"Serpensortia!" I say, pointing to the spot Remus told me.

A long black snake was conjured and I send it away before it gets to me.

I grin, "Well dog my cats! I did it!"

Remus grins at me, "You've been practicing."

I shake my head, "No, just thinking about it. I don't have much time to actually practice really..."

Remus stares at me, "What do you mean you don't practice? You're better than I was when I was in my last year!"

I shrug, "I don't know... Why? Aren't I supposed to be good at this at my age?"

Remus sighs and rubs his forehead, "It's supposed to be just as hard at least."

I frown, "Well, I guess we can add this onto my strange characteristics list then." I sit down.

Remus sits down next to me, "I just don't get you sometimes Katherine..."

I laugh, but I see the look on his face and stop.

He stares at me. Then he says, almost to himself, "You're beautiful, intelligent, and you're talented beyond anything I've ever seen... It's almost as if you're not even real sometimes. I've never even heard of anything like you."

"I can safely say that nobody anywhere has Remus. But you shouldn't 'not get' me because of it. There's not really that much to get." I say honestly.

He shakes his head, "I think you're wrong about that."

"Think what you want, but it doesn't make it any less true." I say, standing up and pacing a little.

He stares at me, "Who are you really? Will you finally tell me?"

I look at him, "I don't have anything to really tell you Remus. When I first got here, I might have ventured a guess but now..." I shake my head, "I really don't know. I don't know anymore. I'm... complicated."

He walks over to me and puts his hands on my shoulders, "Is that why you're with Severus?" He looks hopefully into my eyes.

I shake my head and smile with as much understanding as I can muster, "Remus, I'm with Severus because I love him. I know it's hard for you to grasp, but I don't have a reason for loving Severus. Sometimes I don't even know why I do. I just instinctively adore the man, and I don't mind that fact at all."

He sighs and squeezes my shoulder, "You can't marry him. You can't do this to yourself."

"Remus I..." I begin.

He glares at me, "I love you! I always have! I've waited for you to realize that Severus will only bring you misery and pain. I've waited because I knew that after you saw the real him, you'd forget your silly infatuation and then we could be together! We were meant to be together Katherine!"

"Remus, I always knew who Severus really was. I know who he is much better than you do." He opens his mouth but I stop him. "Severus is capable of the meanest, most spiteful, horrible things imaginable. At times the words he spits out are like acid. Underneath the sarcasm there's bitterness and hate that I have no idea how to fix."

Remus stares at me.

"I lie awake at night sometimes, staring at him. My heart squeezes and I want to run to my Uncle Albus and beg him to save me. But then I realize... I don't care. I don't care, and that frightens me. I trust him and have faith in him, and I don't trust and have faith in anyone anymore. I'm completely helpless against my heart and him. When I'm with him I feel like I could die and that would be alright. I'm scared shitless Remus, I have no illusions about him being some ideal." I smile then. "But he's mine. He's mine and I love him. And even if I do die... it's ok. I don't know why it's ok, but it is. If I become miserable and heartbroken because I was proven wrong again... I don't mind. I can't explain it it's just... true." I look up at Remus. "I know you want me. I know you think I deserve better than Severus. But there are some things that are so right that nothing, not even the people involved can change them. I'm with Severus, and I'm going to stay that way." I shrug, "So I'm sorry."

He stares at me for a moment, and then he hugs me. "I'm sorry."

I kiss his cheek, "You'll be happy Remus. You're going to be happy without me even having to be involved."

He looks at me, shocked.

I smile, "It's true. It's true, and some day you may even forget about me completely. Who knows? But it's nothing to get too worked up about."

He frowns and is about to say something.

I stop him, "Remus, don't. Just don't. This is the moment you need to stop and realize the reality of this situation."

He looks at me, and I then see the change in his eyes. "I'm frightened for you Katherine."

I smile, "Well, life's a nightmare. It's only sane to be frightened." I squeeze his hand and then I go. I can tell he sat down in a chair as I left.

----------------------------------------------

"Uncle Albus?" I walk into Dumbledore's office.

He smiles and turns, "Yes my dear?"

I smile shyly and blush a little, this is kind of embarrassing. "Uhm... my wedding is this summer."

