Chapter 43 – Masquerade

Severus sat at Nicola's kitchen table, absently turning the small package before him over and over in careful fingers. It had been just over two weeks since he'd left Katherine in Lucius' care and apart from the short letter from his friend saying they'd both arrived safely, there'd been no word, and now it was Halloween and she still wasn't back...

Suddenly he glanced up, aware of someone's gaze on him, and met a pair of very familiar blue eyes looking back.

"Katherine," he whispered, the small parcel dropping unheeded from his hands. She smiled slightly and just stood there, leaning casually against the doorjamb, watching him with calm blue eyes. He realised he was staring and shook his head, embarrassed. "How long have you been there?"

"About a minute," she replied, detaching herself from the wall and moving to sit opposite him, an amused look on her face. She picked up one of the parcels that was sitting on the table and read the label.

"An owl dropped it off this morning," explained Severus, seeing her confused expression. He handed over his own small package with an attempt at a smile. "Happy birthday."

Katherine shot a suspicious look at him, then appeared to shake herself and smiled.

"Thanks." She paused, his gift lying forgotten for a moment in her hand and looked seriously at him. "For everything. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Go insane?" asked Severus lightly, face studiously impassive. Katherine looked sharply at him, then grinned wickedly, looking more herself than she had done for ages.

"Right," she laughed, tearing the paper off his present and opening the velvet box it had concealed. Lying on the dark green cushion inside was a heavy silver bracelet, designed to look like a snake. She picked it up, gazing at the intricate patterns engraved on the delicate scales in awe.

"It's supposed to turn gold when there's someone untrustworthy about," said Severus, watching her closely. "I thought it might come in useful."

Katherine looked up at him, an odd expression on her face, but all she said was: "Thank you. I love it."

There was the click of heels in the hallway and Nicola walked in, carrying a large pile of folders which she nearly dropped at the sight of Katherine.

"You're back!" she exclaimed, hurriedly shoving the folders onto the kitchen counter and beaming at her friend. "How are you?"

"Much better," answered Katherine, slipping the bracelet onto her arm and grinning at her. "Aren't you supposed to be at work?"

"Lunch break," replied Nicola, grabbing a bottle of tonic water from the fridge and coming to sit down beside her. "Happy birthday, by the way. Cass is hosting a Halloween party tonight – we weren't sure if you were going to be back, but since you are-"

"Nicola, I can't go to a party full of Ministry officials," said Katherine, giving her a look that was torn between amusement and exasperation.

"It's masquerade ball," said Severus quietly, and when she looked at him, she saw he was grinning. "See, we thought if you were back, you might need cheering up a bit and since there's nothing you like better than winding the Aurors up..."

"You thought you'd arrange a party where I could walk around right under their noses without anyone being any the wiser?" finished Katherine, arching an eyebrow.

"Precisely," said Nicola happily, grinning and peering at the carefully wrapped parcel on the table. "Who's that from?"

Katherine glanced at the parcel and seemed to hesitate for a second, a slight frown creasing her forehead.

"Ophelia probably," said Severus, studying the note attached to it. "Looks like her handwriting."

"By which you mean it looks female," said Nicola, laughing despite her scorn. Severus shrugged, half smiling, and looked at Katherine who was watching him, eyes narrowed slightly.

"I think I know my own cousin's handwriting by now, Nicola," said Severus, pushing himself up from the table to put the kettle on.

"Yes," murmured Katherine, gazing pensively down at the parcel before her. "You'd think you would."

"So, are you coming tonight?" asked Nicola, after a short pause. Katherine glanced up, jolted out of her musings.

"Tonight? Oh, the party." She appeared to think about it for a second, then shrugged, a lazy smile curving her lips. "Sure. Why the hell not?"

x – X – x

"Harry?"

Harry didn't look up as the door opened a few inches and Lupin's head appeared round it.

"What's the armistice?" he asked, staring down at the photograph before him. He heard Lupin sigh and come further into the room.

"Our year lost a lot of people in the last war; we thought we should mark it." Harry looked up at him, green eyes blazing.

"Slytherins too?"

"Yes," said Lupin quietly, looking calmly back at him. "They lost friends as well – some of them lost themselves."

"Like Katherine?" Lupin's eyes narrowed slightly, but he shook his head.

