A/N: Well, welcome back to me. And I'll give you the short answer to the 'How was the trip?' question. It was lovely. Thank you.

Now, back to the story.

And as always,

Enjoy.

Disclaimer: Go back and read the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before this one.

CHAPTER THIRTY: HARRY AND KATLIN

As soon as dinner was done, Harry quickly hurried off to his room. Once there he quickly pulled open the top drawer of his dresser and began frantically searching for the small object he had hidden there. A small black stone no larger than a bottle cap.

Finally finding it, he held it tightly in his right hand as he closed his eyes.

"Katlin." He said, bracing himself for whatever might happen once he said the name. He wasn't exactly sure.

He had gotten the stone from the Deatheater the first time he had met with her in the alleyway after her escape from the train that was taking her to Azkaban. But she's been somewhat vague on it's use. Katlin had only said the stone would put him in contact with her if he needed her, but not how. He expected anything from the stone being a portkey to a small fire popping up in front of him. But the portkey was at the top of his list.

For several moments Harry stood waiting with his eyes shut, waiting for the familiar if not unsettling feeling of the portkey taking effect. But when nothing seemed to happen, he slowly opened his eyes.

Still standing in the center of his room where he started, the only change in his surrounding was that a tall woman with long auburn hair now stood before him.

"Well, now," Katlin commented with a small smile, "I was curious to see how long it was going to take you to open your eyes again. What were you doing, Harry?"

Suddenly feeling very foolish, Harry took to studying the floor. "Well, you never said 'what' the stone did." He explained in a soft voice. "I thought it might be a portkey. And I was waiting for it to work."

Katlin's smile grew a bit wider. "I see. Well, it is sort of a portkey, Harry. Just one that operates in reverse. Instead of bringing you to me, it allows me to come to you no matter where you are."

"Oh." Was all Harry could think to say. For some reason Katlin had the ability to un-nerve him like no one else.

"So I'm here." Katlin prompted when Harry didn't say anything else. "I'm assuming there was a reason, yes?"

Harry's purpose suddenly came back to him. He paused for a few minutes as he considered how to phrase his question.

"Well, it's just that..." Harry paused, then tried again. "People say that you know a lot about...things. About...you know...how two people are together...how they act to...well..., each other, and just sort of..., well..., love and stuff." At that point his explanation failed him. But Katlin willing took over.

"People?" She asked. "What people told you this?"

"Well..., just people." Harry answered.

Katlin looked skeptical. "People are just running up on the street telling you this, Harry? You have questions about love, go ask the Deatheater Katlin Griss?"

"Well, not everybody." Harry admitted.

Katlin absently chewed on the nail of her small finger for a moment as she studied the teenager fidgeting before her. She had a pretty good idea where Harry had gotten this particular piece of information. "Uh-huh." she said finally. "Harry, let's try narrowing that down a bit, shall we?" Katlin offered. "Would it be safe to say these 'people' might be named 'Sirius'?"

Harry looked up suddenly.

"And might his actual comment have been more along the lines of 'no one knows more about sex than that woman'?"

"Ummmmm...sort of." Harry admitted.

"I can only hope you were eavesdropping on that conversation." Katlin commented. "And remind me some day I need to have a talk with your godfather." The smile quickly returned much to Harry's relief. "Now, aside from letting me know that your godfather is making sure you have such a proper, decent upbringing, what can I do for you?"

"Well," Harry tried to start again, "it's just that...well, I thought maybe you might be someone to ask about...you know...like how you can tell if two people are...interested in each other?"

Katlin sighed as she looked over the nervous teenager before her. "Stars above." She commented. "I'm going to have to get my decoder book out again for this one, aren't I?"

"What do you mean?"

"Harry, is there any way you could cut to the chase for me?"

Harry sighed to himself. "I just want to know how you know for sure of two people...like each other?"

Katlin frowned at the question. "Isn't this a talk you should be having with your godmother or so?" She asked.

A look of shock quickly took over Harry's expression at the suggestion. "I can't asked her!" he exclaimed. "She's the one..." But Harry abruptly stopped.

Katlin tilted her head slightly. "She the one 'what'?" She inquired. But as the teenager's face began to get redder by the second, Katlin's eyes sparkled with understanding. "Harry Potter! Are you nosing about your godparents love life?" A pleased smile crossed her face. "Such an inquisitive child." She purred on. "They must be so proud."

