The BrianCrystal Chronicles

by cathykcool

Sequel to Heir of Voldemort. *Chapter 28 up* Havoc has been bestowed upon your favorite clan of insane(in every sort of way) bunch of older and younger Hogwarts Members. Losing someone is hard, but will Cate live through this ordeal?

20. Blood and Tears

Chapter 20 Blood and Tears "Really, someone hates us." Cate said to Bellum, who was sitting opposite her on the couch in the common room. There were giggling girls, and staring boys watching the pair closely; it was beginning to annoy Cate. "Gee, you think so, Cate?" Bellum replied, with sarcasm, shuffling a deck of cards that had been lying about on the table. Cate glared at him, giving her more the appearance of Felicity than Paige. "Exploding Snap?" "Sorry, I don't want to be burnt to a crisp." Cate retorted. "I'd put those down if I were you." Bellum shrugged. He had taken the attitude of his thirteen-year old self on, and Cate discovered that he was acting much like Sirius did, except that he was calmer, and not as reckless. He looked at her, and tossed her a piece of gum. Cate stared at it for a bit, then popped it in her mouth. "Wizard Chess then?" He asked her, still shuffling the deck of cards. "I hate that game." Cate said, sticking her nose in the air. "Just because you always.... LOOOOOOOOSE!" Bellum grinned, in a singsong voice. "No." Cate huffed. "Because... it's boring." She glared at Bellum, and the cards in his hands exploded, singing most of his front side... Cate snorted at this, and shook her head. "Well that's real attractive..." "Sure is!" Bellum grinned. He scooted over towards her, and then wiped his dirty face on her sleeve. On the fiery red of Cate's sleeve, there was now a black streak from the ashes. Cate punched him on the arm. He flinched, and pushed her off the couch and onto the floor. "Hey now..." Cate smiled. "Remember, our bodies are 12 and 13..." "Oh, I know." He said innocently. "But we're allowed to flirt like this, aren't we?" "Well, we are married... But lines have to be drawn..." Cate smirked, fiddling with her wedding ring. "Okay, now get off me." Bellum rolled his eyes, and rolled over. Cate sat up from her spot on the floor, and was immediately knocked back over, being kissed by her 13-year-old husband. "That was interesting." She said, raising her eyebrows. "Doesn't have quite the effect it usually does. You'll have to brush up on those teenage kissing skills of yours..." "Oh shut up..." Bellum started, but trailed off, realizing that all that were left in the common room were watching them. "Ah, I think it's time to go now...." "Yeah. I hear the Great Hall calling my name..." "That's funny... I hear the Quidditch field calling it." Bellum groaned, as Cate grabbed his arm, and dragged him with her to the Quidditch field to watch the practice... ~*~ "It's your best friend in the world..." Bellum smirked. "Meagan Potter." Cate scowled, and looked at the rather shameful display of flying Meagan had going. She didn't like Meagan's style of flying the slightest bit. It was sloppy, and completely random. She went where she pleased, zooming all over the field, and going much too fast than mandatory. High speeds caused her to often miss the Quaffle, but Cate was no Chaser... she avoided all areas of the game that were not Seeker, for she hated to lose... "I think I'll show them how to fly..." Cate grinned, rubbing her hands together. "Go sit by Potter and make him look even worse than usual, by comparing him to you." Bellum looked at himself, and snapped his fingers. He was instantly clean, with new robes, looking much nicer. The team in the air stopped to point at Cate. "She's a Slytherin! She can't be here for our practice!" Mac shouted from above. "ETHAN! Tell your sister to leave..." But as Cate drew nearer to him, with the aid of a broomstick, his jaw dropped. "Oh. You aren't Felicity." He said stupidly. "Cate..." Brynn said, pausing to pelt a Bludger in the opposite direction. "Don't hurt him." "Why would I do a thing like that?" Cate sneered. "Your parents are here too, Mac." She then turned to Brynn and added, "So are mum and dad. In case you hadn't noticed." "Uh... I was there." Brynn rolled her eyes. "And I believe this makes you... my LITTLE sister." "Don't push it." Cate said shortly, while Meagan fought a laugh in the background. "It doesn't mean I can't hurt you." Then she wheeled around on her broom to face Meagan, who was flying now in loop-de-loops. "You either." This started an argument, which involved Cate and Meagan arguing while Harry and Bellum shook their heads in the stands at them. Unlike Cate and Meagan, they were on relatively good terms with each other. "So why aren't you out there playing?" Bellum asked Harry as a starter of conversation. "Oh, I don't know." Harry shrugged. "Partially because Cate is out there now. I hate getting in her way. But in another light... she's even smaller..." "I see. She can be that way at times." "So why aren't you out there?" Harry asked Bellum. Bellum chuckled at this. "Oh, me? Play Quidditch? That'll be the day..." He laughed. "I have no talent for the game." "So your son gets all he talent from your wife?" "I suppose..." Bellum shrugged. "Cate isn't a Chaser... but her mother is- er- was anyway." Both men sighed, and carried on with their conversation ("So when is your baby due?") while the fight in the air heated up... "I am NOT sloppy!" Meagan shouted at Cate. "You are too!" Cate hissed. "This way... That way... There goes the Quaffle, oh, OOPS, I'm having such a good time I forgot what to do!" "You arrogant little-" Meagan didn't feel the need to finish her sentence, but she jetted forward towards Cate, who dodged er easily. "Oh, someone's trying to fly like a Seeker now!" Cate said delightfully. "Isn't that too bad that she's no good at it." Cate sighed, and stood on her broom. She flew in a few circles, and then dropped back down to the usual sitting