Chapter Fourteen

A very awake Kate lie in bed wrapped in soft sheets on the eve of her graduation, the heavy blankets and the pretty comforter thrown back to the side. Her bedroom was dark and the only light came from the moon shining through the beaded curtains. Kate watched the wall clock as it marked the pass of the day to her eighteenth birthday.

At the crack of dawn that morning, she had awoken and felt a strange call come from the back of her mind. She knew what it was. The call, for once, wasn't urgent. It was almost lazy. She got up and dressed, careful not to wake Harry, who slept soundly next to her. That morning, she'd felt refreshed.

Too quickly for comfort, Kate and Harry had patched things up from their row at Christmas. Now it was June and they had finished their final days at Hogwarts.

All through the day, they laughed and smiled, generally happy. But it was all fake, Kate thought. A cover for the feelings of loss they had. None of them really wanted to leave, but it was the natural way of things. It was time they moved on, to experience life.

Finally the time came for the actual graduation ceremony. It was the day after the last day of school and all the students had gone home, except, that is, for those graduating. Kate was in the Tower, sitting on the bed. She was dressed in the traditional black robe and pointed hat clutching a framed picture in her hand. The photograph was of Harry. His image smiled and waved forlornly back at her. Kate wondered how she would learn to breathe again after they were separated.

The ceremony was held outside in the Quidditch stadium. Kate, along with Harry and the rest of their friends and those not so friendly to them, sat in the many rows of uncomfortable metal chairs facing a giant podium.

When the boring speeches and the long list of names were read, Kate caught Remus' eye and grinned. He was sitting in the row of chairs perpendicular to the students with the rest of the staff.

After just a few names were called, Kate was up. While she walked up, it seemed like time stood still and everyone was watching only her. She felt her cheeks burn scarlet.

"Congratulations, Kathleen. You will be needed," Dumbledore said and shook her hand with his long calloused one. Before she could register what he had said, she was already stepping down the other side of the make-due stage.

After the ceremony, the school threw an after-party for all the graduates and their parents and family. They all stood on the Hogwarts lawn chatting pleasantly and sipping tart lemonade.

That night, Kate and Harry sat outside on cool stone benches just outside the Great Hall. Most of the people had gone and left Hogwarts, most forever, with their families after the ceremony and festivity. The night air was warm, smelling of mist and leftover food from the kitchens.

"This is really it. Isn't it?" Kate turned to Harry and traced the shape of her hand and fingers on his knee.

"Yeah, it is." His answer was solid, definite. He had made up his mind and was rigid in it so he could avoid actually feeling. "So you're not coming with me?" he tried one last time.

"Harry, don't. Please." There were tears in her eyes. "It's already hard enough watching you leave. Please, don't ask me to go. You know I can't. One of us has to stay."

He nodded and pulled away.

"Don't go, Harry. I don't want to lose you."

Harry looked away. "I have to, Kate. I can't stay here. I can't protect the Garden. Besides, you don't really believe that there's a curse, do you?" he scoffed and wiped the tears from her cheeks with his thumbs. "I'm going with Ron tonight. To, you know. Celebrate. Goodnight, Kate. I'll see you in the morning? Early?"

Kate nodded and watched as again, someone she loved walked away from her. She'd already lost him. "I love you, Harry," she whispered. He couldn't hear it. Kate broke into fresh tears. That was the first time she'd said those three special little words for Harry. And he didn't hear it.

That night, she lay in bed alone, wanting him. Both in mind and body. How ironic that when he was lost to her, that she recognized that she loved him. Kate would have laughed at herself, but she was too miserable. Now, she'd have to bare the burden alone. Kate didn't even know how hard it would be. The Box could be in so much danger, and Kate would never know. There was only one Guardian now. Harry had rejected it, and by doing so, rejected her. That's what hurt her the most: that Harry would throw her away as casually as he did. Draco was lost to her too, Kate thought. The memory of him made her the old hurts of her heart throb. She truly had no one.

With her mind too irritated and her heart too aching for Kate to sleep, she pulled on jogging pants and left her shoes at the door. She met Kali at the perfectly round door with the tarnished silver knob in the exact center. The knob turned easily under her fingers and the door swung open. It was exactly like the first time she'd come. The invisibility cloak she'd left in the corner so many months ago sat crumpled. She'd completely forgotten it. Kate picked it up, but it fell through her fingers like water.

Kali padded along the stone pathway at Kate's heels. The trip to the Temple was relatively short. They'd traveled along it so many times; Kate could follow it with her eyes closed.

The moonlight shone on the brass woman. The Box was illuminated by the glow of her tinny eyes. Kate pulled it off the shelf, feeling a sense of falling though both her feet were firmly planted on the tiles.

Kali meowed, wrapping her tail neatly around her body. Kate sat too, placing the Box in her lap, carefully.

Open. "Patefacio." The word came to her without conscious thought.

Slowly, the Box opened. But instead of darkness, a casing of light surrounded Kate. It filled her eyes and lit up her hands. She was entranced with the light. It was Hope.

Suddenly, the blackest of smoke floated from the Box. The terrible vision came to Kate's mind and she leaned all her weight in as she tried to replace the lid.

"Propinquus." The tired whisper escaped her lips as the Box closed effortlessly. The smoke vanished, seemingly harmlessly.

Kate fell to her face, sobbing. She'd let some of the evil out. Her whole body was raked with spasms. And that's how Draco found her.