"You're seriously not going to apologize?"
Graham broke the long silence in Snape's office. It was the first time they were alone together since Draco impulsively attacked him outside the dungeons entrance. A solid punch across his jaw led to a full-out brawl, their housemates either attempting to separate them without getting caught in the crossfire or cheering them on for early morning entertainment. Draco refusing to explain his actions or talk it out, as suggested by Selene, caused their mutual friends to form a physical, sometimes magical, barrier between them to prevent another fight when they were within striking distance of each other.
The morning after, Pansy broached the touchy subject, hassling him as he descended down the staircase with Crabbe and Goyle. He almost yelled at her, until he overheard Astoria and her friends muttering about the Potter twins. One of the girls, on her way to the owlery, overheard some Gryffindors discussing how both Potters and the Weasleys had left the castle the previous night. No one was entirely sure why they left early for holiday break but there were rumors that the Weasleys' father had been injured at the Ministry.
Their sudden departure was the main topic throughout breakfast, the conversation passing through the four house tables. The Gryffindors did not know much themselves, except for Finnigan claiming that Potter was wildly rambling to McGonagall that he dreamt about the attack. Though Draco knew they were meant to spend the holidays with the Weasleys, he thought it strange that he and Katrina could not wait for the official end of term to reunite with them. Even stranger was a conversation between Dunbar, Roper, and Patil while he stood behind them to gather potion ingredients, all three having the same dream and Roper swearing that she could feel her sheets burning in the middle of the night. None of Katrina's roommates had seen her leaving their room, being told so that morning by McGonagall.
If anyone could answer his questions, it was Snape and he hoped to speak with him when the potions professor stopped him halfway to the quidditch pitch for a final practice before the holidays. Looking uncharacteristically tense, he brought Draco to his office, where Graham was already seated and ordered them to remain in the room for his return. Expecting that someone had snitched to him about their fight, neither said a word, Draco focusing on the herb on Snape's desk. He remembered it from his last time in the office, when he was upset over his fight with Katrina. Like then, its stem was flickering in color, turning a deep shade of red for at least a minute.
His concentration was broken by something hitting his head, a cork falling onto his lap. Hearing a soft tap, he raised his hand, catching another cork that had been flung by Graham.
"What's your problem, Draco?" he asked, crossing his arms. "You've been acting like a nutter. Are you mad that I said your form was off last practice?"
"Do you want a piece of parchment to write it down for your boss?" Graham looked at him, quizzically. "I know that you've been helping Cayden. Don't bother denying it. I overheard Carlisle talking to Dumbledore about it outside the hospital wing yesterday."
"Is that why—it's not what you think," he said, lamely.
Draco reined in the desire to throw another punch. "Really? So you weren't spying for him? You were the one who let him into Hogsmeade, weren't you?"
"No!" he protested. "I didn't have anything to do with that. I found out it was him when I went into the pub and saw the chimaera symbol on the wall. It's what he calls his group. His followers have the symbol on them."
Graham showed him a partial dragon's tail on his wrist. Pulling his sleeve over it, he admitted to initially meeting with Cayden a month before the beginning of the school year. He had been attending a charity fundraiser with his father and Celeste, his new, extremely young stepmother (who Graham openly despised), in Manhattan, the host being a family friend, when he bumped into Lukas. Under the public eye, they exchanged curt pleasantries but Graham's mood soured as the newly instated auror mentioned Graham's mother's imprisonment in Azkaban.
Lukas claimed that he had heard that there were plans to execute Mrs. Montague, the head guard believing it was a well-deserved punishment. He offered to introduce Graham to a friend of his, who had connections to the guard, and that was when he met Cayden in the host's rose garden. In exchange for spying on Hogwarts, Cayden would ensure Mrs. Montague's freedom. Graham knew nothing about his relation to the Davies until the attack in Hogsmeade, when he met with Lukas at the Hog's Head that night and the older boy was suppressing soreness from a brutal hex with liquor. Cayden had punished him for injuring Roger, explicitly telling him that any pain inflicted on his estranged cousin would be by him alone.
