Myr Halcyon: I am evil, aren't I!!! Well, all questions should hopefully be answered in this chapter so the suspense is finally over. Let me know what you think.
Chapter Fourteen – From Beyond The Grave
Leaving Kaitlyn, he heads back to Voldemort's throne room where he's instructed to remove the body. He's noticed that many of the death-eaters have left; some to go back to their ordinary, everyday jobs and others to fulfil their chores. Only Voldemort, Wormtail and another death-eater Snape assumed to be either Crabbe or Goyle – he couldn't tell through the mask but the bulk seemed right, were left in the room. He silently moved to the body, sneaking a glance towards the three who's attentions were elsewhere, before he snatched up the wand hanging loosely in Remus' limp, cold hand. Then he performed a quick spell to get rid of the blood and transformed the body into a bone to throw into the woods.
He gave a small bow in acknowledgement of finishing his chore, then moved to stand at the side of the room. For nearly an hour no-one moved but this was normal. The Dark Lord would sometimes sit for hours at a time thinking through his plans, contemplating what had already happened.
Looking up, Snape saw Voldemort rise, and he quickly stepped aside as did the other two, and bowed low as Voldemort passed them. He stole a quick look up at the Dark Lord's back and could have sworn he saw him swaying slightly as he moved. He smiled inwardly and put his head down as Voldemort called out for Wormtail to follow.
Knowing that the changing of the guard was soon to happen down by Kaitlyn's cell, Snape gave Goyle, or Crabbe a nod, then left the room. He wanted to let the guard go early so he could have a moment with Kaitlyn before the second shift arrived.
*****
Down in the dungeons Kaitlyn hadn't moved. Her fingers and toes had numbed from the cold and her legs and arms had gone to sleep but still she hadn't noticed.
Her mind was a jumble of chaotic thoughts, flicking randomly from one to the next in no particular order. All of them dated back from the moment the necklace was first put on her, up until that moment. Moments with Remus, moments tied to that bed, as a Hawk, a random line Remus had said to her – all mingled in with the image of the boggart Remus laying on the floor, switching to the real Remus laying in a pool of blood, his taut features finally smooth and calm, the age lines relaxed.
She couldn't stop the bombardment even if she had wanted to. She had no energy to do anything and she couldn't even bare the thought that she'd soon have to move and deal with her own situation. She was on her own now. Completely and utterly alone. The thought made her feel physically sick and her mind suddenly went completely blank. She was hurting more now than any physical injury could ever have done. She didn't know what to do. She moved her head slightly, as if trying to shake the thought.
Hearing the bolt on the door go, she realised that it didn't matter what she thought or did from this point on. She would be dead soon anyway, right? So as long as she held her head high, stared into the face of death, then he couldn't take anything away from her. Hearing a voice and movement near her, she focused her eyes and saw Snape's face.
"Kaitlyn? Kaitlyn? I need you to listen to me very carefully. Kaitlyn? Are you hearing me?"
She acknowledged him with a movement of her eyes and he continued.
"I can get you out of here but I need you to co-operate."
"I can't trust you."
She whispered, her voice harsh.
"Kaitlyn, I'm the only chance you have of getting out of here. I'm your only option."
"I don't want to get out. He'll kill me – that's all I want. I want death...I want to be with the people I love..."
"No you don't. I know it seems hopeless now but everything will be explained to you. Here's Remus' wand."
He said pulling it out of his cloak and physically placing it in her hand.
"At the next shift change in two hours I'm coming back down to get you out. I want you to head into the woods – follow the direction of the moon. You'll come across a small river and a crumbling wall on the other side. I want you to wait there for me. There's a portkey hidden there in case of something like this. Will you do that? I promise I can get you out."
"But you didn't have to bring us in the first place..."
"It was a sacrifice. Look, I can't explain now but things will work out in the end. I promise."
Hearing a noise he turned quickly, then turned back to her as he stood.
