Disclaimer: Harry Potter isn't mine.

More summary: Remus, Sirius, and Severus are alive because well… It's fanfiction, and I like fics that have them live… The M is for language, drinking, and drug references. There may be some violence, I'm not sure yet. This is set in late 2001. Pairings: RL/SB, Ron/?, Hermione/?, Dudley/?, LMNM

Chapter 1 Stolen

Coffee. No matter how much they disagreed, coffee always brought Kat and Hermione together. The steaming hot liquid was their life force, and when one offended the other, she could always coax her back into speaking terms with the promise of their liquid gold.

They were currently at the Leaky Cauldron on a late Sunday morning, and Kat couldn't get Hermione to stop scowling at her, despite the fact that they were on their second cup.

"I just don't get why you want to talk to the little ferret." Kat sighed dramatically when her best friend's scowl only deepened. Almost tiredly, she gestured to Tom to send another round their way. "Fine. Why do you buy the whole Veela thing anyway?"

That was probably a mistake... Hermione took a deep breath, ready to spew out an entire textbook. Kat's eyes widened when she took out notes. Notes?! They were definitely going to be here a while…

As Hermione fiddled through her papers, Kat couldn't help but get flashbacks from their NEWTs year. Once February hit, her best friend couldn't be found without rolls of parchments in her arms. She would read them aloud at all meals to the point where Kat started skipping a few. In those days, it wouldn't be a surprise to find the Girl-Who-Lived in a broom closet with a Remus worthy sized chocolate bar for supper.

"Okay." Hermione pointed to the top of a page. "Veelas become extremely ill—"

"Malfoy has always been pasty," Kat butted in. "He was especially so sixth year."

"If they do not bond with their mate upon their seventeenth birthday," Hermione continued as if uninterrupted. "They will die within five years without contact. However, Veelas have been known to deny themselves their mate if they believe he or she would be happier with another."

Kat rolled her eyes. Hermione and Ron had been together for over three years. Two weeks ago, they broke up over something stupid (she wasn't surprised), and like the little leech that he was, Malfoy thought he could worm his way into Hermione's life. After Hermione publicly dumped Ron for having lunch with Parvati Patel without telling her, he sent her letters daily to the point (to Kat's horror) that they were almost friends.

"Okay." Kat thinned her lips to keep from insulting the ferret, or worse, saying that Hermione was only going along with this to get back at Ron. "Since when would Malfoy, Draco Malfoy, who bought his way onto his Quidditch team second year, deny himself something he wants?"

"He can't help it," Hermione said knowingly. "Once he got it in his head that I'm his mate, he thinks he's, I don't know, in love. All his life, he grew up understanding that he would meet his mate and be willing to die for her. The devotion… It's hard for even the textbooks to explain."

"Uhuh." Kat tried to run a hand through her messy black hair but gave up once it got caught in a snarl. "And I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that his 'mate' is a muggleborn. Face it, Hermione. He's trying to get into your pants."

There it was. That Hermione look of disapproval that made Kat break eye contact and start fiddling with her glasses. It made her feel like a small child who got caught using a swear word. Hermione took a long drink from her coffee before continuing. "... Lucius's mother died because her mate was a halfblood, and she chose to marry a pureblood instead. After years without so much as looking at her mate, she wasted away."

It was oh so tempting to say that Malfoy should do the same. She was being cruel, but Kat didn't want Hermione to have to spend the rest of her life with her bully out of obligation. Not sure what to say, she ran her finger around the edge of her mug. "That sucks…"

Unfortunately, Hermione could read her like an open book and of course, did not approve of what was written on the current page of The Life of Katherine Potter. "If you hate Malfoy so much, then why did you let him get off from a prison sentence?"

Kat snorted, trying to act causal. The only reason she cared at the time was because Narcissa saved her life, and she figured it was the least she could do. "You know I was drinking a lot after the War…"

After a tsk of disapproval, Hermione decided to drop it, even though she clearly didn't believe her. "Right. Malfoy thinks it's me, but honestly, I don't think it is." She gave a ghost of a smile when Kat raised an eyebrow. "It's very rare for a muggleborn to be a Veela's mate."