"If I knew he was going to come after Selene or any of you, I would've gone to Snape." He cupped his wrist. "Carlisle interrogated me after you lot were taken and he removed the linking spell on the mark. It's how Cayden would tell me what he wanted from day to day, whether it was Dumbledore's whereabouts or—"
"Or Katrina's?" asked Draco, not yet ready to forgive him. "Carlisle said you were spying on her. Why?"
A hesitant Graham was interrupted by Snape returning to the office with Theodore, Adrian, Selene, and Pansy. He sealed the door with a charm, conjured extra chairs, and sent a folded note through the fireplace.
"Professor, what's going on?" asked Pansy, sitting beside Draco.
He stood by the fireplace, awaiting something in the roaring flames. "You will be leaving a day early for the holiday break. There's been an incident and your families would like you home. For now, you'll be traveling to Malfoy Manor."
"What do you mean incident? What happened?" pressed Adrian.
"Some of them encountered a bit of trouble while on a mission tonight. That is why I've only brought you six into my office," he said, attempting to assuage their fears. "From what your father has told me, Selene, their injuries are not life-threatening. You will not speak of this to anyone else, by owl or any other means. Draco, inform your father that I will be there shortly. I must speak with the headmaster and Professor Umbridge may have her own questions."
His eyes briefly shifted to the herb on his desk, its stem a pale yellow. As the flames in the fireplace turned green, Snape sent them through, one by one, Draco being the last. Stepping out into his living room, he crashed into Theodore. He and the others were frozen, in fear and anger, and following their gaze, he saw a giggling Celeste with Cayden. A bored Aubrey was sitting on the arm of a leather chair, watching the ditzy blonde brush her hand against his bicep like she would prefer to blind herself with a rusty fork.
"You've never been? It's lovely," he told Celeste. "They enchant it through the seasons so the sun's always shining. You could spend an entire day there, from morning to night."
"You'll have to take me sometime…me and Damon, of course," she said, flirting as she often did despite her marriage. "He doesn't like to travel much but I'm sure he wouldn't mind you showing me around."
"What the hell are you doing here?" spat Adrian.
He reached for his wand, his hand hovering over his back pocket. Draco initially thought it was Cayden's doing but then, both of his parents and those of his friends, minus a few, entered the room, Mrs. Pucey the apparent caster. His confusion grew when his father apologized to Cayden and requested him to move to the drawing room, Aubrey and Draco's mother sharing glances of mutual loathing.
"We did not send for you children to be disrespectful," said Mr. Nott, wiping specks of blood from his palm with a handkerchief. "You know better, Theodore. Your brother does not need to deal with your hysterics."
"Father, have you gone mad? That psycho kidnapped us," replied Theodore, as if their parents were clueless to his past actions. "Are you forgetting that he held us hostage for days?"
"You were never in any danger, Theodore," he said, dismissively. "You were solely taken to maintain appearances. If you weren't, it would draw suspicion."
"Is that what he told you? Because you weren't there when he was strangling Davies with his bare hands." None of their parents seemed unaffected by his words. "That could've been any of us if we hadn't been found sooner."
"Enough," said Draco's father, with stern coolness. "Cayden is an ally to our cause. The Dark Lord trusts him and so shall all of you. His knowledge is extremely valuable and he is here at our behest to aid the injured, which includes your families. The past is of no importance and you will put it behind you."
"Was Mother hurt?" Selene asked her father, noting her absence.
"Nothing that won't heal over time," assured her father. "The injuries aren't our primary concern. I assume Severus is concocting a story for Dumbledore?"
Draco quietly nodded in response. His mother steered them towards the kitchen, unwilling to answer their numerous questions. He managed to get out of her that the incident involved a run-in with Kane Carlisle, Theodore's older brother Rhys, Selene and Pansy's mothers, and Adrian and Graham's fathers among the injured in the fight. Before losing consciousness, Mrs. Parkinson sent a message to the manor. His mother kept tight-lipped, ordering their house-elf Opal to attend to them while they prepared for the arrival of the Dark Lord.
As she disappeared through the door, Opal conjured an array of snacks. "They're definitely under an imperius curse, right?" asked Adrian, taking a pumpkin pasty. "No way they'd work with him."
"Well, he did live with Carlisle, didn't he? He must know things about him that no one else does," suggested Pansy.
