Sunday, August 31, 2014

Schedule Update/ Coming Soon...

Hey, y'all! So I just wanted to update y'all on the blog's schedule now that I'm back in class and trying to juggle everything I'm doing. And give another fun blog update that I just recently decided to do.

I'm not going to give y'all a full run-down of everything I'm doing this semester, because it might make your head spin. It's a lot. Junior year in high school was a lot of work, so I can't even imagine how much work Junior year of college is about to be.

Anyway, because of my crazy schedule, I'm going to have to be more flexible about my blog posts, because I won't always be able to get one up on the same days. My normal series will be returning, and hopefully I'll also be able to throw in some extras. So here's my tentative schedule.


Schedule

The CDs On My Shelf- These will be up on the 1st and 3rd Monday or Wednesday of the month, as well as on the occasional 5th Monday/Wednesday of the month.

One Day Tumblr Challenges- These will get posted on the 1st and 3rd Friday or Saturday of the month.

The Secret Lightning Scar- Chapters of this (my HP Fanfic!) will get posted on the 2nd and 4th Friday or Saturday of the month.

The 2nd and 4th Monday or Wednesday posts will be random posts.... maybe bookish, maybe completely random.

All of this is really tentative... I don't even know if I'm going to have time for all of these posts, but I'm going to try to post stuff, which is why I've organized my schedule the way that I have.

Hopefully, if all goes well, there will be a new post up on Monday. It will be the last post which doesn't follow the schedule that I just laid out. It was summer related, so I wanted to get it out ASAP.


Music!

I'm bringing back something that I had on one of my blogs back when I had separate blogs for each of my series. On my CDs On My Shelf blog, I had a side-bar with the songs that I had been listening to on repeat, and kept it pretty updated. I'm not quite sure why I didn't keep that for this blog, but for some reason I didn't. Anyway, if you look on the left side of the screen, somewhere over there, you'll find the Stuck On Repeat section, which is the music that I've been listening to non-stop lately. 

Don't forget that I've created a Facebook page for my blog! If you want to check that out and like it, you can click HERE. I'll try to keep that pretty up-to-date with new posts and such.

Thanks for reading this! If you like my posts, don't forget to subscribe/follow, since it lets me know that you're enjoying what I'm doing. See y'all soon!

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Summer Wrap-up!

Hey, y'all! Back in April, I did a monthly wrap-up post and mentioned that I might make it into a monthly series. Obviously, that hasn't happened... for several reasons. I had a lot of posts going up at the end of the month during each month in the summer, but the main reason I didn't do them is that my life isn't that interesting. I don't do that much. But enough interesting stuff happened throughout the summer that it warranted a wrap-up post. I'll also be discussing my monthly favorites! Let's get right into it!

The first, most obvious thing that I did this summer was my summer reading challenge. If you followed my blog at all throughout the summer, you probably already knew that. But, if you haven't seen anything about it, you can click here to check it out! It was definitely a big challenge for me, but I'm really glad that I decided to do it, because I got through 26 books in only 3 months! I'm really happy with the amount of reading I got done in May, June, and July.

Now, let's get into everything that went on in my life during each month!


May

As I mentioned in my April post, May began with finals. My finals were actually really early this year, and my last one was on May 2nd. Normally, I would almost immediately begin moving out after finishing my finals, but since I was working in the library on campus over the summer, I actually just got to chill out for a week before starting work. Both of my roommates moved out and went home, leaving me with a huge triple to myself! But the joy didn't last for long. Mid-May, I moved into summer housing. Let's just say it sucked. The dorm we lived in during the school year is one of the nicer dorms and we had a fairly large room. The room I lived in over the summer was very small, had bad lighting, and was in an older dorm with lots of pipes and a big window AC unit. It was a bit of a disaster.

Besides moving into my summer room, not much really went on in May. I worked 40 hours a week during the weekdays and relaxed in my room on the weekends... and didn't really do much else. 