position. Her movement in the air was quick, light, and graceful. This was the only thing she missed about being twelve; she was much more flexible, and lighter than she was normally. "Well, that was almost impressive." Meagan sneered. "Did I say it was?" Cate asked. "Because it certainly is not." "Come on... we'll settle this on the GROUND!" Meagan shouted. "Oh, I think not." Cate sighed. She really didn't feel like getting punched at the moment. "I think a Quidditch match of the sort will handle this." "But you're a Seeker. I'm a Chaser." Meagan said, making an annoyed face. "How are we going to compare?" "So then you'd rather have a show of skills match?" Meagan glared. She didn't want that... Cate knew many tricks, as she had been flying much longer than she had. Not only that, but she had been Professional for eons longer, and had smoothed out all the bumps, and didn't turn as sharp, but made everything look as if she had it planned. "I take that as a no." Cate grinned. "You've got a husband who's a Seeker." "This is between me and you." Meagan retorted. "You'll try and kill him again." "Oh, I don't try to kill people in Quidditch. I only try to remove them from the air in the most violent way possible... Besides, these kids can't run my plays. I have no Beaters that can run my trademark Feints... Hell with this, it doesn't even have to involve anyone." There was a pause, and Meagan looked around. Little Cate was enjoying this. Meagan's large ego (A/N-Meagan: AHEM! The character Meagan is supposed to be my replica! HMPH!) was taking a beating. "Fine. But it still isn't fair. This is between me and you." "Okay, okay..." Cate rolled her eyes. "Since you have that little faith in your husband... We'll let the Snitch loose. You can be on Harry's team, and whoever catches the Snitch first wins." Meagan wrinkled her nose, and beckoned Harry over to discuss things with him. Cate watched much shaking of Harry's head, suggesting numerous objections, and angry gestures from Meagan, and finally a sigh, and Meagan returned, Harry following. "You're on." "What are we wagering again?" Harry whispered to Meagan. "Nothing. Just reputations..." Cate ran her fingers through her shoulder length hair, as the Gryffindor Quidditch team observed. "Your broom." Meagan said, tossing Cate an inferior broom. "You can cope with it, if you're so good then..." "Would you like me to glue my hands to my waist and blindfold myself too while you're handing out handicaps for yourselves?" "I wouldn't care." Cate shook her head, and looked at her rather old broom, the original Firebolt. Not that she minded at all, she knew she was still going to win. The she grinned, and said, "No fouls." "N-No fouls?" Harry asked nervously. "You heard me, Potter. No fouls." She grinned. "There are too fouls." Meagan hissed. "Brynn, let the Snitch loose." Cate rolled her eyes. She didn't foul anyways. In fact, she rarely made contact with anyone at all, except after the game, when small fights often broke out among the teams. She had a game tactic, which Meagan didn't seem to have at all. It was two against one, but the odds were still with her... Keeping her own distance, Brynn shuffled out and let the Snitch loose, and dived out of the way as three brooms whizzed past her head. She went to the stands, where everyone else now was, and took a seat between Bellum and Mac. "It seems pretty empty without all the other balls and players up there..." She observed. "Of course." Ethan shrugged, from his few seats down. "Oh, she lost them both there..." He was referring to the play Cate had pulled, nearly causing Harry and Meagan to crash into each other. From her spot above them, she smiled sweetly and waved. Meagan whispered something to Harry, who nodded. "Well that was dumb." Bryce practically shouted. "Cate's figured that out already! They're going to sandwich her between them!" "Crisscross, Applesauce..." Mac sighed. "They'll end up nearly colliding with her." Up in the air, conversation was sparse, due to the fact that Cate was clicking her tongue, and Harry was trying to shout commands at his non- Seeker wife. "NO FOULS!" Meagan shouted finally, and Cate dropped down about a yard in the air, as the two Potters tried to squash her in the middle. "She knows what we do." Meagan whispered to Harry, pulling close beside him. "She's been a Seeker so many years, she has everything mapped out. "Chasing is so much easier..." They whispered something to each other, ignoring the groans from the small crowd. Meagan noticed that a few were jumping up and down, pointing at Cate. But when she looked, Cate was doing nothing but grinning, fiddling with her pocket. "You go left, I'll take the right side. Just don't let her get by. We can keep her blocked." Harry said finally. "Pathetic..." Cate said, as they flew beside her. "Not as bad as you are! Sad excuse for a human being..." Meagan muttered. The fighting in the air went on for a little bit, but there was still no sign of the Snitch. All that was left of the small crowd was Bellum now, who had his feet propped up on the chair in front of him, dozing off peacefully. "Where is the Snitch?" Meagan finally sighed, in an exasperated tone of voice. "Oh... the Snitch?" Cate said slyly. She put her hand in her pocket, and pulled out a gold ball. She flashed it in front of Harry and Meagan's faces. Their jaws both dropped. "You mean this? I caught it while you were chatting. Really, pay attention." Meagan made a face, as Cate flew downward and hopped off her broom. She thought it was fun to play with them like that... Well now it was her turn... She quickly followed this action, but threw herself at Cate, tackling her. Cate gave a muffled scream, as she was hit in the face. "Dammit! Sore loser!" Cate shouted. "Arrogant show-off!" This fight was won by Meagan. Cate had a black eye, and several bruises, a cut up her arm, and was limping. Her size had worked against her in this