A/N: Remember those 'book chapters' I told you about a few chapters back?
Guess what? OK. It's not as long as the last chapter. But it's still got promise.
Also, follow the progress of the pendent, folks. It's important.
And yes, the title is sort of an inside joke most of you should get.
Happy 4th of July to those in America.
So sit back, relax,
and as always,
Enjoy.
Disclaimer: What do you mean they have witnesses?
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX: WELL WHAT DID YOU EXPECT?
Katlin sat at the table in the small room with her hands resting on it, clasp so tightly together that her knuckles were white. This is where the old wizard had brought her and where he had ask her to wait.
She wasn't sure what was going to happen now. The only thing she was truly sure of was that more than anything in the world she did not want to be in that room. Something inside of her was begging silently for her to run for the door. To get out of that room and to keep running and not stop until she reached the lair.
It was the running part that kept her in the room.
What was she so frightened of that she was emotionally trying to escape it?
The door opened and her head snapped up at the sound.
She knew the man entering the room. Something tightened in her chest at the sight of him.
A pain.
A hurt.
She simply couldn't find the right words for it. Nothing definable.
And so she did the same with it what she did with the fear. She buried it so deeply within herself that it no longer distracted her. The old wizard had said she should talk to the Auror. That she should listen to him. That it was important.
"Hello, Katlin." The man said softly.
Katlin only nodded slightly.
"Do you know me?" He asked.
Katlin almost laughed at the question.
"What sort of question is that?" She replied. "Of course I know you." Katlin hardened her tone. "You are the man I was sent here to kill. Along with the traitor."
"But you didn't kill me." Orion stated slowly as he stood near the door, keeping his distance. It was a comfort zone for her. Trying not to make her feel closed in or defensive.
"I didn't kill the traitor either. What does that prove?"
"Why didn't you kill me?"
"I didn't have the opportunity."
"You had plenty of opportunity. But you were so distracted by something else, you never took it."
"I wasn't distracted."
"Really? And yet a man came into the room while you were there and you never sensed him or heard him. He says you sat there a good full minute, never making so much as a move against me."
Katlin hardened her expression. Someone was talking far too much for her liking. Someone who was going to pay.
"The man who fired the stunning spell says you were sitting on the side of my bed." Orion went on. "He said you weren't doing anything more than just staring at me."
Katlin dropped her eyes. She had hesitated. That was true. And it had cost her her kill.
"Katlin." Orion asked again. "Why didn't you kill me?"
Katlin slowly raised her eyes to meet those of the Auror. She knew all their tricks. Aurors could look right into your soul if they wanted to. Read your thoughts it seemed. Recite back to you what you were thinking almost verbatim.
But the man before her was just looking at her. Waiting for her answer.
But she wasn't going to play his game. If he thought being nice to her would get her to drop her guard, he was very sadly mistaken.
"The old wizard said you had answers for me." she stated defiantly, raising her chin as she faced the man's stare.
The expression that answered her wasn't the least bit challenging. It was open and honest. The two things she mistrusted the most.
"I suppose that would depend on the questions." he replied.
Katlin stared up at the man for a very long time. She would have thought at that moment, given the circumstances, she would have wanted nothing more than to kill him. But she knew that even if she had a wand in her hand right then, she would still do nothing to harm him.
"Semantics." she stated a little less forcefully.
"Then I'll try to be a little less clever."
"That shouldn't be too hard, Auror."
The man's expression hardened ever so slightly. "Don't fight with me, Katlin." he stated in a less gentle tone. "That isn't what we're here to do."
"The only thing I am here to do is to complete my mission." she stated.
"Will you forget about your damned mission for a moment." came the slightly sharper reply. "Or is that all you want? No answers. No explanations. Just 'kill the Auror' and be done with it."
"And the traitor." Katlin added with a small, unfriendly smile.
"Fine." Orion stated. "You want to kill so badly? That is all you are interested in?"
Katlin pulled back slightly as she watched the man reached into his robes and pull out a wand. But her whole attention suddenly forced on the thin sheath of wood as she recognized it.
Her wand!
The Auror pulled it from his robes and dropped it on the table.
"Then kill me." he stated firmly. "Kill me. Kill your traitor. Go back to Voldemort and proudly tell him how you 'completed your mission'. And you go back to your life.........never knowing your answers. Because I am the only person who can give them to you."
Katlin hesitated, staring at the wand laying on the table before her. What was the matter with her!? The Auror was handing her his life. And that of the traitor. She could kill them both and be gone before anyone even knew she had escaped.
"What's the matter little Deatheater?" a slightly harsher voice cut into her indecision. "You have your opportunity. The one you have begged for so badly."
Katlin's eyes didn't move off of her wand. She needed time to think.
