This one came kind of quick, but I tried my best to make this one a really good chapter. HOWEVER, I won't be sure unless you guys tell me. *Hint hint* I hope you enjoy it!
"Not all girls are made of sugar and
spice and all things nice. Some are made of witchcraft and wolf and a little
bit of vice."
—Nikita Gill
"She has her own
way of loving
you,
overwhelmingly
inhuman and
fantastic, but
strong too."
—Anais Nin
When Hermione caught sight of Carina, it was nearly midnight and she was being carried by Remus and Tonks, her arms slung over their shoulders, feet dragging the ground, head sucked and dark hair spilling around her face.
The sight sent a wave of worry over her as they pulled her to cover, and she gestured to Ginny and Luna, who had also caught sight of what was going on, to cover her. They nodded in acknowledgement, and the two younger witches went back to back, wands raised as they fended off intruders; Hermione took this chance to slip away and behind the pile of debris Remus and Tonks had went, and when she rounded the corner, she fell to her knees beside Carina.
"Is she alright?" she asked hurriedly. "Is she—did they—"
She could not bring herself to say it, because that alternative was so terrible that she could not bear if it had actually happened. But they knew.
Did they take her soul?
Suddenly, before either adults could answer, the head between them lifted and a pale faced Carina Black, smattered with dried blood over her body, peered up at her.
"My soul's still where it is, thanks," the other girl answered hoarsely, and her lips twitched when Hermione could not help herself from leaning forward to brush the matted raven hair away from her face. Her hands slid to Carina's cheeks, and she studied her hard.
"You're alright?"
"Yes," Carina reached up to cover one of Hermione's hands with her own, this time allowing the corners of her lips to curl up in a small smile as her gray eyes roved over the brunette's form. "You don't look half bad yourself."
Hermione laughed weakly and surged forward to hug her, not caring in this moment about the blood, nor anything else, and she could hear the other witch grunt and feel arms wrap around her tightly.
"We found her trying to take on a horde of dementors alone," Tonks informed. "But she blacked out, because I found her on the ground with one just inches from her mouth before I saved her arse."
"And then I showed up," supplied Remus, and he looked weary. "And she came to her senses eventually. We were about to be closed in on, but she managed to cast her patronus—one of the best yet, from what I've seen."
"Bloody hell, yeah!" His wife nodded. "The dementors are gone now, so I reckon we've got a chance."
Hermione felt two parts relieved and impressed. Now, they would not have to take the time out of the battle to deal with the dementors, and given Carina's previous reactions to dementors as of late, it was incredible she had been able to drive out so many; Hermione was proud.
"Good, that's good," she found herself mumbling, and she could feel fingers twitch against her back.
"Forgive me," Carina whispered suddenly, surprising the other witch.
"For what?"
"Everything I'm about to do."
Now she understood. More killing. And when she catches wind of Bellatrix...it won't be pretty.
"Of course."
"Alright, you two," Tonks put a hand on each of their shoulders. "We've got a battle to get back to. Carina, can you stand?"
Carina pulled away and pushed Hermione back, though not hard, and after a moment, struggled to her feet. She swayed, and Remus leapt to his feet immediately to catch her, but she caught herself in time and straightened, shaking her head.
"Alright," the man said firmly. "Let's go. Split up."
Tonks took off one direction, him following, and Carina and Hermione bolted in the direction of Luna and Ginny, who were faring well enough but being steadily overcome by the sheer power the Death Eaters possessed; they were not afraid to injure or kill.
Neither was Carina, who, though moving a bit stiff-legged, sent two flying back and slamming hard into the stone wall of the castle; sickening crunches followed, and the raven haired girl did not seem phased as she summoned their wands and snapped them.
Perhaps we should start doing that. Not killing or doing things like that, but snapping their wands is a good idea. Most wizards can only use minimal wandless magic, if at all, and never bothered fighting the muggle way, so they could be overcome that way.
Hermione stunned a Death Eater approaching and did as her girlfriend had, summoning the wand, and snapped it in half, before tossing the pieces aside; Luna and Ginny seemed to take this cue, because they began to do the same.
