The rowdy brawl ceased with a lazy twist of Kane's pinky, the boys separated as Draco extricated himself from Graham's chokehold and encased in a dome that repelled their fellow Slytherins. Clawing at the dome, a distraught Pansy was about to snap at Katrina, who she believed to be the caster, but bit her tongue in front of the imposing Kane. The Slytherins backed away when he approached the dome, passing through to their restrained housemates. Without provocation from Kane, Graham portrayed Draco as the aggressor, proclaiming that he attacked him as he emerged from the dungeons with Selene, his girlfriend stammering in agreement.

Despite having minutes before the ringing bell, Kane blithely instructed the Slytherins to get to their classes. They dispersed in all directions, too intimidated to speak up against him. Graham and Draco were glued to the floor, the sticking charm not affecting the younger boy's attempt to hit his friend with a fist or a spell.

"So your father has taught you his cowardly moves. Attacking your opponent when his back is turned…didn't that very offense lead you to spend time as a ferret?" Kane asked, alluding to Barty Crouch junior, disguised as Mad-Eye Moody to take his post as Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, transfiguring him last year as punishment for casting a hex at Harry. "I wouldn't be that kind. What's got you riled up then? Did he insinuate his manor is bigger than yours?"

"I don't have to tell you anything," spat Draco, breaking free from the charm and angrily pushing Kane.

With how swiftly Katrina moved between him and her guardian, she may have temporarily grown wings or been granted the speed of a billywig. She was the one thing saving Snape from writing to the Malfoys that their son was a heap of charred bones. Even Graham looked at him like he had a death wish.

"M—Mr. Carlisle, he didn't mean to do that," she said, nonverbally pleading with him to not hurt Draco.

"You try that again, boy, and you won't live to see another day," he seethed. "You think your Dark Lord is someone to fear? Unlike him, I don't need a spectacle to show off my power. You'll learn that lesson when you're out of the classroom and on the battlefield alongside your hapless father."

Katrina continued to shield Draco, anticipating that Kane's inaction could reverse in a heartbeat, as he shoved Graham towards the staircase to escort him to Charms. Accompanying Graham also provided him a chance to question him about his ties to Cayden, Snape disrupting his previous efforts when they were searching for the kidnapped students.

"What were you doing with Carlisle?" asked Draco, brusquely.

Katrina was not a fan of his ungrateful tone. "He wanted me to retrace my steps from last night, as best as I could, to check for signs of a curse. If you don't want me to finish what I stopped him from doing, you'll drop the attitude or I'll drop you in the Atlantic Ocean."

She waited for his latest excuse, to absolve him of his rude behavior, but instead, he became more resolute. "I've known him longer than you and he'd never back down because someone asked nicely."

"You're being a jerk because I saved you from getting beat to a pulp by him?" she asked, baffled. "Did you get dared to do it by your friends? Why would you try to pick a fight?"

"Because he's going to hurt you! I heard him with Dumbledore this morning, talking about Davies's mental cousin. He wants you to perform dark magic to get around a promise he made to the Davies about not killing him." It was likely the spell Kane sought to teach her over the holidays. "Cayden is after you too, isn't he? That was the trade, us for you. That's why Aubrey wanted you alive when she was confronting Snape. It's why he had Graham spying on you."

"Is that why you hit him? Whatever you think is going on, it's—" she started.

"My ears work just fine." He seemed troubled by her lack of reaction. "He doesn't care how it affects you, as long as it gets rid of Cayden. Dumbledore implied that it could kill you. That doesn't matter to Carlisle but it does to me. You matter to me. You're worth it to me, Katrina."

Taken aback by his impassioned plea, Katrina remained silent. It was no secret that Kane's hostile disposition had an adverse effect on people. He was not, as Jace once joked, Mr. Warm and Fuzzy. Those who met him perceived him as distant and antisocial, attributing his renowned reputation to an absence of morals. There were some, outside North America, who deemed him a wolf in sheep's clothing, a man as deadly as Voldemort.

