A/N: Well, now that all those nasty hurricanes seems to have gone away for the season, I think I can get back on schedule a little bit more.

Disclaimer: Five hurricanes later? Folks, I'm still too darned tired to plagiarize anyone.

CHAPTER FORTY-NINE B: MIRROR ILLUSIONS

Once they apparated to the house, Orion settled Katlin into a room of her own and left the house elves to see to whatever she might need. He was delighted when she conceded to have dinner with him, and Tets seemed to put extra effort into making the meal something special.

After dinner they settled into his den, where Orion continued to fill in many of the still open areas of Katlin's past for her. A question and answer session that went well past midnight. But finally, barely able to stifle a yawn, Orion suggested they quit for the night and continue in the morning. An offer Katlin didn't put up any resistance to as he half expected.

Wandering off to his own room alone after having taken her to her's, Orion console himself with the knowledge that at least he knew where she was. He knew that she was safe and protected.

Getting undressed, he ran a quick check of the wards about the house. But failing to stifle another yawn, finally crawled into bed. Reaching over to the other side, he grabbed one of the pillows and pulled it tightly to him. It wasn't nearly the same. The pillow was soft, but it wasn't warm, or curved in all the familiar places his mind happily reminded him of. Nor did it hug him back, or send him off to sleep with some wonderfully erotic, if not down right lewd, suggestion whispered in his ear about what it might do if it woke up in the middle of the night, bored and unable to go back to sleep. There was no intimate caress. No arm draping its way over his body, or hand wrapping itself comfortably about his.

But still, it was better than nothing.

What it wasn't better than by a long shot was what was down the hallway. Actually, down the hallway, down a flight of stairs, across a banister walk, and through another set of doors, down that hallway.........

Orion quickly stopped himself. The closer he mentally got to her room, the more frustrated his body was getting that he wasn't following its directions.

A frustrated punch landed against the poor substitute. But he instantly regretted it. The pillow certainly wasn't to blame. And all he had succeeded in doing was putting a indentation in it where he didn't want one. Leaning up on his elbow, he started to fluff the pillow up again. But after only a few brief seconds, his mind began to wander again as the pillow took on that alluring shape once more. Laying it back down on the bed, he gently caressed his hand down it, stroking it as though it were...........

He stopped himself abruptly. With an irritated groan he threw himself back on the bed.

Was he honestly getting this desperate? Fondling a pillow?

He turned his head towards the door. Intently he listened for any telling sounds. The creak of a stair. The soft squeak of a floor board. Anything to happily relay to him that his night wasn't going to be as lonely as he anticipated.

It was to the same wistful hoping that he eventually fell asleep, tightly gripping his substitute.

Near one in the morning, Orion heard the door to his room softly open. Rolling over, he saw Katlin slowly pushing the door closed again.

"Katlin?" he ask as she turned about, forgetting his earlier thoughts in the haze of sleep and worrying something might be wrong. "What is it?"

Katlin paused she leaned against his door. But even in the near darkness of his room, Orion could still make out what she was wearing. The soft white satin of her night gown seemed to catch every stray glimmer of the moonlight coming in through his windows and gathered it to itself. Every fold and every drape across her body was accented in soft shades and shadows, highlighting her every curve.

Orion found himself simply staring at her. She looked every bit like a beautifully carved statue, formed under a sculpture's loving and attentive hand. But even in the dim moonlight he could tell the form wasn't that of hard stone. It was soft, and warm, and so very, very inviting.

"I didn't just want to leave the castle to think." Katlin whispered across the darkness to him.

Orion pulled himself up. "What else?"

Katlin slowly sauntered over to his bed. Each step pleasantly accented by the graceful sway of her hips. "Too crowded." she answered in an equally low voice.

Orion smiled at her in the darkness. "And your room?"

"Too lonely." she purred as she came to stand at the edge of his bed.

Orion laid back on the bed, staring up at her. "You seem to have reached an impasse, in my opinion."

"And I'm not here for your opinions." she answered with a soft smile.

Orion smiled up at her as she knelt over him on the bed. "Then what are you here for?"

"Guess."

The next morning Orion woke to a hand slowly caressing its way down his body. He quickly grabbed hold of it and stopped it's progress before it reached it's destination.

"Oh no, Love." he stated, easing the hand back. "No more of that until I've had something to eat. Man has to keep his strength up."

Katlin pulled her body across his. "Poor thing." she purred at him. "Did I always wear you out?"

