A/N: Everyone is begging me for good, happy times. I think you all must know this: Catch My Fall is much darker than it's prequel. These are both happy and horrible moments in the characters lives. I have a lot planned. Don't worry about that. I'm not sure how long this story will be. It will be decent length. Not 60 chapters though! I want to finish it before the summer's over. I think I will too. So, whatever happens in the story, try and remember that JKR had this time period as one of the most torn moments in wizarding history. Please review.
Catch My Fall
Chapter 19-Katy's Secret
Remus stood on a dark porch that night, clutching onto a box full of possessions. After hearing his friend's knock, Sirius opened the door to his flat and welcomed Remus inside.
"Moony," Sirius said groggily, making a cup of coffee for the both of them. "Why aren't you at home?"
"Troubles," Remus answered vaguely. "Do you mind if I crash here for awhile?"
"Not at all," Sirius insisted, handing the cup to his friend. "I'm just wondering why exactly you'd want to stay in my grubby flat with me opposed to your well furnished one with the lovely Katy Jones."
"You can wonder all you want," Remus said gruffly. "I just can't stay there anymore."
"Women," Sirius muttered. "Always the starting point of every man's problem. It's fascinating that we love them as much as we do."
"Halle never gave you problems," Remus pointed out.
Sirius smiled, remembering the times he spent with his wife. His gray eyes looked up at Remus curiously. "Obviously your memory doesn't hold up well as you age. Halle and I had all sorts of problems. We just worked through them in the end, is all."
"I love Katy," Remus told his friend. "I love her so much, it hurts. My heart sometimes feels like it will explode because it's so full. Yet lately, we've been very distant from each other. The full moon just passed, Katy works a lot, it's a bit understandable. But now, she's started researching."
"Researching what?" Sirius asked, stirring his coffee.
"I don't know," Remus sighed. "All I know is that she had profiles on all of us. Every single person we know. You, Peter, me, past enemies, members of the Order. Everyone! She wouldn't tell me a thing either."
"Why not?" Sirius asked.
"She doesn't trust me," Remus replied, using the same words Katy had told him only a couple hours ago.
Sirius nodded sympathetically. He knew that Voldemort brought a lot of distrust within the community. He had never thought it would come between his friends though.
"What did you tell her after she said that?" Sirius asked.
"Nothing," Remus said. "She went into bed. I couldn't even justify myself."
"I never knew you two were having problems," Sirius confessed. "It seems like so much is going on right now that it's hard for any of us to know everything about one another. Lily's going to have the baby soon, Alice is ready to blow, James is a nervous wreck. I haven't heard from Peter in weeks. We're falling apart."
"I was going to propose to her too," Remus said softly. "This weekend."
"You still can!" Sirius pointed out. "What's stopping you?"
"I can't be with someone who doesn't trust me," Remus answered. "What kind of relationship is that?"
"Prove to her that she can trust you," Sirius reasoned. "Prove to her that nothing can interfere with the love you feel for her. Nothing. Remus, don't let Voldemort stop you from living your life. Has he stopped Lily and James? How many times has he tried, but failed? Three times. How many times have others tried to come between them? More times than I can even count. Have they stopped loving each other? Have they let it effect them?"
"No," Remus replied. "They haven't."
"Do you know how many times a day Halle's name comes into my mind?" Sirius asked him. "Do you? Do you know how much regret I feel for not being able to save her, protect her at all? Her and the baby just died and there was nothing I could do about it. Nothing the doctors could do. You don't want to feel like that Remus. You don't want to feel regret. It eats away at you! You hide from everyone. I hide almost every day. I'm lucky if I see anyone at all. I had to move out of my house and into this horrible hellhole because I couldn't take the guilt I was feeling inside our house."
Remus nodded, knowing exactly how bitter Sirius was about losing his family. He didn't have his parents, he didn't have James' parents, his wife and child died, and now his friends were falling apart. Most of the hope in his life was wearing away one piece at a time.
"I'm sorry, Sirius," Remus said, patting his friend on the shoulder. "I really am. Everyone misses Halle. But this is different. Katy's still alive."
"Then you should embrace that," Sirius said angrily. "She's still alive. Sooner or later, if you don't act on it, she will find someone else. She'll move on. Do you want to see that happen?"
"If it makes her happy," Remus replied, walking into the guest room and shutting the door behind him.
.X.