situation. Harry pulled Meagan out of the fight, with nothing but a bruise on her arm. There wasn't a lot Cate could do without her powers, which had come when she was 17. The atmosphere was very unpleasant in the common room, which was needless to have even been said... ~*~ Back in the attic, the young troublemakers were having the time of their lives. Sitting in front of the mirror and watching it as if it were a TV, Paige, Nita, Bridgett, Dominic, and Max had not a care in the world... Well that was what they thought at first. "Brooke's all by herself!" Bridgett gasped, flipping over backwards in her chair. "She's not even two yet!" "Oh God... So is Ryan!" Max said. "If something happens to him... then I'm dead! My life will be like Lynnsey's! That means I'll never have one!" Jack's downstairs..." Paige said. "I think." "Jo and Jess won't miss me." Nita said, hoping this was true. "Marie can handle herself." Dominic sighed. "And if not- who cares?" "Sibling round up!" Bridgett shouted. "Except for Jo, Jess, and Nita.... don't find them." About half an hour later, after Floo Powder, frantic children, and crying babies and the dog... everyone was reunited. Ryan was Max's little brother, only a baby about the same age as Jack and Brooke. He found delight in the dog's tail, and old Padfoot the canine begrudgingly let the babies play with him... he was more than used to it. "Change the smelly diaper!" Nita squealed suddenly, putting Jack down. "He's so cute! But he's so smelly!" "I can't change a diaper!" Dominic said, backing away. All five looked at each other, and laughed nervously. None of them actually knew how to... Nor did they know much about caring for babies, especially Nita and Dominic, who were the youngest... so far. "I think we should bring our parents back..." Max suggested. "I hate to say this... but I miss mom and dad. Mac and Cheese just doesn't cut it for dinner today... Sorry to insult your cooking, Paige." "See if I ever make your dinner again, Max McKenzie..." Paige said, sticking her nose in the air. "But I agree. We need our parents." "To the attic!" Dominic said like an army commander would, heading for the stairs and tripping on his first step. The babies giggled, and everyone else laughed. They all made it to the attic alive, looking into the mirror. There the mirror stood, the people it was reflecting were the same as they had been before... It showed a small scene in the Gryffindor common room which included Bellum, Cate, and Ethan... "Okay... Is anyone else's curiosity getting the better of them?" Paige asked quickly, taking a chair in front of the mirror. "Yeah." The other four responded, also taking a chair. "Then let the show begin..." Paige grinned, her eyes lighting up gold like her mother's... ~*~ "Ethan!" Cate hissed. "Would you like to explain to your father why I have brought you here to talk to him?" "No." Replied the red-faced Ethan. He was fidgeting madly, and Cate hit him hard on the arm. Bellum didn't seem to care too much about whatever was happening; he was flopped over on the couch, reading a book of some sort. "Yes you do." Cate said, turning her angry gaze into a hard glare. Ethan jumped, for her knew that look from bothering Felicity... it meant something bad would happen if he didn't obey his very small mother... "Okay..." He said, looking down, taking a deep breath. "I was inthebushes... with aRavenclaw6thyear... makingoutandthenmomcame and..." Bellum cocked an eyebrow, only able to catch a few words out of the sentence. He bit his, lip and looked at Cate. He thought this was rather funny, and grinned. "I'll handle this, Cate." He said. Behind Cate, Ethan let a silent sigh of relief and mouthed 'Thank you!!' to his father. "Okay..." Cate rolled her eyes, heading off to wherever she felt like going without getting lost. "Er... Have a seat, and talk slowly." Bellum said, sitting up, and patting the couch. "Awkward situation?" "Well... yeah." Ethan said slowly. "It's not my fault I can't decide which girl I like! I swear, I've got a new girlfriend every week... See, mom's already let the making out with Jocelyn in the Quidditch stands slide... but Jocelyn really isn't my girlfriend at the moment... It's just one of those things... but the Ravenclaw is Jillian Irwind, and well... I just can't decide who I like better... so I talk to one of them, and it leads to something... then I talk to the other, and it leads to something..." Bellum nodded. "Mm hmm." he said on the occasion to sound highly educated on the subject of "Not exactly dating so-and-so and not exactly dating so- and-so... and thinking about so-and-so more than usual." "Hello!" Came a cheerful voice, and Sirius clapped his grandson sharply on the back, and Ethan jumped about a foot in the air frightfully. "What's conversation about here now?" "Girls." Bellum said. "At least I think it is..." "Yes." Ethan answered. "I don't know which girl I like the best." "Hm..." Sirius said, taking a seat on the couch as well. "Which one can you talk to?" "Uh... That'd have to be Jocelyn. We've known each other the longest..." "Which one to you think about the most?" "All of them?" Ethan said. "No wait... Jocelyn again." "Well, it seems like you like her the most, then." Sirius said, thinking quite highly of himself, as he had seemed to solve the problem. "But we've tried dating each other... it doesn't work out." "Then make it work." Sirius commanded. "And the other girls? Pretend they're UGLY... when you see them, imagine they're the ugliest most ANNOYING person on the planet... then you won't like them anymore..." Ethan sighed. "This isn't going to work!" "Sure it is!" Sirius objected, Bellum sat silently, nodding along. " Who's the one with the girls chasing him? Is it you?" He narrowed his eyebrows at Sirius. "That's what I thought... Let me check over here... nope, isn't you either dad!" "Well, those 4th year girls do seem to think-" Bellum grinned to himself.

