Disclaimer: I do not own any Harry Potter character. I own the plot and it's obvious where I got the title from. Disney owns "Sleeping Beauty".
Summery: Harry is not safe at Privet Drive anymore so Dumbledore has him stay at the castle over the summer. Harry is now free to explore the castle without any interference's. So what happens when he finds a secret tower that only one Marauder ever found and what is hidden within it?
Note:WARNING! A character will die in this chapter. This will be a H/G, Hr/R, and Remus/OC.
Thanks to my reviewers!
Sleeping Beauty
Chapter Three: Katharine Venus Black
Harry poked his head up into the room and gasped.
"What is it Harry?" Ron called.
"You have got to see for yourself." was Harry's awed reply as he climbed up into the room.
Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were soon in the room all three gasping at what they found.
The room had not been used in years. There were cobwebs everywhere and duct on the old furniture. To their right stood a wash stand with an empty water bowl covered with a thick layer of dust. To their right was a dresser and mirror on top of it was an empty basket. The room also had a great bookshelf in the back. But what caught their attention was the bed in the center of the room.
The bed was decked in deep blue hangings and laying on top of the covers was a beautiful woman.
She looked peaceful with her hands folded gently on her chest holding a beautiful yellow rose. She had long dark hair that crept down off the sides of the beds a little. She was wearing a set of navy blue robes that looked as if they were made of velvet. Her body like the rest of the room was covered slightly in dust.
"How long has she been up here?" gasped Ginny.
"She must have been up here for years." said Hermione in a whisper as if she were afraid to wake the woman.
"Is she even alive?" asked Ron as he made to go to the bed.
Harry held out a hand. "I don't know. Ron go get Dumbledore. Password's Canary Creams."
Ron left without a word.
"Hermione you go get Madam Pomfrey. I think she's still alive."
Hermione left too.
"What do we do now?" asked Ginny.
"Stay right where you are." Harry said as he slowly approached the woman.
Ginny did so trembling slightly. "Oh Harry, what if she's dead."
Slowly Harry approached the bed. He watched carefully for any sign of movement. Then he saw it. The woman's chest began to rise and fall very slightly. If he weren't as close as he was (inches from her) he would never have noticed.
"She's alive." he said.
Ginny sighed. "Thank goodness."
Harry motioned for Ginny to come closer.
"She's so pretty." Ginny said staring down at the woman's face.
"I wonder who she is?"
"Katharine Venus Black." said Dumbledore form behind them. He stood by the door with a breathless Ron climbing the ladder behind him.
"B - Black?" asked Harry looking form Dumbledore to the woman and back again. "Why?"
"She has been missing presumed dead for fifteen years." said Dumbledore. "Miss. Weasley would you go down and find Professor McGonnagal ask her to retrieve Remus Lupin."
Ginny nodded and left.
"She is you godmother Harry." Dumbledore said.
Harry stared at Katharine. "She's Sirius' sister?"
"Yes. Twin in fact. That's why you didn't see her name on the tapestry at Grimmauld Place. She and Sirius were a disgrace to their family."
"Why did Sirius never say anything about her?" asked Harry.
"Sirius loved Kathy more than anything or anyone. When we told him she was missing possibly dead he refused to even say her name."
"What's going on up here?" huffed Madam Pomfrey as her head popped up over the doors threshold. "Goodness!" she cried seeing Kathy. The nurse was instantly at her side.
"Ah! Good thinking Miss. Granger." said Dubledore as Hermione joined them.
"It was Harry's idea." she said.
"Sir, what about Professor Lupin?" Ron asked.
"I believe I shall leave that to Remus when he arrives. What is the diagnosis Poppy?"
"She's very much alive." the nurse replied. "Her body seems to have slowed down. I don't understand it."
"Perhaps I do." said a silky voice from the trap door. Everyone turned to face Severus Snape. "The Drought of Living Death would be my suggestion." he said sneering at the sleeping figure.
"Then she is as good as dead?" asked Harry.
Snape sneered even more. "No." he said.
"Severus!" Dumbledore said sharply. "We're not even sure that is what was used."
"Wormtail knew." said Harry. "He did it. He knew about the tower."
"He is dead." said Snape.
The Headmaster faced Snape and looked him over. "How?"
It wasn't Snape who responded but Harry.
"He said he was going to leave. He said he owed it to my parents."
Dumbledore nodded.
"I...recovered the body." said Snape softly now. "It is downstairs in my office."
Harry, Ron, and Hermione stared at him.
"I wanted to clear Black's name even if he is dead he should be cleared." Snape said staring the headmaster in the eye.
Harry saw something in Snape's eyes that told him Snape too believed that Sirius was alive. He just didn't know why or how.
"Well," said Dumbledore. "I should attend to that at once. Excuse me." Dumbeldore descended the stairs and Snape made to follow.
