A/N: Now, I want to remind everyone, I have planned this chapter since before I ever posted any of this story. The framework of this chapter has been sitting on my computer since last December. Nothing anyone has said in any review or anything that happened in OotP had any influence on my plans for this chapter.
This was a particularly difficult chapter to write. (You'll understand after you read.) I hope everything came out right. Of course, I doubt you'll notice any flaws in the communication of the event once you read what happens…you'll be too busy flaming me.
Chapter 19
Kathryn breathed a sigh of relief as she saw David and Courtney emerge, David's arm around Courtney's shoulder. Both had obviously been crying, but it looked like they had worked things out. She stood from the couch as they walked in and asked just one question, "Are you coming to Hogwarts?"
Kathryn's heart sank as she saw a trapped look cross his face. She felt her previous anger re-emerge. However, before she could say anything Courtney spoke up, "No he is not coming, but it's okay Mum."
Kathryn looked hard at her daughter and then said in a soft voice, "Courtney, run on back upstairs. I need to talk to your father."
Courtney gave her father a quick hug and then went back to her room. David followed Kathryn to the library with some trepidation.
After the door closed Kathryn turned and addressed her husband in a hard tone, "I told you to work out your problems, not convince Courtney that it was okay for you to duck this responsibility. You have no excuse! You have no reason not to go. This is your responsibility and duty as a parent to support your children. You will come with us; this is your family David!"
"No! You don't understand, I can't go to Hogwarts!" David shouted.
"Then tell me why!"
David stopped short, looking terrified, then he plopped down in a chair and covered his face. Kathryn stood glaring at him with her arms folded across her chest. Then, still looking at his hands he spoke softly, "Do you remember when you asked me why I had no friends and I answered that it was because my friends betrayed me? That I had been expelled from school and kicked out of the community?"
Kathryn slowly unfolded her arms and sat down, waiting for her husband to continue. It was not often that he talked about his past and Kathryn had respected that for a long time. If he was going to talk about it now she would listen without interrupting.
"Kathryn, the school I was expelled from was Hogwarts. It was the wizarding world that betrayed me. My friends? They all thought the worst of me when I needed them the most. That is why this is so hard. Do you remember what I was like when you first met me? Do you remember how long it took me to function like a normal human being? That is what the wizarding world did to me. I cannot go back to Hogwarts Kathryn, I am not ready."
To say Kathryn was stunned or amazed would be a gross understatement. She sat there for a long time simply staring, not moving, not making a sound. Then she said in a quivery voice, "You're a wizard?"
David nodded.
Kathryn shook her head in confusion, "Why did you never tell me?" There was a hint of anger as she looked at him in disbelief.
David looked at his hands once more, "I wanted to forget. I wanted to completely put that life behind me; I wanted to forget I ever held a wand. I wanted to runaway from what happened. I succeeded for sixteen years. And then…." He trailed off and stood up. He walked over to the window and, while still looking out at the dark night, said, "I don't know where I belong, Kathryn. I don't know who I am."
Kathryn joined him at his side and said softly, "You are David Barnes and you belong with your family."
David looked down at his wife, emotions racing across his face. He kissed her gently and then turned to leave the library.
"David, one last time, will you come to Hogwarts?"
David, halfway to the door, turned around to look at her, "I'm sorry Kathryn. I can't."
Courtney could tell there had been was a slight uneasiness between her parents for the past few days, but her father had told informed her that Kathryn now knew he was a wizard, but that he was still not going to go to Hogwarts.
Her father. Harry Potter.
It still boggled her mind. She had come to love and respect Harry Potter as a friend. She had turned to him when her own father had hurt her. To find out that they were one and the same person…. She shook her head as she finished folding her robes and placed them in her trunk. She reflected briefly on her feelings the day after Christmas. Her first reaction to her father's revelation, to his surprise as well as her own, was not anger, but gratitude. As she thought about it, she realized that it was because she had finally known that her father truly did love her. That he didn't hate her. That he was trying for her sake. He was fighting his personal demons because he loved her. True, he had hit a stumbling block at the moment, a rather large one known as Hogwarts, but now that she knew the truth, all of it, she could be patient with him.
