A/N - Thank you very much to my reviewers - it's nice to know that someone is reading - and hopefully enjoying - something you've written. This chapter marks roughly the half-way point of the story, which ended up as over seventy thousand words in seventeen chapters - so I'm afraid there's a little bit more to go before the grand finale. In appreciation for your support - and to limit my demands on your patience - I am posting a double update today, which will include the Weasley's acquisition of a house-elf. I hope you enjoy it, and thank you again for your kind words about The Stone House Cats.
****
Hermione left to go on vacation with her parents almost immediately after Harry's birthday, planning to return later in the summer. While Harry missed her, he and Ron enjoyed their summer holiday in the easy-going atmosphere of Stone House. The only thing to mar Harry's enjoyment was Snape's presence, but as the Potions Master spent most of his time in the lab and seemed as eager to avoid Harry as Harry was to avoid him, this really wasn't much of a problem. Then Ron had a chance to pay a short visit to his brother Charlie, who had returned to his job in Romania, and Harry found himself left with Ginny in their absence.
Harry found that he enjoyed Ginny's company very well. While he had been spending more time in her company over the past year, it was almost invariably with the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team or with Ron and Hermione. Now that they were spending more time alone together, Harry found that Ginny's personality seemed to combine some of the better qualities of his two best friends. Like Ron, she had a wonderful sense of humor and an appreciation for Quidditch, but she also had Hermione's understanding of people, too. Harry wondered privately if that was just something girls were better at or whether he and Ron were particularly dense. Whatever the reasons, he was pleased with their developing friendship.
Ginny was explaining the rules of Tournament to Harry after tea when Catherine Clare returned from a shopping trip. Her left arm was bandaged all the way from her elbow up over her shoulder, and streaky green smears appeared on the lower part of her robes.
"What happened?" Harry asked.
"I was attacked," she replied shortly. "Is Dumbledore around?"
"He left with Mundungus just over an hour ago," Ginny replied immediately.
Harry thought Catherine looked suddenly weary, but all she said was, "It can wait. If you see him, I'd appreciate it if you would let him know I'm looking for him." As she was speaking, Severus Snape and Molly Weasley emerged from the room leading to the potions lab.
The Potions Master was speaking in his normal soft hiss. "It is most critical at this stage of the - " He broke off abruptly as he caught sight of Catherine Clare and took in her appearance.
"What happened?" Snape's carefully modulated voice had taken on an almost menacing quality.
"I was attacked," she told him, an edge in her voice.
"Where?" he demanded.
"Hogsmeade."
"By whom?"
"I don't know," she told him, sounding increasingly irritable. Snape's eyes narrowed.
"You will place the memory of the attack in a Pensieve for my review," he instructed. "Then you will - "
"You seem to have me confused with someone to whom you can issue orders," Catherine cut him off coolly. She hadn't raised her voice, but Harry had the definite impression that her temper was rising. Snape either missed the signs or chose to disregard them.
"Do not act like a fool," he snapped. "I am clearly - "
"Overstepping your bounds," she supplied decisively.
"I will not allow you to jeopardize the work of the Order - " The Head of Slytherin House bit out through gritted teeth.
"There is no evidence that this attack has anything to do with the Order," Miss Clare pointed out, coolly reasonable.
"While I appreciate that there are many other people who would wish to do you injury - " Snape sounded as though he sympathized with them - "I do think we need to start with the more likely assumption, which is, in this case, that the attack is related to your work for the Order."
"I quite agree that we should start with the most likely assumption," she responded evenly, but with a dangerous glint in her eyes. "Given the very short length of time I have been with the Order in comparison to my service as a prosecutor and an Auror, it seems most unlikely that this attack has anything to do with the Order at all."
Harry saw Remus Lupin following Ginny into the room during the latter part of this speech - which startled him a little as he had been too absorbed to realize that she had slipped out of the room.
Severus Snape seemed to lose his temper at this point. "The only way to determine this is for you to give me that memory, and - "
"Hello, Catherine," Remus interjected the greeting smoothly. His calm and pleasant voice was a stark contrast to Snape's menacing intonations. "Have you been back long?"
Catherine stopped glaring at Snape long enough to reply to Professor Lupin.
"Not long," she answered tersely.
"How is the potion work going, Molly?" Remus inquired casually.
"We're in the middle of a very tricky one just now," she told him promptly.
"I feel that I am obliged to point out - " Snape began through gritted teeth.
"That you really need to get back to the laboratory?" Remus suggested pleasantly. "What a shame. I do hope you will be able to join us for dinner."
