Thanks to all those who have reviewed, and feel free to do so again. OK,
here's the usual disclaimer. The only characters I own are Kate, Gwen and
Orion. I've changed this chapter a bit, gearing up for the ones to come..
Hope it's up to scratch.
M.L.
In the mountains surrounding Hogwarts, Kate made herself comfortable on the shores of a small lake, with a tiny cave framed by the waters. Despite it suiting her, both Orion and Wanderer found themselves irritated. Kate, knowing better than most on how to survive without magic, got on just fine. Within a couple days, there were rumors of a "Lady of the Lake." She dressed herself warmly.... It was only a few days before Christmas, she checked off her calendar religiously.
It was cold, but not as cold as a Pennsylvanian winter. She kept the little cave quite warm and cozy. About a week after she had left Hogwarts, she convinced Orion into growing to his large size: that of a very burly panther.
"That's so you don't get eaten. Send this to Harry, Hermione and Ron. I don't want Wanderer out after dark, and he can't grow the way you can. Now, if you run into trouble, just supersize yourself," she tied a note to his collar. He loped off, clearly not happy.
Kate threw some dust in the fire, and called to see Harry Potter, " Harry!" She said, as she saw his face swim into focus. His face looked startled and he whispered, "Kate? Where are you? They've been combing the Forest and everywhere else!"
" No where that anyone may need find. I am sending a note. It is attached to the belt of Orion. He is a bit larger than usual. He'll be to Gryffindor by nightfall."
"Kate, please, come back if only just for Christmas!"
" I'm not going to!" She snapped and abruptly cut off the connection.
At Hogwarts, Harry puzzled over Kate's face appearing in the fire. "Should I tell someone?" He thought, "Dumbledore? No, Sirius! He knows more about the grounds near Hogwarts than anyone, he'll be able to find her."
The cat arrived a little after sundown, a great black shadow Harry first mistook for Sirius as Padfoot. He then saw the tufted ears and the great tuxedo front of the shaggy cat. From the collar there hung a note, gleaming like a star... He read the letter just as Sirius arrived in the form of the dog. The two animals regarded one another for a moment, and then Sirius changed to human form.
Sirius Black was frightened. When Harry had described Katherine's actions to him, he felt what little color there was in his cheeks drain. " The fool girl, she's worse than Gwen ever thought of being."
"Sirius, did you know that Gwen isn't Kate's aunt?" Harry said.
"Of course she's Kate's aunt, their resemblance is almost too uncanny at times," Sirius replied.
" No, she's Kate's mum. That's why Kate's in such a temper. The only people who seemed to know were Professor Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey."
"What? If Gwen is Kate's mother, then...." In a flash he was off, having transformed into the great black dog. The cat, message delivered, bounded after him, when it caught up, the cat seemed to lead the dog in the right direction... It was difficult to see them, nothing more than two massive shadows, and then they were gone.
Kate shivered under her blankets. The fire must have gotten too low. She sat up as an enormous black figure rose in her sights, she gasped, and then said, " Wanderer, tell Orion that he can shrink now, he doesn't need to be so big," Then she turned, still half-lying down and actually looked at the shadow. It wasn't Orion, and she soon found herself face to face with the enormous black dog. She sat up suddenly, then looked into the strange pale eyes, and knew who it was.
Suddenly there were strong arms about her, holding her. She did something she hadn't done since she heard the terrible words Dumbledore spoke. She cried, wrenching sobs into the shoulder of Sirius Black. "Shhh, it will be all right. That couldn't have been easy for you. Hush now, sweetheart, and I will take you back to Hogwarts. Gwen should be there any time now."
She raised her head, " I don't want to see her. Not now. She lied to me for sixteen years, and got everyone else I know to lie along with her. Sirius, what am I going to do?"
"Kate, I know she had a good reason. It was the time of Voldemort; she was a descendent of Morgana Le Fey, in great danger of her life. Whoever your father was, he probably sired one of the most powerful witches since Le Fey herself. Gwen was only a little older than you are now; she was frightened
and alone."
"You forgive her... You were in love with her! Were you the one she wanted to take from Azkaban?" She looked up into the haunted face and saw tears in his eyes as well.
"She wanted a prisoner released from Azkaban into her custody? I thought that after my imprisonment she would have gone to Snape. In fact, I was certain of it. He hated me so, and was quite madly in love with Gwen."
" I don't know anything about that."
" A little before your time, wasn't it? Now, come on, Kate, it's Christmas Eve and here you are in a damp cave when you could be in Gryffindor, full of sweets and lying on the hearth rug with your cat curled up beside you, and your hawk on the look-out for your presents."
"I don't want any presents."
"That I don't believe. Now you just put your head down and I'll get everything taken care of." She leaned her head on his shoulder again, as he magically put all her things in order and told the still enormous cat to take charge of them.
"You're to go through the woods. I'll take her on the broom. Go to Gryffindor Tower and wait for her," Sirius said to the cat. To the kestrel he only said, "Follow us."
" I can fly my own broom, thank you."
"You're in no condition, emotionally, to fly that broom. I want to make sure you get to Dumbledore, if I have to carry you there myself."
"No, you'll be caught!"
"It's a risk I am willing to take. Come now and get on the broom, hold onto me, not it."
Quite soon they were flying over the woods and Hogwarts soon came into view. He flew the Moonlight Pursuer all the way up to the doors of the Great Hall and pushed them wide open. Then, carrying the broom and Kate, he strode up to the high table, where all the professors were gathered. Gwen Rhys was
there, wearing forest green robes and a heartbroken expression.
When Sirius walked in, she was the first to stand and raise the hue and cry, "Kate!" It seemed as though her feet flew to the man in the gray robes, flew to the sixteen year old girl whose long dark hair was flying from the braid which imprisoned it.
When she reached them, she engulfed them in her robes, Kate was held close to the heart of the woman she now knew as her mother.
"Oh my Kate, my little girl. Why did you have to run away? How could you have known? I wasn't allowed to tell you, for your own safety. It was a dark time, dearest, you couldn't understand. Oh Sirius, you brought her back to me! You brought her back safe! " She was smiling as the tears rolled down
her cheeks, and her golden hair shining in the candlelight.
"NO!" Shouted Professor Snape, "Gwendolyn, you get away from him. He's dangerous. Get the child away from him!"
Kate, however, had released herself from between Sirius and Gwen, " I want the truth, all of it. I don't want to be spared because of my age, and I don't want to be spared because of the horror. I should think that I am strong enough to handle whatever anyone can throw; but I've had enough curve balls to last me a lifetime!" She shouted, then turned. Her aunt.... No that's not right, her mother was still in the arms of Sirius Black, and looking as though she wasn't ready to break away. The smell of rich food made her stomach turn. Her eyes swam and she fell.
She smelled the hospital wing before anything else. Then the voices, all around her, speaking in low, urgent tones.
" She's been malnourished, but then, what do you expect, living on chocolate and the like for a week. You'd think the cat or the bird would have brought her something," that voice was Madam Pomfrey, the nurse.
" She didn't know what she was doing, the poor child was in shock. No one in their right mind would go out in the middle of December to live like a hermit," that was Professor McGonagall.
" She needs rest. Vultures, every last one of us, hovering over her," Snape said. Kate was so surprised, she opened her eyes and sat bolt upright.
She looked about the number assembled there. Madam Pomfrey was trying to get her to eat something, Kate waved her away. Snape stood to the left of her pillow, Sirius to the right. Gwen had knelt by the bed, her hand over Kate's. Professor Dumbledore stood at the foot of the bed, Professor McGonagall to his right, and, to her amazement, Harry Potter was at his left. The bird and the cat were there as well. Orion was curled up in the crook of her arm as always, and the bird perched on Harry's shoulder.
"Would anyone mind telling me what precisely is going on?" Her voice sounded oddly far away and calm to her ears, as though they were miles from her mouth.
" You fainted, Kate," Dumbledore said, "Though not without great provocation."
She played with the pendant about her neck, " I never seem to do anything without great provocation. I want the truth, here and now. All of it. I'm tired of having to sneak around corners and listen in."
"Then let us go to my office. We'll speak there. Can you walk or shall I have someone carry you?"
" I'll walk. I've had more than enough of being carried around like a sack of potatoes," she got up and swung her feet over the side of the bed. Her knees, weak as jelly, refused to hold her up, " Then again, if Harry wouldn't mind giving me an arm, I wouldn't refuse that, or better yet, have Orion carry me."
The cat stretched and lightly jumped off the bed. Then he grew. The teachers jumped back. Housecats the size of Siberian tigers seem to cause that sort of reaction in people.
She was helped to Dumbldore's office where they all inisted she take the most comfortable chair. The cat returned to his normal size and sat in the place of honor on her lap, the hawk perched on the back of the chair and Fawkes the phoenix fluttered down to sit near her. She put an absent hand to the soft feathers, while the other stroked the purring cat.
"I hear you know something about this, Fawkes," she said to the phoenix as she touched the silver pendent, "Can you tell me where I got it?" The scarlet and gold bird looked at her a long moment, then turned its head to be petted. Kate smiled sadly and did as the creature asked. Dumbledore cleared his throat.