"You have to know yourself to lose yourself, Harry. Katherine's never stopped long enough to do that."

"She's mental," muttered Harry, scowling and flipping a page in the photo album Hagrid had given him. He wondered absently how Hagrid was getting on; maybe he should pay him a visit.

"Moody told me what she said about Snape," said Lupin gently and Harry looked up at him again.

"Do you believe her?"

"I don't know. I can't see why she'd lie, but-" Lupin shrugged, seeming a little lost.

"But what?" asked Harry, frowning. What was making Lupin doubt someone he usually had so much faith in?

"She might have her own agenda," said Lupin noncommittally, brown eyes not quite avoiding but still not meeting Harry's.

"Such as?"

"She's a Slytherin, Harry," Lupin sighed, running a distracted hand through his hair. "She's bound to try and protect her old friends."

"Friends?" Harry was incredulous. "She was friends with Snape?"

"Oh yes," said Lupin in a weary voice. "That was one of the main reasons James didn't trust her."

"He was right," said Harry firmly, scowling at this new revelation.

"You think so? She never betrayed Sirius, Harry, never betrayed any of us, against all expectations I might add. I think even Dumbledore was surprised at that."

"Maybe she did it to spite him," muttered Harry, still glowering.

"Maybe," smiled Lupin. "I certainly wouldn't put it past her; they never did get along."

"Why?"

"Because she blamed him," answered Lupin softly, gazing inscrutably at Harry.

"For what?"

"That's her business." Harry scowled at him, shutting the photo album and sitting up, assessing the information.

"Was she justified?"

"In blaming him? Maybe, maybe not. Only she can be the true judge of that – it was her life his decisions affected, but I know one thing for sure: she'll never quite forgive him."

"Tarnishing his memory is a pretty good way to get revenge," said Harry sourly. "Now that he's not around to defend himself."

"Katherine never wanted Dumbledore harmed, Harry," said Lupin firmly. "She would have fought to protect him if it came down to it, despite what she may have thought of him."

"How do you know?" asked Harry, crossing his arms and glaring at Lupin. "She's probably glad he's dead – probably laughs about it with Snape-"

"No," cut in Lupin, frowning deeply. "She may have disliked him, hated him even, but she did not want him dead. She wouldn't harm the man who gave me an education, a job, when no one else would. Dumbledore helped Sirius after Azkaban and he was as determined to bring down Voldemort as she is. They were on the same side, they just didn't agree how to fight."

"Then why is she friends with Severus?" asked Harry quietly, voice full of anger. "If she didn't want Dumbledore dead, why is she friends with his murderer? Snape tried to get all of you expelled when you were at school, he lost you your job and he taunted Sirius all the time at Grimmauld Place. She can't forgive Dumbledore whatever he did, but she can forgive Snape all that? Why?"

Lupin heaved a heavy sigh and shook his head, as though he couldn't quite fathom it himself.

"Because she's Katherine."

x – X – x

"Katherine?" The voice was soft and slightly nervous. Katherine didn't move but glanced nonchalantly into the darkness among the trees. The lights streaming out of the large windows of the Avery's mansion cast long shadows across the grounds and in the midst of these she made out the figure of a man.

"Good evening Julian."

"Not at the Halloween feast?" he asked, moving towards her with a lazy half smirk on his face.

"Is that a problem?"

"Of course not." Julian smiled, though there was something Katherine didn't like in his eyes. "I'm sorry for the other week."

Katherine looked at him for a moment, face carefully blank. What on earth was he going on about? To buy some time, she arched an eyebrow and half smiled at him, getting the unnerving feeling that he was trying to trip her up.

"Really? I didn't think you did apologies."

"Well I think I owe you one. I should have helped her."

Katherine frowned, eyes boring into his. Helped her? Helped who? The only female friends she had were safe, they were all here- Realisation trickled like an ice cube down her spine and she stared at her old protegee.

Faye. She'd been away for over two weeks and not once had she thought of her cousin, convinced that her threats would be enough to keep her out of harms way, but of course threats only worked on rational people and she was dealing with Bellatrix Lestrange, an insane woman who not only hated her but wasn't scared of her either.

"What's she done with her?" she asked, wishing she had her wand with her. Damn Armistice day, Bella was going to pay for this.

