A/N: Sorry I'm updating this story a little irregularly, and in answer to some people's questions, yes this will be updated as frequently on as it is on cosforums as soon as it catches up. The reason it takes longer is that I have to edit each chapter (putting in breaks) to upload it on here, and I'm editing the story very slightly as I'm going along. You're welcome to read the story on if you want (there's 34 chapters so far) or you can continue with this version, which has less mistakes. :)
Oh yes, and if there's anyone who likes the Severus-Katherine pairing, I've written an AU one shot from Severus' point of view starting in his fifth year and going through to Voldemort's downfall. If anyone wants to read it, just email me or say so in a review and I'll send you the link.
x – X – x
Chapter 13 – Unlucky for some
"Harry, Ron, wake up!" Footsteps sounded in the dark, then the curtains were flung open and the two boys blinked in the brilliant sunlight streaming in through the window.
"'Mione? What d'you want?" muttered Ron, pulling the blankets over his head. Hermione snatched them away and looked sternly down at him.
"It's nine o'clock. Get up, we've got to go see Lupin," she ordered, turning around and handing Harry his glasses.
"Why?" asked Harry, stifling a yawn.
"Because he knew Katherine Archer," answered Hermione briskly, ignoring the boys' bewildered expressions. "Now get dressed. I'll wait for you outside."
x – X – x
Ten minutes later, the trio were sitting in Ron's back garden, eating a hurried breakfast and trying not to be overheard.
"So how did you find this out exactly?" asked Ron, frowning at Hermione.
"I told you, Madam Pince let me look at the school library-"
"When was this?" injected Harry, looking puzzled.
"Yesterday, when you two were at your apparation exams," sighed Hermione.
"You said you'd waited for us!" exclaimed Ron, looking slightly hurt.
Hermione rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Well I knew it'd take a couple of hours for you to finish so I decided to spend my time doing something productive, all right? I was there when you got out, wasn't I?"
"Yeah, but-"
"Then what's the problem? Look, like I said, Madam Pince let me into the library and I found the register of Hogwarts students." She pulled a list out of her pocket and placed it on the wooden table. "Luckily her surname begins with A so I just had to skim the top of the lists of students from about 20 years ago. I copied out her year."
The boys leaned over the table to read the list, written in Hermione's neat script. Harry frowned as certain names caught his eye. "Avery, Nott, Parkinson, Rookwood, Rosier – Hermione they're all Death Eaters!"
"Actually it's Augustus Rookwood who's a Death Eater," corrected Hermione. "And Fiona Parkinson is dead. She was attacked when they were still at school."
Harry raised his eyebrows at this but Ron, used to hearing similar things from his parents, continued to study the list.
"Frank Longbottom," he read slowly. "That's Neville's dad, isn't it?"
"Yes, and Andromeda Black is Tonks' mother," remarked Hermione.
"What do these numbers mean?" asked Harry, gesturing to the scribbled digits at the bottom of the parchment.
G2 (+2) H3 R5 S8
"Well it didn't take me long to find Archer so I cross checked the list of names with newspaper articles. Only half that year are still alive, and two of those are in Saint Mungo's," said Hermione in a small voice. "Remus is the only one we know."
"And the letters?"
"They're the houses," answered Hermione.
"So eight people died in Slytherin?" asked Ron hopefully.
"No, eight people survived," said Hermione bleakly. "And only two Gryffindors are still around, Remus and Peter, not counting the Longbottoms in Saint Mungo's."
"Well that's encouraging," remarked Harry dryly. He sighed and looked up at his friends. "Right, so who knows where Lupin lives...?"
x – X – x
Remus awoke that morning in a state of confusion and it took him a while to work out where he was. Then Faye appeared in a doorway and the events of the previous night came back to him.
"Oh sorry, did I wake you?" asked Faye, looking apologetic.
"No, not at all," assured Remus, stretching and glancing at the clock above the fireplace. 9:30.
"D'you want a cup of tea?" offered Faye. "The kettle's boiling."
"Yes thanks," yawned Remus. Faye smiled and disappeared into the kitchen once more. Remus sighed, grimacing at the ache in his limbs from spending the night on a worn out sofa. An open metal box on the table caught his eye and he leant over to examine it. A white leather journal lay open next to the box, but as far as Remus could see, it was completely blank. He ignored it and peered into the depths of the box instead. A glint of silver caught his eye and he frowned, lifting the small charm bracelet up to the light so he could examine it properly.
