Theodore never imagined to stand before the iron doors of the Room of Requirement. He could still remember that night when Umbridge and her Inquisitorial Squad raided the room to catch the secret organization named Dumbledore's Army runned by Harry Potter. But he wasn't there for the D.A..
"Come on, we don't have enough time." Draco said.
"And who's going to stand guard?" Theodore asked.
"No one's going to know that we're even inside."
"What about Potter and his friends – what if they come inside while we're there?"
"They won't." Draco hissed.
"Fine."
Theodore opened the door and entered the room. It was a stuffy room full of junk piled up at the side. He was sure that inside those piles were doxies and bogarts waiting to jump out and give them a good scare.
"Where is it?" Theodore asked.
"This way."
Draco led the two of them deeper into the room. He took note of the path they took just to make sure that they don't get lost – even if they did, he still could fly up and find their way. Draco stopped before a tall covered thing.
"That's it?" Theodore asked.
Draco nodded. He took a hold of the cloth that covered it and pulled it off. It was a cabinet.
"It's where those Weasleys stuck Montague last year." Draco said as he inspected the cabinet.
"It's a vanishing cabinet." Theodore muttered, "And the other one's at Borgin and Burkes."
"Yes."
"We need to fix this." Draco muttered.
"Aye." Theodore nodded. He then took the first look out whilst Draco tried the spell to fix the cabinet. He hated every second he spent in the room, he hated every second he was wasting in the bloody room just to fix the cabinet. His right hand trailed up to his left arm, his thumb brushing over the Dark Mark that will forever be imprinted on his skin. The memory of how he got the Dark Mark came to his mind. People remember their nightmares clearer than dreams, he told himself. And that day when Voldemort took his arm and placed the mark on him was still clear in his mind. But right now, all he could think of was the disappointed – no. The look of hate that he will see in his friends eyes once they found out about it. Nothing could save him from that.
•†•
"Half-Blood Prince."
Carina and Roman shared a look, then turned to Harry with a raised brow. After a few more Potions lessons that he had topped, Harry finally told them who got his little help from.
"So, you're taking orders from a person who calls themselves The Half-Blood Prince." Carina stated.
"Do you reckon it's a girl?" Roman asked.
Harry gave him a look.
"Have you ever heard of a girls that goes around as Princes?" Harry asked.
"Just guessing." Roman held out his hands at the air in surrender. "Besides, from the penmanship this Half-Blood Prince has... I suspected that the Prince is a girl."
"Hey." Carina called Harry, "What time's the tryouts?"
"Oh, tomorrow morning." Harry said, his face brightening up, "You trying out?"
"Aye." Carina said, "Chaser spot's free right?"
"Actually, almost all the spots are free." Harry chuckled, "A lot of our players graduated."
"Great." Carina smiled. "Meet you at the field then."
•†•
Carina came out to the Quidditch field wearing her red and gold Quidditch uniform, she held on to the Firebolt that Sirius had gotten her before and quietly stood with the crowd of Gryffindors going to tryout.
"All right! Queue up!" Harry called. But no one listened.
Carina simply stood there with her arms crossed over her chest and waited for the others to settle down. She had a feeling that Gryffindor won't be winning this year.
"Excuse me..." Harry said, timidly.
"Try a bit louder, Harry." Carina teased.
"SHUT IT!" Ginny yelled.
There was instant silence. Carina stifled a laugh whilst Harry frowned but nodded to Ginny as a thank you.
"Thanks." Harry said. "All right. This morning I'll be putting you all through a few drills to assess your strengths. But know this: just because you made the team last year does not guarantee you a spot this year. Is that clear?"
From the stands, Roman sat with Hermione beside him. He came to support Carina for her first Quidditch tryout and wanted to see how she does. From the crowd of Gryffindors at the field he saw her wave at him and Hermione, he did the same in return, but it wasn't just Carina's wave that he saw, he also saw McLaggen's lewd wink that he gave Hermione, he couldn't help just cringe in disgust.
"Good luck with that." Roman patted Hermione at the back.
"He's disgusting." Hermione said.
