A/N: Yes, author's notes this time. Just a few, and they might amuse you.
First off, just to mystify and amaze you, I'll let you know that this is actually the first chapter I wrote of Runaway. Yup, my whole story started with the last chapter. Hence, also, the title of this chapter.
Second, technically, this is the last chapter, but you sort of get an Epilogue about what happened to help tie up loose ends.
Lastly, it is in that true final chapter you get to finally meet Hershal Bennett, who is, I feel, self-explanatory. Although you get a much more detailed description of him in Family Relations, this is your 'warm-up'. And while there's a lot about the man to warm up to, there are also parts that'll freeze your blood.
You'll see what I mean next time.
Also, there is a LOT happening in this chapter, folks. I know I promised no convoluted, covert, hidden meaning stuff. But you have to understand, one, that's just me. It's how I write. You can take the girl out of the country...and all that. Next, this story, if you haven't kept track, happens just weeks before the start of Family Relations (Forgot that, didn't you?). Therefore, this story ties into the whole Family story arch. So there are bound to be things in here that I can't be to specific about. Many of them you have already picked up on and most of them having to do with the relationships between characters and how they are reacting to each other.
OK. Those are just a few things to think about.
And while you're doing that,
as always,
Enjoy.
Disclaimer: Still trying to prove something here? I can barely afford to pay attention, let alone entertain myself, and I STILL have more of a life than you. How's that for a disclaimer? Ha!
CHAPTER EIGHT: RUNAWAY
"What's going to happen to her?" Harry asked after he had watched the ministry members take Katlin away and Sirius released his hand from over his mouth.
"Most likely she'll receive a sentence in Azkaban." Arabella replied, turning him towards the door of the chamber.
But Harry stopped short. "What? Azkaban? But...but why?"
"She has to pay for her crimes, Harry." Sirius answered him in a solemn tone that was equally reflected in his expression. "And Katlin Griss has a lot to answer for."
"But...but she helped me, Sirius. If it wasn't for her I would never have gotten away from Voldemort."
"Do you know that for sure?"
Harry paused. "What do you mean?"
"Voldemort isn't stupid, Harry. And I find it very difficult to believe that with all his forces out looking for you and Katlin, that they couldn't find you. Katlin has the Dark Mark. Voldemort should have been able to track her by that alone."
"But she removed it. She showed me how..."
"Removed it?" Sirius sounded more shocked than intrigued by the news. "How?"
"I don't know. She preformed a spell that removed it. But she..."
"And after years of loyal service to Voldemort," Sirius cut him off sternly, frowning deeply at the explanation, "she suddenly decides for no reason to take his most valuable prisoner and run? Why?"
"She said...she said it was because she felt sorry for me." Harry answered in a quieter tone.
"Rather sudden change of heart." Sirius replied coldly. "Harry, that woman has killed people, you understand? Ones that Arabella and I knew. She is very cold and very ruthless."
"She didn't act that way with me."
"Did you ever consider that maybe that was exactly what it was, Harry?" Arabella asked gently. "Acting?"
Harry looked up at her.
Arabella crouched down in front of her godson, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "You said yourself that your escape seemed rather easy."
"Katlin knew where we were going. She said she knew a lot of secret passages, like at..."
Harry stopped abruptly.
"Like what, Harry?" Arabella asked in the same gentle voice.
Harry continued in a very distant sounding voice, as though as he was speaking, his mind was also working furiously to sort something out. "She said that Voldemort's lair was catacombed with secret passages, just like...at Hogwarts. She said she knew a lot of them, just like she would guess I knew a lot of the ones at Hogwarts."
Arabella glanced at Sirius for a moment. But for the moment he seemed lost in thought somewhere, staring ahead of him with a blank sort of expression. Arabella slowly turned back to Harry, not taking her eyes off the man next to her until the last moment.
"Did you tell her about any of them, Harry?" she ask quietly.
Harry shook his head. "She asked once or twice, but when I told her I couldn't tell her, she didn't press me on it."
Arabella gave him a consolatory look. "Harry, the ministry believes that this whole...event, was orchestrated."
"Orchestrated?"
