A/N: First off, a hundred thousand apologies for the loooooong wait you've had to endure for this chapter. At first I was busy, then I got ill, and then some stuff happened and I really wasn't in the right frame of mind to write, but it's finally DONE.
Oh, and one last thing: I'm currently in the process of rewriting Carpe Diem and Fire Burns, and one element of the changes being made has cropped up here. Katherine's muggle surname has changed from Aenigma to Archer.
Think that's everything.
Enjoy!
xxx
Chapter 60 – Death or glory
"You lose, Potter. Do you understand that?"
Harry squeezed his eyes tight and tried to block out the pain coursing through his body. He wouldn't give in, he wouldn't; he wasn't dead yet.
"She betrayed you, Potter. Did you really think you could trust her?"
"She hates you," Harry ground out through clenched teeth.
"That may be, but she'd never harm her own kin. You, on the other hand…" Harry exhaled sharply as the curse lifted and opened his eyes to meet Voldemort's slitted gaze. "Son of a man who hated her, godson of a filthy blood traitor who caused her so much trouble…why would she ever help you? It was a trap, Potter, that's all. A brilliantly executed trap."
"She destroyed…she destroyed the locket," Harry spat out, right hand frantically searching the rough grass for his wand. It had flown from his hand when Voldemort had knocked him down but it had to be close by. Accio wand, accio wand…
His hand paused as it met smooth leather and he turned his head sideways to see what he'd grabbed. It was a boot. Frowning, his gaze travelled up the black leather to a pair of faded jeans, a loose white shirt and a hollow blue eyed gaze.
"You?" he whispered, staring at Katherine's vacant expression.
"Why do people bother?" Katherine's voice was quiet, and could have been called calm if there had been any indication of emotion behind it.
"How did you get past the wards?" Voldemort demanded, stepping back from Harry and staring in disbelief at his daughter. Harry's quick glance at the blurred wall of motion surrounding them confirmed this – the wards Voldemort had erected to imprison them remained in tact, and yet he'd claimed no one could get through…
"They must be broken," said Katherine listlessly, expression not changing. Harry squinted up at her, wondering if she was even aware he was there.
"They're not broken", hissed Voldemort, looking furious, and Harry saw Katherine's lips curve into an unhappy smile.
"Then I must be." Katherine lifted her head and looked at her father, blue eyes blank and lifeless. "You win. You got what you wanted. You broke me. Congratulations."
Harry was vaguely aware of some activity outside the opaque wards - two dark shapes close up, huddled together. Were they trying to break the wards? Or reinforcing them? He didn't know, and it was getting harder to care. They'd missed a horcrux – or if Voldemort was telling the truth, Katherine was hiding one.
Would she do that? She'd seemed genuine enough when she'd said she wanted to kill her father, and the locket…that had been pretty emphatically annihilated; she'd smashed it to pieces – if that wasn't destroying a horcrux, he'd like to know what was.
He raised his head off the ground and tried to focus on Katherine. Whose side was she on? Remus had said they could trust her, but even he seemed doubtful sometimes. Right now Harry wasn't sure she was even aware what she was doing; there was a glassy look in her eyes, like the one he'd seen when they'd gone after Hufflepuff's cup and she'd seen the Inferi…
"What are you doing here?" asked Voldemort, raising his wand and pointing it at Katherine's head. "Explain yourself."
Katherine sighed and gazed up at the dark night sky. "You went to a Muggle school, right, Harry? They must have taught you Maths? Divide something seven times, how may pieces do you get?"
"What?" asked Harry, pushing himself up onto his elbows and frowning at her.
"Eight pieces, Harry. Eight, not seven. And if you divide something in half seven times the piece gets smaller and smaller each time." She grinned lopsidedly, usually bright eyes oddly dull. "So if you get the seventh or eighth piece, the horcrux takes a bit longer to get a hold on it's surroundings, the change is a bit slower, more gradual. Maybe you just think you're going crazy again - after all, you've lost everything ever you cared about and there's no point trying to get your friends back because they hate you and there's a war on. People die in wars."
