⚯͛ Sweet Caroline - Sirius Black ⚯͛

-44-

･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. .**.☽ .*

"Mate, have you read this?" Remus asked as Sirius came into the hall.

Sirius looked at the Daily Prophet in his hand oddly, "no, why?"

"Just..." Remus handed him the paper, "at the bottom."

Sirius looked up at him curiously, before looking down at the bottom of the paper, "uhh..."

DEATH-EATERS STRIKE AGAIN

On another calculated attack from the self-named 'Death-Eaters', parents of Luther Rutherford, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement at the Ministry of Magic, and seventh year Hogwarts student Caroline Rutherford, have been murdered at their home in Kensington, London. The victims, Bonnie Rutherford (muggle) and Asher Rutherford (pureblood) , were 46 and 53 years old. The symbol that is rapidly growing in fame - the Dark Mark - was magically projected above their house, as has happened in every other Death-Eater acclaimed attack.

Sirius felt his heart sink, "oh Merlin..."

He looked over at the Ravenclaw table and scanned it but couldn't see Carrie. He handed the paper back to Remus before jogging over to the table.

"Farrah," he stopped in front of the Ravenclaw, "you share a dorm with Carrie, right?"

Farrah looked back down at the paper in her hands, before looking up at him again, "yeah."

"Where is she?"

Farrah shook her head, "I'm not sure, she didn't come back to the dorm last night."

Sirius nodded, "thanks."

Caroline and Tyler woke up in each other's arms, both of their faces swollen and stained with tears, both sets of curls messed up beyond comprehension. Neither of them wanted to move.

But after a few moments of waking up, Tyler managed to shift from Caroline's hold to go to the bathroom, taking his school uniform that was hanging up with him.

She heard the shower start and sleepily blinked her eyes open, frowning at the empty space beside her where Tyler had been. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and shifted to sit up in the bed.

She looked to the letter on the bedside table and suddenly felt the weight of everything again.

When Tyler walked out of the bathroom in his uniform, his curls damp from the shower, he felt his heart sink at the sight of Caroline crying again.

He came to sit beside her on the bed and pulled her into a gentle hug, "hey shh, it's okay, it'll be okay."

"I want to go to my classes, Ty, but-"

"Don't," he pulled away and reached for the tissue box on his bedside table and handed it to her, "stay here. Grab a shower at some point, try to relax, maybe read to distract yourself. Or I don't have to leave if you don't want me to."

She wiped at her eyes, "could you stay? Just for today?"

Tyler nodded, "of course. I'll stay for as long as you want. Why don't I go and get us some food from the Great Hall?"

"I'm not hungry."

"How about some green tea?"

She looked up at him and started to cry again, he sighed and pulled her into a hug.

"Sorry," she choked out, "Mum always used to..."

"It's okay," he rubbed her back, "I'll just bring us some food."