""We found out later that the Ministry knew a lot more than they were originally telling us. They knew you were captured by Voldemort, they knew you had escaped, and they knew who you were with. Based on the path you took, or more the one Katlin took you on, they believe her plan all along was to get you to show her a secret way into Hogwarts. One she could report back to Voldemort."
"They're wrong!" Harry nearly shouted at her. "They don't know everything that happened. Katlin couldn't have planned the things that happened. Arabella, she fell...off a cliff. She was hurt really bad. That was why I suggested the passage. Katlin never even brought it up."
"Harry," Arabella replied, trying to keep her voice sounding reasonable, "Katlin is a very smart, very clever, very devious woman. She can make anything seem like a normal progression of events. Make you think things were your idea when she's just been leading you towards it all along."
"She didn't jump off that cliff." Harry protested.
"I'm not saying she did, Harry." Arabella answered him. "I am only suggesting she took advantage of the circumstances to get what she wanted."
Harry looked up at his godfather. "It wasn't a set-up, Sirius. She was really trying to help me. I would have known."
Sirius seemed to have snapped out of his thoughts a few seconds before Harry turned his attention back to him. For a few seconds he simply stared down at his godson, as though the whole scene was new to him. But he quickly mask the look behind a grim expression. "Harry, I'm the last one to discount entirely that someone could have a change of heart for the strangest or the best placed reasons. And maybe she did. But that doesn't change the fact that she has a great deal she has to answer for still."
Harry stood stock still as he watched the ministry aurors leading Katlin away. He expected her to look back. He desperately wanted her to for some reason. But she never did. She simply walked straight-backed down the hallway between her two guards, her eyes only staring ahead of her. Ahead and behind her four more aurors walked, keeping a close guard on their prisoner.
"I want to see her." Harry said suddenly.
Arabella looked down at him.
"What do you mean?"
"Before they take her to Azkaban. I want to see her."
Sirius turned to his godson.
"I don't think that's a good idea, Harry." He replied. "Katlin is a very dangerous woman. You're better off just letting the ministry handle her now."
"I was with her for days, Sirius." Harry answered. "She never once hurt me, or ever put me in danger before herself. She did everything she could to protect me. If she's as bad as you say, and she goes to Azkaban, they may let the Dementors give her the Kiss. And then I'll never know if it was all a lie. And I want to know." Harry turned to his godfather. "I have to know, Sirius."
"She likely won't tell you, Harry."
"But at least I will have asked." Harry looked more pleadingly at his godfather. "Sirius, I have to know. And once they take her to Azkaban, I'll never have the chance to find out."
Sirius sighed quietly as he glanced at Arabella.
"All right, Harry." Arabella answered for him. "You can see her. But Sirius or I will have to be with you."
"No!" Harry spoke up quickly.
"Harry..."
"If one of you is there, she may not tell the truth. She'll say what she thinks you want to hear. Anything to make herself look innocent."
"You sound like you already know her answer." Sirius observed.
Harry stood for a moment, staring at the door they had taken Katlin through a few minutes before.
"I have to know the truth, Sirius." He replied in a whisper. "I just have to."
"Why is it so important to you? Tell me that." Sirius asked in the same quiet tone.
"Because if she lied...if this was all just some...trap, then I'll know better what they're capable of. And I'll never trust another Deatheater as long as I live."
Sirius sighed quietly to himself. He glanced once more at Arabella, who gave him a slow, cautious nod.
"All right, Harry." He said. "I'll see what I can do. But there are no guarantees. The ministry may not allow it."
Harry only nodded in reply.
They had to let him see her.
And it had to be alone.
(SCENE CHANGE)
Harry hardly caught more than a few hours sleep that night. But it wasn't for lack of trying but more for the effort he put in to stay awake.
Laying in his bed he listened to the castle settle down. Well into three in the morning he finally slipped silently out of bed, and headed out the door of the room he was placed in, and headed down the corridor.
His course was painfully slow as he jumped at nearly every sound. More than anything he wished he had his father's map to help guide him. But it was locked in his trunk at Arabella's house. So all he had to rely on was his hearing and his eyes.
After what seemed like an eternity he made it to the humpbacked witch's statue. Slowly he opened the door to the secret passage and hurried down the stairs. If he was right, what he was looking for was somewhere in the passage. And he only had a few precious hours to find it.