He smiles affectionately and nods.

"Would you... You're my family. I never had a father until you, I know you're only supposed to be my uncle but it's true. When I'm with you I feel like you really are my uncle and that I'm your favorite niece and... and I'm going to turn around and see pictures of me when I was little and my family is going to jump out and scream 'Surprise! How did you like your vacation?'"

Dumbledore looks shocked and is about to say something when I say...

"Uncle Albus, I'd like your blessing to marry Severus. And I'd like you to give me away." I say hopefully, looking up at him.

He hugs me suddenly and I feel a tear drop on me.

I'm shocked, "Dumbledore?"

He kisses me on the forehead, then smiles down at me, "Come with me child. I have much to tell you."

I nod and follow him into a room I hadn't noticed before.

"Do you remember a dream you once had? You were sitting on a sunny balcony drinking tea, and some white haired person was talking to you, giving you words of advice?" He asks.

I stare at him, "Yes..."

A light goes on in the room and the walls are covered with pictures. I see a picture of a woman with a little girl and a little boy standing in front of her. They're at the beach and the little boy and girl wave and then he takes her hand protectively as they smile at each other. Then there's a picture of a grown woman who looks very familiar standing in front of a crystal ball. Is that my...
Then there is a picture of... my mother... Then...

I stare at Dumbledore, "I don't understand. Why do you have these?" I point, "Especially that one! That's me! That's when I..."

"First met your aunts. The first time you met your Aunt Helen you took one look at her then your face scrunched up in disgust right before you hit her right on the face. Then your Aunt Rachel came in and you immediately beamed and started to laugh. You've always felt the same about them both."

I stare at him.

"You want to know what happened when you first saw me? I'll tell you... you wrapped yourself around my leg and wouldn't let me go. I even walked around and you still held on, grinning at me. Your mother was very cross at me because I was so enamored with you because of it that I had tried to hide you under my cape and take you home with me."

I sat down, "This doesn't make any sense."

He smiled and sat down next to me, patting my shoulder. "I'm your Great Uncle Albus. Your grandmother was my sister. When she was young, she was fascinated with discovering other worlds. Finally, in one, she fell in love and got married... having four children. Because of that she's spent the rest of her life there. Her children all decided not only to not come back here... but that they wouldn't even acknowledge this world. All except your mother, who was at least willing to talk about it if you ever asked. But you didn't."

I look at him, "Why would I have? It's impossible..."

He laughed, "Hardly... obviously."

I shake my head, "But why didn't you tell me then?!?"

He smiled and squeezed my hand, "Because... I know you. I've heard stories about you and I've even watched you from time to time. You had to come to terms with this world and its possibilities... and you had to be able to accept the possibility of being related to me, before I ever told you this. Can you honestly say that you would have been accepting of this truth when you first got here?"

I think about it, and I'm ashamed.

He smiles, "Don't be ashamed."

I look at him, "But why now? Why did you bring me here?"

He shrugs, "I didn't! You just... came! There's no explanation for it! It's as if you instinctively were tired of living somewhere that you didn't belong and naturally just came back here. I've never seen anything like it!" He grins at me, "But that happens a lot with you."

I shake my head, "But... I not only came here... I came into the past. It's impossible."

"Obviously not for you." He says affectionately.

I start to have a hard time breathing. I belong here. This wasn't a fluke. All this... it's my fault! Something's wrong with me even in this world. What's wrong with me? What's going on? Why did I come back when...? A flashback of watching the prisoner of Azkaban the night I left flashes through my mind. I was thinking for a long time about what I might have done if I was there. Although I do that a lot... I could feel something happening. I didn't know what it was though... obviously... But why did I stay here? Why did I never get so worked up that I left?

Oh... right. "Severus."

Dumbledore smiles, "That's been my guess."

I shake my head, "I don't understand this."

"I know."

"This shouldn't be happening."

"Probably not."

"I shouldn't be able to do, what I can do."

"Technically."

"I'm glad I can though..." I finally resolve.

He hugs me, "Me too."

I hug him too, "So will you?"

He kisses my temple, "You have my blessing to marry Severus. And I was planning on giving you away whether you wanted me to or not." He chuckles.