Whatever Snape had been about to say in reply seemed arrested in his throat as his hard black eyes met Remus Lupin's very clear amber gaze. The Potions Master hesitated for a moment, then turned abruptly on his heel and strode back toward the laboratory in a swirl of black robes, Molly Weasley promptly closing the door behind them.
Harry then saw Professor Lupin turn his attention to Catherine Clare, who was glaring at him now that the original object of her anger had left the room.
"You seem to have had a trying time of it today," he said lightly.
"I was attacked when I went into Hogsmeade," she told him, now openly irritated.
"How very annoying for you," he sympathized. Harry wasn't quite sure how Remus managed it, but he seemed to be steering Miss Clare toward the seating by the fireplace.
"I had to wait almost an hour at St. Mungo's just to be seen by a Healer, and then it took ages for them to send up the right salve."
"Most upsetting," Remus said, depositing the indignant witch on the sofa and seating himself attentively next to her.
"And then Severus tried to tell me what to do!" Just saying this seemed to set her temper off again.
"It was very wrong of him."
"I don't take orders!" she declared rather fiercely.
"Of course not," Remus agreed warmly. "No one could expect you to." Catherine harrumphed a bit, and curled her legs under her on the corner of the sofa. Remus seemed to be studying her expression.
"You didn't get a painkiller yet, did you, Kate?" he asked gently.
"No," she admitted, sounding a little forlorn. "I didn't want to risk it alone and away from the house." Then her jaw set. "But I positively refuse to go ask for one!"
"Why on earth would you?" Remus sounded mildly surprised. "In your own house? I assumed you'd have Soma fetch it for you." As Remus spoke her name, the motherly little house-elf popped into view.
"Would you mind fetching a dose of painkiller from the potions cupboard for Miss Clare?" he asked. "And do you have any more of the little sandwiches we had with tea? Perhaps some of those as well," he added. Soma regarded him with approval as she nodded eagerly and disappeared with another faint pop.
"I didn't say I was hungry," Catherine protested a little crossly.
"The sandwiches were for me," Remus told her blandly. "I rather liked them. I hope you don't mind?"
"No, of course not," she said immediately, slightly shamefaced, and seemed to relax a bit. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to take this out on you." Catherine sounded quite contrite. Harry couldn't see Remus' expression, but his voice when he spoke was warm.
"I didn't think you were mad at me," he assured her. "Just understandably out of sorts."
A tray appeared on the coffee table. In addition to the potion vial and a platter of tiny little sandwiches, there was also a pitcher of juice and two iced goblets. Remus filled both of them from the pitcher while Catherine downed the painkiller and reached absently for a sandwich.
"It doesn't make sense," she told him thoughtfully. "I didn't recognize either of them. If it was the typical revenge thing, you'd think I would have been able to identify at least one of them."
"Memory Charm?"
"I don't think so. I admit that there have been attempts, but you get pretty used to countering them. Not that I think I was infallible, but - well - that's part of the reason you only work with a partner."
"Altered or concealed?"
Catherine was shaking her head. "I hit her pretty cleanly with a Detegendus Charm, although not him," she told him, before taking another bite of her sandwich.
"It was a witch and a wizard?" Professor Lupin asked, and Harry could hear the new tension in his voice. Catherine Clare looked at him sharply.
"Yes. You think that's significant?"
There was a pause. "I'd just be jumping to conclusions at this point, when we haven't even identified them."
Another pause. "I suppose that means I'll be getting a Pensieve out after all." She sounded resigned.
"I think it would help," Remus advised her gently. "Dumbledore will probably be able to identify them. If he can't, that would be useful information as well." He hesitated a moment before continuing.
"I can try to identify them myself if you want me to," he said rather grimly, reaching out and catching hold of her hand to squeeze it briefly, "but I can't say I'm looking forward to having to watch someone attack you."
"Experiencing it wasn't a lot of fun either." They looked at each other for a moment, then Catherine added, "We don't know when Dumbledore will be back, and Severus is here now." She took a deep breath and stood up. "I suppose I may as well get this over with." Remus rose as well, and the two of them left together through the doors to the central hall.
It took Harry a moment to notice that Ginny had reseated herself on the other side of the table and was waiting patiently to continue explaining the game to him.
"Sorry," he told her quickly.
"That's all right," she said calmly. "It was very educational."
"What?"
"Watching Professor Lupin."
"You went to get him, didn't you?" Harry asked her. "Why?"
