Chapter 14 – No one likes Mondays
Remus flung back the door to the small lounge just as Ron reached it, pushing Hermione before him. Harry stood behind them, facing the intruder with his wand out. "Get away from her!"
Remus frowned at Harry's words, then realisation dawned – Faye must be on the other side of the room, blocked from sight by the man with matted grey hair.
"Harry, get out of here," he ordered, stepping past Ron and Hermione, into the room. Harry glanced over his shoulder at him, but did not move. The intruder however, did turn around, and when he did, it sent shivers down Remus' spine.
It was Fenrir Greyback.
"Well well well. Remus Lupin. So you are in. Your friends implied otherwise." Fenrir's yellowish eyes roamed over the younger man, sizing him up. "Going to duel me, are you? Fight for your girl?"
"She's not my girl," said Remus, then wondered why he had. Perhaps it was because of what Katherine had insinuated earlier, perhaps because it was true.
"Really?" Fenrir raised an eyebrow. "Then you won't mind me taking her." He reached out and grabbed Faye, pulling her inbetween himself and Remus. "Should have hexed me when you had the chance," he snarled. He twisted his head round to examine Faye's terrified face. "Not very smart, that one, is he?"
Behind Remus, Hermione gave a stifled cry, but he barely registered it. All he could think about was Faye. "Let her go."
Fenrir glanced up, tilting his head to one side and smiling nastily. "Why?"
"Because if you don't release her within the next ten seconds, I will kill you."
Remus started at the voice and turned around to see Katherine standing in the doorway, glowering up at Fenrir from beneath the shadows of her hat. Behind her, Remus could see Hermione clutching at Ron's arm nervously. Fenrir gave Katherine an odd look as Faye squirmed in his strong arms.
"Have we met?"
"I doubt it. I would have remembered the smell," remarked Katherine in the same intense voice that went way beyond furious and fell just short of lunacy. Remus could only stare at her, amazed at her ability to be sarcastic in even the most serious of situations.
"You think compliments like that are going to make me want to let your friend go?" snarled Fenrir.
"She's not my friend, she's my cousin," said Katherine darkly. "Five seconds."
Fenrir laughed, tightening his arm around Faye and holding her like a shield. "Give it your best shot," he challenged, baring his yellow teeth.
Katherine raised her wand and shot a spell in his direction before Remus could stop her. The spell sunk into Faye and she promptly disappeared, leaving Fenrir grasping empty air.
"What the-?" He glared at Katherine who gazed solemnly back at him.
"I did warn you," she stated matter-of-factly, flicking her wand again. Fenrir abruptly slammed into the opposite wall, clutching at this throat.
"Katherine, don't..." For a moment, Remus thought his friend was going to ignore him, but then she dropped the gasping Fenrir. "Where's Faye?"
"Hogwarts. Where she should have been in the first place," answered Katherine, voice still terse. "D'you know him?" She made a brief gesture towards Fenrir who was bent over, trying to catch his breath.
"Fenrir Greyback. One of yours."
"One of mine?" asked Katherine, looking sharply at Remus. "He works for Tom?"
Remus nodded. "You didn't know?"
"He's a werewolf!" exclaimed Katherine. "Tom doesn't employ werewolves."
"That was twenty years ago, Katherine. Things change," said Remus hollowly, avoiding her gaze. On the floor, Fenrir was getting to his feet.
"Who are you?" he snarled, glowering at Katherine and rubbing his throat.
"Don't you read the papers?" asked Katherine caustically. Fenrir's yellow eyes narrowed.
"It's you, isn't it? From-"
A pointed cough from Remus later, Fenrir was out cold. Katherine glanced at her friend and Remus thought he saw an apologetic look on her face before she turned her wand on him.
"Katherine..?" he said warily, keeping one eye on Harry, whose bewildered expression was starting to turn into anger.
"Lupin," replied Katherine blankly, and Remus was surprised to find himself shocked by the cold, blank expression on her face. So this is your other face, is it? The one you use when you work for your father? No wonder you've got a perfect track record. Anyone looking into those eyes is going to lose any hope of escape in an instant...
