A/N: Ok people, this is my second last chapter!!! (Can't decide if this is a good thing or not). The reason I didn't post it earlier is that my computer contracted a virus that wiped clean my –entire- hard-drive! So pretty much I have nothing left of four year's worth of stories and poetry. Being me, I never did back-up like I planned to, so, despite the fact that a part of my soul has died along with this loss, it was actually a good thing. I've now learned that back-ups are my friend.
Anyway, back to the story. Like I said, this is my second last chapter, but like I mentioned before (I think) I am going to write a short sequel to it. Please do make an effort to read it! I must also warn you all that this chapter might be a bit fluffy, soppy and (hopefully) sad. Let me know what ya think by reviewing!!!
Kat woke with a blinding headache. She lay for a while, her eyes closed and limbs unmoving, trying to gather the strength to roll out of bed. The mattress beneath her felt oddly lumpy, and the air smelled strangely mouldy and damp – nothing at all like her own dorm (or Sirius's, now that she thought about it).
Finally figuring out that she could not stay in the semi-wakened state forever, she slowly opened her eyes and glanced about the room. It was not a room Kat knew, nor did it look it belonged to any place Kat had ever been. The lilac paint on the walls was peeling, and the carpet on the rotting floorboards appeared even mouldier than the plasterboard ceiling. By the smell that emanated from the bed beneath her, Kat guessed that it too had not seen sunlight or fresh air in many a days.
She tried to sit up but found herself trapped in what felt like a thick, constricting jelly.
"Ahh, she is awake, Morris." Drawled Alfious Malfoy, the scorn sharp in his usual velvety voice.
Kat knew with a sickening feeling in her stomach that she was in big trouble, fatal trouble, in fact.
A man came into her view, his familiar features cold.
"Father." She breathed. "What is the meaning of this, where are we?"
He slapped her hard across the cheek, doing nothing for her headache. "Never call me that again. I have no daughter."
"Now, now, Morris. There is no reason to slap the girl around like some lowborn Mudblood. We have other ways to have fun with her." Malfoy sneered, looking for all the world exactly like his son.
"Mr Malfoy." Kat said, tasting blood in her mouth from where her teeth had sliced into her cheek and tongue. "It is good to see you again, sir. Could you perhaps tell me what is going on?"
Morris Hale laughed a deep, hollow laugh. "We have been sent by the Dark Lord to make you pay for betraying us to Dumbledore; and thus, you are here in the Lord's secret house – and you will be justly punished."
She knew what was coming; she knew that they would torture her before making her die as slowly as possible. She had to bite her lip to keep from crying out in terror. Those who served Voldemort tortured for fun, and they enjoyed killing above all else. He had sent her father, her own father, to kill her – and she knew that Morris Hale had no choice. Her father had never really cared for Kat half as much as he did for Voldemort, and even if he did, he would still not refuse to kill her. That would mean death for him as well.
"Shall we proceed, or do you want to waste more time?" Malfoy's voice had a tone of almost glee to it, and his handsome features were contorted into a cruel smile.
Morris nodded and motioned for Malfoy to proceed; Alfious would torture Kat, but Morris himself would do the actual killing. Kat's father sat down in a rickety old chair and stared at a mouldy spot some four inches above Kat's head, his face impassive.
With an impetuous flick of his wand, Malfoy released the bonds that held Kat. He did not, however, even give her chance to move an inch before his first curse hit her.
"Crucio." He whispered, a malicious grin on his face.
Pain filled every fibre of her being, and despite all of her will, Kat could not help but moan. Even Voldemort had not hurt her that much, for his heart had not been in it completely – no matter how much he above all others enjoyed bringing pain.
She writhed in agony, but she did not cry out. Malfoy dropped his wand, and the pain subdued slightly. There was grudging respect in his eyes, but hatred as well. Alfious Malfoy did like to hear people scream.
The next time he placed the curse on her, Kat screamed as she had never screamed before – and Malfoy laughed.
Great was his surprise when the door behind him flew open, and three boys advanced in, wands raised. Kat's screams must have muffled their footsteps on the rickety stairs.
