Chapter ten is here!!!!! Hooray!!! Thanks to all who have reviewed, and
aren't I as good as my promises… There are more surprises in store, I
guarantee that… Same rigamarole about who onws what… Kate, Gwen Lorenzo and
the pets (Orion, Wanderer) are mine, all others are J.K. Rowlings… lucky
woman….. Read my newest stories, the Contemplations series as well as my
originals starring Kate Rhys (though those have nothing to do with Harry
Potter, they're interesting and tell a lot about Kate and Gwen
nonetheless..) Au revoir,
K.S.
Kate felt light-headed. Her problems had been solved. Well, half of them, anyway. Lorenzo was still out there, waiting. She knew that another confrontation with him was inevitable. As inevitable as Harry's eventual confrontation with Voldemort. Two lords of the Dark; two children of the Light. Oh yeah, life was just a barrel of laughs. One day, it's a good imitation of Indiana Jones, the next it's Practical Magic, and, by the time you hit the weekend, you might as well audition for Days of Our Lives. Ooh, that was cynical!!!
Kate was thoroughly delighted. She hadn't been cynical or even sarcastic for weeks on end. She might even survive the school-year. As winter changed into spring, she began to relax. And nothing happened. She watched as Harry once again won the Quidditch Cup, grasping the golden Snitch in his palm. She groaned and crammed for finals.
One day, she and Harry were about alone, walking to Hagrid's. Hermione and Ron had finally got the lead out of their pants and announced that they were going out. Both Kate and Harry were happy for their friends and decided to be out of their way. Spring was changing into summer and it seemed that lovers were popping up all around them. Kate honestly didn't see what the fuss was about and let everybody know about it. It seemed that the only couples she had any patience with were her parents and her best friends.
"I don't see what's so great about all that mushy stuff! At least you've got some sense, Harry. You're not pining over Cho Chang anymore, are you?" She commented, and Harry realized that she was right. He saw Cho as a good competitor and a friend, but nothing more. He smiled at Kate.
"So, what trouble are we planning on getting into this summer?"
"Well I was thinking about showing you around Gettysburg, and maybe taking a couple trips to D.C. The city, in addition to being the capital, has some of the best museums in the world, both wizard and Muggle, as well as theatre's and monuments and such. Plus I will have a driver's license by the end of June."
"I like that idea, Kate. What's Gettysburg like?" He asked, not quite sure if she was right when it came to mushy stuff… She denied it, but Kate had several boys with monumental crushes on her. They had stopped by the lake, Kate was looking into the waters, and then the sky.
"It's nice here, but, like Dorothy said, 'There's no place like home.' I want to go home. I want you to have the chance to fall in love with Cannon Hill. No matter where I go or what I become, Cannon Hill will always be home."
"I like hearing you talk about it. The Dursley's has never felt like home; Hogwarts is the closest thing to home for me."
"Cannon Hill will be your home. All we have to do is figure out how to clear my dad."
"How to clear your dad, indeed." A new voice said behind them. A man in a mask lunged at Harry, catching the thin teenager
"Run, Kate!" he shouted, but Kate being Kate, she refused to run.
"Let go of him! Or I shall call the Wild Hunt." She said, softly, dangerously. Only when a second masked figure laughed and made a grab at her, did she notice the horn was not at her belt, it was on the bank of the lake; the second man in between it and her. She had not even bothered to gird on the black sword Dyrnwyn to her this evening.
"Oh shit!" she said, running as the second dark figure caught her and the two large men ran to the Forest with their struggling prisoners. They disapparated there, into another wood. Kate shivered, recognizing it immediately.
The first man in the mask threw the two young people to the ground. Kate and Harry looked at one another.
"Tie them up. We don't want them trying to leave before the guest of honor has arrived."
They were tied to the same tree, so tight as to almost cut off all circulation. Harry was cold with fear. The last time this had happened, Cederic Diggory had died, and he himself had faced Voldemort. Kate looked as pale as a ghost, he thought. How could she withstand this after everthing else that had happened?
"The fools," she murmured, "Tying a Daoine Sidhe to a rowan tree. And in full view of the moon, too. They'll rue their folly this night."
"Kate, what are you going to do?" Harry whispered back, glad that she seemed to be sane. The full moon had an odd effect on her, and he had been worried that she would freak out on him.
"My lord! We did as you asked. And there is more. Not only did we manage to capture Potter, but we have the girl as well. Katherine Silverhair!"
