Chapter 25 – Rebel or traitor?
Faye frowned at the knock on the door and opened it cautiously, starting at the sight of the man on the other side.
"Remus? You didn't tell me you were coming."
"I didn't know I would be," answered Remus, shifting a box of papers in his arms and smiling ruefully at her. "Special delivery from your delightful cousin."
Faye raised her eyebrows and stood back to let him in. "What is it?"
"Her papers," answered Remus, dropping the box on her desk and lifting the uppermost folder up for her to see. "Just in case any of her friends come snooping."
Faye took the folder and flicked through it, expression darkening as she did so. "Katherine did that?" she asked, clear green eyes gazing imploringly at him, and Remus wished he could say no, say Katherine had made it up to throw people off the scent, but he couldn't.
He didn't even have to look at the file to know that every word was the truth; that was the thing about Katherine – she saw no reason to lie in matters like this. There were many situations where little white lies could have saved some embarrassment or pain, but Katherine only thought long term, and if Faye getting a rude awaking to the real character of her cousin now was going to keep her safe from prying Death Eaters, then it was a price Katherine was willing to pay.
"Look, just put it in your cupboard somewhere – there's bound to be a secret panel or something," said Remus softly, not meeting her eye. "Don't leave them lying around – Katherine wouldn't and anyone who knows her knows that."
"So she did do it?" asked Faye, a despondent note in her voice. Remus sighed heavily, raking a hand through his thinning, sandy blond hair.
"What does it say?"
"She made an attack on Diagon Alley."
Remus shrugged. "Probably. There were lots of attacks in the last war – I wouldn't be surprised if she was in some of them."
"On the 22nd September?" asked Faye earnestly.
"The 22nd?" repeated Remus, wondering why the date seemed so familiar for a second, then realising. "That's today's date, isn't it?"
Faye stared at him for a moment, then looked back down at the paper to check the year. "Oh," she said quietly as Remus grabbed some Floo powder from the pot above the fireplace, muttered a quick goodbye and shot off to the Burrow.
x – X – x
Harry and Ron stood in the corner of the almost empty bookshop as Hermione browsed the shelves, looking for any books that might help them defend themselves from...well, everything. Death Eaters, horcruxes, Katherine & Robert.
Abruptly Hermione pulled one last book from the shelf and walked back over to Harry and Ron.
"Right, that's enough for now at least," she said, holding up the five heavy volumes and smiling tiredly. "Just got to pay for them and we can go home."
"Here, I'll help you carry them," put in Ron quickly, taking the top three books in his own hands. Harry grinned as he watched his two friends walk over to the counter and glanced at the clock on the wall above the shop assistant's head. 10:32am. At that moment, the door of the shop swung open and Lupin strode in looking, in Harry's opinion, rather worried.
He stepped forward to meet his father's old friend and ask him what was wrong but was prevented from doing so by the hand that was suddenly covering his mouth and the whisper of "Petrificus Totalus" that pinned down his arms. Harry looked down, having the use of his eyes left at least, and found to his surprise that he couldn't see the hand that gagged him. They're using a disillusionment charm, he realised vaguely, still struggling to free himself from the curse that bound him.
Outside the screams started and at that moment, Remus caught sight of him and hurried over. Harry felt the person behind shift and Harry knew that whoever it was, they were taking aim at Remus. Harry tried frantically to warn him, though since he only had control over his eyes and he wasn't touching his wand, this proved rather difficult.
Harry screwed his eyes shut, hoping that this would make Remus pause or figure out something was wrong. He didn't know what he'd do if he lost Remus too – he felt just as helpless as he had done on the tower last year, the night Dumbledore fell...
The sound of a falling body made his eyes snap open again but he only had time to catch a glimpse of a heap of black robes on the floor before the world promptly disappeared and reappeared again with disconcerting speed.
The person holding him relaxed their grip on his shoulder and sat him on the floor in a cold stone room, materialising as they did so. Harry stared up as the figure pulled back their hood to reveal glossy black hair and for a moment Harry thought everything was going to be all right.
Then he remember the woman had fired at Remus and his eyes met the dark ones behind the white mask – dark eyes, not blue. It wasn't Katherine; it wasn't even close. The woman removed her mask, laughing throatily and Harry looked up into the gaunt face of Bellatrix Lestrange.
The tangled heap of black clothes on the floor of Flourish and Blotts moved and a white mask was tossed aside as a slim figure got up, kneeling on the floor beside the man she'd been lying on top of.
"Rem, are you ok?"
Remus Lupin groaned in answer and rolled over, blood pouring from his nose. The other figure in the black hood waved her wand and the blood vanished immediately.