"Courtney, Mummy thays to hurry," Michael lisped through his missing teeth. Courtney nodded and stacked her books in her trunk. Then she stood up (shaking her asleep legs) and closed and locked it. Michael helped her drag it downstairs.
Her mother helped her take it to the car while her father helped Michael into the car and got it warmed up. They rode in silence to King's Cross, until Courtney, inexplicably, started giggling.
Kathryn turned around in her seat and raised one eyebrow while David glanced back at her through his rearview mirror.
"Sorry!" she managed through her giggles, "I just realized something!" She attempted to calm herself and once she had been marginally successful, she addressed her father, "Dad, do you know what the Sorting Hat was talking about when it said I had a rare talent?" She needed to confirm her suspicions.
David grimaced, "You're a parselmouth, like me. That is what the Hat was talking about."
Courtney nodded and smiled, No wonder Snape had been acting strangely! She had just realized she must have been speaking in parseltongue when she had her detention with him.
"What's a parselmouth?" Kathryn asked, slightly annoyed.
"A person who can talk to snakes," David and Courtney answered in unison.
~~**~~
Courtney waved one last time to her family before she crossed the barrier of Platform 9 ¾. On the other side she quickly joined up with the Weasley clan and found a car. As the train started moving she pulled Jennifer aside and asked her, "Did you tell anyone?"
Jennifer scowled, "No I did not tell my father if that is what you are worried about. I made the mistake of talking to Uncle George first and he has now blackmailed me into not saying anything. Added to that is the threat of me being the guinea pig for some of the WWW's newest stock. So, no, I thought it prudent to not tell my father."
Courtney bit her lip in order to keep herself from laughing. Jennifer haughtily joined the rest of the compartment and didn't look at Courtney for the entire journey back to Hogwarts.
That evening after dinner the Headmaster, now looking as healthy as ever, announced that parents and families would be arriving in two days. He asked them all to be on their best behavior as the school Governors would be there as well as a number of Ministry Officials.
"Tomorrow you will all be given schedules," he continued, "for your classes this week. Some classes will be normal length, others will be shortened and others will be canceled all together. Let me also remind you older students—you are expected to attend the presentations as well. If you opt not to come you will remain in a class room for a teacher-supervised study period." There were a few groans from the upper years at this. "And now, I bid you all goodnight!"
The students all trudged upstairs, tired from the long journey that day. Courtney fell asleep, dreaming of playing wizards chess with her father.
The next morning at breakfast Professor McGonagall handed out schedules to each of them. Courtney noticed that they had all their classes today. The periods were shortened considerably, but they would be seeing all their teachers. In History though, they all received some unpleasant news.
"Over the holiday we made a slight change in the presentation schedule." Hermione announced, "We decided to go in random order. Your names were chosen out of a hat and that is the order you will be presenting in." Then she proceeded to pass out slips on which their assigned times were written.
There was a very loud exclamation of anger from Gary Patil as he discovered that, far from being safely in the middle, he would be the first person to present. Courtney, encouraged by the fact that she was not first, looked at her slip.
January 5, 2:00 pm.
So she wouldn't be going until the second day of presentations*. She breathed a sigh of relief as she looked around at the others' reactions. Angela was giving her mother death glares. Evidently, Angela had been looking forward to being second (Caleb was supposed to have gone first) but she would now be presenting dead last.
The rest of the day passed in somewhat of a blur for the first year students who were (if they had not been already) getting incredibly nervous. Most could be found hunched over stacks of Proctor's Perfect Speech Q-Cards (which would give verbal queues to the presenter that only he or she could hear) in their spare time. Most of them were too wound up with excitement and anxiety that evening to go to bed at a reasonable time.
However, they eventually fell asleep with thoughts of their families arriving the next evening. Courtney confessed to Angela that her father would not be coming, but Michael and her mother were. Angela huffed, asking why David Barnes was not coming and Courtney just shrugged and gave her a small little smile.