May Favorites

The Mole

For those of you who have never heard of The Mole, it was a reality TV show from the early 2000s. There are 5 seasons. The first two are with regular people, the 3rd and 4th are with celebrities, and the 5th season was a regular people reboot circa 2008. The premise of the tv show is that a large group of people are competing to win money for a group pot that one of them will win. But the catch is that one person in the group is "The Mole," a saboteur hidden among the group who is working with the producers to keep the group from winning money. The contestants are attempting to discover who the mole is, while simultaneously trying to win money, and the home viewers also don't know who the mole is. At the end of each episode, contestants take a quiz where they have to answer questions about the mole's identity. The person who scores lowest on the quiz is eliminated. 

I first discovered the show last summer and watched the first two seasons. In May, I ended up re-watching the first two seasons and watching all 3 of the other seasons for the first time. If there were more seasons, I would have watched those too. I love this show. Oh, and the gif is of Anderson Cooper (who hosted the first two seasons and is half the reason it's amazing) being adorable after tricking the contestants into thinking he was about to eliminate someone. 

Clockwork Princess

Clockwork Princess was by far my favorite book that I read in the month of May. I read almost all of it in a single sitting, and it was absolutely beautiful. It quickly and unquestionably became one of my favorite books. Often, I have to give quite a bit of thought into what rating to give a book, but this one was a no brainer. 10/10 immediately.



June

June 1st, one of my school-year roommates got back to school for her internship that she was doing over the summer. We weren't living together because all of the summer rooms were just doubles, but it was nice to have one of my best friends back on campus. 

My birthday was on June 10th, and my parents were able to drive down to visit me, and they got there the same day my summer roommate (who I also live with during the school year!) came back to campus. So I spent the weekend with them and then my grandparents were supposed to fly in on Monday morning. Unfortunately, my grandparents' plane was delayed because of bad weather, so they didn't arrive until late that night. That afternoon, however, I took my parents to meet my bosses, and they actually bought me a cake and brought it in for all of us to eat!
  
 I love my bosses. They're some of the sweetest people ever. So, that night, my grandparents finally got in and I got to spend just a little bit of time with them that night. 

The next day, I showed them around my campus and introduced them to my bosses. We got to go out to dinner and then we picked up my cake and met up with my roommates to eat the cake.


My roommate Erin (the one on the right, who I wasn't living with over the summer) gave me a Wreck This Journal, which I was really excited to start using. Sarah, however, got... creative.
It's a running joke. We got Erin a wand for her birthday as well. We're all basically 5 year olds trapped in 20 year olds' bodies. Also, my smile is so weird because the icing on the cake turned our teeth black. Oops.

After my birthday, June wasn't really too interesting. It was basically just like May: work, chill, repeat.

June Favorites

Top Chef

Top Chef has been one of my favorite TV shows since 8th grade. So basically for 7 years *cue Kristen stopping and realizing that junior high was literally SEVEN YEARS AGO and that she's currently a 20 year old college junior* I have watched this show religiously. Well... lately not so much, but the first few seasons are perfection. Hulu added basically every episode of Top Chef, so I ended up making my way through *almost* all of the first five seasons while at work. I didn't quite make it to the end of season 5, because that was when the season started going downhill, and when the show started going downhill as well. Season 2 was the best season by far (followed by season 3, and then seasons 1&4 are tied). The only reason season 4 gets to tie with 1 is because RICHARD BLAIS. AKA my favorite contestant ever on Top Chef ever. Anyway, season 2, head-shaving incident. It will live forever in infamy. 


American Horror Story: Murder House

I had been meaning to watch this show for a really long time, but I have a very long list of shows that I've wanted to get to for a long time. I was in the mood, so I went for it. Season 1 was great. Haunted houses are my favorite haunted things. And Evan Peters as Tate totally has a Kurt Cobain vibe and I love it and I love him. I watched about half of season 2 before getting disinterested. I didn't dislike it, but I definitely couldn't get into it as much as season 1. If season 3 had been up on Netflix, I'd probably have just watched that, because I know I'd like it. But season 1 was great. I'll get to the other 2 eventually. 



