A/N: (Sigh) Birthdays come and birthdays go. And I have watched another one slide by. And no, I still will not tell you how old I am. Phhhhhhhft!
But it was a nice birthday. Lots of cake.
Other than that, not much to say, except,
as always,
Enjoy.
Disclaimer: As I sit here and ponder over the course my little story will be taking, I would like to take a moment to reflect on the facts that this story is mine, however, any characters or setting related to Harry Potter are the express property of JK 'Where are you people getting these tiles from' Rowling and her 'We don't care, as long as no one spills the beans before publication day' publishers.
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN: THE TOUCH OF YOUR LOVE
Orion did a careful search of his body from head to toe. But for the life of him, he couldn't find one place that didn't hurt. He could feel a gentle caress against the skin of his hand. But, though feeling like someone brushing smoldering coals over his skin, he forced himself into silence against the pain when he turned to face his tormentor.
Sitting next to his bed, her face a mask of concern and fear, was Katlin.
And hanging around her neck, happily winking at him in the dim light of the infirmary, was the tiny diamond pendent.
Noticing his open eyes, Katlin quickly favored him with a smile as she gripped his hand a little harder.
"You're awake!"
Orion bit his teeth together at the increase in the pain in his hand.
"How do you feel?"
"Like I ran smack into a protection ward."
"Oh good!" Katlin smiled nervously at him. "Then that would be the right feeling."
A black cloth waved itself suddenly in front of his eyes. Glancing up to the head of his bed Orion found himself staring into the face of his boggart.
Bo gave him a happy wave as Orion smiled slightly.
"Yes, yes. I see you." Orion informed him.
Bo gave another enthusiastic wave.
"He was the one who brought you to the infirmary." Katlin explained. "I couldn't even get myself here let alone bring you. He appeared at just the right time."
"He's very good at that."
The cloth waved itself in front of his eyes again.
"What is it?" Orion ask, glancing up again.
The boggart made several gestures, then leaned over the headboard, looking down at his charge.
"I'm fine, Bo." Orion told him. "Now off you go. You have things you should be doing."
The boggart continued to stare down at him for a few more seconds, then promptly disappeared.
Just then Madam Pomfrey came around the curtain.
"Ah! Mr. Black. We're awake?" she asked.
"Sleeping with my eyes open?" Orion replied in a rasped whisper.
"How are we feeling?" Madam Pomfrey questioned, ignoring the comment.
"Not very good." Katlin spoke up quickly.
Madam Pomfrey turned a hard stare to her.
"I meant....he said he's in pain. Can't you give him something for that?"
"Due to the nature of the spell, unfortunately, no. We'll just have to wait for it to wear off, I'm afraid. But," She added, checking the readings on the parchment over his bed, "if you want a nice happy thought to hold onto to keep you company, Mr. Black, you can thank heaven above you're even alive. You're a very lucky man."
Orion gave her a small nod. "How long have I been here?" he ask in a voice that was growing more tired with each word.
"Three days."
"Three days? How long is it going to hurt like this?"
"Just give it some time. Unfortunately, " she added, glancing down at Katlin, "any pressure to the skin is bound to cause pain for a while. I would suggest you try to cut down on any unnecessary contact."
As the nurse left, Katlin slowly tried to draw her hand back under Madam Pomfrey's warning glance. But Orion held fast to her hand.
"Orion...."
"I do not consider that an 'unnecessary contact'." He replied quietly.
"But it hurts you."
Orion gave her a tentative smile. "Not half as much as letting go. And actually, my arm doesn't hurt at all. And....," he added, gingerly moving his fingers, "my hand is starting to feel better as well."
Katlin gave him a skeptical look.
"Katlin, you're a natural healer." Orion reminded her. "Just sitting there holding my hand in yours you've probably done twice as much good as all the potions Madam Pomfrey has shoved down my throat."
Katlin gave up and left her hand where it was, now carefully wrapped in his.
