Chapter 33 – Confrontation

Harry stared at the piece of paper in front of him with an exasperated expression. He'd been checking it every ten minutes since he'd left Katherine, and now she'd finally got around to writing back, it was only to say:

Regulus knew there was more than one horcrux.

That was it. No explanation – just the plain facts. He grabbed a quill and wrote:

How?

A minute later, new words scrawled themselves across the paper.

He saw the diary.

Harry bit his lip, thinking for a few seconds before writing back:

So Malfoy had it?

Two minutes passed till Katherine replied and Harry wondered if it was because she was deciding how to put something down that wasn't a direct lie. As it was, her answer was simply:

No.

He tried again, beginning to get the idea that Katherine was more cryptic than the Sphinx he'd met in the Triwizard Maze. He had a feeling he was going to have to write exactly the right kind of questions.

How did Regulus see it? Who had it?

He smiled as the ink faded anyway – she shouldn't be able to get out of that. A simple question required a simple answer. Her next words surprised him though.

You don't want to know.

He frowned, and wrote:

Yes I do.

Her reply was quick this time.

No, really, you don't.

Harry scowled, getting annoyed, and scrawled:

Tell me

He half expected her to refuse, so the fact that an actual name appeared a short while later was shock enough, but his heart skipped a beat when he allowed himself to register it. No, no it couldn't be... Not her, not...

But there it was, black ink still glistening on the creamy parchment.

Bellatrix Lestrange.

The door opened and Ron poked his head round it.

"Harry, dinner's ready – hey, are you ok?"

"Bellatrix knows about the horcruxes," said Harry quietly. There was silence and Harry glanced up at Ron to see a look of complete horror on his face.

"What? How do you-? How does she-? What?"

"She had the diary," said Harry hollowly. "Malfoy must have found it after she'd gone to Azkaban and, I dunno, maybe he wrote in it or something and Tom Riddle told him it could be used to open the Chamber. Katherine doesn't think he knew it was a horcrux."

"And she's sure of that, is she?" asked Ron, frowning. "Did she ask him?"

"She said he wouldn't have put it into danger if he'd known what it was," replied Harry, and after a moments pause added: "She said Voldemort recruited Draco to punish him."

"That's ridiculous – Malfoy wanted to join," said Ron scornfully, but Harry shook his head.

"No he didn't." He glanced down at the paper in front of him and started in surprise at the writing there; he'd forgotten he hadn't replied.

Harry?

Harry, are you still there?

Don't go after Trix. She's not worth your time.

If you don't write something soon, I'm coming over there.

Harry?

He scribbled:

I'm fine.

And then, because he thought it ought to be said:

Someone needs to go after her.

The reply he got almost surprised him, though he wasn't sure why. Maybe it was because he knew she meant it.

No. You can't torture dead people.

He looked at the parchment for a while, then sighed, scrawled a goodbye and followed Ron downstairs to dinner.

x – X – x

Katherine stood quietly in the doorway to Remus' kitchen, looking out into his lounge. Remus was on the sofa with his back to her, flicking through a book or a photo album or something; he hadn't noticed she was there yet. Katherine tilted her head, gazing curiously at him and wondering what exactly had possessed Tonks to pose as him. It was a good effort, she had to admit, but Katherine could tell Remus a mile away and the person sitting nervously on the sofa wasn't him.

He looked up suddenly and caught sight of her in the mirror above the mantelpiece. Katherine saw him start and smiled pleasantly as he turned to face her.

"Afternoon, Nymphadora."

Remus stared at her for a moment, then opened his mouth to say something but Katherine spoke before he had the chance.

"I know it's you, Tonks. Remus doesn't look like that – you haven't got the whole anguished-disapproving look he always gives me right. And he's certainly not scared of me," she added, lounging easily against the door jamb.

"I'm not scared of you," said Tonks quietly, morphing back into herself. Katherine shrugged, and Tonks got the feeling she didn't believe her. Tonks didn't blame her – she barely believed herself. She'd seen this woman's file and despite what Remus said, she couldn't see her being anything other than ruthless Death Eater Moody had always made her out to be.

"You wanted to talk? Alone?"

"I haven't told any Aurors," said Tonks, pleased with how calm her voice sounded.

"I know. I checked," said Katherine. "You haven't told Remus, either."

Tonks' eyes widened. "You went to see-" she began, but Katherine shook her head.

"Of course not. It's just that if you had, he would have talked you out of it. He would have known I wouldn't be fooled by a letter and a disguise."

"Oh?" asked Tonks weakly.