"Don't do anything foolish until I get back. You can't apparate or transfigure within these grounds."
He left quickly, bolting the door. Then she heard his voice with someone else's before silence except for the slight rustling of clothes from the death-eater outside the door.
*Sacrifice?*
What did he mean, a sacrifice? Remus willingly sacrificed himself? Why would he agree with such a thing and to what purpose? Thinking about what Snape had said, how did he know she wouldn't be summoned before that? Maybe he knew something about this sacrifice that he hadn't told her. Thinking of her options she didn't think she had much of a choice but to trust him. Go along with him until she can ditch him. Maybe she should take this chance. Don't give in, then she could live to avenge his death. Help Harry and the Order to defeat him, watch him suffer as he had watched many others suffer. So she decided to wait. Wait and see what his plan was to save her.
*****
Kaitlyn had hardly moved in the two hours she was told to wait. She was trying to conserve her energy, but also trying to get her adrenaline pumping for the moment when she'd have to move. She was also trying to keep her mind from Remus, and onto the idea of escaping and staying alive. She'd been through every type of curse and spell for anything that might come in handy if she was left to defend for herself.
It was close to the two hour mark when she heard footsteps and closed her eyes, pretending to be asleep. She barely made out a whisper, then a dull thud, then someone unlocked the door.
"Kaitlyn?"
Snape's voice whispered. She opened her eyes and saw Snape dragging the guard into the room. He lowered him to the floor as Kaitlyn sat up. Snape turned to her.
"You'll have about 10 minutes head start. Do you remember where to go?"
She nodded slowly.
"Keep your head down and I'll get there as soon as I can."
Turning the wand onto the bars in the window, he whispered a spell and they vanished.
"I have to go. Keep strong, everything's gonna be okay soon – you will understand."
He put a hand on her shoulder, gave it an uncharacteristic squeeze and strode out, locking the door after him.
For a moment Kaitlyn didn't move. She looked at the door, then down to the guard on the floor, then up at the open window.
Taking a breath, she stood up and moved over. She glanced out to make sure no-one was around, then hoisted herself up and through the window which was at ground level outside.
She rolled out, but remained crouched, looking and listening for any sounds. Hearing nothing out of the ordinary she picked the nearest tree, which was a few metres away, took a breath and bolted for it.
She ran as fast as she could, then ducked down quickly behind the tree, leaning against it in a crouched position and holding her breath, praying not to hear any unusual sounds.
She heard none – no footsteps or voices, so sounds that anyone had seen her. She took a deep breath and calmed herself down from the quick surge of adrenaline that the sprint had given her. She looked up through the trees and spotted the moon just off to the left of her, away from the castle. Knowing that she'd probably lose sight of it in the woods she pulled out her wand and did a quick point me spell to find out which direction the moon was in, then standing quietly, she headed in that direction. As she moved the trees became more frequent and it got darker as she knew it would, but she dared not use a light to find her way. She relied on her good sight, while always listening for anyone or anything.
*****
Snape by this time, had made sure that he was standing in the Great Hall for when the Death Eater came rushing in. Voldemort usually left one of his right hand men in charge in the Great Hall in case the situation called for immediate action. That night it was Lucius Malfoy, who at that point was in discussion with Goyle.
"The prisoner's has escaped!"
The death eater said. Malfoy jumped out of his seat, looking shocked, angry and slightly nervous because he would have to go and tell Voldemort. Snape acted shocked as well and exchanged glances with Malfoy.
"How?"
Malfoy finally asked.
"I don't know – I went down for my shift and found Crabbe unconscious in the cell."
"Call the other death eaters – she must be found – she couldn't have gotten far."
Malfoy told Goyle and Snape, who both nodded and rushed off with the other death eater in tow, while Malfoy headed to Voldemort's personal quarters.
It wasn't long before nearly everyone was out searching. Wormtail was with Voldemort in the Great Hall as was Crabbe who'd been told to go to Voldemort to explain and to receive his punishment.