"It's Katherine's," said Faye, re-entering the room and placing a mug of tea down in front of him. "Least, the box was under her bed, and she wrote the journal."
"I know," murmured Remus, still frowning. "I gave her this for her sixth birthday. I'm surprised she kept it."
Faye smiled gently and picked up an unsealed envelope that was lying at the bottom of the box. Remus glanced her as she opened it and slid out a selection of photographs. Faye flicked through them, then handed them to Remus. "D'you know who they are?"
"That's her adoptive parents," said Remus, indicating a photo of a smiling couple with brown hair. "Sarah and Charles. And that's the people in her House," he added, pointing out another photo of seven grim looking teenagers. Faye picked it up, noting that Remus had said people, not friends. "There's a couple of me, a few of Sirius, one of James and Lily," continued Remus, flicking through the rest. "And I suppose you recognise this one." Faye glanced at the picture he was holding up and smiled.
"Aunt Cady."
Remus nodded and frowned at the next photograph. "I can't say I know who these four are."
Faye glanced at the picture for a second, then did a double take and looked again.
"Are you all right?" asked Remus, looking concerned.
"They're Death Eaters," said Faye softly, her face pale. She pointed out a handsome blonde haired man and a taller, graver man with light brown hair. "Those were the ones that got Aunt Cady – Kelly Hunt and Simon Carr. I don't know the other two."
Remus was about to respond to this when there was a flare of green and a cloud of soot erupted from the fireplace, accompanied by muffled swearing and the sound of a number of people falling over. Remus waved his wand to clear the smoky air and looked appraisingly down at his three ex-students with some exasperation. "Harry, Ron, Hermione," he nodded. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"
x – X – x
"Shouldn't you be at work, or something?" asked Severus, studying Nicola over a strong cup of coffee. Nicola glanced up at him from the fridge and shook her head.
"It's my day off."
"Monday?"
Nicola shrugged, pouring herself a glass of orange juice. "Aurors work a seven day week and weekends are usually busy, so I take Monday & Tuesday off."
"Fair enough," murmured Severus, staring into the depths of his coffee cup. Suddenly, the kitchen door swung open violently and Katherine appeared, frantically pulling her hair into a ponytail and glaring at Severus.
"What are you doing here?" she demanded as Severus frowned at her shabby appearance. She was still wearing the same clothes she'd had on the previous day and her eyeliner was smudged.
"Ah, I was wondering how long it would take for the alcohol to wear off," sighed Severus, but Katherine glowered at him and grabbed his shoulder.
"What happened to your house?" she demanded again.
"Aurors raided it," answered Nicola, frowning at her friend. "I got him out before-"
"So where's Peter?" hissed Katherine, her gaze fixed on Severus.
"Peter?" asked Nicola in a puzzled voice. "Who's Peter?"
"You left him in there, didn't you?" said Katherine, narrowing her eyes.
"There wasn't time to get him out," answered Severus calmly, giving her an odd look. "Why does it matter?"
"Because Remus hates you enough already," snarled Katherine, looking furious. "He's actually going to kill you if he finds out that for the best part of last year you were harbouring the man who helped destroy his life."
"I can look after myself," shrugged Severus, twisting free of Katherine's grip.
Katherine arched a sceptical eyebrow. "Have you ever actually seen Remus angry, Severus? Really angry? Because when he finds you, you're going to think that that thing you saw in fifth year was a fluffy little bunny rabbit in comparison."
"What thing?" asked Nicola, walking over to the table and sitting down opposite Severus. "What happened in fifth year?"
"Where does Remus live?" Katherine asked her, ignoring the question.
"Why?" asked Nicola, guardedly. "You're not going to do something stupid are you?"
"I'm going to try and get to him before he finds out Peter's been arrested from someone else. Now where is he? You showed him into Auror HQ yesterday and I know his address is on that card he carries, so...?"
"Um, somewhere in Brixton I think-"
"Brixton?" Katherine looked incredulously at her friend. "He's living in Brixton when we own a flat in Mayfair?"
Nicola shrugged. "He's your friend, you talk some sense into him. And if you can't use your legendary ingenuity to find him you're not the woman I thought you were."
"You haven't done a very good job of narrowing down the search area," said Katherine acidly. "And people are going to twig something's amiss if I start using magic."
