Thanks for the reviews, if you guys keep it up hopefully I'll still be motivated enough to write more. :P Here's chapter fifteen, hope you like it!
Carina was the first to pull back, nearly flying backward into the wall seconds after their lips had brushed; her eyes were wide, cheeks tinged pink and breaths quick. Her heart felt as though it were going to beat out of her chest, and she could feel the telltale tremble of her fingers signifying just how much that simple action had affected her.
Her eyes snapped to Fred and George, who were laughing uproariously, and then felt a surge of anger; they weren't supposed to do that! She hadn't wanted to know what it was like to kiss Hermione Granger, because now that she did, she wanted more, and more, and more. Now that she did, she couldn't stop thinking about it, because it had been more than simple peck—she had been kissed back.
Carina felt their lips press together hard, and when her arms wrapped around Hermione to brace herself, she felt as though she should pull away, even tried to pull away, but was rooted to the spot. Arms encircled her own waist and there was a slight pressure, a slight movement against her lips that made her heart skip.
"Why would you do that?" cried Ron furiously, ears turning red as his own eyes darted from one person to the other. "I bet Mione didn't even want to kiss her, so why would you force her to?!"
The raven haired girl clenched her fists, taking a step forward.
"It was a prank, Ron," snapped Hermione, beating Carina to the punch (no pun intended). "They didn't mean anything by it. It was just a kiss. And besides, you're supposed to kiss someone at midnight on the New Year, aren't you? Who would you have proposed I kiss? You?"
"No...maybe," the boy shot back hotly. "Anyone but her!"
"She has a name!" the bookworm stepped right up next to him, so that they were nose to nose. "And besides, you've got Lavender to snog with all the time. Carina is my friend!"
"So am I!"
Carina could not take anymore and slipped from the room, racing up the stairs; she could hear a pair of footsteps follow her own as she ducked into the library, and all but threw herself into an armchair.
Remus Lupin took a seat in the chair across from her.
"So," he began, watching her rather carefully. "Yourself and Hermione?"
"You noticed," remarked Carina rather dully. "I was wondering when you would."
"She doesn't feel the same, I assume."
She stared down at the bracelet on her wrist, which she hadn't taken off since Christmas, and absentmindedly fiddled with it. "No. She likes Ron Weasley."
"I see." The sandy haired man nodded in understanding. "He seemed quite jealous in there-I think he may have some feelings for her as well. What do you think about that?"
She laughed humorlessly. "Harry and Ginny, Ron and Hermione, all one big, happy family. They can have it. I'll always be on the outside looking in."
"You think so?" Remus leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees, while she only slumped further into her chair in answer. "Because I think that you shouldn't give up hope, Carina."
"I did in Azkaban." She sighed. "They put me in his cell, Moony. Some kind of coincidence or something twisted, I don't know. I'll never be enough for Hermione Granger, but somehow she's always been enough for me, probably always will."
"James felt the same about Lily," the werewolf's voice quieted. "Because for the longest time, she hated him. He tried his best to impress her and as he matured, be the right one for her. And for awhile there, he thought it would never be enough; he'd loved her since we were eleven years old, and finally, somewhere along the way, she felt the same."
"I'm not James and Lily." Carina glanced up at him, hand stilling on the bracelet. Her eyes were dark, and he could see something there very reminiscent of Sirius. "It was just a kiss. A prank. Nothing more, nothing less."
"It wasn't." Remus reached out to grab her arm and lightly tugged at it, indicating for her to stand. She did so silently, and he scooted over to make room for her before pulling her down onto the loveseat beside him; he kept his arm securely around her shoulders, and gradually, her stiff form relaxed. He peered down at her, squeezing her arm. "Not to you. Don't be afraid to love someone, Carina. It's alright to feel."
Ever so slowly, her head found his shoulder, and he gently pulled her closer, pressing a kiss to her forehead.
"Thank you," she murmured.
