A/N: I planned this chapter as one piece, but stretched to twenty pages, I've decided to split it. Enjoy Part 1 – reviews will encourage me to post Part 2 quickly. :)
x – X – x
Chapter 53 – The beginning of the end, Part 1
Robert Avery sat in the Drawing Room, supposedly working on a report concerning the increasing number of Floo blockages, but in reality watching his daughter Katy playing. She was currently studiously engaged in throwing tea parties for all her many toys, and this was the seventh room she'd commandeered for the task. Apparently each group of toys required a different ambience for their tea.
Robert gradually became aware of another presence in the room and looked up to find Cassandra watching him from the doorway. She smiled, and walked round to the back of his chair, slipping her arms around his neck and kissing him softly on the cheek.
"You don't have to worry about her," she murmured gently, resting her chin on his shoulder, her own gaze also wandering over to their young daughter, who was now pouring imaginary cups of tea out to the various assortment of dolls and teddies grouped on a small blanket. "She's young – she's forgotten all about it."
"We can't be sure of that," muttered Robert, pulling away slightly on the pretence of reviewing his report. Cassandra, however, wasn't having any of it. She stepped round to his side and knelt down so that their faces were level, then took his chin in her hand, forcing him to look at her.
"Yes we can – she stopped having nightmares weeks ago."
"She's stopped playing with Hector, too," said Robert dully, thinking of the forlorn looking teddy that lay abandoned in the corner of his daughter's room.
"Maybe that's for the best," said Cassandra, stroking the side of his face tenderly. "She's safe, Rob. We've made sure of that – Katherine dealt with that woman, didn't she? And what with all the wards you lot have put up, this place is probably harder to break into than Gringotts."
"I know," sighed Robert. "It's just...I don't know."
"Still having nightmares?" asked Cassandra quietly, oak leaf green eyes glimmering with concern. "I woke up in the night and you weren't there."
Robert shrugged, looking slightly uncomfortable.
"Went to check on her, that's all." He smiled sheepishly, then turned at the insistent tugging on his robes. Katy was standing there, one hand clutching a fistful of his dark robes, the other holding out a toy cup. "For me?" he asked, and Katy nodded, proffering the empty cup again. He took it, pretending to drink and Katy clambered up into his lap, snuggling into his chest and beaming up at her mother.
Cassandra smiled as Robert hugged his daughter, ten looked up, a movement by the door catching her eye. Boreas, their house elf, stood there, hopping nervously from one foot to the other, obviously wanting to speak, but unwilling to interrupt.
"What is it?" she asked, making Robert stop casting bright shapes in the air with his wand and glance up too, much to Katy's disappointment.
"Master's drawer is glowing," piped up the small elf, and Cassandra gave Robert an odd look.
"And why, exactly, is it doing that?" she questioned, and though her eyebrows were raised disapprovingly, there was a trace of a smile on her face.
"I don't-" began Robert, but then he stopped, a thought occurring to him. He lifted Katy off his lap and handed her to Cassandra before striding out of the room to his office. He stepped over the tea party that had been carefully set up in the middle of the floor and went to his desk where one of the drawers was indeed glowing, or at least, something inside it was. Golden light shone out from the gap between the wood and when he unlocked it and pulled it open, he found the source: Regulus' arcanus membrana, though of course this was his own copy and he'd certainly never be hearing from Regulus again.
He picked up the parchment, unfolding it to see the heading of black roses and beneath them a message, written in a hand as unfamiliar to him as the roses were familiar.
HELP
x – X – x
Katherine turned the page of the book she was reading, frowning a little. On the desk beside her sat an untidy pile of parchment, each sheet covered with her own fluid script. After a moment she set the book aside and added another note to the uppermost sheet.
A cautious knock on the door caught her attention and she called: "Come in" without looking up.
"Oh sorry, are you busy?" asked Ophelia, poking her head around the door and looking apologetic.
"Just doing a bit of research," said Katherine easily, finishing writing and laying down her quill. "D'you need something?"
"No, I just thought I'd let you know I'm going out tonight," replied Ophelia, and though she kept her tone casual, she couldn't stop the faint blush that tinged her cheeks.
"Oh yeah?" Katherine's voice was light and innocent, but that only made Ophelia grow redder, and Katherine grinned. "What's his name?"
"Christopher," mumbled Ophelia, cursing her pale complexion; she was in her late twenties and here she was, blushing like a school girl.