(SCENE CHANGE)
The next day Arabella woke Harry up earlier than his usual time.
"Come on, Harry." She stated, coming over and opening the curtains to his room, letting the first rays of the morning sun shine in. "Time to get up."
Harry squinted against the bright light as he glanced at his alarm clock.
"But it's only eight." He stated, falling back on the bed. "Why do I have to get so early?"
"Sirius and I are taking you to the ministry today."
Harry sat straight up in his bed. "They're going to allow me to see Katlin?"
Arabella came over and sat on the edge of his bed.
"Yes." She replied softly, meeting his eager stare. "And they agreed to allow you to see her alone. Something I think Dumbledore had a lot to do with."
"Dumbledore?"
"Yes. He's been strongly advocating the Ministry sparing Katlin the Kiss. To give her a life sentence in Azkaban instead. Though for the life of me, I can't say why. But Sirius and I are to take you there this morning and you'll be allowed a brief visit with her. Then she will be taken to Azkaban. But Harry," Arabella added, taking his hands in her's as she stared at them for a minute, then slowly turned her eyes to meet her godson's stare, "I want you to listen very carefully to me. Katlin Griss is a very dangerous woman."
"I know that, Arabella."
Arabella tugged lightly at his hands. "Harry, just listen."
Harry nodded.
"She is very dangerous. Even more so now. She knows where she's going and she knows what is likely going to happen to her. She will do anything she has to to get out of that jail cell before that. And you are going to be her greatest, and likely last, opportunity to do so. So you listen very carefully to me, and you remember what I tell you. You don't go anywhere close to her cell, you understand? You stay with your back to the opposite wall. Talk to her all you want, but don't you go anywhere near those bars. If she gets a hold of you, you are likely dead. You understand? All you are to her is a means to an end. Once you've served your purpose, you are a burden, and she will get rid of you without a thought. So, my little one," she added, letting go of one of his hands as she wrapped her fingers under his chin, holding his face as she met his stare with a fierce determination born of her own experience and fear for her godson, "you stay away from her, you understand?"
Harry nodded as much as he could under Arabella grip.
"If anything happens to you in there, Sirius and I will never forgive ourselves for having let you go there. And that woman will be just as dead. Because we will both hunt her down and leave nothing but ashes for the wind to scatter."
Harry pulled back slowly from Arabella grip as she released it. Her tone had frightened him just a little. Arabella's voice had always been so soft spoken. So kind and solicitous. But now it was hard and cold. With an edge to it that left no room for doubt in Harry's mind she meant every word.
"I'll be careful, Arabella." Was all he could think to say to her in reply.
"All right then." She said in her usual gentle voice once again. She leaned forward and kissed his forehead as she got up. "Come downstairs and have some breakfast. We'll leave right after that."
Harry couldn't deny he was nervous as they led him down the corridor to the holding cells. Although the corridor was lined with small cells, it remained absolutely silent. Every cell was empty now. The wizards out front had explained that the other prisoners had been moved as a precaution, leaving Katlin as the only resident of that hallway. She was placed in the last cell at the end of the corridor, and several magic barriers had been erected down the hallway to keep her from escaping should she get out. As they stopped for the guard to lift the last barrier, Harry almost asked if all the precautions weren't a bit of over-kill for one prisoner. But he didn't want to do or say anything that would make them think he didn't appreciate the gravity of the situation. If that happened, it was less likely they would allow him to be alone in the hallway to talk to her.
As they approached the cell, Harry glanced around the guard in front of him. Inside the small cell Katlin sat on a short, narrow bench, showing no sign at all that she even knew anyone was there. She was dressed now, not in her usual black Deatheater robes, but in a plain, simple gray one. Her long auburn hair fell around her shoulders like a silk veil.
But it was the expression on her face that caught Harry the most. Even at the darkest, most imperiled times of their escape from the lair did Katlin ever look so lost or hopeless as she did now. Her face was very pale, and she looked as though she hadn't slept for days on end. Her two violet eyes stared absently in front of her as though she were completely lost in thought, somewhere a thousand miles away from where she actually was. The only thing that seemed out of place was her smile. It was a very small, oddly sad sort of smile that only added to her forelorned expression.
