Just something I had the idea for to fill in a bit of the time in the summer they stayed at Grimmauld Place. Plus, it gets Carina closer to Hermione during the time and gives some more insight here, maybe. SO, please oh please review, because I love those. And maybe check out my one shot, "Finally," and tell me what you think.

Carina lay awake in her room days later, staring up at the enchanted ceiling as she folded her arms behind her head. She was thankful, now, that she and her father and Remus had worked so hard to make it this way, else she'd be stuck in complete darkness with only the shadows for comfort. At least now she could see the stars.

She had moved herself from the drawing room to her own, and Harry and Ron had deigned to sleep in the old room they had used, finally. Hermione had taken the room she and Ginny had used to share, and that left them both alone.

Carina did not like being alone, much. Or, at least, at night. Nightmares came and went more frequently and she had charmed her appearance so that no one would notice the purple spots under her eyes; and, no one had. Even if they had, she did not think anyone would care much either way—perhaps Hermione, but that was about it.

She wondered how Luna was doing, and if she were alright. When she was alone in the library or at night, just alone in general, she found her thoughts straying to the blonde often. She was probably alright, for she had Ginny and Neville and therefore rest of Gryffindor—her own house, not so much—but Carina still worried if she had done the right thing in leaving.

Then again, if I'd have stayed, I'd have probably been caught and killed, or just kidnapped and tortured for information I'd never give until I died. She sighed. But thinking about that won't help.

She sighed again and rolled over, hoping to get some rest.

It worked...for awhile. It seemed like she had just shut her eyes when the nightmare came.

She was running through a maze, twisting and turning this way and that as she could hear Bellatrix's taunts of, "I killed Sirius Black!" echoing about over and over again.

She was angry. So, so angry.

"I killed Sirius Black! Are you coming to get me? Can't catch me, little cousin!"

Carina rounded a corner and skidded to a halt in a small clearing, looking about furiously. She was shaking with suppressed anger, and finally, finally she saw HER. Bellatrix. The murderer of her father and bane of her existence.

She surged forward and grabbed the woman around the neck, lifting her off her feet and into the air. Arm steady, she gazed up at her cousin with bared teeth, canines gleaming.

"Caught you," she whispered mockingly, and squeezed.

Bellatrix choked, clawing at her arm for a moment, before suddenly going slack in her grip and beginning to laugh. Eyes flashing, Carina flung her away and sent her flying back, landing hard in the dirt; the maze was gone. She lashed out and struck the older witch in the face, and Bellatrix laughed again, blood dribbling from her mouth and down her chin.

"You don't have it in you," Bellatrix grinned. "You and your father, you're both the same." She got to her feet and licked the blood away, eyes gleaming. "So...gullible. So...defenseless ."

What?

Carina felt her body seize, and her back was pressed against something hard.

"Hello, sweetheart," murmured a voice she knew all too well. It was her last foster father, by far one of her worst. He gripped her around the waist, fingertips digging into his skin and the other arm pressed into her neck. His breath hit the bare skin of her neck and she shuddered, both from his touch and the smell of the alcohol on his breath. "Miss me? 'Cause I've missed you."

She felt his lips brush her ear and shuddered again. "Let go of me."

"And why would I do that?" They fell upon her neck and stayed there for a moment. "You've gotten so...mature."

She could feel his grin upon her skin, see Bellatrix's own wicked smile as she watched the scene unfold. It was dark, the only dim light caused from the moon overhead; cold came upon her, and she could see a swarm of dementors approaching from behind Bellatrix, igniting flame to whatever they touched on their way.

"I said let go of me." Carina struggled, to no avail. His grip was strong, and the hand sliding along her thigh did not make her feel very comfortable at all.

He did not deign to respond and seized her face in his hand, turning it toward him; the other was pressed into her stomach, and she snarled weakly at him. Gone was the anger she had felt. Now, she could feel hopelessness creeping up on her as the dementors drew closer, feel the despair….

Bellatrix's form flickered, and shifted into one she had not been wishing to see.

Marlene McKinnon.

"Oh, darling," cooed her mother, stepping closer. Her own mouth, like her cousin's, was leaking blood. "Come to mummy."