Ginny's green eyes were slightly amused. "Well, you have to admit that he's much better at handling people than Professor Snape," she pointed out. "I may have only been a second year when Professor Lupin was teaching, but some things are really pretty obvious if you're bothering to look." Harry sensed there was something he was missing, but Ginny was picking up another one of the Tournament pieces.
"Why don't we go over the movements of the Mooncalf?"
****
Remus carried the Pensieve toward the potions lab alone, thankful that he had been able to persuade Kate to let him take care of this while she took some time to freshen up and change into clean robes before dinner. Most of the time she handled Severus fairly well, but she was still angry enough about the attack in Hogsmeade to have less tolerance than normal for anyone challenging her - and it was almost inevitable that Severus would do just that.
Remus entered the potions lab through the rarely used billiards room and found Severus and Molly at work over a medium size cauldron that bubbled just below a full boil. They were both concentrating very intently, Severus stirring and adjusting the level of flame as Molly watched carefully and occasionally added to the mixture in precisely measured quantities. Remus was wise enough to wait quietly and unobtrusively near the door until they finished.
Several minutes later, Molly added a final measure of salamander blood, and the potion turned from chartreuse to brilliant deep blue in a flash. Severus instantly removed the cauldron from the heat as Molly picked up the first vial. They managed to get a couple dozen doses stoppered and sealed in a remarkably short time.
Snape relaxed very slightly. "Quite satisfactory," he declared. Molly, looking slightly flushed and rather pleased, began to move the vials into the proper space in the cupboard. Severus looked over and saw Remus. His eyes fell to the Pensieve Remus was holding.
"I will take care of the rest of the clean up," Severus said casually to Molly Weasley. "I'll see you at the usual time tomorrow." Molly looked over and saw Remus, nodding at him before deftly storing the final vials and departing from the room.
Snape continued working in silence, cleaning the cauldron, putting away the equipment, and generally restoring the laboratory to a state of perfect order before washing his hands and looking over again at Remus.
Remus walked over and set the Pensieve on the table between them. "Catherine's memory of the attack," he told Severus, keeping his voice neutral. Snape nodded and picked up his wand, probing the memory lightly before falling silent.
His examination took rather longer than Remus had expected. He was just beginning to become concerned when Severus withdrew his wand. For an instant, the Head of Slytherin looked shaken and rather worried before his usual mask fell back into place.
"The attack on Miss Clare was more - significant - than I understood to be the case when I spoke to her earlier," the Potions Master said slowly. "Her attackers were Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange."
Remus concentrated on controlling his reactions. He would get much more out of Severus if he kept this businesslike. "Were you able to form any other opinions about the attack?" he inquired, outwardly calm with considerable effort.
Snape hesitated. "It is difficult to be definitive on some points, although my knowledge of Bellatrix's character has given me a few ideas."
"Such as?"
Severus spoke as though very reluctant to do so. "I do not think the attack was planned, nor was it an attack on a victim chosen at random. My impression - and it is no more than that - is that Bellatrix encountered Miss Clare by chance and took advantage of an opportunity to eliminate her."
Remus, who did not quite trust himself to speak calmly, said nothing.
"The Lestranges appeared to be quite - determined - in this. In light of the skill with which Miss Clare defended herself, and the speed with which Ministry Aurors arrived on the scene, I would have expected them to break off the attack and Disapparate much sooner than they did. Their persistence is somewhat troubling."
This seemed to Remus to be something of an understatement. He swallowed and managed to find his voice. "You will inform the Headmaster?" Snape nodded and handed the Pensieve back to him.
Remus turned to go, but Severus spoke again.
"It occurs to me - "
Lupin turned to look back. Snape was regarding him with an odd intensity.
"Yes?"
"Perhaps the members of the Order would benefit from additional work in certain areas." His mouth twisted oddly. "I see no reason why students should be the only ones who make regular and consistent efforts to improve their skills - particularly in matters such as combat."
Remus considered his response carefully. "A sound plan, however not all the members of the Order are equally skilled in all areas. It would seem to be most effective if members were grouped in some manner to work with others at a similar level as their own."
"Small groups would seem to be an appropriate way to address these disparities while also minimizing scheduling issues." The Potions Master paused. "You would support such a plan if it were proposed?" he asked with an air of indifference.
"Certainly," Remus said at once. Then, "If you have no objection, I would like to mention it to some other members of the Order if I should see them in advance of the next meeting."
"As you wish," Severus told him, turning away dismissively.
****
It was a matter of routine for the household to assemble in the lounge before dinner, so Harry and Ginny put the Tournament pieces away at the appropriate time and headed over to join the rest of the company.
