𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑢𝑝𝑜𝑛 𝑎 𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑚 \\ 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗿𝘆 𝗷. 𝗽𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿

𝐿𝑋𝑋𝑋𝑉𝐼𝐼𝐼.

— ✩ ☽ ✩ —

𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙚𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙮-𝙚𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩

— ✩ ☽ ✩ —

THUNDER SOUNDED THROUGH the sky, and Caroline knew instantly that they had been betrayed. Death Eaters were everywhere, Caroline had never seen so many. They just had to keep going. Harry would be safe with Hagrid, under Caroline's orders. She made the half-giant swear to keep moving, to not turn back for anything, and Hagrid obeyed her wishes. Moody protected Caroline as best as he could, but she couldn't use magic, so there was only so much she could do to help herself. She wished she hadn't taken the potion yet, so she could do something to help.

Caroline wasn't very confident on a broom, but she was doing her best to navigate the dark skies. The Death Eaters were everywhere, Caroline ducking and turning to avoid being hit with spell after spell. And then Caroline saw Voldemort, flying through the skies in a dark cloud. "Keep going!" Moody ordered, and Caroline focused.

But Mundungus disapparated as soon as he laid eyes on the Dark Lord. The next series of events happened in an instant. Voldemort cackled and raised his wand towards the Harry he knew was Caroline Taylor-Jones. If he could kill her now, everything would be much simpler. Caroline didn't notice she was about to be killed until Moody flew in front of her, taking the hit from the killing curse. "No!" Caroline screamed, her voice echoing through the sky. Most everyone heard her screams, not knowing where she was or what had happened.

She was alone. She was going to die. Voldemort disappeared, suddenly. He had left, because of Harry, but Caroline didn't know that. All she knew was that she had no protector, and she had no magic. There was no one else around besides a few Death Eaters, circling her. Caroline was almost there. Once she reached the Burrow, they couldn't get to her.

Caroline quickly realised that she was lost. There was no one else in the sky, because they had all reached the Burrow in one piece. She had to trust herself, and follow the stars to get back. When she finally recognized where she was, Caroline smiled. Caroline thought she had lost all of the Death Eaters, that she could make it. But they found her again. "Incarcerous!" one of the Death Eaters yelled, and Caroline felt like she was dying.

Thick ropes wrapped around her neck, instantly cutting off all of the oxygen she had. Caroline couldn't breathe, couldn't swallow, couldn't think. A moment later, as her face turned red, she entered the protective forces the Burrow offered. She saw the house in the distance, people standing in the yard. But Caroline couldn't focus on slowing her broom down. Before she knew it, as she was turning back into herself, Caroline hit the ground, hard.

People rushed over to her as she grabbed at her throat, blue in the face as she began to lose consciousness. "Emancipare!" Remus shouted without hesitation, pointing his wand at Caroline as they all rushed over to her.

Caroline gasped loudly once the ropes were removed. She heaved as she finally got air into her lungs, unable to moved her head from the ground, blood appearing in her line of sight. "Carol!" Harry finally reached her, dropping to his knees beside her.

She couldn't talk, and just laid on the dirt, her face bleeding from her tumble off her broom. Mr. Weasley and Fred had rushed inside to George seconds before, Ron, Bill and Ginny following quickly. "I-I'm okay." Caroline wheezed, coughing. Harry rubbed her back, Hermione, Remus, Tonks and Kingsley standing near, relieved that Caroline was safe. Harry had never been so worried than he was a moment ago when he couldn't find Caroline.

Caroline tried to stand up, Remus and Harry helping her walk into the house as she breathed, her throat raw. Penny and Marie were fine, had crawled out of Caroline's bag as soon as she hit the ground. Caroline coughed again, Harry holding her tightly. Ron looked over at her as she and Harry stood beside him in the house, seeing George was missing an ear. "How you feeling, Georgie?" Fred asked his twin.

Mrs. Weasley stroked George's hair as Caroline wiped away some of the blood on her face, breathing heavily while Harry held her against him, wiping at his mouth. "Saint-like." George answered, his eyes closed.

"Come again?" Fred questioned, eyebrows raised.

"Saint-like. I'm holy. I'm holey, Fred. Get it?" George smiled as best as he could, pointing to the bloodied hole where his ear normally was.

Fred chuckled. "The whole wide world of ear-related humour and you go for 'I'm holey.' That's pathetic." he spoke.

"Reckon I'm still better-looking than you." George said from the sofa

Caroline breathed slowly. She had to tell them. "Moody's dead. Voldemort knew who I was, and Moody took the curse," she coughed, her voice hoarse. Remus sat down at his goddaughter's announcement. "Mundungus looked at Voldemort once and disappartated." Caroline updated the group, Tonks taking her by the shoulder to clean up her face.

There was hardly any conversation, and everyone went off to bed once they were changed and cleaned up. After all, the wedding would be tomorrow. Normally, Caroline would've spent the night in Ginny's room with Hermione, but she wanted to be with Harry. Caroline made that decision once she realised she couldn't fall asleep alone. She left Penny and Marie in her bed and walked up a few flights of stairs silently.

Her braids were tied back into a loose ponytail, her favourite of Harry's jumpers on with a pair of pajama pants. It was summer, but Caroline was always cold. She gently pushed the door to Ron's room open, finding Ron asleep, snoring, and Harry wide awake, lying in his bed. He turned his head towards the door when he heard it, seeing Caroline. Her face was bandaged, her hand cut up, but she would be fine.

Harry moved over to make space for her and Caroline climbed into his bed, covering them both with the blanket as she laid down on her boyfriend's chest. "I'm sorry about Hedwig." Caroline whispered, her voice shaking. Every time she tried to close her eyes, she saw the faces of everyone she had watched die in front of her. There were so many of them now.

Saying nothing, Harry held Caroline tighter, truthfully thrilled that she came to him that night. She had already returned his bracelets to him, his medallion flickering the quote, their patronuses, and the date they started dating. It was over a year and a half ago, and they were going stronger than ever. "I love you." Harry whispered as Caroline began to drift off to sleep.

She nodded, unable to speak very well, huddling close to him. They were together, they were safe, they were alive. That was all they could ask for, these days. When Harry had a nightmare, he tried not to wake Caroline, but she could feel his absence in the bed as he stood up. When he left, Caroline didn't think much of it until Ron stood and left the room, following him.

Caroline forced herself out of Harry's bed, rubbing at her eyes as she walked down the many flights of stairs, walking outside. Harry had been planning on leaving, but Ron had coaxed him into staying. Ron barely needed to speak. He simply said Caroline's name, and Harry rethought his entire decision, given that he wasn't really thinking in the first place. The two boys stopped walking back to the house when they saw Caroline, expecting her to be outraged.

She wasn't angry. Instead, she walked over to Harry and placed her arms around his neck, holding him tightly. Caroline understood why he wanted to leave; to protect everyone. "Come on." she said once she pulled away, leading Harry into the house. The three friends went back up to Ron's room, the redhead falling asleep as soon as his head hit his pillow.

Caroline waited in Harry's bed for him, and when he joined her, she held him close. He finally slept, in her arms, his head pushed into the crook of her neck. Harry finally relaxed, as best as he could, wrapping his arms around Caroline, playing with her necklace while she ran her fingers through his hair. She was calm, as calm as she would ever be.

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