A/N: Greetings.
Well, somehow I managed to get this chapter out. I'll never know how. Nor will I ever understand how it came out as well as it did. I sat down to write this Friday night. I knew what I wanted it to say, but getting the idea from brain to paper is a bit of a stretch sometimes. Those of you who are writers out there will understand this. And the end could still use some work.
PAR also has bad things on the horizon again as well. Currently my Uncle in Kentucky is very ill. He was truly a man with a good heart, although few people saw it. He took care of those who needed it the most, and stood against a great deal of hardship in his life. The one thing I knew this man for was that he could get a rose bush to bloom just by looking at it. I can kill one just by looking at it. I always meant to asked him how he managed to have such success with roses. I just could never find the time. *sigh*
Let that be a lesson to you, folks. Never leave things to the last minute, or thinking there will always be tomorrow to do it. Sometimes, there ain't. So call up that person you haven't spoken to in years, and ask them how the heck they keep those rose bushes going year after year.
So please remember my Uncle Bob in your prayers.
And,
Enjoy.
Disclaimer: Hold on. There's a knock at the door. Oh. Look. Black suits. Looks like lawyers. What can I do for you gentlemen?
You the lady writing the Harry Potter Fanfictions?
Ahhhhhhhh.........., no. Harry who? Never heard of him. Wrong house.
(Gets dragged off by Warner Brothers lawyers, not for writing Harry Potter fanfictions, but for telling so obvious a lie, as that we all know only someone who has been under a rock for the past 12 years does not know who Harry Potter is.)
Chapter Thirty-One: Reconstruction
For Katlin the rest of the night was spent constructing her new life. Ironically, one built on a foundation of lies.
Her first stop was back at the lair. A few of the right words in the wrong ears were going to work best for her now. In this case, in the form of another female Elite who Katlin didn't doubt for a minute had to be a Daily Prophet reporter in her everyday life. Anything told to the woman in the strictest confidence was usually part of the morning news the next day. For Katlin the woman had been practically glued to her since Johnathan revealed her relationship with the Unspeakable, Orion Black. The other Elite would practically beg for the smallest shred of information as to anything between her and the Auror. Anything she could run back to her lower ranking friends among the Deatheaters with, which Katlin was sure they tore at like a pack of dogs. And she was sure that they had chased themselves around Johnathan's version of the events often enough. Her story made more sense, but his was by far more entertaining.
Well, tonight she would put the whole matter to rest. And that pack of gossip hounds were going to help her.
Almost as soon as she arrived at the lair Katlin's prey saved her the trouble of a search by finding her first. It had been days since Katlin had seen the woman and she wasn't the least bit surprised that she came sniffing about for some morsel of a new story to take back to the others. Katlin wasn't about to disappoint her tonight.
Within minutes of their meeting, the woman was practically running off back through the tunnels of the lair. By morning Katlin felt certain the whole lair would know how the Auror had been getting suspicious over the past few days. Asking her too many questions for her to feel comfortable remaining in the relationship for the time being. She would start limiting any contact with him, if she deemed it worth her time any longer to even see him at all. She would be spending more time about the lair, in case the Auror went looking for her at her apartment in town. Things would be less complicated that way.
Yes, that all sounded reasonable, and very believable.
It had to.
Katlin had often served up small lies to the woman just to get her off her back for a few days. Secrets the Auror was telling her. Things she had found in his house. All stories she was sure eventually found their way to Voldemort's ears. But now she was telling them a story that would one day in all likelihood be repeated to her. So it had to be believable. Because in the end she would, in fact, be lying to the hardest person of all to fool. Herself.
Next Katlin went to lay the groundwork for her lie with Voldemort. Fooling a gossip-hungry little dog was one thing. Laying the story out before someone she had loved so completely just the day before, and now questioned nearly every aspect of their relationship, would be another matter indeed.
Katlin worked her best to keep her mind focused on the story as she repeated it to Voldemort. Somehow she managed not to look away as she concentrated on simply giving a report as she had done a thousand times before. And in the end her hard work paid off as Voldemort simply agreed with her that perhaps the situation was getting too dangerous to justify the ends any longer and things were best ended with the Auror.