Harry had no clue what she was going on about; she seemed to be rambling but Voldemort was rapt, words failing him as he stared at his daughter. His wand was still directed at her, but he was making no attempt to curse her, and Katherine was still grinning in that weird way.
"Not me though," she said quietly. "I don't die in wars. Ever wonder why that is? Kel always said it was luck, but I'm thinking…not. No one's that lucky." Katherine glanced down at Harry, a thoughtful expression on her face. "Except maybe you."
"His luck's just run out," said Voldemort quietly, and because she had her head bent to look at him, only Harry saw Katherine wink then glance at her left foot, one eyebrow raised. Harry stared blankly back at her for a moment before she stepped over him and stood arms folded before her father. Harry rolled onto his side to look at them and it was then that he saw the wand tip protruding from the top of Katherine's left boot.
"Not just yet," Katherine said quietly. "I've had to put up with you since before he was born, and I'm not done yet." Voldemort drew back his wand, eyes burning with rage, and Katherine laughed. "You're not going to kill me. If you were, you would have done it by now."
"Who said I was going to kill you? You're the one who always said there were worst things," hissed Voldemort, as behind Katherine Harry reached out an aching arm, eyes fixed on the polished wand just inches away from him.
"Yeah but if you want me dead so much, why d'you order everyone not to even attempt murder?" asked Katherine, and Harry paused, fingers closed around the wand tip, sure he couldn't have heard that right. "When I came back last year you knew I wasn't loyal to you anymore and yet you took me back. I admit, the enquiry about Cady's ring was a nice touch – you actually had me thinking that maybe you had a heart for a while there." Harry drew the wand out of Katherine's boot and moved back very slowly, careful not to attract any attention with his movement. He needn't have bothered – the whole of Voldemort's attention was focused on his daughter. "But you never gave a toss about the ring, did you? You just saw that it wasn't on my finger and you wanted to know what was on the chain. This chain."
Katherine hooked a finger under the silver chain that disappeared into her shirt and smiled. "You know, I don't know if you've noticed, but Bella's been going a bit off the rails recently. I think she would've really benefitted from a little refresher course in why she shouldn't attack the bosses' daughter, because I'm afraid she did seem to be under the impression that it was still a matter of whether or not you could trust me..."
Katherine laughed darkly, fingers twining around the glimmering chain that hung from her neck. "I'm sorry to report that as my little stunt earlier made it abundantly clear that you can't trust me one inch, Bella presumed all bets were off, and promptly decided to do what you never have." She tugged sharply downwards and winced as the chain in her hand broke. "Bella's dead."
She held up her hand and let the broken pendant swing from her closed fist. "Now you're mortal."
"And you're dead," said Voldemort, voice seething with fury. Katherine shrugged, a meditative expression on her face.
"Yeah, but it was worth it." She turned her head to look back at Harry and grinned, the usual sparkle in her eyes again. "Good luck, kid."
xxx
Robert swore under his breath, fingers moving like lightening through different spells and enchantments.
"Hurry up," pleaded Severus, trying to peer through the dark haze that surrounded Harry, Voldemort and presumably now Katherine too.
"Trying," said Robert, face fixed in a scowl as he fought to break the wards. "These just…aren't…shifting!" He sat back, hands clenched into fists, and took a deep breath. If he could just work out where they were cast from…
"Why have you stopped?" demanded Severus, glaring at him. Robert didn't look up, still thinking; there had to be a weak spot somewhere, he just had to find it. "Robert! If Katherine got through, we must be able to!"
"Kat's weird," muttered Robert under his breath, moving his hand slowly across the wards. "When it comes to wards, normal rules don't seem to apply to her."
Severus glared at him, and opening his mouth to say something, but Robert held up a hand to stop his remonstrations. "I think…yes…just here…"
Severus scowled and turned his attention back to the shady figures within the wards, trying to work out what was going on. A pale figure – Katherine? – stood between the other two, but he couldn't tell who was in control.
By his side, Robert let out a hiss of satisfaction and, just as Severus glanced down, the wards vanished. Severus' gaze immediately flew up to the scene before him and his heart stopped; Katherine stood before the Dark Lord, whose wand arm was drawn back ready to curse, with an expression of utter calm on her face.
