I looked from my father to Harry, really not completely sure I was awake.
"I... will be outside," my father said. The door clicked shut and I laid back on the pillow. I didn't even know how to move.
"What am I going to do?" I asked. I was full of questions and shame this morning. Part of me couldn't believe I had slept with Harry at all, but that was not the issue at hand.
"Go out there and see what he has to say," Harry said, summoning his glasses which had somehow found their way to the floor. "We will deal with this from there. We are in his house; he deserves the respect of getting heard."
"I'm afraid he's not going to let me go with you," I admitted.
"We'll deal with that later," he said.
I nodded and got dressed. Right now my priority was dealing with my father, but I so nervous. All I had wanted for months was to see my family and make sure they were all right. Of course my father had picked the worst possible moment to show up.
I found him in the kitchen, making tea.
"Hi," I said, standing at the edge of the kitchen. I wasn't really sure how he was going to handle this. Would he be angry? That would be understandable. I had run away from home, put myself in terrible danger, and he had found me in his house, in bed with the boy I ran away with. But part of me knew that my father did not really like confrontation, and hoped he would just be happy to see me safe.
"Katherine," he said. "Tea?"
I nodded. I looked over at the mess we had left sitting around in the living room and waved my wand to clear it away.
"I'm not sure what to say," he admitted. "I'm disappointed, upset, angry beyond words... but mostly just happy that you are alive."
"I'm so sorry, Dad," I said. "I really am..."
"You should not have left like that, no matter what," he said. "You should have let me know where you were going."
"You wouldn't have let me go," I explained. "And I needed to go, Dad. Have you seen what's been going on at Hogwarts? Snape's in charge and it's practically a torture chamber."
"I know," he said, nodding.
"Even you are in hiding," I pointed out.
"Well, when one is married to a Muggle and one's daughter goes missing with someone trying to lead the revolution, that is what happens," he said. "Though the Ministry was getting to be a very scary place. The last few days there, I was always a little afraid I would not come back out."
"That was me," I said. "That day in the Ministry, when I was Morgan."
"Oh," he said, realization dawning upon him. "What were you doing at the Ministry? And Polyjuice Potion, Katherine? That stuff is seriously dangerous."
"Dad, I have been up to very dangerous things out here, I would hardly cite Polyjuice Potion as scary."
"I don't like that you're in danger," he told me.
"Dad, everyone's in danger," I reminded him. "Where's Vera? The girls?"
"Vera and the girls are in France," he said. "They're hiding there, and they'll be perfectly fine. They're staying on the edge of a small city out in the country, perfectly out of sight. No one should bother them."
"Robert?"
"As far as I know, still working as an Auror. He should be safe. I didn't tell him where you are or that I was leaving. I wanted to protect him and the only way I could do that was keep him uninformed. Being an Auror will keep him safe. Plus he's a Pureblood, he will be fine."
"How did you know where I was?" I asked.
"I asked Adam," he explained. "That was the first place I went. I expected him to have gone with you, but I guess I was wrong. He seemed quite bitter about the whole thing and said you were with Harry. And I guess he was right."
"I didn't tell him, he guessed," I told him. "And I don't want you to think I was unfaithful to Adam, because I wasn't."
He just nodded. "Is it just you two out here? Adam was under the impression you were with two others."
"Hermione Granger is upstairs," I said. "Ron Weasley was with us, but he left about a month ago."
"Oh," he said.
"Where are you staying?"
"I've been around," he said. "Not staying anywhere for too long, staying at Muggle places. I've been in and out of the country. Spent time in France... the magical community over there is staying out of the war completely; it's actually not a bad place to be."
"You've been safe?" I asked. "I've worried."
"I've been fine. No need to worry about me, you know I can take care of myself." he said. "Now, I would like to know where you have been, and what you have been doing?"
"It's complicated," I admitted. "And I'm not sure how much I can tell you..."
"I would like to know everything," he said.
"Dad, even I don't know everything," I explained. "It's too dangerous. I get to know most things right before they're useful."
"Why did you join them?" he asked.
"It's not like I would be any safer at Hogwarts," I pointed out. Hogwarts had become even more dangerous than being on the run, because you were locked up there. That was right where they wanted us.
"That's not what I'm getting at," he said. "I am just curious as to your motivations here."
"Well, I believe in the cause," I said. "Plus, these people are my friends, they needed my help, and I had no reason not to."
He nodded.
"How did you know I was here?" I asked.
"I've had a ward up around this place for years," he said. "You set it off when you arrived yesterday. To be honest, I hadn't thought about this place in years. It was really your mother's... place."
I nodded.
"She's been gone fifteen years this month," he said. "Seems like forever."
I did not know what to say to that, so I just let him stare off into space. The squeaking of the door knob caused me to turn around, and I saw Harry come out of the room we had been in last night. Being out here with my father had made me forget all about everything that had happened with him.
"Hi," he said.
"Dad, this is Harry," I said. It was the most bizarre of introductions, but that was what kind of day I was having. I was still so embarrassed at what had happened earlier.
Harry came up to us and shook his hand. "It's nice to meet you, sir," he said. "I'm sorry that we're meeting under such circumstances."
My father just shrugged. "I am sure I am supposed to be angry," he said, slowly. I couldn't remember the last time my father had been angry at me, though. "But to be honest it is just so wonderful to see Katherine is alive and safe that I'm unable to be angry."
"I'm sure it's as great for her as it is for you," he said. "She's been concerned for your safety."
"We've been concerned for everyone's safety," I explained. "As far as I am concerned, no one is safe right now."
"So we might as well be doing something about it," Harry said.
"What is it, exactly, that you are doing about it, though?" my father asked. "I would really like to know."
"I know that you would," Harry said. "And I'm sorry but I am unable to tell you."
