A/N: I would like for all you readers out there to know that you have lilahp to thank for two chapters in a weekend. Her answer so titillated me, I had to know what she was talking about. And since the only way I can talk to you guys is if I post a chapter........so, you get an extra.
Also, lots of information in lilahp's answer. You might want to scan over it.
And to avoid confusion, I need to point out that the chapters have gotten a bit messed up. I attempted to upload and have no idea how things came out the way they did. If someone out there understands the uploading procedure for linking chapters, could you write them out in step by step instructions and leave them for PAR. She is really having a time with the new system.
Next.
GENERALIZED DISCLAIMER:
Due to circumstances beyond my control...........oh, heck. Folks, lets just face it. I messed up big time here. Now it's time to set things right. I'm sorry for the confusion this will cause.
I have said for some time now that in Family Relations and Family Ties that Orion has no children. That his five kids came into the story later. The fact of the matter is, due to Fairytale asking for a time line on Enemies, I was forced to re-evaluate a few things. Mostly, the state of Orion's family as well as its arrival. So, that said, you can safely assume that until kids are directly mentioned, he has none.
Now, leave me alone.
And as always....,
Enjoy.
Chapter Three: Kiss First (Question Later)
Orion stood at the window to his study. On his arm sat perched a large owl that was such a dark brown as to appear black in color. The bird paced nervously up and down Orion's arm, waiting for the wizard to tell him what to do.
Orion seemed to ignore the bird's impatience and simply stood staring out the large bay window. The sun was just setting and purple and orange lines streaked across the evening sky. With a quiet sigh Orion lowered his head and finally stretched his arm out and gave the bird a slight lift-off as it took to the air. It soared off into the fading twilight, it's owner watching it until the bird was little more than a tiny, barely discernable dot on the horizon.
Orion closed the window with such force that it shook the glass in the frame. He was going to have his answers. Even if he had to tie her down and torture them out of her.
No. She'd probably just enjoy that.
Orion felt a small smile play across his lips as the thought played around in his memories. How far exactly would he have to go before it stopped being pleasure and became pain?
He quickly shook off the thought. No. It had always been for pleasure between them. She had never wanted to actually hurt him. And she was almost fanatical about making sure that each sound was only brought from pleasure. Never pain.
He felt a shudder run through several parts of his body as he remembered the last night he had spent with her. He had held out to sun-up. Never telling her what she wanted to know. It was a silly game really. But it was the focal point for better things. All he had to do was tell her his second name and she would stop. That was what had had him holding out to sunrise. But then, abruptly, and with a good deal of disappointment, she had given up, stating she wouldn't go any further because from then on it would only bring him pain.
Before she had left that morning he had pulled her close, wrapping her gently in his arms as he laid his lips against her ear and softly whispered the name to her.
The smile she gave him he swore was one he would never forget. He watched as she gently lift the small diamond pendent to her lips and gave it a tender kiss.
"When I kiss it, I think only of you." She had whispered softly to him.
And yet she had sent the pendent back to him. With no note. No explanation.
But the message was vividly clear.
She was done with him.
Orion walked back over to his desk and sat down. Looking up, the small diamond winked at him in the firelight as it hung from the corner of the desk's hutch where he had placed it. He wasn't sure exactly what to do with it. For some reason just having it close by brought some sort of...........he couldn't put a word to the feeling. Just somehow the whole situation didn't feel as cold when he looked at the little diamond sparkling happily in it's setting.
Orion shook his head and got up from the desk. He was still thinking like a idiot, he admonished himself. He had sent her a request.......no, a demand for a meeting. The two of them. Alone. He was going to get his answers one way or another.
The only thing that still bothered him was why he needed them.
Orion stood in the alleyway where he had left Katlin after he'd first kissed her. In his pocket his fingers played absently with the small pendent. He wasn't sure why he had brought it along. He had told his brain, searching for an answer, that it was a good luck charm for him. But for what, he wasn't so sure.
A small pop further down the alleyway caught his attention. Orion pulled up from where he had been leaning against the brick wall, his other hand fingering his wand in the opposite pocket from the locket.
A lone figure made its way up the alley, soft footsteps echoing in the still night air as the feet padded along the pavement towards him. Slowly the outlines of a robed, hooded figure came into view. Orion held his ground as the figure approached to within a few feet of him before stopping and pulling back its hood.
A small sigh of relief escaped him as he smiled slightly at the sight of the woman who was still playing havoc with his mind during his work day.
"Hello, Katlin." He said in a quiet voice.
"You asked for this meeting." She said in an all too formal voice. "I would suggest you start talking."
But Orion's eyes had already shifted off of her. A movement behind her had caught his attention.
Katlin seemed to read his unease.
"You came here alone?" She asked.