(AN: *The parents arrive on January 3. Presentations are given January 4-7 and the parents leave January 8.)
Albus sighed as he entered his office. It had been his idea to rearrange the presentation schedule. He didn't think he would be able to wait all week for the Courtney's presentation. As much fun as it would be for her presentation to be the finale, he didn't want to take any chances of particular key people not being there. He knew there were many officials who would see it a waste of time to show up the last day. There were probably some who would have come the last day but left before the Harry Potter presentation because the "knew" everything about him. No they couldn't afford for Courtney Barnes' presentation to be last.
Albus allowed himself a small smile. Yes, they had put all the names in a hat to rearrange the order—however it wasn't as random as the students had been led to believe. The "hat" had happened to be the sorting hat. Albus picked up a sherbet lemon as he walked to his rooms.
~~**~~
Kathryn's belongings were already in the living room and she was helping Michael pack a few items for their stay at Hogwarts. The six year old was far too excited about going to his sister's school to pay any attention to his mother's questions about what he wanted to take. Kathryn gave up after a few minutes and just packed whatever she felt like of his items.
In early December, they had received a note saying that Fred and Megan Weasley had volunteered to help the Barneses get to Hogwarts. Megan had telephoned her saying that they would arrive at the house at noon on January 3rd and they would use the public floo to get to Hogsmeade and from there walk up to Hogwarts. Kathryn looked distractedly at her watch and noticed that it was quarter till. She told Michael to go to the bathroom as she took his suitcase downstairs.
David was sitting in the living room. Kathryn put the luggage down beside her own and was about to go clean up Michael's room when David called her back.
"Kathryn, I need to tell you something else."
Kathryn looked at him questioningly.
"I told you I was a wizard and that much is true, but that isn't the whole story. I…," he paused a moment gathering his courage, "My real name…isn't David Barnes."
Kathryn's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"I had it legally changed to David Barnes almost seventeen years ago. My real name though…," he paused and then rushed on, "My real name is Harry Potter."
Kathryn blinked and her mouth dropped open, "B…but isn't that who Courtney is doing her project on? The one who gave her that company?" her voice got progressively higher in pitch as she spoke.
David nodded, his face very red. Kathryn closed her eyes and shook her head, visibly upset. "I can't deal with this right now, David, Harry, whatever your name is." Then she stomped out of the living room and gathered Michael from upstairs.
A few minutes later the doorbell rang and David invited the Weasleys in and went to fetch Kathryn. She was helping Michael tie his shoes. He spoke from the doorway, "Tell Courtney good luck from me, please."
Kathryn looked up at him and nodded thinking to herself that he should do so in person. "Fred and Megan are downstairs.' Kathryn stood, having just finished tying Michael's shoes. She sighed and looked at her husband, "David, if you end up deciding to come, don't pretend not to have a way to get there." It was a parting plea.
David kissed his wife and gave Michael a hug and then retreated to his study while they left with the Weasleys.
~~**~~
The castle was full of bustling students and adults. Parents and other family members were arriving at various times through various means. Most of the muggle parents would be arriving that afternoon on the Hogwarts Express. However, Courtney eagerly awaited her mother's and brother's arrival along with Caleb who was waiting for his parents.
A little before one o'clock the Weasley/Barnes part arrived at the front odor. Hermione greeted them as Caleb and Courtney hurried over.
"Kathryn and Michael, you will be rooming in some quarters near the entrance to Gryffindor tower. Fred and Megan, you'll be rooming with the Ministry Personnel."
Fred looked offended, "Hey! I'm off duty."
Hermione grinned evilly, "Too bad. We don't have enough room to put you elsewhere and you technically are Ministry. Anyway, Courtney, would you please show your family up to the room?"
Courtney nodded eagerly and directed Michael and Kathryn up the many flights of stairs.
(A/N: I just realized how much I would hate to go to Hogwarts. I hate stairs. I have to walk up 90 or so steps each morning to go to class. Grrr, not fun. Especially when I am not used to the altitude and really out of shape.)
Hermione watched as Courtney happily led her mother and brother up the stairs. The smile on her face faltered a moment.
