Ooh, another chapter for you guys. Hope you like. It's real jam packed with action, emotion, drama – you name it. Chapter Eight – Hades in Mind Kaitlyn spent a jam packed week teaching the students, helping with the arrangements for the Halloween party, spending time with Remus, and she loved every minute of it. She'd never known how much work went into Halloween – what with the food, decorations, organisation in general. There was only one thing that had bothered her and that was that she sometimes seemed so tired that she would actually forget where she was heading and find herself wondering in the wrong direction to get somewhere. She was glad that her 'bodyguards' had been too busy to follow her around the school and only stayed with her in lessons and downtime, because they'd only think something was wrong with her. But there wasn't, and she knew it. She was just tired and so lost in her thoughts that she'd forget small things like how to get around the school. Dumbledore, Snape and Flitwick returned early on the Saturday morning just in time for the Halloween feast that night. Dumbledore was very pleased with them for all their help, and praised them on their organisational skills on setting up for Halloween.

         Kaitlyn wasn't looking forward to Halloween as much as she thought she would. Just before the feast was about to begin Remus entered her room – a private room off the hospital wing that she'd been calling home for the past three weeks. He looked at her sitting at her desk, her back to him.

         "You're not ready."

He said shocked.

         "I'm not going – oh!"

She'd just turned around and got a small shock. He wasn't wearing his usual shabby, patchwork cloak but a brand new deep green cloak that went with his eyes and he'd also tried to tidy up his hair in a rather rugged, messed up sort of way. She thought he looked quite fetching. He smiled at her reaction.

         "Why aren't you coming? You earned it the amount of work you put into it."

         "I just don't feel like it."

He sat down on the edge of the desk next to her and looked at her, her slightly downward expression.

         "Why not? You're not feeling ill are you? Because I'll go and get Madam Pomfrey..."

He gestured to the door with his thumb.

         "No I feel fine. It just doesn't feel like Halloween, it won't be the same."

         "The same as what?"

         "I'd usually go around Sally and Dave's in the morning where'd we'd have a kind of reunion – you know with all the old crowd. We'd all help cook the Halloween dinner, then we'd spend the rest of the day playing games, carving up pumpkins, playing tricks on the trick or treaters. Then the next day we'd do for an early morning stroll – all of us. It's been like that for the last sixteen years. Besides, I don't feel like celebrating, you go and have fun."

Remus sat there for a moment, then suddenly stood and walked out. She watched him leave, not blaming him for not wanting to spent Halloween with a party pooper.

         She finished off the letter she was writing to Sally and Dave, sealed it, then tied it to the owl sitting calmly on the window sill and sent it on it's way. She sat back down, thinking. She started to feel guilty for blowing Remus off and she made a decision. Getting up she rummaged through her clothes for her best cloak, neatened her hair up, added some make-up and started to head out the door when she heard what sounded like a piano playing. She paused and listened hard. It was definitely a piano playing somewhere, and the tune sounded so familiar. She was so busy listening to the tune that she didn't hear the footsteps approaching. The door was shoved open, almost hitting her and she screamed. She hadn't meant to but it was so unexpected. She heard a yelp from the other side of the door and stood still as she door closed. Complete silence invaded the room and slowly she reached out and pulled the door towards her. Remus was standing on the other side taking a breath.

         "You scared me..."

He trailed off, staring at her.

         "You were the one that scared me actually! We don't seem to have much luck with doors, do we?"

He kept staring.

         "What?"

She asked.

         "You look fantastic..."

She blushed.

         "I was just coming to see you."

         "I've got a surprise for you. Come on."

He grabbed her hand and pulled her from the room.

         "Where are you taking me?"

         "You'll find out."

He smiled. He pulled her down the corridor, straight past the hall, where a rumble of happy voices was coming from, and up the stairs.

         "Remus, where are we going?"

He didn't answer, just smiled as he pulled her along. Finally he stopped outside his room and turned to her.

         "Now, it's nothing big but I thought it might help make it feel like Halloween."

He pushed the door and held it open for her. She stepped through and gasped slightly.

         Remus had decorated the room, his table had been cleared of parchment and books and now held a small feast, there were two pumpkins amongst the plates and she could see a pack of cards on the side.

         "Now, I know it's not much, but I have the feast, pumpkins ready to be carved, I don't know many games but I did get a pack of cards, and I've planned an early morning walk tomorrow...what do you think?"

He asked hopefully, wringing his hands slightly.