To that end, she understood Draco's point of view, that Kane was plotting to defeat Cayden at the cost of her life in an 'ends justify the means' manner, but she knew Kane better than most, having been raised by him. She had been there to clean his wounds from a grueling duel and to ensure he ate when he was spending night and day on a case. It was Katrina who could see the regret at losing a single person, whether they were a member of the task force or an innocent bystander, that loss serving as a motivation. No matter what she said, Draco's opinion was that of someone who read about Kane in the newspapers or caught a glimpse of him at a social gathering, not someone who spent years in his care.

"You're overreacting," she said, her calmness causing Draco to shake his head. "It was nice of you to stay last night but Mr. Carlisle won't hurt me. What would I have to do with apprehending Roger's cousin? I have to change into my uniform before class. Can I get through Divinations without finding out you've been given a private hospital room?"

Arriving at the trapdoor to the Divinations classroom, Katrina flicked her wand, replacing her outfit with her uniform. The anti-Kane baton had evidently gone from Draco to Harry, who had run into Kane, speaking to Graham outside the Charms classroom, with Ron and Hermione. Though Katrina claimed that he was assessing the remnants of the linking spell, having lifted it the night of the concert to remove the pain but convince Cayden of his loyalty, she wanted to curl up into a ball when she learned that Kane spilled their holiday plans.

Her brother was not convinced by her talk of Christmas traditions and Kane not entrusting her well-being to the Weasleys. Openly voicing his suspicions, he nagged her throughout the day, keeping so close to her that one would assume they were tethered to each other. Her own bedroom was not a safe place, Harry scaring a pair of second year girls to tears to knock on the door and ask her to meet him in the common room since he was unable to sprint up to the girls' dormitories.

"Kane's used to us spending Christmas together." Harry grumbled to himself as they walked towards the Room of Requirement. "He's not a monster."

"Not to you. He talks to everyone else like they're scum," he said, resentfully. "He got some sick joy out of telling me that you weren't going to the Burrow. What if he's making you go to his home to siphon the curse that's preventing Cayden's goons from giving information?"

"It doesn't work like that," she said, pacing in front of the wall.

"Then he's using you to get to Lukas. He obviously knows about you two." Katrina tensed, hearing the insinuation in his voice. "At the hideout, Lukas said…things. He said you owed him. Are you and Lukas—"

"There is no me and Lukas," she said, disgusted. "He's an obsessive, lecherous creep. All I owe him is a padded cell. Why is it farfetched that Kane doesn't have a hidden agenda? He's a regular person, like you and me, and if you'd quit jumping to conclusions, you'd know that he agreed to let me visit the Burrow from Christmas to New Year's so we could celebrate together."

She had not brought that up to Kane but it alleviated her brother's skepticism. The lamps in the Room of the Requirement burst into light, revealing Christmas decorations. A hundred golden baubles hung from the ceiling, bearing Have A Very Harry Christmas! under a picture of Harry's face. Katrina giggled hard enough that she thought it might spark a renewed pain in her ribs. An embarrassed Harry, blaming Dobby for the comical ornaments, chucked a bauble at her, urging her to help remove them before the meeting. Using their wands, they transferred the baubles to a cardboard box, Katrina pocketing one in her bag.

As he tossed the final bauble into the box, people began to arrive, hindering him from hopping back on the conspiratorial train. Angelina had his full attention with the news that Ginny was the new Gryffindor seeker, the older girl not concealing her reproachful tone.

"Sorry we're late," said Fay, rushing through the door with Sophie, Michael, and Ginny. "Malfoy was bugging us."

"Malfoy? What did he want?" inquired Ernie. "Is he in the corridor?"

Michael took off his cloak. "No, we bumped into him near the Gryffindor common room. Ginny was putting away her Hogsmeade bags and he said Umbridge set him on patrol early. If she knew about us, he wouldn't be hovering by there. Probably was waiting to take points from a random Gryffindor for something minor like untied shoes."

