Chapter 44 – Exposed
Severus sat in a dark green armchair, looking through the collection of photographs Ophelia had taken at the Avery's Halloween Ball last month. They were all arranged with infinite care in a leather bound album, with the names of each person written in neat copperplate beneath the photos. Severus glanced up at his cousin, her dark eyes fixed so intently on the musical score before her, and made a mental note to ensure he came round more often. She obviously had far too much time on her hands.
Ophelia didn't turn round, but she must have felt his eyes on her, because she pointed the bow of her violin at him and said firmly: "Stop it. I'm trying to work out how this goes and I can't concentrate if you keep psychoanalysing me."
Severus smiled slightly as she played a few tentative notes on the violin.
"Sorry. What's the piece?"
"It's the theme to some muggle film," answered Ophelia, tucking a strand of black hair behind her ear. "She did say which one, but I can't remember the name. Something German, I think."
"She?" questioned Severus, frowning deeply. Who had been giving his cousin muggle sheet music?
Ophelia did look at him this time, a bemused smile curling her lips.
"Kitten," she said lightly. "You see, Severus, you're not the only one who thinks I need an occupation to stop me doing something stupid." Severus ignored this accusation, more concerned with the mysterious woman.
"Who's Kitten?"
"Katherine," replied Ophelia, grinning now. "We nicknamed her that. She hates it."
Severus sighed, shaking his head. Ophelia & Julian were probably the only people in the world who could call Voldemort's daughter that to her face and get away with it. Julian because she was the one who'd taught him to annoy people, and Ophelia because she was rather fond of her. He was reasonably sure that if he ever called Katherine by that name he'd be on the receiving end of one of her nastier hexes before he'd even finished speaking.
He looked down at the photographs again as Ophelia started playing, and saw one of him, Nicola and Katherine. Underneath it in careful black ink was written:
Eric Ravel, Nicola Meliflua, Anna Thornton
He smiled faintly; it had been Nicola's idea that he go as the Phantom of the Opera so that he wouldn't have to use Polyjuice, and Katherine's that he call himself Eric; he still couldn't quite believe that no one had picked up on the reference.
His gaze moved to Katherine, or Anna, as she had been that night. Same black hair, but grey eyes instead of blue and more delicate, almost elfin features. She was dressed entirely in black, and you might have thought she hadn't bothered dressing up unless you were in on the joke; he remembered being a little bemused himself when she'd come downstairs with Nicola. She was going as the personification of Wrath, she'd told him, and Nicola was dressed as Lust. Apparently it was in honour of a drawing Regulus had done years ago, or something. Personally he was of the opinion that it was just an excuse for Nicola to wear one of her more dubious dresses in public.
"Severus?" He looked up to see Ophelia studying him with a pensive expression on her face.
"Yes?"
"Is she really trying to kill Daniel?"
"Katherine?" he asked, and she nodded. He shrugged. "Probably. Why?"
"Oh, nothing, it's just...well, it seemed a bit... It's just not how she usually behaves, is it?" said Ophelia, dark eyebrows creased in thought. "If she wanted to kill him, she would have done it, wouldn't she. I think she's just trying to make him miserable. Or make me happy. Something." She looked up, meeting his gaze. "Has she ever said anything to you about it?"
"Not exactly," began Severus, but then there was the sound of footsteps in the hall outside and with a quick look of apology at his cousin, he disapparated. Ophelia sighed and looked resignedly at the door as it swung open and Daniel entered.
"Who were you talking to?" he asked, frowning deeply and casting a suspicious glance around the room.
"No one," replied Ophelia, gazing calmly at him, taking in the dark circles under his eyes and his tense stance. No, Katherine wasn't trying to kill him – she just wanted everyone to think she was. Rumour had an invariable way of getting back to the person in question, and Ophelia wondered how long Daniel would last after someone told him that Voldemort's daughter had it in for him.
"I heard a man's voice," said Daniel stubbornly, giving her a dark look.
"Funny that, it must be going around."
"What?"
"Philip told Julian that his brother heard a woman's voice coming from your office the other night. You know, when you were working late on those figures," she added helpfully, at Daniel's confused stare.
"What woman? His brother's probably making it up," shrugged Daniel, throwing his cloak over the back of a chair and peering at the open photo album on the table.
"You're calling your boss a liar?" asked Ophelia, a polite frown marring her brow.
"What?" asked Daniel sharply, looking up.
"Philip Avery's brother - Robert Avery," prompted Ophelia her tone light, though there was a hint of steel in her eyes. "He is your boss, isn't he?"
"Avery's an idiot – everyone knows that," said Daniel, trying to be dismissive, but Ophelia caught the anxious note in his voice.
