It was Sunday morning and the Great Hall was buzzing about the Quidditch Match between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, rumor has it the Gryffindor Team had a hidden weapon that will help them win the Cup this year but no one knew what exactly was it. Cedric Diggory was seated at his Table beside his teammates to encourage them and to go over game statistics whereas the Malfoy twins seemed to be talking casually to each other. Nobody would guess that they were planing and analyzing.

"I've asked Pansy Parkinson and her little group of gossip girls to gather the information we need. It's been almost two weeks, I believe I will receive the answers today. " said Carina silently to avoid prying ears.

Draco nodded "I did as you said. I asked Theodore Nott to learn about the social gatherings with the Ministry officials."

"It annoys me that since father doesn't trust us any longer, it prevents us from learning anything about those except the ones that Daily Prophets write." she said as she folded the named newspaper "And we know that it writes whatever the Ministry wants to say and not the truth."

"I still don't understand why you want to know what's happening in the Ministry." Draco wondered as he grabbed his fork to eat.

"The elder ones have begun to plot, so some of the younger ones, noticing that Slytherin isn't in the dark side but a more neutral one, have started to grow a little be desperate."

Draco stared at her frowning and leaned at her "You think this has to do with Death Eaters?"

Carina nodded grimly "Believe me, I want to be wrong. But, we both know that war doesn't start overnight. There are plans, orders, and acting."

"Okay I see what you mean but this year the most we have heard is about Sirius Black, nothing about You-Know-Who." he pointed out.

"Brother dear, " she paused thinking "I did tell you that Voldemort was able to rise two times till now from his so-called death, both times he failed. What if, this time he decided to come back somewhere away from Hogwarts to ensure the third time to be a success?"

"It seems far-fetched."

"But not impossible."

"I think you're being paranoid." he was about to say something else when suddenly the doors of the Great Hall opened, there entered some Gryffindor allowing Harry Potter to appear behind them as he waited for a couple of seconds, holding the protagonist of the day, the fastest broom that was ever made, the Firebolt. Carina scoffed as she watched heads turning and many craning their necks to get a good look at Potter's new broom. There was a great deal of muttering and the Slytherin team turned to the Royal Duo.

"What are we going to do?" Marcus Flint wondered not being able to take his eyes off the broom.

"We'll just go over our game tactics." Carina replied as she eyed the Firebolt, she swears that she saw the Wonder boy winking at her for just a second with a smug face making her scorn.

"Well, the Hufflepuff Team is done for." Gregory Goyle pointed out.

"No, I don't think so." replied Draco determined and stood up "Goyle, Crabbe, Nott and Zabini, with me."

"What are you doing?" Carina asked puzzled.

"I have an idea."

"Why do I feel like it's a dumb one?" Carina said gaining a glare from her brother.

"Just because it's not your idea, that doesn't mean it's dumb." he snarled irritated.

Carina rolled her blue eyes "Stop being a baby and tell me."

"You'll see later." he responded leaving the Slytherin Table with the rest of the boys following, Carina eye's narrowed in suspicion when she realized that he went towards the Gryffindor Table to confront, you can guess who.

Cedric's questioning look met Carina's exasperated one who just shrugged in reply and got up to trail behind Draco and stop most of the damage, like most of the time, "Truly, can't a girl eat her breakfast in peace?" she thought irked as she reached the group.

The moment she was behind the Slytherin boys, where nobody noticed her yet, she heard Harry Potter say calmly "Pity you can't attach an extra arm to yours, Malfoy. Then it would hit the Badgers for you." seemed like the Gryffindors found it extremely funny since they started laughing loudly.

Carina noticed the tip of her brother's ears become red in anger or humiliation since he had nothing to say back, however she had "Pity they don't give points for lame humor, Potter, but I guess the ones by merely existing will do."

The Gryffindor's laughter was cut short as she was standing next to Draco who was snickering with the rest of the Slytherin boys. She raised an eyebrow as she noticed the Gryffindors glaring at her but still avoided to meet up her fierce stare, she turned her eyes to the protagonist of today which was held by Harry Potter, "Nice broom, but I think you should work on focusing in catching the Snitch and not gawk at the female Seeker of the opposing team." she said talking about herself making the Wonder Boy growing extremely red similar to his Quidditch uniform while the Slytherins doubled their laugh.