"Something wrong, Hermione?" asked the Headmaster at her side, startling her.
She sighed, "I was just thinking how glad I am that my parents were supportive of me coming to Hogwarts. Courtney is such a wonderful girl. It just frustrates me that her father is too short-sighted to see the opportunities that this brings to her."
Albus was quiet for a moment and then he said softly, "Give David the benefit of the doubt, Hermione. I doubt he is acting without reason. Do not be too harsh in your judgment of him." Then the headmaster smiled warmly as he greeted the incoming group of school governors.
~~**~~
That evening the Great Hall was bursting at the seams. Even with all the careful planning for temporary expansions there still seemed to be no room. However, no one was complaining about crashing elbows; they were all enjoying a scrumptious meal.
As the leftovers disappeared from the dishes (much to the delight of the muggles in attendance) Professor Dumbledore stood and addressed the crowd, "Welcome parents, siblings, alumni, governors, Ministry personnel, and other guests. This is the first time Hogwarts has had the honor of hosting many of you and we hope to meet with your approval. I encourage those of you unfamiliar with our school to ask any questions you might have, or ask one of our House prefects for a tour of an area. I would ask that all those who are new to our facilities to always have someone with you who knows the castle. I now excuse all students above the first year to return to their common rooms."
The older students quickly exited the hall, as asked. "Now, I would ask all of you to please stand up," the assembly did so and Dumbledore clapped his hands making the tables disappear, soft musical strains started to filter through the air, "and," continued Dumbledore, "I invite you to get to know each other. Parents, get to know the teachers; students, meet the governors, but please, enjoy yourselves. Drinks are at the south end of the hall should you find yourselves thirsty."
Everyone immediately started chattering, but Kathryn caught Courtney's arm and pulled her into a corner as Michael found some other children his age, "Courtney," she said softly, "your father told me…," Kathryn paused while Courtney looked at her expectantly. After seeing her mother wasn't going to continue her sentence, she prompted, "Told you what?" A small grain of hope started to grow in Courtney. Had her father perhaps told her more than the fact that he was a wizard?
"He told me that he is Harry Potter." Kathryn said in a rush.
Courtney broke into a wide grin, ecstatic that he had done so, confirming Kathryn's suspicions that she already knew. "Can you…can you tell me more about him?" It hurt Kathryn a lot that she was asking her daughter about her husband's life, but she wanted to know more about the past that David had hidden for so long.
Courtney bit her lip and then nodded, "How about later tonight?"
Kathryn nodded as she saw Megan and Fred approach. Just before they came within hearing range, Courtney whispered, "Don't tell anyone else!" Kathryn glanced at her and then nodded.
The rest of the night went splendidly. However, by the time the opening social ended, both Courtney and Kathryn were exhausted and decided to talk the next morning.
~~**~~
Early in the morning Michael (along with all the other siblings who were to young to attend the presentations) was dropped off at the "Day Care" center they had come up with for the duration of the visits. Kathryn and Courtney asked to take breakfast in the room where Kathryn was staying.
"What do you want to know about Dad?" Courtney asked after she had eaten a little bit.
Kathryn sighed, "I don't even know where to begin. Your father has always been so…closed about his past. I guess…just start with his parents."
So Courtney told her mother about James Potter and Lily Evans and how Harry became the "Boy-Who-Lived" and was sent to his aunt's house. Kathryn's eyes widened and she started to chuckle. Courtney looked at her strangely.
"Petunia Dursley is his aunt? Courtney—David bought out the company Grunnings a few years ago and gave Vernon Dursley a 'forced retirement.' For some reason he took particular pleasure in that and I could never figure it out because David was never one to participate in the ruination of someone else's business."
Courtney laughed and took a sip of orange juice (obtained by special request from the house-elves).
~~**~~
Courtney and Kathryn weren't bale to talk about much else before breakfast ended. Presentations began right after breakfast with Gary's project on Ptolemy. The Great Hall had been transformed into an auditorium with a raised platform at the far end. The projects continued throughout the day interspersed with other types of presentations, some catered to the muggle parents, other for the witches and wizards. It was a very packed day and Kathryn and Courtney only had a few minutes to talk before Michael came to the room and regaled them with all the fun he had had that day.