The month of July sneaked up fast on James. Lily was eight and a half months pregnant, Alice was due at any minute, and he hadn't seen Sirius, Remus, Peter, or Katy for a long time. His work at the office was always nerve wracking. He was always afraid he would miss Lily's owl and she would have the baby without him.
Frank was even worst. Alice was a nightmare at the moment, having gone past her due date had made her even more irritable. The list of names the two of them had come up with slightly scared James. When he asked Frank about it, Frank just shrugged and mumbled something about not wanting to upset Alice. Basically, names such as Prometheus and Wildflower were on the list. Frank had no idea where Alice had found such names, but he sincerely hoped they wouldn't name their child any of the names found on the list.
Lily and James hadn't even thought of names yet. They were waiting to meet their new baby before deciding. Something as important as a name shouldn't be picked out until the person who is attached to that name earns it. It was important they find the right one and they were determined not to mess up.
With the stress of the baby coming, James had almost forgotten completely about the growing threat of the prophecy. He hadn't heard wind that Voldemort had found out, but it was entirely possible.
As James walked into work the afternoon of the 30th, he saw Frank quickly dash out of his office to retrieve his coat.
"Longbottom, where're you going? We have a shift to work," James shouted as Frank turned to face him.
"Alice just went into labor," Frank said, both merrily and with a note of anxiety in his voice.
"Good luck," James called to his friend as he Disapparated.
He always had that owl coming in the back of his mind, but he hadn't really prepared for it. An odd thought came into his mind as he walked into his office.
The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies...
It would be Frank and Alice. Frank and Alice would be the ones who the prophecy was referring to. Lily wasn't due until the second week of August. Without much inclination to do so, James let out a large maniacal laugh. He knew he shouldn't, but he was relieved. He was so relieved that he didn't have to worry about Voldemort coming after his child. If it was Frank's child, then Voldemort was wasting his time trying to kill James. The prophecy she had made in her fifth year at Hogwarts wasn't applicable to him. It was false. The last born Potter wouldn't be the one to conquer the Dark Lord. It would be a Longbottom.
James couldn't help himself, he was relieved.
.X.
Katy woke up that morning to find Remus gone, as well as many of his belongings. The better part of her month was spent emotionless, trying to carry on with the work that had torn them apart. She had to do it, she had to reveal the secret she had been researching.
Remus would have left her for nothing. If she found out the secret though, she could save lives.
She looked at the map Moody had provided her with. A green sticker had been placed on all the homes that Voldemort had attacked within the last two years. As she studied the map closely, trying to find a connection between all the houses, she saw a small building out in the distance. It was small and very forgettable. Katy wouldn't have noticed it if it hadn't been one of the only buildings on the map without a sticker.
She had always wondered how the Death Eaters had gained the information needed for blackmail. It all made sense to her now. They studied the families they were planning on attacking before actually killing them. They tortured those families in every way possible before actually committing the actual crime.
They needed a hide out. It was shocking that she had never even noticed the house before anywhere. That meant it was secluded by something. Moody had never noticed it as he always studied the larger scaled houses. Voldemort usually went after Muggles, Aurors, and other prosperous families. James, Frank, and Lily never noticed it because they had always been told to study the larger houses.
Katy knew this was a large discovery. She also knew it would be risky to investigate it. Yet, she didn't really have much fear anymore. This last project was all she could hang onto at the moment.
.X.
"I wonder if Alice had the baby yet," Lily mused as she and her husband sat on the couch the night of the 31st.
"That poor kid," James said, resting Lily's head in his lap and stroking her hair gently. "It's going to have a horrible name if Alice has anything to do with it."
Lily laughed softly, actually in a good mood for once. She felt rather good that day. She wasn't hormonal, James was with her, Alice was having her baby. Everything was going right.
Surprisingly, even with all the security placed on their home, an owl magically popped into their house.
"It must be from one of our friends," James decided, seeing the owl fly over to him.
"Is it Frank and Alice?" Lily asked excitedly.
"No," James said before opening the letter. "This is Sirius' owl."
Prongs,
Remus needs our help. I tried owling Peter, but his mum said he was out for the night. I'm afraid Remus is going to do something stupid if you don't get over here.
Tell Lily I apologize for asking you to leave her. Promise her I'll make it up to her by taking her out for ice cream.
Thanks,
Padfoot
"Remus needs me," James told his wife. She nodded.
