Carina McGonagall is named after the constellation containing the second brightest star in the sky - and it just so happens one Sirius Black is named after the brightest. They've always had an interesting relationship throughout the years - pranks...
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11th December 1975
✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧
Carina woke up early on her sixteenth birthday. Her dorm mates were all already up and chatting. As soon as Carina raised her head up from her pillow, the giggling stopped. Everyone was staring at her. And then - a roar of laughter and a shower of presents all hit Carina at once. "Happy Birthday!" they all screamed.
Nola was the first to run over and hug Carina. "Sixteen already! You're all grown up now!" "You're only a month older than me! But thank you."
The laughing continued as the girls got dressed and went down to breakfast. Immediately, Carina was tackled by Marlene when she walked into the Great Hall, with Lily close behind Marls. "Happy Birthday, you beautiful human being, you!" Marlene yelled, making Carina blush as a wave of other students turned to see what was happening. Marlene dragged Carina over to the Gryffindor table where she was greeted by all of her cousins, and all of her friends. Archie and Mattie joined forces to give Carina a giant bear hug from either side as well as her gift and their younger brother, Oliver, a quiet Hufflepuff boy, gave Carina the presents from her aunts and uncles too.
Lily helped Carina put all of her presents into a charmed bag, all to be opened during the free hour of break time that Carina had after Transfiguration. It had been quite convenient that Carina had had her mother for her first lesson on her birthday. Perhaps it was luck - or perhaps Dumbledore was just very clever. The latter was more likely, Carina decided to herself, as she took her regular seat next to Lily.
The class seemed to fly by; everything was fun and light today and it was nice. After about half the lesson had passed and the class had enough noise to mask it, Carina threw a little paper aeroplane back to Remus and the other Marauders. It was enchanted so it had to reach its intended target so Carina didn't turn around to see it land.
As Transfiguration continued, Carina didn't notice the glances Sirius kept giving her as they wrote out all their notes, or the way he opened his mouth slightly as if he wanted to say something to her, but decided against it. He seemed to want to wait behind too, at the end of class when Carina stayed inside the classroom to talk to her mother. However, Minerva shooed him away and so he hurried off after the others.
Immediately once the classroom was empty, Minerva embraced her daughter. "Oh, love, you're all grown up. Sixteen!" Once she had let go, Minerva hurried back behind her desk and pulled out a little box. "Happy birthday, my little star. You've made me so proud. Now, go have fun with your friends!" Minerva kissed Carina's forehead and shooed her out of the classroom too. As she ran out through the door, Carina paused to wave and blow a kiss at her mother before heading off.
The girls - Lily, Marlene, Dorcas and her Ravenclaw dorm mates - were all waiting out in the sheltered courtyard for Carina to avoid the bitter cold December weather. The snow had turned to sleet and the winds had turned to full force gales but that wouldn't stop the fifth years from standing around in their thick woolly tights, gloves, hats and scarves so they could all be together to open Carina's gifts together.
The day seemed shorter than normal which was sad as Carina had wanted it to last forever. Free period had been so much fun - her friends had more modern synonyms that they liked to use to express that sentiment like cool beans and far out, which amused Carina endlessly - and going to the library with Remus had been great too as he had reserved a pile of books he knew she'd like for her. Even normally lifeless - no pun intended - and dull Professor Binns seemed more energetic today.
"Oh good, you're here," Carina said as the Marauders approached her. She had given them a note in Transfiguration telling them to meet her by the edge of the Forbidden Forest after the Feast. "C'mon, we need to go a little deeper into the forest."
"So why are we here?" Wormtail asked as they reached a little clearing. Grinning, Carina produced a mandrake leaf from her pocket and it was instantly obvious to Remus what was going to happen.
The Marauders all burst out laughing when Carina suddenly transformed from her usual human self into a cat. The cat's fur was the same colour as her hair - dark with red that could be seen when the moonlight bounced off of it.
Laughing, Sirius came bounding over, and leaped: transforming into a dog, in mid air. Soon, he was followed by a stag and a rat.
Remus sat watching and smiling as the four animagi ran and jumped around him. He felt so bloody happy.
