Chapter 6 - Promises, promises…

"Mummy?"

Sarah Archer turned around to see her six year old daughter standing in the kitchen doorway.

"Yes, sweetheart?"

"Where's Remus?" asked Katherine, her blue eyes looking imploringly up at her mother, willing her to sort everything out. Sarah sighed, drying her hands on a tea towel, and picked Katherine up gently. "He had to go away, darling."

"But…" said Katherine quietly, confusion clear on her face. "But he didn't say goodbye."

"Well you see, someone in his family had an accident and they had to move to look after him," said Sarah softly.

Katherine frowned, looking up at her mother distrustfully. "He would have said goodbye. He wouldn't have just left."

"I know, honey, but sometimes these things happen-"

"Well they shouldn't," yelled Katherine angrily, twisting out of her mother's grip and running upstairs to her room.

Why would Remus have left? He was supposed to be her friend, why had he abandoned her? She glared at her reflection in the mirror. Had it been her fault he'd left? Was that why everyone was being so secretive?

The light streaming through the window fell on the charm bracelet Remus had given her for her birthday, making the silver ornaments sparkle merrily.

'It's magic,' he'd said, grinning. 'It protects you from evil people.'

Hadn't stopped him from leaving her though, had it?

She scowled, tugging the bracelet off and throwing it into a corner. Fine, if Remus didn't want to be friends with her, she wasn't going to be friends with him.

"Katherine?" called her mother, knocking on the bedroom door. "Are you all right?"

Katherine leapt onto her bed and dived under the covers. She didn't want to talk to anyone right now, she just wanted to be left alone.

"Katherine?" Sarah called again, trying the door handle. "Katherine, open the door."

Underneath the quilt, Katherine frowned. The door didn't have a lock, how on earth did her mother suppose she was keeping it shut?

"Katherine?"

"Go away," muttered Katherine, clutching the ring that hung on a chain around her neck tightly. She'd had it for as long as she could remember and though it was far too big for her to wear properly, she'd always loved it. The sapphires that were studded around it matched the colour of her eyes perfectly and as stupid as it sounded, it always brought her comfort when she needed it most.

After a while, she heard her mother sigh and walk quietly away, leaving Katherine totally alone.

xxx

"Hey, how was your day?" asked Charles when he got home from work, smiling at his wife.

"Well, Katherine locked herself in her room at eleven o'clock this morning and hasn't come out since. Oh, and some rookie from the Ministry came round at one and tried to wipe my memory, so I threw a frying pan at him, but apart from that…the day's been pretty uneventful, really," answered Sarah, taking a sip of tea.

"Oh," said Charles, loosening his tie. He paused, frowning. "Is there a lock on Katherine's door?"

"No," said Sarah flatly. "But good luck trying to get the door open. I don't think she even realises she's doing it."

Charles frowned, putting an arm around his wife's shoulders. "You said someone tried to wipe your memory?"

"Hmm? Oh yeah, this wizard turned up, I think his name was Alex or Alastor or something. Anyway, he asked if I'd seen any wolves recently. I told him no, but I'd seen a werewolf and he went pale and tried to use obliviate on me. I had to hurl a frying pan at him so he'd stop jabbering long enough to listen. I don't think he'd had much experience with muggles - it's not funny, stop laughing," scolded Sarah, looking reprovingly at her husband.

"Sorry, I was just imagining him filing a report on you: Assault with a kitchen utensil."

"Oh shut up, it was the first thing to hand," reprimanded Sarah, though she couldn't help smiling slightly.

"Who's Mummy been assaulting?" asked a small voice from above them.

They looked up to see Katherine sitting on the stairs, peering down at them through the banister.

"No one, honey," smiled Sarah. "Feeling better?"

Katherine shrugged and asked blankly: "He's not coming back is he?"

"No, I don't think so. I'm sorry," said Charles gently.

Katherine appeared to consider this and then said quite simply: "Ok."

Her parents exchanged confused glances but Katherine had already disappeared back upstairs.

"D'you think she's going to be all right?" asked Sarah, uncertainly.