"And you definitely weren't followed?" asked Hermione, wary of Draco discovering their group.

"No. He got sidetracked by Roger and Finn," said Sophie, brushing snow from her boots.

Considering it was the end of the term, Harry decided to review the spells they previously practiced, a disgruntled Zacharias bemoaning that he should not have attended the meeting. They divided into pairs while Katrina left the room to retrieve Roger and Finn, before the situation escalated to either them or Draco being treated by Madam Pomfrey.

"Were you born a smarmy git or did you crack your skull as a baby?"

The boys were by the Fat Lady's portrait, their wands drawn amidst a heated exchange. "You're not on patrol tonight. I made the schedule myself and Umbridge didn't change it," said Roger, brandishing a piece of parchment. "Even if she did and had you switch with Padma, why would she have you posted out here before curfew? First with the hospital wing, now this? You need to give the stalking a rest."

Draco held back a chuckle. "That's funny, coming from you. Take a look in the mirror. It wasn't my demented cousin who kidnapped the lot of us." Roger's hand balled into a fist. "If anyone should bugger off, it's you. Maybe it's not coincidence that you threw yourself in the fray in Hogsmeade. Maybe your family's not as naive as everyone thinks, Davies."

"Keep my family out of your mouth, Malfoy!" he shouted, both he and Draco simultaneously raising their wands.

Too far to cast an effective shield charm, Katrina touched the nearest portrait frame, the figures in the painting becoming motionless as she absorbed its magic. The boys, Draco and Roger both about to cast spells, fell to their knees, hands on their heads and groaning in unison. She released the frame, unintentionally siphoning from neighboring paintings. As she moved from her hiding spot, she halted at Chester racing up the stairs.

It was the third time he had visited Roger since his father's confrontation with Kane, supposedly to fulfill their mother's wishes. Mrs. Davies had misgivings of an owl being intercepted by Cayden, who could manipulate its contents to trick Roger. If not for Chester's warning that he had passed Professor Sinistra, Draco would have jinxed his younger brother but he settled for a sneer and disappeared down the staircase.

"Roger?" Feigning surprise, Katrina walked towards them. "Fay said Malfoy was bothering you. Were you fighting? Where is he?"

"Hoping to avoid a night with Parkinson and giving us a massive headache, literally," said Roger, massaging his temple. "His spell backfired and he ran off when he saw Chester."

"I'm gonna knock him off his broom when we play Slytherin," muttered Finn. "Chuck the quaffle right at his rat face. I'll channel it in the study group."

He winked at Katrina and departed for the Room of Requirement. Dodging Chester's wand, which was producing a healing charm, Roger swore that the pain from Draco's spell, though it was actually Katrina's, was gone and admonished him for his repeated visits, with two days until he returned home.

"I was dropping off a report for Professor Umbridge," stated Chester. "Our office is coordinating with the aurors on…him. You should be glad that she wants updates because she cares about her students."

If Umbridge cared about anything, it was the Ministry. "Do they have a lead on him?"

Chester glanced over at Katrina. "That's private. Where's Carlisle? Taken you off his leash?" Roger nudged his pant leg with the back of his foot. "I don't mean to be rude."

"When people say that, they usually are," she retorted. "Whatever issue you have with Mr. Carlisle, you shouldn't project it onto me. You and your cousin are the same age. Aren't you capable of owning your decisions?"

He wrinkled his nose. "My family isn't defending him. I met him shortly after the fire, the day my parents tried to bring him to our home. He was already showing signs of instability and Carlisle exacerbated it. I don't know what lies he fed you whilst you were in the hospital wing but he's not blameless. Our cousin was—"

His eyes drifted to the static paintings. Having previously met Cayden, had his parents told him about his aunt being a siphon and how to spot one? The portraits sprung to life, resuming their activities, after Katrina wiggled her fingers under her sleeve.