Snape headed in the rough direction of where he'd told Kaitlyn to wait, when suddenly a death eater stepped in front of him.
"Any sign?"
Snape asked, knowing it was Malfoy standing there, arms folded.
"You mean you don't know where she is?"
He muttered quietly. Snape, not quite sure if he'd heard right said;
"Excuse me?"
"What's going on?"
He demanded. Snape looked confused.
"What do you mean?"
"With you? You're acting different, and you disappeared earlier for a while – why?"
"I'm just tired and needed to walk to stretch my legs and wake myself up."
"I don't believe you. I think you've got something to do with Kaitlyn's escape – I know how reluctant you were to take her."
"Reluctant because I knew she was under Dumbledore's watchful eye. If he found out what I was doing my cover would have been blown too soon."
"No, it's more than that – I think you carry a torch for her. Teacher's pet wasn't she? Someone to challenge you, who knew about your passion for potions. Someone who you could talk to..."
Knowing that he was never going to get out of this questions, he muttered something under his breath. Malfoy frowned and leaned in slightly.
"What?"
"I said," quickly whipping his wand out, he stunned Malfoy before he'd even known what had hit him. "The game will be up soon anyway."
Taking a breath, Snape stepped over Malfoy's still form and headed quickly on – hoping she hadn't been found yet.
Reaching the river he headed down to the crumbling wall and stopped, looking around. He couldn't spot her anywhere.
"Kaitlyn?"
He whispered. A rustle behind him made him jump and he swung around to see Kaitlyn stepping out from behind a tree. Her face was blank.
"There you are. Are you okay? Any trouble?"
He asked. She didn't reply, just stood there – a slight tremor chasing up and down her frame.
"Kaitlyn?"
"Don't call me that."
Slowly a look of anger crossed her face and Snape frowned; he could see the anger and upset boiling over.
Forgetting her wand and any magic, she dived at him, arms outstretched. Being caught off guard Snape reacted late and was knocked to the floor. She pinned him down and started to hit him harshly.
"YOU KILLED HIM!!! You let him die – you could have stopped Voldemort BUT YOU DIDN'T! IT'S YOUR FAULT!!!"
She shouted at him. He tried to grab her wrists, at the same time as trying to put a hand over her mouth to shut her up.
"Kaitlyn! Kaitlyn!!" He half whispered, half shouted. "Shut up – or you'll get us both killed!!"
"You brought us here!! Why should I trust you now!!"
"Kaitlyn! Kaitlyn!! Kait! Wait! Stop! I can explain!!"
He managed to roll out from under her and turned quickly, grabbing her wrists, twisting her around so she was facing him and pulling her in, putting a hand over her mouth.
"Listen Kait, please."
She looked up into his eyes and suddenly looked defeated. An exhausted look replaced it a moment later followed by her eyes becoming unfocused as she passed out in his grasp from the sheer adrenaline rush followed by complete exhaustion from the last dozen or so hours.
He held her up and gently stroked her face for a moment before hearing a quiet rustle in the distance and then a voice.
"I'm sure that shouting came from over here!"
Quickly, he gathered Kaitlyn up in his arms, rushed over to the crumbling wall, found the battered, rusting can and touched it.
Feeling the familiar tug behind his navel his let out the breath he hadn't known he was holding as the world rushed around him. Suddenly his feet hit solid stone and he stumbled under Kaitlyn's weight but managed to keep his footing as his office appeared around him.
As soon as the room had stopped spinning completely, Snape readjusted Kaitlyn in his arms and rushed up to the hospital wing.
Pushing the door open with his back, he made sure to protect Kaitlyn's head, then turned to see Dumbledore, Poppy and Minerva just standing up and looking in his direction.
He moved quickly to the nearest bed and laid her down as Poppy half ran up the ward to them with Dumbledore and Minerva close behind.
"She's okay – she just fainted."