"Katherine, this is London you're talking about. It's full of weird people," reminded Nicki, sighing. "Trust me, no one will notice."
"Fine," relented Katherine, distractedly pulling her hair out of its ponytail and conjuring a black trilbie from thin air. Severus glanced up at her as she put it on, the rim casting a shadow over her eyes, and held her gaze for a moment. "Daniel Corbelle," she said quietly, throwing Severus for a moment. "Is he one of ours?"
"Ophelia's husband?" asked Severus in surprise. He was about to question her as to how she knew about him, but thought better of it. The chances of him getting a straight answer were slim to none. "No, he's not one of ours."
"Does he want to be?"
"I don't think so."
Katherine smiled grimly. "Good, I'll recommend him to Dad. See you later," she added, waving a hand vaguely at Nicola. She strode out of the room, grabbing her coat from the hall on the way and a moment later they heard the door slam.
Nicola met Severus gaze and raised her eyebrows. "Right," she said, taking a deep breath. "Now d'you mind explaining what the hell all that was about...?"
x – X – x
Remus waited, arms folded, as the three teenagers looked sheepishly up at him.
"We didn't mean to-" began Hermione at the same time as Harry said: "You knew Katherine Archer."
There was a crash from behind him and four pairs of eyes turned to see Faye blushing as she picked up a metal box that had fallen on the floor. "Sorry," she said quietly, scooping the contents of the box up hurriedly and placing it back on the table.
"You missed this," said Hermione, picking a tattered white envelope from where it lay, partially hidden under the sofa. "Oh – sorry!" she gasped as a flurry of photographs fell out and fluttered to the floor.
"No, let me," interjected Faye hastily, as Hermione bent to pick them up.
"No, it's my fault," apologised Hermione, kneeling on the worn carpet. Faye gave her a brittle smile and stuffed the majority of the photos back into the envelope, trying not to seem too relieved that Hermione hadn't paid any attention to the subjects of the pictures.
"Are these yours?" asked Harry quietly. Faye glanced up and saw to her horror that he had a photograph in his hand. Please don't let it be Katherine...
"Mine?" asked Faye, glancing desperately at Remus. The boy's vivid emerald gaze didn't flicker as she got to her feet, holding the envelope tightly in her hands. "Uh-"
"Only Fleur implied you to went to Beauxbaton," continued Harry, as Ron and Hermione looked curiously at the photo he held.
"Isn't that Sirius?" asked Ron, frowning. Harry looked up, flipping the photograph over and gazing directly at Remus.
"Isn't that Archer?" he asked, with a touch of accusation in his voice. Remus opened his mouth, then closed it again, not knowing quite how he was going to explain this.
"Can't be, can it," said Ron, looking uncertainly at Faye, as though trying to convince himself it was her in photograph. "Can it?" he asked, glancing at Remus.
A knock at the door interrupted Remus' reply and he sighed. "Wait here." He hurried out into the small hallway and pulled the door open an inch, leaving the chain across it. "Yes?"
The stranger turned around and raised the rim of their hat slightly. "Have you read the paper?"
Remus stared at his errant friend for a moment, then said in a comparatively calm voice. "Katherine, you do know there's an entire fleet of Aurors out looking for you, right?"
"Yeah," said Katherine, though Remus wasn't sure she'd quite grasped the gravity of the situation from her flippant tone of voice. "Anyway - the paper?"
"No, I haven't seen one yet. Why?" asked Remus irritably, then continued quickly. "No, forget that, you do realise you haven't made any effort to conceal your appearance, don't you?"
"I could care less at this precise moment," sighed Katherine, rubbing her temples. "Can I come in."
"Definitely not," answered Remus firmly, frowning at his friend. Something about the stance and the way she was squinting in the sunlight was very familiar... "Katherine, are you hungover?"
Katherine glanced up at him, scowling. "Would it matter if I was?"
"Remus, who is it?" called Faye from the lounge, her tone implying that she needed his help.
"Double glazing salesman," answered Katherine immediately, in Remus' own voice. Remus stared at her, and she grinned. "Well lying doesn't come naturally to you, does it? Thought I'd better help you out."
"Right," muttered Remus, stepping outside and pulling the door to behind him. "What are you doing here, Katherine?"
