Dirty Mouth, Dirty Blood [h.g]

thirty five

35

Then

Carina was bruised again.

She hadn't seen it coming; she never did.

She could never sense when her father would become angry; it was a gradual occurrence, and pinpointing when he would snap was nearly impossible.

It was a horrible labyrinth; a series of moments that came seemingly out of nowhere, but carried along the feeling that you should have seen them coming, that if you had just looked a bit harder, you could have prevented it.

But instead his anger crept in like winter; you didn't notice it at first, like the beginning of rain, before it starts to pour, before it turns into a storm there is no coming back from.

Carina was always shitty at reading body language.

Her back and shoulders were spotted with purple and yellow bruises, and she stumbled to her bed.

Carina pulled out a quill and parchment and started to write a list. It was all she ever did after events like that; write lists. Usually about where her injuries lay, or how she felt.

But that day she wrote a list of how her father had acted before. Every slight detail of his moods, every glance, every motion.

Three more episodes and Carina could predict them.

A year later and she could predict the moves of everyone.

Now

Carina walked out of her bedroom, hair ruffled. She yawned, spotting Harry sitting sullenly on a chair. He had left at some point during the night, leaving Carina to wake up on her own, the pillow still smelling like him.

"Potter," Carina greeted, "what's going on?"

Harry looked down, rubbing sleep from his eyes. "Ron's gone. After I left your room, he got mad. Said 'Mione and I were taking your side, not his. He Apparated away shortly before dawn. It's just the three of us now."

"Oh," Carina said blankly, "I'm sorry if I caused a rift between you all. That certainly was not my intention."

"I know," Harry said, smiling sadly up at her, "it was the locket. Just making us all a bit more trigger-happy, I guess. I don't blame you."

"Thanks," Carina said, surprised, "that's... that's pretty cool of you, Potter."

Harry nodded curtly, and they both turned their heads when they saw Hermione rush into the room, Tales of Beetle the Bard clutched tightly in her hand.

She slammed it down next to Harry, flipping it open to a well-worn page. Carina could tell Hermione really didn't want to be in the same room as her, but the Gryffindor was setting aside all sense of pride. Whatever it was she was so flustered about, it was important.

"Look, here, this symbol. It looks like a triangle with an eye in it, and it was definitely drawn in after printing. My guess is Dumbledore wrote it in for us to find! The only problem is, I have no idea what the symbol means." Hermione gushed out, having to catch her breath afterwards.

"I recognize that!" Harry cried suddenly, causing Carina to give a small jump of surprise. "It's the symbol Luna's dad was wearing at the wedding, the one Krum didn't like. He said it was Grindelwald's symbol, a dark wizard."

"But what purpose does that symbol have, appearing in a children's book? Why did Dumbledore want us to see it in this context?" Carina asked, frustrated with what was presented to her.

"I don't know," Harry admitted, "but I think we should go to Godric's Hollow. We're going to need the sword of Gryffindor soon, and considering Godric's Hollow is his birthplace, I think it's a good place to start."

"And," Hermione added, picking up steam, "according to some of the more gossip-prone members of the Weasley clan, Bathilda Bagshot still lives in Godric's Hollow. I imagine Dumbledore would have given the sword to her for safekeeping!"

Hermione hurriedly got out their supply of Polyjuice Potion, mumbling things such as "no time to waste".  A day later, the three of them Apparated to Godric's Hollow, hidden under the Invisibility Cloak.

Carina's hair was fell in soft sheets, framing her face delicately. She quite liked the look, especially when paired with a simple flower crown she conjured. The Muggles were quite into the style, and Carina thought she pulled it off nicely. 

The three traveled to a graveyard, the one where Lily and James Potter resided. Harry swallowed hard, and Carina bowed her head slightly, entering through the creaky, metal gate silently. Snow was falling slowly, coating Carina's eyelashes and face.

She walked past many graves, searching for familiar names, when Hermione's voice rang out. "I found it."

Carina walked quickly over to where Harry and Hermione were already congregating, and looked down at the grave.

James and Lily Potter, it read, The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

Harry was moving his lips about, as if trying to find the right words to say. Finally he looked at Hermione, panicked. "I didn't... I didn't bring anything for them."

"Here," Carina said softly, pulling the simple crown off her head. Harry took it gratefully, placing it at the foot of his parents' grave. He then locked hands with Hermione and Carina, and the three left the graveyard.