The lounge was a very large room opening off the central hall near the front door, quite different from the family room at the rear of the house. While the family room was, to Harry's mind, very inviting with its casual decor in recognizable shades of blue, green, and yellow, the lounge was much more glamorous. There was a lot of heavy silk in colors that were harder for Harry to describe - different shades of brown, from light cream to more medium shades, mixed in with shades of light gray and silver. The overall effect was very nice, but it wasn't the sort of room Harry would have wanted to walk into wearing muddy Quidditch robes.
It did have a number of different seating areas however - half a dozen comfortable lounge chairs grouped around a round tea table in one area, an arrangement of double loveseats across from each other with easy chairs in between in another, two sectionals flanking the fireplace, and even a chess set and two chairs placed in front of the window. The family room couldn't seat nearly as many, so Harry assumed that assembling everyone in the lounge was only sensible.
Ginny went to join her mother, Hestia Jones, and Arabella Figg in the loveseat area, where they were talking animatedly. Arthur and Bill Weasley were chatting with Sturgis Podmore from the comfort of their lounge chairs, and Harry considered joining them before deciding to have a seat on one of the sectionals instead. He was glad he had done so when Remus came in and took a seat next to him a few minutes later.
"Hello, Harry. How are you doing?"
"Okay," Harry told him. "Ginny's trying to teach me to play Tournament, but I don't think I'm going to be very good at it. The rules are awfully complicated." Remus smiled kindly at him.
"They probably seem so at first, but they'll become second nature if you play often enough. Tournament is an interesting game. Playing with a group of people is fun, of course, but a two person game between highly skilled players can be fascinating - even to watch."
"That's nice to know, because I don't think I'll be very good at playing it," Harry replied, and Remus laughed.
Catherine Clare had come in, wearing different robes in a dark wine color with looser sleeves to accommodate the bandages, and had stopped to chat with Hestia Jones.
"Is Miss Clare any good at Tournament?" Harry asked on impulse.
"Yes, very," Remus answered absently.
"I didn't know you had played with her," Harry thought he had somehow startled Professor Lupin when he said this, although he wasn't sure why.
"I'd rather you didn't mention that I said so," his father's friend said very quietly. "Are you looking forward to Ron and Hermione returning next week?" Remus continued in a more normal voice.
"Yeah, I am. Especially with Charlie coming back with Ron - it'll be great to have more people here for Quidditch practice."
Catherine Clare stopped by and spoke to Remus across the back of the sofa. "Anything?" she asked quietly. Lupin's expression grew grave.
"Yes," he said, speaking as quietly as she had, "Your attackers were Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange."
"Bellatrix who killed Sirius?" Harry blurted out. Catherine and Remus both looked at him, Catherine in surprise and Remus rather regretfully. "Sorry," he said immediately. "I didn't mean to interrupt - "
"It's okay," Catherine said. She glanced at Remus in inquiry. "Was it the same person?"
"Yes, I'm afraid it was." Catherine looked away for a moment, but did not reply.
"He thinks you were a target," Remus told her flatly. "He's going to suggest we establish a regular routine of combat training."
Catherine's blue-gray eyes were startled, but steady. One of her eyebrows rose. "Don't you think we might be overreacting a little?"
"I think it's an excellent idea," Remus said very decisively. "In fact, I plan to offer to work with some of the team members who haven't had any formal study in a while. I believe Severus intends to form a group for practice at a more advanced level, and I think it would be very good for you to participate." Catherine looked at him for a long moment, considering, before she spoke again.
"All right," she said simply, and walked away to speak to Arthur Weasley. Remus watched her go.
"Am I endangering Miss Clare?" Harry asked seriously. Remus turned back to regard him gravely.
"How could you be?" he responded lightly. Harry thought that he seemed to be taking this a little too casually.
"Well, if Voldemort is after her just because I'm here - "
"And who would be responsible for that?" Professor Lupin asked him. Harry looked at him blankly. Professor Lupin reached out to clasp Harry's shoulder briefly.
"You are not responsible for Voldemort's actions or those of his followers," he said very firmly.
"I haven't stopped him," Harry pointed out. "As long as he's out there - "
"He is still responsible for his own actions, Harry. You are not. Nor are you responsible for Miss Clare's decisions, or mine, or anyone else's. You are only responsible for your own - which is quite enough for you to be concerned about." Remus stood up then, and Harry saw that the rest of the company was rising and making their way out of the room.
He was sitting down to dinner when he realized that Remus had never told him what he wanted to know.