"Okay…" Kat checked her watch. She didn't have to leave for about ten minutes. "But since when has that stopped any of the messed up shite we've been through from happening to us?"

Hermione shook her head like her friend didn't understand. "There have only been a handful of cases, and with most of them, the mates were discovered to have been from a long line of squibs. It doesn't matter, Kat. He'll know once he sees me. I just don't want him to die because of me."

Kat nodded sadly, finally getting it. Too many people died because of her, and she knew that Hermione also blamed herself for her parents' deaths at the end of sixth year. Malfoy dying because he thought Hermione was his mate would be too much for her to handle. "Fine. I just don't want you to get hurt, Hermione. Malfoy isn't exactly known for his honesty now, is he?"

Hermione hummed in agreement and rose from her seat. "But remember when we saw him at school? Everyone thought he was a werewolf, but not even Remus looks that bad."

Kat grinned. "I'm meeting him for dinner. I'll be sure to pass on the message."

"Oh thanks," Hermione drawled. She gave Kat a quick hug and started heading for the Leaky Cauldron's floo. "Wish me luck!"

Just before the turn of the century, Vernon died in a car accident. Kat was still reeling from not being accepted into the Auror Academy for the second time and felt like this was the final blow. Two of the most important men in her life died within two years: Vernon and Voldemort.

She knew she should be dancing on both their graves, but Kat suddenly felt empty. Umbridge was in prison. Petunia was a shell of what she once was. There was no one left to hate, no one left to blame all of her problems on. No one that is, except Dudley.

Nearly a year after Vernon died, Kat found that simply hating Dudley wasn't enough. She had to confront him and get rid of all the anger that had been building inside her since the War ended.

After finishing school, Dudley didn't know what to do with himself, and without his father, his gluttony took on a new form. When Petunia lead her to Dudley's room, they found the youngest Dursley half dead from an overdose.

At the hospital, Kat felt like the worst sort of person as she clutched a letter full of hateful words that she planned to spew at her cousin. She vowed to herself to help him get clean.

Nearly a year later, she was still working on it. From what she could gather, Dudley stopped using and had moved on to gambling. At least he couldn't kill himself from it…

"This is the worst diner in London." Kat smiled as she slid into a booth with holes in the red vinyl. "I think there was a toe in my soup last week."

For a split second, Dudley believed her and started combing through the soup he ordered while waiting for her with his spoon. When he heard her snicker, he frowned. "You can't joke like that and sound so serious…"

Knowing that Sirius was going to try to stuff her to the brim at supper, Kat only ordered a milkshake. "Sorry, Dudders. Just assume that everything I say is a lie."

"Might as well," Dudley muttered. "Have you heard from Mum?"

Shrugging, Kat lifted up her menu and pretended to read it. She'd do almost anything for Dudley, but she wouldn't give Petunia a pair of her old socks. "Can't say I have…"

"She wants me to give uni a shot, but we haven't the money." Dudley's voice was steady, and he dug into his burger the second the waitress placed on the table. However, after being robbed blind several times, Kat doubted him. There was a reason they never ate at her flat. That and the fact that she still had bad days where she either drank the night away or rolled up a few joints.

Kat didn't look up from the menu. "I'd have to meet with the headmaster."

Dudley pursed his lips, reminding her of Petunia. "That's humiliating."

"Then get a job, Dudley. What else do you want me to say?" Finally, she put the menu down. Half of her expected her cousin to have a tantrum like he did when they were kids, but he didn't. In fact, Dudley didn't really seem to care, as long as he wasn't 'humiliated.'

Dudley's eyes darted to the clock behind her. For some reason, his shifty eyes reminded her of Pettigrew's in the Shrieking Shack. "It's Mum's idea. I don't really have a reason to go. But I might be able to get a boxing scholarship, if I'm lucky."