July

Just like May and June, only one really interesting thing happened in July... the Fourth of July! One of my friends had an Independence Day party, where we ate lots of food and set off lots of fireworks. It was lots of fun.


So yeah, the fourth of July was really fun, but it was really the only exciting thing that happened in the month of July.

July Favorites

The Pilgrims of Rayne by DJ MacHale

This one shocked me. I always considered it to be one of the worst in the series (partially due to its terrible cover) but upon a re-read, it's unquestionably my favorite. I wish I could erase my memories of reading it and then go back and re-read it so that I could experience all of the shock and awe that goes along with it.


My Top 15 Stand-alones

I promise that this isn't just some shameless plug. I actually really enjoyed writing this post. I mean, I enjoy writing every post, but I especially enjoyed this one. I'm not quite sure exactly why I enjoyed it so much, but it was just a lot of fun and I got to see how some of my favorite books stacked up against each other... quite literally!



August

August is when things started to get really great. August first, Erin, Sarah, and I were able to move out of summer housing into our new apartment! Erin liked her summer room, but Sarah and I were very, very ready to move. Not only was our room completely cramped, but it had become ant and gnat infested and super gross. We wanted out of that place ASAP. And it didn't hurt that our new apartment is gorgeous...


The only tiny complaint is that the apartments were designed to have one person in each bedroom, but when our school took it over, they put two people per room. So our spaces are a little... cozy.

This is my side of mine & Erin's room. There's also an entry into the room with our closet, and on the wall across from my bed, I have my desk and bookshelf... but you can't see that yet because I'll be making a post all about my bookshelf later. 

After spending the entire weekend of August 1st-3rd moving, I packed up again on Monday and hopped on a plane to visit my parents! I spent a week there, and it was a nice and relaxing break from work and pretty much any responsibilities at all. It was great. 

And that pretty much catches y'all up with everything that has been going on with me this summer. Classes start today (well tomorrow, but I'm scheduling this for tomorrow, so... you get it) but I only have work-study and orchestra, so I have a pretty light schedule... until Thursday. That's when I start doing research assistant stuff out the wazoo. WOOT. 


August Favorites

Problem by Pentatonix

So, I will admit that I have listened to the original version of this song (by Ariana Grande and Iggy Azalea) a grand total of 0 times. All the way through, at least. So I wasn't extremely excited about Pentatonix covering it. I knew it would be great because it's PTX and everything they do is amazing, but I wasn't crazy excited. The day their EP went up for pre-order, I pre-ordered it, being the obsessed fan that I am. With that came this song, and the music video was released the same day. I then proceeded to listen to exactly 0 other songs for about a week. I'm not exaggerating. This song is probably my most played song on my iTunes at this point, but I don't want to plug in my phone and prove myself right.


Dare MattG

If you're unaware, this guy is Matt. His Youtube channel is MattG124, and every Friday, he does "Dare MattG" (That thing on the internet where you dare me to do some things and sometimes I do those things that you dare me to do). Anyway, since he's been doing it for almost 3 years and has had a few breaks from doing it, he has a little over 90 Dare MattG videos. Before starting this marathon, I think I had seen like 2. I've now seen 1-75. And I'm working on the last 20ish. I've loved his videos for forever, but never got into Dare MattG. And now I've seen the light.



This brings me to infinity and beyond... er... what my plans are for the immediate future.

I'm working with my advisor as her research assistant, so that's going to take up a lot of time. Plus, I have 2 300 level psychology classes this semester, which is intimidating. I also have a 100 level music class, but I'm not really concerned about that. I probably wouldn't be too fazed by taking 4 400 level music classes, honestly. Anyway, I also have the same work-study job as well as ensemble classes and private lessons and orchestra (for which I'm now the viola section leader, so YAY). Plus the many many hours I'll be devoting to research assistant stuff, which I don't even want to think about right now. Let's just say that I'm glad I dropped my fourth class.   