"Wait, Professor." Harry said. "Er...thank you."
Snape sneered again but said nothing as he too left the room.
Madam Pomfrey was still fussing over Kathy. She checked her eyes mouth. Inspecting for anything that may lead her to the reason the woman was still alive.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione stood in silence until they heard thunderous steps heading up to the tower. Remus Lupin soon appeared at the top of the ladder.
"Ginny...said... Kathy..." he panted then stared at the sleeping form on the bed. "Merlin no." he gasped. "No." He made a quick stride over to the bed and knelt by it.
"She's alive Remus." Madam Pomfrey said gently. "She's alive."
"But..." Remus couldn't speak "She's been here the whole time?"
"Yes." said Harry as he approached Remus. "Peter put her here."
"I'll kill him!" growled Remus.
"It's too late." Harry said softly putting a hand on Remus' shoulder. "He wanted out and Voldemort killed him."
Remus looked up. There were tears in his eyes. Ginny gave him a sympathetic look as she joined Ron and Hermione.
"He wanted to prove to my parents, you, and Sirius that he was sorry. He died for it. I heard him planning it."
Remus looked down at the woman again.
"I'll go." said Madam Pomfrey. As she left she whispered to Hermione and Ginny. "If he tries anything come get me."
The girls nodded.
"Remus?" Harry asked. "Could you tell me?"
Remus nodded as he sat on the floor causing a cloud of dust to rise up. He motioned for them to do the same. Once they were settled and so was the dust Remus began to speak.
"Kathy is Sirius' sister. I met her in our fifth year. She was in Ravenclaw and Sirius never talked about her he said that he wanted to just let her be and do her own thing. We met one weekend in Hogsmead. Christmas shopping....
"Damn Sirius." I said looking around Hogsmead. "Why do you have to have everything.!"
"Excuse me?" said a female voice.
I turned to look at her. I had remembered her from class I knew she was a fifth year Ravenclaw but I had never paid attention to her name.
"Yes." I asked.
"Maybe I can help you. I know what he would like. He is my brother after all."
"Brother? Sirius?" I asked confused.
"Oh he has never said anything about me? I'm Kathy Black. And YOU are Remus Lupin." she said poking me gently in the shoulder. "Sirius tells me a lot about you." she continued, grinning.
"He - he does?" I asked nervously.
She grinned. "You're the one who gets him to do his homework. He says sometimes he can't stand you. But he has a soft spot for you." she said with a shrug. "I've heard him defend you loads of times."
"He does." I replied feeling better. He hadn't told her everything about me.
Kathy nodded. "I think I can help you get him something great."
"Okay." I said glad she had showed up.
"Sir. loves dogs. He's going on and on about them. Disgusting things I think but I'm a cat person." she lowered her voice. "He and I are illegal Animagi." She looked about looking a bit pleased with herself.
"I knew about Sirius." I said casually.
"Figured you would. He said he and his friends James and Peter were too...Never said anything about you..." she said.
"I didn't want to join them." I said sharply as if I disapproved of the whole thing.
She shrugged it off. "He told me and I decided to give it a try. He's a dog and I'm a cat. Anyway off the subject. He's always talking about dogs and I found a great book on them...thing is I can't get it for him. We have a pact not to get each other anything too expensive and I've already gone over my limit. So I figured..."
"Thanks. Could you show me where it is." I asked.
She took me to the bookstore and showed me the book. After I got the book we went to the Three Broomsticks. She giggled a lot when I suggested going there.
"Hey Remus!" called James when he saw us enter. He and Peter had a table near the bar. "Who's your girlfriend?"
Kathy grinned and giggled even more as we approached them.
"Where's Sirius?" I asked
"Dunno?" said Peter.
"Hi. I'm James Potter." James said bowing.
"I know and you must be Peter." Kathy said. "Sirius tell me all about you. I'm his evidently forgotten sister."
"I found her wondering the streets." I said teasing her. "Sit." I said pulling a chair for her.
She sat down again in a fit of giggles. I admit I had become a bit infatuated with the girl myself.
"Okay but only for a moment. I'm sure you will all want to taunt him about finding me out and besides I still have Christmas shopping to do." she replied.
She stayed with us long enough for me to buy her a butterbeer and for her to drink it. She told us a few stories for us to blackmail Sirius with and then ran off with Lily. They seemed to be good friends.
Sirius came in later and we confronted him about Kathy.
From that moment on James teased me about Kathy. He always said we made a cute pair. Sirius always scowled when James said anything.
Sirius had once asked me near the end of our sixth year if I liked Kathy. Being the honest person I am I said yes. He pouted for a moment then said:
"I'm glad it's you." he said finally, grinning. "I would have hated it if she had a crush on Pete."
