Dirty Mouth, Dirty Blood [h.g]

thirty seven

37

Then

Carina took a deep breath, an unpleasant tingling sensation running up and down her back. Another one of her father's sleazy friends was hitting on her, not minding the fact that not only was she a minor, but that he was a good 30 years older than she.

Carina knew she could dazzle a room, flashing charming smiles at whomever she needed to, could force them to reach her eyes. The downside, however, was that many took her welcoming smiles as an invitation to put their hands all over her.

Just as the man's hand was about to reach her ass, an experience Carina was loath to repeat but couldn't stop, Theo sidled up to the pair.

"Excuse me, sir, but I need to borrow her."

Carina breathed a sigh of relief, following Theo gratefully. "I almost thought you weren't going to rescue me." She chided, though her words held no real disdain.

"You could always rescue yourself," Theo offered, and Carina looked down.

"I can't cause a scene, Theo. Think about what it would do to the Malfoy image."

"Fuck your image. That shit is just gross."

"Nicely put," Carina said dryly, "but you are correct. As soon as I'm 18, I swear, there will be no fake pleasantries. You won't want to cross me. And if for some reason people do try to cross me, well, it would be an unfortunate coincidence if they suffered from erectile dysfunction, now wouldn't it?"

Theo laughed, a deep, pleasant sound that always calmed Carina down.

"You, Miss Malfoy, are something else," Theo said fondly, and Carina returned the sentiment easily.

"Now," Carina said slyly, a grin overtaking her face, "how about we talk about setting you up with Draco?"

Theo shoved her, causing Carina to stumble, barely catching herself. "Asshole," she muttered under her breath.

"Come on," Theo said happily, "let's go pretend to be heterosexual!"

Carina laughed, rolling her eyes, but followed obligingly, moving back into the thick of the party.

Now

This was not a party.

Repeat, this was not a party.

Harry was passed out on the ground, the Horcrux having seemingly melded into his skin.

Carina remained calm, but it was worrying even to her. She expected the comatose state from the boy, seeing as the snake was sure to bring back flashbacks, but the Horcrux was something new entirely.

"What do we do?" Carina asked, turning to Hermione.

The bushy haired girl looked slightly frazzled, though she took a deep breath, collecting herself. "A severing charm, I suppose. I don't see what else we could do."

"No," Carina agreed, "that seems like the best course of action. You do it, I doubt I could succeed first try."

Hermione seemed slightly surprised at this admittance, but proceeded anyways.

Carina looked away when the scent of burning flesh filled her nostrils, feeling slightly ill.

"Done," Hermione said softly, and Carina turned back. She took the locket in her slender fingers, almost placing it around her neck before thinking better of it. Instead, she placed it next to her, realizing a conversation was coming.

"Look, Carina," Hermione started softly, "I'm sorry for saying you didn't mean anything to me. I just..."

"You don't have to explain yourself to me, 'Mione. I know. I know how much Weasel means to you, even if I don't know why. I understand you wouldn't completely take my side, not with the history between the two of you. But you crossed a couple of lines there, Granger." Carina said, voice betraying no emotion.

"I know," Hermione said, "I just... it's hard to tell how serious you are about me, about us. I can't seem to read you most of the time. I know I went too far, and I wish I could take it back, but it happened, and we're just going to have to move past that. I just want to know... do—did—you love me?"

"Yes," Carina said gently, "I had hoped you knew me well enough that my intentions were a given, but in retrospect I see that I was careless in the way I presented myself. I loved you quite terribly."

Hermione smiled, her expression bittersweet. "Do you want to start over?"

Carina nodded. "I'd like that. However, this time I want to be able to tell everyone about the beautiful girl I get the pleasure to call my own. I'm too proud of you to keep our relationship a secret."

"Deal," Hermione said with a relieved laugh.

"You know what I thought of the other day, 'Mione? I thought to myself, 'bricks are just domesticated rocks.' Not sure why."

Hermione laughed again, this time out of humor, and brought Carina in for a kiss.

Their relationship was messy, that was for sure, and not traditional in the slightest. Neither had an inkling of how or why it worked, but it made them happy, and that was enough.