𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑢𝑝𝑜𝑛 𝑎 𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑚 \\ 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗿𝘆 𝗷. 𝗽𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿

𝐿𝐼𝑋.

— ✩ ☽ ✩ —

𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙞𝙛𝙩𝙮-𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙚

— ✩ ☽ ✩ —

CAROLINE'S RING NEVER stopped glowing as Harry was in his lesson with Snape. It killed her to know that he was suffering and she couldn't do a thing about it. But Harry's bracelet glowed too as she underwent another detention with Umbridge. When Harry made it back to the empty common room, Caroline had changed out of her robes and into one of his jumpers, the hood pulled over her head.

"Rough night?" Harry asked, seeing her bleeding hand as he moved towards her on the couch.

"Yeah. You?" Caroline said, Harry sitting down on the couch with a sigh.

"Yeah," Harry nodded, opening his arm for Caroline. She tucked her knees into her chest and moved close to him, her head in the crook of his neck as he held her shoulder. "What are you doing for summer?" Harry asked, watching the fire crackle.

Caroline played with his bracelet, her movements calming his racing heart. "I doubt my parents are gonna make any miraculous recoveries, so I'll probably stay with Remus and Tonks," she said, unsure of why Harry was asking. "What about you?"

Harry shrugged. "I want to live with Sirius. I don't know if it'll work out, so if it doesn't, back to the Dursleys, like usual." he answered dejectedly. Caroline knew how much Harry wanted to stay with Sirius, and it broke her heart that he was still waiting.

"No. Not back to the Dursleys. If you can't live with Sirius, you're staying with me. I can't go a whole summer without you." Caroline demanded, lifting her head to look at Harry.

Harry met her eyes. "Really?" he asked, untying the strings of his jumper so he could better see Caroline's face.

She placed a kiss on his lips. "Really." and Harry nodded, kissing her again, and again, and again, and again.

Caroline shoved him off with a smile, grabbing one of her textbooks. "Are you studying right now? It's past midnight." Harry asked, tucking Caroline back into his side.

She gazed up at him, pecking his cheek. "No, we're studying. You're passing your OWLs. We both are. Even if I want to jump off of the Astronomy Tower right now, I can't let anything come between me and getting 'O's on everything." Caroline said, flipping to a chapter in her textbook that Harry needed a lot of work in.

Harry nodded, looking at her work. "Wasn't gonna be able to sleep tonight, anyway." Harry muttered, kissing Caroline's covered temple as she smiled in victory, grabbing out another textbook from her bag to study.

— ✩ ☽ ✩ —

THE FIFTH YEARS were sitting in their Charms OWL, and Caroline was trying, but she wasn't focusing. One year prior exactly, Jacob Jones died. She laid awake all night, and as midnight struck, she finally cried. She thought about what she was doing a year ago as every hour struck. It was a normal day, everyone was excited for the final challenge. Caroline woke up, said hi to her brother at breakfast, and went to class. She saw him briefly at lunch, and then in the corridors once or twice. Then at dinner, she took him from the safety of the Great Hall and into that classroom. He never set foot in Hogwarts again, because of her.

Caroline still blamed herself. Of course she did. In her eyes, Jacob's death would always be because of her, because she was too weak. Caroline had residual symptoms from that night. From her scars, to her phantom pain that was slowly getting better, to the change in her entire personality. She would never be the same again, and she cried in her bed just thinking about it. It was a cruel twist of fate that she had to take an exam on that unfortunate anniversary.