Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any characters and/or places recognisable in this story. HP, all characters and places belong to the esteemed J.K Rowling, I am merely amusing myself with them. Nor do I gain any sort of payment for the writing of this story. (Unless any of you wonderful people would be so kind as to donate some money to my "Buy-a-Superstar-Horse Fund." Take that any way you want.)
A/N: Yes people, I'm back. And this is the little sequel for my first fanfic "Betrayal of Different Kinds". For those of you who have not yet read this, please do, or you will have no idea what's going on in this story!!! But for those of you who have been kind enough to read my previous work, welcome back!
This story takes place round about the time of the end of GoF, to the end of OotP. It is in an Alternate Universe, if only for the reason that I wish to mess around with it a bit, ok?
Now, read and review!!!
Warning: Serious OotP spoilers!!!!
Some times Sirius Black wished that he had stayed in Hawaii. It had been so much more interesting there. The tropical plants, the blue sea, the beaches, the women in bikini's. Paradise, pure and simple.
But no, he could not, for Harry had needed him, and it was Sirius's duty to help his godson – and, after all, he did care a lot for the boy. Almost as much as he had cared for James.
Then Dumbledore had recalled the Order, and Sirius knew that he had to help somehow, if only by donating the house that was his by birth right, although he wished it wasn't. It had been strange to walk back into it; remembering all that had happened there. He remembered the first time he had walked into the room that had been his as a child – before he fell from his mother's grace – and seeing everything dust and mouldy.
Never had he dreamed that Kreacher would not look after the place properly, but then, the house-elf was always slightly touched in the head. A condition that seemed to have worsened as the lonely years went past. Too bad, house-elves weren't exactly very easy to come by.
It would take a long time to return the house to it's former glory, especially with that darned Kreacher permanently carrying off things, but since Sirius had nothing to do really, he guessed it would not be enough to keep him occupied.
A great blessing it was when the others in the Order started to arrive at the house more often, which alleviated the initial boredom. Sure, when he was in exile Sirius often had to spend time alone, but at least he was outside and free. Here he was trapped, trapped not only by the murky interior and boredom, but also by the oppressive memories that lay like a smothering blanket upon him.
Even better yet was when Arthur, Molly and the children came to stay. Fred and George were a treat, for they were a lot like Sirius and James had been at their age, and often Sirius found himself telling the twins about his own time at Hogwarts, comparing notes with them. He also thoroughly enjoyed their jokes and tricks, which as often brought cries of shock as laughs.
Ron and Hermione were just as great source of entertainment to Sirius as the twins were, for they kept him occupied with stories of Harry and their adventures, making Sirius steadily get to know the way his godson's mind worked better and better.
Cleaning the house was never as bad when done in small groups as when it was done alone, and the work went swiftly. All he needed to figure out now was how to get rid of that hideous portrait of his mother in the hall. The curtains seemed to keep the old bat quiet most of the time, but there were still the occasional times when someone would say something too loud, which caused the horrible woman to set off.
Sirius only wished that he could go out every once in a while. He missed the fresh air and the freedom of the world. Here, in the Black manor, he was forced to rely on others for news, whereas out there he would be able to gather information by himself. He hated being useless, which is one of the things he hated about his current situation, he was of no use to the Order, or Harry.
He just hoped he could see Harry before the end of the summer.
****
It was the second week of the summer holidays when the doorbell rang unexpectedly. Sirius, Molly, Ron, Hermione and Ginny were busy cleaning out Narcissa's old room when the unexpected summons came. As far as all of them knew, Remus wasn't expected to come back before later that evening, and any of the others were expected even later. Sirius nearly flew down the stairs, the others in his wake.
It turned out to be Mad-Eye Moody and Remus, and along with them, came a cloaked figure. Sirius asked no questions, nor were any answers given, but the curiosity in the room was so thick in the hall that you could reach out and touch it.
"Are we going to stand in the hall the entire day?" Mad-Eye asked sourly, his magical eye roving over all those present.
Molly blushed slightly and led the way to the kitchen, shooting a glance backwards at the cloaked and hooded figure as she walked, one eyebrow raised.
The kitchen was comfortable, if not completely homey yet, but Molly had made it her domain, and it was as spotless as it could be. The settled themselves around the table, and everyone turned expectantly to the three newcomers, with many curious looks shot at the concealed figure.
"You are much earlier that you were expected…" Molly started, if only to fill the slightly uncomfortable silence.
"Yes. There was a slight change of plans." Remus replied between gulps of butterbeer. "Dumbledore just let us both know about it this morning, and it was quite a rush to get everything together."
Mad-Eye nodded and his magical eye roved to the figure beside him. "I think you should take that off now. It is no longer needed."