"Madam Pomfrey says you're fortunate just to be alive." Katlin said softly. "She said the ward.....was set up to kill."
Orion sighed quietly. "Well, I would know." he replied. "I set it up."
"And I didn't know it was there." Katlin said, staring at her hand as it lay comfortably in his.
"I'm sorry." Orion replied. "I neglected to send out the invitations."
"You said.....the wards were set up to stop Deatheaters."
"Well, more specifically, they were set up to attack dark magic."
Katlin gave him a inquisitive look. "Then why did they attack you?" she ask quietly.
Orion paused, then turn his gaze to the ceiling. "Because they were set up to attack dark magic." he repeated stoicly.
"But........but you don't use dark magic, Orion."
"It doesn't matter if you use it or not. The wards only differentiate in one area between those who use it and those who simply have it in them by accident."
Katlin turned her violet eyes back to him. "It would have killed me."
"And that would have killed me."
"It would have been my own fault."
Orion shook his head slowly. "I upset you......because I couldn't just tell you the truth. Even sitting there, I was still hiding from it. Hiding it from you. Beating around the proverbial bush. Talking about anything but what I should have." He lay back with a soft sigh. "I should have just told you the truth from the start. The whole truth."
"I didn't give you much of a chance."
Orion turned to the hand he was gently holding in his own.
"You gave me plenty of chances, Katlin. Chances to be honest with you. To trust you. To trust your love. To trust in us." He turned his gaze back to the ceiling. "I just never took any of them."
"We are who we are, Orion." She replied. "Aurors and Deatheaters. Between us, 'trust' is not a word we are very familiar with."
"Sometimes that is what keeps you alive. That's one of the things you first told me."
Katlin stared up at him. "And sometimes," she replied, "it is what gets you killed."
Orion gave her a forced smile as he gently squeezed her hand. "Well, not today, hey?"
Katlin stared at their hands for a moment.
"Heck of a way to have spent your wedding night." She said softly.
Orion gave a soft laugh. "So my life is interesting."
A silence fell between them as Katlin stared at the floor. How could things have gotten so complicated so fast? In less than twenty-four hours her life had gone from her knowing exactly what each step would be, to finding herself suddenly on a completely unfamiliar path. And nothing was getting any easier.
"How are you feeling?" Orion broke into her thoughts.
Katlin looked up suddenly. "Me?"
"You touched the ward as well."
"I....I tried to pull you free of it." Katlin turned to the floor again. "But I couldn't."
"Are you all right?"
Katlin smiled at the floor. "I think my arm is still numb."
She felt him carefully squeeze her hand a little tighter.
"Can you feel that?"
"A little." She replied, looking up at him.
Orion smiled at her. "Then I'll just have to squeeze it a little tighter."
Katlin quickly turned back to the floor. But Orion tugged lightly on her hand.
"You should let the nurse have a look at you as well." He said gently. "Even a small exposure to the ward isn't something to pass off. And you should probably get some rest as well."
Katlin turned back to him. "I'm not the one in the infirmary bed, Orion." She replied. But she quickly turned back to the floor. "I'm not the one who risk their life."
"Katlin," he stated, pulling gently at her hand, "it was an accident. No lasting harm."
But Katlin refused to meet his eyes.
"You were willing to do that for me." She said so quietly Orion could barely hear her. "To risk your very life for me."
Orion sighed quietly.
Katlin finally turned her eyes to him. "I spoke with the Headmaster earlier." She told him in a soft, quiet voice. "And I asked him to remove the memory charm."
Orion was stunned at her words.
"Are you sure?"
Katlin nodded slightly. "I told him I wanted it done when you were well. I told him I wanted you there."
"Katlin, are you sure?"
She gave him a small laugh. "I've never been so unsure of anything in my life."
"Then why are you going to do this, Love?"
