The Ties That Bind (6/?)
By: Shendra
Shendraz421@aol.com
Category: Romance/Mystery/Drama
Keywords: Snape, Voldemort, Draco, telepathy, 7th year
Rating: R
Spoilers: All four Books
Summary: An old friend falls back into Snape's life, only to mysteriously disappear again. Voldemort returns, demanding loyalty this time around. Will he ever be defeated? Will Kate ever be found? Will Snape ever get laid?
This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Kevin and Kate/Katie are mine, so if you want to use them, let me know first, mmkay? Corvus the raven came from J.L. Matthews… a great idea, if you ask me.
Credits at bottom.
(This chapter will start out with Katie remembering her Sorting, if you get confused about it.)
CHAPTER SIXThe chatter of the students had quieted down considerably, replaced by the clatter of silverware and cups as they ate. Katie merely poked her corn with her fork, staring off into space.
She had been almost terrified on the day of her own Sorting, not knowing where she wanted to end up. Most of the other students had it all worked out, having decided on a house long before they arrived. Severus definitely hadn't looked half as nervous as she was, but then, he seemed pretty adept at keeping his emotions well hidden, even at the age of 10.
Seeing the expression on her face, Severus had squeezed her hand and gave her a supportive smile.
You ok? He'd asked her, and she nodded.
Nervous, but yes.
They stood in silence as the Sorting Hat sang its song, then exchanged glances as the first student, "Avery, Marcus", got sorted into Slytherin, and frowned when "Black, Sirius" was called up. He strutted forward and gave the crowd a mischievous smirk before the hat fell down over his face. For a few long minutes, everybody waited. Then… "GRYFFINDOR!!!" the hat shouted, and he pulled it off.
Eventually, "Hillian, Kate" was called up by McGonagall. Severus had given her arm a friendly squeeze before she walked over to the stool. Perched on top of it, the last thing she saw before the hat covered her eyes was everybody, including Severus, looking at her.
Hello there. Katie started. At first, she thought it was Severus speaking, but this voice was much different, older…
Hi, she thought back, at no one in particular. At least she'd learned some control over her thinking since she got on the train.
My, my, my… You're going to be a tough one to place… the hat said thoughtfully.
You've got quite a bit of bravery in you…though with enough sense to know when to show it. Not foolhardy enough to get caught up in those silly adventures like the other Gryffindors… no… Hmm..
Something her grandmother had told her came back to her then. "You've got quite a bit of mixed blood in you, youngin… and if I'm not mistaken, it will come in handy."
The hat must have caught this because he suddenly said Oh! Oh my… Interesting, very interesting. You are… the Last Prodigy….
The what? Katie started and began to absent-mindedly wring her hands in her lap.
The Last Prodigy, child. It's someone with mixed blood from the four Founders. If I'm not mistaken… you have in you the blood from Helga Hufflepuff, Godric Gryffindor,… and most recently, Rowena Ravenclaw. But none from Salazar Slytherin…? That's odd..
Katie perused this and found it made almost perfect sense. Her grandmother on her father's side liked to brag about her Gryffindor ancestors, saying that a bit of Hufflepuff blood had made its way in to the bloodlines a long time ago.
But the hat was talking again, and she snapped back to attention.
Definitely cunning enough, clever… yes… and ambitious for certain things…But certainly, the Last Prodigy…
She had been under the hat for quite some time now, and was growing nervous. Hufflepuff didn't sound too bad, from the song the Hat had sung,… and neither did Slytherin, but Gryffindor? From all the Gryffindor's she'd seen, they looked like a bit on the rowdy, foolish kind. The hat seemed to catch onto her thinking immediately.
Not Gryffindor, eh? Well, I can understand that. They would only bring you down into trouble. Now Hufflepuff… no.. you would be stuck working too much to actually reach your true potential. And if the prophecy is true… better be "SLYTHERIN!!!"
Katie didn't have time to ask about the "prophecy" before the hat was pulled off of her head and she was faced with the whole school staring at her strangely. Moving down to the Slytherin House Table, she managed to catch a few of the whispers.
"Doesn't look like the evil type, does she?"
"I would have thought she'd be a Hufflepuff, or at least a Ravenclaw.."
"You saw her hanging around Severus Snape, though, didn't you? Don't have to ask where he'll end up… All the Snapes have been Slytherins."
At the table, almost all the Slytherins turned to stare at her, but thankfully they weren't whispering.
Katie? She started. It was Severus again, and she turned in her seat to see him looking back at her with the other first years.
I'm ok, Sev. Just… What's a Last Prodigy?
A what? Severus looked as confused as she felt and she shrugged.