"Griss!" The guard practically yelled her name as he hit the bars with a small bar he was carrying.
Katlin jumped slightly. Harry had no doubt whatsoever that she honestly hadn't noticed they were there.
"You have a visitor."
Katlin's attention shifted to Harry. He had hoped seeing him would change her expression a little, but it didn't. The same sad look met his eyes as the guard kept talking. "Fifteen minutes. No more. You know the rules. No contact."
Harry nodded as he watched the guard head back down the corridor.
"It's very kind of you to come and see me, Harry." Katlin said as Harry watched the guard out of the corner of his eye. But he finally turned his full attention to Katlin as he heard the door close down the corridor.
"You looked a million miles away." He said softly. "I don't even think you noticed when we were standing in front of you."
Katlin gave him the same sad smile that had been on her lips then. "I wasn't." She replied. "I was thinking of someone else. And how they were feeling right now."
"Who was that?"
Katlin's smile grew that much sadder. "My husband."
Harry looked shocked. "You're married?"
The small laugh that answered him surprised Harry. "Didn't imagine that in your wildest dreams? A married Deatheater?" She asked. But the laugh had died as quickly as it had come. "Well, I am, Harry. But I haven't seen my husband in...in what seems like forever."
"Does he know what's happened?"
Katlin nodded slowly as she turned her face to the ground. "I'm sure he does. There's no way he wouldn't know."
Harry had to strain to hear her as her voice grew quieter. "Is he a Deatheater too?"
Katlin shook her head slightly. Harry thought he saw her lips move, but he didn't hear the audible answer.
Katlin fell silent again for a few moments. "When you first came, I was sitting here...thinking of how he felt. How frightened he must be. Knowing there is no way he can help me. Nothing he can do. He must be terrified."
Her voice trailed off on the last few words to the point that, again, Harry barely hear them at all.
"You really love him a lot, don't you?"
Katlin turned her face back to him, quickly wiping her hands over her face as she forced a smile across her lips. "You have no idea." She replied in as normal sounding a voice as she could manage. "And that still isn't half as much as he has loved me." Her voice faltered slightly as she fought hard to maintain it. "He has always loved me. Never caring about what I was, who I was, or what I may have done. He loved me unconditionally."
She paused as her hand came up to her throat. For the first time Harry noticed a small silver chain there. She slowly pulled it from beneath the neckline of the robe she wore, freeing a small pendent from underneath the material.
"I never understood why he loved me so much." She said absently as she rubbed the little piece of jewelry between her fingers. To Harry it looked like a small diamond enclosed in a circle of gold. "He never turned his back on me, or deserted me, or judged me for what I was." She went on slowly closing her eyes. "And now he is sitting in our home...alone...waiting. And the doorbell will ring, and they'll be standing there...looking so righteous and formal and pleased with themselves as they tell him oh-so-officially what they did to me, because he is someone who would be told. And they'll have no real idea what they're telling him. That they...," her voice broke for a second before she recovered it and went on, "...that they just killed his wife.
And that is how they'll leave him. Alone. And that is how he'll grieve. With no one to give him any comfort because the only ones who know...won't care."
Harry could think of absolutely nothing to say to her. Nothing that would give her any comfort from those thoughts. But as he watched her, Katlin reached behind her and unfastened the chin from around her neck. The small pendent and chain slowly slipped into her hand. She stared at it for a few seconds before she turned back to him.
"Someone would just steal this off of my body later." She said sadly. "No real point in a catatonic piece of flesh having jewelry that could be sold for good money." She held it out to him. "I want you to make sure he gets that, Harry. That is the only thing I would ask you to do for me now. Make sure my husband gets this back. It is the only small comfort I can offer him."
Without even asking or making the suggestion to Harry that he come to get it, Katlin tossed the small piece of jewelry at the bars. It went easily through them and Harry just barely managed to catch it in time.
"Who is he?" He asked as he looked over the small pendent, surprised to see it wasn't a single piece, but two. A small diamond pendent and a gold ring.
"I can't tell you that." Katlin replied softly, the smallest laugh echoing on her voice. "He'd kill me."
Harry looked back up at her. "Then how can I give it to him?"
"I didn't ask you to give it to him, just make sure he gets it."