He said as he stepped back. Feeling a hand on his shoulder, he turned to see Dumbledore looking at him.
"How did it go?"
He asked quietly and cautiously.
"The sacrifice worked. Better than we expected." He looked back at Kaitlyn. "She doesn't know yet – I never got to tell her."
Dumbledore nodded, looking solemn.
"She will be told as soon as she wakes. His sacrifice will be known throughout the Order and someday throughout the Wizarding world as what finally brought Voldemort down. He is a hero. Now, go and get some rest – I'm sure you need it after the past 12 hours."
He nodded, took a last long glance at Kaitlyn, then left.
*****
Snape, kidnapped, cell, Voldemort, Remus, death, waiting, escape, running, trees, darkness, sacrifice...Remus...Remus...
Kaitlyn sat bolt upright as her thoughts caught up with her, her breathing heavy as she stared ahead at the bed opposite.
"Miss Morgan."
She looked sideways to see Professor Dumbledore sitting on the chair next to the bed, a rare smile on his face – one that didn't reach his eyes. She frowned and looked around.
"He got me back...he told the truth..."
She muttered to herself.
"He was following orders we'd had planned from the beginning."
Kaitlyn went to say something but Dumbledore put a hand up which stopped her immediately.
"I have a story to tell you, but I need you to stay quiet until the end. You need to know what's happened here."
"Okay..."
She told him. Whenever Dumbledore asked for something, he always got it and he now had her undivided attention. Kaitlyn pulled herself back so she could lean against the backboard of the bed, and Dumbledore waited until she appeared comfortable.
"I think I should start at the very beginning, back 17 years ago when Voldemort was at the height of his power. Professor Snape had come to me with an idea. He'd heard of an ancient spell that could kill someone slowly and without their knowledge. The problem was the spell had to be hidden within a person who then had to be killed by the person needing to be killed, for the spell to work. Severus was very willing to sacrifice himself for the Order and the rest of the Wizarding world; I however, was not. I was not willing to send someone to his death knowing that he would not return. There's a big difference between war and sacrifice. So I refused. Not long after that Voldemort was vanquished and the threat was gone.
"Two days ago Severus came to me. He was told by Voldemort that the time had come for him to make his support known by kidnapping both you and Remus."
Noticing her wince slightly and look saddened at his name, Dumbledore paused. He hadn't liked keeping her in the dark and putting her through all that after everything else that had happened to her but he'd had no other choice.
"You see, nearly a year ago Voldemort figured out that Harry's greatest weakness, are his friends. He realised, after Sirius Black was killed, that it made Harry angry and reckless. Something he could use against him to defeat him. Which is where you came in. He was going to use you to get to Harry's friends; but the plan backfired on him which is why he used Severus.
"Severus brought up the idea of the sacrifice again and at first I refused but Severus said he'd never fully turn to Voldemort and if he didn't then Voldemort would know he'd been a double agent all this time and he would be killed anyway. Remus was a willing participant, and had to be let in on the plan to help Severus make it go as smoothly as possible, but we couldn't let you know. If Voldemort knew that it was a set up you'd have all been killed, or worse..."
"Why Remus? Why would he have agreed to this? He promised me we would grow old and die together, years from now...I don't understand..."
Her voice was full of tears as she spoke and Dumbledore placed his hand on hers, comfortingly.
"Kaitlyn...it wasn't Remus."
Kaitlyn stared at him, trying to process the information.
"Wasn't..."
"Professor Snape was always going to be the sacrifice. But there was only one way that he could be killed without getting either of you killed, and that was to use Polyjuice Potion."
"Polyjuice..."
Something inside Kaitlyn suddenly clicked in place. Everything over the past few days – Remus' distant behaviour, Snape being more caring than usual...it made sense, except some parts, where Remus was quite loving. She stared up at Dumbledore in shock.
"It wasn't Remus..."
"No."
"Severus...?"
Dumbledore nodded solemnly.
"He sacrificed himself? He's gone...?"