"It's nearly midnight!" called Ginny from behind her, and Hermione twisted to glance back at her. Her face was lined with worry. "You don't think—"
"I hope not," Hermione said instead, and from the corner of her eye she could see Carina purse her lips and clench her jaw; she, it seemed, thought Harry had gone to sacrifice himself. Hermione could not find it in herself to disagree, no matter how much she hoped otherwise. It was just the type of person Harry was.
Hermione, in her moment of distraction, did not have time to erect a shield when a spell came shooting her way, and she braced herself; however, the impact never came, and she heard a groan.
The raven haired girl her attention had been focused on before was lying in a pile of rubble, obviously having skidded into the way of the spell in time, and staggered to her feet, lip bleeding as her features twisted into a snarl and she sent the Death Eater sprawling.
The light she hit him with had been green.
Carina snapped his wand anyway.
"Are you alright?" Luna asked, glancing back at her and seeing the blood trickling from her lip. Her silver eyes shone with concern, but the older girl nodded.
"Fine," she dismissed, and Hermione could see her brush her shoulder with the blonde's as she took up a fighting stance again. "Bit my lip on the way down. Back hurts like hell, though."
Hermione had forgotten how much she had been thrown about today and winced in sympathy.
However, no more Death Eaters came. Instead, she could hear a call from Neville to get over to where they were, and quick; the four girls exchanged looks and took off at a sprint.
Carina tripped up once, but she caught herself just as quickly as they gathered in the courtyard with the rest of their fighters, battered and bloody and bruised; the raven haired witch's hand seeked Hermione's, and she laced their fingers together.
The brunette noticed how she was tense as she watched Death Eaters, tons of them, file in across the courtyard. Her sharp eyes caught Bellatrix and held the gaze of her older cousin, who sneered over at her and then grinned when Carina's eyes finally fell upon Hagrid, who was carrying...who was carrying…
No! Hermione tightened her hand in Carina's, and if it hurt, the other girl did not show it.
Their suspicions had been true.
Harry had sacrificed himself for them.
The screams started, tearing from the mouth of Hermione herself, Ginny, many other students, and even a particularly anguished one from Minerva McGonagall, who had watched far too many of her students die, some possibly at her own hand during the war that had torn them all apart.
Ginny surged forward, but was quickly tugged back by Carina, who was the closest, and locked an arm around the redhead's waist to hold her in place as she struggled; she did not release Hermione's hand, though it could be shown that she was trying her hardest to hold Ginny in place.
"Foolish girl!" jeered Voldemort, who had entered the fray without them noticing. "Harry Potter is dead, caught trying to run away to save himself! He abandoned you all!"
Hermione could feel anger overcome her at that. Harry Potter was no coward, and nor would he ever be; she and everyone here knew the truth, and if this despicable man wouldn't tell it, then they would!
The shouts came next, and he slashed his wand through the air; Hermione felt her throat tighten, and when she opened her mouth, no sounds came out. Carina bared her teeth at the man, and when Ginny jerked forward in her grip and escaped, she had to release Hermione's hand and dive forward, grabbing the younger with tightly around the waist and holding her there. The redhead made to struggle again, but the fingers digging sharply into her ribs stopped her.
He silenced us!
"You put your faith in me now," the snake-like man continued, pointing to himself as he paced, watching them with frightening red eyes. "I shall lead you, if you join me."
"Like hell we will!" someone yelled, the first to break the spell, and when all their voices joined his, Hermione realized something.
His spells won't work, because Harry sacrificed himself, like his mother did...we're protected!
But that, she knew, would not last long.
"Join me!" Voldemort stood tall, waving a hand to his followers. "Join us, and your life shall be spared!"
There was a long moment of silence as Draco Malfoy scurried off to his parents where he belonged, and then, to everyone's shock, Neville Longbottom stepped forward.
Carina let Ginny go, sensing she would not move again.
"Ah, here we are," the Dark Lord seemed satisfied as he strode forward. He was not being cruel yet, but she knew it was only a matter of time before he showed his true nature. "And who are you?"