"Shut up!" Ethan practically shouted, storming off to go and think this all over for himself... ~*~ Back in front of the mirror, the little girls and boys were all giggling. "I can't decide who I like!" Paige said, mocking Ethan, and pretending to faint dramatically. "Cry me a river..." "Teenagers are weird..." Nita said, wrinkling her nose. "You got that right!" Bridgett replied, being grammatically incorrect as usual. If only Marie had been around to correct her incorrect use of the word got... "Okay..." Paige said, after they had overcome another fit of the giggles. "Nita, I think you'd better go home, because if my mom sees you here, we're all dead. Nita waved, and disappeared. "Maybe the rest of you should leave too... you know where the fireplace is..." Paige added. "Or else she'll get suspicious on how all of this happened." "Um... goodbye!" They called, Bridgett leading the way out of the attic. Paige grinned, and rubbed her hands together. "Okay Paigie... you can do this... Find the right button... it isn't the red one. I already pressed that one; it turned them into kids... Perhaps this here green one!" She closed her eyes, and pressed the green button. To make a long story short: it was the wrong button. She looked at herself and gasped. She was an adult, and she had a wedding ring on her left hand. A few seconds later, who she presumed, was Nita appeared at her side... "Paige, what did you do now!?" She asked. Paige noticed she had an engagement ring. She didn't want to even think about who she was engaged to, or even yet who she herself married! "Pressed the wrong button..." She said, pressing it again. She changed back to her usual child self, and Nita sighed with relief, and bid her farewell again. Now only one button remained, a bright orange one. She pressed it eagerly, wondering what was going to happen. She secretly hoped that it would do something interesting, like turn her father's hair pink, or something like that... But it happened to be the right button, and everyone that had been turned into an 11, 12, or 13 year old was back to normal... They all appeared in the common room, and a swirling mist engulfed them all. Then there was a flash, and they disappeared. Paige rushed out oft he attic to she what had become of her parents, and if they were in the house. Foul words, and shouting immediately answered that question... "Where were you guys?" She asked, opening her parent's bedroom door. Her mother was as pregnant as she had been before, and her father was just as flustered as he usually was when Cate was in an angry rage. "Dammit! She cursed me!" Cate muttered. "Um..." Paige said, keeping up the confused and innocent act. "Long story Paige." Bellum replied. "We were at Hogwarts..." "Okay." She said. "Can I go to Bridgett's?" "Sure." "Thanks dad!" "Welcome..." ~*~ Things had simmered down since the departure of the adults at Hogwarts. Brynn and Mac hadn't exactly cared about the arrival of their parents. They were paying more attention to each other. Night had fallen, and the pair was on the Astronomy tower, looking at the stars together. "If I could think of something romantic to say, this would be the moment I'd say it." Mac sighed. "But I can't..." So to make up for lack of romantic words, he kissed Brynn suddenly, and shrugged. "Well that made up for it." Brynn smiled, kissing him back softly. They both grinned, and leaned in on the balcony. "Did you ever really think about what a dangerous place this is?" Mac asked. "Yeah, sure... With Voldemort and all of his Death Eaters running about, it is dangerous... but not half as dangerous when we were born, with Cate and all..." "But they haven't given up... the next time they strike, it'll be hard... and you, well, you aren't exactly safe... you're a Black. What if they get the idea that you'll be as powerfully evil as your sister... what if-" "Hush, Mac." Brynn said, putting a finger to his lip. "Don't think about that. We're 16, and we still have lives to live... and have children of our own. This isn't the time to be thinking about dying." "But this very well could be our last tonight together..." "Then we can treat it like that. It's like that every day... For some, this is their last night. Last night alive, or last night together. Someone's last hour... someone's last second. No one lives forever, but we have to make the most of this all... before times turn hard again..." "That's what I was trying to say... Brynn, you're better at expressing things than I am." Mac sighed, putting his arm around her. "And that is because I know what you mean... I can tell what you're thinking... it's a family thing." "Well, I'll just thank your ancestors for the way you are then... because you're perfect..." ~*~ "Snape can smell fear." Brynn warned Brian before he headed off with Crystal, Fred, and George for a detention with Snape. They had been caught throwing things in the Slytherins' potions to make them explode. Ariana Malfoy had gotten her hair turned rainbow colors... "With a nose that size, I'd be surprised if he couldn't!" Bryce added. "I'll keep that in mind..." Brian said. None of the four second years wanted to scour something off Snape's floor... ~*~ Cate yawned, and stretched her arms, typical of her morning wake up. Then she sat up (not easily, at that) and looked around. The spot next to her was empty, and she sighed. There was no smell of breakfast in the air, and all was silent. "Where could that man be?" She asked herself silently, rolling off the bed. "He's never awake..." She felt something strange about, and her first instincts as a mother led her to Jack's bedroom. She sighed in relief, as she found him sleeping peacefully, not making much of a fuss. He must have felt her presence, because he opened his eyes, and looked up at his mother. "Shush..." Cate said softly, and his eyes closed; off to sleep again it was for him. Her next stop was Paige's room. The fact that it was early in the morning meant that Paige should be sleeping... and this was correct as well. She was snoring, and rolling around. Cate closed the door, and went off to find her husband. "Bellum?" She called. After no reply, she called out his name louder. "Bellum?!" Still no reply. Now quite awake, and worried, Cate shouted. Nothing... "Dammit!" She hissed. "What the Hell's going on?" As if on cue, she heard sinister laughter, and there was a flash of light from behind her. Cate gasped, as she was confronted with an image of Dolere. "So angry... and so pregnant." Dolere laughed, causing Cate to shake with anger. "Looking for someone?" "Go to Hell." Cate spat, throwing a streak of light at the image, and it passed right through. "Now, now... Miss Temper Tantrum, that isn't going to get you what you