"Who cares? He's completely off his rocker, Pansy." She merely shrugged, knowing he was right. "Carlisle's been working with Dumbledore from the beginning. Why would they need him now?"
"Opal, how long has he been in the manor?" Draco asked, turning to the small house-elf.
Lowering the tray of sandwiches, she twisted the tattered pink cloth around her. "Would Master like—"
"Master would like an answer," he interjected, causing the elf to tug down on her ears in fright. "Has he been living here?"
"N—no, Master," she squeaked. "He visited once over the summer and then again, the night the aurors saved you, Master. Speaking for hours in the study with Master's father and the Dark Lord and he visits very often with his friend. Opal hears them talk of very bad things when bringing drinks. You is best not to be alone with Mr. Coller. He is a bad man."
"Is this how low we've sunk, agreeing with a house elf?" muttered Theodore.
At the sound of a familiar laugh, Draco's guard rose and Aubrey and Cayden walked into the kitchen, talking amongst themselves. Aubrey snapped her fingers at Opal, ordering her to get them glasses of red wine. Bowing her head, Opal conjured the glasses on her tray.
"Merlin, she's slow, isn't she?" she said to Cayden, taking the glasses while Opal left to attend to their parents. He was adjusting his sleeve. "A shitty house-elf for a shitty family."
Pansy grabbed Draco's arm, to stop him from advancing on her. "You're in my house, Rhodes. Keep it up and ending up in Shadow Isle will the least of your worries."
Smirking, she leaned against the door and took a sip of her wine. She was not foolish enough to physically harm him, not with his parents around and whatever deal had been made between them.
Cayden drained his glass and looked over at Selene. "You've recovered from that stinging jinx quite quickly."
Selene furrowed her brow. "Wh—"
He smashed the glass against Graham's face and slammed his head into the marble countertop. A harsh blow struck Draco's chest, knocking him and the others back, and Aubrey conjured a barrier between them and Cayden. She motioned that the door was soundproofed, making it pointless for them shout for their parents. Graham groaned, his face sliced by the shards of glass.
"Do you think I'm an idiot?" hissed Cayden.
"Stop it!" begged Selene.
"I wasn't certain when you arrived so I was testing you as your friends whined to your parents and I tried it again just now. If the link wasn't severed, your girlfriend's pretty face would look much like yours." He pushed down on Graham's head, the glass sliding up his cheek. "Kane lifted it, didn't he?"
Aware of what Cayden meant, Draco feigned the same cluelessness as his friends. "Y—yes," sputtered Graham. "He figured it out the night you took the Hogwarts students. He was questioning everyone outside the pub and somehow, he knew that I was spying for you."
"Leave him alone!" Selene tried to break through the barrier. "Let him go, you psycho!"
"The ring that Lukas gave me to communicate with him. It's how he figured it out," he said, fighting the pain. "He knew because the real rings have a phoenix, not a dragon. I didn't tell him anything. He lifted the linking spell and told me to act normal."
"He sent the two of you after it, didn't he? You got it at Hogwarts. The Ministry maps wouldn't show it and you went searching while I was distracted with those brats," he growled. "Where did she put it?"
"I don't know what you're talking about…" Was it the reason for his new alliance with the Dark Lord, to regain something stolen by Carlisle? "Dumbledore wouldn't let us out of the castle."
Aubrey warned him that someone was nearing the door. He lifted Graham from the counter by a fistful of his hair.
"We're not done, you feeble worm," he said, healing his face with a flick of his wrist. "I'll tell that slut of a stepmother of yours to keep your father busy so we can have a chat. I'm going to teach you to keep your worthless mouth shut."
Slamming his head against the counter again, he left the kitchen with Aubrey. A teary-eyed Selene tended to him, despite Graham objecting to her help. Unlike Draco, she was far more forgiving, indifferent to him purportedly assisting Cayden in his endeavors.
"It was about your mother. That's the one reason you'd be so mental," she whispered. "I don't care, Graham. We can go to our parents, tell them that he was using you and then they'll deal with him."
The door opened again, revealing Snape. "The Dark Lord is on his way. Your parents would like you with them to greet him. Carrow, are you crying? What has happened?"