"Because I want to remember, Orion." she said with a small smile. "I want to remember you. I want to remember the man who loves me so much he would let himself die in my place. Who ask nothing of me. Who has spoken of nothing but his love for me." she gave him a small smile. "I want to remember the man I was going to marry."
"Katlin, that's not all there was to it. Not all the memories are good."
A small, unsure, nervous laugh answered him. "Well, I would hope not. Otherwise I would have to be the masochist of the century."
Orion shook his head slightly. "No. You weren't. You were a woman who fought back against something someone carelessly told you the only way you knew how."
"By running from it? That hardly sounds like me."
"Sometimes running is the smartest thing to do, Katlin."
Orion watched her struggle with her own thoughts. Fighting so hard for any scrape of memory she could find. He hated the indecision there. But mostly he hated seeing the fear.
Orion gave a small tug on her hand.
"Katlin, I need you to listen to me for a moment. I need to get some sleep, all right?"
Katlin immediately started to get to her feet.
"Oh, of course. How stupid of m........"
But Orion stopped her by tightening his grip on her hand as he bit back the pain. "No. Listen to me, Katlin."
Katlin slowly sat back down, giving him a worried stare.
"I have to get some sleep. And...and you deserve to know the truth, Katlin. All of it. But........but before Dumbledore removes the Memory Charm, there are some things you have to know. Things I have to tell you. And you must have questions, Love. About so many things. So, when I wake up....if you want to hear it, you tell Dumbledore, and I'll spend the whole of the day answering any question you put to me, all right? I'll tell you everything, without exclusion."
Katlin stared back at him with wide eyes.
"But...if you think about this....and you decide....you don't want to hear it.....then just leave. Go back to Voldemort. Go back to your home. Back to the lair. Go back to your life and live it and forget all of this. I will swear to you now I will never try to see you again. I'll leave you in peace. I'll leave England if I have to to keep that promise. But....I want you to be happy, my Love. And I'll accept whatever decision you make that will give you that. All right? Stay or leave. I won't think any more or less of you for whatever decision you make."
Katlin sat for a few moments just staring at him. But finally she gave him a small nod.
"I will think about it, Orion. I promise." She answered, gently brushing her hand over his forehead. "But go to sleep now. You need rest."
Orion settled back on the bed, letting his body sink into the soft comfort of the mattress and trying to forget the pain. He didn't remember how soon after that he fell asleep to her soothing caresses.
The next morning Orion awoke to a bright light in his eyes. With a soft moan and a whispered curse he turned his head to avoid the light, feeling the first rays of the sun accompanying the light in his eyes. But as he turned his head he nearly bumped into something laying on his pillow. Readjusting himself for a better look, he found himself staring at a mass of thick, dark hair.
"Does your mother know you use language like that?" Katlin's voice softly asked.
Orion gave a short snort. "My mother taught me 'language like that'."
Katlin sighed as she pulled herself up and leaned back in her chair.
"Somehow I find it very hard to believe that Arianna Black uses language like that."
"You'd be amazed then."
Katlin sighed and brushed her hair back with her fingers.
"Well, that was definitely something I missed for far too long."
"'That'?"
Orion gave her a small smile. "Waking up to you beside me."
Katlin yawned as she made some minute sound acknowledging the comment.
"So, did we have a nice sleep?" Orion asked her.
"Not really."
"I'm sorry. Was I taking up too much of the pillow?"
"Actually," Katlin replied, settling her gaze on him, "I spent the night thinking."
Orion gave her a pleased smile. "Well, I glad you decided on staying. But I didn't mean you had to stay here all night."
"Oh, it didn't take me all night to decide that." Katlin waved him off. "I had decided on your offer as soon as you made it."
Orion looked surprised. "Really?"
Katlin nodded. "What I spent the night thinking about was what to asked you."
Orion looked a little nervously at her.
"You're not backing out?" she asked.
Orion shook his head. "Never. You deserve your answers, Katlin. And I'm done running from this as well. Ask whatever you want. I swore I'd tell you the truth and I will."