Orion's gaze skirted through the alleyway behind her. "Yes." He heard himself saying. Answer the question. Anything to give himself some time to sort things out.
"How fortunate." She replied.
Orion heard the noise behind him and turned abruptly to find four Deatheaters standing behind him. When he turned back to Katlin four more had joined her.
"Because I didn't." She said in a deadly whisper.
Orion unlaced his fingers from the pendent and subsequently tightened them on his wand.
"Now how is it going to be, Black?" Katlin asked quietly with a small smile. "Soft or hard? I'm up for either this evening."
"I seem to recall hearing that somewhere before." He answered her in the same quiet tone.
Katlin's face hardened as she quickly stepped back. Orion knew how the Deatheaters fought. Groups were their specialty with odds that they liked. And eight against one was certainly among their favorites.
"Eight to one." Orion mused out loud as he started to put his back to the wall. "Hardly seems fair. But I'll tell you what." He said with a smile. "I'll wait here while you boys go see if you can find some more."
'That's right.' Orion told himself as the Deatheaters rushed at him. 'Goad them on.'
Despite the numbers, Orion congratulated himself that he still managed to take out five of the Deatheaters before they managed to hit him with a spell to subdue him. He desperately tried to fight off the spell as they dragged him past Katlin, who watched with emotionless eyes as the Deatheaters disapparated with Orion between them.
Several more Deatheaters arrived on the scene to help those the Auror had hit with various curses and hexes apparate back to the lair. It was the only kindness they would be shown. Especially when they would be forced to stand before Voldemort and explain how one Ministry Auror had been able to stop five Deatheaters before being captured.
Checking those that had been injured in the fight, Katlin saw each of her fellow Deatheaters safely disapparate before she left herself.
She turned to look about the alleyway one more time to make sure nothing incriminating had been left behind, but stopped short as something winked at her from the pavement. Walking over to the small glint of light, she bent down and picked the small diamond pendent up off the pavement that had fallen from Orion's pocket during the fight. Standing back up, she stared at it as it glittered in her hand, reflecting the moonlight.
Katlin turned the little pendent about on its chain. But finally she shook her head as she took one last look at it before stuffing it into a pocket of her robes. The Auror wasn't the only one who needed questions answered, she thought as she turned down the alleyway, disapparating home out of the cold, dark night.
Orion sat silently on the floor of a small cell in one of the back chambers of the Deatheaters lair. He was sure from how long he had been dragged through the tunnels that the room was situated fairly deep in the lair. Even if he did manage to get free of the cell, he had severe doubts about being able to find his way out again with any great speed. Four hours. Maybe five. Oh well. Something to think about.
Mentally he was committing to memory the route he had been dragged trough to get to the small cell. It would simply be a matter of retracing his steps with the added distraction of having to avoid the Deatheaters to get out again.
Orion sighed quietly. Tedious at best.
A voice broke into his mental mapping. One he knew all too well speaking a complex silencing charm.
"Privacy?" He asked the darkness before him. "I didn't think you cared much for that anymore."
"I do when it suits me." The darkness answered.
Orion shut the voice out as he closed his eyes and went back to his work.
"Do you think it will be that easy?"
Orion opened his eyes and looked up from where he sat on the floor to see Katlin standing before the cell. He quickly noted she stayed just out of reach.
"Do you?" She asked again.
"What?" He replied.
"You're trying to remember how you got here." She stated, gesturing to the room. "We aren't stupid, Black. We know the Auror's tricks. And that one's old."
"Then we'll have to come up with some new ones. We wouldn't want this to become boring for you, after all."
"Merlin's Beard. Please do."
"What do you want?" Orion asked curtly.
"First of all, for you to forget what you're doing."
"Why?"
"Lord Voldemort changes the corridor paths when an Auror is brought here. It would take you days to even four-point your way out of here."
Orion silently cursed a lot of wasted time and effort.
"What else?" He asked in a flat, but heated voice.
Katlin took a step closer to the bars of the cell as she slipped the small pendent out of her robe pocket and held it up before him.
"Why did you bring this?"
Orion remained silent as he stared at the small pendent. He had noticed it missing as soon as he had appeared at the Deatheaters lair. They had search him for his wand and whatever else he was carrying. But when they finished and they hadn't found the pendent, that had been the start of his fear it had been lost in the fight. And when they had placed him in the cell and allowed him freedom of movement again, it was the first thing he had gone looking for, dismally discovering it was indeed gone from his pocket. He never thought he'd be so happy to see the tiny diamond swinging from its silver chain again.
"Well?" Katlin asked pointedly as she continued to hold it up.
"Why did you give it back?" Orion asked flatly.
"Answer my question."