"Remus doesn't send me owls," said Katherine quietly, giving her an odd look.

"Then how does he contact you?" frowned Tonks, staring at her.

"He doesn't," said Katherine simply.

"But if he was in trouble-"

"Then I'd know."

"Not if it wasn't Death Eater related," said Tonks hotly.

"I'd know," repeated Katherine softly. "If he needs my help, I'll know."

"Did you know when you were in Azkaban?" asked Tonks, arching an eyebrow. "He needed you then. When the Potters died – when Peter was murdered – when Sirius was sent to Azkaban – did you know then? Where you there for him then?" Katherine gave her a look that would have frozen steam.

"He was safe," she said quietly. "He was hurting, but he was safe. He survived."

"He might not have. You didn't even check."

"I did," objected Katherine, glaring at her.

"How? You never left Azkaban!"

"Yes I did. I made an appeal. I was taken back to court."

Tonks laughed scornfully. "Oh yes, I've read about that. You said you had names for them – you said you'd exchange them for freedom and then you went and said Dumbledore and Moody were Death Eaters! You even said the French Minister of Magic was a Death Eater! That wasn't an appeal, that was a joke!"

"Yes. But Remus came," said Katherine in a quiet voice that nevertheless demanded attention. "And I knew he was ok."

"But he didn't have anyone to talk to! He was alone!" shouted Tonks, scowling at the black haired woman before her. "How he possibly have been ok?" Katherine looked mildly at her.

"He wasn't."

"So why-?" started Tonks but Katherine held up a hand.

"Not 'he wasn't ok' – he wasn't alone," she said in that same quiet voice that put Tonks on edge.

"What?"

"He isn't entirely devoid of friends, you know," said Katherine calmly. "There are those who stuck by him when he lost everything. And like I said – he survived. He's fighter, however much he likes to pretend he's not."

"Who stuck by him?" asked Tonks, in a slightly calmer voice. "He never mentioned anyone."

"I don't suppose he likes to talk about it much," said Katherine levelly. "It wasn't one of the better times in his life."

Tonks gave her a long look, then said: "I don't mind."

"Mind what?" asked Katherine blankly.

"If it was a girl." Katherine put her head to one side, surveying her curiously but not saying anything. Tonks sighed. "Well it has to be a girl, doesn't it? Or you would have said otherwise. You know he hasn't told me about her, so you're not going to say anything in case I get angry or something, right?"

Katherine smiled faintly, but remained infuriatingly silent. Tonks frowned at her, wondering what she wanted. If she wasn't saying anything, she was probably waiting for her to finish her theorising, but she had finished. Hadn't she? Remus had been comforted by a girl – end of story.

But Katherine hadn't come right out and said that, had she? And why would Katherine have thought she'd be angry? She was just glad he'd had someone to talk to. So why be angry? It wasn't as though the girl was still arou-

Tonks' eyes widened and she stared at Katherine in shock.

"Faye," she said softly. "It was Faye, wasn't it? That's why they act so strangely whenever I'm around. They don't want to let something slip."

Katherine made a face. "Well, to be fair, they're probably talking about me and don't want you to hear." She smiled grimly. "Rem says you don't like me very much."

"Funny. He said the same thing to me," replied Tonks sourly.

"He was telling the truth."

There was quiet for a moment, then Tonks said:

"Why did you tell me about Faye?"

"I didn't." Tonks scowled at her; fine, if this was the way she wanted to play...

"Why did you make – let – me work it out?"

Katherine smiled. "Do you want my truth or your truth?"

"I want the truth."

Katherine grinned, irritatingly. "That would imply that truth is absolute."

"That would be because it is," said Tonks through gritted teeth. She didn't know how Remus put up with this woman.

"No it's not," said Katherine calmly. She looked at Tonks for a moment, then said. "I told you because you deserved to know. If Rem told you, you'd fly off the handle. I thought if I told you, you'd be fine with it to spite me."

Tonks snorted. "That's not true."

Katherine grinned, as though she'd passed some sort of test. "What is the truth then?"

Tonks was quiet for a moment, then said slowly. "I think you told me because you want me to confront Remus about it. You want me to think he's cheating on me with Faye and break up with him."

Katherine smiled, gazing at her from under dark black lashes.

"It's not going to work," said Tonks resolutely, glaring at her. "I trust Remus – I love Remus, and nothing you can say is going to change that. I don't know why you don't like me, but if it doesn't bother Remus, I'm not going to let it bother me."

Katherine was quiet for a moment, and Tonks thought she was frowning slightly. Eventually, she said: "Don't you?"