Orion picked the wand up and slammed it down in front of her. "Well, what are you waiting for!?" he yelled practically in her face.
Katlin was out of the chair before Orion even saw her move. Wand in hand, she grabbed him by the collar. A solid shove threw him against the wall behind him, the tip of her wand digging into his neck. If he wasn't going to give her time to think, then she had to act. Those were her choices.
She expected to see shock, even anger answering her action in his eyes. She prayed to see fear there.
But all she saw was a sparkling amusement that only served to anger her that much more.
"Well?" he ask.
Katlin looked up at him, meeting his stare.
Why was she hesitating again? The wand was her's. She could feel it. There was no disabling spell on it.
Why was she hesitating!?
How many of her people had this man killed? How many of Voldemort's loyal followers were in Azkaban because of him? Because of who he was. What he was.
Katlin felt her hand begin to shake.
She fought to gain control over it again.
'He is your enemy!' a tiny voice shouted at her. 'The enemy of Voldemort. Your only need is to kill him.'
But that wasn't the only need she felt. And the other one was rapidly gaining ground within her.
Katlin wasn't sure how long she simply stood there with her wand tip pressed to the Auror's neck. But as hard as she fought to keep it there, she felt her arm slowly relax and the wand begin to inch it's way back.
Her own expression must have surely betrayed her fear to the Auror. Why couldn't she do this!?
'Kill him!' the tiny voice screamed one last time.
But as her wand tip slipped from his neck, the little voice was drowned out completely by the Auror's actions.
Suddenly gathered up in his arms, Katlin found herself drawn into the most passionate kiss she could ever remember.
Which in and of itself wasn't so confusing. His kiss she could explain away. He was in love with her. He had said so in the infirmary.
But the other kiss wasn't so easily explained away. The one she was returning it with.
Nothing in her whole life felt so right to her as where she was right then. Held in the Auror's arms and more love than she had ever felt being poured out in that one kiss.
It felt so very right.
No!
Katlin forced herself back.
With her hands against the man's chest she shoved herself back, breaking free of his embrace as she stumbled back against the table. She was grateful for the chair that was there as she collapsed into it, her hands gripping the edge of the table as she fought to hold herself upright.
The Auror was instantly at her side.
"Katlin? Love, are you all right?"
Two protective arms went about her shoulder and arm. But Katlin ignored them. She ignored the concerned tone in his voice. The worried look that patiently waited for her answer. The sound of her wand as it slipped from her hand and fell to the floor.
She ignored it all.
All she could concentrate on was the war of emotions going on within her.
"What is happening to me?" she ask in barely a whisper.
"Katlin, please, listen to me."
Katlin turned a frightened, anxious look to the man next to her. "What is wrong with me?"
A look of pain crossed the man's face. For a moment Katlin thought he would break into tears right before her. But he quickly shut his eyes as he slowly got to his feet and pulled back from her. She watched as he carefully bent down and picked up her wand. She expected him to hand it back to her, but instead he walked over to the opposite side of the table and sat down. He laid the wand on the table between them, easily within her reach. But she made no attempt to take it.
For a few moments the man simply sat and stared at the table top. He hardly seemed to know where to begin.
"Your confusion," he said slowly, as though feeling his way with the utmost care with each word, "is in part the result of a Memory Charm that is failing."
"A Memory Charm?"
"You've been under one for the past two months."
Katlin thought about the new information. Two months? Her dreams had started just over a month ago.
"This Memory Charm," she asked slowly but with a renewed conviction in her voice, "who placed it?"
"That doesn't matter right now."
Her voice took on an even harder edge. "You said you would answer my questions. Now again, who placed the Memory Charm on me?"
Orion sighed to himself. "Dumbledore."
Katlin paused, then laughed slightly. "Dumbledore? The old wizard?"
Orion nodded.
Katlin laughed again. "Well, he has played me for a great fool, hasn't he? Leading me about and knowing all this while what was really going on. All his talk of truth. He was the biggest liar of all."
"If Dumbledore said nothing to you, Katlin, he had his reasons."
"Because he liked having his little game, that's what."
"This is no game, Katlin. Believe me."
"And why should I trust anything you have to say?"
"Because I have very little to say."
"Semantics."
"Perhaps. But all I am interested in is trying to help you."
"Then that should be easy. Simply tell me what someone wanted so badly for me to forget."
"I can't do that."
"Why? Don't you know?"
Orion paused, then shook his head. "No. I know what it is, Katlin."
"Really? And how is that?"
Orion stared intently at her. "Because I'm the one who told it to you in the first place."
"You?" Katlin's brow furrowed in a deep frown. "What could you possible have told me that I would have cared to have heard? And why would I have even listened?"
Orion paused for a very long time.