"I arranged that meeting to ask mine. I think I should get priority here." Orion stated firmly.
"You are in no position to demand anything, Black." Katlin replied in an equally firm tone.
Orion sighed as he stared at her. "All right." He conceded finally. "Ladies first then. I thought you might want it back."
"Why would I want this thing back?"
"No reason at all apparently." Orion replied. "I simply had had a stupid idea you might if we had a chance to talk."
"Talk?" Katlin looked genuinely confused by the concept. "What in the name of the dark arts would I want to talk to an Auror about?"
Orion gestured to the pendent she still held up in her hand, his voice lower and softer than it had been. "Whatever he did that hurt you enough to give that back."
Katlin slowly lowered her arm as she stared back at him. She turned and looked about the room, then back to Orion. "The charm is still up. So talk." She stated, but in a slightly less hostile sounding tone now.
Orion looked about his small cell, then back to her. "Some how," he replied, "I'm just not as inclined right now."
"You'd do well to get inclined, Mr. Black." Katlin replied. "Because currently, you're number one on Voldemort's list of 'Things To Torture Today'."
"And explaining to you what I had that pendent for is going to change that?"
"Have you got something better to do?"
Orion sighed quietly. Well, if nothing else, he wasn't going to die wondering.
"I remember how you looked at that pendent in the window of the jewelry store." He said, trying desperately to keep his voice as emotionless as possible. "You stood there in the cold just staring at it. I'd never seen anyone want something so badly with just their eyes. So," he added with a quiet sigh, "I could only imagine something that hurt you a great deal must have made you give it up." He turned his stare slowly to her. "Something I did."
Katlin stared silently down at him. He could feel the fury mounting in her by the second.
"So," he asked tentatively, telling himself it was only curiosity that drove him on, "was it?"
"Yes!" The answer was short and sharp.
"And?"
Katlin looked as though he had just handed her the worst insult imaginable. For a second Orion thought she was going to leave. Or better, storm off.
"You have no idea!?" She hissed at him between the bars, taking a step closer to them.
Orion looked dumbfounded.
"Men!" Katlin snapped. "You're idiots! Every one of you!"
"Well, this one could use a little help." Orion replied. He looked about the cell again and sighed once more. "In more ways than one."
"I'll give you your 'help', Mr. Black." She hissed at him between the bars. "You called me a 'liar'."
"What?"
"You didn't believe me when I told you I had nothing to do with that man's murder. Had I lied to you once up to then? Had I hurt you? Attacked you? Done anything to earn that from you?
I thought we had come to some sort of understanding, Orion. A mutually beneficial understanding. All I was there for that night...........was you. But you just couldn't get past it, could you? I was a Deatheater. A 'bad' witch. So, naturally, when something goes wrong anywhere near me, I have to be at the bottom of it, don't I? There was no possible way I was only out there to meet you.
And all those nights before? What were those to you then? Just laying the groundwork? Getting your interest? There was no way that there was one honest action there as far as you're concerned, was there? Just all tricks and traps. Just like a Deatheater." She added, punctuating each word of the last sentence.
"What was I suppose to think, Katlin?"
"I thought you would have given me enough....consideration....to have at least allowed for the benefit of the doubt. But you didn't even hesitate!" Katlin nearly spit the word at him. "A nice convenient target, the little Deatheater, hey?"
Orion stared up at her for a few seconds. There was so much more in her voice than anger. There was pain. He had genuinely hurt her without once thinking of the possibility.
"I thought you trusted me, Orion." She added with pure venom. "I thought I had earned that much from you."
"In three days?"
"For people like us, Orion, that should be all it takes. Sometimes that's all you have. Which it was for us. You're an Auror, for magic's sake! You're suppose to know when people are lying. It's suppose to be second nature to you."
Orion sat staring at her. He honestly couldn't think of a thing to say in response to her.
"I thought we had come to some sort of an.....understanding. One that benefited us both and allowed us to exploit each other's talents for our mutual enjoyment."
"Merlin's Beard!" Orion spoke up suddenly in annoyance. "Could you have made that sound any more like you were discussing some business contract!?"
"That's what it was, Orion." Katlin stated flatly. "A contract. One that allowed us to do what we were doing without the complications it could involve."
"Complications?"
"I am what I am, Orion. Just as you are what you are."
"'So what's the point'. Is that the 'complication' you're talking about?"
"I'm talking about emotional investment. Of which the is no 'point'. We enjoyed each others company. Plain and simple. Fun and games. That's all. But there had to be ground rules. One of which I thought was that we trusted each other."
"For someone not looking for any 'emotional investment', trust seems an awfully big issue to you."
"Trust is very important to me, Orion."
"Important?! You sleep with men for information!"
Katlin shrugged the comment off.
