Chapter 2
James Potter was sitting at the Gryffindor table, in the same place he had every day since his first year, seven years ago. As he sat there piling large amounts of food onto his plate, a resounding crack echoed through the Great Hall. Holding back a smirk, James refused to look up, knowing that the second he did, he would be declared insane for laughing too hard, shipped off to St. Mungos or even Azkaban simply for expressing joy in the events that he arranged perfectly.
Slowly, screams of horror filled the Great hall.
It had gone perfectly.
While James had most surely grown both intellectually, and physically since his first year, a perfectly planned out, and intricate prank against the Slytherin’s did nothing but bring joy to the boy.
Plus, his friends believed he still needed cheering up. For he had spent the summer mourning over his never to-be relationship with Lily Evans.
Spending so much of his time with her nowadays, created a strain on his self-restraint, as every time he saw her, he wanted so desperately to fall back into his old habits. For years, he had begged her to go out with him, just give him a chance. But of course her answer had always been no, and probably would always be no. So he would stop, he could let it go, take a step back. It was his seventh year for the good of Godric, he was going to have a legendary year, he had to.
He slowly glanced up from his plate and almost burst into tears at the sight in front of him. It was beautiful. Like an art piece created by one of those prodigy muggle artist’s.
“Boys,” James spoke.
Remus hummed in response. Also seemingly lost in the sights of the hall.
“I think we’ve peaked. Blimey, I think this is it for me.” James continued,
Sirius huffed a laugh while they all stared dumbfounded at the Slytherin table.
Scanning the Slytherin table, James Potter made eye contact with the last person he expected to have.
A steamingly angry Carina black.
“Erm, Pads,” James said quietly.
“Well shit,” Sirius said, seeming to notice her at the same time James did. “She’s gonna be pissed”
“Rightfully so,” spoke Remus “I’d be pretty fucking pissed if I showed up for dinner and my food turned into a clump of snakes, and my hair into the most hideous color of orange I’ve ever seen”
Truthfully, the prank had taken them hours of meticulous planning on their dorm floor. And it was worth every last second.
Across the hall, Carina was furious.
“I think our brother has forgotten that he is 17, not seven” Carina said to Regulus.
Their whole table was chaos. People were throwing random curses and hexes at the snakes, trying to get them to disappear.
Glancing down, Carina looked at one of the snakes. It looked kind enough, so she angled her hand down towards, summoning it, almost as if it were a cat. She reached further and picked it up.
As the professors walked toward the table, trying to get things under control, Carina walked away from it. With the snake in her hands, she marched towards the Gryffindor table.
Coming to a stop in front of her brother and the children he called friends, she pet the snake in her hands.
Her idiotic excuse of a brother had the same look of surprise and fear on his face he held every time they had interacted since they were kids.
“Quite kind of you to give me a gift on my birthday brother.” Carina said.
The four boys looked at her dumbfounded. None of them spoke a word.
“I was wondering if you held any opinions on what I should name it, seeing as it was such a wonderful gift from the four of you.” She tried to sound chipper, but it was known by all that she was hiding deep seated anger. “While I’ve never intently studied the muggle subject of biology, I do believe this is a little lady we have right here. So what shall it be?”
Peter Pettigrew, the shorter boy, spoke then, “I’ve always quite liked the name Susan.”
The other boys turned their dumbfounded looks towards their friend.
“Susan!” She all but shouted, “That’s absolutely perfect!”
The boys still seemed on edge, wondering what her meaning could be behind this interaction.
Locking eyes with Potter, Carina forced a smile. She hated him, despised him and his stupid jet-black hair. His infuriating smirk that seemed to dance across his face at every waking moment. And his eyes, she hated them most of all, because how could someone with such kind eyes have ruined her life quite like James Potter had.
Shaking the thoughts of her childish anger out of her head, she set the newly named Susan onto the table in front of her.
Pulling out her wand, Carina swifty turned the snake back into a small pile of beans.
“Pity,” Carina said, “I thought the transfiguration might’ve turned her into something more appetising”
Peter looked horrified, and the rest of them disgusted, as she lifted up some of the beans, placing them in her mouth. Wiping some of the juice that had slipped out of the corner of her mouth, she chewed through the beans.