Never mind. Feeling a different set of eyes on her, Katie turned and noticed Professor Dumbledore staring at her, his light blue eyes reflecting something she couldn't decipher. After a moment, though, he looked away and Katie heard "Snape, Severus!" being called.
Turning back, she saw him step warily up to the stool, and sit down, catching her eye for the split second before the hat dropped down.
A few brief moments later, and the hat was shouting "SLYTHERIN!!", sending Severus her way. He sat down beside her, and grinned slightly.
"Hey," he said quietly, and she nodded. "Hey back."
Katie didn't mention Last Prodigies or prophecies ever again, figuring if he had never heard of it, it must not have been that important. But she never stopped wondering what the Hat could have meant…
"Umm.. Professor Lupin?" the timid voice jerked her out of her reverie and she looked up from her untouched plate. The dark haired boy from Diagon Alley stood in front of her, with his red-headed friend standing nervously behind him.
Remus looked over, politely ending his conversation with Flitwick. "Yes, Harry?"
"I was, uh, wondering…" Harry mumbled and avoided Katie's eyes as she studied him, trying to figure out who he reminded her of. He leaned in to talk to Remus more privately, and Katie looked over at the red-haired boy who smiled back.
"Professor, Ron and I were wondering who the woman sitting next to you was." Harry whispered, and glanced over at Katie. She stared back innocently, pretending to not have heard him.
"Ah.. well.."
Was it Harry's imagination or was Professor Lupin suddenly looking nervous? Remus glanced at Katie, then down the table further to Snape, who was busy glaring at nothing.
"She's… a good friend of mine from school." Remus sat back in his chair and gestured to Harry. "Kate, this is Harry Potter, and his friend Ron Weasley. Ron, Harry, this is Kate Hillian. She and I went to school together." He didn't bother to mention that they'd been in different houses, but already he felt bad enough for lying about their relationship.
It seemed to satisfy the boys, though, because they both shook Katie's hand before returning to their table. After they had left, Katie stood up.
"I'm going to go back to my room." She said, not looking at Remus, but at Severus. She glanced down at Remus, who stared up at her worriedly.
"Of course. But aren't you hungry?" Katie had gotten thinner the past week since arguing with Snape, and paler too. Remus imagined it had affected her more than he thought.
"No.. not really." Katie replied, looking back down the table at Severus still, who glanced back, his expression unreadable. She wanted so much just to talk to him again, but he still hadn't apologized. How much longer would she have to wait?
Snape stared felt Katie's eyes on him and he glanced up. The dark circles under her eyes stood out brightly against her paled skin, and her hands seemed to shake slightly when she moved. She looked ill, almost like Lupin did after the full moon. Looking away, he considered all the possibilities for her appearance. Maybe she was sick? 'Hmm…' he thought to himself. If she was, Madam Pomfrey would most likely know. He made a mental note to ask her next time he had the chance.
Halfway up the staircase, Katie stumbled and hit the steps hard. Her hands against the cold cement, she stayed there for a few minutes, breathing hard and just trying not to black out like before. She knew it was wrong not to eat or sleep, but she just couldn't. Every time she tried to sleep these days, she just ended up staring at the ceiling, thinking about Severus, or just fighting back tears of pure frustration. And eating… she didn't even have an appetite these days, and couldn't figure it out. In the mornings, she forced herself to eat something, lunch and dinner usually went unnoticed.
Voices echoed from around the corner and Katie turned, pulling herself up to a standing position.
"Well you know what you can do if you don't like it, Potter?"
"What's that?"
"You can take it and cram it!"
Katie sighed.
"What did you say to me?"
"You heard me, Potter, or is your hearing failing you like your common sense?"
BAM! Sparks flew in front of Katie and she waited a second before peering around the corner. What she saw made her smirk in amusement. About ten feet away, two boys were wrestling on the floor, and another boy, the red-haired one from before (Ryan? Ron? She couldn't remember) was being pummeled in the stomach by another taller, stronger boy.
"Ahem!" she said loudly, but nobody seemed to take notice. By now, a few other students had gathered and were cheering. A few seconds later and…
"STOP IT! STOP NOW!!" Filch ran towards the group and they immediately dispersed, except for the fighting ones, who were now staring at him with a stunned expression.
"Fighting in the halls, are we? And on the first day of school? Up with you, Potter, and you too, Malfoy! Get up now!" he managed to pull the tall boy off of the red-haired one, cuffing him around the neck.
"Detentions for all of you! Fighting! Honestly! Now, we shall see what Snape has to say about this!" A mad glint appeared in his eyes as he started pulling the taller boy down the hall. The others hesitated reluctantly before following him. Halfway down the hall, there was a huge crashing sound from above. Then, a high-pitched cackle.