"Don't I what?" asked Tonks, slightly deflated. She'd been expecting her to deny it or say that she was acting in Remus' best interests or something, not ask a question.

"Don't you know why I don't like you?"

Tonks stared blankly at her; she hadn't really given it much thought. She was a Slytherin and a Death Eater. It stood to reason she wouldn't like a Gryffindor, much less an Auror.

"Do you need a reason?"

"Everything has a reason."

"What is it then?" she asked, curious despite herself.

"I'm Remus' best friend. It's my job," said Katherine simply, and now Tonks thought she could see laughter glinting in those impossibly blue eyes. "And yes, what you said was the truth – your truth. It'll probably be Remus' too if you tell him about it."

Tonks leant against the back of the sofa, looking thoughtfully at Remus' oldest friend. "So what's your truth?"

Katherine smiled. "I wanted to see how you'd react. Remus is a good man – I needed to know you trusted him. After everything he's been through he deserves someone who loves him. For what it's worth, I think he's found them."

"Do you mean me or Faye?" asked Tonks and Katherine laughed.

"Do you really think I'm going to answer that?"

"No, not really," said Tonks, with a small sigh. "Remus did say you're the most irritating person he knows."

Katherine grinned. "Yeah, I love him too."

"Why did you go to see my Mother?" asked Tonks in the silence that followed. Katherine smiled; now they were getting somewhere.

"Didn't she tell you?"

"She said you just turned up."

"I did."

"She said you told her Sirius was innocent."

"He was," said Katherine quietly, studying Tonks' face carefully. "She deserved to know."

"So you just felt compelled to tell her? After all this time?" asked Tonks archly.

"Yes," replied Katherine. "I liked your mother, Tonks. We went to school together, she looked out for Regulus – she's a good person. She doesn't deserve sisters like Trix and Narcissa."

"Trix? I've never heard anyone call her that," said Tonks, frowning.

"No, they're too scared; she hates it," said Katherine, lips curling into a smile. "Which is precisely why I shall persist in doing it until I'm dead and buried."

"It's not a good idea to cross Bella," said Tonks softly.

"It's not a good idea to cross me," replied Katherine. Tonks smiled sourly, and Katherine looked curiously at her. "Why didn't you tell your mother about Sirius?"

Tonks looked up. "What?"

"Well you knew, didn't you? Remus must have told you – Sirius was your cousin."

"Yes, I knew."

"But you didn't tell her?"

"How was I meant to explain?" asked Tonks quietly. "She would have wanted to see him – she would have wanted to know how I found out. I couldn't tell her that."

"She doesn't know about Remus, does she?" asked Katherine,

"I told her he was an older man," shrugged Tonks.

"Hmm, not quite the same, though, is it? Not really the same as saying 'I'm dating the guy you went to school with'. Does she know you're in the Order?"

"No," said Tonks, sighing. "She already thinks I'm putting myself in danger by being in the Aurors."

"You are," said Katherine simply. "But if you believe in something, you've got to fight for it."

"Like you fight for You-Know-Who?"

"I don't fight for Tom, I fight for me," said Katherine softly. "No one ever tries to save the whole world, well, not unless your name's Harry Potter. Sensible people just save the ones they love. Potter's not very sensible."

"He's good at it, though."

"Yes." There was a pause, then: "You're good at being an Auror, you know. Those wards were some of the best I've seen."

"You still got through them."

"Yes well, I'm me, aren't I?"

Tonks studied her for a moment, then put her hand in her pocket and pulled out a ring.

"Mum said to give this back to you."

Katherine looked at the engagement ring for a long time, then she looked up at Tonks.

"Tell her to keep it. She needs it more than I do. I doubt she kept anything connected with Sirius – not after he was sentenced. I wouldn't have."

"But it's yours-"

"It's not going to do me a lot of good to keep it, though, is it? He's not coming back. Please – I want her to have it."

"Ok," said Tonks softly, pocketing the ring again.

"I have to go – stuff to do and all that. This war isn't going to fight itself."

Tonks frowned, but decided not to comment. Instead she asked: "Are you going to tell Remus?"

"About what? This?"

"Yes."

"Are you?"

"Well-"

"Look, there's nothing to tell, ok?" said Katherine gently. "Just don't send me any more letters signed with Remus' name. I don't want him getting into trouble."

"Right. Bye then."

"Goodbye."

Tonks let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding when Katherine left. Moody was right about one thing at least – Katherine was definitely one of the strangest people she'd ever met. She sighed and, pulling out her wand to disapparate, tried to shake off the feeling that she'd only just managed to escape with her life.

x – X – x

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