Chapter 8 – Nasty Surprises
Remus stepped out of the lift on Level 2 of the Ministry of Magic and walked up to the desk.
"I've got an appointment with Auror Kensington," he intoned wearily, hands in his pockets. The woman behind the desk glanced up.
"Identity card?" she asked in a bored voice.
"I'll handle this, Julia," cut in another woman with coffee coloured skin and dark brown eyes. Remus thought she looked familiar, but couldn't quite place the name. "This way Mister Lupin," she said sharply, turning on her heel and striding down the corridor into the middle of the Auror headquarters.
The woman stopped outside a door and knocked sharply. A male voice told them to enter and she opened the door, looking directly into Remus' eyes and suddenly he remembered who she was. Nicola Meliflua - Katherine's old roommate friend.
He opened his mouth to speak, then thought better of it as her eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly and chose instead to enter the room where Kensington sat in front of an oaken desk.
"Ah, you're here at last," said the old Auror, without a hint of a smile.
"I came as soon as I got the message," replied Remus, frowning slightly as the door closed with a definite sounding snap. "What's this about?"
Kensington smiled now, and Remus wished he hadn't. "Your friend. Archer. Someone's let it slip to the papers."
"I saw. What's that got to do with me?" asked Remus, his frown deepening.
"Come now, Lupin," said Kensington, shaking his head. "You're not exactly the richest individual in the world. I expect a little extra cash would come in handy-"
"I didn't tell anyone," said Remus sharply. Only he had, hadn't he. He'd told Faye, but she wouldn't have told anyone else would she...? And Mad-Eye had already known...
"I don't believe you," said Kensington darkly, his brown eyes gleaming maliciously. "I'm afraid-" He stopped, frowning at the door. Remus looked around too; he could have sworn he'd heard the lock click. Slowly, Kensington got up and tried the handle. It was locked. He turned to Remus, looking furious. "Did you-?"
"They took my wand at reception," he said quickly, holding his hands up in protest.
"Funny - they didn't take mine," said a very familiar voice from just behind Kensington's right ear. "I wouldn't try to move, Jeremy," the voice continued as the Auror made to reach for his wand. "Because I happen to have a rather sharp knife in my hand, which is currently positioned in front of your jugular vein and sudden movements make me jump." Kensington growled, but remained still. "Good boy," whispered the voice, then: "Dormire."
Kensington slumped to the floor in a heap and Katherine materialised, looking down at him. She poked him experimentally with her foot, but he took no notice. Finally, she looked up at Remus from under jet black lashes. There was silence for what seemed like an eternity, then Remus stepped forward and pulled his oldest friend in a tight hug.
"Never do that again, Kat," he said fiercely in her ear.
"I won't," replied Katherine softly. Remus pulled back, eyebrows raised despite himself.
"You promise?"
"I promise," said Katherine, meeting his gaze steadily. "I'm not going to risk losing you again."
Remus smiled faintly. "I'm not going anywhere."
"I think he had other ideas," said Katherine, kicking Kensington in the ribs. The Auror just snored and rolled over.
"He's just doing his job," said Remus, sighing heavily. Katherine gave him a bemused look.
"He's a Death Eater, Rem. He was going to use you as bait to find me." She smiled at Remus' startled expression and added, "I guess it worked."
There was a crash from outside and they both jumped.
"Get out of here," said Remus quickly. "It's not safe."
"What about you?" asked Katherine. "I can't leave you with Jeremy."
The door handle rattled loudly and a voice growled. "Get out here this instant, Archer."
"Alastor?" said Katherine softly. "He's still around?"
"He's meant to be retired," said Remus, frowning.
"How does he know I'm in here?" asked Katherine, looking worriedly at Remus.
"His eye."
"What about it?" asked Katherine, nonplussed.
"It's-" began Remus, then stopped as the door exploded.
Mad-Eye Moody limped into Auror HQ and headed for Kingsley Shacklebolt's cubicle. The young Auror was reading a report and Tonks was sitting on his desk, flicking through surveillance photos.
"Any news?" he asked gruffly. Kingsley glanced up and shook his head.
"Dawlish has gone up to Scotland to interview Faye Belle, but providing she's got the right documentation, he shouldn't be able to find some excuse to send her to Azkaban." Kingsley sighed and handed Moody the report he'd been reading. "The way I see it, if Katherine Archer doesn't want to be found, she won't be. She's a metamorphmagus, for heaven's sake - she could be anywhere. It's a miracle you caught her last time."
"Constant vigilance," muttered Moody, his electric blue eye spinning in it's socket. Tonks grinned, then frowned as the eye quivered to a stop, staring out of the back of Moody's head.