"How do I do that?"
"Give it to your godfather."
"Sirius?" Harry asked in surprise.
"Did you recently find another one?"
Harry shook his head.
Katlin smiled slightly. "Yes. Give it to Sirius. He'll know what to do with it."
Harry was about to ask how Sirius would know what to do with the pendent when he glanced at his watch. Five minutes had already gone by. There wasn't a lot of time left.
"Katlin, can I asked you something?" Harry said, taking a few steps closer to the cell.
"Well, if you have questions, I would suggest you get to them now." She replied flatly. "I don't think I'll be much for answering them anymore in a few hours."
Harry paled slightly at the image, knowing exactly what she was referring to.
"Would you have told Voldemort about the passage?" Harry asked quickly, not sure he even wanted to know the answer.
Katlin lifted her head and stared back at him. For a long time Harry wasn't sure if she was going to answer him or not.
"That was the plan, Harry." she said finally in low, flat tone. "If you believe the story the Ministry has pieced together."
"But would you have?"
Katlin paused again as though she were deeply considering her answer. But she eventually turned the same flat expression to Harry.
"No." She answered simply.
"Why not?"
"For two reasons, Harry." She replied. "The first is simple enough to understand. Voldemort wanted me to take you from the lair and get you to show me the passage into Hogwart's. He had heard rumors of such a passage, but no real proof it existed."
Harry paled slightly at hearing her confirm so coldly what he had been told. "What made him think I did?" He managed to ask in a calm voice.
Katlin shrugged slightly. "A hope. A hunch. Call it what you will. Once that was done, I'm sure he fully expected me to kill you."
Harry pulled back slightly at the revelation. But before he could think of anything to say in answer, Katlin continued.
"For my own reasons, I couldn't let Voldemort find that passage. So, I had two problems. One, prove the passage didn't exist, and have an excuse you were still alive. The only solution I could come up with wasn't the best one I had hoped to find. But it presented itself as the only one."
"To get captured?" Harry asked in disbelief.
Katlin gave a small laugh. "Oh no. That was most definitely not part of the plan. I suspected you were in contact with someone the closer we got to the castle. Especially when your owl showed up. More so when she returned when we were in Hogsmeade."
"You knew about Hedwig at the cave?"
"Suspected. I thought I had heard an owl. When I saw you outside the cave, I felt certain something was up. And if you were communicating with someone, I didn't see it as a problem at the time. Then, once we were in the castle, the problem of what to do with you was solved. I couldn't harm you in the castle. And I suspected there would be a welcoming committee once we came out of the passage. And I was prepared for them...or at least I thought I was."
"You were going to fight."
"I was going to get out, Harry. And likely not without some damage to myself. But that would all work in my favor. Due to a little 'inside' guidance, I don't think I would have had to ki...injure too many of those I was fighting. I could have fought my way out, gotten past the anti-apparation barriers, and returned to the lair. I had planned to tell Voldemort that the passage didn't exist that you knew of. That we had had to enter the castle through the main grounds and that we had encountered the Ministry while trying to sneak back in. There had been a fight, you were whisk off to safety, and I barely managed to escape. A story all backed-up by my surely less than unharmed condition. Past that I only had punishment to get past for failing my mission. But surely a lesser evil than had I succeeded.
But the lose of my wand changed everything. Suddenly I was helpless. I had no way to fight."
"And the second reason?" Harry asked when she didn't continue.
"Not that I'm sure it'll mean anything to you, Harry, but because I promised you I wouldn't."
Harry gave her a small smile. "It means a lot to me, Katlin." He answered. Harry took a few more steps, placing himself right against the bars to the cell. "And if you had your wand, could you get out of here?" He asked quietly.
Katlin's head snapped up at the question. "If I hadn't been a fool and lost it in that blasted tunnel, yes."
Harry reached into his shirt sleeve and slipped the small piece of polished wood out and slid it up against the inside of the bar he had his hand wrapped around.
"And suppose someone found it?" He asked in a whisper.
He had swept over nearly every inch of the passageway last night trying to find the wand. He had felt certain that that had been the only place Katlin could have lost it. And his hunch had paid off nearly three hours later when he found it laying on the dirt floor near the opening at Honeydukes. Apparently it had slipped free of her robes when they had fallen and he had lost hold of his own wand.
