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Chapter 25: The First Pillar

7th December 2003

Mione left the group and returned home, as did Hermione, Remus and Xander. H.J., Luna, Orion and Katherine, however, all went off to the girls' suite, where Katherine fetched drinks for everyone. "Luna, you still look worried."

"I am." Luna took the orange juice from Katherine she offered her. "I know what Mione's shown us is convincing that Thomas is a caring father but it still doesn't mean that he can't be Voldemort."

"I just don't see it." H.J. took the glass of wine Katherine had poured for him. "When I weigh up the pros and cons, I'm afraid it's pretty much top heavy on the pros for him not being Voldemort."

Orion pulled Katherine to sit down on his lap. "I think we need to look at this from a different perspective."

Luna leant against H.J. "Can I use you as a cushion?"

"If you want to." H.J. didn't mind Luna doing so, and he put his arm around her shoulders in a friendly gesture.

Once she was comfortable, Luna gave Orion her full attention. "Okay, Orion, what do you want to say?"

"For argument's sake, I won't use a name for whoever Voldemort is now; I'm just going to call him the Donor." Orion hesitated as he put his thoughts in order. "First of all, I think it's more probable that Voldemort has swapped bodies with the Donor and not regrown his arm."

Everyone agreed with Orion's first point. "Go on."

"So if we can assume he's swapped bodies, how did he get the Donor's memories?" Orion laid out the questions he had asked himself. "And what happened to the Donor?"

"Are you asking us?" Katherine was uncertain if she was supposed to answer Orion's questions or not.

"No. I'm just telling you what I've already asked myself," Orion confirmed. "Initially I thought that Voldemort would simply have ripped out the Donor's memories and killed him afterwards. But the more I think about it, the less likely I think it is that the Donor's dead."

"Based on what?" Katherine wondered what her fiancé was building his theory on.

"Rupert Giles." Orion could see no-one was following his train of thought. "Dad said that Rupert was like a blank slate and there's no hope of him ever being the person he once was. Isn't that exactly what would have happened to the Donor if someone had ripped his memories out? Voldemort wouldn't have had to kill him. I'm not saying that he didn't, but why bother to dispose of a body and bring attention to yourself, when you could just leave your victim somewhere and disappear? No-one's ever going to know who a man without a memory is, are they?"

Luna tilted her head in her usual manner as she thought about what Orion had said. "You've got a very good point."

H.J. also acknowledged it. "I think we need to return to the Chamber. Harry and Sirius have probably already thought of this but it won't hurt to make sure."

The group all got up and retraced their steps back into the Chamber.

Inside the pensieve, Cassandra jumped as Orion suddenly appeared beside her. "Orion, what's wrong?"

"I need to speak to Dad and Harry," Orion informed the group.

Sirius listened to what his son had to say before remarking, "That's a very good point, Orion. We hadn't connected the Donor and Rupert."

Orion went red with pleasure. "Thanks, Dad."

Luna stared at Orion. "You really should've been in Ravenclaw."

Orion looked a little sheepishly at Luna. "I could've been. The Hat gave me a choice."

Sirius was dumbfounded. "And you chose Hufflepuff?"

"Yes." Orion went on to explain his reasoning. "If I'd gone into Ravenclaw I'd have had to live up to Cassandra. I can still remember you and Uncle James crowing over how good she was. If you remember she took first place in every single subject in her first year, and I didn't want the pressure of ending up disappointing you when I wasn't as good as she was."

Cassandra was horrified. "Oh, Ori, I never knew."

"It's not your fault, Cass," Orion consoled his sister. "And besides, I'm happy in Hufflepuff."

"But if you could have been in Ravenclaw, then why are your marks barely above average?" Sirius frowned at his son. "Particularly when you can apply deductive reasoning to come up with something Harry and I both missed."

"I knew I wouldn't have to try as hard if I was in Hufflepuff." Orion wished he had kept his mouth shut about the Hat, as he answered his father truthfully. "Everyone considers us the leftovers."