"Excellent," a silky voice said. The hair on the back of Harry's neck stood. This wasn't Voldemort! He didn't know the voice, but Kate went stock- still when the hooded figure spoke.
"Voldemort will not be pleased, knowing we have both the children. You did remember to take any weapons they might have. I was told that dear little Katherine has obtained a sword since last we met."
"They only carried wands, but the girl had a little horn at her belt, my lord." The masked man said, handing the horn to the cloaked figure.
"Good, if she does not carry either Dyrnwyn or the Hunter's Horn, she is powerless."
She looked straight at the figure, right into the dark recesses of the hood, and spoke, " If you think that, then you are a greater fool than I took you for, Lorenzo. Why don't you drop the hood and show everyone what this little girl did to you without a sword, without the Horn, without a wand. Or have you figured out how to get rid of that little blemish?"
The figure angrily shoved the hood back, revealing a handsome face, a series of sharp scars running down one side of his it. Harry recoiled, wondering what could have caused such a disfigurment. Kate smiled smugly, and he understood in an instant.
"I must remember in future to trim your claws, you little wildcat."
"Try it and I will make sure the other side of your face matches my earlier handiwork." And then she was gone.
"Hurry, find her! She couldn't have disapparated! Leave the boy, he can't go anywhere, we must find Katherine!" Lorenzo roared. Harry couldn't believe it. She had left without him. He hadn't thought her capable of leaving him alone with the enemy, he slumped against the tree. Just as suddenly, a small thing dropped from the branches of the tree. The grey creature rubbed against his ankles and he saw her. She hadn't disapparated, merely trasformed into Shadowmist!
Looking about, all the guards had scattered, Kate turned back into her normal self. She whipped the little knife from a hidden pocket in her robes. Cutting the ropes that bound Harry, she located where the others had dropped the wands and the horn. Kate, thinking quickly, reached about her throat and threw Merlin's talisman over Harry's head.
"I claim you as my own, and the Wild Hunt must now accept you as such," she said and then addressed Lorenzo, who had turned around at the sound of her voice, "Now, you cowardly bastard! You'll feel the full blast of my fury!" Kate put the Hunter's Horn to her lips and blew three clear notes. She grabbed hold of Harry as she heard the answering call.
"No! You little bitch, I shall kill you!"
" I am the spring wind, you have to catch me first." She shouted back, as the misty shape of a horse materialized at her side. She tossed Harry up and flung up onto Traveller's back. Bareback, she grasped his bridle and spurred the great grey horse on. A man wearing a stag mask tossed her a silver tipped spear made of rowan wood. Kate got a mad light in her eyes. Those menacing eyes in that child-like face were the last thing many of the conspirators ever saw…. Including Lorenzo.
Everyone at Hogwarts was frantic at Kate and Harry's disappearance. When Dumbledore found Harry's cloak near the edge of the Forbidden Forest, he feared the worse. Snape was with him as they tried desperately to find where whoever had abducted the children had taken them. Snape figured that, as the Dark Mark hadn't burned, it was Lorenzo and not Voldemort who had taken them.
"Then we must Apparate to the Forest of Illusion." Dumbledore said. The two men did just that. The scene they found when they got to a small grove in the forest was horrific. It looked as though a battle had taken place there. Trolls, wizards in masks, and a dark cloaked figgure lay on the ground, the last with a long spear sticking out of his back. Snape recoiled, but pointed to a tree at the opposite end of the grove. Harry was lying there, and Kate was propped up against the trunk of the mountain ash., eyes staring, breathing shallow.
Snape pulled the spear from the figure's back, and turned him over. He didn't know whether to sigh with relief or with consternation that the dead man was Lorenzo, and not Voldemort. He tossed the cowl of the cloak over the corpse's face and followed Dumbledore to where the two children rested. Kate was fully awake, fully lucid, but when she spoke to them, it was in an emotionless, calm voice.
"He's under an enchanted sleep, you won't be able to wake him for a while," she said softly, "It was after the Hunt that I did it. I had to claim him, or he would have numbered among the victims..." her voice broke. She began to cry, which was not nearly so terrible as the calm, quiet voice and the blank expression. Snape knelt by her and, as her impetuous nature again kicked in, she flung herself into his arms and sobbed on his shoulder. Snape was dumbfounded, but put an unsteady hand to her head, letting her weep. When she spoke again, it was with her face buried in his robes, hesitant and tortured.
"All those people! I... I know they were like Deatheaters, but still..... When I was given the spear, it sang to me: It sang for blood. And I... I enjoyed it!" she whispered, horrified by her own words and emotions.
