Catherine Clare returned on the second day after the attack. Harry and Ron were in the hall when she and Tonks came in. Tonks nodded in greeting and headed directly upstairs; Harry had the impression she was going straight to bed, even though it was not yet tea time. Catherine seemed to be slightly better off, and greeted them pleasantly.
"Good afternoon," she called amiably. "You both look well. Anything happen while I was gone?"
"The cats in the fountain came to life when the Death Eaters attacked," Ron informed her blithely.
"Death Eaters attacked here?" she frowned. "Is everyone all right?"
"Fine," Harry assured her. "Some people were a little annoyed about not being able to get out of the house at first, but Remus took care of that when he persuaded the cats to let them out."
"What?" Miss Clare was staring at him in shock. Harry wasn't sure what he had said that was so surprising.
"I said it was kind of annoying not to be able to get out of the house during the attack, but Remus got the cats to let some of them out. Him, Kingsley Shaklebolt, Charlie Weasley, and Professors McGonagall and Snape. The rest of us stayed inside," he added scrupulously, trying to keep the irritation out of his voice.
Catherine Clare sat down rather suddenly on one of the staircases.
"Are you all right?" Ron asked, sounding rather worried.
"Fine. What makes you think that the cats were listening to Remus?" Harry and Ron exchanged glances.
"Well, the other two professors – McGonagall and Snape – said that they wanted to get out to fight the Death Eaters, but nothing happened until Professor Lupin agreed with them," Ron explained. "Then, that big cat was going to let him onto the top of the fountain, but she wouldn't let the others on until he said they were going with him."
"Oh." She was still sitting on the staircase, looking as though they had just delivered news so unexpected and overwhelming that her mind was simply unable to process it.
"Miss Clare, I'm sure he didn't mean to do anything wrong," Harry interjected, becoming somewhat worried.
"What?" she asked blankly. "I mean, no, of course not." She stood up again suddenly. "Don't mind me, I – think I must be more tired than I realized. I'm glad you're both fine. I'll see you at dinner." She turned immediately and started swiftly up the stairs.
Ron and Harry stared after her until she disappeared.
"Weird," Ron said.
"Yeah," Harry agreed absently. "I just hope we didn't get Remus in trouble."
"And how would you have done that?" Lupin asked from behind them. He had evidently just come out of the family room.
"Well, uh, Miss Clare and Tonks just got back," Harry informed him, noting the way their former teacher's face brightened at the news. "But she – Miss Clare – seemed a little upset – "
"Is she all right?" Remus asked, clearly concerned.
"She was fine at first, but she seemed – " Harry was really wishing he had kept his mouth shut " – a little surprised about the cats."
"Cats?" Remus looked at Harry blankly.
"The fountain?" Harry reminded him. "She asked if anything had happened while she was gone, and we told her about the Death Eaters attacking and the cats letting you out and she just seemed, well, surprised," Harry finished weakly. "About the cats."
Remus was still looking at him, now worried as well as puzzled.
"She went up to her room," Harry suggested in desperation.
"Thank you, Harry," Remus responded absently, heading quickly up the stairs.
Harry and Ron watched him until he disappeared, then Ron looked at the fountain in the center of the hall and looked back at Harry.
"Let's go somewhere else," Ron suggested.
****
Remus headed down the hallway to Catherine's room, hoping that she wasn't taking a nap and wouldn't mind his stopping by. He really didn't want to wait until dinner to see her, especially if there was something wrong. He tapped lightly on the door.
"Catherine?" he asked quietly.
"Come in," she replied, and he opened the door. Kate was curled up in a plump blue chair in front of the curved wall of glass that had a counterpart in his own room.
"Hello," he said from the doorway. "I hope I'm not disturbing you? Harry and Ron said you were back."
"Yes. I mean, no. I mean – " Remus had never seen her like this. She looked flustered. She took a deep breath and tried again. "Yes, I'm back, and no, you're not disturbing me," she told him with a very deliberate attempt at composure. "What can I do for you?"
Remus closed the door behind him and advanced into the room. "I just wanted to see how you were doing." Something was definitely off.
"Fine," she assured him a little too earnestly. "I'm fine." There was a pause. Remus was looking at her. "How are you?" she added quickly.
"Very well, thank you," he hesitated. "You heard about the attack?"
"Yes, I did." There was an unnatural pause. "I'm glad that no one was hurt," she told him.
"Kate – " Remus seated himself in an armchair adjacent to hers. "Has something happened to upset you?" he asked quietly.
"No, of course not," she denied quickly, not really meeting his eyes.