"What is it, Mad-Eye?" she asked. Moody growled and darted out of the cubicle, running into someone coming the other way. Tonks and Kingsley followed him, jumping over the fallen Auror and the spilled paperwork that now littered the floor.
Moody headed down a side corridor, away from the maze of cubicles and didn't stop until he reached a door with a gold plaque affixed to it reading: Jeremy Kensington. He tugged on the door handle and snarled. "Get out here this instant, Archer."
Tonks and Kingsley looked at each other and pulled out their wands. Alastor stepped back suddenly and pointed his own wand at the door which promptly exploded in a shower of splinters.
As the cloud of fragments settled, a woman stepped into the door frame. Bright cerulean eyes studied Moody for a moment, then a voice asked:
"What the hell happened to your face?"
"A few of your friends," growled Moody.
The woman glanced over her shoulder, grinning. "Honestly Moony. What were you thinking?"
Moody frowned and swiveled his eye onto the other occupant in the room. "Let Lupin go, Archer. He's not part of this."
Katherine looked at Moody in surprise, then gave Remus a shove towards the door.
"You have three seconds," interjected Tonks, who was glowering at Katherine now. Katherine glanced at the young Auror, frowning.
"I'm not stopping him going anywhere, he's just not leaving," she pointed out, then tilted her head to one side. "Do I know you? You look familiar."
"She's Andy's daughter," said Remus quietly. Katherine paused, looking from Remus to Tonks and back again, Nicola's earlier words ringing alarm bells in her head. "...there's a rumour going round the department that he's hooked up with some Auror half his age..."
"Andy Black? Andy in our year, Andy? You're going out with Andy's daughter? Remus you're old enough to be her father," she whispered, staring at him. "Hell, the age you look, you could be her grandfather."
"Thanks for that Katherine," said Remus quietly, eyeing Tonks over his friend's shoulder.
"Where's Kensington?" asked Kingsley Shacklebolt.
Katherine glanced down at the sleeping Auror and muttered the counter spell. Kensington awoke with a start and, after taking a second to work out where he was, jumped to his feet and made a grab for Katherine who, to Remus' surprise, didn't try to move out of the way.
"The Dark Lord's very anxious to see you, Archer," said Kensington nastily.
"What?" asked Moody gruffly, giving his old partner a suspicious look. Katherine grinned and slipped her right hand under the sleeve of Kensington's robes as the Auror cast a shocked look towards the door. Kensington jumped back with a cry and Remus saw the Dark Mark flare on Katherine's own arm.
"How did you do that?" asked Kensington, giving Katherine a horrified look.
"Family secret," said Katherine, eyes glittering with malice.
"Did you teach it to Faye?" asked Kensington viciously, clutching his arm as the sound of footsteps approached up the corridor. Back up had arrived. "Because she's going to need all the help she can get once McKenzie gets to her."
"Faye?" asked Katherine, voice not quite concealing the dread behind it.
"Faye," agreed Kensington, grinning heartlessly. "Your cousin. Kept that one quiet, didn't you? Not for very much longer I fear."
Remus threw himself towards the doorway just as Tonks darted around Kingsley and made to attack Katherine whose sole attention was on Kensington. He knocked Tonks over as Katherine slung a violent hex at Kensington who collapsed on the spot.
"Remus...?" asked Tonks, looking confusedly up at him. Remus opened his mouth to try and attempt to explain but was cut off as someone hauled him upright by his collar. The someone turned out to be Katherine who was looking furious.
"Tell me Faye's not in England," she hissed, glaring at him.
"Not in England..."
"Where is she?" demanded Katherine, grabbing his shoulders.
"Scotland," said Remus softly. "Katherine, she's at Hogwarts."
"And you're coming with us," said Kingsley, training his wand on her as Moody stooped over Kensington, one eye still watching his arch nemesis.
"No," said Katherine simply, vanishing from sight without so much as a sound. Moody whirled around, his eye going crazy in it's socket.
"Impossible," he growled. Remus looked at him miserably.
"This is Katherine you're talking about, Mad-Eye," he said gloomily. "The only thing that's impossible is her." He sighed and glanced down at Tonks who was gazing up at him with a mixture of bewilderment and anger.
"You know her?" she asked quietly. Remus grimaced; this was going to take a lot of explaining.
"...So if there's anything you need, just come and see me. You know where my office is."
"Yes, thank you Minerva," smiled Faye, opening the door to her quarters and shutting it abruptly.
"Everything alright?" asked Minerva McGonagall, frowning slightly.