"I only have one question." She said solemnly.
Orion flinched slightly. "Those are always the hardest." he stated.
Katlin gave him a very serious stare.
"I'll get most of my questions answered when the old wizard undoes the memory charm." she stated. "But once that is done, I will still be left with one question that even that can not answer."
"Which is?"
"Why? Why did you do this, Orion? If you loved me so much, why did you let me go so easily?"
Orion paused for a very long time. He fixed his gaze on the sheets laying over him, unable to meet her eyes.
"Easy?" he gave a small laugh. "I have been an Auror for years, Katlin. An Unspeakable since nearly the day the Department was formed. But nothing.........nothing I have ever done, or been asked to do, was as hard as letting you go." he slowly turned to her. "I did it because I love you. Because.....what I did put you in so much pain. It was destroying you. And I couldn't let it continue. And the only way to make it stop was.....to let that memory be taken away from you....and everything connected with it."
"Including you." She added softly.
Orion only nodded in response.
"But what about you? What about your pain?"
"I didn't care." Orion stated quickly. "I deserved whatever pain came with it. And it would still never have matched yours. And if that was all that was asked of me to see you smile again.......to see you happy, I would gladly pay that price."
Katlin paused, staring at him for sometime. "What...........?" she started, faltered, and tried again. "What did you tell me that...............was so horrible I would trade in the life I had with you, a happy life it seems, just to forget it?"
Orion closed his eyes. He felt it would eventually come down to this one question. Everything centered on it. How could it not?
But suddenly he opened his eyes, focusing not on the woman next to him, but on the ceiling above him. He had made a mistake. One that had cost him nearly everything.
This wasn't simply the pain of having to face that mistake again.
It was the chance to correct it. And it wasn't one he was going to let pass him by again.
"What I told you, Katlin," he started carefully, "I told you without thought, without care, and worst of all, without checking it out."
"Checking it out?"
"An informant brought me something......., something I had gone looking for. He brought it to me, he laid it on the table............., and I simply grabbed for it. It was what I wanted. It gave me what I wanted." Orion turned slowly to her. "So I never questioned it. My Love, that was my mistake. When everything is said and done, that was where this whole thing started. What that man gave me I wanted so badly.............I just took it. I didn't care how it would effect you.......or us. Not really. I just wanted it. I wanted what he told me to be real, and so I made it real. By simply ignoring the possibility.......this man may have lied."
Katlin sat staring back at him with not the confused expression Orion had expected, but a thoughtful, searching one. Behind her eyes Orion wondered if she was suddenly recalling that memory. Just as she had the fight in the field where they had first met. Nothing solid. Just bits a pieces of the whole.
"What was it you told me?" she ask finally in a slow, carefully measured voice.
Orion took a slow breath. He would rather be facing the dark lord himself right now than his number one Elite. Anything other than having to face once again the look on her face when he told her.
"You told me once," he began, "that when you were young, your parents were killed. That the people of the village where you lived had murdered them and tried to kill you as well."
Katlin sat stiffly in her chair. "That would be true." she replied.
"Yes. But you said that you believed that these people, who had loved and sheltered your family from others, had been manipulated to turn on you and your parents by a..........some sort of traveling preacher who had come to your village."
"That is also true." Katlin replied stoicly, though her voice hardened slightly.
"You said you had no idea who that traveling preacher was, but you certainly left no question of your hatred for him."
Katlin's lip curled slightly at that thought. "That is also true."
Orion took a long, slow breath. "Katlin, I wanted to try and help you...........," but he abruptly stopped. "No." he said after a short pause. "That was the lie I told myself. That I was trying to help you."
Katlin gave him a curious stare. "Help me what?"
Orion gave a slight wave with his hand. "Get closure. Get revenge. Whatever I needed to hear myself to go on with my plan."
"Plan?"
"To find out who that preacher was."
