Chapter 2: After

16 June 1993

Abu Sur, Egypt

The moment Kat arrived in sector 2897, she discovered it was the farthest possible thing from Russia imaginable. Luckily her port-key had dropped her well out of sight between two tall dunes of sand. There was no time for the nausea of the rapid transportation to wear off, or if it did, she didn't notice, as she was overcome by feeling ill from the drastic weather change. It was blindingly hot here, the exact opposite to the crushing cold she had been living in for the last several weeks. Kat shrugged out of her cloak as quickly as she could and shoved her wand into her pocket before ripping off her gloves as well. She sat down and tried to gather herself enough to look around.

Desert surrounded her on all sides. Kat scowled at this turn of events. Would it really have cost the goblins to inform her of where she was heading? She stripped from her winter garb and shoved it into her bag leaving her in a sleeveless shirt and pants; she was at least able to breathe this way. Shouldering her packs once more she began climbing one of the dunes. It wouldn't do her any good to not be able to see where she was. Pyramids dotted the landscape around her.

"You are English Agent, yes?"

Kat turned as an aging Egyptian man approached her leading two camels. She looked him over quickly and nodded. He was a wizard, his wand was strapped to his wrist underneath his long sleeved linen robes and judging by the ease with which he walked along the top of the dune, she wagered that if he had not lived here all his life, then at least he had been here a good while.

"I am. Agent McCullough. And you are?"

"Malik, just Malik. Goblins, very rude can be. They give us no warning at all. Here, you ride camel." He led one of the camels out in front of her.

Unfortunately for Malik, Kat had never been near a camel, much less ridden one. He seemed to understand this well enough and helped her load her bags and then mount up. It was awkward to say the least and left Kat feeling as though she was going to fall off the creature with every footfall.

"How far is the site?" Kat called over her shoulder to Malik. They were still on the high dunes and therefore moving in single file.

"A good many miles away. You get comfortable. Long ride."

Kat had been afraid of that. She tried to re-adjust herself in the odd seat atop the camel and finally managed to sit in a manner slightly more stable. Once they descended from the high dunes, Malik took the lead out across the desert. On their way, she asked him about the assignment and, in his broken English he informed her of the progress they had made on the site.

"I have lived here many years and never have we seen anything like what the curses on the tomb did. One muggle had to have his entire arm amputated. We were not able to stop the curse from spreading otherwise."

"Why has no one been out to this tomb before, if its curses are so active?"

"They were not always so. In fact, until very recently, I did not even know it existed. No one did. It's like it just appeared there one day, very strange."

It was beyond strange in Kat's mind. Pulling her longing away from the icy breezes of Russia and the discovery she had made there she tried to focus her mind to the task awaiting her. Someone put some very powerful enchantments on the tomb, which meant either there was something very bad or very valuable inside that someone wanted kept away from muggles and the wizarding world alike.

It was late afternoon when Kat and Malik arrived at the site. She looked up at the barriers that had been erected to keep muggles away. She suspected that there were also wards against wizards and magical creatures as well due to the sensitivity of the site, but that Malik had lowered those. There were several people, perhaps a half dozen at most wandering about the camp. Some were working, others were pouring over piles of scrolls and old books. Kat scanned the area for the agent in charge, or at least, the agent she was supposed to be replacing. Once inside the camp, Malik instructed the camels down and Kat dismounted on sore legs. Stretching these out, she shouldered her bag and pack and shook hands with Malik.

"Thank you for your assistance. Do you know where I can find the lead agent?"

"Oh yes, you be wanting Bill. He be inside no doubt. Does not know how to quit, that one." Malik shook her hand and motioned toward the tomb before taking the camel's reins and guiding them up and toward a water trough near the well. Kat nodded and turned; making her way toward the tomb to check in with the agent she was to be assisting.

"This is Agent McCullough, I am coming inside." It may have seemed childish or silly, but in Kat's experience it was always a good idea to announce oneself before entering a site, especially an unbroken site. There was no knowing what dangerous spells or curses could be about. She went inside and made her way down the long winding halls and very nearly tripped over the curse-breaker when she came upon him.