"Now that we are all assembled, who would like to tell the girl the story of her birth?"
" I will, I owe her that much," Gwen said, her eyes steady.
"Ok, go on... Tell me."
" I was sent to Hogwarts from the beginning. Your grandparents were very old-fashioned, though we'd been in America for several generations. There, I was sorted into Gryffindor, along with James and Lily, Sirius, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. I had, however, made a friend in my potions class. He
was very clever with that sort of thing. In those days, we did not have injections for the cold iron serum. I had to drink the stuff, and I hated it so."
"Gwen..." Snape said softly, but she raised her hand.
" This boy was so upset that something was unpleasant to me, he developed a different way of making the serum. He made it possible for me to take it by injection, which made me much more human than I would have been otherwise. This boy's name was Severus Snape. He was in Slytherin, and so I only saw
him in a couple classes a week. Meanwhile, I had been amongst the other Gryffindors, getting to know the people in my house. One young fellow in particular appealed to my rather reckless nature. Sirius Black and I were as alike as two peas in a pod."
"Too mischievious to be Head Boy and Girl. That went to Harry's parents," Dumbldore murmured.
" Well, Sirius would get us all into trouble, and I would go to Severus to patch me up, afterwards. Severus became jealous. We never seemed to have adventures together like the type I had with Sirius and the others. But I had never felt so free in my life. I had always been taught to hide my high-spirits, my Kate. Here, I found the most wonderful opportunities to display them."
" To break the rules."
" That's the pot calling the kettle black, Sirius."
"Go on." Kate said, looking even more intense.
"Well, Voldemort had been coming to power while we grew up. When we were only a few years older than you and Harry are now, we all went to a wedding. I was the maid of honor, and Sirius was the best man. A year later, Harry was born. But before that, your parents went into hiding, young man... as did Sirius. I'm not proud of what I did, but I thought I was going to lose him. Then a week later, Severus showed up on my doorstep, battered beyond belief. I took him in. Once he was better, he insisted I go to Hogwarts, 'to wait out the storm,' were your words, Severus. I had not been there very long when I realized I was going to have a baby. I did not know who had been the father. I just knew who it could have been, and God help me: I loved them both. I couldn't bear to hurt the one who you didn't belong to, Kate. You were born here at Hogwarts, on Halloween, at the same time Lord Voldemort killed Harry's parents."
"And so I dared to be born. You would have been next on Voldemort's hit list, am I right?"
Snape, unable to remain quiet any longer, began to speak, " She was. Unless she had consented to marry a death-eater and become the mother of future dark wizards. Gwen, you knew it was safe afterwards, why didn't you come to me?"
" Severus, I couldn't. I was not going to do anything till I knew who Kate's father was. I still don't know," Gwen said, wiping away the tears which had fallen.
Kate's tenuous hold on her sarcasm finally broke, " Haven't you people ever heard of DNA testing? It's very accurate. Isn't there a wizard's equivilent to it?"
" Not that we know of."
" Then we can do it the old-fashioned way. I've just had my entire world shot to hell. I want something concrete, I'm sick of guessing games. "
" Kate, you know I will marry whoever your father is?"
" I don't give a tinker's damn who you marry, or even if you marry. Don't do anything you would regret later on. I don't want to have your unhappiness to my credit. Aunt.... No, I'll just call you Gwen for now, it saves me confusion. If you marry either one of these men, don't do it for my sake, only do it for your own. Look at them, then tell yourself which one you can't be happy without. I will not interfere."
Gwen looked from one face to the other. The one was sallow, the sneer finally replaced by a desperate line of uncertainty. The other was haggard, though steadily regaining health and handsomeness. Black eyes versus blue. The Professor or the Prisoner. The man who had saved the life of her child or.... no, both men had done that.
" I.... I can't. I can't bear to hurt either one!" Gwen fell to the floor, weeping.
Kate slid out of the chair and held her mother, " Then you'll just end up hurting both of them, not to mention yourself."
" I've made my decision, Kate. Whichever one is your father."
" Mom! That's no answer!."
"Gwendolyn, Katherine, there is no point in the two of you arguing about this all night, which I am certain you would do if left to yourselves. We've asked for the truth, and Gwendolyn has given what there is to be known. What else there is, it can all wait till tomorrow. I know Kate here must want some rest, and tempers will be eased and raw nerves calmed after a good night's sleep. Now, sir cat, if you would help the young lady back to the hospital wing?"
Orion grew again, grumbling this time. Kate however, stood up with no difficulty. Harry moved to her side, to make sure she didn't fall.
" You make an excellent knight in shining armor, Harry," her eyes had regained their customary sparkle. He grinned back at her, suddenly feeling rather foolish. When Kate laughed, he always wanted to laugh with her. He supposed it was her faerie blood.
She tripped away, light as a moonbeam, " I don't want to go to the hospital wing, Professor Dumbledore," she pleaded, " I want to go back to Gryffindor, after all, its Christmas. Orion here misses his cozy pillow and Wanderer wants a window to look out of." With that she was off, Orion and Wanderer in
hot pursuit, Harry following at almost the same break-neck pace.
" Willful as a cat. Said so the night she was born," Dumbledore said.
"She is willful. But she is also loyal, strong and true of heart. If she wasn't headstrong, and didn't have that temper, she wouldn't be human... She would be like me." Gwen said
For the first time since they entered the office, Sirius spoke, " Gwen, go to bed. Don't beat yourself up over what might have been," he looked as though he very much wanted to take her in his arms, but he didn't. He sat down, terribly weary, " Kate... what a child! I swear, she'll end up giving us all grey hair. Thank heavens she and the others haven't gotten into more trouble. They could rival us in our prime, Gwen."
"She's as bad as the Weasley twins put together.... though they could take some lessons from her about not getting caught," McGonagall said, her stern voice lightened for once by the memory of the irrepresible Kate.
" She's been through things we can only imagine in our nightmares, and she's not bitter, like some of us," Lupin sighed, thinking of his ongoing struggle as a werewolf, and comparing it to Kate's fey qualities.
" We've all been enchanted by her. It's harder to break because it isn't magic in the sense we all understand. Her magic is in the way her temper changes from moment to moment; in the way she finds trreasure in the oddest things. It's the little things that you notice, and it makes her all the more amazing when she goes through what she did tonight. There is no man on this earth, I think, who would not be lucky to answer when she says 'Father'," Snape's voice was quiet and certain.
" Indeed, and she will know for herself tomorrow." Dumbledore stated.
"Professor McGonagall, I could do with a good strong cup of coffee right about now," Gwen sighed.
"Yes, indeed, I'll get you some right away Gwen, dear." The two women left the office, headed for Professor McGonagall's rooms.
"Sirius, I suggest you stay this night here. No one will send for the Ministry. No one, do you hear, Severus?" Dumbledore looked at Snape, "If I hear that someone has sent for them, I shall be very put out. Remember, there are two Sidhe here in the castle. They outstrip dementors in their ferocity when provoked."
"You needn't remind me, Professor Dumbldore. I understand you perfectly," Snape's black robes billowed behind him as he left the office.
"It was good of you to go and get her, Sirius. Hagrid has been telling me that there is something out there in the dark forest, something that isn't supposed to be there. I was worried about her."
"Are you sure you don't know who her father is, Professor?" Sirius asked, " I... I still love Gwen. That was the one happy thought the demetors couldn't take from me. I would picture her waving to me, then going and hiding amongst those boulders, that summer we all stayed at Cannon Hill."
"I wish I did, for Kate's sake. She has had a great deal of upheaval this year. Sirius, do you want to be her father for her sake, or for Gwen's?"
"I love Gwen, and I always will. But Kate, there is just something about her. Something in her eyes that I wish I had something to do with. She's a kindred spirit, I think."
"Well, I wish you luck, Sirius Black. You want to be her father for the right reasons."
Once she was certain everyone was asleep, Kate snuck down to the Great Hall and whispered to the portrait of Morgana.
"Morgana, what did you mean by a prophecy being about me?"
"Dear child, you're the descendent of both myself and Merlin. Myself through your mother. Merlin through your father.You're to be a great sorceress, my dear. And you will be one of two to defeat the Dark Lord. You've great power, and Voldemort will want that. After that, you'll be the mother of the Pendragon. Through you, Arthur will be born again, though many generations in the future. You see why he couldn't have you be born? But the Dark Lord was so caught up with finding the Potters that he couldn't see to Gwen before you were born. Harry Potter foiled him in more ways than one."
"Merlin? As in sword in the stone Merlin?"
"Yes, yes. You ask far too many questions."
"Maybe you can tell me who my father is. I don't know."
Morgana shook her head, " I've told you far more than I should have. But I can tell you how to find out who your father is..." the painting trailed off. Professors Dumbledore, Lupin, McGonagall, and Snape, along with Gwen Rhys and Sirius Black, stood in several doorways to the hall.
"Stay the night in Gryffindor Tower, indeed. You just wanted to be able to sneak off when you had the first chance," Professor McGonagall said.
"Why are you out of bed, Kate?" Dumbldore asked pleasantly.