"Get away from him!" Harry's indignant outburst brought Remus sharply back to the present.
"Harry, this isn't what it looks like," he began, before realising just how stupid that sounded. He was in his flat, with photographs of known Death Eaters scattered over the table, a psychopathic rogue werewolf unconscious against one wall and a Wanted criminal pointing her wand at his chest. What on earth was it supposed to look like? He sighed, suddenly very angry. How did Katherine manage to turn even the most innocent situation into a tangled web of deceit that he was always left to try and unravel in her wake. Well he'd had enough...
Scowling, he reached out and grabbed her wand, giving her a look that could have curdled milk.
"Hey!" protested Katherine, trying to snatch it back, the blank mask evaporating instantly.
"What d'you think you're playing at?" he hissed, holding the wand out of her reach. "D'you want to get killed?"
Katherine gave Harry an incredulous look and shook her head. "No, I was trying not to make it look as though you were associating with a mass murderer, but I think it's safe to say that that illusion is effectively ruined," retorted Katherine, glaring at him and snatching her wand back.
"Sorry to disappoint you, but I think they probably twigged something was up when you sauntered in and smashed Greyback against the wall," countered Remus, glaring back.
"You two know each other?" ventured a small voice from the doorway. Remus glanced around to see Hermione staring at him, her brown eyes wide.
He frowned at her, confused. "I thought you knew that."
"We knew you were in the same year," said Ron nervously, gaze flickering from Remus to Katherine and back again. "We didn't know you were..." He trailed off, watching Katherine apprehensively.
Remus closed his eyes, praying this was just some kind of horrible nightmare he was having trouble waking up from. He opened his eyes when he heard Katherine laugh, and turned his head to give her a questioning look. She grinned and flopped down onto the crumbling sofa, looking up at him belligerently.
"Talk your way out of this one," she challenged, leaning back and turning her gaze on Harry who was looking from her to Remus and back again with distinct unease. She cocked her head to one side and gave Harry an odd smile which he returned with a glare.
Remus stared at her, then shook his head. Definitely not a nightmare. He didn't have enough imagination to conjure up someone like Katherine. He turned to Harry, but James' son wasn't looking at him, he was scowling down at the woman on the sofa, fists clenched. In his right hand, he held his wand. In his left, he held...a photograph. Alarm bells starting ringing far too late in Remus' head. "Harry-"
"What did you to Sirius?"
Katherine, who'd been fiddling with something on her finger glanced up at Harry, her eyes suddenly guarded. "What?" Harry thrust the photo out towards her and she sat up, frowning at it. "Where did you get that?" she asked softly, eyes narrowing dangerously.
"It's mine," said Remus quickly, stepping between them.
"Yours?" Katherine gave him a cynical look, and Remus didn't miss the faint trace of amusement in her voice that told him she knew he was lying. "Remus, why in heaven's name would you have a picture of Reg?"
There was a long pause, then Remus looked at her, really looked at her. She was being serious. "Reg?" he asked, disconcerted.
Katherine shook her head and sighed, leaning back into the worn sofa and gazing up at the ceiling. "Yes, Remus. Regulus. Sirius' brother, remember?"
And Remus did. Vaguely. It had been such a long time ago...
Katherine looked sharply at him. "I don't know who'd be more horrified – Sirius, for being mistaken for his considerably less handsome brother, or Reg, for being mistaken for a blood traitor."
Remus turned his attention to the picture which Harry still held loosely in one hand. The boy in the picture grinned and made a charming gesture with his fingers. Remus scowled as the sixteen year old Katherine laughed, arms clasped around the boy's neck in a tight hug.
"He is wearing a Slytherin badge, you know," said Katherine softly. "It's not Sirius." Remus glanced up, before realising the remark wasn't addressed to him. Harry was just gazing at her, confusion competing with anger and fear for precedence on his face. "Reg was in fourth year then, I was in sixth, and from the looks of it we were both very, very drunk."
