Chapter 2 – Timelines
"Cass, if you were convicted criminal who hasn't made a lot of friends and is supposed to be dead, where would you hide?"
Cassandra Avery glanced up at her husband, tucking her short blonde hair behind her ear. "What kind of a question is – sit still Katy – is that?"
Robert threw his cloak over a chair and sat down, watching his five year old daughter squirming in her seat. She looked resentfully up at him, bright emerald eyes gleaming under her short fringe.
"Purely hypothetical," said Robert casually as Cassandra finished plaiting their daughter's hair and the small girl ran over to hug her father. "Well?"
Cassandra looked doubtfully at him. "Purely hypothetical?"
"Of course."
Cassandra sighed, sitting down opposite him. "I thought we'd been over this, Rob."
"Over what?" asked Robert, pretending not to know what she meant. He picked Katy up and settled her in his lap before looking up to meet his wife's reproving gaze.
"You know perfectly well what I mean," she said firmly, her expression hard. "She's not coming back. If she was, she would have turned up when He returned."
Robert was quiet for a moment, absently stroking his daughter's soft hair. Cassandra had a point: what had made Katherine decide to break out now? You didn't just sit in a cell for eighteen years, then suddenly think 'maybe I'll escape today'. Or did you? No, Katherine was far more calculating than that. She never did anything without good reason.
"Besides, if she had escaped, the newspapers would be having a field day," added Cassandra, still watching her husband closely.
"Not if they didn't know," murmured Robert. He had the feeling that he'd missed something here, something important, but he couldn't for the life of him think what it was.
"How could they not? Azkaban's been guarded by wizards ever since the Dementors fled. Someone would have noticed," said Cassandra resolutely, starting to pick up the toys that were littered across the living room floor - a clear indication that the conversation was over.
In Robert's lap, Katy tugged on her father's shirt, aggrieved at the sudden cessation of attention, but Robert didn't notice.
The Dementors
Sirius Black had taken advantage of the Dementors' blindness, replying on his dog form to confuse their senses. Could Katherine have done something similar? But if she had, then that meant she'd broken out before the wizard takeover, which shifted her breakout date forward at least two years.
The tugging became more persistent and Robert looked down at his daughter, meeting her wide eyed gaze. "Two years," he murmured, almost to himself. "What in heaven's name has she been up to?"
"Look Alastor, I haven't seen her in over eighteen years. I'm as much in the dark as you are," explained Remus for what felt like the tenth time that day. They were in the Burrow's lounge, trying to avoid being roped into doing something towards the preparations for Bill and Fleur's wedding. Everyone else was so busy, they hadn't been missed yet.
"So she hasn't sought you out?"
"Why would she?" asked Remus, a little bitterly.
"She probably didn't want to get you into trouble," said Faye softly, coming out of the kitchen and setting a cup of tea down in front of him. Moody made a derisive noise.
"Katherine Archer doesn't give a damn about getting other people into trouble," he said gruffly, his electric blue eye doing somersaults in its socket. His paranoia seemed to have doubled in the last twenty four hours, making him even more jumpy than usual. Faye frowned at him and Remus thought he saw a trace of Katherine's stubbornness in her expression.
"She cared about her friends."
"And who would they be exactly?" growled Moody. "As I recall no one stood up in her defense at the trial. She was charged for every crime we could tie her to and she pleaded guilty. She gave up because she knew she was beaten; she made too many enemies."
Remus wondered if Moody actually believed that, or if he'd just become tired of trying to figure out her real motives. Katherine had never known how to give up.
"With a father like hers, what chance did she have? What did you expect her to do? Win the noble peace prize?" demanded Faye, looking archly at Moody, her pale cheeks flushed. "She did what she had to do to stay alive. I trust her and Remus trusts her too, don't you?"
Remus waved a hand noncommittally; it was hard to trust someone who you knew kept things from you, even if she thought it was for your own good.
"She called me a fool last time I told her I did. 'Never trust a Slytherin.'" He sighed heavily, gazing morosely into his mug of tea. "Should have taken her advice - then maybe we'd have found Snape out earlier. Still, Sirius stuck with her and he'd seen enough dark witches and wizards to last him a lifetime, so I don't suppose he would have wanted to marry one."
Moody stared at Remus, both blue eyes looking in the same direction for once.
"Black proposed?"
"They'd been engaged three months when she got arrested," said Remus, mentally kicking himself for mentioning it. He'd never really believed they'd go through with it. Katherine and Sirius' relationship had been tempestuous at best and downright destructive at times, but when you thought you might die tomorrow, you learnt not to turn down any chance at happiness. "I don't think she planned on him getting locked up as well, though I must say their relationship didn't help his case with Dumbledore. Rather gave credence to the theory that he'd been turned."
"How come this is the first I'm hearing of it?" asked Moody, frowning deeply.
"They kept it quiet," shrugged Remus. "James, Lily and Peter knew. Dumbledore as well. I don't know think she told anyone."
"Sirius never spoke about her."
Remus looked up at Moody, unable to help a small smile.