Courtney went to bed that night with butterflies in her stomach as her presentation time approached. She didn't know what was going to happen the next day. How would people react? What was she getting herself into? It was starting to scare her. Jennifer's warning about legal trouble wandered through her mind. Professor Dumbledore's advice not to share the information about Draco Malfoy rang in her mind as well. Then she remembered all the encouragement she had received from Fred, George, Ron, Hermione, Sirius, Dumbledore and finally Harry himself. Her father.
Why was this task hers? If they could all encourage her to do this, why couldn't they do it themselves? All of them had lived with this for sixteen years, why was she the one to finally do something?
Professor Dumbledore's words came to mind. We have not changed much. We are still narrow-minded and selfish, without the slightest idea of what our potential is. We are afraid of change and strike at anything that is different or new. Perhaps, if Harry had stayed we would have been able to change our ways. Seeing our mistake right in front of us, it might have forced us to change. But we chose the easy way, to forget, to pretend it didn't happen. Perhaps you have the courage to show us the error of our ways.
Courtney sighed. It didn't really matter now that no one else had done what was needed. She would do it.
She was trying to change the world.
~~**~~
Courtney said little the next morning and as the time approached two o'clock she became more nervous. Pretty soon, one of the first year Slytherins was wrapping up her presentation and Hermione was standing before the audience.
"We will have a fifteen minute break and then Courtney Barnes of Gryffindor will present her project on Harry Potter."
Courtney didn't leave her seat during the break. A few people, including the Headmaster came up to her and wished her luck She smiled gratefully at them and sifted apprehensively through her notes. This was it.
"Courtney," the young girl's head shot up to look at her mother's face.
"Sorry, Mum, I'm just really tense."
Kathryn briefly embraced her daughter and said "You'll do fine."
"Mum, I'm sorry I didn't get to tell you everything about Harry," she didn't dare say "Dad" with so many people around, "You shouldn't have to hear this in a presentation like this."
Kathryn marveled at her daughter's maturity, that she could grasp that pain in Kathryn's heart so easily. That was exactly what was bugging her. It should have been her husband himself telling her. But, it was painfully obvious that he had never had any intention of sharing this past with her, or anyone. So she would have to make do with listening to her husband's life, told by her daughter.
At least she would finally know.
~~**~~
Hermione caught the Headmaster's eye. The blue eyes twinkled in anticipation at what was about to happen. Hermione gave a small smile and then waved her wand to magnify her voice.
"Please, everyone return to your seats. We will now continue with Courtney Barnes."
There were polite claps in the audience as Courtney stepped up to the platform, clutching her notes. She was terrified. Taking a deep breath she looked at all the people.
Right there in the front row sat the Minister of Magic, his entourage, as well as all the Governors of Hogwarts. Her mother sat with Fred, Megan and their two older children about halfway back. George was farther back. Right behind George she saw a row of people, almost all of whom had red hair, presumably all Weasley relatives. Among them, she recognized Angela's grandparents whom she had met at the opening social. Her teachers stood lining the walls. A few aurors stood at the back.
This was it! She opened her mouth and began.
~~**~~
A number of people shifted bored in their seats as the girl stepped up looking as though she was about to pass out. Great, another nervous kid, they thought. Even worse, they got to hear again about Harry Potter. The same boring facts that were told every few months in the Daily Prophet. The same story they told their kids whenever they asked about Harry Potter.
Sure enough, after the girl took a deep breath, she started, "I'm sure you have all heard the story of Harry Potter…."
~~**~~
Courtney relaxed slightly as she recited the story that Hermione had told them the first day of class in her Magical Studies class. Most of the people looked bored. Good she thought, they don't suspect a thing.
She finished the summary, which took less than two minutes and took a deep breath before plunging in.