"Ches, this isn't easy for any of us," said Roger, trying to appeal to his brother. "I'm leading a tutoring session for OWLs with Finn. Tell mother I'll write to her before I'm heading to the train."

Showing some hesitation, his eyes briefly flickering to Katrina, Chester mumbled a goodbye and descended down the marble steps. "We're just reviewing spells and the meeting's halfway done. Do you want to come in the common room?" she offered. "Fred and George gave me a lot of candy and I'll be in my eighties before I get through it by myself. I have cauldron cakes."

"How could I turn that down?" he quipped.

Gryffindors were scattered around the common room, working on last minute assignments or discussing Christmas, vacations, and gifts. Grabbing the box of sweets from her bed, she sat on the couch with Roger.

"Did I offend your brother?" she asked, unwrapping a licorice wand. "I shouldn't have brought up your cousin."

"No, that's Chester's sparkling personality," he said, wryly. "My mother's a nervous wreck and he's become the family guard dog. He spent yesterday in Scrimgeour's office with my father, to nag about Carlisle working with the aurors. He went on about him being biased and nurturing Cayden's darker tendencies. It'll be double the fun when my family comes by for Christmas. Fudge's office must be submerged in howlers from my grandmother."

Katrina took out a wrapped box from her bag. "I was going to give this to you on Friday when we were at King's Cross. I had Harry pick it up for me in Dervish and Banges. I told him it was for Sophie so he wouldn't hex it." Inside was a two-way mirror, Katrina enchanting it herself to only work between her and Roger. "I thought it'd be more practical than sending owls back and forth. So if your family's ever driving you nuts, you have someone to talk to and to take your mind off the craziness."

"You might get sick of me over break," he said, resealing the box. "My mother's been saying that she wants to visit our vacation home in the French Alps, if we can get clearance from the auror office. Scrimgeour has two of them stationed outside our house until they capture Cayden but if we do go, I can use the mirror to show you the view or you could see it yourself for a day, i—if you wanted to…"

Several Gryffindors filtered through the portrait hole, including those who attended the DA meeting. Thanking her for the early gift, though looking like he had something else to say, he left the common room, to avoid being caught out past curfew. The girls were intrigued by his presence, believing that they had stumbled onto a romantic moment between him and Katrina. They giggled amongst themselves as she insisted that she brought him inside to stop him from fighting Draco. Katrina chose to wait for Harry, who was cleaning up the Room of Requirement, both to talk to him about Chester and to not suffer her friends' detailed analysis of Roger's microexpressions to insinuate his desire for a relationship.

Hermione and Ron stayed with her, respectively working on a lengthy letter and a Transfiguration essay. Half an hour, as Katrina tossed Ron a cauldron cake, her brother returned, bemused and in a stupor. Lost in his own head, he sank into an armchair and gave a halfhearted shrug to questions ("What's up? What's happened?") from Ron. Hermione suspected that his odd behavior was related to Cho.

Ron sniggered. "So—er—what did she want?"

"She…" Harry cleared his throat, his voice low. "She—er—"

In trying to figure out why he was acting bizarrely, Katrina accidentally used her occlumency, seeing an image of him and Cho under mistletoe. "You kissed!"

Her loud exclamation, combined with Ron's triumphant cheer ("HA!"), startled the second years by the window. Harry responded by throwing a decorative pillow at Katrina.

"Katrina," he hissed, mortified. "Why don't you shout louder? They didn't hear you at the Hog's Head."

"Well?" asked Ron, rolling on the hearthrug in a fit of snickers. "How was it?"

The kiss had not gone perfectly, according to Harry. While Ron joked that Cho's crying was a sign that Harry's kissing skills were subpar, Katrina and Hermione were sympathetic, knowing that it was not his fault. Though she and Cho were not close friends, Katrina had seen her bouts of crying around the castle, from the Great Hall to an empty corridor. The toll of losing Cedric weighed heavily on her and Hermione explained that she was in a whirlwind of emotions, juggling her past feelings for her ex-boyfriend and these new feelings for Harry.