"Would you? He'd only just managed to convince his godson that he wasn't a Death Eater. Casually mentioning that he'd once been engaged to one would just be plain stupid. Besides, she was dead - why drag it all up again?"
There was a crash from outside and the sound of raised voices.
"Looks like Tonks has arrived," remarked Faye, keen to change the subject. She'd only been at the Burrow for one night and already she'd become accustomed to the rainbow haired Auror's clumsy habits. Remus nodded and stood up, glancing at Moody who was frowning.
"We'll catch her, Remus. Then we'll find out what's really going on," he said firmly.
"You won't catch her unless she wants to be caught," said Remus, draining his tea and standing up.
"We got her last time," reminded Moody.
"Precisely my point," replied Remus softly. He smiled again then turned and headed towards the source of the commotion outside. Moody glanced at Faye, who shrugged.
"If she is alive, she broke out of the highest security prison in the world. What would you do even if you did find her?
"Make sure she dies this time," said Moody roughly. Faye gave him a calculating look, her head on one side.
"You could do that?"
"Of course."
"You sure?" she asked, wearing an expression very reminiscent of her cousin.
"Positive," said Moody, getting to his feet and limping slowly out of the room. Faye watched him go, a bemused expression on her face, then she shook her head and wandered off to find Fleur.
The back door of the small terraced house swung open and the figure stood silhouetted in the doorframe. A second later, the same figure turned on her heel and fled away, down the dark slope from which she'd come. By the time the door banged open again, she was already at the fence that divided the garden and the forest beyond. She'd be harder to follow amongst the trees.
But the second figure had caught up with her now, grabbing her from behind and hauling her down from the fence. She struggled to turn around, to see the face of her hunter, but strong arms bound her tightly. Finally, instinct kicked in and she stuck a foot between his legs and twisted, causing them both to tumble over into the small stream that ran along the bottom of the garden.
The man grunted in pain as he hit the ground, Katherine falling on top of him. She frowned and trapped his hands in hers, searching for a wand. She found in his right hand and twisted his wrist painfully until he dropped it.
The man tried to raise his head but Katherine pointed the fallen wand at his throat and he stopped abruptly. There was a long pause, interrupted only by the sound of heavy breathing as both parties tried to catch their breath, then a voice said calmly.
"I'm getting soaked, you know."
Katherine froze. That voice...
The moon was behind her, its pale light making the garden look strangely anemic and causing her shadow to fall over the man's thin face. She moved, her tattered shoes squelching incongruously, and looked down at the features of the black robed man.
There was another pause, this one even longer than the first, then Katherine jumped up, water cascading off her jeans and made to run towards the house. The man was quicker, reaching out to grab her wrist and pulling her back down onto the muddy grass before she could get away.
"Get off me," snarled Katherine, glaring into eyes as black and cold as midnight in the arctic.
"Not until you promise not to run away again," said the man calmly, tightening his grip on her arm.
"I'm not promising anything," growled Katherine, trying to wrench herself free but failing.
"What are you doing here, Katherine?" asked the man, his voice sounding curiously flat. Katherine said nothing, only glared, her free hand moving slowly towards the wand that lay abandoned a few feet away.
"Oh no you don't," said the man grimly, catching her other arm and pulling both towards him, away from the wand. "Where's your one anyway?"
"They broke it when I went to Azkaban," said Katherine, scowling.
"No, they broke Leon Wilkes' wand, which was the only one you had on you," he said softly. "They never found yours."
"Must have dropped it, then," she said with sarcastic brightness. "Such a shame."
The man was silent for a while, his dark eyes flickering over her pale face and slim frame. "You look awfully good for someone who's been dead for seventeen years," he said eventually. "Eighteen years in the worst prison in the world doesn't seem to have affected you much."
Katherine tilted her head to one side, the faintest trace of a smile on her lips. "Eighteen, Severus? How long do you think I stayed in there?"
Severus Snape opened his mouth to reply, then closed it. The truth was that that had been bothering him ever since Robert Avery had been to visit him - there was no motive for breaking out. But if Katherine had been out for a while...
"Seventeen years?" he ventured, his grip on her hands finally relenting.
Katherine shook her head, rubbing her wrists. "Do your maths, Severus. Tom came back two summers ago."
"The Dark Lord?" asked Severus, surprise mingled with something like relief in his voice. Katherine gave him a sideways look from under her curtain of black hair. It was shorter than Severus remembered, accentuating her sharp cheekbones and dark eyes.
"Of course," replied Katherine, fiddling with a ring on her hand. Severus glanced down at it, expecting to see the sapphire studded ring that he was used to and got a slight shock. It wasn't sapphire, it was diamond and it wasn't on Katherine's right hand, it was on her left. "What else d'you think I'd break out for?"
Severus didn't answer, the sight of the ring taking up all conscious thought. Engaged. She'd been engaged to him...
"Severus?"
Severus looked up. "What?"
"I asked what happened a year ago," said Katherine, frowning at him.
"Why?" asked Severus, still not thinking properly.
"Because you guessed seventeen years," explained Katherine, her blue eyes searching his face.
"Nothing," said Severus shortly, reaching for his wand and standing up. "I shouldn't be here."
