The Eagle and The Snake: A Tragic Love Story

31. No Help

Voldemort had a suprise for the girls when they returned to Hogwarts.
He helped break 10 of his best death eaters from Azkaban, including his lieutenant; Bellatrix Lestrange.
Having more death eaters on the loose, made Harry push the DA even harder than normal. And they were now having 2 or 3 meetings every single week.
That combined with numerous detentions with Umbridge, and a mountain of homework, meant that Luna and Carly were now very busy. And they were beginning to feel the strain from being undercover death eaters, as well as 4th year students.

After having breakfast with the rest of the Slytherins one Saturday, Carly began to head to the Room of Requirement, as Harry had organised another DA meeting.
On the way there, Carly came across something silver on the floor in front of her.
As she bent down to inspect it, she realised it was the pendant Luna wore, that her father believed would protect her from some magical creature that Carly knew wasn't real.

Wondering why her girlfriend's pendant was lying on the floor, Carly pocketed it, and began to look around for Luna.
One of the girls bathrooms was on that floor, so Carly began to head towards the the toilets, to see if Luna was in there.
As Carly pushed open the bathroom door, a bunch of older Gryffindor boys ran into her from the opposite direction, with grins on their faces.
"Watch it freak!" Spat one of the boys, before running off down the corridor with his mates.

Carly frowned and looked into the bathroom, where she saw Luna sitting on the floor, with her back against the wall, and her head on her knees.
She could hear Luna's cries from the other side of the room, which made Carly ball her fists in anger.
Her hand was still aching from detention the night before, which made her quicker to anger than normal. But Carly tried to control her emotions, for Luna's sake.
Since she didn't want them to be interupted, Carly pointed her wand at the door, and wrote out the words out of order, so that no one else would enter.
She then stepped into the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

As Carly got closer to Luna, she could see that her girlfriend was absolutely soaked, and Carly guessed that Luna had been dunked in one of the toliets, or drenched with water from one of the sinks.
"Hey, are you alright?" Asked Carly, as she crouched down in front of Luna.
"Hmm" sniffed Luna, without raising her head.
"I found your charm necklace outside" informed Carly.
"Thank you" mumbled Luna.

"Please look at me" begged Carly.
"No. I can't" sobbed Luna.
"Yes you can" encouraged Carly.
"I don't want you to see me like this"
"You're my girlfriend, and you know I will always be here by your side, no matter what".
Luna slowly lifted up her head, revealing her red eyes, that were puffy from all the crying she had been doing.
But what startled Carly most was the black ink on Luna's forehead that spelt the word loony.

"It won't come off. I've already tried. The boys used permanent ink" cried Luna.
"Those little shits" spat Carly.
"I called out for you, and you didn't come. You said we would meet by the toliets, and walk to the DA meeting together. Where were you?" Asked Luna, as tears streamed down her face.
"I'm sorry my love. I was talking to the other girls in my dorm, during breakfast, and I wasn't as quick as I could've been. I'm so sorry this happened to you".

"I'm going to have this writing on me forever now" wailed Luna.
"Don't be silly Lulu, there will be a way to get this off. Nothing is truely permanent" reassured Carly, as she placed her hand on Luna's knee.
"You told me that your grandmother's portrait cannot be taken down, because a permanent sticking charm was used on it" reminded Luna.
"Well, that is different, because magic was used there. But this is just ink, so I'm sure there will be a way to get it off. We should go to Madam Pomfrey, because I'm sure she'll have a way to remove this. She's very good at this sort of thing".

Luna shook her head, "I'm not going out there looking like this. Everyone will laugh at me".
"You'll have to leave at some point. You can't stay in here forever" Carly said softly.
"I don't want anyone to see me, so I'll stay here until nightfall, and leave then" announced Luna.
"But that's hours away... Wait, I know, I'll go and get my father's cloak from Harry. We can sneak you down to Madam Pomfrey using the Invisibility Cloak. Just wait here, I'll be right back".