"Stop that!" Cried Sirius as he, James and Remus stopped just inside the door.
Malfoy whirled around wand pointed at the boys, no longer worried that Kat would interfere.
"Expelliarmus!" Morris and Malfoy cast the disarming spell at exactly the same time, causing three wands to fly through the air, and three boys to fall backwards against the wall.
"Oh fuck." James mumbled as he pushed himself upright. He had been unlucky enough to stand right in front of the door, which caused him to fall on his backside when the curse blasted him backwards.
"Ditto." Muttered Remus as he glanced at Sirius, noticing the anger in his friend's eyes.
"So, which one of these three idiots is Sirius?" Morris Hale glared from them to Kat, wand raised level with James's chest.
"I am Sirius."
Kat moaned on the bed. It would have been better just to die; now the Marauders would most likely be killed in a futile attempt to save her. She wanted to cry, but she knew it would hurt too much.
"Good, good." Morris grinned. "So you will watch your two friends die, after which I will make Katherine watch you be slowly driven to madness by the Cruciatus curse." He rubbed his hands together in what appeared to be an eager manner.
"Wait!" Kat called shakily from the bed. "You have me, let them go!"
Malfoy stroked his small goatee in thought. "I suggest a compromise. If Katherine kills this Sirius boy, the other two can go – with their memories modified, of course."
"Do it, Kat!" Sirius called, his voice relatively strong, despite the fact that he was facing pretty sure death.
"NO!" James and Remus called at the same time.
"I'd rather die than make you be a murderer, Kat!" James declared, his eyes hard with determination.
"Kat, look at me." Sirius commanded; and Kat slowly raised her eyes to his, tears running silently down her cheeks. "Do it. If it will save the others…"
The two Death Eaters stood silently, enjoying the tension and fear shown by the three teenagers.
Slowly, Kat shook her head. "I cannot, Sirius…" She closed her eyes and more tears streamed down her cheeks.
Alfious cleared his throat. "Well then, I guess you all die. How very touching." His wand was still pointed at James. "You die first, upstart."
His mouth formed the first syllables of the Killing Curse, but a tremendous crash came from the wall, sending pieces of plaster and paint right across the room.
A hole the size of three doors was blasted in the wall that led to the hallway, and in the opening stood Professors Dumbledore, MacGonagall, Sprout and Aubry (Charms teacher).
The Marauders and Kat all drew short-lived sighs of relief. Morris Hale jumped back to where his daughter lay weakly on the bed, a silver knife in his hand.
"Drop your wands, all of you, or I'll slit her throat." He pressed his knife against Kat's skin, just above her main artery.
The other three Professors glanced at Dumbledore for assurance before lowering their wands.
Morris grinned viciously and glanced at Malfoy, nodding slightly.
With a quick incantation, Malfoy summoned the Marauder's wands to him, and threw them at the boys, momentarily distracting everyone from Kat and her father.
In that instant, Morris Hale swiftly plunged his knife into Kat's belly, making her cry out in pain and shock.
"Die like a Mudblood, Katherine." He snarled. "You were never good enough for magic, in anyway."
They Disapparated before anyone could even so much as raise a wand.
Dumbledore reached Kat's side first. "Minerva, go get Poppy."
"No!" Kat grabbed at Dumbledore's sleeve. MacGonagall stopped in her tracks.
"I will never be free in this life… let it end here… please, Professor." Her breath was coming in gasps, and it was clear that it was hard for her to talk. Blood gushed out of the wound in her stomach, and one bloody hand clutched the hilt of the knife.
Grave sadness filled the Headmaster's blue eyes, and he nodded before motioning Sirius forward.
"Kat, you have to let Madam Pomfrey heal you!" He fell to his knees beside the bed, and Dumbledore retreated to give the two some space.
"No." Kat slowly shook her head. "It is better this way, Sirius." There was sadness in her eyes as she lifted her hand to brush her fingers over his cheek, leaving a bloody smear across his skin. "I love you."
"I love you too, Kitty Kat." Tears shone in his eyes, and he grasped her hand, pressing it against his cheek.