Several hours later, Katlin sat in her private quarters at the lair, breathing a sigh of relief. Everything had gone exactly as she had planned for it to. Now she had only to wait for others to do the rest for her.
Word of the ending of her mission was likely to work its way through the ranks quickly enough. Soon enough it would reach Johnathan, who would likely only serve to fuel it further since it was exactly what he wanted to hear. The Auror was gone, and the threat to Johnathan's own plans left with him.
By the weeks end Katlin felt fairly certain things would be back to normal for her. The gossip would have died down by then, and the others would likely have found something else to talk about.
All that was left was for her to construct a memory solid enough for her to give to the old wizard so that he could incorporate it into the charm. She had to have some memory of what the past few months had been about. Something that even she couldn't find any holes in where things didn't quite fit together in case she fell over them later.
A small smile played over her lips as she looked over the words on the parchment before her. She had never imagined that the very lie she and Orion had constructed to tell others about their relationship she would one day be telling to herself. And having to make it just as believable.
Then there was the problem of getting back to the lair after the memory charm was done. She knew they couldn't take her back there themselves. Nor could she just return on her own. There would be too many unanswered questions in her mind to dwell on. There return had to seem natural to her. Just part of some continuing event.
An attack was what she finally decided on. She would be returning from the Auror's house and she was attacked. The old wizard could surely arrange for someone to be there to try and stop her from getting back to the lair. It would solidify the story in her own mind that things were as she thought them to be.
So that matter was settled.
All that remained now was the charm itself.
Katlin glanced at her watch. She still had a large part of the day ahead of her. The best thing would be to get some rest. She had been up the whole of the night making sure all the parts were in place. Now it was time to get some sleep.
Waking early in the morning the first thing Orion did was reach to the other side of the bed. But his hand only met with an empty space.
The second thing he did was to run his fingers over the empty space. It wasn't smooth and soft. It was hard and at a slight incline.
Slowly opening open eye, Orion glanced over to the side and found his hand resting over the arm of the sofa. The sofa he was currently laying on.
Pulling himself slowly up, Orion felt something slip off his lap and fall to the floor. A massive pounding in his head made it nearly impossible to pull himself to a sitting position as it protested the movement all the way up. But when he finally made it up, he leaned over to see what had fallen.
Staring up at him from the floor was a bottle of scotch.
A very old bottle of scotch.
A very old, empty bottle of scotch.
Next to it was a not very old, but equally empty bottle of wine.
Wine and scotch. Now there was the way to start your day, he thought to himself in disgust.
With a deep sigh Orion looked around the room. Where was Misser.? If he was drinking that heavily the night before, Charly had to be around somewhere. No point in getting drunk by yourself. You needed someone to make a fool of yourself with.
Orion rubbed his eyes as he sat leaned over on the sofa. His head felt like it was going to explode, and the rest of his body felt like it would be just as happy if it did, and took it along with it.
A sudden ringing in front of him caused him to moan as the sound reverberated through his spinning head. He felt around the immediate area for his wand, then gave up with a sigh.
"Bo!" He shouted, instantly regretting it as things started to spin about again at the sound of his own voice.
Instantly a tower of black robes appeared next to him.
Orion pointed a less than steady finger at the fire. "Get that for me, will you? But no pictures. I'm not up for pictures today."
The boggart stood staring at him for a moment, then turned its attention to the fireplace. Instantly small flames jumped to life amid the ashes.
"Black!" An all too familiar voice called from the flames, then paused for a second. "Where in Magic's name is the visual on this thing?"
"Picture out." Orion mumbled back at the flames. Best to keep sentences short. Just enough words to get the point across. Grammar only if someone got pissy about it .
"Is your clock not working as well?" Bale's voice barked from the fire.
Orion looked up at the clock on the wall next to him. Merlin's beard! He was late. By an hour! No wonder Bale was calling.
"I overslept." Orion replied groggily. "I'll be right there."
"See to it!" The voice barked once more, then the flames quickly died out.
Orion sighed again, then started to pull himself to his feet. A shower. He needed a shower.
Potion. He needed potion.
Charly was always best at brewing up hangover cures. Time for him to get up as well and get to work.
Work.
Orion stopped at the base of the starts in the foyer.