"Faye's fine, Katherine. She's at Hogwarts. Managed to trick everyone into thinking she was you." Julian smiled weakly at her incredulous look. He paused for a moment, looking uneasy. "You know, don't you?"

"About Bella?" asked Katherine, a touch of distaste in her voice. "Yes."

"Sorry." Katherine laughed, smiling sourly.

"I never trusted you further than I could throw you, Ju, you know that. Still, if you were going to play traitor you could have done much better than her. Carr would have taken you on, I'm sure. He never has liked me all that much."

"Never liked me, either," said Julian softly, a sigh in his voice. "Probably because I was trained by you."

"Well if Bella can overlook that rather major flaw, I'm sure Simon could rise above it," shrugged Katherine, leaning against the rough bark of a tree and looking sideways at him. "I suppose that was why she took you in? To spite me?"

"Of course."

"Did it work?"

Julian frowned, confused. "Shouldn't I be the one asking that?"

"Do you like Bella?" asked Katherine, tilting her head to study him. Julian stared at her, one half of her face illuminated by the warm lights from the house, the other thrown into shadow.

"Not particularly."

"Do you respect her?"

"No."

"Then it didn't work," shrugged Katherine, moving again so that her face was obscured by shadow. "You may not like me, Ju, but I know you respect me. I'd only be hurt if you were actually loyal to her, but you're not. You're not loyal to anyone."

"Neither are you."

"No?"

"You haven't told Severus you have a cousin," said Julian, folding his arms challengingly. "If you had, you would have known what I was talking about earlier, because he would have filled you in. The fact that he didn't means he doesn't want you to know he knows."

Katherine frowned for a moment, trying to work out exactly what he'd said, then she stared at him, Severus' behaviour that morning suddenly making sense. He'd known the package was from Faye, and he'd covered for her in front of Nicola.

"Severus knows about Faye?"

"Someone gave her Polyjuice and told her all that stuff about you," said Julian easily, gazing at her. "And he spoke to Faye after she'd taken the Polyjuice, and I know he could tell it wasn't you. He knows you better than anyone else in the world, even better than Moody and he's studied your case profile thousands of times. So you're not loyal to Severus, and if you're not true to him, I hardly think you'd be loyal to anyone else."

Katherine just looked at him, eyes inscrutable in the darkness. "My what?"

"Case profile. They've got people at the Ministry who try and figure out how criminals think-"

"People have been trying to figure out how I think?"

"Yes," nodded Julian, trying not to smile at her perplexed expression.

"What have they come up with?"

"About thirty pages of highly sophisticated nonsense. I think they're mostly of the opinion that you're totally devoid of morals, disturbingly intelligent and absolutely crazy."

"That's not true," said Katherine hotly, scowling at him. "I am not totally devoid of morals."

"Your record suggests otherwise."

"You shouldn't judge a person by the worst thing they've ever done," said Katherine darkly, as a shadow fell across the grass.

"Julian? Are you down here?"

A man with blond hair and dark brown eyes peered into the gloom and Julian stepped forward.

"I'm here, Philip."

The other man grinned, shaking his head in bemusement.

"Schofield said he thought he'd seen you head down here, but I thought he must have imagined it. What on earth are you up to?"

"Just getting some fresh air," answered Julian amicably, walking towards his friend. "Did you want something?"

"Ophelia was looking for you," said Philip, falling into step as they made their way up the slope back towards the house. He treated Julian to a politely puzzled look. "She wanted to know if you'd found her cat."

Julian shook his head, a pensive look in his eyes. "Not yet."

"So she did have one? Only I mentioned it to Dan and he looked at me like I was mental."

"Oh, it exists," assured Julian, amber eyes glimmering in the cold night air. "It's just damn hard to track down."

"So Daniel's just being his usual dopey self, then," said Philip, sighing theatrically. Julian smiled faintly as Philip continued talking about someone at the party and concentrated on resisting the urge to turn around and look back towards the dark trees. Katherine wouldn't be there; here one minute, gone the next, that was Katherine all over. He almost felt sorry for Moody; if her own side could never find her, what chance did an Auror have?

x – X – x

"I was wondering when you'd turn up," sighed Remus, wiping his hands on a towel and turning round to face his old friend. "How did you get through the wards?"

"Wards?" Katherine looked almost surprised. "There are wards?" Remus gave her an appraising look and she shrugged. "Does it matter? I'm not doing any harm."