"Tell me, exactly where does 'trust' figure into that equation?"
"When it's not just for information." Katlin replied in a softer tone.
"Really?" Orion gave her a sarcastic stunned look. "You mean you actually do that?"
Katlin's expression hardened suddenly. "Be very careful, Mr. Black. I'm not without limits when it comes to insults. And as for what I'm willing to do to accomplish my ends, tell me that particular talent isn't listed on your resume."
"Right near the top." Orion admitted readily. "As opposed to yours, where I would assume it is on top."
Katlin frowned again. "Your pushing those limits, Mr. Black. I would suggest you stop, unless you never care to see the sun rise again."
"I thought that was the ultimate end of every Auror captured by the Deatheaters." Orion put in in as uninterested a tone as he could manage.
Katlin crossed her arms in front of her as she took a few steps closer to the cage. "Not always. Sometimes their fates are left to me."
"I suppose that's something of an honor around here?"
"It is a very high one. And if I spare an Auror's life, there had best be a good reason."
"I'm cute?"
"Don't push me, Mr. Black."
"Now you see," Orion stated suddenly, "I'm starting to catch on to this. Whenever I piss you off, I'm suddenly 'Mr. Black'. When we're just having a conversation, I'm 'Orion'."
"And to think I had trouble understanding why they made you an Auror."
"So which is it now?"
Katlin seemed to consider the question for a moment. And Orion thought he caught just the smallest trace of a smile in her answer.
"Orion."
"All right then, answer a question for me." He ask quietly.
"Which would be?"
"Why are you here?"
"Meaning?"
"You set me up, Katlin...."
"You laid your own trap." She defended sharply "Don't blame me for it."
"You abused the circumstances. You want to discuss 'trust'?" Orion snapped back.
"I simply acted the part you put me in."
Orion paused, taking a deep breath. "You set me up," he started again, holding up a hand to stop her as Katlin almost cut in again, "you brought me here as a captive, and now your standing here in front of my cell discussing trust issues. Why?"
Katlin paused a good deal longer, considering her answer. "Call it 'covering my bases'." She replied finally.
"Covering your bases?"
This time Katlin stood in silence before the bars of his cage for so long Orion wasn't sure if she was going to explain the comment or not.
"Those three days in Austria were......" Katlin seemed to search long and hard for the right word.
"Nice?" Orion offered.
Katlin considered the word for a moment. "Nice." She agreed finally.
"But?" Orion ventured when she didn't continue.
"But it was three days."
Orion worked very hard with what she had given him when she didn't continue again. Eventually understanding lit his expression.
"Ahhhh!" He stated with a pleased smile. "But that was three days, and now we're back in the real world. Is that it?"
Katlin simply stared back at him, her expression as unreadable as a person's could possibly be.
"Katlin," Orion replied, his voice barely a whisper, so that even without the silencing charm, no one but Katlin would have heard him, "those had to be, without question, three of the most incredible days of my life. I mean, I've been spending some serious time thinking up a few new lurid fantasies, because you covered most of the old ones in those three days. Right down to the one with the bathtub. And I would give anything I had for three more days with you. And three more after that. And three more after that. And as many more as I could get."
"But?" Katlin mimicked him.
Orion gave a small, resolute sigh to the question. "But you are a Deatheater, and I am an Auror. And that is not going to change."
"I am not a Deatheater 24/7, Orion." Katlin replied. "And certainly not when I'm with you. All I am then is a woman....who is enjoying a man's company. The rest is just politics.
Now, I can put aside being a Deatheater when it suits me. The question is, can you ever stop being an Auror?"
Orion smiled at the suggestion, having never expected that answer from her. "I'm certainly willing to try."
Suddenly a voice echoed from down a nearby corridor.
"Katlin?"
Katlin seemed at first not to hear the man calling to her from the corridor. Instead she simply stood outside the bars of the cell staring at the man inside.
"Katlin?" The voice called again.
Katlin raised her wand and pointed it threateningly at Orion.
"You sit and keep your mouth shut." She demanded. "Or so help me, I'll hex you into next week."
Orion started to say something, but he was quickly cut off as Katlin rapidly undid the silencing charm.
Seconds later a owner of the voice stepped into the chamber. He was a tall man, with a muscular build. His face was set in a hard expression, two dark eyes sweeping the room as he entered. His dark hair was cut very short and he wore a beard and mustache that were equally trimmed short.
"Katlin!" The man stated sharply.
Katlin suddenly turned to the man as though she had only just heard him. "Johnathan!" She stated.
The man seemed to accept her presentation without question. "What are you doing down here? You should be upstairs with the others."
"Upstairs? What for?"
"Lord Voldemort has decided to deal with the Auror tonight. He's calling in most of us for the.....," The man cast a quick, malicious grin at Orion, "...show."
