The Scars to Prove It

Carina stood in front of the mirror and glared at her reflection. She looked dead, like a ghost that should be haunting the dungeons with all the other dead pureblood children. But beyond that, she wore Farren’s beautiful curvy black pants, which were too loose over her bony hips. She tugged at last year’s gold Weasley sweater so she didn’t look completely flat. Her toes tried to stretch at the leather of Farren’s boots, hoping it would give a little. Just like the last half hour, her feet were stuck in Farren’s petite shadow. And nothing, absolutely nothing would give her straight, flat, black as Malfoy’s heart, hair any volume. But it was already ten, and Cedric would be waiting for her outside the Great Hall in just a few minutes.

“Thanks for the clothes!” she said to the sleeping figure in her bed. This elicited nothing more than a jumble of noises that could have easily been Gobbledegook. “Erm… okay, see you there!”

It may or may not have been mentioned before, but the Gryffindors live in a tower, and therefore they run up and down those hundreds of stairs several times before their day has even started. If Carina, and much of the Quidditch team, had their say, they would be able to line up with their brooms and take a dive out the windows to get to the rest of the castle. However, McGonagall didn’t think this notion was quite as entertaining as they, and by the time Carina was greeted by Cedric’s flawless smile she was starting a bit of a sweat.

He, of course, didn’t seem to notice. He never did. “Carina! I hardly recognized you in those clothes. You look… nice?” Of course, it wasn’t meant to seem like a question, but the poor thing seemed so puzzled.

Carina gave a half shrug. “I dug up the sweater from last Christmas… Mrs. Weasley makes them for everyone. The pants and boots are Farren’s. My old clothes… well, it’s a long story. We can —”

“Have a long Butterbeer break at The Three Broomsticks? Sounds perfect.”

They stepped out into the courtyard, which was crawling with third years waiting to go to Hogsmeade for the first time. Initially Carina let Cedric guide her through the crowd, but then she saw a lone figure looking strikingly similar to her — black hair, green eyes, and clothes that did not fit nor belong to him.

“Go on, I’ll catch up with you later,” he said to Ron and Hermione, shooing them off. With a pitying look, they turned to catch up with the rest. Carina, however, grabbed Cedric’s wrist to let him know she was turning around, and ran back up to where Harry was standing.

“How did you do it?” Harry asked abruptly, before Carina could even open her mouth to speak. “How did you get your signature?”

“George and Fred forged it for me. They’re great at it, really, and I’m sure they could do it for you too…”

Harry shook his head, turning back around towards the castle. “McGonagall would know, and I don’t want to get the twins in trouble. But thanks for trying.”

Harry headed back into the castle, and Carina propped her arms on her hips in thought. She spun around, and walked back to where Cedric was waiting for her.

“I’m going to get that boy into Hogsmeade if it’s the last thing I do. I swear, all he’s done for the school - for the Wizarding World! — and they won’t let him go into town. It’s barking mad.”

Cedric wrapped his arm casually around her shoulders. “We can pick him something up from Honeydukes.”

Carina paled, quickly realizing that she wouldn’t be able to. “We probably ought to take that break at the Broomsticks. I’ve got a lot to get out.”



“Table for two? Right this way.”

Carina sat, pulling her gloves off and thinking just how thankful she was for the slow burning fire here.

“What will you kids be having?” the waiter asked, brushing his hands off on his apron with an air of exhaustion.

“I’ll have whatever she gets,” Cedric said, nodding to Carina.

Carina gave a dramatic evil laugh. “Well, it looks like I’ve foiled your plan there, because I’m not getting anything.”

Cedric rolled his eyes. “Two Butterbeers, since she refuses to be normal,” he said, giving her a pointed glare, to which she softly rolled her eyes.

“So what is it? That you have to say?” Cedric asked, turning his lovely brown eyes so he stared right into hers.

Carina looked down, trying to think of where she could possibly begin. “I think… I think I may have mentioned that my parents and I got into a falling out last summer?”

“Yeah, you mentioned it. Never said much though… figured you didn’t want to talk about it.”