Why hadn't Bale been barking over Charly being late as well? Surely his partner hadn't gotten up and left without waking him up as well. Although it would be just like Charly to pull a stunt like that.
Orion looked about again. Behind him Bo stood just a few feet back, hovering like a mother hen.
Something wasn't right here.
Man! He hated the really good hangovers. Especially when there was no one there to explain things to him.
Well, just have to sort it out on his own.
A few more steps and something else came back to him.
Katlin. She was living here now. Orion sighed quietly. She was probably sleeping in.
A few more steps and he stopped again.
There was something else. They had had a fight last night. He remembered that now as well. That certainly explained what he was doing on the sofa.
Orion smiled slightly to himself. Well, if they had had a fight, he could make it up to her first. Then head off to work. He was already late. Another hour....maybe two. What did it matter?
Orion skipped up a few more stairs. Then stopped again.
No. It hadn't been a fight. It was something else. Something..........Orion practically missed the next step on the stairs.
The informant!
He had told her the story his informant had told him.
Orion fought with his tattered, alcohol soaked brain, trying to put all the pieces back together.
She had left. She hadn't believed him. They had fought. And she had left.
Orion flew up the stairs.
Merlin's beard! Why hadn't he stopped her? Why hadn't he gone after her last night? Where was she?
Orion made it up the next few steps, then abruptly apparated to his room, leaving Bo standing on the stairs, having narrowly missed being run into when his charge disapparated.
Up in his room, Orion forewent the shower and simply grabbed a set of new clothes. As he struggled out of his old ones, he ran over in his mind a hundred different places Katlin may be. But there was only one forerunner.
Her apartment.
It was her safe-haven. The place she would most logically run to.
Dammit! Why hadn't he gone after her last night?!
A stinging on his cheek acutely reminded him as he pulled off his shirt.
She had been upset. To the point of striking him. And he had known her long enough to know when she reached that point, trying to calm her down or talk to her further was pointless. She needed time and space. Which he had been determined to give her. Which also explained one empty bottle of scotch and one empty bottle of wine. Had to do something to pass the time. And it guaranteed he wouldn't be going after her too soon.
'Space and time' had been his mantra last night. Going after her too soon would just make things worse. She needed to calm down first. Think things over. Then he would try talking to her again.
A few minutes later Orion was frantically pounding on Katlin's door. Whereas he had given her free access to his house, the same had not been granted to him. All part of her 'safe-haven' wish that he had agreed to. But after several minutes of knocking, pounding, pleading, and begging without results, Orion quickly checked the hallway, then apparated into the apartment.
Inside everything was just as he remembered it. Neat and tidy and not too overstated. He quickly checked her closets and drawers. Nothing was missing that he could tell, so she intended to come back. That was a good sign.
But if she wasn't at her apartment, where was she?
Surely she wouldn't go to the lair. She wouldn't want to face Voldemort after what she had learned.
But where else?
Orion sighed to himself as he began to make a mental list of all the places he had thought over earlier.
It was going to be a very long day.
By five o'clock Orion was back at the house. He had checked more places than he remembered, even checking out the Deatheaters lair as best he could. But the entire search had brought up nothing for him. Still he had no idea where Katlin was.
Dropping onto the same sofa he had started his day on, Orion looked about. Tets and the other house elves had already cleaned the room within an inch of its life.
A soft beeping from the fire was demanding his attention.
Bale.
Orion sighed to himself again. He had never shown up at the office. Bale was likely livid at this point.
Pulling out his wand, Orion pointed it at the fireplace and spoke a few words. Instantly a fire sprang to life and the office of his superior came into view, followed a few short seconds later by the face of Orin Bale as he took a seat at his desk.
"Kind of you to answer my page, Mr. Black." The man stated in a highly over-done courteous voice. "I hope I haven't disturbed you today."
"Orin, I'm sorry." Orion stated quickly. "It was....a family emergency of sorts. Came up right after I talked to you. I didn't even have time to call in. I just had time to change and leave."
Bale sat staring at him for a few seconds. "What 'family emergency'? And make it good, Black, because you know all to well I can check with your father."
Orion frowned slightly. "It didn't involve my parents." He replied bluntly. "It was personal."
"Then it wasn't a 'family emergency'." Bale replied, leaning back in his chair. "You'll be docked a week's wages for this little 'over-sight'. And I want you in my office first thing in the morning."