Across the table Katlin simply sat in silence and watched him. She couldn't understand why he wrestled so with each statement. Why not just get it over with?
"If you have something to say," she stated finally, the silence grating on her nerves, "then get on with it. Otherwise call your guards....."
But Orion looked up suddenly.
"There are no guards, Katlin." He said quickly.
"No guards?"
Orion shook his head. "Once we're done, you are free to do as you please."
Katlin gave him a puzzled look.
"I can leave?"
"If you chose to."
Katlin's interest peaked again.
"All right. Have your say then, Auror. Because I'm eager to return to my home."
Orion sat for a few seconds, staring intently at his hands.
"Katlin, you have to understand.......what I have to say....is something that could hurt you. Hurt you very badly."
Katlin met his stare with her usual cold indifference.
"Why should you care?"
Orion shook his head. "Oh, Love, that is something I never, ever want to do again."
"Again?" Katlin stared at him across the table. "When I was in the infirmary, you said you loved me. Is that what you need to tell me? That you're in love with me?" She gave a short, derisive laugh as she sat back in her chair. "I hear that every day, Black. It's nothing new....."
But the statement seemed to rouse something in the Auror.
"We were going to be married, Katlin." He stated bluntly.
Katlin stopped short in what she was saying.
"What?"
"We were planning to be married. The date...." He started the sentence, but let it trail off.
Katlin stared at him. "When?" She asked evenly.
Orion turned his eyes back to her.
"Today." He said slowly. "We were suppose to be....married today."
The man seemed close to some sort of emotional collapse. But after a few moments he turned an utterly expressionless face back to her.
"I'm sorry." He said quietly.
"That's quite alright." Katlin replied, although she couldn't seem to put quite the sarcasm into the statement she wanted. "It seems to hurt you more than it does me."
"And I would give anything ask of me to keep it that way." Orion replied without hesitation.
"Then let me go and you'll have your wish."
Orion paused. But then, slowly he got up and went to the door. Turning back to Katlin he slowly opened it and stood aside.
"If that's all it takes," He said softly, "and that is what you want, then go. Leave. Go back to your people. Live your life. And I pray you will be happy in it."
Katlin studied the man very carefully. There was some trick here. Some objective in all of this for him. But the harder she looked for it, the less likely it seemed to be there. All of his actions seemed genuine. No hidden agenda. No tricks. No traps. And worst of all for her, no lies.
"The old wizard said I was to listen to you." Katlin replied. "That this was important."
Orion stared at her for a moment more, then finally closed the door and slowly returned to his seat.
She confidently met his stare. But to Orion's relief, her's had softened somewhat.
"You know me." She said. "How well?"
Orion couldn't help but suppress a small laugh. "Very well."
"And what is 'very' well?"
"We were going to be married. How well do you think we knew each other?"
Katlin's silence re-ask the question for her.
Orion sighed quietly to himself. "You won't like the answer." he told her with a solidly stoic expression.
"Tell me." She said.
Orion paused for a moment. "We were lovers."
Orion wasn't sure from her expression if the news shocked her or not. But after a few seconds passed in silence, Katlin faced him down with a completely neutral expression. "You're lying. I would never have an Auror as my lover."
"I can prove it."
"How?"
"You wear a small pendant around your neck." He said quietly.
Katlin's hand almost subconsciously went to the small pendent with the diamond center. She pulled it from beneath her robes and held it out for Orion.
"May I see it?" He asked, holding out his hand.
Katlin pulled back, quickly stuffing the small pendent back beneath her robes. "I don't take it off." She replied.
"Why not?"
Katlin paused, but quickly re-gathered her thoughts.
"I like it. And so I chose to keep it on." That sounded a good deal better than saying she simply felt taking it off was wrong.
"Do you know where you got it?" Orion asked her.
Katlin thought for a moment.
"I'm not sure."
"Not sure?"
"Voldemort told me once when I asked that....he said someone....someone close to me had given it to me a long time ago."
"Well, I'll have to thank him for that one day I suppose."
"Thank him?"
"Katlin," Orion said softly, "I gave you that pendent."
"You did?"
"The second time we met."
"The second time? You only met me twice and you gave me a gift like this?"
"Well, only because I didn't have time the first time we met."
"The first time?"
"Well, the first time I saw you really." Orion amended quickly. "It was in the middle of a field in the midst of an all out battle between the Deatheaters and my Department. There wasn't a lot of time for introductions."
"Your department?" She asked. "The Aurors." The last word was said with so much venom in it Orion could practically feel her hatred.
"Unspeakables." he stated simply.
Katlin's expression dropped. She then leaned back in her chair with a laugh. "Oh wonderful!" she stated. "I hadn't thought of that. I wasn't supposedly shagging just an Auror, but an Unspeakable." Her expression abruptly hardened. "I should have killed you."