“The texture’s a bit off” She hummed. “I’ll be late for our rounds tonight Potter, meeting with Dumbledore right before.”
James looked terribly confused.
Carina grimaced. “You’re head boy, shouldn’t you of all people know that Lily changed the prefect schedule? Said something about ‘inter-house relations’ but we all know that it’s just so that you Gryffindor’s can keep an eye on the Slytherins. Never bloody trust us.”
“Uh- yeah, she said something about that. Must've forgotten.” James said.
Carina looked at her brother, and nodded before walking away from the table.
She wondered when the two had become so distant. Growing up, the three Black siblings had been the best of friends. Slowly though, Sirius found a new family at the school. James had been there for Sirius when she hadn’t. Remus, able to calm Sirius in ways she never could. And Peter was always one to tell a lighthearted joke, and get Sirius to smile, while the most she had gotten out of him recently was a grimace.
Things had honestly been fine between the three of them until fifth year. Of course there was the occasional silent streak, or hex being thrown each other's way, but nothing like recently. Sirius really had tried to get his siblings to leave with him, but Regulus was never one able to make a change with the drop of a hat, and Carina would always go wherever Regulus was. So if that meant staying, when she would really rather like to leave, she would. After that, things had changed astronomically, with the tides of the war, the siblings were further apart than they had ever been. When James had let Sirius stay with him, Carina knew that it was out of the goodness of his heart, but she couldn’t help but hate him for it.
She missed her brother, missed his jokes. And the way he would try to cheer the younger siblings up after they had a particularly rough round with their mother. But mostly, she just missed having him around. Between James and her mother that would never happen again.
Snapping out of her thoughts, Carina rejoined her brother and Evan at the now clean Slytherin table. Finishing her meal, she said, “Reggie, Evan, I’m headed back to my dorm to get ready for my meeting with Dumbledore. The party starts at midnight, yeah?”
“Yes, and good luck talking to the old oaf.” Said Evan, with a laugh, ruffling her hair.
She smacked him on the back of the head and turned to leave the hall.
Pacing in front of the large stone gryphon that guarded Dumbledore’s office she tried to remember the password that Slughorn had told her just earlier that day.
“Licorice Snaps”
Nothing.
“Treacle Tart”
Still nothing.
“Chocolate Frog?”
Finally the gryphon started spinning, floating up the stairwell that she stepped onto.
As Carina entered the large space that must’ve been Dumbledore’s office, she couldn’t help but be amazed, it was warm, and cosy, but not tight and uncomfortable.
Walking up to greet Dumbledore she said, “Headmaster Dumbledore, thank you so much for offering to meet with me. It truly is an honour.”
His blue eyes narrowed suspiciously, but he smiled and gestured towards the armchair in front of his desk, opposite him.
“I heard a whisper earlier, someone said it was your birthday?” Asked the Professor.
“Indeed sir, Sixteen years old today, me and Regulus that is.” Carina responded.
He offered sweets for her and her brother as a gift, but she declined politely.
“I hear you’re taking interest in becoming Head Girl next year?”
She responded positively, “Yes Professor, it’s been my goal since my second year, and I have been working very hard to make sure that I am the best candidate for the job when the time presents itself.”
The Professor’s eyes glinted, and Carina was sure that she saw mischief in there. Her own grey eyes squinted questioningly.
“And I am sure that you know of all the requirements for being Head Girl” He questioned.
Carina looked away, slightly confused. She knew that to be head girl you should be the top of your classes, and she knew that you should have already been a prefect the previous years, but she had those down already, and Potter himself had fallen under neither of those categories, and still became head boy.
“I’m not sure I understand your question sir, I wasn’t aware that there were any prerequisites.”
She knew by the glint in his eyes, and what seemed to be a smirk he was hiding that the next few words he said would be monumental for her.
“Miss Black, I am sure someone must have told you. The only official requirement for becoming head girl is nothing but a letter of recommendation.”
She was unperturbed by this. “Oh sir that’s not a worry at all, I am quite sure I can get slughorn to draft one straight-”
Dumbledore cut her off. “Miss Black, it is not a Professor from whom I need the recommendation, it is a student. I require that any future Head Girl or Boy get a letter of recommendation from a current Head.”
Carina paled.
Well Shit.