"All the time."

Katlin slowly pulled back to her side of the bed as she sat up, brushing her hair back.

"That doesn't necessarily mean you have to stop." Orion offered. "It just means I can only go so far."

Katlin turned slowly to him, her face suddenly a mask of worry. "Orion, I have to tell you something about last night." she said quietly. "And I don't think you're going to like it."

Orion leaned back against his pillows. mirroring her worried look. "You're fifteen?"

Despite her serious tone, Katlin couldn't help but smile at him. "Do I look fifteen?"

"No, no," Orion shook a finger at her. "Now that's a loaded question. Because you see, no matter how I answer it, I'm screwed."

"True." she agreed.

Orion smiled back at her. "Love, no matter what you tell me, I doubt it could upset me this morning."

Katlin steeled herself up for his reaction just the same. "Suppose I tell you that last night you were being used? What would you say to that?"

Orion's expression shifted slightly to one of mild confusion as he considered the question. "Hurray?"

Katlin hugged her knees and refused to look at him further.

Pulling himself up, he wrapped his hands gently about her shoulders. "So tell me why I was so 'used' last night." he coaxed.

"Before I even knew about the Memory Charms," Katlin explained slowly, "I was having dreams."

"About what?"

Katlin laughed slightly. "Nothing I cared to tell anyone about."

Orion arched his eyebrows at her with a leering smile. "Those are the best kind."

Katlin nodded. "These were...............interesting." she agreed.

"Any details?"

Katlin turned a sour look to him. "You have a very dirty mind."

Orion shrugged. "Just asking."

Katlin sighed quietly. "Actually, all you have to do is replay last night."

"Really?" Orion asked with a keener interest.

"And that in part is what last night was about."

"In part?"

Katlin turned back to him. "Orion, I know you love me. You've proved it more times in the last few days then most men do in their whole lives. But........., I still look at you, and I don't remember any of the things you talk about. But one thing I do know is my dreams."

"So what did these dreams have to do with last night?"

"In the dreams," Katlin paraphrased, "I'm always....with a man. But I can never see his face. But I know him somehow, of that I'm sure."

"How?"

"Because everything he does, every move he makes, I know. I can predict it. And he knows me. He knows where I like to be touched. He knows how to touch me. He does everything right. He is, in fact, the perfect lover."

"And what has any of that to do with your using me last night?"

Katlin paused as she stared back at him for a moment. "Because I wanted to know........if you were that man. The one whose face I can never see in my dream. Because I know that man was somehow part of my past. I didn't just....invent him. And I needed to know if it was you. If you were part of my past as you claim. I would know by how we made love. If your touch was his. If everything he does, you did as well."

"And did I?"

Katlin gave him a small smile. "You were better."

Orion smiled at her. "Well, I'm better than a memory at least."

Katlin's expression quickly shifted to an apologetic one. "I'm sorry I used you like that, Orion." she stated quietly. "But it was something I needed to know."

Orion gave her a soft laugh as he gathered her up in his arms. "Love, if that is the way you use me, feel free to continue. Test me until you're absolutely sure. Because if that's all it takes it is a small price to pay to get to all those plans I made for our future."

"Our?"

"Of course 'our'. What did you think? I've gone through all this on some haphazard whim?" Orion pulled her closer to him as he smiled down at her. "I have no future without you in it, Katlin."

"Orion..." Katlin started to pull back from him. But he held her firm in his arms.

"I'm not talking about tomorrow, Katlin." he assured her with a small smile. "I'm just warning you. My intentions towards you are very much set. I have only one goal in mind with this. And that is someday to have you as my wife."

"And if I never remember you, or our life together?"

Orion gave anther soft laugh. "I think I'm off to a very good start at jogging your memory."

Katlin returned his smile. "I believe you are. So," she ask softly, "am I forgiven for using you so?"

"I think we're more than even, Love."

"Even?"

"Well, I lied to you about 'Sier'. Do you forgive me for that?"

Katlin paused, then turned back to him with a small smile as she nodded. "Am I forgiven?" she ask.

Orion took her hands in his and kissed them. "Of everything, my love."

Katlin cuddled up closer to him on the bed as his warm arms wrapped themselves about her shoulders. "As do I....of everything."

Orion paused as he held her. It wasn't truly fair of him to ask her to forgive everything he had done. Especially when he had still withheld from her the worst of his actions.

And he knew he would have to tell her.

And he knew it would have to be soon.