I smile at him, "Thank you Uncle Albus."

He rubs my back, "You're welcome."

--------------------------------------

"None of this makes sense." I say later on, sitting at the foot of my bed. I stare at Sam I am, my old doll. The one I used to take everywhere. Uncle Albus gave him back to me, a wedding present he said. I hold Sam I am close to me as I go completely under the covers and get into a fetal position. I feel like my world has been shattered apart and nothing will ever be able to fix it. Was everything about me, always, a lie? I was just this invisible, embarrassing, odd girl who nobody wanted. Now I'm suddenly somebody from this world and I don't know what that means. What would have happened if my mother had not decided to stay in the other world? Would I have been better off? I could have gone to Hogwarts, I could have been able to do magic from the start. Why did I have to be here so late? It's not fair! I don't see why my fate was like this, I don't understand it!

Someone climbs under the covers with me and rolls me over. It's Severus. He strokes my hair and looks into my eyes.

I start to cry. I can't stop it!

He holds me close, "What's happened?"

I cling to him. "Don't let me go. Please don't. I can't..."

He squeezes me tighter, "What's happened? Who's done this to you?!?" He demands from me, obviously infuriated that I'd been so disturbed.

I look up at him and it all comes together. 21. I can be a Hogwarts teacher at 21. I knew more about Hogwarts at 21. I knew Severus at 21. I could be with Severus, and he would never ever have to be my teacher at 21. At 21 I was finally the woman I was supposed to be. At 21... I was finally able to accept who I was. At 21, it was finally time. I'd just known it was. Everything... Everything's worked out just fine. It's been hard, and messy, and complicated as hell... but it's all made me. And now I'm here. I'm here with Severus, and this is where I belong. At this moment, for the first time in my entire life, I'm where I belong and I don't want to belong anywhere else. I give Severus a watery smile, "Severus. I'm really Dumbledore's great niece, he told me today. He showed me proof."

He stares at me in disbelief.

I take his hands, "Severus... I can't explain everything but... I'm not from... here. I mean, I'm from here but I wasn't born here. I'm from somewhere else, and I don't mean not from England."

He nods.

"The reason I didn't know magic at my age was because where I come from, it doesn't exist. I'm not just talking about me living in a muggle world, I'm talking about it didn't exist at all anywhere. I was part of it, but I came back. I don't know how, but I did. It's weird and I don't quite understand it myself... but all that's happened makes sense now. I belong here and I didn't belong there. That's why I'm here. I belong here with you, and so I'm here." I frown, "And you... don't know what I'm talking about."

He raises his eyebrows and opens his mouth to speak. He closes it. He opens it again. Closes it. Then smiles slightly, "That explains a great deal actually. How did you know so much about this world though?"

I sigh, "You don't want to know."

"How much do you know?"

"I'm not sure anymore. I've meddled enough that a lot has changed."

"Example?"

I think... I know, I can tell Severus. "Peter Pettigrew didn't resurrect Voldemort on the day Potter and Diggory did the labyrinth challenge."

He raises his eyebrows, "Was he supposed to?"

"Yes. But he's in jail, so he didn't. And I'm sure there were other reasons, which you probably know about and I don't really need to know... but yes he was supposed to but he didn't." I say.

He just stares at me for a moment and then he unexpectedly… laughs! "Oh, you don't know what you've done! You've stopped horrible things from happening! Wait... you do know don't you?" He smiles down at me, and then frowns. He looks into my eyes, "What did you know about me?"

I look down and take his hands, "Severus... I need to ask you something."

He looks a little afraid, "Anything..."

I look up at him, "Are you at all in love with Narcissia Malfoy?"

He looks shocked, then more than a little angry, "How can you ask me that?!?"

"With great care and purpose. You said you'd answer me anything now answer. And truthfully." I say sternly.

He shakes his head and looks into my eyes so deeply it's nearly searing into my soul, "No, I've never had romantic feelings for Narcissa Malfoy. But I do have to keep her and the rest of her family pleased for the sake of my mission."

"Then don't ever make an unbreakable vow with her. Don't do it. I'll still be here if you do, but I don't want you to." I say almost desperately.