"But I haven't even questioned him yet! Surely Lord Voldemort realizes what a valuable source of information he could be?"
"Perhaps you'd like to go explain that to the dark lord, Katlin? Tell him all the reasons you think he shouldn't kill the Auror?"
Katlin fell silent, her gaze remaining fixed on the man before her.
"Well?"
Katlin still remained silent. But Orion could practically feel the tension in her growing. It was like watching a caged animal, steeling itself up for a fight.
"Very well, then." The man stated suddenly. "Since you're already here, the least you can be is useful. Lord Voldemort and the others are waiting in the high chamber. Bring the Auror there."
"Me!?" Katlin stated sharply. "I'm no porter of prisoners! That is hardly a job suitable for......"
"Of course, if you feel you can't handle the Auror on your own......."
Katlin snapped her mouth closed in indignation.
"Well?"
"Am I to escort him alone then?" She asked between her teeth. "The Auror has already shown himself to be dangerous."
"Again, if you feel you can't handle him, Katlin, I'd be more than happy to......" The man's voice was positively dripping with a condescending tone.
"I can handle the Auror, Johnathan." She cut him off curtly.
"Then do so." The man snapped at her as he turned and left the chamber.
Katlin sneered after him. "I've handled him quite a bit, for your information." She hissed after him in a low tone with a touch of sarcasm mixed in with it.
"You can handle him some more if you like." A voice quickly broke into her thoughts. "He really doesn't mind."
Katlin turned sharply back to him.
"A little 'before you die' send off?" Orion asked.
The look she gave him caused him to drop his hopeful smile quite quickly.
Katlin turned back to the corridor. She stood very still for a few moments, then turned back to Orion, who suspected she had been listening if the man had actually left.
"So why did you want to know if you were to escort me alone?" He asked instead.
"Because the dark lord knows all too well you're dangerous."
"So why leave the task to one person?"
Katlin's whole demeanor became one of irritation. "I would suspect it is some sort of a test."
"Test? Of what? Surely Voldemort doesn't distrust you of all people."
Katlin's expression became completely unreadable. "The test isn't Voldemort's." She replied.
Orion started to asked the obvious when Katlin suddenly cut him off, her expression still as unreadable as ever.
"Do you want to survive this night, Orion?"
Orion paused for the briefest moment. "No." he answered flatly. "I'd rather die horribly."
"I can arrange that." Katlin stated sharply, but then added in a completely contrary tone. "Or I can arrange something else."
Before Orion could ask what, Katlin pointed her wand at the door to his cell and spoke a quick spell. Inside the lock, Orion could hear the bolts sliding free. Almost instantly the door swung partly open.
Orion sat staring at the open door.
"Why?" He ask.
Katlin tossed him a thin, polished piece of wood that he immediately recognized as his own wand as he snatched it out of the air.
"Because you brought my pendent back to me." She answered.
"That's all?"
"That's all."
"Good enough." Orion stated as he scrambled to his feet and hurried out the door after her.
Orion caught up to Katlin quickly enough. She wasn't making what he considered a lot of headway as she moved carefully down the corridor. But there was likely also good reason for her cautious pace.
"How long before they get suspicious?" He asked in a whisper.
Katlin didn't answer right away. "Maybe ten minutes." She replied finally. "If we're lucky."
Orion noted suddenly that Katlin didn't have her own wand out anymore.
"Is it really safe for only one of us to be armed?"
"It's necessary." Katlin replied quietly. "And if we're caught, you'd better make it believable."
Orion instantly wrapped an arm in front of her, catching her across the neck with it as he pulled her tightly against him. From the front he grabbed hold of her left wrist with his free hand and pulled it behind her. But he quickly slid his fingers down her wrist until they laced comfortably into her's. He carefully laid his lips against her ear.
"Oh, it'll look very believable." He whispered to her.
Katlin felt his lips part and his teeth grab her ear, giving it a merciless tug.
"Orion!"
"Answer the question with the truth this time." He whispered low in her ear again. "Why?"
Katlin paused for a few precious seconds. "You're wasting time." She said finally.
"Why?" The question was repeated, but this time with a slight nip to the ear again.
The act reminded Katlin all too well 'why' as her whole body could have melted into his embrace right there.
"You were suppose to be only kept as a prisoner." She replied. "Not killed."
"So I was to be an endless source of information as well as your......"
"No!" Katlin snapped back. But she felt Orion shrug behind her.
"Too bad." He whispered in her ear once more. "Tied up has promise."
Katlin gave a soft squeak as her ear got bit again. "Orion!" She turned to him slightly over her shoulder as she yanked her ear free from his teeth. "Business now!" She stated sharply. But almost immediately softened her tone. "Play later."
