𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑢𝑝𝑜𝑛 𝑎 𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑚 \\ 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗿𝘆 𝗷. 𝗽𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿

𝐿𝑋𝑋𝑉𝐼𝐼𝐼.

— ✩ ☽ ✩ —

𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙮-𝙚𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩

— ✩ ☽ ✩ —

SECOND TERM HAD started back up again, and everyone was talking about the disappearances happening all over the Wizarding World. Caroline was a little more distant than usual. She wanted her hand to stop twitching, so she saw Madam Pomfrey every morning, every night, and even between classes. By the end of the first week back of classes, Caroline and Harry had barely spent any time together.

        Harry had managed to upset Professor Slughorn rather quickly, so he was scrambling to fix what he had done. He was on edge after Bellatrix's attack over Christmas, so Caroline was focusing on him, and not on her. "I wish Dumbledore wasn't doing this to you." Caroline said one quiet evening, walking Harry back from a failed attempt at getting Slughorn to talk to him.

        "He needs me, Lana. I have to do this." Harry said, holding Caroline's left hand at his side as they walked through the corridors.

        Caroline rolled her eyes, her poofy hair tied into a bun atop her head. "I don't like that he's pressuring you. Getting this memory is his responsibility, he shouldn't push it onto you." she said, tired after working on her hand function with Madam Pomfrey.

        Harry kissed the side of her head when they entered the common room, joining Hermione by the fire. Hermione sat in an armchair, writing, while Caroline and Harry sat on the couch. Harry looked through the Marauder's Map with Caroline's head in her chest, the girl stretching out her hand like she was told to do. "Did you honestly expect you could just walk up to Ol' Sluggy and ask him to reveal his deepest, darkest secret?" Hermione asked once Harry had filled her in.

        "Funny, I said the same thing." Caroline said, straightening and bending her fingers, fighting through the tremors. Harry chuckled, eyes continuing to scan the Map.

        "Honestly, Harry, sometimes I think the Daily Prophet should call you the Dim One." Hermione joked, Caroline cracking a smile.

        "And he wonders why Ravenclaw was never an option." Caroline added, sitting up.

        "Nice." Harry said in response to the two girls' jabs.

        Caroline fixed Harry's hair. "You're going to have to persuade him somehow, and you've practically ruined your chances." the girl said, dropping her head to Harry's shoulder, relaxing against him once she rebounded her hand in the elastic.

        Hermione nodded, but sighed once she realised how distracted Harry was. "I'm going to bed." Hermione stood up, pecking Caroline on the top of her head as she passed.

        Harry snapped back to life, turning his head towards their friend. "Hermione?" he said, and the girl turned around. "I think Malfoy's leaving the castle. I've seen it, sometimes he just disappears off the Map."

        "That's not possible. No one can leave the castle these days. The Map's wrong." Hermione said. There was a voice in Caroline's head that agreed with her, but a gnawing feeling in her gut told her logic wasn't at play here.

        "The Map's never wrong. Sirius and Remus said so themselves." Caroline said as Hermione began to climb the stairs to her dorm.

        Hermione turned, exasperated. "Goodnight, you two." she said before she left for good.

        Caroline looked at Harry, pressing a gentle kiss to his lips. "Want to read some of the poems?" Caroline suggested, her book of Shakespeare's sonnets in her lap.

        Harry nodded, pulling Caroline to his feet, the pair climbing the stairs to his dorm, eager to just relax in peace for a little bit. Ron was sitting on the floor, looking out the window when they opened the door. "It's beautiful, isn't it? The moon." Ron said in a dreamy voice.

        Caroline glanced at Harry, frowning. "Divine," Harry said, following Caroline's extended finger to an open box of chocolates. "Had ourselves a little late night snack, did we?"

        Ron turned, standing up. "It was on your bed, the box. I thought I'd try one." he clutched a heart-shaped box in his arms.

        "Or twenty." Caroline said, placing her book on Harry's bed. She hadn't noticed it before, but there was a small picture of the two of them on his nightstand. Hermione must've taken it.

        "I can't stop thinking about her, Harry." Ron spoke.

        Harry traveled to his bed, sitting down on it. "Honestly, you know, I reckoned she was starting to annoy you." he said as Caroline sat down beside him.

        Ron rushed over to the two. "She could never annoy me." he said distantly, leaning so close to Harry that the boy accidentally pushed his girlfriend off of the bed.

        "Ronald!" Caroline said in annoyance from the ground, standing up to see Ron still uncomfortably close to Harry.

        "I think I love her." Ron said.

        Harry awkwardly left his bed. "Well, brilliant." he brushed off, seeing that Caroline was fine after her minor fall.

        "Do you think she knows I exist?" Ron asked hopefully, his face plastered into a sickly smile.

        Caroline sat down on Ron's bed, Harry joining her. "I bloody well hope so. She's been snogging you for three months." Harry said pointedly.

        Ron's smile fell. "Snogging? Who are you talking about?"

        "Who are you talking about?" Harry asked, glancing at Caroline.

        "Romilda, of course. Romilda Vane." Ron said, and Caroline didn't connect the dots in her mind right away.

       "Okay, very funny." Harry stood up.

       "Have you sustained a head injury recently?" Caroline asked, concerned and confused at the state Ron was in.

        Ron then threw the heart-shaped box he was holding harshly at Harry, who was picking up the mess. "Ow! What was that for?" Harry asked, standing up quickly as the box bounced away from him.

        "It's no joke! I'm in love with her." Ron insisted as Caroline crossed the room to Harry, her hand on his shoulder.

        "All right, fine, you're in love with her. Have you ever actually met her?" Harry said, Caroline finding a small card buried in the mess of wrappers.

        Ron's smile returned. "No. Could you introduce me?"

        Caroline opened the card and her face fell, everything connecting. "Oh, bloody hell. I'm gonna kill her." Caroline said, the enchanted face of Romilda Vane blowing kisses of glitter plastered in the centre. She even dared to write that she was thinking only of Harry.

        Harry sighed when he saw that the culprit of the candies was Romilda, grimacing as he read the card. He kissed Caroline heartily before he moved to Ron, who was looking out the window once more. "Come on, Ron. We're going to introduce you to Romilda Vane." Harry lured Caroline to his feet, the girl nodding when she understood his plan.

— ✩ ☽ ✩ —