         "Remus...it's perfect." She turned to face him. "It's just so thoughtful. Thank you."

She pulled him into a hug which he returned. Then he led her to the table and pulled the chair back for her to seat on, before taking a seat opposite her. She sat watching him pile his plate up out of the corner of her eye as she did the same. Was there anything this man *wouldn't* do for her? Now there was a strange thought...

         They ate slowly, talking about everything and anything except Lord Voldemort and the dark days ahead. Once they were full they sat in the two comfy armchairs in front of the fire and carved their pumpkins into wacky faces. Kaitlyn laughed at Remus' almost failed attempt. After all these years he'd never ever carved a pumpkin before which shocked her. He watched her laughing thoughtfully. When she'd calmed down she looked back at him and his blank expression.

         "What's up wolfhound? You're all silent and broody looking."

         "Hm? Oh, I was just thinking."

         "About what?"

*About how I'm going to try and keep it a secret that your 'brooding, silent wolfhound' is in fact a pensive puppy that likes his belly tickled!*

         "Thinking that we should play some cards to get my humiliation away from this depressed looking pumpkin and onto losing."

         "You mean to tell me you don't mind losing?"

         "I don't mind losing to you."

He said seriously. To hide her second blush of the night, she stood and went to get the cards from the side table, then settled herself down on the rug in front of the fire and beckoned for him to join her. He slid off his chair and sat opposite her.

         Ten long games later and Remus felt like he was getting better having won four out of the ten games instead of the usual one or two.

         He stood, proud of himself and stretched his stiff legs. Kaitlyn, who'd been leaning back on the front of her chair, pulled herself up and slumped backwards into the seat.

         "So, what time do you want to go for that stroll tomorrow?"

         "Quite early, so we can see the sun rise."

His eyes widened at the thought of getting up that early.

         "We can do it later if you want."

She suggested, noticing the look.

         "No, early is fine. I'll come by you're room about 6.45?"

         "Sounds good to me."

She stood and he walked her back to her room.

         "Well," He hesitated for a moment. "See you tomorrow."

He turned and walked briskly away, looking slightly annoyed with himself. She watched him leave the hospital wing, then went into her room, sighing quietly to herself.

*****

The next morning, she was up and ready for when Remus tapped on her door and they headed down into the grounds. The place was deserted, nothing unusual seeing as it was so early and a Sunday. Just as the sun was about to come up they took a seat in the gardens where they could see the sun slowly starting to shine across the lake as it rose. They say in silence for a long time chancing small glances when they thought the other wasn't looking. After having been sitting there for a few comfortable hours he stole a glance and saw the change of emotions on her face.

         "Now it's your turn to tell me what you're thinking about."

She looked up at him.

         "I was thinking about you."

         "Me?"

         "Yeah. Every time I – even when I'm at my worst...you always make me feel special. How do you do that?"

He smiled honestly.

         "Magic."

Her brow furrowed slightly as she looked into his deep eyes and saw her own reflection glistening in them. He leaned towards her slightly and stopped, waiting for her to make the next move if she wanted to.

         "Remus..." His gaze went from her lips and back up to her eyes. "Don't let me fall you for...if you don't intend on catching me."

He smiled gently.

         "I'll catch you. And if for any reason I miss, I'll sit by your bedside and nurse you back to health."

She leaned closer to him. His breath was like a cool breeze on her cheek. Inches apart, her heat beating harshly against her ribs. She wanted him so much and for a moment she completely forgot about all her worries.

         Their lips had barely brushed each other when they heard a cough from behind them. They turned to see Snape standing there, looking uncomfortable.

         "Severus."

Remus said quickly, and sat up, pulling away from Kaitlyn.

         "I'm sorry for disturbing you but Professor Dumbledore needs to see you both."

He said quickly and slightly harshly, before turning and walking briskly away. Remus looked at Kaitlyn who gave him a 'maybe next time' smile.

         "Better not keep the headmaster waiting."

Kaitlyn said, standing up. They walked in silence back up to the castle and to Dumbledore's office where the stairs were already there, probably from where Snape had gone up. 

         They enter the office to get a small shock. A small crowd was gathered near the door which included McGonagall, Snape, Kingsley, Tonks, Moody and of course Dumbledore. They all looked over when they entered but Dumbledore was the only one to react while the rest of the carried on with their conversations.

         "Ah, Miss Morgan, come take a seat by my desk, have some coffee. I have some good news to tell you. Remus if you could help sort out this little dispute."