"Mom," choked Carina, jerking her head aside from her foster father. "Help me, please."

Marlene stopped in her tracks, head tilted and brows drawn together in confusion. "Help you? Whatever for?"

The dementors hovered over her and she smiled at Carina; one hovered close to her mother, grabbed her face in it's skeletal hands, and pried her mouth open. It's own was open wide, and her mother's soul spilled out and into the dementor.

Carina could not scream, could not move even as her mother became her father, who stepped forward with the dementors flocking him.

"Carina."

"Daddy," the teen pleaded, terror overcoming her the closer he got. The body behind her had changed as well, and she could already tell it was her sole foster mother, who had often loved to toy with men like her father, kill them, and take their money. "Help me."

Sirius stared at her, gray eyes darkening to a black that was almost demonic as he reached out to violently strike her; in his hand materialized a belt, and more people appeared—more, more, more…

Green lightning flashed, and Carina screamed.

Pain. So much pain.

It hurts.

Stop, stop, make it—

"—make it stop! Someone—" She let out a strangled sob and sunk to the ground, curling into a ball. Whips and hands and belts all struck her, lashed her, and she could hear the faint shout of someone, someone calling out that despicable spell, Crucio! Her eyes lifted for a faint moment, and she saw that the owner of the voice was Remus Lupin. He smiled wolfishly at her as he transformed, and then he pounced, clawing and tearing as she screamed again and again, calling for help, but none would come. "NO, STOP, PLEASE, NO!"

"This is your fault," the voices whispered. "You're not strong enough, not good enough….you deserve it…no one has ever loved you, how could they? Pathetic, so pathetic...weak…"

Any fight left in her had vanished, and amidst the pain and terror she could feel her very soul being torn from her body, wisping away in the wind as the green lightning flashed again and the flames drew near, burning and devouring…

The heat scorched her—

Carina bolted upright with a howl that drew out into a scream, drawing her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. Eyes wide, she swallowed hard and jumped from fright when her door creaked open; a messy haired teen stood there, squinting at her as he pushed his glasses up on his face and held his lit wand aloft.

"Go," she managed in a strangled voice. "Go!"

It was all she could say, but he only stared at her for a moment, green eyes—killing curse green, to which made her scoot back warily—boring into her, before quietly retreating and closing the door.

(Gonna switch to Hermione's P.O.V. here, I think, to get her perspective)

Hermione could feel someone shake her, hissing her name, "Hermione! Hermione, wake up."

Blearily, she opened her eyes and pushed herself upright.

"Harry?" she yawned, and he lowered his wand when she winced. "What is it? Is there an emergency?"

For a moment she wondered if the Death Eaters were about to begin an attack and reached for her wand, only for him to shake his head. "It's not what you think. But, it is an emergency."

"What is it?" His tone made her heart skip a beat anxiously.

"It's Carina." She could have sworn her heart stopped at that, and he hesitated. "She woke up screaming from a nightmare. Actually, howling and then screaming. It woke me up as well, but when I got in there she told me to go. I don't exactly know what to do about it, myself, so…" So he came to get her, Hermione realized, because he knew she did instead. She nodded and got out of the bed, beginning to make her way to the door. However, he stopped her. "Wait. She told me something our first night here...I don't reckon she wanted me to tell, but I think you ought to know…" She listened a bit impatiently, itching to see if her friend was alright. "She said she has nightmares often, so she doesn't like to sleep alone. That's why we shared the loveseat in the drawing room...so she wouldn't have them."

Hermione frowned. "Why didn't she tell me?"

"She probably didn't want to bother you." Harry shrugged a shoulder. "But that's what she said. I'm going to head back to bed—you'll take care of her?"

Somehow, his concern for Carina was touching. They may not be close—she was not really close with anyone, save Luna—but he still wanted to be sure the girl was alright.

"I've got it."

He nodded, and then made his way down the hall. Hermione went the opposite direction, staggering slightly, and opened the door to Carina's room; the bushy haired girl slipped in, silently pushing it closed behind her as she slowly made her way to the bed and sat down.