Sirius was very unhappy at what Orion had confessed. "I've always been proud of you as I believed you were working to your best potential, and I wouldn't have been disappointed if you'd gone into Ravenclaw and done your best and failed. But I am disappointed to learn that you have the capability to do better, and you've simply elected to coast by. I expect you to finish your final year in the top five, Orion. I also expect you to prove yourself in your mock exams in two weeks' time."

"Yes, Sir." Orion knew that his easy life was now over, and that he would have to work hard to catch up.

After he had finished berating his son, Sirius turned to Harry. "Based on Orion's theory, I think it wouldn't hurt to try and track down our missing donor, if he's still alive."

"How will that help though?" Katherine asked.

"It will help me to confirm that a body swap has taken place and Voldemort hasn't regrown the arm," Sirius told her, before addressing Harry again. "Harry, I know it's a full moon tomorrow but as from Tuesday I want you to take a leave of absence for two weeks. You, out of everyone else, will be able to detect if the donor has Voldemort's body by his scent. I'll drop by and ask James if I can borrow you."

Harry turned to Cassandra. "Can you manage for two weeks?"

"If Dad needs you, then I'll have to." Cassandra wasn't exactly happy about it though.

Sirius turned to his son. "I'm in no doubt Orion can help you mark the junior students' papers."

Orion wanted to protest that he would now have more than enough to do but sensibly kept his objections to himself. "I'll help you, Cass."

"Thanks, Ori." Cassandra had no intention of making her brother help her, as she knew how hard he was going to have to work to play catch-up before the end of term mock tests he was going to have to sit as part of his NEWTs.

Sirius had one more thing he wanted to discuss. "I don't think we should mention this conversation to Mione. I don't want her mentioning anything to Thomas, even though we don't believe it's him. I know what we discussed earlier was covered by the Fidelius but that's not the case anymore."

"Are you still going to stay with her over Christmas?" Katherine wondered if Luna would change her mind.

"As I can't prove anything, and I think she'd be hurt if I backed out, I'm going to go," Luna confirmed. "And I don't want to disappoint Xander as he's been looking forward to it for ages."

"I think we should all use the time there to observe Thomas more closely. I want people to listen to any conversations he may have with any of the other guests, particularly Malfoy," Sirius instructed the group. "But don't make it obvious."

"Malfoy's going?" Cassandra pulled a face. "I'm not sure I want to go if Draco is going to be there."

"He's not," H.J. told her. "Mione said that it's only going to be Lucius and Narcissa, as Draco is no longer welcome."

Harry had been invited as well, but had yet to respond to Mione's request. "I'm probably not going."

Cassandra scowled at him. "You're not leaving me alone with Alex Seville because he's the only other single person who's going to be there."

Harry got no chance to protest that Remus, James, and Pandora and Grimstock Lovegood were also going to be there, as Mione had wanted to keep everyone's families together at Christmas. Luna had been beyond surprised when her mother had accepted the invitation.

"I want you there," Sirius ordered Harry. "Your hearing is going to be invaluable."

Not having much choice, Harry relented. "I'll go then but it's going to be uncomfortable being around Thomas and Mione."

"Sorry, Harry, but I need you." Sirius sympathized with Harry's position but he was unwilling to relent. "Right, I'm going to see James." He kissed Cassandra on the cheek. "Make sure Orion helps you."

"I will, Dad." Cassandra had little choice except to agree. "I'll see you in a couple of weeks."

Sirius and the others then left, and Harry wondered why Cassandra hadn't made a move. "What's up?"

"I want to learn how to defend myself," Cassandra told him. "I know you used to teach classes at Auror Division. I was wondering if you could show me what it was like."

"Can we discuss this when I get back from helping your dad out?" Harry had packing to do as he knew that it was likely he would be traveling abroad.

"Of course." Cassandra then followed Harry out of the room.

Mione wandered into Thomas' study. "Do you have any spare quills? I don't know what I've done with all of mine."

Thomas gave his wife a slightly indulgent smile. "I think you've probably eaten them."

Mione grinned. "Probably. So do you have any?"

Thomas opened his drawer as Mione came to stand by him. "Here."