For a moment, Severus couldn't move, acutely aware that the only thing stopping the Dark Lord from killing his daughter was his surprise at the sudden disappearance of the wards. Robert rose slowly to his feet, brown eyes darting nervously between the three figures in front of them. So they'd found Katherine – now what?
"You?" It was the Dark Lord who spoke, staring in outright amazement at his two followers, both of whom looked rather the worse for wear. "You broke my wards?"
Robert said nothing, feeling suddenly very exposed. Unlike Severus, he'd never been in close proximity with their Lord and Master for very long; a reputation as the organisation's resident dunce tended to mean you were largely left alone, save for meetings, where there were always plenty of other people in attendance.
"Katherine," said Severus quietly, breaking the silence, his dark eyes focused solely on her now. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
"Severus…" Katherine managed, blue eyes pleading.
"I already told you I'm not living without you anymore," ground out Severus, almost glaring at her.
Robert inhaled sharply as he saw the Dark Lord's look of mild confusion turn to sudden horrified realisation.
"Sev," he murmured, unable to take his off the Dark Lord's furious expression. "I really think-"
But Severus wasn't listening – he was striding forward to grab Katherine's arm, turning her to look at him. "I let Bella hurt you - I'm not letting anyone else even try, ever."
"Ever is a long time," said a cold voice, and the two turned their heads to see Voldemort directing his wand at Severus now. "How about: 'until the end of your life'?" He smiled, a cruel expression on his lips, and his slitted scarlet eyes burned with rage. "I'm very disappointed in you, Severus. You could have been great, and you choose…this."
"I choose her," said Severus quietly, raising his chin and slipping his hand into Katherine's.
"You choose a woman over power – glory?"
"Her," said Severus again, black eyes filled with hatred. "Her over you. Every time."
"I thought I taught you better, Severus," said Voldemort with a sigh. "It would appear not."
Robert, who had remained fixed where he was during this exchange, found his attention drawn to a familiar figure standing on the opposite side of the clearing, among the quickly forming crowd. His dark red hair was sticking up at all angles and there was a combination of blood and mud on his face and hands, but there was no mistaking James McKenzie anywhere. Right now, his old dorm mate was staring in blatant, gaping, disbelief at Katherine and Severus' joined hands. Robert rolled his eyes as his subtle attempts to catch James' attention failed – no help was going to be forthcoming from that quarter, apparently.
Voldemort drew back his wand once more, and Robert made to move forward, unsure what would be achieved even if he could stall the Dark Lord a little more, aside from adding one more body to the ever rising death toll, but then something so completely ridiculous happened that he stopped in his tracks.
Just as the Dark Lord was on the point of opening his mouth to curse Severus, a white object came flying out of the crowd now gathered around them, and hit him squarely in the back of the head. Robert followed the shape with his eyes as it rebounded and fell to the ground, rolling over a few times before coming a halt. It was a shoe, or to be more precise, a white, slightly tattered, trainer.
Robert stared at it, then slowly traced it's path back to the crowd where Faye Belle stood, breathing heavily, one foot bearing the twin of the shoe now lying a few feet from him, the other a black sock embroidered with pink stars. The Dark Lord had turned, too, and was now glowering at his, apparently not-quite-as-dead-as-previously-suspected, niece. Across from Robert, James' attention had finally been dragged away from Severus and Katherine's intertwined hands and he was now looking on in horror as Faye stared up at her uncle, green eyes wide with fear.
James looked around desperately and his eyes met Robert's. Robert looked quickly at Katherine, who had stepped forward, one hand outstretched towards her cousin, and made up his mind. He looked back at James and pointed to him, then to Faye, before jerking his thumb over his shoulder, his meaning clear – get Faye out of here. James nodded, face pale but determined, and slunk back into the crowd, moving silently around the circle to reach the blonde.
Robert took a deep breath, steeling himself, then yelled: "HEY TOM!"
Momentarily confused, Voldemort turned his head to stare at him, and James took the distraction to grab a startled Faye, who screamed as he looped an arm around her waist and dragged her backwards. Voldemort's head whipped back around, only to find an already closing gap in the tightly packed crowd. Robert looked desperately towards Severus and Katherine, the latter of whom was frowning slightly at him, a whisper of a bemused smile on her lips.