"Because you don't seem to be quite yourself at the moment," he persisted. "Harry thought you were a little upset when he was telling you about the cats." Kate opened her mouth, but then closed it again immediately, shooting Remus a quick, wary look. "Have I done something to offend you?"
"Offend me?" she echoed, then laughed nervously. "Really not a problem."
"But there is a problem?" This appeared to be another question Kate did not want to answer. Remus tried another approach. "Is there anything I can do?"
"Anything you can do?" she repeated inanely. "I, um, I'm really not sure how to answer that." Now she was twisting her hands together in her lap.
Remus didn't know how much longer he could stand this. Something was clearly bothering her and it was equally apparent that she didn't want to discuss it with him. The thought that she did not want to confide in him was very painful. He had thought that she considered him a friend. He reached out to catch her hands in his own, stilling them.
"Kate, please talk to me," he pleaded, "I don't want to push you, but it's obvious that something is bothering you, and I – " he hesitated, uncertain how to proceed. "If there's anything I can do to help, I want to do it. And if I've done anything to cause offense, I would like a chance to apologize and try to make it right. Our – friendship – is very important to me," he admitted huskily.
"Oh, god," Kate said helplessly. "Remus, I'm making a horrible mess of things, but it is not your fault. You haven't done anything wrong at all, and you have nothing to apologize for. Please don't think like that, I promise I'm not mad at you." She appeared to be very much in earnest, leaving him bewildered. His grip on her hands tightened.
"Then what is it? What's wrong?"
"I can't – oh, dear," Kate was now looking slightly ill. "I really can't discuss this with – I mean, right now."
Her slip of the tongue did not escape him. "I didn't mean to intrude," Remus responded rather formally, gently releasing her hands. "Please feel free to call on me if I can be of service." He rose to leave, hoping he was concealing his feelings as he did so.
Kate sprang up just as he did. "Remus, you weren't presuming," she insisted, catching hold of his arm. "It's just – oh, blast!" she ejaculated. "Now I've upset you when you were only being kind and that's the last thing I wanted to do! I'm really terribly sorry. If I'd had any sense at all I'd have pretended to be asleep," she finished illogically, looking very upset herself.
Remus usually understood her very well – or at least, he thought he did, he admitted – but her last words confused him. "Asleep?"
"When you came in, so I wouldn't upset you," she explained, still obviously distressed. This was so endearingly Kate-like that he smiled involuntarily.
"It's all right," he said soothingly, still smiling slightly. "I'm not upset, but I wouldn't want you to pretend." Unmollified, Kate looked very searchingly at him. "I should let you get some sleep before dinner – real sleep – " he teased, "and then everything will be fine."
"Not if you're mad at me," she pointed out.
"I'm not mad at you," he assured her. "I was just afraid that you were mad at me," he added whimsically, and Kate rewarded him with a smile.
"I guess that makes us two of a kind?" she suggested softly.
****
The Order met the following day. It was the first meeting since the Death Eater attack earlier in the week, and Harry was rather anxious about it. No one had said anything yet about moving him to Hogwarts for the rest of the holiday, but he could hardly expect them not to consider it since Voldemort evidently knew where he was.
Harry hovered uneasily in the hall as the meeting drew to an end, but no one spoke to him as it broke up. The Headmaster and Professor McGonagall walked right by him, talking in low voices, on their way toward the central hall and the front door. Miss Clare, Snape, and Moody had crossed the hall together to the ballroom where they'd been holding combat practice, but most of the others just trickled out one by one. In desperation, he caught a hold of Lupin's robe as he left the card room, frowning and apparently lost in thought.
"Well?" Harry asked. His former professor looked rather surprised.
"Well what?"
"Do I have to go back early?" he demanded tersely.
"I'm sorry, Harry, I don't think I'm following you very well," Remus apologized, looking rather confused. Tonks, who was talking to Sturgis Podmore over her shoulder, barreled into him, almost knocking him off his feet.
"Oops! Sorry!" she said cheerfully, before continuing down the hall. Lupin accepted her apology with a smile, then pulled Harry out of the way and into the billiards room.
Perching on the edge of the table, he gave Harry his full attention. "Can you start from the beginning?"
Harry stared at him. "Do I have to go back to Hogwarts before the start of term?" he asked, speaking very slowly and clearly.
"Why would you do that?"
"Because Voldemort knows I'm here!"
Remus frowned. "Have you had another vision?"
"Not since last year," Harry told him, feeling increasingly bewildered.
"Why do you think Voldemort knows you're here?" Lupin persisted. Harry's jaw dropped.