"Not anyone I know, then," said Katherine, casting an amused eye over the younger woman. "Is he nice? He'd better be, you know, unless he wants me, Ju and Severus after him." She frowned at the sudden guilty look that flickered across Ophelia's face. "Sorry, did I say something wrong?"
"No," said Ophelia quickly, biting her lip all the same. "It's just Julian."
"What about him?"
"Christopher is sort of...his best mate."
"Oh." Katherine paused, trying to think of something else to say, but a sudden thought stopped this. "Hang on, Christopher? In Julian's year? You don't mean Chris Avery, do you?"
Ophelia's scarlet blush was all the answer she needed. "You're going on a date with Rob's little brother? I thought he was married."
"No, that's Philip," said Ophelia, combing a hand through her short black hair. "Chris is his twin. And besides, technically I'm still married – Daniel won't divorce – says I'd try and take the house."
"It's your house," pointed out Katherine, leaning back in her seat. "From what I got out of Severus, your family has the money and Daniel's has the prestige."
Ophelia smiled grimly, leaning against the door jamb. "The perfect match."
"Chris not care you're married?" asked Katherine, raising one eyebrow questioningly.
"No. He's a lawyer – said he'd send some people round to Dan's," said Ophelia, dark eyes gleaming, and Katherine grinned again.
"Sounds like a nice guy."
"You don't know him, then?"
"No, not really – never met Robert's family. Only time I can recall actually seeing Chris was over twenty years ago, when he was saying goodbye to Rob at Kings Cross Station, and he must've been about seven, then." She smiled, meeting Ophelia's interest gaze. "He likes chocolate, I do know that."
Ophelia laughed, grinning. "I'll remember that." She hesitated, looking past Katherine at something on the desk. "Um, is it meant to be doing that?"
x – X – x
"Anything wrong?" asked Cassandra. Robert glanced around and saw her standing in the doorway, brow creased in concern.
"I have to go out for a while," he said, looking back at the parchment. 'Help'. That was all – not 'help, I am at this place and here's a map of how to get there', not even 'help, this is Harry'. Robert squinted again at the writing and decided against that – he didn't think Harry's writing would be that messy, and since it wasn't feminine, it was probably Ron – but whether he was alone or not was a different matter.
"Knock knock," said a soft voice, and Robert heard Cassandra gasp. He rolled his eyes and stuffed the parchment in his pocket, summoning his cloak from the hall.
"You know where they are?" he asked, turning to see Katherine lounging against the wall of the study, getting a very disapproving look from Cassandra.
"There are such things as front doors, Katherine," she said reproachfully, arching her eyebrows.
"You really want people knowing I'm visiting?" asked Katherine, grinning at her old friend. "Anyway, I'm not stopping – just come to borrow your husband for a bit." She turned her attention back to Robert, a grim look replacing the humour. "And yeah, I know where they are. His signature's rather distinctive."
"Not hard to track, then?"
"Not very, no." She smiled as he pulled on his cloak and kissed Cassandra on the cheek.
"I'll be back as soon as I can," he said softly, and though she nodded, he could see the worry in her green eyes.
"You bring him back in one piece, you hear me?" she said firmly, pointing a finger at Katherine, who grinned.
"How big d'you want the piece?"
"I'll be fine," said Robert quickly, taking his wife's hand. She stopped glaring at Katherine and looked up at him instead.
"You'd better be." He smiled wryly and kissed her again.
"Promise." He glanced back at Katherine, who was checking her watch. "Come on, then."
They didn't speak again till they were outside, surrounded by the trees in the vast garden behind the house. "So, where are they?"
Katherine smiled sourly, pulling out her wand to disapparate. "Sunshine Palace."
x – X – x
Lucius Malfoy stood before the two teenagers, grey eyes narrowed distrustfully.
"I will ask you one more time, Potter. What were you doing here?"
Harry said nothing, only looked firmly at the floor, avoiding eye contact. Lucius sighed impatiently, and cast a glance over the mudblood seated on the chair next to him.
"Where's your other friend? The Weasley boy?"
"He isn't with us," said Harry, anger and frustration evident in his voice. "It's just me and Hermione."
"Oh? One to sneak around, the other as a lookout?" asked Lucius, arching his eyebrows.
"That's right," said Harry firmly, risking a quick glance up at his captor. Lucius' long blonde hair was shining in the torchlight and his hard grey eyes were dark with suspicion.
"So if I were to check how many people entered this house," he said silkily, leaning forward a little to get a better look at his prisoners. "I'd find that there have only been three in the past day, would I? You, the mudblood and myself?"