"Now, that is the story as it was taught to me in class. I found it interesting because I could see a number of holes in the story. I was puzzled that the library had so little information on someone who obviously played such a pivotal role in the wizarding world. So I began doing some investigating of my own. I couldn't turn up much information. I almost gave up. Then I thought, Why would Harry Potter leave the wizarding world completely for something like being wrongfully accused? To me it didn't make sense. Prison might be bad, it might be awful, but it didn't seem like enough to give someone the desire to completely turn their back on a total way of life.
"I was doing some other homework one day in the library when I discovered one small piece of information that had been concealed from everyone. The fact that dementors used to guard Azkaban. In fact, Aurors only started guarding Azkaban fifteen years ago. Since the fall of Grindlewald dementors had guarded the prison.
"For those of you who do not know, dementors are creatures that suck out good emotions. They feed off happiness and light. They leave their victims with only bad memories, dark thoughts and despair. Most prisoners would go insane after a few months, left only with the most miserable of feelings, wallowing in pain, stripped of any memory that good exists."
Courtney could see some of her fellow students were astonished at this information. Some adults were looking at each other a little bit uneasy. Courtney smiled inwardly and continued, "Harry Potter first encountered a dementor when he was thirteen. That was the year the infamous mass murderer, Sirius Black escaped from prison and dementors were sent to Hogwarts. Harry encountered one on the train. That year, every time Harry encountered a dementor, he would hear his parents' last moments, hear Voldemort murder them," she noticed that some of the people in the hall shivered slightly at the name, old habits die hard she mused and continued, "I wonder why none of this is ever taught at Hogwarts. Why we are taught that Albus Dumbledore defeated Voldemort and Harry Potter helped? Why are we not taught about the farce of a trial that condemned an fifteen-year-old to Azkaban? I concluded that the wizarding world is full of cowards. Too weak to tell the truth, too spineless to face up to its mistakes."
A number of people looked angry at her words. Kathryn was staring wide-eyed at her daughter. Percy Weasley was frowning rather worriedly.
"I finally found out the entire story of Harry Potter. And I will tell you the true story now. After his parents' deaths, Harry was sent to live with his mother's sister and her family. He grew up unloved and neglected. He never had any friends until he turned eleven. His very first friend was Rubeus Hagrid, the same person he was framed for killing."
Courtney told the story of her father's first year. She noticed the expressions on the ministry officials' faces and decided to speed up her story.
"In his second year Harry killed the Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets saving Ginny Weasley Finch-Fletchley's life in the process. His third year was somewhat less adventurous, yet he managed to stop Sirius Black from receiving the dementor's kiss. Harry 's fourth year, the year of the Tri-Wizard tournament was his worst up to that point. At the end of the year he and another student, Cedric Diggory, were transported away from the school. Cedric was murdered right in front of Harry's eyes and he was forced to participate in the resurrection of the Dark Lord. He was tied to a headstone in a cemetery as he watched Peter Pettigrew, the same man that betrayed his parents, cut off his own hand and then turn and steal some of his own blood. He saw Voldemort rise from that cauldron and thought for sure that he was going to die that night. He didn't die, thanks to Priori Incantatem, he came back to Hogwarts, carrying the dead body of Cedric Diggory. He was fourteen."
"The summer after his fourth year was filled with horrendous nightmares, as his scar showed him what Voldemort did. He witnessed many murders and other horrible things," Courtney paused as she saw her mother get up and quickly leave the room. Megan Weasley followed her a moment later. She looked at her audience. The students and the other who did not know the truth were listening eagerly. Everyone else, save the teachers that knew about her correspondence, looked surprised, and a little bit scared.
"Worse, the minister of the time, Cornelius Fudge refused to believe Voldemort was back. Harry's fifth year was awful, due to his frequent visions. In October the ministry was forced to acknowledge Voldemort's rebirth. In January Harry was framed for murder by Peter Pettigrew and a number of other Death Eaters who engineered his disappearance into the Forbidden Forest that—"
"Silence!" commanded a loud voice. Courtney looked down to see a very pale and frightened looking Draco Malfoy standing from his seat in the front row, pointing his wand at her. She closed her mouth. She had actually been expecting someone to stop her long before now. Percy Weasley immediately stood and walked up to the platform. He gripped Courtney's shoulder and addressed the audience, "We will have to cut Miss Barnes' presentation short. We invite you all to take a short break." Then he turned towards Courtney, "Miss Barnes, I would like to talk with you."