Dumbledore told him. He nodded and joined the small crowd of people while Dumbledore led Kaitlyn to the seat next to his desk.

         "What good news?"

She asked, taking the seat and mug of coffee that Dumbledore offered her.

         "It has to do with the necklace. I believe I have found – "

Dumbledore stopped mid sentence as Moody's angry voice rose above the rest. They looked over and saw an argument about to erupt.

         "Please excuse me Miss Morgan, it looks as if I'll have to deal with them first."

She nodded and watched as he moved over. She caught random words such as Voldemort, death eaters, attack, safety but that was pretty much it. Remus and Snape seemed to be talking amongst themselves and it looked like Snape was filling Remus in on the details, while Dumbledore was trying to settle the others. Tonks looked like she wanted to strangle Moody who's magical eye was going crazy, while Kingsley was arguing with a very stubborn looking McGonagall.

She took a sip of her coffee and looked away, not interested. All she wanted to know was what Dumbledore was about to tell her. He'd found something. But what? A way to destroy the necklace? Her hopes rose slightly but she squashed them quickly just in case that wasn't it.

         A soft tune suddenly drifted into her ears and she looked around for the source. It was that piano again, playing a soft tune that she couldn't place. She frowned and looked over at the others who hadn't noticed. They were obviously making too much noise to hear it. The music was slowly rising in volume and she kept looking around to see where it was coming from but it seemed to be coming from every direction as well as from inside her. It was started to get so loud she wondered why none of the others had heard it.

         Something in the music was making her shiver, it was a haunting melody that seemed to be getting into her very skin. She shook – the cooling coffee spilling over the rim of the mug. A look of fear washed across her face as she started to breathe slightly heavier. The notes were filling every part of her mind and she was having difficulty concentrating.

         At this point Remus was obviously getting annoyed and turned away, giving up with arguing because it wasn't getting them anywhere. His gaze fell onto Kaitlyn and immediately his expression turned from annoyance to concern.

         "Kaitlyn?"

He questioned, moving closer. His concerned voice was heard by Dumbledore and Snape, who both looked over.

         "Miss Morgan?"

Snape questioned. As Dumbledore had been in the middle of speaking at the time, it had stopped everyone else arguing and after a few moments there was complete silence as they looked at the young woman.

         Kaitlyn hadn't noticed. She was still staring into space, shaking. She could hardly hear anything over the loud, obnoxious notes. Remus moved closer and knelt next to the chair, putting his hands on the arms of the chair.

         "Kaitlyn?"

He reached out and put a hand on her arm gently. She jolted, spilling more of the coffee and stared at him. Something she saw obviously scared her, making Remus even more worried.

Suddenly she stood, shoving the mug in the direction of the desk and making Remus step back. She missed and the mug fell, smashing on the floor by Remus' feet distracting him, as Kaitlyn ran from the room. Everyone looked stunned, unable to move, as Remus quickly stood and ran after her.

         "Remus, wait! You shouldn't go alone!"

Dumbledore called after him to no avail. He looked at Snape and they both followed, not having a clue as to where she might have gone.

         Meanwhile Kaitlyn had kept on running. She didn't even know where she was going. All she knew was that she had to get rid of the music. She ran until she couldn't run any longer and found herself up in one of the towers. It obviously wasn't used that much anymore. Old desks stood piled up on one side with some chairs, but the rest of the room was pretty much empty save an old moth eaten rug on the floor and a few wooden boxes below the glassless window where a breeze was drifting into the room. She moved across the run and slumped against the wall beside the window, putting her head on her knees. The music had faded slightly but it was still there, at the back of her mind. She knew it wasn't a good thing and she knew she had to get away from all people.

         She took a few calming breaths and tried to fight off the music, trying not to give into the pressure at the back of her mind.

*****

Remus, meanwhile, rushed up to Gryffindor 's common room and let himself in. He looked about the common room and spotted Harry sitting in the corner of the room with Ron looking rather tired. He went up to him.

         "Harry."

Harry looked up, shocked.

         "Professor Lupin! What are you doing here?"

         "I need to borrow your map for a moment."

Harry didn't need asking twice. If Remus needed the map then it must be important. He rushed up the stairs and grabbed the map from the bottom of his trunk, returning with it in his hand as he charmed it to work. Remus took it and quickly glanced over it. It didn't take him long to find her.

         He handed it back to Harry, said a quick thanks and left just as quickly as he'd entered. Harry gave Ron a look.

         "What was all that about?"

Ron asked amazed.