He was sitting on the floor against a wall, staring off at the jewel-encrusted door in front of him. Kat pulled herself back to avoid stepping on him. Upon her approach, Bill raised his wand, it's tip brightly lit to see who had come in.

"I told no one to come inside until I'd broken it."

Kat's own wand was clutched in her hand at the ready; she didn't appreciate anyone aiming at her, even if they were on the same side. "Lower your wand, please."

Bill lowered his wand and pointed at the small oil lamp, which promptly lit up the entire area of the tunnel around them as he pulled himself to his feet. Kat nearly dropped her wand. "William Weasley?"

Bill cracked a smile at her surprise. "Usually I'm the one who introduces me, and then you introduce you. Bit unfair this way, you know who I am and I haven't the faintest who you are."

Kat shook herself and extended her free hand. "Of course, sorry. I'm Agent McCullough. I was sent to assist you."

She took a deep breath, trying to calm the shock from her expression. A part of her was very relieved that he didn't remember her, while another, smaller part was disappointed. Kat pulled the letter she'd received from the goblins from her pocket and held it out to him. Bill reached out and shook her hand, taking the parchment with his other hand. At his touch, at least a dozen memories flew to the surface of Kat's mind before she could stop them.

"Oy, Bill! Come on, Mate!" A gangly looking youth was pitching bits of snow at the friend in question who was making his way down from the castle.

"Yeah, I'm comin' Pete!" As he descended the last of the steps one of the balls of snow hit him in the knee and with a wild grin he picked up a bunch and launched it at the youth. Unluckily for the youth, Bill had far better aim, and the snowball hit him square in the cheek.

"Not fair!" Pete scooped up more snow and the two proceeded to attack each other along the path toward Hogsmead. What neither of the romping two young men realized at the time however is that they had an audience. Kat was neither popular nor unpopular at Hogwarts. She was one of the many who no one quite noticed. She did her work, she did it well and she went about her day. Very few outside her own house knew her for the kind, outgoing and energetic young woman that she was. And this was how she wanted it. She was content with this. Sitting now, as she was, on one of the gabled roofs surrounding the courtyard, she could observe everyone on their way out of the school to Hogsmead, but was virtually invisible herself.

"Well. Pleasure to meet you, Miss McCullough." Bill had an easy smile as he released her hand. He looked her over as subtly as he could. She was certainly not an unattractive woman. Nor was she a raging beauty. She had about her a kind of calm confidence that made her features shine and banished what might have been disguised under the cover of plainness.

She was tall for a woman, but the top of her head would reach his chin at best and she had dark brown hair which would be a riot of curls if let loose and skin the tawny brown of a forest in shade. Her eyes were wide, dark and staring frankly at him with a familiarity that was startling. Bill felt like he must have seen her somewhere before, but for the life of him couldn't remember where. Shaking himself out of his stare, Bill turned to the door across from them, he picked up the lamp and carried it, motioning her along.

"This here is our problem. Won't budge and there's more curses on this thing than moss on the marshes."

Kat dropped her bags and the two of them spent the next several hours going over the curses that had been encountered, what had been done, ideas on how to fix it. Kat liked it this way. Diving into work was a sure way to eliminate the insane amount of awkward that had started to gather around them the instant she recognized him. She counted herself immeasurably blessed that he had not recognized her as well. Bill had been a prefect, then head boy, amazingly smart, and everyone's friend. Kat had been one of the many young women at Hogwarts who had fallen head over heels for him when they were in school. Unlike her fellows however, Kat had chosen to distance herself from him as much as possible. Bill Weasley was a star, every guy wanted to be him, every girl wanted the chance to catch his eye. She wouldn't fall into that net, and she refused to allow a crush on a boy to ruin her plans and goals.

Professor, I was wondering about a potion—about if one exists…"

Professor Snape looked up from his desk to see a young lady of his own house standing before him. She was a quiet but very bright girl. Setting down his quill he motioned her to sit. "What sort of potion?"