"It's not them." Harry commented dryly.

Katlin considered the statement with a questioning frown. "Godmother's got a brand new bag?"

Harry frowned deeper. "That's sort of the question." He replied.

Katlin sat down on the bed, her face suddenly alight with interest. "Figg is involved with someone else? My, my, but won't I get the gold star for gossip this week back at the lair." She quickly patted the bed next to her. "Come and tell Katlin all about it. And I need details." She emphasized.

"But that's what I'm not sure about, Katlin." Harry replied, flopping down on the bed next to her. "It's just...she spends a lot of time with him. And they always seem to be talking together. I always seem to be walking in on them together. I just...sometimes wonder if...you know."

"Them?" Katlin asked, making a small circle in the air with her finger. "Can you expand on that a little for me, Harry? Like who the 'them' is?"

Harry sighed quietly. He knew if he was going to get any answers, things would eventually come to this. "Arabella...and Voldemort."

For a few seconds Katlin sat staring at the embarrassed teenager as though he had just stated something she didn't quite catch all of. Then, without warning, she suddenly dissolved into giggles.

"I...I'm sorry, Harry." She stammered. "I just...I thought for a moment there you suggested your godmother and Voldemort were in the midst of some sort of torrid romance."

"I did." Harry replied flatly.

Katlin's laughter stopped abruptly. But after a few seconds of silence, started again.

"Harry!" Katlin stated between giggles. "What in Magic's name makes you think Arabella Figg would let Voldemort so much as escort her to dinner?"

"Because she has." Harry answered bluntly. "Or at least, they eat together. That's where they spend most of their time talking."

Katlin paused, seemingly to think over the comment, then turned back to the teenager before her. "That's hardly the makings of the romance of the century, Harry."

"But they're always together." Harry continued on in making his case. "She talks to him. Listens to him. Takes his advice. She goes places with him. That seems to me like two people who are...you know...interested in each other."

"Sounds more to me like two people who found a little common ground."

"Common ground?"

"'Bout time too."

"Common ground for what?"

"Excuse me, but where have you been, Harry? We are sitting on the brink of potential war with an all but completely unknown enemy. Politics, as they say, makes strange bedfellows. I think Voldemort and your godmother are merely...exploring other options as opposed to constantly fighting with each other."

"I don't see why they have to be eating together while they're doing it."

"Common ground, Harry. Or maybe a better term is 'neutral ground'."

"Neutral ground?"

"It's safe, Harry. Everybody does it. Nobody looks twice at it. Nobody reads too much into it...well, nobody but teenagers with over active imaginations, maybe."

"It's not my imagination I keep walking in on." Harry stated defensively.

"Walking in on?"

"When this first started, Arabella wouldn't so much as stay in the same room with him. Now I'm walking in on them all the time.'

Katlin's eyes positively danced at the possibilities. "Doing what?"

Harry frowned. "I told you. They're always talking."

Katlin sighed in disappointment, then got to her feet. "Look, Harry," she stated, heading for the door, "when you walk into the room and their anywhere but in two chairs facing each other with a steak and kidney pie between them, you call me. Until then, I don't think you have much to worry about here."

"But Katlin...!"

Katlin stopped at the door and turned back to him. "Harry, trust me on this one. People eating dinner together are not necessarily just doing so to kill time until the child goes to sleep, all right? Now, since I'm already here, I have some other people to see."

"Other people? Like who?"

Katlin gave him a soft frown. "And that would be your business because...?"

Harry shrugged. "Just curious."

"And maybe I'm just going to have tea with an old friend." She answered as she opened the door.

"You're going to see Professor Dumbledore?"

The door snapped shut again. "Why would you think that?"

Harry paused for a very long time, feeling he had just said something very wrong in Katlin's eyes.

"Well..., because...he told me once...sometimes you have tea with him. He said he enjoys that."

"Really." Katlin answered dryly. "I'll have to have a talk with the old bird then. He's starting to make me sound positively respectable. But on that note, Harry, let me assure you I am not engaged in any sort of affair with your headmaster."

Harry gave a deep frown. "I would hope not."

