Hey, ya'll, I'm back! Here's another chapter! Sorry it took so long to post, I've been working in excess on my other stories...so yeah. Um anyway,
EvilAtHeart-Thanks for saying it was good...here's more! Lol.
MadMassMurderingMarie-Yeah, I'm glad I am posting it again. I just wish I could get more reviews because I love reading what people think of my stories/chapters. Lol. Even if they think it sucks. Here's the next chapter for ya!
Danny-Hey you! Kate is insane...I talk to you too much in these responses... Lol. You know a lot about Kate anyway, if you have any questions write them in a review and I'll probably answer them in person at school. : )
A.S. Leif-Thanks for the edits but I don't have the time to repost. Lol. I'm just happy that I've finished this chapter so I can post it! I think that, though this story will be continued, I will focus more on Unconditional Love because, one it's the most popular, and two the muse for it is what is very prominate in my mind.
Dante Lewis-I know, when I wrote Lucius transforming into Padfoot I wished I could actually MAKE it Sirius but I can't seem to bring myself to bring him back, especially if I did it wouldn't be this early in the story. Lol. Yeah, it was a lot of fun whipping Lucius' ass, I long to do it in reality. Lol. Anyway, here's another chapter for ya and I couldn't help but have her blow cover that way. If she was gonna leave she might as well leave with a bang (that would soon be followed by a mushroom cloud and random radioactive diseases) Lol. Tell me what you think!
Chapter Twelve
The Order
She glanced at Dumbledore, silently asking his permission to explain who she was and why she had brought in Harry. He only smiled. "I suppose," Dumbledore started with a twinkle in his eyes. "But before we get into what happened, introductions would be best."
"You think?" she heard Ronald Weasley mutter under his breath (which got him a hit over the back of the head from his mother).
Names started being mentioned when she held up her hand. "This is stupid, I already know all your names." She said shooting an exasperated look at Dumbledore who just smiled.
"So who are you!" demanded Hermione Granger suddenly.
She glanced at Snape who gave one of his ever-so-famous-sneers at Hermione. She rolled her eyes and looked back at the others. "My name is Kathleen. Kathleen Peters," She gave a half a smile. "Or River Jacobson to Harry." She added as an afterthought.
"Huh?" Ronald Weasley said confused.
"Do you want to explain or shall I?" she asked with a smirk. This was going to be interesting. Dumbledore just smiled and nodded at her. "I am part of a training group in America called the Paladins. They take children at the first signs of magic and begin to train them. I—"
"But that is impossible! No child can be train—" started Hermione Granger objecting.
"Shut up," snapped Ginny Weasley with a glare. "Go on," she nodded encouragingly, her red hair bouncing.
She smirked and continued. "I was part of this program. I spent the next seven years training so by the time I reached eleven I could out match any wizard that came my way, except my partner." She fought the sneer that desperately wanted to form when she thought about the only other person who was able to match her, Hunter. She shook her head and focused on what was going on. "That's when we, my partner and I, started going on jobs, like the one Dumbledore put me on this summer."
"What do you mean?" asked Ronald Weasley.
"Dumbledore—("Professor Dumbeldore," corrected Mrs. Weasley.)—hired her to watch Harry for the summer, didn't you?" Ginny Weasley asked looking sharply at the old man, who merely nodded.
"Yes, up until a few weeks ago, different Order members were forced to watch him," She saw Snape sneer, his teeth bared, out of the corner of her eye. "That's when I took over."
"Obviously not well enough," muttered Ronald Weasley under his breath.
"I'd like to see you keep an eye on Harry at all hours of the day." She said firmly.
"And with his intent on trouble and breaking the rules, she was lucky to get to him at all." Snape spoke with venom in his voice.
"She was hired to keep him safe," accused Ronald jabbing his finger at her.
"Why don't we find out what happened, Ronald, before we accuse her of neglect," Hermione said loudly, slapping his hand down. She grinned, amused at the display. "Explain what happened to Harry, please."
Kathleen nodded, waving her hand and a cup of steaming hot chocolate appeared. She was regarded with strange looks but sipped it before speaking. "Well, earlier this evening I had a small barbeque to get Harry out of that house," she shot a glare at both Snape and Dumbledore. "I was distracted and forgot I was brewing a potion upstairs. I was just cleaning up the house when I heard the alarm bells go off saying the potion was in danger of exploding. I was forced to start the potion again, ignoring completely what Harry was doing, that was a mistake on my part."