"Neville Longbottom," said Neville strongly. Bellatrix watched him and laughed; Hermione noticed Carina's free fist, the one not holding her wand, clench.
"Well, Neville, I'm sure we can find a place for you in our ranks."
"I don't want to join you," the boy (very quickly becoming a man) stood tall, jaw clenching. His voice echoed out for all to hear. "I wanted to say something."
Voldemort's eyes flashed, and but then he let out an mockingly amused laugh and gestured at him. "I think we'd all be...fascinated to hear what you have to say."
Neville was braver in this moment than any could give him credit for, clutching the ratty sorting hat in one hand as he swiveled for a moment to face them all; he could have been killed right then, but he was facing it, steeling himself. "It doesn't matter that Harry's gone."
"Stand down, Neville!" called Seamus worriedly.
He did not. "People die every day. Friends, family. Yeah, we still lost Harry tonight. But he's still with us, in here." Neville pointed to his chest. "So's Fred, Remus, Tonks…" Hermione could feel Carina stiffen next to her at that, and she knew how she felt. They had seen those two only maybe fifteen minutes before—for them to be dead so quickly struck her. She could see the raven haired girl's eyes gleam, and watched her fingers curl tighter around her wand as Neville finished his speech and, in a move that wasn't as shocking as him challenging the Dark Lord, pulled the sword of Gryffindor from the sorting hat.
It was then that everything became complete and utter chaos as Harry Potter disappeared and groups of Death Eaters began to apparate away; Hermione could make out Narcissa Malfoy grabbing the hands of her son and husband and marching them away from the battle. It was obvious that she did not wish for them to be caught up in this mess any longer.
Hagrid could be heard crying, "Where's Harry? Harry?" as swarms of people rushed into fray to fight as the Dark Lord himself found himself in the center of it all, squaring off with McGonagall, Slughorn, and Kingsley Shacklebolt, striking everyone within reach when he could. Ron and Neville were taking down Fenrir Greyback, Hagrid had joined in to throw Walden Macnair across the yard, George Weasley and Lee Jordan floored another Death Eater, Antonin Dolohov fell with a scream at Flitwick's hands; Aberforth Dumbledore stunned Augustus Rookwood, and Pius Thicknesse was taken down by Percy and Arthur Weasley.
Hermione felt someone tap her, and she slowly turned to find Ginny and Luna on either side of her, wands raised, and Bellatrix Lestrange standing directly in front of her, a maniacal glint in her eyes; Carina was nowhere to be seen.
Oh no.
The brunette steeled herself, casting aside the fear she felt, and began to fight alongside her friends; as the sheer power of every spell Bellatrix cast at them hit her shields, she did not know how long they could keep this up.
~~~xxx~~~
Carina Black found herself huddled under the invisibility cloak with Harry Potter gripping her arm tightly, and she cursed him again and again. He had grabbed her during the chaos and yanked her under with him, leaving her with no choice but to follow. The fact that Remus and Tonks were gone did nothing to help her mood; she was angry and hurting, and she wanted to take it out on someone during the fight, but had not gotten the chance.
"What do you want?" she hissed. "I get it, it's all fine and dandy you're alive, but I need to fight!"
"I know, I know!" he whispered back hastily. "Look, we need to find that snake, it's the last thing tethering him here. After that, I can stop him. But we need to get to the snake."
"And what do you propose I do? It's always with him!"
"Tell Neville," they were leaning so close together, hunched under the cloak, that their heads banged together, and they both swore. "He's got the sword, he can do it. Was Voldemort fighting anyone when we left?"
There was no point not using the name anymore, when he was already here and they were facing their impending dooms if Harry could not stop him and they could not destroy Nagini.
Carina bit back a sarcastic remark and instead responded quietly with, "I don't know."
"Alright," the raven haired boy in front of her let out a breath. "Look, just make sure he knows, alright? I'll let you go now. But I'm going to stay hidden until I see the snake get what's coming to it, so that no one will see me and let him know I'm not really dead. Go on."
"I'll tell him."
Carina ducked out from underneath the cloak and ran into the battle, ducking under and dodging spells as swiftly as she could; she hurt everywhere, but that was going to have to be ignored for now as she pushed herself to move faster.