"C—Cayden was in here," she stuttered. "Graham's been spying on Hogwarts for him. Kane Carlisle broke the spell he was using to make him do things and—and Cayden found out and he hurt him."
Snape frowned slightly. "I presume that is what you and Carlisle were discussing in my office?" he asked Graham. "What have you been telling him?"
"He would ask about Dumbledore or students like Davies and Potter. He asked me to set up a meeting with Selene's cousin Gwen to find something," explained Graham, staring at the floor. "He thinks I found it while he was holding everyone hostage in that hideout but I don't know what it is, professor. I didn't mean to…he said if I helped him, he'd break out my mother from Azkaban."
"Do not blame yourself. Taking advantage of others is his specialty. You are not the first and you won't be the last. We will keep this between us." Selene was about to speak out in defiance. "Bringing this to your parents' attention will achieve nothing. Do you believe the Dark Lord will be sympathetic to his plight, Selene? He is singularly focused and to that end, your parents are as well to ensure his success. I will speak with Cayden myself."
Draco did not think it was wise to confront someone that unstable without backup. As talented as Snape was, Draco doubted that he would be able to convince him to spare Graham's life. What could he say to make him forget what he perceived as a betrayal, much like the Dark Lord would do to a disloyal death eater?
In the drawing room, the table was gone, replaced by several stretchers lined from end to end and bearing a relative, another ally, or someone Draco suspected to be working for Cayden. Aubrey was in the corner, peering into a two-way mirror, while he inspected an unconscious, bruised Rhys. While some wives stayed by their husband's sides, Celeste had no interest in her own, instead talking to Selene's older sister Athena. The parents paid no mind to their visibly shaken children, Selene clinging to Graham so he did not confront the apathetic Celeste.
That tension amplified as Draco's father arrived with the Dark Lord, any hope of airing out their grievances with Cayden evaporating in an instant. Draco had rarely spent time around the menacing wizard, never one on one, but he could feel his presence even if he were several floors away from him. It was evocative of when he had been in Cayden's hideout, though Cayden was not as fearsome.
Mimicking his mother, he lowered his head in respect. "Always a pleasure to have you in our home, my lord. There is no greater honor."
"Such a gracious host, Narcissa. It is a shame that it is under these circumstances," he said in a high, cold voice. "My great followers, bested by a single man."
Mr. Parkinson spoke up amongst the group. "My lord, clearly there was—"
"Silence, Tristan. Clearly," he said, in a mocking tone. "I've thought too highly of your abilities. It is fortunate that we were separated or I daresay you may have been attending your wife's funeral. Don't you agree, Cayden?"
He was peering at dried blood under Rhys's ears. "Of course, my lord. Your wisdom is unparalleled." How could anyone believe such an obvious act? "Kane wasn't alone. You can tell by their injuries. He's forceful, brutal, doesn't mind breaking a bone or two…he was in the apothecary while his partner was in the woods."
"Did you not tell us that his team would be engaged in other matters, searching for your followers who escaped their grasp?" questioned Draco's father. "Dumbledore never left the castle and at the time, he was conducting a meeting with the Order. We chose that time to search the apothecary because they would be occupied, according to Severus."
"Perhaps he was misinformed," insinuated Cayden.
"Every member was accounted for, my lord," insisted Snape, barely hiding his contempt. "I would not make such an error. The Order had no part in staking out the apothecary. I could attempt to find out from Carlisle who accompanied him. He's not the most forthcoming but he may tell Dumbledore under the right circumstances."
"Why wait for a potential answer when we can get it ourselves?" Cayden nodded towards Rhys. "His eyes are open, which means he could've seen them even after being taken down. It's a simple memory retrieval for any wizard with half a brain."
Some of the death eaters bristled at his comment. Though Mrs. Pucey argued the image would be blurry, he looked to the Dark Lord for permission. What if he manipulated the memory to pin someone like Graham as Carlisle's accomplice? A thin, silver mist oozed from Rhys's eye, swirling above his body as Cayden twisted his wand in a counterclockwise direction. Within the mist, an image of the woods, where Rhys had fought, formed and expanded to show an entire purview of the dark surroundings, much like a pensieve.
"I'll find out where she keeps the vials and if she doesn't cooperate, you can step in, Thalia," said Rhys, referring to Selene's mother. "She's coming."