"Right," she nodded, turning back to her music as Daniel went to the door. "Only I don't see why that means he can't hear, Danny." Daniel paused, on the point of leaving and met her softly accusingly gaze with uneasy eyes. "Still, anyone can be mistaken, right?" she said quietly, looking away.
"Right," murmured Daniel, hesitating for a second before exiting the room. Ophelia stood motionless for a moment, then tried to focus on the musical score, but the notes kept blurring on the page. Swallowing hard, she set the violin down on the table and sank into a chair, thinking of Katherine's half smile when she'd handed over the score.
"It's the theme from Schlindler's list; you know the story? One man's actions making all the difference in the world..."
Yes, Severus was wrong. Katherine wasn't trying to kill Daniel, she was trying to get her to leave him.
x – X – x
"What on earth are you doing?"
Katherine looked up from the floor of the lounge, a newspaper clipping held in one hand whilst the other paused, frozen in the act of reaching for a folder that lay haphazardly on the coffee table.
"Nothing?" she tried, looking innocently up at him through clear blue eyes. Severus stared at her for a moment, then shook his head despairingly.
"Want a cup of tea?" he asked, deciding, wisely, not to ask why Nicola's usually pristine lounge looked like a paper recycling truck had dumped it's contents on the floor.
"No, I'm all right, thanks," said Katherine, grabbing the folder and placing the discoloured slip of paper into it before locating the biro and scribbling something on a notepad.
"Sure?"
"Uh huh," she murmured, picking up another article and scanning it with a frown.
"Everything ok?" he asked, when she bit her lip, gazing meditatively into middle distance.
"Hmm? Oh yeah, it's just-" She paused, her bright gaze flicking up to him, one hand reaching absently up to run through her loose hair.
"What?" he questioned, shifting under her suddenly calculating look.
"Nothing," she said shortly, turning back to her mysterious task and screwing up the clipping, tossing it brusquely into the waste paper basket. Severus raised an eyebrow at her odd behaviour, but resolved to leave it be; she was obviously busy with something and he knew from experience that she did not take well to being interrupted.
He headed for the kitchen as she reached for another scrap of paper and consequently failed to see her stop searching through the fragments of paper, sit back on her heels and throw a long, dubious look at the bin that held the discarded cutting, face dark with speculation and suspicion. A minute later, she cleared up the various newspaper articles, went quietly upstairs and packed her bags.
It was only when Nicola called her down to dinner four hours later that they noticed she'd gone. Severus stared at the empty room in shock, looking for something, anything that might tell him where she'd gone, or why.
"Did you two have a fight?" asked Nicola softly, gazing concernedly at Severus' pale face. He shook his head mutely, at a loss as to what to say. "Have you seen her today?" tried Nicola. Severus cleared his throat uncomfortably and nodded vaguely.
"She was in the lounge when I came in – sorting through old papers or something, I don't know-" He paused, a horrifying notion interrupting his thoughts and stilling his tongue. She'd been looking at old newspaper cuttings and then she'd picked one up and given that look.
He tore his gaze away from the empty room and hurried downstairs, grabbing the bin from the lounge and rummaging through it to find the balled up scrap of paper.
"Severus, what are you doing?" Nicola had followed him and was now staring at him with a look that clearly displayed her confusion.
Severus stared down at the crumpled article about ghoul attacks in the north of Wales and said nothing. Was he wrong? He glanced at the date in the corner of the paper and then down at the picture of Milly Cobbins that took up most of the page and remembered that the side Katherine had read had not had a photo on it. Slowly, he turned the cutting over and saw the headline of the story. Half of it was missing, but he already knew what it said, remembered reading it with a certain amount of pleasure only a few years ago.
Exposed: Dumbledore Employs Werewolf
"Severus?"
"She found out," he said quietly, gazing at the yellowed passage of writing as though it was his own death warrant.
"Found out?" asked Nicola, stepping closer and glancing down at the article in his hand. "Oh." She hesitated, as though unsure of what to say. "I'm sorry."
"Why? You weren't the one that cost her best friend his job," muttered Severus, scrunching the paper up in his fist.
"Severus-"
"No, it's fine. This is good. Now I know who comes first." Nicola frowned, giving him an anxious look.
"What?" Severus glanced at her, dark eyes as cold and deep as a black hole.
"Well if she's always going to choose him over me, it's best I find out now, isn't it? Her loyalties lie with Lupin first, us second."
"That's not true," interjected Nicola, but Severus only smiled sourly.