"Promise?" He asked in a low, lustful voice. "Something with ropes?"
Katlin smiled slightly, then pushed back against him and rubbed her back up against him, unquestionably aware of where their joined hands happened to be positioned.
"Promise." She let the word out in a slow, warm breath against his cheek. "Something with ropes."
Katlin smiled in satisfaction as she felt the body behind her give a small shudder down its entire length.
"You do that again and we won't get out of here until sun-up." He breathed into her ear.
"That's not so far away."
"Three days from now."
"And you're lucky we're in a blind spot." She told him. "From here on out there's no guarantee I can give you that they can't see and hear everything. Remember that."
"Then just a minute." Orion stated.
Abruptly Katlin found herself pulled about and her mouth captured in a heated kiss that for one precious moment drove everything else from her mind. Merlin's Beard! If the man could do nothing else, he could kiss her to make her feel like she had never truly been kissed before in her life.
But Katlin finally and firmly pulled back from him, staring him hard in the eyes.
"Nine minutes, Orion." She stated.
"One more question." He said, abruptly pinning her against him with his one arm. "If we hadn't come to some....understanding in this...would I still be in that cage?"
"Nine minutes, Orion." She repeated.
"You're not going to answer that, are you?"
"You already know the answer. Or we can stand here and discuss it for the next eight and a half minutes until it's a moot point. Now which would you prefer?"
Orion sighed quietly at her answer.
"How long to get out?"
"It won't be in eight and a half minutes. We'll be running a few minutes at least with the others looking for us."
"Will they know where to look?"
"They'll have a good idea."
"Why?"
"You'll want the shortest route out. There only a few of those."
"What about others? Ones that aren't so short?"
Katlin shook her head. "Too risky. I need to get you out as fast as possible. If they catch us......."
"We'll take the longer route." Orion stated firmly.
"Orion, any of those routes could take as long as fifteen minutes! Maybe longer."
Orion pulled her back against him again as he smiled against her neck. "I could think of worst ways to spend time than a few extra minutes alone with you."
"With a whole lair of Deatheaters looking for you as well?"
"So I'm popular."
"And you're getting more so by the minute."
"And we will have bought ourselves those few extra minutes by throwing them off course. They won't even be looking in the right place for us. The longer route will give us a better chance of getting out alive and unseen."
"Providing no one thinks to check those corridors as well. Will you stop that!" She slapped his hand away as it tried to find an opening in her robes.
Orion sighed as he slipped his arm back up to her shoulder, his wand resting over it as he grabbed her hand behind her again.
"All right. Lead on."
The rest of the trip was made in absolute silence. Orion followed closely behind Katlin, his moves guided by her grip on his hand as she would squeeze it slightly every time she wanted him to turn, speed up, or slow down.
After what seemed to Orion a good deal longer than fifteen minutes, he felt a cool rush of air come through the corridor they were in.
"The opening is close by?" He whispered.
Katlin only nodded her head.
Orion made a good show of shoving her forward in the case anyone was watching them. Throughout the entire trek he had stayed close behind her, his wand always resting on her shoulder. He had even given her a few forceful shoves for show as they hurried through the corridors of the lair.
Once outside Orion got his bearings and quickly headed off, his hand wrapped tightly still around Katlin's.
But a yank on his hand pulled him to a stop.
Orion turned around only to meet Katlin's set expression.
"You go on alone now, Orion." She told him simply.
Orion stared back at her. "You can't mean to stay?" He asked in disbelief. "They'll know it was you."
"What they'll know," Katlin replied, "is that in the middle of bringing you to Voldemort, you over-powered me and got your wand back. You then forced me to show you the way out. That is, unless you were planning on telling them something different."
"I sort of liked the version where we both were mooning Voldemort from the bottom of the hill."
"Trust me. It wouldn't go over very well with him."
Orion sighed as he came back up to where she was standing. Very slowly he raised his eyes to meet her's.
"You'll be all right?" He asked.
He watched her nod, searching the violet eyes for any sign of a lie. But what he found worried him even more. There was nothing there at all. She knew what he was looking for and, to keep him from finding it, closed all her emotions off to him.
"You need to go." She said finally.
"Are we being watched?" He asked quietly.
Katlin shook her head. "But they'll be coming soon."
Orion managed a small smile past his concern. "Kiss first."
Katlin allowed him to effortlessly draw her lips to his. But as he slowly drew back, she wrapped her hand about his as he held his wand between them.
With one sharp move she yanked the polished wooden stick sharply so the tip pointed up into her chest. She spoke a quick spell and a burst of light erupted between them.
Orion did his best to remain balanced. But the force from the spell blew him backwards and sent him over the edge of the hill and rolling down it in a cloud of dust and debris.