"All very innocent, you see?" she added with a slight smile. "Try applying that lesson to other situations, Harry, all right?"

Harry paused for a moment as he realized what she meant, then finally nodded as he gave the idea a good going over.

"But I have other people to see, and my time is a bit limited. So if there was nothing else?"

Harry paused, then shook his head with a downward look.

A hand caught him under the chin and turned his face back to her. "Don't worry about it, Harry." She said softly. "It sounds very innocent to me, all right?"

Harry gave her a small nod.

"And you still call if you need me. Even just to talk."

Harry nodded again as the hand released him and Katlin disappeared quickly out the door.

Q&A

knightsbridge:

Okay, I'm confused. I thought at the end of Fever (if I remember correctly)Ron was in awe of Orion, and told Harry that he was an Unspeakable. Now, it seems Harry has no recollection of that little chat. So are the stories a stand alone, or a series?
Whatever they are, they are riviting, tight and well planned out.

Fever! Wow! That was a while ago for me.

I'm not really sure what you're asking here, Dear? Ron is very much aware of Orion Black's position, and there is a little bit of hero worship going on there. But what is it Harry does that makes it seem he has no recollection of the conversation?

As for are the stories stand alone or a series, that's a bit tougher to explain. They were written as stand alones. But the stories are related in content. Particularly in the fact that in Fever, Sirius gave custody of Harry to his brother should anything happen to him. He wasn't at that time planning to use the custody clause as a way to thwart Voldemort's plan, but had it included simply as a safety net should he ever be rendered unable to take care of Harry, knowing he would stay within his family's safe-keeping. And if anything happened that was bad enough to take him out of the picture, Sirius knew Harry was likely to need the best protection he could get. Hence, Orion.

I hope that helps some, Dear.

MasterLupin:

I think Voldermort is going to use some creative inginuity to get to Arabella, thinking that he can still turn her. Arabella will think more and more about Voldermort's plans and come to the conclusion that he will still have to deal with Harry after this northern wizard is delt with. Which will leave her with planing something on her own to stop him after the new wizard is dealt with.

Ummmmmmmmmm..., your train is in the station, Dear, but all your passengers haven't gotten on board yet.

In other words, you're sort of on the right track, but you're swinging your assumptions pretty far and wide here. Voldemort is definitely trying to get the sympathy vote with Arabella, but why, and what he intends to do with it should he get it, has yet to be seen. He's not entirely just plotting out strategy here.

Also, Arabella is still sizing things up herself. She is trying to reconcile the fact that the man she is dealing with isn't exactly Voldemort and he isn't entirely Sirius either, and unless something changes really fast, she may be stuck with him on a permanent basis. Basically she's taking things day by day and dealing with each new crisis as it develops. Of all the people involved though, I have to say she is dealing with Voldemort probably the best of anyone. She isn't cowering to him, she isn't backing down or attempting to placate him during his temper tantrums, and she absolutely refuses to simply listen to him and take all he says at face value. All characteristics Voldemort finds oddly attractive at the moment.

Silverfox:

Oh, I had almost forgotten about Katlin's healing skills!
fluffs up tail proudly Nice and shiny and completely recovered from my long ago dive into the wrong pond, thanks for asking.
Hm ... all the chapters seem to be available at the moment. I have no idea why or how long it will last, so I grabbed the chance and read as fast as I could.
Love to hear all that about Bo, of course. (Hey he is my favourite character, so what did you expect?) My question actually refered to Voldemort, though. Yes, I fully believe that Bo can hear every time his name is mentioned, but Voldemort, I suspect, is much more limited there.
About Bo not killng, though: How about indirectly or unintentioally? You have said that he doesn't really undrstand death and he is also often unaware of the consequences his actions will have. If he can't create life, he probably won't be able to revive somene he'd accidentally given a heart attack or transported into a deadly trap, right?
To what extent does Voldemort have access to Sirius' knowledge in his current condition? Would he be able to tap into Sirius' memories of Bo, for example?

Most people seemed to forget that little fact about her, Dear. But yes, Katlin is a natural healer. A skill that has come to her aid more than once. But you don't actually see her using it much because it wasn't a skill Voldemort originally saw any use for. Katlin was trained to be an assassin and an interrogator. Not much call for healing skills in either of those professions.

