CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE: Toujors Pur, Carter

When McGonagall climbed through the portrait hole, everyone in the Gryffindor common room hushed instantly and stared. When they saw Katie's face, they knew something was very wrong. McGonagall left Katie in the common room and Remus rushed over to her, quickly gathering her into his arms.

"Kit, what happened?"

"Scythe… She's the Death Eater. She killed Lauren."

"What? How do you know?"

"Danielle told me."

"She told you?"

"She spoke."

People were crowding around them, eavesdropping. "Let's go to my dorm." He helped her up the six flights of stairs to the sixth year dormitory. At first the darkened room seemed empty, but as they sat down on their bed they heard a gasping moan coming from Peter's bed. Remus shone his wand over and saw two figures engaged in a heated snogging.

"Wormtail?" exclaimed Remus.

There was a noise like a plunger being removed from a sink. "Moony?"

"Bloody hell!"

It was Katie's turn. "Jamie?"

"What are you doing!" yelled Remus, horrified.

Jamie and Peter shot up out of the bed, straightening clothes and fixing hair. "Er, we were just going…" They hurried out – probably to find a deserted broom closet somewhere.

"Well…" Katie said after a second of stunned silence. "I guess they're together, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess so…"

"Like we are…" She reached up and kissed him, moving her mouth all over his face and neck, then moving to his chest. "I love you, Remus. I really, truly love you."

"I love you too, Kit…" At first he went along with the direction of things, even letting his mouth travel too, but after a few minutes she began to lift away his shirt. He pulled away then, firmly but gently removing her hands. "No, Katie."

"Don't you want me?"

"Not like this, no. You're sixteen, a virgin, and obviously distraught."

"You got two out of three there, Remus."

"You are distraught. It's quite obvious."

"I know."

He looked quite puzzled. "You are sixteen, aren't you?"

"Yes."

"What?" It hit him. "Bloody hell! When? Who!"

"Fourth year. Marco Davies." She recited it rather matter-of-factly. A hint of shame did appear on her cheeks, but her current mental instability had thrown her off completely.

"What? But after all you said to Jessika-!"

"Jessika was a whore, Remus! I made a mistake!" She pushed him away from her and jumped up, pacing across the dark room.

After a few moments of more stunned silence, Remus sighed and stood up. "Come here, Kit."

She fell into his arms, beginning to cry again. He lay her down on the bed, pulling the blanket over both of them. She told him all about what had occurred today, about nearly getting expelled, nearly going to Azkaban. She told him how all she was afraid of was leaving him behind without knowing how much she really loved him – how much she couldn't live without him. All the while, he held her and rocked her, letting her feel safe under the blanket.

"Katie," he whispered when she was calmer, "we're going to get out of here, and I'm going to marry you, and you're going to never have to worry about Scythe or Voldemort or anyone, okay? I promise you, and I can promise that because I love you, and love conquers all. Okay?"

She nodded mutely.

"Now go to sleep. I'm here with you, and I promise I won't leave you."

She nodded again and closed her eyes.

xoxox

Sirius led Jaclyn and the other two Marauders up the stairs silently to their dormitory. They stopped out side the door and Peter handed Jaclyn the camera, as she was the photographer of the group. Slowly Sirius pushed the door open, wincing as it creaked. Jaclyn slinked in and quickly snapped a picture of Katie asleep in Remus' arms. To their great surprise, neither of the couple woke. Peter was about to make a noise with his wand when James waved for him not to. They left and hurried down to the common room again.

"We shouldn't wake them," James announced.

"Yeah, I surmised as much when you stopped me from doing it," Peter said rather sarcastically. "Oh, er, hello, Jamie…" Jaclyn's cousin had just walked by, a turtle-necked sweater on accompanied by a long skirt.

She blushed pink. "Hello, Peter." Then she hurried off to breakfast, still bright pink.

"What was that about?" Sirius demanded of Peter, who was also bright red now.

"Nothing, nothing. Let's go eat. I'm starved."

Luckily Sirius was too hungry to be paranoid and Peter did not have to explain himself. Once in the Great Hall, they took their usual place at the Gryffindor table. Just as they had gotten seated, Jon and a small group of his friends came into the Great Hall, laughing and chatting among themselves. They sat themselves a few seats down, sitting in a group that Jaclyn fondly noted was similar to her own clique. She was staring at her brother, a goofy smile on her face, when he looked over and caught her eye. He stuck his tongue out at her, which she reciprocated before looking up at the sound of fluttering wings. It was the morning post. Jaclyn speared a sausage on her fork just as two owls swooped down, holding a very large parcel between them. They dropped it right on her plate, causing her orange juice to spill all over Sirius, and then took off, not waiting for her acknowledgement.

"What the hell is this?" James exclaimed, dropping his own forkload of eggs to snatch up a letter taped to the package's brown paper. He read it aloud as Jaclyn and the others leaned in, Sirius drying himself as Peter tore at the paper.

" 'Jaclyn,

" 'I hope this gift finds you well. I realize that I am over a month late, but I wanted to be sure that this was ready to be sent. It's your birthday present, dear. I don't want to spoil the surprise by telling you what this is in the letter, so just open it already! That is, if your dear friends haven't already.

