Dirty Mouth, Dirty Blood [h.g]

fifty four

54

Then

"This is all your fault," Carina hissed, "you're supposed to be the responsible one."

"Stop acting like my mum. If anything, you look like my grandmother," Theo teased, tugging on Carina's skirt.

"At least I don't look like two grapefruits hate fucked." Carina shot back casually.

"Fuck you," Theo whined.

"Oh, wow. I am hurt. That comeback was too much for me to handle, really." Carina deadpanned.

Theo flipped her off, and the blonde dissolved into laughter.

"Ahem." Umbridge coughed, and Carina immediately schooled her features, making sure her shirt completely covered her breasts. The two had been caught about the castle after hours, delivered to Umbridge's office.

"Care to explain to me what the two of you were doing after curfew?"

Carina put on her best innocent face, smiling softly up at the toad-like Professor. "I forgot my Potions textbook in the Great Hall, and Theodore here accompanied me during the retrieval of it."

Theo held up her Potions book for emphasis, the two having summoned it during their wait. Slytherins were known as resourceful, after all.

Carina could tell the Professor didn't truly believe their story, but she used favoritism so readily that Carina was hoping the very fact that they were both Slytherins would allow them to emerge unscathed.

"Very well," Umbridge finally said, "but don't let me catch you again. Next time I won't be so lenient."

"Of course not," Carina said sweetly, the two turning to go. As they were exited, Carina finished her thought under her breath. "Next time we won't get caught."

Now

Carina found Harry talking to Neville on the second floor.

"Potter!" She called out, stopping him from putting back on the Invisibility Cloak. "Where are you going?"

"The forest," Harry said stubbornly. "I'm turning myself in."

"You'll die," Carina informed him.

"As long as I'm alive, You-Know-Who is too. I'm a Horcrux, Carina." Harry said, hoping she would understand.

"Oh." Carina said blankly, processing the information. "I'll come with you."

"You can't!" Harry cried out, green eyes wide. "You'll die too!"

"Probably," Carina said with a shrug. "But I'll die anyways. Because the first person the Dark Lord will go after once you're gone will be Hermione. And we all know how I feel about her."

"There's no way I can convince you otherwise, is there?" Harry asked.

"Nope," Carina said dryly. "Now come on. I'm turning you in."

"You're what?" Harry asked.

"Turning you in, you buffoon. Please do try to keep up." Carina shot him a smile, pulling the Cloak over the two of them. "I'm going to say I've turned you in, pledge my allegiance to the Dark Lord, and go from there. Honestly, I'm hoping the sheer force of my grief kills him, if all else fails."

"That's a shitty plan," Harry said.

"The shittiest," Carina agreed. "But I can probably take out a fair number of His followers without Him noticing."

"You're going to kill them?" Harry asked, intrigued.

"He'll have killed you." Carina said with a soft smile. "But for the record, Potter, I never wanted you to die. Not in first year, not when my parents were telling me about how horrible you were. I thought you were pretty cool."

"I think you're pretty cool, too." Harry smiled slightly. "Thank you for coming with me. You would have made a good Gryffindor."

"You're lying and we both know it," Carina laughed. "I'm a Slytherin through and through."

"I probably would have liked you sooner if you were a Gryffindor," Harry mused.

"That would have thrown off the universe's balance," Carina joked. "Now come on—our hour of mourning is almost up."