Dirty Mouth, Dirty Blood [h.g]

forty seven

47

Then

Carina grimaced as her mother pulled her hair back into a sleek ponytail. She had to admit, the look was nice on her, but her mother was merciless. It was a Slytherin thing.

"There," Narcissa said finally, stepping back to admire her work, "you are presentable."

"Thank you, mother." Carina nodded, tossing it over one shoulder. She was in a pale pink dress, something very unlike her, but desperate times called for desperate measures. Carina had to be the picture of innocence.

They arrived at the Ministry a little before noon, Carina feeling awkward having exchanged heels for flats. It was weird, not towering above everyone.

Carina straightened her spine, a small smile gracing her lips. She knew how to turn the little girl on, and at only fifteen, she could still pull it off.

Narcissa ushered Carina inside Lucius' office before turning to go. As soon as her mother shut the door, Carina dropped her smile. She knew why she was at the Ministry; it was bring your daughter to work day, and Lucius wanted to show her off like a lap dog. In the confines of his office, it didn't matter if she dropped her face.

It happened every year—she'd parade around the dining hall, pretending to remember all her father's douche bag coworkers, and after the lunch rush was over, she'd return to the Manor, where her mother would be waiting with food. Heaven forbid she ate at the Ministry; a person in a high position could catch her with food in her mouth, which could lead to a plethora of awkward situations.

No, no, Carina would simply wait to eat, ignoring the growling of her stomach.

She was used to it, anyways. She could go days without eating any more than the bare minimum. Appearances had to be kept, and a toned stomach was the Malfoy way. Carina was no different.

So Carina sat in the hard oak chair, ignoring her inability to find a comfortable position, waiting like a lamb for the slaughter.

Now

Carina admired her ponytail in the mirror, pleased with how it fell. The red had washed out quite nicely, and she was back to her pale blonde. Pity it wouldn't last.

Carina felt her hair adopt more grease, and her boobs shrink. She looked in the mirror and smiled, crooked teeth bared.

It had been decided that Carina would be disguised as Bellatrix, seeing as they were related, and she had been around her the longest.

Carina had to admit, she pulled off the look, and was the spitting image of her aunt. The mannerisms would be slightly harder, but Carina thought herself a good actress.

The four were headed towards Gringotts, Hermione disguised as Narcissa and the boys under the cloak.

The plan was simple: 'Bellatrix' would say she had lost her key and demand to have it change while 'Narcissa' and her invisible entourage would find the Horcrux in her aunt's vault.

Carina's job was to do what she did best: stall.

"How long are you going to need?" Carina growled, not looking in Hermione's direction.

"Half an hour, to be safe," came the whispered reply.

Carina gave a nod, Bellatrix's curls bouncing around her face. Throwing open the doors, Carina strode into Gringotts. Finding the first goblin available, Carina came to a stop. Muttering an Imperious under her breath, Carina waited for his eyes to gloss over with the tell-tale sign of the curse.

"Here's what's going to happen. You're going to let my sister here into my vault, and you're going to have a coworker give me a new key."

The goblin nodded, coming out from behind the counter, starting to lead Hermione and her invisible posse. He motioned to another goblin which came to Carina's side almost immediately.

The four had debated long and hard over whether Carina should join the others in the vault. They had finally decided that, if anything were to go wrong, Hermione could talk her way out of the vault and Carina could smooth things over in the main bank area.

So Carina remained alone, looking down condescendingly at the small creature next to her.

"Identification, please."

"That's why I'm here, you imbecile, my key's gone." Carina snapped.

"A wand will do for identification purposes," the goblin said without hesitation. Carina examined him, not liking the gleam in his eyes. Her mind was whirring, calculating every way his statement was a trap. Finally, it came to her.

"My wand was stolen and you know it. Now give me a new key," Carina demanded.

She conversed in a similar fashion for twenty more minutes, evading any tricks that would reveal she wasn't the real Bellatrix.

Carina's attention was turned towards a commotion at the back of the building, eyes widening when Harry, Ron, and Hermione came riding out on the back of a dragon. A dragon.

"They're going to have a lot of explaining to do," Carina muttered, running and throwing herself on the back of the dragon as well, gripping on to Ron for dear life.