"PEEVES!!" Filch practically screamed and let go of the tall boy. "I've got you now, Peeves!" he seemed to forget about the boys as he ran towards the stairs at the end of the hall, and disappeared.
The Potter boy looked at his red-haired friend in confusion, and a pale-faced blond boy turned to the taller boy, then to Katie.
"Are you a new teacher?" he asked, a slight sneer playing at the corners of his mouth.
"Maybe." Katie smirked and glanced around, "You boys better go before somebody turns up. And you," she reached out to poke Malfoy in the shoulder as he turned to walk away. "You've got a cut on your eyebrow that you'll want to clean up before going back to your common rooms. Here," Katie pulled out her wand and stepped forward, to which Malfoy stepped backwards hesitantly.
"I won't hurt you, I was going to get rid of the cut. I don't want you to get in trouble."
Malfoy seemed to size her up before tilting his head. "Fine. Get on with it." Harry merely stared at them in shock as Katie tapped Malfoy's eyebrow with her wand, and the cut disappeared, leaving a bit of smudged blood that stood out against his light skin and hair.
"There," she said quietly, and turned to leave. "You boys better go."
They didn't need telling twice. She heard them run off as she started back up the steps. At the top, Severus was waiting for her.
"Well, well, well…." He said quietly, and stared at her with a smirk plastered across his face.
Katie sighed. She was in no mood to deal with this now. Obviously he'd seen her helping those boys, and knew she had deliberately sent them off without punishment.
"Don't you think Filch will wonder what happened to them when he gets back?" Severus glanced at the bottom of the steps, where a couple second year girls chatted, oblivious to their presence.
Shrugging, Katie stared at her hands. "If he even remembers to come back." She started past him, but he reached out and caught her arm, which felt oddly thin in his grasp.
"Katie," he whispered, and searched her eyes when she finally looked at him.
"What, Severus? What?" Her dark blue eyes were cold, emotionless, and he could see up close how much life had gone out of them.
"I…" It was so much easier to apologize to himself in the mirror, but now, words just wouldn't come. "I wanted… I…"
Katie rolled her eyes and sighed. She pulled her arm out of her grasp, with what seemed like much effort, and walked away without another word. He watched her go, still struggling with the apology that wouldn't come.
In her bedroom, Katie finally collapsed, laying against the soft comforter on her bed. It had been hard enough, walking away from Severus like that, but fighting back the tears of exhaustion was becoming an even harder task. Eventually she must have blacked out because several hours, she awoke with a pounding headache, shivering in the cold night air.
Katie rolled over and pointed her wand at the fireplace, managing to get out a simple fire spell, then pushed herself up to sit against the pillows. She sighed and rubbed her forehead. After a few minutes, she stumbled out of her quarters and down to the Infirmary, where she was given a goblet of Sleeping Draught and a place to sleep.
"Are you sure she's going to be ok?" Remus sat stiffly in his chair, turned towards the fireplace where Madam Pomfrey's head was floating in the flames.
"Positive, but I honestly can't see how no one told me she was this ill! Did any of you know she wasn't eating or sleeping?" The mediwitch's face was screwed up in worry, anger and frustration. Remus shook his head.
"I knew she was looking a bit off, but she always ate breakfast with me, so I thought everything was ok. I just figured she had a nightmare or couldn't sleep."
"Yes well, her condition was pretty bad. I was surprised she made it to dinner, or even to the Infirmary. She's sleeping now, and I'll be seeing to it that she eats when she wakes up." Her face softened a bit and she sighed. "Poor girl, I wonder what's bothering her…" With that, she said goodbye and disappeared, leaving Remus to his thoughts for a moment, before he left too.
A few minutes later, a knock on his office door caused Severus to look up from his class plans.
Who would be bothering him now? It was nearing 10 pm, and he wasn't expecting anyone. "Come in," he muttered, setting his quill down.
Remus stepped in, ignoring the glare from Severus as he did. He walked over to the Potion Master's desk and sat down in one of the wooden chairs in front of it, uninvited.
"Severus, we need to talk."
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Credits go to the parties mentioned above, and also Cassandra Claire and J.L. Matthews, whose stories I've been reading lately, so if any of their quotes, ideas, or even characters make their way into here, it's their fault for writing their stories in such a way that it makes a permanent indent in your mind. Go read the Slytherin Rising stories by J.L. Matthews, and the Draco trilogy by Cassandra Claire. Go read them now and you WON'T be disappointed! So thank you, girls, for writing those wonderful, awesome, great stories and not being mad if any hint of those stories makes it into mine. In fact, if anyone wants to believe that I took my ideas for this story from them, that's fine, because they're wonderful writers, and to think that I am even close to being as good as them is an honor.