Orion shrugged. "Wasn't the first time you tried. Wasn't the first time you nearly succeeded."
"Really. Sounds like we had a wonderful, loving relationship, Unspeakable." she practically spit at him.
"It had its moments. But I would like to point out that for all your opportunities, you never did actually kill me. Even in the field, you held off killing me."
But Katlin suddenly stopped listening. One phrase had abruptly caught her attention. 'In the field'. She staring at the table top, an intense look of concentration on her face. Why did that one phrase seem to mean so much to her?
"Katlin?" Orion prompted her attention back to him.
"I....I remember that." She replied slowly, although she didn't take her eyes off the table. "I remember the battle in that field." Katlin suddenly looked up at him, remembering the scene as though it had only happened the day before. "You grabbed my hair from behind and pulled me to the ground."
"Well, you got adequate revenge." Orion replied with a very small smile at the memory.
Katlin thought for a moment. "I remember." She replied again. "I kicked you in the...."
"Field!" Orion cut her off abruptly. " Yes. I still have nightmares, thank you."
"Served you right for pulling my hair."
"Well, considering the alternative, I'll still take the kick in the field."
"Alternative? I was handing out alternatives?"
"You could have killed me."
"Well, you did seem to have survived a few open opportunities. So, why didn't I kill you that time?"
Orion smiled slightly. "You said it was because you thought I was a woman."
"A woman!?"
Orion took a few end strands of his black hair and waved them at her in response. "It was about three feet longer." He informed her.
"Oh."
"I guess you had the same problems with killing woman that I do."
"So, what happened to it?" she ask, indicating his short hair. The man in her dreams at first had had long hair. From what she could tell as far down as his waist. And she had loved that hair.
"An accident." Orion informed her in a very neutral tone.
Katlin stared back at him. "You're lying." she stated bluntly.
Orion sighed to himself. She was still a Deatheater. Still an Elite. And she could read him as well as he could her.
"I was captured by the Deatheaters." He replied.
Katlin stared at him, but said nothing.
"Do you remember that?" he ask.
"Should I?" came the neutral response.
Apparently not. So instead he simply shrugged off the question. "You might have heard something in the lair."
Katlin suddenly straightened in her chair. "Is this whole interview going to be nothing but your lying to me?" she demanded.
Orion dropped his eyes. "I'm sorry. You're right. There was more to it than that. But it is a long story, and we've jumped far too much ahead. I was telling you about your pendent."
"Which you claim to have given me...after you had only just met me."
"Again, I can prove it."
"How?"
"It's a good deal more than just a piece of jewelry, Katlin." Orion explained. "It's charmed. Some of my best work went into that pendent. It's what got you into the castle."
Katlin huffed at him. "This again?"
"This?"
"The old wizard has already given me this story, Unspeakable. That the pendent carries a charm and that is what got me into the castle past the wards? You two would do well to check your facts before you cook up these stories."
"Stories?"
"My pendent had nothing to do with my getting past the wards."
"Really?"
"A spell enabled me to get past them, not some non-existent charm."
Orion gave her a confused stare. "Spell? What spell?"
Katlin narrowed her eyes at him. "One of the Deatheaters found a spell that got me past the wards safely. It had nothing to do with my pendent."
Orion paused for a moment. "What Deatheater?"
Katlin stared back at him in silence for a few moments before she answered. "Johnathan Treaks."
Whatever response Katlin expected, having the Auror burst into laughter wasn't one of them.
"Treaks?"
"You find the amusing?"
"Immensely. Johnathan Treaks couldn't spell his way out of a paper bag, let alone circumvent my wards."
"Well, he obviously did. Since here I am."
Orion started to say something to her, but he suddenly stopped. In those few moments Katlin watched as his expression quickly shifted to one of suspicion. "Wait a minute." he stated slowly, as though still thinking over whatever idea had suddenly struck him. "Treaks told you he had placed a spell that would get you safely past the wards?"
"Yes."
The Auror sat for several moments simply staring off into space. But finally he turned his eyes back to her. "Katlin, take the pendent off."
"What?"
"Take it off..............please."
Katlin's hand was already wrapped protectively about the small pendent. "I told you, I never take it off."
"And suppose I told you Treaks was lying to you, and………….."
"Why should Johnathan lie to me?" she quickly cut him off.
The Auror fell silent again.
"You're going to make such a claim, then give no evidence to back it up? What did you think? That I would just believe......."
"Katlin, if Treaks placed a spell on you, or on the wards, it would have to still be in place."
"What? Why?"