Carly sprinted from the bathroom and ran upstairs towards the Room of Requirement.
Before she reached the door, she came across Harry, who had been heading in the same direction.
"There you are, thank Merlin" sighed Carly, as she tried to catch her breath back.
"Are you alright?" Asked Harry.
"I'm fine. But I need to borrow the Invisibility Cloak" replied Carly.
"Why do you need to borrow my cloak?"
"Because some boys in your house have written horrible things on Luna, in permanent ink. I need to get her down to Madam Pomfrey without anyone seeing her face, because she is currently too embarrassed to leave the bathroom".

"Well, I haven't got my cloak on me right now" admitted Harry.
"Can't you go up and get it?" Questioned Carly.
"Not really, it's all the way up in the Gryffindor tower, in the trunk under my bed. And I've got to teach a DA class in a minute or so" reminded Harry.
"It won't take that long. Please Harry, I need the cloak. Luna is distraught, and this is the only way I can help her"
"I'm sorry, but I can't not turn up on time to my own meeting. Everyone in there is counting on me"
"Then give me the Gryffindor password, so I can get the cloak myself".

Harry frowned, "I can't tell you the Gryffindor password. You're a Slytherin".
"Which is something people never stop reminding me" sighed Carly.
"Look, I can't give you the password, it's against school rules to share passwords with those from other houses" replied Harry.
"Since when do you care about school rules? You're about to lead a secret DA meeting, which is against the rules"
"Technically I'm only breaking a Ministry decree, and not a school rule".

"For God's sake Harry, can't you just do this one thing for me? I've put up with so much crap this year, for you. Yet you won't help me out when I'm in need" snapped Carly.
"What exactly have you put up with for me?" Questioned Harry.
"These DA meetings for one. I get picked on in every single one, by the people you call friends, just because I'm a Slytherin. I have done nothing to warrent such behaviour and mistrust from them. They only see me as a Slytherin, and not an actual person with feelings. And you do nothing to help me. Sure, in the first session, you defended me, but then you stopped caring about how I was treated" answered Carly.

"I did not stop caring, I just became a bit distracted with teaching, that's all. Besides, you always say that you don't want me to fight your battles for you, as you can look after yourself" reminded Harry.
"I can defend myself, but it would be nice to know that my brother had my back. You don't even notice when your friends and housemates bully me and Luna. You just let it slide, every time, and I'm sick of it!" Snapped Carly.
"Look, can we have this argument another time. I've got a lesson to teach" replied Harry.

"You're so self-absorbed now, that you don't care about anyone but yourself. I have put myself through physical pain in those detentions with Umbridge, all for you, to make you not feel so alone. Yet, I doubt you would do the same for me. All I am asking, is that you let me borrow our father's cloak. It is mine, just as much as it is yours. I am a Potter, and that cloak has been passed down our family for centuries. It doesn't belong to you" said Carly coldly.
Harry frowned, "What do you mean you've been putting yourself through detentions for me?".

"Ever since that first detention we had on the same day, I realised how alone you were. And in desperate need for support. You also wanted to be closer to me, for the first time ever. So, I decided to keep getting detentions, all to keep you company. I put me and Luna through agonising pain, every single week, for you. But if you can't be bothered to do me one favour, then I won't bother getting any more detentions with Umbridge. Why should I suffer for you anymore, if you don't appreciate all the things I do for you? So, that's it. You can be the only one getting your hand sliced open from now on. Because I am done!" Announced Carly, before turning her back on Harry, and walking back down the corridor.

She knew she shouldn't have lost her temper with Harry, as Voldemort wanted her to keep close to him.
But Luna came first.
And she wasn't going to let her own brother treat them like crap.
If he didn't care about her and Luna, then she wouldn't willingly put herself through pain, for him.
And she would find her own way to help Luna, that didn't involve Harry.
Carly headed for her common room and picked up a green shawl, which she would use to cover Luna's face. So that she could get her to Madam Pomfrey, without anyone seeing her face.