"From what the portrait said on the night of the Yule ball. I thought... she might know. Or maybe even know how to find out who my father is," Kate said, rather uncertainly, "To tell you the truth, I just had an odd feeling that Morgana might know what to do."
"Quite so, my dear girl. Did you know she's got Merlin's blood running in her veins, Professor Dumbldore? I daresay even you didn't. She wears his pendent on her breast, and I can see nearly everything about her, even the things she cannot see herself.
"What do you mean?" Kate asked, voice reflecting thinning patience.
"The pendant, girl. It's a great magical talisman, Merlin himself came forward in time to give it to you. It can show you who your father is."
"How?" Kate put both hands on either side of the picture frame.
"Put it in the hand of the first man... No, don't take it off! Never take that pendant off! There, that's right. Now, put your hand over his. Clasp it, yes, yes, with the fingers entertwined. Now hold it up. Just like that... only you have to do it by the light of the moon."
" Oh great. Any particular phase of the moon?"
"A blue moon... Not new, not quarter, not full."
"Now you tell me," Kate finally had to give in to sarcasm.
" Now, you ungrateful baggage, don't you take that tone with me. I've been
more than helpful."
" Whatever. Does anyone know what the phase of the moon is tonight?"
" It's two months till the next blue moon." Lupin said.
"You would know better than any of us. We'll just have to wait," she replied.
The next day was Christmas, and Kate awoke to little velvet feet pawing at her nose. She batted them away, only to have them replaced by a rough tongue.
"Ok, Orion, I'm up. I'll get you something to eat in a minute," she grumbled. She was most definately not a morning person, even on Christmas. She got up out of bed, went and brushed her teeth and took Orion down to the common room. When she saw what had been done to it, she stood in shock for a full five minutes. Later on, she would swear that her jaw had dropped so hard, she had bruised it.
The common room was a wonderous sight. There were life-size nutcrackers, dressed in a variety of uniforms; castles of crystal-like spun sugar; silver windchimes moving of their own accord. On the ceiling, there hung a pearly-white moon the size of a beachball, and there were star points of every color. She picked out her favorite constellations from this.
She ran back up to the girls' dormitory and got her friend out of bed, "Hermione, come and look!" She said in an excited whisper. The other girl put a hand to her mouth in awe.
"Someone must have come in here and done this while we were asleep. Your mother, most likely."
"I don't know. Oh, there's a tree in here, even... and presents! There are a whole bunch for you too... and some for Harry and Ron... Oh, let's go get them."
The girls ran to the boys' dormitory and got the two boys. They got back to the common room and they sat near the sparkling tree.
"This one is for you, Hermione! Oh, isn't that lovely!" Kate exclaimed as her friend unwrapped a violet scarve of the finest weave, " The color suits you too."
They all of them made away like bandits. Bottles of butterbeer, candy galore, and enough knicknacks to satisfy even Kate were found in their stockings. They mostly got things from parents, Hermione's sent them all new toothbrushes along with gifts. Mrs.Weasley sent them each a sweater, socks and even more edible goodies. Kate got loads of gifts from Gwen. She had brought things from stores catering to the Civil War buff; books and even the uniform of a Union Colonel. She moved the shining infantry saber about for a few moments. Gwen had brought kepis for Ron and Harry, and an amethyst brooch for Hermione. Kate got a sapphire brooch along with her other non-magic gifts.
"How generous. My Muggle relatives aren't nearly so nice. They sent me a Q-tip this Christmas."
"It takes all kinds. Here, we've got more to get out," Kate said, diving back beneath the tree.
"Here's one for you from Sirius, Harry," she handed him a thick square parcel.
"It has your name on it too," he said, "We'll have to open it together."
"I... I can't. It wouldn't be right."
"OK, we'll save it for last then," Harry said.
"Look at this!" Ron held out a small package addressed to Kate, " See the signature!"
"Snape."
"Open both of them. Whichever way things turn out, you can always give one of them back," Hermione said logically.
"All right," Kate said, taking the small parcel. It was a small blue book, gilt edged. A note fell out as she opened it to see pristine creamy pages. She opened it and scanned her eyes over it.
"What does it say?"
" I... I don't want to say. This is for me only."
" Shall we open the present from Sirius?"
They both pulled the ribbon away and a large, heavy tome was revealed. It was entitled Animagi; How to attain the ultimate practice in transfiguration.
"He wants us to learn how to become Animagi," Kate breathed.
"That's bunk. We can't become Animagi, we'd have to register and moniter everything. Besides, it's supposed to be really complicated."
"So? If it could be done before, what's to say we can't do it again? And who said anything about registering?"
There was a knock at the door, and Gwen Rhys walked into the room. She drew short of the four young people who were still sitting on the floor. She smiled and ruffled Harry's hair and kissed Kate on the cheek.
"So, have you had a merry Christmas? You've not finished with your gifts! Not a one of the special ones from me opened. Get to it. Kate, start handing out the last of the gifts. I would have thought that you'd be done by now," she seated herself in an armchair, conjured a cup of tea, her cat Leonidas on her lap.
Hermione opened her gift from Gwen. It was a miniature of the Hogwarts castle and grounds, complete with moving figurines. Hermione clapped her hands in delight and moved each piece about. Ron's gift was a brand new set of wizard chess pieces, both white and black. He grinned, Kate had obviously told what he liked. Harry opened a snowglobe which displayed a Quidditch match being played out. Like Hermione's castle, everything seemed to move of its' own accord. Kate had two gifts. She opened the first to find a musicbox, the figure of a young woman walking along a hill, a silver crescent moon hanging midair. Kate wound the box up and Moonlight Sonata began to play. The second package was very long, almost as long as the boxes for her staff and broom. Kate tore the paper off slowly, and opened the ornate oak box. Inside lay a sword, shaped like a broadsword, only delicate, as though made for a lady's hand. It was made of pure silver, but it was a dark kind of silver, Kate could tell, and had a red stone the size of a hen's egg set in the hilt. She lifted it it from it's velvet bed, and felt a warmth spread through her entire body. She was meant to have this sword, she knew.
" Entirely silver, red diamond in the hilt, flanked by rubies. Can you guess what this is, Kate?" said Gwen in an excited whisper.
"Begins with the letter "E", doesn't it? Is it truly?"
"Perhaps... perhaps."
Kate began to duel with the air, "Lunge, feint, riposte. It seems made for me. But you can tell it is quite old."
"That is the way of some things. You've a talent, Kate. It's not something that many wizards or witches can do, dueling with something besides wands. You'll find the sword just as powerful as your wand or staff.
"It is totally amazing. I love it," Kate stood and kissed her mother.
The others went to get dress. Kate sat by the tree for a long time. She played the music box and touched the glass ball, watching the tiny girl pace about the globe. Then she opened the note from Snape. The writing was forcible and slanting. She read it over and turned the little blue book over in her hands. On the cover, silver writing appeared. Katherine Silverhair. She smiled at the nickname. There was no use in getting angry over it. Besides, the appellation was rather pretty. The note Snape put with the small book read,
"My dear Katherine, I would like for you to have this token . I know these past few days must have been difficult for you. I have noticed that you always seem to have a quill in your hand, and not neccessarily for taking notes. So that you won't put anymore little writings and sketches in your Potions scrolls, I present this book for you to write in. It has been bound so that you will never run out of room, there will always be one page more. I understand that your thoughts must run too deeply to speak of, but for the fact that paper and pen are often a better media.They can keep a person sane. Never feel that you cannot come to me when you are in need of help. I made this promise to your... mother, and I make it now to you; whatever the results of a two months hence.
Merry Christmas
Severus Snape"
Kate read it and re-read the paper several times. She burned to get a quill and write in the lovely little book. It seemed to call to her. But she couldn't . She couldn't write a word in it, not until she knew. It wasn't a gift to thrill her soul, like the music box, or earn her instant appreciation for the fineness of it, like the uniform, or even fill an part of her which had seemed to be missing, like the sword; it appealed to the subtleness of her nature. He knew of her masquerade as the journalist; he knew how the act of putting pen to paper soothed and strengthened her. There was nothing that could have been given that would have vexed her more to put aside and wait for. She bit her lower lip, and took up a quill and wrote a quote from Shakespeare in silver ink:
"What a piece of work is man! How noble in reason! how infinite in
faculties! in form and moving, how express and admirable! in action how like
an angel! in apprehension, how like a god! the beauty of the world! the
paragon of animals! "
If she were to keep it, she would write more quotes from her favorite authors in there. If not, then hopefully Snape would forgive her for writing in it, and that he could not return it. She put the little book aside, went to her bedside cupboard in the dormitory and got out her sketchbook and pencil. Sitting on her bed, she pictured in her head the first of the two men, quickly forming Snape's profile, and then a full face study. It was really a very good little drawing, but she gave it little thought as she set it aside for another sheet. Next she sketched Sirius, trying to find a medium between the sunken faced man of the old newspaper prints, and the laughing young man from the dreams. She worked longer on his face, concentrating hard on each detail. She went through three sheets of paper before she felt remotely satisfied with it.