"Fine," said Faye quickly. "It's just, uh, when are the students arriving?"
"Around eight tomorrow evening. We're still not exactly sure how many are coming, but there should be at least fifty... Are you sure you're alright? You've gone quite pale."
"I'm just tired," said Faye weakly. "I, I should get some sleep. See you tomorrow."
"Goodnight," said Minerva carefully, looking curiously at the young woman before her.
"Night," said Faye quickly, darting inside her room and shutting the door firmly. She turned the key in the lock when she was sure Minerva was out of earshot and only then found the courage to turn around. "James..."
"Good evening Mademoiselle Belle," smiled James McKenzie, bowing slightly.
"You've been following me," said Faye quietly.
"You noticed," said James. He sounded delighted. "But you didn't tell that little werewolf friend of yours. That was foolish, Faye. Very foolish."
"What are you doing here?" asked Faye, eyeing her old classmate guardedly. He hadn't changed much since she'd seen him at Beauxbaton. The same ruby hair, the same dark brown eyes...
James smiled dangerously and brandished his wand, sending a streak of violet light towards Faye. Faye had been expecting it but only just managed to cast a shield charm in time. He'd evidently become much better at dueling since she'd last seen him. She dropped the shield to toss her own hex at him when a jet of blue sparks caught her in the chest.
"And now you're dead," said James, looking disapproving. Faye blinked and glanced down at herself.
"You turned my robes blue," she said in a puzzled voice. There was a bang and the cupboard on her right burst open, a body tumbling out. It was James McKenzie. Faye's head shot up to where James had been standing and gasped.
"You don't drop the bloody shield charm when there's a Death Eater standing in front of you," said Katherine roughly, glaring at her cousin.
"Katherine?" whispered Faye faintly.
"Yes?"
"That's really you?"
"You'd be dead right now if it wasn't," snapped Katherine, striding over to the immobile James and checking his pulse.
"Is he...?"
"No. But only because Avada Kedavra is such a mouthful when you're sneaking up behind someone," remarked Katherine, standing up again.
"What's wrong with him?"
"Nothing. He's asleep," shrugged Katherine. "I'll deal with him later. You on the other hand-"
"I'm not leaving, Katherine," said Faye quickly. "Hear me out before you flip, alright?"
"Who says I'm going to flip?" asked Katherine, scowling at her.
"Remus," said Faye simply. Katherine opened her mouth to argue this point, then sighed.
"Fair enough."
"Right, well I'm not going to hide anymore. If James is here, then Voldemort probably already knows about me and if he wants to find me, he will. Running won't change that. Besides, I want to help this time. I'm not standing on the sidelines watching innocent people get killed for no reason. He ruined my life too, Katherine. He killed my mother and sent my family into hiding for seventeen years." Faye paused, gazing imploringly at her cousin. "And I want to get to know my cousin before it's too late."
"That it?" asked Katherine quietly. Faye nodded mutely, surveying her cousin intently. "Ok, but you're going straight round to Remus' at the weekend and getting some dueling lessons because that effort earlier was poor."
"What?" asked Faye, taken aback at Katherine's sudden change in attitude.
"Rem's a Marauder," said Katherine, smiling faintly. "He's fantastic at fighting, he just doesn't do it much."
"No, I mean... Well, you don't mind me being here?"
"Oh don't get me wrong, I think you're insane," said Katherine quickly. "But if you're only half as stubborn as me, then I know no one's going to force you to go anywhere. I don't fancy fighting a losing battle, thanks."
Faye smiled, green eyes sad. "I thought we were doing that anyway."
Katherine glanced up at her, looking almost surprised. "You think so?"
Faye hesitated. "You don't?"
Katherine grinned, hauling James up by the collar. "I did."
"What changed your mind?"
Katherine smiled cryptically, adjusting her grip on James and pulling a portkey out of her pocket. "I met someone who didn't."
"I did not call you," hissed Voldemort, glaring around at his followers.
"But Master," pleaded Bellatrix, lowering the sleeve on her left arm and returning to her place in the circle.
"What?" snapped Voldemort, turning his scarlet gaze on her.
"Someone did," answered Bella quietly.
"No one else can," snarled Voldemort angrily.
"And that is where I'd beg to differ," remarked a pleasant voice from the shadows of the doorway. The Lord of Darkness whirled around, eyes narrowing to slits as he focused on two forms. A man with flaming red hair was slumped at the feet of a taller figure with dark hair and bright eyes that glittered in the gloom. This figure stepped forward, twirling a long ebony wand between white fingers.
"Hello father."