"Then go," Lily assured him. "I can manage. You haven't seen your friends in ages. They need you right now."
"Thank you," he whispered in her ear before kissing her goodbye.
.X.
"Prongs," Sirius said, welcoming James inside to reveal a very drunk Remus. "He's been in a horrible state since this afternoon. Started drinking this Muggle liquor called tequila. I tried talking him out of it, but he almost broke the bottle over my head. That's his second."
James walked over to Remus and tried to carry him onto the couch. "A little help here."
"Oh," Sirius said, catching on and lifting the other side of Remus onto the couch. Almost immediately, he passed out. "Why didn't I think of that?"
"Why is he like this?" James asked.
"Katy," Sirius supplied, frowning. "The two of them broke it off awhile ago. Today, after I tried talking him into it, he was going to go and try and make up with her. I hated seeing him sulking and miserable. He reminded me of myself, right after Halle died. I couldn't stand to watch him go through what I did. But, when he went over, she wasn't there. He's convinced himself she's out with another man and that he has no shot."
"That's awful," James said, looking over at his friend. "Why didn't I know about this?"
"You're busy, mate. Your wife is pregnant, your work is overloading on you. Remus didn't want me to pester you with his petty problems," Sirius replied.
"Not exactly petty if you ask me," James sighed.
"Try telling him that," Sirius said quietly.
The two of them sat in silence for awhile, mainly wondering how things had gotten so out of control. Moony, the calm, rational one, was cracking up before their eyes.
.X.
Katy walked to the large field that wizard children thought was a playground. She consulted her map and saw that a large, willow tree was blocking the building. Slowly, Katy walked, knowing that the person she was looking for would be located inside that building.
She was praying that it wasn't Remus. If it was, she wouldn't know what to do with herself. All the time spent and the persons he was looking for was under her roof. It would be horrible.
As expected, the hide out was not big at all. Nothing special. It could easily be mistaken for a child's fort. She stared at the door longingly, her wand stretched out before her, and the anxiety was arising. What she would find behind that door was sure to be unpleasant. She tried calming herself, tried remembering the tactics of an Auror, and remembered Lily and James.
She opened the door and gasped. She was vaguely aware that she had dropped her wand.
"Peter," she said quietly. "Peter Pettigrew. You're the one? You're the one who has been feeding Voldemort whereabouts on Lily and James?"
Peter's face went pale as he realized that Katy had come looking for someone else. She had been the only person who had noticed that Voldemort had mistakenly attacked two pregnant women who were also near Diagon Alley. She had figured out that someone was telling Voldemort where to attack and when.
"Goodbye Katy," Peter said, as he yelled, "AVADA KEDAVRA!"
Before Katy could reach her wand, she screamed and fell.
.X.
James felt his watch vibrate. He looked down at it and saw that it was flashing and an address was being read out to him. He listened closely, knowing that the attack was close to his home.
"An attack," he whispered. He repeated it once more and jumped up. "There's been an attack. Frank's at the hospital. I've got to go."
Sirius' eyes looked alert. "What should I do?"
"Go to Lily," James advised. "Go take care of her until I get home."
Sirius nodded. "What about Remus?"
"Leave him here," James said. "He'll be fine."
Sirius ran out the door and hopped onto his motorcycle. As he took off, James Apparated to the location.
When he got there, he saw Moody running up behind him as fast as he could with his wooden leg. James looked to see the location, but would have clearly missed it if not for the green Dark Mark floating inside the branches of a willow tree.
"Underneath the tree," Moody grumbled.
The two of them held their wands out, ready to face whoever was there. They smashed open the wooden door, but only found a room with blood and a girl lying on the ground. Her blonde hair was lying in a pool of blood and James immediately recognized the girl.
"Oh my god," he said.
"Jones?" Moody asked James, a slightly horrified look that James hadn't imagined Moody was capable of appeared on the man's face.
.X.
As Sirius waited with Lily, the clock stuck nine and Lily's face grew even more agitated than it already was.
"Lily, I am sure that James is alright," Sirius assured her. "It was just an attack. I'm sure he's fine."
"No," she said in a pained voice. "Sirius."
"Yes?" he asked, his face turning pale as he recognized the face. Halle had made that face as well, the same day as Lily and James' wedding.
"It's time," she cried. She looked down and saw a puddle of water at her feet.
"Oh my god," Sirius whispered.
A/N: Please review.