(Scene change)

Arriving back at the lair, Katlin made her way quickly to her own rooms. She wanted to reorient herself with what was happening with the Deatheaters before she went to see Voldemort.

But when she entered her room, what greeted her was the last thing she expected. The room was in a shambles. Drawers were pulled out and left on the floor, and papers seemed to be everywhere. All in all, the place look as thought it had been ransacked.

A noise from the back instantly caught her attention. The sound of another drawer being pulled out and things being rifled through. Katlin pulled out her wand and headed for the open door across the room. These were her private quarters past that door. And whoever was back there was looking at a very short life span.

"Johnathan?!" Katlin screamed as she entered the room.

The man in front of her practically jumped a foot into the air at the sound of her voice. But when he turned around he did a remarkably good impression of total innocence.

"How dare you!" Katlin screamed again. "These are my private rooms! What in Magic's name are you doing in here?"

Treaks only stared silently back at her as he desperately thought for something to say.

"Answer me!" Katlin demanded.

At the tone of her vice Treaks pulled himself up to his full height, staring down at her. "Show more respect, Katlin."

"To you?" she laughed. "You are fortunate I even deem it worth my time to bother to offer you the opportunity to explain yourself instead of just killing you now."

Treaks grabbed hold of her arm. "And you should be grateful I don't order you executed for speaking to me so."

"You have lost your mind. You have no authority to give such an order."

"As leader of the Deatheaters, I assure you I do."

"Leader?" she ask. "By whose order?"

"Lord Voldemort's, in his absence....and in yours."

Katlin gave the man a hard stare. "Where is Lord Voldemort?"

"He is still away from the lair." Treaks replied smoothly.

"That is not answering my question!"

Treaks hardened his tone. "And I am not obligated as such to give you any answers. Thus far I have acted solely out of courtesy. But even my patients is wearing very thin with you right now, Katlin."

"As. Is. Mine."

"I would be much more careful if I were you, Katlin."

"Really? Then allow me to inform you of a fact that seem to have escaped you."

"And that would be?"

"If....if Lord Voldemort appointed you as leader in his absence, that role ends with my return. I am Lord Voldemort's second-in-command, and your superior. Therefore, as of now, you are leader of the Deatheaters no longer. And you will answer my questions, Johnathan."

Treaks gave Katlin a very small, tight smile. "That is where you are wrong, Katlin." he replied. "You will, in fact, relinquish your claim of leadership to me. And you will do it before all of the Deatheaters."

Katlin stared back at the man before her for a moment before breaking into a laugh. "You have utterly lost your mind. I will do no such thing."

"But you will, Love."

Katlin's eyes narrowed at the word. "You will not call me that again." she told him in a low, dangerous tone. "Not now. Not ever again."

"Really?" Treaks replied in an almost bored tone. Pulling out his wand, he pointed it at the floor. Instantly a small flame shot up from the ground.

At the sight of it, Katlin practically jumped back, her eyes wide with a fear that disappeared as quickly as it arose.

Treaks turned to her with a small smile as he dismissed the flame with a slight wave of his wand.

"Well now," he stated, "it seems Voldemort was telling the truth about one thing. I wonder what else he was telling the truth about."

"Truth?" Katlin asked, watching the man with a great deal more caution now.

"Your aversion to fire."

Katlin tried to cover her reaction to the flame. "Anyone would have reacted the same to a fire suddenly lit at their feet, Johnathan."

"True, Love," he replied. "But your reaction is still very special. Voldemort explained to me just how badly just the sight of fire affects you."

Katlin paused, judging her words carefully. "Voldemort would never have told you such a thing. Why would he? For what purpose?"

"Why, to take care of you, Love." The man gave her a less than friendly smile. "Someone to guard your secrets, in case anything were......to happen to him."

Katlin's stomach suddenly clenched up inside of her. "Where is Voldemort, Johnathan?" she repeated.

"I don't know." he replied, putting a hand up to stop her before she could protest the answer. "That is the truth, Katlin. He didn't say where he was going. Only that I was to take care of the daily running of the lair until he returned."

"You?"

"The 'next in line', as it were, Katlin. Lord Voldemort is gone, you were not here....for several days. Voldemort turned to the next person in his chain of command."

Katlin stared back at him in silence.

"Now back to the matter at hand. I do wonder what else the Dark Lord told me about you that will prove just as true as your dislike of fire?"

"Voldemort would have told you nothing!" Katlin practically spit back at him.