I'll be posting an update on schedule and such... soon. IDK when. Because I don't have a schedule yet. If you only knew how busy I am...

Don't forget that I've created a Facebook page for my blog! If you want to check that out and like it, you can click HERE. I'll try to keep that pretty up-to-date with new posts and such.

Thanks for reading this! If you like my posts, don't forget to subscribe/follow, since it lets me know that you're enjoying what I'm doing. See y'all soon!

Saturday, August 23, 2014

The Secret Lightning Scar Chapter 10 [A Harry Potter Fanfic]


Fred, George, Harry, and I slowly made our way through the tiny tunnel toward Hogsmeade, guided only by the light of Fred’s wand.

“How have you managed to get into Hogsmeade so many times without a single soul seeing you and telling someone at Hogwarts?” I asked the twins.

 “Because we don’t go into Hogsmeade,” George replied with a sly smile.

“Then we should probably turn around because we’re heading straight toward it,” Harry joked.

“Oh no, Georgie, we accidentally took the wrong passage!” Fred said sarcastically.

“So if we’re not going to Hogsmeade, where are we going?” I asked.

“We’ve figured out a spot in the tunnel that’s outside of Hogwarts bounds, which makes it possible for us to apparate in and out of the tunnel rather than showing our faces in Hogsmeade constantly,” George explained.

“I’m actually slightly impressed,” I said, only slightly surprised at my brothers’ cleverness.

“So how do you make sure that you apparate into the right spot rather than further down or in an entirely different tunnel? Tunnels tend to look rather similar,” Harry said.

“We’ve got the spot marked,” Fred replied, “Which you can see just up ahead.”
I saw what he was talking about up ahead, but couldn’t make out what it was until we got closer. Etched into the stone wall was the symbol for Fred and George’s joke shop.

“Once again, slightly impressed,” I said. The twins grinned.

“So where are we apparating to in Diagon Alley?” Harry asked.

“The back room of our shop with the fireplace attached to the floo network,” George answered. Harry and I nodded in understanding.

“Alright. See you there,” Fred said before turning on his heel and vanishing with a pop. George followed suit almost immediately, and Harry and I were not far behind. Another small pop, and I found myself standing beside the other three in the Twins’ shop.

“Fred and I will obviously be staying here to run the shop, but you two can go wherever you like,” George said as we walked out into the shop.

“Leave whenever you like, but come back this way once the shops close. If we leave at the same time, we might as well leave together,” Fred added.

“Sure, mum,” I said, rolling my eyes. Fred gave me a look, but turned and walked toward one of the employees, followed quickly by George.

“So where do we want to go?” Harry asked as we made our way through the many displays toward the front of the store.

“Well, we have all day, since it isn’t even noon yet. We can go pretty much everywhere,” I replied.

We ended up wandering around between shops for the rest of the morning. Around lunchtime, we headed toward the Leaky Cauldron to get food.

“So are you feeling better now that you’ve gotten away from campus for a couple hours?” Harry asked as we began to eat.

“Definitely,” I replied. “It’s relaxing to not have to worry about anything. And I’m glad you decided to come.”

“Me too,” Harry grinned. “It feels like we haven’t hung out in a while.”

“Huh?” I raised an eyebrow. “We see each other every day.”

“I know,” he replied. “But lately, with Hermione and Ron being all weird with the Draco thing, it feels like we’re all a bit more distant.” Harry shrugged. “And plus, you’ve been spending more time with Draco. I was starting to think you were forgetting you had a best friend.”

I rolled my eyes, knowing he was kidding, and we both laughed. “Exaggerate much?” I said.

“OK, maybe that was stretching it a little bit,” Harry conceded, “but you have to admit that everyone’s friendship is a little strained right now.”

“Yeah, I know.” I sighed. “I’m hoping that everything that happened this morning fixed that. Or will at least help it.”

“I think Hermione’s coming around. Ron will be harder to convince. He’s already protective over you, but the fact that it’s Draco makes it worse,” Harry replied.

