»»———— ☽ ༓ ☾ ———-««

They collapsed on the floor of the empty headquarters with a gasp. Carina could barely stop trembling long enough to pick herself up. Gideon wasn't even conscious. Regulus was the only one who managed to climb to his feet, rushing to Carina. 

"You two need a healer," he said urgently. 

"No one can know about this mission," Carina said hoarsely, shaking her head. 

"We can't do nothing, Lennox!" Regulus yelled, panic seeping into his voice. "You're as cold as ice, and we don't even know how much is wrong with Prewett." 

"Potions. I have potions in my flat. Take us there." 

"I- I've never been to your flat, I wouldn't be able to apparate us there." 

"K-Kreacher." 

"Right," Regulus said immediately, turning to his loyal house elf. 

The anxious and distressed little elf didn't even need the verbal command before he whisked the three of them away to Carina's home. 

»»———— ☽ ༓ ☾ ———-««

-- CARINA'S FLAT

They landed smoothly in the living room. Carina struggled to steady her hands as she shivered. 

"How can I help?" Regulus asked. 

"W-we need to get dry." Carina's teeth chattered violently. She could barely hold her own wand right now. 

Kreacher, being ever-helpful, immediately dried their clothes and started a crackling fire in the fireplace.  

"Thank you," Regulus turned to his elf fondly. He took one of the blankets off the back of the sofa and wrapped it around Carina's shaking form. "What now?" 

"Now? Now you need to go back to Hogwarts. Kreacher, I- I think he needs a fresh set of pressed uniforms." Before Regulus could blink, he was redressed in an immaculately layered outfit of Hogwarts regalia. "Make sure you've been seen by as many people as you can. Talk to people. Ask someone a question, ask them how they're doing. Make sure they remember talking to you." 

"What about you?" Regulus asked in concern. 

"I h-have potions. I'll watch over Gideon." 

"Carina, you can barely watch over yourself right now," Regulus reminded her softly. "You need help." 

"It's too dangerous." Carina shook her head. "You need to return to Hogwarts before you're missed." 

"At least keep Kreacher with you," he urged. 

"Too risky," Carina shook her head. "What if your family asks him where he's been?" 

"Shite... I didn't think of that." Regulus said with widening eyes. Kreacher was a security risk even if he didn't stay. So long as he belonged to the entire family, any Black could force the poor elf to betray them all. He turned to his childhood companion with a look of determination. "Kreacher, I'm going to give you clothes." 

"NO!" Kreacher shrieked in distress. "Kreacher does everything Master asks. Kreacher will not take clothes!" 

Regulus sunk down to one knee, holding the elf at his elbows to prevent him from flailing in distress. "I know, Kreacher. You've been a very good elf- the best. But if I don't free you, my family could call you at any time. They could make you betray me if they ask you how you helped us, do you understand?"

"Kreacher understands," the elf said sadly. "But Kreacher wants to stay with Master Regulus!" 

"You're welcome to stay with me," Regulus reassured softly. "You're family- I'll always take care of you. But you can't be bonded to the rest of my family. Please Kreacher, my safety is at stake." 

Kreacher nodded understandingly. "Kreacher will take clothes if master will allow him to stay." 

Regulus tore off his tie in haste, handing it to Kreacher. The elf looked at it warily before reluctantly accepting it. 

"Alright, Kreacher. Now you're a free elf. If my family asks you to say anything about what we've done, you say nothing, understand? You lie, you make excuses- say you were cleaning the attic or something." 

"Yes, sir," Kreacher nodded urgently. 

"You'll still have to show up if they call you," he warned him. "They can't know you've been set free because they'll get suspicious. But if they ask you anything about the truth of what we did or anything that may compromise my safety or reveal my involvement with the Order, you need to lie." 

"Yes, sir," Kreacher said firmly, feeling as though he'd been trusted with something vital. 

"One more thing, Kreacher," Regulus pondered as he climbed to his feet. "I'd really appreciate it if you made yourself available to Carina. She's a dear friend and just about the only person I trust. If she ever calls you, will you please help her?" 

"Of course, sir," Kreacher responded reverently. "Kreacher is happy to serve miss Carina!" 

"Good! Bring me back to Hogwarts, and then you can return and help her." 