Robert raised his eyebrows, wondering why his friends' sudden decision to be noble had apparently rid them of their common sense. Katherine's frown deepened at his expression, then as Voldemort started to turn back around she finally caught on and tugged Severus away, breaking into a run as he found his feet.
Robert cast a final glance at Potter, who was on his feet now, borrowed wand in hand, then took to his heels as well.
Cowardice it may have been, but Robert had never been particularly bothered about what other people thought of him, and right now the only thing he did care about was surviving.
xxx
It didn't take long for Robert to find Katherine and Severus. They were on the other side of the clearing, just on the outskirts of the trees. Severus had his arm around Katherine's shoulders and was saying something to her upturned face. Robert smiled faintly, and tried to push the thought of Cassandra out of his mind; he'd never get to see her again – never hold her like that, or watch Katy growing up.
He walked forward, twigs snapping beneath his feet, and Severus looked up.
"You alright?" he asked, and Robert nodded.
"Saved our skins, you did," smiled Katherine, resting her head on Severus' shoulder. "Thanks."
"Don't mention it," shrugged Robert, leaning against a tree and closing his eyes. May as well enjoy the feeling of fresh air and freedom while he could. "You've saved mine enough times."
"Well thank you anyway, because you know you didn't have to," said Katherine quietly, watching him closely.
"I just thought that since you two were acting so very Gryffindor, I might give it a go too," said Robert, opening one light brown eye to gaze back at her.
"What did you think of it?" asked Severus, with a slight grin on his thin lips.
"Not much – I think I'll stick to self-preservation, if it's all the same to you."
"Fair enough," said Katherine quietly. "It's worked well enough so far."
Robert meet her gaze, and smiled tiredly. "End of the line, now though, huh?"
"Pretty much," agreed Katherine, resting her head on Severus' shoulder.
"So you gonna tell us then?" asked Robert, sinking to the ground opposite them and gazing coolly at his old friends.
"Tell you what?"
"How you got out of Azkaban," said Robert, running a dirty hand through sweat streaked blond locks. "Either Potter or the Dark Lord is going to be dead pretty soon, so this is the last time we're gonna be able to speak freely. I mean, it's death or Azkaban, isn't it, and though I'm not entirely sure which appeals to me more right now, either way we're screwed." He exhaled tiredly and glanced up at her from under dark lashes. "Unless you happen to have some miraculous Plan B to get us all out of here?"
Katherine shook her head, looking sombre. "Sorry – was pretty much banking on Plan A working out."
"What was Plan A?" asked Severus, frowning down at her.
"Dying," said Katherine shortly. "Didn't really think I'd need an alternative this time. Number of enemies I've got, I was sure one of them would oblige."
"Didn't think of an escape for us then?" inquired Robert, and though he said it gently, there was more than a slight hint of accusation in his voice.
"Well I wasn't about to die if you still needed protecting," said Katherine with a sigh, rubbing the bridge of her nose as though trying to ward off a headache.
"So you thought we'd die as well," remarked Robert, looking up at the stars with an irritated expression. "Nice to know you think about these things."
"Rob-" started Severus quietly, but Robert looked down sharply and glared at him.
"Don't Severus. Don't pretend you know how I'm feeling – I've got a wife and daughter who I'll never see again. Cass knew what she was getting into when she married me, but Katy - she's going to grow up without a father, and when she gets to school she'll be surrounded by classmates who are missing parents that we killed. I've ruined her life – my own daughter." He stopped, dropping his gaze and drawing in a shaky breath. He was vaguely aware that he'd been shouting, but he didn't care; he couldn't feel anything at that moment but the furious anger burning inside him and his own self loathing.
Suddenly there was an arm around his shoulder and he jerked his head up to see the blurred face of Katherine just inches from his own. He blinked a couple of times and her face came into focus, familiar blue eyes framed by dark lashes that seemed slightly damp.
"Ever wonder what would have happened if we hadn't joined?" he asked, almost in a whisper.