The fire instantly disappeared.
Orion sat back on the sofa, shaking his head as he laid his hands over his face. A week's pay. Did Bale really think that mattered to him? Orion suddenly sat back up on the sofa. No. He knew that all too well. Docking his pay was just the attention getter. The real punishment would come tomorrow. Likely desk duty for a month. Bale knew that would hurt far more than any pay dock.
But even that he didn't really care about at the moment. All that mattered to him right then was how to find Katlin. Where could she have gone?
As he sat trying to think of where he hadn't look, a soft rustling of material caught his attention. Turning slightly Orion saw Bo standing silently next to the sofa.
"What is it, Bo?" He asked.
The boggart made a quick series of gestures.
"There's nothing wrong." He replied, "I'm just tired."
The boggart made a series of gestures again as Orion watched in in a half interested manner. But his curiosity grew as he translated the gestures.
"Why do you asked that?" He questioned.
The boggart repeated the same gestures in reply.
Orion pulled himself up on the sofa. "Bo, why would you ask if I was looking for Katlin?"
The boggart paused, then made a different series of gestures. But Orion shook his head as he got to his feet and stood facing him.
"No, no. You asked if I was looking for her, not did I know where she is."
The boggart started to make a series of gestures, but Orion quickly cut him off.
"Don't try changing the subject, Bo. You've got your foot in this. Now I want to know just how much more of you is in it. What do you know about where Katlin went off to?"
The boggart stood silently in front of him. Orion knew his tactics too well. It was like catching a small child with its hand in the cookie jar. Facing exposure, you're only hope was not to incriminate yourself further.
Orion favored the boggart with a warm smile. "All right, Bo." He coaxed him. "I know you're up to something. What game are you and Katlin playing?"
The boggart remained silent.
Well, he knew something, Orion reasoned from his silence. And whatever it was, he was in it deep. And if he wanted to get any information at all, he would have to start with the basics.
"Bo, have you seen Katlin?" He asked.
The boggart quickly erupted into a series a gestures which ended with him crossing his arms over his chest and looking very pleased with himself.
Orion frowned at the whole display. "I meant in the past two days." He replied.
This time the answer came much slower, as thought the boggart were hesitating over each word.
"All right." Orion said with a small smile. "You've seen her. When?"
The boggart made a small gesture.
Orion nearly jumped the boggart at the admission. "Last night!?" He yelled. "She was here last night and you didn't......." But he stopped abruptly. The alarms hadn't sounded last night. "What do you mean by 'here'?"
Bo went through another complicated series of gestures.
"On the grounds? What was she doing on the grounds?"
The boggart made a series of gestures, then took up his self-satisfied pose again.
"She only wanted to talk to you?" Orion asked with a puzzled frown. "About what?"
The boggart didn't move.
"Bo," Orion repeated, "about what?"
The boggart still didn't move.
Well, Orion knew a brick wall when he saw one. If it had been Tets, the matter would have been simple enough. He would have simply ordered the little blighter to tell him what Katlin had said. Which, he quickly decided, was likely the very reason she hadn't chosen his house elf as her confidant.
Time to change tactics.
"Bo, did Katlin tell you not to tell me?"
To his surprise, the boggart shook his head.
"So she said you could tell me?"
As the boggart stood silent before him Orion swore he practically smell the smoke. He was definitely onto something now.
"Bo," he repeated, "just focus on the question. Did Katlin say you could tell me?"
This time the boggart nodded.
"Then there shouldn't be anything wrong with your telling me what she said to you last night, right?"
The boggart paused, then nodded and erupted into a long series of gestures as Orion stood watching him, the frown forming on his face growing deeper with each word. But he abruptly stopped the boggart halfway through.
"A memory charm!?" He stated in alarm. "She's going to have a memory charm done on her?"
The boggart nodded, then began with his story again. But Orion stopped him once more.
"Who!?" He demanded. "Who did she say was doing this memory charm?"
Bo paused before answering.
"Old wizard?" Orion questioned. "What old wizard?"
The boggart shrugged under its robes, then promptly continued with its story as though it had never been interrupted.
Orion watched each gesture carefully, looking for any hint of where Katlin might have been planning to go. But nothing in the rest of Bo's answer gave him the slightest clue.