Kreacher leaped to his feet with purpose, taking hold of Regulus's hand without hesitation. Carina released a sigh of relief. She'd been anxious about Kreacher's involvement for a while now but felt it unfair to ask Regulus to let him go. After all, the only reason Regulus got into all this was that he was so angry about Kreacher being hurt. She was relieved the young wizard had taken the initiative and responsibility to free Kreacher himself. 

Carina crawled over to Gideon, checking his pulse. It was there, but it was weak. Honestly, it was a miracle he was still breathing. He was underwater for a while before she was able to put a bubblehead charm on him. 

 The witch jumped in alarm as Kreacher reappeared in front of her, his ears folded over adorably. 

"Kreacher is ready to help, miss," he said eagerly. Carina quirked her lips in amusement. It was so difficult to reconcile this puppy-like Kreacher with Sirius's sour and dour descriptions of their family elf.  

"Would you please bring me my chest of potions?" She asked politely. "It's in the cabinet in the hall." 

Kreacher scattered, eagerly pushing the heavy chest back to them. Carina's trembling had gone down considerably as the warmth returned to her body. But her mind was still pumping adrenaline because she knew it wasn't over until she made sure Gideon would be alright. As such, she had yet to feel the extent of the damage to her own body. She couldn't make out the ache and pain of her own muscles because she was still in fight or flight mode. 

The potioneer was so glad she'd maintained her skills by practicing some more basic concoctions at home. Because of her hobby, she had a fully stocked chest of pain-relievers, sleeping draughts, hangover potions, pepper-up potions, and more. She paused just long enough to give herself a dose of the pepper-up potion. The magic immediately sharpened her senses, giving a facade of energy to her exhausted body.  

She took out all of her pain relief potions and healing potions, tipping one after another into Gideon's mouth. She felt visceral relief when she saw his throat move as his esophagus worked the potion down. With each additional potion, she relaxed as she saw his improvements- his breathing growing smoother, his pulse getting stronger, color returning to his pallor, and warmth returning to his body. 

She collapsed back on the floor tiredly. She'd done all she could, and for a moment, she just watched his unconscious form. Unconscious but alive, she reminded herself. It's a miracle they were both still alive.

Kreacher waited silently by her side, patiently waiting for any further requests. But Carina hadn't accounted for the damage to her own body. Though that pepper-up potion gave her just enough of a boost to look after Gideon, the energy left her body quicker than it came. Her eyes closed before she could remind herself to keep them open, and the world faded to haunted darkness. 

 »»———— ☽ ༓ ☾ ———-««

-- CARINA'S FLAT

Hours later, Carina was startled awake with a muted gasp. 

As suspected, her rest after that harrowing mission in the caves had not been peaceful, and she doubted it would be so for several weeks, if not months. Despite the numerous missions they'd done already, this was the one that made the war feel starkly real. 

Her vision focused only to latch on to a pair of hazel eyes staring back at her. She froze, her mind going into internal disarray when she realized that not only was she laying directly across Gideon Prewett, but also that they were on her bed. 

Damn. Kreacher must've moved them when she conked out.  

He stared at her with an uncharacteristically somber expression. Gideon was one of those people who could crack a joke even at the worst times. His method of coping was comic relief. So something about him appearing so serious felt bizarre. 

"You know," he said, his voice raspy with disuse. "If you really wanted me in your bed so badly, you could've just asked." 

Carina's eyes widened in surprise because, despite the lightness and joke of his words, his expression remained absolutely solemn. 

"Kreacher must have moved us," Carina responded. "I don't remember falling asleep." 

"What happened? Last I remember, I was being dragged to the bottom of the lake." 

"Well, we all got out alive," Carina began. She attempted to sit up, wincing from the sudden effort. 

Now that she'd come down from her adrenaline rush, her body made it perfectly clear that it was not pleased. Muscles ached and stung from the slightest movement, completely frayed from her battle to swim them back to shore against the current of inferi. 

Gideon rose smoothly, assessing her more sharply. "Are you in pain?" 

"Are you not?" Carina hissed through her teeth. "You got it a lot worse than I did." 

Gideon quickly took stock of his body, flexing muscles and stretching fingers experimentally. "A little sore, I suppose. But I'm fine."  

"Good to know my potions still work," Carina bit out. 

She attempted to stand only for her legs to fail her. She fell beside her bed, arms catching her upper body on the edge of the mattress. Gideon was swinging off his side and around to hers in a flash. At least he'd make a smooth recovery. 

