𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑢𝑝𝑜𝑛 𝑎 𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑚 \\ 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗿𝘆 𝗷. 𝗽𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿

𝑋𝐶𝐼𝐼.

— ✩ ☽ ✩ —

𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙩𝙮-𝙩𝙬𝙤

— ✩ ☽ ✩ —

BETWEEN GATHERING THE materials and brewing the potion, the four friends weren't able to go undercover at the Ministry to get the real locket until over a month later. It was coincidental that the potion would be completed the day after Caroline's seventeenth birthday. The Trace would be off, and she could use magic again. They were all excited, but Caroline was more than thrilled. It had been a torturous few months without magic for her.

They were all upstairs that morning, asleep, in separate bedrooms. Well, Caroline was trying to sleep. Harry was annoying her to no end, placing kisses all over her face. "What are you doing?" Caroline mumbled, Harry's face in her neck.

"Kissing you?" Harry posed it like a question, tilting Caroline's chin back.

She sunk into his advances. "Why?" Caroline asked with her eyes still closed.

Harry's hand on her waist tugged her closer, slipping under the fabric of her shirt. "Because I love you, and it's your birthday?" Harry didn't stop kissing her as he spoke, unwilling to remove his lips from her neck.

Caroline opened her eyes, lying back against her pillow as Harry continued to kiss her. "Just another day." she said. Caroline didn't love her birthday like she used to, but she was starting to like it a little more each year since Jacob died.

"I thought you'd say that," Harry released his girlfriend and grabbed something from the nightstand next to his side of the bed. "Happy birthday, love." he fixed Caroline's bonnet and placed the small package in her hand.

Caroline sat up, Harry lying beside her. She unwrapped the packaging, opening the small box to reveal a beautiful silver necklace. Harry knew Caroline always wore silver. Caroline's eyes widened when she saw the initial that the necklace displayed. "I told Hermione I was gonna get this a few months ago. This exact one. How did you know?" Caroline asked, lifting the necklace into her hand.

Harry shrugged, one of his arms tossed behind his head. "She told me. I got it as soon as we left school." he explained. Harry was shy and anxious about the necklace at first, but Caroline's reaction made him calm instantly.

Caroline fastened the necklace around her neck. It rested at her collarbone, spaced perfectly above her constellation necklace. Harry's initial was now proudly around Caroline's neck, and she loved it. "Thank you." Caroline turned to Harry, leaning down to place a kiss on his lips. They started kissing again, for a long time, until they had to stop. They didn't know when they would be able to again.

— ✩ ☽ ✩ —

THAT AFTERNOON, THEY were all sitting in the cold living room, relaxing. Caroline had gone over the details of the plan, and they would be ready tomorrow when the time came. "Has that door always been closed?" Hermione asked, causing Caroline and Harry to look up from her poems and Ron to turn his head towards what she was looking at.

The door in the corner of the living room. Caroline hadn't noticed it before. "I guess, yeah. Why?" she questioned her friend. Hermione was sitting on the sofa opposite Harry and Caroline, still looking at the door.