"Because we were attacked! Don't you remember? It was only a couple days ago." Remus' expression cleared a little, although he still looked worried.
"As far as we know, Voldemort does not know you're here and still thinks you're at Hogwarts. I'm sorry, Harry, I should have realized you'd assume the attack was directed at you and spoken to you sooner. I do apologize."
"You mean it wasn't?"
"No." Remus hesitated, his expression disturbed. "Our information at this point indicates that they were after Miss Clare."
"Miss Clare? But she wasn't even here - "
"It is her home, however, and they didn't know that she was away at the time."
"Why would Voldemort send Death Eaters after her?" Harry wondered aloud.
Remus straightened and squared his shoulders. "That's been the subject of some debate," he told Harry dryly, "but we have not reached a conclusion at this point. However, I can assure you that we are quite confident the attack was not directed at you. I have not heard any discussions about your returning to Hogwarts early, but you're welcome to discuss it with the Headmaster if you like."
Harry left feeling greatly relieved, but somewhat puzzled. He was so used to Voldemort coming after him, that the idea that he had other targets seemed slightly bizarre. He tracked Ron and Hermione down playing chess in the lounge.
"Hey," he greeted them, pulling a chair over so they could talk without being overheard.
Ron was studying the board with great concentration, but Hermione looked up right away.
"Hello, Harry," she greeted him cheerfully, despite the fact that she appeared to be losing.
"Professor Lupin says the Death Eaters were after Catherine Clare and not me," he told them. Ron, his hand hovering over a bishop, stopped and turned to look at Harry.
"You're kidding," he said, rather too loudly.
"He really said that?" Hermione asked, frowning.
"Yeah, he did," Harry confirmed. He hesitated, and then confessed his private fear. "Do you think I'm getting a big head? Because that never even occurred to me."
"I don't think so, Harry," Hermione assured him calmly. "It didn't occur to me either, but I think it's because Voldemort usually is coming after you. Not that he hasn't killed other people, of course, but you do seem to be his primary target."
"Thanks," Harry said relieved. Ron was regarding Hermione with some disapproval.
"Was that supposed to make him feel better? Telling him that You-Know-Who is after him?"
"It's not like he didn't know before," Hermione retorted, "and I thought you were going to start calling him Voldemort?"
"Why do you think he's after Catherine Clare?" Harry interjected before the fight really got going.
"What did Professor Lupin say?" Hermione asked thoughtfully.
"Nothing much. I don't think they know."
Hermione sat back in her chair, obviously thinking hard. "Stone House is pretty close to Hogwarts, which is where you are during the school year."
"Yeah," Harry prompted.
"Well, it would be a good base for launching an attack. It's pretty well defended."
"Wouldn't that mean just the opposite?" Ron argued.
"Not once you take it over," Hermione disagreed. "It's one of the first things Grindewald tried, you know." Harry and Ron both looked at her blankly, and Hermione sighed. "I read all about it when I found out we were staying here. Grindewald sent a team of his followers to take Stone House very early in his campaign. He was going to use it as a base for launching his attacks on the rest of the country, but the attack on Stone House failed. The book didn't say why, but I'm guessing they were stopped by some of the same defenses that protected us against the Death Eaters, like those cats."
"So you think Voldemort wants to take over Stone House?" Harry mused. "But the Lestranges attacked Catherine Clare in Hogsmeade."
"Maybe they thought it would be easier to take Stone House if the head of the house was killed?" Hermione theorized. "For all we know, it would be."
Harry mulled this over. "So you think that explains the attacks?"
"It's only a theory, Harry, how would I know?" Hermione pointed out. "It seems as likely as anything else, but it doesn't have to be the only explanation."
"What other explanations are there?" Harry asked.
"Maybe he's starting a plan of random attacks to increase fear in the wizarding community and she was picked as one of the first victims purely by coincidence? Maybe he sent them here to steal the secret of the translucent stone? Maybe he doesn't like the family? Maybe - "
"All right, Hermione, I got the point," Harry cut her off. "Ron, do you have any other ideas?" Ron grinned at him affably.
"Sorry, mate, all my ideas are pretty far out there. Like that movie you showed me, about that guy who came back in time - "
"Terminator," Hermione supplied.
"Yeah, that one. Maybe Catherine's Sarah, you know, going to do something she hasn't done yet?"
"Have a baby?" Hermione asked, rather skeptically. Ron laughed.
"I told you everything else is pretty far out there. I'd bet on Hermione," he concluded.
Much to Harry's astonishment, he thought he saw Hermione blush.