Orion stood for a long time sorting through the information. In truth, he knew of several 'old wizards'. And the only one that presented even the slightest possibility of someone Katlin would go to for such a thing was Voldemort himself. But Katlin would not have referred to him as an 'old wizard'.
Orion rolled the possibilities around in his mind several times. But not one of them was logical. None of the men he was thinking of would help a Deatheater. All of them would likely kill her on sight.
It had to be someone she could trust to listen to her. Someone who would be impartial. Someone willing to do what she was asking.
But who?
Orion looked about the room as he thought. Inadvertently his eyes fell on an old photograph of himself and Charly. They were both out on holidays, running about London like idiots. Making fools out of themselves.
Orion smiled slightly at the photo. Life had been so much less complicated then. The only things back then he had to worry about were girls and school. The 'girls' part wasn't so bad. But the school part! He remembered sitting for his exams wondering all the while is he would pass them, if he would score well, why he hadn't studied longer, what Charly's muggle exams were like, wondering what would happen if he failed. He remembered the Headmaster letting him practice for the charms portion of the exams by setting wards about the school. Dumbledore had always complimented him on his ability to do charms. Especially protection charms and wards. When he had graduated, the old wizard had even employed him to finish the work he had started by completing the wards he had started setting up earlier.
Orion suddenly snapped out of his memories.
The old wizard.
Surely Katlin hadn't meant............she couldn't have gone there!
Orion turned slowly back to the boggart still standing silently in front of him.
"Bo," he asked carefully, "did Katlin tell you specifically where she was going?"
The boggart quickly shook his head.
Orion thought for a few more moments. Even if he was wrong, Dumbledore might be able to help him in his search somehow. There was certainly nothing to lose in trying.
"Bo, I need you to send me to Hogwarts. Right to the Headmaster's office. Can you do that for me?"
The boggart quickly nodded.
Having been at the school himself, Orion knew that Bo knew his way around the old castle's corridors as well as any student would. Thankfully he apparently remembered where Dumbledore's office was as well. Hopefully the old Headmaster hadn't changed it. For all Orion knew for sure, he could very well end up in a pantry or some sort or a cleaning closet.
But in the next instant, Orion found himself standing before the Headmaster's desk. Meeting the old wizard's stare, Orion suddenly felt he likely should have asked Bo to place him on the other side of the door, where he could have knocked. But what was done was done, and once he explained things, Dumbledore would likely forgive the abrupt intrusion.
"Professor Dumbledore..........," he started, but a woman's voice cut him short.
"You promised!" She cried out.
Orion turned abruptly to find himself facing Katlin, whose attention, filled with fury, was completely focused on the old wizard behind the desk.
"You promised!" She shouted at him again, pointing an accusing finger at the Headmaster. "You said I was safe here. You said no one would know. What did you do? Send out invitations?"
"Ms. Griss, I assure you..........." Dumbledore started, but Orion interrupted him.
"Katlin, Dumbledore did not tell me you were here. I came here looking for help in finding you."
"You could have saved yourself the trouble." Katlin seethed. "I have nothing further to say to you."
"Be as angry as you want." Orion told her. "I don't deny you that right. But you can't hate me completely. If you did you wouldn't have set Bo to try and stop me from finding you for fear you would hurt me. If you cared nothing at all, you wouldn't have bothered with that part of this........ludicrous plan of yours."
"Ludicrous?"
"What would you call it? A memory charm? That isn't going to solve anything, Katlin. It won't change what Voldemort did. It'll just put you right back where you were before. Right back into his hands. Right back with the man who murdered your parents."
"You're a liar." Katlin hissed at him. "You have nothing further to say I wish to hear." She quickly turned her attention back to Dumbledore. "You made me a promise. I want it done NOW!"
"Mr. Black," Dumbledore stated, standing up behind the large, wooden desk as he faced his former student, "your presence here is by no invitation of mine or Ms. Griss. No matter how urgent you may feel your business here is, the young lady obviously does not want you here. Therefore, I would ask you to leave, and in the future please inform your boggart such intrusions are highly advised against."
Orion paused for a moment, unsure of how to address the Headmaster in the matter.
