione squeezed her hand, and Carina shrugged silently.

I'm not sharing a room, though, if I have one of my own, she told herself. It can't be that bad, can it?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

No, it was definitely not that bad, as she'd thought. It was worse.

Mrs. Weasley had taken to bustling about the kitchen as though she owned it and was constantly ordering the others to clean—Carina had refused and drug Hermione with her to the library—all the way up until it the New Year. The bright side was, she did not have to share a room with Hermione and Ginny any longer and got to stay in her own; some nights however, Walburga's portrait would begin shrieking because of someone tripping on their way to the bathroom or kitchen, and she found herself waking up in the middle of the night.

Other times, she awoke from nightmares. The last had been terrible, but for the first time in a while someone was finally there to comfort her, and that had definitely helped, despite the fact that it was not the person she wanted to see her like that.

"—rina," someone was saying. "Ca...rin...a….Car….."

She could only barely hear it, for she was too deep in the nightmare.

Sirius Black falling through the veil.

"You did this," he whispered, lifeless eyes staring at her as he seemed to almost float back into the mysterious beyond.

Green light everywhere.

"We came to save you."

Dead bodies scattered about.

"Harry Potter...The Chosen One…." Voldemort's sneering face. "...and the criminal's daughter….how lovely…."

A small girl cowering in a corner.

"No, please," she whimpered. "No more, it hurts."

The belt flying against her back, fists and voices raising and the pain, so much pain…..

"You worthless little brat!" The lashes came one after the other, and they seemed to never stop. "You deserve this, for stealing my food!"

"I was hungry," the little girl cried out as the fist hit her face. "I'm sorry, please—"

Blood splattered against the wall and floor—her blood. The whispers began.

The man morphed into a dementor, and as it drew closer and closer the whispers grew louder and louder, and the little girl became a thin, dark haired teenager, huddled into a corner.

"No," she whimpered again."I'll be good, I promise…"

"Carina!"

The dementor drew closer and removed its hood, revealing the face of Marlene McKinnon, her own mother, beautiful features twisting into a cruel resemblance of the smiling woman in the pictures. "This is the child I died for? You're weak. You killed me, Carina...I regret ever having you—who would want a daughter like you?"

"Mommy...no, I'll be good!"

But her mother only drew closer, mouth opening unnaturally wide; blood poured out, and her eyes glazed over. The teen's own mouth was forced open, and her soul began to pour through—

"CARINA!"

The last shout startled the girl awake, and she bolted upright in her bed, trembling furiously and a sob escaping her throat; she was vaguely aware of someone climbing into the bed beside her and drawing her closer, making sure her head was positioned directly over their chest so that she could hear the steady beating of their heart.

A hand ran through her hair and smoothed the damp locks back, and when Carina finally calmed, she found herself all but cuddled into the side of Hermione Granger.

"It's alright, Rina," whispered Hermione, and the other girl lifted her head to watch her with weary eyes. "You're alright."

"Why," tried Carina hoarsely, before coughing. "What are you doing here?"

"Remus heard you having a nightmare when he came to check on you." The hand in Carina's hair stilled for a moment, before continuing its stroking. "Nothing he did could wake you, and since I was awake I came to help."

Pale cheeks flushed pink. "I didn't want you to see me like this."

"Like what, Carina? In pain?" The brunette's brown eyes met hers calmly. "I want to be here if you need me. You don't need to do this on your own. I care about you a lot and I want to help you, but I can't do it if you won't let me."

There was silence for a few moments, before the younger witch collapsed into Hermione, wrapping her arms around the bookworm.

"Okay," she mumbled finally. "But you don't know what you're getting yourself into." She could not bring herself to pull away, for she was still shaken from the nightmare and was immensely enjoying the embrace. Perhaps she shouldn't be trusting the other girl like this or allow her to be here like this, but at the moment she felt as though maybe Luna was right; maybe, just maybe, she was the missing void.

Carina had awoken that morning to the two of them tangled together in the bed and all but set fire to Fred and George when she caught them taking pictures. Now, however, it was their last day before school and the New Year was only seconds away.

Everyone was sitting together and laughing, while she stood there and watched until Hermione appeared in front of her as the others began to count.

Ten.

Hermione took a step closer. "Hello."

Nine.

Carina offered a half smile. "Hi."

Eight.

"What do you think of the party?"

Seven.

"Not my cup of tea."

Six.

"Is it because of the people?"

Five.

"Yes."

Four.

"Myself included?" Fred had crept up behind Hermione without her noticing.

Three.

"Never you."

Two.

George was behind Carina, and he and his twin shared grins; the girls noticed too late.

One.

They were shoved forward, and their lips crashed together as they stumbled forward, Carina wrapping her arms around Hermione on instinct to catch herself.

"Happy New Year!"