Neither he nor Ron seemed to grasp such complexities. For all of his bravery and knowledge, Harry lacked a basic understanding of girls. Katrina and Hermione restrained themselves at his idea of comforting Cho by patting her on the back and his confusion over asking her on a date. Hermione set off for the dormitories after a brief discussion on the subject of her letter, which was trailing on the floor, Ron disgruntled by the mention of Viktor Krum but joining her on the staircase.

"Why didn't you come back to the meeting?" Harry asked Katrina. "Did you get into it with Malfoy? Finn said he got scared off by Roger's brother."

"And by me," she replied, waving her hand. "Roger and Finn were arguing with Malfoy. I got a boost from a portrait to break them up and then Chester was there to scare him with talk of Sinistra being nearby. Something's up with him."

"Malfoy's a git," he said, bluntly. "What else is new?"

She cleared away the wrappers from the floor. "Not him. I'm talking about Chester. He's been visiting Roger a lot. This time, he happened to be around because he was delivering a report to Umbridge about the Cayden investigation. Why would he do it in person?"

"Are you overreacting because his family hates Kane?" he asked, implying that her relationship with Kane was clouding her judgement.

"No, it's not about Kane," she argued. "Chester claims his office is aiding the aurors in their search for Cayden. Why would they need the improper use of magic office? They're responsible for monitoring underage magic or a grown wizard using magic in front of muggles. Cayden wouldn't be dumb enough to do that."

Harry crossed his arms. "Even if he's lying about that, maybe he wanted to check on his younger brother. He was kidnapped, Katrina. Instead of digging into Roger's family, think about how we close are to no more Snape or Umbridge for a couple weeks. That's a cause for celebration."

Practically pushed towards the staircase, Katrina retreated to her room, where Lavender was prattling on to Sophie about getting Seamus under a sprig of mistletoe before their last lesson. Lavender's perky voice, gushing about the cute ways he pronounced certain words, carried into her dreams of the forbidden forest.

Lowering herself into the tunnels, she was lured from her typical path, leading to the dagger, by a glowing ball of white light. It guided her through the narrow walls that seemed to be calling out to her, the voices suppressed by the chipped stone. The light hovered at a dead end, illuminating a handprint embedded into the wall. As she laid her hand over it, the voices became a deafening roar and the stone engulfed her hand, a fiery sensation spreading through her.

The wall to the left of her crumbled, uncovering the windowless corridor she had seen in her previous dreams. A large green snake slithered across the floor, towards a dozing Mr. Weasley. Just as Mr. Weasley leapt to his feet, the snake struck, plunging its fangs into his flesh. Yelling in pain, he slumped against the wall and Katrina struggled to remove her hand from the stone. The corridor was sealed up, Mr. Weasley appearing lifeless on the floor, and the pieces of stone seeped up her arm. The fire within her raged, blue flames forming around her in a circle.

"Miss Potter!" Something grabbed her from behind the wall. "Miss Potter!"
Katrina was woken up by a figurative punch to the gut. Her heart beating like a hummingbird's wings, she saw a distraught McGonagall above her, cradling the back of her head. Grey smoke hung in the air, stemming from the blue flames of her dreams burning the posters and photos on the walls and on the wooden floor. The other fifth year girls were seizing in their beds, siphoned by Katrina in her sleep.

"You need to calm yourself, Katrina," said McGonagall, extinguishing the flames. "Your magic is acting up. Listen to my voice."

Another set of flames manifested on her blanket. "I—I can't."

"Yes, you can," she affirmed. "I cannot help if you continue to siphon from them. Deep breaths. In and out."

Steadying her breathing, Katrina regained control and the girls ceased their erratic flailing. Waving her wand, McGonagall repaired the charred room and her blanket.