"Really? Then how did I know that the mere sight of fire terrifies you?"

Katlin again only stared back at him in silence.

"But to be fair to the Dark Lord," Treaks acknowledged, "Voldemort really wasn't himself when he left. I'm sure he told me many things about you that he normally wouldn't." Treaks gave her a triumphant smile. "All I had to do was just be a concerned 'friend'......, and listen." Treaks shook his head in mock sympathy as Katlin continued to stare back at him. "The poor man really wasn't himself at all. But who can blame him? After all, he just suffered such a horrible loss."

"Loss?" Katlin questioned in a small voice.

"Why yes, Love." he replied with a growing smile. "That of the Head of his Elite guard."

Katlin's eyes widened suddenly. "Me!?" she stated in a startled voice. "He thinks I'm dead?"

"Well, not at first." Treaks acknowledged. "But with enough guidance, the idea did eventually find fertile ground in that twisted little mind of his. Especially after he had just sent you on such a dangerous mission, knowing full well you weren't yourself. And you haven't been back for days, Katlin. And you sent no word. No owls......, nothing."

"I came back!" Katlin stated. "I was here! In the lair!"

"Ah, that may be true, Katlin." Treaks answered her with the same pleased smile. "But you see, Voldemort didn't see you."

"You saw me! You knew I was here, Johnathan. You kne..........." Katlin stopped abruptly as understanding dawned on her. "You didn't tell him." she all but whispered.

"Well, there's been so much to do, Katlin. Taking over leadership. It must have slipped my mind."

"You bast......."

"Now that you're back, however, I think one of the things we should discuss is our wedding."

"Our what?!"

"Our wedding, my Love."

"You have lost your mind! I am not marrying you. Not now. Not ever."

"But you will, Love. Or we'll have to go back to discussing all those lovely little secrets about you that the Dark Lord told me before he left so abruptly."

"What things? You may know about my aversion to fire, Johnathan. But I am far willing to bet you learned that by some other means than from Voldemort's lips."

"Really?" Treaks replied with a small smile. "Then I suppose we'll have to see, won't we? Honestly, Katlin, you should know when you are bested and concede."

Katlin pulled her hand back, fully intent on striking the man before her. But Treaks stopped her, grabbing hold of her wrist, pulling her roughly to him. For a moment he simply looked at her, staring at her face as though he was looking for something specific.

"Yes, Voldemort did very good work on you, my Love." he said finally. "Anyone looking at you...., any man, would never know."

Katlin gave a solid pull against his grip, but failed to break free. "Know what?" she asked in a harsh whisper.

Treaks grabbed her firmly under the chin with his other hand and turned her face towards him. "That that lovely face you wear......., isn't yours."

Katlin did her best to shield any surprise from her expression as she pulled back slightly against his hold again. But Treaks refused to let her go.

"Your face, your looks, your whole body...., all of you, was so badly burned in that fire all those years ago that you nearly died. You were so badly scarred, in fact, that no man would want you if they saw what you truly looked like."

Katlin pulled back, breaking free this time as she slapped his hands away from her. "Voldemort would never have told you such a thing!" she all but screamed at him.

Treaks answered her accusation with a pleased smile. "And as I said," he repeated, "the Dark Lord really wasn't quite himself. All I had to do was sit....and listen. Now," he added, pulling back from her as he began to walk about the room, "let's get back to the subject at hand, shall we. Our wedding."

"I will never marry you." Katlin hissed at him.

Treaks turned back to her with a small smile. "Really? Then tell me something, Love. Where have you been these past several days? If I were to bet on your whereabouts, I would venture you were spending a good deal of that time with your Auror lover. Am I right?"

Katlin only stared back at him without answering.

"No matter. It's a fairly safe bet. Where else would you be but off trying to rebuild something of that perverse relationship. Your ever-loving, supporting, dedicated Auror. But tell me, exactly how much 'loving support' do you think Mr. Black would still give you so agreeably" Treaks ask, turning back to her, "if he knew the truth?"

Katlin remained silent, trying to show as little emotion as possible.

"What man in his right mind would even want you if they actually had to spend the rest of their lives looking at your real face? But I am a reasonable man, Katlin. I am still willing to marry you, even after I learned the truth about you. 'Sight unseen', as it were. But you will serve me by your position among the Deatheaters. And you will support me before Voldemort."

"And if I don't? Katlin ask in as level a voice as she could manage.