"If you think I'm going to say thanks you've got another thing coming," muttered Remus, looking gravely at her. The figure shrugged and looked at the spot where Harry had been standing moments before. "Where is he?" asked Remus suddenly, following her gaze. He looked quickly at Ron and Hermione who were looking shocked.
"He just disappeared," said Ron quietly. "He froze, then disappeared. Where'd he go?"
Remus turned back to look at the black robed figure who was scanning the faces peering at her from under the dark hood that concealed her face. She caught Remus looking at her and he could tell her expression from the tone of her voice when she spoke.
"How the bloody hell should I know? I was more concerned with the fact that she'd just shot AK at you."
Remus glanced at the bookcase behind her and saw the smoke rising from the still smoldering scorch mark the spell had left.
"Who is she?" he asked, more calmly than he felt.
The figure was silent, though Remus could see her fingers fidgeting in her pockets – no, not fidgeting-
"What are you doing?" he asked sharply and when she still didn't answer he raised a hand to grab her shoulders. She shied away at his touch and a few seconds later her fingers stopped moving. "What have you done?" asked Remus in a tired voice.
"Covered my tracks," she answered, the smile evident in her voice. Remus glanced around and saw that the few other customers in the bookshop all wore vaguely glazed expressions. To his surprise however, Ron and Hermione did not. He grabbed his friend's arm and gestured to Ron and Hermione. "Back to the Burrow – now. Are the anti-apparation wards up?" This last question was aimed at the woman by his side.
"Meant to be."
"But are they?"
"No."
"Good, because you are coming with me."
x – X – x
Molly Weasley looked up at the sound of two people tumbling into the living room and poked her head around the kitchen door to see her two sons brushing soot off themselves.
"Fred? George? What's wrong?"
"Attack on Diagon Alley," answered Fred, scowling darkly as two more people materialised in the middle of the room. Molly stared at Ron and Hermione, taking in their pale faces, then glanced up the stairs. She'd been wondering why it was so quiet.
"Please tell me you weren't in Diagon Alley," she said quietly. "Not on your own."
"We were only going to be ten minutes, Mum," said Ron in a small voice. "We knew no one would let us go by ourselves-"
"Hang on, who's we?" asked Molly, anger turning to worry. If Ron & Hermione had gone, she very much doubted Harry would have been content to stay behind. The two friends were saved from answering, however by the sudden appearance of Remus and a struggling figure in heavy black robes.
"- the hell off me!"
Remus glanced at Molly, smiling tightly and increasing his grip on the hooded figure. "Don't worry, Molly. Everything is under control."
"Everything is bloody well not under control," snarled the hooded figure, but Remus just pulled open the nearest door, which happened to lead to what served as the Weasley's study/library/general junk room, dragged the figure in and shut the door firmly behind them. A second later, they heard the lock click and a voice say sarcastically:
"Yeah, that's going to stop me leaving."
Remus said something quietly in return and the woman laughed bitterly. Mrs Weasley stared at the locked door for a moment, then turned to her son.
"Where's Harry?"
Ron rubbed the back of his neck, looking extremely uncomfortable and said in a voice that was barely more than a whisper. "We don't know."
"You left him?"
"No!" said Ron quickly. "He disappeared."
"We think someone took him," added Hermione, eyes brimming with tears.
"And who is Remus yelling at?" asked George, glancing towards the door from which Remus' angry tones could be clearly held. Hermione shrugged hopelessly.
"Haven't seen their face," put in Ron, sinking into a chair and trying very hard to stop himself from shaking. Hermione perched on the arm of the chair next to him, tears now trickling silently down her cheeks. The unseen voices filled the room again with renewed anger.
"Don't you dare blame me, Remus Lupin. How the hell was I supposed to know he'd be there? I'm not his personal bodyguard and he's seventeen, he can look after himself!"
"You could have stopped her!"
"Not without getting myself killed!"
"You saved me!"
"You aren't important! If I rescued him Tom would kill me!"
"And that would be bad, would it?"
In the silence that followed this exchange Fred looked quizzically at Ron & Hermione.
"That's a Death Eater he's got in there with him, isn't it?" he asked eventually, in a comparatively level voice. Hermione gave a weak shrug and Ron made a small noise of confirmation. "And he's talking to her like that?"
The fireplace flared green suddenly and Tonks stumbled out her face grave, her Auror's robes torn in places.
"Is everyone all right?" she asked breathlessly, casting a quick look round. "Where's Remus? And Harry?"
"Remus is fine," said Molly, her voice trembling slightly. "He's in there," she added, gesturing towards the door behind which Remus and his companion were continuing their sudden silence. "Harry-" She stopped, voice breaking into sobs.
"What?" asked Tonks, dark eyes wide and alert. "What's happened to him?"