"I didn't know I was doing that." Tears stung Katrina's eyes. "I was dreaming about—I—I was—Mr. Weasley was in a hallway and—"

"It was no dream. Put on your robe," instructed McGonagall, retrieving her silk robe from her trunk. "Professor Dumbledore will explain in his office. Your brother is waiting there."

Drying her tears, Katrina tied her robe. She hesitated to get out of bed, afraid that she would continue siphoning from any nearby source. McGonagall ushered her out the door and down to the common room, where Fred, George, and Ginny were standing in their pajamas. McGonagall's urgency intervened with them asking why Katrina was so shaken, Purrsephone in her arms and dabbing at the tears trickling down her face.

As they were led to Dumbledore's office, Katrina kept her distance, the image of her friends gasping for air fresh in her mind. Harry, looking almost as bad as Katrina, and a white-faced Ron were sitting in wooden chairs, neither saying a word to Dumbledore who was holding a blackened kettle.

"Harry, what's going on?" asked Ginny, frightened. "Professor McGonagall says you saw Dad hurt—"

Is that why McGonagall had been certain that Katrina had not been dreaming herself? Like what she had seen, Mr. Weasley was injured while on a mission for the Order and was taken to St. Mungo's for treatment. Intending for them to stay at Grimmauld Place, its location secure and closer to the hospital than the Burrow, he indicated that he had enchanted the kettle as a portkey. A golden feather, a warning from his phoenix Fawkes, floated between him and McGonagall.

A faint hum radiated from the cupboard behind him. "She must know you're out of your beds…Minerva, go and head her off…tell her any story…"

McGonagall hurried out of the office, as a bearded wizard materialized in an empty portrait with a backdrop of a Slytherin banner, informing Dumbledore that he had spoken to Sirius, his great-great-grandson, about the abrupt visit. Dumbledore gathered them around his desk to touch the kettle. As Katrina lightly gripped its handle, she was sidetracked by the humming cupboard.

In a flash, they were transported to the basement kitchen of Grimmauld Place. "Back again, the blood traitor brats, is it true their father's dying…?"

"OUT!" roared a second voice.

An unshaven Sirius shooed away Kreacher before stretching out his hand to a fallen Katrina. She refused to take it, feeling her magic crackle beneath her fingertips.

Raising his hand towards a concerned Harry, who was approaching, he bent down to her. "It's all right. I've got you. It's the kettle, isn't it?" he whispered, vanishing the dusty kettle. "You won't hurt anyone. We can stay on the floor."

Katrina buried her head in her knees, doing her breathing exercises and listening to Harry retell his realistic dream to Sirius and the Weasleys. It was exactly like Katrina's, from the description of the snake to where it had bitten Mr. Weasley.

She stiffened at Sirius's arm around her shoulders. "You saw it too. Is that what's got you scared?"

"Is Mum here?" Fred asked him.

"She probably doesn't know what's happened yet." He conjured a calming draught. "The important thing was to get you away before Umbridge could interfere but I expect Dumbledore's letting Molly know now."

Katrina wished that the draught's effects were immediate, her nerves spiked from the ensuing argument between Sirius and the Weasley children. Their priority was to be with their ailing father, not putting on a facade for the Ministry to avoid inquiries into how they learned of their father's fate before the watchwizards or Fudge. Like with the Cayden situation, it was about public perception. If the Ministry learned of Harry and Katrina's shared vision or the true reason for Mr. Weasley being in the building, it could hinder the Order's efforts.

"Your father knew what he was getting into and he won't thank you for messing things up for the Order!" said Sirius, angrily. "This is how it is—this is why you're not in the Order—you don't understand—there are things worth dying for!"

"Easy for you to say, stuck here!" bellowed Fred. "I don't see you risking your neck!"

The table smashed into the wall, sparing Fred from dodging Sirius's fist. "Hey, what's going on?" Recognizing Jace's voice, she blindly clung to him like she was dangling off a cliff. "You need to cool it, Fred. I've been where you are more times than I can count and screaming won't make you feel better. All you can do is wait until there's news. I'm going to take her upstairs."