Mione noticed the Muggle book that was lying on top of the papers in the drawer. "The Fountain of Youth?" She pushed the drawer closed so that she could get by to sit on Thomas' lap. "Feeling old, are we?"

Thomas had forgotten it was in the drawer. "It was for some research I've been doing."

"Why do you want to know about a supposed Muggle myth?"

"Because it's going to help me take over the world," Thomas answered honestly.

Thinking he was joking, Mione laughed and kissed him on the cheek before getting back up. "It might make you look younger but that's all it will do. Anyway, if what I've read is true, then it's not a fountain as everyone believes but a spell."

Thomas grabbed Mione's wrist, stopping her from moving away. "What do you know about it?"

"You're really interested?" Mione had thought that Thomas had been joking about doing research on it.

"If you want to tell me." Thomas pulled Mione back down on to his lap.

Mione wondered what Thomas' true interest in it was. "So are you going to tell me why you're really researching it?"

"I've already told you it's going to help me take over the world," Thomas answered in a teasing voice.

"Keep your secrets then." Mione leant back against him. "I found mention of a spell called the Fountain of Youth when I was reading one of the books in your Antiquities library. The only reason I can remember is because I found it amusing that even wizards had subscribed to the same ridiculous belief as Muggles."

"Can you remember which book?" Thomas wrapped his arms around Mione's waist as he asked.

"I'm afraid not as I've read through quite a few but if you get your pensieve, I can try and locate the memory." Mione was pretty sure that she had seen mention of it in one of the older spell books she had looked through.

"Or I could use Legilimency," Thomas offered.

Mione refused his offer. "I don't like the idea of anyone looking inside my head."

"Not even me?" Thomas asked, knowing very well why Mione didn't want him inside her head.

"Not even you." Mione gave a shudder. "It's just a little creepy."

"Let me get my pensieve then." Thomas lifted Mione off his lap and went over to his wall, before casting a few spells and sliding open a panel.

Mione took the partially filled pensieve from him and removed several memories that she believed might be the correct ones. "Do you need me to come in with you?"

"No." Thomas smiled at his wife. "Like you, I prefer to keep most of what is in my head to myself."

Mione stood back and waited. Once inside the pensieve, Thomas started the first memory and watched his wife sitting cross-legged on the floor of the library as she read a large and very old book. Not finding what he wanted, he moved on to the next memory where Mione was sitting at a desk reading a much smaller but equally old book. As she turned a page and snorted at what she had found, Thomas spotted what Mione had thought she had seen about the Fountain. He therefore froze the memory and checked exactly where it was in the book before withdrawing. "Thank you, Mione. That was most helpful."

Mione took the memories back before Thomas returned the pensieve to the wall. "If there's anything else I can help with, then tell me. You know how much I like research."

"There might be." Thomas decided to include Mione in his search for some of the Pillars. "But this project is somewhat sensitive."

Mione frowned. "I'd never tell anyone about your business dealings. You should know that."

"I didn't think you would." Thomas could see he had ruffled his wife's feathers. "Sit down, and I'll tell you a little about what I'm looking for."

Mione promptly sat back on his lap. "So what can I help you with?"

"I'm trying to track down something called the Validus Saxus." Thomas saw no recognition on Mione's face. "Apparently it's a power base."

Mione knew that one of Richard Seville's hybrid companies was doing research into alternative power sources, and she presumed it was for this. "Any leads?"

Thomas told her all the information he had. "It's supposed to be located somewhere in Myanmar, and I believe it might be a ruby."

Mione had never heard of it. "I'll see what I can find. Is there anything else I can help with?"

"That's it for the moment." Thomas nuzzled his wife's neck. "But don't worry if you don't find anything. I don't want you to take time away from your latest project."

"I take it Rebecca told you that she'd asked me to sit on the Foundation's board." Mione tilted her head to allow Thomas better access to her neck.

"She did." Thomas' mother had asked for his opinion before she had approached Mione. "I sometimes wish you'd give up your current job and take on the work at the Foundation part-time instead."

"I love my job." Thomas had asked Mione to consider giving it up just after they had gotten married. "If a time comes when I don't, then I'll think about it."