"Sometimes," admitted Katherine with a heavy sigh. "But we did, and unfortunately you only get one life, so I don't make a habit of regretting things if I can help it. Who knows, maybe there's an alternate world where Robert Avery is a core member of the Order of the Phoenix, and Katherine Riddle remained plain old Katherine Archer, and grew up to marry a nice Ravenclaw and settled down and never had any adventures." She grinned, a little sadly, and shrugged at his sceptical expression. "I said maybe."
"Personally, I prefer this Katherine Riddle," said Severus, casting a glance towards the throng of people that had formed on the battlefield.
"Me too," agreed Katherine, resting her head on Robert's shoulder and turning her gaze up towards Severus. "Much more exciting."
"She's not married to a Ravenclaw in this scenario, either," said Robert, giving Severus' back an amused look. Severus frowned, but did not turn around; Robert grinned and nudged Katherine. "So, what one did you have in mind? If you could have another life, which Ravenclaw was it that caught your eye?"
Katherine smiled and opened her mouth to answer, but paused just before she did so, eyebrows drawing together in a frown. Robert saw her mouth something to herself, still frowning, apparently deep in thought. Severus turned around at her silence and looked questioningly down at the two of them.
"Katherine?" he ventured uncertainly, taking a hesitant step forward. Katherine looked up and stared at him for a second before breaking into a huge grin. "What?" he asked, unnerved at her sudden change in mood. "What are you so happy about?"
"I got it wrong," she said simply, leaning back against the tree trunk behind her and looking nothing short of relieved. "Rob, have I ever told how completely brilliant you are?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact," said Robert slowly, looking rather bemused. "You got what wrong, Kat?"
Katherine sat up and started to speak when the sound of approaching footsteps distracted her, and she turned to see two shadowy figures moving through the trees. Severus drew his wand but lowered it when a shaft of moonlight illuminated long blonde hair and Faye broke into a run as she saw them.
"There you are," she exclaimed, falling to the ground in front of her cousin and pulling her into a hug. "We didn't know if you'd got away, and Jamie wouldn't let me go back," she explained, casting an irritated look at the ruby haired man who'd been following her, at the same time as Katherine smiled gratefully at him. "But you're ok – you are ok, aren't you?" she demanded, holding Katherine at arm's length and peering at her intently.
"I'm fine," assured Katherine, gently extracting herself from Faye's grasp.
"Good." Faye glanced at Robert and Severus and nodded to them. "Hello."
Severus raised a hand in greeting, but Robert just said quietly: "Nice socks."
Faye flushed pink and Katherine stifled another laugh. "A shoe, Faye? Seriously?" she asked, blue eyes dancing with amusement.
"I panicked, ok?" Faye said hotly, glaring at her cousin.
"And forgot your wand?" asked Severus, watching Faye with a certain amount of curiosity. "You are a witch, are you not?"
"So? Sometimes hexes just aren't enough," said Faye stubbornly. "Haven't you ever been so angry you just want to hit someone over the head with the closest thing to hand? Like a book, or a plate, or a-"
"Fencepost?" offered Katherine, earning herself four very odd glances.
"You've hit someone over the head with a fencepost?" asked James McKenzie, staring at her in disbelief.
"I might have done," replied Katherine, looking a little uneasy at the sudden attention.
"When?" he demanded, tilting his head to look at her, as though that might make her appear less crazy.
"Um, seventh year?" said Katherine, looking very much as though she wished she hadn't brought it up.
"You really were mental, weren't you," said Robert, raising his eyebrows, not sure whether he should be amused or worried.
"Little bit," agreed Katherine, catching his eye and smiling ruefully.
"Well some of us have more self control than that," said Severus calmly.
"So it was another Severus Snape who gave Evan Rosier concussion, was it?" asked Katherine with an inquiring smile.
"You know, sometimes you have an inconveniently good memory," Severus said quietly, looking darkly at her. Katherine just smiled, and shrugged.
"So, what are you going to do now?" asked Faye, brushing fine blonde hair out of her eyes and watching Katherine closely in the pale light. "And…is that a feather in your hair?"
