Dirty Mouth, Dirty Blood [h.g]

fifty one

51

Then

Carina straightened her dress, the red layers falling nicely.

A set of hands rested on her waist, thumbs rubbing circles into her hipbones. The familiar weight of Theo's head rested in the crook of Carina's neck.

"Hi," Carina breathed, tilting her head up so her lips rested by Theo's ear.

They acted as much like a couple as they could when they were together, as that satisfied their parents. If it looked like a marriage was in their future, their parents let up on their personal lives, allowing the two more freedom at parties as their parents weren't breathing down their necks the whole time, trying to find a suitable match.

"Care to dance?" Theo asked, and Carina gave him a slight smile.

"When do I not?"

The two twirled around the dance floor, keeping time with the music. "If everyone told you that you couldn't hang out with me," Carina said after a moment, "would you obey or would you take my side?"

"Why do you ask?" Theo chuckled, silencing when he realized she was serious.

"I'm planning on running away soon," Carina said after a moment, "which would cause my association with you to put you in a negative light. Would you still hang out with me, even if I were no longer respectable?"

"I'd hang out with you because you were no longer acceptable." Theo said with a smile, and Carina echoed it. She'd found a kindred soul in a sea of prejudice, and she was insanely thankful for that.

Now

An alarm had sounded, and Carina whipped her head around, following the hoard down to the Great Hall. Hermione had grabbed her hand, the place was in chaos, and Carina had no clue what was happening.

A voice boomed through Hogwarts, a cold voice Carina knew all too well. Voldemort. "If Harry Potter is handed over by midnight tonight, I promise to leave Hogwarts untouched. Fail to deliver him, and you won't like the consequences."

"Grab him!" Pansy Parkinson screamed, turning towards Harry, but Carina hit her with a curse before she could get three feet.

"Like hell you'll deliver him," she growled, "I have not left everything behind just for you to best Harry fucking Potter. If you want him, you have to get through me."

"Students," McGonagall said, her voice echoing through the Hall, "we will have to fight for our school. If you do not wish to fight on the side of Harry Potter or if you are in third year or lower, you will leave the school through the kitchens. Please make your decision now."

A good majority of the Slytherin House turned towards the door, but Carina called out in a last-ditch effort. "Nottie! Stay with me, would you? I need to see some green on the battlefield."

Theodore Nott slowly turned, his dark eyes connecting with hers. Then, ever so slowly, he started to come back towards the group. Carina smiled widely, throwing herself into his arms. It had been too long since she had last seen him, and she inhaled his spicy cologne happily.

"No wonder all the Slytherins are leaving. They're evil, you know." Carina heard a Hufflepuff whisper to a Ravenclaw in passing.

"Okay, first of all, fuck you." Carina snapped, staring the boys down. "Did you ever stop to think that they aren't fighting because their parents will be out there? Their relatives, their family. Of course they can't fight, you can't fight against kin. Yes, most of their families are fucked up, I know mine is, but that doesn't mean you're willing to kill them. So don't take out your anger for their families on them. They aren't necessarily evil, though there are a few bad eggs in the group. So just shut the fuck up before I make you wish you'd never met me."

The boys put their heads down, scurrying away from Carina. She watched them with a vengeance until they disappeared from their sight.

"C'mon!" Ron muttered, grabbing Carina and Hermione by the arms, dragging them off towards the second-floor bathroom.

"Speak to it." Ron said, pointing towards the engraved snake on one of the pipes. "Tell it to open in Parseltongue."

Carina nodded, hissing at the sink. It opened with a flourish, leading to a dark tunnel that smelled of mildew and death.

"We're going down there?" Carina asked begrudgingly.

"Yep," Ron answered, "Hermione told us about the basilisk way back in second year. I'm hoping the skeleton is still down here."

"Wait, hold up," Hermione said," I didn't tell you about the basilisk. I knew about it, but I had no way of communicating it to you, I was petrified."

"But the note!" Ron exclaimed, and Carina smiled meekly.

"Oh, yeah, the note was me. I left that for you. I didn't think you two would be able to figure it out on you own."

Ron's eyes practically bugged out of his head. "You've been helping us since second year?"

"First, really. I managed to keep Draco from giving concrete evidence about the dragon egg."

Hermione's eyes widened as well then. "You knew about the dragon egg?"

"You really think I didn't?" Carina answered indignantly. "Now come on, let's stop wasting time. I have a carcass to see."