"Do not… mourn too long…" Speaking was becoming increasingly difficult, as her head started to swim from loss of blood. "But… never forget me…"
"I swear." James and Remus both placed their hands on Sirius's shoulders as he said this.
"Come on, mate." James said softly. He glanced at Kat and gave her a silent salute, one she weakly mirrored with the tiniest of smiles.
Remus and James drew their friend up. "May you journey in peace, my friend." Remus told her softly, as they led Sirius out of the room, MacGonagall in tow.
Sirius tried to get one last look at the girl on the bed, but the three Professors who stood around her bed kept her form from sight.
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Professor MacGonagall led them down the stairs, and to their surprise, Madam Pomfrey was downstairs, along with Lily, Jess and Peter. The school matron gave them one look, gathered her skirts and dashed up the stairs, medicine bag swinging dangerously from her hand.
The group was silent all the way back to the castle, none of them having the heart to speak. From the way that Sirius stared dully out ahead of him, and from the silence of the other two, the girls and Peter knew that nothing good had happened that day.
MacGonagall took them to Dumbledore's office, seated them and poured each of them a cup of hot chocolate while they waited. In soft tones James and Remus told the other three what had happened in the room, and by the end of the tale, both the girls were weeping softly, and even James and Remus's cheeks were glistening with tears.
Sirius's hands were curled around his mug so tightly that Professor MacGonagall had to remove it forcefully, before he broke it.
The Headmaster joined them a quarter of an hour later, his expression grave. "It has been done."
Sirius still didn't move.
"Now, would one of you be so kind as to tell me what exactly happened today?" Dumbledore poured himself a cup of hot chocolate and settled behind his desk.
Taking it upon himself, James decided to tell the tale. "We were all getting ready to come back to the school when Kat suddenly remembered that she had to buy a new quill; we still wanted to go to Zonko's, and she told us that she would meet us on the way back. We all agreed and split up, although I wish now that we had walked with her."
He sighed and took a sip of luke-warm chocolate. "As we came out of Zonko's, we saw two men dragging what appeared to be an unconscious student into an alley – one we knew headed to the Hogshead tavern. We followed and saw that it was Kat, and Sirius demanded that we should follow her.
"Remus came up with the idea of sending the girls and Peter to the castle while the rest of us went after Kat. We split up once more, and the rest is history."
He sighed and placed down his empty cup. "I just wish we could have saved her."
Dumbledore nodded. "Yes, we all wish that, but in the end, she chose to die – and it was the right thing for her." He glanced at each of them over the tops of his half-moon shaped glasses.
"Who was the man that killed her?" It was the first time Sirius spoke up since he had spoken to Kat. Her blood was still on his cheek, and he had a dazed look about him.
"That was Morris Hale, her father." At this all the students gasped and Professor MacGonagall shifted slightly in her chair.
"But why?" Jess asked, drying her tears.
In all the confusion, it had been forgotten that the rest of the Marauders and the girls did not know of Kat's history.
Hesitantly at first, but with his tone strengthening with every word he spoke, Sirius told them all that Kat had told him and Dumbledore two weeks before. Silence once more reigned when he finished.
"They killed her because she didn't kill Sirius?" Lily gasped after a while.
"In a way, yes." Dumbledore said and turned his gaze on the red haired girl. "But also because she betrayed Voldemort." Everyone in the room flinched. Dumbledore continued as if he didn't notice. "She told me that she had been sworn to him, and she revealed more about him than even she knew. Voldemort - " everyone flinched again at the name "- suspected that she had changed sides, although I suspect that he had some insider that told him. I do not yet know who, or how they found out, but when I put my hands on that person, there will be serious trouble."
Dumbledore regarded the six students before him silently, before he said at last: "Voldemort has started his reign of terror, and times are looking dark. Some of us has seen it coming for a few years now. It has touched this school – and all six of you – but one of these days, it will touch every single witch and wizard in the entire world. Unless we can all learn to work together, Voldemort will win this fight, and the world will be plunged into darkness."
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