"Yeah, she's just upset at the moment. She'll be fine in a couple of days. She's strong." Charles smiled, squeezing her shoulder reassuringly.

"She's only six," said Sarah, worriedly.

"Don't worry," said Charles soothingly. "I have a feeling she's going to be fine whatever happens. If she's anything like her mother, she can handle anything." He kissed her on the forehead and smiled reassuringly. "She'll be fine; we'll all be fine. I promise."

Sarah nodded, leaning against him. He was right, Katherine would turn out all right. They'd make sure she did.

xxx

[One year later]

"Are you sure, you'll be alright? I don't like leaving you on your own..." fretted Sarah. "It's just I forgot to get the fireworks and-"

"Just go, Mum," laughed Katherine, grinning at her. "I'm seven years old. I'll be fine."

Sarah still looked anxious. "I won't be more than ten minutes and don't answer the door, don't go outside and don't-"

"-answer the phone, I know. Just go, I can look after myself," finished Katherine, rolling her eyes.

"Well, alright," frowned Sarah. "Ten minutes, all right?"

"Ten minutes," agreed Katherine, knowing full well it would take her mother at least fifteen.

"Ok," sighed Sarah, grabbing her coat and hurrying out of the door.

Katherine shook her head at her mother's constant anxieties. She wandered into the lounge and turned on the radio, grinning as the dulcet tones of Don Mclean drifted from the speakers. She climbed into an armchair and hummed along happily to the song, flicking through her school reading book.

She sighed, wondering why on earth teachers thought these books made for a thrilling read. She glanced down at the story they were currently reading.

'Peter has some marbles. Jane does not have any marbles. Jane is sad. Peter gives Jane half of his marbles. Jane is very happy.'

And Peter is a fool for giving away half his marbles, thought Katherine dryly, shutting the book in disgust. She reached for the stereo remote control and turned the volume up, dancing around the room and miming along with the lyrics.

"...do you believe in rock and roll? Can music save your mortal soul? And can you teach me how to dance, real slow..."

Suddenly she stopped dead, eyes alighting on the strange figure in the doorway. A man was standing there, his blue eyes watching her with a mixture of amusement and curiosity.

"How did you get in?" she asked softly, staring at him.

"Uh, are your parents in?" he asked, as the radio proclaimed that it was a lonely teenager with a pink carnation and a pickup truck.

"No. How did you get in?" repeated Katherine, stepping away from him. The window was only a few feet away and if he came any closer she could climb out of it.

"I really think I should talk to your parents-" he began, stepping forward and halting abruptly, looking very much as though he'd walked into something solid. Katherine frowned as he reached out in front of him, pushing against some kind of invisible barrier.

"How are you doing that?" he murmured, gazing curiously at her.

"What?" she asked, staring blankly at him. "I'm not doing anything."

"Then what's causin-" He paused, catching sight of something hanging around her neck. The ring dangling on a fine silver chain was glowing ever so slightly, the sapphires glimmering gently. "Where did you get that?" he asked quietly, gesturing to the ring.

Katherine looked distrustfully at him, closing her hand around the ring, completely unaware of the force field it was producing.

"Get what?" she asked, turning the radio off and looking dumbly at him. Childish stupidity was invariably the best weapon to use against adults; it drove them mad.

"That ring."

"What ring?"

"The one you're holding," said the man, frowning at her.

"I'm not holding anything," said Katherine, casting another glance towards the window.

"Yes you are!"

"No I'm not."

The man sighed despairingly. "I'll just wait here until your parents get back then, shall I?"

Katherine shrugged and walked over to the telephone, and was just reaching for the receiver when the man called out to her again.

"Hey, wait! What are you doing?" he asked, a tinge of anxiety in his voice. "Put that down."

"Yes, hello? Can I have the number for the Bristol police station please?" said Katherine calmly, ignoring the man who was trying so desperately to get her attention.

"Not the police, you don't have to call the police!" he was saying, voice boarding on hysterical now.

"Thank you," said Katherine, ending the call and typing in another number.

"Look, here, I have chocolate," said the stranger coaxingly, pulling a large slab of chocolate from inside his long coat. But no, it wasn't a coat was it? It was a cloak.