"What?" Katherine reached up a hand and found the feather Archimedes had dropped was indeed tangled in her dark hair. She combed through it with her fingers and extracted the glossy feather easily. "Apparently yes, in answer your second question," she said, twirling the feather in her fingers. "And – depends on who wins, in answer to the first."
"Harry's going to win," said Faye firmly, and Katherine glanced up from the feather to smile at the conviction in her voice.
"In that case, I rather think I'm going back to prison," she said gently, an odd look on her face.
"But you can't!" exclaimed Faye, staring at her, wide eyed. "You've been helping Harry! They can't send you to Azkaban after that."
"Ah," said Katherine quietly, sharing a quick look with Robert. "You see, the thing is we didn't think mentioning that little bit of information would be particularly beneficial to anyone, really, so-"
"Beneficial?" repeated Faye, aghast. "It might save you from Azkaban!"
"And it might not," said Robert calmly. "However it will damage Potter's currently spotless reputation and seriously misrepresent us. We didn't do it to save the wizarding world, we did it because it what was best for us."
"You're saying you helped defeat Voldemort just so you could go to Azkaban?" asked Faye sceptically, looking at him in frank disbelief.
"I did it so my daughter had a chance of growing up safe," said Robert quietly. "Kat did it to protect you and Remus, and, if haven't worked it out by now, Severus joined the Order so he could take down the man he held responsible the woman he loved's death." He stopped, casting a sideways glance at Katherine. "Even if she did turn out to be not quite as dead as everyone thought." Katherine grinned ruefully, and looked up at Severus, whose dark eyes fixed on her own. "So yes, we did it for ourselves, and now we'll take the punishment we deserve. It's not exactly as though we've been saints, is it?"
"You could still run," said Faye, in a subdued voice, though her green eyes were clouded slightly with what were probably tears.
"No, we couldn't," said Robert firmly. "The Aurors would find us, and in any case, I'm not putting Cass through that."
"And Mum gave me up so I wouldn't have to spend my life running," added Katherine, pushing herself to her feet and going to stand next to Severus. "I'm not going anywhere." She buried her head in Severus' shoulder, and he put his arm around her gently.
"So that's it? You're just giving up?" demanded Faye, looking imploringly at Katherine's turned back.
"Not running when we've got the chance is probably about the only honourable thing we can do right now," said a soft voice, and Faye whirled around to see James McKenzie looking soberly at her. "Come to think of it, it'll probably be one of the only honourable things I've ever done."
"So you're being stupid, too, are you?" asked Faye, glaring at him.
"Alex is dead. She was the last bit of family I had. I haven't got anything left worth staying around for," said James dully, shrugging. Faye looked as if she was about to hit him for a moment, then opened her mouth to yell instead, but the words had barely formed in her throat when James fell to his knees, his own mouth open in a scream, clutching desperately at his left arm.
Horrified, Faye looked to the others for help and saw immediately that all of them were in the exact same position. Robert, already sitting on the floor, was bent double over his arm, his violent swearing mercifully muffled, while Katherine and Severus had half sunk to the ground, still clutching onto each other, though both had gone very pale.
Faye stood frozen between them, unsure who to go to, and doubting she could help at all even if she did. Just as she had taken one hesitant step towards James, he stopped yelling, sagging to the ground, hand slipping away from his left forearm as he collapsed onto the cold ground. Faye stared at the tattoo emblazoned there, the black skull and snake contrasting sharply with James' suddenly sheet white skin. The Dark Mark, and it had been burning, but did that mean Voldemort was gone, or…?
She turned and saw Katherine sitting in Severus' arms, head resting gently against his chest as he stroked her hair.
"Katherine?"
Slowly, Katherine turned her head to focus on Faye, brushing the beginnings of tears away with her right hand.
"What happened?" asked Faye, staring at her fearfully.
"He won," said Katherine softly, turning back to bury her head in Severus' chest again.
"Who won? Katherine?"
Katherine said nothing, but held up one finger, pressing it to her lips and looking sideways at her cousin. Faye frowned in confusion, but stopped talking, and, in the sudden quiet, heard, in the distance, just beyond the trees that hid them from view, cheering.
xxx
Reviews would be lovely. :)