"I am sorry, Professor Dumbledore." He replied in as humble a tone as he could manage. "I had no idea this was where Katlin had come. I only came seeking your help in looking for her. She's about to make a horrible mistake. Surely you can understand that? A memory charm won't solve any of this. Please, we just need time to talk this out."
"Ms. Griss is well aware of her actions, Mr. Black. And she is quite old enough to make such a decision on her own."
Orion turned abruptly back to Katlin. Falling on his knees before her, he had to make her understand how wrong this was.
"Please," he begged her, "Katlin, my love, my heart, my very life, hear me out. Hear me out this one last time."
Katlin stared down at the man before her, then slowly turned her eyes to Dumbledore, who was watching her from behind his desk. Quietly she gave a small nod, at which the old wizard silently left the room.
Sitting down in the chair behind her, Katlin fixed a hard stare on the man still on his knees before her.
"Have your say." She practically spat at him. "It will make no difference to me."
Orion quickly took her hands in his, staring up at her past pleading eyes. "Love, I am sorry. I am sorry this hurt you. I am sorry for causing you this pain. And I would never have done so if I didn't think it was what I had to do. The man was lying to you, Katlin. For years. You deserved to know the truth. That was all I wanted."
"What you had to do?"
"For you, Katlin. I did this for you."
Katlin snatched her hands out of his. "You did this for yourself, Orion. I had very little to do with your motivation."
"Love, that isn't true. You were living in a lie. A horrible lie. He was using you. Manipulating you to his will. Believe me, please, I never meant to hurt you with this. If I could change this, if I could take away the pain you are in, I would do it. For I never wanted to do anything that caused you this much pain."
Katlin stared down at him for a moment. "You would do anything?" She asked softly.
Orion felt a stir of hope. "Anything."
Katlin gave him a small smile. "Anything at all?"
"I swear it."
The smile abruptly fade and was replaced by a hard, cold stare. "Then you leave this place now. You let the old man finish his work, and then you let me go."
Orion stared up at her past tear-filled eyes, unable to say anything.
"You said anything." Katlin reminded him sharply.
Orion sank down in front of her, his head finally resting in her lap. "Love, please. I can't lose you. I can't live with that pain in my heart. Please, come home with me. I will do whatever it takes to make this right. To take this pain away from you."
"You're very good at making promises." Katlin stated formally. "And when you don't get what you want with them, you simply make more promises. But you made your deal with me. You swore to it. And I expect you to hold to your word."
Orion stared up at her solemnly past his tears. "Very well. I gave you my word." He choked out. "And I will live up to it. But know this. I will always love you. Nothing will change that. Nothing will destroy it. And if this is the price I have to pay, to know that you are happy again, no matter, right or wrong, I will gladly accept it. Just to know that you are at peace again."
Katlin made no reply as she watched the man before her slowly get to his feet again. He slowly went to the door and opened it, staring back at her one last time as Dumbledore entered the room again.
"Well?" He asked.
Katlin paused, her stare never having left the old wizard since he entered the room. Without once shifting her gaze back to Orion, she simply nodded.
Note : Believe it or not, folks. You are ending a story arc here.
Does that mean the story ends here?
No. Just this part of it. The next posting, hopefully next week, will start a new story arc titled Control. Given mostly from Orion's point of view, the chapters deal with how Orion deals with Katlin's departure from his life. The arc will also show you why Orion got chosen to be in the Unspeakables. You don't get voted into that position, people.
I hope you enjoy it.
Q&A
Enemies
Sweets: Hey. Gotta do something while cleaning.
Man, I just love Mel Brooks movies. My favorite phrase, because it was adapted by so many of my (less than law abiding) friends at conventions (and quickly became a convention catch-phrase) is "Badges? We don't need no stinkin' badges."
Ahhhh. The good old days. Brings back memories.
Cleaning already needs to be cleaned again.
Katlin indeed does meet Harry later. In the next story, as a matter of fact, titled Runaway. Which is part of why this story had to come up first. There are too many references to the past in Runaway that would just be confusing if you haven't read this story first. Friend or foe? Well, if I told you that you could just blow of the story. And I need hits.
RIght now Katlin is angry. And at a lot of things. At Orion, at Voldemort, and the world in general. Couple that with how confused she is and you have a very dangerous combination for choosing this to be 'decision making time' in your life.