"The wards are set up to not only keep any of Voldemort's agents out of the castle, but prevent them from operating within the castle as well. Treaks wouldn't have
known that. He couldn't have set up a spell that would have protected you completely by anything other than dumb luck, and I don't believe he has any. But if he told you the truth, and his spell is protecting you, if you take off the pendent, nothing will happen. But if I'm telling the truth, and my suspicions are correct, once you take the pendent off, the wards will begin to seek you out. You'll feel them."
"What will they do?"
"The wards seek out dark magic and attack it. My recommendation would be you don't leave it off very long."
Katlin sat for a very long time, making no move to take the pendent off.
"Well?"
"Johnathan would never do such a thing. Voldemort would kill him."
"Prove me wrong."
Katlin paused, then reached behind her neck and undid the clasp of the necklace. With a slight hesitation she slipped it off and sat holding it in her hand, staring up at the Auror.
"You see." she said with a pleased smile. "Nothing. So who is the liar, Unspeakable?"
"Drop it on the table."
"What?"
"The necklace. You still have it in your hand. As long as you're connected to it in any way, it protects you. Drop it on the table."
Katlin paused, then slowly opened her hand. For several seconds she simply stared at the little pendent as the diamond winked at her from within its setting as it caught the light of the bulb in the lamp above the table. But finally she tilted her hand and let the little pendent slowly slide off of her palm.
For several seconds more she simply sat staring at the pendent. But she suddenly seemed to rouse herself as she pulled her hand back and smiled at the Auror.
"You see?" she stated, her smile still nervous and unsure. "Nothing has happened. Johnathan's spell is protecting me."
But the Auror met her smile with one of his own. "Give it a minute." he stated.
Katlin sat for a moment, then suddenly got to her feet. "What is this game, Unspeakable?" she stated in irritation. "You have been proven wrong. Johnathan's spell........"
But abruptly Katlin fell silent. Something in the air around her was changing. It started as a soft prickling on her neck. But it was rapidly growing until she could feel the sensation all over her body. Like a thousand tiny needles pricking at her skin.
"Well?" Orion asked.
"It's..............," Katlin paused. Past the look of utter confusion on her face Orion wasn't even sure if she felt the wards still. "It's not true." she stated, turning to face him. "He said he cast the spell. He said it would protect me."
"And he lied." Orion stated firmly. "What you're feeling are the wards I set about the castle. If Treaks had been telling the truth, you wouldn't feel anything. But he didn't know about the full effect of the wards. He didn't know they protected the inside of the castle as well as the outside. But he knew about the pendent. And he used that knowledge to get you inside the castle."
The prickling was getting worse, but Katlin never reached for the little necklace. "Why?" she asked. "Why would he lie? If he knew about the pendent, why not just tell me?"
"Because he wanted you to trust him. Whatever reason he sent you here, he needed you to trust him. Telling you his spell was what protected you against the wards was just the lie he needed to get you off your guard."
"But why?"
"He was probably hoping we would take it away from you. If you were captured, Treaks was likely betting we would take the pendent away from you so you couldn't escape back through the wards." Orion explained. But he suddenly stopped as a new thought came to him. "Or he was hoping you would try."
"What!?"
Orion turned to her with a completely sober expression. "Knowing Johnathan Treaks, in the event of your capture, he most likely believed we would take the pendent away from you, knowing its purpose. But, still believing his spell protected you, if you managed an escape, you would try to run past the wards without a second thought. But instead you would run right into them."
"You're insane!" Katlin nearly shouted at him. "You are suggesting he knew all of this? That he planned to get me killed?"
"Knowing Treaks, I'm willing to bet it was just one of his plans."
"One?"
"Treaks is no fool. He would have backup contingencies."
"You are a liar! You have no proof of any of this!"
"Really? Then lets start laying it out. Who sent you here?"
"Voldemort."
"Voldemort may have given you the mission. But who told you of it?"
Katlin paused. "That proves nothing."
Orion sat back with a satisfied smile. "In other words…..Treaks."
"There is nothing suspicious in that."
"Really? So Johnathan regularly brought word of your missions to you? Voldemort's top Elite?"
Katlin started to say something but stopped herself.
"I thought so."
"You have no idea what you are talking about. What you are suggesting." She stated, getting to her feet. "You are accusing one of Voldemort's Elite of plotting the murder of a fellow Elite."
"And in my opinion doing a very good job of it. He sent you here, lied to you about the wards…."
"Your words!" Katlin shouted at him. "And I have heard enough of them. Johnathan may envy me my position. But the man is not mad! He would never risk murdering me to get me out of the way."
"He would cut your throat if he thought he could get away with it."
"And I have heard enough from you. You have no proof of anything you are saying. While I have all the proof in the world. You say Johnathan had no way of knowing about the wards inside the castle as well. So have you proven why I can feel them in here now."
"Because you took off the necklace. Did you feel them up until then?"