A much younger, much plainer Kat took a seat at a desk across from Snape. He was both potions master and her head of house, if anyone could help her, she was sure it was he. "I know amoratania is the most powerful love potion in the world, but I was wondering if there is an opposite to it."

Snape cocked his head to the side as Kat turned her hands over and over and finally knotted her fingers under the desk. "A potion for hate then?"

"N-no. Not hate…just…to make the feeling of love…desire…to make it go away."

"Perhaps you ought to explain your dilemma, Miss McCullough."

Kat took a deep breath before responding. "There's a young man…and he's really quite wonderful…but I—I simply can't afford to be attracted to him. It wouldn't be practical. And it's distracting me. I can't think. I keep thinking about him, and when he's near I stare at him and imagine - it's just ridiculous and—and I know it will be better once he settles down with some nice, beautiful witch, I know then the feelings will go away, but I need something now that will make it stop so I can get on with my life. I don't want to care about him. I can't."

The expression on Professor Snape's face was unreadable and for a long time there was silence, without even the shuffling of other students in the hall. When he finally answered, his voice was low and held a note of finality that made Kat's heart plummet.

"There is no potion to help you. There is no charm to make the burden less, no spell to make the feeling go away. And that—is as it should be."

"But Professor-"

"No. If you feel you must fight your feelings for this young man, then do so. But do not seek an easy answer. Do not seek to cheat. Fight it if you feel that is what you must do, have courage and strength. Use your cunning to shield yourself from hurt, but I warn you—forsaking love…will prove to be your greatest regret."

Professor Snape had never given her the answers she sought that day. But she had never asked him for them again. There was simply something in his eyes. The look held something darker and deeper than hurt and more powerful than finality. Somehow, at some point, he had survived such pain that he now viewed the world differently than she could have imagined. Professor Snape had always been a mentor, but from that day forward he became something more. He became her most respected ally. Her remaining years at Hogwarts, though he did not provide her with a love-curing elixir, he was always there with challenging tasks to take her mind away from whatever else might have been plaguing her.

"You get settled alright?"

Kat started from where she stood in her tent. They had wrapped up shortly after dusk, as Bill explained the night curses were unbreakable. Kat found that unbelievable and challenged him that she would break them before he could break open the door. Now he was standing at the open door of her tent with a bowl of steaming contents in one hand and a canteen in the other.

"Yes, quite well, thank you." She gestured that he could come in if he wished. Bill nodded in answer and came in, looked about and extended the bowl and canteen to her.

"Pumpkin juice is more than a bit hard to come by here, but this pomegranate stuff isn't half bad."

Kat took the canteen and bowl with a smile. "Thank you. Sorry I couldn't join the fire, had to get things set up so I would have a place to sleep."

Bill shrugged, "I don't sit at the fire much myself honestly."

Kat sat down on the edge of her cot with her canteen of juice and the supper that he had brought for her. "Forgive me if I'm pressing, but…you seem to have this more than under control, any idea why they pulled me in?"

Bill helped himself to the low chair that was next to one of the walls and sat down as Kat twisted the top off of the canteen and took a drink. "Apparently, my family has fallen into some money and decided to use it to come visit."

Kat looked at him with an arched eyebrow then glanced outside at the wind howling over the dunes. "No offense…but who decides to visit Egypt in the middle of summer?"

Far from being offended, Bill chuckled and held his hands up in surrender like motion. "I don't know—my family apparently."

Snorting, Kat twisted the top back onto the canteen. "So, you asked off for leave?"

"No actually—my brothers forged the request in. I had no idea about any of it."

For her part, Kat almost choked on the bite of bean soup she'd taken. "You're kidding!"

Bill shook his head. "Nope. I'm out here, minding my own business, working on this tomb and along comes a notice telling me my leave's been granted."

Kat stared in astonishment for several moments then grinned. "I think I'll have to meet these brothers of yours. They sound brilliant."

"Don't let them hear you say that. It'll go to their heads, and no one will ever hear the end of it."

