Dirty Mouth, Dirty Blood [h.g]

fifty eight

AN: The first chapter to my new story Careless is up. I'd really appreciate you guys checking it out!

58

Then

Carina lay on the grass, looking up at the stars.

She found the constellation she was looking for easily, the star Carina shining brightly.

Carina smiled slightly—it always calmed her, laying under the stars like this. Her problems didn't seem as bad in the grand scheme of things.

Because one day, she would be taken from the earth, allowed to wander for eternity elsewhere. 

Carina couldn't wait until she didn't have to answer to anyone anymore.

She and Theo could sit together, talking for the rest of time. She could watch over the people on earth, following their lives.

Death seemed peaceful—it was conclusive, and left no loose ends.

One second you were there, and the next second you weren't. It's not complicated.

But Carina was on the earth for now.

So she might as well make the most of it.

Now

Harry and Voldemort were circling each other, wands out and ready.

"You can't take me," Voldemort sneered, "you've only ever succeeded because there were greater men and women behind you, pulling the strings."

"That may be so," Harry said with a shrug, "but by laying down my life for Hogwarts, I have cast a protective charm on them. You can no longer hurt them."

"What do you know?" Voldemort mocked.

"Many things," Harry replied. "More than you, anyways. You didn't orchestrate the death of Dumbledore, he planned his death months before, with the help of Severus Snape. Snape was on my side the entire time, having loved Lily Potter since he was a child."

Well, Carina thought, that's a new one.

In all her years with Severus, she had never known of his love for Lily.

The more she thought about him, the less she knew.

"And you are not the master of the Elder Wand," Harry continued, "because Snape did not attack Dumbledore. The unwitting master of the Wand was Draco Malfoy, whom I disarmed. And if the Elder Wand is aware of this fact, it will realize that I am the master of the Elder Wand. Care to help me test this hypothesis?"

Carina felt an overwhelming surge of love for Harry, watching him stare down the Dark Lord.

Hermione's hand found her own, and was gripping it as tightly as she possibly could.

Carina knew she should be nervous, scared for the Boy-Who-Lived, but in that moment, Carina believed anything was possible.

She believed in him.

For the first time in her entire life, Carina was completely trusting someone.

And then Harry fired a Disarming curse to counteract Voldemort's Killing one, and the cursed met in the middle, a battle of strength and of power.

Voldemort's curse ricocheted, and he fell, leaving Harry victorious.

And Carina breathed a sigh of relief.

Hermione threw herself into Carina's arms, kissing her girlfriend with all her might.

Carina kissed her back, but the desperation she usually kissed with was gone.

Carina no longer had to worry about losing Hermione in the midst of a war. Because the war was finally over, and they had won.

So Carina could take her sweet, sweet time.