Dirty Mouth, Dirty Blood [h.g]

forty four

44

Then

Carina stood in front of the mirror, proud of her work. Bright purple eye shadow was up to her eyebrows, and pink lipstick was being used instead of blush.

"What did you do, darling?" Narcissa asked, running over to the small girl.

"I put on makeup. Just like mummy." Carina stated.

"I see that," Narcissa said patiently, "but it doesn't look exactly like mummy's, does it? Do you want me to teach you how mummy does hers?"

"Yes." Carina said after a moment of thought, "I want to know."

Narcissa nodded, wiping the makeup off Carina's face and reapplying it.

Carina looked in the mirror after a moment before nodding. She quite liked the way it looked.

"Now remember, Carina, no crying. Your makeup will run."

Carina nodded, slipping on a mask of indifference. She'd had practice under Lucius' control, but she'd never seen the real reasoning behind keeping emotions in check. Finally her mother was giving her a legitimate reason for not showing her emotions, even if it was a superficial one.

"Now, no more tears, yes, Ri-Ri? Promise me." Narcissa begged, desperation in her voice that went over Carina's head. She was protecting her daughter from Lucius, in her own way. She'd always protect her.

"No more tears." Carina said plainly. "I promise."

Now

"Crucio!" Bellatrix yelled, causing Hermione to twitch and spasm on the ground. "Tell me how you got the sword!"

Hermione was crying, screams racking her body. They went through Carina like physical pain.

Hermione's head snapped back, and she managed to hold eye contact with Carina. The slightest shake of her head told Carina not to give Bellatrix what she wanted. Not until they could come up with a plan.

Carina nodded back, lungs constricting when Hermione screamed once more.

"Tell me!" Bellatrix shrieked, hitting her with another Crucio. Hermione vomited, nails scratching on the bricks, trying to find a grip. Her blood coated her fingernails from when she had clawed at herself, trying to rid herself of the curse.

It made Carina feel sick, and her breath wasn't coming out evenly. There was nothing she could do, and that was what killed her.

She looked around the room, making eye contact first with her brother, then her mother. They both looked away almost immediately, and Carina felt a fury unlike any other. They may not have been the one hurling curses, but by doing nothing to stop it from happening, they were just as bad.

Bellatrix squatted down next to Hermione's face, looking up at Carina. "Now the whole world will know what she really is. A Mudblood." Bellatrix slipped a knife out from her pocket, holding out Hermione's arm and slowly carving letters into the flesh.

"Stop it!" Carina screamed, her voice an octave higher than usual. "The sword's a fake, a copy! The real one's in your vault! Now stop it!"

Bellatrix laughed. "Ah, so you do have a soft spot for the Mudblood, you fucking fag. Crucio!"

Hermione screamed again, and Carina joined her. "Stop it! I gave you what you wanted, now stop!"

"Oh, the little fag is crying!" Bellatrix cooed.

Carina felt hot tears racing down her cheeks, blurring her vision. She hated the feeling, remembering with a flash why she never cried. Her nose was running, and the tears were keeping her from being able to think straight.

She felt control slowly slipping through her fingers, everything zooming in and out of focus. "STOP IT!" Carina screamed, relinquishing all control to her anger.

Everything exploded in a flash of light, the rope holding her back breaking into a million pieces. The sheer force of Carina's raw magic threw Bellatrix back, allowing Carina to run to her lover.

Carina was oozing magic from her very pores, an uncontrollable force she was using to her advantage. She gathered Hermione into her arms, glowing silver, and slowly got to her feet.

The magic had taken more out of Carina than she thought, and she had barely made it three feet when Lucius ran towards her, though as soon as he got within a foot of Carina, the magic radiating off her sent him flying backwards.

Fashionably late as always, Harry and Ron burst into the room, disarming Narcissa and Lucius respectively. Harry then disarmed Draco as Ron ran towards Hermione and Carina.

Ron took Hermione from Carina's arms as she steadied herself, blood loss and an overuse of magic causing her to feel woozy.

"Kill him!" Lucius screamed, and Carina wasn't sure whom her father was referring to. At that point, it could have been anyone.

A small creature ran to Carina, helping hold her up.

"Dobby?" Carina asked, the elfish face looking like it was underwater.

"Miss Carina was good to Dobby. And Miss Carina is a friend of Harry Potter. Dobby will help Miss Carina."

"Thank you, Dobby. I knew there was a reason I liked you," Carina slurred, feeling her body collapse in on itself. She was apparating, or the House Elf equivalent of it, though her location was unknown.

As soon as her body hit the ground, Carina let go, allowing her body to surrender to unconsciousness.