want..." Dolere's image grinned. "Catherine Elizabeth Black... It's my pleasure to mentally torture you like this..." "Pugnare." Cate hissed. "I am married..." "Oh... How could I forget? Silly me!" Dolere said with a sarcastically cheerful voice. "Bellum Pugnare..." Dolere clapped her hands, and another image appeared next to her. This sent Cate into a hysterical rage, seeing Bellum tied to a chair, gagged, and apparently unconscious. Dolere grinned; this was exactly the effect she had been hoping for. She snapped her fingers, and Bellum's head sat up, and rocked about on the chair. Dolere pulled the gag out of his mouth, and he immediately started to scream as well. "Shut up, both of you!" Dolere yelled over their shouting. Cate glared, and fell silent, only because she knew Bellum's life was in her hands. Dolere grinned, her blue eyes shining. She licked her lips and looked at Bellum, who was currently glaring, and obviously not liking being bound to the chair. She looked at Cate, and ran her fingers through Bellum's hair. "Stop it." Cate said as quietly as she could, through gritted teeth. "Leave him alone. You have a husband of your own..." Dolere grinned again. "You're the only one who can touch him?" "Yes." Cate replied. "Let him go. Take me instead!" "No!" Bellum shouted. "Don't!" "Quiet!" Dolere hissed. "It's not you that I want, Cate. I just want to put you through as much pain as possible. But that isn't all... I have more plans, which I won't spoil right now..." "Then let him go!" "I don't think I will... I kind of like his company... Vulgar words, and violent outbursts... yes, quite alright with me..." Dolere touched Bellum's face this time, and he flinched. "Besides... Draco and I have things figured out. He really did like you loads... And I was falling quite hard for your husband.... Though he never did seem to like me at all.... there's nothing more that we'd love to see than you both suffering. And suffer you will..." She ran her hands through her long blonde hair, and looked at Bellum. "Well, this is beginning to lose its fun... I played this game earlier." Cate made a horrified face, and managed to refrain herself from doing anything. "I think it's time to liven things up a bit..." She paused for a moment to think about something, and snapped her fingers. A long, shiny knife appeared in her hands. "Can you imagine what I get to do with this?" She grinned evilly. "NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Cate screamed. "Don't! Please, take me instead!" Dolere licked he lips again, and looked at Cate, who was bawling. She looked at Bellum, whose dark brown eyes were filled with fear... She looked again at Cate, who was on her knees, pleading, and crying for her to let him go. "Power... Holding lives in your hands..." She said. By this point, Cate had tried everything. Her powers to appear where she wanted didn't work in this case, nor did the power to possess other bodies. Dolere seemed to have thought of this all, and prevented it before hand. All she could do was hope... hope that everything would turn out alright. Hope that it was all a dream.... Dolere flashed the knife blade, so it gleamed in the light, and held it to Bellum's throat. "As much as I'd love to kill you, Cate.... I can't. This person isn't an heir... Any last words, Pugnares?" "Damn you! You kill him, and I'll kill you personally!" Cate shrieked. Dolere paid no attention to this, and pressed the knife harder into Bellum's throat. He dared not move, but he knew she'd slit his throat eventually. "Cate... Listen! I love you! Tell the kids I love them! When you have the baby, tell her I-" His sentence ended there, and Cate's face was in her hands, while she sobbed, "No! I love you! Please!" Dolere grinned with satisfaction, and drew the bloody knife back, wiping the blood on Bellum's robes. His head was flopped to the side, lifeless. Blood gushed out, staining his robes down the front. She took the knife, and slashed the ropes that bound him to the chair, and his lifeless body fell to the floor, blood still gushing. "Please let it be a dream!" Cate sobbed, through the tears that were starting to soak her front. Dolere had heard this, and she commented, "Oh, but it isn't! It's very real indeed... See for yourself." With another snap of her fingers, Bellum's body disappeared, as did the pool of blood, from her location, to right in front of Cate. Cate looked up at Dolere, and touched the blood. It was still warm, she could feel it... it wasn't a dream. "Hate to leave you hanging... DEAR, but I gotta fly!" Dolere disappeared, and left Cate to sit with her husband's dead body. Cate sobbed, and lay her head on his blood-covered chest, sobbing madly. Now she was alone in the world... Dolere had killed the person she loved the most... No one could ever take his place in her life... no one. The tears didn't stop, nor did Cate move at all. She could head Jack wailing, but she didn't bother to go tend to him. It was odd, and extremely painful for her, as if she herself had died. Moments they had spent together flashed before her eyes, playing themselves in her mind... Her meeting with Bellum.... their marriage... Her fall from the evil throne... their children being born. Everything. The good and the bad. "I love you..." She choked, hoping the words would revive him in some way. She almost expected and "I love you too, Cate." in reply. But she would never hear those words again from him... The blood didn't stop either. Not soon after, there was a pool of not only blood, but also tears. It was still in the middle of the night, or morning; Cate couldn't tell. Nothing mattered to her any longer... She saw the knife lying a few feet from her. Making a mad grab, she grasped the blade, slashing her hand, making it bleed. She watched her blood trickle down, and drop to join Bellum's blood. The tears had run out. She couldn't cry any longer. Her throat was dry, and she could no longer speak. She looked at the knife that was gleaming with her blood; it was metallic silver, instead of the dull gray it had been before... the blood of the Gryffindor heir... Cate took a deep breath, and kissed Bellum's forehead, which happened not to be covered in blood. She touched his soft dark brown hair, her blood wetting it down. She closed her eyes, and brought the knife to her own throat, breathing very heavily. "When you have the baby, tell her I-" Those words echoed in her mind. The sound of her voice filled her ears. Expecting to wake up, again from grief, she looked at Bellum, who was still dead. She couldn't kill herself. She had to have her baby. It was the last memory of him, his last wish that their daughter know he loved her. Jack was still a baby as well, he'd never get to talk to