The Eagle and The Snake: A Tragic Love Story

25. Shared Pain

The next morning, Harry pulled the girls aside before breakfast, to talk to them in private.
He pushed them into an empty classroom, so that no one would see them or overhear their conversation.
"I'm assuming you've both got one of these as well" said Harry, as he lifted up his hand, revealing the bloody writing on the back.
The words, I must not tell lies, had been carved in blood, on the back of Harry's hand.
Carly inspected Harry's writing, before nodding her head, "We do, but ours doesn't say that".

"What does yours say?" Questioned Harry, as he lowered his arm.
"I will obey the Ministry" answered Carly, as she showed him the scars on the back of her hand.
"Luna, does yours say the same?" Asked Harry.
"Yes. I was forced to write the same thing as Carly" informed Luna.

"I understand now why you both looked the way you did, when I saw you after your detention. That blood quill of Umbridge's, really is evil. At least you had each other for support though. I was all alone in that stifingly hot room" admitted Harry angrily.
"Luna and her weren't exactly allowed to look at each other for support, during the detention. One of Umbridge's cruel ideas was to have us back to back, so we couldn't see each other, but we could still hear the other persons cries" replied Carly.
"But at least we were in the same room, Carls. I don't think I could have gotten through it without you in the room with me" Luna said quietly.

"Did Umbridge give you any more detentions?" Quizzed Harry.
"Yes, we have another one tonight" answered Carly.
"Count yourselves lucky. I've got a weeks worth of detentions with that old hag to suffer through" mumbled Harry.
"She really is the worst... What did Hermione and Ron say when you told them about what Umbridge made us do?"
"I didn't tell them. In fact, I haven't told anyone. You two are the only ones I've mentioned this to, since you've also been through it, so you know what it's like".

"Are you going to tell them, or not?" Asked Carly curiously.
"No, I don't plan on telling them. This is between me and Umbridge... Have you told anyone?" Questioned Harry.
"No, we haven't" replied Carly.
"I wanted us to tell our heads of house, but Carly told me that there was no point, since the other teachers have no say in what Umbridge does, because she answers to the Minister and no one else" added Luna.
"That's why I haven't bothered telling McGonagall or Dumbledore, since I don't think there is much they can do. I can't tell Sirius either, since owl post isn't safe anymore" sighed Harry.

"I think we should keep this between the three of us. No one else will understand why we don't want the whole world knowing about what we are going through. And since they haven't felt the pain, they don't know what it feels like, to slice into your own hand for an hour. Which is why we should keep it a secret" announced Carly.
"I agree" replied Harry.
"But just because you can't talk to anyone else about it, it doesn't mean you can't talk to me. I am suffering, just like you, so I know what it's like. I will always be here to comfort you, offer you advice, or just listen to you rant about Umbridge. You can trust in me to keep your secrets".

Harry smiled, "Thank you. I'm glad I have you to talk to".
"Well, I'm not going anywhere. Your sister will always have your back" lied Carly.
"I'm glad that the two of us have made up, and can be a family again" replied Harry.
"Me too".
"Good... Anyway, I need to go to Herbology, I'll see you guys later"
"Yeah, see you around Harry".

Once Harry had left, Carly let out a sigh and allowed her shoulders to drop.
"I know I'm doing what needs to be done, but it still hurts, intentionally isolating my brother from his friends" Carly said quietlym
Luna placed her arm around Carly's shoulders, "I know it's hard. But it was smart of you, to use this Umbridge thing as a way to form a wall between Harry, and his friends. And make him closer to you".

"Another bad thing about this plan, is that I'm going to have to make sure that Umbridge keeps giving me detentions, so that I keep this connection with Harry. We need this shared pain, to bring us closer together. So, I am going to have to wind up Umbridge as often as possible, and sit through more painful detentions. Which means these words on the back of my hand, will probably never fade. I'm going to be scarred for life" admitted Carly sadly.

"I don't like the sound of that" frowned Luna.
"It's the only way. Two detentions isn't going to be enough, not if Harry's going to be getting weekly detentions for most of the year. I need to suffer the same amount as him, so he will keep relying on me and no one else... But I don't want you to suffer with me. You should try and avoid these detentions from now on. Because Harry is my brother, so it's my mission to get close to him, not yours" informed Carly.

Luna let go of Carly and shook her head.
"This is our mission. Voldemort gave it to both of us. We are in this together" insisted Luna.
"But I don't want you to get hurt, especially when there is an easy way out for you. Only one of us needs to suffer, and since I'm Harry's sister, he's more likely to open himself up to me, rather than you" replied Carly.
"You're right, it does only have to be one of us. But you're insane if you think that I'm not going to willingly take this pain along with you, to help ease your burden. I wouldn't have gotten through that detention last night, without you. So, I'm not going to let you go through any Umbridge detentions without me. We're in this together" announced Luna.

"You'd really do that for me?" Asked Carly.
"I would do anything for you, my Star, because I love you... Besides, we've only had one lesson with Umbridge, and we already hate her teaching style. So, I have a feeling we are going to butt heads with her, quite often. I'm pretty sure you and I would end up in lots more detentions, even if we weren't trying to get them deliberately. Umbridge has already marked us out as trouble makers, so I think she is going to make it her goal to make our lives as painful as possible. Even if we didn't want her to do that, she would do it anyway. So, we might as well try and rock the boat as much as possible. And try to cause as much mayhem as we can" admitted Luna.

"I do like the sound of mayhem... And while we are suffering in detention, we can hold onto the fact that we are secretly trying to bring down her precious little Ministry of Magic. If she thinks she will crush our spirit, but putting us in constant detentions, then we are going to prove her wrong" said Carly.
"So, are we in this together?" Asked Luna, as she stretched out her arm.
Carly nodded and shook Luna's hand, "Together".