"I just hate that I don't see that much of you during the week." Thomas started to unbutton Mione's blouse as he spoke.

Mione put her hand over his, stopping him. "Does it really bother you that much?"

"Yes," Thomas admitted. "But I know how important your work is to you."

"Remus has already offered me an assistant so that I can work less hours if I want," Mione revealed.

"Why didn't you mention this before?"

"Because I have no intention of cutting back on my hours." Mione hadn't seen the point in telling Thomas as she hadn't intended to take up Remus' offer.

"When did he offer?"

"Just after we got married." Mione could see that Thomas was troubled that she hadn't told him.

"Is the offer open ended?" Thomas resumed opening Mione's blouse.

"Yes." Mione shivered as Thomas slipped his hand inside her blouse to wrap it around her waist.

"I want you to tell Remus you'll take the offer." Thomas stood up forcing Mione on to her feet.

"I'm not sure I want to." Mione found herself backed against the lip of the desk top.

"Don't you want to spend more time with me?" Thomas pushed Mione's blouse from off her shoulders.

"I don't think that's a fair question." Mione put her hands on Thomas' shoulders to stop him lowering his head to kiss her neck. "And I can't have a serious discussion while you're doing that."

Thomas sighed and pulled Mione's blouse back up on to her shoulders. "I know I said I'd support you in your decision to work, and I will. But I also know that I want my wife at home with me and our children."

Mione scowled. "That's a bit of an old-fashioned attitude, especially given Rebecca's position in your dad's companies and at the Foundation."

"Mum stayed at home until Alex had started at Berowra Academy," Thomas informed Mione. "And she cut back during the holidays so that she could spend time with her children."

"I didn't realize." Mione had thought that Rebecca had always worked.

Thomas lifted Mione so that she was sitting on his desk. "I think it's important that you're here while the twins are so young because you're missing out on so much when you're not. You missed Nat's first attempt to talk."

"Bbbbb is hardly a word," Mione pointed out, even as she felt a shaft of guilt go through her. "It's going to be a couple of months yet before they really begin to try."

"Maddie had her first tooth for two days before you even saw her," Thomas reminded her. "And you weren't here when Nat was sick."

"You said you had it under control." Mione always felt remorseful when she was unable to see her children, particularly as Thomas spent the majority of time with them.

"I did," Thomas allowed. "But it still doesn't mean that I wouldn't have liked to have you here as well."

Mione gnawed on her bottom lip as she thought about what Thomas had said. "I suppose I could talk to Remus next week about possibly cutting back but I'm not promising anything."

Thomas was not one not to press an advantage, and he dangled a carrot in front of his wife. "If you agree to cut back, you can help me with my research. I have several projects you could help with but they're not time critical so it doesn't matter if the children take up your time. That way you can spend time with them and me."

Mione's curiosity about learning more about the company and Thomas' work was too much of a temptation for her. "I'll consider cutting back to four days."

"I want you to cut back to two days," Thomas demanded.

"I need to be in work more than that," Mione argued.

"Two and half then," Thomas countered. "And I'll spend the time you're in work at our London house so that we can spend more time together."

Mione gave him her final offer. "Three days."

Thomas reluctantly agreed to Mione's offer. "Three it is but I don't want you bringing work home when you're supposed to be with me."

Well aware that Thomas preferred the Island and wasn't particularly fond of London, in return for his concession Mione agreed to Thomas' condition. "I'll tell Remus he needs to find me an assistant then."

"Thank you." Having gotten what he wanted, Thomas slipped Mione's blouse back down. "Now where were we?"

Mione gave a giggling gasp as Thomas pushed her back down across his desk and covered her body with his own.

14th December 2003

As she reached the door to the office she was sharing with her dad, Katherine could hear raised voices.

"It's bad enough she's marrying his son."

After knocking and entering the room, Katherine closed the door behind her and cast a silencing spell. "What's going on? I could hear you before I even got in here."

Lily smiled brightly at her daughter. "We're just discussing the arrangements for your wedding to Orion."

"So I heard," Katherine retorted. "What do you mean by the remark you just made? Don't you like Orion?"