         "No idea."

Harry said honestly, glancing down at the map and all the little dots.

*****

Remus entered the tower, spotting Kaitlyn curled up in the corner, her head still on her knees. She was rocking slightly back and forth.

         "Kaitlyn?"

He called carefully. She didn't respond. He moved over, kneeling a few feet away.

         "Kaitlyn, answer me honey."

She still didn't react to him. Just sat there rocking. He thought he could hear her mumbling. He moved forwards on his knees until he reached her, then put a hand out and placed it on her arm.

         "Kaitlyn, you're scaring me, please."

She didn't flinch at his touch. Just stopped rocking. He moved his hand and carefully cupped her chin, trying to get her to lift her head. It worked. Her head tilted upwards and soon her glazed eyes met his and he had to fight not to gasp. Her eyes were bloodshot and she just stared at him for a moment with a look of death in her eyes. There was no emotion, no fear, no anger, nothing but death.

He fell backwards in shock, onto his back and tried to get his feet working to stand. Before he could get his feet under him she stood. Her whole posture had changed, she was completely direct and ordered in her movements. Like it wasn't her moving, it had none of her casual stance or manner of movement.

         He finally managed to stand up as she pulled her wand from her cloak. His eyes widened and he frowned.

         "Kaitlyn?"

He called, scared for the first time in her presence. He reached for his wand but she was too quick.

         "Accio wand!"

It flew from his cloak and into her grasp, where she pocketed it.

         "Kaitlyn, what are you doing?"

He asked warily, frightened for his life.

         "You have to die, werewolf. No pure blood in you."

Straight away he knew he wasn't speaking to Kaitlyn, The voice was cold and eerie. Somehow he knew she was being controlled, but he knew the necklace was safe. Or did he?

         "Listen to me Kaitlyn. Fight it, I know you can hear me. You have to fight this."

It didn't seem to work. She stepped closer to him, her hand reaching out. Suddenly he felt a vice like grip around his neck and looked at her outstretched hand, the fingers claw like. He reached up and tried to pull away the invisible grip but couldn't. He felt his lungs start to ache as he tried to breath and couldn't draw air. All he could do was watch as her hand raised upwards and he felt the ground pull away from his feet. Now he was just hanging in the air, at her mercy, his legs kicking as he tried to release himself. His vision started to dim around the edges and spots started to appear before his eyes as he tried to get air into his lungs. He saw her raise her wand towards him with her other hand and he fought the overwhelming urge to let himself into the blackness. He had to try and get through to her, had to. He kept staring, trying to muster all of the love he felt into that one look, hoping to reach her before she did something she could never forgive herself for.

         Kaitlyn watched from inside her body at Remus struggling and she knew it was wrong but at the same time she knew he had to die for what he was. Looking into his eyes, she saw something that made her pause in her tracks. He was staring right at her, eyes wide, with a look of fear as he tried to breath even with her hand restricting his windpipe. It was a fear of her and what she was about to do. But it was what was below all that fear that made her hesitate. There was a look of love in those eyes, a pleading love...something that reached right down into her and suddenly a voice penetrated the music still playing loudly in her ears.

         *I'll catch you. Because I love you.*

Something in that voice pulled Kaitlyn closer to the surface. He loved her? He really loved her? Suddenly realised what she was doing and gasped.

         She dropped the wand and pulled the other hand back with such force that Remus dropped to the ground and crumpled in a heap. He clutched at his neck and took spluttering breaths as he tried to fill his lungs with oxygen.

         Kaitlyn's eyes darted to the floor for all of two seconds, then she turned sideways and bolted to the window. She jumped up onto the box, then onto the window ledge as if running up stairs and launched herself out of the large window like a base jumper, her cloak billowing behind her.

         Remus, who'd only partly recovered, had stood and limped over to the window, trying to ignore the pain in his ankle as he rubbed his neck, and saw Kaitlyn transfiguring into a Hawk at the height of her jump, just before gravity started to pull her down. She caught the wind under her wings and started to soar away.

         Remus watched as she seemed to get into trouble a couple of metres away as if in pain. Her wings seemed to fold in slightly and she started falling to the ground.

         The door burst open and Remus turned to see Dumbledore and Snape, then snapped his head back and watched in horror as Kaitlyn kept falling.        

         Immediately Dumbledore shot a spell down which seemed to slow her, and just before landing she transfigured back and hit the floor, unconscious, her cloak spread out around her and arms across her like her wings had been.