"You think?" muttered Ronald, who was elbowed by Hermione.
"Anyway, when I finally got focused again," Kathleen sighed, grimacing. "I saw Harry being tricked."
"What do you mean?" questioned Nymphadora Tonks curiously, her pink hair causing the accident-prone witch to stand out.
"Harry had gone for a walk earlier this evening and, stupid me," She scolded herself shaking her head, her brown hair hitting her face. "I didn't pay more attention." She glanced at the kids her age in the room and then at Dumbledore. "Are you sure you want me to go on with them in here?"
"No," Molly Weasley said firmly. "Out." She was met with a chorus of whines, even the witty and self-reliant Hermione Granger, started to complain. "I don't care OUT!" Mrs. Weasley ordered loudly.
Kathleen watched in amusement as the three stomped out, having shouting erupting in the hall. Someone rushed out to silence the portrait of Mrs. Black that Kathleen knew was stuck on the wall. When the person (Remus Lupin) came back in, he shut the door and everyone's attention was on her again. She sipped her hot chocolate, thinking back on what she saw.
"This will be jumbled because I only saw and heard bits and pieces," she apologized beforehand. She took another drink before continuing. "Harry was walking back to Privet Drive, he had gone for a walk earlier, most likely to clear his head because of a vision he had. When he heard something in the alleyway and stopped, wand out." She added to the disapproving looks. She drank some more. "Then, well, I'm not sure what happened to make him trust the person or believe them."
"Person?" questioned Remus Lupin curiously.
"Who?" asked Dumbledore gravely, the twinkle all but gone from his eyes.
"Well, to him, Sirius Black." Remus Lupin went white as did some of the others. She massaged her head and then rested it lightly on her hand. "It wasn't actually him, some how," She shot a look at Snape. "The Death Eaters got a hold of an extremely advanced disguise potion, one so advanced I'd have to have help." Snape didn't even look at her. She looked back at the others. "Lucius Malfoy tricked Harry into believing Dumbledore hid him, as Sirius Black, to do some secret work for the Order."
"The Fool Boy trusted him?" muttered Snape amused.
"Wouldn't you if your dead guardian came to you with a perfectly reasonable reason not to be dead?"
"No," he sneered.
She narrowed her eyes at him, ire filling her. "Then you've obviously never cared about someone enough to understand what he felt." Pain flickered in his eyes. "Or perhaps you have and she could not…or would not return your feelings."
"Kathleen," Dumbledore started but, what surprised everyone in the room, both people ignored him.
Desperate to get her back, Snape leaned back giving her a sly grin. "As I remember when you went to pieces when you went back into training and had to destroy a pigment of Richard Peterson."
Kathleen slammed her hands down on the table, jumping to her feet. "Are you sure you want to take this road with me Severus Snape? You know I have more power in my little finger than you can siphon through that rutting stick of yours! So unless you wish your deepest secrets revealed to the entire room, don't taunt me."
Everyone in the room seemed to freeze, just staring at the two, waiting to see what Severus would do. The dark eyes stared the girl down, giving her the best sneer he could. She just glared back, her brown eyes unblinking. Slowly the glare receded from his eyes and he looked away, startling the others. Never in their life had they known Severus Snape to back down from a challenge, and definitely not one involving a witch or wizard younger than he.
"Continue," Dumbledore said breaking the silence.
Her eyes snapped to the cool blue ones and she sat down slowly. "He must have done something to get Wonder Boy to trust him because the next thing I saw is Harry embracing the supposed Black."
"How could it have been Sirius?" she heard Lupin whisper mainly to himself.
"It wasn't Sirius Black." She said firmly.
"But Harry trusted him," Remus argued. "He wouldn't—"
"Look at where his trust has been in the past and that should give some indication." Sneered Snape, his pride still hurt.
Lupin didn't argue he just let out a long slow breath of air. She looked at Severus, her ire still burning slightly in her soul. "What would you have done?"
"I wouldn't have lowered my wand," growled Moody, snapping her attention on onto him.
"Why?" she questioned. "It looked like Sirius Black, sounded like him, even in presence his aura felt like him. Harry would have held no need to be suspicious in his mind. It was his Godfather, the one he felt truly needed and wanted by. To have watched him fall creates illusions, like he was captured but escaped and so on. He wanted it to be Sirius; he needed it to be the man who wanted to take him away from his ungodly relations. The man who wanted to take Harry as his son."