Meanwhile, Courtney could see Draco Malfoy talking hurriedly to some aurors and to the man she remembered being introduced as the head of Magical Law Enforcement. Then the group approached the Headmaster and escorted him out of the Great Hall. She allowed Percy Weasley to guide her off the stage.
They walked through the Great Hall and into a room on the side. Courtney noticed a number of people following them. As Percy motioned her to have a seat at the table in the room, Fred and George both entered, as well as two other Ministry officials.
~~**~~
Kathryn sat against the wall of the bathroom she had run to. She had thrown up a few minutes ago and was now contemplating what Courtney had said about her husband's life.
On the first day a child had presented his project on Voldemort. She had become nauseous as she heard about how ruthless and horrible he had been. Everything that had been said had been vague, but just hearing the sheer number of people he had killed made her stomach turn. Today she finds out that her husband witnessed every single one of them. Those dementor thingys probably made him remember every death as well.
To grow up, unloved, neglected, to be betrayed by everyone you knew, to be tortured by memories, Kathryn shuddered. She only knew a part of her husband's story and already she was starting to understand his actions.
David was the kindest, most compassionate person she had ever met. As a doctor, he had been told never to get emotionally involved with his patients' cases. Most of the time he ignored that warning. He loved his patients. Each one of them became important to him and each one mattered. He would come home and cry when he lost a patient. He had seen so much death and destruction all his life; how did he find the strength to continue to sacrifice his heart? To continue reaching out in love even when he knew the risk of loss was there?
The door opened and Kathryn looked up to see Megan entering the room. "Kathryn, are you okay?"
She nodded and stood slowly. Megan looked at her, brow furrowed, "Why did you run out like that?"
"I just…realized something." Kathryn answered. Megan waited a moment, but then realized she wasn't going to get a better answer than that.
"Do you want to go back? Courtney is probably finished, but Caleb is presenting at 3 o'clock."
Kathryn nodded and followed her friend out of the bathroom. Not knowing the castle very well, Kathryn had gone to the bathroom closest to the room where she and Michael had been staying, so the two had quite a walk back down the stairs.
Halfway down one stairwell Kathryn's foot fell through the trick stair and Megan had to pull her out. As they reached the landing Kathryn slowed to look at a portrait she had not noticed before. It was the only picture she had seen that did not move.
Harry Potter.
Looking at it she realized, finally, where Michael got his looks. The black hair and stunning green eyes of the portrait, with the lightning bolt scar, belonged to her husband. Tears started silently down her cheeks as she gazed at David's true appearance.
"Kathryn?" Megan called up the stairs. Kathryn looked down and saw that Megan was already at the bottom of the stairs.
Turning from the portrait she started down the stairs. On the third step down, the stairwell started to move, switching places like Courtney described they often did. However, the movement caught Kathryn off guard and threw her off balance. She tripped backwards and cracked her skull on the landing she had just left. The stairs continued to move and moved right out from under her, sending her falling to the floor below.
She landed with a sickening thud as Megan screamed.
~~**~~
Albus Dumbledore was calmly looking at some very irate individuals who were accusing him of blatantly breaking the law and allowing restricted information to be taught. A small smile graced his face as he listened to them quietly.
An abrupt knock on the door interrupted Draco Malfoy's tirade and it opened with out an invitation. Bill Weasley entered with a somber expression on his face, a sobbing, hysterical Megan Weasley at his side.
Albus frowned slightly. Bill was supposed to be supervising the older students who had opted for a study period that day.
"Albus, something has…happened," Bill's voice was distraught.
Albus walked past the momentarily mute occupants and took Megan arm and asked softly, "What happened?"
"K..k..kk," was all Megan could say. Albus looked concernedly at Bill for clarification.
Bill closed his eyes, "Kathryn Barnes is dead."