" 'Love,

" 'Madame Marjorie

" 'P.S., Your parents do know about this.'"

James looked up and gestured anxiously for Peter to hurry up and open the gift already. His stubby fingers ripped away small pieces, but little progress was being made. It was when a strange scratching noise was heard that Jaclyn finally pushed Peter aside and used Diffindo on the paper. It fell away to reveal a cage, which had in it a small white kitten. James and Peter's mouths dropped open, Sirius muttered, "Oh, hell," and Jaclyn let out a deafening squeal of joy. She flung the cage door open and scooped out the kitten, who took to batting at her golden curls. It was only after a few seconds that Jaclyn noticed the jeweled pink collar around her neck with a shining silver nameplate.

"Maggie," she read, before burying her face in the tiny kitten's fur.

xoxox

The kitten, however, was only one glimmer of hope and happiness for Jaclyn Carter that day. It was a warm, late-April day, but the Daily Prophet, Lily showed her, had reported a mysterious disappearance, only two doors down from Jaclyn's house – Madame Marjorie was gone. There had been no signs of struggle and nothing was missing as far as Ministry investigators could tell. Jaclyn swore to herself to not cry, knowing that Madame Marjorie was alive – or at least safe from Death Eaters. Why else would she have named the kitten after herself – unless she new she would no longer need the name?

So she walked out of the Great Hall out of breakfast with her head held high, only to be stopped on her way back in there before lunch by Dumbledore.

"Miss Carter, may I speak to you in my office, please." It was not a question.

She followed him through winding corridors to a brilliant stone gargoyle.

"Hershey's Kisses," he stated.

She gave him an odd look as the gargoyle moved out of the way, revealing a spiral, stone staircase.

"Lovely little Muggle chocolates," he told her lightly, before gesturing for her to proceed up the stairs. She did and was soon seated in a magnificent round office and a thickly cushioned chair. Her empty stomach rumbling its annoyance at this interruption of daily routine, but she didn't notice. Her eyes were on the piece of parchment Dumbledore now held in his hands. "Miss Carter, there is no easy way to say this, so I think it is best to just put it bluntly. This year has been a dark one and it's about to get even darker for you."

"I heard about Madame Marjorie's disappearance." Maggie, who had followed Jaclyn in, mewed and curled up in her new owner's lap. Jaclyn absent-mindedly stroked the cat.

"Miss Carter, I'm sorry but I have not brought you here to discuss Marjorie Crouch. I wish to discuss your parents. I'm sorry, Miss Carter, but they are dead."

All the color drained from her face.

"It will be in the Prophet tomorrow morning. Muggle killings always take an extra day, since they are not considered as important, which I personally think is codswallop."

"How?" Jaclyn finally managed to gasp.

"Death Eaters," he replied shortly, a grim set to his mouth. "Their routine was typical: enter, torture, kill, leave. This time, however, they left a message. It was written on the door."

"What…?"

" 'Toujors Pur, Carter.' "

She gasped, bursting into tears. "No… No!"

"Miss Carter, I understand you are currently in a relationship with Mister Sirius Black. I also understand that your relationship is to the depth that you are engaged to be married. It is my belief that the Death Eaters found out about this relationship and used it as motive to attack your family-"

"NO!" she screamed, the sound that of a torn being; her soul seemed as if it were ripping. "No! No no no!"

"Miss Carter," Dumbledore began, but she interrupted by grabbing his goblet of half-drunk pumpkin juice and flinging it against that wall. He had a beautiful antique mirror on one shelf, ornately fashioned with Runes carved around the rim. That went flying too.

"NO!"

Suddenly she collapsed, sobbing onto the carpet. Dumbledore kneeled down on the floor next to her, placing a hand on her back, a gesture that she found oddly touching, yet made her cry all the more.

"Toujors pur… Toujors pur…"

"Miss Carter…"

"They did it because of me… Me and Sirius… No…"

"Don't let them do this to you, Jaclyn. This is what they want."

"Pr-Professor Dumbledore… I'd like to go to my room now, please."

He nodded.

xoxox

Sirius was climbing the stairs to his dormitory later that evening. Jaclyn had not been in any of their afternoon classes nor at dinner. Lily and Jamie had reported that she was lying in bed. Her parents had been reported dead, they told him. He wanted more than anything to comfort her, but knew he couldn't go into the room without revealing his Animagus form, something he still hadn't told her about. (Honestly, it just hadn't come up.) Upon stretching out on his bed, he noticed a rolled up scroll of parchment on his bedside table. He opened it and the diamond engagement ring he'd given Jaclyn fell out onto the floor. His heart fell into his stomach as he read,

Sorry.

I can't.

xoxox

Author's Note: Not much to say. Don't you just love cliffhangers? Hehe. I do. Well, I love them when I'm the one who wrote them. I hate reading them. Well, anyway, yeah, this chapter was fairly productive, in my opinion. Lol. REVIEW IT ALREADY!!!

-Carp