When she made it to the battle, what she saw made her stop dead in her tracks.
Voldemort faced off with McGonagall, Slughorn, and Shacklebolt, but that was not what got her. No, it was the fact that, like her master, Bellatrix Lestrange also faced off with three opponents.
Hermione Granger, Luna Lovegood, and Ginny Weasley.
All thoughts of telling Neville anything went straight out the window in that moment.
They were faring well enough on their own, but the older witch did not seem to be even breaking a sweat at their attempts to push her back, instead seeming to be enjoying baiting the three teens as she cast spell after spell in quick succession.
A green jet of light shot past Ginny's ear, and Molly Weasley's face turned into a mask of fury as she could be heard shouting, "NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!"
Bellatrix staggered back at the woman's first spell, obviously as surprised as Carina with her power, but Carina had long since learned not to mess with Molly Weasley's children, especially when she had just lost one.
However, she took advantage of Bellatrix being distracted and aimed her wand at the woman, growling, "Crucio."
Her older cousin collapsed to the ground, and Mrs. Weasley's head swiveled to Carina, and she nodded once before backing away, lowering her wand as the raven haired girl advanced.
"Make her suffer," she was sure she heard the red haired woman murmur, and she did not respond, but she knew that Mrs. Weasley knew she had been heard.
Carina towered over Bellatrix, who stared up at her and actually laughed.
Fury filled her, and the teen shook as she aimed her wand at her cousin again and used the torture curse, making the woman writhe in pain and scream. She did not let up on the spell. She would not. She knew that there were eyes watching them, but she did not care. She wanted Bellatrix Lestrange to suffer for her sins, and an idea struck her.
She remembered a spell she had read in the Black library, one to drain the magic away from anyone linked to the house. Only the head could perform this act, and she was the head, Bellatrix still a member of the House of Black despite having married away.
Carina could not help the laugh from escaping her as she leaned down and hissed, "Oh, am I going to enjoy this. Mar ceann as Àrsaidh agus Noble Taigh Dubh, tha mi ag àithneadh do—" Bellatrix, too, knew of the spell, because her eyes filled with panic as she immediately raised her wand, killing curse ready on her lips, but her younger cousin was quicker. "—draoidheachd gu falbh bhuat forevermore!"
The Scottish Gaelic rolled off her tongue surprisingly easily, and she grinned when Bellatrix's wand rolled from her fingers and she visibly sagged; a dark mist was rising out of her and into the air, and it hovered there for a moment, before dissipating completely.
Her grin only widened as her weak, helpless older cousin raised her head to gaze up at her, dark eyes for once filled with something akin to fear, and she fed off of it. Any pain she herself had felt before was gone, because right now, all she could focus on was the pain and rage she had felt for so long because of this woman, who had killed her father, tortured her lover, and done so much more to so many others.
"Crucio!" she cast again, and straightened as her cousin screamed, a blood curdling one, as it was, and from the corner of her eye she could see a livid Voldemort aim his wand at her just as Neville Longbottom use this moment to slice through the head of Nagini with the sword of Gryffindor; apparently, he did not need to be told anything.
A shield appeared before her just as Harry Potter showed himself, and gasps could be heard from every direction as he stepped up to duel the Dark Lord.
~~~xxx~~~
As Hermione watched Harry duel Voldemort, her eyes strayed to Carina, who was still towering over Bellatrix, wand leveled at the other witch, gray eyes dark and hardened as she stared down at the woman. Hermione did not understand Scottish Gaelic, but she did understand that whatever Carina had said, it had stripped Bellatrix of her magic and made her helpless.
The woman deserved to suffer, quite frankly, but while she had promised Carina she would not interfere, it was hard not to. Not for the sake of Bellatrix Lestrange, but for Carina, who had gone into such a dark place that it was hard to distinguish the person before her from the person Carina had become (very slowly, still very damaged, but nothing like this).
As Bellatrix's screams grew hoarse and her breathing ragged, Hermione wondered how the woman had not been tortured into insanity. Carina was looming over her, using her magic to her advantage, but other than her cousin's ragged breaths, she seemed almost fine.