A figure in a scarlet cloak walked along the path, towards a well-lit village in the distance. She halted at a line of flames materializing on the ground.
Rhys stepped out from behind a tree, his wand tip glowing orange. "No need to be alarmed, Mrs. Yates. If you answer my questions, you can be on your way. I hear you've got quite the collection of ingredients in your apothecary. I'd like to ask about a specific one, an ingredient that is rather expensive and not on display for your typical clientele. Don't go reaching for your wand. A frail thing like you, it wouldn't be much of a match."
As something silver flew from her pocket, Draco thought it was a spell until a thin dagger hit Rhys's hand, causing him to drop his wand. Whoever it was, possibly Carlisle's partner masquerading as the apothecary owner, a golden whip emerged from their sleeve, wrapping around his throat. The hooded figure sent him flying over their shoulder and into Mrs. Carrow, who was about to cast a hex.
"Avada kedavra!" shouted Rowle, a brawny death eater with an equally aggressive demeanor.
A jet of bright green light hit the cloaked figure in the chest, their body crumpling to the ground. If Rowle was on the stretcher, his face partially burnt, how had the owner survived the curse? He kicked the hooded figure from their side, the hood falling to expose the figure as a straw dummy.
"Wow, nice shot."
Cayden had to have altered the memory. There was no other explanation for Draco to recognize that voice. Standing atop a branch above Rowle was Katrina, her hair in a high ponytail and wearing a uniform that resembled Moore's when he infiltrated Cayden's compound. No one would have expected Carlisle's partner to be a teenage girl. The Dark Lord looked intrigued while Snape's mouth receded into a thin line, an indescribable emotion in his eyes. Catching various reactions, mainly disbelief, Draco noticed a subtle smirk on Cayden's face.
"I've got good aim too," she said, like it was a casual conversation. "Twinsies."
Katrina jumped down to avoid another curse. The moment her feet touched the ground, it shifted upward beneath Rowle, launching him into the thicket of trees. She dodged a stunning spell from Avery, the spell cutting through a tree trunk. As he blasted apart a large piece of the trunk that she hurled at him, she used the distraction to kick at his knee, to mess with his stance, and conjured vines to restrain him. A thick black cord winded around her wrist, held by Mrs. Carrow to achieve the same effect. It also showed that she was not wearing her gloves.
Rhys picked up his wand with his uninjured hand. "You think you're tough, you little bi—"
Both he and Mrs. Carrow held the sides of their heads, Selene's mother struggling to sustain her spell. The way they fell to their knees, Draco was reminded of his fight with Davies and Barnes outside the Gryffindor common room. At the time, he had blamed the unknown spell on Davies's older brother, who had hurried to his brother's side as the pain ceased and possibly pointed to Draco as the caster to avoid being reprimanded for harming a student. He never saw Katrina near the scene but there was no mistaking the similarities. Mrs. Carrow losing concentration, blood dribbling out of her left ear, the whip disintegrated and a silverish glow encircled Katrina's hand.
The memory began to fade, due to Rhys losing consciousness, just as Rowle slinked out from the trees. While Cayden attempted to repair the broken memory, Katrina pulled Rowle towards her and punched him with her glowing hand. The blow sent him hurtling inches from where Avery was fighting the vines, Rowle unconscious and sporting those burns. Broken bits of conversation filtered through the shaky images, Draco guessing that the massive figure volleying spells back and forth with her was Stark.
"A bit of downgrade, isn't it? You're lucky he isn't here," said Katrina, dodging a curse that froze multiple trees. "The way you're fighting, you would've been down in two seconds."
Draco observed a shared glance between Aubrey and Cayden. The memory faded to black, the mist receding back into Rhys's eye. His father immediately requested Draco bring his friends to his bedroom while they had a 'private discussion'.
"What was Potter doing there?"
"How did she do any of that? What was the spell she used on—"
"Quiet," Adrian said to a chattering Pansy and Theodore. "Our parents are probably talking about that right now. I know a spell from my father that can help us listen in on them. They didn't look too pleased with Cayden, did they? We might get to see them throw him out on his ass."