"Apparently not- you can barely move!"

"I only took a pepper-up potion." 

"Why?" Gideon blanched. 

"I was a little busy making sure you stayed alive," Carina impressed upon him. "You were a lot worse than I was at the time." 

"Okay, well, let's get you some now. Where do you keep them?"

"I used it all," she sighed. "I'll have to buy some from the shops or wait until I can rebrew them." 

Gideon stared at her, and for a fleeting moment, she thought he might be angry. But that was hardly like him. The man was hotheaded but never seemed to have a short temper. 

"Let me get this straight," he said slowly as if praying for patience. "You used your entire stock of potions on me and didn't even bother to save yourself some? And now you can't even walk?" 

"I'm fine," Carina insisted, trying to gather enough strength to at least sit up on the bed again. Being stuck on the floor was only feeding into his concern and properly mortifying. "My body's just exhuasted- you were nearly dead." 

Gideon sighed deeply but remained uncharacteristically calm and quiet.  

"I'm going to need a better explanation of what exactly happened before I got pulled under," he told her firmly. "But for now, what can I do?" 

"Nothing," Carina said. 

"What do you need?" He insisted stubbornly.

"Gideon, honestly," Carina rolled her eyes. "I just need a soak in a hot tub and then maybe a meal. I told you, my body's just exhausted. It'll bounce back sooner than yours would've without the potions." 

Gideon nodded acceptingly, and she thought she might've finally gotten her way. She'd just send him on his way and summon Kreacher to help her with a meal and maybe run out and get some pain relief potions. But she should've known better than to underestimate the deputy head auror. Gideon smoothly rose to his feet, bringing Carina with him.   

She squealed, her arms immediately clasping around his neck. 

"Gideon Prewett, what are you doing?" Carina yelled. 

"Seeing as you can't even stand, I thought you might need a lift to the bathroom," he reminded her snarkily. 

"I can get there myself!" 

"Maybe, but at a snail's pace. I still need to debrief you before I report back, so it's in my interest to speed this along." 

Well, she could hardly argue with him there. 

"I can debrief you before I take a bath!" 

"With both of us sitting on the floor?" He asked in amusement. "I don't think so. Besides, I need an accurate and detailed account, and you're in no state to provide it until you've... cleaned up." 

"Fine," she agreed reluctantly. "You can help me to the bathroom." 

"I knew you'd see it my way," he smiled innocently. 

Only he didn't take her straight to the bathroom. He walked her to the other end of the room and sat her on top of her dresser. 

"What are you doing?" 

"Getting you fresh clothes. You don't want to change back into what you're wearing, do you? I can still smell the death on you," he told her bluntly. 

"Speak for yourself," she grumbled. "Pajamas. Third drawer." 

He followed her instructions, raising his eyebrows in surprise at all her matching sets of silk pajama bottoms and tops. Carina felt self-conscious but didn't give in to the urge to fidget. So she liked nice things- it was hardly a crime. Gideon grabbed a royal blue set from the top of the pile, setting it on her lap. 

"Knickers?" He asked. 

"W-what?" Carina sputtered. 

"Where are your knickers?" 

Suddenly Carina felt a ridiculous grin creep up on her face. Turnabout was fair play. "You know," she began seriously, "if you really wanted to see my knickers, you could've just asked."  

There was a nanosecond of surprise flashing through his face before a smooth, responding smile took its place. "If I thought for the slightest moment that you'd say yes, I would have, angel," he murmured lowly. 

"Maybe if you tried asking nicely," Carina shrugged jokingly.

He looked at her with a puppy-like gaze. "Please?" 

Carina struggled not to burst out laughing, seeing the mirroring amusement in Gideon's gaze. "First drawer." 

He glanced down, smirking like a cat that got the cream. Taking her calves in his big hands, he gently lifted her legs until they were tucked against her chest on the dresser. He opened the first drawer. Carina thanked the gods that she'd updated her underwear collection since her school years, and all her knickers now consisted of standard black panties. Nothing embarrassing there. Gideon fished out a pair, setting them next to her. He went back in, fishing out a matching bra, holding it out to her. 

"I- it's not necessary," she told him, blushing when he raised an eyebrow. "I'm not leaving the house, and I'll only go back to sleep." 