Katlin suddenly came to life from her calm exterior. Her whole demeanor changed in an instant as she was on her feet, leaning over the man on the bed. "Are you telling me........that you found out who that miserable, lying, filthy piece of meat was?"
Orion eased her back. "Katlin, listen to me. Don't jump to conclusions, Love. That was what got us where we are. Just......listen to all I have to say."
Katlin slowly sat back in her chair. But none of her anger had diminished that he could tell. It positively radiated from her.
"Then tell me." she replied pointedly.
"My informant," Orion went on carefully, "told me that from what he had uncovered, all the signs seemed to show that that man, the one who came to your village and turned the people against your family...............was Voldemort."
Orion wasn't sure what sort of reaction he expected. So he simply waited. He clearly saw the anger building in her eyes as she stared back at him. But she said nothing. And yet with every passing second the anger grew more palatable until he could practically feel it in the air between them.
"That," Katlin finally stated in a low, level tone, "is a lie."
Orion did his very best to keep his own tone quiet and unchallenging. "Yes," he agreed amiably, "it could very well be a lie, Katlin. And I have never been so sorry for anything in my life as that I told that story to you without any proof to back it up other than the word of an informant."
"That is a lie."
Orion studied her face for a moment. He didn't think she was responding to what he had just told her. In fact, her expression had not changed once and he seriously doubted that she had even heard him at all.
"Katlin, listen to me."
"That is a lie." she repeated again, this time getting slowly to her feet. "It is a horrible, disgusting, vile lie."
"Katlin........."
For the first time Katlin's expression altered. But now it became one of utter contempt.
"What was this informant?" she ask him. "Some long time acquaintance you have used before? Someone you trusted? That you believed him without question?"
Orion shook his head. "I had never met the man before, Katlin."
Katlin's eyes narrowed. "And yet you believed him?"
"Katlin........"
"How could you?" she stated in a low voice. "How could you have told me something like that and expected me to believe such a lie?"
"Katlin, please listen to me." But Orion doubted again that she was hearing him at all. Slowly he watched her expression shift once more. Slowly she turned her head to the side. Wherever her thoughts were going, from her now troubled expression, Orion was sure it wasn't anywhere good.
"Katlin?" he prompted her gently.
Katlin opened her mouth to speak, but just as quickly closed it again. Little by little her gaze drifted back to him.
"Why?" she ask.
Orion thought she meant 'why' had he told her the story, and began to answer her. "I thought what the....."
But Katlin abruptly cut him off. Again he doubted she had heard him say anything at all.
"Why should I have believed that?" she asked. "But I must have." Understanding suddenly crossed her face. "That was the reason, wasn't it?" she stated resolutely. "That was the reason for the Memory Charm. Because I believed you. I must have."
"Katlin, please......"
"Why!?" she cut him off again. "Why did I believe you? What aren't you telling me this time?"
"Katlin, there was nothing more."
"You are lying! Tell me all of it!"
"Katlin, that was it. I just never questioned any of it the first time. And that was how I presented it to you."
"You think I can't find out?" Katlin nearly spat at him. "If you won't tell me, I know who will." she stated, never giving him a chance to answer as she started for the door. "I will go to Voldemort. And I will ask him for the truth."
"Katlin! Wait!" Orion called. But she completely ignored him. Orion quickly looked about the room. "Bo! Bo, where are you?"
The mass of black robes appeared almost instantly at his bedside.
Orion quickly pointed to Katlin's retreating back. "Stop her, Bo."
Katlin didn't bother looking back to see where the creature was, but quickened her pace as she reached for the door handle and yanked the door open. Nearly running straight into the mass of black material.
Katlin pulled back with a slight cry of surprise, but quickly pulled out her wand.
"Get out of my way!" she stated fiercely. "Or I'll get you out of it my own way!"
The tall, thin figure didn't move.
"Fine." Katlin stated.
Whatever the boggart might have expected the woman to do, it certainly wasn't what he got.
