Dirty Mouth, Dirty Blood [h.g]

thirty four

34

Then

Carina returned home from the carnival laughing. She, Draco, Theo, and Pansy had escaped there every day they could. Carina's pale skin had gotten considerably tanner, and her smiles came easily.

That was until Lucius caught her returning home.

"A Muggle carnival! Really, Carina, I expected more from you! You're fourteen now, you have to make smart decisions! This indiscretion will not go unnoticed." Lucius snapped, and Carina noticed how quickly he was losing his temper.

Her method of staying calm really made all the difference in intimidation.

"I'm sorry, father. It just looked like fun. And besides, Draco was there too. Does he not bear the punishment as well?"

Lucius closed his eyes in anger, unable to even look at his daughter.

"Boys will be boys, Carina. Everyone knows they run wild in their youth. Girls, on the other hand, have to uphold the upmost dignity at all times."

"So you're telling me," Carina said maliciously, "Draco can go to the fair, but because I am a female, I cannot."

It had been like that for as long as Carina could remember. Draco could get away with murder, and he'd simply be a teenage boy. Carina put one toe out of line and it was like the apocalypse. She understood where her father was coming from, Malfoys need to exhibit an air of grace and poise, but Lucius took it much too far. It was a harmless day at a carnival, and it brought Carina so much joy, how could going possibly be wrong?

"Draco can't go to the fair either!" Lucius cried exasperatedly. "Neither of you can! You simply are held to higher standards than he is! Do you understand?"

"Completely."

Now

Harry cautiously entred Carina's room some hours later. "Hey," he said softly, "can I just ask you a quick question then get on my way?"

Carina looked up, green eyes dead. "Sure. Why the fuck not? What else do I have to lose, my integrity? You've already seen me naked."

Harry grimaced but didn't contradict her. "Okay. I was just wondering, now that you and, um..." He caught himself quickly, looking and the Slytherin anxiously. She didn't even flinch, causing the brunette even more grief. "Now that you aren't dating anyone, will you be staying?"

"What in the world would make you think I wouldn't?" Carina asked monotonously.

"It's just that, Ron said—"

"The Weasel said a lot of things," Carina cut him off, "most of them untrue. I'm going to assume he thought I'd defect. Well, I'm not. I'm too deeply invested to defect now, and either way I'm going to die eventually. It's what people do, you know. Die. Might as well die a hero."

Harry sat on the edge of the bed, looking at Carina. It was as if he was seeing her, truly seeing her, for the first time.

"You really loved her, huh?" Harry asked after a moment.

"More than you know," Carina said bitterly, "and then Weasel and to fucking come and tell her I punched him out of nowhere. He hit me first, you know." She said it more of a statement than a question, and Harry wondered if she thought he was smarter than he was.

"No," Harry stuttered out, "I didn't know. I knew he had to have said something bad, you don't seem the type to punch out of nowhere, but I didn't think he'd actually hit you."

"Mm." Carina commented. "I wasn't going to punch him. I like to seem above that sort of thing. But even I have my breaking point. So congratulations, Potter. You're officially my favorite."

"I thought you'd be your own favorite," Harry said, trying in vain to lighten the mood.

"My arrogance doesn't come from my thinking I'm as good as I present myself. I'm arrogant because I want people to think I'm better than them. And in some cases, such as the Weasel, I am. Other times, I wish I were anyone but me. When that happens, I usually look in the mirror. I may be a bitch, but there is nothing wrong with my body. As you have seen."

She was opening up to Harry more than she ever thought possible, but she had lost all sense of pride at that point. Carina wasn't about to try to save face, not to Harry fucking Potter. She didn't give a fuck what he thought of her, not anymore.

Harry timidly wrapped an arm around Carina, and she leaned into him obligingly.

"One word about this and you're dead," she warned.

"As if anyone would believe me," Harry whispered back.

Carina fell asleep in his arms.