That is, until Hermione saw the spark in her eyes as she suddenly lunged at the raven haired girl's legs, knocking her off balance and onto the ground; blows were being rained down at Carina, who had lost her wand, and just as Hermione was about to step in, Bellatrix was flipped over and slammed onto her back, arms pinned above her head.
"You bitch," she could hear Carina growling lowly. "I would tell you to go to hell, but I never want to see you again."
Hermione knew what that translated to: I'm going to hell. She did not like that.
Carina was, despite her many flaws and issues such as this, a good person on the inside. Hermione had seen it.
There was a snarl, and then a black wolf was hovering over the woman, fur matted and white teeth gleaming, and just as it was about to tear into her, it happened to glance over.
Gray eyes caught Hermione's, and the wolf halted, emotions swimming through those eyes that the brunette had become so familiar with; this gave Bellatrix time to flip them over again and wrap her hands around the wolf's throat, but any hesitation was gone now, and Hermione swallowed hard and looked away, back to Harry, ignoring the screams nearby as she watched Voldemort finally, finally fall.
It was over.
The screams stopped.
Everyone cheered.
Hermione chanced a look over and turned away again at the mangled body of Bellatrix Lestrange; while she felt a bit nauseous, she did not feel any guilt at all, and that bothered her.
She could feel a presence in front of her, and when she glanced up, she could see Carina standing in front of her, dripping fresh blood, mouth stained red, and winced at the sight. The raven haired girl's hand had been hovering in front of Hermione's face, as though she were about to touch it, but then fell back to her side.
She made to step forward, but hesitated, and then reached down to pick up her wand instead, waving it over her face after she had licked her lips without thinking, obviously disgusted by the taste.
Whatever she had done, the spell had worked, for Carina's face was clear of any grime or blood, contrasting with the rest of her, and she fidgeted before Hermione unsurely.
Hermione knew she did not feel guilty for what she had done as much as Hermione had not felt bad about it happening in general; but, it was obvious that the raven haired witch was concerned for her, wanting to see how the brunette would take it, if she would be forgiven or pushed away.
The older witch found herself feeling rather weak in that moment, relieved that the war was finally over and more tired than she had ever been, so she did something she had been wanting to do since the fighting had began.
She barrelled into Carina's arms, and the younger teen's knees buckled, causing them to go sprawling, but the raven haired girl merely sat up and pressed her back against a piece of stone, holding Hermione tightly, face buried in her hair.
"Is is bad that I don't care she's gone?" the brunette whispered. "Or how it happened?"
"Is it bad I don't care that I've done it?" came the muttered response, and there was her answer. No, it was not bad, because the villain from her nightmares was finally gone and now, they could finally, finally have peace; they would, hopefully, never have to fight like this again. Some would say Hermione was in the arms of a killer, and perhaps that was one way to see it, but there was always more to it than that, always, when it came to Carina, who she was positive had some form of PTSD.
Then again, that did not matter. She squeezed the trembling girl beneath her and let out a breath. I forgive you. I will stay.
~~~xxx~~~
Carina encircled her arms around Hermione as firmly as she could, and she could feel the brunette's forehead press against her shoulder, the tense body above her finally relaxing as it curled closer.
"I love you," there was a nearly inaudible murmur, but she heard and felt her entire body stop shaking at once. The words surprised her, hearing them a second time, yet overjoyed her in a way she could not truly explain, the feeling was so great. Here was someone other than Luna Lovegood who accepted her for all that she was, forgave her for everything she had done, stood by her, and still cared.
She had never been more thankful.
"I love you, too," she whispered, before she closed her eyes when the arms around her waist tightened and Hermione's head moved instead to the crook of her neck; she dropped her own head lightly to the brunette's.
For the first time since her father's death, she truly felt at peace.
By the way, the Scottish Gaelic part translates to: As head of the Ancient and Noble Black House, I command your magic to leave you forevermore!
(As head of the most Ancient and Noble House of Black, I command your magic to leave you forevermore)