Getting it into the jail hadn't been as hard as he had anticipated. Several days into their trek back to the school, Katlin had taught him a very complex concealment spell. She said it might come in useful along the way, but he was sure she never meant that he might need to use it to slip her wand past Ministry security. But in the end, that was just what he had used it for.
Katlin's attention fixed solidly on the wand Harry still had his hand wrapped around.
"And what is the price for that, Harry?" She asked quietly.
"I didn't asked for anything."
"Not mine. Yours."
Harry gave her a confused look.
"I didn't have it when I came here, Harry. And you're the only person who has come to see me." She said carefully. "They'll know who gave it to me."
"They searched me when I came in. I didn't have it."
Katlin smiled slightly. "And how did you manage that?"
"Someone taught me a really good concealment spell once."
Katlin's smile grew a little longer. "Such a clever boy." She replied in a soft purr of a voice.
"So they'll have no idea how you got it."
Katlin got slowly to her feet with the same feline grace she had always had and walked over to the bars. She wrapped her hand about the same bar, slipping each of her fingers carefully around the wand. "All right then," she asked softly, but all of the seductiveness out of her tone now, "what's my price?"
"One thing." Harry replied.
"What?"
"You don't hurt anyone getting out of here."
Katlin frowned. "I won't 'kill' anyone. How's that?"
Harry stared back at her as he tightened his fingers around the wand.
"They're not going to stand aside and let me walk out of here, Harry. I'll have to fight my way out. Someone is going to get hurt. But I will swear I won't try to kill anyone, all right?"
Harry held her stare for a few minutes, his fingers still wrapped tightly about the wand.
Studying him for a minute, Katlin finally sighed quietly to herself. "If you're still that uncertain about it, Harry," she said softly, slowly uncurling her fingers from about the bar, "then it's wrong." She stepped back, pulling her hand away from the bars as she let go of the wand. "Take it and leave. The concealment spell will still work if they search you again on the way out."
The door at the end of the hallway suddenly opened.
"Time." The guard announced as he headed down the hallways towards them. Harry watched the man approach, undoing the invisible barriers as he approached them. He turned quickly back to Katlin, who gave him a small, wavering smile.
"Go home to your godparents, Harry." She said gently. "And in a few hours, it'll all be over. And I don't want you to think about it anymore, all right?"
Harry stared at her through the bars, his eyes blurred with tears as he fought them back.
Harry turned to see the guard still several yards down the hallway.
"Go on, Harry." Katlin told him, also turning to see where the guard was. "Take what you have, while you still can, and go home."
Harry turned quickly back to her. "At least hug me goodbye." He said loud enough for the guard to hear.
Katlin gave him a slightly stunned look. "What?"
"Hug me goodbye." Harry repeated, his eyes quickly darting up to the wand still held against the bars.
Katlin followed his stare, then turned back to him. "You're sure?"
Harry nodded quickly.
Katlin stepped back from the bars slightly and waited patiently for the guard to arrive.
"Here!" The man announced again as he stepped up to Harry. "You're not suppose to be near the bars!"
"The boy wants a hug goodbye." Katlin stated flatly, staring at the man. "Is that allowed?"
The man seemed to consider the request.
"It would mean a lot to me." Harry stated pleadingly, blinking quickly so that a few tears brimmed over in his eyes and rolled down his cheeks.
That seemed to be all that was needed to nudge the guard enough.
"It'll have to be through the bars." He stated. "Prisoners aren't allowed out of the cell and visitors aren't allowed in."
Katlin moved carefully as not to alarm the guard by any sudden movements and slowly wrapped her hand about the bar just above Harry's.
As soon as Harry felt her hand tighten above his on the bar, he let go of the wand. Despite his actions, he still felt the nudge of uncertainty as he pulled his hand back from the bar. And letting go of the wand felt like the hardest thing he had ever done. No matter what, he realized at that moment that there was no turning back any longer. Whatever happened, he would irrevocably be a part of it.
But just the same, keeping with the pretense, Harry slipped his arms through the bars and wrapped them tightly about Katlin's thin waist. And though he tried, he couldn't stop his body from tensing a little as he felt her slip her free arm about his upper body and pull him gently against the bars. Visions of her in Azkaban assaulted him and sent a wave of fear through him.