"Close enough," she muttered, then did a quick sketch of Gwen, then one of herself. Finally, Kate took the self portrait and lay it over the sketch of Snape. She looked too much like Gwen for this to work, but she fancied she could see a resmeblence in the eyebrows. She then tried it with the sketch of Sirius, there, the eyes and the smile were almost the same, but she just couldn't really tell.
Kate sighed and got up. She went and brushed her teeth again and put on a sweater, jeans and boots. She then went down to the common room to find it deserted. Splat! went something on the window! Kate jumped a foot in the air, then looked out to see Harry, Hermione and Ron making snowballs and waving at her. She waved back and opened the window.
"I'll be right down!" she called out, shutting it again in time to block another snowball. Laughing, she put on her aviator jacket and gloves, and left the Gryffindor Tower.
Racing down a whole bunch of stairs, she almost ran into Professor Dumbledore. She stopped short and stood for a moment, catching her breath.
"Where to in such a hurry, Kate? Is Gryffindor Tower on fire?"
" There's a snowball fight going on outside. My fast-pitch arm is desperately needed."
"Snowballs? Indeed. No one is ever too old for a snowball fight."
" No sir."
"Go on now, and put some roses in those cheeks. All study and adventure and no play isn't any good for you."
Kate grinned and saluted as she ran off. Dumbledore looked after her, chuckling. A strange combination, fey and wizard blood made. He had his suspicions about her parentage, but he might be surprised. The girl was made of so many contradictions, either Severus Snape or Sirius Black could have
fathered her. He felt a stab of pity for the man who hadn't.
Kate got outside and found the others. Hermione and Ron had ganged up on Harry, who was trying to get enough snowballs to hit them both. He was doing it the old-fashioned way while the others were using magic. Kate, sneaking up behind the other two, scooped snow up in each hand and formed a perfect
ball. She threw them in quick succession, then ducked behind a hedge so that they never saw her. The two looked exceedingly thunderstruck as they tried to find out where the snowballs had come from. Kate made two more snowballs, and crept along the hedge to the end, tossing them at Ron and Hermione again. This time she laughed as they both caught it right in the chest.
"You two should learn to play better odds," she called out, as she ran over to Harry, "Want to play teams?"
"Sure. I was getting pelted. You're real good at this."
"Thanks. Let's teach those two how to win without using magic."
"OK. How do we do that?"
"Take the high ground.... Then all we have to do it roll the snowballs down on 'em," Kate grinned and was off in a flash. She was shoveling snowballs in rapid succesion and hurling them at the others. For an hour they held their own against the opposing force. Then their stomachs began to rumble and they tramped in for lunch. The Great Hall had only a few people in it, and there was only one table set up.
"Ah, you're just in time. Come and enjoy your meal. It's not the feast we'll be having tonight, but it's all very good," Dumbledore said to the children.
The four sat down on one side of the table across from the teachers. Kate watched her mother.. "It's going to take getting used to, calling her 'Mom'," she thought. Gwen looked tired and avoided the eyes of Professor Snape and Sirius. She kept her gaze focused on her food, and only spoke when spoken to.
"Could someone pass the baked apples?" Kate asked, eyeing the glowing red apples swimming in brown sugar syrup.
Gwen looked up, and Kate saw that her eyes were swimming with tears.
"Never mind, I'm not all that hungry. May I be excused?" Kate got up suddenly after having only had a very little bit to eat. She walked quickly, not to the Gryffindor Tower, but back outside. The air seemed colder than it had before. She shivered in her jacket. Things were not as they should be, and it had nothing to do with her.
Kate saw the shadow before she saw it. Large and hairy, it came at her with a great club. She moved quickly though, getting out of it's way. Dancing lightly about, she toyed with the idea of screaming, then decided that it would do no good. It would only enrage the troll. Then she had an idea.
"Accio Excalibur!" She shouted, running as fast as she could to avoid the creature. Sure enough, there was soon a glimmer of silver shooting towards her. She raised her hand and felt the secure weight filling it.
"That's better," she muttered, just as the troll lunged. She slashed viciously at it, then turned to deliver another blow. The creature was howling in pain, making wild swipes at her. It landed a blow only once, her
right shoulder, it stunned her for a moment. She almost dropped the sword. The troll tried to pick her up, and that's when she finally screamed. She managed to elude the troll's grasp, and, switching Excalibur into her left hand finally drove the sword home into it's chest.
People swarmed out of the Great Hall to find her battered and bleeding in the snow, the carcass of a troll nearby. Snape was the first to reach her; scooping her up into his arms, he strode to the hospital wing. Laying her down in the bed she had occupied the night before, he checked the wound to her shoulder.
"Dislocated. You're lucky to have gotten away from that mountain troll with nothing more," Snape said.
Kate looked up at him, "It wasn't a mountain troll. It was a Forest troll. He's here," then she passed out.
"He? Who he?" Snape asked Gwen.
"Lorenzo. I thought that surely he wouldn't dare, not at Hogwarts.... That's one of the reasons why I sent her here.... The troll must have had orders to take her. He wanted her for his consort. He thought if he could do that, he'd be able to control the Wild Hunt and the Come- Hither through her. She showed him otherwise."
"Oh God," Sirius said, "I don't want her alone. She needs to be protected round the clock."
"I agree. And not by that indolent cat," Snape said, glaring at Orion who had come and curled himself up at Kate's feet.
"Orion is a better guard than an armed wizard. He is devoted to her. There's also the added protection that Lorenzo doesn't know about Orion's abilities. And the falcon is also needed. But the more protection the better," Gwen brushed the hair from Kate's closed eyes, "Kate was always more my little girl than Anwen's. But I think that she and Patrick realized that. Oh, what would I do if I lost her to that monster?"
"You'd go and get her back," Sirius growled, "And I'd be right there with you."
"We'd all be there, Gwen," Snape said.
Madam Pomfrey bustled up and put Kate's shoulder back in place. Kate woke up within the hour.
"What a way to spend Christmas," she grumbled, "Do I have to waste the whole day in bed? It wasn't a really dangerous troll, just a particularly smelly one. Made short work of it. I didn't mean to kill it, just meant to get away from it. When it almost caught me, I panicked and ran it through. Where's my sword," her fingers played fretfully on the blanket.
"We have it, Kate," it was Ron, Harry and Hermione. They each had a hold of the sword. Ron had spoken in a small voice.
"That thing must have been out there while we were playing," Hermione said, also in hushed tones.
"And I put you all in danger. I'm sorry."
"We shouldn't have let you go out alone!" Harry said angrily, "Hagrid said there was something nasty in the forest.... something that wasn't supposed to be there.
" I ran away and lived in the hills for a week, and I was fine. I was safer out there than I am in here."
"Children, will you quit arguing. Now, you three, go and take that sword out of this hospital wing. It's unhygenic," Madam Pomfrey was irate at being unable to fuss over her patient, "Now, only the child's parents can stay in here, unless Professor Dumbledore wishes to speak with her," The nurse amended herself as the headmaster entered the room.
"Indeed I do wish to speak with her. That troll didn't get here from the Forest of Illusion without help."
" He's here, I know it. I've felt something was coming. I thought.... I thought that this whole thing with Gwen and Professor Snape and Sirius was it, but I was wrong. Lorenzo is here, I don't know how I know it, but I know it."
"He was careless, using a Forest troll. You're one of the most sensitive people I've seen when it comes to visions. Must be the fey blood."
"Harry is the only person I've told about this, and now is as good a time as any to tell everyone else. My first night here, I had some really... odd dreams. Disturbing dreams. There were several scenes. One was was of Gwen and Sirius, about my age, they were arguing. Then Professor Snape and Gwen, making the serum. The third was probably the weirdest. I was standing in the doorway of a cottage. There was a tall, monstrous being threatening a young woman. He aimed a wand at her, and there was green smoke. An explosion, and then everything cleared. The wizard was gone, and the girl lay in the blackened heap of what was left of the cottage. She was dead. But the baby wasn't. I... I tried to wake her up, but I couldn't. So I picked the baby up and sang to it. Harry heard me sing that song and somehow he remembered it. But it couldn't have happened, could it? When Hagrid came, I hid and watched him take the baby. Then the scene changed again. I was in Professor Dumbledore's office, and he had another baby. I think it was me. He left Fawkes in charge of her while he went out for five minutes or so. Then.... there was more, and I couldn't remember till now what it was. Someone just appeared in the room..."
"But you can't Apparate on Hogwarts grounds!" Hermione said.
"He didn't Apparate. I think he was time-traveling. The man leaned over the cradle, and put something in there. Then he turned. He had my eyes, and I could recognise parts of my face in his. I had a funny feeling I should know him. He showed me what he put in the cradle. The baby was wearing this pendent. Then he kissed my forehead and said he was proud of me. Then the dream was over."
"Who was it, Kate?" Sirius asked. His voice sounded as though he needed some water.
"Who do you think? It was Merlin."
"Merlin? Are you certain?" Dumbledore eyes took on a strange glint.
"Quite certain. He told me that the past and the future meet in dreams, and that though I looked like Morgana, I had enough of him in me to keep things interesting. He.... He looked like me when he smiled. But there's something else. Whoever my dad is, he is the descendent of Merlin. That means he can call the Wild Hunt. No wonder Lorenzo's after me. This means that I'm doubly cursed." Kate's words left an impact on the assembled party. Each felt a small cold chill when she stood and walked away as though nothing had happened.