"Still going to therapy?" Kat knew she was going from one awkward subject to another, but she didn't know what else to say to Dudley. As messed up as it was, Dudley's addictions were all they had.

To her surprise, Dudley actually answered without sulking. He spoke for almost an hour and a half. Looking back, Kat knew she should have been suspicious.

There was a reason Hermione set up her meeting with Malfoy for Sunday instead of Saturday. Although she acted like she believed her, she knew that still Kat thought that this was some grand scheme of Malfoy's to take advantage of her. She wanted to get this over with without Kat acting like some psycho, overprotective father. Luckily Kat spent her Sunday's making sure Dudley wasn't falling apart while Remus and Sirius spent the same day making sure she wasn't falling apart.

"Coming!" Hermione called when she heard an impatient knock on the door. Here goes nothing. Swearing when Malfoy dared to go the Muggle route and ring the doorbell, she nearly threw the plate of sandwiches on the kitchen table and darted across the sitting room of her flat to get the door.

Once she ripped the door open, Malfoy's grey eyes widened, and he stared at her as if she just screamed in his face that someone he cared about died. Maybe she had, if her theory was correct, and she wasn't his mate. If he didn't know who his mate was, he was slowly running out of time.

"No…" He took a shallow breath and ran a shaking hand through wispy blonde hair. Hermione was sure it was thinner compared to the last time she saw him at graduation. "No-no-no."

"It's not me," Hermione whispered. Hopefully if she was quiet enough, he wouldn't hear the relief in her voice.

"No," he repeated, almost to himself. "It-it has to be you. I don't know who else…"

Feeling bad, Hermione opened her door wider. Surely they could figure out who it was. "Come in. I have food. You look half starved."

"I can barely hold anything down," Malfoy muttered but came in anyway. Hermione offered him a seat, and he sunk into the sofa as if exhausted. "I always felt better seventh year when I was in class with you. It has to be you."

"I'm not the only girl in our year," Hermione said as she went to fetch Malfoy something to drink. She pointed her wand in the air, and the tray of sandwiches followed her. "When's the first time you felt it?"

"When you were captured." Malfoy took a sip of cool water but winced as if it was boiling hot. "And I know it's you because I felt it again when you saved me from the Fiend Fyre."

Oh, no. That only left... "It has to be female?" Hermione laughed nervously when Malfoy glared at her for suggesting he was bisexual. "Malfoy? You do know that Kat's a girl, right?"

Malfoy tensed as if she slapped him. He was silent for a while and grew paler and paler to the point where Hermione was afraid he was going to faint. Finally, he spoke. "No… Anything but-but that."

Hermione bristled in defense of her best friend but didn't know exactly how to react. Malfoy looked like one wrong move could kill him. His eyes were sunken in and his clothing unhung off him in a very un-Malfoy like way.

"She isn't that bad," she tried weakly.

"She's a brute!" Malfoy yelled before breaking out in a coughing fit. "We are in no way compatible! You were at least tolerable. Intelligent, rational, well mannered. Katherine Potter can't be the mother of my children, my wife."

"Thanks," Hermione said sarcastically. "Unfortunately for you, Malfoy, it makes sense. Whenever you were somewhat near me, Kat was with me. And since you were reluctant to ruin your bloodline, the only time you were close enough to be able to tell the difference, you were too focused on not being burned alive."

Malfoy laughed bitterly. "So you didn't believe that I thought you were happy with Weasley part in my letters?"

"Not for one second." Hermione picked up a sandwich and started picking at the crust. "Although it was nice to pretend. Nice to think someone cares that much about me."

Malfoy leaned back and stared at the ceiling. "I don't want to die. I'm not as selfless as my grandmother."

Hermione smiled sadly. She would never admit it out loud, but the tiniest part of her was a little disappointed. But it wasn't Malfoy. She just wanted someone who loved her so deeply that it was hard to comprehend. Ron… She was never sure if Ron was the one, which is why she reacted so strongly when she found out had he lunch with Parvati.

"I'll tell you what." She pointed to the fireplace. "I have access to Kat's floo. She might still be at lunch with her cousin, but you can wait for her in her apartment."