"You set them up. You have control of them. You probably activated them when I tool off the necklace to prove your point. And since Johnathan didn't know of them, his spell isn't protecting me inside the castle."
"Katlin, that isn't..........."
"Well, you have undone yourself, Unspeakable." she practically hissed at him, "Because I can prove the words of a Deatheater against the lies of an Unspeakable. I will prove you are the lying filth all Aurors are."
Orion was about to ask her how when she suddenly bolted for the door. Moving faster than he had thought she was capable, he tried to grab for her arm, but missed as she evaded his grasp and disappeared out the door. He was nearly out the door himself when something stopped him. A sudden thought that just barely managed to grab his attention before he took off after her.
Turning back to the table, Orion felt his blood freeze. Lying still on the top of the table was Katlin's pendent.
She had left it behind.
An act that all too clearly told him what she meant to prove to him. That it was Johnathan's spell and not the pendent that protected her from the wards.
Orion charged down the hallway after her. But Katlin was smaller and lighter than he was and had considerable distance on him already. There was no point in trying to use his wand to stop her. She could easily evade any attempt he made that way. The best hope he had was to out run her.
By some map she had managed to put together out of the areas she had already seen or by sheer luck, Katlin managed to find the front doors. She bolted through them and took off across the front lawn of the school.
Orion chased after her with every ounce of energy he had. He had to stop her from reaching the wards. If she came in contact with them they would kill her. He yelled constantly from behind her, begging her to stop and listen to him.
But ahead of him Katlin ran on with purpose, determined nothing was going to stop her. She ran right for the gates, one thought in her mind. To reach the entrance before the Auror caught her.
She would prove him wrong.
She would prove he lied.
She would prove it to herself.
Katlin sprinted for the gates. But still several hundred feet from them, something suddenly grabbed her from behind.
"Katlin!" she heard the Auror's voice cry out in panic.
The force of the pull threw her completely off balance and Katlin felt herself fall forward. She felt the Auror trip slightly and then stumbled slightly past her.
As she hit the ground, the air around her exploded into a burst of light. Katlin put her head down and covered it with her hands. But a sudden scream of pain caused her to quickly look up again.
Directly in front of her a wall of light had become visible.
The ward.
Just past its line, the Auror was held within it, struggling furiously against an unseen force, and clearly losing.
A second scream erupted from behind the barrier as the man's body spasmed again with pain.
"Orion!" Katlin didn't know where the alarm within her suddenly came from. All she knew for certain was that the Auror was in horrible pain, and if she didn't find a way to free him, the ward would likely kill him.
Katlin reached towards him. But when her hand came within just inches of the ward, a feeling like an electrical charge began at her fingertips. The closer she got to it, the stronger the feeling became and the further it crept up her arm until it was al she could do to keep herself pressing her hand ever closer to the wall.
"No!" Orion cried out.
Katlin looked up to see him facing her as he fought his own pain.
"Don't," he cried out. "It'll kill you."
Panic gripped her. It was going to kill him as well. She had to get him out!
Katlin steeled herself up, then thrust her hand forward. One second. That was all she needed to grab him and pull him free.
One second.
But the instant she touched the ward, a numbing sensation shot up her arm.
"Stop!" Orion screamed at her as she yanked her hand back, cradling it against her.
Katlin turned to him, tears in her eyes. She had to free him.! She had to try!
The necklace!
Orion had said the necklace protected her. But where had she left it?
Katlin turned back to the castle as a feeling of utter dismay settled on her.
The room. She had left it on the table in the room. And could she even find the room again? She wasn't sure of the path she took out of the castle. She didn't memorize any part of it, certain she would never be going back. She only headed in the direction she last remembered the doors being.
Katlin turned once more back to Orion. The body barely moved at all now, despite the continued attacks of the wards on it.
She had to do something.
Katlin took off towards the castle. Maybe she would run into someone. The old wizard hopefully. Surely he could break the wards. If not she would try to find someone else. Or try to find the room. She had to keep trying. Because if she didn't, she was sure he would die.
Katlin ran on, pressing as hard as she could to get back to the castle. Never had something seemed so far away to her in her life.
But abruptly she stopped, nearly tripping over her feet as something in the grass caught her eye.
A tiny flicker of light.
Katlin reached for it, and nearly cried out with joy as her fingers found the familiar shape of her pendent.
Katlin didn't waste time putting it on but wrapped the tiny pendent and chain tightly in her hand as she rushed back to the ward.
The light had all but died down, and was just a soft glow when she got back to the ward. But it still held the man fast in its grip. Katlin didn't hesitate as she reached forward toward the all but invisible wall. But this time she felt nothing at all as her hand broached the barrier. She grabbed Orion by the arm and yanked him towards her with all her remaining strength.