"Apart from corrupting Harry, you mean."

"I am not corrupting Harry," objected Katherine, hoisting herself up to sit on the table and glancing around the cluttered kitchen. "What are you doing, anyway?"

"Washing up." Katherine arched an eyebrow and Remus got the nasty feeling she was suppressing a smile.

"Rem, it's barely eleven. The dishes can probably wait till tomorrow. I bet everyone else still outside having fun, aren't they?"

"What if they are?" asked Remus, frowning deeply.

"Shouldn't you be out there too? With your girlfriend?"

"Tonks is on duty; the Minister's called in most of the Aurors in case your lot make an attack." He sighed, running a weary hand over his face. "Are they going to?"

"Don't know. I only got back today," answered Katherine, casting a glance towards the back door of the Burrow. "Is Alastor on duty?"

"Yes." Remus paused, looking properly at his friend for the first time. "Why did you go away? Nicola said something happened."

"You talked to Nic?"

"I was trying to find you."

"Because of Faye?" Katherine asked, an odd expression on her face.

"You heard, then?"

"Yes. Is she ok?"

"Physically? Yeah, she's fine."

"And mentally?" asked Katherine, looking apprehensive. Remus gazed at her for a moment, then shrugged.

"She's all right, I think. Just a bit shaken. I don't think it had sunk in that you were really-"

"Evil?" she suggested, only half smiling. Remus scowled at her.

"A Death Eater," he said firmly. "Do you really think I would still be your friend if I thought you were evil?"

"I think you're afraid to lose the last tie to the old you. I'm not a nice person, Remus."

"Is that why you told Harry that Dumbledore asked Snape to kill him?" asked Remus coldly, gazing at her.

"You think I was lying?"

"I think you were angry that he was insulting Snape. I think you want people to think he's not that bad so you can justify liking him," said Remus, a definite frown on his face now.

"I don't need to justify myself to anyone," said Katherine sharply. "And I'm not making excuses for Severus - I was telling the truth."

"Oh really?"

"Dumbledore did everything for Severus. Why would he betray him?"

"If Snape liked him so much, he couldn't have killed him. Not with Avada Kedavra."

"How do you know? You've never used it, you don't know what you have to do to use it. Ask Alastor – ask him if he could kill without hate. See what he says."

"I don't need to; if you love someone you can't kill them," shot back Remus, scowling at her. "You know that as well as I do."

"I killed Regulus."

"What does that have to do an-?" Remus stopped as his mind processed her words. "Regulus? Sirius' brother?" He stared at her incredulously. "You killed Sirius' brother?" Katherine held his gaze, tears welling up in her dark eyes.

"It was me or Bella. Just like on that tower it was Severus or Draco. Dumbledore would never have wanted Draco to become a murderer – if he'd done that, he'd have been lost. Right now he can still be reached."

"But Snape didn't have to-" said Remus weakly, still reeling from her revelation.

"He made an Unbreakable Vow with Narcissa to help Draco - he had to make it to keep his cover. Severus never wanted any of this," said Katherine softly. "None of us wanted any of this." She looked at him, gaze calm despite her wet lashes. "You think I'm a bad person now, don't you?"

"I don't know what to think," answered Remus quietly, not meeting her gaze.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"Shattering your illusions," said Katherine softly.

Remus looked at her, sitting so nonchalantly on a table in a house that wasn't hers and gazing so serenely back at him, perfectly at ease in an unfamiliar and potentially hostile environment, and realised for the first time that she'd changed. This wasn't the Katherine he'd run around his garden with, wasn't the Katherine that had sneaked around Hogwarts at night just so they could talk in private, wasn't even the Katherine that had been engaged to one of his best friends. This was a post-Azkaban, post-death Katherine and he wasn't sure he liked her. He wasn't even sure he wanted find out.

Out in the garden, a firework exploded. He jumped and glanced out of the window to see the air filled with red and gold sparks. The colours of Gryffindor.

Could Gryffindors really be friends with Slytherins? He turned back to Katherine only to see that she'd disappeared; the kitchen was empty and he was alone. He glanced at the washing up, at the piles of dirty plates still sitting patiently on the counter then shook his head and headed towards the door to the garden. Right now the last thing he wanted was to be alone with his thoughts.