"I'll bear that in mind." Bear it in mind she would too. She had full intentions of telling those boys how brilliant they were if ever she met them.

"Well-I'll just let you eat your supper then." Bill stood and walked to the door. Kat, who had her mouth full at the time just raised a hand and waved as he wandered out of her tent and off into the falling darkness. She waited a few minutes until she was sure he was gone and then set her bowl down and promptly banged her head into the pole of the tent.

"I've lost my mind—Merlin's knickers, I've completely lost my mind…" Kat berated herself for a good few minutes under her breath before splashing some water on her face and taking a deep breath.

"Professional, Kat. Just be professional. Work. It's work, an assignment. It doesn't mean anything. You'll finish and you'll go on to the next one. He's just another curse-breaker, he didn't even remember who you are. He never knew you and you don't really know him so just stop it."

But no matter how many times she repeated her mantra, when she laid down that night, she struggled to find sleep with her chest feeling hollow and sore with longing.

In the morning, she washed away all the signs of her weakness and pulled her hair up into a knot at the back of her head so that it would be off her neck. She tucked her wand into her pocket and stepped out of her tent into the early morning light.

"Careful there-"

Kat had stepped out and almost run over someone, but before she could stammer an apology she was struck speechless. She had thought that setting up her tent near the well would be a good idea; it had seemed so at the time. Now she was questioning the wisdom in that as she stood face to face with a very shirtless Bill Weasley. He was dripping wet, from his long red hair to his fingertips and everywhere in between.

"I—Sorry, I think I left my canteen."

She turned abruptly and walked back into her tent with all the haste of someone running from a dragon. Once in the safety of her tent she took a deep shuddering breath and peeked out from a corner of the window flap as Bill made his way to his own tent, a few feet away. She closed the flap and put a hand to her chest. Her girl-hood crush on him had been based on his personality and looks, true. But they were both grown up now, and from the looks of things, Bill had not skimped on the growing up part. He had turned from an attractive youth into a breathtaking man. His muscles were well chiseled from his constant work in the field and his skin was tanned and freckled, his muscles rippling under the surface as he walked.

"These are the opposite of neutral work thoughts, Kat." She berated herself, took another several deep breaths and then left the tent, grabbing her canteen as an afterthought that it would look more than a little odd if she turned up without what she abruptly left seeking.

After eating a quick breakfast of what appeared to be an oatmeal-like concoction, Kat headed down to the tomb.

"Trying to get in without me?" Bill had walked up behind her and now walked beside her as they moved down toward the tomb. He was, thankfully, now wearing a shirt.

"I wouldn't dream of it."

The two of them worked all morning on the curses guarding the tomb, breaking here and there to consult the various scrolls of runes and hieroglyphics. All day they worked and Kat finally relaxed enough that the tension around the two of them seemed to fade away to nothing. It was the same the next day and the day after that. Shortly after mid-day on the third day they worked together Malik came in to announce the Weasley family's port would be arriving soon and they needed to leave now if Bill had any intention of meeting them.

Bill looked longingly at the door, which they had managed to open slightly. Kat smiled a little from her perch on the floor. "Go on. I promise I won't go inside until you're back."

It had been a long time since Katyanna had seen a grown man pout, but Bill was doing so, and royally at that. She pulled herself up and shoved him toward the door, laughing. "Go on, you! Get. They're your family. This tomb is just corpses and trinkets."

Nodding Bill took one last look at the door and then followed Malik out. Not long later they were mounted on a pair of sturdy camels and on their way to the meeting point to collect his family. There really wasn't much work involved in steering a camel, especially when one had the luck of being behind a leader. The camel would just follow the leader, with no need of encouragement or urging on. So, as they traveled, Bill sat back, letting his mind roll over recent events along with plans for next moves.

Kat intrigued him. He still felt like he should know her, but couldn't place from where, he strongly suspected they had been near in years at Hogwarts, but he couldn't be sure. There was no way she had been in Gryffindor, as prefect he would have known her and seen her daily. Though she must have been very sneaky indeed to have completely eluded him even when he was head boy. And yet...she knew him, and he couldn't help but suspect that she knew him better than she let on. There was an intense familiarity in her gaze that was unnerving and exhilarating, but he just couldn't place why.