But the moment she made contact with Orion, the ward around his body seemed to completely vanish, and he fell practically on top of her.
Katlin quickly pulled to her knees and rolled Orion on his back.
"Orion!" she cried. "Orion!"
A pain gripped her heart when she got no response. She couldn't even tell if he was breathing or not as she frantically searched for a pulse.
She had to get him back to the castle. Get him to the infirmary there. But her right arm was still so numb she could hardly move it at all. And she felt as weak as if she'd been up for days without sleep. She doubted seriously that she could carry Orion all the way back to the castle by herself. And she didn't have her wand.
Just as she was considering her options, a brisk, cold wind unexpectedly blew up. It seemed to begin, not in the air around them, but to come up from the ground itself. Katlin quickly gathered Orion up into her arms, holding him tightly against her as she watched the wind form a tight circle, pulling dust and dirt into it as it picked up velocity. But as abruptly as it started, the wind ceased. And in the aftermath of the concentrated cyclone now stood a tower of dark robes, the material being softly animated by a gentle breeze.
Katlin pulled Orion closer to her as she stared up into the fathomless darkness of the hood over the creatures head.
'A Dementor!' she thought. What in heavens name was one of the Azkaban guards doing there? And why was there only one?
"Go away!" Katlin yelled at the creature.
The mass of black robes pulled back slightly, but then moved closer to her, causing Katlin to pull back slightly.
But a sudden thought came to her. One that she hoped would prove their escape from the creature. She still had her necklace. And the ward was just behind her. She kept pulling back away from the creature as quickly as she could. She was sure she would soon hit the ward and if what Orion had told her was true, the creature should not be able to come through the barrier after them.
But for every foot she scooted back over the ground, the creature moved a foot forward. After six or seven feet, Katlin was sure they had to be behind the barrier of the wards. But the creature had not stopped, and it continued to stay no less than a foot way from them.
Something was very wrong.
A soft sob escaped Katlin as she scooted back once more. The ward was her only hope of keeping the creature away from them both. And it had failed her some how. Now she had no idea how to defend them against any attack the creature might make. To her it was like watching a large wolf playing with its prey. Sniffing for any defenses and then finally pouncing when it sensed its prey was helpless.
A robe covered hand reached slowly forward.
Well, Katlin was going to show the creature she wasn't as defenseless as it thought. With what strength she had, she lashed out at the hand, contacting with it with a solid hit.
The creature snatched its hand back with a soft yelp of surprise. But it did pull back, where it sat now apparently simply watching them with a good deal more caution.
Katlin knew she hadn't bought them much time. She had to think of something else.
"Just go away!" she shouted at the creature. "We haven't done anything! Why are you even here! Leave us alone!"
She doubted the creature understood one word of what she yelled at it. But she hoped maybe someone at the castle would hear her and come investigate.
The creature reached forward again.
Katlin slapped at its hand again, screaming as loudly as she could past her tears. "No!"
But suddenly, to her amazement, the creature made a series of gestures in the air between them. It then turned its hand over and again reached out to her again.
Katlin stared at the gesture with wide eyes. Slowly she followed the arm up to the hooded face, which was again staring at her past its open blackness.
"What are you?" she whispered. "You're no Dementor."
The creature quickly shook its head, and again reached out to the figure in her arms.
"Katlin?"
Katlin's head snapped up at the sound. Coming from the castle were three figures, one of them leading far ahead of the others.
Katlin pulled Orion back to her. "Help!" Was the only thing she could think to yell.
The figures picked up speed at her cry. As they approached the tower of black robes it promptly backed away and stood back as the foremost figure approached.
Dumbledore.
Katlin never thought she could be so happy to see the old wizard.
Dumbledore seemed to all but ignore the mass of black robes as he knelt down in front of her.
"How is he?" he ask as he gently brushed a bit of hair back from Orion's pale face.
"I don't know." Katlin all but cried. "He ran into the wards. I got him free, but then this........this creature came............."
Dumbledore turned to the tower of dark robes, who promptly waved a robe covered hand at the old wizard.
Dumbledore smiled pleasantly at the creature. "Ah yes. Orion's little friend."
Katlin looked up. "Friend?"
"Bo is a friend, Katlin. There is no need to be afraid of him. His only interest is to see to Orion's well being. That's probably why he is here. He sensed Orion was in danger." The old wizard stood back up and turned to the creature.
"Madam Pomfrey would like to see Orion, Bo." he stated. "Be so good as to take him to her, please."
The creature stepped back in front of Katlin and again reached out its arms. But this time Katlin slowly let go of the man in her arms, allowing the creature to gather its robes about him. As soon as she felt the weight taken off of her, Orion and the creature instantly disappeared.