Jace brought her to the room she lived in during the summer. The calming draught beginning to work, her heartbeat slowed down, Katrina retaining a modicum of control and using a shield charm to repel him.
"Talk to me. I heard Sirius say you and Harry had a vision but whatever's happening, it's only affecting you," he said, switching into detective mode. "What's making your magic go haywire?"

Katrina opened up about her dreams of the tunnels beneath the forbidden forest, her vision of Mr. Weasley in the corridor, and how she siphoned her dormmates and set the room ablaze. She had not been this unstable with her magic since the day in the Great Hall, when Cayden possessed Roger. Jace speculated that it was connected to the hot spot in the forest, such potent magic enticing her siphon abilities.

"That magic's been in the ground for centuries. To you, it's like a buffet. Maybe it has to do with taking the dagger." He reversed the shield charm and sat beside her, conjuring a vial of purple potion. "Until we have a definite answer, we need to cut off the nightmares. You're going to take a dreamless sleep potion."

"But—" she started.

"No buts," he said, sounding eerily like Kane. "Nothing good will come out of you going through this night after night and Kane would agree with me. If Cayden wants this dagger, it's not to achieve world peace. You don't meddle in magic you don't understand, Katrina."

She sniffled, wiping her eyes. "Where is Kane?"

"Interrogation. I was in the living room when Sirius sent the note so that's why I'm here," he replied, allowing Purrsephone to crawl across his lap. "He's cracking that shell of his but I'll give it to Lukas. He's resilient. The most we've gotten out of him is that whoever let them into Hogsmeade, they used lobalug venom to break the barrier. It's too high of a price for the apothecary in Hogsmeade but we're keeping tabs on it. Kane has us contacting underground dealers."

There was a soft knock on the door. Seeing Harry, Jace offered to give them privacy, leaving the room to check on Sirius and the Weasleys.

Her brother handed her a bottle of butterbeer. "You saw it? How did you um—did you see the actual snake or—were you inside it?"

"I was at the end of the corridor. What do you mean by inside? Is that how you saw it happen?" she asked, noting his guilty expression. "Harry."

"It's like I was the snake," he admitted. "And then when we were in Dumbledore's office, this hatred took over and I wanted to hurt him. I didn't feel like myself. How did we have the same vision? I don't think it's the first time. Do you remember our first Divinations lesson? You were telling Sophie about a corridor in your dream. I've been dreaming about it too."

"Twins can sometimes have a connection through their magic," she explained, taking a sip of her butterbeer. "Kane used to have it with his sister. They were able to sense each other's emotions and amplify their spells."

"Used to?" The mention of Kane had taken his mind off of the vision. "Does it go away with old age?"
"In their case, no. She gave up her magic to be with Lukas's father. He's not the greatest example for a father figure. He was involved in a seedy business and to get him out of trouble, she let this dark wizard take her magic," she said, Jace telling her the story after Lukas rejected a gift she made for his eleventh birthday. "His father ran off anyway and it broke her. It's why Lukas despises her and Kane's kept her from running out on him."

"That's horrible," he said, dumbstruck.

"I don't know how we saw the attack but you didn't hurt Mr. Weasley. Everyone knows that so if they say different, don't take it personally." His slight nod was not one of confidence. "We'll get to the bottom of it."

Most of the night was spent in silence, no one willing to fall asleep on the chance that they would miss news of Mr. Weasley's condition. An hour in, Katrina, who had been waiting for Kane, could not sit still, choosing to occupy herself with her potions research. She holed herself up in her room, with Purrsephone for company. By five in the morning, she was fed up with her inability to think clearly and no response from Kane. Could he be interrogating Lukas nonstop and if that were not the case, why was he not at Grimmauld Place?