         Dumbledore, Snape and Remus turned as one and made a move across the room. Remus however had taken all of two steps when he registered that his ankle was causing him severe pain and he knew that it was damaged.

         "Stay put Remus. I'll send someone up."

         "But – "

He started, trying to follow as they disappeared. He cursed as his ankle screamed with the pressure of his weight. It was beginning to feel like a beach ball and, desperate as he was to get to Kaitlyn he knew he'd never make it. He settled with going back to the window and saw a few students rushing up to her side. Remus then heard Snape's faint voice shouting at them to get away as he ran up, his black cloak flying behind him. The students all jumped up and scattered as Snape knelt beside her as Dumbledore reached them.

         Hearing the door go behind him he turned to see Professor McGonagall bluster in looking pale. She quickly fixed his ankle temporarily with a spell and as soon as he was sure he could walk on it he ran from the room, Minerva close behind him.

         They reached the Entrance Hall at the same time as Dumbledore and Snape who were walking either side of a stretcher they conjured. He rushes up next to it, and looked down as he walked alongside it, seeing her fearfully still face. He completely ignored the students Professor McGonagall was ushering out of the way as they moved past. They all knew Kaitlyn by face if not by name and by that evening the whole school was going to know that something had happened to her.

         It's not long before she's in the hospital wing and Madam Pomfrey is bustling around trying to help her. Remus tries to help but McGonagall holds him back from getting in the way. Time seemed to have slowed for Remus, it seemed to take ages for Poppy to check her over, he felt dazed and weak at the knees but he wouldn't move from his position near her bed. A few minutes Poppy turns to Dumbledore and says that Kaitlyn is stable, but that she won't wake up for a while. Dumbledore nodded and conjured up some invisible ropes with which to keep Kaitlyn tied down. Poppy looked shocked.

         "What do you think you are doing? You can't just tie down my patient!"

         "I'm afraid I have to Poppy."

She looked angry and turned away, spotting the hand marks on Remus' neck. She exclaimed making him jump because he was so busy staring at Kaitlyn. She grabbed his arm and made him sit down on another bed. He stood up again.

         "I'm fine. I'm fine honest just make sure Kaitlyn is okay."

         "Kaitlyn is fine for now. Let me just deal with you."

She said shoving into a seating position. Remus watched Kaitlyn carefully from his seat, not noticing Dumbledore move away slightly and talk quietly to Snape and McGonagall.

         After a few moments they both nod and, after a last glance at Kaitlyn and Remus they both leave. Remus looks up as Dumbledore approaches him.

         "What happened? She was fine yesterday. She was fine this morning. What was that, that took her over? I didn't think I was going to make it for a while back there. She was..."

He shuddered slightly, unable to find the words.

         "I fear I made a mistake in my calculations."

         "What do you mean?"

         "Well, in every historical text about the necklace it only mentions there being one necklace, which is the one I've kept safe all this time. But it looks like there was in fact two made and Voldemort had kept the second one all this time. It never occurred to me that there might be two. But it does mean that Kaitlyn was in fact caught by Voldemort. He must have placed a memory charm on her and altered her memory. That's what all those nightmares were – her memories. She probably didn't realise either."

         "But if there was never any proof that there were anymore then you weren't to know. None of us knew. I've spent the longest with her and I never noticed anything out of the ordinary."

Dumbledore nodded.

         "So, what do we do now?"

         "Keep her safe and away from people. I've got Snape and McGonagall working on the tower room, setting up charms and spells so that she can't escape or hurt anyone. We'll have a 24 hour guard in the room and keep her tied down – it's the only way." He quickly added to Remus' shocked face. "I also found out how to destroy the necklace, but first we have to work out how to remove it without killing her...or leaving the evil in her."

         "And how long's that going to take? We can't keep her locked up forever."

         "I'll get as many people working on it as I can and hopefully it won't take too long. I know you're close to her Remus but I'm going have to ask you to put aside your feelings because right now it's not just Kaitlyn laying there. I need you to stay strong and do whatever it takes to keep her from hurting herself or anyone else."

He looked down, then nodded slowly.

         "Whatever it takes to get her back."

Dumbledore nodded.

         "Now go and get some rest. I'll be keeping an eye on Kaitlyn in case she wakes. Remus nodded again, tiredness suddenly taking over his mind, and laid down on the bed, falling asleep almost immediately.

So...? What did you think? Did you enjoy it? Was this what you were expecting? Or did you think it was going somewhere else? Stay tuned – this still has quite a way to go!