Math AND bio? Oy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Good luck!
Silverfox: WOW!!!!!! I am seriously impressed.
Your train, Dear, left the station with all the passengers on board, and all you're missing is one small carry-on case, which, knowing you, will show up at the next stop.
You are just that close to what is going on here.
True enough. In Katlin's view of things, Bo apparated her from within the estate grounds, which should not have been possible because Orion keeps anti-apparation fields around his house at all times.
But keep in mind, you are only reading Katlin's view of things. Is it the truth? That remains to be seen.
Now why would she go to Charly? There's a true Deatheater/Auror relationship in the making.
I have very little positive to say about FictionAlley. These people just have no idea what they are doing. And they are so pleased with themselves because of their author list? Phfffft! I think Fanfiction.Net has their total author listing just in the Harry Potter category. Get real, people. You're still babies in this business.
Actually, one can choose who to hate. Some people you hate, others are just beneath even bothering with that.
True enough. The 'it's not a problem, it's a challenge' thing? No, people. It's a problem. And don't give me the 'you're only letting the other person upset you' thing either. Ulcers, people, come from trying to convince yourself you are not angry/sad/upset by something. I say wrap your hands about its slimy little throat and DEAL WITH IT! (In whatever manner seems most appropriate at the time. Let the cops sort it out later. That's what they are for.)
SEP is one of my favorite acronyms. Someone Elses Problem. (I believe it is a military thing.)
True. Dumbledore might have been suspicious of good old Tom Riddle. But isn't this the same Albus 'Everyone deserves another chance' Dumbledore? And Tom isn't really a power player yet. An irritant, yes? Big league? Not yet. But moving up fast on the outside lane.
All I'm saying is the fact that Orion is an Auror plays into the third reason the Black brothers have issues. Not sayin' nothin' more till Family Relations. (And no, your guess was wrong. So sorry. Please feel free to play again.)
Are you reading ahead or did I put something in I shouldn't have? Snape's being a spy does play in this story, but I don't think it was mentioned in the story yet. Must have been one of those 'something I shouldn't have mentioned in the Q&A' things.
I figured at this point Snape got into the Deatheaters early, realized this wasn't quite the club he thought it was, and got into the spy business instead. He is currently working against the Deatheaters.
Sailor Sol: Yes, every now and then do the Gollum thing. Even though PAR has not yet seen the third movie. Waiting for it to come to my local theater that serves food. I like doing the 'dinner and a movie' thing.
Nope. Sorry, Dear. Bo doesn't 'merge' with people. He's already 'merged' with a boggart. Therefore he (sort of) has a physical form. Can't abandon one to take on another.
Actually, I tell a fib. As you'll see in an up-coming chapter, Bo can merge with his 'host/channeler'. But that is the only person he can merge with. And that isn't a true 'merging'. It's more just 'going along for the ride'.
Ahhhh, lunch in the school cafeteria. I remember it well.
Enjoy college, Dear. Nothing compares to it.
Co-writing!? Oh, Dear, I would advise against this particular practice. It can lead to problems. Especially with friends. Co-writing should only be done between utter strangers.
Skahducky: I think the most frightening thing I have going right now is that I have actually learned to spell your name.
Katlin is going to find out that her 'why' isn't going to solve everything? Well, once the memories gone, she isn't really likely to care anymore.
Ummmmm, weeeeeeell, kinda. Yes, there was a reason Bo kept asking her that particular question. But the actual question he kept repeating was "Is this what you want?". And again, yes, there was a reason for that. But this is like presenting Katlin's problem to a three year old and saying, 'So, how would you solve this?'.
And keep in mind I don't keep referring to him as Orion's 'enigmatic boggart' for nothing. Sometimes what Bo does is based on how he perceives the situation. And sometimes on how he would like it to be.
He's such a fun little character. Ya' just gotta love him.
Family life
SarcasmSage: Where were you people when I needed letters written to my editor?
Seriously, thank you. I appreciate the kind words, and I always love to read reviews. I'm glad you liked the story, and watch for the sequel, Family relations, due out in the summer.
Reviews are as of 01172004.
And remember;
God wants spiritual fruits, not religious nuts.