"It's not Orion I have a problem with." Lily glared at James as she said it. "It's his bloody father."

"Uncle Sirius?" Katherine was confused.

"He's not your uncle," Lily snapped.

"And Severus isn't my dad but it didn't stop you from trying to encourage me to call him Father, did it?" Katherine answered in just as snotty a voice as her mother.

"Perhaps the two of you might have gotten along a little better if you had," Lily pointed out. "He and Harry have a wonderful relationship."

"Let's be honest, Mum." Katherine decided to be blunt. "I'm never going to have a relationship with that man like Harry has. Severus hates me and the feeling's entirely mutual."

"Of course he doesn't hate you." Lily, however, didn't look at her daughter as she said it.

"Believe what you want, Mum." Katherine couldn't be bothered to argue the point. "So would one of you like to tell me exactly what this argument was about?"

James and Lily looked at each other. James shook his head. "Not particularly."

Lily shrugged, and she grinned in a nasty manner at James. "I don't know what your problem is. I don't mind if she knows."

All at once, James' usually easy-going demeanor vanished as his temper flared at his former wife's declaration. "You really are a bitch. I should never have married you."

"The feeling's entirely mutual," Lily snapped back, "especially given that our children are the only good things to come out of it. I suppose I should be grateful for your sense of obligation."

"Fuck you!" James snarled.

Katherine was a little taken aback at her father's viciousness towards her mother. "Mum, what do you mean by obligation?"

"I can't tell you."

Katherine realized there was more to Lily's demurral than a simple refusal. "Have you sworn an oath or something?"

"Yes, actually I have," Lily told her. "So only he can answer your question."

"And I said to forget it." James glared even harder at Lily.

Lily was unable to resist baiting her ex-husband. "Just tell her, James. Don't you want to be honest with your daughter?"

James decided to tell Katherine the partial truth. "I only married your mother because I was obliged to do so to carry on the family line."

"So what's the big deal about that? You wouldn't be the first pure-blood to do so." Katherine caught the look her mother sent her father as she responded. "Hold on. There's more to it than that, isn't there? No way would anyone swear an oath to keep something like that secret."

"I was in love with someone else when I married Lily," James admitted as his daughter pushed.

Katherine still couldn't understand why James had married Lily at all. "Dad, if you were in love with this other woman and needed to carry on the family line, why didn't you simply marry her instead?"

James refused to meet Katherine's eyes. "I just didn't."

Katherine frowned. "Was she married to someone else?"

Lily was unable to tell Katherine anymore than she already had. "It's up to your dad to answer the question."

James' glance at Lily was filled with pure venom. "Why couldn't you just drop it?"

"And why don't you just tell your daughter?" Lily countered.

"Dad, you can tell me," Katherine said softly. "Nothing you can say will change how I feel about you."

"I think it might," Lily interjected.

"Mum, please shut up!" After snapping at her mother, Katherine faced James. "Dad, you can tell me."

James didn't trust Lily not to find a way around her oath, and swallowing hard he told his daughter. "Because I wasn't in love with another woman."

Katherine was stunned at what James' statement implied. ""Who was he, Dad?"

James' face was completely bereft of color, and his voice was shaking as he responded, "I can't tell you that, so please don't ask."

Lily snorted at James' evasion. "Don't be such a bloody coward. You've told her this much. Why don't you just tell her the rest? Come on, James, I thought you, like your bloody precious friend, valued honesty above all else."

Katherine's hand flew to her mouth as she suddenly realized who her mother was talking about, and the relevance behind the remark she had overheard when she had first arrived at the rooms. "Oh, Merlin! You don't mean it's…"

Before Katherine could finish her sentence, James stalked off into his adjoining rooms, before slamming the door behind him. Katherine turned on Lily. "Exactly what did you expect to achieve by telling me?"

"Doesn't it bother you?" Lily asked in a disgusted voice. "Our marriage was based on a lie. I thought James loved me."

In light of Lily's own vindictive nature, Katherine decided to find out how her mother had felt about her father before she made any judgments. "And were you in love with Dad when you married him?"