"Not necessarily the best idea he had." Muttered Snape.
"Why? Because Sirius Black treated Harry like he was James when he's not?" He gave a curt nod, hatred of both her and Harry in his coal-colored eyes. "You do," She paused watching fire spark in his eyes now. "You treat him like James Potter, as if they were the same person when you know, quite well, that they are not."
Molly Weasley was the one who stopped the retort from Severus back to her. "Enough! Finish before you children start arguing," she shot a deadly look at Severus.
Kathleen glanced at Dumbledore. He saw the fire alight in her eyes and knew that it wasn't smart to cal her a child. In fact, if Mrs. Weasley did it again, it would be down right dangerous. "Molly," warned Dumbledore. "Do continue," Dumbledore said calmly. She shot him a glare, which was met by a kind gaze. "Kathleen, please."
"Will he interrupt me again?" she questioned her eyes motioning to Severus, who sneered at her.
"Severus will remain silent." The order was clear in the old man's voice, amusing her to no end.
She gathered her thoughts for a moment, sipping the hot liquid in her cup. "While this supposed Sirius Black lead Harry down the alleyway it gave the Dementors time to line up in rows in front of and behind them." Molly Weasley gasped but Kathleen continued, ignoring it. "I got there and cleared the area of the Dementors and battled the supposed Sirius Black after Harry passed out and that was that." She spoke leaning back in her chair with a shrug.
"Beat him did you?" questioned Nymphadora Tonks.
"Would I be here if I didn't?" she retorted with a roll of her eyes.
"Does Harry—" started Lupin slowly.
"No Harry didn't see Lucius change back to his real form and no Harry didn't see me so I'm not compromised when it comes to him. The Dursleys," she gave sheepish grin. "They're another story."
"You didn't hurt them, did you?" asked Tonks cautiously.
"No. I didn't even curse them," she said making a face. "Though it would have been fun," she added quietly and from the look on Severus' face, he had heard her. She sent him a sly grin.
"So Harry will wake up and think that…" Lupin couldn't continue.
"He might. Harry was already distrusting Malfoy when I arrived so there's hope but," Kathleen glanced at Dumbledore with a shrug. "The doubt had to have been in his mind in order for him to believe it so quickly."
Dumbledore nodded. "I was afraid of that."
George Weasley tilted his head to the side studying her. "How did you know? About Harry's being tricked, I mean. If you weren't with him and you obviously didn't use a spell on him, he would have detected it."
"Unless the spell was in the form of a powdered spell," she said simply. She liked the twins, they seemed more inclined to believe and trust her than the adults, though they cared about the Wonder Boy no less. George continued to study her. "There is this ancient potion that is a form of Scrying. All you have to do is getting it into contact with the person and the only way it will end is if the caster wants it too. No simple Finite Incantatum would work."
"Interesting," Fred said catching his twin's eyes, their thoughts obviously on the same tract.
"Thinking of a new product for Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes?" she asked with an amused grin.
Both of them smiled broadly. "Perhaps," they spoke in unison.
"Don't even think about it," Molly warned shaking her head.
Kathleen just grinned looking away. Too late, they've already thought about it. she thought with a smirk. Arthur Weasley spoke after a moment of silence between the Order members. "So you just took him out? All together, without asking us."
"By all means, take him back. I'm willing to reenact the spell on the Dursleys but I'll need a bonus to continue dating that pig of a cousin he has. Oh, and Harry will need a magical first aid kit if you place him back with those fat, abusive, muggles. And their memories will need to be modified so they'll forget what I called them and what I am."
Lupin, who had been whispering to Molly, looked at her sharply. "Abusive?"
She looked at him, half amused and half annoyed. "Yes, Mr. Lupin. Abused, didn't you ever wonder why he hated going back? Harry hates it there because of how he's treated." She glanced at Snape, who was hiding a smirk. "Just like you hated your home, Severus," she said softly, her eyes on the cup in front of her. She couldn't resist the stab, even if he was the only one could hear. His head snapped towards her, his eyes on fire. She flashed him a small smile as the other people in the room were in uproar. "I do thorough research, Severus, including your background."
She watched the veins in his neck pulse as he fought with his temper. Her name being called brought her attention back to the room. "Kathleen," Dumbledore said, the hints of laughter and smiles gone from those blue eyes half hidden by his moon glasses. "Are you certain about this?"