He looked at me for a long time, and then took my hands as he looked into my eyes, "Katherine… I love you. But I can't make that promise. There is nothing I'd like better than to spend the rest of my life with you in peace and safety, but there's a war going on. I'm going to have to do… whatever it is I have to do. You're just going to have to understand that or we won't be able to be together." He said this with great seriousness.

I sniffed slightly and nodded, "I understand… I do… but… I worry."

He sighed and brought me close, "I know… and I… appreciate it. But we're both just going to have to be strong until the war is over. Would you rather just… stop this?"

I shook my head vehemently, "No, I'll stay on your side and by your side come what may."

He smirked, "Then do stop fussing."

I gaped at him, and then couldn't help but laugh slightly and hold him, "I hate you."

He kissed my forehead, "I know you do."

---------------------------------------

Severus' POV I watch Katherine as she sleeps, my mind wandering over everything that's led up to this point.

I'd been trying to avoid Katherine, she made me feel… odd. But tonight I had no choice but to see her, the Bogart was loose from Lupin's classroom and Dumbledore had ordered that all the professors help capture it.

I knocked on her door and heard a faint, "Come in!" Her voice was always so quiet and sweet, even when she was yelling and/or spitting out venom.

I opened the door and the sight that met me was positively shocking. There she was, sitting lengthwise from arm to arm on her comfort chair by the lamp, reading a book from the restricted section on dark creatures. She looked up at me and smiled slightly, "Hello Professor Snape, what is it that you need?"

I swallowed hard and then did my best to maintain control as I said, "The Headmaster wants all the professors to help find Lupin's Bogart. Unfortunately, that includes you Professor Tingstrom."

She nodded and closed her book, jumping down from the seat as she said, "Alright, I'm coming." She grabbed her wand and came to the doorway.

As she passed, I was once again assaulted by the scent of the woman. She wasn't a sweet smelling woman, like so many others. No… her scent faintly reminded me of the forest during a particularly hard rain when I would go collect herbs for potions. Earthy, strong, fresh yet dark, undoubtedly mysterious… a bit like the woman herself. She looked up at me and I did my best not to be captured by those eyes, "Professor… are you alright? Is there anything I need to know?"

I straightened up and gave her a harsh glared, "Just try not to get yourself killed."

She shrugged, "I'll try. Come on then."

I did my best not to gape at her, "Do NOT presume to give me orders!"

She rolled her eyes, "Alright… come on then PLEASE!" She muttered something afterward that I didn't catch, but knew I wouldn't like.

As we walked along the corridors after given our assignment, for some reason I just didn't have it in me to abandon her. Merlin knows why.

Eventually though, I went to check a hallway while she stayed there. She wasn't very happy about it, and gave me a good tongue lashing about it; but in the end I went without her permission and made it clear that I'd hex her if she followed. That is, until I heard her scream. I ran back to her to find her standing face to face with herself. Only this time she was in a small grey shirt with strings instead of sleeves, and blue denim trousers. The image of herself was fading in front of her eyes, crying out in agony. The real Katherine was just standing there, looking at it stoically, as if it didn't frighten her at all. Then she did the strangest thing… "Bugger off Bogart, ridikulous!" She screamed as she pointed her wand at it. The Bogart turned into a puppy… that wet itself. She then grabbed a nearby box and threw the puppy in it, closing it firmly.

I was impressed, but would be damned before I admitted it to her. I stepped out and looked at the box, then her, "Well, let's get it back to Lupin then."

She nodded, "Ok." She didn't seem at all unhappy that I hadn't showered her with praise, didn't even seem to expect it.

As we walked back to Dumbledore's office, I couldn't' help a sideways glance at her. This woman… she was… brave. So very brave. I'd never met anyone like her.

There it was, the odd feeling again.

I pushed the feeling down as hard as I could and put my focus back in front of me where it belonged. There was no room in my life for odd feelings, even for one so… odd.

I sighed and wrapped my arm around Katherine's waist, snuggling close to her. That was so long ago it seems, now that we're together. I fear for her, I really do. But somehow… somehow I find myself to selfish to give her up. To captivated by her to let her out of my sight. I can only hope that in the end… it won't be yet another thing that I hate myself for.