When he hit the bottom he quickly regained his footing and turned back to the hill.
He was aghast at how far he had fallen.
The edge of the hill towered a good thirty feet up a sharp incline. It would take time to get back to the top, and he could already hear others responding to the noise.
Cursing, he turned and took off into the woods, feeling for where the anti-apparation spells stopped.
He had underestimated Katlin. She had planned his escape better than he ever could have. She had also made it impossible for him not to leave her behind, as well as arranged for the whole scene to look as much like a forced escape as possible. Right down to his cursing her when she had served her purpose.
And she had spare no cost. The curse had been a nasty one. And would undoubtedly leave her with nothing less than something broken somewhere. But what he hated the most about it was that it left him with no way to know that she was all right as he hurried out of the reach of the Deatheaters.
A sharp tone from his wand alerted him to the end of the anti-apparation fields. Pausing for a minute, Orion turned back to the thick of trees, shielding the cliff-edge from his view. Finally, hearing the Deatheaters approach, he quickly apparated back to the Department offices.
He still had a report to file.
Q&A
lilahp: How could you be anything BUT first.
Dear, tell PAR the WHOLE story this time. Someone found a copy of Book V in a field? I have not heard anything about this. Tell, tell, tell!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Orion may have just 'sent her away', but let me assure you, Katlin did not leave happy. In this story you have to read a lot between the lines, I afraid. These are people who live their lives constantly wondering who may be an enemy and how good of a friend your friend really is. This explains in part why Charly and Orion are so close. Charly is Orion's one true friend. He is the person Orion trusts without question. He has too. The man is his partner. Orion wasn't just 'sending her away', he was clearly telling her that he didn't trust her, or he would have let her stay and they would have tried to figure things out together. But what he was telling her was 'I don't trust you. I don't want you here. Leave.' Believe me, when she comes back, Orion has some things to answer for. But then, having read this chapter, you already know that.
That closing scene, by the way, was why the chapter was titled what it was.
Orion is very much a man of action. It is what tends to get him in trouble more often than not. Charly, as you will see, is more of the 'thinker' of the two. But Orion has a reason for being a bit more reckless than most.
When is Charly going to sit Orion down and demand the truth? That's a large part of this story, Dear. You might be surprised by the answer as well.
Orion has no real rules but his own? BINGO!!!!!!! (*). Gold star, Dear! Will he be breaking any of them? You think he hasn't yet?
Will you get Katlin's background? Oh yes. Large part of the story there too. You have a chapter coming up later which is going to positively deluge you with information and will definitely change your perception of this story completely.
Voldemort can be nice? Of course he can. I can honestly say I am the leader of the fanclub of people tired of seeing Voldemort depicted as a 'kill anything that moves...or even before it moves' person. He is a person, folks. He has issues, feelings, and relationships just like everyone else. He cares about things and people. They may not be in a manner we think of as 'right', but they are still there. And one of the things he cares about the most is Katlin. She is every bit his daughter to him. If anything happened to Voldemort, Katlin would be the one the Deatheaters would turn to for leadership since she is closer to Voldemort than anyone else. And you want something to think about? Consider what will happen (and to who) when Voldemort finds out who 'daddy's little girl' is sleeping with?
You will get bits and pieces of the inner workings of the Department of Mysteries and the Unspeakables. They are an interesting bunch. But I'm afraid nothing in detail. Just enough to keep the story making sense.
As to your question about 'what would I have done had I found a copy of book V?'. Become JKR's new best friend. That's what.
If I found it....TRULY....found it, it would be mine to do with as I pleased and I would be headed for Southerby's (?) Auction House faster than you could say SOLD! Even better if I could get her to sign AND date it before the release date.
And speaking of white lab rats, you know why lab workers stop using white rats and switched to lawyers?
1. There are more lawyers than white rats.
2. People didn't complain as much about the researchers experimenting on lawyers.
3. There were some things even a rat wouldn't do.
And I will get to the story, Dear. Just takes me a while sometimes.
Werepup: I still think you would do very well writing short stories. All you sound like you lack is a little discipline with your writing. And that, Dear, comes with time. No one teaches you that.
As for not being able to keep up with your characters. Phffft! I've been a member of that club for ages. The secret is to keep a notebook on your characters and refer back to it often. True. Nothing gets more complicated than when you start your characters interacting with each other. But that's what makes a story. And when you can do this and make it believable and keep continuity, you have become a writer.
And stop berating yourself, Dear. You are your worst critic.
Well, I don't know about the black and white detective films. More like some of the action/adventure movies coming out these days. I'd love to tell you who I picture in my mind while I'm working on my characters, but I hate to spoil other people's own depictions they have come up with. Someday I might actually sit down and draw my characters out. But that takes a phenomenal amount of time and I simply don't have that right now.