“But I can take care of myself,” I said firmly.

“Yes, you can,” Harry said. “Which reminds me…” He paused, seemingly wondering whether or not to continue.

“Spit it out,” I said, slightly concerned about what he was about to say.

“That day when you had that accident… and you said that you couldn’t tell me what happened…”

I stiffened, realizing where he was headed with his statement.

“Is there any chance you’d tell me what was going on? I’m worried about you,” Harry said.

I vehemently shook my head. “No. I’m sorry, Harry, but I just can’t tell you. But please don’t worry about me. I’m fine.”

“Well, you obviously weren’t fine when you fell off your broom and basically broke your body,” Harry shot back.

“You still haven’t told me what you were doing this summer, and I was worried about you too,” I pointed out.

“Fine,” Harry replied. “You tell me what happened to you that day, and I’ll tell you what I did over the summer.” He frowned slightly, possibly wanting to take back what he’d just said, but didn’t say anything else.

I thought about his proposition for a second. Yes, I was definitely still concerned about what he’d been doing in secret all summer, but that had to be nothing compared to what I was hiding from him. “Yeah, all along, you thought you were the only chosen one, but it turns out that I was too and because of that, Voldemort’s not actually dead after all and he’s probably plotting his return to power right now as we speak. But enough about me, what did you do this summer?” Yeah, I could see that conversation going over really well.

I shook my head. “Sorry, Harry, but I can’t tell you. Not now, at least. Maybe eventually, but I just can’t right now,” I said. Harry frowned slightly, but didn’t continue trying to convince me to tell him. “You’re not upset with me, are you?” I asked.

“No,” he replied slowly, “but it concerns me that you still won’t tell me. I’m concerned that it’s something more serious than I previously thought.”

He looked at me, as if expecting me to confirm or deny his assertions. “I’m not telling you anything,” I replied. “Sorry.”

“I didn’t mean to be pushy,” he said. “I just want to help. And I want to stop worrying about you.” 

“You don’t need to worry about me,” I said. “I can take care of myself.” Harry frowned again, but this time, he didn’t continue on.

From then on, we completely avoided the topic of my accident, which made me feel significantly better. We spent our afternoon looking around in the shops, staying in the Quidditch supply shop longer than we should have. After successfully stopping each other from buying nearly everything in the shop, we proceeded to buy ice cream and spent nearly an hour just sitting and laughing and talking about non-secretive topics. By the time the shops began to close in the evening, neither of us were ready to leave, but we still made our way back to the joke shop. We browsed around for a few minutes while Fred and George shut everything down but soon, Fred and George called out that it was time to go, and the four of us apparated back into the tunnel. One after another, we once again made our way back through the tunnel toward Hogwarts, and climbed out of the statue.

It was slightly past dinnertime, but none of us had eaten, so we made our way to the Great Hall to see if there was any food left. When we got there, there were still a good number of people inside, most of them finishing up their meals. After a quick glance down the table, I saw that Ron and Hermione weren’t there. Across the room, I saw Draco. I grinned and waved at him, receiving disapproving looks from the twins. The four of us found a spot at our table to sit, and I saw Draco, who had already finished eating, stand up and start walking in our direction.

“Ahem,” came the noise of someone behind us clearing their throat. I looked up to see Professor McGonagall standing directly behind me.

“Potter, Jacobsen, Weasleys, please come with me to my office,” she ordered. I glanced at Harry, realizing that she must know that we had been to Diagon Alley all day. Harry shrugged, and I wondered how she could know.

The four of us stood up, and I glanced back to Draco, who had stopped walking in our direction and was looking at me with a quizzical expression on his face. I shrugged and followed Professor McGonagall out into the Entrance Hall. We snaked our way through the corridors to the Headmistress’s office.

“Dumbledore,” Professor McGonagall commanded. The eagle guarding the entrance sprung to life, spiraling upward toward the door. We climbed the stairs and followed Professor McGonagall through the door into the large office. She took a seat at her desk and we stood facing her as her icy stare bored through us, before she finally began to speak.