M.L.
In the mountains surrounding Hogwarts, Kate made herself comfortable on the shores of a small lake, with a tiny cave framed by the waters. Despite it suiting her, both Orion and Wanderer found themselves irritated. Kate, knowing better than most on how to survive without magic, got on just fine. Within a couple days, there were rumors of a "Lady of the Lake." She dressed herself warmly.... It was only a few days before Christmas, she checked off her calendar religiously.
It was cold, but not as cold as a Pennsylvanian winter. She kept the little cave quite warm and cozy. About a week after she had left Hogwarts, she convinced Orion into growing to his large size: that of a very burly panther.
"That's so you don't get eaten. Send this to Harry, Hermione and Ron. I don't want Wanderer out after dark, and he can't grow the way you can. Now, if you run into trouble, just supersize yourself," she tied a note to his collar. He loped off, clearly not happy.
Kate threw some dust in the fire, and called to see Harry Potter, " Harry!" She said, as she saw his face swim into focus. His face looked startled and he whispered, "Kate? Where are you? They've been combing the Forest and everywhere else!"
" No where that anyone may need find. I am sending a note. It is attached to the belt of Orion. He is a bit larger than usual. He'll be to Gryffindor by nightfall."
"Kate, please, come back if only just for Christmas!"
" I'm not going to!" She snapped and abruptly cut off the connection.
At Hogwarts, Harry puzzled over Kate's face appearing in the fire. "Should I tell someone?" He thought, "Dumbledore? No, Sirius! He knows more about the grounds near Hogwarts than anyone, he'll be able to find her."
The cat arrived a little after sundown, a great black shadow Harry first mistook for Sirius as Padfoot. He then saw the tufted ears and the great tuxedo front of the shaggy cat. From the collar there hung a note, gleaming like a star... He read the letter just as Sirius arrived in the form of the dog. The two animals regarded one another for a moment, and then Sirius changed to human form.
Sirius Black was frightened. When Harry had described Katherine's actions to him, he felt what little color there was in his cheeks drain. " The fool girl, she's worse than Gwen ever thought of being."
"Sirius, did you know that Gwen isn't Kate's aunt?" Harry said.
"Of course she's Kate's aunt, their resemblance is almost too uncanny at times," Sirius replied.
" No, she's Kate's mum. That's why Kate's in such a temper. The only people who seemed to know were Professor Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey."
"What? If Gwen is Kate's mother, then...." In a flash he was off, having transformed into the great black dog. The cat, message delivered, bounded after him, when it caught up, the cat seemed to lead the dog in the right direction... It was difficult to see them, nothing more than two massive shadows, and then they were gone.
Kate shivered under her blankets. The fire must have gotten too low. She sat up as an enormous black figure rose in her sights, she gasped, and then said, " Wanderer, tell Orion that he can shrink now, he doesn't need to be so big," Then she turned, still half-lying down and actually looked at the shadow. It wasn't Orion, and she soon found herself face to face with the enormous black dog. She sat up suddenly, then looked into the strange pale eyes, and knew who it was.
Suddenly there were strong arms about her, holding her. She did something she hadn't done since she heard the terrible words Dumbledore spoke. She cried, wrenching sobs into the shoulder of Sirius Black. "Shhh, it will be all right. That couldn't have been easy for you. Hush now, sweetheart, and I will take you back to Hogwarts. Gwen should be there any time now."
She raised her head, " I don't want to see her. Not now. She lied to me for sixteen years, and got everyone else I know to lie along with her. Sirius, what am I going to do?"
"Kate, I know she had a good reason. It was the time of Voldemort; she was a descendent of Morgana Le Fey, in great danger of her life. Whoever your father was, he probably sired one of the most powerful witches since Le Fey herself. Gwen was only a little older than you are now; she was frightened
and alone."
"You forgive her... You were in love with her! Were you the one she wanted to take from Azkaban?" She looked up into the haunted face and saw tears in his eyes as well.
"She wanted a prisoner released from Azkaban into her custody? I thought that after my imprisonment she would have gone to Snape. In fact, I was certain of it. He hated me so, and was quite madly in love with Gwen."
" I don't know anything about that."
" A little before your time, wasn't it? Now, come on, Kate, it's Christmas Eve and here you are in a damp cave when you could be in Gryffindor, full of sweets and lying on the hearth rug with your cat curled up beside you, and your hawk on the look-out for your presents."
"I don't want any presents."
"That I don't believe. Now you just put your head down and I'll get everything taken care of." She leaned her head on his shoulder again, as he magically put all her things in order and told the still enormous cat to take charge of them.
"You're to go through the woods. I'll take her on the broom. Go to Gryffindor Tower and wait for her," Sirius said to the cat. To the kestrel he only said, "Follow us."
" I can fly my own broom, thank you."
"You're in no condition, emotionally, to fly that broom. I want to make sure you get to Dumbledore, if I have to carry you there myself."
"No, you'll be caught!"
"It's a risk I am willing to take. Come now and get on the broom, hold onto me, not it."
Quite soon they were flying over the woods and Hogwarts soon came into view. He flew the Moonlight Pursuer all the way up to the doors of the Great Hall and pushed them wide open. Then, carrying the broom and Kate, he strode up to the high table, where all the professors were gathered. Gwen Rhys was
there, wearing forest green robes and a heartbroken expression.
When Sirius walked in, she was the first to stand and raise the hue and cry, "Kate!" It seemed as though her feet flew to the man in the gray robes, flew to the sixteen year old girl whose long dark hair was flying from the braid which imprisoned it.
When she reached them, she engulfed them in her robes, Kate was held close to the heart of the woman she now knew as her mother.
"Oh my Kate, my little girl. Why did you have to run away? How could you have known? I wasn't allowed to tell you, for your own safety. It was a dark time, dearest, you couldn't understand. Oh Sirius, you brought her back to me! You brought her back safe! " She was smiling as the tears rolled down
her cheeks, and her golden hair shining in the candlelight.
"NO!" Shouted Professor Snape, "Gwendolyn, you get away from him. He's dangerous. Get the child away from him!"
Kate, however, had released herself from between Sirius and Gwen, " I want the truth, all of it. I don't want to be spared because of my age, and I don't want to be spared because of the horror. I should think that I am strong enough to handle whatever anyone can throw; but I've had enough curve balls to last me a lifetime!" She shouted, then turned. Her aunt.... No that's not right, her mother was still in the arms of Sirius Black, and looking as though she wasn't ready to break away. The smell of rich food made her stomach turn. Her eyes swam and she fell.
She smelled the hospital wing before anything else. Then the voices, all around her, speaking in low, urgent tones.
" She's been malnourished, but then, what do you expect, living on chocolate and the like for a week. You'd think the cat or the bird would have brought her something," that voice was Madam Pomfrey, the nurse.
" She didn't know what she was doing, the poor child was in shock. No one in their right mind would go out in the middle of December to live like a hermit," that was Professor McGonagall.
" She needs rest. Vultures, every last one of us, hovering over her," Snape said. Kate was so surprised, she opened her eyes and sat bolt upright.
She looked about the number assembled there. Madam Pomfrey was trying to get her to eat something, Kate waved her away. Snape stood to the left of her pillow, Sirius to the right. Gwen had knelt by the bed, her hand over Kate's. Professor Dumbledore stood at the foot of the bed, Professor McGonagall to his right, and, to her amazement, Harry Potter was at his left. The bird and the cat were there as well. Orion was curled up in the crook of her arm as always, and the bird perched on Harry's shoulder.
"Would anyone mind telling me what precisely is going on?" Her voice sounded oddly far away and calm to her ears, as though they were miles from her mouth.
" You fainted, Kate," Dumbledore said, "Though not without great provocation."
She played with the pendant about her neck, " I never seem to do anything without great provocation. I want the truth, here and now. All of it. I'm tired of having to sneak around corners and listen in."
"Then let us go to my office. We'll speak there. Can you walk or shall I have someone carry you?"
" I'll walk. I've had more than enough of being carried around like a sack of potatoes," she got up and swung her feet over the side of the bed. Her knees, weak as jelly, refused to hold her up, " Then again, if Harry wouldn't mind giving me an arm, I wouldn't refuse that, or better yet, have Orion carry me."
The cat stretched and lightly jumped off the bed. Then he grew. The teachers jumped back. Housecats the size of Siberian tigers seem to cause that sort of reaction in people.
She was helped to Dumbldore's office where they all inisted she take the most comfortable chair. The cat returned to his normal size and sat in the place of honor on her lap, the hawk perched on the back of the chair and Fawkes the phoenix fluttered down to sit near her. She put an absent hand to the soft feathers, while the other stroked the purring cat.
"I hear you know something about this, Fawkes," she said to the phoenix as she touched the silver pendent, "Can you tell me where I got it?" The scarlet and gold bird looked at her a long moment, then turned its head to be petted. Kate smiled sadly and did as the creature asked. Dumbledore cleared his throat.
"Now that we are all assembled, who would like to tell the girl the story of her birth?"
" I will, I owe her that much," Gwen said, her eyes steady.