"I hate her," Malfoy said flatly.

Hermione shrugged. This was going to be fun. "That's okay, I guess… Because, well, she hates you too."

Malfoy groaned but, with effort, stood up. "I guess it's better than being dead."

"That's the spirit." Hermione laughed and walked over to hand him the floo powder. "She calls it 'The Kat Box.'"

Malfoy stared, taking a moment to realize that she was being serious. Potter named her home after a cat's shit box. "Great."

The moment he stepped through the floo, Draco felt the constant dull ache in his chest lessen slightly. She obviously wasn't here but being where she lived helped. Her scent was everywhere, also a relief. She might not be Granger, but at least the waiting was over. He wasn't going to die.

After about ten minutes, it became clear that she wasn't going to arrive any time soon. He was going to have to spend the rest of his life with her, so Draco figured he had the right to snoop.

At the sight of what was in her fridge, he wrinkled his nose in revulsion. Candy, wine, a swallow of orange juice, and a packet of bacon were all he could see. Not a single green in sight. "No wonder my stomach always hurts…"

When he saw that the freezer was full of nothing but ice cream and some muggle food called chicken nuggets, he gave up and started heading for her bedroom.

He half expected to find evidence that she gained a significant amount of weight in there, but her clothes were around the same, no more than a size or two bigger. Her school days were over, but Potter must still be the same, meaning she only ate when she was either absolutely starving or being lectured by Granger.

Draco was just about to reach for a photo album on her nightstand when he heard a door open. She must be home…

"Oi! Grab the television last!" That definitely wasn't her. He had always teased her and called her manly, but her voice wasn't that deep. "Dursley says she's loaded. She's got to have some cash lying round."

"I still say we should've had him do it. He's the one who owes us 20,000!" another man grunted as he put something heavy down. "I'm not going back to prison."

The first man snorted. "The bitch is fucking Hughes. Do you really think she's in a position to call the cops? I'll bet you anything she has enough weed to get an elephant stoned."

"Whatever," the second one mumbled.

Draco gritted his teeth. As hard as it was to ignore the fact that his mate was having sex with a Muggle, he wasn't about to let her get robbed. After taking out his wand, he burst out of her bedroom. "Leave at once. The authorities are already on their way."

The two men stared at him in surprise. One was small and scrawny while the other was muscular and easily three times Draco's size.

The scrawny one snickered while the big one continued to look around the apartment. "What are you going to do with that stick? Poke me eyes out?"

Draco hesitated. He got out of an Azkaban sentence, but he, like his father, was still on probation for another six years. Hexing a Muggle was sure to get him put away.

The big one opened a drawer and took out a stack of rectangular papers that Draco could only assume was Muggle money. His eyes popped out of his head in awe. "Hasn't the bint ever heard of a bank?"

The scrawny one chewed on his lip. "You heard him." He jerked his thumb at Draco. "The cops are on their way."

The big one tossed him a metal object that Draco didn't recognize. "He saw our faces. Dursley will have to sell his Mum's car to cover the rest."

The scrawny pointed the metal device at him. Draco still had no idea what it could be. Perhaps it could blind him? Before he could stun the Muggle, he heard a loud noise, followed by another. The pain was as bad as the Cruciatus.

Kat giggled as she and Dudley headed out the diner. They were talking like friends, and she felt like she was finally getting something she missed out on from her childhood. "I can't believe Aunt Petunia watches Gilmore Girls! The main character had her daughter at sixteen! I thought that would be too scandalous for her!"

Dudley shrugged. "It's her favorite. She's mellowed out since…" Since Dad died. It was unspoken, but Kat still felt guilty that he still couldn't bear to say it.

"It's my favorite too," she whispered. She wished she had a mum who was her best friend like Rory.

Before Dudley could respond, Kat felt a white hot pain in her arm that made her cry out and fall to her knees. By the time he could help her up, another pain erupted in her chest. Then everything went black.

Shall I continue? Reviews would be much appreciated. :)