"Unable to tell me?" he asked. "I guess I'm confused..."
"Happy Christmas!" I said, realizing what day it was. Christmas was a lovely day. I hoped my interjection would serve to diffuse some of the tension that was growing between us.
"Oh, it's Christmas?" Dad asked. "I had lost track of the days. Very good timing."
I exchanged a glance with Harry and he knew that I had managed to distract my father. He seemed calm enough for now, but I guessed that was because he was still in shock for finding me in the house. I wondered how long it would be until he decided I would be staying with him and not going with Harry.
"Christmas in a nice, warm house," I said, "with family."
"Sounds perfect to me," Harry said. "Have we got any food in your bag we can make, Kat? Anything special?"
"Nonsense," my father said. "There's a shop in the village. I used to have very good favor of the woman that owned it, and I know she lives upstairs. I will go get some food."
"Are you sure, Dad?" I asked.
"Yes, of course," he said. "I will go get my cloak and do that right now. The both of you look far too skinny."
As soon as he had gathered his money and left, I turned towards Harry. "I have no idea what to say."
He stood next to me, but the seat I was at was high so we were on the same level. "About...?"
"Anything," I admitted. "Is this some sick dream? Am I going to wake up and be in a cold tent, shivering my arse off and hungry and having no idea if my dad's safe?"
"This is real," he said, putting his arm around me. "The good and the bad."
"We need to talk," I said, resisting the embrace. "About... last night. And things."
"I agree... But I don't think right now is the right time. I think we should be thankful that your father has reacted so graciously to finding us, enjoy his company, and enjoy Christmas. We can't stay here long."
I knew that. Surely, we would be on our way soon. My father would soon react poorly to something, and we would flee. I knew that was how it would work. "I have a sleeping potion in my bag," I suggested. "A bit of that in his wine will allow us to get out of here if we need to. He's safe here, right?"
"As safe as anywhere else," he said.
I disliked that I had so immediately thought of a plan that would get my father out of the picture, but that was how I had to think now. I couldn't help but shake my head at how far I had come in the past year. A year ago, I was worried about my relationship with Adam as we were fighting. Now, here I was, having experienced loss and living on my own and the true extent of Voldemort's terror. I looked up at Harry and nodded.
"I have something for you," he said.
"Oh," I said. "I have presents for you and Hermione as well."
He went over to his rucksack and dug around a bit. I summoned my purse and got the two parcels. He ended up pulling out a journal. He handed it to me. "Merry Christmas, Kat," he said.
"It's a journal," I said.
"I figure yours must be nearly done, right?" he asked.
He was correct. The journal had served me very well for the past few months, but I had reached the last few pages. I figured I would have to stop chronicling our trip, but I guess I was wrong. Journaling had kept me sane through the craziness of this trip, and now I could continue. Harry was giving me a lot more than a journal.
"This is the perfect gift," I admitted. "You have no idea."
I felt a little ashamed. My present was nowhere near as nice as what he had given me. He pulled the brown paper off of it, and found the scarf I had made him. I didn't have much money or resources for this gift, but I did have yarn and I knew it would help keep him warm. There was an H on one end and a P on the other.
"This is lovely," he said. "Thank you."
We sat there in silence for a moment. We had so much on our minds but didn't know how to express it. Later, I guessed.
"I'm going to go wake up Hermione and catch her up on what's happened," he told me.
"I'm going to take a shower," I said, "because I can."
He smiled, and we went our separate ways. The luxury of a real shower had evaded me for five months; I planned on using every drop of hot water the pipes help. I would finally feel clean. This might be the best Christmas ever.
The hot water felt just as good as I had predicted. I turned it as high as it would go and sat under it for at least ten minutes. I didn't mind if my skin melted off when I was done, because I would be so clean. I only relented to shutting it off when the water started to get cold.
Upon getting dressed and leaving the bathroom, I found my father had returned, and Hermione was on the couch. She looked a lot better than she had last night, which was reassuring. If we had to run today, she would be okay.
Somehow, my father had managed to sweet talk the shop keeper into opening up and he returned with a roast, potatoes, carrots and bread, along with two bottles of wine. It was more food than we had seen in months. I helped him get it all into the oven, overwhelmed with happiness.
Four hours later, we sat down to our feast. I had never seen Harry eat so much food, but it was the best food I had ever eaten.
"I would like to know more," my father said. "I am reluctantly all right with the fact that my daughter is out here with you two, but I want to know more about what exactly it is you're doing."
I sighed. It had begun. We couldn't even finish our meal, and now I was going to have to leave. Walking away from my father and a warm house with showers would be really hard.
"I'm really sorry," Harry said. "I wish I could tell you. I really do. But it's secretive for a reason, and that reason is keeping as many people as possible safe."
"But Katherine knows," he said. "More of it than I know, at least. You're all right with endangering her?"
"That is different," Harry said.
"How?" he asked.
I poured the rest of the current wine bottle in Hermione's glass.
"Dad, would you like more wine?" I asked.
"Sure, Katherine," he said, distracted. "I just don't understand. You're all right with putting her in danger? What kind of man are you? Not the type I want to find in bed with my daughter, that's for sure..."
"Dad!" I said, unable to stop myself. I had gotten the wine out and tried to add some sleeping potion to the bottle nonchalantly. Hermione and Harry knew about my plan and wouldn't drink from it.
I refilled his glass, and we waited. Guilt was creeping in, but I knew this was for the best.
Author's Note: OH HEY GUYS... hope everyone is still out there and doing okay! Life's been pretty hectic so I've been slow to get stuff out, but today I posted a chapter of this AND of Unwritten, which you should all go read. Thanks to potter-reading-coastie. Please let me know what you think :)