"She has a crush on me!" I gasped.
"Why are you so suprised?" he asked.
"Just...what do I do?"
I wasn't experienced with girls.
Sirius laughed. "I'll help you out mate. I know a lot about girls especially this one."
"Sirius was always good about me and Kathy. He was better about it than when Lily finally started going out with James. He adjusted to the two girls spending large amounts of time with us. Peter was never well liked by the ladies and Sirius well... he never could be tied down." Remus finished lamely.
"Why did you two never get married?" Ginny asked looking over his shoulder to the woman behind him.
"We were going to but...the war got really bad and James and Lily had to go into hiding. Kathy absolutely refused to have a wedding without Lily, James and you, Harry. She even wanted to go as far as waiting until you could carry the rings."
Harry frowned and looked at Kathy too. 'She really cared about me too.' he thought.
Ron's stomach gave a great grumble.
Remus gave a weak laugh. "I suppose we should go get some lunch."
Everyone stood to leave. Remus turned around and looked at Kathy once more. He gently ran a finger across her lips and kissed her.
Somewhere beyond the land the living:
"So we're not really dead?" Sirius asked for the millionth time. As he watched his sister pace the room. Everything around them was decked in pure white.
"For the final time no! We're in limbo. A place between the world of the dead and the world of the living."
Sirius scratched his head. "So James and Lily were able to visit us because they are dead."
"Yes the dead can visit and we can visit the living if they have the power to listen to us. Harry, Snape and Dumbledore for instance."
"Haven't you tried to reach them?"
"No. I don't like to invade dreams. Unlike you."
"Well I had to get Harry to find you somehow."
Kathy stopped pacing. "I hear voices." she said. "In my head."
"Kat, that's never good."
"Yes it is! That means they've found my body. We'll be out in no time." Kathy screamed.
She and Sirius began dancing around.
"Remember your promise!" said Sirius releasing his sister and falling down on his bed. "As soon as you get movement back in your limbs you go and get my body. It's back at the ministry behind the veil not through it behind it."
"I know. Do you think that I could forget it when you repeat it everyday at least three times." Kathy said sighing. "And that's all about this place I'll be able to remember. We have an agreement with the limbo offices." She covered her ears to hear the voices with her body more clearly.
"What are they saying?" Sirius asked.
"Snape's there. Peter is dead and Snape brought the body back to clear you even though you were dead...You've been visiting his dreams!"
Sirius gave a guilty laugh. "I wanted to make sure he knew that I was still here to pester him. I also visited Moony's dreams."
"Sirius!"
"I had to let him know that he wasn't the last Marauder."
"Well at the moment he is."
There was a sudden popping noise that made Kathy and Sirius turn around. Peter stood in front of them wringing his hands. He wouldn't look them in the eyes.
"I wanted to tell you that...I'm sorry." he squeaked.
"As you should be." snorted Sirius standing and crossing his arms.
Kathy was more sympathetic. "Oh Peter why did you do such a horrible thing? We were your friends!"
"I know and James and Lily were so kind when I apologized to them. I don't deserve friends like you guys."
Sirius sighed. "I forgive you." he said lowering his arms. "After all you did give your life up on your own and now Snivellus can prove my innocence!"
Kathy muttered something that made Peter laugh. Sirius glared at her.
"So am I forgiven?" Peter asked Kathy.
Kathy smiled and nodded. "I'm about to wake up anyway. Remus is telling the story of how we met." she said with a smile. "Soon he'll kiss me and I'll wake up."
Peter clapped his hands. "So Sirius will be going again soon too?"
Sirius nodded. "Except I don't have to be woken by a kiss. Just a wand." he sniggered.
"Lily wanted mine to be romantic. After all I've been here for fifteen years."
Peter squeaked. "Sorry."
Kathy shrugged. "It's okay. You had better go. I'm sure you're not done filling out your paperwork."
Peter gave a mock sigh. "Do the dead get a break?"
"Once your paperwork is done." said Sirius grinning. "Bye Pete. See you in many many year."
"Don't worry. Time won't matter to you. Just us. See you in well... many many years..." Kathy jumped.
"What?" asked Sirius.
"He touched my lips. Oh bye Sirius..." she reached out to hug him but disappeared before she could.
"Well she's alive again."
"May I ask a question before I leave?"
"Sure Pete go ahead."
"What about your brother and other... bad guys who didn't..."
"Oh! You'll never see them again." said Sirius grinning.
Peter nodded and disappeared.
Sirius sat back down on his bed. "Well Kat I hope I'm not here long."
Remus straightened back up and was about to turn around but Kathy's eye's began to flicker open.
HA! Another cliffe! Go check out my other story The Marauders and the OotP!
"A story worth telling is worth sharing!" -? (Okay I made it up myself, I think. But it's true!)