𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑢𝑝𝑜𝑛 𝑎 𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑚 \\ 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗿𝘆 𝗷. 𝗽𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿

𝑋𝑋.

— ✩ ☽ ✩ —

𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙬𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙮

— ✩ ☽ ✩ —

THE SUMMER HAD flown by with ease, and Caroline couldn't wait to see her friends again. Her mother and father had made her stay home practically all summer, so they could spend some family time before school started back up again. Eloise and Andy had no idea that Caroline knew about her birth family. Caroline had no interest in telling them, but Andy knew something was wrong with his daughter.

      After the werewolf debacle at the end of the year, Caroline's first two weeks at home were filled with her mother's complaints about how Dumbledore allowed Remus to be a professor. Caroline tuned her out, not wanting to hear her mother talk rubbish about her godfather. Her father was at work most of the time.

      Caroline had been sending letters back and forth to Hermione and a bit to Ron, but she barely talked to Harry. It was too weird, after last year. She liked him. Caroline Taylor-Jones liked Harry Potter, and she didn't know how to deal with it. So, she tried to ignore him, even though he tried everything to be close to her.

      Harry was persistent, and he sent numerous letters, making Caroline feel terrible if she didn't reply, so she did. Harry's summer was equally as boring as Caroline's, and in his most recent letter, he said that he was going to the Quidditch World Cup with Ron and his family. Hermione was going too, and Ron had invited Caroline and Jacob to go.

      So, in a day, Caroline and Jacob would be traveling to The Leaky Cauldron, where they would use the Floo network, and arrive at the Burrow. They would spend the night before the game, and then stay with the Weasley's until term would start.

       Caroline was packing her trunk and her bag for the World Cup with Penny in her pile of clothes. Things were quiet around the house. Jacob was packing, Eloise was working downstairs, and Andy had just returned from work. Penny whined, standing and walking over to Caroline's bag. Caroline chuckled, opening the bag for the cat to crawl in.

      Hearing footsteps on the stairs, Caroline sighed. Andy walked to her room, knocking on the open door. "How's the packing going, kiddo?" he asked with his traditonal American accent as she walked into the room, sitting on Caroline's desk chair.

      "Good. Almost done," Caroline answered, putting her poetry book into her bag that Penny laid in. She smiled, thinking of Remus. "How's work?"

      "It's fine. Care-bear, I wanted to ask about your Christmas plans. Jacob's going to his friend, Carson's for a few days." Andy said, crossing his legs, crinkling his work shirt.

      Caroline furrowed her brows. "I'm not sure what I'm doing. I think I was just going to come home. Why do you ask?" Caroline packed a scarf and a sweater into her trunk.

      Andy stood up, walking over to stand next to her daughter. "Your mother wants you to bring one of your friends with you? The one who lives with his aunt and uncle?"

      Halting her packing, Caroline turned to face her father. "Harry? You want me to bring Harry home for Christmas?" she clarified, jaw dropped.

      Andy nodded. "Yeah. He's the only friend of yours Mom and I haven't met, and it might be a nice change of scenery for him." Andy said, grabbing one of Caroline's books to place in her trunk.

      Caroline Taylor-Jones was going to ask Harry Potter if he wanted to come home with her over the holidays. Why was she blushing at the thought? "You haven't met my friend Dean, or Neville, or Seamus, or Parvarti." Caroline brought up, and Andy sighed.