End of Summer
Carina Black was a name that was known to everyone in pureblood circles, she was deemed their ' Pureblood Princess' and was known for being ruthless, cruel but above all absolutely perfect and flawless. If you asked most people to describe her, they would say that she was a heartless bitch who would stop at nothing to get her way and that she could not care less for the feelings of others. However, to those that knew her properly, of which their were many few, they knew that behind the stone cold exterior Carina was actually a very fun person to be around, who cared deeply for her few close friends and would do absolutely anything to keep them safe. And to Fleur Delacour her best friend, Carina Black was the best person to be around. The two were an unlikely pair, and despite the two year age difference, they were the best of friends and did everything together. They had met on Carina's first journey to Beauxbatons, when Fleur saw her sitting alone in a compartment she decided to go and speak to her, and the two had been inseparable ever since. It was rare to see one of them without the other, and they were frequently seen wandering the grounds of Beauxbatons together.
It was to this very school that Carina was going to return for her 4th year, but before that she was going to Paris to spend a couple of days with Fleur before returning to school. She had spent the majority of her summer in Grimmauld Place with her uncle, but they had spent a few weeks away together in Venice at the beginning of the summer. Her uncle Regulus had taken it upon himself to make sure she was thoroughly educated, not only in magic and academics, but also in music, literature, theatre, art and culture both from the muggle and wizardarding worlds. Due to this, the pair of them frequently travelled around the world.
While getting ready for the journey to Paris, Carina observed herself in the mirror. She was evidently a Black, with long dark hair, sharp cheekbones and grey eyes that pierced the soul of whomever she looked at. Quickly, so to not waste time, she tied her hair up into a bun at the back of her head, and applied a bit of makeup which consisted of sharp black eyeliner that was drawn into the shape of a wing, some very light skin makeup and some dark red lipstick that contrasted perfectly with her pale skin and dark hair, that overall made her appear quite intimidating and in some way a bit like a bloodthirsty vampire. Then she got dressed in a long black dress that hugged her waist tightly as is the pureblood fashion. Finally, she completed the look with a pair of black boots and some simple jewellery which consisted of her mother's earrings, a snake necklace as well as her Black and Selwyn family rings, she was intitled to both as her mother was a Selwyn and the rest of the family on her mother's side were dead leaving her as the sole heir to the family estate.
Carina proceeded to go downstairs and was met by her uncle who was sitting by the table reading the daily prophet, the front page consisting with a report of what happened at the finals of the Quidditch World Cup that had happened a few days prior.
"Any more news on what happened?" Carina asked.
"No, the Department for Magical Law Enforcement have not informed us of how the death eaters managed to attack." Regulus replied looking directly at Carina as he spoke, he paused before continuing. "But, between me and you I believe that they were already there from the beginning and just waited until the right time to strike."
Carina nodded at this as she had thought this as well. The two of them ate breakfast in silence, Regulus continuing to read the newspaper and Carina sat at the table thinking about what had happened, she had a feeling that something awful would happen and if there was one thing that she had learnt it was that she was never wrong when it came to things like this.
Suddenly, she was thrust into a vision. She saw flashes of green light and a graveyard.
"What did you see?" Regulus asked her as she blinked to recover from the vision.
"Green light and a graveyard, I think it was a warning that someone is going to be murdered soon." she replied her tone was calm but both of them knew that something terrible was brewing.
"I'll talk to Dumbledore about this, but let's just focus on what is happening right now."
Carina nodded at this and then carried on eating as she knew that it did not do to dwell on her visions -most of them did not come true because the future was not set in stone, only true prophecies were destined to come true, this was something her mother had drilled into her from a young age. It was a well kept secret that the Selwyn family were one of seers and despite her mother's death, Carina had never forgotten what her mother had taught her about their family's peculiar gift.
After they had finished eating, Carina went to the drawing room to practice her piano, something that she used to do at her uncle's behest but now did frequently in order to clear her mind. Softly, she let her fingers graze over the keys until a melody came to her, once it did Carina put more energy into the music and a beautiful symphony echoed throughout the house. Within a short while, she had let her self get completely lost in the music and in that very moment she forgot about everything else that was going on in her life, simply choosing to immerse herself in the beautiful tune.
As her playing came to a halt, her uncle's voice rang out, alerting her of his presence. "That was beautiful."
She looked up to see him standing in the doorway a smile on his face. She gave him one of her very rare but nonetheless genuine smiles.
"I have to leave now, the portkey is scheduled for 11 and it is just coming up to quarter to 11." Regulus said nothing but nodded slightly sadly.
"Kreacher," Carina called out "please get me my trunk."
After a couple seconds Kreacher appeared with Carina's school trunk that had been packed a few days prior in his hands. "Of course, here you go Mistress, Kreacher lives to serve the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black."
Carina smiled in thanks, she took no notice of the last few words that Kreacher said as she was use to Kreacher's old and in some case extreme views.
Regulus went down to hug his niece rather awkwardly as he had not been raised with much affection by his parents, something that he promised to change when the responsibility of raising Carina had been passed to him by Carina's mother at the time of her death.
"It is almost time, have you got everything?" Carina rolled her eyes in response and muttered a short yes underneath her breath.
At exactly 10:59 Carina grabbed the boot which was in fact a portkey and while carrying her trunk in one hand, she held on tightly to the portkey. After a few seconds she felt her body begin to spin, it felt like her body was being twisted in every single direction. As quickly as the sickening sensation had begun, she felt it stop and then extremely gracefully she landed on the ground. Looking at her surroundings, she saw the gorgeous Parisian skyline and in the very near distance she could see the house that her best friend lived at.
She turned her head sharply at the sound of someone screaming her name.
"Carina!"