"Yes," said Harry, though Lucius heard the slight hesitation in his voice.
"Better make that five," said a soft voice from the doorway, and Lucius whirled around to see an unpleasantly familiar women grinning at him. "Hello Lucius. What brings you here?"
"Five?" asked Lucius, ignoring her question. A movement behind Katherine caught his attention and a blond man stepped out of the shadows, light brown eyes glimmering in the torchlight. "Avery?" Lucius frowned, looking back at Katherine, a feeling of unease beginning to creep over him. "What's going on?" he asked slowly, instinctively taking a small step backward, fingers curling tightly around his wand.
Katherine smiled, blue eyes gleaming, but this only served to fuel the knot of worry that was growing in his stomach.
"Nothing's going on, Lucius. We just wanted a word with Potter."
"How'd you know he was here?" questioned Lucius, gazing flickered between the two newcomers. "And who's we? Since when were you two friends?" he demanded, gesturing to Avery.
Avery glanced at Katherine, appearing to consider the question. "How old were we, Kat? Fifteen? Sixteen?"
"Sixteen," said Katherine firmly. "End of fifth year - you got me through my Ancient Runes revision and I swore eternal friendship."
"Ah yes," nodded Robert, smirking. "And then you had the cheek to get more marks than me on the exam."
"Well I am brilliant." She grinned, then switched her gaze to Harry. "You all right?"
"Fine," muttered Harry, a vaguely accusing look in his emerald eyes. She glanced at Lucius, who was staring at her in something like horror, and shrugged.
"Sorry, Potter, I didn't think anyone would be here. Why are you here?" she added, frowning at Lucius who seemed to be struggling to find his tongue. "I didn't think this place was very...you. Bit too dark, even for a Malfoy. Houses the ugly side of the dark arts, as it were."
"Your side, you mean?" asked Lucius sourly; even in this light his pale face looked whiter than usual.
"That's low, Lucius," said Katherine, sounding a little reproving.
"You think a normal person comes up with Inopia?" scowled Lucius, but there was a trace of fear in his grey eyes.
"No, I think someone who's father shut them up in a room with a boggart and no wand comes up with Inopia," said Katherine calmly, raising her eyebrows slightly. "If I'm unbalanced it's only because Tom made me that way."
"So now you're in league with Potter? To get back at him?" spat Lucius, and Harry saw the hand that held his wand trembling; Malfoy was frightened. Katherine looked pensively at Robert, eyebrows drawn together in a thoughtful frown.
"Are we in league with Potter, d'you think?"
"No," said Robert, an equally meditative look on his own face. "I don't think so. If anything, he's probably in league with us, but I don't think any of us will want that recorded in the history books."
"No," agreed Katherine, grinning again now. "It'd do irreparable damage to all of our reputations. Can't have people thinking we might be nice, can we?"
"Stop mucking around," hissed Lucius, glaring at them. "You're putting a noose round all our necks."
Katherine's grin faded, blue eyes suddenly focusing on Lucius, expression serious. "Actually, I think you're already wearing yours; your son's made sure of that."
"What?" For the first time, Lucius' cool exterior broke for a second, and there was a flash of real fear and confusion on his narrow face. "What's Draco got to do with anything?"
"He's been helping Potter," said Katherine calmly, looking over at Harry, still tied to a chair. "Isn't that right, Harry?" Harry frowned at her for a moment, trying for the second time to learn how she'd found out, then nodded.
"You're lying," said Lucius quickly, his voice barely above a whisper. "Draco would never..." He stopped, seemingly unable to go on, though whether this was due to doubt or fear Harry couldn't tell.
"How'd you think they got in here?" asked Katherine, watching Lucius closely with keen blue eyes.
"You helped them," muttered Lucius, shrugging his shoulders. "You're mental, Riddle, you always were - even more so of late."
"You think I'd risk that? Being caught aiding Potter into one of the most covert hideouts we have?" asked Katherine, treating Lucius to a quizzical look. "Tom'd have my head if I was found out."
"And yet here you are," said Lucius, a sarcastic note creeping into his voice. "Talking to Potter like an old friend in front of me and not even making an effort to pretend otherwise. Are you going to kill me now or when my back is turned?"
"I wasn't planning on killing anyone, Lucius. You don't have to die unless you want to." She paused, frowning a little. "Do you?"