"Ok, go on... Tell me."
" I was sent to Hogwarts from the beginning. Your grandparents were very old-fashioned, though we'd been in America for several generations. There, I was sorted into Gryffindor, along with James and Lily, Sirius, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. I had, however, made a friend in my potions class. He
was very clever with that sort of thing. In those days, we did not have injections for the cold iron serum. I had to drink the stuff, and I hated it so."
"Gwen..." Snape said softly, but she raised her hand.
" This boy was so upset that something was unpleasant to me, he developed a different way of making the serum. He made it possible for me to take it by injection, which made me much more human than I would have been otherwise. This boy's name was Severus Snape. He was in Slytherin, and so I only saw
him in a couple classes a week. Meanwhile, I had been amongst the other Gryffindors, getting to know the people in my house. One young fellow in particular appealed to my rather reckless nature. Sirius Black and I were as alike as two peas in a pod."
"Too mischievious to be Head Boy and Girl. That went to Harry's parents," Dumbldore murmured.
" Well, Sirius would get us all into trouble, and I would go to Severus to patch me up, afterwards. Severus became jealous. We never seemed to have adventures together like the type I had with Sirius and the others. But I had never felt so free in my life. I had always been taught to hide my high-spirits, my Kate. Here, I found the most wonderful opportunities to display them."
" To break the rules."
" That's the pot calling the kettle black, Sirius."
"Go on." Kate said, looking even more intense.
"Well, Voldemort had been coming to power while we grew up. When we were only a few years older than you and Harry are now, we all went to a wedding. I was the maid of honor, and Sirius was the best man. A year later, Harry was born. But before that, your parents went into hiding, young man... as did Sirius. I'm not proud of what I did, but I thought I was going to lose him. Then a week later, Severus showed up on my doorstep, battered beyond belief. I took him in. Once he was better, he insisted I go to Hogwarts, 'to wait out the storm,' were your words, Severus. I had not been there very long when I realized I was going to have a baby. I did not know who had been the father. I just knew who it could have been, and God help me: I loved them both. I couldn't bear to hurt the one who you didn't belong to, Kate. You were born here at Hogwarts, on Halloween, at the same time Lord Voldemort killed Harry's parents."
"And so I dared to be born. You would have been next on Voldemort's hit list, am I right?"
Snape, unable to remain quiet any longer, began to speak, " She was. Unless she had consented to marry a death-eater and become the mother of future dark wizards. Gwen, you knew it was safe afterwards, why didn't you come to me?"
" Severus, I couldn't. I was not going to do anything till I knew who Kate's father was. I still don't know," Gwen said, wiping away the tears which had fallen.
Kate's tenuous hold on her sarcasm finally broke, " Haven't you people ever heard of DNA testing? It's very accurate. Isn't there a wizard's equivilent to it?"
" Not that we know of."
" Then we can do it the old-fashioned way. I've just had my entire world shot to hell. I want something concrete, I'm sick of guessing games. "
" Kate, you know I will marry whoever your father is?"
" I don't give a tinker's damn who you marry, or even if you marry. Don't do anything you would regret later on. I don't want to have your unhappiness to my credit. Aunt.... No, I'll just call you Gwen for now, it saves me confusion. If you marry either one of these men, don't do it for my sake, only do it for your own. Look at them, then tell yourself which one you can't be happy without. I will not interfere."
Gwen looked from one face to the other. The one was sallow, the sneer finally replaced by a desperate line of uncertainty. The other was haggard, though steadily regaining health and handsomeness. Black eyes versus blue. The Professor or the Prisoner. The man who had saved the life of her child or.... no, both men had done that.
" I.... I can't. I can't bear to hurt either one!" Gwen fell to the floor, weeping.
Kate slid out of the chair and held her mother, " Then you'll just end up hurting both of them, not to mention yourself."
" I've made my decision, Kate. Whichever one is your father."
" Mom! That's no answer!."
"Gwendolyn, Katherine, there is no point in the two of you arguing about this all night, which I am certain you would do if left to yourselves. We've asked for the truth, and Gwendolyn has given what there is to be known. What else there is, it can all wait till tomorrow. I know Kate here must want some rest, and tempers will be eased and raw nerves calmed after a good night's sleep. Now, sir cat, if you would help the young lady back to the hospital wing?"
Orion grew again, grumbling this time. Kate however, stood up with no difficulty. Harry moved to her side, to make sure she didn't fall.
" You make an excellent knight in shining armor, Harry," her eyes had regained their customary sparkle. He grinned back at her, suddenly feeling rather foolish. When Kate laughed, he always wanted to laugh with her. He supposed it was her faerie blood.
She tripped away, light as a moonbeam, " I don't want to go to the hospital wing, Professor Dumbledore," she pleaded, " I want to go back to Gryffindor, after all, its Christmas. Orion here misses his cozy pillow and Wanderer wants a window to look out of." With that she was off, Orion and Wanderer in
hot pursuit, Harry following at almost the same break-neck pace.
" Willful as a cat. Said so the night she was born," Dumbledore said.
"She is willful. But she is also loyal, strong and true of heart. If she wasn't headstrong, and didn't have that temper, she wouldn't be human... She would be like me." Gwen said
For the first time since they entered the office, Sirius spoke, " Gwen, go to bed. Don't beat yourself up over what might have been," he looked as though he very much wanted to take her in his arms, but he didn't. He sat down, terribly weary, " Kate... what a child! I swear, she'll end up giving us all grey hair. Thank heavens she and the others haven't gotten into more trouble. They could rival us in our prime, Gwen."
"She's as bad as the Weasley twins put together.... though they could take some lessons from her about not getting caught," McGonagall said, her stern voice lightened for once by the memory of the irrepresible Kate.
" She's been through things we can only imagine in our nightmares, and she's not bitter, like some of us," Lupin sighed, thinking of his ongoing struggle as a werewolf, and comparing it to Kate's fey qualities.
" We've all been enchanted by her. It's harder to break because it isn't magic in the sense we all understand. Her magic is in the way her temper changes from moment to moment; in the way she finds trreasure in the oddest things. It's the little things that you notice, and it makes her all the more amazing when she goes through what she did tonight. There is no man on this earth, I think, who would not be lucky to answer when she says 'Father'," Snape's voice was quiet and certain.
" Indeed, and she will know for herself tomorrow." Dumbledore stated.
"Professor McGonagall, I could do with a good strong cup of coffee right about now," Gwen sighed.
"Yes, indeed, I'll get you some right away Gwen, dear." The two women left the office, headed for Professor McGonagall's rooms.
"Sirius, I suggest you stay this night here. No one will send for the Ministry. No one, do you hear, Severus?" Dumbledore looked at Snape, "If I hear that someone has sent for them, I shall be very put out. Remember, there are two Sidhe here in the castle. They outstrip dementors in their ferocity when provoked."
"You needn't remind me, Professor Dumbldore. I understand you perfectly," Snape's black robes billowed behind him as he left the office.
"It was good of you to go and get her, Sirius. Hagrid has been telling me that there is something out there in the dark forest, something that isn't supposed to be there. I was worried about her."
"Are you sure you don't know who her father is, Professor?" Sirius asked, " I... I still love Gwen. That was the one happy thought the demetors couldn't take from me. I would picture her waving to me, then going and hiding amongst those boulders, that summer we all stayed at Cannon Hill."
"I wish I did, for Kate's sake. She has had a great deal of upheaval this year. Sirius, do you want to be her father for her sake, or for Gwen's?"
"I love Gwen, and I always will. But Kate, there is just something about her. Something in her eyes that I wish I had something to do with. She's a kindred spirit, I think."
"Well, I wish you luck, Sirius Black. You want to be her father for the right reasons."
Once she was certain everyone was asleep, Kate snuck down to the Great Hall and whispered to the portrait of Morgana.
"Morgana, what did you mean by a prophecy being about me?"
"Dear child, you're the descendent of both myself and Merlin. Myself through your mother. Merlin through your father.You're to be a great sorceress, my dear. And you will be one of two to defeat the Dark Lord. You've great power, and Voldemort will want that. After that, you'll be the mother of the Pendragon. Through you, Arthur will be born again, though many generations in the future. You see why he couldn't have you be born? But the Dark Lord was so caught up with finding the Potters that he couldn't see to Gwen before you were born. Harry Potter foiled him in more ways than one."
"Merlin? As in sword in the stone Merlin?"
"Yes, yes. You ask far too many questions."
"Maybe you can tell me who my father is. I don't know."
Morgana shook her head, " I've told you far more than I should have. But I can tell you how to find out who your father is..." the painting trailed off. Professors Dumbledore, Lupin, McGonagall, and Snape, along with Gwen Rhys and Sirius Black, stood in several doorways to the hall.
"Stay the night in Gryffindor Tower, indeed. You just wanted to be able to sneak off when you had the first chance," Professor McGonagall said.
"Why are you out of bed, Kate?" Dumbldore asked pleasantly.
"From what the portrait said on the night of the Yule ball. I thought... she might know. Or maybe even know how to find out who my father is," Kate said, rather uncertainly, "To tell you the truth, I just had an odd feeling that Morgana might know what to do."