Pyro: No, Dear. Sorry. Orin had nothing to do with Orion's contact being killed. Charly's comment on Orion sleeping with someone to get his position as head of the Unspeakables was just a sort of joke.
As for conspiracy theories. Yes, I like then too. But some of them are just too good. they actually start you wondering. But what worries me the most is when reasonably sound minded people start spouting some of the more ludicrous ones. I had a woman, teaching a group of people, stand up and proudly declare that the governemtn had found a cure for cancer years ago, and that they had killed off or driven all the doctors that knew about it to Mexico and kept it quiet because cancer was a good population control. Folks, THAT is ludicrous! And this woman was very serious.
That's frightening.
UnrepentantReader: I'm not sure what the problem was exactly, Dear. Did your review go somewhere else?
But I will take it on faith. But I miss the review. You're one of my favorites.
Also, I will point out as I did in the Author's Notes, that the chapters have gotten a bit messed up. I am having a terrible time with this new uploading system.
Very glad you liked the chapter, Dear.
I was going to erase the first part, but thought you might enjoy it.
Anyway, I see now what you meant. Yes, I go thte review linked to the other chapter upload. Sorry again for the confusion.
And yes, Dear, they do enjoy their time together. And thank you for the compliment on my ability to convey feelings and emotions. I never feel that is my strong suit truthfully. Nice to hear others do not agree.
Orion may be jumping to conclusions, but he has very little room for error in his life. So he is going by the 'better safe than sorry' rule right now by putting distance between himself and Katlin while he tries to sort things out.
You will get quite a bit of old Charly in this story. He has a major role to play, after all. And he will find out who Orion is seeing. Just maybe not the way you expect.
Actually, Charly's opinion of Voldemort and his Deatheaters might just surprise you. Talk about 'priorities'. But it also shows the lengths he's willing to go to for a friend.
The volumes I would see Charly and Orion's situation speaking despite the prejudices they live within is the strength of the relationship between them. As I've said before, this relationship makes James and Sirius' look like a casual acquaintance.
You think Katlin's interesting? Wait until you meet a few other Elites. They are a group unto themselves. And an interesting one to boot. But yes, Katlin does have standards and values and she lives very strictly by them.
I am glad you like Katlin. She's a 'here to stay' character. And yes, she is no slut. A workaholic maybe. But no slut.
Well, if not knowing if its a comfort or a torture knowing the chapters are written, Dear, try this on for size. They aren't all written. This story isn't so much 'still in production' as 'still at the presses'. I know where the story will go and how it will end, I just haven't finished writing it yet. But we are almost there.
Heeheehee. Eight. Heeheehee. PAR read ElfQuest when she was about 23. Do the math. Richard and Wendy are very nice people too. They were very instrumental in trying to save PAR's butt in contract negotiations.
Yes, Cypress Gardens is still an ongoing saga. It appears the developers want their slice of the pie and the state isn't sure they can buy the whole thing. A new twist is that a developer in Orlando wants to buy the park and LEASE it to others. People, a developer being involved in Cypress Gardens decisions is what got us here in the first place. Have we learned NOTHING!?
Arania: Classical romance, huh? Sorry, Dear. Very little of the traditional stuff here. But Orion does have his moments. Give it some time. Let the Pheromone cloud clear and see what develops then. I mean, at some point you have to wake up and face reality. She's a Deatheater and he's an Auror. That is not going to change.
Cliff hangers are meant to bring you back on your hands and knees, Dear. Greatest writing tool ever developed.
I can't berate Disney World too much. When they first started they bought thousands of acres of land around them and have preserved it. Albeit not for totally altruistic reasons, they are still preserving Florida lands. But it does appear the state will be buying Cypress Gardens under the Florida Forever grant. The question everyone is now waiting for the answer too is 'how much of it will be preserved?'.
What makes you think he's broken it off with her? All he did was give himself some breathing room. Which he desperately needed.
Yup. Five (count 'em) five kids. ANd that's all I'm saying about that because that is a whole different story.
Well, thank you for reading and reviewing.
Yes, Dear. Arania made a little funny.
Mezzanotte-Storia: Thank you, Dear.
Silverfox: Dear, Orion Black is what we like to refer to as 'rolling in it'. The man works because he likes what he does, not by any means because he has to.
Currently, you can safely assume Charly does not know who Orion is involved with. That will change sooner than you will be aware.
If you think I write a good Snape, I hope you have tried out Bored Beyond Belief's Never Alone, Never Again and Starlight's It's A One Time Thing That Just Happens A Lot. Both excellent stories with good Snape characterizations.
Reviews are as of 05112003.