"Regulus Black," said Harry, a strange note in his voice. "Sirius told me about him once. He said he was a Death Eater. He said Voldemort killed him."
"He was. And yes, Voldemort ordered Trix to dispose of him," answered Katherine, though something in her eyes gave Remus the distinct impression she wasn't being entirely truthful on that last point. Remus knew Katherine well enough to know she very rarely actually lied, but he also knew she compensated for that by either refusing to answer or withholding information that wasn't asked for. Just like she was doing now.
"Why?" questioned Harry, holding her gaze. Katherine tilted her head to one side and considered him.
"Why the sudden interest? He died before you were born."
"Sirius never knew. He thought he got in too deep and tried to back out. Is that true?"
Katherine was silent for a long time, then shook her head. "Reg never ran away from his problems."
Harry looked down at the photo in his hand, looking slightly lost, but Remus hardly noticed. He was more interested in the way Katherine had paused before answering. She didn't do that unless she was hiding something. She looked up at that moment, catching Remus' grim expression and raised an eyebrow challengingly. Remus gave her an appraising look. Right, Kat. Now say that again and this time fill in the gaps.
A movement to his right made him look around. Hermione was standing by the table, holding a sheet of paper in her hands.
"What was Regulus' middle name?" she asked softly, gazing at the paper as though it held the secrets of the universe.
Katherine's brow furrowed, distrust flickering in her eyes. Remus noticed she'd never let go of her wand.
"What is this? Twenty questions? Why do you want to know about Regulus?" She glanced at Remus, who shrugged. He'd forgotten about Regulus. Sirius had never talked about him, except when he'd had rather too much to drink and was feeling down, and Remus hadn't seen the younger Black since he'd left school over two decades ago. He hadn't the faintest idea why the trio were so interested in him.
Hermione raised her gaze from the parchment and looked Katherine squarely in the eye. "Do you know his middle name?"
Katherine folded her arms, ignoring Ron who'd moved to stand protectively by Hermione's side. "You're Hermione Granger, aren't you?" she asked, surprising Remus who hadn't realised she'd heard of her.
"Yes," said Hermione, a little uncertainly. There was something a little disconcerting about having a notorious murderer knowing your name, especially when you happened to be a muggleborn and therefore a prime target.
"Top of your year? Having a steamy love affair with Boy-Wonder here and an International Quidditch star at the same time?"
Hermione stared at her, cheeks flushing scarlet. "I was not."
"Ah, just one of them, then," nodded Katherine, and Remus could have sworn she smirked at Ron who was looking furious. Remus caught her eye and she smiled pleasantly at him before glancing back at Hermione. "Octavian."
"What?" asked Hermione distractedly.
"Reg's middle name - it was Octavian. Regulus Octavian Black," elaborated Katherine, looking thoughtfully at Hermione. "Why did you want to know?"
"I..." Hermione shook her head and held out the piece of paper she'd been holding. "Is this yours?"
Katherine sat up to get a better look, then snatched it out of Hermione's hand, glowering at her. "What are you doing with this?" she asked angrily, eyes blazing.
"I - It was on the table," stammered Hermione, taking a step back. Katherine glanced down at the table, then rounded on Remus.
"It was in the flat," he said calmly, brown eyes questioning. "Faye found the box in your room. What's wrong?" He glanced at the paper, but Katherine rolled it up and tucked it inside her jacket before he could make out what was on it.
"I don't like people touching my things," she answered, still scowling, though not as deeply. Behind her, the dying embers of the fire flickered and went out. Ron blinked, staring at the fireplace.
"What is it?" asked Harry, frowning at him.
"The flames..." murmured Ron, stepping forward cautiously, then pausing as he realised he was heading towards Katherine. "They were...blue."
Harry raised an eyebrow at the smoking charcoal. "Ron, there aren't any flam-" He was cut off abruptly as Katherine grabbed him by his collar and flung him across the room, towards Remus.
"Run," she hissed, casting a shield charm with her wand.