"If you do not, my Love, I will stand you before your Auror, and I will strip that mask off your face right before his eyes. And then we will see how long his love lasts."

"Orion loves me." Katlin stated defiantly. "It would not matter to him."

"Really? And how long will that love stand when he starts to think about things, Katlin? When he realizes that not only have you lied to him for months, but that you never intended to tell him the truth?"

Katlin again fell silent to the threat.

"Now then," Treaks went on, "I think there has been enough delay to the happy event. Therefore, I think we should set the date as soon as possible. I believe the end of the week gives you enough time to prepare?"

"The end of the week!?" Katlin protested. "That is only three days away!"

"And if I weren't busy with other matters it would be tonight!" Treaks snapped back at her. "Now you will present yourself at this lair on that evening and we will be wed, Katlin."

Katlin stared at the back of the door for a very long time after Treaks had left, slamming it after him.

She couldn't let this happen. If she gave into this blackmail, and Treaks realized what a formidable weapon it was, she would never be free of him.

Katlin opened the door and headed down the hallway. She wasn't going to give herself time to think about this. She had only one course of action to take.

And it started with going to see Orion.

Q&A

Bexpotter:

Yes, Dear, finally an update. And contrary to your believe, you were first.

Unfortunately, the hold-up will effect Family Relations. You can now look for it the beginning of 2005. Sorry, folks. I don't control the weather.

I was debating whether to skip Runaway and post Family Relations first. But with the content of the stories and how they inter-react with each other, I'm not sure I can. We'll see.

Silverfox:

So nice to see you back, Dear. You, Nessie, and Skahducky have been my faithful reviewers through all of this, although I seem to have lost Nessie this time.

Personally, I think the studio overbooked their expenditure budget and needed to blow off some bucks. Therefore we got treated to that three second scene. Whoppie!

Wow! You do like to think things out. That's why I don't mind helping you out.

OK, first off, yes, Bo dislikes Hershal not for what he did, but for what he is.

Second, no, Bo did not punish Hershal for anything he did. Bo does not punish people on his own, Dear. He has no concept of right and wrong really. At least not that above a three year olds understanding of the concept. I mean, if you hit him, he'll get annoyed, and probably strike back. But does he see what you did as 'wrong'? No. Just that he didn't like it.

Three, what Hershal became Bo is responsible for, but only so far as Hershal ask him to do it.....sort of. (Think about the Memory Charm and how that got messed up.)

The problem between your e-mail provider and AuthorAlert is well understood, Dear. My computer had a problem between itself and getting electricity the past two months. seemed to get getting cut off about four days at a time. Very annoying.

Bo does not just 'dislike' Dementors, Dear. He borders on hating them. But since I have often said Bo doesn't 'hate' anyone, we'll just say he really, really, really dislikes them....a lot. Why is a bit complicated. Try thinking of it this way; Bo isn't a person, (as I have gone around and around about), he is an entity. A magical force given a personality...of sorts. Now, that magical force is, for all intents and purposes right now neutral. Now, let's apply a little physics here. Take a something with a neutral charge and apply a negative charge to it. What happens? Well, for starters, you really mess with the neutral charge. This is sort of what you have with Bo and Dementors. They don't effect him as they do humans. But he does feel them. And he doesn't like that feeling very much. To the Dementors, Bo is a force they can't quite figure out either. They know they don't effect him as they are used to effecting people, but they know they effect him somehow. They also have no idea what he is. They tend to view him as sort of a Patronis. Who would win in a stand off? Why Bo, of course.

Some of my stories have been put in C2 communities, but that's all I know about them.

Skahducky:
Yes, Dear, I was very late in posting and I do apologize. But it's a bit hard to write with no electricity as well as post anything. And between cleaning up from one hurricane before getting hit by the next, I just didn't have a lot of spare time.

No, Dumbledore can't remove the Memory Charm. As Orion explained, doing s would hurt Katlin. So they have decided to let Bo's spell take its natural course and let the spells wear off under the influence f Bo's spell. How long will that take? If I wrote it out I think I mentioned you'd be seeing Family Relations around 2007. So there are things she will not remember for a very long time. But those will be trivial details as that Orion is telling her almost everything else that was of importance in her past.

And as for the chapter thing........is not!

FEVER

CelticHeiressFiona:

Sorry, Dear. Fever ended at Chapter Thirteen.

All reviews are as of 10312004. Happy Halloween, Folks!

And remember;

I see you're playing stupid again.

Looks like you're winning too.