𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑢𝑝𝑜𝑛 𝑎 𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑚 \\ 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗿𝘆 𝗷. 𝗽𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿

𝑋𝐼𝑉.

— ✩ ☽ ✩ —

𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙩𝙚𝙚𝙣

— ✩ ☽ ✩ —

IT WAS A spring day, after the snow had melted, and Caroline, Harry, Hermione and Ron were walking the grounds. Caroline hadn't spoken much since that day in Hogsmeade. She mostly had her nose in a book, or spent her time in the astronomy tower alone. It worked for her.

"Beautiful day." Hermione said, walking shoulder-to-shoulder with Caroline, slightly ahead of Ron and Harry.

"Gorgeous. Unless of course you've been ripped to pieces!" Ron spat. Caroline rolled her eyes, fixing her large ponytail.

"Ripped to pieces? What are you talking about?" Harry asked Ron, completely and utterly confused.

"Ronald has lost his rat." Caroline answered, annoyed about having the conversation yet again.

"I haven't lost anything. Yours and Hermione's cat killed him." Ron said to Caroline, who shook her head.

"Rubbish." said Hermione, walking ahead of the boys with Caroline.

"Harry, you've seen the way that bloodthirsty beast of hers is always lurking about. Now he's taught Penny his ways. And Scabbers is gone." Ron complained to Harry. Caroline knew Penny did nothing, but that didn't matter to Ron in the slightest.

"Well, maybe you should learn to take better care of your pets!" Hermione said, walking backwards while she delivered her message.

"Your cats killed him!"

"Did not." Caroline said, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

"Did." Ron continued.

"Didn't."

The four friends walked down the grounds to the edge of the lake where they found Hagrid skipping rocks. Caroline sat on the ground near the rock that Harry said on, while Ron and Hermione stood to their left. "How did it go, Hagrid? The hearing?" Caroline asked quickly. She hoped they would be getting good news in relation to Buckbeak the hippogriff.

"Well, first off, the committee members took turns talking about why we were there," Hagrid said, skipping a stone. "I got up, did my piece. Said how Buckbeak was a good hippogriff, always cleaned his feathers. And then, Lucius Malfoy got up. Well, you can imagine. He said Buckbeak was a deadly and dangerous creature who would kill you as soon as look at you."

"And then?" Hermione asked.

"And then he asked for the worst, did old Lucius." Hagrid sighed.

"They're not sacking you." Ron said. Caroline sat up straighter, glancing at Harry.

"No, I'm not sacked. Buckbeak's been sentenced to death!"

Caroline stood up and threw a stone into the water, putting a hand on her forehead and another on her waist, pacing near Harry. She adored Buckbeak, had spent time with him and Hagrid during the year. "You're making me dizzy, Car." Harry complained. And then a little stone was thrown at Harry's foot, and Caroline was pacing again.

— ✩ ☽ ✩ —

CAROLINE SLIPPED AWAY from the common room later that evening. Her friends didn't notice, except for Harry. He wanted to follow her, but he knew she didn't want him with her. Caroline needed answers, and the only one who had them all was Professor Dumbledore. She made it seem like it was an emergency, so Professor Mcgonagall gave her access to Dumbledore's office.

        He was sitting in his large chair at his desk when Caroline entered. "Caroline. Is everything alright?" Dumbledore asked, concerned.

        "Hector and Delilah Taylor. They're my parents, aren't they?" Caroline said, declining her headmaster's offer to sit down.

        Dumbledore didn't say anything right away, studying Caroline carefully. "It is not my responsibility to tell you that. It would be inappropriate of me." Dumbledore said, leaning against his chair.

        Caroline sighed quietly. "Then tell me the name of my godfather, and I can ask him myself." she negotiated, her long braids now on top of her head.

"Godfather? I do not recall any knowledge of you having a godfather." Dumbledore was lying, and Caroline knew he was lying, and Dumbledore knew that she knew. It was a never ending circle that they were trapped in.

"Professor, I deserve to know. This isn't a game, this is my family." Caroline said, growing frustrated.

        Dumbledore stood up. "Everything will happen the way it was intended to." he said cryptically, and Caroline refrained from rolling her eyes.

        She bid her professor an unhappy goodbye and left his office, wandering through the castle, ending up at the astronomy tower. Caroline knew just from signing up for the class that it would be her favorite, and she was correct. She loved the moon, and the stars, and the sun, and everything that made the night sky feel safe.

        Caroline turned around and Harry appeared, sitting down beside her with a grey jumper over his body. "So this is where you disappeared to." Harry spoke, his shaggy hair falling into his eyes.

        "Actually, I went to see Professor Dumbledore. He gave me no answers, so I came here." Caroline said. She knew the subject of what she and Harry had discovered that snowy day in Hogsmeade was sensitive, so she didn't delve into it too deeply.

        Harry nodded, looking out at the sky. He didn't want to talk about it, and Caroline understood. "What's that?" he questioned, pointing at a star in the night.

         Caroline followed his finger. "Polaris. The North Star," she said fondly. "The star that everything spins around." Harry tried not to let it be obvious that he was looking at Caroline, but she could tell. When she looked over at him, her heart felt like it was being shocked back into life. She had never felt anything like it before.

— ✩ ☽ ✩ —