Always By Your Side

Chapter 7: Revelations

DISCLAIMER: I do not own J.K. Rowling�s work.

A/N: Sorry for the slight delay; I had a mild writer�s block. This chapter is mostly in Katarina�s point of view, but I will put the words in bold, just in case the dividers don�t show up, like the last couple of chapters� sorry about that. Anyway, enjoy!

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Katarina�s PoV

I awoke the next morning in a content mood; I had not had such a pleasant sleep within the last six months, and I felt refreshed. For a while I just laid in bed, looking around at the new furnishings I had arranged to my liking the other day.

I was snuggled deep under a warm fleece blanket, a pink satin coverlet over it. My bed was a canopy bed, with cherry wood holding up the four posts. A large wardrobe in the corner was flung open, showing various robes, dresses, and casual clothing. The walls that had been previously bare were now covered in soft, cream-colored wallpaper and tapestries. In the fireplace, a blazing fire was burning, wafting a sweet aroma into the air. By the hearth, I had placed a rug and had tossed some silk throw pillows onto the couch. The windows were firmly closed to the brisk wind, and the dark velvet curtains hung loose.

After some time had passed, I pushed aside my blankets and went to the bathroom to shower, yawning all the while.

I went down to breakfast, meeting Remus on the way and chatting amiably with him on the way to the Great Hall.

Upon our arrival, Severus abandoned his breakfast and headed briskly for us. Remus seemed to know that we knew each other closely � perhaps perceived by his acute senses � and decided to give us some space. He kept walking forward to the Head Table as I stopped, leaving me with a brief promise to catch up later.

Remus� PoV

I took my usual seat up at the Head Table next to Sirius and began to heartily dig into my breakfast. To everyone else, I appeared to be concentrating solely on my meal, but out of the corner of my eye, I was unobtrusively observing Sirius.

He was showing no subtlety whatsoever, and was blatantly staring at where Katarina and Severus were obviously having a private conversation. I followed his line of vision just in time to see Katarina gave Severus a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek. Sighing, I now realized why Sirius had apparently deserted his meal. To avoid making a scene though, I had to nudge him with my elbow to stop attracting so much attention. I received a scowl for my pains, but was gratified to see that Sirius had stopped being so transparent in the direction of his thoughts.

But, even though he may have stopped showing it so openly, but I still knew what was on his mind. After all, I hadn�t been his best friend for fourteen years for nothing; I could read him like a large-print book. Obviously, he had been attracted to Katarina at first sight, and I could see no reason why not. She was the appropriate age, pretty, and had an intelligent and rational mind � the perfect counterpart for our rash Sirius. I personally thought they were made for each other. I could tell there was some spark of attraction between the two, though barely noticeable.

However, Sirius could not be thinking about Katarina�s merits, else that scowl would not be planted firmly on his face. No, he was wondering whether Katarina and Severus were intimately involved, no doubt. I knew better, though. From the heightened senses I had received from lycanthropy, my sense of smell was far sharper than any other humans, and I sensed something very peculiar.

Although I knew Sirius would benefit from this little tidbit of information, I chose not to disclose it; Sirius would simply have to find out himself. I smirked a bit to myself. Alas, I could not help myself; after all, once a Marauder, always a Marauder.

Sirius� PoV

I stretched and yawned hugely, before hunching back over my desk and writing a few comments on the student�s paper. Finishing grading that essay, I started to reach over to grab another, but thought better of it. Instead, I rubbed my eyes tiredly, and decided to go to sleep.

However, once in bed, I could not fall asleep. I knew why I had insomnia; even subconsciously, I did not want to see James and Lily again in my sleep, so my body was afraid to allow me to go to sleep. This was a big problem, because I had to teach five classes tomorrow, and I couldn�t afford to be tired. For the past few nights now I had been using Dreamless Sleep Potion, but as I reached over to my bedside table, I realized I would have to get some more.

I dragged myself out of bed, pulled on an over-robe, and started the long trek to the Hospital Wing.

My eyelids were drooping by the time I had reached Poppy�s rooms. I opened the door without a sound, not wanting to disturb any patients inside. However, what I saw inside gave me even more urgency to stay silent.