"I took delight in dispatching them! And you see my handiwork here on this ground before you." She began to cry again, her hands gripping so hard he felt certain that she would break bones. Snape gently removed her hands from his shoulders, got a small vial from out of a pocket in his robes and held it out to her.
"What is it? The serum?"she looked up, her face tearstained.
"Just a sleep aid. Something to quiet you. Your parents are worried sick. Here, now, it doesn't taste that bad."
Kate nodded silently, and took the vial, draining it in a matter of seconds. Snape picked her up, and she was almost asleep by the time Dumbledore had conjured a stretcher for Harry, who was still unconcious.
"Headmaster, is he all right?" Snape asked.
"He will be. No doubt he shall wake as soon as we get him back to Hogwarts."
Kate, who had fallen asleep, her head on Snape's chest, glanced up at him, half- awake, "Professor, your heart is just pounding. You're not afraid of me, are you? I couldn't bear it if everyone were afraid of me. Harry is, now. I'm afraid of me too."
"I was afraid for you. There is a difference, child. Go back to sleep. We'll be at Hogwarts very soon," he whispered as she settled her dark head on his shoulder once more.
"Shall we get these children from this charnel pit?" Dumbledore asked. Snape merely nodded.
After returning to Hogwarts, the children were settled in the hospital wing. Harry woke up almost immediately, but Kate slept the rest of the day away. When she woke, it was dark out, and she was ravenously hungry. She looked about the shadowy ward, and seeing no one save Harry, who had also
fallen asleep again, she got out of bed. Her parents were not there.
"You get right back in there, young lady. The fiasco at Christmas will not be repeated." Snape had been sitting in a corner, well concealed by his black robes.
"I'm hungry. Where is my cat?"
"Your cat is right here," Snape brought Orion to her. The creature nearly bowled her over, though he was only his normal size.
" I thought you two didn't like each other," she said suspiciously.
"I decided, and your cat agreed that it would be easier to look after you if we weren't at odds all the time."
"You've appointed yourself my guardian angel?"
"You seem to need one more than anybody, I think."
She smiled, and nodded, " I can't seem to help but attracting trouble, can I? My parents?"
"They were both sick with worry. They've each taken turns sitting by you. I finally sent your mother off with threats of sleeping potion. No doubt she and your father are pacing their chambers at this moment," he said. Kate nodded, put her hand to touch the pendant, and realized with a sickened jolt that it was not about her neck.
"My necklace! Where is it? Merlin's talisman! Oh God, how could I have lost it!" She shrieked, getting up and racing for the door. Snape caught her and forced her back into bed.
"Hush, you fool girl, do you want Madam Pomfrey in here and forcing things down your throat? Your necklace is safe."
"Where... where is it?"
"You said you had to claim Potter or the Hunt would have taken him. You threw it over his neck, and it saved him from a terrible thing."
" I.... I claimed him? I couldn't have. That would mean..."
"What?"
" I have to talk to Professor Dumbledore."
"You cannot go in this state!"
"Then bring him here! He has to know. He'll be able to fix it, he has to be able to fix it." She muttered, getting up out of the bed, and like Snape's opinion on her parents, pacing the length of the room. She looked like a young tiger in a cage. Snape went to Madam Pomfrey's office and used the fire to ask for Dumbledore.
"So she's awake, is she? Well, she'll figure it out soon enough." Dumbledore sighed, and decided to come through using the Floo system.
"What is it that you mean, Headmaster?"
"Well in claiming him, she has effectively tied herself to him. There is an unbreakable bond between them."
"A bond? Like brother and sister? Or more?" Snape's voice was strained.
"That is what the children must find out for themselves." Dumbledore replied softly. The two men left Pomfrey's office and looked at the girl who was still pacing visciously. She stopped when she saw Dumbledore.
"Am I right? Was the bind completed? Or did the Hunt abort it?"
"I am afraid the Hunt did not abort the binding. The two of you are connected."
"How? Are we connected like brother and sister… or otherwise?" She asked him, pleading to know. That was Kate's ultimate quest, her ultimate passion – to know.
"I can't tell you, for I don't know. Why don't you get back into bed, my dear. I'll call your parents and we'll have a nice long talk."