"Or more to the point, what is my cousin doing here at ten o'clock in the morning?" asked Katherine cheerfully. "I mean, when I said she should see you for duelling lessons, I meant next weekend, but you're obviously both very keen-"
"Nothing happened!"
Katherine arched a sceptical eyebrow. "You're telling me she stayed the night at your place and-"
"-I was the perfect gentlemen," filled in Remus.
Katherine gazed at him thoughtfully for a moment. "You idiot."
Remus scowled. "Katherine, I love Tonks."
"Yeah, and you're old enough to be-"
"You think I don't know that?" asked Remus exasperatedly. "But you can't help who you fall in love with. You're living proof of that."
"So you're going to tell Tonks?" asked Katherine innocently, tilting her head to one side and smiling sweetly at him.
"Do I need to?"
"Now now, Rem. That's not a very good start to a relationship, is it? You can't lie to your girlfriend. They always find out, believe me."
"Mr Lupin?"
Katherine and Remus turned around to see two men in black suits and sunglasses walking towards them along the open aired balcony that connected the flats on Remus' floor.
"Sunglasses in this weather?" muttered Katherine in a low voice. Remus shot a warning glance at her, then turned to the men.
"Yes?" he ventured, as Katherine cast a dubious look at the strangers.
"Could we have a private word?" asked the second of the two men with a brief smile, as they stopped in front of Remus.
"No," cut in Katherine, pushing the rim of her hat up to reveal her face and smiling dangerously at them. "Now bugger off before what happened to Kensington happens to you." The two men stood frozen for a moment, apparently weighing up their options. Katherine reached out calmly and pulled the dark glasses off the nearest man. "I don't make idle threats, Rochester, you know that."
"Miss Riddle, I didn't see y-" Rochester glanced nervously at his companion, then back at Katherine who was still smiling disconcertingly. "Um, sorry, Miss Riddle."
"Good. Now toddle off and tell Alex to try harder next time," commanded Katherine, tossing his glasses back at him.
"Yes, Miss Riddle," mumbled Rochester, grabbing his associate and hurrying away, back the way he'd come.
"Alex?" asked Remus, frowning at her.
"Alex McKenzie. Red hair, got a twin brother called James. They used to be in our year. She's trying to prove I didn't kill Faye. They must have found out she was here," mused Katherine, eyeing the two Death Eater's retreating backs dubiously.
"Faye? But they asked to talk to me."
"So they could get inside," explained Katherine absently.
"And you know this how?"
Katherine glanced at him, grinning. "Legilimens – don't look at me like that, I only promised I wouldn't use it on you."
"Hmm..."
"Hey don't complain, it's your fault for leaving me a loophole." She smiled at his disapproving expression and adjusted her hat. "And don't worry about Alex, Rem, she doesn't know about you."
"Well that's something I suppose," sighed Remus, glancing at his watch. He'd been talking to Katherine for five minutes. The trio were probably getting suspicious by now.
"Right. It's Bella you should be looking out for," agreed Katherine, leaning on the balcony and gazing out over the grimy rooftops of Brixton.
"Lestrange?" asked Remus, staring at her with wide eyes.
"He married her?" asked Katherine absently. "Yes, Bellatrix Lestrange. She's the one that asked Kensington to call you in. Didn't I say?"
"No."
Katherine glanced over her shoulder, her face the picture of innocence. "Oh don't look so scared, Rem. She hasn't got that many groupies any more. They all think she's a lunatic and Azkaban certainly took her looks, if not her mind, so she can't win people over on that score anymore."
"That's supposed to make me feel better is it?" asked Remus, coming to stand beside her. "That only people who are crazy enough to bow to Bellatrix's command are coming after me?"
"Crazy people make mistakes," answered Katherine reasonably.
"All Death Eaters are crazy," hissed Remus, pointedly.
"Yeah, but I made sure all the smart ones owed me their lives years ago," said Katherine, giving him a sly grin. "They'd follow me anywhere because they know I'm crazy enough to get them out again."
Remus frowned, but was prevented from commenting on this by the sudden scream from inside his apartment. He and Katherine exchanged looks for a moment, then he dived inside, pulling his wand out as he went. Katherine watched him go, then turned and peered over the balcony again. Far below, two figures in dark suits were emerging from the bottom of the block of flats and heading across the street. Rule No. 1: Never drop a shield charm when you're standing in front of a Death Eater...