He pointed his wand at Draco's mirror, moving it in a circular pattern. The drawing room was reflected in the glass, Draco's father rounding on Cayden.
"You failed to disclose the full extent of her abilities," he said, with a perceptible ire.
Cayden did not seem worried about any backlash. "How would I disclose something I was unaware of, Lucius? Her abilities are greater than I expected at her age. It's like comparing any two wizards. By fourth year, some are capable of levitating a desk and others still struggle with a feather."
"This is beyond levitation charms." He turned towards the Dark Lord, who kept his silence. "My lord, I am aware of the agreement that was made in exchange for his valuable assistance but surely you can agree that there is only one solution to this problem."
"Lucius," started Snape.
"Carlisle is playing by his own rules, not Dumbledore's. If he's willing to put her out there, we are not prepared for it. We have no idea the extent of her gifts. He claimed to know," he said, facing Cayden. "And yet he was wrong. She stands in the way of getting to her brother. This fight will be heavily one-sided unless the Potter girl is put down."
Draco was stunned by his father's proposal. How could he consider killing a teenage girl? His mother and a few others looked rightfully uneasy with taking her life.
"I hate to interrupt but I need to talk to Cayden about a separate problem, one that doesn't involve you whining over a teenager," said Aubrey, earning a harsh glare from Draco's father. "You can carry on. I'm sure we won't miss much of this riveting debate."
"Follow them," Draco told Adrian, as she and Cayden left the room. "I saw Aubrey give him a look right before the memory ended. He didn't want anyone to see it."
Adrian cast the charm again, searching for a mirror near the pair. "They already knew it was Katrina. What else did they need to see?" asked Graham, leaning against the door.
"Stark isn't in the drawing room," acknowledged Draco. "If he escaped or beat Katrina, why not show that? In his mind, wouldn't it prove to the Dark Lord that his people are better than our parents? He's not the kind of person to be modest."
"Or he was captured like Lukas and Cayden doesn't want them knowing that Carlisle could be getting information on the Dark Lord," suggested Selene.
Adrian discovered them in a hallway near the kitchen. Aubrey held out the two-way mirror, retrieving an image from the glass.
"Confirmed it," she said, Adrian catching her mid-sentence. "He brought it to the hideout. I doubt it was by accident. You want to do this instead of dealing with Lucius and his new agenda?"
"Lucius is an idiot. The Dark Lord won't entertain the idea. Was he the only one?" She nodded. "Let's see it."
The image appeared to be another memory from the woods. Stark was standing by a blackened tree, Katrina and Carlisle across from him. She was using her wand to heal a burn on her palm, her fight with Stark as brutal as their first when rescuing the Hogwarts students with Moore. In the background, an unconscious Mrs. Carrow and Rhys were visible but as she moved towards them, Carlisle ordered her back home to check on Lukas, implying that she was living at his manor.
"Before you nabbed him, he'd never shut up about her. Those protections must be extensive if he was never able to slip into her bed. She's a pretty one, feisty too…" Carlisle narrowed his eyes. "With that trick of hers, I get why you kept her locked up tight and here I thought Amara was impressive. She took it like it was nothing, with one hand. What's the plan then, old friend? Hoping I'll talk more than your nephew?"
Draco wondered why Stark was not attempting to fight him. "That would be a waste of time."
"You're right. You wouldn't get much before it enacts Cayden's curse," he said, sounding winded. "Azkaban, then? Or will you be bringing one of these masked fools to Dumbledore to learn of their plans? I'd take the Nott boy, if it were me. He'd break the easiest but the old man prefers a gentle touch, doesn't he? He must not know you brought her out here."
"You believe that Albus sent me to stop that pitiful excuse for a robbery, Leon? No, he's conducting a meeting and as far as he knows, I'm in an interrogation," Carlisle replied, nonchalantly. "If I cared about imprisoning these dimwitted, servile maggots, I could've done it when Albus alerted me to what the Potter boy had witnessed in that graveyard. He's doomed to fail, just as he did years ago."
"You already know I can't tell you what Cayden's up to…" Grabbing his collar, Carlisle slammed him into the tree. "No Azkaban, no taking me for interrogation? You wouldn't risk angering Dumbledore for crossing his well-drawn line."