Lily avoided the question. "What's that got to do with it?"

"Everything." Katherine crossed her arms. "You're the one who's going on about honesty. So tell me, Mum, were you in love with Dad?"

Hoisted by her own petard, Lily answered the question truthfully, guessing that James might tell Katherine if she didn't. "No, I wasn't."

"Why did you marry him then?" Until then, Katherine hadn't appreciated how much she didn't know about her parents' marriage.

"I was a half-blood, who had a squib for a sister, so given your father's position as a member of wizarding nobility, it was a very good match for me," Lily explained.

Katherine was disgusted. "So you cold-bloodedly set out to marry Dad?"

"I didn't have to try very hard," Lily said in a voice dripping with condescension.

"What about Severus?" Katherine had heard the rumors about Severus' feelings for her mother. "I heard that he was in love with you before you married Dad. Why didn't you just get together with him instead?"

"I could have; Severus asked me to marry him just before I left school. However, Severus and James never got on at school, and I thought Severus had asked to try to get one over on James, so I refused." While Lily had regretted refusing Severus then, she knew that she wouldn't have had her children if she had accepted, and for that reason alone she was grateful for her marriage to James.

Katherine knew only too well about the rivalry that had existed while James and Severus had been at school together, but she believed that as adults they had put it behind them. "Yet Dad and Severus both work together now."

"It still doesn't mean they like each other." Lily made a good point. "And you should be grateful they do work together, as it's the only reason you saw as much as your father as you did."

Katherine had a question. "I always presumed that we lived with you because you and Dad agreed to it. But I've now got a feeling that that's not the case. Dad's the pure-blood, so why didn't he get custody of us?"

Lily knew once again that James would likely tell Katherine if she didn't. "I promised James that if I could have custody of you and Harry, then I'd never tell anyone why we got divorced."

Katherine was furious. "I had to live with you and Severus because you blackmailed Dad?"

"I wanted you with me." Lily, for all of her faults, loved her children.

"I hated living with Severus," Katherine spat out. "And you knew it, just like you knew Severus hated me. I'm surprised he's even going to my wedding."

"He's going because I need his support to get through the day." Lily was well aware that Severus had never taken to Katherine in the same way he had to Harry, something that had become more evident when Katherine had made Gryffindor and Harry, Slytherin. "I'll be honest with you, Katherine. I absolutely loathe your father and Sirius Black, and the thought of having to watch James laugh and joke with him during your wedding sickens me."

"Then don't go," Katherine said bluntly. "Because I'm telling you now, if you make a scene during the most important day of my life, I swear I'll never speak to you again."

Lily looked at her daughter through new eyes as Katherine stood up for herself. "You're more like me than I thought. I always thought you were more like James."

"I'd disagree." Katherine found herself not wanting to be anything like her mother. "I'd never do anything like you did."

"I did it out of love," Lily argued.

Katherine only partially believed Lily. "I believe you love Harry and me but I also think you wanted us to get back at Dad because you knew how much it would hurt him."

Lily put on an affected tone as she whined, "How could you believe I'd do something like that?"

Katherine stared at Lily as if she didn't recognize her. "Then why didn't you look at me when you answered? How could you, Mum? You used Harry and me as pawns to score points against Dad. I've always believed that you put mine and Harry's best interests first, but you didn't. You just wanted to get back at Dad. How can I ever trust you again?"

"You can," Lily protested.

"No, Mum, I can't." Katherine had heard enough. "Because of your hatred towards Dad, not only did you force me to live with a man I hate but you also tried to ruin my relationship with Dad today. You disgust me."

"You've got no right to talk to me like this," Lily answered Katherine crossly. "I'm your mother."

"Most mothers wouldn't use their children as pawns." Katherine turned away, only for Lily to grab her arm.

Lily was now incensed by Katherine's attitude towards her. "Were you ever mistreated?"

"Not by you," Katherine admitted. "But Severus was never pleasant to me, and that made my time in his home miserable."

"You could have been more pleasant to him," Lily argued. "It was your choice to be continually belligerent towards him."

