The Scars to Prove It

“What, Fred? What could possibly be so important that you insisted on waking us up at god-know-what hour in the morning, bloody days from finals, and how bloody hell did you even get up here? I just can’t-”

Farren finally rubbed at her eyes, pushing the very short brown hair out of her brown eyes and looking into Fred’s tainted pink ones. Her thin lips relaxed from their snarl and she stared at him in tired sort of shocked way.

George was pacing the two twin beds, his eyes glued to the floor and not noticing the pale eyes glued to him. He ran a hand through his hair nervously, trying to drown a sniffle in a cough and not make a show out of wiping at his eyes. Fred, on the other hand, sat next to Farren on her bed and buried his face in his hands, only relaxing slightly when she pulled him into a hug.

“What’s happened?”

George looked up at Carina, who looked so small in the ruffled blankets still surrounding her.

“Last night, they told us that someone had been taken into the Chamber. Told us to stay in the common rooms, and that we’d be shipped off home first thing in the morning. Thing is, we waited and waited…” (at this, George coughed once more) “but Ginny never came. She wasn’t in her room, she wasn’t in the common room, nowhere. Ron and Harry said they’d overheard McGonagall saying it was her who’d been taken…”

“And where were we when this happened?” Farren said irritably from over Fred’s trembling shoulder.

“We went to bed early, remember.”

Farren’s mouth became a small “o,” and let George continue.

“Ron and Harry, they saved her some hours ago. They say that… that You-Know-Who possessed her. Ginny! Our Ginny!” At this, he didn’t seem to be able to continue and simple sat at the edge of Farren’s bed as well.

“Mum told us to look after her!” Fred moaned, his already thick voice muffled by Farren’s shoulder. “To protect her! And what have we done? Bloody squat, that’s what.”

Carina turned to Fred, not admitting that she felt the very same. She had promised herself to not let Harry fall into her father’s clutches, nor any of his sickening companions. And all of this had been happening while she slept? One misstep and defying her father could have been for nothing. Not one letter, not any communication from them for an entire year. She, as well as the Weasley family, doubted that they would be waiting for her at King’s Cross.

“You could not have done a thing, Fred,” she said soothingly, pulling her hair into a rough bun and pulling on a robe before stepping out of bed. “There were far bigger evils in this than you, far more powerful. Even if you had done anything, you likely would have ended up petrified, or worse.”

The four sat in silence for quite some time, all lost in their own thoughts.

“They took Ginny to St. Mungo’s half an hour ago,” George said out of the blue. “She’s not to come back for the rest of the year, they say.” The girls nodded, but suddenly Carina’s thoughts had slipped from frail little Ginny to her savior, who surely was in no fit shape either. Her eyes darted to Farren, who was now comforting both boys, and she knew that no matter what she said, she would not have the affect that Farren did. Farren meant more to the twins than she could, and her presence would hardly be missed when she slipped into the bathroom to change, and then subsequently out into the common room. She did not blame them, because they were all such social people that of course they would be drawn to one another. Carina, though, was too quiet and introverted to connect with them on the level that they had with one another.

She pushed the portrait open, and with her wand sticking out of her robe’s pocket, she hurried down the halls to the general vicinity where she knew Dumbledore’s office to be — she had never set out for the place before, but she knew the hall from the Marauder’s Map which George and Fred kept on them at all times. She, however, hardly needed to find it’s exact location because of the two very familiar voices she heard echoing off the stone walls towards her. Heart thudding loud in her ears, she sprinted the rest of the short way to where Harry and Lucius were. She found them, Harry at the bottom of a large staircase, and Lucius and one of his house elves a few feet from him. A snarl that Carina had never seen etched on Malfoy’s face caused her to skid to a halt before being seen by either party.

“You’ll meet the same sticky end as your parents one of these days, Harry Potter,” he said softly. “They were meddlesome fools, too.”

Lucius began to turn towards Carina, but something caused him to stop before he saw her. Heart fluttering, she stumbled behind the corner, her pale fingers clutching the stone as she watched from behind. Harry’s green gaze flicked to her before resting on Lucius once more.

“Come, Dobby. I said come.”

