Summary: The end of Carina's first year. Carina writes a letter to Andromeda. Carina's birthday arrives.
The atmosphere in the common room is tense for the next few hours. I try to stay up late, but I'm overcome by sleep. The next day, I'm woken up by someone shaking me incessantly. When I open my eyes and get used to the brightness of the room, I see Beatrice.
"What?" I ask.
"They've done it!" Beatrice says enthusiastically.
I sit up in bed to get a better look at her. "Who? Done what?"
Amber, who has just entered our room, is the one who answers my questions. "Harry and Ron. They apparently saved Ginny and killed the monster in the chamber."
This only makes me have more questions, so I quickly get ready to go down to the common room so I can talk to Harry and Ron.
They tell me everything: about who the real heir of Slytherin is (Voldemort himself), what monster inhabited the chamber (basilisk), where the chamber is (in Myrtle's bathroom, who was the basilisk's last victim), about the conversation they had with Hagrid's Acromantula, how Ginny ended up in the story (my father had 'accidentally' put Voldemort's diary in her cauldron when we were in Diagon Alley), and that he basically possessed her so that she would open the chamber herself.
"And there's one more thing." says Harry as the three of us sit in the common room. "I freed your house elf."
"Wait a minute..." I say. "Dobby? You freed Dobby? How is that possible?"
"With a sock." Harry says, as if it were the simplest and most obvious explanation in the world.
"My father must be furious..." I say, with a smile.
We have a party to celebrate Harry's victory over the basilisk and Voldemort (or rather Tom Riddle). Gryffindor won the House Cup. And my father was expelled from his position on the school council (I was internally happy with this news). I'd be more afraid to go home, but at least Stella will be living with me, so I won't be the only disappointment in the family.
On the way home on the Hogwarts Express, I share a compartment with Stella, Emma and Luna Lovegood. I breathe a sigh of relief when we arrive at platform 9 3/4 and see that my mum is waiting for us alone. Stella and I help each other carry our things and get off the train, followed by Emma and Luna.
Luna quickly says goodbye to us, as soon as she finds her father lost in the crowd of parents and other family relatives. Emma finds the Weasleys and joins them. I see that Draco has already gone ahead and got off the train, since when I look back to where my mum is, he's already there, hugging her.
Stella reaches them first and I sense that she's probably holding back tears when she realises that my mother has her arms open for her. She shyly walks towards my mum and hugs her tightly. Draco and I exchange glances, both of us with smiles on our faces at seeing Stella welcomed.
As soon as Stella breaks away from the embrace, I run to my mum to hug her tightly. "Welcome back, darling." my mum says in my ear as we both hug.
"I missed you, Mum." I say.
"Our house was certainly very quiet and dull without you." Mum says with a chuckle. "And I'm sure our house will be even happier to welcome its newest inhabitant." she winks at Stella, who giggles shyly.
My return home is going better than I expected. Mum purposely gives Stella the room across from mine, so that we can be very close to each other. My father spends more time away from home than he does here, and even when he is here he doesn't pay much attention to me, basically ignoring me and Stella.
I'm taking advantage of being home on a break to send a letter to my aunt, Andromeda. Since Christmas I've been waiting for a moment to reply to her letter and thank her for the present, but with everything that's happened at Hogwarts I've forgotten to write.
I sit down at the desk in my room one afternoon, grab some paper and a quill and get to work on the letter.
𝘿𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙖𝙪𝙣𝙩 𝘼𝙣𝙙𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙙𝙖,
𝙄'𝙙 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙗𝙮 𝙨𝙖𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙨𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙮 𝙄 𝙖𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄'𝙢 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙡𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙣𝙤𝙬. 𝙒𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙤𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪'𝙧𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙗𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙮 𝙖𝙡𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙮 𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙖𝙩 𝙃𝙤𝙜𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙨, 𝙄 𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙪𝙥 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙡𝙮. 𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙞𝙛𝙩! 𝙄 𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙩 𝙖 𝙡𝙤𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙤 𝙢𝙮 𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠.
𝙈𝙪𝙢 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙠𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪, 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙨 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙞𝙢𝙖𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙚. 𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙠𝙨 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙝𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙢𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨 (𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝙞𝙨 𝙧𝙖𝙧𝙚), 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙜𝙞𝙘 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙮 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨 (𝘼𝙪𝙣𝙩 𝘽𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙭 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪). 𝙄 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙢𝙪𝙘𝙝. 𝙄 𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙬𝙤 𝙤𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚 𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙚𝙚𝙩 𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙧𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙣𝙚𝙘𝙩, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙄 𝙗𝙚𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙙𝙚𝙚𝙥 𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙈𝙪𝙢 𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙢𝙚.
𝙄 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙛𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙘𝙠 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙂𝙧𝙮𝙛𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙤𝙧, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙖𝙩 𝙣𝙤 𝙥𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙄 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙩'𝙨 𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙞𝙘𝙚, 𝙖𝙡𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙄 𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙨𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙥𝙪𝙩 𝙢𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙎𝙡𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣, 𝙄 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙙𝙚𝙚𝙥 𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙂𝙧𝙮𝙛𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙤𝙧 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙞𝙘𝙚. 𝙄 𝙙𝙞𝙙𝙣'𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙩 𝙢𝙮 𝙛𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙮, 𝙄 𝙙𝙞𝙙𝙣'𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙬𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙖 '𝙗𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙩𝙤𝙧', 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙡𝙪𝙘𝙠𝙞𝙡𝙮 𝙈𝙪𝙢 𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙚𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙢𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙬𝙖𝙮, 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙗𝙞𝙩 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝙃𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤. 𝙄 𝙘𝙖𝙣'𝙩 𝙨𝙖𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙢𝙮 𝙛𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧... 𝙖𝙩 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙨𝙣'𝙩 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙬𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙢𝙮 𝙛𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙎𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙖 𝙇𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚 (𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙪𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙬).
𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙨𝙤 𝙢𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙗𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙮𝙤𝙪, 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙝𝙪𝙨𝙗𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙙𝙖𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙚𝙧, 𝙄'𝙢 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙄'𝙙 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙞𝙛 𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙩𝙤. 𝙄 𝙝𝙤𝙥𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝙄 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙢𝙚𝙚𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙚𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙞𝙣 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙪𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙛𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙮 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙗𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙙.
𝙇𝙤𝙫𝙚, 𝘾𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙖.
Great. Now I just need an owl to be able to send the letter. It's a good thing Stella has one, because I wouldn't want to use one of the family owls... I pick up the letter from the desk, leave my room and knock on Stella's bedroom door, which opens in seconds.
"I need to borrow your owl." I say, pouting playfully.
"Of course you can borrow her." Stella says, pointing to where the owl is, on the other side of the room near the window. "But why can't you use one of your family's owls?"
"Do you promise to keep it a secret?" I say, turning to her.
She rolls her eyes playfully. "It's like we haven't known each other since practically the day we were born. You know very well that I know how to keep secrets."
I know that very well. Stella really has always been my confidant, as I am hers, and she knows all my secrets. Well, almost all of them... apart from the secret that only Theodore knows, and that's because he shares the same secret: I'm lesbian and he's gay. In that case I don't tell Stella, not because I don't trust her, I trust her with my eyes closed, but because I'm extremely afraid that she won't accept me.
"I'm going to send a letter to my aunt." I say.
She looks at me confused. "Aunt Bella?"
"No, my other aunt, Andromeda." I reply.
She widens her eyes in surprise. "The one who..."
"Yes, the one who was disowned for marrying a muggle-born." I complete her sentence.
That's when I decide to tell her about the letter and the present I received from Andromeda at Christmas.
The most eagerly awaited day of the summer arrives: my birthday, July 12th. The day before I'd agreed on a few things: I'd agreed with Mum that she'd take me out on the afternoon of my birthday for a girls' day with her and Stella, with Draco I'd agreed that we'd play Quidditch in the morning, and in the evening Stella and I would stay up late for a sleepover. At first I wanted to have a sleepover with other friends of mine like the Gryffindor girls, Emma, Luna and Aster, but Mum said that if I did that I'd give my dad a heart attack (which, come to think of it, isn't such a bad idea...).
The day would be perfect if it weren't for one thing: not only do I wake up with the biggest stomach ache I've ever had, but as soon as I get out of bed I see the bloodstain on the sheet. How lucky am I? Of all the times for this to happen, it was on my twelfth birthday...
I don't even have time to think about doing anything because soon I hear someone knocking on the door and come in. I jump back into bed and cover myself with the sheets, hiding the stain.
My mum comes into my room, holding my breakfast and singing Happy Birthday. She quickly puts the tray on the bed and comes closer, kissing my forehead and hugging me.
"I can't believe my little girl is turning twelve..." she starts to say. "It seems like yesterday..." she stops talking as soon as she notices my nervous and panicked expression. "What is it, my love?" she asks, her voice showing her concern.
I'll be honest, ever since I heard that Stella was coming to live with us, I thought I could finally count on a sister for this kind of situation, without having to deal with my mum. It's not that I was ashamed to tell her or anything, but... Anyone who sees my mum from the outside thinks she's a cold and arrogant person, it's the mask she puts on when she's in public, since that's what is expected of a Black and a Malfoy. But when she's at home, especially when it's just me and Draco (and now Stella), she's a totally different person. In general, I'd say she's a very good kind of different, but she tends to be extremely emotional, especially when it comes to her children so...
"Nothing, Mum..." I say, trying to disguise the pain I am feeling, but nothing gets past Narcissa Malfoy.
"Are you feeling well? Are you ill? Are you in pain? Where does it hurt?" she starts asking a thousand questions, her protective mode switched on.
I take a deep breath before answering her, mentally preparing myself for her reaction. I get up from the bed and show her the bloodstain. "I stared my period, that's all."
Her first reaction is a gasp of shock, which causes her to bring one of her hands to her chest. Seconds after she recovers from the shock, I see tears forming in her eyes. That's what I was talking about...
"My little girl..." she begins to say, tears now streaming down her face. "Becoming a woman... how quickly time passes..."
"Mum, it's okay, I'm just going to have a shower and put the magical pad you left in my bathroom in case something like this happened and..." I start to say, but I'm interrupted when none other than my brother and Stella walk in my room. "Oh, no..."
"Happy birthday, little sister!" says Draco, approaching us. "I hope you're ready to lose at..." he interrupts himself when he sees our mum crying. "Mum, what's wrong?"
My mum opens her mouth to reply, but it's too late, because my brother sees the stain on the bed and screams.
"My Merlin!" he turns to me. "Are you hurt? Is it serious? You're dying, aren't you? Mum's even crying..."
Stella, who is approaching me to say happy birthday, now covers her mouth with her hands, holding back her laughter.
"No, Draco, I'm not dying..." I say, and turn to Stella and my mum. "I don't have the time or the patience to deal with this," I point at my brother. "I'm going to have a shower and you'll have to do the explaining."
My birthday couldn't have started better.