"What are you doing here, Malfoy?" Ron Weasley spat standing up his wand pointing at her ignoring the warning look that Draco and the Slytherins gave him.

She unconcerned glanced at his wand before she met his gaze "Wondering why on Merlin's shake you stopped being friends with Hermione Granger since she has smarts that it wouldn't be even closely reached with both of yours and Potter's brains combined."

The Slytherins once again started to crack up while Weasley became the same color of his hair, she swore she could see a little bit of purple which made her chuckle slightly "That's enough." she heard Harry say addressing her "How have you been, Malfoy?"

"I was doing fine until you decided to make a grand entrance for your Firebolt."

"Impressed?" he smirked "It is the fastest broom in the world."

"Till now. You forgot the till now." she pointed "They will make even faster ones, you know."

"I can lend it to you sometime if you want." he said earnestly making the Gryffindor Captain spat his pumpkin juice whereas the Slytherins and his housemates were gaping at their interaction.

Carina hummed tilting her head "Someone started to become a little more confident." she commented dryly "You shouldn't. If you grow that already big head of yours even more not even the Firebolt would handle the weight."

She saw Harry chuckling at her, not even a little bit insulted "Well, we can't have that. Especially when my prince charming will not be there saving me." which made Carina let out a laugh. Because of her detention with Potter and teaching him how to cast a Patronus over the two weeks, seems like he has started to get used to her and a little bit more talkative, not that she didn't like it.

"Okay. Let's stop this now." said Draco's voice sternly glaring at the Potter boy who returned the stare with the same vicious amount "I've had enough of this. Let's go, Cara." he stalked away with Carina's hand on his grip giving her an urge to roll her eyes.

"Cheer for me, Malfoy!" yelled Harry's voice throughout the Great Hall making her want to facepalm.

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At a quarter to eleven, Carina's face was covered with her green scarf, even though she casted a Warmth Charm on her, it still couldn't protect her against the cold breeze that would hit her now and then. She was sitting in the Slytherin stands waiting for the game to begin and searching around for her brother, who refused to get her involved in any of his plans he had today. Suddenly, she felt someone sitting next to her, she glanced and with a smile greeted Pansy Parkinson and Daphne Greengrass who also nodded politely.

"Pansy, Daphne." she said fondly "What do you have for me?"

"Avery Darwin, Carrow Kyrillos, and Mulciber Hector." started Pansy " second-year Slytherins that always surround Yaxley. They are childhood friends as you remember, always together in the gatherings that our parents would force us to go to. While Avery and Yaxley are exceptional students, Carrow and Mulciber are just plain average but they are quite mean, cannot hide their anger well."

Carina turned to study the little boy group. Avery was always a quiet kid, if her memories do not fail her, black hair, brown eyes with glasses, weird jaw and always observing. He's the one that most likely gave Yaxley the information which he needed. Now, Carrow and Mulciber, she spends a lot of time keeping them on leash last year with the Slytherin Heir incident. They were two of the few that tried to disobey her orders. Carrow had reddish hair and dark eyes that resembled greatly his siblings while Mucliber had quite common looks, brown hair, and eyes, only a pointy nose.

"Remind me again what do we know about their parents?"

"Well, Avery's father like many claimed to be under the Imperius curse thus avoiding prison. I hear he works as a counselor under Yaxley's father. Carrow's parents died after his birth because of Dragon Pox, he was a surprise baby since his parents were quite old. He is raised by his siblings somewhere in the British Isles, his siblings are not known as Death Eaters except between the families that were deeply involved in the Dark Lord's cause and that's why they were not even questioned about their loyalties in the First Wizarding War resulting in no time for Azkaban for them." she paused "Unfortunately, Mulciber's father was not that lucky, still doing his time in Azkaban."

"So, we have some Death Eater's fanatics." Carina thought not happy at all "Who else?"

"Wilkes Rudolph." Daphne said as she threw a flirty wave to a fourth-year Slytherin with a never-changing mean look at his face, who just ignored her resulting in making Daphne sulk "His father was killed by Aurors in the First War. He stays with his grandparents."

Carina glanced at the boy briefly, he was the only one from the older students that made his strong beliefs known. Most prefer to keep a low profile and make connections that will profit them in the future. However, this boy was too angry, too hurt, and too blind to see that it's better not to choose a side this early on.

