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DORA GRUMBLED AS SHE TRAILED AFTER HER SISTER. Carina made her way through the stands and found a seat next to Lydia, who Charlie had been seeing for the better part of two weeks now, smiling brightly at her as she sat down.
Rolling her eyes, Lydia scoffed under her breath, "Oh, great."
"I'm sorry?"
Instead of responding, Lydia raked her eyes up and down Carina's figure. Dora's eyes narrowed as she flew out of her seat like it had burned her, squaring her shoulders.
"Watch it, you cow," she growled.
Carina yanked Nymphadora back into her seat by the arm, turning a patient face to Charlie's girlfriend. While they didn't know each other very well, Carina thought she was a nice girl. Their paths didn't cross much in their time at Hogwarts until recently, centered almost entirely around their relationships with Charlie.
"Have I done something wrong?" The Hufflepuff in Gryffindor red wondered cautiously. Dora bristled beside her, hating the idea of Carina letting a mean girl walk all over her.
"You need to back off of Charlie. He's with me now, and it's horrendously inappropriate for you to follow after him like a lost puppy every waking minute," Lydia sneered. "There's no room for you in our relationship."
"Okay."
Nymphadora watched in startled disbelief as Carina nodded slowly, standing up from her place on the bench. Her sister might be known for her gentle heart, but she had a fiery temper when it came to her family - and the Weasley's are her family. All of them.
Truthfully, her stomach turned at the blank mask her twin wore on her face. It was unlike her, and Nymphadora saw her mother in Carina's face in that moment. The Slytherin that went back generations in their bloodline was present for the first time in all of their lives.
Dora had the awful feeling that Carina was going to do something incredibly daft. Loyal to a fault, Carina had a nasty habit of hurting herself for the sake of the people she loved... but as well as she knew her sister, she couldn't read her at all through the blanket of indifference she wore over herself now.
"Dora, I think we'd better find somewhere else to sit. I'm not sure this is our place anymore," Carina whispered evenly. Without waiting for either of the girls to speak, she stood and strode away from the Gryffindor section.
Lydia crossed her arms smugly, sitting up a little straighter. Nymphadora's hair turned a steely grey color, making her look cold and intimidating.
With a knowing look in her angry eyes, Dora chuckled humorlessly, "You've no idea what you've just done, bitch."
-
The quidditch match was the last time Carina shared the same air as Lydia. The Weasley Clan noticed the tension right away and acted just as one would expect them to. They were unabashedly making their thoughts on the matter known.
It had been almost a full month since Lydia entered the picture and approximately eleven days since the Weasley family started giving Charlie the cold shoulder. Carina tried her best to convince them that Charlie was not to blame for the messy situation they seemed to have found themselves in, but they either didn't believe her or didn't care.
Fred and George stuck to her like glue, doing their best to keep the smile on her face. Neither of them particularly like Charlie's new girlfriend, and they weren't shy about that fact. During meals, they abandoned their house table in favor of sitting with their favorite Hufflepuff, displaying their loyalties plain as day. On several occasions, Percy even joined them.
Despite Carina's best efforts to convince them that there wasn't a competition going on, Charlie's brothers used every chance they found to remind her that she was winning.
Percy continued to study with her in the library, pretending to be oblivious to the existence of the new girl taking up his brother's time. Lydia? Never heard of her. What house is she in?
Bill sent her a letter from Egypt, where he was now working as curse breaker. The short version went something like this: Charlie's nutters. Don't worry, love. You're as Weasley as it gets. She doesn't stand a chance. Whatever that means.
The large gift basket filled with homemade sweets that she received in the post meant that Molly was also weighing in on the situation. Ginny slipped a note inside that simply said, "I hate her."
Carina was confused, to say the least. In all the years she had known Charlie, he'd had several girlfriends. The Weasley's had never blatantly drawn lines in the sand like they were now, so what made this time different?
Sure, none of Charlie's previous girlfriends disliked Carina quite as much as Lydia seemed to, but did that really matter? If Charlie was happy with her, then perhaps Carina did need to make herself scarce. His family would never welcome Lydia in if she was still around.
No matter how much her heart ached at the thought of letting go of her best friend, she would do it.