Carina looked down at the house elf, apparently named Dobby, and swallowed harshly. If Harry was behind this, he knew not what sort of trouble he was asking for. The house elf, with his over sized eyes filled with watery tears, was clutching a single, filthy sock. Carina closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

“Master has given Dobby a sock,” it said. “Master gave it to Dobby.”

“What is that?” he spat. “What did you say?”

“Got a sock. Master threw it, and Dobby caught it, and Dobby — Dobby is free.”

Carina opened her eyes once more. Everything was so bright, that all she saw was the silhouettes of the three standing before her, all frozen. Dobby was still marveling the disgusting piece of cloth in his hands, Lucius seemed so livid that he could not speak, and Harry simply watched on with a foolish smirk. After a moment of peace, Lucius lunged at Harry.

Everything happened so quickly that Carina hardly even registered it before it was over. Lucius had drawn his wand on Harry, moving so swiftly towards him that Carina thought that he surely would not even use the weapon, but strangle Harry instead. With a fierce cry that even surprised herself, Carina was gripping her wand and had it pointed at Lucius’ pale nose, now standing between him and Harry. Simultaneously, Dobby broke out of his reverie and moved towards Harry’s defense, his spindly fingers held to Malfoy aggressively. The wizard stopped, shocked, and instead of attacking Harry his wand instinctively turned towards the threat closest to him, which happened to be Carina’s dogwood and unicorn wand. All the air escaped her lungs as she gazed into the stone eyes of a man she once saw as a fatherly figure. He had always been far kinder than Rosier, and even though she now knew that it was only his slick, silver tongue speaking then, she had to clench her jaw in order to not let her wand arm waver.

Cold realization seeped into his expression, and a menacing smile curved his lips upward.

“Well, it’s been quite some time since I’ve seen the blood-traitor herself, hasn’t it? Hardly even recognized you. It’s a pity you look so like your mother, for I would not have thought twice about letting you and Potter go on your way. But someone has to teach you a lesson, haven’t they? To draw your wand on your own kind, practically your family!”

“You wouldn’t do anything so stupid under Dumbledore’s nose, would you?” Carina asked, her voice slipping as she spoke. Would he?

Before he could answer, there was a sharp bang, and Lucius was thrown from his feet and into a wall far down the corridor. Eyes wide and jaw agape, both Harry and Carina turned to face Dobby, whose spindly fingers were flexed and his expression fierce. It was evident that he was responsible for the fully grown wizard now fleeing from the castle.

“Any witch who stands up for Harry Potter is a friend of Dobby’s,” the house elf said defiantly before turning to Harry and throwing his arms around Harry’s middle. “Harry Potter is greater by far than Dobby knew!” he sobbed. “Farewell, Harry Potter and friend!” And with a crack, the house elf was gone.

Carina blinked, rubbing at her tired eyes. And to think that only an hour ago she had been fast asleep…

“Harry, are you well? Do you not need a Healer?”

Harry shook his head quickly. “Already healed. Carina, you should know… it was Malfoy’s doing, all of this. He gave that diary to Ginny that day in Diagon Alley, remember?”

Carina nodded, vaguely remembering hiding in the bookstore while Lucius and his son encountered the Weasley’s. “So the book was what possessed Ginny,” Carina clarified, having not heard of a diary before now. Harry nodded earnestly.

“Does a black leather book mean anything to you?” he asked. “I don’t… I don’t know what magic it held or if there’s more of them, but perhaps if your father or mother spoke of it before…”

“Might I see it?”

Harry frowned and shook his head. “I gave it back to Malfoy.” When Carina gave him a sharp look, he clarified. “It was destroyed, Dumbledore said so himself.”

Carina nodded slowly. “The Rosier library is full of book cursed with Dark Magic…”

“Carina…”

“Had I not ran away to live at the Weasley’s, perhaps they would not have targeted one of them…”

“Carina, this hardly--”

“It could have been any of them. George! Fred! What would have I done?”

“Carina, Ginny was an easy target. I’m sure this was not connected to you at all. The Malfoys hate the Weasleys anyway, whether I’m friends with them, or you’re friends with them, they’re still ‘blood-traitors.’”

Carina shrugged, not totally convinced.