"Do you recall Roisin Macnair?" Pansy questioned pulling Carina out of her thoughts.

Carina blue eyes flared then she looked towards the Ravenclaw stands. To put it simply, Roisin Macnair was the reason for her strong dislike toward Ravenclaw House. The fourth-year girl was a menace since she could remember, her mother would urge her to associate with that child who seemed to think that everything was a competition. She used to compare their looks, her being extremely pretty with her blond wavy hair and hazel green eyes, their intelligence, and overall she wanted to make herself look better than Carina.

Regrettably, everything went downhill for Roisin when the Hat decided that she wasn't cunning enough to get into Slytherin. That's when she got even more awful towards Carina who always made sure to show off the fact that she was Slytherin to the core. Roisin must have been tremendously crossed seeing upon Carina's influence upon the Slytherin House, and her name becoming quite well known throughout Hogwarts whereas hers was only used by a few Ravenclaws of her year.

"As she grows older seems to become even greater pain in my arse." Carina commented displeased.

"That's what we call jealousy, Lady Carina." Pansy remarked.

"No, that's what we call obsession." she disregarded, "Is that all?"

"Look over the Hufflpuffs," Daphne spoke gesturing over them "See the two first years that are a little bit secluded from the rest. The girl with brown hair on pigtails and the shorter boy? That's Fiona Gibbon and Edmund Jugson, Gibbon's and Jugson's family also avoided being strayed in Azkaban but rumor got around that they were furious that their children were not sorted in Slytherin and even worse when they learned that it was Hufflepuff."

"In other words, I have to speak with Cedric and make sure that those two associate themselves with better people." uttered Carina as she heard riotous applause around her, signaling that the two teams have entered the team. She momentarily heard Lee Jordan's commentary before she turned her attention back to the girls ignoring everything happening in the game.

"Something tells me that you've kept the best for last." Carina chuckled grimly.

"You'll be surprised." said Daphne nodding.

"They have Gryffindors." continued Pansy.

Carina's eyebrows shot up completely taken aback "Gryffindors? Who?"

"Rookwood Vance, second year."

"Rookwood?" Carina grimaced "As in Augustus Rookwood? A former Unspeakable that acted as though he was aiding the anti-Voldemort cause, but was revealed as a double agent, gaining information from Ludo Bagman and other unwitting agents throughout the Ministry. He's still in Azkaban, right?"

"You're correct." Daphne said "His wife was dismayed the part Augustus Rookwood played in the war and completely pulled her son away from anything that had to do with this scandal. Although, her son is more like his father than she probably imagined."

"Look at this, a faux Gryffindor. A viper in lion's den." remarked Carina impressed. She turned her attention to the game, satisfied with the information they gathered, she was met with the sight of Harry Potter flying over their heads and she had to admit, the Firebolt was an amazing broom made for players like the Gryffindor's number seven. She was completely taken by his flying, she didn't think she've ever taken a good look at his flying. Maybe her detention influenced her more than she liked to believe.

Her eyebrows wrinkled when she became aware that he has moved toward the ground with his wand in his hand, a slight gasp left her lips as a corporeal Patronus appeared, in a form of a majestic stag that quickly disappeared. Carina glanced around her and was astonished to realize that nobody but her saw him accomplish that.

Out of the blue, she heard groans and snarls of dissatisfaction coming from the Slytherins made her understand that Gryffindor won. Poor Hufflepuffs, now they came into third place since the last game of the season will be between Slytherins and Gryffindors thanks to her catching the Snitch before Cho Chang from Ravenclaw.

Carina's eyes then caught what was behind the cheering Gryffindors that were congratulating Harry. Lying in a crumpled heap on the ground was her stupid brother along with Gregory Goyle, Vincent Crabbe, Theodore Nott, and Blaise Zabini, all struggling to remove themselves from long, black, hooded robes. It looked as though Draco had been standing on Goyle's shoulders. She felt a headache coming from his idiocy. She knew that whatever idea he had was quite moronic from the moment he refused to inform her.