"And it was your choice to take me." Katherine pulled her arm free. "Just as it was your choice to try and ruin my relationship with Dad. You really are a piece of work, and right now I don't want anything to do with you."

At Katherine's words, Lily stormed off out of the room. James opened the adjoining door to the office at Katherine's knock. "Is she gone?"

"Yes." Katherine then told her father what had gone on between her and Lily. "I can't stop shaking."

James walked over to the cupboard on the far side of the room and took out a calming potion, which he handed to Katherine. "I'm so sorry that you had to go through this. I should've stood up to your mother when she first made her demands."

Katherine disagreed with James. "Dad, you know what this society is like. If you'd stood up to Mum and she'd told anyone, you'd have had no job, most people would've shunned you, and we'd have paid the price as well. You wouldn't have been allowed to see us."

"I don't think I could have coped if that had happened," James admitted. "But I'm probably going to lose you anyway."

"No, Dad, you're not." Katherine could tell that James still thought she was going to reject him. "Dad, how did Mum find out?"

"I don't think we should really go into that." James didn't want to portray Lily in a poor light even after what she had done.

Katherine refused to believe that James would have simply told Lily. "Please, Dad, I know everything else. You may as well tell me."

James hated thinking about the argument that had effectively ended his marriage. "Things hadn't been going well between us since before Harry was born. About six weeks after his birth, we had the worst argument we'd ever had, and I told Lily how I really felt about marrying her. I didn't mean to, it just slipped out in anger. Neither of us said anything about it for several days so I thought she'd decided to simply ignore it. However, about a week later I was drinking wine with dinner when I started to feel lightheaded. I only realized what was wrong when Lily petrified me and began to ask questions."

Katherine was appalled. "She used Veritaserum on you?"

"Yes." James could see that Katherine was taking it as badly as he thought she would. "She asked who I was in love with, and, unable to lie, I told her. From there things just got worse. Basically it ended up that if I agreed to sign over full custody of you and Harry, with only visitation rights for me, she'd keep quiet about what she'd found out."

"That must've been awful for you." Katherine could only guess at how horrible it must have been for James.

"It was probably the worst time of my life. What's made it harder is that Harry has never really formed any connection with me. I'm closer to you and I always have been."

Katherine knew that her brother preferred Severus to James. "Do you think Harry knows?"

"No. While Lily could drop enough hints for you to pick up on without breaking her vow, which is why I told you the truth today, your brother isn't nearly as astute, even though he likes to think he is. And as much as it pains me to say it, unlike you, I couldn't trust Harry to keep his mouth shut."

"You're right. He's a little too much like Mum." Katherine knew that like Lily, Harry wouldn't hesitate to blackmail their dad into getting something he wanted. "Dad, can I ask you something else?"

"Yes," James answered simply.

"Is the reason you wanted to see either Harry or I get together with one of Sirius' children because of how you felt about him?" Katherine asked nervously.

James immediately shook his head. "No. My feelings for Sirius have absolutely nothing to do with our wanting our children to get together."

"Are you still in love with him?" Katherine asked.

"No," James answered, without hesitation. "My feelings for him are just purely of friendship and respect now."

"Do Uncle Remus and Uncle Peter know?" Katherine wanted to make sure she was totally au fait with the truth.

"Remus does." James had told his friend one night after Remus had found him sitting in the dark completely smashed. "He's the one who helped me get over Sirius."

Katherine thought she had endured enough shocks. "You and Uncle Remus?"

James laughed. "No. But he listened to me every time I needed someone to talk to, and he never once judged me."

Katherine hesitated before asking her next question. "Does Uncle Sirius know?"

"I think he might have suspected how I felt but he's never said anything." James knew even if Sirius had known, he would never have acted on his feelings. "And it's only Sirius who I've ever felt like that about. Everyone else I've ever liked since then has been female."

Katherine could never remember seeing a woman with James. "So why haven't you ever remarried?"

"Because I couldn't go through marrying again." James took his daughter's hand. "Katherine, I hope this doesn't affect how you feel about Orion."

"It doesn't, Dad," Katherine reassured him. "I love Orion because he's Orion, and not because he's Uncle Sirius' son."