"Isn't it?" he asked, a hint of dark irony in his voice. "You know, that's how good she is - we always think she's on our side, no matter how many times she leaves us to help them. What's it going to take to get us to realise she only really cares about one person?"
"She cares about you," said Nicola firmly, meeting his gaze resolutely. Severus shrugged, dropping the crumpled scrap of paper into the bin.
"Not enough."
x – X – x
Remus kicked the front door shut and flicked on the light switch, tossing the keys onto the side table as he did so. He was about to head straight to his bedroom when something stopped him. There was someone else in his flat.
He stood where he was for a moment; going into the main room would leave him open to attack, a dark silhouette against a light background, but if he left, they might follow him and then-
A shape moved in the darkness he could see through the half open door. One movement, but it was enough; he'd recognise that fluid motion anywhere.
"Katherine?"
He pushed open the door and turned the light on. Katherine was sitting on his dilapidated sofa, knees drawn up to her chest and looking so lost and vulnerable that he forgot to shout at her for scaring the hell out of him.
"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked softly, her quiet gaze moving to his face.
"Tell you what?" he asked, marvelling at how young she managed to make herself look; sometimes he found it hard to believe she was the same age as him.
"You say you hate him but you didn't tell me," said Katherine quietly, ignoring his question. "Why would you do that? You must have known I'd be mad at him if I found out – why not just tell me, Rem? If you wanted me to hate him, why not say?"
"Katherine, I don't know-"
"Severus got you sacked."
Remus paused, surveying her with serene brown eyes.
"You didn't know?" he questioned mildly. Indignation flared in her blue eyes and she sat up, scowling at him.
"Of course I didn't know. Do you think I would've defend him if I'd known he'd done that?" she demanded hotly.
"Well, yes, to be quite honest," answered Remus, sitting down in the chair opposite her and running a weary hand over his face. "You love him, Katherine. I know that and you know that – you can forgive him anything."
"Not that," said Katherine softly, shaking her head. "He lost you the only job you'd had in goodness knows how long, all over a schoolboy grudge."
"He was angry, Katherine."
"That's no excuse."
"No? We all do stupid things when we're angry. More to the point, Sirius had just made a miraculous escape from a Kiss and seeing him again had probably brought up all those memories of you and – What? What's that look for?"
"Sirius was going to get the Kiss?" asked Katherine, a touch of horror in her voice. "Severus wanted Sirius to get the Kiss?"
"He thought he deserved it," shrugged Remus bitterly. "Everyone thought he was guilty."
"Not Severus."
"What?"
"Severus knows me – he would have known Sirius couldn't have been a Death Eater," said Katherine earnestly. "We only fell out because he joined up – Severus would have known I'd have broken up with Sirius if he even showed an interest in becoming a Death Eater."
"Maybe he thought you loved him so much you wouldn't care," suggested Remus, gazing back at her. Katherine gave him a half smile, though there was no humour in it, only a sour bitterness.
"Is that what you thought? That I'd corrupted him?" Remus said nothing, but Katherine hadn't really expected an answer anyway. She sighed, tucking a loose section of hair back behind her ear. "It was because I loved Severus that I cut him off. I couldn't bear to watch Tom destroy him. I wouldn't have let Tom go near Sirius for the world."
"You didn't mind destroying him, though?" asked Remus with a deliberately light air. "Because you did, you know. He fell apart when you were arrested. Of course he pulled himself together eventually because he had to – we were in the middle of a war – but you hurt him, Katherine. Sometimes I wonder if you realise the impact you have on people. You've only known Harry a couple of months and now he's cut up because he thinks you've betrayed him somehow. People aren't pawns in some huge game for you to play with, they have feelings. Do you even care?"
Katherine frowned slightly, concentrating intently on her hands.
"Do you?" she asked quietly, glancing up at him.
"Do I what?"
"Care about people."
"Of course I do," Remus replied, giving her a perplexed look.
"Everyone?" she questioned, holding his gaze with a faint smile.
"Most people."
Katherine nodded, as though he'd proved some theory of hers.
"Right, well I don't – not about most people. I only care about some. The list probably totals under twenty in all." She smiled at him, and there was a trace of Slytherin in it. "And if that makes me a bad person then so be it, but I will say this – I would do anything for the people on that list. Anything at all. Can you say that for the vast majority of the people you care about?"
Remus just looked at her, brown eyes studying his oldest friend.
"When did you change?"
The intent look on Katherine's face faded, replaced by an expression somewhere between shame and betrayal.
"Goodbye Remus."
"No-" Remus made to stand, to stop her leaving, but it was too late. She'd disappeared.
He sighed, closing his eyes and shaking his head slightly.
"That wasn't what I meant."