Katherine's frown deepened. "What d'you mean? Didn't Tom send you here?"
"He thinks you're dead," said Severus quietly. "If you've got any sense, you'll make sure he doesn't find anything to change his mind."
"Wait," said Katherine sharply, grabbing at the nearest part of him she could reach, which happened to be his foot, then there was the uncomfortable feeling that always accompanied apparation and next second Katherine found herself sitting not on grass, but on hard wooden floorboards.
Severus glared down at her. "What did you do that for?"
Katherine didn't answer, all her attention occupied with taking in her surroundings. There was the shuffle of feet from her left and a short balding man came into view, carrying a chipped mug of something that Katherine supposed was tea. She frowned, then asked very slowly.
"Peter?"
The man took one look at her, dropped the mug and fled up a small staircase that had been set into the wall.
"Isn't he supposed to be dead?" Katherine asked, staring after him in confusion.
"You're one to talk," remarked Severus acridly. Katherine rolled her eyes to the ceiling and fixed him with a curious stare.
"What's he doing here? You hated Potter's gang."
"The Dark Lord ordered him to be my assistant," answered Severus frostily, sitting down in a chair. Katherine looked back at the staircase up which Peter had disappeared, and frowned, trying to make sense of this.
"But he's not...he can't be a...is he?" she looked to Severus for explanation and he shrugged.
"You didn't know? Maybe the Dark Lord didn't trust you as much as you thought."
"Tom doesn't trust me at all," said Katherine shortly, getting to her feet and looking dismally at the slowly growing puddles around her sodden shoes. She needed to find a place to change her clothes; she was starting to shiver. "I'm just more useful alive than dead."
"Well Peter was the leak in Potter's gang, as you so aptly called them. He framed Black for betraying the Potters and went into hiding for twelve years."
Katherine's expression had darkened as Severus spoke and she started towards the staircase, wet clothes forgotten. Severus made no move to stop her, but called lazily: "I wouldn't if I were you. I don't wish to have to explain to your father how Peter came to such a messy end whilst staying at my house. Of course if you planning on using a simple Avada Kedavra, then-"
"I wasn't," said Katherine shortly. "I don't have a wand. There's more than one way to send people to hell, Severus. One of them is making sure they stay alive."
Something indefinable flickered in Severus' dark eyes for a moment, then was gone. "I see Bella's going to have some competition. Should I tell her to watch her back?"
"If she's got any sense, she'll be doing that already," answered Katherine, smiling slightly. "But I've got no reason to harm her, have I?"
Severus stared at her for a long moment, then asked cautiously. "You do know about Sirius, don't you?"
Katherine looked at the floor, all hint of amusement vanishing from her face in an instant. "He's dead."
"Do you know how?"
Katherine glanced up, her blue eyes puzzled. "Azkaban. His cell was empty – I checked."
Severus considered her for a while. "You knew he was in Azkaban, but you didn't know he escaped?" Katherine look of blank surprise was answer enough. "He found out Peter was close to Potter and went after him. Peter got away and the long and short of it is that he died the year before last – fell through a veil in the Department of Mysteries."
"The veil...? But why was he there? And what does Trix have to do with it?"
"He was attempting to help Potter retrieve the prophecy," said Severus tiredly. This was not a conversation he wanted to have. "By all accounts it was Bella who pushed him through the veil."
"By Potter, I assume you mean the Potters' son? What's his name?"
"Harry," answered Severus, wondering how much Katherine knew. She'd gone to Azkaban the year before Voldemort fell and had presumably been keeping a low profile since her escape, so what would she have been able to learn? The news of the deaths of Lily and James and the survival of their son must have made it to Azkaban, but what else? And what was bothering him about her question?
He was still trying to think of what to say when the Dark Mark flared on his arm and a muffled thump from above indicated Peter had felt it too. Even Katherine winced, her right hand clutching at her left arm.
"I take it you won't be attending," said Severus softly, conjuring a mask for himself.
"Are you going to tell on me?" asked Katherine, something of her old mischief gleaming in her dark eyes.
"I shall not lie to the Dark Lord."
"Then I'd better hope he doesn't ask about me," sighed Katherine as Peter appeared, small watery eyes fixed on her. "And if you mention one word about me to anyone, I promise I'm much better at finding treacherous bastards than the Ministry are and not half so lenient." She scowled at his terrified expression and turned back to Severus. "I'll be in touch."
Severus nodded as she disapparated, glad his face was hidden from view behind the mask because he'd realised what was wrong. He'd told her her ex-fiance had died attempting to help Potter retrieve the prophecy and she'd asked about Harry's name, rather than why Sirius was prepared to give his life for something she'd always said was notoriously unreliable.
The only explanations that came to mind were either that she cared far less for Sirius Black than she'd claimed or that she already knew how important that prophecy was. The former seemed unlikely, but if she'd been out of Azkaban for a while, it was possible she'd heard rumours of the prophecy. Only time would tell for sure, and it seemed she was going to stay around.
"I'll be in touch."
He wasn't entirely sure how to feel about that, but knowing Katherine, he didn't have much of a choice.