Kate nodded, and lay down on her cot. She had a feeling Dumbledore had decided that this 'nice, long talk' was going to wait till tomorrow. She slept, but nightmares plagued her. One dark lord was defeated, but the other lay in wait, and visions of a flat face, red eyes and skeletal hands reaching out for her… No!!!! she awoke screaming to have her mother's voice soothing. Her mother's hands stroked her hair and rocked her till she was quiet. A potion was given to her, the same type that Snape had given her at the site of the battle.
K.S.
Kate felt light-headed. Her problems had been solved. Well, half of them, anyway. Lorenzo was still out there, waiting. She knew that another confrontation with him was inevitable. As inevitable as Harry's eventual confrontation with Voldemort. Two lords of the Dark; two children of the Light. Oh yeah, life was just a barrel of laughs. One day, it's a good imitation of Indiana Jones, the next it's Practical Magic, and, by the time you hit the weekend, you might as well audition for Days of Our Lives. Ooh, that was cynical!!!
Kate was thoroughly delighted. She hadn't been cynical or even sarcastic for weeks on end. She might even survive the school-year. As winter changed into spring, she began to relax. And nothing happened. She watched as Harry once again won the Quidditch Cup, grasping the golden Snitch in his palm. She groaned and crammed for finals.
One day, she and Harry were about alone, walking to Hagrid's. Hermione and Ron had finally got the lead out of their pants and announced that they were going out. Both Kate and Harry were happy for their friends and decided to be out of their way. Spring was changing into summer and it seemed that lovers were popping up all around them. Kate honestly didn't see what the fuss was about and let everybody know about it. It seemed that the only couples she had any patience with were her parents and her best friends.
"I don't see what's so great about all that mushy stuff! At least you've got some sense, Harry. You're not pining over Cho Chang anymore, are you?" She commented, and Harry realized that she was right. He saw Cho as a good competitor and a friend, but nothing more. He smiled at Kate.
"So, what trouble are we planning on getting into this summer?"
"Well I was thinking about showing you around Gettysburg, and maybe taking a couple trips to D.C. The city, in addition to being the capital, has some of the best museums in the world, both wizard and Muggle, as well as theatre's and monuments and such. Plus I will have a driver's license by the end of June."
"I like that idea, Kate. What's Gettysburg like?" He asked, not quite sure if she was right when it came to mushy stuff… She denied it, but Kate had several boys with monumental crushes on her. They had stopped by the lake, Kate was looking into the waters, and then the sky.
"It's nice here, but, like Dorothy said, 'There's no place like home.' I want to go home. I want you to have the chance to fall in love with Cannon Hill. No matter where I go or what I become, Cannon Hill will always be home."
"I like hearing you talk about it. The Dursley's has never felt like home; Hogwarts is the closest thing to home for me."
"Cannon Hill will be your home. All we have to do is figure out how to clear my dad."
"How to clear your dad, indeed." A new voice said behind them. A man in a mask lunged at Harry, catching the thin teenager
"Run, Kate!" he shouted, but Kate being Kate, she refused to run.
"Let go of him! Or I shall call the Wild Hunt." She said, softly, dangerously. Only when a second masked figure laughed and made a grab at her, did she notice the horn was not at her belt, it was on the bank of the lake; the second man in between it and her. She had not even bothered to gird on the black sword Dyrnwyn to her this evening.
"Oh shit!" she said, running as the second dark figure caught her and the two large men ran to the Forest with their struggling prisoners. They disapparated there, into another wood. Kate shivered, recognizing it immediately.
The first man in the mask threw the two young people to the ground. Kate and Harry looked at one another.
"Tie them up. We don't want them trying to leave before the guest of honor has arrived."
They were tied to the same tree, so tight as to almost cut off all circulation. Harry was cold with fear. The last time this had happened, Cederic Diggory had died, and he himself had faced Voldemort. Kate looked as pale as a ghost, he thought. How could she withstand this after everthing else that had happened?
"The fools," she murmured, "Tying a Daoine Sidhe to a rowan tree. And in full view of the moon, too. They'll rue their folly this night."
"Kate, what are you going to do?" Harry whispered back, glad that she seemed to be sane. The full moon had an odd effect on her, and he had been worried that she would freak out on him.
"My lord! We did as you asked. And there is more. Not only did we manage to capture Potter, but we have the girl as well. Katherine Silverhair!"
"Excellent," a silky voice said. The hair on the back of Harry's neck stood. This wasn't Voldemort! He didn't know the voice, but Kate went stock- still when the hooded figure spoke.
"Voldemort will not be pleased, knowing we have both the children. You did remember to take any weapons they might have. I was told that dear little Katherine has obtained a sword since last we met."