Standing over them was Professor McGonagall with fury written all over her face, shouting at them but she couldn't hear anything since she was far away. Moreover, Carina saw something even worse coming, an enraged Cedric Diggory pacing to her brother and it made her laugh when she saw Draco's face pale noticing the elder Hufflepuff coming behind McGonagall. At least she doesn't have to scold him later because, honestly speaking, Cedric is, even more, scarier than her.

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Gryffindor's happy mood didn't last for long since on the same night Sirius Black attacked once again. Everyone knew that the castle was being searched again and waited to hear if he had been caught. News spread like Fiendfyre that Neville Longbottom managed unconsciously helped him entered the Gryffindor's Common Room. Moreover, Ron Weasley became popular overnight. Many students asked him to recount the story many times and he liked being the center of attention for the time being.

Security got tighter as the day went on. Filch was suddenly bustling up and down the corridors, boarding up everything from tiny cracks in the walls to mouse holes. The teachers were nervous and tensed even though they tried to hide it. McGonagall was much more austere than usually, Flitwick would jump most of the time his wand strong in his grip ready for any sudden attack, Snape was as usual in a bad mood but this time with an avenging look all over his face whereas Lupin, much to Carina's wonder was just sad.

Carina noticed Harry Potter on his own as they were dismissed from their last class, she waved her brother and mentioned him to walk ahead ignoring his accusing look as he watched her move towards the Gryffindor boy. When she reached him she spoke forcing him to look at her "At least with Weasley's sudden popularity, you're off from everybody's sight."

Harry seemed not in a good mood, a rather gloomy expression "What do you want?" he said rudely.

Carina titled her head her expression darkened "First, mind your manners. Take a deep breath, count to ten, and let's have a conversation like civilized people."

Harry's emerald eyes soften "Sorry. My bad."

Carina nodded approvingly and gentled her own "How are you?"

"Not fine." he immediately replied "He was there, in my room, too close! I could have had him!"

Carina shook her head "Put away your Gryffindor bravado for a moment. You could have done what? Killed him?"

"My parents-"

"Your parents would have wanted you to be safe!" she emphasized fiercely "Not putting yourself into unnecessary danger!"

Harry slid down on the cold floor his back against the wall and stared boldly at her, he raised his hand to touch her "Sit down with me."

"On the floor? It's freezing and it's dirty." she justified.

Harry rolled his eyes amused and grabbed her warm hand, not pushing her anymore. She allowed him to hold her hand, understanding that he needed comfort, she gently began to caress his hand with her thumb, "I saw you in the Quidditch Match."

Harry grinned cheekily "I played well, didn't I?"

Carina scoffed "That's not what I meant you fool. I saw you conjure a Patronus."

Harry froze and his mood once again worsen as he pulled his hand back "Oh..."

Carina smiled slightly "I was impressed. A stag, was it not?"

Harry nodded and stared at her with a wounded puppy look "So that's the end of our little Anti-Dementor lessons then?"

"Naturally. I did my job." and silence took over.

Harry seemed to hesitate before he blurted out "So, are we friends then?"

Carina hummed thinking "No." she replied.

Harry blinked confused "Why?" he pouted.

"Because I haven't forgiven you yet."

"You Slytherins know how to keep a grudge." Harry sighed annoyed and got up then crossed his arms "Then why did you help me? I'm not talking about the lessons but during them. You always made sure that I was alright, gave me chocolate and biscuits! Even now! You followed me to check if I'm okay!"

"So?"

"We are friends!" he threw his arms up angrily "Why are you denying it?"

Carina chuckled "We are not friends until I say we are." she commented as she pushed back his falling glasses "Besides, you're acting like a child and you need to keep your temper in check. You have a lot of work until we become friends."

"So, what you think you're perfect?" Harry scowled "Miss You-Do-As-I-Say? You're quite arrogant you know that?"

Carina tilted her head, her eyes shinning amused "Is that all?"

"No." he shook his head "You also have big brother complex! What was that yesterday by the why? Attacking Ron and I like that?"

"Seems like you still haven't made up with Granger because then you would already have an answer."

"I'm not stupid!"

"No, you're a fool."

Harry growled "You're also very irritating! Fine! Let's not be friends!" he began to walk away before he paused and glanced at her "Also, don't miss me much now that we'll not talk this regularly." and he stalked away leaving her behind.

Carina snickered watching him leave "That was cute."