his father... to get to know him. Paige would never have her father approving of future boyfriends, and joking around with her any longer. Felicity... misguided Felicity would have no one now to teach her good. If there had been any hope at all for her, it would have been Bellum to teach her goodness... not Cate. Cate was not truly good at heart, and never would she be, either. Ethan... and Ethan would never have his father at his wedding... no father to turn to for advice in his difficult teenage years... Cate. Cate herself would be scarred the most. He was the only person she really, truly loved. She had no other friends, and shunned the rest of society away. She had the children, but they were nothing compared to him. They could never kiss her, and tell her everything would be all right the way he could... Sirius and Lizzie had always tried, and failed, to get closer to her, but she pushed them away. The only thing keeping Cate alive at the moment was her unborn baby, whom she didn't want to rob of a life. In the blood, she looked at her own reflection, and saw her tear-streaked, face. The blood on her face was a dark red in the reflection... and she looked at Bellum again, no tears to flow at all. How she wanted to cry! The tears didn't come, and when she tried to tell his dead body once more that she loved him, no words came out. She finally set the knife down, away from her throat, unable to end her own life. With her bloodied right hand, she grabbed his. She hated the feeling of it not holding hers back. A cold feeling went through her body, as if trying to tell her something. "You're alone now... No one to love you. The old Cate returns.... quiet, shy... depressive... UNLOVED!" The feeling seemed to be saying... "No!" Her brain replied. "You aren't alone! Other people have died too... that's right.... YOU KILLED THEM!" She grasped for the knife again, but stopped herself. The tears returned, and she buried her head in Bellum's chest, and sobbed to her heart's content. Nothing had every hurt this badly. The first time she died was nothing; a pinch on the arm compared to this. How was she to deal with the pain? How would she survive? "Oh my God!!! Mummy!" Came a shrill scream. The scream came from the top of the stairs, and Cate brought herself to look up. Paige had gone ghostly white, holding Jack in her arms. Tears were welling in her eyes. She screamed again, and passed out. If her legs had been working, Cate would have gotten her... She would have been a good mother, and dabbed her forehead with water, and whispered softly in her ear. But nothing in her body was working. She was frozen on the spot, able to move very little. Jack had not reacted well to falling down with Paige. He screamed louder than ever, and stood himself up on his little baby legs, and slowly climbed down the stairs. "Daddy!" He wailed. His first words had been "Da, Da!" Being barely over a year old, he wasn't able to understand the situation. He didn't know why his mommy pushed him away, and why his daddy didn't answer. He didn't know of what the blood was, or who it belonged to. But he was being ignored, and it was a good enough reason to cry... When Paige managed to drag herself down the stairs, to the marble floor of the entry hall, Jack was now a bloody mess. Crying like a bawling cow, she looked at all the blood and wretched upon seeing it again. She was feeling terribly weak, and an empty space seemed to fill her heart. She was cold, and her teeth were chattering. She touched her mother first, to make sure she was still alive too. Cate didn't have much of a reaction to human touch, she merely turned her tears streaked face in her direction. "Oh God, mum... Is-is-is-is..." She wasn't able to say the word. She didn't think she could face the bleeding obvious fact that her father was dead. Cate nodded, putting her head down again. Paige sobbed, moving her hand from her mother, to her father's face. She knelt in the pool of blood, and put her free hand lightly on her mother's sliced hand. After a few minutes, she could take no more of it all, and wrapped her arms, which were soaked, around her father. "Daddy! I love you!" she repeated, feeling her throat becoming tight. It was only a matter of time until she turned into the ball of nerves that was now her mother... About an hour after, while Paige made a sad attempt to get her grieving mother off the floor, crying, and having almost no physical strength at all... there was a knock on the door. "Cate! Open up! Are you home? I can hear the baby screaming!" It was her grandfather, Sirius Black. "Paige? Bellum? Anyone there?" Unable to speak, Paige walked the few feet to the door, opening it a tiny crack. "Paige?" Sirius asked frantically. "Why is your brother crying? Is something wrong? Where are your parents?" She extended a bloody hand, and Sirius gasped. She opened the door, and threw her arms around her grandfather, sobbing as hysterically as she had been before. Sirius looked down first, at his bloody granddaughter, and realizing the blood wasn't hers. Her looked up, and saw the scene in front of him. "Oh my God." He said slowly, prying Paige off him gently, and kneeling beside Cate. He wasn't sure who was dead, and when Cate shuddered at his touch, it became clear who was... "Catie... I'm sorry... Oh God... Catie... sweetie... dear..." He said, trying to be a source of comfort. Cate was breathing fast, and very heavily. He pulled her off her dead husband, and took her in his own arms. Paige had picked Jack up, and was sitting on the white sofa, shaking. Eyes closed, Cate grabbed Sirius's arm with her uncut, left hand. Her grip was so tight it was painful. "Can you speak, Cate? Sweetie... Listen to me... We need to get the Ministry here..." "Dolere." Cate said blankly. She brought her gaze up, and released herself from her father. "Dolere." "Malfoy? The woman that married Lucius's son?" Sirius asked frantically. Cate nodded. "Image... Appeared. Knife." Cate choked, grasping the knife, this time by the handle. "She killed him. She could have taken me... she killed him..." "We'll make sure the Ministry gets her..." Sirius said, touching her messy, blood soaked hair. "I'll make it right." "It'll never be right..." Cate muttered, making this almost her second full sentence. "Never." ~*~ After Sirius notified the Ministry, the notorious British Wizarding Press caught wind. All they knew of everything was that there was trouble involving Cate, at the mansion. Sirius stood guard, not letting any of them near the house. He didn't care if he was sued for hexing the reporters, who were photographing him left and right. "Eath and Lissy." Cate said blankly to the doctor that had been called for her. Her hand was bandaged, but