"Oh William, it's so wonderful to see you!" The plump ginger haired witch hugged Bill warmly and then pulled back to look at him with a gaze that only a mother could manage: Somewhere between distress and exasperation.

"Honestly though, your hair! It's gotten quite-"

Bill chuckled and kissed his mother on the cheek. "Leave the hair go, mum. I'm not cutting it off."

Arthur came over and clapped his son on the back in a brief hug. The sun was going down by this point and they would not reach the camp until well after dark. "We appreciate you taking the time off work, son."

Arthur couldn't see it, but behind his back, Fred and George grinned and gave each other a high-five in celebration of their triumph.

"It's alright, dad. We've got another curse-breaker along to assist, so she can handle it for a few days."

He managed to say this with a smile that he prayed was as convincing as he tried to make it. He loved his family, and he loved his work, and despite his hesitance, he never would choose work over his family. Still, a part of him wished he could be in the dark, sand filled tomb with Kat right now, figuring out how to open that door.

Meanwhile back at the tomb Kat had started working on the nightfall curse as soon as Bill had left. It was just silly to leave it up and limit the time they could work on the real situation, and she suspected that was probably not making their employers very happy either. The nights were long and significantly cooler, and in her mind, there was no acceptable reason to waste that many hours that could be used to get into the tomb.

Darkness fell over the land as Bill and the rest of the Weasley family traveled in a caravan across the desert. They would set up their camp alongside where Bill's site was. It was secluded enough to allow for privacy, and yet near enough to other wizards that they would be able to socialize and share the well which was a true necessity given the locale.

As they passed the barrier he scanned the campfire for Kat, no sign of her there, but her tent was dark. Surely, she wouldn't still be near the tomb? They had all warned her very clearly that it wasn't safe. Praying he just missed her or that she had turned in early he helped his family settle into setting up their camp and then crossed over to the site, his eyes scanning everywhere for Kat. No sign of her, he went up to her tent and called, no answer. He couldn't explain why, but he panicked and went inside, looking for her. Her cot was unslept in and the room was clean and empty. Storming out of the tent he went to the fire.

"Where is she?"

The others, who had been elated and talking excitedly amongst themselves until he walked up fell silent and looked at each other.

"Where is who?"

"Kat! Where is Kat?"

The others looked about the circle and grew curious. "Have not seen her. I did not see her come up from the tomb, perhaps she has retired to her tent-"

"She hasn't-" Without elaborating Bill turned and took off toward the tomb at a sprint. The light from the oil lamp was still glowing at the end of the hall in the tunnel. When they had first arrived, one of their men had gone back in to retrieve a lamp after night had fallen but he had been injured, the curse touched his arm and began killing flesh, muscle, everything it touched. If Kat had been inside, she would be injured at least, if not dying by now.

"KAT!"

Kat was inside the tomb, having broken the curse just before dusk, she was back to working on the door when she heard Bill's voice. He sounded frantic. The horrifying thought that something might have happened to someone on their trip in petrified her so she grabbed her wand and scrambled to her feet, running up the tunnels. "What? What is it?"

They met at the entrance to the tomb, Bill skidded to a stop as he saw her run past the entrance toward him. He stared at her unbelieving for a long moment. "Y-The-"

Kat's dark eyes were wide with confusion and worry as she spun back to him. "What? Who is it? Is everyone okay? What happened?"

Bill, breathing fast closed the space between them and studied her carefully from top to toe, his hands itching to touch her and assure himself that she was safe. Suddenly, her words struck him out of his visual examination and he looked up to meet her gaze. "Huh, what?"