But just as quickly Katlin let him go.
Stepping back, Harry stared up at her.
"Now go home, Harry." She stated simply, almost eager, it seemed to Harry, for him to be gone.
As Harry continued to stare at her, he noticed her fingers working around the bar. Knowing what he was looking for, he realized that she was carefully shifting the wand's position so that it was completely out of the guard's line of sight. And thankfully, due to it's dark coloring, it blended in well with the dark steel color of the bar.
Harry turned to the guard, and to his sudden panic, noted that the man was carefully looking over the cell, making sure nothing was amiss.
Suddenly he understood why Katlin had sounded so eager for him to leave. She needed him to distract the guard.
Harry turned abruptly and hurried around the man, headed quickly away from the cell.
"All right then," he heard the man saying behind him as he continued down the hallway, "no need to rush."
Harry turned around. To his relief, the guard was following closely after him. He gave one last glance down the hallway to Katlin's cell. But she was no where in sight. Not even her hand on the bar was visible anymore, and Harry wondered, as the first barrier was taken down, if she was already working on her escape.
(SCENE CHANGE)
That night, Harry came downstairs to the livingroom to find Sirius sitting on the sofa. He had heard Arabella go up to bed a few minutes before, so he was certain he would find Sirius alone.
"Sirius?" Harry asked as he came into the livingroom.
Sirius turned about on the couch.
"It's a bit past your bedtime isn't it, Harry?" He asked, glancing at the clock on the wall.
"I needed to talk to you for a minute." Harry replied, sitting himself on the sofa next to his godfather.
"Couldn't you have done this at dinner?"
Harry shook his head. "I wanted to talk to you alone."
Sirius gave him a concerned look. "All right, Harry." He replied. "What's on your mind?"
Harry slowly reached into his pocket and pulled out Katlin's necklace. He held it up for Sirius to see.
"Katlin Griss gave that to me in the jail." He stated simply.
Sirius eyed the small necklace, but made no move to take it from his godson. "Why?" He asked.
Harry paused for a moment, then turned to Sirius. "She asked me to make sure her husband got it. And she said...that you would know who to give it to."
Sirius continued to stare at the small pendent as it gently reflected the light of the fire burning in the fireplace.
"Did she say why I would know this man?" Sirius asked in a low, careful tone.
Harry shook his head. "She only said you would know who to give it to." Harry replied as he looked up at his godfather. "Do you?" He asked.
Sirius stared at the small pendent for a moment longer, then slowly reached up and took it from Harry's hand. A very sad expression settling on his features.
"Yes." He said quietly. "I know who to give it to. Though I wish with all my heart I didn't have to. It will simply kill him to be given this. I know it will."
"Who is he?" Harry asked without thinking.
But Sirius simply continued to stare at the pendent now laying in his hand.
"It's not important now, Harry." He replied in the same sad, quiet voice. "But you did what she asked, and I'm sure Katlin would have appreciated you keeping your word."
Harry sat for a few minutes with Sirius. Though he got the definite feeling that the room could have been filled with people and Sirius wouldn't have noticed one of them. It wasn't the same silence his godfather had fallen into at the school. This one was more poignant. So much so that Harry could practically feel the foreboding that filled the room.
"I'm going to go to bed then." Harry said finally, not being able to think of anything else to say to Godfather. "I'll see you in the morning."
"Goodnight, Harry." Sirius replied blankly.
Long after Harry had gone up to bed, Sirius still sat on the couch staring at the small pendent in his hand. He didn't even seem to notice when Arabella came in and seated herself next to him.
"It's very pretty." she commented, looking over his arm at the little pendent.
"It's Katlin's." Sirius replied in a vacant, hollow voice.
"Why do you have it?"
"Katlin gave it to Harry. She asked him to give it to me."
"What for?"
Sirius closed his hand over the small pendent, closing his eyes as he raised his head. "She wants me to give it to Orion."
"To Orion? Why?"
Sirius turned to her, the pain in his eyes still so clearly evident. "This was her only necklace, Arabella. She never wore any other. Orion told me it was the first thing he ever gave her. And she loved it more than anything else. And..." Sirius paused for a moment as he choked back his voice, "...and Orion had enchanted it..., so that it did several things. One of them was that it always allowed him to find her. No matter where she was."