"They only carried wands, but the girl had a little horn at her belt, my lord." The masked man said, handing the horn to the cloaked figure.
"Good, if she does not carry either Dyrnwyn or the Hunter's Horn, she is powerless."
She looked straight at the figure, right into the dark recesses of the hood, and spoke, " If you think that, then you are a greater fool than I took you for, Lorenzo. Why don't you drop the hood and show everyone what this little girl did to you without a sword, without the Horn, without a wand. Or have you figured out how to get rid of that little blemish?"
The figure angrily shoved the hood back, revealing a handsome face, a series of sharp scars running down one side of his it. Harry recoiled, wondering what could have caused such a disfigurment. Kate smiled smugly, and he understood in an instant.
"I must remember in future to trim your claws, you little wildcat."
"Try it and I will make sure the other side of your face matches my earlier handiwork." And then she was gone.
"Hurry, find her! She couldn't have disapparated! Leave the boy, he can't go anywhere, we must find Katherine!" Lorenzo roared. Harry couldn't believe it. She had left without him. He hadn't thought her capable of leaving him alone with the enemy, he slumped against the tree. Just as suddenly, a small thing dropped from the branches of the tree. The grey creature rubbed against his ankles and he saw her. She hadn't disapparated, merely trasformed into Shadowmist!
Looking about, all the guards had scattered, Kate turned back into her normal self. She whipped the little knife from a hidden pocket in her robes. Cutting the ropes that bound Harry, she located where the others had dropped the wands and the horn. Kate, thinking quickly, reached about her throat and threw Merlin's talisman over Harry's head.
"I claim you as my own, and the Wild Hunt must now accept you as such," she said and then addressed Lorenzo, who had turned around at the sound of her voice, "Now, you cowardly bastard! You'll feel the full blast of my fury!" Kate put the Hunter's Horn to her lips and blew three clear notes. She grabbed hold of Harry as she heard the answering call.
"No! You little bitch, I shall kill you!"
" I am the spring wind, you have to catch me first." She shouted back, as the misty shape of a horse materialized at her side. She tossed Harry up and flung up onto Traveller's back. Bareback, she grasped his bridle and spurred the great grey horse on. A man wearing a stag mask tossed her a silver tipped spear made of rowan wood. Kate got a mad light in her eyes. Those menacing eyes in that child-like face were the last thing many of the conspirators ever saw…. Including Lorenzo.
Everyone at Hogwarts was frantic at Kate and Harry's disappearance. When Dumbledore found Harry's cloak near the edge of the Forbidden Forest, he feared the worse. Snape was with him as they tried desperately to find where whoever had abducted the children had taken them. Snape figured that, as the Dark Mark hadn't burned, it was Lorenzo and not Voldemort who had taken them.
"Then we must Apparate to the Forest of Illusion." Dumbledore said. The two men did just that. The scene they found when they got to a small grove in the forest was horrific. It looked as though a battle had taken place there. Trolls, wizards in masks, and a dark cloaked figgure lay on the ground, the last with a long spear sticking out of his back. Snape recoiled, but pointed to a tree at the opposite end of the grove. Harry was lying there, and Kate was propped up against the trunk of the mountain ash., eyes staring, breathing shallow.
Snape pulled the spear from the figure's back, and turned him over. He didn't know whether to sigh with relief or with consternation that the dead man was Lorenzo, and not Voldemort. He tossed the cowl of the cloak over the corpse's face and followed Dumbledore to where the two children rested. Kate was fully awake, fully lucid, but when she spoke to them, it was in an emotionless, calm voice.
"He's under an enchanted sleep, you won't be able to wake him for a while," she said softly, "It was after the Hunt that I did it. I had to claim him, or he would have numbered among the victims..." her voice broke. She began to cry, which was not nearly so terrible as the calm, quiet voice and the blank expression. Snape knelt by her and, as her impetuous nature again kicked in, she flung herself into his arms and sobbed on his shoulder. Snape was dumbfounded, but put an unsteady hand to her head, letting her weep. When she spoke again, it was with her face buried in his robes, hesitant and tortured.
"All those people! I... I know they were like Deatheaters, but still..... When I was given the spear, it sang to me: It sang for blood. And I... I enjoyed it!" she whispered, horrified by her own words and emotions.
"I took delight in dispatching them! And you see my handiwork here on this ground before you." She began to cry again, her hands gripping so hard he felt certain that she would break bones. Snape gently removed her hands from his shoulders, got a small vial from out of a pocket in his robes and held it out to her.