Katherine put her hand over the mouthpiece and gave him a funny look. "I'm not supposed to talk to strangers, much less take sweets from them," she said coolly.

"I'm not a stranger, I know your parents," he said franticly.

"You're wearing a dress," said Katherine slowly, expression clearly stating that if this wasn't strange, she didn't know what was.

"It's not a dress!" the man protested. "They're robes."

"It's a dress," said Katherine firmly, turning her attention back to the phone call. "Hello, could I speak to Sergeant Archer, please?" There was a pause. "No, it's his daughter." Another pause. "Yes it is an emergency... Yes I am seven, what of it?"

The man looked imploringly at her. "I'm not going to hurt you-"

"Shut up," she scowled, then: "No, not you. I was talking to transvestite in my living room."

"Hey!" yelled the man, looking hurt.

"No… Why would I have hit my head? Could I just talk to the Sergeant please? Thank you." She rolled her eyes exasperatedly, addressing the funny man. "Why do people stop listening as soon as you tell them how old you are? It's not fair."

The man shrugged helplessly, sinking down to the floor. At least she was only informing her father, rather than the entire police force that there was a wizard in her house – assuming, of course, that she knew he was a wizard.

"Hello Daddy? There's a weird man in the house who says he knows you." She paused, listening to the reply then looked up at the man. "He wants to know your name."

"Alastor," sulked the man. "Alastor Moody."

Katherine listened for a while longer then smiled and said goodbye to her father. She put the phone down and looked shrewdly up at Alastor.

"Ok, so you do know Mummy and Daddy, but that still doesn't explain how you got in. All the windows and doors are locked and I didn't hear anything. I suppose you came down the chimney like Santa, did you?"

"Well..." began Alastor, but the sound of keys jangling in the lock cut him off; Sarah was home.

"Katherine? Are you ok?" she called, setting the shopping bags down in the hall and shutting the door.

"I'm in here," called Katherine, eyeing Alastor suspiciously. Sarah walked in and started when she saw Alastor slumped on the floor.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, staring at him.

"We've had reports of werewolf activity around here," said Alastor, getting to his feet.

"John informed the Ministry of that a year ago," frowned Sarah. "Why are you only acting now?"

"The boss thought it was an isolated incident and since the werewolf in question died, well, he didn't think it necessary to investigate further," explained Alastor, apologetically.

Katherine was looking from one adult to the other, getting more and more confused. Werewolves weren't real, were they? Magic was only in fairy stories and games, it didn't actually exist...

"But there were two different attacks," said Sarah, looking annoyed.

"Yeah, um, there was a mix up and we got the first report after the second," said Alastor, looking embarrassed on behalf of his department. "The DCMC presumed it was the same werewolf and had therefore died."

"DCMC?" asked Sarah, looking confused.

"Department for the Control of Magical Creatures," clarified Alastor. "Not my usual department of course, but things are pretty quiet on the Auror front at present so they've got us doing odd jobs for everyone else."

Katherine stared up at them, things finally starting to fit together in her mind. Werewolves were real and there had been two attacks last year.

She remembered all too well the black haired man with insane emerald eyes that had tried to abduct her last year but she'd always presumed it had been a nightmare as no one had mentioned it since, and the tent was good as new when she'd sneaked a look at it. So that was one attack, and the other...?

Remus.

The other attack had been made on Remus; that's why he'd moved. If he'd moved. Maybe he'd been killed... But no, Remus couldn't be dead; she'd know if he was. Right?

"Mummy?" she asked softly. Sarah looked down at her, gazing into her child's large blue eyes.

"Yes, sweetheart?"

"Magic's real, isn't it?"

Sarah was silent for a moment. Now that it came to it, she wasn't sure if she wanted to reveal her wizarding world to her daughter. She'd survived seven years without knowing the truth, surely one more year couldn't hurt...

But there was no lying to those eyes and Katherine had to know sometime. Sarah took a deep breath and gazed calmly at her daughter.

"Yes, it is," she sighed. "In fact, I think we need to have a talk, Katherine. There are a few things you ought to know..."