she was still a mess. "Ethan and Felicity?" The doctor asked. This was the same doctor that had been through everything with her, starting at her downfall. He knew now that she was going to need immediate mental treatment, just to keep her from killing herself. "Eath and Lissy..." "Sir!" The doctor called to a Ministry official. "Her oldest children... they don't know yet..." "We'll take care of that." "Sirius." Cate said. "Send Sirius." "You want your father to tell them?" The doctor asked. Cate nodded. He had gotten very good at deciphering her shaky fragments of speech. "Then send him... NOW!" "Yes, doctor!" Still in his own bloody robes, Sirius nodded when the Ministry member told him. "Whatever happens, don't let the press in..." He said as a final farewell. For Sirius to get to Hogwarts was not a simple matter of appearing. He had to get special Floo Powder from the Chief official, and light a fire in the fireplace. After shouting HOGWARTS, and much complicated traveling by fireplace, he was thrown to the floor in the great hall fireplace. Along with the blood now, were ashes, adding to his distress. "Dad?!" Brynn asked. "Dad?!" Sirius bit his lip, and walked to the teacher's table. It just had to be breakfast... All the students were there... Dumbledore's misty blue eyes were filled with worry upon seeing him, and Sirius leaned forward, to whisper the events in his ear. His jaw dropped ever so slightly, and he stood up. "Mr. Ethan Pugnare, and Miss Felicity Pugnare... please follow Mr. Black... You are also dismissed from school for however long you need." He said. Upon hearing her name, Felicity turned her head, seeing her grandfather, who was a mess. Ethan's heart pounded, he had been watching the whole time. Crystal waved at Sirius, who looked away, tears filling his eyes yet again. Felicity left Blick, Ariana, and Malicia at the Slytherin Table, wondering why she had been dismissed from school. Sirius led them to a secluded hallway, and faced them both. "You mother can't be here to do this herself..." He started. "Mom?!" Ethan breathed frantically. "Did something happen to her?" "No." Sirius replied, looking at the young adults. "Your father." Felicity gasped sharply, knowing what Sirius was going to say, while Ethan managed to remain some composure. "W-Wha-What happened?" "There's been a murder..." Sirius sniffled. "Your father was killed in the wee hours of the morning. Your mum's in shock, and she needs you home." Felicity shoved all her image behind her, and threw herself at Sirius much like Paige did. But she was not a bloody mess, and Sirius could touch her hair, without the slimy feeling. She sobbed into his chest, forgetting all her sinister views for the moment... Ethan stood, crying silently. Grief had overcome him, taking all his feelings... He had left his father on rather bad terms, and this angered him. It was as if there was a little ball of anger inside him, longing to let itself out, and punch something... hurt something... kill something? Felicity interrupted his thoughts when she grabbed his and Sirius's hands, and they disappeared on the spot... Now he and his sister would have to face what the other members of his family had already seen... ~*~ School had been dismissed for the funeral, as most students were attending with their parents already. Fitting for the situation, the weather was rainy, and the sky was gray. Cate looked out the window. She was draped in all black, from head to toe. Her hat cast shadows over her face, making her bloodshot eyes appear ever more frightening than they already were. She had always liked the rain, but the past few days, she found it extremely hard to like anything at all... even herself. In fact, she blamed herself for everything that had happened somehow, no matter how much Ethan told her she did all she could. She bit her lip, and turned away from the window, and to the nightstand beside the bed. From it, she pulled a knife. It wasn't the same knife that took Bellum's life, nor the same one that had slashed her hand. It had a small blade, but it was still a knife. She stared at it for a few moments, and raised it to the level of her neck. Then there was a knock on the door, and she gasped, and shoved it back in the nightstand drawer. "Mum, are you alright?" Ethan called. "Are you ready?" "Oh... yes." Cate said quietly, so Ethan could barely hear her. "I'm coming." It was a small wait for the limousine, and the Pugnares waited in the entryway, all a mass of black huddled together. The ride was silent, and a torture in its own right. But it was nothing compared to the funeral. Cate howled the entire time, and stared down at herself. Several things were bothering her as well... her jewelry. A beautiful diamond tennis bracelet glittered on her wrist. It had been a git from Bellum on their first anniversary. She couldn't stand to look at it anymore, due to painful memories. She unlinked it, and handed it to Felicity, who put it on. The other thing was her wedding ring. This she kept on, and it was a very painful reminder of everything they had before... She touched it over and over, while Ethan kept his arm around her for comfort. She even saw Meagan at the funeral, and felt no desire to hurt her, or insult her. Numerous sympathy cards were handed to her and her family, and upon every new one, Cate cried harder. It was as if she was the only one that didn't accept Bellum's death. Was she the only one that cared? She couldn't hear properly, either. Everything was strangely echoed, and inaudible to her. The ceremony was long, and everyone was packed together. Between Ethan and Elizabeth, Cate sat, shaking slightly, flexing her wounded hand, which she had torn the bandage from. She couldn't feel the pain, but she saw the wound split open, and blood trickled out. Ethan shook his head, and pulled a wad of tissues from the pocket of his black robes, and dabbed her hand with them. Life was going to be hard now... Very hard, for everyone. Cate felt something pulling her up lightly, and Lizzie was motioning for her to stand. She pulled herself to her feet, and stood, watching the Pall Bearers carrying the coffin out. She looked at the ring on her fingers, and tried to take a seat again, but was held up by Lizzie and Ethan. The two managed to drag her to the burial, ignoring the shouts of, "I CAN'T!" And many tries to collapse on the floor to prevent them from taking her. Getting her to stand at the cemetery was no easy job either, as she simply refused to do it. She leaned back while Ethan and now Sirius held her up. The Press was doing nothing useful either, photographing the Blacks and the Pugnares in obvious distress, saving all their photos for some sort of "Special Issue." Cate was shaking