The Eagle and The Snake: A Tragic Love Story

67. Study Buddies

After learning what had happened to Carly, Draco warned Cormac to stay away from his best friend's girlfriend. And whatever threats he used worked, for Cormac did indeed keep out of Carly's way and not talk to her again.
Despite this, Carly still felt on edge whenever she saw him, and she was thankful that they were not in the same year or house. As that limited the time that she had to put up with being near him.
Carly also stopped going to Slug Club meetings, as she wanted nothing more to do with Slughorn's events, since they reminded her of the Christmas party. And not going to them also kept her away from Cormac.

Cormac got his wish to be on the Gryffindor Quidditch team though.
Because when Ron got poisoned on his birthday, Harry had no choice but to let Cormac take his place.
However, during their first match with Cormac on the team, he took a bat from one of the Beaters, in an attempt to demonstrate how to properly hit Bludgers. In doing so, he accidentally ended up hitting the Bludger at Harry, knocking him out, and putting him in the hospital wing, right beside Ron.
This incident would ensure that Cormac was never allowed on the team again. And it gave the girls more excuses to hex him in public, just like everyone in Gryffindor house was doing.

With Cormac disinterested in the girls, they could focus on their upcoming OWLs, which they spent copious amounts of time revising for.
"Sorry, I'm late" apologised Carly one evening, when she joined Luna in the library.
"I heard a Gryffindor boy making fun of you, so I hexed him when his back was turned, causing him to fall down the stairs" continued Carly, as she sat down opposite Luna.
"You're here now, that's the main thing" sighed Luna.

"We're doing History of Magic revision tonight, right?" Asked Carly.
"Yes. But honestly I think it might all be in vain. I must have read about this goblin rebellion 50 times, and I still can't name all of the people involved, or when the main events of the rebellion happened" answered Luna with a defeated groan.
"You can do it, I have faith in you" replied Carly.
"It doesn't help that Binns is a rubbish teacher, and we basically have to learn the whole subject by ourselves in our free time" admitted Luna, who hadn't even heard what Carly had said.

"Well, maybe when the dark lord takes over, he will replace Binns with someone competent" said Carly.
"Carls" hissed Luna.
"What?" Questioned Carly.
"You can't say things like that when we are in public. Anyone could overhear you"
"You worry too much. Besides, you heard Aunt Bella, the dark lord is close to taking over. Soon we won't have to hide who we are anymore"
"Yes, but until then, we have to be careful. We can't have anyone learning of where our loyalties lie before then".

"I'm a Slytherin, so I expect a lot of people have already guessed where my loyalties lie, since everyone thinks that all Slytherins are evil" mumbled Carly.
"You may be a Slytherin, but you're also a Potter. And no one is going to think that you would willing move against your own brother. Not unless you give them reason to think so" replied Luna.
"Brother is a strong word for what Harry is to me, since he basically ignored me for my first few years at Hogwarts. Everyone knows that we aren't close" admitted Carly.
"There's a difference between not being close with someone, and working for their greatest enemy. So, please stop mentioning the dark lord when we are in a public place"
"Fine".

Luna frowned, "What's wrong with you? Why are you in such a mood today?".
"I just didn't like hearing that low life Gryffindor boy say horrible things about you, that's all. You mean the world to me, and I'm sick of people calling you names or saying that you're crazy" answered Carly.
"Honestly, I'm used to it by now. It's been this way ever since I started Hogwarts. And I don't want you getting into trouble for defending me, when I wasn't even there to hear their insults in the first place" replied Luna.

"But I'm your girlfriend. It's my job to protect you" reminded Carly.
"I was in no danger today, so I did not need your protection... If you really want to be a good girlfriend then start quizzing me on this bloody goblin rebellion, so that I can try and get some of this information into my brain. As I really don't want to fail my History of Magic exam" sighed Luna.
"You know that whether or not you pass is not that important. The dark lord isn't going to care. The only subjects he cares about are the practical ones like Defense Against the Dark Arts and Transfiguration. As those contain useful skills that we can use in battle"
"Carly, what have I told you about mentioning him".

Carly sighed and rolled her eyes, before picking up Luna's piece of parchment which was covered in notes on the goblin rebellion Luna was trying to revise.
"You've certainly done more revision on this topic than I have" commented Carly.
"Well I don't have a famous family or important surname to help get me through life. I will rely heavily on the grades I get in these exams, if I want to have a good future" reminded Luna.
Carly opened her mouth to say that Voldemort didn't care about grades, but she closed it when she remembered that Luna didn't want her talking about Voldemort while they were in the library.

"You've always done enough to get an Acceptable in History of Magic essays, so I'm positive that you will do just as well in the real thing, if not even better" reassured Carly.
"I hope you're right. But I am worried about all of my subjects, not just History of Magic. I am so scared about failing them all, that I'm considering staying here over the Easter holidays, so that I can revise better and have access to this library" revealed Luna.
"You know we can't stay here, the dark lo- I mean, our families will want us to go home" replied Carly, correcting herself mid sentence, in case anyone was listening.

"I know" sighed Luna.
"Not to mention that if we stay here for 2 weeks when we don't need to, we will have a miserable time. We are better off going home, where we can truly be ourselves, even if it is for a short time. We will also have access to the library at the manor, and a bunch of people who can teach us practical skills" Carly said quietly.
"Yes, I suppose you're right, as usual" mumbled Luna.
"I always am" grinned Carly.
"Come on then Miss Perfect and start testing me on this rebellion, that you are too good to revise for"
"Your wish is my comand".