James was glad to hear it. "Katherine, unlike me, I don't want you to base any part of your marriage on a lie so if you want to tell Orion about what' happened today, you can."

Katherine appreciated James' offer. "Dad, if it ever comes up, then I'll tell him but to be truthful, unless I have to explain about Mum, it's something I'd rather keep between us."

James understood. "I think we can leave the marking until tomorrow. Strangely enough I'm not really in the mood right now."

"I'm going to head back to my rooms, then." Katherine hugged James. "I love you, Dad."

James felt pure relief run through him at Katherine's words. "I love you, Kittie Kat."

Katherine grinned at her dad's pet name for her. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Only once his daughter had left, did James pour himself a large Scotch and sit down to brood.

Katherine hadn't been back in her rooms for more than ten minutes when a knock came at the door. As Luna was in the bath, and Cassandra had taken over Harry's rooms in his absence, Katherine sighed and opened it to find her brother standing there. "Harry! This is a surprise."

"What's going on, Katherine?" Harry marched into the room. "Mum's having a meltdown. I heard yours and James' names mentioned. Whatever you've done, she's really pissed off."

"His name is Dad, not James." Katherine hated it when Harry called their father 'James'. "And we had a bit of a falling out over some of the attendees who are coming to my wedding. Mum isn't exactly enamored of all of them."

"That's nothing new." Harry had already heard Lily whinging about it, so he just took Katherine's answer at face value. "Katherine, while I'm here, can you do me a favor?"

"I'm not loaning you money." Katherine was fed up with Harry overspending and coming to her.

"I don't need money." Harry wanted something else. "Do you know what color dress Cassandra is wearing to the Yule Ball?"

"Yes, why?" Katherine didn't entirely trust her brother.

"Because I want to get her some flowers to match it," Harry explained.

Katherine narrowed her eyes. "And that's the only reason?"

"What other reason would I have?" Harry asked innocently.

Katherine decided it couldn't hurt to tell him. "She's wearing a very dark red dress."

"Thank you." Harry kissed his sister on the cheek. "You're an angel."

Katherine frowned as Harry left. It was unlike him to be so affectionate.

Harry whistled his way back to Draco's suite and let himself in. "Well, I got the information."

Draco glanced over at his friend. "Do you really think buying flowers to match her dress will make a difference?"

"I've known Cassandra for ages," Harry pointed out. "And she's a sap when it comes to things like that."

Blaise, who was stretched out on the sofa, his girlfriend lying on top of him, acknowledged Harry's remark. "He does have a point, Draco. And he's already ahead in the betting pool just by getting her to accompany him."

"I still don't know how you managed it." Draco hadn't expected Cassandra to say yes to Harry, particularly as she had already refused him.

"As I've already said, I've known Cassandra for a long time." Harry smirked as he leant against the fireplace, holding his hands out to catch the heat.

Blaise, never one to let an opportunity pass him by, glanced thoughtfully at Harry. "Do you want to increase the bet?"

Harry was almost as bad as Blaise. "What to?"

"You've already made three hundred Galleons, and that's yours no matter what." Blaise was in charge of keeping the money. "So how about we say if you get to kiss her, ten Galleons instead of the five we originally agreed."

"Per kiss?" Harry asked.

Blaise baulked. "I'm not that stupid. If you get further than kissing her, then the bet goes up."

Draco was suddenly interested again, and jumped in with what he thought would be a good bet. "Twenty Galleons for above the waist, forty for below. If you can actually bed her, then it's a hundred Galleons."

"What proof?" Harry asked.

"A memory is fine," Blaise said. "So are you in?"

"There's no way she'll sleep with me, so you can forget about the hundred Galleon bet." Harry quickly worked out what he'd lose if he got nowhere with Cassandra, but he was willing to take a chance since he'd already made a good profit from winning the original pool. "But I'm game for the rest."

Ginny lifted her head from kissing Blaise's neck. "I'm in then."

"Me too," Blaise confirmed. "Draco?"

"Oh yes." Draco smirked at Harry. "It's time to win back some of that money I lost to you."