"I'm solely here for you, old friend. I suspect Aubrey is too busy licking his boots." The mirror cracked under Aubrey's thumb. "You'll have to suffice as a message."
"Kane, I'm powerless," wheezed Stark. "He'll know it was your doing."
"You're under the delusion that my actions are dictated by him. I do as I please and this will be a great pleasure for me. Perhaps you should've thought twice before taking a knee to that arrogant, witless cretin," he seethed, his hand hovering over his chest. "Perhaps you should've thought twice before you came for my child!"
Stark's face was turning a faint purple. "Kane—"
"You dared to lay a hand on her and now you'll suffer the consequences." Blood seeped through his shirt. "When I find Aubrey, she'll share your fate. If that little pissant wants to start a war with me, then he'll see exactly what's coming for him and anyone that joins him."
Draco's eyes widened as Stark's heart burst from his chest, into Carlisle's open hand. With a terrified yelp, Pansy buried her head into Draco's shoulder. Carlisle crushed it into dust and walked off, leaving behind Stark's lifeless body. The memory vanished, any of Aubrey's anger from his comments about her becoming outright fear.
Selene lowered her hand from her mouth. "Did he just—he killed him."
"Carlisle's got his reputation for a reason," said Graham, the least shocked of the six of them. "No one's ever called him soft. Aubrey must've seen his body through the mirror and that's why she had him stop the memory. They're talking again."
"We need to show it to him," urged Aubrey, her face as pale as the snow outside. "If anyone can stop him, it's—"
Cayden lifted his eyes, fleetingly flickering red, from the cracked mirror. "You think Kane's better than me? Stronger?"
"N—no, but this changes…he…"
"It changes nothing, Aubrey," he said, not heeding her fears. "In this fight, were you under the impression that there were merely two outcomes, victory or a jail cell? I anticipated casualties. Stark is a loss, to be sure, but we have others to pick up his slack. I knew Kane would eventually catch onto the pattern of the robberies and it worked exactly as I wanted. Don't you think so?"
Graham and Selene jumped away from the door at that last part, the voice coming from inside the room. Cayden appeared by the door despite being shown in the mirror.
"Time delay spell. I could feel you peeking in the drawing room and while you're seeing that, I'm here and Aubrey's channeling her fear into chewing out Draco's father for his stupidity," he said, seeing their bewilderment. "It was a favorite of hers. Kane never let her have sweets so she'd use the spell to sneak them into her pocket before he brought her to bed. Such a talent, even at a young age. We never finished our talk, Graham."
"S—stay away from him, from us," said Selene, fiercely. "I won't let you hurt him."
He feigned offense, placing his hand on his chest. "Why would I do that? Unlike your boyfriend, I understand loyalty and the importance of keeping a promise. I intend to uphold my end of our arrangement to free his mother but freedom doesn't guarantee she'll be in good condition when they reunite, does it? I only gain temporary satisfaction if I hurt you so I'd prefer to reset the terms of our deal."
"I'm not helping you anymore." Graham did not sound that confident. "I don't need you to get my mother out of Azkaban. The Dark Lord will do it. I know from my father that he's already planning it."
"With my guidance. If I tell him that your mother was a traitor who fed information to Kane before her imprisonment, which is the reason that she had a shorter sentence than the rest, he'll leave her to rot." Cayden smirked, knowing it was a lie but that a tiny seed of doubt would be enough to convince the Dark Lord. "If you want her back in one piece, you'll do as I say and if I find out that you went crying to Snape, as you did earlier, you'll be reuniting with your mother when you see her in a coffin, if the guards even care enough to not just toss her into the ocean."
"What more could you possibly want?" asked Graham, incredulously. "I've already been spying for you."
"A kneazle could've done your job. Actually, the kneazle would've been intelligent enough to not get caught," he said, with a chuckle. "In exchange for your mother, you're going to bring me Katrina."
Was he going after her because of her helping Carlisle? Graham looked at him like he grew horns and three heads. Spying was a far simpler task compared to kidnapping a student.
"Are you mad? He's not doing that," said Selene, answering for him. "What do you want with her?"