"Do you really think I'd be lying?"
"You saw his family abusing him?" Lupin said, the normally calm man fighting to keep his cool.
She nodded slowly. "Yes. I tried to send my robot or myself there as much as possible in order to stop it but Harry's not a fool, there was only so much I could do." She said sympathetically.
"You could have told us," Fred said, his fists clenched and his arms crossed.
She looked at him. "It wasn't my secret to tell."
"He was in danger," George said, standing in the same stance as his twin.
"If he wanted help, he would have asked. It wasn't my place." She said firmly. Kathleen looked at Dumbledore, knowing he'd understand. Even if he didn't she didn't care much, what's done was done. "It was his choice to tell about his life at the Dursleys. If he didn't want it known how he was being treated then I wasn't going to spill it."
He nodded once and briskly. "Understood." He looked at the others in the room. "I need to speak with Kathleen alone." One by one they filed out of the room. Severus stood up to leave but Dumbledore stopped him. "Severus, I need you to stay for a moment."
The man dressed from head to toe in black sat back down slowly. Dumbledore waited to the door shut to begin speaking. "Is that what you were going to tell me, Severus?" asked Dumbledore, already knowing the answer.
The younger man gave a curt nod. Kathleen glanced at him and shook her head, sipping her hot chocolate down. She would think of all people Snape would understand the need for a secret. "You Order members," she muttered.
"Is there something you wished to add, Ms. Peters?" sneered Snape, his dark eyes afire.
She flashed a smile at him. "Yes, but nothing I can say in Albus' presence."
"Kathleen," warned Dumbledore scolding her.
She looked away shaking her head. "Men," she mumbled incoherently.
"What was that?" asked Snape coldly.
"Men," she repeated loudly, sending him a smirk. Another glare was sent her way. "That glare doesn't faze me, Snape. You might want to stop sending it this way unless you want it to get stuck that way…or worse, get stuck in a happy face." She giggled picturing it. "I think that would scare everyone more." She grinned. "Just smile at someone and they'll either wet their pants or fall in a dead faint."
"Children." He sneered.
Now it was her turn to glare. "Who is acting like a child here? I mean, a distinguished group of adults," she used the word distinguished sarcastically. "Continuously broke their words to both Albus and myself by trying to interfere on my job. Some adults, they are more of the child than I." Her eyes shot to Dumbledore. "Oh don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about Albus. You all promised me to leave me alone at my job. So far the only ones that left me alone are the ones Mrs. Weasley won't let out of her sight." She narrowed her eyes at Dumbledore. "You know my terms when it came to that."
"I understand and you will be compensated."
"Then," She stood up smiling. "If you would kindly pay me I'll be on my way to clear out my things and go back to the States."
"Not quite yet, Kathleen." Dumbledore said, the twinkle returning to his eye.
She let out a sigh, rolling her eyes. "I knew it, with you there is always one more thing," she said sitting back down. She put her feet on the tabled causing Snape to sneer at her. She just flashed him another witty grin before turning to Dumbledore. "So what is it this time? And don't you try to scold me in keeping Harry's life a secret. If you do I swear I'll hex you."
Dumbledore nodded, amused. "I have another job for you." Suddenly there was a shout of alarm upstairs and a crashing of something. He looked at the door and stood up. "I believe Harry is awake, I will be back momentarily." And with that he exited leaving Snape and Kathleen alone.
She glanced at him and then sipped her cup. They were quiet for a moment, listening to the temper tantrum that seemed to be going on in the floors above them. "Oh Wonder Boy," she said with a sigh and roll of her eyes. Snape fought a snort. "Funny how this plan to get the Wonder Boy escaped your notice,"
"I'm not that privileged to know everything the Dark Lord plans." He snapped.
"Meaning that you're not deep enough into his ranks to know everything," she spoke with no venom in her voice, just in a simple observation.
He glared at her and spat out, "Precisely."
She nodded looking away. "I see," She chewed her lip. "And the potion?" she leveled her gaze at him, not with animosity but with pure curiosity. "Did you brew it?"
He shook his head; a haunted look flashing in his eyes with a hint of fear in them but his face remained guarded and almost stone-like. "No. I do not know who brewed it but I did not."
She nodded slowly. "Shit." She said causing him to actually snort with amusement. She sipped from the cup once more. "Any idea what the new job is?"