Katlin looked up to see the old wizard extending a hand to her. "You look as though you could use a bit of looking after as well."
Katlin paused, then nodded as she allowed herself to be helped to her feet by Dumbledore and one of the others who had just arrived.
She got all of ten feet before she collapsed.
Q&A
Silverfox:
Actually, Snape didn't hear Katlin until he stuck his head into the room. So where as, yes, in her 'enthusiasm' Katlin was talking a good deal louder than she should have been, it was not loud enough to be heard out in the corridor.
Thankyouthankyouthankyou for pointing that out. Yes! Here is a man who charmed people into following him, folks. He did not get that popular by putting a wand to their heads and saying 'Follow me or else'. He did it by charisma and charm, thank you so very much. (Have a gold star, Dear(), even if they don't show up for some reason.)
Fanfiction may very well want a shiny gold star of its own, but it hasn't done anything to earn one yet.
Yes, Bo is in need of a caretaker usually even on his good days. Orion being responsible enough? There's a coin toss. And maybe it was a bad lesson, but it was good exercise for him. And actually, that scene was one of the few scenes you will ever see that will truly show Bo for what he is. He's not a person, or even a thing. He is a non-corporeal, magical power. It is one of the reasons he would be so darned hard to capture. Anyone trying to do so would be much better off trying to manipulate him through someone else. Which is one of the reasons the Black family keeps their mouths shut so tightly about Bo. If you can't capture the entity itself, what's the next best thing? Get the host.
Talon didn't get his son to part with his first wand the first go round. But Talon isn't too worried about his son. He is, after all, the host, and is still in fairly good health. He also is betting that the boggart will outlive both of his son's.
I understand about misjudging poor Talon, Dear. And you weren't off by far, to be fair. But you haven't met the man yet, although you have come very close several times. But at the last minute he got written out.
Keep in mind that Talon was an Auror back before the Department of Mysteries evolved. There were no Unspeakables in his time with the Ministry (in PAR's universe). But in his time with the Aurors, Talon was just as much a loose cannon as his son (Again, where do you think Orion got it from?). And for many of the same reasons. He was the host to an extremely powerful entity that would do anything within its ability to keep him alive. In essence, the man was indestructible. But Talon knew better than to flaunt that ability or to utilize it. But still, he knew it was there, and that tended to have him taking a few risks he might not have had Bo not been backing him up.
Talon didn't distance himself from his eldest son over worrying over Orion's 'condition'. And I suppose my wording was a bit harsh for the actual situation. Keep in mind that the family had only produced hosts, not channelers. And there had never been two family members tapping into the power at the same time. Talon simply didn't know what he could do, if anything, to help his son. And he felt very much like he had failed to protect him from what he felt was the greatest danger to Orion's life at the time.
Withdraw from his family? Who would have noticed? Talon was never 'Father's Day' card material to begin with. He was dedicated to his family, no doubt. But sort of like a mountain bear is, ya' know? He just never was the warm, cuddly, bouncing you on his knee kinda father. (And keep in mind, you are looking at Harry's potential grandfather here.) Talon would do very well as the leader of a military academy, if that helps put things in perspective.
Did he spend more time with Sirius? Not so that one would notice. But he certainly kept a closer eye on him.
I don't think Bo would be in as far over his head as you think. Keep in mind, Bo, despite how powerful he is, is still bound by the parameters of the spell that called him into being. And that spell clearly states that the first link is between the 'Power' and it's host.
Would Talon ever yield the 'Power' against his son? Depends on the circumstances, don't ya' think?
And again, Talon doesn't 'dislike' the 'Power'. He just doesn't trust it. He doesn't believe that what the 'Power' did to his son was as innocent as Bo presents it to be. But Talon would work with Bo if he had to. And he does talk to him and listen to him. But under no circumstances does he trust him.
Skahducky:
Congratulations on the finals, Dear.
Well, I actually sort of titled this chapter based on your comment. Was that the climax? Sort of. We haven't resolved everything, as you know.
Yes, Dumbledore put the original memory charm on Katlin (remember, there are two). And yes, he can therefore remove it if he wants to. But he isn't removing it and he didn't make a mistake. The Memory Charm is failing because of Bo's spell placed on Katlin to make the Memory Charm fail over a period of time. Was he ask to do that? Yes.....more or less. It's one of those reasons the people involved (one was Katlin, the other Orion) needed to be more careful and should have paid closer attention to what Bo is asking them.
Deatheaters do not have free passes in and out of Hogwarts, Dear. Only one of them. Katlin. And that is because Dumbledore allows it. And 'trusting Katlin for the time being' is exactly what he is doing.
This actually takes place about a year and a half before Voldemort's downfall. Or, at least, that's where we started.
When is Voldemort going to become such a big problem? You're closer than you think, Dear.
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