"What is it? The serum?"she looked up, her face tearstained.
"Just a sleep aid. Something to quiet you. Your parents are worried sick. Here, now, it doesn't taste that bad."
Kate nodded silently, and took the vial, draining it in a matter of seconds. Snape picked her up, and she was almost asleep by the time Dumbledore had conjured a stretcher for Harry, who was still unconcious.
"Headmaster, is he all right?" Snape asked.
"He will be. No doubt he shall wake as soon as we get him back to Hogwarts."
Kate, who had fallen asleep, her head on Snape's chest, glanced up at him, half- awake, "Professor, your heart is just pounding. You're not afraid of me, are you? I couldn't bear it if everyone were afraid of me. Harry is, now. I'm afraid of me too."
"I was afraid for you. There is a difference, child. Go back to sleep. We'll be at Hogwarts very soon," he whispered as she settled her dark head on his shoulder once more.
"Shall we get these children from this charnel pit?" Dumbledore asked. Snape merely nodded.
After returning to Hogwarts, the children were settled in the hospital wing. Harry woke up almost immediately, but Kate slept the rest of the day away. When she woke, it was dark out, and she was ravenously hungry. She looked about the shadowy ward, and seeing no one save Harry, who had also
fallen asleep again, she got out of bed. Her parents were not there.
"You get right back in there, young lady. The fiasco at Christmas will not be repeated." Snape had been sitting in a corner, well concealed by his black robes.
"I'm hungry. Where is my cat?"
"Your cat is right here," Snape brought Orion to her. The creature nearly bowled her over, though he was only his normal size.
" I thought you two didn't like each other," she said suspiciously.
"I decided, and your cat agreed that it would be easier to look after you if we weren't at odds all the time."
"You've appointed yourself my guardian angel?"
"You seem to need one more than anybody, I think."
She smiled, and nodded, " I can't seem to help but attracting trouble, can I? My parents?"
"They were both sick with worry. They've each taken turns sitting by you. I finally sent your mother off with threats of sleeping potion. No doubt she and your father are pacing their chambers at this moment," he said. Kate nodded, put her hand to touch the pendant, and realized with a sickened jolt that it was not about her neck.
"My necklace! Where is it? Merlin's talisman! Oh God, how could I have lost it!" She shrieked, getting up and racing for the door. Snape caught her and forced her back into bed.
"Hush, you fool girl, do you want Madam Pomfrey in here and forcing things down your throat? Your necklace is safe."
"Where... where is it?"
"You said you had to claim Potter or the Hunt would have taken him. You threw it over his neck, and it saved him from a terrible thing."
" I.... I claimed him? I couldn't have. That would mean..."
"What?"
" I have to talk to Professor Dumbledore."
"You cannot go in this state!"
"Then bring him here! He has to know. He'll be able to fix it, he has to be able to fix it." She muttered, getting up out of the bed, and like Snape's opinion on her parents, pacing the length of the room. She looked like a young tiger in a cage. Snape went to Madam Pomfrey's office and used the fire to ask for Dumbledore.
"So she's awake, is she? Well, she'll figure it out soon enough." Dumbledore sighed, and decided to come through using the Floo system.
"What is it that you mean, Headmaster?"
"Well in claiming him, she has effectively tied herself to him. There is an unbreakable bond between them."
"A bond? Like brother and sister? Or more?" Snape's voice was strained.
"That is what the children must find out for themselves." Dumbledore replied softly. The two men left Pomfrey's office and looked at the girl who was still pacing visciously. She stopped when she saw Dumbledore.
"Am I right? Was the bind completed? Or did the Hunt abort it?"
"I am afraid the Hunt did not abort the binding. The two of you are connected."
"How? Are we connected like brother and sister… or otherwise?" She asked him, pleading to know. That was Kate's ultimate quest, her ultimate passion – to know.
"I can't tell you, for I don't know. Why don't you get back into bed, my dear. I'll call your parents and we'll have a nice long talk."
Kate nodded, and lay down on her cot. She had a feeling Dumbledore had decided that this 'nice, long talk' was going to wait till tomorrow. She slept, but nightmares plagued her. One dark lord was defeated, but the other lay in wait, and visions of a flat face, red eyes and skeletal hands reaching out for her… No!!!! she awoke screaming to have her mother's voice soothing. Her mother's hands stroked her hair and rocked her till she was quiet. A potion was given to her, the same type that Snape had given her at the site of the battle.