Instead of attacking the creature, Katlin turned about and pointed her wand at the man in the bed.
But before she did anything, the tower of black robes instantly appeared in front of her, blocking her path again.
However, this time the action was exactly what Katlin was anticipating. As soon as the black robed figure appeared in front of her, Katlin turned and took off out of the room, running out the door as fast as she could go.
"You fell for that?!" A half-angry, half-amused voice shouted from behind him.
Bo turned about abruptly to face the man in the bed.
"Are you completely scrambled or so today!?" Orion stated. "No one would have fallen for that!"
The boggart began to make several gestures, but Orion stopped him.
"She was not going to hurt me." he stated firmly. "She wanted you to do just what you did. Get out of her way. Now just go and find her and bring her back. She's probably headed for the front doors of the castle. Go wait for her there. And keep a check on the other entrances just in case. But you do not let her get out of this castle!"
The boggart nodded, then turned and hurried out the door.
Out in the corridor, Katlin watched the figure in the dark robes from a small alcove. Once it was gone, she carefully tip-toed out of her hiding place and quietly took off in the opposite direction.
Q&A
Silverfox:
Indeed, the life of Orion's poor boggart is not always an easy one.
Grab the host. Grab the 'Power'. Quite frankly, either way you're you-know-what. Based sole on the fact that you never do know exactly how Bo is going to react. He is, after all, not looking at the situation the way you might be. To him, it may all seem just a game, in which case you might live. If he perceives that you are, in fact, trying to hurt someone he is charged with protecting................oh well. Life's funny that way.
Thank you for the complement, Dear. I try to keep my characters interesting. They are, after all, what drives my story.
Talon is, indeed, a most interesting man. Dependable and loyal, but not someone you want to be on the bad side of. Whether or not he would eat his children depends on how they behaved.
Heads of military academies tend to have a very stunted sense of humor and see the world very black and white. That pretty much sums up Talon Black. Although from time to time he can throw a few surprises.
Another interesting character you will be running into soon is Talon Black's partner from his days as an Auror, Hershal Beckett. Hershal is probably the second most interesting character I have come up with after Bo in the 'not-a-main-character' arena. Hershal Beckett shows up for the first time in Family Relations.
OK, I agree, in a fight, Orion would be more likely to call on Bo for help. But that in no way guarantees Orion's order would come first. Again, Orion is the Channeler and friend, but Talon is the host. And Bo is bound by the parameters of the spell, which state he will answer to his host.
But Orion is still his friend, and a Channeler. Which means whatever power Bo has, Orion has access to it.
Still a coin toss here.
sweets:
Hello again, sweets. Kinda wondered where you went.
Your dad? That sweet guy who I met at the convention? Awwwwwwwww! You give him my love and tell him I'm keeping him in my prayers.
Ok. Katlin is under a Memory Charm? Yes.
She does not know who Orion really is? More or less, yes.
Is she trying to get her to remember the 'real' him? Which one, Dear? I mean, he's been mucking about so much.
But yes, Orion is trying to get Katlin to remember him from the day they first met. The wonderfully cute and cuddly man who knows how to use handcuffs for the purpose of which they were intended........in his opinion. (After all, it's all about love and respect and who gets to wear the handcuffs next.)
Will you hear from Talon in the future? Well, that all depends on whether or not Orion can get his Love to the alter. I mean, he has to introduce her to the folks first, right? That's not something you sort of want to leave to the wedding ceremony in this situation. Introducing your two Auror parents to your blushing Deatheater Elite bride. That's puts such a damper on the whole festive atmosphere.
BINGO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Someone has been thinking ahead! (Or paying attention to all my hints.) Will this effect Harry, Orion, and Sirius' relationship in the future? You bet. The outcome of this story plays directly into much of what happens in Family Relations. I did not just put this up to kill time while I finished that story. A lot of what happens in Family Relations will be able to be related directly back to what happened in Enemies. Have a gold star, Dear. (Giving them out the only way I can since Fanfiction's submission form will not upload Asterisks anymore.) Enjoy.