"Quite so, my dear girl. Did you know she's got Merlin's blood running in her veins, Professor Dumbldore? I daresay even you didn't. She wears his pendent on her breast, and I can see nearly everything about her, even the things she cannot see herself.
"What do you mean?" Kate asked, voice reflecting thinning patience.
"The pendant, girl. It's a great magical talisman, Merlin himself came forward in time to give it to you. It can show you who your father is."
"How?" Kate put both hands on either side of the picture frame.
"Put it in the hand of the first man... No, don't take it off! Never take that pendant off! There, that's right. Now, put your hand over his. Clasp it, yes, yes, with the fingers entertwined. Now hold it up. Just like that... only you have to do it by the light of the moon."
" Oh great. Any particular phase of the moon?"
"A blue moon... Not new, not quarter, not full."
"Now you tell me," Kate finally had to give in to sarcasm.
" Now, you ungrateful baggage, don't you take that tone with me. I've been
more than helpful."
" Whatever. Does anyone know what the phase of the moon is tonight?"
" It's two months till the next blue moon." Lupin said.
"You would know better than any of us. We'll just have to wait," she replied.
The next day was Christmas, and Kate awoke to little velvet feet pawing at her nose. She batted them away, only to have them replaced by a rough tongue.
"Ok, Orion, I'm up. I'll get you something to eat in a minute," she grumbled. She was most definately not a morning person, even on Christmas. She got up out of bed, went and brushed her teeth and took Orion down to the common room. When she saw what had been done to it, she stood in shock for a full five minutes. Later on, she would swear that her jaw had dropped so hard, she had bruised it.
The common room was a wonderous sight. There were life-size nutcrackers, dressed in a variety of uniforms; castles of crystal-like spun sugar; silver windchimes moving of their own accord. On the ceiling, there hung a pearly-white moon the size of a beachball, and there were star points of every color. She picked out her favorite constellations from this.
She ran back up to the girls' dormitory and got her friend out of bed, "Hermione, come and look!" She said in an excited whisper. The other girl put a hand to her mouth in awe.
"Someone must have come in here and done this while we were asleep. Your mother, most likely."
"I don't know. Oh, there's a tree in here, even... and presents! There are a whole bunch for you too... and some for Harry and Ron... Oh, let's go get them."
The girls ran to the boys' dormitory and got the two boys. They got back to the common room and they sat near the sparkling tree.
"This one is for you, Hermione! Oh, isn't that lovely!" Kate exclaimed as her friend unwrapped a violet scarve of the finest weave, " The color suits you too."
They all of them made away like bandits. Bottles of butterbeer, candy galore, and enough knicknacks to satisfy even Kate were found in their stockings. They mostly got things from parents, Hermione's sent them all new toothbrushes along with gifts. Mrs.Weasley sent them each a sweater, socks and even more edible goodies. Kate got loads of gifts from Gwen. She had brought things from stores catering to the Civil War buff; books and even the uniform of a Union Colonel. She moved the shining infantry saber about for a few moments. Gwen had brought kepis for Ron and Harry, and an amethyst brooch for Hermione. Kate got a sapphire brooch along with her other non-magic gifts.
"How generous. My Muggle relatives aren't nearly so nice. They sent me a Q-tip this Christmas."
"It takes all kinds. Here, we've got more to get out," Kate said, diving back beneath the tree.
"Here's one for you from Sirius, Harry," she handed him a thick square parcel.
"It has your name on it too," he said, "We'll have to open it together."
"I... I can't. It wouldn't be right."
"OK, we'll save it for last then," Harry said.
"Look at this!" Ron held out a small package addressed to Kate, " See the signature!"
"Snape."
"Open both of them. Whichever way things turn out, you can always give one of them back," Hermione said logically.
"All right," Kate said, taking the small parcel. It was a small blue book, gilt edged. A note fell out as she opened it to see pristine creamy pages. She opened it and scanned her eyes over it.
"What does it say?"
" I... I don't want to say. This is for me only."
" Shall we open the present from Sirius?"
They both pulled the ribbon away and a large, heavy tome was revealed. It was entitled Animagi; How to attain the ultimate practice in transfiguration.
"He wants us to learn how to become Animagi," Kate breathed.
"That's bunk. We can't become Animagi, we'd have to register and moniter everything. Besides, it's supposed to be really complicated."
"So? If it could be done before, what's to say we can't do it again? And who said anything about registering?"
There was a knock at the door, and Gwen Rhys walked into the room. She drew short of the four young people who were still sitting on the floor. She smiled and ruffled Harry's hair and kissed Kate on the cheek.
"So, have you had a merry Christmas? You've not finished with your gifts! Not a one of the special ones from me opened. Get to it. Kate, start handing out the last of the gifts. I would have thought that you'd be done by now," she seated herself in an armchair, conjured a cup of tea, her cat Leonidas on her lap.
Hermione opened her gift from Gwen. It was a miniature of the Hogwarts castle and grounds, complete with moving figurines. Hermione clapped her hands in delight and moved each piece about. Ron's gift was a brand new set of wizard chess pieces, both white and black. He grinned, Kate had obviously told what he liked. Harry opened a snowglobe which displayed a Quidditch match being played out. Like Hermione's castle, everything seemed to move of its' own accord. Kate had two gifts. She opened the first to find a musicbox, the figure of a young woman walking along a hill, a silver crescent moon hanging midair. Kate wound the box up and Moonlight Sonata began to play. The second package was very long, almost as long as the boxes for her staff and broom. Kate tore the paper off slowly, and opened the ornate oak box. Inside lay a sword, shaped like a broadsword, only delicate, as though made for a lady's hand. It was made of pure silver, but it was a dark kind of silver, Kate could tell, and had a red stone the size of a hen's egg set in the hilt. She lifted it it from it's velvet bed, and felt a warmth spread through her entire body. She was meant to have this sword, she knew.
" Entirely silver, red diamond in the hilt, flanked by rubies. Can you guess what this is, Kate?" said Gwen in an excited whisper.
"Begins with the letter "E", doesn't it? Is it truly?"
"Perhaps... perhaps."
Kate began to duel with the air, "Lunge, feint, riposte. It seems made for me. But you can tell it is quite old."
"That is the way of some things. You've a talent, Kate. It's not something that many wizards or witches can do, dueling with something besides wands. You'll find the sword just as powerful as your wand or staff.
"It is totally amazing. I love it," Kate stood and kissed her mother.
The others went to get dress. Kate sat by the tree for a long time. She played the music box and touched the glass ball, watching the tiny girl pace about the globe. Then she opened the note from Snape. The writing was forcible and slanting. She read it over and turned the little blue book over in her hands. On the cover, silver writing appeared. Katherine Silverhair. She smiled at the nickname. There was no use in getting angry over it. Besides, the appellation was rather pretty. The note Snape put with the small book read,
"My dear Katherine, I would like for you to have this token . I know these past few days must have been difficult for you. I have noticed that you always seem to have a quill in your hand, and not neccessarily for taking notes. So that you won't put anymore little writings and sketches in your Potions scrolls, I present this book for you to write in. It has been bound so that you will never run out of room, there will always be one page more. I understand that your thoughts must run too deeply to speak of, but for the fact that paper and pen are often a better media.They can keep a person sane. Never feel that you cannot come to me when you are in need of help. I made this promise to your... mother, and I make it now to you; whatever the results of a two months hence.
Merry Christmas
Severus Snape"
Kate read it and re-read the paper several times. She burned to get a quill and write in the lovely little book. It seemed to call to her. But she couldn't . She couldn't write a word in it, not until she knew. It wasn't a gift to thrill her soul, like the music box, or earn her instant appreciation for the fineness of it, like the uniform, or even fill an part of her which had seemed to be missing, like the sword; it appealed to the subtleness of her nature. He knew of her masquerade as the journalist; he knew how the act of putting pen to paper soothed and strengthened her. There was nothing that could have been given that would have vexed her more to put aside and wait for. She bit her lower lip, and took up a quill and wrote a quote from Shakespeare in silver ink:
"What a piece of work is man! How noble in reason! how infinite in
faculties! in form and moving, how express and admirable! in action how like
an angel! in apprehension, how like a god! the beauty of the world! the
paragon of animals! "
If she were to keep it, she would write more quotes from her favorite authors in there. If not, then hopefully Snape would forgive her for writing in it, and that he could not return it. She put the little book aside, went to her bedside cupboard in the dormitory and got out her sketchbook and pencil. Sitting on her bed, she pictured in her head the first of the two men, quickly forming Snape's profile, and then a full face study. It was really a very good little drawing, but she gave it little thought as she set it aside for another sheet. Next she sketched Sirius, trying to find a medium between the sunken faced man of the old newspaper prints, and the laughing young man from the dreams. She worked longer on his face, concentrating hard on each detail. She went through three sheets of paper before she felt remotely satisfied with it.
"Close enough," she muttered, then did a quick sketch of Gwen, then one of herself. Finally, Kate took the self portrait and lay it over the sketch of Snape. She looked too much like Gwen for this to work, but she fancied she could see a resmeblence in the eyebrows. She then tried it with the sketch of Sirius, there, the eyes and the smile were almost the same, but she just couldn't really tell.