"He has. His sacrifice has set up a chain of events that will soon lead to the downfall of Voldemort."
"But he told me he loved me...that he always loved me...it can't have been him – he'd never say that."
She tried to reason with him. She couldn't contemplate that she'd spent that time with Snape when she thought it was Remus, and Remus when she thought it was Snape. All that time he was telling her the plan, out in the woods with her...it had been Remus all that time. He'd seen her reaction to his death.
"Severus has always loved you. He always saw you as a daughter in some ways. And in some ways you were – there was a bond between the two of you from the moment he brought you down from the tree the night your parents died. That bond became stronger when you returned, although you couldn't feel it as much; he could. He felt something for you that he's never felt and he was willing to die for you and that love he felt for you."
"It was Severus...I can't believe he did that..."
She looked up at Dumbledore. Her thoughts were a jumbled mess. She was trying to separate which thoughts were Severus and which ones were Remus. It had been Severus that she'd seen die, not Remus. Which meant she hadn't lost him. The grief and loss changed in that moment. From grieving from the loss of the man she loved, to the loss of another parent, a friend that was closer to her than she had ever known. But still she couldn't believe that Remus hadn't died – his face was so vivid in her mind and she had to see him with her own eyes to know he hadn't died.
"Where's Remus? He's here right? He's okay?" She sat up and started to swing her legs out of bed. "I need to see him, I need to know..."
"He is resting in his room." He smiled. "He'll be very glad to see you."
"Not as glad as me."
She said standing up. He stood with her and stepped aside. Heading to the door she walked swiftly. Her thoughts were rushing through her head and the need to see him became stronger. She started to speed up and it wasn't long before she was sprinting up the stairs and along corridors towards his room.
She didn't slow as she reached his door, and she flung it open and stopped short a few feet into the room, breathing heavily.
Remus, who'd been sitting at his desk, whipped around at the noise, as he stood up, drawing his wand, ready for anything. He recognised her instantly. She was pale, her hair was hanging limply around her shocked face, her clothes torn and covered in blood and mud. He lowered his wand awkwardly, waiting for her to do something – be angry, relieved – anything. But she merely stood there like a deer in headlights. It lasted for what seemed like forever and he could only imagine what was going through her mind.
"Kait?"
He said finally, quietly. Something in her face broke and he caught a brief glimpse of her lip quivering before she ran towards him and jumped up, wrapping her arms around his neck, and legs around his waist. He put his hands on her legs to hold her up as he caught his balance, then moved an arm around her back and held her close. She'd buried her head in the crook between his neck and shoulder and was crying from the grief, the relief – all the emotions she'd felt over the past hours. He held her and soothed her, rocking gently in a twisting motion.
"Shh, it's alright, it's okay. Everything's gonna be okay. I'm so sorry for putting you through all that. I almost died when I saw your reaction and I so wanted to go to you, hold you, make everything better."
The sobs diminished, but the tears still fell as she pulled her head back and took his face in her hands, staring into his eyes, taking in his whole appearance.
"Are you really here...you're really alive?"
She whispered, her voice barely audible and rusty sounding from the crying. He moved over to the bed and lowered her onto it, then sat next to her. He took her face in both his hands.
"I'm really here, I'm really me."
And to prove it he leaned in and kissed her, and she had no doubt that it was definitely Remus kissing her, because no-one had ever kissed her so deeply and so lovingly. The emotional turmoil of the past day bubbled over again and she felt the tears welling, tears of relief and joy at finally having Remus back, as well as tears of sadness and grief over Snape, thinking that he'd got Remus killed. She could tell that everything had gotten to Remus as well because, even though there were no tears from him, he was shaking as he held her tightly.
TBC... Not long now. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I hoped it lived up to expectations. I've had real trouble writing this, my Muse just didn't wanna work. The next chapter however just rolled off my tongue as if it had always been there – it's strange how that happens – just seemed to write itself. Review please, pretty please...