Very glad the tail is all right now, Dear. I do remember a bit of trouble there with the pond incident.

I think chapter thirty-three has mysteriously disappeared for some reason and the chapters jump from thirty-two to thirty-four.

Well, Bo didn't actually 'call' for Voldemort. He simply...kidnapped him from where he was and brought him to where Orion wanted him to be.

Tricky question, Dear. No, Bo can not create life nor can he revive someone who might be indirectly 'damaged' due to his actions. However, the person Bo has the most contact with is Orion or his father, Talon. Both are directly connected to Bo. This affords them a certain amount of protection. How do you think both got to be so good at what they do, or why they are in the particular field they are? They are, for lack of a better term, practically indestructible due to Bo's protection. Both men are more or less under his constant protection. Does BO ever 'screw up'. Apparently, based on Orion's current condition. But not very often. And I would not want to be the person directly responsible for ever causing the death of either his host or his channeler. It wouldn't be pretty. They wouldn't likely come out of the encounter dead, but they might wish they were.

Dear, would it be all right to ask if just once, maybe, you might throw me a bone in the form of an easy question?

(Sighs) OK. How much can Voldemort access Sirius's memories? Well, currently, not much. And keep in mind, this works both ways. Voldemort knows what is more or less at the forefront of Sirius's thoughts, but not his deeper long term memory. As the personalities merge, the line moves ever deeper into the region of the memory of each man. So the longer they share one body, the more they learn about the other as a matter of course.

Currently Voldemort knows little more than the average person about Bo. He knows the Black family has a 'pet' boggart, but that's about it. He suspects there is more to the boggart than your average one, but he currently has no proof. But he's working on it. Why will become apparent as the story moves forward.

CelticHeiressFiona:

Hahahaha she was. But when I said Beatrice I menat the hurricane. Very sorry. I really should be more specific in my ramblings. As to your story, it is quite amazing. Now as to our dear Ms. Figg, someone will not be very happy when they get their body back. Now as to the first smile, that can all be well and explained and Sirius already obviouly knows as to why she smiled. However, the comment as to "hearts being cut out" can be taken in two contexts. 1) Arabella means she misses Sirius and wants him back know and is very upset and so feels that her heart has been cut out. or 2) somebody's falling for Voldemort. Which I highly doubt. But one never knows. Anyway, update soon! ( OO this was a long one)

Sorry, Dear. The west coast may have had a Hurricane Beatrice this year, but ours was Beryl.

Sirius's situation with Voldemort is a very precarious if not frustrating one. He would love nothing better than to send the man off into oblivion. But whatever fate he decides for him, he has to be willing to share it, since whatever he does to Voldemort, he does to himself. As for having to sit in the background and watch Voldemort pant after his fiance, that's sort of the frustrating part.

Good try, Dear, but you're just missing the brass ring on that one. I actually wondered if anyone caught that little exchange.

What Arabella was referring to was the time that, in one of the battles in Family Life, instead of taking her, Voldemort took Sirius in her place and nearly killed him in the end, which to Arabella was the equivalent of having her heart cut out. It was also a nasty little jab at Voldemort. All in all, one of Arabella's finer moments.

Never say never, Dear. Whether or not Arabella is falling for Voldemort remains to be seen.

Skahducky:

Voldemort definitely seemed a whole lot like his old self at the end of the chapter, but he was much more relaxed in the beginning? I don't think you mentioned Voldemort making a conscious effort to block Sirius out or let him in, but is that happening nonetheless? Anyway, this is a great chapter. Please update soon!

Hmmm..., how to explain this? Voldemort's temperament is very transitory right now. But he still knows how to use it to his advantage, and it depends on who he is dealing with. Arabella isn't likely to respond favorably if he's yelling at her all the time. Equally, the Deatheaters aren't likely to respond well to a leader who coddles them. So he's simply using things to his advantage.

I thought I did mention this? Voldemort very much is consciously blocking Sirius. Or more, he's making a conscious effort to control him. Voldemort, being the originator of the spell, has more control over the body than Sirius. But not by much, since Sirius is the body's original personality and it just naturally responds to him more than to Voldemort. But Voldemort currently has conscious control of the body, meaning simply that he can either be the dominating personality, or relinquish that role to Sirius at will. Than just as easily take over again.

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