“I have received correspondence from no fewer than five wizards today informing me that four of my students were in Diagon Alley today. Three of them claimed to have seen you, Miss Jacobsen, and you, Mr. Potter, this afternoon in The Leaky Cauldron. The other two saw you two,” she turned to Fred and George, “inside your joke shop. What do you have to say for yourselves?” She stared all four of us down, and I became too nervous to even move. Harry didn’t seem to want to say anything either.

George, however, seemed to be bursting to speak. “It’s not fair, Professor! We have a business to run! We can’t spend all of our time here and leave our shop in someone else’s hands!” he exclaimed.

“Fair or unfair, those are the rules, and you must follow them, Mr. Weasley,” Professor McGonagall retorted.

“Can’t we just work something out? We have to be able to run our shop,” Fred begged.
Professor McGonagall looked at him thoughtfully, possibly trying to gauge her reaction. 

“Perhaps, Mr. Weasley, but the fact is that today, you have broken the rules. All four of you will receive detentions. You’ll receive a note stating the date and location of your detention,” she said. “Now out!”

Fred, George, Harry and I made our way out of McGonagall’s office, disappointed at the rather sad turn that our day had taken. We were making our way back toward the common room, when I heard a voice calling out my name. I turned to see Draco hurrying toward us.

“Go on, I’ll be there in a minute,” I said to the other three, who continued down the hall.

“Why did McGonagall want you in her office?” Draco asked when he caught up to me.

“Well… Harry, Fred, George, and I went to Diagon Alley for the day… and some people saw us and told McGonagall. She gave us detention,” I admitted. For a few moments, Draco didn’t say anything, but just frowned.

“What did you do that for?” he asked.

“What do you mean?” I asked, confused. “I just wanted to get away for a little while.”

“I mean that it wasn’t exactly a smart thing to do. You’re lucky you didn’t get in a lot more trouble,” Draco replied.

“It’s not a big deal. I just needed to get away for a little while after dealing with all of this drama. You can understand that, right?” I said, surprised that he was practically scolding me about going to Diagon Alley.

“You could’ve gone somewhere else on Hogwarts grounds rather than going to Diagon Alley and risking getting caught,” Draco suggested.

“I don’t see why this is a big deal. It’s just a detention, and it was only Diagon Alley,” I said defensively, becoming annoyed with him. “It’s not like you’re my dad or something.”

“No, but I’m your boyfriend, and I’m worried that you’re being unnecessarily reckless,” Draco replied.

“Reckless?” I asked. “Taking a day trip to Diagon Alley isn’t reckless! It isn’t dangerous. I just wanted to go.”

“You didn’t seem so keen to go to Diagon Alley when I suggested it,” Draco retorted.

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

“When I suggested going to Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade for our date, you said they were too risky,” Draco explained. “But clearly you’re completely up for risking detention to go to Diagon Alley with Potter.”

“So that’s what this is about,” I said, rolling my eyes at his jealousy. “You’re just still worried that I like Harry, even though I told you that I don’t. How do you expect to maintain this relationship if you can’t just trust what I tell you?”

“It’s not that I don’t trust you, Carrie-”

I cut him off, becoming more and more angry. “Then why can’t you just believe me when I say that I don’t like him? If I liked him, why would I be dating you? Do you have any idea how awkward it’s been to be around Ron and Hermione because they don’t approve of our relationship? I’ve defended you to them countless times, and I’ve spent the last few weeks trying to get to know you and actually growing to like you, and you still can’t get over the idea that I like Harry. Do you realize how childish that is?”

Draco just looked at me with a slightly sheepish expression on his face.

“And also, if it matters at all to you, Harry decided to go with the twins after I did. But clearly, I did some great mind reading and went only because he did,” I said. I turned and walked away, fuming about all of the drama I’d dealt with that day. I couldn’t believe, that after all of the trouble I went to in order to convince my friends to accept my boyfriend, he thought I’d rather be dating Harry.