She felt more at peace than she had earlier, having finally calmed, and drew her knees to her chest, scooting closer. She had missed Remus, Moony, her father's friend and her once professor and then surrogate uncle; she was glad to have him around.
He had lost two of his best friends and been betrayed by the other, had to transform painfully into a werewolf for so many years before wolfsbane, had known loneliness and self-hatred and pain. He understood, or at least far better than anyone else.
She had witnessed firsthand how quickly death came, and she was determined to make the best of it with him, because she did know how much time either of them had left.
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They soon went back to school, and as the weeks flew by it seemed that Hermione had only grown more and more obsessed with beating Harry in Potions and constantly told him that his book, previously owned by someone called the Half-Blood Prince, could be dangerous. He hadn't believed her and had continued to follow Malfoy around, despite Carina's warning; she knew it would backfire again, but did not say a word to him on the matter because as far as she was concerned, anything that happened would be his fault.
She shook her head as she saw Ron and Lavender snogging in the corridor and continued on, ignoring their disgusting display.
Really, can't they get a room?
She was alone today, for Luna had to study and Hermione had went ahead to the common room with Ginny already.
As she walked by the boy's bathroom, she caught Harry creeping inside with his wand out, stuffing the Marauder's Map in his pocket. Finding this suspicious, she quickly dillusioned herself and followed quietly.
Harry peered around the corner; Malfoy was there at the sink, face dripping with water and what looked suspiciously like tears, school robes strewn in the floor and the sleeves of his shirt rolled up to his elbows. He had not noticed anything, until Carina's illusion flickered and Harry stepped forward, making a squeak with his shoes by accident.
The blond boy whirled around, wand out and ready and a spell on his lips. Carina groaned inwardly and disabled her own spell, stepping aside as Harry fired off a curse; Malfoy's jet of red light shot just past her ear, and she quickly ducked to avoid being shot by another.
The idiots don't even care who they're shooting at!
Carina whirled on her cousin first and cast a leg-locker hex, sending him diving out of the way and straight into Harry's cutting curse; scowling, she rounded on the black haired boy and cast a stunner, only for him to leap out of the way. She had expected that an cast an expelliarmus at just the right time, sending his wand flying across the room.
Should give me time to deal with Malfoy.
She noticed that said teen was sporting a cut to the cheek and nothing more, but the spell headed her way definitely meant that he had it out for both of them.
She slammed into the wall with near bone breaking force and then slid to the ground; getting to her feet with rising anger, she leveled her wand just beside his head and growled, "Bombarda!"
The entire sink exploded, sending water spraying everywhere and flooding the bathroom; she did not care and lunged forward, tackling him to the ground and slammed her fist into his cheek. Malfoy struggled furiously under her and finally managed to shove her away and onto her back.
Malfoy leapt to his feet and started after Harry, who had finally regained his wand.
"Cruc-" began Malfoy furiously, only for his wand to go shooting out of his hand courtesy of the other boy.
"Get out of here, Carina!" shouted Harry, catching Malfoy's wand in his free hand. He sounded quite frustrated, and she felt her own irritation rise. "Now!"
Who was he to tell her what to do?
"Flipendo!" she yelled, and he reacted instantly, shouting some spell she had never heard before and slashing his wand wildly.
Blood spurted from Carina's face and chest as though she had been slashed with an invisible sword. She staggered backward and collapsed onto the waterlogged floor with a great splash, wand sliding from between her fingers and falling into the water somewhere below them.
Malfoy, sensing a chance for escape, sprinted from the room and did not look back.
Slipping and staggering, Harry got to his feet and plunged toward Carina, whose face was now shining scarlet, pale hands hovering uselessly above her blood soaked chest, fingers clenching and unclenching as though she did not quite know what to do with them. She stared at the blood with wide eyes.
Her foster parents had left welts and bruises and broken bones and the like, but they had never made her lose this much blood, and it was frightening.
Her breathing grew labored and the pain grew worse; her head spun, and she could vaguely hear Harry calling desperately for help before she blacked out.