"He got taken," said Ron quietly.
"Taken?" repeated Tonks. "Have you told the Ministry?"
"Only just got back," filled in George. "We got distracted."
"By what?" asked Tonks incredulously, staring at him as if he was mad. On cue, a sudden thump and a loud curse issued from the adjoining room and Remus' voice said dryly:
"Well that was smart, wasn't it?"
"Shut up."
Tonks frowned and asked quietly: "Who was that?"
x – X – x
Remus shut the door and Katherine finally tugged her arm out of his grip, rubbing her wrist pointedly. Remus ignored her and locked the door with a flick of his wand.
"Yeah, that's going to stop me leaving," remarked Katherine sarcastically, arching an eyebrow at him.
"No, I am. You won't leave, Katherine, because if you do I will not talk to you again," said Remus calmly, turning to face her.
Katherine laughed sourly, and sat on the edge of a desk, shaking back her hood. "That wouldn't be a smart move."
"I think we both know you'd suffer more than I would from it," he replied, brown eyes deadly serious.
"I survived before," she argued, gazing insolently back at him.
"And you're sane now, are you?" he asked, meeting her gaze easily. She didn't answer, choosing to look around the room instead. "Where's Harry?"
"I don't know. It was just an attack on Diagon Alley – we didn't have orders to take anyone prisoner," she said carelessly. "It was an opportunist kidnapping."
"And you didn't think to intervene?" asked Remus, voice edged with anger. Katherine's gaze snapped back to him, her expression altering in a second.
"Intervene?" she asked in a dangerously quiet voice.
"Yes, intervene – you could have stunned the person you seem to know was holding him," answered Remus sharply, his anger at his old friend breaking through his calm demeanor. Why had she let Harry be taken? She knew he was vital to the ultimate destruction of Voldemort – she'd said herself she knew the prophecy.
"Don't you dare blame me, Remus Lupin. How the hell was I supposed to know he'd be there? I'm not his personal bodyguard and he's seventeen, he can look after himself!" snapped Katherine, scowling at him.
"You could have stopped her!" retorted Remus.
"Not without getting myself killed!"
"You saved me!"
"You aren't important!" said Katherine dismissively, knowing it was harsh but that it was also true. Why should Tom care if a werewolf managed to escape death? He couldn't care less who his daughter spent her time with, but if she stopped Bella taking Potter to him he would know she was up to something. "If I rescued him Tom would kill me!"
"And that would be bad, would it?" snapped Remus, regretting his words immediately. The look on her face brought back a conversation they'd had in seventh year when she'd told him what her greatest fear was. "Sometimes I think I should just grab Tom and find a very high cliff to jump off. It'd save a lot of lives."
"I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I didn't mean it."
"I know."
Remus hung his head, rubbing his face tiredly. He couldn't remember the last time he'd argued like this with Katherine – not for years, certainly.
"It's just, Harry's important – and he's James' son. If anything happened to him I don't know what I'd do," he sighed, feeling drained suddenly. This wasn't how things were supposed to be – none of it. James and Sirius were supposed to be alive – this war wasn't supposed to be happening...
"He'll be ok," said Katherine quietly, surprising Remus.
"And you know that for sure, do you?"
"No, but I know her. She won't take him straight to Tom."
"And how's he going to get out?" asked Remus, raising an eyebrow.
"He's bright. He'll find a way," shrugged Katherine. Remus took a long look at her then said shrewdly:
"Sirius was his godfather, you know." Katherine looked up, clear blue eyes studying him suspiciously, but didn't say anything. "If things had been different, if Peter had been discovered and you hadn't gone to Azkaban, Harry would have gone to you two."
Katherine stared at him, trying to decide whether or not to laugh. "Dumbledore wouldn't have allowed that."
"James wanted Sirius to raise his son if anything happened to him and Sirius would have fought tooth and nail to ensure his wishes were granted," said Remus gently. "I don't think even Dumbledore could have persuaded him otherwise." He smiled slightly. "He never did persuade him to ditch you, and it wasn't through lack of trying."
Katherine gazed cynically at him from under jet black lashes. "Could you seriously imagine me raising James' son?"
Remus tilted his head to one side, surveying her interestedly. "Oh I don't know, you two were being almost civil to each other near the end."
Katherine smiled sourly and slid off the desk, walking around the room and finally stopping next to Remus, leaning her head against the wall, eyes closed. "I hate you sometimes, you know. You're so damn...right." She scowled, thumping the wall with her fist and cursing colourfully.
"Well that was smart, wasn't it?"
"Shut up," she growled. "It made me feel better."
A knock on the door to their room made both of them start and a soft voice called anxiously: "Remus? Are you ok?"