Inglorious Bastards [Theodore Nott]

Chapter Forty-Two

When morning came, Carina and Hermione thought of a way to talk to Harry that did not involve an argument or any eavesdropping ears. With a basket (well, handkerchief) full of toast, the two girls waited outside the boy's dorms for Harry. Ron was the first to leave the dorm, he said nothing to them and just walked away, still upset about something Harry did not do, then moments later, Harry came.

"Hey, Harry," Carina greeted, she then raised the handkerchief of toast for him to see. "We brought you these."

"Why thought maybe we could have a walk?" Hermione suggested.

"That'd be great," Harry said, gratefully.

They went downstairs, passing the Great Hall. Carina tried her best to distract Harry from the stares and whispers that came from the other students that they passed by, but Harry still heard them. They came to the lake and settled with the view of the Durmstrang ship docked. With their toast and thermos of hot cocoa – which Carina pulled out of her bag – Harry told his story after he left the Gryffindor table. The two girls were not sure how to take the story like the question of who put Harry's name remained.

"We believe you, Harry," Hermione said.

"But the question is, who did it – it can't be a student – Moody's right, no one of our levels could fool the goblet, it has to be –" Carina began.

"Where's Ron?" Harry asked.

"We saw him leave the dorm earlier," Carina answered. "We're not sure where he is."

"Does he still think I entered myself?" Harry asked.

"Well, no, I don't think so... not really –"

"Listen, Harry," Hermione began, "Ron's jealous."

"Jealous?" Harry exclaimed. "Jealous of what? He wants to make a big prat of himself in front of the whole school, does he?"

"Harry, it's always been you who gets the attention, you know it is... and I know it's not your fault."

"Yeah, well, tell Ron that I'd swap with him any time he wants," Harry said bitterly. He got up from their place and started to walk off.

Carina sighed and told Hermione that she would talk to him. Getting up, she ran after Harry and finally caught up with him.

"Harry, I know you're upset," Carina said.

"Really? What gave it away?" Harry remarked.

Carina sighed, usually it was Harry who was the level-headed one in their relationship, but now, she needed to be the one.

"I can't justify Ron's behavior, and I won't try to defend him... but what you need to understand is that deep down, he does believe you, he just needs to get over his jealousy... but, there's also something you need to think about Harry, something you need to do once we get inside the castle."

"Kick Ron's arse –"

"Write to Sirius," Carina stopped him. They both fell to a stop. "He needs to know."

"No. Carina, you of all people should know why writing to him about this would only make things worse – he'd burst through the Hall's doors the moment he reads about my name coming out of the goblet!"

"But it's better that he'd hear it from you than some tabloid or the Daily Prophet," Carina snapped. "Harry, the Tri-Wizard Tournament is famous, and there's no way it won't be the headline for the next coming months, and like it or not, you're famous. If he finds out from the paper – from bloody filtered writings – there's a high chance that he would ignore Vivian's warnings and actually burst through those doors any time soon."