As the tryouts began, Roman would give out a loud wolf-howl when Carina would catch the Quaffle or make a score. It would often catch Carina's attention, but she would just shake her head and laugh. Hermione, who noticed Roman's support for Carina smiled and faced him.
"You really like her, don't you." Hermione said.
"I'm doing it too much, aren't I?" Roman laughed.
"I'm really sorry that she didn't like to be... like that..." Hermione gave him a small smile.
"It's all right." Roman shrugged, "Besides, I think it's for the best that we do stay as friends... I don't know how to act if we do become something."
"It's great that you two are still best friends, though." Hermione turned her gaze to where Carina was able to shoot the Quaffle to the hoops even with a Keeper.
"Aye." Roman said then let out a loud howl. "I'd do anything for her."
When it was the Keepers turn, Hermione couldn't help but look nervously when it was Ron's turn. She was on the edge when he was trying to keep the hoops secured; he was doing an excellent job, but then he almost fell off his broom. Hermione gasped and reached for the nearest thing to hold on – which was Roman – and watched as Ron get back on his broom. Once he was back on, Hermione was able to breathe.
"He's got this, Hermione." Roman reassured her.
"I know." Hermione smiled.
When it was McLaggen's turn, Hermione noticed that he kept on looking her way whenever he blocked a Quaffle. Roman, who noticed it as well, raised a brow at McLaggen, he moved closer to Hermione and raised a brow at him.
"He's disgusting." Roman said.
Hermione, who knew that McLaggen would be able to block the other Quaffle that would be sent his way, thought of a way to lessen his chance of get in the team. Under her breath, Hermione whispered a spell.
"Confundo."
And just as expected, McLaggen suddenly forgot what he was doing and was not able to block the Quaffle. Hermione couldn't help her smile that crept her lips. Roman, who saw what Hermione just did, raised a brow at her and turned to fully face her.
"Hermione Granger. A Prefect. Little-Miss-I-Follow-The-Rules, did I just see you..." Roman said.
"Did what?" Hermione smiled.
•†•
Carina walked out of the locker room with her broom in hand and her bag at her shoulder. She was suddenly picked up from the ground and twirled around, she let out a loud shriek then laughed.
"Roman, put me down!" Carina laughed
After another twirl, Roman placed her down.
"You did great." Roman told her.
"Thank you." Carina smiled. "When's Slytherin tryouts?"
"Dunno." Roman shrugged, "But I don't think they'll replace me anytime soon – I mean, I do make a mean Beater."
Theodore just got out of the Room of Requirement after trying to fix the cabinet, and just like their previous attempt they failed to fix it. He ran his fingers through his hair and pulled at his hair. He needed to fix that bloody cabinet – no, he and Draco needed to fix that cabinet, if no then they'd be dead. No, it would be Draco's mother who would die if Draco didn't fix it, and him? Theodore's mother was dead – it was the first time that he thanked Merlin that his mother was dead, if she was alive, then she would be suffering the same fate as Narcissa Malfoy. But it wasn't any of Theodore's family member that will suffer –
The familiar sound of laughter caught Theodore's attention. He turned and found Carina and Roman laughing as they walked the corridor, probably planning a prank they will be doing -- just like their little prank for the Pansy the other day where they turned Montague's hair pink.
"Theodore!" Roman called for him.
"What are you doing standing around there for?" Carina asked.
Theodore smiled, "None of your business."
He walked towards Carina and Roman and walked beside them.
"What are you two planning this time?" Theodore asked.
"McLaggen was being a prat, earlier." Carina said.
"So we thought of giving him a present." Roman smirked.
"And does that present include using that U-No-Poo that the Weasleys were selling?" Theodore asked.
"You read our mind." Roman said, "But, we plan on giving him a bit more than the U-No-Poo."
"What?"
"A letter that calls him out of the Gryffindor Tower." Carina smirked, "that leads him to the corridor at the third floor – remember that forbidden door back at first year?"
"No." Theodore chuckled.
"Yes." Roman said.
"Roman would just transform and give him a little scare – McLaggen would be screaming like a little girl after that." Carina laughed.
"People would even think of him mad if he goes around screaming wolf." Roman laughed.
Theodore laughed lightly at the sight of them. Carina and Roman, he thought. They're his family.