Gideon's lips curled into a smile as he dropped the bra back in the drawer before he closed it. He scooped her up, clothes and all, heading for the bathroom. Carina's mind was a mess. What was she bloody doing? Gideon and Fabian had flirted jokingly numerous times. It was something of a running joke between them. But never had she actually entertained either of them. Yet, that hadn't stopped them. Was this what Lily felt like when James chased her around? He'd asked out the redhead beauty every other class period at the height of his notoriety. But that couldn't be, could it? James made it clear he wanted to be dating Lily. Gideon and Fabian flirted aimlessly, preferring vague innuendos to cater to the nosy crowds rather than actually pursuing her. 

Gideon walked her into her spacious bathroom, setting her on top of her closed toilet. "Have everything you need?" 

"Yeah, I think so," she nodded. 

He walked out of the bathroom, pausing just as he was about to close the door behind him. "Take your time. I'm going to go change and check in on the others, anyway." 

Carina smiled. Of course, it had never been about getting Carina back in her right mind so he could debrief her. He'd just wanted to make sure he could take care of her. 

"Thank you." 

Carina ultimately had a long soak, which did wonders for her aching muscles. Though Gideon had just been jesting, she truly was glad to get the smell of rotting bodies off her. When she walked back to her living room with her hair half wet and in her matching blue shorts and collared blouse, she was surprised at the sight that greeted her. 

Gideon had gone to change, and he seemed freshly showered, too. But he's also had the time to pick up takeout, which he was meticulously spooning onto two plates. 

"Hello..." she said curiously. 

"Hello to you too," he said distractedly, glancing at her. He did a double-take, eventually setting down the utensils and food. "You look better." 

"I feel better." 

"Here," he pushed a few vials on the counter towards her. "Take the potions before you eat- it'll work faster on an empty stomach." 

"You got me potions?" 

"Just standard pain relief ones because someone wouldn't tell me what exactly happened." He told her pointedly. 

"It's perfect," she told him. "Thank you." 

"And your food," he said, offering her a loaded plate of freshly cooked Afghan food. 

"You remembered my favorite," she smiled happily. "But the nearest place is halfway across town!" 

"Well, there's this thing called apparation," he said sarcastically. 

They worked their way slowly through most of their meal before he finally asked again. The previously light-hearted tone they'd built while eating suddenly sunk as memories of the day came rushing back. 

"That bad?" He asked. 

"Scary, definitely," she acknowledged, "I told you, Prewett, I don't do combat missions." 

"It wasn't meant to be one," he whispered sadly. 

"When the inferi pulled you under, Kreacher couldn't get you out since his magic didn't work in the cave. So he came back for me." 

"And you, what? Summoned me out?" 

"Not exactly," she winced. "You were being pulled in too many different directions by the inferi. So I jumped in after you." 

"You what-" 

"It was the only way," she stated firmly. "We got to the surface okay, but the inferi had completely overrun the boat. There were too many of them, and I was tiring out very quickly from conjuring fire and keeping us afloat. So I told Regulus to cast the fiendfyre." 

"YOU WHAT?" 

"It was the only way," she shrugged, her voice growing quieter. "I couldn't keep casting magic, and I used the last of it to make sure you had a bubblehead charm. We couldn't risk leaving the Horcrux there. And I couldn't keep holding the inferi back any longer." 

"You could have gone back to shore! It sounds like I was dead weight at that point. Why would you risk dying?" He asked angrily. 

"I wasn't going to come back without you," Carina said unflinchingly. 

"But-" 

"Would you have left me in that lake?" 

"Well, no-" 

"Exactly." 

"It's not the same, Carina!" Gideon raised his voice furiously, frustration seeping out into his usually relaxed demeanor. "I'm deputy head auror! It's my job to be the last one out. I am trained for this. You were all my responsibility- not the other way around!" 

"I am not one of your aurors, Gideon. I don't take orders from you. We're colleagues- partners. I was not going to leave you there to die."     

Gideon sighed heavily, running a hand through his hair. "Well, shit, angel," he said, flustered. "I'm not going to yell at you for keeping me alive, but I'm still furious you'd risk your life like that." 

"If it helps, I'll let you save me one day," Carina said teasingly. 

Gideon looked up suddenly, snaring her eyes in his gaze. His suddenly solemn tone made her shiver. "If I thought for the slightest moment you'd let anyone take care of you, I would have been first in line." 

 »»———— ☽ ༓ ☾ ———-««