I made my way up to the Gryffindor Tower and rather than stopping in the common room, continued up to the girls’ dormitory. If I’d had to sit through another dramatic conversation, I might have cursed someone. I flopped down onto my bed in frustration, finding myself in virtually the same position I had been in earlier that day. I wished I could turn back the clock and just stay in bed all day rather than dealing with all the drama.

It was then that I realized that one of my problems had been solved.

Professor McGonagall had said the password to her office. I almost gasped at the realization. I knew the password to the Headmistress’s office. It was Dumbledore. I could get in there and talk to Professor Dumbledore! I just needed a plan. It shouldn’t be too hard to figure out. I just needed to figure out when she was teaching class and make sure no one was watching while I opened the door. It wasn’t foolproof, but it also wasn’t a bad plan.

I hopped out of bed and hurried down to the common room to the bulletin board, where schedules for the younger years were posted. It looked like Professor McGonagall would be teaching the entire morning the next day. My best bet would be to try to get in at ten, since that was my free period, so no one would be missing me from class. Before anyone could ask me what I was doing or scold me for my trip to Diagon Alley, I hurried back upstairs.



The next day, I woke up feeling nervous. If I got caught, I’d have to explain myself. I wasn’t sure if I should make up a story or tell Professor McGonagall the truth. She needed to know sometime, right? But at the same time, I didn’t think I could handle telling her the truth. And I didn’t know if I wanted anyone else to know the truth yet. I figured I would just let it happen when the time came. Well, if the time came. I was still hoping that I wouldn’t have to explain myself.

The day started out just as it normally did, with Harry, Hermione, Ron, and I meeting in the common room to head down to breakfast. However, my morning derailed itself when we got down to the first floor. We reached the Entrance Hall and found Draco standing outside of the doors to the Great Hall.

I paused, unsure whether or not I wanted to talk to him after his explosion the day before, but Harry, Hermione, and Ron continued on without me, and before I could catch up, Draco had stepped in front of me.

“Please, let me talk to you,” he said. I folded my arms and glared at him, but didn’t say anything.
“I’m sorry, Carrie. I was being ridiculous and completely overreacted. Forgive me?” Draco begged.

“If this relationship is going to work for any length of time, you’ve got to chill out a little,” I said. “I need my independence, and I need you to trust me. The whole jealous boyfriend thing doesn’t work with me.”

Draco hung his head. “I know. I feel really bad about what I said. I didn’t mean it,” he said. I raised an eyebrow, skeptical at that claim. “Alright,” he admitted, “I kinda meant it. But it was one of those suppressed gut feelings that I didn’t want to admit that I felt. But then when I got angry, it just all came out.”

“That still doesn’t change the fact that you feel that way,” I pointed out. “I need you to trust that what I tell you is the truth. I’m not going to lie to you.”

“I know. I’m working on it. It’s just- I’ve always been convinced that you had feelings for Harry and that was why you kept saying no to me. It’s a hard habit to break. But I’m trying,” he replied.

“I kept saying no to you because you were a git,” I said, to which he gave a slight nod of acquiescence. “But now you’re not. Mostly.” Draco looked embarrassed again. “If I didn’t want to be with you, I wouldn’t be.”

“I know,” Draco said. “I believe you. Just let me know whenever I’m getting into the jealous territory. Or if I’m being too overbearing.”

“Trust me, I will,” I replied.

Draco smiled. “I trust you. Am I forgiven?”

“I guess,” I replied, to which he smiled and hugged me.

“I’ll give you some space to eat with your friends. See you in Defense Against The Dark Arts,” he said. We walked into the Great Hall and went our separate ways.

The rest of the morning was back to normal. Harry, Hermione, Ron, and I ate breakfast and then continued on to Defense Against The Dark Arts, which continued to be just as easy and frustrating as ever. I was surprised that Hermione hadn’t received detentions for as many times as she interrupted class.