Jace broke her out of her self-imposed isolation for lunch. He would not listen to any of her excuses, tossing her notebook onto her bed and carrying her downstairs, past five trunks, like a mother cat with its kitten. Plopping her in a chair beside Ginny, he took a plate of food from Mrs. Weasley, who greeted her with a weary smile.

"Eat or I'll shove a cherry in your mouth." She grimaced, picking up a fork. "You're eating until you're the size of Malfoy's giant head."

Ginny giggled into her goblet of pumpkin juice. Everyone was much more talkative than the night before, with the news of Mr. Weasley being patched up by the healers, aside from Katrina and Harry. Like her, he did not seem to get any sleep, preoccupied with the vision.

Halfway through her second helping, Kane walked into the kitchen with her peacoat. "Jace, aren't you supposed to be meeting with Natalie?"

"I'm savoring the moments before she bores me with her unrelated stories," said Jace, muffled by a mouthful of roasted potatoes. "It's torture for my ears. Have you considered using her to make Lukas snap?"

"Her time is limited and she may have a lead," he said, not in the mood for his humor. "Get to it and Katrina, put on your coat."

"There's no rush to get to the hospital, Carlisle. Let her eat," asserted Sirius. "It's been a rough night."

"Katrina is coming home with me." Harry became irritated while the Weasleys were surprised by his remark. "Molly, give Arthur our best."

"Hold on, are you forgetting what we talked about with Dumbledore?" said Sirius, rising from his chair. "They're spending the holidays here."
"If you're that desperate for companionship, Black, by all means, keep the boy." Her brother glared at Kane. "I require her temporarily so you can pare down the waterworks. Get up, Katrina."

Knowing that Kane never liked asking twice, she mouthed an apology to a disgruntled Harry and followed Jace through the door. Once they were outside Grimmauld Place, Jace apparated to Natalie's apartment and Kane apparated with Katrina to his manor. Together, they headed to the basement.

"This interrogation with Lukas is going in circles. Cayden's got him well-trained and without the knowledge of his inner workings, it won't matter if we find him. That's where you come in," he said, tapping the steel door with his wand.

"You want me in there with him?" she asked, not thrilled about being around Lukas.

"It's how he's been resisting our methods, by flooding his every thought with you. He's seen through polyjuice potion and illusions. Gain his trust and once you're in his mind, you'll send me a signal." He moved his wand diagonally, lifting the protective enchantments. "If he senses me, he'll know it's a trap. Make him believe you came of your own accord. If at any time you get nervous, you can leave. He can't break out."

As he climbed up the steps, she opened the door. Lukas was shackled to the wall, Kane's torture methods on full display. His left eye was swollen shut and he had deep gashes across his chest. Mentally bracing herself, she ambled towards him, Lukas tilting his head up at the sound of her heels.

He coughed, spitting blood. "This again, uncle? You're getting stale. I'm not falling for it. You can show yourself."

"Kane's out with Alaric. I—I didn't—he told me he wasn't hurting you. It must be why he wouldn't let me come down here," she said, adopting a sympathetic tone. "I didn't think he'd do this."

"Nice tr—" She unfastened his shackles, causing him to collapse to the floor. "What are you doing?"

"I don't care about what you've done. It's not worth beating you to death." Cupping his face, she planned to siphon him enough to penetrate his mind, a simple task in his weakened state. "I can't let you out but let me heal you. I'll deal with Kane yelling at me later."

Katrina was unprepared for his lips crashing down on hers. At first, her body was numb but then, she experienced a new feeling, like she had been struck by an intense cheering charm and ingested multiple invigoration draughts. Coming to her senses, she pulled back to Lukas looking at her with a glassy-eyed stare. Her wand shot golden sparks beneath the steel door.

"That was quick," said Kane, reinforcing the enchantments. "I should've utilized you sooner, to save me a headache. I doubt Cayden's told him his darkest secrets but any information is useful. Let's begin."

As he rested his wand against Lukas's forehead, Katrina sat on her knees in a trance, touching her lips.