"You—Bill, you ran down here screaming—I thought someone must be hurt-"

"What part of don't stay past dark did you miss, Kat? That curse could have killed you! I thought-"

Realization dawned in Kat's eyes. He had screamed because he thought she hadn't broken the curse, and that she was still inside. Any other woman would have probably swooned at the thought of the man she had once cared for racing to her rescue, Kat however knew that Bill's reaction would have been the same if it had been her, or Malik or anyone else. It was a part of who he was, and one of the many things that drew her to him like a moth to flame.

Bill was furious. Not because she was alright, that was good. He never wanted anyone to get hurt, but though they had only recently met, he had formed an attachment to the fiery witch and the thought of her being injured had stirred something confusing and strong within him.

Kat recovered herself from his biting words and crossed her arms. "Bill, I'm fine. See, I'm here, I'm okay. You can relax. I broke the nightfall curse hours ago. I just didn't want us to be restricted to-"

Bill blinked, looking from her to the entrance and back again. "Just like that? You just broke it? Do you know how long we spent trying to figure out how to break that curse? Days, Kat! And you broke it a few hours ago...like it's nothing."

Kat shook her head and tucked her wand into her pocked before reaching out and grabbing his sleeve to drag him toward the entrance. "It wasn't nothing. But it was something small. You were looking for traditional barrier curses, right?"

"And doorway curses and subterranean hexes and-"

"And they were all tied into the same thing. The same, tiny thing. You've seen it all along. Remember that hieroglyph we couldn't decipher yesterday?"

"The wonky one with the-"

"The scarab, Bill. It's a scarab."

"No- the scarab is-"

"There's more than one. That's the trick. It's different. But the difference is so miniscule that you could look right at it a hundred times and not see it."

Bill thought about the tail on the rune he had found the week before Kat arrived and froze. She had walked him all the way into the tomb and down to the doorway where she pointed to a small hieroglyph.

"This is the traditional one. And this-" She picked up a linen wrapped stone hieroglyph that looked like it had been popped right out of the wall. "Is the difference. This is the one holding the curse over the entire tomb. You remove it, and it breaks the circle, meaning we can get in and do what we need to do when we need to do it. You see the markings here, just below-"

She held it up in the light near his face so that he could see as she pointed out the differences in the two glyphs. Bill took it and stared for a long time before looking back at her.

"You're bloody brilliant."

Kat, suddenly grateful for the shadows cast by the darkness which hid the embarrassment his words evoked, took the glyphs back, wrapping them carefully before tucking them in to a pouch and picking up her lamp with a smile. "From someone as smart you, that's quite the compliment, so thank you."

The words had slipped out before she could catch them, but Bill, still looking over the hieroglyphs on the wall hadn't seemed to notice the slip of foreknowledge about him.

The following morning Bill's brother Charlie arrived and Kat was briefly introduced to the full Weasley family, or the direct family at any rate. Anyone at Hogwarts had heard from Charlie and Bill that they had many siblings, but Kat hadn't quite realized how large the family was until she met them. What truly amazed her was how well they all got along with each other. While Bill took his leave to show his family the local sights, Kat waved goodbye to them and went back to work on the tomb.

Days of almost non-stop work later and she had it broken, all but one spell fragment. She grinned in triumph as she walked out of the tomb; she was saving that last bit for Bill. He would break the final curse, and he would get the credit for whatever was found inside. Bill had left to see his family off, after all it would soon be time for most of his siblings to be heading back to Hogwarts, and Charlie was expected back in Romania besides.

Kat sat up waiting until Bill returned, around midnight from seeing them off. Everyone else in the camp had long since gone to sleep, while Kat sat beside the fire with a rock to her back as she flicked her wand making shapes out of the dwindling fire and smoke. She smiled as a small owl formed from the smoke and flew up and away from the fire as Bill approached.

"I'm surprised you're up so late—"

Kat pulled herself to her feet with a broad smile and started walking toward the tomb. "I have something to show you."

The two went down to the now very familiar tomb and she took him inside to the center. After studying what was blocking the door for a moment he froze and looked back at her. "You left the last—"

Kat nodded. "Go on, open 'er up and let's see what's inside."

Bill grinned and raised his wand and with a flick of his wrist the last curse broke and the doors slid open to allow them in.