After class, I told Harry, Ron, and Hermione that I’d be going somewhere with Draco, and then told Draco that I needed to go work on homework. I made my way to Professor McGonagall’s office, passing by the Transfiguration classroom to make sure that she was in there. As I approached her office, I checked in each direction and saw that there was no one around.

“Dumbledore,” I said to the stone eagle, which immediately sprang into motion. I climbed the stairs up to the door of the office. After listening at the door and not hearing any movement or voices, I opened the door and stepped inside.

I immediately glanced up at the portraits of past Headmasters and Headmistresses to see if they would cause any sort of commotion, but nearly all of them seemed to be napping in their frames. A couple frames were empty, and the few who were awake didn’t seem to care that I was in the office. For all they knew, Professor McGonagall may have sent me here. But the only portrait I cared about was the one hanging directly behind Professor McGonagall’s chair. Albus Dumbledore sat straight up, wide awake, gazing at me over half-moon glasses with the hint of a smile on his face.

“Professor Dumbledore?” I said, approaching his portrait cautiously, concerned he might scold me for breaking into the office.

“Good morning, Carrie. What might I do for you? I’m sure you didn’t come just for the sweets?” Dumbledore replied pleasantly.

“Not quite, sir,” I replied. “Some things have been happening, and I fear that Voldemort is growing more powerful. A couple weeks ago, I felt a sharp pain in my shoulder and then blacked out and saw his eyes. I’m worried about what’s to come, and I don’t know what to do.”

“I see, I see,” Dumbledore said vaguely. “And have you divulged any information about your situation to any of your family or perhaps your friends?”

“No sir, I haven’t told anyone at all,” I replied. “I don’t want them to worry.”

“I believe, then, that you’ve found the place to start. He is becoming more powerful, and it won’t remain a secret for much longer. It’s better that they know so that they can prepare. When anything of the sort happens again, I believe it will be time to tell them,” Dumbledore replied.

“And… Professor McGonagall… does she know?” I asked.

“No,” Dumbledore replied solemnly. “Unfortunately, I did not have the foresight to divulge that information to her before my death. But if your scar is hurting, I believe it is time to let her know. I can tell her, if you like. It will be easier coming from me.”

“I would appreciate that greatly,” I said, relieved that Professor McGonagall was one person who I didn’t have to tell. “But Professor, what do I do to prepare or to know when he might be coming. There must be something, mustn’t there?”

“Do not seek him out, whatever you do,” Dumbledore replied. “Let him come to you and he will be more vulnerable. But there isn’t much else you can do. There are no other horcruxes, just you and Voldemort. The only way to combat him is to have as many people as possible to help you stand against him and whatever allies he can muster.”

“And that’s all I can do to fight against Voldemort?” I asked. Dumbledore nodded.

“I believe in your ability to defeat him, Carrie. Perhaps, yes, he may have learned from past mistakes, but he can be defeated,” Professor Dumbledore replied.

“And what will happen when you tell Professor McGonagall?” I asked.

“She will probably call you down to discuss a plan of action. I will, of course, give my own humble opinion, which I have just given, but you are at your own liberty to not listen to either of our advice,” he answered.

“That would be rather foolish,” I replied.

“Yes, I would have to agree so myself,” Professor Dumbledore chuckled.

“Thank you for your help, Professor,” I said.

“You’re welcome, Carrie. I have a feeling I’ll be seeing you soon,” Dumbledore replied.

“See you soon,” I said. I hurried out the door and down the stairs, checking the corridors before walking out.


For the first time in several weeks, I felt a little more at peace. Sure, I didn’t really have much more to go off of to defeat Voldemort, but I had Dumbledore’s blessing to tell Harry, Ron, and Hermione. I was still slightly wary, deciding definitely to wait until another scar episode occurred, but for once, the prospect of having someone I could fully lean on didn’t seem so far away. 


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I hope y'all enjoyed chapter 10 of The Secret Lightning Scar! I've gotten back into a routine of writing these, so they'll return to being posted every two weeks! 
The Secret Lightning Scar main page: Click Here