Arabella stared at his closed fist. "Then why did she give it to Harry?" She asked quietly.
Sirius shook his head. "To protect him." He whispered. "She doesn't want him risking his life to try and save her. She would rather die than have that happen."
Arabella wrapped her arm tightly about his. "She must love your brother a great deal." She whispered softly.
A small tear lighted down Sirius' cheek. "And I never realized until tonight just how much. I always believed she had coerced Orion into marrying her. For his money, his status, his position, for the things he could do for her. But never once did I think..." His voice trailed off slowly.
"...that it could be for love?" Arabella finished for him.
Sirius slowly nodded. "It was so much easier believing otherwise." His hand tightened about the small pendent and it's gold companion.
Arabella laid her head against his arm, staring at his closed hand. "What are you going to do?"
Sirius didn't answer her as he sat in silence for a long while. Finally he got to his feet and started for the door.
"Sirius?" she asked after him.
He turned back to her.
"What are you going to do?" she asked again.
Sirus tossed the small pendent into the air a few inches, then caught it tightly back in his hand.
"I'm going to see my brother." he replied resolutely, then headed out the door.
Q&A
Skahducky:
Dang, if you didn't hit the jackpot of good questions this time!
Let me see hw many I can answer.
Why wouldn't' the Aurors listen to Harry? Because the moment he stuck his head out of the witch's back in the corridor inside Hogwart's, Sirius grabbed him, hauled him out of the way, and clamped a hand over his mouth.
I didn't see them attacking Katlin after Harry told them his story either. Problem was, he never got to.
You have a point about Deatheaters trying to leave Voldemort thinking twice after what happened to Katlin. However, keep in mind that the Ministry isn't exactly publishing this in the Daily Prophet yet. First they want to get her to Azkaban, then they'll celebrate. I mean, they're terribly excited they captured her, sure, but no one is exactly running up volunteering for guard duty with her. Too many Aurors know the lady and know just what she is capable of, especially Orion's boss.
OK, now we go from, 'Gee, those are interesting questions' to 'Now how do I answer this?'.
First off, you say 'Sirius had to have listened to what Harry said'. What makes you think so, Dear? I mean, yes, that's an overall good assumption, it just isn't the right one. Sirius, in fact, did not listen to one word Harry said, because Harry didn't get to say a lot. The minute the boy stuck his head out of the witch's back, he was grabbed and gotten out of harms way. After that, Sirius kept a hand firmly over the boy's mouth. The reason for that (and yes, there was one) is spelled out in Family Relations. As a matter of fact, I can almost guarantee that by chapter ten of Family Relations a lot of people are going to be going back and re-reading the last chapters of Family Life, Runaway, and the first few chapters of Family Relations, looking for what they didn't see the first time. There is so much there that you can really read the stories two ways. You can read it based on what you see the situation as being, and based on what is really going on.
Now, secondly, why didn't he help? Goodness, where to start? Several reasons. One, we just refer back to the fact that you don't have all the pieces of the puzzle yet. That is the main reason, which, since it figures into the next story, sorry, I can't tell you. You'll just have to wait for Family Relations. Next, setting that point aside, lets consider a few
other options. Like the fact Sirius is an Auror and Katlin is a Deatheater. Next, the fact she is married to his brother, another point of contention between them. She weaseled her way into his family, tries to pass herself off as respectable, shows up at the family Christmas dinner, dares to insinuate that she actually 'loves' his brother, and then manipulates the poor man for all she's worth, kidnapped his godson, placed him in direct danger, and through it all has the audacity to look him in the eye.
Simply put, he doesn't like her very much.
Hence, he is not very motivated to help her.
Ah, easy question now.
Where did Katlin's wand go? That was answered in this chapter. Simply put, she dropped it when she stumbled over Harry in the tunnel. With Harry dropping his wand, Katlin was distracted into never considering she might have lost her own as well.
Thank you for the questions, Dear. I always enjoy answering them.
All reviews are as of 04/10/2005.
And remember;
Complain to yourself.
Satisfaction guaranteed.