Sirius, who had tilted his chair back on two legs and was resting with his feet on the table, raised an eyebrow at the exchange. "Why would it even be necessary to hide your face in this neck of the woods? There are many spells which would be simpler to use."
"Because, Sirius Black," came the oddly familiar voice from beneath the cowl, although Sirius could not place it. "I have come a long way in this disguise, and I am fond of it." From the tone of the hidden woman's voice, she was clearly mocking him, and making it clear that she did what she did for her own reasons.
"And as to why I would have to hide who I am, that is simple. If anyone who knew me before would even suspect that I am still alive, my life might very well be forfeit." Slowly, the figure pushed back the hood.
Sirius's chair fell backwards with a crash, making everyone jump up to see if he was okay.
"How?" Was all he said as he pushed himself up from the ground, and righted his chair, although he did not appear too enthusiastic about coming any closer to the person. "I saw you die!"
The others in the kitchen watched the scene with varying degrees of shock.
Katherine Hale slowly shook her head. She had changed greatly since their school days. Her fair skin had a deep tan now, and her hair showed hints of red where the raven tresses had been bleached by the sun. Now that she had removed her cloak it was also clear that her willowy frame had filled out slightly with even more womanly curves, and she appeared much stronger that she had in their days at Hogwarts. A whitish, inch-long scar ran down from her left cheekbone, and there was a sadness in her sombre azure eyes that had not been there before.
"No, you watched me be stabbed and then beg Dumbledore to let me die by my own choice. I do not believe that Professor Dumbledore ever told you that he did not allow me to die, instead keeping me in hiding."
She glanced fondly at Moody and shot him a small smile. "Only a few people in Britain knew that I was still alive. All of the Professors who had come with Dumbledore that day knew that he chose to let me live against my will, as well as Madam Pomfrey, and later on Alastor Moody."
"Dumbledore always believed that there would be a place for Kat somewhere in th future, and he refused to let such a powerful witch die so easily." Moody put in, his scarred face looking at Sirius.
"Then where have you been all this time?" Sirius's voice was flat. Although a part of him wanted to do some kind of excited jigg at the prospect of seeing Kat again, another part of himself stopped him.
For too long had Sirius mourned for this woman, for too long had he lost hope of ever seeing her again. He couldn't simply just accept that she was back. A new thought dawned on him. What if it was some kind of sick trick Tonks and the rest were playing? No, even they would not be so cruel. At least, he didn't think they would.
"Well, while you were all finishing your seventh year at Hogwarts, I was struggling to recuperate in a safe-house that Dumbledore organised for me. The Professors visited me often, bringing me homework and teaching me all they could. Professor Dumbledore himself taught me many things, and a few others came and went in my life."
She took a sip of her butterbeer, seeming not to notice the others in the room as she locked her gaze on Sirius. "For the years that Voldemort – oh for crying out loud, stop winching everytime someone says his name – was still in power, Dumbledore kept me hidden, telling me to wait patiently, for he knew that one day Voldemort would fail. In those years he brough Moody to me, and he taught me what all Aurors knew, thus making me an illegal Auror on Dumbledore's orders.
"When Voldemort was defeated, Dumbledore finally allowed me to leave the house and the garden I had been confined in for so long. He sent me on several missions to Asia, Russian, South America, Egypt, Syria, India. All of which I did alone. I was not allowed to contact any who had known me before, and it has been a long time since I have been known as Katherine Hale. I have had so many names in the past, my own seems quite strange to me."
Sirius shook his head. "No, this isn't possible. This is some kind of sick joke! Tonks, this isn't funny! Stop it now!"
"What's not funny?" Came Tonk's voice from behind him. Apparently they had not heard the doorbell, and the twins had opened for her. Her hair was a shocking lime green that day, a green that made it hard to look at her. She glanced from Sirius's tense face to Katherine's unfamiliar one.
"'Ose this then?" Came George's voice from somewhere behind Tonks, and the woman moved over a slight bit, knocking over a chair as she went. She dove to pick it up and flashed the others a sheepish smile.
"This is Katherine Hale. An old friend of me and Sirius." Remus smiled tiredly. "Dumbledore wants her to stay here for a while."
Sirius nearly fell over. He would have to live with Kat for a few months. That is to say, if it really was Kat.
Jumping up, Molly started to give out orders for an early dinner; something that everyone jumped up to help with. There was a lessening of tension in the room as the evening went by. Everyone had questions for Kat, mostly about the countries she had visited in the past, and she answered them gladly. Only Sirius said nothing as he silently dug into the food set on the table.
He was the first to leave the table, but even when he did, only Kat and Moody noticed.
****