Carina sat on the bed, back against the headboard, knees drawn to her chest and arms wrapped around them. Her eyes snapped up as she noticed the visitor, and bared her teeth slightly, as though she meant to growl; however, what came out was a noise between a grunt and a sob.

Hermione edged closer, and in the dim light of the enchanted ceiling, could finally take in the other girl's haggard appearance; her dark hair was a mess, clothes rumpled and bedsheets tangled around her ankles. Her eyes had purple spots underneath them, proof of many sleepless nights, and as those watery gray eyes stared back at her, Hermione gingerly took her hand, whispering, "How long?"

"G-go." The raven haired witch looked away, but the damage was done. Hermione had already seen, and her heart clenched painfully.

She looks so vulnerable…

Why did Carina never come to her for help?

She did not respond to the weak order and instead repeated her question. "How long?"

There was a half hearted sigh, and the air blew some hair from Carina's eyes. Her hand was trembling. "A couple weeks. Don't...don't w-worry."

Hermione's breath hitched. She would never stop hating seeing her friend like this; it hurt her just to think that she had experienced-that she had put her through—things so terrible that they affected her like this. "No. I will worry. I care about you, Carina."

The younger girl let out a strangled sob and curled farther in on herself, but could not shake the hand now firmly gripping her own. Carefully, the bookworm scooted closer and forced Carina to stretch out, pulling her closer so that her head was over her chest and body pressed into her side.

Hermione could feel her friend shudder violently, and ran her hand through Carina's hair; the other witch shook again, and tears spilled down her cheeks. Still she was silent, aside from the small hitches here and there as she cried.

"Oh, Rina," she murmured, heart seizing again. It was the most pitiful sight she had seen in a long time. She had thought Carina was no longer having nightmares, and now that she found she was wrong, could only hold her all the tighter. She did not mind comforting her friend, whom she barely saw in their days here as she hid herself away in the library, away from everyone. But still, it hurt, knowing that she had not known nor noticed something so obvious. Then again, Carina was an excellent actress.

But I'm supposed to be the one to see through it, and I didn't. I didn't, and she's been hurting because of it. Because of me….again. If I hadn't been so caught up in being with Ron, maybe I've had noticed when something this important was happening right under my nose. And it is important—she's important. What kind of friend am I?

Hermione sighed, and she noticed that still trembling, pale fingers had reached up to lightly tap her cheek to garner her attention.

"Knut for your thoughts?" Carina asked hoarsely, smiling in a way that made the other girl see it was forced.

"I'm so sorry." The smile dropped into a frown, but no words came. Instead, Carina pulled away and scooted so that there was a few inches between them. Hermione sighed again. "This is my fault. If I had just noticed..."

But you didn't, a small voice in her mind whispered. And now look.

She ignored it.

"If I had noticed, this wouldn't have happened." She smiled sadly. "I'm not very good to you, am I?"

"Shut up." The words startled her, but then again Carina had never been one to beat around the bush. The raven haired girl ran both hands through her hair, tugging for a moment in a way that she did when she was incredibly frustrated; it reminded Hermione of how Remus had acted days prior, before he had been chased out. The teen tangled her fingers further in her hair and pulled again, harder, but could not seem to find the words.

Hermione was honestly worried that she was going to rip her hair out, and quickly grabbed both of Carina's wrists.

Carina stared at her, tears still glistening on her cheeks, eyes still bright and bloodshot all at once.

"Shut up," she repeated. "Not now. Just…" She tugged toward herself, causing Hermione to squeak and tumble toward her, directly into her waiting arms, where she was wrapped up in a bone crushing hug.

Stomach fluttering, she returned the embrace and allowed herself to be pulled back down into the pillows. Carina had yet to let go, but she did not mind.

She doesn't want to talk about it now—she's not quite ready yet. But later, maybe, I can try again.

In fact, as she tiredly burrowed closer and inhaled the familiar vanilla scent of her friend's hair, she found that she liked it. It was warm, and comforting, and she had been rather weary before all this happened, anyway; her eyelids began to droop when she felt the arms around her tighten and heard a whisper of, "Thank you."

Sleepily, Hermione smiled and closed her eyes.