again, but was standing on her own. She saw the hole in the ground, in the rectangular shape of the coffin... "No." She muttered. Sirius looked at her. "What?" He asked. "No!" Cate gasped, this time louder. "No!" She gave Sirius and Ethan a shove, and broke free from their grips. She took a breath, and looked all around. The men lowering the coffin were staring at her, and she narrowed her eyebrows at them. "STOP!" She shouted at them. "Open it." "Open what, lady?" The first one asked. "The coffin." Cate hissed, pointing at the coffin. She looked insane, and murderous. "Open it!" "Lady, your husband is dead!" The second man said, backing away. "Dammit, open it!" She shouted, casting a murderous glare at the man. The whole crowd was staring, open mouthed, at her. The men hurriedly opened the coffin, and Cate dropped to her knees in another fit of tears. She crawled over to the coffin, and slipped her wedding ring off her left ring finger. She shakily placed it in the coffin, on Bellum's chest. "Mom... Come on." Ethan whispered, coming forward, and pulling her back up. Cate sniffled, and went back to her not moving at all phase. She stared forward the rest of the burial, something mentally eating away her conscience. "Cate?" Someone asked softly, tapping her lightly on the shoulder. Cate, who had been sitting by herself, looked up to face Meagan. "What do YOU want?" She hissed. "I'd just like to say I'm sorry." Meagan said. She really hated to apologize to Cate, for everything she never did... "For everything that's happened... Sorry I insult you, and make your life even harder than it is... And if you need anything at all right now... just ask." "Why would I need anything from you?" Cate shot back. "You've got a husband... oh, and little Cate doesn't anymore... what a perfect time for you to make this known... There's nothing I want in this world now... what I want, I can never have. Oh, but you got what you wanted... that was James Potter... you didn't get him, but you got his son. Talk about desperate. In your eyes, Harry is James... and you're happy... I bet nothing makes you happier than to see me like this... you can finally win. You finally get more good attention from the press because I've gone mad. Mad!" "Mum!" Ethan hissed, pulling her up. "Sorry, Mrs. Potter... she's not alright at the moment... "Sorry!" "It's okay... this is normal of her... I should have kept to myself." Meagan turned to leave, wondering what on Earth possessed her to even talk to Cate, especially in her state. It might have been the good virtues inside her that felt sorry for her. Or perhaps it was that bit of pride... She wished Ethan luck; he was a good kid. More like his father, she thought. Felicity was like Cate, but even now she couldn't help crying. She thought Paige was more like her grandparents than either of her parents. She was cheerful, talkative, and a sweet young girl. Jack was too young to know anything about him, but he was adorable, and would probably be like Ethan in her opinion. How Cate's children contradicted her in most ways... ~*~ Felicity went back to school earlier than Ethan did. Ethan stayed home to make sure Cate didn't kill anyone, including herself. She had made threats to the doctor, and was talking again... not that it was a good thing. She was an angry ball of rage, and sat by herself locked in her room most of the day. Back at Hogwarts, Felicity found it hard to cope with her circle of friends, especially Ariana. "Your mother." She said, clenching her fists. "She killed my father." Ariana's jaw dropped, and she backed away. "But I didn't!" She said, watching Felicity's eyes glint evilly. "I just don't think this will work any longer... My mother is a mess, and my father is gone forever. I can't be your friend any longer, knowing your mother did this, and you'll probably turn out just like her!" "Fine... you're going to be just like your mother anyways!" Ariana hissed. "Beautiful... great... But a problem. You'll fall in love, and your life will end. Then the mental breakdowns will begin.... Just like your mother." "Ignore her." Blick whispered in her ear. "Turn around..." Felicity bit her lip, and looked at Malicia, who was on her side. "It's okay, Lissy... I only have one parent too... My mother is dead." "Why didn't you ever say anything?" Felicity asked, trying to take her mind off her father, and Ariana. "Because my father killed her." Malicia replied, as if it were nothing. "She wasn't like us... But you can be... I can help you solve all your problems... You can get your revenge... Don't you want that?" Felicity nodded... Her path to the dark side had begun... ~*~ Every night, Cate took out the knife, and pondered whether she should die or live. As an heir, if she killed herself, life was over. If she had the will to die, she would. But she couldn't... the same reason overcame all every time. She wanted her unborn daughter to live. She couldn't deprive her own child, the last of Bellum's memory, she thought, of a life... The knife went back into the drawer again, as always, and she stared into the night sky, thinking about her life. "I'm not meant to be loved... or to love." She sighed. "Anyone I'm close to dies... Who'll be next? Ethan? Lissy? Paige? Jack?" She paused, and looked around the room. Dirty clothes littered the floor... the room hadn't been cleaned lately. There were photographs on the dressers, and on the walls, which Cate couldn't look at. It hurt too much. "No one even seems to care... I was the child no one wanted... the little outcast... The psychopathic adult... The nervous breakdown... Everyone has this idea that a doctor will help... what's it going to do? Are they going to put me on even more medication so I won't kill the entire population?" Her mind began to wander, to nothing in particular. When she closed her eyes, she saw blue jewel. "The Sapphire!" She gasped. Then her heart fell... She had destroyed it years and years ago, so Meagan could never talk to her dead friends... Why did she have to do that? The small mistakes she had made came back to haunt her now... She left the window, and lay down on the bed. She closed her eyes. "Cate... Listen! I love you!" Echoed in her mind. Almost 17 years of being happy... gone. Yet something else lingered in the back of her head... the time she had talked to Meagan alone... about the child Meagan lost... She had said she watched her grow up as the conversation mysteriously changed subject. Then why didn't she ever do anything? It was obvious that Cate had never been happy... And she watched? She watched the children of her best friends suffer? It was something that had nagged at her, but Cate could never figure out why. Her life was turning into a living Hell... again.