"No of course I don't," snapped Lucius, glaring at her. "But unless you are also planning on handing Potter over to the Dark Lord right now, I think I may have to ask you to. If he were to discover I knew of your alliance - and it does seem to be that, Riddle, despite your protests - and didn't tell him, I very much doubt that my life would be worth living." He smiled sourly, and there was no humour in it. "And you would disappear off the face of the earth, no doubt, and never be troubled again."
"There is another option," said Katherine calmly, holding his gaze.
"And what would that be?"
"We kill Tom."
There was a long pause in which Lucius stared at her, presumably trying to work out whether she was joking or not. Eventually he managed:
"You're crazy, Riddle."
"Why are you so nervous, then?" she asked, hand straying to the snake pendant around her neck. "If you don't think I'm serious-"
"Oh I think you're serious," cut in Lucius, with a hollow laugh. "You're just crazy." He looked at her, grey eyes lifeless. "You can't kill the Dark Lord, Katherine. Not with a couple of teenagers and a half wit Ministry worker."
To Lucius' surprise, Avery chuckled at this, a dangerous smile curling his lips and suddenly he recalled a conversation he'd overheard his mother having years ago with Esmerelda Avery, about her eldest son's disappointing NEWT results. 'Nearly all Outstandings in his OWLs and now this...' He shut his eyes, bowing his head in defeat.
"You're faking, aren't you?" he asked in a very quiet voice, and Avery laughed again.
"Very good, Lucius," said Robert darkly. "Took you long enough."
"And you," said Lucius, looking up and eyeing Katherine with dislike. "You persuaded the Dark Lord not to take on any more Averys – said being lumbered with one was bad enough."
"Did you?" asked Robert, looking at his old friend in surprise. "I didn't know that."
"Well you'd already lost Louise," shrugged Katherine, turning back to Harry and Hermione, who were sitting silently on their chairs, watching them. "Didn't think you'd want your brothers killed too. You untied yet?" This last question was directed at Harry, who scowled, but nodded.
"Look up the works of JH Raine?" he quoted, rubbing his wrists and glaring at her.
"I told you – I didn't know he was going to be here," she protested, gesturing at Lucius. "Thought the place would be empty. Anyway, did you find it?" Harry looked pointedly at Lucius, but Katherine only waved a hand carelessly. "He won't tell – you heard him, he wants to live."
"He will tell," said Lucius sharply, folding his arms and looking firmly at Katherine. "So don't say anything else."
Katherine frowned, considering him for a moment, then turned back to Harry. "He won't tell – he's just trying to stop us implicating him further."
"Look, Katherine, you're insane," said Lucius smoothly, stepping closer to her and getting eye contact. "And Avery's an idiot – probably just following you because he's easily led, or else he's trying to stop you doing something stupid-"
"I know the whole Prophecy." Lucius stopped dead at that, eyes widening in shock, and Katherine grinned, patting him sympathetically on the shoulder. "There, unless you run off to Tom right this minute, you're now guilty as hell for concealing information, so you can shut up and listen."
"You can't kill him, Katherine."
"No, but Harry can."
Lucius looked over at Harry again, his scepticism clear on his face, but he didn't comment – instead he asked: "How did you get untied?"
"The Weasley boy," said another voice, and Ron appeared suddenly, pulling off the invisibility cloak. Lucius gave him a contemptuous glance, then looked at Harry.
"You have certainly been spending time around Katherine – she lies, too."
"I do not," objected Katherine, folding her arms defiantly. "Not to you, anyway. Not that I remember."
"So you're not helping Potter?" questioned Lucius, one eyebrow raised.
"That wasn't lying," said Katherine carefully, narrowing her bright eyes. "I never explicitly said I wasn't."
"You never explicitly say anything, Katherine, because you're absolutely mental, as I said before."
"We're going to kill the Dark Lord, Lucius," said Katherine softly, voice deadly serious. "We know how to and we have the means and you're going to let these three walk out of here unharmed and you're not going to say anything to anyone, because if you do, I'll kill Draco. That explicit enough for you?"
Lucius looked at her for a long moment, then said quietly: "You wouldn't kill a eighteen year old in cold blood."
Katherine only smiled, blue eyes glimmering. "Try me."
x – X – x
In case anyone is curious about Chris Avery, and since I don't intend to write much about him, he's pretty much like the Regulus Black in the real Harry Potter books – not overly handsome, but smart and nice, in a Slytherin sort of way.
As for the rest of this chapter, rest assured, there will be answers aplenty in the next part, as well as an event some of you have been asking about for ages. The end is in sight...