Remus didn't need telling twice. If Katherine thought it necessary to construct a defence spell, then things were very, very bad. Remus caught hold of Harry and pushed him before him out of the flat, Ron and Hermione close on his heels.
"Head for the stairs," he ordered, pointing to the staircase at the end of the long passageway.
"But we can appar-" began Harry, but Remus shook his head violently, knowing he didn't have enough time to explain properly, but resigned to the fact that he'd have to try.
"Katherine said run, not go. If you apparate, they'll be able to track you. You have to go on foot."
The trio were giving him sceptical looks, but at that moment Katherine burst out of the door, sporting a deep gash across one cheek, a metal box clutched under one arm. She grabbed Remus' arm and tugged him along the walkway, towards the stairs. After a slight pause, the trio hurried after them.
"Who-?" asked Remus, then broke off as Katherine stopped, tightening her grip on his arm. He looked ahead and saw another group of Death Eaters clustered at the top of the stairs. "The service lift," he said quietly, gesturing discreetly to a stained pair of metallic doors set midway along the walkway. Katherine nodded and pushed the box into his arms.
"Go up," she said softly, meeting his gaze. "Trust me," she added, as he frowned dubiously. Then she turned, smiled sweetly at the advancing Death Eaters and launched herself forward, transforming at the same time. Remus seized Harry's arm and pulled him forwards too, jabbing at the call button for the elevator. The door hissed open and he bundled the trio inside, hesitating only momentarily before pressing the button for the top floor.
The doors closed slowly as the screams started outside, then the lift jerked and started it's ascent. The silence in the confined space stretched out, punctuated by the creaking of the neglected mechanism as they rose.
"She's an animagus?" asked Hermione softly, after a while.
"Not exactly," muttered Remus, rubbing his eyes. This was turning into one of the worst Monday's of his life, and that was saying something.
"Why are we going up?" asked Ron, surveying Remus nervously.
"Because she told me to go up," answered Remus. "And when Katherine tells you to do something, you do it." He cast a cautious glance at Harry. The black haired boy was strangely quiet. He stood apart from the others, as far as it is possible to do so in the restricted space in an elevator, and he kept looking at the photograph in his hand. No, not photograph - photographs... There was the one of Katherine and Regulus, but the other one...the other one Remus remembered. Harry looked up and emerald eyes searched Remus' for answers.
"You didn't just know each other did you," Harry said quietly, and Remus knew it wasn't meant as a question. "You were friends." Remus looked helplessly at him as Harry's eyes hardened. "And then she betrayed you. She tried to kill my parents..."
"Harry, no-" started Remus, but at that moment the lift shuddered to a stop, the doors slid open and the world intruded once more. As they stepped out of the lift, Remus turned to Harry. "You've got to trust her."
"Why?" challenged Harry angrily.
"Because you haven't got any other choice," sighed Remus. "And you really don't want her as an enemy."
"I've already got Voldemort as an enemy," retorted Harry. "How much worse can she be?"
"Much," said Remus firmly. "Because you're of no consequence to her and she won't wait for an audience before killing you. If she doesn't like you, she'll just kill you and have done with it."
"She didn't kill Greyback," said Hermione, shivering slightly in the icy breeze. "She didn't kill him because you asked her not to."
Remus looked at Hermione and it hit him again how very smart she was for her age. Harry was lucky to have her on his side.
"She owes me," shrugged Remus, glancing along a walkway that was almost identical to his own, many floors below. At the end of this one, however, there was a battered looking door. He headed towards it and the trio followed him, having little other option.
"Owes you what?" asked Hermione as Remus forced the door open, revealing a dark set of stairs that must lead to the roof.
"Her sanity," replied Remus grimly, climbing the short flight of steps and kicking the next door open, then stopping abruptly. There was already someone up on the roof and it wasn't Katherine. A man with a sharp, aristocratic face and jet black hair that glinted in the morning sunlight smiled silkily at them.
"Good morning," he said in a quiet voice, that nevertheless carried across the flat roof. "Can I help you?"
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Reviews are most welcome. As are theories on who it is. ;)