|| Star-Crossed ||

2

In The Dark

CAROLINE POTTER

"Caroline, wake up!" Harry whispered as he shook me. I sat up quickly. He pointed to the door and I noticed the key turning in its place. My heart started racing and I jumped down and drew my wand. Harry and I stood next to each other, ready to fight. Then there was an explosion of light and the door flew open. Harry pulled me behind him until we saw who it was. "Professor Moody?" Harry said. I smiled as I saw our Professor and a group of other members from the Order. "What are you doing here, Sir?" I asked. "Rescuing you of course," he said. Harry looked at me and I smiled. "Well, let's move on. We don't have all day" Moody grumbled. We quickly followed him downstairs and outside. "But, where are we going? The letter said I've been expelled from Hogwarts." Harry said. Him and Moody began to talk and Tonks pulled me next to her. She gently grabbed my chin and pulled me to face her. "What happened to your face?" he asked with concern. "My Uncle Vernon got angry. I'm fine though." I said. "Oh dear," she said. "It's fine. Really. He's done worse. This is nothing." I said. She just nodded. "A hearing?" Harry questioned. "Don't worry, we'll explain everything when we get back to Headquarters." Tonks said. "Not here, Nymphadora!" Moody exclaimed. She glared at him as her hair turned red. "Don't call me Nymphadora!" she yelled. "How are we getting there?" I asked. "Brooms," Tonks replied. My face fell. "Not bloody likely!" I exclaimed. "Caroline can't ride." Harry added. "Then she can ride with you." Moody said as tapped his walking stick into the ground. Brooms flew into everyone's hand. Harry mounted and then so did I. "Just hold on tight and close your eyes." Harry said. "Ok" I whispered. Suddenly, we were flying. I buried my face in Harry's back and squeezed my eyes shut. I held on tight around his waist as the wind rushed through my hair. Finally, we landed and Harry helped me off. I held his hand as we followed Moody down the streets. We stopped outside a tall building with lots of windows. "Where are we?" I whispered. I just got shushed. Moody tapped his walking stick again and the walls began to shift. It was brilliant. A whole new house was revealed and the muggle had no idea. We went inside and it was dark and messy. I swear, if this was Aunt Petunia's house, she would have killed Harry and I for not cleaning it properly. The wallpaper was destroyed and there was dust everywhere.

Harry and I walked down the narrow hallway and Moody pushed past us. We followed them to a room and I heard voices. A voice I recognized. I looked in the room and saw Sirius. I saw Sirius and Remus sitting together and loads of other people. I smiled and I could see Harry smiling too. Then Mrs. Weasley appeared in front of us as she shut the door. "Harry, Caroline," she said with a smile as she pulled me into a hug. "Mrs. Weasley," Harry said happily. "I've missed you." I said. "You two look absolutely dreadful. Unfortunately, dinner will have to wait." she said. "Can we see Sirius? I would like to-" I started. "No time to explain. Straight upstairs, first door on the left." she said. We just nodded and went upstairs. "I wonder what's so secret that we can't know about?" Harry asked. "With Dumbledore, it's always something." I said. He nodded.

We went inside and were immediately ambushed by Ginny, Ron and Hermione. Hermione hugged Harry and Ginny hugged me. "Are you two alright? We heard them talking about the dementor attack!" Hermione exclaimed. "I'm fine." Harry said. They pulled us inside and Ron shut the door. "And this hearing, at the Ministry. It's outrageous! I've looked it up, they simply can't expel you. It's completely unfair." she said. "Yeah well, there's a lot of that going around." Harry said. I elbowed him. "What is this place?" I asked. "It's headquarters." Ron said. "For the Order of the Phoenix. A secret society formed by Dumbledore back when they fought you-know-who." Hermione said. "And you couldn't have put any of this in a letter?" Harry said. "Harry, stop." I said quietly. "Come on, Caroline. I know you're angry too! We've gone all summer without a scrap of news!" he said. They looked at me. "It was a bit frustrating. We were stuck in that place and had no idea what was going on." I said. "We wanted to write to write, really mate. Only..." Ron started. "Only?" Harry snapped. "Only Dumbledore made us swear not to tell you anything." Hermione said. My veins iced. Harry and I looked at eachother. "What?" I exclaimed. "Dumbledore said that?" Harry said, his voice full of confusion. They nodded. "Why would he want to keep us in the dark? I'm the one who saw Voldemort return, I fought him, I saw Cedric Diggory get killed." he said. Suddenly, Fred and George apparate in. "Caroline!" Fred said. "Harry!" George said. "Though we heard those dulcet tones," Fred said. "Well, don't bottle it up." they continued. Harry just sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. They all started to talk and I got up and left. I needed a break from everything. I walked through the house and looked in all the rooms. "Caroline," I turned around and Sirius was standing behind me. "Sirius, I missed you!" I exclaimed. I gave him a hug and he kissed the top of my head. "How's my favorite Potter?" he asked. I scoffed. "Yeah right, you say that to Harry too." I said. He laughed. Then he lifted my chin and his face went solem. "It's nothing." I said. "Uncle Vernon?" he asked. I nodded. "One day I swear I'm going to rain hell down upon that sick-" he started. "Sirius!" I exclaimed. He stopped. "It's ok, really." I said. He just nodded. "Come one, let's get you all bandaged up." he said. I smiled and followed him down the hall. He sat me down on a couch and grabbed a healers bag. "Why aren't you in the meeting?" I asked as he bandaged the cut. "I was, I'm just taking a break from Snivellus," he said. I laughed. "Don't call him that, though. He'll know you learned it from me." he said. "I could blame Uncle Lupin." I said. He laughed. "Ok then." he said with a chuckle. "Head on back upstairs, the meeting should be over soon" he said. I nodded and went back upstairs. I passed a house elf, muttering to himself. He did not seem friendly.

"Dinner's ready!" Mrs. Weasley called. I headed to the kitchen and walked in with Harry. Molly and Arthur stood there waiting. "Are you two sure you're alright? You gave us quite the scare." Arthur asked. We nodded. "The Potter Twins." a voice said. Molly and Arthur stepped aside and I saw Sirius again. Harry rushed forwards and hugged him. "I missed you so much!" he said. Everyone sat down at dinner and began to talk about Harry's hearing. "What's the Ministry of Magic got against me?" Harry asked. Everyone exchanged looks that said "Should we tell them?" It was infuriating how it seemed like everyone knows something we don't. "Show them, they'll find out soon enough." Moody said. They showed us a magazine and it was trashing me and my brother. They said Harry lied about Voldemort's return. I know for a fact he didn't lie because the entire time it was happening my scar was burning with blinding pain and now I have nightmares and I can see it all happening. So I might not have been there but I see it all anyway. I watch Cedric Diggory die every night. And Max, Cedric's younger brother is absolutely destroyed at the death of his brother and they have the audacity to lie about it. I'm pissed.

"If Dumbledore is raising an army, then I want to fight." Harry said. "Me too." I said. Sirius smiled. Dinner continued but I wasn't hungry anymore. I tossed and turned all night but I couldn't sleep. I can't even go to his hearing tomorrow. I just have to sit here and do nothing. I can't help or anything. What if they really did expel Harry? I can't go to Hogwarts without him. I do everything with him, he's the only family I have. He doesn't deserve this.