Kate sighed and got up. She went and brushed her teeth again and put on a sweater, jeans and boots. She then went down to the common room to find it deserted. Splat! went something on the window! Kate jumped a foot in the air, then looked out to see Harry, Hermione and Ron making snowballs and waving at her. She waved back and opened the window.
"I'll be right down!" she called out, shutting it again in time to block another snowball. Laughing, she put on her aviator jacket and gloves, and left the Gryffindor Tower.
Racing down a whole bunch of stairs, she almost ran into Professor Dumbledore. She stopped short and stood for a moment, catching her breath.
"Where to in such a hurry, Kate? Is Gryffindor Tower on fire?"
" There's a snowball fight going on outside. My fast-pitch arm is desperately needed."
"Snowballs? Indeed. No one is ever too old for a snowball fight."
" No sir."
"Go on now, and put some roses in those cheeks. All study and adventure and no play isn't any good for you."
Kate grinned and saluted as she ran off. Dumbledore looked after her, chuckling. A strange combination, fey and wizard blood made. He had his suspicions about her parentage, but he might be surprised. The girl was made of so many contradictions, either Severus Snape or Sirius Black could have
fathered her. He felt a stab of pity for the man who hadn't.
Kate got outside and found the others. Hermione and Ron had ganged up on Harry, who was trying to get enough snowballs to hit them both. He was doing it the old-fashioned way while the others were using magic. Kate, sneaking up behind the other two, scooped snow up in each hand and formed a perfect
ball. She threw them in quick succession, then ducked behind a hedge so that they never saw her. The two looked exceedingly thunderstruck as they tried to find out where the snowballs had come from. Kate made two more snowballs, and crept along the hedge to the end, tossing them at Ron and Hermione again. This time she laughed as they both caught it right in the chest.
"You two should learn to play better odds," she called out, as she ran over to Harry, "Want to play teams?"
"Sure. I was getting pelted. You're real good at this."
"Thanks. Let's teach those two how to win without using magic."
"OK. How do we do that?"
"Take the high ground.... Then all we have to do it roll the snowballs down on 'em," Kate grinned and was off in a flash. She was shoveling snowballs in rapid succesion and hurling them at the others. For an hour they held their own against the opposing force. Then their stomachs began to rumble and they tramped in for lunch. The Great Hall had only a few people in it, and there was only one table set up.
"Ah, you're just in time. Come and enjoy your meal. It's not the feast we'll be having tonight, but it's all very good," Dumbledore said to the children.
The four sat down on one side of the table across from the teachers. Kate watched her mother.. "It's going to take getting used to, calling her 'Mom'," she thought. Gwen looked tired and avoided the eyes of Professor Snape and Sirius. She kept her gaze focused on her food, and only spoke when spoken to.
"Could someone pass the baked apples?" Kate asked, eyeing the glowing red apples swimming in brown sugar syrup.
Gwen looked up, and Kate saw that her eyes were swimming with tears.
"Never mind, I'm not all that hungry. May I be excused?" Kate got up suddenly after having only had a very little bit to eat. She walked quickly, not to the Gryffindor Tower, but back outside. The air seemed colder than it had before. She shivered in her jacket. Things were not as they should be, and it had nothing to do with her.
Kate saw the shadow before she saw it. Large and hairy, it came at her with a great club. She moved quickly though, getting out of it's way. Dancing lightly about, she toyed with the idea of screaming, then decided that it would do no good. It would only enrage the troll. Then she had an idea.
"Accio Excalibur!" She shouted, running as fast as she could to avoid the creature. Sure enough, there was soon a glimmer of silver shooting towards her. She raised her hand and felt the secure weight filling it.
"That's better," she muttered, just as the troll lunged. She slashed viciously at it, then turned to deliver another blow. The creature was howling in pain, making wild swipes at her. It landed a blow only once, her
right shoulder, it stunned her for a moment. She almost dropped the sword. The troll tried to pick her up, and that's when she finally screamed. She managed to elude the troll's grasp, and, switching Excalibur into her left hand finally drove the sword home into it's chest.
People swarmed out of the Great Hall to find her battered and bleeding in the snow, the carcass of a troll nearby. Snape was the first to reach her; scooping her up into his arms, he strode to the hospital wing. Laying her down in the bed she had occupied the night before, he checked the wound to her shoulder.
"Dislocated. You're lucky to have gotten away from that mountain troll with nothing more," Snape said.
Kate looked up at him, "It wasn't a mountain troll. It was a Forest troll. He's here," then she passed out.
"He? Who he?" Snape asked Gwen.
"Lorenzo. I thought that surely he wouldn't dare, not at Hogwarts.... That's one of the reasons why I sent her here.... The troll must have had orders to take her. He wanted her for his consort. He thought if he could do that, he'd be able to control the Wild Hunt and the Come- Hither through her. She showed him otherwise."
"Oh God," Sirius said, "I don't want her alone. She needs to be protected round the clock."
"I agree. And not by that indolent cat," Snape said, glaring at Orion who had come and curled himself up at Kate's feet.
"Orion is a better guard than an armed wizard. He is devoted to her. There's also the added protection that Lorenzo doesn't know about Orion's abilities. And the falcon is also needed. But the more protection the better," Gwen brushed the hair from Kate's closed eyes, "Kate was always more my little girl than Anwen's. But I think that she and Patrick realized that. Oh, what would I do if I lost her to that monster?"
"You'd go and get her back," Sirius growled, "And I'd be right there with you."
"We'd all be there, Gwen," Snape said.
Madam Pomfrey bustled up and put Kate's shoulder back in place. Kate woke up within the hour.
"What a way to spend Christmas," she grumbled, "Do I have to waste the whole day in bed? It wasn't a really dangerous troll, just a particularly smelly one. Made short work of it. I didn't mean to kill it, just meant to get away from it. When it almost caught me, I panicked and ran it through. Where's my sword," her fingers played fretfully on the blanket.
"We have it, Kate," it was Ron, Harry and Hermione. They each had a hold of the sword. Ron had spoken in a small voice.
"That thing must have been out there while we were playing," Hermione said, also in hushed tones.
"And I put you all in danger. I'm sorry."
"We shouldn't have let you go out alone!" Harry said angrily, "Hagrid said there was something nasty in the forest.... something that wasn't supposed to be there.
" I ran away and lived in the hills for a week, and I was fine. I was safer out there than I am in here."
"Children, will you quit arguing. Now, you three, go and take that sword out of this hospital wing. It's unhygenic," Madam Pomfrey was irate at being unable to fuss over her patient, "Now, only the child's parents can stay in here, unless Professor Dumbledore wishes to speak with her," The nurse amended herself as the headmaster entered the room.
"Indeed I do wish to speak with her. That troll didn't get here from the Forest of Illusion without help."
" He's here, I know it. I've felt something was coming. I thought.... I thought that this whole thing with Gwen and Professor Snape and Sirius was it, but I was wrong. Lorenzo is here, I don't know how I know it, but I know it."
"He was careless, using a Forest troll. You're one of the most sensitive people I've seen when it comes to visions. Must be the fey blood."
"Harry is the only person I've told about this, and now is as good a time as any to tell everyone else. My first night here, I had some really... odd dreams. Disturbing dreams. There were several scenes. One was was of Gwen and Sirius, about my age, they were arguing. Then Professor Snape and Gwen, making the serum. The third was probably the weirdest. I was standing in the doorway of a cottage. There was a tall, monstrous being threatening a young woman. He aimed a wand at her, and there was green smoke. An explosion, and then everything cleared. The wizard was gone, and the girl lay in the blackened heap of what was left of the cottage. She was dead. But the baby wasn't. I... I tried to wake her up, but I couldn't. So I picked the baby up and sang to it. Harry heard me sing that song and somehow he remembered it. But it couldn't have happened, could it? When Hagrid came, I hid and watched him take the baby. Then the scene changed again. I was in Professor Dumbledore's office, and he had another baby. I think it was me. He left Fawkes in charge of her while he went out for five minutes or so. Then.... there was more, and I couldn't remember till now what it was. Someone just appeared in the room..."
"But you can't Apparate on Hogwarts grounds!" Hermione said.
"He didn't Apparate. I think he was time-traveling. The man leaned over the cradle, and put something in there. Then he turned. He had my eyes, and I could recognise parts of my face in his. I had a funny feeling I should know him. He showed me what he put in the cradle. The baby was wearing this pendent. Then he kissed my forehead and said he was proud of me. Then the dream was over."
"Who was it, Kate?" Sirius asked. His voice sounded as though he needed some water.
"Who do you think? It was Merlin."
"Merlin? Are you certain?" Dumbledore eyes took on a strange glint.
"Quite certain. He told me that the past and the future meet in dreams, and that though I looked like Morgana, I had enough of him in me to keep things interesting. He.... He looked like me when he smiled. But there's something else. Whoever my dad is, he is the descendent of Merlin. That means he can call the Wild Hunt. No wonder Lorenzo's after me. This means that I'm doubly cursed." Kate's words left an impact on the assembled party. Each felt a small cold chill when she stood and walked away as though nothing had happened.