"That's my business," he replied, not waiting for Graham to agree to the insane demand. "Aubrey will keep an eye on your progress, as will my spy in the village. The longer it takes, the less likely it is that you'll be seeing your mother again. Feel free to work together. With your combined intelligence, I put your chances of success at 0.1%."
He left the bedroom, a fraught silence in his wake. Selene whacked Graham over the head with her purse.
"Don't tell me you're going along with that insanity, Graham," she hissed, Graham rubbing the sore spot. "You can't kidnap Katrina Potter. Not only are she and her brother the most protected teenagers in Britain, between Hogwarts, Dumbledore, and the Order, she's a kid. She's innocent."
"Really? That's what you're going with, Cel?" asked Theodore, seemingly fine with Cayden's offer. "Did you see what she did to my brother? To your mother?"
"That's not fair," countered Draco. "We don't know the whole story. Carlisle could be manipulating her."
"Of course you'd say that," he muttered.
"I'm not a fan of Potter but I don't want her dead. That's obviously what he's up to, right?" asked Pansy, being an unusual voice of reason. "He wants the credit to impress the Dark Lord."
"He doesn't want her dead." Graham cast a soundproofing charm on the door, like Aubrey had done in the kitchen. "Carlisle's not manipulating her. Well, maybe he is but not how you think, Draco. She lives with him."
Learning the truth from Cayden, he confessed that Katrina's kidnapping story presented to the Ministry was a complete fabrication. Not the victim of some deranged death eater, she was taken from the hospital by Carlisle, under the direction of Dumbledore, for her protection, possibly because the Dark Lord was targeting her family though that did not explain why her brother was left with their parents. What they had witnessed in the hideout, or even earlier in her fight with Chambers, made sense, if Carlisle had been training her like one of his special aurors all those years. Her lack of a reaction to Draco's concerns over him using her were not her being naive, but being fully aware of his plans.
For a short time, until she was about four years old, her path intersected with Cayden, who had been living in Carlisle's manor. He had taken the Hogwarts students to leverage their lives for hers, not to get revenge on his estranged family or his former mentor.
"She's got this weird ability. I've never heard of it before but Cayden's mother had it too. It's why she wears those gloves. It has to do with touch," said Graham, tapping Selene's wrist. "She can take in magic."
"Like the potion he made?" asked Adrian, puzzled.
"Sort of, yeah, but it's temporary. The gloves act like a barrier, I suppose. Cayden said people like her can do it without touch when they're older but Katrina can already do it. Like when her hand was glowing…" he said, waving his fingers. "It was from absorbing Selene's mother's spell, which got rid of the whip. She's the one who told Carlisle about me helping him after she recognized his ring. The night of the concert, we went in the forest."
"For dittany," said Selene, recalling that night.
"If I helped her out with finding something Cayden was after, she said she'd get me unlinked from his curse. There are these tunnels underneath the forest." Selene held back a rant regarding him entering the Forbidden Forest. "Carlisle must've told her about them. We found some old chest and then she had a feeling Potter was hurt so we left."
"Well, what was in it?" Graham shrugged at Selene's question. "It has to be a weapon. Forget not telling Snape. He's undercover with the Order and maybe Carlisle told them about it. He's the only one who can get through to our parents about this snake."
Dragging Graham by his sleeve, she opened the door. Aubrey was out in the hallway, twirling a marble vase in her hands.
"Going somewhere?" she asked Graham. "Consider me your new shadow, handsome. We don't want you fucking up more than you already have with your giant mouth. If you'd like to do something stupid, by all means. It means I get to pay mommy a visit."
Draco took the vase from her. "Hands off, Rhodes. It's worth more than your family could ever afford and I don't need you dirtying up my mother's things."
"Let me assure you that this new alliance of ours got doesn't mean you're safe," she whispered, her wand digging into his ribs. "He needs Cayden more than he needs your parents so keep that in mind with how you speak to me or I'll gut you in your sleep."
"Shouldn't you be more worried about ending up like Stark instead of this petty vendetta against my family?" he replied, to get under her skin.
"I can multitask." She sharply poked him before lifting her wand. "If anyone is going to have their heart torn out, it's your friend who's just been tasked with taking the one thing that Carlisle gives a damn about in this world. You might want to get a new boyfriend, Carrow. Yours is on a ticking clock."