Keep them questions coming. I love them!
nessie:
Ummmmmmmmm........, I'm sorry if I made that seem important, Dear. It wasn't. The other people with Dumbledore were redundant. Dumbledore was the only one who was important in that scene because he is the only other person outside of the Black family that Bo will listen to. I mean, Bo would have listened to Katlin, but she currently doesn't remember him and was trying to slap the whatsy out of him every chance she got.
A large portion of what is going on here was brought about by the simple fact of people not listening. And poor Katlin isn't the only one in that club. She has lots of company.
And yes, deep down, Katlin does still love Orion. Problem is she doesn't remember that.
Skahducky:
'You're closer than you think', Dear, means just that. Voldemort is very close to becoming a big problem. Everyone seems to think that Voldemort built up to being a problem. No one considered maybe that wasn't how it happened at all. But that's all I'm saying.
Dumbledore does not foresee what is coming. No one does. Likely, not even Voldemort. Wait! I tell a lie. One person has a small idea of what may happen. But then, he's the one whose going to cause it. (And 'no', it is not the wizard in the north. He's interested, but currently just watching things unfold.)
Why did Dumbledore let Katlin into the castle without questions two months ago? Did we cover this, Dear? She was distressed. Even Dumbledore could see here was a woman who wasn't going to be much in the line of causing trouble. She wanted answers. Not more problems.
Would Dumbledore try to get Katlin to go to Azkaban? No. Katlin, to Dumbledore. is a friend, not an enemy. And he has his reasons for wanting her to remain free. And if you're wondering what they are, you have no further to look than the man she is standing next to.
(Hand goes up in the back.)
-Nuts.- "Yes?"
"Did that last sentence really explain anything?"
"I suppose not. Let me try again."
Orion, given all he is, is not what we will call the most 'stable person in the world'. Mostly, he has a temper, as you have seen. And he has a tendency to grab that temper and go running with it without stopping to think about the consequences. Hence, Voldemort's needing to find a new home.
Now, standing in the opposite corner we have Katlin, who is quiet (believe it or not), conservative (believe it or not), and very level-headed (believe it or not.) Katlin does not run into things blindly on a half-mad charge. She thinks things out, plots, plans, considers, then takes action.
All in all, Katlin balances out Orion's reckless nature. She makes him stop and think about things when he would rather just go and get things done.
Dumbledore can see the benefit of this relationship like no one else.
So, basically, Katlin is good for Orion.
Whether or not Katlin remains a loyal Deatheater has not been established, Dear. Some people are still holding their cards.
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! I love this one!!!!!!!!!!!!! Such a wonderful question!
'Why exactly would Bo make the memory charm so that it fails over time?'
For the simplest reason of all, Dear. Because he was asked to.
Here is another one of those, 'people should REALLY pay more attention to what Bo is asking them before they agree.
This all started if you go back to It's All Really A Bit Confusing, one of my most appropriately named chapters and the one I attached many warns to about reading it carefully.
Bo listened to everything Katlin said, formulated his own idea about the situation, asked some questions, and made a decision. (All on his own. Wasn't he just clever!)
Problem was, he didn't quite get the gist of the conversation completely right. Bo understood that Katlin was leaving, she didn't want to, but she had too, and if she could she would want to come back. Well, Bo simply made it possible for her to come back.
The second memory charm I thought was pretty easy to explain. But only if you caught the originating problem with the first one. And 'yes', it had a lot to do with that little gesture Bo made that Orion almost completely disregarded. Very simply, Bo asked Orion 'Do you want the Memory Charm made like the first?' In other words, do you want it done so that it will fail over time?
Orion, paying as much attention as he does sometimes to Bo, said 'yes'. So Bo did just what he was told.
One can only hope Orion, at the very least, learns to pay more attention to Bo.
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