Snape was stretched out on a hospital bed, his whole body swathed in bandages, and Katarina had drawn a chair up by his bed. They were both asleep, their hands clasped loosely. I felt a strange pang as I stared at the unexpected scene. What was going on here? The two of them seemed so� intimate. Although they barely touched, it looked like they were drawing on each other�s comfort. Slowly, I shut the door, making sure not to make a sound.

Walking back to my rooms, I wondered about the strange feeling I had gotten in the Hospital Wing � the feeling that somehow, no matter how strange it seemed, these two fit together perfectly. Like yin and yang, like black and white. I also felt as if I had seen it before� it felt oddly familiar. It was truly an enigma, as were the two people themselves.

As I got back into my bed, I shrugged to myself. Let the puzzles be for now, they�ll be there in the morning, I thought to myself. With that idea, I unwound my tight nerves from the day and relaxed. My little venture to the Hospital Wing had cost me a lot of energy. The insomnia from an hour ago had disappeared, and sleep washed over me in waves.

Sirius� PoV

Over the next couple of weeks, as January slowly blended into early February, I began to notice some very strange things going on. I also noted that my earlier assumption, that Katarina and Severus were �fitted�, was indeed accurate. Although they were so different there were some bizarre occurrences that I believed were not due to coincidences. For instance, they would simply know what the other would say, do, or think. It was like they had some uncanny connection. They knew all of each other�s habits, even though they had only met each other about a month ago. All in all, I believed it to be very peculiar. But, as I myself knew a lot about having secrets, I left them to have theirs and didn�t think about it any more.

Turns out, ironically, the day that I let it go, is the day I find out what�s going on.

A few weeks after my little nightly exploit, I went to Katarina to see if she would like to join me, Remus, and Harry in our little picnic out by the lake. She agreed, and said she would meet us there in about half an hour.

Our picnic was very enjoyable, and we all soaked in a lot of sun. We were munching our way through the sizeable basket, when Harry made his desires clear.

�Pay!� demanded Harry. Remus and I were totally lost on what he wanted to play. Harry crawled over to Katarina and tugged on her sleeve. He repeated his request, �Pay!�

�Okay, Harry, let�s play,� she said, laughing. Seeing that we had no clue what they were talking about, she explained, �Harry�s a Natural Empath, and a very powerful one too, for such a young age. While we were out for a walk a couple days ago, we made up a game. Harry tells me what the person we pick is feeling and why. It�s a fun way for him to become more in tune with his Empath senses.�

She turned her attention back to the toddler. �How about� Sirius.�

��Kay,� he replied happily. Then Harry scrunched up his face in a look of complete and adorable concentration. After a long pause, he announced, �Don no.� (A/N: That�s supposed to mean �don�t know�. In other words, he�s saying Sirius is confused.)

�Why?� asked Katarina.

After another minute pause, he said, �Aunt Tate and Uncle Sevvie.�

Perplexed, Katarina turned towards Sirius and said, �Harry says you�re confused about something to do with me and Severus. Is that true?�

�Yes,� Sirius admitted freely. He explained how he believed they were somehow connected by their pasts.

Sighing, Katarina replied, �You�re right. We are connected, very closely. I was hoping no one would guess because the more people who have this knowledge, the more dangerous it becomes for Severus. However, I do have the Headmaster�s permission to tell you two. But please do not spread this information.�

When she had received affirmative nods in return, she went on to say, �Severus is my twin brother.�

Katarina�s PoV

I watched amusedly as Sirius� jaw dropped to incomprehensible lengths. Remus reached over and snapped it shut for him, then turned calmly toward me. I suspected he knew that we were related somehow. Sirius, however�

�What � how could � �, Sirius spluttered helplessly. Then, he turned to Remus and growled at him, �You knew!�

Remus just grinned widely back at him and shrugged. �Yep. Their scents are remarkably similar. I suspected they were related closely somehow.�

�And you didn�t tell me why?!�

�Hmm� It must have slipped my mind��

I was becoming steadily more concerned about his rising blood pressure, so I interrupted when Sirius swelled in outrage at his unruffled friend. �Why don�t I tell you about my history?�

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A/N: Okay, here�s the seventh chapter. Sorry for the delay, I couldn�t post because of the site�s updating or whatever it was. Anyway, the next chapter should be up very soon, in a few days in fact. Please review! Thanks to all that did!

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