She nodded, looking up at Cedric. His eyes were still fixed on her, his head leaned forward slightly. After being best friends with Farren, Lee, and George and Fred, it was nice to have someone who was so obviously listening.

“Yeah well…” Carina trailed off and laughed a little cynically. “It’s difficult to avoid now. We got in a huge fight — and not like when kids exaggerate their fights to their friends. Like… a serious fight.”

“What do you mean?”

Carina bit her lip. “I had a nasty habit when I was little that when my father hit me, I wouldn’t speak for an hour or so, to anyone. This time I didn’t speak for four days.”

The air rushed out of Cedric’s lungs in a great whoosh, but he said nothing.

“It was a long time ago. I haven’t spoken to either of them since then, or heard from them, or seen them. I spent the summer at the Weasleys…” She paused. Where would she go next summer? There was no way she could impose on the Weasleys again, not two years in a row. It was painful enough last time.

She hadn’t realized that she had been staring into the fireplace until Cedric leaned into her line of vision. “Hey — Carina. You okay?”

Jumping, she blinked out of it just as the waiter brought back two mugs of Butterbeer. Though she was reluctant to take it, the warmth felt great in her hands. Cedric took a long sip, almost like someone would take their first swallow of beer. Carina didn’t have the heart to tell him he had quite the foam mustache after.

Her smile faded a little as she took up the story once more. “When we got our lists and went shopping, I had to go to my vault. Stupidly, I’d used up what I stole from my father.” Carina shrugged. “There’s enough for books until I graduate. Not much else.” She took a long sip of Butterbeer, letting it burn down her throat. They sat in silence for quite some time, both of them just thinking. Suddenly, though, Cedric had stood up out of his seat, pulled Carina out of hers without any grace, and stood there holding her. Carina smiled, not because she needed comfort, but because sometimes she still wondered if he cared.

“Are you going to be alright? I mean… God. We’re only fifteen.”

Carina didn’t move out of his grasp, but she laughed lightly. “I’m fine. Wouldn’t have said that if you asked me a year ago, but I’m fine. It’s made me stronger.”



They spent the rest of the day paroozing the stores. Cedric, bless him, didn’t buy anything until they reached Honeydukes.

“I don’t know the kid, but I figure no one should have to miss their first Hogsmeade weekend. I’ve got a few Galleons, and you know you don’t need to worry about paying me back —”

Carina’s face erupted in a smile. “Oh God, Cedric, thank you!” She leapt onto her tiptoes, and without even thinking about it, kissed his cheek before dragging him into the store. Had she been looking, she would have seen his face pink considerably.

The nectar air filled her, and her stomach growled noisily. It was easily ignored, though, and she grabbed a basket to fill. She skirted the aisles, dragging her feet here and there when she found something good. Several times she found herself holding two chocolates, or two lollipops, trying to decide which one Harry would like better. Most of the time, Cedric would creep up behind her and toss both into her basket. This went on until Carina refused to let him spend anymore, and they finally paid.

Even still, on their way back up the road to the great castle, he pulled out a bag of truffles that she hadn’t seen him buy. She stopped where she was, her narrowed eyes turning slowly up to him. He returned a sheepish smile and wrapped his arm around her waist.

“Stop your worrying, we’re sharing,” he said with a chuckle, and he popped the bag open with his free hand. He almost mentioned that her pride rivaled that of Salazar Slytherin, and the thought made him grin to himself wickedly, but he knew not to push her buttons. She took one of the chocolates, and with one last glare in his general direction, let it melt in her mouth.

“You’re a terrible influence. I hope you realize that if you keep this up I’m going to more spoiled than Draco Malfoy.”

Cedric chuckled. “I don’t think that’s possible, darling,” he said as they reached the staircase that would take Carina up to the tower, and the corridor that would take Cedric down to the Hufflepuffs. “Tell Harry hello for me when you give him this. And don’t forget tutoring starts next week!”

“How could I?” Carina laughed as she began her climb. “We remind each other daily!”